storm. so this could be certainly something we need to watch in more ways that on one. jenna:. martha: we will with your help. jd thank you very much. bill: first-hand account, starting sunday. martha: happening now is getting started right now. thanks for being here everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow. >> we'll take it from here new stories and breaking news. jon: new testimony in the drew peterson trial. what the jury knows now. also the republican convention set to start in tampa monday with an unwanted guest fast approaching. we are tracking isaac. the latest on the storm's path with a bit of a change as you heard from janice dean. plus contaminated can't hopes pulled from store shelves after a deadly

salmonella outbreak. it is all "happening now." jon: this, brand new polls showing the presidential race getting tighter in critical swing states. hello to arthel negative develop -- neville 4 today governor romney is on the campaign trail in another battleground state. out west, new mexico, where five electoral votes are up for grabs. 270 needed to win the white house and swing states like new mexico and nevada could very well determine the outcome in november. jon: and we just received fresh polling from three other big swing states. let's start with florida. 29 electoral votes at stake there. a new quinnepiac, cbs news,

"new york times" poll, shows a statistical dead heat in the sunshine state. governor romney gaining ground since august 1st when the president led by six points. in which is, home of vice-presidential candidate paul ryan the race also neck-and-neck. president obama leads 48-47% over governor romney. that lead has narrowed since the selection of congressman ryan. wisconsin offers 10 electoral votes. in ohio. with 18 electoral votes, the race remains unchanged from early august. president with a six point edge over governor romney. there are new dueling ads from the two campaigns, both touch on jobs. one features a former president. >> this election to me is about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper income people and go back to deregulation. that is what got us in trouble in the first place.

>> when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks misleading, unfair and untrue. there was no evidence that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. jon: let's talk about all the latest election developments with bill kristol, editor of "the weekly standard" and a fox news contributor. first to that obama campaign ad utilizing former president bill clinton. does that help him, bill? >> i'm not sure it does unless the romney plays into the narrative. they want to go back to the policies that did get us in some trouble. here is where the paul ryan pick makes such a difference. ryan is forward-looking young republican. he wasn't part of the bush administration. he has a agenda for the future. it is no accident in the polls you showed, jon, romney-ryan ticket tightened the race since ryan joined the ticket. president obama admitted this last night. i don't think that ad making romney-ryan seem like the

terrible old days of the bush administration will be very effective unless romney let's himself be caricatured with that. jon: we'll get to that reference in a couple minutes but let's take a specific look at those states. florida and wisconsin getting tighter according to this latest "quinnipiac university poll" poll. here are the numbers in florida, 49-46 president obama with a slight lead over governor romney. same thing in wisconsin. but in ohio, 50-44, president obama leads go 50-44 according to this latest quinnepiac poll. ohio is always a bellwether state. do you expect it will get any tighter in ohio? >> i think those are interesting numbers. florida, governor romney went there on monday after picking ryan. ryan went saturday with a dramatic event in villages with his mom. they cut the lead in half in

florida with seniors and ryan budget and medicare reform agenda was supposed to hurt him. that is good sign and really suggests that these concerns about the ryan pick was going to kill the romney ticket with seniors were misplaced. wisconsin, obviously ryan a big favorite. i think wisconsin is now in play. ohio has been a tough state. i think it is interesting contrast with wisconsin. in ohio, the republican lost a referendum last november to reform union dues and the treatment of public sector unions. in wisconsin, governor walker won that referendum this year. i wonder if romney is hurt by general sense in ohio, less favorable sense about the republican reform agenda in wisconsin. hard to win without ohio. you could do it with colorado, wisconsin and iowa. those states look dead even. jon: look what you referenced earlier. the reference the president made last night you say shows he is feeling some heat. he was appearing at a big nba fund-raiser in new york. had a bunch of nba legends

there and he use ad basketball analogy. we understand there is no tape of this speech but here is what the had to say. we are in the fourth quarter. we're up by a few points, refering to his campaign but the other side is coming strong and they play a little dirty. we've got a few folks on our team in foul trouble. we have a couple injuries. and i believe they have got one last run in them and i'd say there's about seven minutes to go in the game. you keyed in on the first line said they are coming on strong. what do you think he means about that. >> that is pretty startling admission by president obama. when ryan was picked 10, 12 days ago, every democrat said this is the end of it. this is disaster for the president obama. president obama follows polling very closely. he gets update every night. he knows republicans are gainings, not falling back. why would they be gaining? what good news for republicans? trivial bad

news with todd akin. the good news is the fundamental thing that changed dynamic of the race is the ryan pick. i think that is an interesting admission by president obama. they're the ones playing defense. they're trying to hang on in the fourth quarter. i think the key here for the romney-ryan campaign to keep doing what has been working for the last 10, 12 days. be on the offensive, have a positive forward-looking message and make the election a big choice. as someone makes me nervous hoping romney campaign may have tendency when the bass ball team does, bring couple guys off the bench. have a great run with fast break offense, pressing defense and suddenly when they're two points down and about to catch the other team they say, that was fun of the now we'll go back to our cautious half court game. i'm a little worried that the romney campaign has a little tendency to go back to the cautious half court game, hey, economy is not too good. get back to endless criticisms of obama which are legitimate but people know that already. the endless focus on the fact there aren't jobs

instead of really framing a as big choice for the future which is what they have been doing effectively in the last 10, 12 days as president obama acknowledged last night. jon: then, taking about criticisms of the president, there's a front page article in the "new york times" about the excelon corporation which is the president's utility and that it supplied electricity to his home there in chicago but it turns out excelon executives have had pretty close ties to the president. >> yeah. and look, i mean this is legitimate things. nice to see "the new york times" looking at one or two things problematic for president obama. i think at end of the day this election turns on the big choice of the future, the big budget choice. the choice about the size and scope of government. the choice about religious liberty. awful lot of choices ahead that hinge on one election. fine to have other groups raise issues about the obama administration. certainly crony capital system a legitimate complaint but i think romney does best when put in the biggest possible contest and context of a choice of two

futures for the country. jon: bill kristol from "the weekly standard." bill, thanks. >> thanks, jon. arthel: well there are new developments in the "fast and furious" gun-running investigation. a senior atf firm is now accused of double-dipping. bill mcmahon is on paid leave from his government job that pays six figures. but he may be pulling down more than that and republican lawmakers want to know why. peter doocy live from washington with details. hi, peter. >> reporter: jpmorgan is apparently paying william mcmahon $100,000 a year to direct security in the philippines while on leave from the atf but still collecting checks from the atf that add up to 100,000 a year. two republican lawmakers, senator chuck grassley and congressman darrell issa said someone made a special arrangements for mr. mcmahon. atf employees typically can't have two jobs and they want to know who made the exception. >> this is somebody who our reports said perjured

himself before the congress. we don't understand why jpmorgan would hire somebody lied to congress and will probably be referred for criminal prosecution. we certainly don't understand why atf is not only paying this person, bill mcmahon, but they're also adding to his pension. >> reporter: the atf is actually using the rule which prohibits their officials from employment outside the agency to sue a former undercover agent and whistle-blower jay dobbins on your screen because he wrote a book and when dobbins heard about mr. mcmahon's double-dipping he said, wait a minute. atf and doj are suing me for alleged violations outside my employment agreement while at the same time sanctioning mcmahon to work full time outside of atf? mr. mcmahon is one of five people directly wlamed for the failure of operation "fast and furious" in a congressional report. last summer he said he knows he messed up. >> as atf senior executive in charge of the west region i share responsibility for

mistakes that were made in the "fast and furious" investigation. the advantage of hindsight, the benefit of a thorough review of the case, clearly points me to things that i would have done differently. >> reporter: arthel, the atf confirms mr. mcmahon is still an employee of theirs but they won't confirm any other details because this is a personnel matter. back to you. arthel: steve, thank you for that report, new testimony in the drew peterson trial. the witness for the prosecution who says the former cop wanted his third wife dead. plus we are tracking a huge tropical storm. isaac is heading straight for the site of the republican national convention. it could hit florida as a hurricane. what's coming up? you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more pcessed flakes look nothing like natural grains.

