jane: "the live desk" is next. [captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- trace: welcome to "the live desk." this is where the news begins. that is how the national desk. they are covering america. the foreign desk is over here. they are covering the globe. the median desk in where all of the brand new pictures come in. martha: those new pictures go into the right hand side box. in the top box, eight american servicemen are dead. so what now for our divide its trendy in afghanistan? in the middle box, the iaea says iran has what it needs right now to make a bomb, but they say

they are making progress in cooperating with the international community. in the bottom box, they said that the banks were basically healthy. so what did ben bernanke and hank paulson really know, and why would they keep it under wraps? trace: we begin with developing news on the president's health care message, and the difference between what he is saying publicly and privately. publicly, he met with medical professionals and talked about the need for reform, thinking the doctors for bringing the reform to the american people. but privately, he is reportedly working the telephone and pushing for the public option. we are moments away from the white house briefing, where health care will certainly be on the agenda. major garrett, the doctors today are not exactly neutral about

the president's plan. >> that is right, about 100 of them. four of them, in particular, part of the obama campaign. they are now part of a grassroots effort that is not necessarily affiliated, and supportive of the president's goal of health care reform. it is not as if they are brand new converts. some of the folks here are very much supportive of what the president is trying to accomplish. so in that sense, they are advocates for the president. trace: it all comes down to

vote. the president still need to find some boats to move this senate bill along. >> that is right. there are two democrats in the senate finance committee who have not publicly committed to the bill. if they do not, it could fail. so the president has been working on that. of course, he has said over and over again that he prefers a public option for middle-class americans, if it can get enough legislative traction to pass. we might need a variation of that to pass. if he gets them, but don't go into the bill. whenever he can get from the finance committee. that would be another step to bringing a bill to his desk.

trace: a thank you. -- trace: thank you. martha: an american soldier killed in afghanistan yesterday. and in the bombing bringing this month's death toll to 16. today, october 5, and there have been six casualties. this as the president is sending -- considering sending more troops to the country. steve centanni, what can you tell us about the latest attacks? >> it has been a rough couple of days for u.s. forces. the worst of the attacks took place on sunday in a northeastern part of afghanistan near the pakistani border. in that fire fight, we lost

eight soldiers, and two afghan soldiers working with us. the taliban were shooting from a mosque, nearby buildings, and hillside positions. it was one of the worst attacks since july of last year when nine people were killed in a single attack in the same region. of course, this comes at a time when everyone is debating what to do in the country. martha: we have this discussion in washington about what to be done next -- what should be done next. how does this go into the decision about further troops? >> the president has not changed the strategy at, and right now we are in a counterinsurgency strategy, protecting the people of afghanistan. some people say we are doing the

right thing, but we need extra resources. others will say, this is not the right way to go and we need a counterterrorism strategy. former general james jones appeared over the weekend and said that we had a strategy in place. >> it would be unfortunate if we let the discussion be just about troop strength. there is a minimum you need to have, but unfortunately, there is no magic number. >> he said that it is up to the president. martha: then there is the latest rift between senator mccain and general jones. >> senator mccain is seeming to question his overall credibility, because he wants this counterinsurgency to continue, just like general mcchrystal. in general when jones seems to

be more on the president's side. >> and animal and jones believes that we needed to kill soldiers to iraq and kill hawkeye that. >> two more high-level policy meetings at the white house this week. martha: thank you. that was from this morning on don imus' debut. we are very excited to have that as part of our lineup. we are also going to take a deeper look into the political and military battles don't on. whether or not general mcchrystal will be able to do the job that he wants, whether or not the strategy will be a

line with what he wants. meanwhile, in pakistan, a bloody scene of destruction. a homicide bomber dressed as a security officer walks into the office of the world had for quarters and blew himself up. the blast killed five and hurt several others. security cameras showed the bomber walking into the building, holding a long object. officials say the attack is a heinous crime, targeting people who were just trying to help the poor. trace: a terror suspects accused of trying to blow up a dallas skyscraper is in court. hosam maher smadi, the teenager from jordan, is now charged with trying to use weapons of mass destruction. investigators say that he drove a truck he thought it contained bombs underneath an office

building. fbi agents allegedly told him the decoy. his family maintained that he is innocent. the supreme court beginning its new term with the country's first hispanic justice on the bench. sonia sotomayor tackling a full docket, as they review cases involving gun rights and freedom of speech. court watchers looking to see just how she votes, and how she in trucks with her colleagues. how is she fitting in? >> first of all, she is a much more public person than justice david souter. we know that justice sonia sotomayor has been dancing, and

she has also been joining her colleagues at some group of fans. they all attended a traditional catholic mass here yesterday aimed at the legal professionals. she is doing all the things that you would expand -- expect of the supreme court justice. some of the most important things we will not know until history tells us. how will she shaped the way this court decides? for now, she seems to be comfortable. trace: tell us about this handgun hearing. >> they are taking up an important second amendment case from chicago. this case will go the next step, asking whether or not local governments have the power

to ignore the second amendment and enact a handgun ban. justice sotomayor earlier decided these local jurisdictions could do that. it was controversial, and now everyone will be waiting to see how she handles this case when it comes to the bench. trace: thank you, shannon. martha: it is being called a turning point in iraq. the rove nation is beginning to cooperate, according to the iaea.

