earthquake off the coast of indonesia. we have a tsunami warning because of that. take a look at the map. you see the area of sumatra. apparently the earthquake happened off the coast there. 7.5 is the initial reading. we are watching this area closely. even though there is assume r-r warning it is unexpected to have a major sumatra says one expert. we have seen some big earthquakes all around the world this year. china, haiti -rpbg, chile, and l bring you more information as we get it. jon: a good monday morning to you. i'm jon scott. jenna: we are going to read over that music. i'm jenna lee, here in the fox newsroom happening not only a earthquake and maybe assume r-r -- tsunami warning but a political game change.

midterm elections just eight days away. the latest polls show republicans on the verge of major gains on capitol hill. here is the key. independent voters siding with the gop. republicans hold a 5 point lead, 47 to 42% according to the latest politico george washington university battleground poll. jon: republicans hold a 14 point edge among independent voters and that may be the tree. leaders of both parties are predicting victory next week. >> i think you'll see an unprecedented wave on election day that is going to surprise a lot of people. >> almost all the polls have been moving for us. we have work to do. what democrats tend to specialize in is the ground game. jenna: president obama kicking off a final week on the campaign trail as democrats fight to retain control of congress. jon: he heads to rhode island where the democratic candidate

for governor says the president can, quote, take his endorsement and khof it. frank caprio reacting angrily that he will not getting president obama's endorsement. calling it washington politics at its worse. wendell goal hrer on the front lawn. >> reporter: he is going to headline a democratic fund-raiser that frank caprio was scheduled to attend. orders are his seat may be empty after his comment. his opponent, chiefly is lincoln chaffe who endorsed president obama in 2008. now the president is not making an endorsement in the rhode island's governor's race. frank caprio clearly wanted it, he said last we can he would welcome the president's endorsement. when he found out over the weekend he was not going to get it he fired back and a local fire station.

>> as far as president obama's endorsement he can taken his endorsement and really shove it as far as i'm concerned. the reality here is that rhode islanders are hurting. >> reporter: he complained president obama didn't visit the state after floods earlier in the year, accused him of treating the state as an atm. today's fund-raiser is the president's only fund-raiser until the weekend. there's been a lot of focus on the house and senate and how they will fair after the midterms, but its the government's -- governor's races that may make it a long night tore democrats. there are 37 races now. the prediction is republicans will again a net of 8 governor's houses. that will hugely change the balance. the democrats own a two state advantage right now, 26 versus 24 states of republican governors. after that it could be 32 states with republican governors and only 18 with democrats.

jon: when you use that kind of language with the president you don't get investigated by the secret service, do you? >> reporter: no, you don't. and the white house declining to comment on frank caprio choice of words. jon: thank you. in california jerry brown is on the campaign trail working to make sure his supporters show up on election day. some brand-new polls there show the democrat holds a big lead over former ebay ceo meg whitman. the university of southern california l.a. times poll finding 50% of likely voters support brown for governor, 38% going for whitman. there is more good news there for democrats, senator barbara boxer retaining a 6 point lead over former hewlett-packard ceo carly fiorina, this a young likely voters. the carly fiorina campaign is out with a new ad attacking boxer's record on capitol hill. >> barbara boxer failed to protect california jobs, praises

the stimulus plan while 2 1/4 americans are unemployed. trillions in deficits, billions are taxes, our hopes crushed by washington. the legacy of barbara boxer. jon: as you can imagine boxer is also attacking carly fiorina's record blaming her for moving thousands of jobs to china and india during her tenure at hewlett-packard. with just eight days to go until the election every day america is asking, it's our interactive town hall usa segments, we'll run one every day through next week's midterm elections. we'll take your questions about politics and the elections. we have a great panel lined up to answer those questions. you can log onto the foxnews.com home page. get to us by email, twit error post on our blog at foxnews.com/happening now. you might hear your question answered right here on the air. jenna: fox business alert for you now, a big announcement from

ben bernanke today as he weighs into the foreclosure mess. he's telling regulators to investigate whether mortgage companies cut corners on procedures when they moved to for close on shoep so many homes across the nation. how unusual is it for the fed chair to get involved here and what does it all mean? >> well bernanke was speaking at a big housing conference going on right now in washington, jenna, and he is a major regulator who regulates practices in mortgages. he said that bank regulators have been concerned about reported irregularities in foreclosure practices at big banks and are conducting an in-depth review of them. >> we are looking intensively at the firm's policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknessess are leading to improper foreclosures.

we take violations of proper proceedings very seriously. >> bernanke says that he anticipates preliminary results from the review next month. he said regulators are also evaluating potential effects of the foreclosure problems on the real estate market and on the finances of bankses themselves. jenna: we have new home sales data out tonight. i shouldn't say new home sales, it's brand-new data on house. it's suggesting what to us and what does this mean how quickly we need to solve this issue when it comes to more closures. >> the national association of real tears came out with september existing home sales numbers, sales rose 10% more than expected and the biggest monthly jump in 28 years. a third of total sales in september were of distressed properties, mostly foreclosures, foreclosures are now a huge part of the real estate market right now. any paperwork problems that scare buyers could slow foreclosure sales, jenna.

jenna: a story we are watching very closely. thank you so much for the update. jon: drug violence raging out of control just across our border with mexico. a gang of armed men burst into a drug rehab center gunning down more than a dozen recovering addicts including a 14-year-old boy. harris is on it from the breaking news decks. >> reporter: pretty young ages there. the death toll has gone up now as you said to 13. it was at least ten per police in tijuana, mexico a short while ago. this is right across the board. this is part of the troubling nature of it. while they are not saying for sure it was a drug gang-related killing or mass killing, there is a witness this time and they are not identifying this witness but this witness says that he was downstairs from this drug rehappen and ran up and was able to talk to several people who survived it. and described it as people being pulled out of their beds, told to lie down on the floor and

killed with machine guns or automatic weapons by several men dressed in black garb. the reason police say that this is possibly drug related, of course, is because it's a rehab center and cartels will typically put those types of people, those in rehab in the center of their disagreements. we've seen this happen before, just across the way from el paso and ciudad juarez where a rehab center was hit earlier this year. prosecutors and police in mexico are desperately trying to find any answers that they can as addicts are told to lie on the floor and just shot to death. the death toll again at 13. particularly troubling because of its vicinity to the united states. i'll stay on this one. there are details coming out about which cartel this may be, and that matters in all of this because we've known some of them to cross over into the united states, so we're watching it very closely. back to you guys. jon: just a spaulg, harris, thank you. jenna: we are eight days from now until the power is really up for grabs in congress and the midterms could spark a very

historic split with one party controlling the senate, the other the house. what this could mean for our president and the country moving forward. the president of afghanistan confirming that his chief of staff got bags of cash from iran. what is all this money for? and what is iran getting in return? we'll tell you coming up ahead. let's get chinese. should we order panda blossom, panda moon... how about chinese at home with wanchai ferry? you can make it in just 14 minutes. mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway. [ male announcer ] wanchai ferry. restaurant quality chinese in your grocer's freezer. and the 60-day handshake lives on, that five-finger bond that communicates trust,

honor, follow-through, and follow-up. it's a promise that says go ahead and buy a ram 1500 or a heavy duty without a payment for 60 days. and if it doesn't do everything you ask it to do... bring it back. ram. medicare supplement insurance plan card. wherever you go, nationwide, your coverage travels with you. and that's just one of the many reasons... you need a card like this. with all medicare supplement insurance plans, you can choose from a range of plans... and keep your relationship with your own doctor that accepts medicare. if you're turning 65 or older... or you've already enrolled in a medicare supplement plan, call now for this free guide to understanding... medicare and information kit... on aarp medicare supplement plans, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. as with all medicare supplement plans, these help cover some of your medical expenses... not paid by medicare alone.

