republicans say if we're having a debate on taxes we win. some democrats said privately they want to talk more about medicare and paul ryan's plan. republicans are very comfortable with this debate. they were comfortable two years ago when they won the showdown of at 2010 election. bill: both sides are quite aware you're 110 days away from a national election. >> absolutely. bill: how is this resolved? what is likely conclusion? preor post-election? >> definitely post-election. there are two scenarios. if mitt romney wins the presidential election i think president obama has to defer to the president-elect. okay, whatever mitt romney wants we have to do. but if obama wins, i think you're looking at another showdown that makes many people on wall street in washington, and around the country very nervous because we have so much riding in this post-election lame duck. what happens? i don't know. not sure. bill: well, also that could be determined by who controls congress? >> that is true. bill: if republicans take the senate they have the

upper hand then? >> that's true. there is a lot of tactics. democrats talked tough two years ago. liberals were furious with president obama. they're a little nervous he will do it again they will punt into 2013. and there will be major tax reform into 2013. but the nation's credit rating could be at stake here. so you can't punt it too far. how do you do a short-term package even allows the major tax reform to be done let's say the summer of 2013? i think this could go all the way up to new year's eve. bill: listen. we're backed into a corner and how they figure it out we await. bob cusack, thank you. leading our coverage on the hill. >> thanks, bill. bill: sure. martha: look at the democratic plan. it would let the bush tax cut rates expire at the end of the year. it would increase taxes on households making more than $250,000 a year. heard the president talk quite a bit about his desire to do that. 53% of the income tax increases that would happen

starting next year would come from those reporting small business income. you heard a lot about that as well. how hard that would hit small businesses across this country. now the gop version of extending the full range of bush tax cuts, that would be in place for all households across the board if they had their way. bill: we're drawing the lines here. republicans are bringing in the big guns in the tax fight and defense cuts debate. former vice president, former defense secretary dick cheney was set to capitol hill today, to speak with top republicans. this is all ahead of a bill hitting the floor tomorrow asking president obama to spell out how he plans to slash $500 billion? remember, that is on the table. we'll have a live report on that next hour. martha? martha: a sobering thought about the dramatic military cuts that could kick in if no budget deal is reached on capitol hill. a study shows it cocost 2 million jobs to go through all the defense cuts.

it was submitted by the aerospace industry association. it says the gross domestic product would sink by $215 billion if they input the defense cuts. those results we got right there, are also in line with other studies done by independent organizations out there. bill: so republicans are not taking this tax threat lightly. republican leaders firing back accusing democrats holding the economy hostage. republican senator john barrasso, we'll talk to him about that. he joins us live later this hour. stay tuned. 35 minutes away on that. martha: boy, owl eyes when it comes to the economy today is on one place. that is fed chief ben bernanke. he will testify before congress. that starts in less than an hour. he will talk about the state of the u.s. economy and all of the recent numbers that we've seen point to a slowdown recurring in the u.s. economy. the big question will the fed intervene in any way? they don't have a whole lot of tools left in their tool

box. we'll hear from the fed chief. his tone will be a big indication perhaps how the markets go this morning and what the reaction is to that. we're getting another indicator on the u.s. economy. it came out moments ago. labor department reported that consumer prices remain flat last month, held down chiefly by cheaper gas prices. seen them at the pump as they have been up having down over the past month or so. a speech by president obama give the other day stirred a lot of debate in the business community. we want to ask this gentleman about that, fox business network's stuart varney. anchor of "varney & company". consumer prices are flat. a lot of people on the surface would say that is good. we don't have a lost inflation on the economy s that good news? >> on one hand good news, got it. on the other hand it is an indicator of real economic weakness, martha. think about it, martha. if we had a dynamic, robust

economy you would have some inflation. we have no inflation. that implies we do not have a growing, dynamic robust economy. in fact we have an economy that is dead flat if you look at all the most recent indicators. maybe we have growth of one, 1 1/2%. that is very weak performance. martha: we talk so much about the unemployment numbers but we need to focus on the growth numbers as well as you point out which are very, very weak. >> sure. martha: ben bernanke will be looking at the growth numbers as he does every day in his office as he pours over this data. what do you expect we'll hear from the fed chairman today, stuart? >> you have to read between the lines. he may hint that he will print some more money and try to stimulate the economy. maybe he will hint that he will do this in the future. but really it's an open question, nobody knows exactly what he is going to say. but he will have to respond to a clearly slowing economy. i don't know how he will respond but he is going to have to make some response because there is no question

about it. this economy is not growing anywhere near like it should be. martha: it's a tough picture when you look at all of that put together. quickly, stuart, if you can, reaction continues from the comments the president made about those who are self-starters, who made their own businesses and grew their own companies in the united states of america. basically saying if you think you might have built it but you didn't do it on your own. what is your reaction on that? >> he has united business basically against him. chamber of commerce, independent business association of small business people, look the president denigrated success. he doesn't understand what it takes to start a business and make it grow. "varney & company" viewers on the fox business network, they were flat-out angry and outraged. they were saying we've got a big response when we ran parts of the president's speech. look, the president is punishing success. he is punishing hard work. and he is downplaying the role of individual effort. they're saying look, the president is clearly a

government guy, not a private enterprise guy. he doesn't understand private enterprise. martha: some are saying those comments were taken somewhat out of context. we played the whole context of it here yesterday. we'll play the whole context of it here again today so people can listen to it themselves and make a determination. stuart, thank you very much. >> thank you. bill: be careful not to tick off those varney viewers. martha: absolutely. bill: they will make themselves heard. government is saying cheaper gas is keeping prices flat. prices at the pump are going higher again. average for a gallon of regular, $3.41. about five cents higher than the week before and the second week of higher prices the government says the most expensive place to fill 'er up continues to be california. but the cheapest gaffe can be found on the gulf coast. martha: we rarely get our gas in california. we usually get it in new jersey. a big major u.s. bridge is reopening this morning after a bomb threat shut it down. the ambassador bridge in

detroit, michigan, linked the united states and canada. someone called 911 warning explosives would go off. >> this call did come from the u.s. side and we are definitely following up on the information that we have so far utilizing our intel center and other resources that we have. martha: nothing was found after the k-9 units were called in and coast guard teams deployed in the river beneath the bridge. this threat comes days after another one led authorities to temporarily to close the detroit win sore tunnel. a lot of folks that work in security in that area. bill: it is a tuesday. we're just getting fired up right now because we're watching this story from overseas. in a moment here is secretary of state hillary clinton. >> the choice is ultimately iran's. our own choice is clear. we will use all elements of american power to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. bill: the pentagon is bulging up our defenses in the persian gulf. we'll tell you where.

will iran finally get the message? john bolton on that in a moment. martha: a nevada city declaring a disaster but no signs of hurricane damage or flooding. what is going on there? we'll tell you what pushed that city over the edge. bill: governor mitt romney's campaign is on the offensive saying the president engages in crony capitalism. what is this all about? bob and andrea, terrific panel, fair and balanced debate on this in moments. >> i think it's wrong. i think it stinks to high heaven and i think the administration has to explain how it is they would consider giving money to campaign contributors businesses. how much coffee are you fellows going to need today?

