46% say they trust him to handle that issue more than the president. he is at 39% on that one. good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. here in "america's newsroom". >> i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer our nation's security is a big one. martha: president obama has a big lead on that over governor romney. 46% trust the president more on how to keep the country safe from terrorism. mitt romney at 34% in that regard. bring in byron york, chief correspondent for the washington many camer. -- examiner. >> thank you, martha. martha: on taxes job creation, government spending, mitt romney is doing resoundingly better than the president on all those issues. your take on this? >> he is. the horse race part of the

poll is dead-even, 43-43 for the president and mitt romney. we know from the polls the jobs and economy are the most important issues for the american people. on anything that has anything to do with the economy, taxes, job creation, federal spending, mitt romney has substantial leads over president obama which is why you see the romney campaign focus so completely on the economy. they believe that any day on the campaign trail that is not spent talking about the economy is a day that is wasted. martha: they definitely believe that is their wheelhouse. they are also reading the polls correctly to say people are not feeling great about the economy. let's take a look at this other one we have here on the condition of the u.s. economy and 41% say they think we're in recession still. 42% say we're in a downturn. with only 15% of the folks polled think we're doing okay, this is an area where he is really hurting, the president. as we just mentioned, byron,

we'll get a news conference. the white house has put out the news conference will be about the economy. no doubt that is where the president would like to keep this focus this morning so he can win points in that regard. you know the questions are all over the map, right? >>ter but the president is probably going to push his new point, congress is stopping him from doing some things about the economy right now. so his latest ad has been an attack on congress, not really on mitt romney but not on congress for not passing a number of measures the president said would help create jobs right now. so i expect to see a lot of that but on the economy romney has been doing kind of focus grouping on his own at various campaign stops around the country. he will meet privately with people, randomly-selected people, talk about their economic anxieties. you're hearing him incorporate their stories in his stump speech more and more. he believes there is huge personal cost people are feeling every day and trying to tap into that.

martha: he said the biggest difference between the last time he ran and this time is the real desperation that he feels when he talks to people all across america about how they're doing. and clearly the president, is that enough though. you're saying how the president will come out and blame congress for not implementing some of his job creating ideas. is that going to fly well with the american people? i mean, i don't know how much water that holds at this point. >> well that's the best he's got right now. it is a way to change the subject from his own economic record. the president's case on his economic record is, we started in a very, very deep hole and we're digging our way out and we're not doing things as fast as we can. he almost apologizes for the job creation rate saying it is still not where we want it to be. his most, i guess advantageous area to take the offensive is to run against republicans in congress saying, he, barack obama has a plan to create jobs right now but they're blocking it. martha: they're not doing

it. byron, thank you so much. good to see you. byron york in d.c.. >> thank you, martha. gregg: governor romney playing to his strengths during a rally in saint lies telling voters there the current leadership has failed on the economy. >> i don't believe, by the way, it was done with evil intent or ill will but for a family that watches their house get foreclosed or a family forced to spend their kids college savings to make ends meet the results are just as same and just as devastating. gregg: governor romney also saying that our government has an absolute moral responsibility to help every american help him or herself. he argues that commitment has been broken. martha: how about this? former president bill clinton backtracking big-time after getting off message for the obama campaign. earlier this week he made headlines for saying that he was in favor of the temporarily extending all the bush-era tax cuts all the way up the economic line. president obama does not support that idea. he wants them to expire for

those making over 200,000 or 250,000 for a couple. mr. clinton, an obama surrogate clearly, hit the television again. he didn't hit the television. he went on television and he said he was wrong about that. here is what he said. >> i was really under the impression they would have to do something before the election and i was trying to figure out how they would take to last through the lech shun. once i realized i nothing had to be done before the end of the year i supported him. i think his position is the right one and necessary if we're going to get comprehensive deal. martha: it may stretch credulity a bit to think bill clinton didn't know when the tax cuts were going to expire. but that is the story he presented yesterday. the president's original comments caused a bit of a headache at the white house. the administration quirky clarified the statement that there is no daylight between president obama and president clinton.. what an interesting twist and turn.

gregg: that is his story and he is sticking to it. right now a real big health scare story on the steps of the cdc. particularly toxic train of e.coli is surfacing in several southern states. federal health officials are investigating the source of a dangerous and deadly bacteria, trying to track it down before it spreads. john roberts is live in atlanta. john? >> reporter: gregg, so far they don't have any clue as to exactly where this might have come from. gregg, this is the sort of thing that sets parents on edge particularly in the summer when there is a lot of ground beef going on the barbecue. a lot of raw vegetables put down in front of people. it has taken on a new sense of urgency after a 21 one month girl in new orleans died last thursday after contracting a deadly strain of e.coli. it attacks the kidneys and body as nerves. everything shuts down and the poor young girl died. what we know so far there are 11 confirmed cases from

the same strain. three cases in louisiana including that young girl that died. two in alabama. one in florida. five of them in georgia, all clustered in counties surrounding atlanta which is the home for the centers of disease control. centers now disease control is investigating. they're interviewing patients. they tell us there are additional two cases in two other states. those states so far have declined to be named. we hope to find out later on today what those are. we're familiar with e.coli 1506 h 6. that is not the strain. it is a different strain. dr. patrick o'neil from the george today department of the health talked about that. >> this e.coli type back tear you yaw. they fingerprinted it. they looked for from molecular and genetic standpoint. we know this comes from a single source. we don't know where. we have not been able to identify a particular food

or environmental exposure. >> reporter: they do believe it is probably coming from food. the typical culprit is ground beef. there have been e.coli outbreaks associated with bean sprouts, let tus and spinach in the past. important thing to do particularly when you're cooking during the summer make sure the ground beef is cooked all the way through. no pingness if you have. if you're serving to a child. make sure 160 degrees in the center. wash vegetables very well and make sure you're keeping counters clean when preparing food. gregg: nothing wrong with overcooking your well, well, well-donham burger. john thank you so much. >> reporter: you bet. martha: to syria where there are more signs the country is on the brink of a civil war if interest not already in one. syrian rebels are setting up training camps in areas they have taken from government troops. reports of soldiers shelling rebel-held neighborhoods and then going in and finishing off family member, women, children, that they are

finding in those homes. it is a horrific situation as they continue to find more bodies inside these houses. conor powell joins me now. he is live in jerusalem this morning. so diplomatic pressure seems to be absolutely having no impact whatsoever on this violence. >> reporter: martha, you're correct. the u.s., the international community, have been trying for months now to put pressure on the syrian government with no effect. the cities of homs and houma have been getting pounded weeks upon weeks for the past few months. it has gotten very dire in those cities and across syria. u.n. special on very cove if i annan says it is heading towards civil war. many people it is already in civil war. many blaming the syrian government for a fail lure to cooperate. observers are trying to get to the site of a massacre where rebels say 78 people

were killed. u.n. observers still can't get there, martha. martha: u.n. monitors were shot as well. it is a terrifying situation for those trying to help. one of the big questions though if syria can not be persuaded to tell the soldiers to stop what they're doing, can pressure be applied to russia perhaps to stop sending the weapons that are fueling it? >> reporter: well, martha, the u.s. sent a senior state department diplomat by the name of fred hoff to russia about a transfer of power agreement that would put assad out. no evidence that russia is supporting a similar plan like that. it is the same plan they used months ago to push out the yemen president there. russia is backing assad regime. they sell a lot of weapons there. it is an important ally in the region. there is no evidence that russia is anywhere close to pushing out the assad regime or assad himself. martha? martha: awful and

heart-breaking. thank you very much. conor powell in jerusalem. those are just a few of the stories we've got in the pipeline this morning. a lot going on in "america's newsroom" today. a memorable graduation not because of the speeches this time though. gregg: look at that. [shouting] martha: so scary. look at that. dramatic details from this graduation ceremony and some wild weather and some applause in the crowd. bring it on. gregg: the supreme court set to rule on the president's health care law. so what happens next? we're going to tell but the plans both sides are getting in place. martha: and boy, this was a tense one, folks. it was the 8th time that eric holder has testified in front of congress on "operation fast and furious". did lawmakers get the answers that they wanted? >> with all due respect to chairman issa, he says there is hostility between us. i don't feel that. i understand he is asking questions. i'm trying to respond as best i can.

