infamous story of rahm emanuel sending somebody a dead fish, so they gave him one, a way for saying thanks for your service. bill: you'll see this in a matter of moments. have a great weekend, everybody. "happening now" starts right now. jengen we start off with a fox news alert. i'm jenna lee. we are awaiting a big announcement from the white house today. rick: i'm rick folbaum in for jon scott. "happening now", rahm emanuel, set to announce he's leaving the white house and will return home to chicago to return for mayor. jenna: reportedly the president will announce emanuel's replacement, long time political fixure as we're calling him, pete rouse, he's been a top aide to many democratic senators and was the president's chief of staff while president obama was in the senate. wheel bring that live when it happens. let's get back to the weather, fox news alert on that as well, a deadly storm

system tkrefrpbing the eastern seaboard, bringing deadly rainfall, in newark, commuters are strapped in cave deaths are blamed for the high water and the conditions are still very dangerous. rick: in north carolina, four people, including two children, died when their suv skidded off a rain-slicked road, a fifth person drowned when he lost control of his pickup, plunging into the rager river. jenna: up and down the eastern seaboard the record breaking rain was causing delays and making travel dangerous and quite a headache. up on the right side of your screen, that's la guardia, on the bottom, pennsylvania, serious flooding there as you can also see. peter doocy is in the thick of it all right here in midtown manhattan. peter, we hear airports in the northeast, so important for the rest of the country, are facing major delays. what's the latest? >> reporter: right jenna. nicole is leaving a lot of water everywhere she goes and that's creating chaos for travelers everywhere. here in new york thousands

of people are without power statewide. the morning commute was nightmarish and that continues for anybody trying to fly to the big apple today. la guardia has arrival delays of three hours and 20 minutes and down the street at jfk, not much better, they've got an hour and 15 now. south of here, about 90 miles, outside philadelphia, many schools are closed and that airport was at a groundstop until a few minutes ago, which means that flights heading to philadelphia were held up at their departure point and not far from there, delaware county p.a., excuse me, is in a state of emergency. that's delaware county, pennsylvania, some fast moving water rushed over what looks like a busy intersection, stranding school buses and isolating businesses because the storm -- and just because the storm clouds are gone doesn't mean the troubles are over in pennsylvania, jenna. jenna: looks like quite a bit of recovery to happen there. who's next in line to get this wal beyond from nicole? >> new england is next. in upstate new york they've

evacuated two apartment buildings and homes, in connecticut, the state emergency operations center is on standby, so are the utilities companies, just in case anybody ends up without power because of high winds that are expected as part of the storm. at boston logan airport, some flights have already been canceled but as of right now everything is running on or close to schedule until the storm gets up there. in massachusetts, their emergency operations team says they're expecting up to 5 inches of rain in western mass and urban flooding throughout the commonwealth. it could be a nightmarish friday night commute for people trying to get home and enjoy their weekend tonight, jenna. jenna: i guess that's the only silver lining, it's friday! it could be monday, could be worse. reporter tgif. jenna: peter doocy, thank you very much. rick: another fox news alert from pakistan, we're just getting word that another vehicle carrying nato supplies is under attack, this comes amid another attack on a convoy, setting

fire to tankers carrying supplies to u.s. and afghanistan, dramatic pictures showing the aftermath of this, the militants suspected of torching the tankers after shooting into the air to scare away drivers. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon. we know about the war in afghanistan. is this a new front, is the u.s. now spreading its operations into pakistan? i'm sorry to interrupt. >> reporter: no, i'm sorry to interrupt, rick. absolutely, it does seem as though there's an increased tempo of cross border strike spwos pakistan's travel areas, we've seen three in the last week. that's why you saw the pakistanis close the torcum border, one of two supply routes into afghanistan. we understand there are 150 fuel vehicles backed up at the torcum border, those are crucial supply chains that nato relies on in afghanistan, then you have these attacks on tankers in two different places overnight in pakistan. there was one truck that was torched, waiting at a rest

stop, the driver and his assistant were actually burned alive, then these 27 other vehicles that were burned in retaliation and in response, we're told, to nato helicopters firing across and killing three pakistani border soldiers earlier this week. rick: jennifer, wasn't leon panetta just in pakistan, the cia chief? what was he doing there? >> exactly. he was there yesterday, he was meeting with his counterpart, the head of the pakistan's isi, which is their intelligence service. i'm told from sources that he was meeting to talk about this unfolding plot in europe that was being masterminded. i'm told it was a mumbai-style attack, they were going to attack hotel, we told but it but it was masterminded by a pakistani, number three in al-qaeda, mohammed iliad cashmereie, someone the pakistanis know about. rick: a lot of people have been suspicious about the pakistanis for an awful long time, of course, they are our allies in this war, but

some people are concerned that they're playing both sides of the fence, right? >> absolutely. and in fact, the closing of the border, you've heard from -- we've heard this morning from u.s. officials, they don't seem tong that the border will be closed long, but it does, as the pakistanis have been playing a double game in terms of criticizing u.s. and nato strikes inside pakistan's tribal areas and on the other hand, encouraging them to go after al-qaeda in those areas. occasionally, there's collateral damage, and that's when the pakistanis have to do things like close the border and then you see them playing to a domestic audience. but what happens in the meantime is that there are these attacks spurred by islamists who are trying to defend pakistan and they attack nato convoys. so it is a double game, it's a very dangerous game and the pentagon is watching it closely today. rick: such a complicated situation. jennifer griffin at the pentagon for us, jennifer, thanks. jenna: right now, let's take you back to the white house, we're awaiting an

announcement of a major shakeup there as part of the president's administration. president obama's chief of staff, rahm emanuel, reportedly stepping down to make a political move in his home town of chicago, the windy city. any minute now the president to say he's replacing his righthand man with long time adviser pete rouse. mike emanuel is at the white house. talk us through the personnel changes we're expect to go hear? pete rouse has a long history with the president. how is he expected to differ from rahm emanuel? >> reporter: personalities are very different, jenna. pete rouse has been described by some people as invisible, president obama has said he has no ego, but the bottom line is when president obama as a senator and now as president of the united states has had really tough tasks, he's given them to pete rouse and pete rouse has gotten them done quietly on the president's behalf. i'm told by senior aides that the president, rahm emanuel, had a series of conversations about the possibility of him running for mayor. finally on wednesday, the chief of staff told the president he was going to go

for it, he was going to run for mayor, so president obama turned to his long time trusted adviser and said will you please be my chief of staff and rouse said yes. the question is how long. i'm told he won't have the official title, interim chief of staff, but privately i've been told that pete rouse is hoping that the president won't ask him to keep the job very long, jenna. jenna: you are giving us that great breakdown and we're also keeping an eye on the east room as we're awaiting the president. it's quite a high profile sendoff. the room is packed, members of the cabinet are there. how could this affect rahm emanuel's future plans, such a sendoff as this one? >> one has to think it is the ultimate campaign ad for rahm emanuel for chicago mayor. you've got a chicago president giving him the sendoff in the east room with the vip who's who at the sendoff, so the interesting thing might be to ask other democrats in chicago how they feel about this sendoff and whether they consider this an official endorsement.