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smart move. 5-hour energy. hours and hours of energy. martha: we're hearing from former florida governor jeb bush who is weighing in on the upcoming election telling the crowd of supporters the ways republicans can win including immigration and education. his biggest cheers when he talked about immigration. he also talked about the biggest issue he sees on the

minds of americans right now and that is the u.s. economy. >> i would suggest to you that the first and most important thing that this campaign needs to be about at every level how do we create sustained economic growth. we should be openly encouraging legal immigration that changes the, reforms the system, quickly so that we can create high, sustained growth. martha: that is getting a lot of attention. jeb bush is known among other things for his work in education reform and he really has urged republicans to make that a central issue for them as well in terms of change in the classroom. during his speech he praised mitt romney's campaign and he challenged the president on health care. bill: martha, 15 minutes past the hour. the pentagon beefing up its presence in the persian gulf but "the wall street journal" report that is the u.s. is building a missile defense station in qatar. fox news confirms the navy is set to undertake its largest ever mind-sweeping

exercises in the gulf. i will show you the neighborhood here in the persian gulf. here is iran in our map to the north. some of these bases stretch along the western and the southern edge of the persian gulf. this is qatar where the u.s. has at least two different bases here. there was an stint just yesterday where a navy ship fired on a fishing voice he will down here off the coast of the united arab emirates. one person was killed there. the question though, really goes along the strait of hormuz. this is a passageway that stretches for about 20 or 21 miles. that's it. across the border into iran but the shipping lane itself is even less than that. you have about 20, 20 one miles across the strait of hormuz but the shipping lane is only two miles wide. this is the reason why there is so much concern about oil coming through this area. it is literally a choke appointment right here when you talk about the strait of hormuz. 20% of the world's oil comes through this area alone.

john bolton, former you know am u.n. ambassador to the u.n.. thanks for coming in today. >> good morning. bill: what do we have to worry about the missile defense system set up there and mind sweeping devices put in the water? what is your take on that? >> i think the pentagon is quite legitimately concerned that iran may carry through on some of the threats it made about closing the strait of hormuz whether through mines or attacks on our ships. i think the arab states on their side of the gulf are very worried about iran's ballistic missile capabilities. we have to be worried because of our deployed forces there, air, naval and others. i think these are entirely justifiable and precautions against possibly irrational acts by iran. bill: you have a military presence that is obvious and public too. we're not hiding this information. is the concern that israel will take a step against iran's nuclear program? >> well --. bill: we have to be ready? >> i think the administration is very worried that the arab states of the region are growing

nervous about the extent of our commitment. so that is one reason. number two, i do think everybody is concerned we don't know what israel might do to stop that iranian nuclear weapons program. i don't think our policy is doing enough to stop it. i don't think this build upwill do it either but i think it has its own separate justification. bill: with regards to the iranian nuclear program, what we justed talked about has no way of detering the nuclear program going forward? >> it will not slow them down at all. what it says to the arab states, and israel to an extent we're there if iran decides to retaliate against you. bill: the mine sweepers are in the water. why are we putting this information out there. >> i think it is intended to show everybody we're going to keep the strait of hormuz open. if anyone in iran with ears to hear it will be enough to convince them that they don't want to tangle with the u.s. navy. bill: this is election year.

would this have happened without politics? >> i think it would happen almost inevitably. we've been defending the oil routes out of the persian gulf you there the strait of hormuz for over 30 years now. it is vital to the world economy even though the oil doesn't necessarily come to us. the economy floats worldwide on oil. we have to keep the lanes open. why the u.a.e. has now built a pipeline that will avoid the strait of hormuz, a kind of insurance policy against irrational iranian behavior. bill: is that up and running now. >> just started a few days ago. it will w won't carry all the ua's oil but 2/3 of it. >> that could be significant. >> indeed. bill: that is alternate route. what do you make of the shooting from yesterday? >> i think our navy was exactly right doing that. they gave warnings to the vessel. it was a small craft that was approaching a navy ship in much the same way the cole was approached over a decade ago when it was attacked by suicide bombers. i think it was very important for the navy not to let anything go wrong

here. we don't know whether it was truly was a threat or just a mistake by this little boat but it is not worth finding out. bill: the reports we get that there was warning given to the ship as captain to turn away and did not happen. >> very important. bill: watch this story. see whether or not tensions continue the way they are or whether they subside for the time being. john bolton, thank you, mr. ambassador. >> thank you. bill: martha what's next? martha: i will tell you what's next, bill. a scare for passengers on board of four different delta airlines flights. you won't believe what people found in their food. this has everybody on edge this morning. bill: also there are details in the outrage over the u.s. olympic uniforms made in china! the company that outsourced that work is now giving its response. have you heard? >> they should be wearing uniforms that are made in america. >> you would think they would know better. >> i am so upset that i think the olympic committee should be a shamed of themselves.

i think should be embarrassed. i think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again.

bill: something strange washing up on the beaches in hawaii. an unusual-looking species of pea-sized purple crabs. millions of them. they're dotting the beaches for miles and well, they're kind of puzzling the locals who live there. >> first time i've seen this. never seen it before. >> just want to know where they came from and what they're all about. >> probably millions i'd say. bill: whoa. what do you think there, mccallum? martha: like little hermit crabs. >> biologists at an aquarium baffled at the site. they believe it is a crab still in the larva stage. martha: oh really? bill: they're keeping some

to keep them alive to see how they grow. martha: they're kind of cute. now to a bizarre story. this one is not fun at all. there is a investigation underway. they're trying to figure out exactly how sewing needles got into the little turkey sandwiches giving out on the delta american flight, delta airlines flights i should say. four different flights have finding of little needles coming with the turkey sandwich inside. julie banderas is live in the new york city newsroom. the fbi is involved, right, julie? >> reporter: right, martha. the fbi confirmed to fox that it launched a criminal investigation how needles got into five separate sandwiches toe be served to business class passengers on board four delta flights from amsterdam to the u.s. the airline says what appeared to be sewing needles found on sunday, injurying one passenger on flight to minneapolis who declined to get medical attention. other flights were warned.

flight attendants found needles on two flights bound for atlanta and one going to seattle. all the sandwiches were prepared in amsterdam. delta air lines launched its own investigation. quote, delta taken immediate action with the in-flight caterer in amsterdam to insure the safety and quality of the food provided on board the aircraft. once the needles were found and delta stopped serving turkey sandwiches and searched up pizza. martha: very good idea. tell us about the catering company that served the sandwiches s there any link to them? >> reporter: they were prepared by the company gate gore may. the company said it hadn't experienced any similar incidents. ist too is investigating how the needles wound up in the sandwiches with in the first place. they released their own statement. we're working closer with our customers to heighten our safety and security procedures. meantime amsterdam police are looking into it. listen. >> we have detectives

working on this case. of course there is a change of information with the united states, of course with the airliner to find out what happens and who put the needles inside the sandwiches of course. >> reporter: while both companies and law enforcement are trying to get to the bottom of this, delta will use more prepackaged food while the investigation continues. tsa says it is not a matter of national security. martha: that is a creepy story. we'll get tote bottom of it. julie, thank you so much. >> reporter: no problem. bill: sitting on the plane. now time to get off. martha: a little something to look forward to. a very weird story. bill: governor romney says it stinks to high heaven. the republican presidential candidate revving up his its on what he calls barack obama's epcrony capitalism. rewarding of fat government contracts to the president's donor and friends. we'll debate all of that. martha: we will. look at this terrifying video.