i'm not feeling hostile at all. i'm pretty calm. i'm okay. 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. fohalf the calories plus vgie nutrition. could've had a v8. ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪

...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

martha: well you lead foots out there, present company excluded, you may soon be able to drive a little faster in texas. the lone star state considering an 85 mile-an-hour speed limit on a new toll road. like some of the fast highways in europe. that links it from san antonio to austin. maybe go 85 on that road. it would be the fastest speed limit we have here in america and the second fastest in the world. number one is in poland where you can push the pedal to the metal 6 86 miles per hour if you go to poland. texas and utah have speed limits after measly 80. but they go on forever. gregg: i don't think germany has speed limits do they? thinking after speed, "fast and furious" on capitol hill. sparks flying between lawmakers and eric holder.

republican congressman darrell issa accusing the attorney general being evasive on "operation fast and furious". take a listen. >> have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive to the subpoenas? >> we believe that we have responded to the subpoenas. >> no, mr. attorney general, you're not a good witness. a good witness answers the question asked. let's go back again. have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive? in other words have you taken the time to look up our subpoena and find out what material you have responsive to it or are you simply invented a privilege that doesn't exist? >> you're saying internally? >> internally have you pulled all that information. >> we looked at 240 custodians we processed millions of electronic records and reviewed 140,000 documents and produced to you 76,000. >> 140,000 documents, how many documents are responsive but you are withholding at this time?

>> we produced 7600. >> look i don't want to hear about the 7600. >> i would beg. >> the lady is out of order. >> chairman, parliamentary inquiry. excuse me mr. chairman i would beg to allow the attorney general to be able to finish the answer. gregg: how about that? joining us live a fellow who was there, republican congressman, randy fors from virginia, a member of house judiciary committee. congressman, always good to see you. >> nice to see you. gregg: holder said i testified eight times. i handed over 7600 documents. does sound like a lot except when you do the math you figure out he is withholding 132,400 documents, what do you think he is hiding? >> well, gregg, the point is exactly what you just said. it doesn't matter if the attorney general's been there seven times or 70 times if every time you ask him the key question he says i don't know or won't answer. doesn't matter if he give us 7,000 documents or 700,000 documents if he doesn't give the key documents. this is the attorney general

of the united states. he should be spear heading this investigation instead of stonewalling it. we find out yesterday, gregg, that he has been consulting with the chief strategist for the obama campaign about what he should be saying and doing. we just think that inappropriate. we have to step back and realize, we had a law enforcement officer who lost his life because of this program. hundreds of people in mexico who lost their lives in mexico because of this program. the ambassador of mexico said this poisoned relationship between these two countries and impacted something two administration have been working on. yet taken a year and still hasn't completed his investigation. gregg: mr. holder says look, we really didn't know, senior officials didn't know about the gun walking operation until 2011. do you have the affidavits that are incidental to the wiretap applications that show that they knew about it in 2010? does it specifically say that, the gun-walking operation in 2010? >> gregg, i do not have in

my possession those applications but mr. issa, mr. issa presented them and represented that is exactly what they said yesterday at the hearing and yet mr. holder denied that and refused to talk about that. gregg: you've got a problem with that because congressman issa obtained those illegally, didn't he? >> well i can't say that he obtained them illegally. i don't know how congressman issa obtained them. gregg: only the judge was allowed to see them and the applicants. >> i can't answer that. the only thing that i can tell you is that the attorney general has been so evasive in this investigation, and yet, you know, gregg, it is important, every time he wants to do an investigation or file an action against states with republican governors he can do it very, very quickly. just can't do when it comes to the department of justice itself. gregg: i want to be fair here, there were democrats on your committee, who were watching, wait a minute, the atf was doing the same sort of thing under the bush administration and you now, darrell issa, and the other

republicans on the committee which would include you, are simply trumping this up for political purposes. what do you say about -- >> gregg, first of all i'm glad you raised that. one of the things that you have to recognize even if that was true under the bush administration we didn't have anybody that lost their life because of this. the second thing when you look at politics of it, it is the attorney general's office that is really making the politics because they refuse to give this information. and now we're finding out their chief strategist is actually meeting with them and consulting with them what to say and give. gregg: i'm out of time. let me ask a quick question and get a quick answer if i can. is eric holder in your judgement lying to the committee? >> i can't say he is lying but certainly hasn't been doing the job he needs to do as attorney general. it is times for him to step down. gregg: congressman randy fors thank you very much. >> thank you, gregg. martha: we have a fox news alert. we're awaiting for the president to come out and make a statement. this was announced moments ago.

he will talk about the economy and urge congress to pass for, bipartisan paid-for ideas to spur job growth in this country. we believe he will take questions as well from the press. we'll be right back. (bell rings)

hi. good morning. big news. we're spreading the word about new honey bunches of oats fruit blends and their unique taste combinations. like peach/raspberry... and banana/blueberry. we're telling everyone. with one flavor in the granola bunch and one on the flake. try some. mmm! two flavors. in harmony. yummy. four nutritious grains and two big fruit flavors to make your day bunches better. crazy, right ? well, with this droid razr by motorola on verizon 4g lte, you guys can stay in touch. ( grunts ) cool. you can video call on skype... send photos. yeah, okay.

yeah, let's do it. get $100 off any motorola 4g lte smartphone, like the droid 4 now just $99.99. verizon.

gregg: developing right now in "america's newsroom", rulings expected in the wikileaks case. army private bradley man something accused of leaking classified u.s. intelligence secrets. a military judge will rule on defense motions to dismiss half the charges against him. wall street looking like it will open in the red today. stocks futures heading lower on expected weak economic reports from china. cape cod getting a rare visitor. a bear spotted far from his natural habitat. the animal surprising this witness. >> i was hoping that it would come this way, but what are the chances of it

actually happening. maybe i should play the lottery. seemed to be very healthy and very fit. seemed to be a male. gregg: wildlife officials are thinking of trapping and row locating the bear especially if he is happy and fit. martha: that man wanted to have a run-in with the bar. he was hoping to get close to a bear. gregg: i came close to bear once outside the kitchen door, in lake tahoe. i was hoping he wouldn't come through. like that would make a difference, me with a bat. martha: i would run. that's my strategy. this is graduation ceremony nobody is likely to forget. moments avenue jersey high schoolers got their diploma, what happened to appear look like a funnel cloud starts to form nearby. check it out. there we go. look at that. [shouting] it was barely enough time to toss their caps in the air. spectators and students made a mad dash or cover and

lightning and thunder rolled in. but they're cheering it on in this particular piece of the video. the sky opened up and rain and hail started falling. wow! quite a finale to four years of high school i would say. meteorologist janice dean joins me live in the fox weather center. hello, jd. >> we had a lot of reports of severe weather. hail, damaging winds and reports of tornados but that continues today. let's go back to some of the video we got yesterday. again that really tells the story. that coming from new jersey. dark clouds, not confirmed tornado. hail, winds. you can hear it in the background. that is a little scary. that is the galway township in new jersey. everyone received their diploma and no one was injured that was good news. in colorado and wyoming we had seven reports of twisters. i believe this is albert county. homes were damaged and had an injury thankfully no one died. we had large hail and another day of severe

weather for colorado into wyoming. the good news things will settle down for the weekend. man, they have really been hit hard across portions of colorado and wyoming. you see the satellite radar over last 24 hours. storms erupting across this region. several reports of tornados. the worst damage coming out of platt, wyoming and al bert county. seven homes damaged. five homes reportedly destroyed. we'll tell you when and if the national weather service confirms those tornados. today, relatively quieter across the west. we're looking for showers and thunderstorms across the gulf coast. quieter weather and warmer across the northeast. back to you, martha. >> bears in cape cod. things that look like tornados in new jersey. kind of a whacky show so far. janice, thank you very much. >> have a good weekend. gregg: a dangerous world out there, huh? martha: it is. pull up the could have verse. gregg: big bad bears. lions and tigers. big scare at a major airport when a plane about to land

finds another plane right in the way. >> my neighbor and i turned to each other and looked at each other and in panic, said what was that? gregg: wow! how a catastrophe was avoided in the nick of time. martha: the supreme court decision on the new health care law is expected any day now. the fallout for democrats and republicans and the presidential race could be huge, whichever way this decision goes. we're going to debate it, fair and balanced. that's coming up right after this. >> republicans belief in a step by step common-sense approach to fixing problems within our current health care system. i'm not going to speculate what the court will or won't do. [ woman ] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea.