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trace: in the top box, that is a live look at the white house briefing. in the middle box, and rescue workers in indonesia now calling off the search for survivors from last week's earthquake. the official death toll now stands at more than 600, but when the missing are added, it could be in the thousands. in the bottom box, fire crews battling a wildfire in the san gabriel mountains. they are making a lot of progress. already 20% contained, but it has burned three homes.

martha: more cooperation and transparency, two words not often associated with iran, but that is how a nuclear watchdog is describing the stance of the iran. they have agreed to allow the inspectors to come in and inspect and their new site. the iaea says that they are detecting a shifting of the gears in the nuclear standoff. could it be? however, they say that they are still somewhat concerned about their intentions. former ambassador to the u.n., the john bolton, nice to have you here. is this a shift in our relations with iran, since these talks in geneva? >> mohammad elbaradei has made

that comment about shifting cooperation in the past, and he has been proven wrong so many times, you would think that he would be embarrassed to make it again. he has really politicized the iaea, and there is almost no limit to the cooperation that he will describe. in fact, i think a lot of what was in there would have been cleared up for the inspectors, so i cannot expect too much new information to come. martha: you said he was politicizing the process. why would he want to do that? >> i think he has been under actively very anti-american over the past few years. we have had a number of cases where the very competent un

inspectors have written reports that elbaradei had covered, in effect, for iranian behavior, so this latest comment does not surprise me at all. martha " you wrote a story for the "wall street journal -- martha: you wrote a story for the "wall street journal." talk to me about this deal where they will send some of their in rich uranium to russia, where they will do some work on it, and send it back. why would they consider that a victory? >> first of all, it is not clear that there is an agreement. the iranians denied any agreement in principle. by shipping this iranian to russia, in effect, we are legitimizing the regime that was

produced in violation of four u.n. sanctions. now we want to take this uranium and bring in even close to weapons-grade? i think this is a bad deal, if there is any deal at all. martha: when you look at the resolution, it specifically says, iran must suspend all enrichment activities, including research and development. by saying they are not allowed to do any of this, and then take what they are working on and send it to russia, that is extremely contradictory. >> yes, and it legitimizes iran's to find of u.n.

resolutions. this is important for your brand and every other proliferators. -- iran and every other proliferator out there. martha: if this were a u.s. court of law, i do not know if this would hold up so well. thank you. trace: president obama has long supported the public option in health care, but recently, he says that he is willing to support other options. but is not only what he is saying publicly? we will have the latest on the arm twister in chief. @ n

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trace: we are learning in the white house is quietly campaigning to get a government-run health interests option into the overhaul plan, even though the president has said the public option is not the most important priority. we have a senior political reporter for abc news. what is the theme here? the president wants to compromise, is willing to, or is just saying so and italy not willing to compromise? >> clearly, he wants the public option, but he also announced that it will be tough in the senate. he is trying to telegraph to his supporters that this is something that he will continue to fight for and move it over to the full senate. we have not seen in laid down as a line in the sand, not get at

least, that we will see. trace: it all comes down to vote. -- votes. in the senate, it does not look like they have the numbers. >> that is right. they do not have 60. everyone who knows understand this. the idea is you could counter this with the trigger option. they did not bring that in the finance committee, but it could make its way to the full senate floor. trace: the left is the key. they want the public option, and they are going to scream bloody murder if they do not get it. if they are not placated, can

they tie things up? >> certainly. democrats are pushing this for, as small as the president, and do they call a bluff on the left? they would rather have something rather than nothing. trace: when we talked earlier, i called the president the arm twister in chief, because that is basically what he is doing now he brought in ben nelson, who was very anti-public option. he brought him in and said, we need to talk. how do you convince someone that is against the public option? >> a lot of it is listening, wanting to hear concerns that they have. that is his style.

