days before we start to see relief from the hot temperatures across parts of the southeast, mid atlantic, through the plains and looking at very hot temperatures across parts of the desert southwest but the area of the country that's really not used to seeing this kind of heat is the southeast and also parts of the plains. take a look at some of these high temperatures anticipated for today. 103 in the city of atlanta. yesterday, we broke the all time high temperature record that at 106 degrees. not too far from that today. 99 in kansas city and back up into the triple digits in the city of denver, colorado, where we're expecting a high temperature at 100 degrees. factor in the humidity and it feels even hotter. we're already starting to see some very hot heat index values like in raleigh, north carolina, where right now if you head out the door, it feels like 108 degrees. 100 in atlanta. and 101 over in the city of memphis, tennessee, so once you start to see these kinds of temperatures and heat index values, it starts to get very dangerous out there. heading into tomorrow, still looking at highs widespread into the upper 90's.

large area of high pressure producing all of this heat and around it, shannon, we could be seeing some strong showers to thunderstorms firing up from montana into areas just south of the great lakes and into the southeast. same areas that were actually hit hard already with some of these storms that produced damaging winds friday night so again looking at that possibility for more severe weather. >> tough news for those folks along the storm damage line. thank you very much. fox news has live team coverage of the storm and its aftermath. elizabeth is live in west virginia and peter doocy is covering the cleanup live in virginia. >> shannon, virginia's governor bob mcdonald said we are now in the midst of the worst nonhurricane power outage -- as someone honks while they're driving by. here in maryland to governor martin o'malley just said that the reason things are so bad here is because there was no time to prepare.

we don't have the sound from martin o'malley. he said normally they have crews come in when they have some advanced warning about a storm they have crews coming from all over the country. this time, they didn't have the chance to call those crews in. now, the people here are clearly really hot because no power means no air conditioning. but so far, we haven't heard many complaints although people are getting very creative. >> my second floor last night, it was 94 degrees. on my first floor, it was 84. and my basement was 74. so i slept in my basement. >> i got a couple of dogs, it makes it a little complicated to move out so i'm staying. i'm staying here. i'm taking the dogs down on my

pedicab to bethesda avenue and get them indoors and get indoors myself where air conditioning is for a while. so it's been tough. >> so shannon, they say it's going to be a couple of days to restore the power in some places. look at how tangled up the trees are with the power lines here. this is why and it's like this all over the place. also, a lot of intersections are really unruly right now because the traffic lights are completely out. no blinking red. no blinking yellow. they are completely out. it's clearly on a very low list of priorities for authorities here because we've been here since 5:00 in the morning and we haven't seen anyone come to take a look at it just yet. i'm going to send it over to my colleague, elizabeth prann in charleston, west virginia. elizabeth? >> hi, peter. it's good to see you. we're experiencing those extreme temperatures like you are up in maryland but here, across the entire state of west virginia,

about a third of the population still does not have power. you can see the crews behind me working tirelessly to get the more than 540 people who are in the dark power. this particular neighborhood just east of charleston, west virginia, we also have a water line broken here. we're seeing that in quite a few neighborhoods. sonny wilson owns a home in the neighborhood and you tell us initially folks say it could be hours before you get the power back and now it's been 36 hours and now what are you hearing? >> well, now we're hearing maybe tonight. it started out three hours. five hours. maybe two days. now tonight. so we don't know. >> one of the things that you told me that it's want just the damage that we're seeing here. there could be more damage to your home than meets the eye. >> right. because the main drop line that goes to my house was burned in two so i don't know if the air conditioning is damaged, i don't know if the television is damaged or any of the electrical equipment, anything so i won't know until i get in there and get everything turned on. >> sonny, you're in our

thoughts and prayers and we wish you guys a speedy recovery. thank you for talking to us fortunately -- one thing i want to mention, shannon, is we have people scraping for resources. we have no power, we need ice and water and more importantly long lines at the fuel stations. people need gas not only for generators but for their tools like chain saws so they can chop down trees and get the debris out of the roadway. people need to get their lines back together as soon as possible. back to you. >> devastating. elizabeth, thank you for the look there and peter as well. firefighters and crews are starting to make some progress battling the deadly colorado waldo canyon fire. the state's most destructive fire ever stands at 45% contained. that the a strong improvement over friday when it was 15%. authorities are starting to allow some residents to return home. >> we're relieved that we get to go home. we know tonight there's many, many that can't and won't be for a long, long time. >> 10,000 people are still

under evacuation orders. more than 1,200 people are battling the fires which have destroyed almost 350 homes. president scored a big win as the supreme court announced it would uphold his health care law but not in the way that most of his supporters believe the justices would. so how does the penalty link to the individual mandate announced as a tax when the government has often argued not a tax. let's ask a couple of experts. elizabeth with the constitutional accountability center and nifb was a plaintiff in this landmark case. welcome to you both. >> thank you, shannon. >> elizabeth, you supported this law and filed briefs related to this case at all. were you surprised at all, though happy to win under the taxing power? >> you know, i wasn't terribly surprised that it was upheld under the taxing power. i think that there is so many bases for upholding the affordable care act in the constitution text and history that the court chose the tax

power and i think that was a great victory for the obama administration, for the constitution and frankly for the american people. but it is a big loss, i think, for the tea party in particular who just had their centerpiece argument that obamacare was unconstitutional rejected not just by the highest court in the land but by conservative chief justice john roberts who essentially told them you need to go back and read your pocket constitutions a little more carefully. >> we'll talk about politics of this later. tea party rallying and saying they're feeling energized for the fall. back to the case itself. beth, your business owners said to you, they were worried for a number of reasons how this was going to impact them, the fact that this is now been labelled as a tax and it's been upheld as constitutional. what's the reaction? >> well, if it was unpopular before, it's going to be even more unpopular now being called a tax. that's for sure. thursday was a sad and disappointing day for small business owners. it's a big loss for small business and the fact that, i think, no lower court had upheld

the law under this tax and spend clause, i think that is worthy of note, too, and the fact that you had the president himself come out on television to say this individual mandate, the provision that everybody go out and buy health insurance or pay the penalty is not a tax. it's a penalty i assure you that. i think that's very telling, too, it was a very sad and disappointing day for nifb and for the small business owners and i think for our country, too. >> obviously, you all are on polar opposites of how this impacts in the law itself. let me ask you about some language that was woven through by the chief justice in the majority opinion when he talked about we're not going to into the merits and wisdom of this law. that's left to the people to make that call essentially sounding like if you don't like the folks who pass this, maybe you go back to the ballot box and change that. would you have preferred stronger language in support of the law or were you happen to get what you got? i mean, you know, you didn't get the commerce clause. do you worry that the limits of the chief justice put on the commerce clause will impact similar pieces of legislation

down the line? >> no, i don't. i think that especially if you take the challengers at their word that the so-called individual mandate was so unprecedented, nothing has ever been like this, then frankly the commerce clause language in the opinion shouldn't really affect any of the other social welfare legislation that has been passed since the new deal including social security and many other wonderful programs. and with the language about, you know, we're not here to pass on the wisdom of the law, i thought that was entirely appropriate. it's very important to remember that the supreme court is there to adjudicate the law. to say what the constitution means. and they're not there to be, you know, essentially second guessing congress about what laws are best and what laws should be passed. they're there to say whether it's constitutional or not and chief justice roberts was entirely right that whether you think the law is good or bad, it's constitutional. >> what does this mean for your business owners moving forward? how will they work with the result they got? >> certainly, as i said, we

