>> dara: thank you so much for having me on. i brought you t-shirts back from london. >> brian: fantastic. >> dara: enjoyed it and i really appreciate it. it was a lot of fun. >> steve: rulon gardner in the after the show show! >> brian: i take him on. this time i win! that rematch. good morning, everyone. a fox news alert on the chick-fil-a story that swept acrosses country. folks waiting in long line to get their chicken fix. this really caught fire. i'm bill hemmer. 's we enter day two of this. you how are you doing, patti ann? patti ann: i'm in for martha maccallum. ceo, dan cathay create ad firestorm said he was against same-sex marriage. supporters of cathay flocked to the stores what was dubbed chick-fil-a. >> people standing up first

amendment rights. >> if other beliefs i don't belief in, i won't condemn you. >> there is kind of a culture war. people aren't respecting each other and difference of opinion. there is no dialogue really takes place to get to the heart of what we belief as a nation and what is truth. bill: some of these lines went around the building and down the sidewalk and across the street. the crowds of supporters yesterday, a counter protest, is set now for tomorrow. our senior national correspondent is john roberts live in atlanta. you were out there yesterday, john. what did you find out? >> reporter: i was out there, yesterday, bill. what we found out this is about so much more than just a chicken sandwich. this is at the intersection of religion, politics, civil rights and first amendment rights. thousands upon thousands of people showed solidarity with chik-fil-a ceo dan cathay coming out to vote with their wallets. this wasn't just in the south which is the home of

chick-fil-a. it was in new york, massachusetts, illinois, in california. here in the bible belt a lot of people did show up to express solidarity with dan cathay's traditional or biblical views of marriage. after the mayors of chicago, rahm emanuel, and mayor of boston, tom menino said to chick-fil-a you're not welcome here, you don't share our values that was a free speech issue. the whole day was suggested by fox news host, and former arkansas governor mike huckabee who appeared on fox and friends. >> it was getting out of hand the hate speech and the speech being hurled at dan cathay. in a christian newspaper he took a stand for traditional marriage which is, by the way, same stand barack obama had until a few months ago. for that he was just being bullied, economic bullying was the way this was going down. people trying to put him out of business. >> reporter: and the mayor

of chicago rahm emanuel heard from the archbishop of chicago, cartnal francis george writing in the blog. i was born and raised here and my understanding of being chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. bill? bill: expect more reaction throughout the day and again tomorrow. you talked to a lot of people out there. what did they tell you about this? >> reporter: most people told me this was really was an issue of first amendment rights and free speech. they don't think that the politicians should have weighed in on it. and politicians in particular should not have threatened retaliation because dan cathay expressed his views. i talked to one fellow, a youth pastor, there a with a couple of members of his ministry. he sees something bigger at work here. here is what he told me. >> i think there is a greater issue going on in america right now. there is kind of a culture war going on and people aren't really respecting each other and difference of opinion. there is no dialogue really

taking place to get to the heart of what we believe as a nation and what is truth. >> reporter: critics of chick-fil-a says this goes well beyond just what dan cathay said about same-sex marriage. the philanthropic arm of chick-fil-a, wind shape, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that campaign against gay rights particularly against same-sex marriage. they want to make that point. they will have that iropportunity to protest tomorrow. a massive nationwide kiss-in in chick-fil-as at 39 states. there were a smattering of counterprotests but nothing as big as what we're expecting tomorrow. bill: john, thank you. we'll talk to herman cain out of atlanta next hour of "america's newsroom." john roberts watching that out of atlanta. patti ann: new details on a shockingly close near-miss at reagan national airport. three us airways jets carrying nearly 200 passengers coming within seconds of a head-on midair

crash. peter doocy is live in washington. hi, peter, so how close did these planes come to each other? >> reporter: 12 seconds, patti ann, is all that separated a plan that had been okayed to land from the first of two planes had just taken off and was flying straight for it. all three planes were operated by us airways. at about 2:00 on tuesday because of bad weather and wind, air traffic controllers in warrenton, virginia hour away told the controllers at rage ganairport f plane coming from the north, turning over mount vernon to turn in from the south in rosslyn, virginia. means planes would land in the opposite direction. they didn't tell all the planes in the air with about the new plane. the first plane taking off came within 500 vertical feet of the aircraft taking

off and section one came in 600 vertical feet and when the faa requires 1,000 feet of vertical separation. patti ann: scary stuff. what is us airways saying? >> reporter: we got a statement of us airways that is very light on specifics but it says we're currently investigating and working with the faa to determine what occurred. the safety of our customers and employees is always our top priority. there were 192 combined customers and employees on the three planes involved in this near catastrophe on tuesday. the faa is saying they will take appropriate action to address the miscommunication. remember, patti ann, this is the same airport where an air traffic controller was busted sleeping on the job back in 2011. patti ann: peter doocy live for us in washington, thank you. a major scare at san antonio international airport. bomb threats forcing everyone to evacuate. flights halted, roads in and out closed. about 2,000 passengers herded onto the tarmac in 100 degree heat.

the shutdown triggered by anonymous threats. >> we had a caller call into our administrative offices at the airport there were explosive devices located throughout the airport. he then proceeded, at that point, we sent out an alert to employees. he proceeded to call several times after that. at which point he got more and more specific. >> we're trying to get here on time. we figure out they were not letting us in. when we come in we see all the commotion going on. >> with the craziness i don't know if it was delayed or what. patti ann: today operations are back to normal. authorities are trying to track down the unknown caller. bill: more breaking news on the health of the economy now. jobless numbers for the week are just out. claims went up by about 8,000 from a week prior to 365,000. but the four-week average is at the lowest level we've seen since march. it is down slightly. still economists caution all these numbers may not tell the entire story.

charles payne has more on that. fox business network. how are you doing? >> i'm doing pretty good, bill. bill: go through the numbers today. what does it tell us about the economy? >> tells us best-case scenario we have it in neutral sort of status quo but this is not exactly where you start. sort of like being in fourth place permanently. 355,000 is woefully low. i hate to say this is the worst post-recession recovery in the history of our country. it senses around the inability of job creation to occur. i have to tell you this morning's number is disappointing. bill: we're stuck in the mud. >> stuck in the mud. bill: floating like a cloud with no direction. >> if we were the yankees it would be okay if it was status quo but we're not. bill: revised number a week ago went higher again. that is trend that continues. >> that is trend, here's the interesting thing. about a year and a half, now, bill, every time these numbers come out a week later they say oops, a little worse than we thought

but by the that time the headlines were already made. in goes a long way toward the disbelief people have on main treat and wall street and government data we get. maybe when numbers start to look a little better we won't get the kind of reaction in the market we should get because people simply stopped beliefing in these numbers. bill: the earlier in the month talking about seasonal factors and auto plants. put that together. what does that mean for folks like us? >> the first reading was 35,000. 353, went to 357. it doesn't matter. we're talking about a phenomenon gone on 99% of the time for year-and-a-half. every single time they say, oops, the numbers were actually worse. when you don't have credibility with the government numbers to begin with and they're already awful, it puts you in a tough bind. bill: charles, thank you. you're filling in for stuart? >> i'm filling in for the big guy. we have a awful lot going on. bill: the latest data shows

our jobless rate was 8.2% in the month of june. tomorrow on friday, we get the big number, unemployment right for july. the expectations is for the number to stay above 8%. you can see the roller-coaster ride we've been on. weekly claims going back to december of 2007, that is when the economy first started to falter, the biggest spike was in late 2008 to early 2009. right in here he see the spike up here on the map. today we're down to 365,000. moving along and floating as we go. when jobless applications consistently get below 735,000 that -- 375,000, that suggests hiring is strong enough to pull the unemployment rate down. you see the number represented by the yellow line? unfortunately for americans and unemployment we have not been below that number very often. 96 some odd days before the election qlm.