we're not sure what the president will say about that, but from the visuals, it certainly looks like an endorsement from the president of the united states for his home town guy to be the mayor of that city, jenna. jenna: something we're going to be watching closely when it happens. mike emanuel, thank you for the inside story at the white house. it's friday and what better way to celebrate than our new segment, the hot seat. we'll take your questions on the hot topic of the week, that being one of them, rahm emanuel's departure, and bringing those questions to some of the biggest names in news, former arkansas governor and fox news host mike huckabee joining us next hour. send us questions you want to ask him. e-mail us at happening now, at foxnews.com, leave a blog, fox news.com/happening now or if on witter go ahead and use that as well, twitter.com/happening now. the deadline is 12:15. we want to get all your questions in so get them to us as soon as you can. rick: get cracking on that. coming up they ask ray blunt questions like are you a

terrorist, have you ever used drugs. fox news with an exclusive look at the men and women who decide the fate of thousands of would helicopter be u.s. immigrants. plus new video just coming into the newsroom, a 38 story high rise apartment building in flames. debris, crashing on to the streets. chaos as people run for cover. scary stuff, more of this dramatic video, straight ahead.

rick: welcome back. we're over here by the international desk, some of the most dramatic video you'll see all day long is coming in right now from south korea. tara khan who works on this desk has the latest. this is a high rise building on fire, right? >> reporter: that's right. yesterday we were speaking about some like it hot, the administration has another film, 1974 film, the towering inferno. check out this screen, a great dramatic video we have here. this was, in fact, real, this fire broke out in a 38 story building in south korea, the flames spread through the stairwell and the rest of the building. six hundred firefighters were called to the scene, it took seven hours to put out the blaze. incredibly, no deaths or injuries were reported, even though there were many people inside the building which has both residential units and offices. some were rescued by firefighters, and others were rescued by helicopter from the building's roof.

again, it looks like something out of a film, but a disaster in south korea. because the fire is -- the cause of the fire is under investigation. rick: we see family taking small children out of the area. appreciate the update. jenna: we're keeping a close eye on the white house, awaiting news from the president. we'll bring you there as it happens. in the meantime, one of those big topics at the white house is talk about illegal immigration, who has the right to stay, to who should be sent back home. so what's it really like to be on the front lines of the immigration battle? fox news got an inside look at that. orlando sainas joins us with that story. hi orly! >> reporter: several days ago we spent a few hours with immigration officers at the field office in orlando. that's the field office for the uscis, the united states center for immigration services. now, we were there as these really long lines of applicants, immigrants, who want nothing more than to come to the united states and be citizens. now, getting through that process, though, takes

patience and requires a thick skin. here's just a snippet of that story. take a listen: >> everything you're about to tell me today about be the truth and nothing but the truth. >> each day, nearly 300 immigrants make their way to the u.s. citizenship and immigration services office in orlando, florida. >> one of 219 u.s. -- us kreufplt s centers nationwide. many are seeking citizenship or a green ward by proving their marriage to a citizen is real, that means convincing immigration officers who on constantly on the lookout for lie. sue: i don't like anyone coming to my country and lying. >> reporter: the process includes a gauntlet of tough questions. >> have you ever been a member of or affiliated with any terrorist group. >> have you ever been a prostitute or been involved in prostitution. >> have you -- do you intend to overthrow the government of the u.s. >> immigrants have long complained about allegedly rude and impatient agents. >> there are some stories

about officers being a little heavy handed with the people that are sitting in front of them. >> raise your right hand. >> reporter: last year, nearly 750,000 people became naturalized u.s. citizens. decisions that affect generations. >> because of one of our decisions to approve somebody, whether their child could get a scholarship, or their parent can come into the united states. >> reporter: jenna, that interview process can take as little as 30 minutes or it can take a few hours. if indeed as the process goes on, and these immigration officers suspect that either of these folks just don't know their home work or they are possibly intentionally trying to mislead, the officers -- you know what, one thing i found interesting, i thought initially it was going to be kind of a very rude and maybe an antagonistic process. while i was there, what i saw were officers, immigration officers, who were pretty direct with the applicants, but gave these folks time to explain themselves. so it's not as if, what i

saw, anyway, it wasn't as if it was something cut, dried, hard and ugly. it looked to me as if indeed these officers took some time and these applicants had some questions, too, and it looked like the process went on okay. every friday at that orlando field office, jenna, they go through an immigration services swearing in ceremony and there are hundreds of folks who go through this process every week. jenna: interesting inside look, orly, thank you very much for that, orlando salinas in miami. rick: you know it's going to be a major announcement at the white house when it's set in the east room and we're awaiting the announcement that the president's chief of staff, rahm emanuel, is on the way out. what will this mean? any permanent change to the tone in washington? we'll talk about that and have the announcement live. an nfl star finding himself in the middle of a breakfast pwru ha ha. you won't believe what -- brew what hafplt you won't believe -- brouhaha. you won't believe what was reale

put on thour e cereal box he wae endorsing

rick: welcome back, we'll go the white house first but supermarkets are rushing to pull breakfast cereal boxes off shelves and a new cereal endorsed by chad occocinto is giving those the shock of their lives. brad underwood has the story. >> it appears to be an honest mistake, dial 888 instead of 800, you got the hotline for feed the children, however, could this be another headline grabbing attempt by the bengals superstar or sabotage? >> one thing, it's -- sabotage. >> it's made in pittsburgh. you know, what makes youo toe makes you think. know what i mean? it makes you think. >> either way, it's news

across the country, today, chad occocinco takes responsibility. >> i'd take the blame because i endorsed the cereal. >> it's a personal announcement by the president. >> thank you. everybody take a seat. good morning, everybody, and welcome to the least suspensal announcement of all time!

as almost all of you have reported, my chief of staff, rahm emanuel, has informed me he will leaving his post today to explore other opportunities. [laughter] >> this is a bittersweet day here at the white house. on the one hand, we are all very excited for rahm as he takes on a. but we're also losing an incomparable leader of our staff and one who we are going to miss very much. when i first started assembling this administration, i knew we were about to face some of the most difficult years this country has seen in generations. the challenges were big and the margin for error was small. two wars, an economy on the brink of collapse, and instead of tough choices

about issues that -- and tough choices that we have put off for decades, choices about health care, energy, education, how to rebuild a middle class that had been struggling for far too long, and i knew that i needed somebody at my side who i could count on, day and night, to help get the job done. in my mind, there was no candidate for the job of chief of staff who would meet the bill as well as rahm emanuel and that's why i told him that he had no choice in the matter. he was not allowed to say no it wasn't just rahm's broad array of experiences in congress and in the white house, in politics, and in business, it was also the fact they just brings an unmatched level of energy and enthusiasm and commitment to every single thing that he does. this was a great sacrifice for rahm, amy, and the

family, to move out here. rahm gave up one of the most powerful positions on capitol hill to do this. and in the last 20 months, rahm has exceeded all of my expectations. it's fair to say that we could not have accomplished what we've accomplished without rahm's leadership from preventing a second depression to passing historic health care and financial reform legislation, to restoring america's leadership in the world. for nearly two years, i have begun my work day with rahm, i have ended my work day with rahm, much to amy's chagrin, i've intrude dollars on his life at almost any hour of the day, any day of the week, with just enormous challenges. his advice has always been candid, his opinions have

always been insightful, his commitment to his job has always been heartfelt, borne of a passionate desire to move this country forward and lift up the lives of the middle class, of people who are struggling to get there. he has been a great friend of mine, and will continue to be great friend of mine. he has been a selfless public servant, he has been an outstanding chief of staff. li miss him dearly, as will members of my staff and cabinet with whom he's worked so closely and so well. now, i don't think anybody would disagree that rahm is one of a kind. i am very fortunate to be able to hand the baton to my wise, skillful, and long time counselor pete rouse. pete, who has more than 30 years of experience in public service, will serve as interim chief of staff, as we enter the next phase of our administration.