you do not get the sense of the heavy arm-twisting, the lyndon johnson model. trace: the bottom line is, we want everyone to read the bill. we thought last week the public option was over, but here it comes again. is the public option go into making it through in some capacity? >> the most likely scenario is something like a trigger . . i think anyone who has declared it dead is doing so prematurely. trace: thank you. martha: the future of our strategy in afghanistan has been playing out in public over the

weekend. this after eight soldiers died in the worst attacks since july 2008. so who is right on how to win the war in afghanistan? the white house or the top commanders on the ground? a fair and balanced debate on what you need to know about afghanistan. @=h

trace: we have a brand new information on three stories. israel deployed thousands of

police officers in jerusalem the old city. mike tobin is in jerusalem. >> police officers are out there ready following aim week of stone throwing and the building tension. coinciding with the end of the jewish holiday, rumors circulated that jews would damage the holy site, so muslims came to protect the holy sanctuary, and that is where they clash. trace: thank you. a homicide bomber in baghdad killing six people. we are live in baghdad appeare. >> also today, the iraqi parliament met to discuss a crucial election law. part of that is a longstanding agreement, a security

agreement, between the u.s. and iraq. the iraqi parliament need to decide whether or not to hold a referendum on that agreement. trace: there is breaking news from the white house. another key meeting concerning afghanistan. mike emanuel, what do you know? >> president obama will be welcoming officials to talk about the way forward in afghanistan. robert gates says the president wants to get a feeling on where they are going. now he is welcoming lawmakers here tomorrow trace: thank you. -- tomorrow. trace: thank you. martha: there are reports today of an ever increasing divide between the pentagon and administration on what to do in afghanistan.

the president's adviser general jones is seeking to put in the request of 40,000 troops in perspective. >> i think this is what we are going to look at and control -- considered. the president should be given options, not just one fete c omplit. martha: "new york times" this morning states -- eight u.s. soldiers were killed. they captured more than 20 troops in one of the bloodiest

days of battle. so will general mcchrystal be able to carry out his vision or not? we have some experts to discuss. welcome to both of you. we are seeing a public exchange of ideas. the general jones saying that mcchrystal is part of our equation. he is the commander on the ground. why are we seeing such a public airing of differences here? >> because there are huge differences between mcchrystal and jones, and perhaps the president, and the man that he tapped to carry out the job. stanley mcchrystal is simply trying to execute the president's strategy and telling the world what he needs to do that. it is not pretty when the national security adviser deadly

chides him for talking about what he needs. martha: they had a 20-minute meeting. do you think we are going to hear more from general mcchrystal in the coming weeks? >> speaking as a former soldier, you want to do with the commander in chief on to do. there are several things at play here, but what we have to focus on is, we do not have a winning strategy yet. general mcchrystal is not guaranteed success by getting these troops. martha: but he did guarantee failure without them. >> absolutely, we are trying to stop the bleeding here. we need to find the right strategy here. the u.s. has never won a defensive war. that is the strategy that we have to go back to.

i worked for general mcchrystal in his operations in afghanistan. that was his specialty, doing offensive things. we need to figure out a way to stop the bleeding, stop losses, and then regain the momentum. that reason, because he understood counterinsurgency better than anyone. it seems we are trying to decide whether or not this isco counterterrorism effort. that is when general mcchrystal says will lead to more terrorism >> you are correct about the blind use of force.

we have to go back and be on the offensive, but apply it correctly. we have to protect the people at the same time. these are not mutually exclusive terms. >> yes, but w are forgetting the political side of the afghan struggle. we had a stolen election. everyone knows there was a lot of stolen votes. the administration could be taking this moment to say, this is not going to fly. they should be using this as leverage for the political concessions that the tionmiants. by the way, this opptunity will not last forever. martha: let's discuss the taliban on the ground. let me play this sound bite from general jones. >> the al qaeda presence is

diminished. the maximum estimate is about 100 operating in the country with no basis, no buildings to launch an attack on us or our allies. the next step is the century's across the border, but i do not foresee the return of the taliban, and i want to be clear that afghanistan is not in danger of falling. martha: it is this true? >> this is exactly the concern that led president obama to unveil this strategy. now in is not a problem? no military people that i know say the taliban returning to the south is not a significant threat. martha: a quick thought, colonel shaffer? >> the problem is, the taliban have established a shadow

government. they have known about t safe havens i putoget tr an operation in 2003 dealing with this. we have allowed the situation to develop, and now we have to find a way to curtail this shadow government. the only way to do that is to deal with the pakistan side of the border. martha: thank you. great to have both of you here. trace: we have an urgent warning for college students, as a serial rapist -- a suspect -- terrorizes a college town. and this is the scene on a beach in tampa, florida. a beached whale.

trace: in the top box, court action in dallas for a teenager

from jordan accused of trying to blow up a skyscraper. today's hearing is to decide if there is enough evidence to move ahead in the case of the hosam maher smadi. in the middle box, and biologists are trying to figure out what killed a 50-foot whale. that is the baleen which separates the food from the water. they are normally not bound this close to shore. we will get you more information as it comes in. in the bottom box, gavin newsom gets a boost for his new bid. hillary clinton will be endorsing him a warning to thousands of college students.

a serial rapist could be targeting students in kansas. there have been five assaults in the city of florence and 8 attacks in manhattan. the suspect is described as a white man with a medium build. police say he is armed and keeps his face covered. in 15 minutes, the man arrested for stocking and videotaping erin andrews will appear before a judge. the judge will determine whether or not the man will be able to make bail. barrett requested hotel rooms next to in news, and then secretly videotaped him through peepholes that he rigged. he faces charges of interstate stalking.