patti ann. patti ann: the federal reserve may try to give the economy another jolt. the nation's central bank releasing a statement saying it will quote, closely monitor the economy and provide additional accommodation as needed. investors say that means the fed may introduce stimulus measures last month if hiring doesn't pick up. that could mean a third round of bond buying known as quantitative easing. don't look now, gas prices jumping back up big time. the national average for a gallon of regular, 3.53. that is 20 cents higher than a month ago. that is the biggest one month jump in 12 years. some of the blame goes to the heart hitting the farmland. no corn means higher ethanol prices. bill: coming back in the middle of summer with an economy really questionable, that is not cool. patti ann: very big jump. bill: we are just getting started.

could drew peterson walk free? a judge will decide whether or not to declare a mistrial already in that case of the former police sergeant accused of murdering his third wife. we'll explain why on that. patti ann: dramatic video of a car making its own drive-through lane. we'll tell you what happened to the clerk. new information on charges that have been filed. plus? >> on this vote the yeas are 170, the nays are 255. bill: oh the cheers and years as the house pass as republican plan to keep all the taxes where they are right now. but that fight is not over, not by a longshot. what happens next? where is the president on this issue? and where it leaves you as an american taxpayer at as both sides refuse to budge.

patti ann: phoenix, the scene of a tense nighttime rescue. monsoon floodwaters trapping motorists including a baby. all together firefighters rescued nine people from four vehicles on a highway. one of those saved said the flooding was immediate, building up a foot every five minutes. there are possibly heavy downpours in the forecast for phoenix through tomorrow. bill: here we go, patti ann. there is a collision occurs on taxes for every american. the house approving a republican-backed plan to keep all the tax rates they are now. this is a week after the senate passed a democratic

plan that raises taxes on high income earn erstwhile keeping the tax rates the same for everyone else. here is what house minority leader nancy pelosi had to say about that idea. >> this isn't about that, the polls to get to your point. would rather have a result for the american people than an issue in the campaign. that's for sure. that's what we came here to do, to get results. bill: republican congressman peter roskam is chief deputy whip. thanks for coming back on our program. >> thanks, bill. bill: i don't know how this thing ends and i don't know which way we're headed but lay out your argument. why is it important to keep tax rates where they are for everyone? >> ernst & young came out with a study 10 days ago, the big accounting firm and they said a couple things. they said if you move forward with the tax plan and the president and leading democrats are advocating, what the house debated yesterday, it would cost the nation 700,000 jobs. now that doesn't make any sense whatsoever. in this environment, and in

your previous segment where you're looking at a slow economy and one of the toughest economy that we've seen in a generation. so, our argument is, don't do anything that has a stifling effect or a restraining influence on economic growth. it is not the smart move. so let's do one thing and that is to keep the tax rates certain for another year but not just for another year for the sake of doing another year alone. as a bridge to reforming the tax system and getting to where i think most americans are, bill, that the recognition the status quo is completely unsatisfactory. bill: let me get to tax reform, comprehensive stacks reform in a moment. two years ago 139 democrats in the house voted with you on this. what's changed in 24 months? >> well, you know, that a question they of course has to answer. any observer would say there is election coming up. they have a president that underperformed in the white house. unemployment is far higher than they promised during

the stimulus. the credit of the united states has been downgraded, and so, in other words, the president's policies haven't worked. they have made the economy worse and the flashpoint now is, do a class envy play. it is an old play. it is not helpful though. even going back to leader pelosi's words take those at face value, all right, if the goal is create economy moving again and what is good for the american public you really can't argue that it is best for the american public to have an economy where there are 700,000 jobs that are in place. at the very least do no harm. bill: do you, i don't see this being resolved before november. is that the obvious play here? is that what logic tells you? >> i think it is pretty clear, we're making this, you know, we acted yesterday, to bring clarity to the situation. we will move today toward a comprehensive approach. we have eight legislative

days yet. bill: the point, you have the votes in the house and the president is not going to sign it and he has been talking about on the trail for three months, right? >> right. this gets resolved on election day. the american public is going to pick a direction that we'll move. it will be largely manifested based on the outcome of the november election. and the contrast is very clear and the public gets to pick. bill: comprehensive tax reform, it a big deal today, what happens? what shape and form does this take, sir? >> here is where the real action is. and we've got a tax code right now, bill, that is simply not competitive. there is no voice in the public square today that says, oh, our tax code is great. it is not great. so what the house will do, let's extend rates for a year but move toward a comprehensive approach that tries to create the most competitive tax jurisdiction here, right here in the united states. we have got the highest corporate tax rate in the world. we've got what is known as

an international tax system where we're putting a disadvantage on u.s. companies as they are competing around the globe. we can change that and we can create a buoyancy and competitiveness that can be fantastic. that is what we need to be driving for. bill: we'll see how far that goes. pete roskam, thank you for your time. 20 minutes past. patti ann. patti ann: a violent car crash caught on tape. a store clerk sent flying across the store. we'll tell you what happens that let him walk away from this and the serious charges the driver faces. bill: he is accused of murdering his third wife while his fourth wife is still missing. drew peterson could caulk free even before his trial gets well-heated as his defense takes heat for going after the victim. >> cathy savio was described as a hellcat, a fighter, a very spirited person who would never take no for an answer. that is everybody's

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bill: check this out. a convenience store clerk lucky to be alive after a suspected drunk driver did this. a car slamming into a store, sending the clerk rather flying. he didn't know what hit him. out of nowhere! trapped him under the debris but as bad as it looks the clerk is okay. his boss said he is back on the job as being treated at the hospital. as for the driver she is in a lot of trouble and out for $100,000 bond from jail. we have to talk to that guy. patti ann: we're awaiting a major ruling on a possible mistrial in the drew peterson murder case. the former chicago area

police officer is charged with killing his third wife, kathleen savio. her 2004 death was initially ruled an accident but the case was reopened after peterson's fourth wife stayscy vanished under mysterious circumstances. mike tobin is in chicago. this whole trial could halt as suddenly as it started? >> reporter: the latest motion for a mistrial following the latest misstep by prosecutors. this time because the prosecution slipped in some testimony that had been previously been declared inadmissible. the defense team for peterson was quick to pounce for the motion for mistrial. >> you have two serious motions for a mistrial in two days. that has got to be a world record. the ball is always in the judge's court. >> reporter: the controversy came during testimony from a neighbor of the victim, kathleen savio, drew peterson's third wife. he said he felt intimidated

by drew peterson and once found a .38 caliber bullet in his driveway. he said he got the message. the judge abruptly stopped the proceedings and asked the prosecution do you intend to prove whether the defendant put that bullet in the driveway? the assistant state's attorney kathleen patton said no. the jury was sent out of the room. the judge was visibly upset. patti ann. patti ann: mike, the ball in the judge's court. what are the options. >> reporter: judge edward burmila has several options. the most legal experts say likely path will strike all the testimony. he can declare a mistrial. mistrial without prejudice means drew peterson can be tried again. if he declares a mistrial with prejudice, that means drew peterson goes free, patti ann. patti ann: mike tobin, live from illinois. thank you. bill: that will be a big deal. when the news breaks in joliet. we'll break to it to you.