many of you remember pete as the top aide to then senator -- senate majority leader tom daschle, pete was affectionately known as the 101st senator. from the moment i game a u.s. senator, he's been one of my closest and most essential advisers. he was my chief of staff in the senate, he helped orchestrate and advise my presidential campaign, he has served as one of my senior advisers here at the white house, and in that role, he's taken on a series of management and legislative challenges with his customary clarity and common purpose. there is a saying around the white house, let's let pete fix it. [laughter] >> and he does. pete's known as a skillful problem solver and the good news for him is that we have plenty of problems to solve! >> [laughter] >> so i am extraordinarily

grateful to him, that he's a agreed -- he's agreed to serve as interim chief of staff and i look very much toward working with him in this new role. obviously, these two gentlemen have slightly different styles. [laughter] >> i mentioned, for example example,o this was a couple of years ago, i pointed out that rahm, when he was a kid, had lost part of his finger in an accident, and it was his middle finger, so it rendered him mute for a while. [laughter] >> pete has never seen a microphone or a tv camera that he likes. [laughter] >> and yet, there's something in common here. as president of the united states, you get both the credit and the blame for what happens around here,

and the blame is usually deserved, or at least i happily accept it because that comes with the territory, but the credit really goes to the men and women who work in this building. it goes to people like rahm and pete. and the hundreds of others who are here today, who sometimes get some attention and sometimes don't. but these are folks who give up incredibly lucrative opportunities, sacrifice enormously and their families sacrifice enormously, they come here every day to do the best possible job on behalf of the american people, and often tiles, they don't get the thanks that they deserve so as your president, and as a fellow american, i want to take this moment to say to

all the staff, all the cabinet members, how proud i am of you and how grateful i am of you and how particularly proud and grateful i am to my outgoing chief of staff rahm emanuel. >> [applause] >> >> thank you. a slightly different reception than i got at my bahmitvah. thank you mr. president for those generous words, but more importantly, thanks for your warm friendship, your

confidence, and the opportunity to serve you and our country in consequential times. needless to say, this is a bittersweet day for me, too. on the one hand, i'm excited to be heading home to chicago, which, as you know very well, mr. president, is the greatest city and the -- in the greatest country in the world. i'm energized by the prospect of new challenges, and eager to see what i can do to make our home town even greater. these are unprecedented and great times in chicago, mr. mr. president, the chicago bears are 36789-zero. >>un believable! >> i'm also sad to leave you, the vice president, and my terrific colleagues here at the white house, the cabinet, and so many friends on both sides of pennsylvania avenue with whom i've worked as chief of staff and as a member of congress. it's been a profound privilege to work for and with you, mr. president.

i watched you confront some of the toughest challenges of our time, and you've done it with unfailing grace, intelligence, and courage. you have the guts to make the tough calls that stop the freefall and saved our country from a second great de prerbgs you've taken on some of the most powerful interests in this town, to stand up to the american people -- for the american people and you've been willing to challenge the worn-out ideas and stale thinking that often stands in the way of progress. mr. president, i thought i was tough. but as someone who saw firsthand how close our nation came to the brink and what you had to do to put america back on track, i want to thank you for being the toughest leader any country could ask for in the toughest times any president has ever faced. [applause] >> and even on the hardest

days, you never lost focus on why we're here. not just to score political points, but to solve problems. not just to win the next election, but to make a difference for the next generation. i have served you, mr. president, as a member of your staff, but i also observed you as a friend. i've seen what you -- what few are privileged to see. the father whose heart breaks when he writes a letter to parents whose son or daughter has been lost on the field of honor. the man of quiet, committed faith who always appeals to the better angels of our nature. and the proud product of the american dream, who sees in

the reames of economic statistics the child who struggles and the single parent with limited income, but unlimited potential. you have lived that american dream, mr. president, as have i. my father -- my grandfather came to this country for opportunity. they came here for a better life for their children. my mother marched with martin luther king because she believed that none of us is truly free until all of us are. both my parents raised me to give something back to the country and the community that has given us so much. and i want to thank you for the opportunity to repay in a small portion of the

blessings this country has given my family. i give you my word that even as i leave the white house i will never leave that spirit of service behind. [applause] >> now, because my temper -- temperament is sometimes a bit different than yours, mr. president, i want to thank my colleagues for your patience, the last two years that you have shown. i'm sure you've learned some words that you've never heard before, and an assortment of combination of words. [laughter] >> but we learned together, was what a group of tireless, committed, talented people can achieve together and as difficult it is to leave, i do so with

the great comfort of knowing that pete rouse will be there to lead the operation forward. from the moment i arrived, and the moment he arrived, pete has been a good friend with great judgment. he commands the respect of everyone in this building and brings decades of experience to this assignment. finally, i want to thank my wife, amy, and our three remarkable children, zach, lana and laya, whout whose love and support, none of this would be possible. i hope to end this soon so they can all get back to school today and finish their exams. mr. president, thank you. and thank you all. i look forward to seeing new chicago. [applause] jenna: there you

see t. rahm emanuel, stepping down as chief of staff for the president. the president is exiting the raoeft room there, the whole talk took about 16 minutes or so and we saw quite a bit from both the president and from now the former chief of emanuel, the president talking about rahm emanuel as selfless, outstanding, one of a kind, says he's going to miss him dearly and you saw rahm emanuel getting choked up, talking about his personal family history and saying goodbye to a position that obviously took a lot of time and was quite intense as well. let's talk a little about what this means for us as well as the voters that will iraq -- that are going into

the midterm elections and what it means for the oval office. bob beckel is with advanced political studies at george washington university, and senior adviser to dennis hastert and former adviser to trent lott joins us. bob, what changes will take place when rahm emanuel is gone? >> let's take a look at the response that rahm had in that room. it's unusual for a chief of staff to have that kind of overwhelming emotion directed to him. one of the things that was remarkable to me is how little infighting there was in the white house and how few real big leaks there were. rahm really was seriously in control of that operation, and i think obama made exactly the right choice. he's going to be a tough act to follow. pete rouse, though, knows capitol hill and that's where really the action is going to be. when we come back, whatever happens in this election, there's going to be a lame duck session of congress, it's going to deal with

taxes, rouse is in the position to do that. i think they're serious about the interim job, by the waeufplt i think there will be a new chief of staff sometime early next year, but in the meantime, i think rahm is a big loss, and i think from the standpoint of what happens in the elections, not much different is going to happen. whether rahm is there or not. jenna: ron, your thoughts on that. bob made a good point about the temperament of rahm emanuel and that was brought up several times, both by the president and by mr. emanuel as well, some describe him as a lightning rod or even a human shield for the president, kind of took a lot of roles, kind of the bad boy, if you will, of that administration, or that office. who takes that role now? >> that's absolutely right. i don't think a lot is going to get done differently than it was before, and in the speech, i thought it was a very nice speech but i kept getting this feeling in the back of high head that -- in my head that it should have had a mission accomplished banner. like the problems were solved. we have tremendous

unemployment, skyrocketing deficits and debts and i felt like it was too much a celebration on obviously a major staff change and rahm emanuel did work hard and make sacrifices but i really think this was designed to help rahm run for mayor of chicago, this gave him a national pod ul and launching pad. pete rouse is very respected, he is a senate -- he's been in the senate for decades, people really like him and trust him, and he has countless democratic aides who have worked with him in town and i think he'll be a tremendous asset to president obama, especially when the house flips to become republican, should the senate flip or get close, they'll need pete rouse's experience, spefl on a vote level. it takes 60 votes. jenna: we did not hear from rouse, he did not make a statement, and you also were talking previously about what this means come midterm elections. do you think we're going to see more compromise? it seems like rouse has that reputation, as the president