support team usa and show our olympic spirit right in our own backyard. so we combined our citi thankyou points to make it happen. tom chipped in 10,000 points. karen kicked in 20,000. and by pooling more thankyou points from folks all over town, we were able to watch team usa... [ cheering ] in true london fashion. [ male announcer ] now citi thankyou visa card holders can combine the thankyou points they've earned and get even greater rewards. ♪ mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment nows where it is,

how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ 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... 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. martha: we are getting some new details on how both parties are sort of prepping for the fallout from the supreme court's decision which could come down any day now on the health care law. this as a new poll shows 41% of americans want the entire health care law overturned. 27% say they want to excise the federal mandate out of the health care law and only 24% say they want to keep the law just as it is. about one in four americans as representatived by this poll want to keep it like it is. that leaves a lot of room for change perhaps in the future. the obama administration said they will be ready if the law and the mandate go down or part of it or all of it. the health and human services secretary kathleen

sebelius believes if that happens that it would be a catastrophe. >> we've had two years of incredible changes and improvements to medicare. stablizing, preventative services. we assume that would be unraveled because those would no longer be the law. it has some pretty cataclysmic impact along the way. martha: so republicans do not agree with that but they say they will wait to see what the supreme court decides before putting forth their alternative if it gets shot down. joined by brad blakeman, former deputy assistant to president george w. bush. roob bert hoop as former advisor to joe biden. welcome, gentlemen. good to have you here today. >> good morning. martha: this could happen any day. they said in june. we expect it will come sometime over the next 10 days or so. if it gets shot down, brad, should republicans be ready with something more specific

than saying we'll figure it out if it happens? >> yes. they must analyze the court's decision and they must have a coordinated response between the house, the senate and mitt romney. he is the presidential nominee who will have to carry a lot of the water with the debates in president obama and with what he offers as an alternative. republicans it is not enough to say the law has been struck down if that happens. they must have an alternative. and contrary to the law upheld, they have to double down efforts to repeal and replace it once they take power in january of 2013. martha: robert, when you look at those poll numbers, they're pretty dire. only one out of every four say that they want to keep the law the way it is. so that leave as lot of room for improvement, and that may or may not be, not actually the business of the supreme court. they will think whether or not it is constitutional but are changes in order either way on the democratic side do you think? >> i think there is a couple interesting things about that poll. one, i wonled are how many

college students who were in that poll who would keep their parents health care coverage until they're 26 or how many seniors in the poll already seen savings because of the changes in medicare that the secretary of health and human services discussed. the other interesting thing in the poll is the gap between the american public, generally and the tea party. the tea party almost two to one is more adamant on this position than the american public. which, really speaks to the need, if it is overturned, part or wholly, then what is the solution? because we're going to continue to have people going into emergency rooms for primary care, care that they should be getting from a family doctor. we're going to have people lose coverage because of preexisting conditions. and we're going to have increasing costs because people who have insurance --. martha: you're arguing it would be cataclysmic as kathleen sebelius says? that it would be a horrible situation to if indeed it gets overturned. but i think the question

politically, when you look at this, brad, is whether or not as i said before, the republicans need to have more of a response and they have been criticized and perhaps justifiably so for not having a clear-cut alternative, and perhaps legislation, you know, sort of in the hopper and ready to go that answers some of the questions that would be changed by that outcome. >> well, we know that this president created a constitutional crisis on health care. there wasn't the kind of crisis on health care as there was on the economy when this president took office. and he ruled out of ideology instead of reality. now having said that we can't anticipate what the court is going to do. we have to react to what the court does. we have to do it quickly and we have to make sure again it is coordinated between the house and senate and presidential stand bearer for us mitt romney. unless there is coordinated response what we will do whatever the supreme court does, we hand a gift to the president, by the way if health care is struck down the president has a awful lot of explaining to do the

american people why he concentrated on health care at the expense of the economy. martha: go ahead, robert. >> there is no alternative. >> there is an alternative. >> no, you said you're waiting until the court decides. >> it is broken. >> romney, this is the republican coo nun drum at the core of the romney plan is the core of the obama plan. >> that is nonsense. >> people that can afford insurance should have insurance. republicans held back on any proposal, any legislation, any hearing let's repeal, repeal, repeal. >> we held back because the bailiwick of supreme court. you guys created crisis which the supreme court get this is case. there is very little we can do to overturn a mandate when we have a democratic president and a senate controlled by democrats. >> i don't accept that premise. martha: what we won't do is pass a 2700 page bill in the mid dill of the night nobody read. what we won't do -- >> that is straw man. that is phony --. martha: without knowing what is it in. >> that is phony straw man. they run the house of

representatives. they can hold hearings. they can recruit democrats. they can write op-eds. >> senseless to do the work and waste the government's time when the supreme court will decide this case. >> nobody is willing all right, nobody is willing to do hard work on capitol hill to pass tough legislation. martha: that may be true. reason there is 15% approval rating for congress overall. >> there you go, martha. martha: robert, brad, always good to see you. gregg: it is that high, 15%? shocked. martha: picked up actually. gregg: all right. a close call at boston's logan airport. thanks to a quick-thinking air traffic controller everybody got home okay. the trouble began when a delta flight is attempting to land but in his way is an american airlines plane that was not supposed to be on the runway. the tower recordings indicate the american pilot was told to stop short of the runway. but when it didn't the tower warned the incoming plane. >> are you ready to go right out. >> hold short. we'll be ready in about one

minute. >> go around. delta. 1386. go around. runway 4 right. gregg: planes similar to these apparently came within a few hundred feet of one another. listen as one delta passenger describes what happened on board. >> we were within feet of the runway when suddenly the pilot pulled up and we climbed back up and circled around. my neighbor and i turned to each other and looked at each other and in panic, side what was that? gregg: well, an investigation is now underway. martha: boy, that's a frightening situation. gregg: yeah. the speed of that plane coming in, you're talking about a matter of seconds. martha: look how these planes traverse around these airports and numbers in which they're doing it. and it is miracle really we don't see more of it. exactly. thank goodness that one turned out okay. how about the jobs picture, folks? if you think it can't get any worse, why we could see a million u.s. jobs vanish

by the end of the year according to one report out on this. we'll explain that. gregg: lawmakers on both sides of the aisle fed up with leaks of classified intelligence. could the white house behind those leaks? >> somebody committed a crime against their country, their neighbors and the great people of the united states and that's why this is so serious and that's why you see both republicans and democrats coming out in shock. we're sitting on a bunch of shale gas.

there's natural gas under my town. it's a game changer. ♪ it means cleaner, cheaper american-made energy. but we've got to be careful how we get it. design the wells to be safe. thousands of jobs. use the most advanced technology to protect our water. billions in t economy. at chevron, if we can't do it right, we won't do it at all. we've got to think long term. we've got to think long term. ♪ ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

changed my life.aids on medicare and social security i feel so much younger. my husband was able to hear little things again, like the laughter of our grandkids. it's amazing. i can have fun with my friends again. ready to reconnect with your friends and family? the aarp hearing care program provided by hearusa can help you get back to living life. call hearusa... your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. aarp members enjoy exclusive discounts on a wide range of digital hearing aids for crisp, natural sound

even in crowded environments, with a 90-day risk free trial from providers you can trust. i'm enjoying my freedom again. even conversations in noisy restaurants are easy. not an aarp member? join today. and then take advantage of the aarp hearing care program provided by hearusa. call hearusa ... and reconnect with your world today. martha: how about this one? police in idaho are looking for a burglar who may have a big bump on his head. that is the clue, folks. take a look at security video. ow!. shouldn't be stealing things in that restaurant and things wouldn't happen to you. jumped down from the vent. crashed in the table. he may be bruised. if you see a person looks like this man and bruised and didn't back off. he managed to carry out the heist. he grabbed a large amount of cash and then he took off but look for somebody who looks like he has sort of a