who sauce being a reporter is easy, patti ann. patti ann: not me. bill: we'll tell you what happened behind her. look at that. patti ann: the rising bloodshed in syria's largest city. this as we're learning president obama is directing the cia to help the outgunned rebels. why news of this so-called secret order is stirring outrage on capitol hill. [speaking in native tongue] are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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bill: there is even more bloodshed in the battle over syria. the reports that the regime has unleashed new raids against opposition fighters. dozens reported killed in the latest clash but we're also getting reports that rebel forces are making small gains in the fight for syria's largest city. that is the town of aleppo. world affairs contributor dominic di-natale is watching that from our middle east bureau. dominic, what's the latest? >> reporter: those small tactical gains you talk about could turn into a

large tactical win potentially for the rebels. they have started to use for the very first time the various tanks and heavy artillery they managed to seize from regime fighters and they're turning them on the regime itself. they are currently heading towards a key airfield run by the syrian military outside aleppo at the moment. if they win over, if they actually manage to win that, that will be a major tactical gain for the rebels. they also intend on storming the presidential palace of bashar assad has in the center of aleppo. they want to turn that into the headquarters and commandeer the entire north of syria for that. given the fact they are using more weaponry than they had certainly two weeks ago, there is potential just for that, bill. bill: dominic di-natale, thank you, watching all of that in jerusalem. details and headlines as we get them. thank you, sir. patti ann has more. patti ann: bill, we have learned the united states is in fact helping those syrian rebels in ways not

previously disclosed of the president obama reportedly signed a secret order directing the cia and other agencies to help them. that order does not allow the u.s. to provide weapons with to the rebel fighters who have been seriously outmatched as they battle president assad's forces. kt mcfarland right now joins us. she of course is a fox news national security analyst. thank you for being with us. >> a pleasure. patti ann: reuters first reported on this so-called secret order. and that report also says there is a secret support being coordinated through a secret command center in turkey. so obviously if all this is so secret how did reuters find out? is this a leak here? >> i don't think it is like the leaks we've seen in the past the last couple months that were coming out of the obama administration. why? because the leaks in the past have all been about things that were wild successes. every sun said, wow, that is really terrific. they came after the fact. they were so great, that was our guys doing it, that was president obama being decisive and strong. this is a different kind of

leak. this is very risky stuff. to talk about the united states involvement in a situation that could blow up in everybody's face. i don't think this is a leak coming out of washington. my guess it is coming out from overseas. patti ann: is it dangerous as well? they actually locate the secret command center in southern turkey? >> right. everyone knows there is rebel force. i have seen pictures of rebel armies. let's remember for a minute who are the rebels? we don't know. we know syria and assad are bad guys. they're murdering their own people, woman and children. this is not like george washington leading the american revolutionary army. these are group of tribes. some of them are al qaeda. some are muslim brotherhood. some are well-meaning prodemocracy liberals. we're not sure. the hesitation of any kind of arming the rebels, where are the arms going? would they go ultimately to al qaeda? ultimately to be used against us and our allies in the region? that's why we have to know

who we're dealing with here. not just say here, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. not necessarily. patti ann: may in fact be a wide variety of rebels as you pointed out. >> yeah. patti ann: you do have some politicians, mccain, gram, calling for us to openly and directly arming these rebels. but as you say there is that concern. there are reports out there that you've got islamic militants that you have al qaeda. >> right. patti ann: what is your feeling whether or not we should be arming them? >> here's the thing. we saw when we armed the rebels in afghanistan. those are the same weapons and groups that ultimately started fighting us 10 years later. when we armed them in the '80s they were fighting us in the '90s and after september 11. the key for me and the united states, i look at all the issues. what is good for my country? what is the potential threat for the united states? it is those chemical weapons. we know assad of syria has one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the middle east if not the world. we know our own intelligence sources said iraq moved

chemical weapons, before the iraq war from iraq into syria. we want to make sure whatever happens those chemical weapons don't fall into the hands of the bad guys on any side and have those chemical weapons be used against us or our allies or show up in the international arms bizarre -- ba bazaar as the libyan weapons did. patti ann: what might be included in the new order? we openly acknowledged humanitarian aid. communications equipment, other types of support. so what type of support is in this new order? >> i think what we're probably doing they probably have covert forces there we shouldn't be talking about. i met with general petraeus interestingly in afghanistan before he took the cia job, and we had a discussion what is the future of warfare? how will weapons and american military forces be used in the future? they have the big american invasion and land army use is over. it is now going to be special forces. it will be covert operations. i think that is what you're seeing now, covert assistance using the cia.

that is what a finding is all about, direct the cia to use and assist other forces around the world. and so it is use of these, you know, covert operations. patti ann: well, let's go into that a little bit more. it is in fact called a finding. we call it an order. explain what a finding is. >> a finding, there have been forever from the very beginning of the republic but in the 1970s, mid 1970s i was in the white house working for president nixon and congress wanted to clip the cia they didn't want the cia to go off on hair brained schemes. what they did was say, if the president of the united states feels strongly enough about this to personally direct the cia to view a specific military operation, he can do so. he will do and sign a finding that directs the cia and covert operations forces but he must inform capitol hill and the relevant committees. so when the president signs it, the finding, he presumably would have acknowledged this to the

relevant committees on capitol hill which would be the intelligence committees. patti ann: all he has to do is inform them. he doesn't need their approval? >> doesn't need their approval. but at the end of the day he owns the operation because he personally signed off on it f it goes back it his is his personal reputation on the line. patti ann: kt mcfarland. thank you as always. bill: 17 months down the road. kt, thank you. a horrifying scene caught on camera. a man literally swallowed up by a sinkhole and the desperate effort to try to save him from this here. patti ann: a political tug-of-war that could result in major pentagon budget cuts. are politics jeopardizing our national security? senator lindsey graham thinks show. >> it was the republican leadership who agreed with the concept, if the super-committee failed let's have decimating of the defense department as one of the consequences. the party of ronald reagan would have never allowed that to happen. here is my solution. if the politicians fail to do what is right by the