disagree with the result but we'll respect the opinion of the justices there. it's very frightening. i would disagree with elizabeth saying, in fact, the majority of the court did rewrite the law. they did not interpret it. this was a penalty, not a tax, it was contained in section 1 of the law that talked about the individual mandate and all the other tax components were in a different section of the law so we wonder -- our members wonder, too, what does this mean going forward? is congress going to do a bait and switch again? that's essentially what happened here. it was a penalty and now it's a tax. >> fascinating opinion and i read it again last night and i'll probably read it many more times and every time you do, there's new contours to it. thank you both for coming in to share your viewpoint. >> pleasure. >> thank you very much. >> all right, we want to hear what you think about the politics of this decision. does the supreme court's ruling hurt or help the president's campaign by upholding his centerpiece law but by calling it a tax? tweet us your answers at shannon

bream and we'll read some of the responses later in the show and talk with a member. president's campaign staff. that's coming up. u.s.-mexico relations may hang in the balance today as voters in that country choose a new president. enrique pena, a former mexican governor from the country's revolution party is expected to come out as the winner. that party controlled mexico's government for most of the past century but lost the election 12 years ago. and in egypt, its new president has been in office for one day but already facing a looming power struggle with the military. in an effort to avoid that showdown, muhammad morsi of the egyptian brotherhood party says they've laid the framework for a real democracy but we're seeing some problems at the top. leyland vittert has more on this. >> muhammad morsi's membership in the brotherhood once outlawed

but he's now president. big question on day one is how much power is he going to have especially over things like foreign intelligence cooperation, tactical control of the military and swearing in policy. we are told the man who was leading egypt, senior general there actually saluted muhammad morsi. it's unclear whether the army will take orders from now president morsi. the egyptian military has close ties to the united states and receives $1.2 billion a year in u.s. military aid and the army controls a lot of parts of the egyptian economy. that's very significant. what it looks like for right now, or what the u.s. is hoping for is morsi continues its control over stuff at home and the other maintains control of foreign policy. when she was sworn in, tens of

thousands of people, mostly a hard line islamic crowd but a muslim brotherhood presence. there was a tense moment when muhammad morsi's security detail had to be pushed aside so he could wave out to the crowd. in a large and resounding speech, he would say israel would keep all the agreement. that was a symbol of the accord so significant to the middle east. he said he was going to be the president to all egyptians but especially egyptian christians are very, very nervous. as of now, it looks like the army has won the first turf ball. that was over where morsi too take the actual oath of office and romney came out with the upper hand. short one, there doesn't look like there will be any significant changes to the israel-egypt peace accord but the big concern is over the long run. this group of generals will retire. you have control over their

people and they are able to get the control over their presidency, that changes the strategic map here in the middle east. >> thank you. syria's main opposition group says nearly 800 people have been killed just this week and escalating violence in that country. most of the deaths are being attributed to helicoptering and tank shelling. they have reportedly agreed it call for assad to step down and replace him with aransitional government and that's something that secretary of state hillary clinton has called for as well. it's been a week twor florida's governor, facing millions of dollars from tropical storm debby. florida governor rick scott and his state led the charge against president obama's health care law and lost. so does he plan to comply with the health care law. i'll ask him. he's here live with us next. and crowd cheering

sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this paradeeet, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering honoring america's troops. sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering which is actually in tquite fitting becauseadeeet, sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering geico has been serving e military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

( dog barking ) this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. and a single pool of shareable data that powers up to 10 devices. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. ask me how i've never slept better. [ male announcer ] why not talk to one of the six million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america? it's not a sealy, a simmons, or a serta. ask me about my tempur-pedic. [ male announcer ] did you know there's tempur-pedic for everybody? tempur-pedic beds now come in soft, firm, and everything in between. ask me how i can finally sleep all night. [ male announcer ] tempur-pedic -- the most highly recommended bed in america. and now there's a new surprisingly affordable tempur-pedic. ask me about my tempur-pedic. [ male announcer ] these real owners

are talking about their new tempur simplicity beds. all the comfort and support of a tempur-pedic in a simple, clean design. ask me how it's just what we need. and nothing more. ask me what a step up this is from my spring mattress. ask me about a good night's sleep. [ male announcer ] the new tempur simplicity beds -- surprisingly affordable and all with a 10-year warranty. to learn more or find an authorized retailer near you, visit tempurpedic.com. tempur-pedic -- the most highly recommended bed in america.

>> shannon: maryland's governor said getting back to people with electricity is going to be hard because they didn't have any warning to get crews in. check out this picture.

this photo was sent in by a viewer that shows kids standing in front of a large uprooted tree. giving you a sense of the size of that thing. here's a picture from a viewer in west virginia showing damage left behind from a tree falling on to a home. and this is a photo of downed trees at the campground in ohio. it looks like this all over the place through the swath of where the storm went through. if you have any pictures to send us, head to foxnews.com/ureport. don't take any chances getting those photos. florida is still assessing the damage from tropical storm debby blamed for seven deaths. joining us now to talk about his home state is faring and a whole lot more, florida governor rick scott joins us live. thanks for coming in. >> you know, it's a scary time with a -- we got a lot of rain. some of the areas got 27 inches of rain in 24 hours. so rivers flooded, we've come back. we're back to the sunshine

state. although swanee town has had some issues, just like up here, our heart goes out to the families that their homes and some of them are gone. so it's really -- you just feel so sorry for them. >> any estimates on recovery cost? >> no, what we're doing is we started on friday doing the assessment with fema so this object hopefully by the mididdl to end of this week, we'll have an idea of the damage and that will depend on how much support they give us in the different programs that we anticipate in. >> shannon: i want to turn to a couple of other hot topics coming out of florida. you've been under fire for the voter purge that you've done for folks who are here illegally, dead or don't belong on the voter rolls. a win here with a federal judge. a clinton employee said you're right to move ahead but can you give us the status, have they stopped? >> it wasn't purged. we've been working with the federal government for a year asks for the homeland security

data base which we have a right to that database to figure out who is not a u.s. citizen. i have not met one person in this country said that show noncitizens should vote in our races. this week, justice lost and we won. and the justice said it was irreparable harm for our citizens if you have noncitizens voting. we'll continue to work, this will hopefully give homeland security the arena to do the data base. >> shannon: florida was the lead in challenging the health care law and it was upheld by the court. something else they're talking about is the medicaid expansion. i know a number of states are worried about the cost of taking millions of new people on to the rolls under the health care law, chief justice john roberts felt there was coercion or a threat there from the federal government if you didn't take new people, you could lose existing medicaid funds. he took that out of the equation and a lot of people, next

question was what's to stop states from opting out of that medicaid expansion? are you saying you're not going to take part. >> we're not going to implement that. we can't afford it. first year it's $1.9 billion dress in costs. >> shannon: much covered by the federal government? >> that's still florida taxpayers paying that. it's not like there's free federal money. every program cuts back and you create this dependency and then they cut back like they did with our schools with the stimulus and then they cut back so we're going to do the right things for our citizens much what's so frustrating about obamacare is it was supposed to focus on the cost of health care. this did nothing to do with the cost of health care. make sure consumers know what it cost, give individuals the same tax breaks so you'll reward foam for taking care of themselves. that will drive down the cost of health care. obamacare hasn't done any of those things. we're not going to expand

medicaid. it's bad for our citizens. >> always good to see you. time for a quick break. when we come back, political foul-out of this week's evenly court decision. they say obamacare is a model for romney care and a green of atheists is with their opinion. that's all when we come back. [ male announcer ] it isn't just your mammogram.