cartoon sized egg on his head and he may be your man. gregg: not on his noggin. fox news alert. minutes from now, president obama is set to make a statement on the economy at the white house. he is expected to urge congress to pass a bipartisan plan to kick-start to the economy. this as we get a new report that if no deal on the debt is made and all of those automatic cuts kick in the economy could lose one million jobs. steve moore joins us, senior economic writer for "the wall street journal.". now this is a bipartisan group, bipartisan policy group that came up with this thing. you don't buy it. >> no, i don't. gregg: why? >> this is the same kind of analysis that told us if we passed the $800 billion stimulus we would get three or four million jobs and get unemployment rate down to 6%. government spending does not create jobs. it crowds out private sector activity. now there are two big, what

we call fiscal cliffs this economy is going over an january 1st. one is the spending cuts which i actually think will help the economy. you showed the debt clock. my gosh, we have $15.5 trillion national debt. we have it start bringing the deficit down. the other one is the tax rate increases. i think, gregg, those are the bigger problem for the economy because i don't think the economy can take the blow of higher capital gains, higher dividend, higher investment taxes next year. >> i think it is $55 billion in defense spending will be cut and rest of it, up to 109 billion. >> right. gregg: would be domestic programs, right? >> but remember --. gregg: does that mean lost jobs? >> no. gregg: no lost jobs over that. >> there will be some dislocation cutting spending but if you agree with the premise that one of the greatest problems in our nation is national debt and overspending in washington when will we get serious about it. i've been in washington, gregg, for 30 years.

they always say cut spending now and we'll get to it. these cuts are exactly the kind of ton nick this economy needs to prove to global financial markets america is serious about getting its deficit under control. gregg: the same bipartisan policy center predicts that gdp will actually decline by half a percentage point because of these cuts. could you buy that. >> no. i worked for ronald reagan and i also worked for newt gingrich when he was speaker and bill clinton was president both those periods, gregg, we cut spending. what happened to the economy? you remember what happened in the mid-'90s. oh, my gosh we can't cut spending it will cause all the problems. after 1994 we had five years of largest increase in economic growth in this country's history at a time we were cutting government spending. there is no historical evidence that cutting spending hurts the economy. i would say just the opposite. gregg: a lot of public companies have contracts with the department defense. >> that's true. gregg: in fact there is a federal law if you're going to close lantz plants and

large layoffs you have to do it 60 days from the time that you're supposed to do it. >> right. gregg: so you backtrack it from january 2nd, that means four days before the election. >> i know that. there will be some layoffs and some hits to the economy. egg gregg, you have to understand, when government spends a dollar has to take the dollar from somebody. you will get reductions in the companies that are government, do government contracts but companies that, you know, companies don't do government business, they're going to experience increased in --. gregg: i find interesting happens four days before the election, those layoffs. it could have splittal impact. >> we have to get the debt under control and keep taxes down. if we do that the economy will take off. we'll not see a million lost jobs. we'll see a million more jobs. gregg: there is good editorial today in the "wall street journal". >> thank you. gregg: check it out. i do every day. steve moore. great to be with you. martha: want to cut down on your medical bills, who doesn't, right?

doctors are offering a little-known discount on your medical care but there is a catch in this. but this is some story. a live report coming up next. plus the miami heat live to play another day. >> down low against ray allen. jump hook won't go. james comes plying in and -- flying in and throws it down. he has 27 first half points. gregg: 45 in all. it was a smackdown at the garden, beating the celtics in the nba eastern conference finals. the series tied at three. the game 7 tomorrow night in miami. winner facing oklahoma thunder in the nba finals. i was just in oklahoma city. they are jacked up. >> thrown away by wade.

gregg: welcome back. an oregon woman getting the scare of her life while

mowing her lawn, running over a rare giant spider. this thing was as big as a buick. maybe not a buick but big. amber kincaid said she saw something really big sitting there. right away she knew this was no ordinary spider. >> thought i ran over a mouse. i pull it back and realized it was a big spider. i saw it was pretty slimy and wet from the grass underneath. doesn't look like the average garden spider to me. the size of front fangs are really thick. gregg: whoa, that is one ugly spider. kincaid contacted the zoo. officials looking into what kind of spider it is. whether or not it is dangerous. martha: going with dangerous. gregg: i'm thinking that too. martha: so saving big on sky-high medical bills. if you pay on time and you're even willing to ditch your insurance all together, you could see some very big savings in your medical bills. claudia cowan report as on

this live from san francisco. get morning, claudia. >> reporter: good morn, martha. hard to believe you might save money by not using your insurance but across the country today hospitals are offering cash digs counts and other incentives to patients so they get their money faster. at marin general north of san francisco patients with insurance who settle the hospital bills right away can get 25% off. even those without insurance could get as much as half off the bill if they pay the hospital directly within 30 days. >> for those patients that are in the position to pay their bill promptly it is good for them because they get a discount and good for the hospital because it saves us money on the back end on the collection side. >> reporter: administrators say collecting payments costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. after they bill the insurance company, it can take up to six months to get reimbursed. only then do they bill the patient. health care experts say bad debt is putting hospitals at risk. >> it is an industry that

faces hard times and most would say, if you collect something, it's better than taking a chance on collecting nothing. >> take about five or six really deep breaths. >> reporter: doctors like alameda county internist david bell are also giving deals to patients that give them cash up front. >> if somebody comes to me with a $50 bill, doctor, can you see me i don't have to bill the insurance company which doesn't give me a major headache. >> reporter: his website, the true cost of health care advises patients to negotiate and find out if they can lower the bill by not using their insurance. now for a lot of people of course, that may not be possible but the takeaway here is that patients need to become active consumers because of the bill they get, martha, might not necessarily be the bill they have to pay. martha: that says a lot about the underlying issues with regard to why health care is so expensive and cutting out the middleman may make things a better deal for some people. really interesting. thank you so much. >> reporter: you're welcome.

gregg: some new plans to keep us from falling off a financial cliff. we're going to ask one senator about his ideas to get our debt under control. martha: and we are just minutes away from an expected statement by the president on the economy and he is going to take questions from reporters as well. intelligence leaks may be on the menu this morning. we will be right back. don't miss it, coming up right after this. [ game announcer ] popped up towards the stands.

hey joe. yeah? is this a bad time? no, i can talk.

great. it's the 9th inning and your hair still looks amazing. well it starts with a healthy scalp. that's why i use head & shoulders for men. there are four shampoos for game-winning scalp ptection and great looking hair... go on, please. with seven benefits in every bottle, head & shoulders for men washes out flakes, itch and dryness. and washes in... confidence. yeah, it does. [ crowd cheering ] [ male announcer ] head & shoulders for men. you wouldn't want your [doctor doing your job. so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious... like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief,

but can also help heal acid related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job, and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. martha: fox news alert as we start the stop of the hour here. we learned about half an hour or so that the president wanted to come into the believing room and make a statement. he wanted to talk about the economy. we are also told he will take questions from reporters in the white house briefing room. that gets rolling in a few minutes. he is said to be making this statement in order to urge immediate action on a plan to jump start job growth, which the recent employment numbers show us we are very much in need of, and then he will addss his terrance concerns as well over the european economic crisis

that many believe is threatening to drag down our economy. some say that the white house is pushing the blame off of their own policies onto europe at this hour. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." good to have you on this pretty busy friday morning. i'll martha maccallum. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett. the president will address his remarks directly to congress and then address a few questions from reporters. martha: here now for a preview of what we may hear from the president this morning, anchor of sunday, chris wall sass. good t wallace the president has decided he wants to speak, is that surprising. >> reporter: i don't think it's surprising at all. it was just a week ago we got the employment numbers for may, they were very bad, unemployment

ticked up from 8.1 to 81-point%. we found out that the economy created only 69,000 jobs in may, and, you know, look the president wants to be seen as part of the solution, not part of the problem. he's going to come out today -- from what we've heard so far, maybe there will be a surprise, what the reporting has been is he'll basically be pushing his jobs act the same thing he's been pushing since last september that includes money to hire more public workers, especially teachers, it includes money for infrastructure, also tax credits for small businesses that hire. now this hasn't gone very far in congress, and while he may qualify partisan the house republican leadership doesn't seem likely to go for it, but he wants to make it clear, he's got an idea of how to maybe the idea better, and, you know, if the republican republicans reject it that won't be all bad from his political point as well.