this could save you thousands of dollars. look, want to do away with almost all claim forms? like the sound of no referrals needed to see a specialist? you get all that, too. call now to get your free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare. yep... this is one great card! call this toll-free number now for this... free information kit and medicare guide.

jenna: eight days to go until election day, and many republicans are already banking on winning the house. the polls show the senate is coming down to a handful of very close races, which could keep democrats in control. that means for the first time since 1930 the house could switch parties, but not the senate. what does that mean? either talk to michael o'brien, a political reporter with the hill and he's joining us today. michael, how would that change the political landscape if the house goes to one party and the

senate goes to the other? >> well what you would end up seeing is a republican house that would be pushing the obama administration on certain issues and the senate sort of, you know, slowing down or g u.n. king some of those desires of house republicans in the senate. you'd still see divided government where democrats and republicans would have to find a way to work together but it won't be a congress unified against the white house. jenna: does that set the president up better or worse for his campaign for re-election in 2012? >> well, you have to imagine that any retention of a majority in the house or senate is pretty good for president obama. that said, you know, the administration could use a republican congress, the house, senate or both as a foil for its agenda the way president clinton did with house republicans and senate republicans in the 1990s. jenna: michael according to your reporting do you see the president post midterm election coming more to the center as let's say president bill clinton

did? >> well you see the president talk a lot more about humility, and the need for some compromise, and republicans to come to the table. at the same time you see republicans talking very frankly about they don't want to compromise on some of the key issues from taxes to repealing healthcare or spending. jenna: so are you saying gridlock is what we should expect? >> well, not necessarily expect. republicans if they take back the house, which is what they are more likely to do than take back the senate, they've said that there is some room for negotiation, but at the end of the day it's going to be a big test to see how far each side is willing to test the other. jenna: that will be interesting to watch. michael o'brien with the hill. thank you so much for joining us today, michael. >> thank you. jon: a massive leak of last tpaoeud information on the war in iraq posted online for the entire world to see, including america's enemies, what the wikileaks disclosures mean for our national security. plus new questions over the death of a champion swimmer,

fran cripin died in a race over the weekend. some say he shouldn't have been in the water under these conditions. these stories straight ahead. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi plce around the corner. well, in that case, i better get bk to these invoices... whh i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what?

i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott ws it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business.

jenna: welcome back, everybody, "happening now" the sister of the american swimmer who died during a race in the united arab emirates says her brother raised concern about safety like this. frank crippen was considered the best open water swimmer and submitted to the 2012 olympic team. he wrote several letters to race organizations about the lack of safety. now the winner of the race, a swimmer from germany says the

air and water temperature were simply too high to hold this race. the race went forward any ways. organizers believe crippen died of over exhergs. autopsy results are expected a little later on in the next few weeks. jon. jon: let's get back to the battle over the web side wikileaks, the online whistle-blower releasing almost 4,004,000 documents regarding te war in iraq. they claim the documents have been edited to conceal people's names but the move is sparking more outrage at the passenger which slams wiki leaks for putting the lives of u.s. troops and those of our allies in danger. more documents could be on the way. what are the implications for our national security. fred tecee a former fred ral prosecutor. neal puckett a former navy seal. the leaks just keep oncoming. do you see the possibility of anybody being prosecuted as a result of all this? >> well, john jon, technically

they probably should. there are two sides to this coin. there are the people who have access to confidential and sensitive information who are providing it to wiki leaks and then there is wiki leaks. put aside wikileaks for a minute, despite the fact that they are a foreign corporation, foreign nationals, they probably want to wrap themselves in the first amendment. we have people who work for our count throw and government who have sworn to secrecy. there are two things going on here, one is espionage, and the other is trees on, which is giving aid and comfort to our enemies. i think it's a little bit disingenuous to say that just because you give it to some fraction of the press that the information is not ultimately ending up in the hands of our enemies and it is putting lives in danger, i don't care what they say. jon: with what about that neal. >> as a former counter officer myself before i became a lawyer in the marine corps i acknowledged the grave position

that the nation can be put in even if names are blocked out, the sources and methods can be discovered . this is a really big problem. my law firm normally represents military members who are accused of crimes, people like private manning who we don't represent who has released this information. jon: you're talking about bradley manning, the army specialist who is believed -- or accused by the passenger of being the source of at least some of these documents. >> that's right, jon. i think a distinction needs to be drawn between professional journalists who understand national security and who sometimes hold off on publication and weigh in the balance the potential damage to national security versus their concept of the people's need to know, versus an organization like wikileaks which just without any apparent filters whatsoever releases all this information and without any regard for the safety of american service members fighting the wars in iraq and afghanistan. jon: i asked fred about prosecution and obviously bradley manning is going to be facing some charges here.

what about the people who are releasing this stuff? what about wikileaks founder stange stange sta*pbg sta pbg staining staining julian saa -- ashes ssang. >> i could say it doesn't apply to a northern national operating on foreign soil with a foreign corporation. legitimate real news organizations tkraoet this information accordingly. these people for whatever reason, their political agenda, for whatever reason, they are serving their own needs, are releasing information. and forget the danger to our troops. that is a serious issue. the danger, as neil pointed out to people who have provided information. the taliban ain't real strong on due process and they weren't there when they taught about cruel and unusual punishment and would think nothing about slaughtering these people once they find out their identity,

and just because it's not in there doesn't mean they can't find it out. jon: the fact that a lot of the documents talk about the fact that iraqi guards miss thraoeted -- mistreated their own people during the iraq war, neil, does it suggest that, you know, we are being held to a double standard in terms of, you know, how americans are treating captives versus their own -- versus iraqis treating their own country men? >> i'm not sure about the double standard, obviously what you've touched on here is the national security of two nations have been harmed here, not only the united states of america but also iraq and the fledgling government there. i think it's incredibly irresponsible for this to be released. really the people who have access to this are service members, and the service members are somehow being enticed to release this information, and i think that should be the focus of another inquiry. how is it that wikileaks gives access to service members who have access to sensitive national security information and convince them to do this. jon: you're saying it's incumbent on the military to

plug that leak. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. jon: neil pubgt, fred tese. and i mentioned juan assange, it's julian assange. jenna: a man inside a tornado catches the awesome power, you can just hear it can't you on this video. we'll show you what the twister did to homes and businesses in this area straight ahead. a key u.s. ally just saying no to washington. pakistan resisting american pressure to go after terrorists on a side of the afghan border. what is pakistan's plan to get rid of these guys? and if they don't should we really be giving pakistan as much money as we are? president obama making his healthcare overhaul a top priority after winning the presidency. now that is law. is it helping republicans win in the midterms? a live report on that. harris is working our live chat today, questions and comments coming in, pouring in eight days

before we all head to the polls, harris what is happening. >> reporter: i did something, jenna that i sometimes like to do. i was reading about an associated press jfk poll that says one in three voters will change their minds in this election before november 2nd. that's just a week away. lots of undecideds out there. jim said i didn't read about that. how can you still be undecided in this election? then it went from there. in iowa they are trying to decide about a governor there. people posting on our live chat about what their picks will be. the undecided factor is alive and well and it's happening on our live chat. they don't identify with either party. they are trying to figure out what they like and are hearing. join the conversation, go to foxnews.com, look for jon and jenna's beautiful picture, click on the clickable area. go in through a friendship page like twitter and facebook and get online, i'll pull some of your questions for the upcoming panel. so much to hear your point of view. get done in the commercial and

comeback for more jenna and jon "happening now." you have your homework assignment, people, stay with us. ♪ [ man ] i thought o family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity, the hartford is there. protecting their employees and property and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com.

my professor at berkeley asked me if i wanted to change the world. i said "sure." "well, let's grow some algae." and that's what started it. exxonmobil and synthetic genomi have built a new facility to identify the most productive strains of algae. algae a amazing little critters. they secrete oil, which we could turn into biofuels. they also absorb co2. we're hoping to supplement the fuels

that we use in our vehicles, and to do this at a large enough scale to someday help meet the wor's energy demands.