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i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. s. patti ann: 40 minutes past the hour. the us air force is delaying the launch of a new spy satellite. launch of the saturn v rocket scrubbed. blamed on instrument problems. smoke and flames seen for miles. a oil refinery explosion lighting up the skies over oklahoma. an investigation is underway. there are no reports of any injuries. move over "harry potter". the racy novel. 50 shades of gray taking the top spot on amazon in the u.k. this definitely not for kids. bill: cue the racy music. they have one thing in common. they have mystery in them. this is mystery of an

entirely different have not yet read 50 shats of grey. bill: apparently ladies say you're missing something. just saying. the time is moving on a major decision that could dramatically affect america's ability to defend itself. it has republicans pushing their democratic counterparts and the president to act now, before thousands of americans get pink slips. senator lindsey graham put it this way to me just yesterday. >> i think our commander-in-chief is sitting on the sidelines trying to avoid a problem rather than solve it. in the republican party has its fingerprints all over the problem. what is the problem? when the super-committee failed, to achieve $1.2 trillion in cuts, over, the next decade, the sequester, which in latin means dumb politicians destroying defense, the penalty clause of sequester says, if you fail, super-committee, we'll take $600 billion out of the

defense department as a punishment. bill: lindsey graham from yesterday. monica crowley, radio talk show host, doug schoen former advisor to president clinton. both are fox news contributors. good morning to both of you. >> morning. >> good morning. bill: we backed ourselves in a corner here, didn't we, monica. >> we did. bill: graham voted against the whole budget control act. he did not think it was a very good idea. if you heard before the commercial break he said both sides are to blame. where are you on this? >> good nor senator graham and pointing out the truth and being intellectually honest about his own party. good for him voting against this hot mess of a budget deal. both sides decided they would kick the can down the road and institute in the future, the future is now but institute some cuts that were ostensibly supposed to be painful to both sides, right? domestic cuts and defense cuts. however we now know that those domestic cuts are never going to come to pass because the democrats are not going to allow them to come to pass.

so now the republican leadership is desperately trying to save the defense cuts. defense cuts, by the way that the president's own defense secretary leon panetta said would gut our ability to protect ourselves, our interests and our allies. bill: speaker boehner is doing, calling on senate democrats to come up with their own idea. he says we'll work through the month of august to get it done. doug, do you see these guys coming back from break to do that? >> i see almost no chance, bill, that they do that but i would go a little bit further than monica and senator graham and i would say the fault lies in not doing a comprehensive budget agreement dealing with the debt, deficit, tax reform and entitlement reform, putting revenue on the table in a way the republicans don't want and putting entitlement reform on the table the way the democrats don't want. we have a huge fiscal mess. bill: but, doug, that sounds like the grand bargain? >> it is the grand bargain. bill: they walked that plank before and you saw that turned out. >> we're too close to fiscal

armageddon to get to close the to plank. the fact we failed once is not a reason or excuse to not try again. when our financial markets and indeed our economy would be roiled. bill: you speak with rationale. monica, do you see it happening? >> i don't see it happening certainly not in an election year. we have to get past november 6th for anything to happen. this is no way to run a superpower. the united states of america should not be run this way and fault of our leadership. look, i blame the republican leadership as much as i blame the democrats here. the republicans should have stood on their guns and on their principles last year, fought for cut, cap and balance and gone to the mat on that. we are careening toward $16 trillion in debt. that is because neither side can come together and actually cut spending. i disagree with doug on increasing revenue part of the equation. the problem is not that the government doesn't have enough money coming in. they do. they are just spending it so out of control and i do put

republicans in that or at least some republicans in that category. this congress can not stop itself from spending us into oblivion. and what we really need here is spending controls. and entitlement reform and tax reform to broaden the base, close those loopholes so that we get added revenue in that way. unleash the private sector but stop spending. bill: we're going over 16 trillion this month, doug. >> absolutely. i'm with bowles-simpson. i think the president made a huge mistake not endorsing that. i think it can be revived. bill: it was his panel. he convened it. they came out with with the answers and it was kicked to the curb. >> i understand that. he was wrong. they're reviving bowles-simpson right now with advertising an communications campaign. we can't wait. monica is very, very good to blame the republicans. i'm happy to blame the democrats but bottom line, everything has to be on the table. there can't be sacred cows. we have solve this problem. it is defense, it is entitlement. it is spending. it is tax reform.

it is everything. bill: both of you, monica, the president is campaigning. you're 96 some odd days from an election. and republicans charge he is awol on the issue. you need a leader to bring everyone together. >> yes. and the president has been awol from the beginning except when he is introducing ever more spending. look, this is a president who has led us to a record-breaking $5 trillion in additional debt in just three years. now of course, that debt is increasing every single day by the second. so he is not shown himself to be serious about deficit control and deficit reduction. we need real leadership in this country. i mean, no country on the face of the earth has racked up this much debt, ever. so for the united states to just keep going like this where the democrats say, well, no, domestic cuts. republicans are trying to hold onto the defense cuts they themselves agreed to last year. there is --. bill: 66 -- >> superpower of the united states can not stay so with this kind of leadership. bill: 66 republicans voted

against it. 95 democrats voted against it. all republican leadership in the house voted for it. doug, give you the last word. >> bottom line everything has to be on the table by democrats and republicans is we can't afford political orthodoxy anymore. i'm for putting obamacare, taxes, revenue, entitlements on the table, bottom line, monica may be right. bill: wow! double-barrel. >> she may be right, but if we stick to our positions rigidly we all as americans lose where americans before were democrats and republicans, bill. bill: thank you. the book's name is? >> what the bleep just happened which applies to this segment and the defense sequester. bill: see you guys real soon. >> thank you. bill: patti ann. patti ann: a stunning development in the colorado movie massacre investigation. we'll tell you about warnings a psychiatrist gave a month before the tragedy. red flags that may have been missed. it could be a huge break in a murder mystery baffling police for more than a decade.

who kidnapped and murdered a 16-year-old lifeguard? we'll tell you why cops are reopening that case after all these years. >> it's like a roller-coaster. there is no better description than to say a roller-coaster. you're up. you're down. you're hopeful. you're scared. it definitely is so complex. i do feel, i did feel like we're very close. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spotn the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

co. bill: we have new video of this deadly road collapse in taiwan. watch here a second. a sinkhole opening up and literally swallowing that man on the right. he unfortunately was killed. it took hours for rescuers just to recover his body from down in that hole. a short time later a tv reporter at the scene saw that first-hand. watch that behind her. the road giving way again before we darts away. the authorities say

torrential rains and flash flooding washed out the supports under that street. patti ann: chilling clues sparking a new search in a decade old case. massachusetts detectives are looking through this man's florida trailer. right now rodney standinger is serving sometime for killing his live-in girlfriend. police are searching for evidence linking him to the 2000 disappearance of 16-year-old molly bish. the sister of the woman is. tanger killed told police he might be the man he is looking for. >> down in florida nobody knows him. they're not looking for a man in a in florida but looking for the man in the sketch in massachusetts. he just didn't want to be seen. patti ann: rod wheeler is former homicide detective. he joins us to talk about this case. thanks for being with us. she was a lifeguard. her mom dropped her after at pool in massachusetts one

morning in june. by the time other swimmers arrived eight years later, she was gone. eight years later her remains were found near her home. rodney stock exchanger is looking stanger was serving time in florida for killing his live-in girlfriend. >> not only did the little girl missing, but 16 at the time, not only did she go missing but this guy, stanger, moved out of the area, patti ann, left two months after the young girl went missing. with the new evidence found in the trailer and that evidence consists of a card that he had for a weapon that he owned. he had firearms identification card. they're looking at that. they also found a safe deposit box. now the safe deposit box that they found in the trailer was locked and secured. this is where this case gets very interesting the police are going to get a search warrant to go into the safe deposit box.