it's your teenager's first rsity game. it isn't just your annual exam. it's your daughter's wedding. did you know with your health insurance you may now have some preventive benefits with no co-pays or out-of-pocket costs? it isn't just your cholesterol screening. it's all the tomorrows you're looking forward to. learn more at healthcare.gov. yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? [ dog barks ] aah! oh! [ clears throat ] yeah, that was a sneeze. i think i sprayed myself. [ male announcer ] new mr. clean

select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. select-a-size magic eraser. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spotn the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

>> shannon: at least 12 people are dead and millions are spen -- spending another extremely hot day without power. steve sen tcentanni is standing with your top stories. >> right now, a third of the state of west virginia do not have power and many of those people and others in nearby

states may not have it for several days. a state of emergency has been declared in several states. some colorado springs residents are getting a first look at their fire damaged homes today. officials are finally allowed to go back into their neighborhoods temporarily to assess the damage from the state's most damaging wildfire ever. people took to the streets of los angeles yesterday to protest the opening of three new wal-mart stores. protesters say they don't want to see those stores show up in their city and others say the company needs to treat its workers better. three colorado boy scouts and their scoutmaster are dead after a car accident in wyoming. police say the group was on its way home from a camp when their car crossed into oncoming traffic and hit a motor home head on. those are the top stories right now. back to you, shannon. >> shannon: thank you, steve. >> shannon: president obama and governor mitt romney are going head to head over the supreme court's health care decision.

in a 5-4 opinion, the court declared the individual mandate constitutional as a tax. but the president's administration insists it is not. white house press secretary jay carney said on friday, it's a penalty because you have a choice. you don't have a choice to pay your taxes, right? you have a choice to buy if you can afford health insurance. here to respond, senior advisor to the romney campaign, former missouri senator jim talon. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, shannon! good to be with you! >> shannon: i have to bring up first of all since you're linked with the campaign how they plan to answer the charge from those who say that governor romney himself is a fan of the mandate before he wasn't. >> well, governor romney's plan and the president's plan are just polar opposites because the romney plan reduced the size of government. i mean, it reformed the massachusetts health insurance market, giving people more choices. there was no increase -- very little increase in the state's

spending. no burden on small business. nobody was forced out of their health care plan and we know all of those things aren't true of the obama plan. a huge increase in government. up to 30 million people will lose their health care. $2 trillion in costs so they're just polar opposite plans. by the way, in the years after the massachusetts plan was passed, individual premiums in massachusetts we want -- went down 40%. premiums are going up in the united states as a result of obamacare. >> i want to play a little bit of what the president after winning the case this week. here's what he had to say in characterizing that win. >> that's why even though i knew it wouldn't be politically popular and resisted the idea when i ran for this office, we ultimately included a provision in the affordable care act that people who can afford to buy health insurance should take the responsibility to do so. in fact, this idea has enjoyed support from members of both parties including the current republican nominee for president. >> shannon: how do you respond to that? you know that despite your

explanation, the president is going to use that in the campaign if he has to talk about that mandate. >> sure. look, there's a big difference between a mandate in a state where health insurance costs are going down and there are more choices available for people than a national mandate in a health insurance market where costs are going way up. and when you're forcing everybody to buy one size fits all plan. look, we're just going to say to the president, something is wrong with the plan that you have to force the states to participate in, he coerce people to buy and then give hundreds of companies and unions waivers from because they don't want to participate in it. this plan is a loser for the united states. the massachusetts plan has been popular and effective in reducing costs there. >> shannon: to the broader issue of the economy, that we assume will be for voters when it gets to november, still the top issue that they report and the polling shows that's the number one thing that they care about, how do you think that the governor will be able to distinguish what

he can do for this country vs. what the president can? >> look, we'll continue to make the point that the president has not kept his promises on the economy. and it's settled it's not really argued. by this time he said unemployment would be under 6%. the only reason it's not under 8% is people have gotten discouraged and stopped looking for work. median income in the united states is down $4,000. governor romney's record in massachusetts he took a deficit and turned it into a positive. massachusetts began producing jobs. shot up in the rankings among the states in terms of job production while he was governor so again, we're going to run on those two records, big government record that's hurt the economy and a record of reducing the size and power of government on the economy and creating jobs.

>> shannon: thank you, sir, for your time today. >> thank you. >> auto we have cut taxes for those families. we have reduced their taxes. >> this is going to raise taxes -- >> no, that's not what the supreme court said. what the supreme court said this is constitutional. is it doesn't matter what congress called it. >> wait a minute, sir. >> the 1% choose not to buy insurance. >> they call it a tax. >> no, actually technically what they said is the congress has many powers, there's a commerce clause, there's taxing powers and it was constitutional. >> shannon: the heated exchange did not end there on "fox news sunday". the current white house chief of staff and anchor chris wallace went back and forth on the supreme court's decision on health care and its political implications many i sat down with chris this morning for a look inside "fox news sunday" chris, a landmark decision from the supreme court this week on the president's health care law. he won but not in the way that a lot of folks thought he would. how is the white house responding to the fact that this

now has been called a tax? >> they're not happy about that. we interviewed the white house chief of staff and he kept saying the supreme court said under a variety of reasons including the commerce clause and a variety of other things that it's constitution and i kept having to say to him, no, i've read the decision and they only -- they said under the commerce clause it's not constitutional. it's only constitutional as a tax. they don't like that. obviously taxes are a dirty word. they say no, we have cut taxes on the middle class. you can be sure that republicans are going to hammer the president saying that he broke his pledge in 2008 not to raise taxes on the middle class but it's tricky for mitt romney because he has a mandate in massachusetts if it's a mandate in obama care, it's a mandate in romney care. >> shannon: let's talk about how republicans on the hill will handle this. you talked to the senate's top republican. did he have good answers do you think on where they go with this opinion? >> he certainly is pretty clear that they -- first of all theeshall, they're going to make a show

vote at some time before the election to repeal it. it obviously won't pass the senate. it will pass the house the week after that. he says if we get a republican president and a republican senate, then we will repeal it and we will also try to undo parts of it and replace it and interestingly, because it's a tax, they can now use the budgetary device called reconciliation which means they don't need 60 votes and a filibuster proof majority, they can do it with 51 votes. that's the way that obamacare was passed with 51 votes. they would try to undo it with 51 votes. >> shannon: controversy, though we have the opinion now, is far from over. we'll see how it plays out politically in the fall in november and excellent panel you had on today as well on "fox news sunday." >> anything to do with the fact that you were on the panel? >> shannon: it was a great deal of fun for me. thanks for the preview of the show and the interviews fortunately you can -- you can catch all the interviews with them right after our show at 2:00 and 6:00 eastern on fox.

mexicans could elect a new president today. that would impact how we fight illegal immigration here in our country. up next, live to mexico to talk it a texas congressman who is there to see the election. ♪ why not try someplace different every morning? get two times the points on dining in restaurants with chase sapphire preferred. if someone took mid-sized sedans and broke the mold? if we took our best-selling altima back to its essence, kept its dna, then reimagined nearly everything in it? ♪ gave it greater horsepower... ♪ ...and a lighter and stronger body... ♪ ...advanced headlight technologies for greater visibility... ♪

...and zero gravity seats that reduce fatigue? ♪ yeah, that would be cool. introducing the completely reimagined nissan altima... ♪ ...with best in class 38 mpg highway and better acceleration than camry and accord. it's our most innovative altima ever. nissan. innovation that excites. ♪

his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brgs more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rudy. who switched to aleve. and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ [ female announcer ] and try aleve for relief from tough headaches.