>> jenna: president obama's healthcare overhaul is now the law of the land. some voters hope to use this midterm election to actually go aeu lead and change that. jon: some democrats are distancing themselves from the law even if they want -- once supported it.

shannon pwraoepb is live in washington with a look at that. how is healthcare, shannon, playing out on the campaign trail for those democrats? >> reporter: jon we've seen a number of democratic candidates running ads saying, hey i didn't vote for healthcare or i don't stand with house speaker nancy pelosi on that subject. many want to make sure that it y do not support it. manchin had this to say. >> i would not have supported that or voted for that at the time. >> reporter: either change -- he's changing his tune in a very heated senate race. jon: it wasn't that long ago that a lot of democratic politicians were sounding optimistic that healthcare legislation was going to be a really good thing for them. what happened? >> reporter: we've heard from senate majority leader harry reid and nancy pelosi, the more americans get to know this bill

and understand it the more they will like it. from the administration they said tkep krats maybe didn't a good job on messaging, but the content is good. bob beckel says it may be too late to change the perceptions. >> i think the chance of making healthcare more positive between now and election is about as good as making me into a republican which ain't ever going to happen. it's going to take a longtime for this healthcare bill to settle in and the positive aspects of it come out. as far as an election issue it's a net negative. >> reporter: jon, i think you and i both know mr. beckel is not going to flip parties any time soon. jon: i don't think so. he also watches the polls. what do the polls say about healthcare and what people think. >> reporter: this is a battleground poll p it defines the key group that both parties are after the independents out there do not like the healthcare legislation. 62% of them say they have an

unfavorable view of this law. rasmussen says lawmakers can't complain now they didn't know it would make a lot of voters unhappy. >> it's not just the healthcare law law or the costs people see, it's the fact that voters are aware that congress knew it was unpopular and yet they did everything to pass it despite that perception that voters didn't want it done. >> reporter: you're not going to hear a lot of talk from the democrats about healthcare, but you can better believe that gop candidates are going to be talking about it, jon. jon: shannon bream in washington for us, thank you, shannon. fox news is your election headquarters across all platforms. you can log onto our great blog for constant up states on all the candidates and what they are up to. with only eight days to go our core respond tkepbtsz and producers are working around-the-clock. check it out foxnews.com/aehq. jenna: take a listen to this, a key ally in the war on terror is not on the same page with the united states. pakistan resisting u.s. pressure to mount a military offensive

against taliban hide outs along the afghan border. the foreign minister saying pakistan will not be wurbd rushed and take action on its own timeline. what does this mean for the war efforts. here lieutenant corn tphol -- kernel -- colnel shave for. how does this impact our shoulders on the ground. >> it impacts on the cold tkers badly by the fact that we're looking to have the head and essentially the blood supply cut off to the insurgents in afghanistan. this issue really focused on the accounting at work which has been used as a proxy by the pakistanis for a while now to hit indian interests. what we're trying to do is ask the pakistanis to do something against their own best interests, which is in their view, and again not our view, their view is to try to destabilize the indian influence

in afghanistan. what is happening here is we're seeing the end result of this duality of purpose. yes the pakistanis want to help us but they don't want to go against their own interests of going against their primary regional enemy which is the indian. so we're still not really understanding the situation to the best of our ability to actually influence and, frankly, admiral mike mullen was promised by the kphaopbd der of the pakistani army that they would go in there earlier this year and they have not. and the reasons they are giving are nonsense. one of the things they talk about is we can't go in there until we are ready to hold the territory. we've gone in there before. they've done this before. they've done this several times and yet it always goes back to the same thing so frankly the bottom line is they don't want to do it. jenna: why don't they want to do it? >> again, it's because they've been using the network for their own purposes. it's been the most effecting -- effective fighting force within the taliban against husband. it's very important for us to do something decisive to make this happ.

oerpbg waziristan -- northern war r-r is one of the key areas where we must achieve military victory if we are tkpwaoeg to push people to the negotiates table which is what we're trying to do. jenna: our ally pakistan is essentially helping those who are attacking u.s. soldier in afghanistan, do i have that correct? >> you do, absolutely this is a problem. jenna: if your quick summary it's easy to understand the complexity with the different groups and sovereign nations involved. what is the say forward? what must we do? >> we must look at how we won world war ii people have to decide they are going to within this together as a team or they are not. right now what we're suffering from, jenna is chaos. we are in the middle of trying to manage chaos. general eisenhower wouldn't have stood for this. jenna: i'm sorry to interrupt you. we are trying to get to this fundamental issue. do you see essentially that we could declare war on pakistan, who we've given billions and billions of dollars to not only in military aid but civilian aid and who has said they are our

ally post 9/11? can you see that scenario? >> i can't see us declaring war, we have to find a better course in dealing with them and a better set of instructions. we are giving them tons of money. any wall street investor expects some return on their investment. we've given them $7.5 billion last year in civilian aid. why? what are we getting out of it. use the carrot but use the stick as well. this is something where our interest is fundamentally at stake here. the best and brightest of our generation are out there on the battle field trying to do the right thing. we owe it to them to get this policy right. jenna: $12 billion is what we have given pakistan over the last five years. always great to have your perspective. thank you so much. >> thank you. jon: a fox news weather alert from texas, where monster tornadoes ripped through the northern part of that state. some incredible video to show you of one of them actually touching down.

this is a look at the after math. take a look at the tornado on the ground. >> we are in a tornado. we are in the tornado. we are in the tornado. we are in the tornado we are in the tornado. jon: powerful tornadoes tearing apart homes. they ripped off part of the roof of a school complex on the south side of dallas. classes there are canceled now for the day. the powerful storms then ripped across interstate 45 where they flipped over an 18 wheeler and set off a car accident among drivers who were trying to get out of the way. four people suffering minor injuries there. jenna: amazing storms there. and that tornado system is now moving east. that's where we are, jon, how far east that's what we want to know. sparking tornado watches from tennessee to florida. this is tropical storm richard, weakens to a depression. maria can tell us more about this, she is live in the fox

weather center. a fresh welcome to you to our show "happening now," it's great to have you as a part of the team. >> reporter: i'm thrilled to be here. we have an on going event here, a threat to continue to see severe weather. i wanted to take a moment to show you the amount of storm reports that we received since last night basically extending from northeastern portions of texas on eastward through portions of eastern tennessee right now. we have additional reports that have come out of wind damage with trees down across western portions of the carolinas, so that's definitely a concern. we do have several several watches in effect right now until 1:00pm eastern time including one severe thunderstorm watch, including parts of the carolinas, and still a tornado watch in effect across parts of the florida panhandle and also georgia. we see that new watch also issued across eastern portions of the carolinas, that is going to be in effect throughout the day as we continue to see that warmer air really firing up the storms. as we head westward believe it or not we have a second cold

front that will be moving through and this system will also provide a threat for severe weather this time a little further rest across parts of wisconsin, also illinois down in through eastern parts of missouri, the threat there very similar, large hail, strong winds and also isolated tornadoes. not a lot of action going on just now, still a concern out there, that will be later on today as we see the heat beginning to fire things up out there. as we head westward we have winter storm warnings in effect especially for the higher elevations, passes not so much. once again that is generally higher across the cascades and the rockies. jen a. jenna: great to see you. thank huh so much for that. we are always watching the weather on election today. it might be too far out to pre victoria. jon: it seems like a lot of people are fired up. they are going to get out and vote no matter what the weather. jenna: umbrella, no matter what. jon: hers was the murder that transfixed the nation and ended up costing a congressman his job. now nearly ten years later

opening arguments in the murder trial of the man accused of killing chandra levy are underway. you know about the autoban in jeremy. -- germany. have you heard about the one in the u.s.? rick leventhal live. >> reporter: you can't drive 200 miles per hour on this autoban. this is autoban alley in new york city where they say they are doing very well and they are spend ago lot of money on their dealerships. we'll have that story right after this. -d when i brush, i like to do a really mediocre job.