the question is what is in that box and whether or not, patti ann, there may be more evidence in that box such as maybe a weapon, maybe body parts or clothing, articles of clothing maybe they can get dna off of. all these things the investigators are looking at hopefully to try to bring closure to this case. patti ann: they already found in that trailer a bag of hair clips and ba reds that the sister of the girlfriend was killed, she was going there to get her sister's belongs, these are not what a woman would wear. these are more like what a girl would wear. that rose, sent up a red flag to her. also photos she was refering to just now are photos that were found in a wallet that look a lot like the pictures of the person who was believed to have kip understand molly. >> that's right. not only did photos look like molly but in addition the photos showed a girl with blond hair and this guy snapping her neck.

they can't exactly make out the pictures in the photos. all of these things are considered as evidence as they try to bring more evidence against this guy. so i think when they go down there and start going through the evidence and piece by piece they probably come up with a lot more even after all these years. it has been about 12 years. even after all these years they can still find evidence including possibly, dna, patti ann, that might link this guy stanger directly to the fact molly being missing. patti ann: rod wheeler, a lot of questions. we'll see what happens with the safe deposit box. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, patti ann. bill: the fbi admitting it once had the world's most notorious terrorist in custody but allowed him to go free and the question this morning is why. patti ann: chik-fil-a mobbed around the country after controversial comments from the fast-food chain's president on gay marriage. former godfather's ceo and presidential candidate herman cain will give us his take on the comments like

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call the number on your screen. [♪...] bill: fox news alert as we start a whole new hour. there is a controversy surrounding elizabeth warren, a senate candidate in massachusetts and reported prime-time speaker at the democratic national convention come the end of this month. she released a new ad that is raising eyebrows saying america needs to be more like china. we'll examine that as we start now. i'm bill hemmer, welcome back. how are you doing. >> i'm patti ann browne happy to be in for her today. she made headlines when she claimed native-american heritage

on university forms. and she was with the president on the you didn't build that comment. now this. >> we have bridges, roads in need of remayor and thousands of people in need of work. why aren't we rebuilding competitors. china invests 9% of its gdp in it's infrastructure. america we are at just 2.4%. bill: stev steven hayes, senior writer and fox news contributor. she is making an argument. >> the obvious question is where does the money come from? the reason she asks the question in the ad, the reason we are not spending more is because we're $5.6 trillion in debt and running annual deficits of more than a trillion dollars. these why we're not spending more on infrastructure. it's a simple answer to a simple question.

bill: she is also running for senate in a tight race with brown. she was on camera complaining what the american miss owner more less owes the government for what the government has done for the american people. i want to remind viewers about this. >> you hired workers, the rest of us paid to educate. you were safe in your factories because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. you didn't have to worry that ma rauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory and hire season to protect against this because of the work the rest of us did. now look, you built a factory ain't turned into something terrific or a great idea, god bless. bill: hang on that phrase, the rest of us paid for. if you've got a company or a factory in this case you're paying taxes two. >> it's a pretty striking and

strident argument that she is making there. it is the case that business owners pay taxes, the wealthy day packsess the people she is demonizing in that khreub ar clip are all paying taxes and probably the disproportionate amount of taxes that she is citing. so that is particularly a strident attack. this is who elizabeth warren is. remember she is making both i appeals in the order and on the campaign trail that has voters at 11% who are republicans. republicans are outnumbered 3-1. there are a lot of democrats and people in massachusetts on the left that are going to hear these arguments and sit back and nod their heads. bill: she is also talking about infrastructure investment. one of the big stories in boston was the big dig, how long it took and how over budget it was. in the end it worked out, man it took a lot of time and cost a whole lot of money.

what does it say about the fact that she's given a prime-time speaking role in september. >> i'm not surprised by that. look at the way the obama campaign has deseeded t decided to run their campaign. their job they believe is to get out the base, energize the base, elizabeth warren is somewhat of a rock star. there are many democrats running in swing districts try to appeal to the middle or center right, elizabeth warren doesn't have to do that. she can make unfiltered, una dulleft wing arguments, and i believe she is going to do that. bill: we'll see the way it goes between scott brown and elizabeth warren in

massachusetts. steve haze, than hayes. patti ann: the f.b.i. for the first time is admitting it had radical muslim cleric anwar al-awlaki in custody when he returned to america in 2002 but left him go. he was eventually killed by a u.s. drone strike in yemen. this new information was revealed in testimony before the house. >> the prosecutor at the time, regardless of whether a call with us made or not looked at the evidence and decided that there was not enough to be able to arrest that individual, as would be in any case that warrant would be drawn. i assure you the bureau if we could have incarcerated anwar al-awlaki we would have. >> mike pwaeurbg is a former cie intelligence officer and president of global security. in this instance anwar al-awlaki was flagged in the system, why

wasn't he detained? >> i think they are being genuine about saying what the outstanding warrant was. it's important to remember this was a year essentially after 9/11, it was october 2002. and what that mindset was like, what our authorities were doing. they were not shy about detaining suspects at the time. we also have to remember that anwar al-awlaki had yet to fully develop into what he became. so there was still an effort to try to understand who he was, what his influence was, what his network was like. and, you know, i think it's a different mindset right now. we've all kind of moved -- not moved past 9/11 but a lot of years have gone by and we have forgot what that mindset was like back then. if this fact we had had a strong case i would argue, yes there is no doubt they would have detained him and held him. patti ann: you also said that letting him go was a deliberate strategy to track his moves?