[ female announcer ] and try aleve good afternoon. chase sapphire. (push button tone) this is stacy from springfield. oh woah. hello? yes. i didn't realize i'd be talking to an actual person. you don't need to press "0" i'm here. reach a person, not a prompt whenever you call chase sapphire. >> shannon: right now, citizens across mexico are voting in their country's presidential election. it appears the country is headed for a party shift. p.r.i. or institutional revolutionary party candidate enrique pena nieto has a strong lead in the polls. representative henry quirer joins us from mexico city to talk about what the party shift could mean for relations between the two countries. congressman, thanks so much for joining us. i want to ask you what impact you think the election will have on the issue of drug cartels along the border. >> first of all, security is very important for the border

that we have. and i think pena nieto has a different type of strategy. he has said he will fight the drug cartels but he want to bring down the violence and he wants to get the former military police, i mean military folks to be policemen. and he just brought in as a strategy advisor the former colombian general who was so successful in fighting the drug cartels in colombia. >> shannon: win or lose, it looks like he will win, what impact will his victory or loss have on relations between our two countries? >> you know, it's going to have a very important impact. every day there's about over a billion dollars of trade between the u.s. and mexico. there are about 6 million jobs that are created for trade with mexico and i think the fact that he's talking about opening up something that's protected under article 27 of the mexican

constitution, i think that's going to allow a lot of potential american companies to go down there and invest down there in mexico. so it's become a win-win situation for both countries. >> shannon: another issue, obviously that involves both countries that's been getting a lot of headlines, this issue of fast and furious and gun walking across the border. can i take on your thoughts on that and for the contempt of the attorney general for not turning over documents related to the subpoena? >> it's interesting, the contempt power of the united states of congress is to get somebody to provide that information and we should get that information. i want to know what happened there. i wish there would have been some witnesses that were involved in the a.t.f. and other folks that would have been brought up as witnesses. but again, hopefully we'll get some information as soon as possible. >> shannon: also, the health care law this week upheld by the supreme court vindicating those who worked hard to get it

passed. now that the supreme court has termed it a tax, would you have voted for it if that's what it had been called? >> well, you know, again, that's what the supreme court calls it. but i would say this much -- any time you pass a piece of legislation, you got to fine tune it. you got to make some changes. i'm ready to make some changes to the health care law. for example, the democrats on one side don't want to make any changes. the republicans want to go ahead and repeal the -- all of the health care law. i think we ought to get somewhere in the middle where we all look at things that are good for the american public and the things that need to be changed should be changed. >> all right, congressman live in mexico as their presidential election and the election of many other offices rolls out today. thank you for making time. >> thank you so much. >> shannon: well, an atheist group is using the president's health care law to go after catholics. check this out. you're looking at a national billboard campaign by that group that are suggest catholics

should leave their church. the sign reads, quit the church, put women's rights over bishops wrong. it's critical over the stance over contraception. >> i don't like them imposing their religious beliefs on other people. that don't have those beliefs. >> we're very offended that an entity that has no knowledge and no understanding of the church would erect a billboard of this nature. the issue is truly about religious liberty. and, you know, protecting the church's right to adhere to our faith principles. >> when you read the very high percentage of catholic women who use birth control, i wonder who is to blame here. >> shannon: regulations to the health care law will require most employers including religious organizations to provide their employees insurance coverage for birth control which goes against the fundamental tenets of the catholic church. well, the same men and women who defended our freedom now need protection from people who are

trying to cash in on their deaths. we'll have that story after the break. our cloud is not soft and fluffy. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon.

>> i say to the democrats and i say to president obama, you may

have chicken salad today, but on november 7th, it's going to be chicken something else. >> shannon: the head of the g.o.p. doctors caucus, a congressman with 31 years practicing medicine calls the supreme court's health care ruling horrible. i'll ask him what republicans plan to do now. democrats are celebrating the health care decision as a victory for president obama but could it be a rallying cry for republicans? i'll ask the president's campaign press secretary how she plans to sell what many now view as a giant tax on america. and 8.2% unemployment, do you stand a better chance finding a job in a union state or a right to work state in the fox business network is crunching the numbers and you may be surprised. all that more coming up in the second hour of "america's news headquarters." >> shannon: officials are just starting to tally up all the damage left in the wake of

friday's deadly storms and the numbers could be staggering. senior business correspondent brenda buttner is live in new york with that part of the story. hello, brenda. >> hey, shannon. well, the cost of mother nature's wrath is always first measured in the tragedy of lives lost. and in this week of wicked weather, that is all too high. but there always be damage we can count in dollars. that, too, could be staggering. although there are no official financial estimates in the aftermath of the storms that blasted the eastern u.s., there is little doubt they will be in the millions in states already drowning in red ink, this summer's storms hit hard. federal help is on the way. all states now in a state of emergency, d.c., virginia, maryland, west virginia and ohio are eligible for up to $5 million in assistance from fema. trouble is even though the storm itself has passed, it does in fact live on. power may not be restored in the sweltering heat for days which brings its own costly

casualties. just one example. storm damage forces the transfer of prisoners and those aren't the only transportation costs. when an amtrak train shut down mid trip, stranded passengers needed to be rescued and sent elsewhere via other means. mass transit throughout the area has been delayed or canceled. further west in colorado which is seeing fire and not rain, the waldo canyon fire alone that started on june 23rd has so far cost nearly $9 million to fight. wildfires raging through utah, montana, wyoming and idaho are not as damaging yet. but wind and heat are no friend and may spark numbers just as high. now, the scorcher comes amid a drought that could cost even more. the thirsty midwest has been in a dry period that pushed up corn prices almost a third since mid june. scarce rainfall may fuel crop inflation raising food prices across the country. further proof that the extreme

weather need not visit your hometown to hit you this time right in the wallet. shannon? >> shannon: all right, brenda, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> shannon: who would rob the graves of some of our nation's heroes? that's what pennsylvania police are trying to figure out. they say someone stole bronze flag holders from st. agnes cemetery in west goshen, pennsylvania, about 60 bronze memorial holders were taken from the grave site and police estimate they're worth at least a couple thousand dollars each. it is a marriage made in heaven. matching our military brides with the wedding gown of their dreams and it doesn't cost them a thing! we'll tell you about the wonderful program right after this break. [ male announcer ] don't miss d lobster's four course seafo feast,

just $14.99. start with soup, salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. four perfect courses, just $14.99. chances are, you're not made of money, so don't overpay for motorcycle insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

>> shannon: it as program that gives military wid brides the perfect dress tor for their weg day and all for free. how brides across america is making dreams come true. >> they are all so beautiful. >> brides across america is to donate wedding gowns to military fiancees. we bring them in and let them try a dress on and if it it is one they love they go home with it. >> we have been trying to have our big wedding since january

of 2010 when we got married but financially we couldn't handle it and he told me if i could get a free dress we could get married in nashville. >> i think it is great to be able to give back. i have been blessed in the business and i think it is great do be able to do something for other people. >> immediately i told mom we need to go. get on the road and leave as soon as possible and camp out. >> i heard about brides across america and kind of checked out the website and so i tried to find the nearest one and i'm grateful. very excited. >> to be in iraq for my country and come back here and have an opportunity like, this you know, is a dream come true. >> i'm he just so grateful they are going to do this to help the troops and really helps financially. wedding dresses are expensive. >> that is so my dress.