says, to solve problems, let pete fix it. are we going to see coming together of the parties as facilitated by pete rouse? stkpwhraoeu think that's the advantage that rouse will have over emanuel, who was a confrontational guy. you saw rahm choke up, that's very rare to see that, and i agree, by the way, it was a sendoff to run for mayor of chicago, which is exactly why you don't talk about problems, you talk about what you succeeded in. having said that, i think rouse is the kind of guy that is going to be able to figure out, for example, how to work this tax bill out, which has got to get worked out in a lame duck session. i think it's probably better rouse doing that than emanuel, frankly, and i also think in terms of the mayor of chicago that rahm is going to win that and win it handily. jenna: final thought, ron, if rouse is temporary, who takes that position permanently? >> that's a really good question. you know, it's really unclear. there's a long list of folks that we've already read about in the media. we're not sure how long he'll stay as interim chief of staff, and will he be

there during the lame duck session. we imagine he would be. whoever they pick is going to have to have the temperament and hopefully they'll be able to get things done, and done in a bipartisan way than they have in the past two years, which has pretty much been partisan infighting and passing bills on partisan votes. jenna: interesting few weeks until the mid terms and then after that as well during a lame duck session. bob and ron, thank you very much, helping us go through that process and we'll talk to you both again soon. thank you. rick: i say bob beckel for chief of staff. he'd be an asset. when we come back, praud cast, live on tv, soldiers storming their way to rescue their president from the police. a nation now in chaos. this incredible story. more stunning video. state ahead. plus the mid terms don't just mean voting for candidates, they mean a lot of ballot initiatives as well, like one that could leave voters in very high spirits. we'll tell you just what they may be getting.

may be getting a last call when it comes to alcohol. when we come back.

rick: "happening now", a*ebg wa dor in a state of seige, all caught on national tv, a daring rescue of that

country's president, trapped inside a hospital for about 12 hours, the police were keeping him there, the standoff ending when soldiers stormed the hospital with guns blazing and stun grenades, too. steve harrigan, it sounds like a wild story. how did this get so violent? >> reporter: it might not have been the wisest move for a*ebg wa dor's president rafael carr air he's to confront these people, he said i'm not backing down, you're going to have to kill me if you disagree with me. they fired tear gas near his head, tried to rip the gas mask off him and he was hoped up inside a hospital, surrounded by those police for 12 hours t. really took 500 soldiers to get him out, they formed a human shield around him to get him out of there, by nightfall he was in the presidential palace but this presidency is hanging by a they.

rick rick he's officially hanging on to power. what are people saying, how long is that going to last? >> the army is in charge right now. there's a state of emergency for the next wupbd and the president says he's not going to back down. this is a country, $400 billion in debt, it's already tkpwault dollars -- defaulted on its loan and you have a president who says he's going to push through with cutting the budget so this violence we've seen over the past 24 hours could be the start of more troubles ahead in equador. jenna: fox news is your front row seat for politics, in massachusetts, voters say good riddens to a sales tax on alcohol but not everyone is favoring the tax levy's last call. douglas kennedy has more. >> reporter: liquor stores want to get rid of it but treatment centers want it to stay. it's a debate that's driving

some bay staters right to the bottle. >> john herrington says residents of massachusetts need a drink. and not an expensive one, either. >> why is this the wrong time to be taxing alcohol? >> the economy is soft as it is. is it normal to tax when an economy is the way it is right now? >> herrington is the opener of this package store in chalmsford, north of boston, he points out the red sox are in third place and the patriots have failed to meet expectations. making matters worse, the massachusetts state legislature last year raised the state tax on booze from zero percent to 6.25 percent. >> just when they should have made it cheaper you say they went and made it more expensive. >> not any more expensive. they're sending dollars to the -- tax dollars to the state of new hampshire. >> he supports a tax initiative that eliminates the state tax on liquor. he says bay staters need leaf both in their

pocketbooks. >> alcohol is not a necessity, it's not food and water or clothing. and why should alcohol be exempt from a sales tax? >> state senator stephen tolman is an outspoken critic of the measure, he says the problems in massachusetts need to be faced head on -- head on, not drank away. >> the alcohol problems are numerous. you cut binge drinking, you cut college students abusing it. >> the opponents of this initiative says booze causes problems with individuals, with society, why not tax it. >> they should be focusing on keeping our employees working and keeping things going in their state. >> still, opponents point out that all of the proceeds from the tax go to treatment and prevention of substance abuse. funds which today will be lost if the tax is eliminated. jenna: interesting story. how many beer bottles were harmed in the reporting of that story? >> >> reporter: what happens in boston stays in boston.

gen jen good answer! douglas kennedy in the newsroom, thank you. rick. rick: first it was full body scanners at airports. now this. look. the feds, driving around in mobile x ray vehicles, these are vans that have the ability to look right through cars and a whole lot more. is this big brother run amock or a great tool to fight terror? you decide, coming up next.

rick: the government is now using x-rays to x-ray you, while you drive around. that's right. using the same technology that's in those airport scanners. feds are now using these mobile x ray vans, and they can see through cars, walls, and clothing. joining us snow mark rotenberg, director of electronic privacy information center.

good to see you. we live in a very dangerous world, there are people who want to hurt us and hurt us badly. what is wrong with the government using this technology in an attempt to keep us safe? >> i think in some circumstances, it's appropriate. new technologies do help make us safe. but we also have important laws in this country. we have the constitution which basically says to police if they're going to conduct a search, there has to be probable cause, there has to be judicial aproperly. what we don't want is the police investigating everybody. we want them investigating the bad guys. rick: it's clear that the terrorists are trying to change tactics a little pweufplt we had the new york city police commissioner yesterday and he confirmed that this is what's going on, smaller, coordinated attacks like the kind that was foiled over in europe this week. this is exactly the kind of thing that terrorists might use, a truck or a vehicle, sort of loaded up with explosive material, drive up to a ballpark or a mall or a

federal building, as we've seen in this country. isn't this exactly what the bad guys are trying to do? and isn't this a good way to try to prevent that from happen something. >> well, whether or not it's effective is actually a very important question. we've got a lot of body scanners, for example, going into the airports in the united states today and there's really an open question right now whether or not those devices will be effective in detecting, for example, powdered explosives. that's also a risk with a vehicle. you can conceal a powdered explosive within a vehicle, which would not be detected by one of these new x-ray devices. so it's not obvious, even with these new technologies, and the enormous sacrifice in privilege area, that will necessarily -- that we'll necessarily be safer. >> what do you say, mark, to those people out there who say you know what, i'm willing to take that chance and i'm willing to sacrifice a little of my personal privacy so that i can be protected, myself, my family, my country? what do you say to those people? >> i think it's a dangerous way to view the world,