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stepping up their offensive against president obama repeatedly accusing the president of being a quote, crony capitalist, who gives federal handouts to his top supporters. hear is the latest attack. take a look. >> so while middle class americans are suffering in the obama economy president obama's donors and supporters are doing well. if you're a middle class worker, you're facing the prospect of layoffs. if you're an obama contributor, you're facing the benefit of payoffs or benefiting from payoffs. martha: that was ed gillespie in that voice there. bob beckel joins me, former democratic campaign manager. andrea tanteros, daily news columnist. both are co-host of the fabulous the 5:00. bob, do you think this is useful candidate for the romney campaign. >> when heard crony capitalism. i thought it was foreign disease. that is so inside the

beltway, nobody understands what it means. this has gone on going back to george washington. of course you will reward your contributors with what you can legally award them. if the implication here it is illegal that is different story. they have to prove that allegation. but i don't understand, what are they supposed to do? if obama gets reelected should he support give jobs to romney's contributors? what is gillespie thinking about? martha: take a listen, andrea, before i go to you, i want to hear the mitt romney sound bite yesterday morning on "fox and friends". it is along this line. >> this is a tough time for the people of america but if you're a campaign contributor to barack obama your business may stand to make, get billions of dollars or hundreds of millions of dollars in cash from the government. i think it's wrong. i think it stinks to high heaven and i think the administration has to explain how it is they would consider giving money to campaign contributors businesses. martha: is this line something that is going to resonate with voters do you

think, andrea? >> i think it is a very potent arguement. in 2008, remember barack obama campaigned on the most sweeping ethics reform in history and the most transparent administration. we know he is awarded a lot of top bundlers like eric holder, like julius stankowski, who heads the fec with plum positions. bob has a point. a lot of presidents do this. the obama promised he wouldn't. his argument become two classes, the rich, middle class or the poor. and he is for the poor. actually he is for the rich when they are politically connected to him. so in america, basically means if you have money, you can be close to the president and his administration. if you're not on the right side of his politics though he will demonize you. that is what he is doing to business owners. martha: you make a good point. the president admitted this himself in recent interview, bob. i really thought i could change the culture when i came here to washington. that is something i haven't been successful at.

it is very difficult for him to make an argument that he really done anything in an effort to make that happen. >> i think, look, everybody runs for president of the united states says he will change the culture of washington. i can't remember a campaign that hasn't. martha: that's true. >> the answer about campaign contributors getting jobs, mitt romney can say that all he wants because we don't know who his campaign contributors are. he refuses to release names of his bundlers unlike every campaign i know of if modern presidential history. other thing disclosure act is coming up in the senate he is not in favor of it. would mean you have to disclose the names of these people. what has he got to hide? >> if i were romney come out i will release the bundlers when you release your transcripts. how about that, president obama? >> a lot of different transcripts 30 years ago and people giving lots of money right now. why us did he have to hide that? he is hiding his taxes? hiding contributors. >> legally he doesn't have to do it because of citizens united. you and i actually agree he probably should do it.

i don't think corporations are people. i think we both agree on this. one of our rare areas we do. i think he should release it and be more transparent here. issue at hand, barack obama is staking his campaign on somehow the premise, martha, that voters are going to care more about what mitt romney did with his money than what barack obama did with our by rewarding donors of green energy deals with our money that went bankrupt. martha: this is the romney campaign latest tactic. it comes right after the bain discussion kind of refur sassed. i -- resurfaced. i can't help but american voters listen to this, who cares? look at consumer price index. look at what we're treated overseas. look what is happening in the u.s. economy. look at the unemployment numbers. i got a feeling that the conversation is on a level that is completely different than american voters are feeling. would you like to see the romney campaign go at this a different way, andrea? or is this argument that is

sort of the latest thing effective? is it truly effective in achieving their goals? >> that is really good question. i definitely think they need to remind voters of the promises barack obama made. but the most significant argument, which is what they need to go right for the jugular and punch hard about this economy. all we heard are distracts about offshore accounts. look at the monkey. look at the monkey. the so we're distracted. romney campaign, there is danger i agree with responding to everyone of these little petty political attacks. they need to stay focused. if their strongest argument is what people care about. should hammer it hem over day. >> martha make as point here. these guys are chasing rabbits. if they're not chasing rabbits obama came on them they're making their own rabbits up. meantime the central issue in middle america and swing voters is the economy. every day that romney doesn't have that as one of the central themes is a day he is losing in the campaign. i don't understand it.

doesn't make sense to me. martha: you guys talk about monkeys and rabbits and i'm talking about the elephant in the room. it is a big fat elephant. we all know what it is. you guys are right on target. >> are you refering to me? martha: no, bob, was i? >> i don't know, who is the elephant? i know. martha: you're a teddy bear, bob. you're a teddy bear. martha: he is getting skinnier every day. we can't make any references. he is a skinny bunny hopping across the room. see you later, see you at 5:00. this next story is a lifesaver. you can thank a bus driver for being a good is a mayor tan. this is video here in new york where a 7-year-old girl, standing on top of an air conditioner, jumps from a third story window. down below is steven st. bernard standing on the sidewalk. he was walking home from work he noticed all the commotion and he was there to literally catch that girl. >> i looked up and saw the little girl standing on the air conditioner. >> he ran over to stand up

under the window. >> i ran over there, hoping that i would make it before she falls. hoping that she don't jump. when i got there she was still up there and i'm just looking and praying, if she do fall or jump let me catch her. i picked her up and i was holding her. tears was coming to my eye. >> oh, my gosh. bill: that girl is described as a special needs child. she was taken to a local hospital. she has only minor injuries. st. bernard tore a tendon in his shoulder catching her but man. martha: what a lovely man. you can just tell listening to him. he is a really special guy. talk about guardian angels? and you have to believe that he was put in that spot for that reason at that moment because he saved that little girl's life. i'm sure his family was so grateful. we wish her and him well. he has an arm injury. he could probably care less. we hope he gets better real soon. great, great job.

how about this. a state of emergency is declared in a major american city. it is not because of bad weather. we'll tell you where and why they're raising unusual red flags. bill: tax cuts back in the news. republicans firing back at threats from democrats as the fiscal cliff draws closer. is there a true chance of a deal before you see it hitting your wallet? senator john barrasso is fired up about this. he is live on the hill in moment. >> we have brand new reaction from american business owners to very controversyal comments from president obama. >> if you have been successful you didn't get there on your own. you didn't get there on your own. i'm always struck by people who think, wow, it must be because i was just so smart. there are a lot of smart people out there. martha: oh, donald trump on that next.