it's perfect! >> shannon: they look beautiful. what a participant program. if you want to -- what a fantastic program. to help the cause go to brides across america .com to find out when the next gown giveaway event is. this is a fox news alert. at least 12 people dead and millions still without power after this weekend's massive storm outbreak that cut across several states. at this hour power crews are working to repair downed lines but already warning customers it could take up to a week, even more in some places to repair the damage. in west virginia alone a third of the state does not have power as the heat climbs to triple digits in parts of the country. i'm shannon bream live in washington. we w begin hour number two with peter doocy live. >> 11:00 p.m. on july 6. almost july 7 is when the power company here in maryland thinks

that they will have total restoration of power service to all of the customers. right now they have done about 80%. by tomorrow about 90% of the customers will have service restored but for everybody else who does not have power it is really hot because it is almost 100 degrees here right now and no electricity means no air conditioning. we just also heard from the governor of maryland and he said that his state was in a tough spot coming into the storm because they had no idea how severe it was going to be so they didn't have time to get ready. >> there are crews that are now driving here from texas, from florida, from places very far away but the challenge with this storm there were a couple. number one was that it had hurricane impact but without hurricane warning. so that we did not have the sort of three-days to mobilize and bring in the crews before the storm hit. >> reporter: now, we have been

here since 9:00 this morning but for the first time all day about an hour ago an entire neighborhood gathered on the lawn closest to the main drag here because a wire had been blocking their road since friday night. is but their fear of the wire quickly boiled into an anger with the power company. listen to this. >> we are basically trapped in the street. we can't get out of the street because it is the only outlet and it is blocked by a a power line. >> reporter: the power company just came and they are cleaning up that wire and some other wires right now. so the crowd went away. some folks told us they were going to hang out in the basement and some said they going to throw out the food in their refrigerator and some said they were going to starbucks because they needed to plug in devices and wanted to hang out some where that has air conditioning. the golf tournaments, the at&t national at congressional country club, congressional country club is here in bethesda, maryland, only a few

miles away. when you see how quickly they cleaned that up and how nice it looks today keep in mind only a few miles away it is not pretty on the first day of july. shannon? >> shannon: a lot of frustrated folks as they wait. thanks for showing us the damage first hand there. take it now to maria keeping an eye on the weather in the fox extreme weather center with more. >> good to see you. still tracking the area of high pressure. basically the reason we are seeing the extreme heat across parts of the center of the country and across the east coast with temperatures expected to reach the triple digits. in raleigh, north carolina, 103. 104 in columbia south carolina and 109 in savannah georgia. parts experiencing triple digit heat or upper 90s for the last several days and continuing to see that today with a high of 98 in kansas city. factor in the humidity and feels even worse. feels like 100 degrees this afternoon across the city of tulsa, oklahoma. 102 memphis.

108 in savannah, georgia. extremely hot and very uncomfortable. and 04 is what we expect it will feel like this afternoon in raleigh, north carolina. d.c., 101 the heat index this afternoon. as we head into tomorrow the area of high pressure will start to retreat further off toward the center plains. we will see a little bit of a relief like in d.c. where the heat index mark at 95. still very hot, though, and still expecting to feel like the triple digits across the plains. shannon, it is summer but this is well above average for this time of the year. some of the high temperatures we are going to see today are as much as 15 degrees above what is typical this time of the year. >> shannon: a tough time to have that problem. maria, thanks for keeping us update. >> thanks. well, it should be clear by now that i didn't do this because it was good politics. i did it because i believed it was good for the country. >> help us. help us defeat obama care. help us defeat the liberal

agenda that makes government too big, too intrusive and is killing jobs across this great country. >> shannon: we heard from politicians on both sides weighing in on the impact of the healthcare law. joining us is somebody who has two hats. georgia congressman phil gingry. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you, shannon. good to be with you. >> shannon: as you understand the healthcare law are you worried about how it is going to impact doctors, their ability to provide certain care and their patients? >> shannon, absolutely. justice roberts has determined that this law is not unconstitutional but let me tell you some of the u ns that it is. unworkable. unenforceable. it is unpopular and by golly it is unamerican. it is going to destroy the

physician work force. we are having problems getting doctors to see medicare and medicaid patients. that is going to get worse and worse. he promised to fix the payment and reimbursement problem for the primary care doctors and family practitioners and specialists. he didn't do that. in fact, his bill, this law fails on all counts. it needs to be stricken down. and i think governor romney our next president is absolutely right and, of course, as you know in the house of representatives on the 11th of the month we will have yet another vote to repeal obama care. >> shannon: which obviously the senate will not go along with you. the current makeup of the senate on that vote. but let me ask you if you are successful at some point if republicans are successful at some point what will you replace this with because both sides of the aisle agree and you would know better as a doctor that our healthcare system needs some kind of reform? >> i think this time the american people will get what

they truly deserve. an open process where we won't have the sunshine -- where we will have the sunshine the light of day and the people in the room and not just a few deals cut o over at the white house with special interest groups and that is what obama care and the 2800-pages all about. i don't think the american people have a stomach for we republicans to repeat that and we won't do that. we are more honest with the american people. first of all, we have to repeal and start with a clean slate. that doesn't mean there aren't some things like the youngsters 26 years of age and younger remain on their parents health insurance. unfortunately, they are having to do that today because this president and the democrats when they had it all didn't do anything about the economy and all these young people, indeed, who voted for president obama are the ones that are sitting there without jobs now needing that health insurance with their parents policy. so i think what we need to do is not another mega omnibus

bill but individual things that truly will bring down the cost of healthcare. and shannon, do it in a market driven way, not all the government bureau you crates taking over healthcare which as you know is one sixth of our economy. >> shannon: how do you respond to those who say that vote on july 11 in which the house controlled by republicans will almost certainly vote for a full repeal it is politics at a time that there are a lot of things that need to be handled and need to be passed and acted on? >> shannon, my people on in the 11th district of georgia, 700,000 is what we all represent they are telling me repeatedly you are not toughth and standing up to the president and you are letting henry waxman and nancy pelosi push you around. they will be happy that eric tanner and john boehner has the courage and we republicans, indeed, will let the american people know we are still on their side.

as i said at the outset of the clip this law well justice roberts can say all day long he is a supreme court justice and a chief justice and he says it is constitutional but by golly it is unamerican and it is our responsibility to represent the american people and to strike this law down. >> shannon: congressman and doctor phil gingrey, thank you so much for joining us, sir. >> thank you, shannon. >> shannon: the violence in syria is showing no signs of letting up with reports hundreds have been killed this week alone. right now the united nations is struggling to broker some kind of peace plan but we are getting reports that russia is balking at any attempts to get syria's leader to step aside. greg palkot is live in damascus with the latest on this. hello, greg. >> folks here still reeling from a brutal attack. amateur video reports to show a funeral procession in the

damascus area not far from where we are right now. you see the bomb blast and then you see the crazed aftermath. activists say it could be a car bomber or suicide bomber and claim that syrian security forces were responsible. we are told as many as 40 killed and many more injured. we went into the area and found it to be shut down tight. shop keepers at the mostly antiregime area staging a strike. most people were staying off the streets. plus there were low key quick burials of those killed yesterday and everywhere syrian soldiers and security officials told us they thought terrorists were responsible and told us a bunch of other stuff, too. finally, u.n. observers out today looking at the aftermath of yet another bombing in damascus. their patrols have been grounded for weeks because of the violence throughout this country. today there won't be a decision on the presumption of the