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jon: we are days away from a dark milestone for the u.s.

economy. the national debt clock quickly ticking toward the 16 drol trillion mark. how did we get so deeply in debt and how significant is the number. doug mckelway looks at it live from washington. doug? >> reporter: how did we ever get into this mess? anybody that balances a checkbook, the united states is spending more money than it makes. expenditures outpace revenues. debt spending exceeded recent administrations but exponentially worse under the obama administration. under the reagan administration, 1.6 trillion added in debt in eight years. bush 41, 1.46 trillion added to the debt in four years. clinton administration, 1.56 trillion added to the debt in eight years. went up further in the george w. bush administration. which prompted then presidential candidate barack obama to lay into president bush for irresponsible deficit spending. >> the way bush has done it over last eight years, is to

take out a credit card from the bank of china, in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion for the first 42 presidents. number 43 added 4 trillion dollars by his lonesome. so we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. $0,000 for every man, woman and child. that is irresponsible. it is unpatriotic. >> reporter: but now under president obama, the nation has been running deficits over a trillion dollars every year. now the debt clock knocking on the door of $16 trillion. >> if lawmakers do not reduce the deficit sharply in 2013, perhaps because of the near term economic consequences, they will need to reduce later. at some point we will need to adopt policies that require people to pay significantly more in taxes,

accept substantially less in government benefits and services or both. >> reporter: if a lame-duck congress and the president are unable to resolve the expiration of the bush era tax cuts after the november elections, what some are calling "taxmageddon", elmendorf says the nation will be thrown into another recession. jon? jon: sobering numbers there. doug, thank you. arthel: we have a fox news weather alert. the national weather service issued a new alert on tropical storm isaac which is gaining strength in the caribbean right now. a hurricane warning is in effect for parts. dominican republic and haiti. of course all eyes are on tampa which is preparing for 50,000 people to arrive for the republican convention there. now for the possibility of isaac hitting the city at hurricane strength. steve triggs the is communications manager for orange county and joins me live on the phone. steve, first of all even if it doesn't hit hurricane

strength we're still talking about a tropical storm which will produce high winds and flooding. what are you doing in preparation? folks in florida what to do. but you have 50,000 out of towners. what do you do in a few days? >> that is a quite a challenge. they would have to come up the i-4 corridor into the orlando area. the good news we have 140,000 hotel rooms here, although many are filled at the moment. we have a huge "star wars" convention in town this week that would be our challenge. what we're doing here in orange county right now is just preparing. we're doing 120 hour checklist. that involves a lot of checking of drainage wells, hot spots that we know about. we've got about 35,000 sandbags ready if needed. but the housing all these people coming up the i-4 corridor, that would be a heck of a challenge. arthel: that is a big challenge. i didn't realize you got ls ateos a city opleeading thata i'not sre howou're i'm suoueryi to

figure out a conngency plan for tha steve,ing o the cricisms of hurricane kaina s theay m at th tiook lo t pu th in terms of tting peop out ohe city. atl you b ppared orureae prepar, guess what, republicans i'm sorry but we can't do this convention here in tampa? >> that would be a call for the mayor of tampa to make. our mayor of orange county, teresa jacobs would be more on the receiving end of folks leaving the tampa area to come up here to orlando, probably to shelter. the good news this isn't our first rhode crow. we had three back-to-back hurricanes in 2004 and are quite familiar with how to deal with those. many members of the team on board then are still here. arthel: and steve, finally before i let you go, you mentioned folks coming down to tampa. would you, would there be a situation where you would just ward them off and say turn around, detour, don't even head this way? >> well, we're a sheltering county traditionally. since tampa is on the coast

and we're more inland, we would be sheltering county for any storm that would hit tampa bay and or coming in on the east coast through like the kennedy space center area. we're familiar with that. we know how to do it. if we have to open shelters, we have many schools we work with that we could do that here. major university of central florida is here. have options. let's hope it doesn't come to that. arthel: we'll all keep our fingers crossed. thank you very much for your time this morning. >> you're welcome. arthel: a lot of attention is on the sunshine skyway bridge. there is concern how it will hold up in a storm. the bridge, spanning tampa bay, has a history of trouble. back in 1980 you may remember a freighter ship, the length of two football fields, battered by strong winds smashed into the bridge collapsing a roadway. greyhound bus, six cars and one pickup were sent tumbling into the water. 35 people were killed. only one man survived the 150 foot fall. now the new bridge opened in 197 with four lanes of traffic on a single span.

it's structure is hollow concrete, much stronger than the steel of the old skyway. jon: well the fda pinpoints the source of a deadly salmonella outbreak. a look at the can tell hope farm taking the blame. what you need to know about this recall. thousands of hospitals could soon face stiff stiff penalties as as far as the president's new they will care law. what could mean for patients on medicare. we've worked hard to keep it. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help people and businesses who were affected, and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open for everyone to enjoy -- and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. we've shared what we've learned with governments and across the industry so we can all produce energy more safely. i want you to know, there's another commitment bp takes

just as seriously: our commitment to america. bp supports nearly two-hundred-fifty thousand jobs in communities across the country. we hired three thousand people just last year. bp invests more in america than in any other country. in fact, over the last five years, no other energy company has invested more in the us than bp. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. today, our commitment to the gulf, and to america, has never been stronger.