i love running my tongue across my teeth and feeling all the stuff i missed. [ male announcer ] no one really wants plaque left on their teeth. done. [ male announcer ] but ordinary manual brushes can leave up to 50% of plaque behind. oral-b power brushes are inspired by the tools professionals use, to clean away plaque in ways a manual brush can't. for that dentist-smooth, clean feeling every day. fight plaque with real power. oral-b power. get 50% off oral-b power brushes for a limited time. visit oralb.com for details.

medicare supplement insurance plan card. wherever you go, nationwide, your coverage travels with you. and that's just one of the many reasons... you need a card like this. with all medicare supplement insurance plans, you can choose from a range of plans... and keep your relationship with your own doctor that accepts medicare. if you're turning 65 or older... or you've already enrolled in a medicare supplement plan, call now for this free guide to understanding... medicare and information kit... on aarp medicare supplement plans, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. as with all medicare supplement plans, these help cover some of your medical expenses... not paid by medicare alone. this could save you thousands of dollars. look, want to do away with almost all claim forms? like the sound of no referrals needed to see a specialist? you get all that, too. call now to get your free information kit... and guide to understanding medicare. yep... this is one great card! call this toll-free number now for this... free information kit and medicare guide.

jenna: back with fox news alert for you new. a major earthquake off the coast of knees. the first reading 7.5, a big one there, a tsunami warning was issued. we are hearing 45 minutes later that that tsunami warning is sans eld. looking for up dates on any potential damage, any more reading, official reading on the strength of this eart earthquak. as we hear more we will bring you those developments.

jon: new next hour the midterms just eight days away now. how the big races are shaping up. and what it all could mean for which party controls congress. karl rove joins us live with his take. also three fires within minutes of each other within one county, and fears that more could be on the way. the latest on this arson investigation. and she became famous for her nonstop hiccups, now she is under arrest for a serious crime. harris working the story from the breaking news desk. jenna: harris is working this other story as well. opening arguments are underway in the chandra levy murder trial. levy is the washington intern who was murdered nine years ago and her remains were found in a park about a year later. prosecutors accuse this man of attacking levy while she was jogging. as we promised harris has more from the newsroom, what do we know here. >> reporter: the opening arguments, opening statements

just getting underway. ingmar guandique is accused of not only attacking and killing chandra levy, but attacking two other women. one of them was attacked in the same park where levee died, rock creek park, two weeks later. she is set to testify today. and her story is chilling about how she screamed and screamed and no one could hear her say, somebody please help me. she survived obviously and is able to tell her story. prosecutors hoping that she can make a difference with this jury, that's why they are beginning with her statement. chandra levy as you see there was an intern, a graduate intern when her death occurred. she was jogging through the park, someone attacked her. there were no witnesses there. but her story became -- her death, rather became so public because you see the man in the middle there, former representative california congressman gary condit came out during all of this that they had a covert affair, and of course as that news made news his name in the headlines that drove this

story. but the man at the center of it all now, not a congressman, not a politician at all, but an illegal immigrant from el salvador, ingmar guandique. i'll be watching, and particularly the testimony of that former victim, i'll bring it to you. jenna: harris, thank you. jon: now to what is working as this nation tries to find the road to economic recovery. today we're taking a look at a stretch of dealers in new york city that are known now as autoban alley. rick leventhal live on manhattan's 11th avenue with that story. how are new york sales compared with the rest of the country, rick? >> reporter: they are doing very well here, jon. it could be a good sign for the rest of the country. new york autosales are up 16 1/2% this year over last year. the rest of the nation up almost 3% which is good news when you consider some 1500 dealerships were closed last year alone

because of the bad economy. here in new york city this autoban alley you mentioned, a lot of dealerships, including vw down the street just opened. infiniti is looking for a new location. and ford which sells sroel sroes, and land rove verse have spent millions of dollars upgrading their street-front facility. you can look into the window and see bright, beautiful cars. it's working, again sales are up over 16% this year alone. jon: we are talking big dollars cars there. mercedes-benz is making the biggest investment there? >> reporter: yeah, mercedes are pricey and so is the new dealership they are building across the street. they call it the autohouse h it's five stories, two story glass on the street level, three stories down below. doubling the number of repair base they have. doubling the capacity so people can look at new and used.

investing $200 million in this facility. we spoke to the president of mercedes. he says it's worth it. >> generally speaking for the car business things are getting better, certainly not at the rate we'd like to see. this is definitely going to be a more prolonged period than we had originally hoped for. nonetheless we look forward with optimism and we are investing for a long-term future. >> reporter: they are going to represent the brand in new york city, john, they say they have to do it right. they are opening next year. jon: nice to see that includes some construction jobs as well. rick leventhal thanks. >> reporter: definitely. jenna: unbelievable story coming up next. the hidden dangers in the war zones, ied's in afghanistan and fox news was with our troops when they faced a very close call. live with that story. plus the alaska senate race is heating up with two republicans in the lead and accusations of a smear campaign. why this race could make history. that is just ahead. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years?

call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. to stay fit, you might also want to try lifting one of these. a unique sea salt added to over 40 campbell's condensed soups. helps us reduce sodium, but not flavor. so do a few lifts. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™

jon: a fiery debate in alaska's fascinating three-way senate race. two republicans mainly attacking one another. incumbent senator lisa murkowski pressing tea party favor joe miller on an ethics violation during thinks time as government attorney while miller presses a land deal of lisa murkowski. this race is a dead heat. the real clear average of all the polls shows miller with a one point lead over lisa murkowski. let's talk about it with david drucker, a staff writer with "role call." a fascinating race that could make history. tell us why. >> reporter: write-in candidates usually fail.

i can think of one senate candidate that has run successfully as a write in. it may be jesse helms. you have incumbent senator lisa murkowski who didn't bother to pay attention joe miller in her republican primary and paid the price, she lost narrowly. jon: she got spanked. she didn't win the nomination of her own party. >> reporter: since getting into the race she learned her lesson. she is beating joe miller up left and right with everything she can dig up on him and it's had an effect. now the question is all the respondents to the polling that we've seen where they say they are going to write in lisa murkowski when they go into the polling booth, will they do it? jon: they have to put her name down and spell it correctly. it's not as easy as it soupb. a lot of voters would rather flip the lever or punch the card. >> reporter: that's correct. the elections board in alaska has indicated they are going to allow for liberal intent on the

write-in. they can misspell her name as long as it's clear what they were intending to do with the write-in vote. with eight days left to go can joe miller put all the problems he has had and the errors he has committed on the campaign trail behind him and can he go on offense the remainder of the week and close this thing out? he should have the natural advantage in an election cycle like this with the state party behind him and he's actually on the ballot. it's a matter of can he gain footing within the time. jon: he also has the palin factor working for him. >> reporter: he might. palin's numbers are not that good in today. lisa murkowski's numbers may have been the best in the state over the summer. what joe miller is suffering from is in a very short period of time the press has gone after him as far as looking into his background, as has lisa murkowski. normally this takes place over a period of several months. if you make a mistake and people find something that is not that

great you have time to recover and deal witness. you're dealing with a rookie candidate who really doesn't know what he's doing and he was very little time to right the ship. for lisa murkowski it's all about whether she can get the write in thing done. jon: does she caucus with the republicans. >> reporter: she will caucus with the republicans she has said that. jon: thank you for that information. david drucker. jenna: a dangerous trend nationwide. police chief, mental health experts reporting a big rise in violence. what is behind the growing problems. we have ha story ahead. our live chat today is america's asking, and we will put your questions to our town hall usa panel. harris what is the buzz today. >> reporter: there is a challenge for people to get on the live chat all across washington so that they can learn something, which i thought was rather amusing. kelly wants to know, why is it that no one is willing to talk

about real cuts in government? ie postal if it's not a service the irs if it's not a service let's get real, we the people. that is kind of taxes right now and cutting the size of government. big issues on the live chat get in on it go to foxnews.com click on the "happening now" page and get in the live chat, you can email, blog, whatever it takes. we welcome your opinions, your questions to include in our upcoming panel discussion. you guys are the superstars. show your stuff. we'll be right back. one of the benefits of being a bank of america customer... -is that we're almost... -everywhere. thousands of banking centers. ando many atms. all over the place. the new atm machines are really cool. -no deposit slips. -no envelopes. [ woman ] deposit your checks right here. and get the check images on your receipt. we have banking apps for mobile phones. don't forget oine banking. -you can set up alerts. -transferunds. -view your balances. -thousands of banking centers. -loads of atms. -mobile banking. -online banking. -text baing. i gotta get back to work. [ male announcer ] bank whenever, wherever, however you want. with bank of america.