martha: of course, his family and friends say that he would never be capable of it. anyway, getting a security upgrade in manhattan, announcing a multimillion-dollar expansion of counter terrorism. a high-tech security center is located downtown. the expansion is expected to be completed by 2011. this all comes in the backdrop of the arrest of najibullah zazi. we have more from new york. how are they going to try to keep us safe here in new york? >> we are talking about more and better cameras, updated software to monitor those feet, and all of that is being put in place. much of this was put into play

over the weekend. we understand a lot of these systems are being fired up. $24 million from homeland security will be put into this new security system that will not only improve what is happening in lower manhattan, but then they will go to the midtown area. of course, there are cameras that already monitor this area, but there will be better ones, considering the sensitive landmarks. if there is an emergency call that comes in on any street corner, there is usually a camera nearby where the police can zoom in and assess what is going on. here you can see the brooklyn bridge.

nearby, of course, is the subway system cameras aren't above this subway section. this is the type of improvement that we will see in the future, perhaps with facial recognition technology. back to you. martha: some people may say they have privacy issues, but safety is first. trace: remember that bank bailout? now there is a report that says the fed's may have misled us when it comes to the bailout. there is a report blaming hank paulson and ben bernanke. apparently, the banks received billions in federal funds but they were not very healthy. now we want your take on this story. >> we frequently have these

polls because we love to hear from our viewers. this one is whether or not congress should investigate ben bernanke and former secretary paulson it, and any other officials involved if you go to foxnews.com, click on the udecide page, and there you will be able to cast your vote. be able to cast your vote. note that it can cast which everyone represents how you must feel about this. this is going to let you know how everyone in the voting. right now, 74% believe they

deceive lawmakers and taxpayers. if you want to take a bit further, we even have a comment section. if you scroll down, there is the area where you can register to take part in the conversation yourself. trace: we are going to have more on this coming up later. did the fed mislead us on the bailout? martha: and it may be time to get over your fear of needles. this one flu is being rolled down, but there is one slight problem. a lot of people who are supposed to get the shot will not be able to, at least not yet.

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trace: a new study concerning autism. the study says almost 675,000 kids from age 3 to 17 suffers from optimism -- autism or related disorder. the cdc calls this a significant issue that needs immediate attention. the study is based on a 2004 survey. some researchers are using caution, saying the increase does not necessarily mean that children have the disorder, but could reflect a broader definition of the disorder.

martha: the day is here, the first h1n1 vaccines are being administered today, but only to health care workers and some at risk children, until another batch comes in october. when that happens, a lot of americans will be lining up, but look at these numbers. 53% say yes, they will get the vaccine. 40% say that they will skip it. jonathan serrie is watching this. tell us more about this. >> the first people getting it today our people in the children's hospital in memphis, as well as first responders and health care workers in indiana. local health officials in indiana are recommending that the first maxine's go to health care workers in the er and

critical care settings, as well as those working in pediatrics. the idea is you do not want these health care workers being sick when they are most needed. also, you do not want them transferring the virus from patient to patient. martha: there is a lot of controversy about it. some do not want it, some are worried they could be hurt, and there are already some potential stories linking it to deaths. >> that is why public officials are emphasizing this is a voluntary program. they are trying to layout all of the potential risks and potential benefits, and ultimately allow individuals to make their own decision. they have ordered 250 million

doses, so everyone who wants it will be able to get it. martha: thank you. trace: you did not ask him if he was going to get it. you have been covering this from start to finish. are you going to get it? >> i am planning on it. i already got my seasonal flu shot. trace, if you are nervous about the needle, you can get the nasal mist. trace: the man accused of trying to blow up $8 skyscraper is going face to face with a judge. the allegations and the decisions are next prtiouarcl wangr esl.

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[captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- martha: welcome back to a brand- new hour. trace: in the top box, a teenager from jordan charged with trying to use a weapon of mass destruction. hosam maher smadi is in a federal court in dallas right now. we will have an update on the ruling. in the middle box, the united nations reporting that five people were killed at the to

move -- world food office in baghdad. in the bottom box, the deadly taliban attack in afghanistan. we must be to our reporter embedded in afghanistan and out the attack, as well as the state of the art weapons that we are using to protect our troops. martha: president obama getting a medical house call today, meeting with almost 100 doctors today. he still supports the effort to create a government-run interests option, but democrats are deeply divided over the public option. some our interest to make whatever deal they can and settle for a compromise. bret baier is here with me to discuss. it is coming out that the president is still behind the

scenes pushing hard to have a public option included in the bill. what are you hearing about that? >> he is still behind a government auction, even though the senate finance committee will come up with this bill. it will likely get passed committee and will not have a government-run public option. the key thing is what had been behind closed doors in the senate and house, when all the bills are put together. harry reid will then have to put together the senate finance committee bill, and they may have to do some compromises. in the senate, they are still not there. martha: this raises the question whether or not the president wants to be on the record for getting a public

option, to appeal to those in his party who really want it. >> that's right, to appease the people on the left. another interesting thing is how the photo op, the white house arranged. you mentioned 150 doctors representing all 50 states. they say these are doctors who support the president's push for health-care reform. we are not sure what that will look like in legislative form, and there are many who have problems that tort reform is not being dealt with legislatively. they wanted to have this photo op, but it is not representative of doctors over all.