patrols at least until tomorrow. a piece envoy yesterday still failing to get any kind of positive response from the key he players including the syrian government through the state media and a opposition figures. they both said today they thought it was a failure. the fighting goes on across the country. shannon? >> shannon: greg, thank you very much for the update. it is election day in mexico and voters there are poised to put the party that ran the country for most of the last century back in power. the overwhelming favorite is former mexican state governor enrique pena nieto. the big issues are how to tackle the spike in violence in mexico's drug wars and kick start the mexican economy. we will have a live report coming up later. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is reaching out to egypt's new president calling for continued peace and cooperation between the two

countries. netanyahu set a letter to muhamed movi. he has concerns whether they will respect the piece treatia signed 32 years ago. and morsi is raise raising questions in this country with his controversial calls for release of the blind sheik. he is convicted of plotting to attack new york city landmarks. that has the new york city mayor outraged and that is where molly line joins us live with more. >> reporter: understandably the new york mayor says he is opposed to the release of the sheik who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. it is a bold and aggressive political move on the part of egypt's president-elect. it as move that plays to his base and speaks to the challenges ahead for relations between the u.s. and egypt's

new government. the sheik is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in north carolina for his role in plotting a massive string of bombings across new york city and believed to be the spiritual leader for the men convicted of the 1993 bombing of the world trade center and the other bombings he was accused of plotting included targets like the united nations, the lincoln and holland tunnels and the george, washington bridge and also conspired to kill then egyptian president hosni mubarak when came to america for a visit. an active leader of an egyptian militant group he had moved to the united states in 1990 and traveled the country preaching antiamerican rhetoric and calling for violence. former ambassador to the united nations john bolton says the call to free the blind sheik is a sign of trouble to come. >> i think it could have a negative effect. egypt obviously far and away the largest arab country, 70 million plus people and to have the muslim brotherhood come to it power after all

these years in a country like egypt i think sends signals in libya and tunisia and syria, elsewhere around the region and i think that is why the strategic situation is very much at risk of deteriorating because these people are no friends of the united states. >> reporter: morisy is egypt's first islamist and freely elected president to be but a power struggle is already emerging. parliament was dissolved and the army holds a tremendous amount of power for now while a new constitution and cabinet is being formed. shannon? >> shannon: molly, thank you very much. the unemployment rate continues to hover north of 8% nationwide and in this tough economy you need every edge you can to get a job. next up we will look at how unions factor into the picture. [ female announcer ] gross -- i'll tell you what's really gross: used dishclot. they can have a history that they drag around with them. try bounty extra soft.

in this lab demo, one set of bounty extra so leaves this surface 3 times cleaner than a dishcloth. the cleaner way to clean. bounty extra soft. of single mile credirds. battle speech right? may i? [ horse neighs ] or too long, people have settled for single miles. with the capital one venture card, you'll earn doubleiles on every purchase, every day! [ visigoths cheer ] hawaii, here we come. [ alec ] so sign up day for a venture card at capitalone.com. and start earning double. [ all ] double miles! [ brays ] what's in your wallet? can you play games on that? not on the runway. no. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel.

our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to. welcome to the uppernet. verizon. the teacher that comes to mind for me is my high school math teacher, dr. gilmore. i mean he could teach. he was there for us, even if we needed him in college. you could call him, you had his phone number. he was just focused on making sure we were gonna be successful. he would never give up on any of us. throughout our entire lives. ♪

one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage.

>> shannon: power is slowly being restored to millions of people sweating it out across the mid atlantic today. washington, d.c.'s big utility announced it rebuilt the backbone of its infrastructure but thousands are still waiting for the ac to come back on and that could take days. more than 100,000 in virginia finally starting to cool off

thanks to power crews who must be working desperately hard. close to 300,000 not so lucky yet. in west virginia 232 amtrak passengers finally on their way home after sitting on a track for 20 hours. the train was blocked by trees on either side in front or behind. the trees knocked down by the storm. there is a significant difference or is there it in union states versus the right to work states? this week the fox business network is exploring challenges millions of americans are facing as they try to find a job. rich is one of the fbn reporters who contributed to the special report. what did you find out? >> we examined a number of different issues. i was charged at looking at union membership declined dramatically over the last three decades and with nearly 13 million wok looking for work we examined whether the union decline has helped or hurt the american job market. we spoke with a business owner in iowa. he says he employs about 600

workers and says he prefers hiring in right to work states. >> if it is a right to work state we will look at it much more favorably because it is in essence going to be easier to work there. >> reporter: right to work laws have critics, namely unions. james bowland is the first native born irishman to lead an american union. he says the laws are a bad deal for workers. >> but it is better i think where you have the collective bar gaining relationship between the unions and workers and employers than this open shop thing where the employee essentially doesn't have a voice in the work place. >> reporter: right to work advocates like bill wilson says right to work gives employees a greater voice. >> there has been huge migration inside the united states to the right to work states. >> and we can decidedly say that is because of the union employees? >> no, because of the absence of a right to work law. and remember now right to work is not about cutting wages or

hurting workers. what right -- right now you have big business and you have big labor. and the two of them are at each other. the worker is stuck in the middle. he has no say. >> reporter: job growth in right to work states increased nearly 6%. at the same time the national average for job growth was 3.5%. in union states it is less than 1.5%. auto companies and other manufacturers are moving to right to work states. companies like boeing. it expanded its 787 dream liner manufacturing to north charleston, south carolina. at the time of the decision a boeing executive told the seattle times the overriding factor was not the business climate and it was not the wages we are paying today. it was that we can't afford to have a work stoppage every three years. and we can't afford to continue the rate of escalation of wages. boeing's machinists union and the general counsel of the national labor relations board charged the company was breaking federal labor laws

leading to an all out assault in south carolina on the obama administration and unions. >> we will continue to be a right to work state. we are not going to get voted by the unions one more day. >> the machinists and the nlrb dropped the case when boeing agreed to a new contract with its unionized workers in washington state. still, unions stay getting workers in right to work states to join is difficult. >> have you tried to organize in right to work states and what is it like there? >> we have done bits around pieces but it is hard to penetrate as a friendly craft unless you get a friendly employer and once they get out of the way of doing things union it takes a generation to get them back and that is where we are at right now. >> do you think you can get them back? >> hope springs eternal. >> reporter: but union workers no longer offer what they once did. >> there was a time when the trades probably trained a lot

better than open shop or nonunion people did but i'm pretty much a believer that that day is long gone. >> reporter: unions are just one jobs issue we explore in the fbn special to examine job creation and impact on families and politics. lou dobbs hosts out of work right here on fox news tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern. >> shannon: couldn't be more timely. much more to come here on america's news headquarters. it is election day in mexico and the results could have a big impact on us here at home. things like trade and the illegal immigration. a live report from mexico city is next. and we will update you on the kids who taunted the bus monitor on camera. now, we know what their punishment is. let's take a paint project from

"that looks hard" to "that didn't take long". let's break out behr ultra... ...the number one selling paint and primer in one, now with stain blocker. each coat works three times harder, priming, covering, and blocking stains. let's go where no paint has gone before, and end up some place beautiful. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. right now at the home depot, buy four gallons of paint and get the fourth one free.