jenna: you guys didn't catch this but jon was furiously typing on our chat page. i didn't know if you were going to make it. jon: charles breakmore just asked me how my arm is. it hurts. jenna: we'll get those updates as it progresses. hi everybody, i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott.

eight days before the election and republicans are talking about reshaping the political landscape, as they push to get out the final vote, the gop leads a five-point lead in the generic matchup, 47-42 according to the politico, george washington university battle ground poll, among independent, republicans hold a 14-point edge and that could be the key to victory. bret baier is anchor of sp-p special -- "special report". let's talk about it with him. it seems the excitement factor is with republicans, huh? >> it does, despite closing in the polls and democrats becoming engaged across the country in races, this poll shows that independents have slipped dramatically from the obama administration, and democrats overall, and this poll specifically is politico george washington poll, 62 percent of independents view health care unfavorable, 66 percent

say the stimulus is not working, and 69 percent have less faith in government. now, those three numbers are pretty specific and pretty powerful. when you look at the health care issue alone, that is seen by many democrats as really an albatross and not a benefit. you're not seeing too many democrats run on this, and you are in fact see many americans getting letters in the mail from the insurance companies saying premiums are going up, despite what was promised from the beginning. jon onand a lot of democratic candidates, people like joe manchin, are running away from the president and some of his signature pieces of legislation that he passed in the first two years. >> yeah, and another thing in this poll that i found interesting, deep in the poll when you look at independents, the issue of jobs, everybody is talking about jobs, it's the number one issue, how to get people back to work, if you put democrats against republicans, democrats actually come out better in this particular poll, 44-38,

about who can -- congressional democrats, who can create jobs. now, when you put republicans up against the obama administration or president obama, it's 50-26, republicans, on job creation are better than president obama on the issue of jobs. now, that number alone may be why you see people like illinois' alexi giannoulias, a friend of president obama saying you know what the health care focus was not right and they should have focused on job creation. jon onand those poll numbers that you alluded to earlier say 66 percent of the independents saying that they don't think the recovery legislation, the stimulus recovery legislation, is working. every election really in this country is a battle for the independent vote, right? >> definitely. and we saw it early on, in new jersey, in virginia, when those governors' races came up, those are the first real signs, the canary in the coal mine, if you would,

about independents slipping away from the administration. when you have this article from "the new york times" magazine that the president admitted there's no such thing as a shovel ready project, that was a big deal, because he used that term, that phrase, so much, to sell and then shore up the stimulus package. that's hurtful for moderate democrats who are trying to hold on to seats after making some pretty tough votes on stimulus, health care and cap and trade. jon: and you know, when it comes to the health care law, 62 percent of independent voters saying they have an unfavorable view of it, a lot of our viewers are asking on our phrog and our poll, bret, can republicans get in there and undo it if they win control of the house of representatives or maybe the senate, but it's not that easy, especially when president obama is going to remain in office another two users, the prospects for undoing this legislation, not very bright, are they? >> no, not in total. as far as a repeal effort

goes you would have to have a republican president to get that through because even if they control the senate and the house, republicans still wouldn't be able to overcome a presidential veto which would come if some effort was made. the biggest effort that has a legitimate shot of unraveling the health care law is the legal challenge that's ongoing, the constitutionality question that you see down in the federal court in florida and other courtrooms across the cup. that's the immediate challenge. but the repeal effort, it might -- they might be able to change things on the margins but wouldn't be able to overhaul it immediately until when this whole thing goes into effect, which really is 2014. jon: "special report" is six hours from now, bret, we'll let you get to it, bret baier, anchor of the nightly show. thank you. >> thank you. jenna: well, a red hot race in west virginia, getting tighter really by the day, democratic joe manchin, the state's popular governor,

held a huge lead back on labor day. seems like a lifetime ago. but his republican rival john rease has come from behind and now this looks like a dead heat. carl cameron is live in morgantown, west virginia and carl, we saw over the weekend that manchin went out of his way really to distance himself from harry reid and the president. what exactly happened there? >> well, it's not really new that manchin 45s been -- has been distancing himself from democrats but what is new is he very conspicuously withheld his endorsement of president barack obama for reelection in 2012 and this is joe manchin the democratic governor of the state of west virginia running for the u.s. senate seat, has also withheld his support of nevada democrat harry reid for democratic leader in the senate. so if reid were to win his senate battle against sharron angle and democrats were to have the majority or the minority, joe manchin won't even say he'll support

harry reid to be his leader, when you couple those two phenomenon with the opposition to the cap and trade climate bill that the administration was pushing, it was never voted on in the senate, and health care, it really does paint the picture of a democrat running diametrically opposed to his party. on fox news sunday he made it very clear talking about health care reform: >> let me tell you this, i had to inform my opponent that president obama's name will not be on the ballot for u.s. senate in west virginia, it will be joe manchin. the health care reform is far overreaching in areas i don't agree with, the 1099 form, the mandate, it's not strong enough for abortion. i'm prolive and we're a different type of democrat here in west virginia. >> joe manchin is the type of democrat in west virginia who has an approval rate in the high # \on/zeros, martha, he is very popular as governor. the d after his name has west virginia mountain state voters very suspicious. they're concerned if he goes to washington, he'll vote with the rest of the democrats, and push forward

more liberal legislation and more of the obama agenda. he he's not going to. he hasn't convinced voters yet. jenna: let's talk, carl, about the republican candidate who has a history of losing races. how does this potentially differ? >> it does. it really is. john rasese is a well known bare knuckle politician in west virginia. he's run for senate and lost, pretty much been clobbered. he has been involved in politics in west virginia for a long time but you got to remember the voter registration, there's more disparity. there are more registered democrats than republicans but the registered democrats are socially and fiscally conservative. what's different, here's john rases who has lost in past elections, walking the streets of morgantown and elsewhere and people are stopping and shaking his hand who voted against him in past electricals. they like joe manchin but say they're going to vote against him because of the d. now they like john raese

because of the r. jenna: carl, thank you very much. jon. jon: the economy and violent crime, police chiefs and mental health experts across the country say there's a tkebgs. what do we do to tackle this problem? catherine herridge is live in washington with -- live with a report. where are experts seeing the biggest problems now? row -- >> reporter: there are pockets of crime in parts of the country that are under severe stress. take the state of michigan, it has one of the highest rates of unemployment in the country, in detroit, about 18 percent, and the first six months, arson was up in that city nearly 50 percent. detroit is also among the ten places with the most murders and most robberies. let's also look at south care, based on our research, the third highest crime rate last year and one of the top rates of unemployment. so what we heard across the board from people is that there is a connection between the economy and this uptick in crime, specifically arson, domestic