>> i think there was a combination of a couple of things. i think at that point when they looked and reviewed the warrant, trying to make a decision as to how in fact they would hold him there was also this realization that putting him back into the system operationally is a good move. what do you do? you then throw out a full surveillance on the target. you understand who he's communicating w the financial picture surround him, what his network is both in the u.s. and the middle west. from a strategy point of view it's actually a sound thing to do when you're still trying to figure out who and how information he is. we have to remember, we had eyes on osama bin laden in the early 90s. it wasn't as if we didn't know where he was, but there was no complete understanding, thorough understanding as to what he would become. i don't think -- because now with the fort hood shooting and the report that came out recently, this is all sort of front and center saying, oh, my god, we had anwar al-awlaki. of course after the fact we know that anwar al-awlaki was

influenc influential and the shooter in fo fort hood but it was a different time. bill: anwar al-awlaki was the first american would be placed on the c.i.a.'s capture or kill hreurbgs the very first american. and the first american citizens intentionally targeted in a u.s. drone strike taken out in september of 2009. he has been tied to at least 26 different cases related to tere rims. eight minutes past. patti ann: troubling new details emerging about colorado movie murder suspect james holmes, his psychiatrist reportedly warned the aou university of colorado in june that she was concerned about his behavior. no action was taken because he dropped out of school. a month later he allegedly opened fire during the midnight showing of the batman shooting and that left 12 dead and 58

injured. bill: fox news alert, awaiting a key decision at the united nations. will the u.n. make a move against syria? the general assembly once again trying to reach a resolution on what to de to do about the crisis. these are new images that we are seeing in "america's newsroom." just last month russia and china vetoed a sanctions against syria. what do we know about this proposed solution and what could it do, david lee. >> reporter: we learned yesterday that a vote in the general assembly on a saudi arabia sponsored resolution because going to be postponed friday morning. that vote was supposed to take place at 10:00 this morning. it has been postponed 24 hours. we have discovered the reason y. the original draft resolution in the general assembly called for syrian president bashar al-assad

to step down. we understand now that the latest draft resolution has had that text rephofpltd it n removed. it no longer calls explicitly for bashar al-assad to step down. this was an attempt to try to muster as many votes as possible in favor of this resolution. very quickly it also calls for the withdrawal of syrian troops and heavy weapons from populated areas, bill. bill: david lee miller, watch that for us. the general assembly is trying to put pressure on the security council for the work it did not complete. what's next patti ann. patti ann: chic-fil-a around the country packed with people, massive tkpwroudz turn out to support the ceo who spoke out publicly about gay marriage. supporters say this is not about his beliefs. >> this is about an individual who has religious beliefs, based on not his own personal beliefs, but actually the beliefs of his faith and he is only expressing that. >> herman cain, former

presidential candidate and successful business owner himself joins us live to react. bill: disturing new details what the white house knew about solyndra and when they knew it. new reports show they knew full well the company was going to go under before it was given half a million dollars in loans. patti ann: the chinese bat bad chinese bat badminton team tossed for cheesing? what they are saying about the allegations. [ male announcer ] it's a golden opportunity...

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patti ann: and apology for cheating at the olympics. china's badminton coach says is to blame after his two top players were booted for not playing to win. the chinese pair among eight players disqualified for losing games on purpose so they could get an easier opponent in the next round. teams from south korea and indonesia also ejected. today the international olympic committee asked the three countries to determine if coaches or trainers should also be punished. bill: have you seen some of that? i watched some of it last night. patti ann these are world-class athletes, right, they can hit

that at 240 miles an hour. they were standing three feet from the net, hitting the ball, the serve into the net. a total disgrace, what they did in london. but it's a great game, by the way, as all th the backyard badminton folks know it's a great game. massive crowds showing support tore chic-fil-a have come under fire after the owner expressed that he was not for gay marriage. many say it's free speech. >> i have scores of friends that are gay. they don't all agree on the marriage issue either. for me it's not a gay issue or not. >> we support any businessman, he has the right to sell anything in the 13th amendment and 1st amendment to do this. bill: i want to bring in herman

cain, current krerbg owner of cain tv dom. former presidential candidate. how are you. >> i am great. hip, hip hooray fear free speech. bill: what is your take and this controversy now? >> first of all, dan kathy stated that he favored traditional marriage. he didn't attack gays or that side at all. secondly, i am thrilled that the american people voted with their feet and they went to chic-fil-a to say they will not be pull lead by politicians or threats, and so this was a huge, public statement on behalf of free speech and free choice, and something else that the american people were saying, we are not stupid, and we will not be bullied. i am thrilled at how the public reac react towed this.

>> you said they broke staeuls records. staeuls recordbroke sales yesterday. the mayor sweet, 4 40 chic-fil-a is 40 miles away, and i strongly say they try not to come any closer. what are we seeing from san francisco and the mayors there? >> it is ridiculous. they can't tell their residents how to think, or what to do. think about this. he also, along with rahm emanuel just said we don't want those jobs in our city. think about that. dan kathy told me himself last night, because i did chat with him on the phone, they had record sales yesterday. here is another thing that a lot of people aren't thinking about other than blowing it out of proportion, they are going to take those record sales, which

will generate record profits and put more money into the charitable causes that they believe in, and so it's a win, win for chic-fil-a, but it's also a win, win for the workers there and a win, win for the mayor. the mayor are trying to be bullies. bully politics. bill: i want you to listen to an african-american pastor. he held a press conference two days ago, he wasry. this is one clip that he had. >> it's a disgrace, it's the same thing that happened when i was marching for civil rights when they didn't want a black to come into their restaurant, they didn't want us staying in their hotel, now they are saying because we take a position they don't want us in their cities. bill: he went on a lot more than that. i mean he pointed a finger at the president, barack obama, called him judas because he changed his position on gay marriage he alleges. how does this all factor in, do

you believe? >> well i think that, first of all, these mayor speaking out was a continuation of pandering to the gay community, and they acted as su surrogates for the administration by doing this. it had backfired. the american people will not be bullied. reverend owens i have a lot of respect for because he stands on principal. he' principle. they are not saying you can't believe what you want to believe. unfortunately you have politicians that want to tell us what to believe. american people are not stupid. i have a video series on cain tv.com basically high lating that the american people are not stupid on a lot of issues and this is one of them. bill: how are you going to stopped tomorrow when the other side reacts? apparently they are going to stage a kiss in at several

chic-fil-a. are you going to say do whatever you want to do, it's their right to free speech. >> absolutely, it's their right. as long as they don't break any laws or don't prevent the chic-fil-a from carrying on business as usual they are free to do that. these why thi this is america. on the other hand they want to dictate the actions, behavior and beliefs of those that don't agree with them, and there in lies the hypocrisy. >> the company said going forward we will leave the politics on game sex marriage to the people. >> dan was asked how he thinks about traditional marriage. this is a restaurant chain that has done business ever since its inception and they are closed on

sunday. now, duh, if they are closed on sunday it's part of their cult two, and guess what, that means that most of the people in the company are probably believe in traditional marriage. it's ironic that now he's going to be attacked for a belief that he has that really should have been very obvious, which goes back and proves the fact that this was politically motivated in order to pander to the gay community. bill: i know you went to chic-fil-a yesterday. i think you'll be back there today. we'll see how long the lines are today. >> i will be back there. bill: thank you for doing your first interview on this topic right here. herman cain. >> happy to do it, bill, thank you. bill: out of atlanta, patti ann. patti ann: the excop that keeps losing his wives could soon be a free man. we're awaiting a judge's decision on whether drew petersen's trial is a mistrial. >> the tea party has a message

for mitt romney. remember that texas senate primary runoff? more on that moments away. 0