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"america's newsroom" this morning. three astronauts onboard a russian spacecraft docking with the international space station. their mission will keep them up there till november. police in toronto speaking with a person of interest in a shooting at a packed barbecue. two people died, including a baby. another 19 people were injured when somebody opened fire into that crowd and they're working on that investigation. check out this light show over tucson, arizona. that city dealing with heavy rains over the past few days. tucson's airport recording at least two inches of rain over the course of the last -- whoa, look at that lightning. that is a summer storm all right. thank you, bill. bill: here for you. martha: thank you very much. bill: i'm good for something. martha: love that about you. bill: you're welcome. so we're getting new reaction from republicans accusing democrats of holding the economy hostage. after leading democrats make it clear they're willing to allow a massive package of

tax hikes and spending cuts take effect, if republicans don't agree to higher taxes on higher earners. here is senate minority leader mitch mcconnell on the floor of the senate. >> let's make no mistake. what the democrats are proposing today is an entirely avoidable, high-stakes game of chicken. with the single-minded goal of taking more money from those who earn it, for government to waste. bill: republican senator john barrasso of wyoming, chairman of the senate republican policy committee. welcome back. >> thanks for having me, bill. bill: we had a reporter on 45 minutes ago who made the case that both sides see benefit until this debate and in an election year that is why this is playing out. what do you say to that? >> i say you can't be for jobs and against the people that create the jobs, that help build our economy. but that is what the president seems to be wanting to do. i want to help the economy.

we have a weak and sick economy now. it is because of 3 1/2 years of president obama's policies, of increasing taxes. now he seems to want to do more of the above. seems like he is willing to play russian roulette with our economy and put us into another recession by his willingness to want to raise taxes on very people that are the ones that will get oust out of this economic doldrums. bill: what is your sense, senator, how voters see this issue? >> well, i would think that people would look at the 8.2% unemployment that we have now, bill. the fact that it has been 40 months with the economy being weak, instead of healthy. they want a healthy economy. we want people back to work. but the president's policies with threats of increased taxes, incredible costs of the health care law, the taxes there. there are 20 different taxes and increasing regulations coming out of this administration. that leads to more uncertainty and unwillingness of job creators to go ahead and actually hire more people.

we need to get people back to work. bill: you know what the other side says about what republicans are doing. they say this is similar to holding the country hostage on the debt ceiling issue. what do you say to that? >> well, the president has to stop pretending that raising taxes is the same as cutting spending. we need a balanced budget in this country. we need a balanced budget amendment to the constitution. and then we need to go address the issue of this huge debt that we continue to borrow $2 million a minute just to keep our head above water. we're continuing to borrow from china. that doesn't help us stay a strong and independent nation when you owe that kind of money to other people, bill. bill: do you really see this issue happening the way that some describe it? that you have a massive tax increase at the same time you have a significant cuts in spending? >> i'm ready to vote today. bill: you defend it, but if you don't, how is it resolved then? >> i'm willing to vote and

ready to vote today to say, let's extend these, this tax situation for another year. the president said two years ago that you shouldn't raise taxes on anyone in economic times like these and the economic times today are worse than they were back then. so i think we ought to have about a year to really fundamentally do the kind of tax reform we need to encourage the job creators, to hire more people. if you need more tax revenue coming into the country, the way to do it, is get people back to work, to have more and more people working and then paying taxes rather than threatening or punishing those who are successfully creating businesses. i fundamentally disagree with the president if he says you have a business, you didn't build that business, someone wells did. i would defy the president to come to wyoming and tell the ranchers, farmers, people that have flower shops or, car washes, dry cleaners, that they didn't build those businesses because americans all across

this country have built those businesses, bill. bill: appears this is another 11th hour issue. that will go past the election. that will not be resolved until christmas eve or new year's eve. do you see the same? >> and that hurts our economy. this should not be pushed off into a lame-duck session after the election. we should address those issues today. harry reid on the senate has been blocking vote after vote. i would like to say all the things that will come in the lame-duck session we ought to be addressing those things today, bill and i'm ready to do it. bill: thank you for your time. john barrasso, republican from wyoming. to our viewers at home, hemmer@foxnews.com or twitter @billhemmer. we can continue the discussion throughout the week. what's next? martha: we have new details coming up in the outrage simmering over america's olympic uniforms. a lot of people were upset those were made in china. now the company behind that call doing a bit of a an

about-face. we'll explain the berets and all of that. bill: frightening reports out of syria. why defecting military general says the syrian government is ready and willing to use chemical weapons. ♪ what can i get you ? cheeseburger. you know what, got any salads ? b-ball, anyone ? and then take your leg wide out to the side.

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bill: it was usa's olympic gash made in china. ralph lauren says the uniforms will be made here in the united states. this year's outfits were made in china. did you know that 2010 and 2008, they were also made overseas. martha: they were made in china. bill: so bring it on home. martha: bring it on home. thousands of people in a suburban city of nevada officially living in a

dissasser zone. not because of a storm or wildfire or any of the usual reasons. it is because of the city's financial troubles. william la jeunesse live on the story in our west coast newsroom. financial disaster zone, william. >> reporter: martha, think of yourself as a city. you have these locked in salary increases in the new contracts. you have a soaring pension costs and no money because you have a disappearing tax base. you like to declare bankruptcy but state law says you can't. north las vegas found a loophole and declared itself a disaster area. from fire to floods this summer saw its share of disasters but in north las vegas residents know the state of emergency there has nothing to do with the weather. >> we need to stop spending money. >> our biggest issue is salaries and compensation and benefits. >> reporter: unable to declare bankruptcy, the city is using a state law on disasters to declare an emergency. >> they're claiming a financial disaster but they're using a natural dissass to break the

contracts. >> reporter: the union is claiming the city is illegal i using the law to avoid contracts and avoid pay increases. >> they don't support unions. they support, downsizing, outsourcing, privatization. come inbooing of services. that is a typical right-wing philosophy. >> reporter: previous councils gave city workers $62 an hour to clean toilets. firefighters with overtime can double their salaries. >> if residents had their way they would have us fire all those public servants and hire someone wells at a lower pay and, a lot of them would take those jobs. >> reporter: property and sales taxes are down 36%. one in five homes are in foreclosure. not exactly a natural disaster but by declaring one, the city saved 9 million in pay increases. many residents want police and fire to stop complaining and focus on their jobs. >> i really want the guy to be on the top of his game coming here, not say, lost money from my paycheck last week. >> reporter: basically the

unions consider this un-busting. they filed a lawsuit. the state hasn't taken a position. martha: sounds like a disaster. thank you very much, william la jeunesse. bill: we're up about 38 points. not bad. hints of new stimulus measures for the economy. the federal reserve chair ben bernanke speaks later today on capitol hill. try to interpret his comments. martha: we'll see how that goes. president obama stirring heated debate after he says america's self-starters and entrepreneurs owd a big thanks to the government that helped them along the way. what does donald trump think about that? look at him. he looks like he thinks that is pretty serious. he is coming up. bill: allegations that some of america's biggest enemies are washing terror dollars through one of the world's biggest banks. a hearing on the hill. congress wants answers. a live report on that only moments away. ♪ you do