abuse, and assault in different parts of the country, jon. jon: who's most at risk here? >> well, the law enforcement and mental health experts we spoke to said men are more at risk than women. there's something called the family annihilator syndrome -- syndrome when men in some cases commit murder-suicide on their own families and one health expert said chronic unemployment weighs more heavily on men who are seen by society as the traditional breadwinner. >> men will tend to take it harder, it hits their egos harder. now, that's not to say that women don't suffer emotionally when they lose a job or they can't find a job, but they seem to be a little bit more stable in dealing with some of those issues, and are able to tap into other resources, subsidies, with less of the stress on their egos, versus men. >> reporter: what the doctor says is you have to look for some of the typical warning signs, like depression, loss of

interest, in sort of general activities, a person -- that a person enjoyed in the past but he said the bottom line is even though the economy is really starting to pick up, this is not a situation that really sorts of turns on a dime and that it takes a while for people, a couple years ago, to realize that we were heading into this economic depression and it's going to take them a while to sort of readjust their view to see that we're slowly coming out of this, especially for those who have been chronicle unemployed over the last couple of years. jon: sad story. catherine, thank you very much. jenna: very interesting there. this is a shocking development, the baby face tinoo teenager who made national headlines for the uncontrollable hiccups is now facing murder charges. jon: we'll get into that story. pluse top killers of oub troops in afghanistan, fox news embedded with soldiers as they hunted down the so-called squad killers. jenna: looking forward to talking to conor powell about that. plus harris faulkner is monitoring the chat page.

what's the talk now? >> reporter: there's a push to get us to keep the chat going after november 2nd. people know, these are the questions that you have that you want answered before election day but now there's a push you may not get the answers before that, so people are pushing. when you're talking about undoing the health care bill, why not do an up or down vote and send it to obama. and pass that one on, if you can. michelle asks how quickly would the decifit disappear if eligibility hinged on a balanced budget during all previous legislative tenures? very, very interesting questions. get in on the live chat, go to foxnews.com, through our happening now page, you'll see jenna and jon's gorgeous picture, click, and you can e-mail, you can blog, but the live chat is really where it's all happening and you can see the board moving as the comments come up and down and just jump in there and get your voice heard. we'll be right back. stay with us.

jenna: brand new video just crossing our international desk today, an audience member throwing a shoe or both of the shoes, actually, at australia's former prime minister during a talk show in sidney. take a look at this, the shoe throw sierra critic of the iraq war and former prime minister downhoward is a supporter of the war and sent australian troops to fight with the coalition there, so it caused a little scuffle, neither shoe actually hit the prime minister and howard took that incident in stride, saying, quote, it's all right, forget it, relax, though we appreciate it in the newsroom, right, jon, in the newsroom when everyone keeps our shoes on. jon: we do, keeps things smelling better as well. breaking news in st. petersburg, florida a. teenager who attracted national attention after supposedly suffering from chronic hiccups new face as murder charge. hair sis live at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: what police are saying now is that she, jennifer mee, along with two

others have confessed their involvement in the attempted robbery and death of a young man. apparently, they ordered this person to a resident, they ordered him to give up everything on his person, they robbed him and then three gun shots to the chest, and then one to another part of his body. he's dead today. and now jennifer mee, you remember, nationally gaining attention for hiccupping 50 times a minute back in 2007. police say she's not hiccupping anymore but is facing first degree murder charges. that's the latest from here. jon: harris faulkner, thanks. jenna: well now to afghanistan, where our troops, searching for an insurgent there, stomach pled on a house rigged with bombs, improvised explosive devices or ieds are one of the top killers of u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. fox news is embedded with u.s. troops as they got a closer look at the so-called squad killers. conor powell is streaming live from the kandahar province.

conor. >> reporter: jenna, most of the nearly 600 u.s. and international troops killed in afghanistan this year were killed by ieds and the ieds are bigger and more powerful than ever, in part because the taliban are linking multiple ieds together, daisy chaining long rows of ieds and fox news cameraman james and i got a close look at this very dangerous threat. >> find four or five a day. >> it's right here. >> there's ieds all over the place, we're finding ieds all the time, but you know, the good part about it is that we're getting a lot of local nationals to come to us and go and show us ieds, so you know, that really takes a lot of the danger out of finding them, from just walking up on them. >> the way the taliban have set the ieds, it would kill at least two or three u.s. soldiers as they patrolled. they call this a squad killer. >> this is one of the biggest ones we found in alpha company. >> stand by for clear.

>> u.s. troops are inspect to go make sure everything was destroyed. the explosion was massive. >> reporter: jenna, we are with a u.s. patrol that went right past this ied on thursday, it was a very close call not only for us but the u.s. troops we were patrolling with, talking to u.s. soldiers and u.s. marines, they all have similar stories of very close calls with ieds. jenna: remarkable stuff. thank you, conor powell in kandahar today. jon: more trouble in europe to tell you about, riot necessary italy over garbage. folks around naples are trashing the joint as rubbish piles up in the street and a massive new garbage dump stays closed. plus america is asking town hall, we are asking your questions leading up to the midterm elections. we've got harris monitoring the chat on our web page.

harris. >> reporter: you know, everybody is talking right now about a flat tax, flat tax is the way to go and make it so that increases can only be voted by state governors, getting pretty detailed on taxation as people wonder what will their tax bill look like at the beginning of the year. get in on the chat and stay with us.

jon: a fox news alert, and police investigating a suspicious package in rhode island. this is not far from where the president is supposed to be, the american cord and webbing company, he's going to be making some remarks there. apparently there was a cardboard box sitting under a mail receptacle at a building or facility across the street.

it looked a little odd. workers were herded into the back of the american webbing company building, and we're told they heard a pop. that would suggest that the bomb squad used that shotgun shell kind of thing that they often use to try to detonate any suspicious packages that might contain a bomb. what was in this? we don't yet know. but again, a suspicious package, rhode island, where the president is scheduled to speak in just a bit. when we get more information we'll bring it to you live. just in, violent protests to show new italy. take a look: >> >> so what has the italians boiling mad? it's gore badge, garbage piling up in the streets near naples, the trash has not been collected for weeks and as you can imagine, people are getting fed up, the italian government putting the opening of a new dump on hold because of environmental concerns. even the pope is weighing

in, saying he is praying for a solution to all of this. italy's prime minister, vowing to bring the situation under control. good luck with that. jenna: if the pope gets involved, you know it's serious, right? a lot of questions coming into our newsroom with our viewers, we're going to bring you the town hall and get those -- town hall and get those questions asked. terry holt, and debby dingell, member of the national committee, and she chaired al gore's campaign in michigan and charles payne, ceo of wall street strategies, author of "be smart, act fast, get rich", also a fox business contributor. charles, let's go ahead and start this off with you. kelly had a great question about what we're hearing from candidates, she says why is it nobody wants to talk about real cuts in government, why are we not getting specifics, charles? >> real cuts in government always was the third realm. we talk about social security, medicare and medicare-medicaid and of course this defense spending. those have always

been very, very hard, even though we've had this tea party movement, the grassroots movement where we're asking politicians to be more accountable, i think most are afraid to go there. realistically, the only guy i see out there who's talking like this, who is actually taking action has been christie, the governor of new jersey, but after this election i think you will see more politicians understand this is what the public wants. jenna: terry, let's get your thoughts on that, christie is obviously not running in the midterm election but some say maybe 2012. why are republicans not getting more specific about where exactly they would cut spending? >> the new republican governor of new jersey is a great example of somebody that with the political courage and will and with the support of the people, let's face it, are federal up with the way -- fed up with the way government spends money. it's a road map for how to deal with this. republicans in the congress, john boehner and the house republicans in particular have said they wanted to start an across the board spending cut, and to lower taxes. that's a program that avoids