>> right now the food and drug administration announcing a formal recall on some cantaloupes produced in indiana, this after a farm in the southern part of the state was link today a deadly salmonella outbreak. rick folbaum with more. >> they're not saying that this

is the only farm where the contaminated cantaloupes came from, only that it could be one of perhaps several farms. anyway, the farm has recalled its melons, they're no longer on store shelves. it's called chamberlain farms in owensville, indiana, and this is after cantaloupes sold to several different states including illinois, missouri, kentucky and iowa. the centers for disease control and prevention says 178 cases of salmonella linked to cantaloupes have been reported in 21 different states. two people have died, 62 others hospitalized. there's no word on what may have caused the contamination, but you may remember a listeria outbreak that killed 30 people after eating cantaloupes from a farm in colorado that inspectors said wasn't sufficiently cleaned. people are urged to throw away any cantaloupes they bought anytime since early july if those could have come from tarps

in -- farms in southwestern indiana. jon: more than 2,000 hospitals across the country soon will face penalties under the affordable care act. hospitals with, quote, excess readmissions could lose some of their medicare reimbursements. jonathan serrie is life from atlanta -- live from atlanta with a look at that. what kind of hospitals are we talking about here? >> reporter: according to a kaiser health news analysis, these penalties are going to be affecting hospitals across the boards, even some such as massachusetts general. some physicians fear the penalties will have a disproportionate impact on safety net hospitals that treat patients with limited access to primary care as well as academic research hospitals that take on difficult cases. >> often these kinds of institutions take care of the most sick patients. they're sent patients by other hospitals because of specific expertise that they have. so perhaps it shouldn't be

surprising that some of the nation's best hospitals do have slightly higher readmission be rates compared to ore hospitals -- other hospitals. >> they take into account the relative illness of the patients that are coming into a hospital, so if safety net hospitals are caring for patients that are generally sicker, that's going to be accounted for by the measures. what i think is really remarkable is how well many safety net hospitals do on the readmission measure. >> reporter: now, these penalties are intended to give hospitals a financial incentive be to focus on the quality of care they give patients instead of the quantity of procedures they provide. jon: when it comes to readmission rates, how much control do hospitals have over that? >> reporter: that's something that's being debated by the medical community. in so many cases the patients that come back to these hospitals are patients who haven't taken prescribed medications or patients that aren't following through on

recommended diets and outpatient treatments. listen. >> there's a real question and a real heavy debate about whether it's fair to hold the hospital responsible for that. medicare's answer has been that this is really the problem overall with the health care system, is that no one's ever in charge. and so they've decided to tell the hospitals like it or not, your fault or not, you're in charge. >> jordan rowe reports that hospitals are already trying to improve the way they follow up with patients after they're released from the hospital. jon? jon: jonathan serrie live from atlanta, thank you. >> a surprising new study shows the size of the middle class dropped sharply over the last decade bringing a decline in wages and standard of living for many americans. so what impact could it have on the election? also, a new warning about the dangers of a dietary supplement used to treat arthritis. the fox news medical a-team is here with a closer look. ♪

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office saying all this could put the brakes on a fragile recovery, bringing you peter barnes. peter, them are some strong words. >> reporter: that's right. the cbo sees the deficit falling to about $640 billion next year from more than a trillion dollars this year in this new report released yesterday, but that's mainly because it assumes that we will fall off the fiscal cliff, that the bush tax cuts will expire for everyone on schedule at the end of the year and that the tough spending cuts you talked about will kick in at the same time. that will cut deficits by with about $500 billion for the year, and the cbo says that will cause a significant recession next year with the economy contracting by about 3% in the first half sending unemployment back up to 9% and costing two million jobs. >> i think what we see coming for next year under current law, um, is very large amount of

fiscal tightening, a larger reduction in the deficit relative to gep than any year since 1969, and that is a sufficiently large shock, negative shock to demand for goods and services next year to push the economy into a significant recession. >> reporter: but the report also said that once that recession is over, the fiscal cliff would help cut deficits sharply over the next decade from about 7% of gdp now to about 1%. back to you. >> peter barnes, i know you'll be watching it all closely. thank you. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters, and right now we're taking a look at a new study that shows the middle class shrinking drastically over the last decade. a report finds americans' net worth plunging since 2001 with lower wages and declining standards of living. what does all this mean when you

project forward to the election coming up? a pew research poll finds 52% of middle class voters say president obama's policies would help the middle class in a second term. 39% say they would not. of that same group, 42 % say governor romney's policies would help. let's talk about it with angela mcglowan, margie o'meara is a democratic pollster and president of momentum analysis llc. to you first, margie. who do voters blame for the situation of the so-called shrinking middle class? >> well, the pew report really asks quite a few questions about this, and they number one blame congress. they also blame big banks and corporations, and they also blame the bush administration more than they blame the obama administration. the bush administration gets 44%, blame them. obama, i think it's 34. and we just wrapped up, my firm wrapped up a series of focus groups with swing walmart moms,

and say they a lot of the same things from this pew report, a lot of the same struggles and also a lot of the same lack of blame for the obama administration. feeling that he inherited a real economic crisis. jon: all right. so, angela, is it, is it the fault of the congress that the middle class appears, according to these numbers, to be shrinking? >> well, look, it's no question that we have a dysfunctional congress, and the approval rating of congress is very, very low, but you also have to look at the failed obama policies. if you look at the stimulus packages and, jon, again, it's all in the messaging. with this presidential election, whoever gets out the best message dealing with what margie just said, dealing with the fact that these walmart moms still blame the bush administration. so it seems to me that the negative campaigning is working, so romney and ryan have to get out there and do advocacy and get the truth out there. but to get back to obama's failed policies, you've had a $787 billion job stimulus plan

that failed. we even, congress passed a $26 billion stimulus plan for states, for states' jobs, and that failed. and we've had a mull by -- multibillion auto bailout that we don't even know. >> [inaudible] >> i'm sorry? >> but voters don't like the policies either. there was a poll showing they trust obama more than the republicans taking on medicare, there's a lot of polling that people don't support giving tax breaks to the super wealthy while 95 president --95% of americans pay more. >> those are obama policies that failed the american people. he was the one who said he would fix this economy that he did inherit from bush, but all of his plans have not worked, they've failed. >> but the economy was in -- the economic crisis started in 2008 before obama took office, voters

don't buy the argument that obama made the economy worse -- >> i don't believe that. >> -- that everything was fine until he took office. the economic -- the failed policies of the bush administration are what got us into this mess. it's a fact that it started in 2008. >> let's look at the fact that we don't even have an energy policy, and gas prices still increasing, people living from paycheck to paycheck. i think once republicans get their core message out, paul ryan gets his core message out, mitt romney, i think those polls will change. look, they're neck and neck right now. >> you're absolutely right that people are really struggling. the pew polls absolutely shows that, my work has shown that, walmart moms feel that, a lot of americans feel that. and when you have republicans talking about tax cuts and job creators, that's their language, not mine. you have a ryan plan that would end pell grants and end food for hungry kids, then you're talking about a policy that's not for real americans. >> when you have the cbo that's

nonpartisan stating that if you don't extend those bush tax cuts, we will have $500 billion worth of tax hikes, that's not going to create a more prosperous america. that's going to put more people in the poor house. so, again, we need to get our message out. jon: doesn't the argument come down to, you know, does government create jobs, or does business and private industry create jobs? >> government protects consumers. it is capitalism, it is the free market that creates jobs. the only proven ways to reduce above te and -- poverty and increase prosperity is through free markets, not big government. jon: all right. margie? >> we've had in 29 straight months of private sector job growth, really it's been a lot of states have had to cut back, and the government can has had to come back in jobs and investment that has caused some of the recovery to stagnate. there's been a study that looks at states where they've done reinvestment, where they

reinvested in education, infrastructure, roads, schools, bridges, and those states have done better than states that have said let's not spend, let's hold on to our money. those states have higher unemployment. so i it's really important to have a vision where government and business work together to create jobs -- >> they have not. >> and everybody's protected as opposed to just focusing on the job creators, which is what the republican plan is. that's their language. >> 42 months straight of unemployment over 8%. the president's first jobs stimulus plan cost more than fdr 's new deal, and that did better for our country. so, again, i believe once republicans get their message out, we will be victorious. jon: let's see, something's got to change to get this middle class back on track. margie and angela, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all right, jon. coming up, caught on tape, a man badly injured after a prank goes horribly wrong, and now the search is on for the be people inside the trunk there. police think the suspects are,

and did in the moments just before this hit and run. we'll tell you about that. also conventions typically give presidential candidates a bounce in the polls. will that happen again this year? and how long will any new momentum last? larry sabato looks into his crystal ball. 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.