actually. i mean, the threats are real, i think we need smart solutions and smart responses. i think think part of defending our country is about defending our way of life, our constitution and our freedoms and if we decide to start giving those things away, i think we're already on a path to losing the battle. rick rick sorry that this has been a little bit abbreviated because of the breaking news in washington but we appreciate you coming on. mark rottenberg with the electronic privacy information center. jenna: more trouble for an american convicted of a brutal crime in italy, amanda knox, facing new charges that could keep her behind bars even longer. taking the hot seat today, mike huckabee is here to answer your questions on the hottest topics of the week and the day. send those questions to us, e-mail us at happening now, foxnews.com, stay close. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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warned us. you did. [laughter] >> reporter: you know it's bad when they shut down the new york subway system for a period of a couple of hours during rush hour. right, jenna? ma-and-a-half kind of tough to make it to work, but i'm here. we're here. the show goes on. [laughter] >> reporter: i wish i had hip waders out in long island. look at some of these storm totals, over 8 inches in parts of pennsylvania. you've been seeing pictures earlier on today, incredible flood waters that will be receding shortly, i promise you. but in the meantime, a lot of people are just advised not to travel over high water that you can't see the bottom of, okay? it's not worth it at all. part ofs of new jersey over 6 inches of new jersey welcome back a 24-hour period of time. all because we had the remnants of tropical storm nicole, also a frontal system combine with the that tropical moisture that brought incredible amounts of rain, 1-2 inches an hour in some

cases. atlantic city, philadelphia, almost over for you. almost over nor for new york city, we have a little bit of shower activity just to the south, but the worst is really across new england now, especially across the mountains where the clouds kind of get squeezed up against the mountains, and that makes a little bit more moisture than you normally see. so we're going to watch for that, the potential for more rain, possibly 1-2 inches on top of, you know, the amounts we've already seen. so flash flood advisory still up for the better part of the mid atlantic region as those rivers and streams recede and up towards the northeast and new england. also want too make mention -- to make mention we could see wind gusts close to 50 miles per hour, especially along the coast. that's why we've seen tremendous delays at the airports. it's going to take some time to get things back in order across portions of the northeast in terms of travel. future radar, we say good-bye to the system, but i also want to point out cooler air invading

the upper midwest. look at that, guys, we could actually see some snow in the upper levels of the atmosphere because temperatures are going to be very cold overnight, freezing in some cases. so we're getting that fall atmosphere, and one real quick note. we are still watching the tropics. a couple of areas of disturbed weather that could become our next depression or even our next storm in the next couple of days. i believe we will be on the 0 storm which would be otto. back to you, jenna. jenna: otto. >> reporter: otto. [laughter] jenna: when janice dean tells you to buy rain boots, go out and buy rain boots. rick: or hip waders. [laughter] >> reporter: hopefully, people take it easy the rest of the day today. jenna: and maybe on to some snow in the next couple of days. thank you very much, janice dean. >> reporter: thanks, jenna. jenna: millions of people in the path of this storm, major flash floods threaten every state from

the carolinas. get the latest updates, also janice dean's blog. you see it right there. there's janice dean daily at foxnews.com/weather. rick: right now in california a political bombshell in the race for golf. republican meg whitman is struggling to steady her campaign today amid questions about the legal status of a former housekeeper. casey teagueal reporting live from l.a. what are the specific allegations against meg whitman? >> reporter: well, rick, a lot of she said/she said. attorney gloria allred making serious accusations saying not only did meg whitman hire an illegal immigrant, but she employed her for nine years. allred also alleges she received this letter from the social security administration in 2003, a letter saying there are some kind of discrepancies with the unemployment records of

ms. diaz, whether it was an incomplete social security number or bonus number, we simply don't know. allred also alleged whitman's husband wrote a little note on the back of this letter saying, nicky, please, check this out. everyone is trying to sort through these accusations. this has created a media frenzy out here in california. of course, the governor's race is huge, everyone seems to be following it with only four weeks to go until this election. how will this affect meg whitman's campaign, especially p with latino voters? it's been a pretty good campaign, she's spent $120 million, we know, of her own money, and she's done pretty well in the polls. in fact, the latest field poll suggests that her and jerry brown are dead even, the latest politics average showing brown with a three-point lead. so it's going to be interesting to see what happens, if this could sort of be the unraveling of meg whitman's campaign in the final stretch before the election, rick. rick: what kind of damage

control is the whitman campaign doing, casey? how have they responded to this? >> reporter: well, you can imagine there's a lot of damage control going on. yesterday there were dueling press conferences here in los angeles. whitman is adamant that all of the allegations are false. she says that she hired that housekeeper through an agency that supposedly took care of all of the employment paperwork for her. she says once she learned of nicky's immigration status in 2009, she was let go. as for this controversial letter everyone's talking about, listen. >> absolutely not true. neither my husband nor i received any letter from the social security administration. and if there is a letter out there, i don't know how they got it. it's not in our house. and so, you know, somehow it ended up in, you know, jerry brown's hands or gloria allred's hands. so we never saw that letter. >> reporter: now, you can hear the accusation she's making there saying this is up to jerry brown's campaign, that they

somehow got this information to gloria allred, and gloria allred is denying those allegations. by the way, we should tell you meg whitman has said she will gladly take a polygraph test to show that she's telling the truth, that she did not knowingingly hire this woman as an illegal immigrant and that they never received the letter from the social security administration, and once they learned of her illegal immigration status, she was let go right away. rick? rick: casey teagueal in los angeles. casey, thanks. jenna: from a polygraph test potentially to the power play on politics now. joining us to talk a little bit more about what we have in store for us the final weeks before the midterms, fox news digital politics editor chris. first day of october, we often talk about the october surprise. and sometimes that's a news event that could shift voter opinion, but we're also going to talk about an october surprise when it comes to political strategy. is what we're seeing out in

california, this kind of nannygate situation, something we're going to see in other campaigns? is that the october surprise? >> well, i think there are a lot of democrats who hope they're able to pull off something as successful as the brown campaign is enjoying in california by getting meg whitman sort of back on her heels talking about this for three consecutive days. now, as you say, they call it an october surprise because it's supposed to change the course of the election, and i think the takeaway point here is that for democrats who are running behind in most races in the country this year, who are struggling this year have had to push the timetable up on this. so i'm sure the brown campaign is enjoying seeing the whitmans in a bit of disarray. i'm sure they would have ratherred this was two weeks from now and it would have had less time to wear off in voters' minds. jenna: every moment seems to take more importance as we get closer to voting day. democrats have really held on to

their money, they have a lot of money stored up to launch some of these campaigns. what have you heard? >> no, that's certainly lining up with what we've been hearing for the power play, and it certainly lines up with the strategy when you're behind. when you're behind, what you have to do is husband your resources, and you wait for the end and try to knock your opponent back on his heels right at the very end when it can do the most harm to him. if you have to go negative, what you want to do is save that punch so that it really lays him out. the problem for democrats right now is if you have to go early, if you have to go negative too early, then it can wear off. those of you who may remember the 2000 presidential campaign when the allegation of president bush's, then-governor bush's dui in maine came out just a week before the presidential election, and it caused a surge for al gore, it almost won him the presidency. so that's how you really want it to go. if you're a political

strategist, what you really want is if you're behind to, at the end, be able to close. if you're bringing it out now, what it means is i have to change the narrative of this election, it's going the wrong way, and i've got to start using my ammunition now or i'm going to be blown out. jenna: chris, how vulnerable are republicans to some of those attacks? is. >> the republicans that we're talking to basically say this, you have a lot of unknown candidates out there. you have a lot of newbies who are in the mix trying to get into politics right now. and while it's good because it fires up the tea party base, it gets people interested and involved, it also means you have a lot of unknown quantities and you don't know with some of these first-time candidates what many these final weeks you're going to see and what experienced democratic opposition researchers who do this for a living, dig up dirt on people for a living, what they're going to be able to turn up and what gloria allred's going to have her next press conference about. jenna: do we vent you properly,