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martha: fox news alert for you right now. a manhunt is underway for a gunman who opened fire in the center of a crowded alabama college town. at least 17 people were wounded. the man that you see in that surveillance tape is the one they believe is responsible for this. the shooting started just outside a bar in downtown tuscaloosa, and witnesses who watched this horrific scene say there were close to a hundred people outside at the time. we are hearing that two people are in critical condition. no reports of anyone being killed in this incident as of right now. >> all you seen was sparks and people ducking and the glass busting. we never saw the guy shooting. anyway, like i felt something hit me. we all took off and sort of hid. martha: wow, a frightening situation. now they are on a manhunt for that person in the surveillance video. we are following the story closely. we expect a news conference

coming up from authorities at the scene within the hour. we'll bring you a live report from there moments away. there are reports today that syria is ready to use the chemical weapons that it has, and some indications that it may have done that already. frightening news coming out of damascus and this is according to one of the bashar al-assad regime top defectors who has been speaking with the bbc. brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." glad to have you with us on this tuesday. i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. they have been trying to shut this down for a year and a half and it's not happening. kofi annan said to meet with russia leader vladimir putin. russia a key ally of syria, has vowed to veto a resolution that would authorize military intervention. martha: leland vittert joins us live in our mideast bureau with the very latest on this situation. is there any evidence that chemical weapons have already

been use ne used in this conflict? >> reporter: none so far, martha, coming from this defector who is the former syria ambassador toee rab. essentially he's saying i think the regime has used chemical weapons and they will use them in the future. in a current interview he has given to the bbc it certainly calls into question his credibility. it's important to understand that making these kind of accusations give a defect era very large soapbox. the other thing he said which was critical is about the video you're watching now, amateur video coming out of the capitol of damascus. he says the new fighting inside damascus which is the most intense that we have seen so far will make president bashar al-assad act, quote like a wounded wolf, and that they say is when president south dakota will break out his chemical weapons and use them against his own people. martha: that is exactly the

fear, that he is feeling corn earned at this point. russian officials have had discussions with the opposition to bashar al-assad, that would make him feel a bit cornered and abandoned. there is also a discussion of a al-qaida connection to all of this. leland. >> reporter: absolutely. and what this ambassador this, defect eris saying right now is that the regime has con fired with al-qaida for a number of the large car bombings all around syria, although that seems unusual, because for a longtime al-qaida has tried to target the bashar al-assad regime and take them down. we are seeing the syrian free army seen fighting in these videos starting to become a little bit better organized, a little bit better armed, and the big question going forward are the latest accusations about chemical weapons and about al-qaida, whether they are true or not, will they inspire the united states, nato or perhaps even russia who you talked about, martha, to change their position and really move against bashar al-assad in a much stronger way out of fear because

of a high develop defector coming out with the accusations. there is a lot of maneuvering and a lot of people dying on the ground in syria. martha: there seems there is a shift coming in this conflict. thank you very much for the latest on that. here is a look at this entire conflict by the numbers in syria. the uprising against the dictatorship of bashar al-assad began back in march of 2011 with a series of protests. the government dispatched troops across the country to stop the protests. they reportedly fired on demonstrators. since then the best numbers, governmental and human rights organizations can estimate, are around 17,000 people killed in all of this. although some of the numbers go much higher than that. another 120,000 refugees have fled the fighting going to lebanon, iraq and turkey. bill: back in this country now, some disturbing allegations against one of the world's

largest banks. the hsbc at the center of a major senate hearing on whether or not the bank allowed dirty money to be laundered from iran, syria and mexico possibly funding terrorism and fueling the drug war. >> our report shows how two hsbc foreign affiliates actively circumvented uso fact safeguards, those safeguards are designed to block transaction involving terrorists, drug lords and rogue regimes. bill: catherine herridge is live on this. how serious are these allegations? >> reporter: well, bill, good morning. this is a 400 page report that accuses europe's largest bank of exposing the u.s. financial system to money laundering by mexican cartels, with al-qaida links and helping iran si

circumvent international sanctions. >> 25 iranian transactions were sent worth $19 billion through hbus and other u.s. banks. links to iran were concealed in 85% of those transactions. >> reporter: and one of senator lemon's recommendations is punishing the banks by denying them access to u.s. markets which would be extremely punitive action, bill. bill: what is the evidence that we're seeing against the banks, do we know that yet? >> reporter: the heart of the investigation are dozens of emails that are alleged to show a pattern of specifically aiding iran. >> there has been a lack of accountability up and down the line, and that is, i think, resulted in very lax enforcement

and a failure on the part of the bank to understand the seriousness of its failures. >> reporter: the hearing will include testimony from the senior ranks of hsbc bug david bag hrerbgs y and stewart levy head of the legal department also out of london. hsbc released a statement saying they will make a full apology at today's hearing. the justice department is conducting a criminal investigation. it's not clear whether the hsbc will reach a settlement with the justice department. bill: we will be listening, i know you will as well. that hearing continues live on the hill and is streaming on our website at foxnews.com. more on that as we get it here. 7 minutes past the hour. martha: the fight for the white house, governor romney's corner is going on the offensive.

carl cameron is in irwin, pennsylvania. this is day two of a charge of playing political favorites and cronyism that we've been hearing about from the romney camp. >> the sign behind me says it all, obama's upside down economy. and today what mr. romney will be doing is essentially arguing that president obama just doesn't get it again. this time he'll point to some of the remarks the president made last week where he seemed to suggest the private sector growth and jobs across the economy are only successful because of government's role in all of that, republicans outraged by that. today there is a new rnc ad pointing out that in the obama administration there have been some green energy types, particularly allies of the obama whitehouse who have been big donors, for their donations and support the republican national committee in its video and the romney calm main and the governor himself has suggested crony capitalism is at play,

because a particular b u.n. dler made big donations had access to federal money, loan guarantees and the like. in romney's view that is not creating good jobs. he points to solyndra and others to make that case. romney is turning the tables he hopes on the criticism of his own record at bain capital which has been under fire and the democrats demand for him to release for tax returns. 2011 tax returns for provided an extension, his lawyers are still looking at them. he's provid provided one series of tax returns from 2010. romney has not provided his 2011 because they are being worked on. martha: he says when they are finished that they will be released. talk to me a little bit about the vp pick. there are all kind of things surfacing out there, that the pick is narrowing, that they are down to three according to one report. obviously that is going to be a big news-getting moment when they make that decision. how is the timing looking on all of that?

>> reporter: there's been speculation all week and last week that it might come before romney's trip to the olympics next week. there is only a couple of days left really for political campaigning in this week. reuters is reporting that perhaps the list is down to rob portman, tim pawlenty and bobby jindal. the romney campaign is not talking about that. romney has not been made up his mind, we've been told that by insiders and the governor. when he makes his decision it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to immediately announce it. romney's need to change the subject is probably premature. they view themselves as tied in the national polls and the electoral college map expanding the swing states in play. rather than being on defend next week they go on offense going overseas talking about foreign policy and comes back with that trip with a running mate comes roaring into the convention looking for a big bounce in the polls around labor day. martha: thank you very much, carl. carl cameron reporting from the

campaign trail. bill: a couple of head fakes out there i think on the vp picks so far. martha: throw a few names out. here had the whole condoleezzaa rice thing last week. rights is quoting three names. there is only one person who really knows. bet myers has been the head of that search for him and him. bill: i put ann romney in that mix. martha: she may be in the loop. that's possible. bill: it was a few weeks ago the president dropping a bombshell on immigration saying the government will not deport certain illegals. iowa congressman steve king has a big problem with that, and now he's taking the white house to court. congressman king is here live to explain all that today. martha: here we go, another summer heatwave, folks, amid one of the worse droughts in history. it's not just your electricity bill that is taking a hit, why it could affect your grocery bill too.