i talked to a top administration official this week who said that one of the thins they want to try to do is tie mitt romney to what they see is an obstructionist republican leadership in congress. so if they can say, you know, we've proposed and the republicans are blocking it they'll try to link mitt romney to that. obviously mitt romney's favorability numbers a whole lot higher than republicans or even democrats in congress. martha: looking at the fox news polls that we just got they clearly show that the president is doing better on issue of terrorism, and protect being the country, and then mitt romney is doing much better on issues of the economy. and the other thing we know well is that the economy has been the number one issue for voters, they've told us that time and time again in polls. the president really needs to wrestle back this issue of the economy and try to take some ground on it, does he not? >> oh, absolutely. look, if the economy is the number one issue and voters by a very wide margin trust romney more than obama to fix the

economy, that's a prescription for defeat in november. he has absolutely, as i say, got to be seen as part of the solution, not part of the problem. and if there isn't a solution he's got to be seen by voters, whether legitimately or not that he's trying, and it's the republicans who are blocking him. so, you know, i'm sure there is a certain amount of legitimate policy involved in this. but at this point with less than five months to election day it's all political also, and part of it is to say, i've got some ideas, and why don't the republicans come with me, and having said that i'm not sure if they passed all the stuff he's going to call for today it would make that much difference in the employment and job picture between now and november any way. martha: the headlines are all about the intelligence leaks. and it could be that they would like to get the focus back on the economy this morning. but if he takes questions i would expect he's going to get at least one about whether or not the white house is willing to appoint an independent prosecutor, as john ma kin and

others have called for to look into where the leaks have come from. >> absolutely. if i were -- i spent six years in the white house on the front row there in the press room, that's the question i would ask today. is mr. president, will you appoint a special prosecutor to look into where these leaks came from, and do you believe they were damaging to the national security of this country? martha: we'll see if that question comes from the front row. we expect it will. that's one of the reasons we are following this so slowly this morning. chris, thank you very much. we'll see you on the weekend. you can catch chris wallace this weekend on fix news sunday. he has an exclusive interview with indiana governor mitch daniels, and the president of the national association will be will as well. gregg: one of the questions will inch sraeur ple be the intelligence leaks. now there are calls by both side of the isles to plug those leaks. they want to draft legislation to limit access to highly

classified information. this after a spait of leaking very sensitive information. >> somebody committed a crime against their country, neighbors and the great people of the unit united states, that's why this is so serious and you see both democrats and republicans coming out in shock. this is very dangerous to your national security. >> this has got to stop. when people say they don't want to work with the united states because they can't trust us to keep a secret, that is serious. gregg: white house press secretary says the administration will not a point a special prosecutor. catherine herridge is live in washington. there have been two high-level briefings the first by the director of national intel, the nation's top intelligence official. >> reporter: this is the nation's top intelligence

official. james clapper was sur just, outraged and upset by the number and severity of leaks according to lawmakers. late thursday the f.b.i. director robert muller also on the hill briefing the intelligence committee on the status of the leaked investigations. that meeting lasting 70 minutes. after the head of the intelligence committee on the senate side offering few details. >> the f.b.i. is investigating. my understanding is that there is a united states attorney in d.c. assigned to it as well. you have to talk to mr. muller for detail, but i think the f.b.i. really is the best agency to do the investigation. >> reporter: the bottom line from that rear joint news conference thursday that brought together the leadership of both the house and senate intelligence committees is they say the leaks have undercut our ability to collect intelligence and undercut our relationship

with foreign government services, gregg. gregg: what kind of legislation are they talking about. >> reporter: we have two tractiotwo tracks here. we have the leak investigation. lawmakers are trying to curb the leaks ever classified information. so there is no mistake, there is the substitut stutnex computer program, the predator drone campaign and this new al-qaida bomb plot. >> we need to put together a policy, people need to know what the policy is, if you violate the policy you will be held accountable, that is important. we would love to find out who did the leak here. >> the fact of the matter is when you have the kind of leaks that have been coming out in the last few weeks it put lives in danger, and it infringes upon the ability of the intelligence community to do their job. >> reporter: some interim measures to address the issue include more polygraphs but really at the core of this is

the idea that too many people are being read in on these highly classified operations that we will i should be on a much closer hold, and the question is why that is happening, gregg. gregg: catherine herridge live in washington. thank you. pt mcmarch land says they are playing kt mcfarland says they are playing a dangerous game with these leaksment what do you mean by that. >> when i was in washington there were leaks that came out. names were revealed and sources were revealed. we had a person in greece who was assassinated as a result of his name being leaked. what happened in the cia is become demoralized, everyone took it out on the cia. for a generation in the cia we didn't focus on spies or human intelligence. people pointed to that period and said, that's why we never

saw al-qaida coming, we never saw a bunch of guys in a cave plotting to take down the twin towers. when sources and methods are revealed, names are given out in a systematic pattern ever leaving in event, after event, after event, what you could see is not only damage with our foreign intelligence agencies and informant has might want cooperate with us aeu abroad, but we could see lives in danger. gregg: senator finestein is angry about this. she says it's a avalanche of leaks, jeopardizing skwraeug national security and lives. given the way the president was described by the recipients of the leaks in the media, does that suggest to you that these leaks, a, were done for political purposes to enhance the president's stature, and b they came from senior administration officials? >> yeah, i mean if you look at them there is a pattern of these

leaks. why else would people leak? it makes the president look very good. he always looks pretty good for having got even osama bin laden. he doesn't need to make the case in a different way by giving operational detail, step-by-step by step. senator feinstein is a democrat, respected on both sides of the aisle for her professionalism. bob gates. the secretary of defense a man i shared the office with in the 1970s when the leaks went off, he was so angry he went to the national security adviser and said, let's have a new communications strategy, shut the blank up. this is dangers lives and sources and methods and has a far reaching effect on national security. gregg: sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for in terms of special prosecutors, independent counsel and so forth, that can lead to all kinds of things, including it led to watergate, didn't it? >> when i was in the white house president nixon was so upset about the seeks that he saw coming from his administration

about the vietnam war that that set in motion the watergate break ins, the cover ups, independent prosecutors and ultimately president nixon's resignation. leaks are a bad business when they happen and they take on a practice skwrebgt tree o trajectory of your own. be careful what you wish for if you put out more details about the president's personal involvement. it could come back and turn out to bite them. america is not going to support a guy that they think is jeopardizing national security to get a couple more votes. gregg: thank you. martha: the president is about to take questions from the press. you can see everybody assembling in the briefing room. he is likely to be pressed on this issue of the intel leaks this morning, that's just moments away. he's expected to call for a bi-partisan effort in congress to get the economy moving. we'll talk to a leading accept senator, get his thoughts on

that. gregg: and the head of the fta grilled on capitol hill. >> you have to use common-sense. if you start passing them down, people are going to say, they're passing down beyonce. she is not going to blow a plane up. gregg: could massive cuts be in store for that agency. martha: should you really be flipping through headlines as you drive a train? ♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious.

i see you're crunching numbers with a cup of joe... when you could be relaxing with a delicious gevalia. or as i like to say, a cup of johan. joe's a cubicle. johan is a corner office with a young, eager assistant... who looks like me. put johan on your spreadsheets. he'll watch your bottom line. [ johan ] gevalia. meet me in the coffee aisle.