chris? >> jenna, i hope not, otherwise we're in big trouble. [laughter] jenna: thank you very much. fox news digital politics editor. get fired up every day with the fox news power play, go to foxnews.com to get all the details. it's your shortcut to american politics. did we properly vet you? rick: absolutely. i'm clean as a whistle, and so is chris. take it to the bank. jenna: i don't know. rick: what do you mean you don't know? the feds are rounding up dozens of people they say were involved in stealing from bank accounts all around the country. prosecutors say the thieves used computer viruses disguised as what looked like legitimate e-mails. a former federal prosecutor is founder of ssp blue. good to see you, thanks for being here. how did all of this work exactly? >> well, thanks for having me, rick. first, you guys were just

talking about october. today and very timely is the beginning of national cybersecurity month whose purpose is to raise awareness about cybersecurity. and what, and what happened here was if you were not running antivirus software and you fell for one of these e-mails, the hackers would drop a virus into your computer which would open a back door for them into your life, basically, and they would come in and steal your online banking credentials. rick: doesn't sound like this is very sophisticated, kind of an easy thing for the crooks to do, right? >> it is an easy thing to do to start it, and this is -- and then they turn that into transferring the money from your account to another account where then a mule goes and downloads it from an atm, moves it to another area and eventually millions of dollars from london banks and american banks were ending up in russian and latvian accounts. i will say, rick, that for the fbi, kudos to the fbi. and i say that because if you

recall, fbi used to announce press conferences or have announcements, we arrested a hacker who hacked into a building or one computer system. rick: yeah. >> now you actually have the fwi taking down -- fbi taking down an entire organized family. rick: we just looked at some pictures. these are suspects, fugitives according to the fbi, folks who were involved in this scam still on the loose. none of them looks much older than 20 years old. these are kids who have the technological know-how to go out and do something like this. you know, so many of us bank online. what are we supposed to do, stop doing that? >> well, if you're watching at home, this is a great message to consumers. but the fact that it happened in national cybersecurity month and the fbi took down this ring, and that is when you go to bed at night, you lock your front door, you check all the windows usually, and you make sure the doors are locked. you have to do the exact same thing on your computer.

lock your computer door which means use the latest antivirus software, make sure it's updated when you get a reminder that says update now your security setting or remind me later. what do we all do? we click remind me later, and we have to stop doing that. if we do that, we can fight our own war in the cyber world. rick: ssp blue, the online safety consulting firm. good information, thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. jenna: yeah. some great tips there. well, we are -- just ahead, an update on that horrific connecticut murder. we're live at the scene. we're also live in beirut where a new war could be brewing, and new word from the most wanted man in the world, osama bin laden. does this latest rant reveal any clue toss where he might be? --! clues to where he might be? just ahead. isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass.

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jenna: new information on a terror tape believed to be from osama bin laden.

the terror leader attempting to undermine the pakistani government by taking advantage of the nation's recent flood tragedy. national correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with this story. so, catherine, we have a tape of his voice but not of him, is that correct? >> reporter: well, that's right, jenna. the reason the al-qaeda leader uses audio over video is the video typically gives away a lot about his location and could provide targeting information to the u.s. and some of our allies. now, in this tape bin laden seeks to exploit discontent in pakistan over the government's response to the massive flooding there. calling for the creation of a new relief body to study the problem of flooding in many muslim nations. and while this appears to be an effort to tap into the discontent of pakistanis, one official says it can't be taken seriously. for one, al-qaeda has killed thousands in afghanistan and pakistan and with the estimated

fighters in pakistan, they can't mount a serious relief effort, so essentially bin laden's trying to leverage the flooding to his advantage in this message, jenna. jenna: interesting, catherine. there's also another tape from al-qaeda? tell us about that. >> reporter: well, one of my contacts who does what's called open source intelligence collection points out the most recent tape is the first time in a long time that we've seen him outside, sort of outside of the small ruins where he's traditionally delivered these messages, and that's important because this mountainous terrain you can see in this videotape provides or can provide a lot of clues as to where he's located, presumably in the tribal areas of pakistan. so intelligence officials can look at the mountains, the vegetation, they can even look at the paths that he's walking on to try and pinpoint his location. and this is important because he's been wanted by the u.s. government since 2004, and the assessment of some analysts is that these recent tape of him out in the open shows that he is still feeling quite bold as the

american spokesman for bin laden, so sort of a shift in his strategy and his public posture, so to speak. jenna: lots of activity to watch. catherine, thank you for bringing this to us. >> reporter: you're welcome. rick: well, probably not a whole lot of drought situations these days. the bad news is this monster storm continues to batter folks all up and down the east coast. pounding rain forcing evacuations, knocking could be trees, cut -- down trees, cutting power to thousands of people, washing out roads from the carolinas on up into maine. we'll have a live update straight ahead. also right now, closing arguments in a horrific crime, the home invasion case, sexual assault and murder of a connecticut mother and her two daughters. such a tough story to talk about. we'll tell you how the defense hopes to save its client from a potential death sentence when we come right back. [ female announcer ] there's a new way to let go

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rick: welcome back. in this connecticut right now closing arguments are underway in a gruesome, horrific crime. a mother and her two daughters brutally murdered in their home this connecticut. prosecutors say jennifer petit was strangled and her daughters died of smoke inhalation after two men set their house on fire. the sole family survivor, the husband and father, a prominent doctor, william petit, is now waiting for justice. stephen hayes, one of those charged in the deaths. david lee miller is live in new haven. we understand court has just gotten underway, what can you tell us about the proceedings so far? >> reporter: well, in fact, rick, i can tell you there is now a break in the proceedings. the prosecution presenting its closing argument for the last one hour and 15 minutes. interestingly, connecticut guidelines say the closing

argument has to be 60 minutes. the prosecutor in this case went before the judge earlier and asked for additional time, an additional half hour saying that there was additional time needed, what he called he would need a fair amount of time, and the judge agreed. during the last hour and 15 minutes, the prosecutor talked about the 17 counts facing the defendant here, stephen hayes. among those charges, murder, sexual assault, burglary and arson. and because of the nature, rick, of closing arguments, no new evidence is actually presented. what the prosecutor does is essentially review the evidence that was presented over the last eight days, a total of 200 exhibits. at times the family members seemed overwhelmed. dr. william petit resting his face in his hands. as for the defendant, steven hayes, he was emotionless during the entire proceeding. the defense, rick, is expected

to present its case after the lunch break this afternoon. rick? rick: now, to my understanding, david, this defendant, hayes, was prepared to plead guilty in return for a life sentence. the prosecutors wanted to go to trial in order to try to get the death penalty here. what do we expect the defense to say when they get their chance? >> reporter: well, interestingly, like the prosecution the defense here, rick, has 90 minutes to present its case. likely, they might need closer to 90 seconds. that's because during trial the defense only presented two witnesses during about 30 minutes' worth of testimony. earlier in the week they went before the judge, they asked to have the murder charges reduced to arson/murder in two of the cases because that crime would not have resulted in the death penalty. they were turned down. likely what will happen this afternoon is that the attorney