>> shannon: it is the bottom of the hour. here are some of your top

stories. 13 confirmed deaths plus one person missing after the weekend powerful mitt atlantic storm. right now 3 million people still without power. a third of the state of west virginia is in the dark. states of emergency tee declared in maryland, west virginia, virginia, ohio and washington, d.c. this is not what new york wanted to hear in its blistering heat. con ed locked out union workers today after contract talks broke down. the utility company is calling in thousands of managers to try to run things. talks lasted just over ten days and expired at midnight. the utility says the union refused a two week contract extension. the four 7th grade boys caught on video taunting a bus monitor were suspended from school and can't ride the because for a year and they will be required to perform 50 hours of community service. election day in mexico and voter there's looking ready to turn back to the future so to

speak. the political party that ruled for 70 years before being tossed out in 2000 looks like it is about to take the reins again. fox's william la jeunesse is live with a look at the presidential race there. william? >> reporter: well, shannon, as you said this is a very different election than the last one in 2000. they did throw out one party that ruled after 71 years and six years ago, four enrolled voters nearly electing a far left candidate who promised major radical reforms. this this election you have by contrast polls suggesting voters rejecting both the left and right conservative party currently in power and are willing to once again embrace the pragmatic although corrupt political party that ruled mexico with an iron fist for decades. you have the preparty and he is a very centrist pragmatic type of candidate. he had some tax reforms as a governor that led to a lot of public works projects.

very handsome guy. actress wife. the brad pitt and angelina jolie of mexico if you will. and the protest that ensued from the close vote left mexico city in gridlock for weeks and recentment among voters until now. and the current ruling party. a cabinet minister twice and represented the party in congress before. a promising candidate who ran a bad campaign. so basically and, of course, they have the baggage of her party on the failed cartel war if you will. voters embracing nieto and the belief that he will bring modest reforms and attack the cartels and bring higher incomes. here is a sound bite. >> i think the biggest problem is there is no real solution on the horizon and enrique who is currently the frontrunner in the election he has proposed taking the military out of the

fight. really focusing on using police with the powers that law enforcement bring to the table to combat this problem. >> reporter: so the question is whether from a cartel violence standpoint so you basically have him promising he will reduce violence here by making not a deal with the cartels if you will but we brought in some generals from colombia that they believe will help mexico attack them in a different manner. the fear is that he will accommodate the cartels if you will for a reduction in violence. 80 million voters went to the polls today. 65% turnout. ten hours of voting. and when polls close in baha at around 8:00 p.m. eastern we will start getting election returns and bring it to you tomorrow. back to you. >> shannon: william, thank you very much.

as you can imagine i disagree with the supreme court decision and i agree with the dissent. what the court did not do on its last day in session i will do on my first day if elected president of the united states. and that is i will act to repeal obama care. >> shannon: the fight is not over for president obama despite a supreme court decision in his favor and in the favor of his healthcare law. a fox news poll shows the majority of voters still oppose the law and gop presidential candidate mitt romney vowed to dismantle it if elected. the obama campaign press secretary joins us. thank you for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> shannon: a win for the president today. now, the supreme court is labeling this a tax. jay carney says it is not. what do you do with the label as the president is out there campaigning? >> we shouldn't forget that for decades millions of people across the country were paying a hidden tax.

people with insurance were covering people who didn't have insurance. is one of the reasons why mitt romney pushed to have in massachusetts a penalty that happens to be more expensive and stringent than the one in the affordable care act. the president followed suit and that is an important part of his package as well. this is a choice that impacts about 1% of the american people and if people can't afford to pay for health insurance we have tax incentives and tax credits to help them. if they can afford and don't do it that is irresponsible and we don't think that is okay and that is a part of the law. >> shannon: this comes into play when you file your federal income tax. if you don't file one then you are not impacted. the fact that it is collected through the irs and does is come through the federal tax forms. most would say if we opt not to pay something that is due to the irs it is not really a choice. >> it as choice to buy health insurance and if you can afford it we think you should buy it and people who can afford and

don't buy it are being irresponsible and the people who do pay for it shouldn't be paying for them. we are following mitt romney's lead in massachusetts and the bill he pushed for there. >> shannon: we had former senator jim talon on today and he he outlined a number of ways in which he said romney care and obama care are distinguishable and that governor romney will be able to do that on the campaign trail. >> i think the challenge for mitt romney is that some key components of the bill including the penalty and including the individual mandate were based on what he did in massachusetts. so for him to deny that this was something he pushed for, or that he fought for and talked about the importance of in massachusetts it is pretty awkward for him and use a term senator schumer used today he is in a bit of a pickle because how is he going to talk about this on the campaign trail. the president pushed for this bill because he thought it was not only right to cover millions of americans who

didn't have insurance but because large and small businesses were struggling to cover the cost of healthcare and without it we are wondering what the republicans will do in congress since they apparently want to repeal it. >> shannon: governor romney they will say it was a statewide issue and wasn't a a federal mandate from the federal government. states should be able to be their own laboratories for democracies and figure out their own solutions. for you is that enough of a distinguish characteristic. it wasn't the federal government telling us all we had to do something. >> but it was mitt romney otherwise known as the father of many of the basic premises of the healthcare law pushing for this mandate it in his state. leaves him in an awkward position to be out there arguing against the main components of the president's healthcare law. >> shannon: states can't be forced to take on new medicare participants. the florida governor said they are not going to comply. if the goal was to make sure more people are covered are you

worried about those that may not have options now in the states that decide not to go along with the medicaid expansion? >> this is a good deal for states and we are hopeful that states will participate over the course of time. many will over the front end. if you look back at the children's healthcare program put in in the '90s is took states awhile to comply but now allstates do. many states do have the issue of people hovering around the poverty level that aren't covered and this is meant to fix that problem. we'll see how it goes but we are hopeful and confident that states will participate over time. >> shannon: thank you for taking a break from the campaign trail to come in. >> my pleasure. >> shannon: it will be a heart breaking sunday for some residents who had to flee their homes in colorado. authorities are letting some go back in and tour their property to see what if anything is left. adam housely is live in colorado springs with efforts there and how much is still

burning out of control. hello, adam. still a wind this afternoon but good news for firefighters the last couple of days as conditions improved significantly than what we saw earlier last tuesday when the fire really exploded here. also a small rainstorm this morning and may be more rain clouds coming in this way as firefighters are battling the flames now in areas much more remote over the ridge from where the houses were located that have been destroyed. i will step away and show you one area where the fire marched down the hillside and threatened several neighborhoods and then actually got into the outskirts of a couple of neighborhoods. the fire moved extremely fast here. very dry conditions. the wind was blowing down the hill. it move inside this neighborhood right here. in this area specifically some people will be allowed back into homes today to get stuff or potentially to stay. as you can see, 35 or 40 homes within the neighborhooded completely destroyed. those people will have a chance

to go and get a quick look and maybe assess the area but until the gas mains for example are turned off and a few other things are done they won't be allowed to go back and sift through the rubble. right now 32,000 were evacuated. as of today as we are told about two thirds of the people will be allowed back into their homes. significant number of people out of their homes for the last few days are being allowed back in. when you talk to firefighters they made the decision specifically, of course, on the threat. they talked about that this morning. here is what they had to say. >> this area in here we he have a lot of crews on the ground, eyes in the sky. we know what is out in front of it. we know what is coming our direction and i think we are prepared for it. but we would like some time to make absolutely certain that we have a good handle on this before we put people back into that area. >> reporter: once again, the good news here, 45% contained. that number is expected to go up later today. but that is the official number right now. more than 17,000-acres have

burned here. more than 300 homes have been destroyed and to the north the other fire that we were at a couple of weeks ago that is now 100% contained. they are making headway here but as we know, shannon it will be a very long summer for the west. it is extremely dry and there are fires burning in utah and idaho and across the western states. >> shannon: such a difficult time. adam, thankoff very much for the update. as part of its landmark healthcare opinion the supreme court ruled that states cannot be threatened with losing the current medicaid funding if they refuse to take on millions of new participants under the healthcare law. we already know florida won't comply. are other states going to opt out? we will ask louisiana senator david vitter, next. ♪ why not make lunch more than just lunch?