bill: prominent people firing back after this comment by president obama over the weekend. >> somebody invested in roads and pwreupbls, if you have a business you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen. bill: what do you think about that donald trump? donald trump is here live in three minutes. [ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's four course seafood feast,

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bill: federal agents looking into a dangerous insurance den in the skies over new york city. a jetblue pilot was injured by a laser pointer, a green laser came through the pilot's windshield causing a minor eye injury. while the pilot landed the plane okay travelers were a bit shocked to hear what happened. >> i travel quite frequently and the thought of something like that happening, it is quite concerning. >> that plane comes down it's your fault. bill: pointing a laser at an aircraft became a federal crime just about a year ago, a conviction comes with an $11,000 fine. we have not heard about an arrest in this one. martha: there is big blow back

today from business leaders to president obama's comments on the success of american business owners. here are the whole original comments in context so you can listen. >> if you've been successful you didn't get there on your own. you didn't get there on your own. i'm always struck by people who think, wow it must be because i was just so smart. there are a lot of smart people out there. it must be because i worked harder than everybody else. let me tell you something, there are a whole bunch of hard-working people out there. [applause] >> if you were successful somebody along the way gave you some help, somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you've got a business you didn't build that, somebody else made that happen. martha: all right so here is what the chamber of commerce has haeud about all of this. quote, we should applaud the risk takers and the dreamers who are willing to stand out from the crowd, rather than denigrate what these people have done.

we need to encourage more people to be like them. joined now by donald trump the chairman and president of the trump organization. he joins us now on the phone. welcome, good to have you here today. >> hi, martha. martha: hi, there. when you hear that whole thing, the whole quote, what goes through your mind? >> well i think we're really now getting down to basics. these are the real thoughts of this president, and a lot of people have thought that for a longtime. but we are really getting down to the nitty-gritty, and when you talk about class warfare that's what it is. and i have it all the time. i'll do a job and it will be successful. another person will do a job and it will be a failure and it will be in the came area, and they don't like it. my ideas were better, my windows were larger, my buildings were better, whatever it maybe, and people should be rewarding for being a entrepreneur, not scoffed at. i think it's a very terrible thing. martha: the president is saying, you know, you may be successful, tupl r-r an donald trump and

others who are successful, you've got to remember you couldn't have got even your stuff from one place to another without the bridges and tunnels and roads built by the government. >> there has been an element of luck, if you're born smart, with a good iq, you're born intelligent, born in the united states i consider that to be a great stroke of luck, there is always luck involved and that is a different kind of a thing. i believe in what he's talking about. he's going right down to the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurs and this country can to the take that. we cannot take much more of what is going on in washington. martha: how do you think the romney camp is doing in responding to this whole thing. do you see these comments by the president as a seminal moment, a moment we can look back on and say, did he say that did the conversation change? >> i don't think so. i think mitt its going to start getting tough. he has no choice but to get tough. i don't think he's going to be using the phrase about what a

nice man the president is because it's starting out to be different. all you have to do is go back four years and see what he did to hillary clinton in that campaign, which was said to be the most vicious ever in the history of our country and now we have one i think that will surpass it. i really think mitt will have to get very, very tough and i think he will. martha: his campaign has said and we're going to talk to john senunu in a moment, and he said yesterday about the romney campaign that he thinks that they are sort of getting into the mode that we're going to see them in through the convention and the election, but then there are others out there who seem frustrated that this isn't sort of coming out in a stronger way now. do you think that strategy is a good strategy? >> i'd like to see him come out now. we can always say, let's wait, let's wait. as you know john mccain ran a very-level campaign and it's just not going to work. i'd like to see him come out now. when they asked for tax returns, he's given tax returns. they want more. if he gave another five years they'd want another five years. so there is never any

satisfaction and i said, look if they want your tax returns ask for his college records, ask for some of his records that are sealed in chicago. many of his records are sealed in chicago, nobody knows what they say and they talk about revealing, well, what would be in those college applications? i'd like to see what it said. and, you know, frankly when they ask about your taxes, which i think frankly will be much less revealing than anything we'd find in the other stuff -- because obama gave his taxes because that's because he basically made no income for many years. not a complex return. a businessman that is very successful like mitt romney has very, very complex returns and people can look at them anyway they want and it's not fair. so, if they want the returns, say you'll give the returns, but i want to see all of these sealed documents that you have all over the place, and he's got a lot of them, in particular college applications. martha: who would you like to see him pick as vice president, and how important do you think that decision is? >> i think it's a very important

decision. history has shown that it's not as important as you would think it is. i any bob mcdonald is great. i think that senator rubio would be extent. i think your senator from ohio portman would be very, very good. we have a lot of good people in the republican party. i do think bob mcdonald and rubio and portman, and chris christie always is terrific, i know him very well, i have a lot of property in the state, he's done a really good job. you have a lot of good people. martha: donald trump thank you so much. come back soon. >> i will. martha: good to talk to you. >> thank you, martha. bill: seems the only chang tha channel that is reporting on this comment is right here. what is interesting, i think, is how it has lived on day after day. just like you talk to donald trump you can go out to somebody else and get either the same reaction or something different. it's an intriguing point, these inc inflection points in campaigns have meaning.

martha: it has struck a cord with business owners across the country who feel like they put in their sweat and blood and tears in many cases to build their companies and they want those companies to benefit a lot of other people as well, but they also want the credit for maybe doing something a little bit smarter and more efficiently. bill: quick break here, where is dick cheney today? we'll tell you right after this. [ male announcer ] you get in the zone long before the race. ♪ and it starts every morning with gillette fusion proglide.

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bill: 25 minutes past the hour. i'll update you now on one of our lead stories. a manhunt underway for a gunman who opened fire outside of a crowded bar in alabama. we expect to hear from law enforcement within 30 minutes from now. 17 people were shot, at least two in critical condition. we don't know of fatalities yet. we are live in tuscaloosa, barack obama with the latest from there. hello. >> bill, you can see behind me the crime tape is still up. it's been up for hours here in

downtown tuscaloosa. this area called timerson square is where this all started around 1:00 this morning. a gunman opened fire on a bar called topper's town. we want to show you surveillance video. in it you can see the suspected shooter. the man appears to be carrying a large gun and i wearing a large baseball cap turned backwards walking across a parking lot. police have been asking all morning for people in this area to help them out, to find that suspected shooter. 17 people in all were injured. i just got a chance to speak with one of those victims. he was grazed on his leg. he says that when the shooting started it was like someone stepped on an ant bed he said that's how chaotic it was. people westbound running everywhere, screaming, trying to take cover as the gunman opened fire on them e. he said he saw a person shot in the stomach, another person not in the leg, he went to the

hospital and he said it was very chaotic there as well. we don't know anything about a motive. as you said, bill, police are expected to hold a news conference a little bit later, in about 30 minutes this morning, so we hope to learn more about that, maybe not necessarily about the motive, but just more details about this horrific incident that happened here earlier this morning. we send it back to you. bill: we really appreciate that. live in tuesday ka loose a. when thertuesday katuscaloosa. martha: they say they will allow the u.s. to go off the fiscal cliff if the gop extends the tax cuts to everybody. today lawmakers will hear from president bush's own vice president dick cheney on what he thinks of that threat and the dangerous game of chicken that is currently playing out on capitol hill. bill: one lawmaker getting ready to sue the white house over an executive order on immigration. some are saying that this issue

is a lot bigger than just border safety. >> the question is, can he get his colleagues to try to make the issue clear that it's not really an immigration issue, it's fundamentally a constitutional issue. bill: congressman king in a moment, and we have that very question-and-answer when we come back. .