for stephen hayes will try and say the other defendant, who's going to be tried next year, was more responsible for this crime. but the prosecutor made a point of saying that is simply not the case, they each share responsibility for what took place in the home three years ago. rick? rick: david lee miller live for us outside the courthouse in new haven, connecticut. david, thanks. jenna: well, "happening now," tensions are rising between israel and lebanon where there are new fears about another war. fox news got a firsthand look at u.n. troops trying to keep the peace in southern lebanon. reena ninan is streaming live from beirut today. reena? >> reporter: hi, jenna. you know, there's also a lot of discussion about whether the u.s. should fund the lebanese army provided 400 humvees to it. a senior official i spoke to said because of the u.s., they're able to be as mobile as they are. i also tracked down the head of the u.n. peace keeping forces

this southern lebanon tasked with keeping the peace down there. i asked the general what the u.s. government can to to help lebanon. >> they have to support, to assist the lebanese government and the lebanese armed forces because this is the key for the country to get peace. >> reporter: what specifically could the americans do that could really help improve the lebanese military? >> they can help with assets, of course, and also with the money mainly for infrastructure. >> reporter: do we have any proof that hezbollah has rearmed more weapons in the south? >> we have informations coming from the intelligence services from different countries, but we don't have any evidence of the weapons here. >> reporter: is israel violating rule 1701? >> the israelis are violating

the u.n. resolution 1701 every day by occupying the north part, and we denounce every day, every week in the tripar teed meetings. we denounce always this violation from the israeli side. >> reporter: the village in southern lebanon and israel at that border, but as long as heads blah remains -- hezbollah remains the most powerful force in lebanon, it is going to be unstable times here in lebanon. jenna: reena ninan, thank you. rick: well, we've got live pictures coming in from south florida, the driver of an armored car apparently shot. harris faulkner with details at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: rick, you're looking now at miami, florida, and what our fox affiliate is reporting was there was an attempted bank robbery on a bank of america truck. but i want to speak right now to

the live picture because that's important for you to know. there were three guys inside of the vehicle that pulled up outside this bank of america, and what police are saying is that these three men inside this vehicle tried to rob this brinks truck. one they have caught, but at least one of those men was armed, open fire, he shot -- according to police -- the driver of that truck. paramedics worked on that driver for some time, that guard, security guard, and what we're told is he's been pronounce thed dead on the scene -- pronounced dead on the scene in miami. what we're watching live now coming out of florida is the rounding up of one of those three men. two are now the subject of a manhunt in this area. look at the size of that truck. they tried to pull this off with three people. that guard was armed. shots exchanged, and the guard went down in all of this, and his injuries were so grave paramedics could not save him. manhunt, now, for the other two suspects as they bring in one of them. we're watching it live right here on fox news channel.

rick? rick: harris faulkner at the breaking news desk, thanks. jenna: could the political tide actually be turning in favor of democrats heading into next month's midterms? that's what some are actually saying, but does that actually hold water? paul gigot helps us break it down. and speaking of water, a deluge up and down the east coast. molly henneberg is live in maryland. molly? >> reporter: i'm molly hennen during in great mills, maryland. the water is starting to recede, but coming up i want to show you some serious flood damage from the storms yesterday. stay with us. hi, andy griffith here.

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rick: welcome back. we've been talking about the nasty weather all up and down the east coast making the travel nightmare for a lot of people. if you have a flight that's going anywhere near laguardia airport, take a look at these life pictures from wnyw. usually this would be very packed, nothing going on right now. this shot, easy to recognize, boston, mass, those pictures coming from wxft. and this is the chopper from fox 9 in philadelphia where i spend some time. wtxf is on its way to white marsh township in pennsylvania, some major flooding in the airs around philadelphia -- areas around philadelphia. let's go to molly henneberg handling the story from down in maryland in great aprils. what's going on there, molly?

>> reporter: hi, rick. we're starting to dry out here a little bit, but if you take a look behind me, the st. mary's river got 13 inches in two hours. the river definitely overran it banks. look at this part of the great mills construction company. see those two pieces of machinery over there? the water here on this parking lot was chest high just this morning. it's, obviously, receded since then. now they're going to have to take them all apart, check the motor which was flooded, wash it and put it back together. they've been working hard, you can see them trying to get rid of the water on this parking lot today. look at this engineer's trans-am. he left it here oversight, and it got flooded all the way. that poor engineer left his car here overnight. joining me now is the own owner of the great mills construction company. what did you think when you saw 3 or 4 feet of water? >> very depressing. we couldn't get in first thing

this morning because the water was still too high, and you couldn't get down the road. >> reporter: what do you do now to sort of regroup? >> just try to clean up everything and go back to work monday. >> reporter: how much in damage are you expecting? >> it's too early to say but probably a couple hundred thousand dollars. >> reporter: but you're saying by monday you expect people to be back to work here? >> oh, yeah. we'll be back rolling monday morning. >> reporter: never say die. thank you for joining us today. perhaps -- let's ask janice dean this, rick, but they may have gotten a little bit of help here because there was a drought this summer, so maybe the ground was able to take the water quickly, and maybe that helped with the water receding so quickly today. rick: that's what we're hoping around where i live. molly henneberg, thanks so much. >> reporter: thanks. jenna: well, decision day is just around the corner, but before you head to the polls fox news is reaching out to voters just like you, and this time

around they come from miami, san francisco and denver all weighing in on the most important issues facing our nation right now. william la jeunesse is live in los angeles with this edition. hi, william. >> reporter: well, jenna, you know, we love to hear from experts, but their opinions are not nearly as important as voters which is why we are taking the pulse of the nation, listening to america on the important issue that is we face as we head into midterm elections. >> the recovery act is a down payment on our economic future. >> reporter: an $800 billion down payment to create jobs. but did the stimulus work, and would you do it again? >> i don't think it worked as well as they thought. >> giving it to corporate giants, ceos and things like that is not a good way to do it. >> i think the jury's still out on that. >> no. it was a horrible idea. i think the job market's still pretty much the same. >> [inaudible] hasn't saved a lot of jobs. >> a lot of people that never

worked before are working, learning things. >> reporter: whether you're in miami, san francisco or denver, america's still in the red. would you raise taxes or cut programs to get out of debt? >> both. obviously, both. >> there is so much waste in government spending. i mean, money just thrown all over the place. >> tax because the programs should not be cut. >> i think you have to do a little bit of both because there's a certain amount of waste in all government programs that would help us -- [inaudible] >> there's a bunch of crazy homeless people out in the street because they've cut programs, but at the same time we have all these deficits, and it's getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and what the hell are you going to do? >> reporter: so, jenna, coming up in about two hours on "america live," we grill taxpayers on tax cuts, tax rates and the one issue almost everyone agrees on: death taxes. back to you. jenna: william la jewish net from los angeles today. thank you. rick: we've been hearing a lot

of talk about democrats losing the house for sure and possibly the senate, but is it a slam dunk? now there's at least one columnist who says the democrats could hold back the republican tide on both sides of capitol hill. really? paul gigot is the editorial page editor of "the wall street journal" owned by the parent company of this network. we're talking about bob. >> rum who is a long time political strategist. he wrote that the tea-imbibing republicans are a two-er if for democrats. they scare away voters and energize the democratic base. >> well, there's something to that, and that's the strategy you're seeing from the democrats, right? they're losing independents 2-1, they're losing suburban women substantially. democrats are saying, we've got

to get our voters energized, the people who elected barack obama in 2008 in particular. rick: young voters. >> you've got to get young voters out. you saw the president in madison, wisconsin, this week at a big rally. they're trying to play to those base voters. rick: any way, shrum says the democrats could potential hang on to both houses of congress. >> they could. there's no question about it right now. i mean, anybody who thinks this election is over is wrong. there's going to be, you know, tens of millions, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars spent in the next month. it's going to be very hard-fought, and if you get an october surprise, you get a turn in the public mood, i mean, the republic -- you don't know what's going to happen. now, do i still think republicans will make substantial gains? no question about it. but the difference between 35 seats in the house and 50 or 60 seat ises is a big deal. rick: why is this happening? your newspaper ran a joint poll this week with nbc that showed would you rather have a