martha: i interviewed a few who were very much against the plan. they wanted some cross-border competition in it. >> it was an interesting event, more for the visual optics. the real news here will happen once the finance committee passes the bill, and closed door meetings happen with democrats, who are still divided on how this will come out. martha: thank you. trace: now to iran where the iaea says it will inspect iran's -- nuclear site. some say that they are becoming

more transparent, but others say that they already have enough information to build an atomic bomb. us. this report has some sobering conclusions? >> it certainly does. it concluded iran had sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable atom bomb. muhammed elbaradei was in tehran this weekend, and says there is no concrete proof, but their actions have raised doubts about their intentions. western intelligence agencies say that they have done extensive research and testing as well as producing a weapon. that is why some said over the

weekend it is clear what iran is up to. >> clearly, this is not for peaceful purposes. this is just more evidence that the iranians are trying to develop a nuclear weapon. >> we are on the puck to a nuclear iran. -- path to a nuclear iran. whatever steps we need to take, financially or economically, they need to be taken down. trace: and it seems, the white house is more interested in talking to iran, but it seems lawmakers are taking a harder senators made clear that they do not believe anything that iran says, and that is why they want to move ahead on some sanctions. >> we want to make sure the

stiff sanctions need to be imposed, they can be done so quickly, without any indefinite time line. iran has continued to lie to the international community. >> one thing is clear, senators from both parties want to move ahead on sanctions, assuming it is only a matter of time before they lied again. trace: thank you. martha: a homicide bomber in pakistan kills five people at the u.n. world food program headquarters. ban ki moon calls the attack a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and vulnerable. we are live in islamabad.

this new leader, whom many thought was killed and one of the attacks, made a big show of it in front of the press. he claims he is going to attack u.s. interests? >> yes, he called the meeting with some pakistani journalist in the tribal area. they had to promise they were not going to release the video. this is what we are hearing from it. the new leader is seen, surrounded by his deputies. in that meeting, the main hurdles of it was gruesome, i am alive and i am in charge. the rumors that he was killed by one of these drones was untrue and that he would continue his attacks on u.s. targets. he said that he was going to try to rid afghanistan of u.s. influence.

we spoke with a pakistani official here, and he said offenses may begin in next week. we have seen reports of civilians fleeing the area, prompted by the army, but there is also in this window of opportunity. some of these rurals areas are going to start to get some snow, so the operation needs to get going. martha: we will see if they are able to succeed. talk to me a little bit about the bombing that we saw at this u.n. food center? what is the significance of that bombing? >> several significant aspects.

it is a very secure area. just around the corner of our naval headquarters. the fact that he was able to get inside the headquarters for this world food program is significant. a lot of different things signifying that this is sending a signal. we have seen the other attacks that have caused more damage, but none of them were able to get inside entity. -- get inside this entity. there is a lot of debris and shattered glass, typically in these types of attacks, in this case, the accuser got inside and

detonated the bomb inside a bathroom. martha: thank you for bringing that to us. trace: the teenager accused of plotting a terror attack in dallas is in court right now. hosam maher smadi. a judge will decide if there is enough evidence to move forward on the case. he is accused of trying to set off a car bomb at this skyscraper in dallas. prosecutors say that he thought he was planting a car bomb. smadi had been under fbi surveillance and is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. martha: a brutal murder on the streets of chicago raising concerns about the right to self-defense. we showed you the fatal beating

of a 16-year-old student. now the backdrop for a case that is headed to the supreme court, where lifting the ban on chicago is on the docket.

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in the middle box, they are recounting the votes in afghanistan. a senior official plans to announce next week whether or not hamid karzai actually won the election. in the bottom box, a jury watched a hidden camera tape of negotiations between john travolta and a former the hamas center, accused of blackmailing him. trace: the supreme court begins today with a new member. yesterday, six members of the court attended catholic mass, to request guidance for those seeking justice. one in case we are keeping an eye on is done right and chicago. let's bring in judge in the napolitano. you cannot have a gun in chicago. >> they have been banned, except

under the most extreme circumstances. trace: we just did this. we went into washington -- >> chicagos argument is we are a city, authorized by the laws of the state of illinois. the district of columbia is authorized by the federal government. when they were told they had to allow gun ownership in homes, you were telling the government, not the state. i believe the supreme court intended this case to apply to all governments. since that case, two federal appears courts have sided with chicago. within a heartbeat, the supreme court says that we are going to tell you what we want men to. my opinion is that they will say the second amendment applies to all governments.