martha: we have fox news alert. we are waiting any minute now president obama is expected to walk into the white house briefing room. he is said to be ready to deliver a statement, and also take some questions from the press this morning. his focus will be in a statement on the u.s. economy, and he's expected to urge congress to

pass bi-partisan legislation to get this economy moving. let's bring in ten senator bob korbger on th corker on the bankinsenate banking committee. martha: he wants to know why congress has not pushed through a bi-partisan bill that would save teacher jobs, and municipal jobs. what say you, sir? >> martha, the kind of solutions the president has put forth are an insult to american intelligence, and it just shows either his lack of ability to lead, lack of courage, or it shows a total misunderstanding of what is causing our economy to be like it is. there is only one thing that matters now to our economy, and that is for people across our country to know that we've dealt with the $5 trillion tax increase. even president clinton knows that, at the end of the year,

and replace it with progrowth tax reform and entitlement reform so that people across this nation know that we have dealt with the issue of solvency. they don't want us to be bike europe. this president has refused to lead on this issue, and to know that he's going to have a press conference today, where he's majoring in the miners, doing poll testing things that has nothing to do with causing our economy to be strong again is infuriating to those of us on both sides of the aisle that know better. so fortunately, even steny hoyer who last week was on television saying exactly what i'm saying, other leading democrats know that the president doesn't have the courage to lead on this issue, and what infuriates me is at a time when i want to see tennesseans with jobs and americans with jobs we have a president campaigning and throwing out poll testing solutions than addressing the major issues of our country. so i'm infuriating that he's

having this silly press conference today, infuriated. martha: i can tell. let me ask you this. one of the things that he's been criticized for is blaming europe, sort of saying i think that what we may hear this morning based on the statement that has come out is that part of the problem is that the engines would be starting to turn because the president has, you know, sort of tried to get jobs and the economy moving again, but then we got sort of hammered by what happened in europe, and that that has put us back on our heels, and if only they would get it together it might help to release the dogs of a strong economy here. >> the best thin we can do because of what's happening in europe, china is slowing, india is slowing, is to inoculate ourselves from the same kinds of issues, and the only way to do that is to deal with the fiscal issues this nation faces, and to put in place progrowth tax reform. there is bi-partisan consensus around that, but the president

will not lead on this issue, and in the interim our economy is going to heck in a hand basket. and again, i do not understand why he will not deal with the central issue that is driving this. the one thing that inch knock lateinch objecting later us from what is happening in europe is to deal with our own issues, but we have a president that doesn't have the courage or ability to lead on that one issue. and what inch furniture yates me is tennesseans are being harm by his lack of leadership. there are plenty of people in congress that are ready for a real solution. i think he could get sevenee hoyer, i think he could get the leadership of congress to sit down and deal with this issue. martha: let me ask you, senator, what would they agree on? you know, if the president were not in the mix for a moment, what could you tkpwaoeuts and stenguys and steny hoyer agree on over the course of the next couple of weeks and set in motion that would start to turn this in the right direction?

>> if you talk to any business person in this country they will tell that you what they are concerned about is a 5 trillion-dollar tax increase at the end of the year that even bill clinton has announced needs to be dealt w okay. and the fact that our country is not dealing with its fiscal issues. so a combination of progrowth tax reform, and dealing with our entitlements, so that people know, we've put in the rear view mirror the same kind of issues that europe is dealing with now. that is the only thing that is going to get this economy going again. there its so much uncertainty. martha: you think you could put together a deal with steny hoyer -- >> i don't think we can do it in two weeks, but i think if we put our mind to it we could do it quickly. and remember, the president had his own commission that he put together that said exactly this a year and a half ago. our country would not be in the position that it's in today if this president had one iota of

leadership on this issue. and, again, that's why having this press conference to announce these mealy mouth, penny anti-solutions that will do nothing to get this economy going, because he's trying to act like it's congress' fault, it is the white house that hasn't led on this issue. as you can tell i'd like to solve this. i think there are numbers of people in congress on both sides of the aisle that would. thank you. martha: thank you. we have to leave it there. we are going to try to get back to this news conference. the president has also been criticized for not spending enough time to talking to folks in congress and trying to put tog together. bob corker thank you very much, the senator from tennessee this morning. we're waiting for the president. gregg: demonstrations planned across more than 150 american cities today, rallies against the healthcare mandate for contraception coverage. we'll talk to the director of a religious freedom coalition about this. martha: could be major tuts

coming for tsa after the immediate of the agent tee got grilled on capitol hill. >> by testify admonition our job can be confrontational and so people may not agree with that. what we are working on -- [ male announcer ] it's back again at red lobster, but not for long! your very own four course seafood feast for jt $14.99. start your feast with a soup, like our hearty new england clam chowder. next, enjoy a salad with unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. then get your choice of one of 7 entrees. like new coconut and pineapple shrimp shrimp and scallops alfredo

or new honey bbq shrimp. then finish with something sweet. your complete four course seafood feast jus$14.99 come into red lobster and sea food diffently.

gregg: welcome back. the tsa under fire for some recent embarrassing incidents. lawmakers now lashing out at the agency during a hearing saying that travelers are absolutely fed up and it's ruining their image. slow check ins, evening patting down recognizable people. alabama congressman mike rogers says it's got to stop. >> you just got to use common-sense, because if you start patting them down people are going to say, they are patting down bee kwropb say. she is no beyonce. she is not going to below a

plane up. gregg: i agree that beyonce will not likely blow up a plane. what does congressman rogers want the ta to do. >> he says the american people are disgusted and outraged by the tsa because he says they are bloated and inefficient. he wants the tsa to try to figure out how to do their job with fewer people. but when he asked john pistolee the tsa chief if the agency could reduce their workforce by 20%, he says he wasn't ready to reduce the size at all. >> i want you to cut out people standing around not doing anything at the airport screening checkpoints. >> just on that comment, sir, some of our airports don't have brake rooms or close by the check-point, and so they may have to simply go to a coffee shop or something on their brake, because they may have to walk ten to 15 minutes to get to a brake room.

>> reporter: he says out of the 125,000 calls the tsa call center has taken this year only 6 or 7% have been complaints. gregg: i was at the dallas airport last week. it was like 300 people trying to get through one, just one line, one metal detector, and it was insane. is pistole doing anything to try to please all the travelers who complain about this? >> reporter: it's interesting, the tsa chief pistole has no plans to let fliers carry weapons on board aircraft to protect themselves any time soon. republican congressman joe walsh asked if that was on the tsa's radar, he says it's not because of the way box cutters were used on 9/11. going forward their focus remains staying ahead of bad guys he says. >> what we're looking for is to have our folks focus on what can cause cat graphic failure to the aircraft, and the greatest threat now is the nonmetallic

improvised explosive devices. >> reporter: they will start looking at that restricted prohibited list of eye tefplts he says the last thing the tsa wants to do is hastily change their policy and have a terrorist take advantage of a new vulnerability. gregg: peter doocy thank you very much. martha: we are awaiting the president. there is a look at the white house briefing room. we expect him to come out any minute now to deliver a statement and take questions from the press. he is expected to urge congress to pass bi-partisan legislation to get the jobs market moving in this economy. he may very well get questions about the intel leak story which has grabbed so many headlines in recent days. we'll take you there live, as soon as that begins. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] roam like the gnome this summer.

it's the travelocity spring into summer sale. you can save up to 50% on select hotels and vacation packages. so book your summer vacation now and save up to 50%. offer ends soon. book right now at travelocity.com.

a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis sympto. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain

so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benets with theisks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease risk factors suh as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach a intestine problems, such as bleeding and cers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the eldey are at incrsed risk for stoch bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides.

get help rightway if you have swelng of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. martha: we want to take you quickly to the president, who might walk out at any moment, with wendell goler. wendel what are we expecting. >> reporter: when you say any moment, that's any second, we're well inside one minute to the president. he's going to once again push congress to in his words do things to stimulate the economic recovery, to get it going. he says congress has been dropping the ball, this is what he's been saying in political speeches over the past couple of days. the president walking out any second now. i'm going to sit down. martha: wendell, thank you very much. wendell is standing by. we do expect, because we saw the comments get dropped on the podium and that's usually the sign that we're about to hear from the president. we just heard about an hour

or so ago that the president was going to come into the briefing room unexpectedly and make some statement about the u.s. economy. he is expected as wendt -- wendell was just saying to urge congress to action on what he calls aby partisan and paid for jobs bill that would stimulate jobs in the economy through highway jobs, construction jobs, securing teacher positions, as well as part of this bill. it really, as chris wallace pointed out s. a bill that's been around for some time, he is frustrated that congress hasn't been able to pass it. republicans in the house have had great issue with whether or not this is essentially paid for as the president has said. they claim that it's not. they want to see commensurate spending cuts in effect before any kind of these measures would be taken. it has an long rocky road that's led to an 8.2 unemployment rate. it has finish some peoples' estimations a pretty tough week for the president. he had the jobs numbers that came out, he's being somewhat haunted by this intel leak story, a lot of