>> right now police looking for the suspects behind a hit and run in arizona. take a look at this. 26-year-old stephen bright, he was struck by this truck while he and his brother were out for walk in the that i could. now, we're told that two teenager girls pulled alongside the brothers and threw water balloons at them before speeding off. but in the process they hit stephen, as you just saw. he sustained significant injuries to his hand and his

torso. investigators hope that anyone in the chandler area with information contacts them. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters. 75 days now til election day, only four days before republicans kick off their national convention in tampa, florida. right now preparations are figeers crossed that they don't have to move or curtail that convention. meteorologists are tracking the storm, we're keeping an eye on the political forecast, specifically the bounce presidential candidates often get in the polls right after the conventions. here to look into his crystal ball for us, larry sabato, director of the center for politics at the university of virginia. you say that bounces postconvention are usual but not universal. why is that, larry? >> you know, every convention is

different, jon. there are always political win winds, not necessarily hurricane winds, that create a bounce at a convention. sometimes there's no bounce because a candidate is already too well, like president nixon is this -- in 1972. other times, for example, john kerry in 2004 got zero bounce out of his convention, and it kind of predicted that he would come close but couldn't get over the 50% mark. so that's why we pay attention to the size of the bounce. and it will vary from romney to obama. i don't think they'll get the same size bounce. jon: you say that republicans, according to your research, republicans tend to get bigger bounces than democrats? >> yes. that is the average since 1964. republicans on average have gotten a 6% bounce out of their convention, democrats have gotten about a 4% bounce out of their convention. again, a lot of variability from

election to election, but we'll be comparing the bounce this year to that average over many decades. jon: and what about the two candidates this time around? you have kind of taken a look into the crystal ball, and you have some sort of predictions, don't you? >> you know, i'm going to be very surprised, jon, if we don't see the republicans getting larger bounce than the democrats. why? because people, believe it or not even after all thisr not, al ryan other than the basics. so if you have a convention which is an infomercial after all, it's a positive view of the party and candidates, and you've got a three or four-day infomercial about candidates who aren't known, you would think they would get more of a positive bounce out of that than an incumbent administration that's been in your living rooms every single night for four years. jon: but everybody says there are not a lot of undecided voters out there who are left to be swayed isn't that the case?

>> and that is the counterargument, absolutely, that voters are really dug in this year, and you won't have many switches, and there aren't enough undecideds to create a bounce. also let me add not fox, and not the other capable channels, but the traditional news networks are cutting back their coverage again. they're not covering the first night of the republican convention. i think the other nights are limited to an hour. right there, i think that will cut the bounce because fewer people are going to see much of the convention. jon: the national poll from real clear politics shows president obama at 46.5, mitt romney at 45.5, a one-point differential when you average all of the national polling out. clearly, this is going to be an election that's decided by the narrowest of margins assuming these numbers continue to hold, and something like a convention

could play a big part in that. >> absolutely. the conventions, the debates, there are lots of things that could make a difference. we keep saying is this election like 2004? is it like 1992? hey, it might be like 2000. but the bush/gore race when it all came down to 537 votes in one state. jon: yeah. is there more of a potential upside, though, for mitt romney? i mean, presumably people know president obama pretty well. he's been in office almost four years. >> yes. that's why i think the republicans in the end are get a slightly larger, maybe more than slightly larger bounce than the democrats do. they have more to learn about the two republican nominees for president and vice president. and what they're going to learn during a convention is basically positive. that's going to make them feel better about the ticket. jon: larry sabato there at the university of virginia center for politics. thank you. >> thanks, jon. jon: all right. so, of course, fox muse is your

home for complete coverage of the republican national convention leading up to and through the big event. do not forget the best political team anywhere will be live in tampa on monday, and we might add maybe the best meteorological team, too, because there are concerns about that drop kohl storm. >> i think it's going to be exciting. a florida highway turns into a runway, yeah, a pilot forced to headache an emergency landing. boy, we have the latest on that one. plus, a surprising new study on autism, how a parent's age could impact the risk and why that risk is not equal for both mom and dad.

>> well, the doctor is in, and he's talking about a new warning

from the fda on a dietary supplement meant to be a pain reliever from mexico. it's marketed to people suffering from diseases like arthritis, osteopro sis and even bone cancer, bring anything dr. manny alvarez, senior managing editor for foxnewshealth.com and a member of the fox news medical a-team. dr. manny, good to see you. >> yeah, this is important news. >> important news because, first of all, tell us why in terms of the side effects of this -- >> well, look, this is a supplement that's made out of the country, and supplements are usually not regulated by the fda, so there's very little manufacturing guidelines towards them. this particular product, basically, has three chemicals. one is a steroid, one is a muscle relaxant, and the other is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory. the side effects are huge when you put those together, and i'm talking about strokes and things of this sort. you don't get a rash, you get a stroke. >> yeah, or just a headache.

>> right. and people take these things without knowing that, indeed, they're taking a lot of medication that in our markets would be regulated by prescription. you know, you take the case of steroids, for instance. if you take this supplement over a long period of time and one day you decide to stop it cold turkey, well, you cannot stop steroids cold turkey because your body is used to it, and you can get almost a steroidal attack. so this points to the fact that, you know, we keep telling the american public, supplements could be very, very dangerous. you've got to look at the side effects. you've got to talk to your doctors, and you've got to know what you're taking at the end of the day. >> but for the most part these manufacturers who produce these supplements, they are held to be accountable and produce safe products. >> they're not! that's the whole key. >> you feel like they should be regulated by the fda. >> anybody nowadays if you have x amount of dollars, you can find yourself looking for companies that will put together all sorts of chemicals.

you can being pick it up in any magazine, you find a manufacturer to say, listen, can you call dr. manny's painkiller out of mexico, and i can come and form an infomercial and paid time on air, and then people say, well, this is flashy, manny is pushing this product. but at the end of the day these supplements really are very dangerous. >> i was just talking about this with my mom because i said why don't you take a supplement for your arthritis. she goes, no, i'm not mixing that with my medicine for that very reason. >> absolutely. >> you just don't know. >> a multibillion dollar industry, and it's out of control, and the federal government has to do something about it, and people have to be aware. >> dr. manny alvarez, thank you. good to see you as always. jon? jon: smart mom o, arkansas tell. the california governor declares a state of emergency in three counties, including one where a massive wildfire has destroyed

50 structures. a look at the battle to stop the fires still raging out west.