the right to self-defense is a right. the government can regulate it, but it cannot stop ordinaire adults from having guns. trace: john paul stevens -- and i am quoting here -- >> you can drive your car because the state gives you a driver's license. that is your right to drive your car on the road. you do not need a license to stand on a streetcorner. that is the difference between a privilege and a right. this case involving the district of columbia gun ban said the right to bear arms is a bright, not a privilege. therefore, the government cannot

ban it. they can make sure if it does not go to felons, crazys, but cannot ban it. trace: there are people in some bad parts of the city saying, we cannot protect ourselves. >> isn't it interesting where the city's that is most difficult to get guns have the most of other crimes? where is easiest to get a gun, have the least. martha: it was a deadly weekend for american forces in afghanistan, but in the battle against the taliban, our soldiers are getting some help. we are live on the front line ts for an exclusive look at one

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trace: we have breaking news from the west coast of florida. there was a text message sent by the university of south florida saying an armed intruder is on campus, as well as to get inside and lock your doors. if you are not on campus, do not come on campus. this sounds pretty serious. >> this is the tampa campus. as you said, and armed intruder. they are doing some of their own reporting, and they point out that the campus has had a couple

of gun scarce in the past few months, so there are being careful. we tried to contact the sheriff's office here, but we are waiting to hear back. trace: thank you. martha: the taliban wanting their deadliest attacks in a year. two strikes on remote outposts killed eight soldiers over the weekend. 16 service members have died in afghanistan this month. that matches the number killed in all of october. forces are now getting some high-tech help right now. that is some good news. the air force sending its newest planes. casey stegall is embedded with the air force, and he is taking a look at some of the equipment. tell us about this technology and what is meant to do. >> good to see you.

we are hearing in the western part of afghanistan, near the iran border. to be here, we have to fly on a number of airplanes. when we are talking about cargo, we are talking about some of the heaviest and bulky as the equipment. that is where the c%5 comes in. >> it looks like your average plan, but it is anything but. once the largest care plan in the world, it is still the largest in the u.s. air force fleet, and can hold supplies to the equivalent of five school buses. this is what brought us into afghanistan. >> every piece of oversized equipment that is used on the

front lines is flown into that the air using this airplane. it puts an awful lot of responsibility on the shoulders of these airmen. >> the people we are climate today do not get a lot of recognition, but this is one of the ways that we get cargo on the ground. >> aside from its sheer size, how things get unpacked is another question. the front and back can be opened simultaneously, speeding up process, so the airplane only needs to be on the ground for a short period time. >> when you hear about the war, you hear about troops and soldiers on the front lines, but a lot of people do not realize a lot of people need to be brought in, and that is why these

massive air plants are just important -- just so important. -- airplanes are just so important. martha: thank you for that. what is their reaction? i know that you are embedded with our troops. it is the bloodiest month in about one year. what have they said about that? >> we are eating, talking, spending a lot of our day with these men and women. we spoke to them a short time ago, and when they hear about this, it is sobering. these attacks we are talking about have been at a base similar to this one. we are surrounded by mountains. it is in very remote location, and when they hear this kind of news, it is very sobering, and

of course, it makes them angry. but they know it is part of the risk. martha: thank you for the work you are doing. i hope that you will thank the people you are with as well. make sure they know how much we appreciate their service. we will be watching your report with great interest. trace: that is a very dangerous assignment. they are getting some great stuff. we are also watching this breaking news from tampa, florida. there was a text message that said there was an armed intruder on a college campus. we should be getting live pictures on this and any second. as soon as they come in, we will bring them to you.

breaking news on that coming up. also, they said some of the banks getting the bailout money were in good shape. one year later, we are finding out that was not true, and that then-secretary paulson and ben bernanke knew all along. so $7 billion later, did america get lied to?

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trace: welcome back. we are getting new information on a key meeting on afghanistan at the white house. mike emanuel as at the white house. >> this time tomorrow president obama will welcome key lawmakers from congress as well as a key committee members to get their view on where things stand regarding the war in afghanistan. we know the president has been conducting a series of meetings with his security team, and robert gibbs want to get their take now. trace: it is the first monday in october which means the supremes are back in session. shannon bream is outside the supreme court. >> it has been a busy day-to- day, on the first day of this

new term. inside, they have a full docket today. they are dealing with everything from dog fighting to gun- control. it will be a busy one for new justice sonia sotomayor. trace: in a new high-tech counter-terrorism plan unveiled designed to protect the financial center. laura ingle is with us. >> $24 million concern in value of one of cameras and upgraded computer systems to monitor those cameras, and that is exactly what the city of new york will beoing with the department of homeland security money. not only will the system be upgraded and lower manhattan, but it will be expanded to midtown, where there will be more presence around things like grand central and times square.