people calling for andent prosecutor on that. we do expect he's going to get a question on that as well, the wisconsin vote did not go the way the white house wanted to and they came up short in fundraising. it's the first month they lost to mitt romney's camp in terms of raising money. overall it's friday and they're probably saying tgif in the obama administration because by those estimates it hasn't been a great week for the white house and they'd like to finish it on an up note, have the president come out strong, and take on the issue of the economy where he seems to be losing ground in the polls, mitt romney seems to be owning that as a campaign issue from the thumbs we -- tphepls numbers we saw this morning. a a lot on his plate as we head into the weekend. >> it's clear the white house made it clear this is not a conventional news conference in which the president will be taking a lot of questions. he's going to come out here, he wants to push this particular sort of jobs bill, and he's only going to take a few fes and scurry out of there, but martha,

your interview with senator quirker was very, very revealing when he said this is just silly, vote, penny annie small stuff, i think, mealy mouse small stuff i think is what senator quirker said that, it will have very little, if any, impact at all on the economy, which invites the question why is the president pushing it if that's true, and if it is true, maybe it's being pushed for political reasons to try to portray republicans as obstructionists or maybe the flipside is the white house genuinely feels this will make a material difference in improving the economy. har march there's got to be a lot of nervousness over the fact that the economy does not seem to be coming off of this cliff that we've heard so much about. this is the third summer in a row that everybody was expecting things to start to turn around. it looked in the early part of the spring like numbers were improving in the unemployment numbers, housing numbers, all of that. it has not proved to be

true, that the economy is terpbg around, and you've got ben bernanke basically very concerned about the future of the u.s. economy, and -- >> gregg: though not taking any immediate action. martha: how much further can they go? they've released a ton of money into the economy to quantitative easing and it's not produced the business and loans and job growth that everyone would like to see. also what we may hear about is europe, increasingly over the past several days, the president has been expressing his own agitation about what's going on in europe and concern that that is one of the factors dragging the economy down. you heard bob quirker saying sag it should be a huge red flag for us and force us to get our house in order in terms of cutting spending. that's what is going to be likely when the president addresses. gregg: greece default and something similar in spain

could have a snowball effect and we are increasingly a global economy. what happens in europe can dramatically affect u.s. trade with those countries, china trade as well, and so there's a lot at stake in europe that will impact each and every american here at home, so we'll have to wait and see what the president also has in mind on the european front as well. martha: we saw our own fox news poll numbers that came out this morning and they really do delineate where the divide in the road is between mitt romney and president obama in terms of where their strengths are right now. across the board the polls are telling us that people feel that mitt romney, they trust him more in terms of turning and the economy and the president gets higher mark wh-s it comes to the issue of terrorism and national security. now, unfortunately for the president and the campaign, the issue of the economy comes up number one time and time again in terms of what people care about as they head into this economy. so he needs very much to kind of pull back the ground on the economy and to appear

to be leading us in the right direction fe wants to change those numbers and no doubt they hope to accomplish at least some of that. gregg: in terms of the three sort of key achievements of the obama administration he got poor marks in our fox news poll that just came out, in terms of health care, the economy, and job creation, in one of those categories, he was down by more than 20 points and in the others, majorities found that he was not doing a good job, indeed, a majority in all three of those categories found that he was failing. now, that is certainly -- that has certainly got to be encouraging for the romney campaign, discouraging for the obama campaign, which is headquartered out of chicago. but of course, a lot happens here at the white house as well. martha: and a lot of discussion this week, obviously, about what happened in wisconsin, and what that says for state budgets and what it says for the power of unions in this country, and that has been, you know -- cries stierwalt wrote yesterday about the seed change in terms of the

dynamic of support for the democratic party if indeed their power is undercut and it's truly amazing how many have dropped off the rolls of paying union dues once the requirement was dropped for them, so once they were pressed -- not pressed to pay the union dues they dropped by one third. so all of this goes into the mix and that's why i bring it up, you've got wisconsin, the economic numbers the president does not seem to be pulling in the poll, you have the fundraising numbers we talked about as well. gregg: wisconsin is now in play come november and it wasn't thought to be before, and some recent data just came out in the last day or so, in three of the swing states that were thought to be tossups, romney is now ahead. here is the president: >> good morning. i just want to say a few words about the economy and then i will take some of your questions. today, we're fighting back from the deepest economic crisis since the great

depression. after losing jobs for 25 months in a row, our businesses have now created jobs for 27 months in a row. four point three million new jobs in all. the fact is, job growth in this recovery has been stronger than in the one following the last recession, a decade ago. but the whole -- but the hole we have to fill is much deeper and the global aftershocks are much greater, and that's why we've got to keep pressing with actions that are strengthening for the economy. one threat is europe which faces a threat of recession as countries deal with a financial crisis. obviously this matters to us because europe is our largest economic trading partner. if there's less demand for our products in places like paris or madrid, it could mean less businesses or less business for manufacturers in places like pittsburgh or milwaukee. now, the good news is there is a path out of this challenge. these decisions are

fundamentally in the hands of europe's leaders and fortunately they understand the seriousness of the situation and urgent need to act. i've been in frequent contact with them over the past several weeks and we know there are specific steps they can take right now to prevent the situation there from getting worse. in the short term, they've got to stabilize their financial system. and part of that is taking clear action, as soon as possible, to inject capital into weak banks. just as important, leaders can lay out a framework and a vision for a stronger eurozone, including deeper collaboration on budgets and banking policy. getting there is going to take some time but showing the political commitment to share the benefits and responsibilities of an integrated europe will be a strong step. with respect to greece, which has important elections next weekend, we've said that it is in everybody's interest for greece to remain in the eurozone while respecting its commitments to reform.

we recognize the sacrifices that the greek people have made and european leaders understand the need to provide support if the greek people choose to remain in the eurozone, but the greek people also need to recognize that their hardships will likely be worse if they choose to exit from the eurozone. over the longer term, even as european countries with large debt burdens carry out necessary fiscal reforms, they have also got to promote economic growth and job creation. as some countries have discovered, it's a lot harder to reign in decifits and debt if your economy isn't growing. so it's a positive thing that the conversation has moved in that direction and leaders like angela americaem and francois haurdin are putting in positive solutions. the decisions required are tough but europe has the

capacity to make them and they have america's support. their success is good for us and the sooner that they act and the more decisive and concrete their actions the sooner people and markets will regain confidence and the cheaper the cost of cleanup will be down the road. in the meantime, given the signs of weakness in the world economy, not just in europe, but also, some softening in asia, it's critical that we take the actions we can to strengthen the american economy right now. last september, i sent congress a detailed jobs plan full of the kind ofby partisan idea that is would have put more americans back to work. it had broad support from the american people, it was fully paid for. if congress had passed it in full, we'd be on track to have a million more americans working this year. the unemployment rate would be lower. our economy would be stronger. of course, congress refused

to pass this jobs plan in full. they did act on a few parts of the bill, most significantly the payroll tax cut that's putting more money in every working person person's bay check right now and i appreciate them take thank action but they left most of the jobs plan just sitting there, and in light of the head winds that we're facing right now i urge them to reconsider, because there are steps we can take right now to put more people back to work. they're not just my ideas, they're not just democratic ideas. they're ideas that independent, nonpartisan economists believe would make a real difference in our economy. keep in mind that the private sector has been hiring at a solid pace over the last 27 months. but one of the biggest weaknesses has been state and local governments, which have laid off 450,000 americans. these are teachers and cops and firefighters. congress should pass a bill putting them back to work, right now, giving help to

the states so that those layoffs are not occurring. in addition, since the housing bubble burst, we got more than a million construction workers out of work. there's nothing fiscally responsible about waiting to fix your roof until it caves in. we've got a lot of deferred maintenance in this country. we could be putting a lot of people back to work, rebuilding our roads, our bridges, some of our schools. there's work to be done. there are workers to do it. let's put them back to work, right now. the housing market is stabilizing and beginning to come back in many parts of the country, but there are still millions of responsible homeowners who have done everything right, but still struggle to make ends meet. so, as i talked about just a few weeks ago, let's pass a bill that gives them a chance to save an average of $3000 a year by refinancing the mortgage and taking advantage of these historically low rates. that's something we can do right now. it would make a difference. instead of just talk ago good game about job