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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! >> reporter: hi, everybody, rick folbaum in the "happening now" control room. brand new stories we're working on just for you. of course, republicans want all eyes on the convention next week, just not the eye of tropical storm isaac which is moving steadily toward the convention spot. republicans' plan for just in case. as for the democrats, remember president obama's campaign of hope and change? the presidency was going to steer clear of partisan politics, but some say it's now worse than it's ever been before, and we're going to explore that straight ahead. also, we'll take you out west to northern california where massive wildfires have caused major, major damage, all of that and breaking news as the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. >> and hello, everybody,

"happening now," we are on the countdown. 75 days until americans go to the polls. i'm arthel neville in for jen from a lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the president and vice president at the white house today, they are not on the campaign trail. mr. romney is touting his energy independence plan in the battleground state of new mexico. that state went for mr. obama in 2008. it carries five electoral votes, and folks there have picked the winner in seven of the last eight presidential con tees. -- contests. paul ryan is on the trail today in north carolina. taking a look live at his event in fayetteville, that state also with a seven out of eight record in recent presidential elections. i carries 15 of the 270 electoral votes thesed to win the presidency. mike emanuel is traveling with governor romney, he joins us live from hobbs, new mexico. what's going on there, mike? >> reporter: hi, jon. yeah, and i've talked to some new mexico insiders who suggest that the race could tighten up with a strong energy reform

message from governor romney, so today he will make a pitch that states should have more independence to allow permitting of searching for oil and natural gas on federal lands. he will also say that states should have the right to explore for energy off their coastlines. for example, virginia would roof to do so. governor romney says we should make that happen, the goal being energy independence by the year 2020. i should note that out on the campaign trail governor romney frequently talks about energy. >> five things i'm going to do to get america on track again. let me tell you what they are. number one, i'm going to take advantage of our energy resources, our coal -- [cheers and applause] our gas, our oil, wind, solar, nuclear, we're going to build that pipeline from canada too! [cheers and applause] >> reporter: that, of course, a reference to the keystone xl pipeline which republicans have been pushing for. romney argues his energy plan would create some three million

jobs, so he's come here to an area which is big on oil and natural gas, hobbs, new mexico, to make his pitch, choosing a trucking and oil field services company to serve as the backdrop. now, on the other side supporters of the president say he's done plenty related to energy, and they say we cannot get you energy independence if you turn your back on renewable energy and on increasing gas mileage. clinton energy secretary federico pena says, quote: under president obama we are producing the most natural gas ever, the most oil in 14 years and are on track to double the amount of electricity we get from renewable sources like wind and solar. obviously, the romney team feels like the president has not done enough. we will hear from him in a short time, and as he tries to build momentum toward the republican convention. jon? jon: mike emanuel live in new mexico for us on the campaign trail. mike, thank you. >> accused movie massacre

suspect james holmes do in court in colorado. there is a hearing today on whether holmes' university records will be turned over to prosecutors. his defense attorneys are fighting the state's request. holmes is, of course, accused of killing a dozen people and wounding more than 50 others during a screening of the latest batman movie last month. alicia aacuna live at the courthouse with the details. >> this is about 100 pages of documents from the university of colorado where james holmes was a student. it does not contain medical records. the prosecution in the case is arguing that they should have access to these documents in order to properly prepare for another hearing next week in which they will also attempt to get a notebook that holmes sent to his university psychiatrist before the shooting at the theater. the judge has placed a gag order on the case, so few details about what all of these documents contain is being released. e university, meanti,, is not commenting on reportshat holmes had seen three different

mental health, therapists. the city aurora is working with the owner of the theater on figuring out what happened what to do next with the century 16 movie complex. the city has put out a survey to hear from folks what they they the future should be. some people think it should be closed down completely, others would like it turned into a memorial, and then there are those who would like to see at least part of it remodeled. a spokesperson said the city and theater are working together to gather input and thoughts to provide insight and help to guide the process. also moving forward the apartment building wher james holmes lived. the shooting suspect was officially evicted from his residence earlier this month, his belongings were picked up by his attorneys. this hearing gets underway here in about three hours. because the judge ordered this, we will not see james holmes in the court today because cameras are not allowed inside.

>> thank you very much for that update. jon: and right now a dangerous scene on folding in florida. a pilot forced to headache an emergency landing in the middle of a highway. rick folbaum is here with details for us. >> reporter: as if there wasn't enough excitement in tampa, florida, with the gop convention and the big storm heading their way, here's what it looked like this morning on i-75. you don't normally see an airplane in the middle of the highway like this. the pilot of this single-engine plane evidently needing to land, this median must have seemed like the best available option, and there you can see it. this was not a crash, it was a hard landing, though, and it was the pilot and two passengers onboard. thankfully, nobody hurt. we're told about 60 gallons of fuel may have spilled as a result of this, so they'll have to clean that up, but this could have been a real catastrophe. as you know f that pilot had not been able to get the plane down safely while avoiding all the cars on the interstate at 9:30

this morning when all this went down. if we get more information, we'll pass it along. jon: hats off to that pilot. rick, thank you. >> quick thinking, of course, right? jon: yes. >> four years ago remember president obama saying there is not a liberal america and a conservative america, there is a united states of america in back then he said his administration would tone down the partisan rhetoric rampant in washington. did that happen? we're going to ask joe trippi. jon: also, new developments about the deadlywet nile virus -- west nile virus. why is the outbreak this year so bad? >> and after a lawsuit over the use of metal bats has just been settled, is the sport any safer for your child? [ kate ] most women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take

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♪ jon: remember back four years ago when president obama was running on a campaign theme of hope and change? saying his administration would tone down the partisan rancor plaguing washington? take a listen to what he told the american people when he won the white house in 2008. >> and while the democratic party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. [cheers and applause] as lin on the said so -- lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies, but friends. though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. jon: now "the wall street journal" this an article today says almost four years later few

think those rifts have been healed, by most measures the capitol's divisive tone has grown worse, the rancor has bled into the campaign which has been marked by unusually negative rhetoric from both sides. joining us now, joe trippi, fox news contributor. so what about that? what about the promises that president obama made as he took office? >> well, jon, he -- then he got to washington d.c. and, you know, one guy coming here with those kinds of intentions didn't match up to the partisanship that had already broken out here. and, you know, you have mitch mcconnell starting off by saying that the entire thing is, his entire goal is to make sure barack obama's a one-term president, and the president be responds, and then we have an all-out partisan, polarizing war that we've seen it's still going down and going to play out through november of this year. i mean, i agree, it's got to be

one of the most -- it is the most polarizing time i can remember in the time that i've been involve inside politics, and that's dating back to the '70s for me. i'm dating myself. but it's really bad. jon: you hence mitch mcconnell, the republican minority leader in the united states senate. here's his quote and his affirmation of it as stated to bret baier. listen. >> one of your quotes there last year with you said, quote: the single most important thing we want to achieve is for president obama to be a one-term president. so how do you respond to those democratic lines of attack? >> well, that is true. that's my sing most important political goal along with every active republican in the country. but that's in 2012. jon: there are some things that president obama did to reach out to republicans, and we have a couple as document inside that article. he kept bob gates as the defense b secretary, he chose ray