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welcome to hotels.com. martha: fox news alert for you right now. former vice president dick cheney making a rare appearance

today on capitol hill. he's accepting an invitation from top house republicans. he will be there to discuss the looming cuts to the defense budget with the g.o.p. leaders. hundreds of billions of dollars will be automatically slashed from our defense budget come the end of the year. he wants to stop that from happening. he's always been a big supporter of a strong defense in this country. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is on the scene on capitol hill. what do we know about the message that he brings there today. >> reporter: i'm told the former vice president will talk about what he sees as the dangers if the automatic cuts kick into place, what he sees as the serious and long-standing damage that will be done to the national security if sequestration, these automatic cuts do take effect early next year. i'm told he will draw on his eight years of experience as vice president, but probably more of his experience as defense secretary. of course you may remember that he ran the pentagon during the

original gulf war, and so he's been invited to a series of meetings on the house side. he's also expected to attend the senate republican policy lunch, as republicans here on capitol hill expect to hit this issue hard of the impact to our national security if these cuts are allowed to take place, martha. martha: interesting. so it doesn't really sound like the white house and leading democrats are actually to address this issue head on at this point, does it, mike? >> well it is interesting, because the defense secretary, leon panetta, for one, is quite worried about these cuts going into effect but other democrats are saying, okay republicans if you want to deal on these defense cuts we want to take a look at the automatic cuts on the domestic sigh of spending, here is a key senator, patti murray on that. >> we are also not going to allow just the defense cuts to be replaced without addressing the domestic spending cuts that would be devastating to the middle class. none of the automatic cuts are good policy, they were packaged together in a bi-partisan

fashion to get both sides to the table, and they will be replaced or not as a package. >> reporter: expect to hear plenty more about the cuts this week as it becomes a hot topic here on capitol hill. we've heard from a variety of defense contractors, very worried about whether or not they are going to have their employees stay or whether they will have to lay them off. this is certainly a hot topic with the cuts looming. martha: as she points out those cuts were put in place to get both sides to come to the table, it was going to be so threatening those possibilities that it would get them to agree on something, and we all know how that worked out. mike, thank you very much. we'll see you soon. mike emanuel. bill: mid july right now as we watch this thing unfold. what is your best guest, post-election day. martha: probably. bill: seems like the good money is then post-election and push it up to christmas or new years. martha: postpone the sequestration from actually happening, that's my best guest. bill: pretty good money on that. we will watch that story as we

move forward. also will the white house face a lawsuit over its executive order on immigration. critics say the policy of allowing certain illegal immigrants to stay here in the u.s. instead of facing the threat of deportation violates the constitution. the man leading that case is republican, iowa congressman steve king, a member of the house judiciary mitty and vice chair of the subcommittee on immigration. sir, good morning to you. >> good morning, bill. bill: you haven't filed suit yet, maybe days, possibly weeks away. make your case right now, why? >> weeks, not months. the president has usurped the constitutional authority in article one where congress establishes immigration law. his obligation as executive branch is to take care that the laws be faithfully enforced. he's clearly refused to do that. he's declared it to be prosecutorial discretion in previous cases under the more ton memos. this creates four separate classes of people and those khraes are those who have come into the united states before

they are 16, are not yet 30, in school, graduated from school, received a ged, or were hop honor plea discharged in the military. that violates the prosecutorial discretion point. and he allows them to produce a work permit so they can lawfully work in the united states. that's congress' job. bill: you don't believe the president is enforcing the law that was passed by congress and therefore you have an issue or a claim. >> well, i believe he's violated the constitution, he's crossed the line on the separation of powers and usurped the constitutional thofrt the united states congress, and if we don't protect that constitutional authority it will be gone and swallowed up by the executive branch, the president himself. bill: would he had an expert on this topic yesterday. he says what you need to argue is basically what you said there, that you need to argue this on constitutional grounds not on immigration grounds. >> correct.

bill: do you agree with that? sph that's been my stand all along. i know that immigration will creep into this dialogue but this really is about the president usurping the authority of the united states congress. in my background our current secretary of ago cull two, tom vilsak as governor of iowa issued a order on a similar subject. i took him to court and i was successful. it gave me a backed to address this. i didn't have to hesitate or do the research, you simply cannot have that find of violation. bill: in that case is it the same as we were talking about now or are there differences between the two. >> the subject matter whraus a little bit different but it's the same if you have an executive officer that effectively rewrites law by executive order or executive edict, then they have usurped the authority of the legislature, and that's what's happened here i. think it's very clear, we had the best legal minds around the table last tuesday and our discussion went on for about 90 minutes, but

there was hardly any discussion about the merits of the case, because they all concur if we get the case heard on the merits we are very likely to be successful in court. bill: you mentioned this is weeks away. we'll follow it and see whether or not there is action. steve king thank you for your time. >> thank you. bill: a republican from iowa on the hill there. thank you, sir. >> thank you, bill. martha: something interesting is going on, they are destroying things in the name of signs, a live test is underway right now. the winds building up to hurricane-force. we're going to show you how this ends, and if it could help keep us safer in the face of a natural disaster. bill: stay tuned for that, won't we? plus the obama team is not apologizing for attacks on governor romney after one member suggesting that romney might be guilty of a felony? senior romney adviser john senunu says the obama team should not throw stones. he's live next. >> this is a president who

wallowed in chicago in the murky soup of politics/felons, a region where the politicians quite often end up as felons in jail, they have two governors in jail right now.

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martha: one of governor romney's top advisers has been blasting the obama administration for their recent bain capital attacks after a top member of the president always re-election team suggestion that governor romney may have committed, a quote, felony. senior adviser john senunu to the romney campaign says that he thinks the obama campaign should not go down this road, and this is why. he points to several controversial relationships that the president had with these three men back in illinois. tony resco, and former governor

rod blagojevich, we all know where he is these days, and bill ayers, whose controversial kecks caused problems for the president at different points in his career. i'm joined by john senunu, he served as white house chief of staff under george h.w. bush. sir welcome. good to have you here as always. >> happy tuesday. martha: happy tuesday to you. what do you make of that connection? why are you drawing a line to these three men and the stories that cropped up quite some time ago? >> actually the point i'm really trying to make is that this is a really dumb white house, and a dumb campaign, that for them to introduce the word felon into the discourse reminds people that the president came out of that murky soup of politics in illinois, where as i've said before politician and felon are almost synonymous. if he wants to run the campaign that way and say it's legitimate to discuss those issues i don't

think it's very smart. look, the chicago formula is the formula this white house uses. the president -- you brought up the comment he made yesterday about business, that you don't succeed on your own. martha: right. >> that shows that he really believes that, that government makes businesses succeed, and individuals don't. and the reason he believes that is the chicago formula. in chicago they give grants to their friends that support their campaigns, and that's what this president has done. the solyndra money went to people who were bundlers, and backers, and contributors to the president's campaign. so he believes he made solyndra. the money that went t fisker was the same way, bundlers and contributors. martha: we had a panel that talked about this a little while ago and they said look so me a president who hasn't done that, who hasn't granted favors to bundlers. >> that is the last vest taj of