the problem that most politicians get into when they talk about cutting spending. a lot of folks are for cutting spending, just don't cut my spending. so if you can free spending across the -- freeze spending across the board you can have a real effect on spending in government over a year or two. the other thing you might do, you know, the government is this country's largest employer. if we just froze pay increases for federal government workers, we'd net billions of dollars. so there are different ways to do it, but you have to have the political courage and you have to have the support of the american people, and that's very important. jenna: yeah, debby, it seems like you have a lot of specifics from terry but when it comes to candidates we're not getting a whole lot of specifics. on the democrats' side, where do you think democrats should start in saying that they are going to be fiscally aware and start cutting spend something. >> there's no question that we have got to reduce the federal budget decifit. you've got a bipartisan commission that's been put up to look at how we're going to reduce the decifit

in this country. democrats have been willing to talk specifics, republicans want to extend a tax cut straight across the board that would contribute significantly to those making more than $250,000, increase the budget decifit. if we want to talk about, what would be cut, are they going to cut student loans -- >> jenna: , what are democrats talking about? i asked you what republicans are doing but i asked you specifically about what democrats are doing so we get all sides. >> democrats want to not extend the tax cuts to the last 2 percent. >> extend the tax cuts? excuse me, that's a tax increase. if you don't act, by the beginning of next year, you're not talking about more tax cuts, you're talking about peoples' taxes going up, killing this economy. so don't frame it that way, debby. that's not what it is. jenna: terry, let's be very -- >> democrats want to protect 98 percent of the american people. it's that -- >> what about employers, small business people? >> republicans -- we're totally -- small business --

>> jenna: wait here -- >> creating those jobs, charles -- >> jenna: chals, even though we see the debates about tax cuts, charles, you brought up a good point which is the fact that taxes or no tax, what is driving the decifit or the spwaoeument programs that no one wants to touch, so bring us a financial side to this charles, about what could actually impact the debt and deaf stkpwhraoeuts the bottom line is talks on both house, republicans came up with a pledge for america, saying that was dead on arrival, it just didn't have enough meat and gumption and the democrats arguing about the bush tax cuts, when the bigger issues are those embedded entitlements that are going to drive us to bankruptcy, we already saw what kind of uproar we had when there was no cola increases. senior citizens are going to get 250 buck, because again, both sides are too intimidated particularly ahead of this election. one thing i will say, we need a probusiness atmosphere and it's got to come from the white house, from the top. the midterm elections if the polls hold

up that president obama will shift, much like bill clinton shifted. listen, the dow was at 3800 when the republicans took over in 1994, went on to pass 10,000 in a matter of years. those were really good times that everybody agrees about. jen charles, terry, debby, stand by. i know we tackled spending but a different topic that viewers want your perspective on as well. jon: karl rove joins us with his opinion in just a bit but before we get to karl we're going to continue with our town hall. here's a question from debby in lancaster, pennsylvania, who just heard debby dingell talking about the 2 percent, the wealthiest 2 percent who should pay more in tax, debby says is there any way to differentiate between the wealthy who are just rolling in it and those who are small business owners? we'll ask that question of our panel, coming up.

jon: let's get back to our new america's asking town hall, you ask the questions and we try to get you the answers you need before election day. let's bring our panelists back n. terry holt, debby dingell from the democratic side and wall street strategy ceo's charles payne. debby, take on that question that we asked before the break, debby in lancaster, p.a., wants to know if there isn't a way to differentiate among the wealthiest 2 percent of the people who would be affected by the bush tax cuts rescinding

that president obama wants to happen come january. she wants to know if there isn't a way to differentiate between the 2 percent wealthy who are rolling in dough and small business owners and who therefore would be taxed in that bracket. >> i think it's complicated and it's hard to answer quickly. small business is the backbone of this country and charles is absolutely right, that this is the source of jobs in this country. i'm one of those people who say we have to start working with democrats and republicans, but as americans, about fixing or nation's problems. we have a lot of them. if we keep blocking each other instead of saying we need to come to the tail and fix these problems, we're never going to get them fixed. small business owners are the backbone of this country and we need to make sure the middle class is successful in this country. maybe republicans could explain why they repealed pay as you go which would be another way to start getting at families in this country's budget problems. jon: there's a lot of questions about coming in about fair tax, terry. a national sales tax, says

brian w. carpenter, it would get rid of the irs, prevent congressmen from giving constituents special privileges by doctoring the tax law. is there any prospect for it change something. >> national retail tax or consumption tax has been on the table for a generation or so. it is more simple, it is more fair, but it's also an extraordinarily heavy lift to take the income tax system structure out and to put that one in, or say, for example, a flat tax. a lot of people have gotten used to things like the mortgage interest deduction, and their exemption -- there are exemptions and credits for charitable contributions, so you have a lot of folks out there that have divied up the tax code and have benefitted from its being complicated, but i agree, fairness and simplicity would make our economy more competitive, it would make people feel like they had a stake in this government, that it wasn't just taking their money out of their check. they'd have control over their tax burden, and that

would be a good thing. jon: charles, here's a question regarding job creation. robert fox writes president obama keeps saying that the bush white house lost 8 million jobs, but during president bush's first six years, they claimed they created 7 million jobs. what are the real numbers? charles? >> they didn't lose 8 million jobs. i think net net over the eight years there's maybe a million jobs or something like that but you're absolutely right. i think under bush there was 50 consecutive months of job increases, particularly after the bush tax cuts went through. by the way, tax cuts for everybody, 2003-2007 was a remarkable period for job creation in this country, the dow jones industrial average went to 14,000, homeownership was high, we know obviously that was smoke and mirrors now. that last year was extraordinarily devastate to go everybody. you don't want to say you want to take it out as a misnomer but it hurt what

was before then an incredible record of job creation. jon: debby, here's a question addressed to you, although i don't know the author of this question, the author writes why are democrats not running on their own agenda, that is the stimulus and health care. i mean, we have done stories about that, debby, that in all of the -- >> i think -- i think that democrats are running on their record. first offal i want to go back to what charles said. bill clinton had a great record, he created 23hole jobs, and then with four budgets, and when pay as you go was in place, it went well past reducing the decifit. president bush i think created only 2 million jobs. so there's a real comparison there. jon: you said republicans repealed pay as you go. democrats have been in charge for the last two years. >> speaker pelosi, that was one of the first things she instituted of the pay as you go.

>> you waive it or ignore it, every time it becomes complicated or inconvenient. >> well, i think you can see that they are stepping up with it. let's talk about the health care and patient rights, what is it republicans want to appeal? do they want to appeal an insurance company not big able to deny because of a preexisting condition, want to deny 85 percent of the dollars go to health care and profits don't go to the insurance company, do they want to deny that children can't be kept on parents' health care until 26? i don't think you see it. democrats are part of the -- >> there are people upset about it, obvious very. >> debby, you said something very interesting, you said that insurance companies don't get the profits. i think one of the reasons that commerce is grinding to a halt here is because there is an attack on the profit motivation. >> amen. amen. >> now you -- insurance

companies shouldn't make money? listen, insurance companies make a lot less money than software companies, why are we demonizing parts of capitalism? that's what is hurting us. >> i do not de -- demonize business but i believe the patient should come before profits at insurance companies. >> they're not nonfor profit businesses! >> i can't believe this conversation. >> terry holt can't get a word in edgewise. thank you. jenna: we thank the viewers for the great questions you gave us. obviously we can't have these conversations unless we get great questions. jon: we got good ones today. jenna: and tomorrow, same thing, up until election day. here's another story, a massive document dutch by wick i lacks, and there is word there more to come. many worry what these leaks could do to the troops in the field. we're going to ask a pentagon spokesman about this. jon: a week before midterm

elections, there is no such thing as a sure thing. karl rove joins us with a look at what's happening on the ground in some of the key races across america.