lahood, a republican, for his secretary of transportation, jon huntsman, his bofd to china. but then on the downside there at the bottom of the page, his critics say he doesn't socialize with legislators, he spends his weekend on the golf course, but with friends who are out of politics. he doesn't engage in the sort of, you know, golf course negotiating that, say, a bill clinton might have done. and maybe key to this, the guy who was just on screen there, mitch mcconnell, the leader of republicans in the senate and john boehner, the speaker of the house, they didn't get a -- well, now the speaker of the house -- they didn't get a meeting with the president one-on-one for the first two years of his term. >> well, i think that, look, like anything, they did a lot of things right. ray lahood, gates, the appointments, huntsman ambassador of china, and i think, you know, socializing may not be the president's strong point, but he could have probably reached out harder to

the, to both baner and mcconnell. but, again, mcconnell saying i want to make sure you're not around in tour years. make no mistake -- in four years. make no mistake, the other problem we've got is it's a permanent campaign. if romney wins or obama wins, there'll be people already starting their capable for president -- campaign for president, you know, in 2016 and starting to whatever bills they oppose and things and fights that we see in washington are just going to start happening because of the 2014 race in senate and the house and 2016 -- it's permanent, and the cycle's now with both cable and the internet which, you know, i was a part of, starting that with howard dean in 2003 is, i think, driving it so that partisans on both sides is where you get your money and your grassroots support so you start the partisans on both sides in both parties are starting to drive which members of congress and

how, you know, and what they're responding to. and i think we're just seeing a very, very partisan time, and i think that obama meant it, president obama meant it when he said it, but he's coming to washington, um, and into that mix -- jon: well, you say that it is the most partisan time that you've seen, but, i mean, are you forgetting how it was back in the early to mid '90s when newt gingrich and the republican house were shutting down the government because of, because of their arguments with then-president clinton? >> no, i remember that time well, and i'd say that what's changed, you know, very similar partisanship at the top, but what's changed is now we've, we're under a different media time with different cable channels, and we have the internet where since, you know, the early 2000s people have been able to sort of swarm. you look at the todd aiken thing

that's happening right now. it's, you know, that in a different time may not have gotten the response that it gets in tweets and facebook and then played out on cable. this effects how people are governing and what's happening on the hill too. it's really -- and so in thatse- jon: a lot of things the founding fathers would never have imagined. joe trippi, we're going to have leave it there. >> thanks, jon. arthel: when we come back, a fox news exclusive. a group of federal agents suing homeland security secretary janet napolitano. what these immigration and enforcement agents are saying the secretary ordered them to do that was against the law. plus, a court hearing as alib shah aacuna reports, colorado happening there now, access to the university records of james holmes is what's on the docket. what could these documents have that could help prosecutors? our legal panel will take a look.

jon: a fox news alert, and moments ago ten agents from u.s. immigrations and customs enforcement filed a federal lawsuit against homeland security secretary janet napolitano. the agents say napolitano's orders on prosecute tore y'all discretion pretty much tell them to break the law and disregard the constitution. shannon bream has obtained a copy of the lawsuit, she joins us with more in this fox exclusive. >> reporter: we do have the first copy of the lawsuit filed by ten i.c.e. agents against homeland security secretary janet napolitano, also assistant secretary john morton. the agents allege that directives from both napolitano and morton essentially amount to orders not to do their jobs when

it comes to deporting illegal immigrants. agents are being forced, quote: >> reporter: the lead attorney in this case tells me the directives which call for prosecutorial discretion means most illegal immigrants must be simply released, he's equating this to the failed gun-walking operation fast and furious. >> in both instances the obama administration ordered federal law enforcement agents to break the law, to ignore the laws they were supposed to enforce, and in the case of the i.c.e. agents, to break laws that say you're supposed to deport people. >> reporter: secretary thol

low testified about -- novel he testified about these new directives. >> these policies promote the efficient use of our resources, insuring that we do not divert them away from the removal of convicted criminals by pursuing the removal of young people who came to this country as children and who have called no other country home. >> reporter: in this lawsuit the agents are asking a federal judge to block the directives in question saying they amount to an end run around congress and violate the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. jon? jon: shannon bream joining us live from washington with some interesting legal developments there. thanks. arthel: right now critical arguments are expect inside a colorado courtroom -- expected in a colorado courtroom. whether james holmes' university records should be turned over the prosecutors. holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a shooting rampage last month. bringing in our legal panel

right now to discuss this, faith jenkins is a former president, and john manuel lin is a criminal defense attorney. good to see both of you. >> thank you. arthel: john, we're talking about 100 pages of documents, 100 pages of records here. these are nonmedical. what could be in these records, these pages here, john, that could be so damaging that the defense attorneys, they don't want it admitted into court? in fact, they don't even want the judge to see the papers. >> i think the prosecution's looking for something relating to the intent of john holmes and what, if anything, was he trying to do or anything that he was trying to state in those medical documents that they're trying to achievement and. remember, they're trying to find out whether or not he told the psychiatrist, whether or not in his medical or school records he has any indication that he was going to commit this act, and if it's in those documents, obviously, the defense is try to try to preclude them from the trial. arthel: dr. fenton, in the

package that was sent to her, was a notebook from holmes. you tell me, how could the evidence inside of those pages boller is the case of the prosecution? -- bolster the case of the prosecution? >> well, it depends on -- i'm sorry, it depends on what's in that notebook. we're talking about these school records, why would they not be relevant? they could be relevant for any number of reasons, to show motive, reasoning, his state of mind. this is not a self-defense case, this is not a who dun it. really and truly the issue in this case is going to be his mental awareness, his -- if, indeed, he had some kind of mental illness. and here we're talking about getting access to records that show his grades, any essays he wrote, if professors are discussing them and their observations of him. all of those things are truly relevant. i don't see a basis for the defense to argue that they should not be turned over to the prosecutors here. arthel: john? >> well, the probative value has to outweigh the prejudicial effect.

faith might have a point, they may be probe ty, but will this preaj the defendant? obviously f be they introduce anything that he intended to do what he did at the movie theater, it's going to be prejudicial can, but it's a balancing test, and that's why the judge needs to make the call. >> just because something in a record may be bad, that doesn't mean they aren't allowed to be turned over. that's unfortunate for him, but prejudicial to who? we're not talking about a jury right now. we're talking about turning these records oh to the -- over to the prosecutors. arthel: guys, one week from today his psychiatrist, dr. fenton, is set to take the stand. john, i'll go with you first on this one, what do you think that dr. fenton could say that could be damning to the defense? >> well, obviously, arthel, if the psychiatrist says that john holmes told her he had an inclination or intention to

commit this act, that would absolutely be damning to the defense. and that's something also the judge has to weigh and balance whether or not that's going to be admissible. so i think that's what the defense fears. i think that's what the psychiatrist will testify to based on the reports that i've read. arthel: faith, let me talk to you about another case that's in the headlines, the drew peterson case, accused of killing his third wife. just yesterday, okay, knowing a coworker needed money to settle gambling and tax debts in 2003, drew peterson casually offered him $25,000 to find a hit man to, quote, take care of his third wife, kathleen savio. this is according to an associate who testified yesterday. how crucial, faith, is this testimony? >> i think that, i mean, you're talking about a circumstantial case here. there's really no direct evidence linking drew peterson to this murder, and the defense isn't even conceding it's a murder. obviously, this is a puzzle that the prosecutors are trying to put together.