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bill: 25 minutes past the hour now. toyota recalling nearly a million vehicles in the u.s. and canada. failed rear suspension sent ravs spinning out of control. caffeine could cause relieve from parkinson's. people who took caffeine disease showed a slight improvement. more study is needed on that. >> a lawyer for catheringe, a

hearing to make the cousin tv guardian of the children. patti ann: san bernardino is now the third city in california in recent weeks to file for bankruptcy, the move coming earlier than expected as city officials cram -bl to beat creditors to the bunch. can they bounce back? the city vallejo was in the same position three years ago and offered valuable lessons on life after bankruptcy. dan springer joins us live. what can cities learn from vallejo. >> reporter: it is difficult and expensive. city leaders also say it was una sraeud obl and allowe unavoidable and allowed them to get their house in order. vallejo was given its public employees way too generous

benefits, and when property values ta*pbd th tanked the county could no longer pay what it owed. while in bankruptcy the city negotiated new contracts with most of its workers drastically cutting healthcare and pension benefits. >> it's painful and ugly. but the beauty of bankruptcy lace everything out on the table, all your finances are wide open. there is nothing hidden think more. >> reporter: the gold-plated benefits are gone, no more free healthcare for life or retirement at age 50 with almost full pay, patti ann. patti ann: what is the impact of bankruptcy on the residents? >> reporter: they've come to expect a lot less from their government and they are doing more to help out. there's been no road and maintenance for five years, two fire stations were closed. police don't respond as quickly if at all. the department is down from 138 officers to 93 cops. foreclosures are still so common that there is an auction every day on the steps of city hall.

on the positive side voluntarism is pay occupy. 300 neighborhood watch groups formed. citizens do clean ups, code enforcement, even remove graffiti. >> the whole paradigm has changed in providing city services. now people are looking at new and different ways of providing the same services, which is good, because now we're looking outside the box. >> reporter: bankruptcy did wipe away $32 million in debt but defaulting on bonds payments means borrowing in the future will be next to impossible, patti ann. patti ann: dan springer live in seattle, thank you. bill: there are doubts about a trial. we are awaiting a judge's decision in the drew petersen matter. could the suspected killer walk out a free man based on a mistrial? patti ann: the solyndra scandal far from over. a shocking new report on the solar company's collapse. the warnings top officials reportedly ignored.

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bill: there is an investigation underway on this fox news alert. twtoo close for comfort. a terrifying close call that involved three airplanes at reagan international airport in washington d.c. 12 seconds, that's how close to disaster three jets came. the problem was this, an incoming storm forced in coming outgoing planes to change course to get around the storm. the problem is not everyone in the tower or the pilots got word of the traffic change. that is an issue. 12 seconds the difference. in the end it was okay. another alert, a brand-new report shedding light on the solyndra khr-ps and why. that is the solar company that filed for bankruptcy after receiving more than $500 million in government guarantees. we are learning that white house

budget director jack lew let the financing for the company move forward even though some of his analysts raised red flags about it. james rosen digging into this. what did you find. >> reporter: after almost two years of investigation, five congressional hearings and a review of more than 300,000 documents the republican majority staff on the house energy committee faults the owe baltimore a white house and other executive branch agencies for placing politics above the taxpayers interest and in so doing violating the law. solyndra was the california-based manufacturer of solar panels which was supposed to be a showcase of how the to sues alternative energy. the obama maryland menstruation in a desperate bid to prevent so linda's failure restructured the

loans with the company in a way to assure if the firm did go belly up, private inch investigators, including an obama bundler would get tpweurs crack to recover money from the firm's assets. the offers of management of office and budget was one of the teams that reviewed the company. an aid to lew urged that the government cut its losses rather than restructure saying if that happened the taxpayers would only lose about 140 million. lew did not follow that advice. reviews of the so linda application this report finds were rushed and the called of those reviews was negatively affected by political considerations namely the administration's desire to make public announcements of these events. treasury and omb staff believed that doe's decision to subordinate the government's interest to sue solyndra's investors was not proper and question whether this decision

was consistent with the energy act of 2005 which expressly prohibited subordination. they are asking how much the committee's probe cost taxpayers. they say this report does not have anything saying that anything helped obama donors. they will recoup 24 million of the 525 million spent on solyndra. bill: james rosen in washington on that, james, thank you. patti ann: a mistake in court could set drew petersen free. the judge in petersen's murder trial will rule today on whether to declare a mistrial because prosecutors botched the questioning of a witness. petersen is accused of killing his third wife, kathleen savio. there are three possible rulings the judge could issue today, he could toss the controversial testimony or declare a mistrial, which means they'd have to start all over or the judge could declare a mistrial with repblg diswhich means petersen walks

free with no retrial. prosecutors say they are confident that won't happen. >> we are confident the trial will resume tomorrow mourn. we have a full com come plea meancompliment of witnesses to fill the day. this is a complicated case. this is a case we started doing in 1982, a case of first impression. we'll be ready to go tomorrow. patti ann: let's discuss it with annmarie mch mcelroy and richard roth. yesterday prosecutors were questioning petersen's neighbor, and he indic petersen intimidated him by leaving a bullet in his driveway. they say the prosecution can't prove that petersen left the bullet. >> the prosecution never wants to be in the position where they are on their heels and making sure that the trial proceeds.

this comes on the heels of a mistrial being made with regard to opening statements. the prosecution is a little bit behind the eight ball going forward. the reality is it would be very unlikely for him to throw it out with repbl dis. he could say there will be a mistrial and start from scratch again, they are only two days into the trial right now. or he may throw out that testimony. if he throws out the testimony that will hurt the prosecution. this is a circumstantial case, they need every little bit of evidence they can get in right now and you don't want to lose this testimony. >> richard the prosecution says the defense opened the door to this bullet top nick thei topic in their own questioning. is there anyway the judge could decide, let's go forward. >> the judge could decide to go forward. but what the prosecutor has done in this case is nothing short of outrageous. you don't in open statement saying the evidence will show that mr. petersen actually had

hired a hitman when there is no evidence to show that. nor do you put before a jury evidence that a bullet was placed in the driveway when there -- you can't substantiate it. it taints the jury, it prejudices the jury. my belief is what's going to happen here is the judge will probably though the entire testimony out, which makes the prosecutors look very bad and puts a nice hole in their case. it's pretty strong what they did. patti ann: to that point making the prosecution look bad, the jury sees this back and forth going on with the judge. he was angry, he does order them out of the room for part of it, but then they know that testimony has been thrown out. marcia clark of the o.j. simpson case said it's all very damaging, it weakens the prosecution's authorityment do you agree wit. do you agree with that? >> absolutely. especially when you have a very difficult case like this. you can't put drew petersen at the scene.

it's a tough case for them at best. and so now when they are dealing with the jury potentially looking at them saying the judge doesn't like the prosecution, that is coming through apparently loud and clear, you know, that there are rulings against the prosecution that may put -- what they are being told by the prosecution is true or not put that into question in the jury's mind right at beginning. remember, all the defense has to do is show there's doubt. they need beyond a reasonable doubt. if the prosecution can't show beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty he walks. so if there is any doubt in the mind of the jurors, and this helps put doubt there, there is no question. this is a real problem for the prosecution, because if there is any doubt he's going to walk away and walk away from this murder and the reality is everybody knows the fourth wife is missing too. this is just a travesty if this guy just walks because of mistakes made by the prosecution. patti ann: so, richard if they just reject all of the witness'

testimony and move ahead, how damages is that to the case? >> i think it's damaging to the case. it does put a big home. it makes the jury realize what the prosecution was trying to do was wrong and inappropriate. what the prosecution will do next is try to put on statements from the third wife savio and the fourth missing wife, which are clearly hearsay. this could result in a mistrial. the prosecutor has to walk very, very gingerly here. there is a lot of evidence that they have that should not be admitted. if they try to sneak more stuff in i would not be surprised if the judge throws the whole case out. patti ann: there are certainly a lot of things out there that people are drawing conclusions on and the jury can't ha*e hear that. thank you for joining us. bill: this here is chilling new video of an alleged drunk driver slamming into two police cars on the side of the road. just check this out here.