megyn: hey everyone i'm megyn k*l yes, major u.s. corporations reportedly considering dumping their health care coverage, forcing employers to buy through the government exchange. could this affect you? we have an important update. >> plus early voting already underway in several states, and so apparently is early voter fraud. michelle malkin is tracking the developments. >> a push in more than one state now to allow noncitizens the right to vote. so we can't take foreigner's money in a campaign but can allow foreigners to actually vote in it country? >> she put a notice on a board seeking a christian roomate, what she got instead was trouble from the law for being discriminatory, in kelly's court. see you top of the hour. jon: we talked last hour about the massive new document dump on the website

wickileak, the internet whistleblower site, putting up 400,000 formerly classified files detailing the history of the iraq war. right now wickileaks is promising to publish 15,000 more documents, classified, out of the war in afghanistan. the group, continuing to cause serious concerns about what these leaks mean for u.s. troops around he world, and here at home. jeff morrell is the pentagon spokesman and joins us now. what is the biggest overall concern at the pentagon as you look at this material that wickileaks just put out there? >> it's between july and now, we now, jon, have about half a million previously classified secret documents now in the public domain. we knew after the afghan leak in july that the taliban and other terrorist organizations were proclaiming publicly they were going to mine this to look for vulnerabilities in how we operate, our intelligence has bared that out, now you've got even more information that's out there for them to look for patterns in behavior, how we

respond in combat situations, the capabilities of our equipment, all this can be exploited by our enmess and used against our forces. that's the real fear. jon: are you able to point to circumstances in which either supportive civilianing or u.s. forces have been killed as a result of this information that's now out there? >> i can't point to any one individual. we have made efforts to safeguard afghans, we are making efforts to safeguard iraqis, but our fear is that these are lagging indicators, that we may not know this for some time. one thing i can tell you, though, is based upon the statements of our enemies, they are unquestionably going to school on this material and will probably become better fighters and can probably be more effective in their attacks against us as a result. so we may never know if one of the attacks that our forces has been suggested -- subjected to was as a result of these guys getting smarter. >> it does seem that 400,000 documents might not be of all that much interest to an editorial writer in the united states or sweden or wherever, but it's certainly going to be fascinating

reading for the taliban. >> absolutely, and it may not be -- it you -- if you look at any one of these entries in particular they may not be that edifying. it's the totality of them, the ability to look through them and find strings and patterns, and learn more about how we operate. that's our biggest fear. it looks as though these guys redact dollars a lot of iraqi names but they certainly can't redact enough to find out techniques and procedures. jon: after the first big document dump we saw you at the pentagon saying we warned wickileaks not to do this, not to put out more stuff. they've done it. what can you do about it? >> clearly we're not able to prevail upon them to do the right thing, they clearly don't feel beholden or in any way responsible for the welfare of our forces, the way we do, or clearly afghans. clearly they learned from the mistake that this time they've redact dollars the names of the 60,000 iraqi necessary these documents but they've shown no regard for the well being of our

forces because they cannot redact them to the point it does not reveal sensitive operations as to how they operate. jon: jeff morrell, thank you. a fox newsu. alert on the weather here. we've been watching rough weather across the middle of the country. heck out this video coming to us by wdfv, lone oak, texas, this is some of the first pictures coming out of this area, hunt county, texas. our affiliate is bringing us these pictures of amazing damage, apparently a torn aid oefplt we're still waiting for confirmation on this. we have no word on injury or further damage, other than what you're seeing on the screen there. as we bring you -- as we learn more we'll bring you more of this developing story on "happening now".

jenna: eight days away and counting until the mid materials and for a look at what's happening now in the races around this country, karl rove is joining us. karl, give us a peek behind the curtain to campaign headquarters all across this country, what is left to be done by some of these campaign? >> well, this is a critical moment for every campaign, and they need -- they've got one or two more tv ads they can run, last week of radio, what's the best message to close on. this is a week in which a lot of mail is hitting out there, one of the best messages in the mail, who do you need to target, phone banks are going, there are organized efforts to reach voters, where do you need to squirt those, what does the last minute polling tell you you need to focus on geographically or as key vote every groups and how do you best use the candidate. you've got to have the can gate going 24/7 for the final -- for the final eight days of the campaign and where do you put the candidate, what's the message for the candidate, who are you trying to appeal

to in it, and i mean, all of this is constrained by tile and by how much money you've got, and now, inside every headquarters in america, there are very anxious campaign managers and key aides, making very important decisions with the candidate about the use of his or her time and resources in the final eight days. jenna: that clock is tick and you can hear it now. why don't you give us some advice here. what's a mistake you've seen gop candidates make over the last couple of weeks and how can they correct what that mistake is in these final few days? >> i've seen some candidates do a good job of rebutting -- rebutting an attack. the best example is jack conway, attorney general of kentucky, attack rand paul, republican senate nominee, over his faith in a tv ad, suggesting that rand paul worshiped aqua buda and rand paul had a stropbs defense, saying how dare you question my faith, how dare you make a question of my christian faith and his wife come out

and made a powerful statement, this was a big subject in the debate, but sometimes you need to explain why people are throwing these hail mary passes, why are people making these desperate last-minute attacks and in rand paul's case it's easy to say why is conway doing this, he supports the failed stimulus, the spending, the obamacare and if you can't say anything about what you're for, which is the obama agenda, all you're likely is trashing the opponent, which is what he's doing to me. you need to put context around the attacks and flip it on them. jenna: the president is headed on the road again, going to rhode island dark the first lady is out on the campaign trail, we've seen tons of democratic negative ads on the air wave, there seems to be a concerted effort by the president and democratic party to really finish strong. what do you make of the president's strategy and how effective it has been? >> isn't it amazing the president is finishing the campaign going to places like rhode island, a state he carriedby some

30 percent. here's the thing for. if you ask me a mistake republicans have made, here's the mistake democrats have made. every poll, since december 2007, has said jobs is the number -- jobs and the economy is the number one issue. since december of 2007. the president just came off a west coast swing in which he devoted to, quote, women's issues. not to department ri indicate that, that's an important basket of issues but the number one issue is jobs and the economy and the president has talked about and the democrats have talked about virtually anything but that. jenna: carl -- karl, do you think that is part of the strategy, for the president to make sure he picks up the states where he has strong support, if he loses -- loses the house he loses the house but he has a foe in the 2012 elections and he sets himself up better for the campaign for reelection for president? >> i think that might be strat he g. they could spend the next two years claiming -- blaming congress but they spent the last two years blaming the predecessor, and this didn't work out.

why? americans want a leader, not saying it's not my fault, it's somebody else's, so if the president spends to -- intends to spend the next two years attacking the others, my sense is he's going to attack president bush for every problem and that's declining in the polls, it ain't working, and find a new variant ain't going to make it work better. jenna: how much are you going to sleep between now and election day? >> not a whole heck of a lot but when i do, it will be a peace of sleep! jenna: karl rove, appreciate your insights. >> you bet, thank you. jon: a fox news alert, from hunt county, texas, our fox affiliate, kbfw, is just getting some of its first area look of the aftermath of that line of strong storms that roared through yesterday, spinning off tornadoes. we've seen some of the incredible footage and this is the aftermath. this near lone oaks, texas, as you can see there. buildings torn apart, cars,

thrown around, and, of course, in the capricious nature of these storms, one house will stay standing and the one across the street is ripped apart. that is what is so sad and scary about tornadoes. we'll be right back with more coverage from texas. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, helps cover some of the medical expenses... not paid by medicare part b. that can save you from paying up to thousands of dollars... out of your own pocket. these are the only medicare supplement insurance plans... exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll.

put their trust in aarp medicare supplement insurance. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. the prices are competitive. i can keep my own doctor. and i don't need a referral to see a specialist. call now to get a free information kit. plus you'll get this free guide to understanding medicare. and the advantages don't end there. choose from a range of medicare supplement plans... that are all competitively priced. we have a plan for almost everyone, so you can find one that fits your needs and budget. with all medicare supplement plans, there are virtually no claim forms to fill out. plus you can keep your own doctor and hospital that accepts medicare. and best of all, these plans are... the only medicare supplement plans endorsed by aarp. when they told me these plans were endorsed by aarp... i had only one thing to say... 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...