they are putting forth witnesses every day and evidence every day as a piece of the puzzle x at the end of the day, they want jurors to say, you know what? this all fits together. we have a clear picture here of what happened and who did it, and it's drew peterson. so this individual, yes, he has a criminal record, he has a criminal background, but you don't go to them and try to hire them to be a hit man if they're a choir boy. you want someone who's out pushing the limits of authority. arthel: john? yeah, yeah, i get your point, faith. let me get john to jump in there before we go. john, it is really serious testimony there. does this pretty much crush the case for the defense? >> no, i don't think so. i don't think there's a lot of evidence in this case. this is a circumstantial case, and the prosecution's trying to show motive on behalf of drew peterson, but motive is not enough, and i think that the fact this guy has got a sexual conviction is going to be not enough. remember, this is the highest level of certainty required under the law. it hasn't been met, then the

jury's got to acquit drew peterson. >> we will keep an eye on that trial as well as the holmes trial. john, faith, good to see both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you. jon: we're going to take a look here at the vice presidential nominee on the republican side. paul ryan is in fayetteville, north carolina, right now. you might have heard the term "ryanism," it refers to his political belief, the congressman from wisconsin. governor romney's chosen running mate as well. what exactly is ryanism, and what does it mean for republicans and the nation? we'll get into. plus, tampa and the republican convention could get an unwell cam guest. -- unwelcome quest, isaac. how soon will this thing become a hurricane? coming up. insulin users test often. freestyle lite can help you test easy. they need a third the blood of onetouch ultra.

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jon: right now take a look at hobbs, new mexico. a republican presidential candidate mitt romney is there touting his plan for energy independence. five electoral votes up tore grabs in new mexico. it's a state that went for president obama? 2008 but the romney camp things they can bring it back into the republican column this time around. if you'd like to continue to watch the mitt romney speech we have it streaming for you live on foxnews.com. arthel: also just in, jon, we have new word now, just released

autopsy report saying that the two women killed in the train derailment in elliott city, maryland, late monday night, early tuesday morning were indeed crushed to death. that is just coming in. new autopsy reports there. the ntsa are investigating the case of that derailment. very sad, those two young women died in that crash. jon: fox news alert. florida governor rick scott says his state is making emergency preparations ahead of tropical storm isaac, a possible unwanted guest just four disout from the republican convention in tampa. isaac could become a hurricane by tomorrow as it barrels its way toward the u.s. east coast. florida in the crosshairs of any tracking model that you see. governor scott says the task ahead is to be prepared wherever isaac may strike the sunshine state. >> obviously we are hoping isaac doesn't hit florida, but we must take every precaution.

as governor of florida concerned about the potential impact anywhere, not just tampa. jon: speaking of tampa the mayor there says he's ready to evacuate the city expecting the arrival of thousands of convention goers. it's in a low-lying area near the water in downtown tampa. >> i don't think it's going to be a factor in this particular convention, but we are prepared in the event that it is. jon: convention organizers say they've been planning for the worst in the event a hurld stri. exactly where all the del tkpwrats would go andelegates would going, in what back up city is a secret. we are tracking the storm. rick weymouth has the very latest for us. >> reporter: the storm getting a little bit better organized. it's about a 40-mile an hour storm but we are starting to see indications at least on the satellite images that it's

looking a little better. solidly across the eastern caribbean, just to the south of the puerto rico area. let's look at the enhanced satellite. we do have another top box out there. that is joyce. all eyes on isaac. when th when the colors get darker that's when the storm strengthens a little bit. the winds at 40 miles an hour we will see a good threatening of this by tonight and tomorrow morning. the official track for this tomorrow morning 8:00am to the south of the dominican republic, making land full fall very close to the port au prince area in haiti. there is a lot of land mass and it certainly weakens the storm quite a bit. by the time we get to monday, possibly looking at a hurricane in towards the keys. the official track of this has nudged off towards the west a little bit. any time you have a bay city you're really at risk of a lot of water and a storm surge

moving up there. a storm coming from this angle does not pose the biggest threat to tampa. you'd have a bigger threat if the storm was coming in from the southwest. as far as any huge storm surges you probably won't be dealing with that. we will be talking about a lot of wind and rain in tampa. a category one storm, potentially a category 2 or 3 when it tracks off to the west and hits maybe the pensacola area on wednesday. jon: even arthel's home down of new orleans is certainly in the danger zone after that projection. thank you. arthel: definitely don't want that. jon: no, they don't. arthel: there is new information on a deadly outbreak of west nile virus in the u.s. right now there are four times the usual number of cases. rick folbaum live with more on this. rick, this is getting more serious as the days go by. >> reporter: art they will never before have so many cases of west nile been reported so early in the season. more than 1100 so far, 40 deaths, that has government doctors alarmed.

along with the fact that the number of cases being reported is also going up, 400 last week alone. we told you about spraying that is taking place in texas from the air and also on the. ground. there is no way to see how effective that is. texas has seen half of the cases in the country. why is it so bad? a mild winter followed by a mild spring followed by a super hot summer. it leads to more mosquito breeding which leads to people getting stung by them. wear insect repellent, long sleeves and pants especially between dawn and dusting. don't have any standing water on your property like buckets or kid depools. the typical west nile season lasts through september but this is anything but typical. we'll keep following it for you. arthel: thank you, my friend. jon: "happening now," paul ryan the congressman shaking up the race for the white house in the 12 days since governor mitt

romney tapped him to be his running mate. much has been said about his republican -- his brand i should say of republicanism, or some wall it ryanim. what does his thinking mean. we'll talk about it arthur brooks. automatic thor of the road to freedom how to win the fight for free enterprise. you say for the first time since ronald reagan republicans might find they have a national party centered on free enterprise and american greatness all because of the addition of a formerly relatively obscure wisconsin congress santa ana. >> the elevation of somebody like paul ryan who has very strong fuse on free enter price and american greatness is a big deal. the problem with the pep party from the point of view of a lot of conservatives in the last ten

years is it has drifted towards being a minor version of the democrats when you talk about government spending. it's administering the welfare state just a little bit more efficiently than the democrats. the democrats have been painting the republicans as if they were some sort of radicals. this has put the republicans in a terrible bind. ryan has basically disentangled this. he has real conservative principles but believes we need a safety net, believes that medicare shouldn't be abolished, should be saved in a responsible way and high school a real plan to do it. he also believes that the defense department, and america's very strong presence around the world is something we should be proud of and pay for responsibly and it's compelling to a lot of people. shaking up this race. but more importantly than that i think we're looking at the next ten years, given the fact this he's only 42 years old. we could have a conservative champion in america that people could get behind. i think it could change the republican party and that is actually arguably even more