republican or democrat in congress, it was a nine-point lead for republicans, now it's down to a three-point lead in a country with unemployment the way that it is, the gdp we learned about this week as bad as it is, why isn't this more of a landslide? >> i think there are democrats who are coming home, and you're seeing some of the tightening of specific races in areas where the democrats have a big registration edge. take california, the governor's race, the senate race. democrats have established. pennsylvania the same where you have, where democrats have tended to do very well in the last decade or so. that's where you're seeing a lot of this tightening. but still republicans do have an edge in the generic ballot, and they're going to do well. the question is, are they going to do well or really well? rick: we're getting closer and closer. >> we are. it's going to be a fascinating month. rick: i love it. and i know our viewers do too. catch the journal editorial report 2 p.m. eastern time and

then stick around because jon scott will host news watch at 2:30. great to see you, paul. jenna? jenna: well, rick, "happening now" amid raised tensions between pakistan and the u.s., militants launching twin attacks on nato and american supply lines. the former pakistani president is forming a new political party. what does that mean for us? amy kellogg got a chance to speak with him, she's live with more on this story. >> reporter: the former pakistani president says he believes pakistanis have lost confidence in their government, its ability to grapple with terrorism, fight the rising economic problems and also its ability to deal with natural disasters, so musharraf wants to get back in politics. he was former president bush's staunch ally in the fight against terrorism, and that is something which cost him domestic political support. he stepped down in 2008 amidst threats of impeachment and has been in self-imposed exile in

london ever since. he wants to go back and has formed a new political party to pave the way. >> there is a political crisis which is leading to a weak government which is harmful to the country. >> reporter: now, about the war in afghanistan which musharraf's successor has said the coalition is losing, musharraf says the taliban must be defeated or else, jenna, terrorist groups around the world will be emboldened. >> i as a soldier do understand that you must win at the central gravity. if you lose at the center of dwrafty -- gravity, we'll lose everywhere else. >> reporter: now, jenna, is pervez musharraf electable? we don't know that. he did an awful lot for the country, and he was effectively forced out, but it may be at this point in time pakistanis would like to see a strong man

return. jenna? jenna: all right. a story we'll continue to watch. amy, thank you so much. >> reporter: you're welcome. rick: when we come back, jenna's very excited because the hot seat is straight ahead, and look who's on deck! where is he? there he is, governor mike huckabee who will answer the questions you want asked. braving the weather, landing only minutes ago, and he'll be here to join us in just a couple of minutes. in let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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sign me up. call the number on your screen now... and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan. you'll get this free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare, to help you choose the plan that's right for you. as with all medicare supplement plans, you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare, get help paying for what medicare doesn't... and save up to thousands of dollars. call this toll-free number now. jenna: well, there it is. it's time for the hot seat where some of the biggest names answer questions from you, the viewer, on the hottest topic of the week. today's guest is former governor mike huckabee. >> former governor. jenna: once a governor, always a governor, right? we thank you after sitting two hours on a runway -- >> it's not been the easiest trip getting to new york, but i'm glad to be here. a lot of weather on the east coast has made travel miserable, but it couldn't be any be worse

than what i'm about to get. jenna: it's going to be okay, although they're pretty tough from our viewers. chuck has a good one. do you feel you identify more with the republican establishment or the tea party movement? >> you know, personally, i have never been an establishment kind of guy, and they've never been all that enamored with me, nor i of them. and in terms of just a visceral, emotional attachments, probably more with the dissidents and insurgents of the tea party. jenna: so would you make a party switch? >> no, the tea party's not an organization as much as it is a movement, an attitude. it's been the healthiest thing to happen to the political environment in my lifetime, but i think it's important to understand that the real power of the tea party is that it isn't structured. if it gets structured, it will not be as effective. jenna: chris has a great question from new york. what is your opinion of republicans, such as lisa murkowski, who after losing to

tea party candidates refuse to endorse the campaign? >> jenna, it disturbs me, upsets me and angers me that somebody who has been clearly ousted by the voters doesn't get the hint. and when lisa murkowski said i'm going to put a write-in campaign because i want the people to decide, lisa, they did decide. get some boxes, put your stuff in 'em, ship it back to alaska. you're done, you're finished. i can't believe these people don't get it when they lose an election and think they still have one more bite at the apple. jenna: chris, quickly, wants to know what kind of bass you play. >> the one i play most is a to bias made by gibson. i've got a breedlove acoustic. he's a bass player, obviously. jenna: we have a couple more tough questions including this one. a question from donna. she wants to know if governor huckabee has thought about running for president in 2012. don't answer yet, governor. his answer is straight ahead.

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megyn: hi, everyone, i'm megyn kelly. carl pal dee know in a showdown with a reporter over the allegation that his rival had extra marital affairs. the clip has gone viral, the reporter has told his story, and now carl will tell his. he's here live. plus, new york teacher gets tenure and days later admits she was a hooker, only now they may not be able to fire her thanks to the tenure! a full report. yet another woman now accused of cheating with david beckham.

this as becks sues the prostitute who says she had a threesome with the soccer star. karl rove with the surprise dumped on meg whitman. hot show, see you at the top. jenna: and we're back with the hot seat as well with governor mike huckabee answering some of your questions. this one coming from iowa net, governor. >> okay. jenna: what if anything can't be done to repair the damage created by the lame ducks? >> i think the most important thing to do is have an overwhelming political sue that manymy in november, and a lot of the damage that has been done by much of this congress cab undone. the genius of our system, the brilliance of it is that it's resilient and that it has the capacity to self-correct. jenna: that's reassurance. >> that's why i love this country because no matter how stupid one congress can be, another congress can come in and undo their foolishness, and then they get stupid, and we have to throw them out.

jenna: you're sounding very presidential with that comment which leads us to donna's comment, i would like to know if mike huckabee has thought about running for president in 2012. >> well, it depends on how many. nothing's ruled out, but that's not a decision i'll make until sometime into next year. right now i amgen winly excited about what might happen in november to get the country back on track and stop some of the ridiculous spending and borrowing that's going to bankrupt us. jenna: not a no. we'll stay tuned this weekend, you've got a big show coming up. huckabee airs saturday and sunday, and some great guests include daniel webster talking about the florida race. you saw that. the taliban ad that went out there by grayson. so we'll be talking about that. also mike's going to jam with -- i shouldn't call you mike, i got that call you the governor. >> no, mike is good. when i jam, it's mike. jenna: with country music superstar toby keith. all coming up with weekend on

"huckabee." rick: governor, did a good job. breaking news on the attempted brinks truck robbery in south florida. we'll have the very latest for you when we come right back.

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ask your doctor if including advair will help improve your lung function for better breathing. get your first full prescription free and save on refills. megyn: -- rick: back to that attempted robbery in florida, harris, they have found what they think might be the getaway car? >> reporter: they were looking for a white toyota camry and found it at a pizza hut, and as you said, there was an attempted robbery on this brings truck, the security guard, dead at the scene, three men inside another vehicle tried to knock it off, they were armed, one is in custody and the man hunt continues for the other two but now it's a foot chase because they've taken out the canines, for the ground search on foot, because they believe they found that getaway car. this is fort lauderdale,