a rea a real sco u.n. dral, this president runs the whoupbs with the same kind of swarmn police fee as the people in chicago. martha: talk to me about the comments about entrepreneurship, and you didn't build it on your own. do you think the romney campaign has done a good enough job of coming out with their own take on that statement? >> it happened two days ago. let's be fair in terms of timing. we certainly have been talking about it a lot. as you folks pointed out, the only people that seem to cover the comments are your station. the rest of the media seems to ignore it. but the important thing about what the president said again is that he believes it. the fact that he believes it shows that this guy doesn't understand how to create jobs. so there is no surprise -- there

should be because of that statement no surprise on why he failed so miserably over the last four years, in terms of job creation. he has no idea how the american system functions, and we shouldn't be surprised about that, because he spent his early years in hawaii smoking something, spent the next set of years in indonesia, another set of years in indonesia, and, frankly, when he came to the u.s. he worked as a community organizer, which is a socialized structure, and then got into politics in chicago. there has been no experience in his life in which he's earned a private sector paycheck that meant anything. martha: you know, you made some comments about the romney campaign yesterday that i wanted to sort of get your thoughts on. you said that they've shown great discipline the romney campaign and that they are preparing themselves for the time period before the convention through election day and you think that's when we will see real engagement, and there are some folks out there who would like to see real

engagement come today. >> yeah, and most of the folks that people cite i would never hire to run a campaign. look, we are in the middle of july, a hot july across this country. folks are coming home after a hard day's work, turning on the tube and watching something other than the news. there has to be discipline in a campaign. there is a great season in "brave heart" where mel gibson's character keeps telling the troops as others keep coming charging at them, hold, hold, hold h it takes dispwhreupb to do that. and the romney campaign understands they will have to be tough but they also understand the cycle of a campaign. and the hot weeks of july are absolutely the worst weeks to throw your money at the game. president obama spent $50 million-plus in the battleground states and moved the needle from dead even to dead even. it just shows you that there is a value to being smart and a

value to being disciplined. martha: a man who's been to the rodeo a couple of times, john senunu it's very good to talk to you. it is a good reminder, and it's a hot july and a great day to watch "brave heart." >> thanks for the hospitality. martha: hold, hold. great scene. bill: indeed. 12 minutes before the hour. we are waiting this moment to see how this building will hold up against hurricane-force winds. martha: i don't think anything is going to happen. bill: what they might find afterwards might keep you safer the next time a storm hits. you'll see it live only moments away. martha: there it goes .

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bill: if you're still watching you're waiting to see if. because while we were in the commercial break this is what happened live in richburg south carolina, hurricane-force winds destroying this unit. jonathan serrie live, he's watching down there. what did we miss? what happened? >> reporter: bill, this was really fun to watch. we watched a cement brick wall collapse on one of these two simulated businesses inside this giant wind tunnel. basically they were simulating two strip mall businesses. the yellow building was built with standard construction

techniques and the aqua color building was built to the latest specifications for severe winds. huge fan tph-s this win fans in this wind tunnel blasted winds at 100 miles an hour, they used air canyons to fire 2x 4's through the window to see how the windows would hold up once there was a breach in the windows. the aqua building held up pretty well, the yellow wall totally collapsed right before our eyes, very dramatic, bill. bill: how strong were the winds again, jonathan on that structure? >> reporter: more than one hundred miles an hour. they started out simulating a thunderstorm, winds in excess of 60 miles an hour and ramped the fans up in excess of 100 miles an hour, what you would experience in a hurricane, however in a hurricane of course the conditions would last much longer, and the minutes that this test lasted, you can see

how much damage was inflicted on these buildings. bill: certainly learned a lot from that, a category 2 strength there. jonathan serrie thanks. martha: here is a good story for you this morning. the london olympic organizers facing scrutiny over security. reports that there were not enough security guards that have been hired for this huge event that is about to start. greg palkot is live in london. greg, obviously they have a lot of concerns about these issues in london. what are the risks that they believe have surfaced here? >> reporter: well there are risks for sure. we're ten days out to the start of the olympic games, martha, those olympic games widely seen as a prime terror target, and there are concerns about safety. the private security company called g4s was supposed to provide over 10,000 guards for the game. a few days ago they turned around and told the government, hey we'll barely make 5,000 and there are questions remaining about the training they are

providing. the head of the country got a severe building before parliament today. >> this is a humiliating shambles isn't it? >> it's not where we want to be, these for certain. >> it's a humiliating shambles for the country yes or no. >> i cannot disagree with you. >> reporter: the military getting involved more so than already planned. 17,000 troops will be called up to guard the games along with all their equipment. to give you an idea of the scale of that, that is one fifth of the entire u.k. military. it's more than double what they've deployed in afghanistan right now, martha. martha: wow, that is quite a story. do they think there could be more help on the way? is this security company saying they'll come up with the people that they need? >> reporter: there is more help on the way. first locally, martha from the police here there are already going to be 12,000 police involved. now we're expecting hundreds, maybe thousands more police filling the gap. and help from the states as

well. the department of transport here confirms to me that tsa airport special agents will be at heathrow and other u.k. airports, but they say it had been planned already and they'll be acting in a liaison capacity. transport is causing a few other fears here, some hiccups, there are special lanes designated just for olympic visitors, that's causing some problems here with traffic already, and the u.s. olympic team took a longtime to get to their village yesterday. it should have maybe taken about an hour and a half, it took four hours. we heard some very angry tweeting from the u.s. but not to worry, the head of the olympics says everything will be fine. by the way, martha, for the first time in i'd say about two months we saw sun. martha: i knew you were going to say that. last time i was there, not a whole lot of that. thank you very much. bill: it's called garmin, plug it in. we are waiting on more information after a shooting at

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bill: here you go. this is grand finale. martha: there you go. bill: this is where with you do not want to be in a hurricane. catch you tomorrow, right? martha: hi, everybody. see you tomorrow. jon: a fox news alert. police right now holding a news conference on the search for a gunman who shot up an alabama bar early this morning. investigators say this man caught on surveillance camera, shot into the coppertop bar right near the university of alabama tuscaloosa. he took aim as terrified patrons ran out of the building. 17 were rushed to the hospital. two are in critical condition. we're monitoring this press conference. we'll keep you updated on the search as we get more details. jenna: we are america's election headquarters. right now the president and governor romney both hitting the trail today.

some are calling this campaign a nasty schoolyard brawl and asking if either man will really be able to govern once the dust has settled. karl rove is here to weigh in. jon: more than half the country in a full-blown drought, the worst we've seen since the 1950's. and it is going to hit you in your wallets. we'll tell you what to look out for. jenna: jon, you board your flight. you settle in and take your seat and then you take a bite out of your sandwich. wait until you hear what passengers on now delta flights found in their meals. not the most appetizing thing. it is all "happening now.". jon: and good morning to you. the u.s. flexes its military muscle in the middle east. i'm jon scott. jenna: what does that really mean? we'll get into that today. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. amid rising tensis