creators, congress should give the small business owners that actually create most of the new jobs in america a tax break for hiring more workers. these are ideas that, again, have gotten strong validation from independents, nonpartisan economists, it would make a difference in our economy, and there's no excuse for not passing these ideas. we know they can work. now, if congress decides, despite all that, that they aren't going to do anything about this simply because it's an election year, they should explain to the american people why. there's going to be plenty of time to debate our respective plans for the future. that's a debate i'm eager to have. but right now, people in this town should be focused on doing everything we can to keep our recovery going, and keeping our country strong and that requires action on the part of congress. so i would urge them to take another look at some of the idea that is have already

been put forward. with that i'm going to take a couple of questions and i'm going to start with karen bowing who is with reuters but as we all know is about to go get a fancy job with the national journal and we're very proud of her,co con -- so congratulations to you, karen, you get the first crack at it. >> thank you very much, mr. president. would you tell the american people who role the united states is playing in the european debt crisis? and also, do you think european leaders have a handle on what's needed to stem the crisis? and finally, talked about a number of ideas you already put forth to shield the american economy. do you plan to give a speech or lay out additional ideas now that the crisis is really escalating? >> well, a couple of things. first of all, the situation in europe is not simply a debt crisis. you've got some countries like greece that genuinely have spent more than they're bringing in and they've got

problems. there are other countries that actually were running a surplus and had fairly responsible fiscal polices but had weaknesses similar to what happened here with respect to their housing market or the real estate markets, and that has weakened their financial system. so there are a bunch of different issues going on in europe. it's not simply a debt crisis. what is true is that the markets getting nervous have started makeing it much more expensive for them to borrow. and that, then, gives them on a downward spiral. we have been in constant contact with europe over -- european leaders over the last two years. and we have consulted with them, both at the head of government and head of state level. i frequently speak to the leaders not only at formal settings like the g8, but also, on the telephone, or

by video conference, and our economic teams have gone over there to consult. as i said in my opening remarks, the challenges they face are solveiable. right now, their focus has to be on strengthening their overall banking system, much in the same way that we did back in 2009 and 2010. making a series of decisive actions that give people confidence that the banking system is solid, the capital requirements are being met, that various stresses that may be out there can be absorbed by the system. and i think that european leaders are in discussions about that, and they're moving in the right direction. in addition, they're going to have to look at how do they achieve growth at the

same time as they're carrying out structural reforms that may take two or three or five years to fully accomplish. so countries like spain and italy, for example, have embarked on some smart structural reforms that everybody thinks are necessary, everything from tax collection to labor markets to a whole host of different issues, but they've got to have the time and the space for those steps to succeed. and if they are just cutting and cutting and cutting, and their unemployment rate is going up and up and up and people are pulling back further from spending money because they're feeling a lot of pressure, ironically, that could actually make it harder for them as they carry out some of these reforms over the long term. so i think there's discussion now about, in addition to sensible ways to deal with debt and government finances, there's a parallel discussion that's

taking place among european leaders to figure out how do we also encourage growth and show flexibility to allow some of these reforms to really take root. now, keep in mind that this obviously can have a potential impact on us because europe is our largest trading partner. the good news is that a lot of the work we did back in 2009 and 2010 have put our financial system on a much more solid footing. our insistence of financing capital requirements for banks means that they can absorb some of the shocks that might come from across the atlantic. you know, folks in the financial sector have been monitoring this carefully, and i think are prepared for a range of contingencies. but even if we weren't directly hit in the sense that our financial system still stayed solid, if

europe goes into a recession, that means we're selling fewer goods, fewer services, and that is going to have some impact on the pace of our recovery. so we want to do everything we can to make sure that we are supportive of what european leaders are talking about, ultimately it is a decision they've got to make in terms of how they move forward towards more integration, how they move forward in terms of accommodating the needs for both reform and growth, and the most important thing i think we can do is make sure that we continue to have a strong, robust recovery, so the steps that i've outlined are the ones that are needed we've got a couple of sectors in our economy that are still weak. overall, the private sector has been going a -- doing a good job creating jobs. we've seen record profits in

the corporate sector. the big challenge we have in our economy right now is state and local government hiring has been going in the wrong direction, you've seen teacher layoffs, police officers, cops, firefighters, being laid off. and the other sector that's still weak has been the construction industry. those two areas, we've directly addressed with our jobs plan. the problem is that it requires congress to take action and we're going to keep pushing them to see if they can move in that direction. jackie combs. where did jackie go? there she is. >> thank you mr. president. i'd like to ask you what a couple of other people said about your and i'd like to know if you agree with former president bill clinton who said in the past week that the europeans' polices that you described today are much like those of the republicans in this

country, austerity that would take us in the same direction as europe, if you agree with that. the republicans for their part have said that you're simply blaming the europeans for problems that have been caused by your own polices. i'd like you to respond to both of those and also tell us precisely how much time you personally spent on the european situation. >> any other aspects of the question? >> [laughter] >> first of all, in terms of the amount of time i spend, look, i think it's fair to say that over the last two years, i'm in consistent discussions with european leadership, and consistent discussions with my economic team. this is one of the things that has changed in the world economy over the last two or three decades is that

this is a global economy now, and what happens anywhere in the world can have an impact here in the united states, certainly that's true after the kind of trauma that we saw in 2008 and 20 09. and if you think about the situation in europe, they're going through a lot of things that we went through back in 2009 and 2010 where we took some very decisive action. the challenge they is they've got 27 governments they need to coordinate, 27 if you count the entire european union, not the eurozone. imagine 27 unions instead of just one congress. that makes things more challenging. what we've tried to do is be constructive, to not frame this as us scolding them or telling them what to do but to give them advice in part

based on our experiences here in having stabilize dollars the financial system effect -- financial situation effectively. and ultimately, though, they're going to have to make a lot of these decisions and so what we can do is to prod, advise, suggest, but ultimately, they're going to have to make these decisions. now, in terms of characterizing the situation over there, what is absolutely true, and this is true in europe and it's true true here in the united states, is that we've got short term problems and long term problems. and the short term problems are how do we put people back to work. how do we make the economy grow as rapidly as possible. how do we ensure that the

recovery gains momentum. if we do those things not only is it good for the people who find work, not only is it good for families who are able to pay the bills, but it actually is one of the most important things we can do to reduce decifits and debt. it's a lot easier to deal with decifits if you're growing, because you're bringing in more revenue and you're not spending as much because people don't need unemployment insurance as much, they don't need other programs that are providing support to people in need, because things are going pretty good. now, that's true here in the united states and that's true in europe. so the problem i think president identified is that if, when an economy is still weak, and a recovery is

fragile you resort to a strategy of let's cut more so that you're seeing government layoffs, reductions in government spending, severe cut backs in major investments that help the economy grow over the long term. if you're doing all those things at the same time as consumers are pulling back because they're still trying to pay off credit card debt and there's generally weak demand in the economy as a whole, then can you get on a downward spiral, where everybody is pulling back at the same time, that weakens demand, and that further crimps the desire of companies to hire more people. and that is the pattern that europe is in danger of getting into. you know, some countries in europe right now have an unemployment rate of 15,

20 percent. if you are engaging in too much austerity, too quickly, and that unemployment rate goes up to 20 or 25 percent, then that actually makes it harder to then pay off your debts, and the markets by the way respond in -- when they see this downward spiral happening. they start make ago calculation well, if you're not growing at all, if you're contracting, you may end up have more trouble paying us off so we're going to charge you more, your interest rates go up and it makes it that much tougher. so i think that what we want, both for ourselves, but what we've advised in europe as well, is a strategy that says let's do everything we can to grow now, even as we lock in a long term plan to stabilize our debt and our decifits

and start bringing them down in a steady sensible way. and by the way, that's what we proposed last year, that's what is proposed in my budget. what i've said is let's make long term spending cuts, let's initiate long term reforms, let's reduce our health care spending, let's make sure that we got a pathway, a glidepath, to fiscal responsibility. but at the same time, let's not underinvest in the things that we need to do right now to grow. and that recipe of short term investments in growth and jobs with a long term path of fiscal responsibility is the right approach to take for i think not only the united states but also for europe