monumental than what it does to this presidential race. jon: i remember ronald reagan saying something along the lines of, the proof of eternal life is a federal program. isn't it the truth that once government starts bestowing some of these benefits on people it's pretty hard to pull the plug? >> it is, it's horrible. that's actually the reason we're in such a fiscally catastrophic state of affairs. we are running the american economy over the cliff. the fact this now for the first time in my adult memory we are having a serious conversation about how to reform entitlement so that that doesn't happen ace really big deal. it's actually very exciting. people who are make attention to the facts know if we don't do something right now about medicare and social security we are going to be stealing from our children, and it's going to be the end of the entrepreneur system as we know. finally we have at the top of

the ticket of the republican party saying we need to reform it and has a plan on how we can do it so this isn't immortality for something that is actually horrible for the american economy. it's good news. jon: arthur brooks from the american enterprise institute thanks for coming on. >> thanks for having me. arthel: flames destroying dozens of homes in northern california, threatening hundreds more, the desperate race to stop the inferno. we are live with that story. plus little league baseball calls him safe but medal baths cause dozens of injuries a year. this little boy's family says his life was forever changed because of them. what can they do to prevent another tragedy on the field? we'll go in-depth. next. [ angela ] endless shrimp is our most popular promotion at d lobster.

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arthel: the little league world

series in full swing. the clink of the ball and the metal bat, so many parents here as their kids play baseball of some sort. a little boy gravely injured while playing baseball. a pitch was thrown, the batter smashed the ball, it slammed into steven's chest. he collapsed, went into cardiac arrest and suffered permanent brain damage. he is confined to a wheelchair. his family sued for damages. the bat's makers, and they settled for $14.5 million. the metal bat gives more power than a wooden back. back in the 1990s little league modified its bats and said injuries reduced by more than half. joining us now, dr. rebecca

demeris, a young adult sports specialist. good to see you, doctor. >> thanks for having me. arthel: it's a sad case that happened. i'm sure the parents would get back every cent of that money if they could rewind that tape before the accident happened. i ask you, is it all about the bat, doctor? >> you know, it's not all about the bat. there are a multitude of factors that contributed to this unfortunate accident for this young gentleman. the ball obviously had some effect, the bat and how fast the ball is hit off of the bat. but also the timing of when that ball hit that young gentleman's chest. if it hits in a direct millisecond it can affect the heart and cause it to stop beating. the big i shall issue here is there didn't seem to be appropriate medical care. there wasn't an aed, someone who could immediately perform cpr. i think these are the big issues that as parents and as concerned citizens we need to be aware of

and know how to help someone who falls down whether it's on a field or in an airport to help make them not have such an awful injury. arthel: as you talk about no one being there right on the spot who could administer cpr quickly enough, paramedics were not narcotic away, they did get there on the scene fairly quickly, but unfortunately the damage had already been done. >> absolutely. the problem is every second matters when it comes to a case like this. when something hits the chest and causes the heart to malfunction. every second counts. arthel: so, it sounds that you're saying, listen, you know, parents should not suddenly become paranoid about their kids, girls or boys, playing little league baseball, it's just one of those situations where everything sort of culminated together at the wrong time. >> right. i think it was an unfortunate set of circumstances that happened to be in the right place in the right time that caused this. baseball is one of the safest sports out there. we are lucky there's less than two deaths per year in baseball

compared to a sport like football where we see much more traumatic injury. the problem is a lot of the injuries, even though there are few that we see in baseball are very serious. we see fractures. if the ball comes hurling at you whether you're a pitcher or a fielder, whether it hits your head, your chest, your arm, we see lots of fractures and head injuries, obviously we can see this type of a devastating heart injury where you then can't pump blood where it needs to get to until we can help you. arthel: i remember playing little league baseball, softball or the girls, and it seems like more and more these days the kids are bigger and bigger so they already have a lot of power to pack it. >> absolutely, absolutely, you know -- arthel: doctor i have to leave it there. i do appreciate your time and we'll talk to you next time. >> absolutely. thank you so much. jon: new questions about the president's healthcare overhaul, and whether it's hurting him in some key swing states. we'll get into a debate on that, plus when a gasoline tanker and a freight train collide, the

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jon: fox news alert now on the raging wildfires in california. governor jerry brown declaring a state of emergency in three counties where fires have forced evacuations and destroyed dozens of homes. thousands of folks left to wonder whether they'll have a home left to go back to. >> you can think that it's going to go one way, and the next thing you know you look on the news or the web and it's going the other way. >> this fire just jumped on of its containment lines at the bottom of this rid to highway 36. >> pretty scary and it's frustrating and you just don't know. jon: dan springer joins us live from red bluff, california. dan. >> reporter: yeah, jon, it's

been a tough fight. containment has jumped up to 57%, but because of that fire jumping the line yesterday we now have the number of homes that are threatened back up to 900. it had been down to 200. you can see there are a lot of people that are in jeopardy. it was another intense day in this battle to save homes and property yesterday. governor jerry brown as you mentioned declared a state of emergency in three counties freeing up the national guard to join the fight which already has 2500 personnel on this fire alone. the biggest problem continues to be the vast amount of dry fuel left to burn. it has hundreds of residents like troy mccoy staying in their homes despite orders to evacuate. as a shasta county sheriff's deputy he's usually out there warning people to leave. his mother-in-law's house has been destroyed and his family evacuated that very first day. >> it's an emotional roller coaster because my wife came and she took some of the stuff out. she hasn't been here with the kids for five days, and she's taken pictures out.

so i go into the house, i see the pictures are gone, i think the important papers are gone, and know that yeah there is a possibility that anything could happen. >> reporter: so far the fire has destroyed 84 structures and over 28,000 acres. it's just one of dozens of fires raging across the west in what is going to be probably the worst fire season ever. nearly 7 billion acres burned so far with about two months to go. the good news is why the average rage is high from all the megafires, the number of fires and homes destroyed is lower. even with the good luck and good firefighting 1800 homes have burned so far this year and unfortunately that number is still going up. jon: that is a national tragedy. dan springer, thanks. arthel: new video of a fiery crash outside of dallas, texas, when a gasoline tanker truck collides with a freight train. rick folbaum live now with more. >> reporter: this is why they say patience is a virtue.

the driver of this 18 wheeler gasoline tanker truck didn't feel like waiting for a train to pass by, he decided to go around it sphaulg on a back road that wasn't big enough to accommodate his big rig. when he was driving over the same tracks he got stuck on them and that's when another train came by. bad timing. incredibly nobody was hurt. firefighters all over the area responding to this at 1:30 in the morning. it was dawn before the flames were out. that's what happens when a tanker truck gets hit by a train. thankfully there weren't any hazardous materials involved. so folks don't have to worry about that. but that's the scene here. back to you. jon: potential trouble on the horizon for the republican national convention. top box storm isaac could become a hurricane maybe in the next few hours. will it hit the u.s. coastline? will it disrupt the convention? so much questions yet to be answered. [ mrs. hutchison ] friday night has always been all fun and games

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