trace: thank you. martha: hard to believe it was one year ago, but that fet kicked off the t.a.r.p. program -- the fed's kicked off the t.a.r.p. program. there was an initial 870 -- $787 billion. back then, we were told that these banks were healthy. >> these are healthy institutions and they have taken this step as a step to helping the economy. as they increase their capital base, they will increase funding to consumers and businesses. martha: so he said the banks were just fine, but that they would help the economy recover. now we have a report from the inspector general, and he claims we did not get the whole story.

we have had our enter from fbn. we also have a financial officer. when i heard this story, i was not all that surprised. -- financial author. the problems were in dire. was it just a situation where they were not clear enough? >> they should have said that some are healthy, some are not. they knew there was a problem when there stearns collapsed. in fact, they wanted to go to the government to ask for money and authority to wind down institutions like bear stearns. they did not have that authority. behind the scenes, because paulson did not have the authority, they did not want to have a run on the banks.

they said that you did not want to stoke the embers. martha: it is this a case where they lied, but for good reason? >> they fudged the truth. martha: and brian westbury is with us as well. i do not necessarily agree with what was done. but just on the face of what we are seeing, if they had said, these banks are pretty good, these once are on the brink of disaster, that would have prevented some problems. >> first of all, they will not say anything like that. there is no money in it. the second thing is, nobody really knew. these markets were absolutely the liquid.

-- illiquid. you could say that a certain institution was bankrupt, when in reality, the cash flow from what it owned, was still there. i still think they should have changed the accounting rules, kind of like we did in the 1980's, and allow these banks to operate, without putting so much pressure on them right away. martha: when people wake up, maybe the news stories and they see this picture of bernanke and paulson, they lied. what are people supposed to take away from that? did they lie to the american people, and if so, should charges be brought up against them? >> i think what brian is saying is right. they did not lie, but they knew

the system was more dire than what they let on. it was pretty terrifying for government regulators. certainly, bank of america and citigroup were on the ropes. barney frank said, the notion that you are waiting until the 11th hour, and then you are turning to the treasury, that is not how things are run in a democracy. however, people were fearing a run on the banks. martha: the american people, they say that they were lied to, but perhaps it was a case where they needed to be. it is all about market psychology. >> if there was any true lying,

it was about the accounting rules that were driving us down. i think perhaps they wanted banks in the corner so that they could invest in them and be the hero that saved the day. if we have been lied to come in is the idea that government can fix problems. it cannot. it makes problems worse. martha: you say that thing or never as bad as we were made to believe, right? >> yes, this was literally a problem, a couple billion in losses from subprime to and alt- a, and we turned it into a catastrophe with mark to market accounting. i will go to my grave, not understanding how conservatives and liberals, got together and all wanted the government to grow.

it still amazes me. >> 7 million homes in foreclosure. that is enough to take any economy. let's face it, the government knew the problem were bad when bear stearns collapsed. martha: thank you. good to pay able to look back on those days. trace: time to play the price is right, washington style. care retails for one dawson dollars. -- this wheelchair retails for $1,000. do you know how much medicare is paying? or

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wide telling students and faculty to stay inside and not to come on campus. we are still waiting for our affiliate to bring us some pictures. so far, they have not found an armed intruder on campus. as soon as we get pictures, we will update you. before the break, we told you the retail price for a standard powered wheelchair. in most medical supply centers, you will pay about one dozen dollars. but the costs for taxpayers when medicare is involved quadruples to around $4,000. william la jeunesse is tracking your taxes. he is with us from los angeles. >> this story helps explain why people are suspicious of promises and washington, better care for more people at the same

price or lower. the lesson comes from the last administration and when it tried to stop overpayments in the $8 billion a year medical equipment business. basically, medicare tried to stop its archaic fee for bidding. congress then stepped in, a protected industry. >> reducing waste and inefficiency in medicare and medicaid will pay for most of this plan. >> no one doubts medicare is bloated by inefficiencies, but will the president's cuts be enough to pay for his plan? michael leavitt oversaw the bush effort to subdue expenses by requiring competitive bidding on medical equivalent to -- equipment. over $4,000 for a standard

wheelchair, compared to just $1,000 in the private sector. $2,000 for a hospital bed. internet price, $1,000. and $82 for diabetic supplies, instead of $47. competitive bidding could have saved congress millions of dollars, but congress postponed it because of lobbying by industry. >> whenever there is an effort to push forward an efficiency, lobby is hired to do what they can to constrain congress. >> we continue to pay those inflated prices. medicare once again trying to institute competitive bidding, albeit in only nine cities. savings would be nice, but this

story is emblematic how difficult it would be to realize those waste savings. trace: thank you. martha: we are upstairs with shepard smith on this monday afternoon, getting ready for the show. shepard: how are you? today we are talking about a lot of things, including iran. if you read the "new york times" there was an assessment on how far they believe iran has come. the point was made over the weekend that you cannot really stop it, you can only slow it down. israel is sort of there to guard against it, so how do we proceed with iran? does it make sense to, as john mccain said, and bomb, bomb, bomb?