with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred.

i'm meteorologist marina molina from the fox extreme weather center and continuing to track the dangerous heat

wave taking shape across the plains and the east coast of the united states with temperatures well into the 90s and even the triple digits and when you combine the humidity and hot temperatures heat index values well into the triple digits. up to 115 degrees anticipated across parts of the east coast. is dangerous out there and the combination of heat and humidity you start to see strong storms firing up and we are seeing that across area south of the great lakes and across parts of north carolina and the new york city area currently under a severe thunderstorm watch. we will keep you posted on these developments as we continue to see them develop throughout the afternoon hours. >> shannon: thank you very much, maria. in this week's supreme court opinion on healthcare the justices held that the federal government cannot threaten states with the loss of current medicaid funds if they choose not to take on the in flux of millions of medicaid participants under the new healthcare law. will states opt not to comply?

joining us, law senator david vitter. we had one governor come on out of florida and say they are not going to comply. any idea what louisiana may do in considering its next step? >> i would think that louisiana would not expand its medicaid provisions as suggested under obama care. 26 states made the intentions clear by challenging the whole law. you have to assume the great majority if not all of the 26 states at minimum do not want that expansion because they challenged the law on those grounds. >> shannon: now, that the court has ruled this is a tax and that is how they got to deciding to uphold it under the constitution there are new questions about what may be done on capitol hill to challenge it as far as repeal and replace. what action do you think if anything that the senate can take right now? you know, republicans, of course, in the minority

efforts to regain the majority of the senate? >> i was disappointed with the ruling and i disagreed with it. i think it is is quite frankly a goofy ruling constitutionally but politically it probably energizes the right all the more and helps conservative candidates and mitt romney. >> shannon: all right. senator david vitter of louisiana. thank you for your time today. >> thank you, shannon, very much. >> shannon: our next guest calls the damage in his state the worst from any storm short of a hurricane. that means it is a working weekend for crews coming in from around the country.

virginia governor bob mcdonnell, next. people like options. when you take geico, you can call them anytime you feel like saving money. it don't matter, day or night. use your computer, your smartphone, your tablet, whatever. the point is, you have options. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats. it spans oceans, stretches continents. and is scalable as far as the mind can see. our cloud is the cloud other clouds look up to.

welcome to the uppernet. verizon.

>> shannon: today, of course, will be another bruteally hot day for all of those out there, 3 million people without power across the mid atlantic. deadly storms are one of the most popular stories online

right now. steve centanni looking at that and the other most clicked stories on fox news .com. hi, steve. >> authorities say it could be several days before power is restored. 13 people reported killed. washington, d.c., virginia, maryland, west virginia, and ohio have all declared a state of emergency. now, another popular story online armed border patrol agents are speaking out for being ordered by the department of homeland security to run and hide when they encounter someone with a gun. agents are also outraged at being told to call law enforcement and throw things at the shooter as a last resort. dhs says the rules are on pocket sized cards to remind agents of protocol. the most clicked video is an interview done on anhq with republican congress woman michele bachmann. she is demanding answers regarding the operation of fast and furious investigation. you can read more about these and other fox stories on fox news .com.

shannon? >> shannon: steve, thankoff so much for the check. officials have now confirmed 13 deaths in the wave of powerful storms across several states. at least 7 deaths in virginia alone. and for survivors this is a tough weekend cleaning up and waiting out power crews in the heat making a miserable situation down right dangerous. let's get an update from the governor of virginia, bob mcdonnell. >> give us an idea how bad things are across west virginia? >> we had a cuff rum of days starting with monday's severe storms in central virginia but then the straight line winds and thunderstorms that hit the entire state on friday was really a devastating. largest nonhurricane power outage in virginia. we still have 739 connections

which is about a million and a half people without power. 7 fatalities and 12 serious injuries and a tremendous amount of people inconvenienced. we have called from help from all over. i called up the national guard and we have resources come interesting a lot of places. people that would normally help us the cooperative agreements from other states are busy with their own recoveries and we don't have quite the help on the power side that we would like. it will be a few days still to get this done. we still have the threat of other storms tonight and, of course, heat index is 100 to 105 the rest of the week. a tough and dangerous situation and we need people to be patient and help one another and we will get through this. >> shannon: best advise for people without power or struggling simply to survive at this point? >> we have 110 cooling centers set up around the state. several emergency shelters people can go to the local government website or call their police station or fire departments and get those locations.

we ask people it is going to take some time. the key priority is getting hospitals and public safety institutions and then major residential complexes up to speed. but we are going to restore those according to the power company's protocols in the fastest way possible to get as many people back to service. but with the rick o risk of ste next couple days there could be additional outages. they are working as fast as possible. we talked to the president and secretary napolitano and they are willing to help and provide resources upon request and i think that people are doing the very best that they he can right now. i can't stress enough how important it is for people to stay out of the heat if they can. go to the shelter or go to be with a family member. don't engage in strenuous activity with tree removal and get heat exhaustion or eat food that has been out for two or three hours without ice. is where the injuries and dangerous things happen is

after the storm. if people will be smart and patient we will get through this. >> shannon: our thoughts and prayers are with you and the folks of the commonwealth. thank you, sir. >> thank you very much, shannon. appreciate it. >> shannon: you at home had plenty to say about the healthcare ruling. we share your twitter responses. plus, could you ride a bike from coast-to-coast if you were 70 plus? we will show you a guy who can answer yes to those questions, next. [ male announcer ] this is sheldo whose long day setting up the news starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news. that could adapt to changing road conditions. one that continually monitors and corrects for wheel slip.

we imagined a vehicle that can increase emergency braking power when you need it most. and we imagined it oking like nothing else on the road today. then...we built it. the 2012 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking, wood splintering ] ha ha. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. ♪ what's in your wallet? ♪ what's in your...your... ♪ oh oh oh oh you see it in the brush. ♪ oh oh oh oh ooh oh and then there's the pillow. ♪ i dare you to dare me

so they dared me to try this pantene. [ female announcer ] pantene anti-breakage the keratin protection system makes hair stronger reducing breakage up to 97%. ♪ think only salon brands can do that? i dare to compare... will you? [ female announcer ] anti-breakage from pantene. hair so healthy it shines.

>> shannon: he is 71 years odd old and decided to go for a

bike ride all the way across america. he is a marine and started at paris island south carolina and bikes to san diego on what is called an eliptigo. it took 1 hyundais and he raised $10,000 for injured marines. good for you. we asked you at home if the supreme court ruling would help or hurt the president's campaign. thanks always for tweeting us back. that is it for us here in washington. "fox news sunday" is up next. i'm shannon bream. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. >> chris: i'm chris wallace. the supreme court upholds obama care handing the president a victory but giving mitt romney a new issue. we'll find out what president obama thinks of the court's

decision and how healthcare reform will work in the real world from white house chief of staff jack lew. republicans strike back, promising to wipe the law off the books. we will discuss the gop plan for repeal and place with the senate's top republican mitch mcconnell. plus, obama care and the 2012 election. we will ask our sunday panel how the court's big ruling will play on the campaign trail. all right now on "fox news sunday." and hello again from fox news in washington. the supreme court issued its historic ruling in obama care this week but that didn't end the intense debate. joining is now from new york to discuss the ruling and how the law will be implemented is white house chief of staff jack lew. mr. lew, become back to "fox news sunday." >> good to be with you, chris. good morning. >> chris: now, that tco