police say they pulled over a suspected drunk driver when all of a sudden another car came crashing into all of them. what a sound that is. the driver who was reportedly drunk and texting has been charged. he's now awaiting trial. believe it or not in all of this no one was hurt, no one was injured, lucky for those cops, right? patti ann: serious allegations against governor romney. harry reid going to the media and passing along unsubstantiated claims about the governor, his father and his taxes. a senior adviser to the mitt romney campaign responds next. bill: a 65-year-old jewelry store owner refusing to be a victim here. we'll show you how this plays out. >> she is the one she felt her life and the lives of people inside the store were in jeopardy. she took an action that is maybe

not the best course of action but she did take an action that she felt was appropriate to protect those people inside that store. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter.

patti ann: a 65-year-old woman in california fends off a band of would-be robbers caught on surveillance tape. police say five armed men tried to loot her jewelry store but she pulled a pistol on them and started firing away. the suspects fell all over themselves trying to get out the door and then she ran after them. the suspects did get away in a white suv, but nothing was taken from the store, and no one was hurt. bill: taking off, right? mitt romney starts a new phase of his campaign today. in several states the issue will be called, strengthening the middle class, all about the economy, jobs and the future for america's foundation. meanwhile, the senate majority leader harry reid is doubling

down, and moments ago tri tripling down on governor romney, taxes and his father. we have a guest out of possible ton. welcome back to "america's newsroom." your timing is perts. momentperfect. moments ago on the floor of the senate harry reid said the following repeating comments he made in two previous interviews. the word is out he hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. let him prove he has paid taxes because he has not. your reaction? >> well, you know, bill, four years ago barack obama went to washington promising a new kind of politics, and instead his campaign is like a bottom less pit. every day they reach a new low. his charges are baseless and untrue. i would ask him one simple question. do you have no sense of decency,

is there nothing you won't do to bears and the office you hold in the name of dirty politics? mitt romney has gone above and beyond what the law requires in providing financial disclosure, we publish all that information on our website. it includes hundreds of pages of tax return information. he put out his 2010 return. waoes preparing the's pre mayoring to put out his 2011 return. it's two years of tax information, exactly what john mccain did when he was a candidate a few years ago. this is part of the obama campaign's policy of distraction. they want to distract people's attention from what really matters, the bad state of the economy. bill: he says, let him prove he has paid taxes because he hasn't. it appears harry reid is not letting go of this issue. this is the senate majority leader. i mean there is obviously something behind his comments to drill this out ever day and grab

headlines. now what is behind it? >> i don't think there is anything behind it. he hasn't produced any evidence. i'm telling you speaking on behalf of the governor that those charges are untrue, they are baseless and there is nothing to back them up. again, this reminds me of the mccarthy hearings back in the 1950s, and it was another son from massachusetts then, joseph welch who finally asked the question that should be asked of harry reid, which is, have you no sense of decency, sir? is there nothing that you won't do in the name of dirty politics? i think it's just shameful, and of course it's directly contrary to the new kind of politics that barack obama promised the country four years ago. bill: you call this dirty politics, this is not a political hack, or even a political operative, this is the senate majority leader. >> that's why it's so sad, bill. bill: i know you talked with our own carl cameron back in poland

before coming back to boston on the overseas trip, does governor romney plan on addressing harry reid directly, perhaps today. >> governor romney is in colorado today talking about the issues that is in the front of the of the voters. that is the bad economy. gdp is shrinking, job gains are weak evening. retail sales are declining. manufacturing for the second month in a rojas do a a row has kedeclined. mitt romney wants to help our small businesses and this president has no plans whatsoever. he has rehash proposals that have already been tried and failed and the congress is not willing to do them again. all he has is empty rhetoric. but empty rhetoric does not create jobs, or create

opportunity. mitt romney is the right person to get this economy moving, and he has the right plans. bill: it all appears that the economy is issue number one that will decide the middle. the independent voters in the 10, 12, 13 states. in 13 of them today you start a program called strengthening the middle class. what is that theme all about sth. >> again, the middle class is the group of people that have suffered the most in this bad obama economy over the last four years. we have 23 of our fellow americans who are out of work or under employed and mitt romney has a detailed plan with a number of proposals in the areas of energy, education, building stronger trade with other nations, cutting the deficit, and being a champion for our small businesses. what is interesting today, bill, is that he's going to be debuting something we call the presidential -bgd built scorecard, because four years

ago in denver when barack obama accepted the nomination of his party for president he says the way we measure progress is by how many people have a good job that pays the mortgage and whether family incomes are rising and on all those measurements the arrows are going down. bill: i've got to cut you off. eric spernstrom, thank you. you know whai love about this country? trick question. i love everything about this country! including prilosec otc. you know one pill each morning treats your frequent heartburn so you can enjoy all this great land of ours has to offer like demolition derbies. and drive thru weddings.

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patti ann: california firefighters are gaining ground on a fast-moving wildfire after losing the battle to save a two-story home sitting in the danger zone. helicopters and air tankers joining efforts to contain the so-called volcano fire. it erupted yesterday morning in a rural area about 90 miles southeast of los angeles. adam housley is live now from our l.a. bureau. adam, hi, so what went down >> reporter: yeah, quite dramatic pictures. we can go right to the pictures

again and show you the one house that firefighters lost. the good news is they did save a lot of homes in the area. you had crews clearing brush to try to knock down the fire danger in the area, one of the pieces of machinery got caught up with barbe barbed wire which sparked this fire that raced uphill sides. a lot of homes were surrounded by flames. firefighters did an amazing job knocking the flames down. a lot of homes had clearance of a hundred yards or so which saved a lot of homes. the one that burned down may have got a shark in the heaves and it went up like a match stick. it shows how tender dry the west is. we covered fires in colorado, montana, idaho, arizona, california's fire season has not even started yet, this is not one of those wind-driven fires that the winds cause, that comes in october and november. this shows how dry it is in the west and how busy firefighters have been, and we have several

months before the rains return. patti ann: adam housley live,. bill: you win to gold, silver, bronze, patti ann, right. patti ann: oh, sure. bill: you may be shocked to hear how much guys like michael phelps will pay after winning those medals. tax man. ♪ [singing]

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the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. bill: did you know our american himpyian champions will pay the taxman for their victory? how much will they cough up? 9,000 for gold. 5,000 for silver and 3500 for bronze. senator marco rubio is pushing for tax elimination act which would exempt our