the point was made over the weekend, when u.s. military was hit, that the president's approval rating went up to 90%. so what do you do now? martha: a lot of people have counted on the iranian uprising to really change things significantly. they have tried, but unsuccessfully. shepard: since we do not have the answers, we will bring in some experts. kt macfarland is a current senior adviser for the foundation of central democracies. martha: she is smart. she has worked for many presidents.

shepard: we also have an expert on afghanistan. we will have six ideas on what we can do in afghanistan there are a couple of options. more troops, regroup, restrategize, or pull back and deal with things with drones and the like. on friday, this woman and her son are in a home. one bear comes in. the grown-up bear is in the

upstairs, the cub is in the basement. she was able to fight it off with a pillowcase. we did a report on it on friday. now they are our guests. martha: that sounds great. back to you. trace: we are still covering breaking news from florida. apparently they are still looking for an armed intruder on campus. there were reports that the gunman was actually in the library area. they send a text message telling students to stay inside their dorm room, and if they were not on campus, not to come. we are still waiting for the pictures to come in. what are we seeing as far as gunmen on campus? >> campus security has been on

this, searching meticulously. they have searched the entire library, and efficiently -- and officially they have not given the all clear. they have shut down the campus bus system. this is the first time they had used this text message system. but again, the campus is locked down. police are being very careful, as well as what they are telling us, so we do not have a very good sense of what is happening there. there was a call from off campus that was transferred on campus, and that is where the search started. trace: the library is the focus. thank you. this text message was issued campus wide. that was about 1:40 eastern

time. if he have someone that you know on the campus of the university of south florida, you would expect them to be diligent and listen to these recommendations. they have told an -- everyone to stay inside until they can give the all clear. i want to get to phil keating who is with us from our south florida news room. what are you hearing about the situation on campus? >> so far we know they're taking it seriously. the website for the university urges all students to seek safe shelter right now. the bus system is not running right now. we have been seeing a lot of campus police running around.

this is hillsboro county. they told us that they have not been requested to assist. however, law enforcement is ready. the key is this tip came from an off-campus telephone, and this was more than one hour ago. they already searched the library, and they also looked at the bus staging areas. at this point, we cannot get any confirmation that this armed intruder is actually still on campus, or if this was even a real threat. trace: as i am looking at their website, they say, stay inside, locked doors. the good thing is, when they had

not asked for back up from the sheriff's department, that is a good sign that they believe this could be under control. at least they have not found anybody who is inside who might be armed and dangerous. >> that's right. a campus spokesperson told us that she did not even have a solid description of what type of alleged weapon this potential intruder was carrying. campus police are now just trying to track down this alleged intruder. trace: stay with us. tim gaughan has an update from wtvt? >> actually, this one is coming from university police. they say -- they have a new

report. we are working on getting these pictures for you, but they are going bus to bus very slowly with weapons drawn. if this turns out to be true, things could be going on in that area. trace: the idea that someone has gone from the library area to one of these buses? is that what is happening? >> i do not want to make any assumptions, bu. trace: thank you. phil keating come back to you. -- phil keating, back to you. there were reports of a gun man on campus before, but this is the first time where they had

this text message system in place to notify students. you go back to virginia tech, colorado, these things are taken seriously for good reason. >> that is right. this system seems to have worked pretty well. right now the university of south florida is updating it. we heard stories about a lot of officers around the bus area. we are hearing now that they believe the subject they are searching for could be on one of those buses. that is the latest that we have to. martha: with me now is a student from the campus.

what can you tell us about the situation on campus? >> i am sitting in my dorm room, and i can see the library. and day set off the site -- they set off a siren and told us to get in our dorm rooms. martha: pretty scary stuff? i am sure people are just telling you to stay hunkered down. do they know who this person is? >> they have not merely said much. martha: how are you being updated on information? >> the best source is through our text message system. our text message system. all of us are sitting together

trying to figure out what is going on. martha: we are going to try to get some more information. thank you for being with us. we hope this situation is resolved very soon. trace: in case you are just joining us, a report came in one hour ago of an armed gunman on the campus of the university of south florida, tampa. they have spent the better part of one hour searching the library. they believe whoever this may have been made his way to the bus area, and could be hiding

in, around, or on one of those buses. that system has been frozen as a precaution. army going to toss it over? martha: yes, more news straight ahead. . breaking news. our station in central florida is on the way. i believe we have pictures of that. this is the sky sox as it makes its way toward the usf campus. pretty big school there. 20,000 + students. as mentioned, they have had concerns in recent days and weeks about situations like this on campus,