will be coming. >> he has been behind bars four years the trial of drew peterson gets underway in illinois. he's charged for the death of his third wife kathleen sabio claiming she died in a dry tub. her death was ruled an accident until peterson's fourth wife stacy dispiered in 2007. he's pleading not guilty. prosecutors say he killed her because he was afraid their divorce would wipe him out financially. a solar flair sent a waive of plasma and charged particles right at us. it is expected to reach earth later today. the flair is pretty peak and won't parm people but could cause radio black outs. they are capable of disrupting

satellites. a scathing report due out in a few hours finding five employees the fast and furious op rigs. it is a devastating indictment on several members of bureau of alcohol tobacco and firearms. congressional investigators conclude five senior atf officials bear responsible for the fast and furious guns. the illegal gun walking was marred miss steps poor judgment and reckless strategy. among those being named in this rov is kenneth e nelson was made into a scapegoat after he told

congressional republicans the justice supervisors were doing more damage control than anything else once the operation became public. also named in the report william knewal the special agent charged. new newell pushed the envelope of investigative technique and he had been repeatedly reprimanded for crossing the line. the report sites most of the weapons were never followed and some ended up at the murder scene of border patrol agent brian perry gunned down in 2010. under the new attorney general eric holder newell went back to using the risky gun tactics. that led to holder being found in contempt of congress for failing to turn over a document. the first is the first of three

by republican leaders. the lawyer for former atf phoenix head bill newell says chairman ice saw has shown he won't let the truth get in the way of a witch hunt. this report continues that trend. more reports coming out this week. >> moving on to the 2012 presidential race now a look at who is talking this morning. the big talker today is the news that would krclinton give he ha been critical at times of president obama. he has been complimentary of the

business career. he called it sterling not too long ago. yesterday deputy press secretary josh earnest was out to say why they choose bill clinton since the two men have not always been on the same page. >> president clinton's ability to president obama has talked frequently about president clinton's success of some of the economic challenges since president clinton was here in the white house. president clinton speaks for itself. it means the president is an effective communicator. they share this in addressing and confronting these challenges. it shows they are in trouble.

the role giving bill clinton the truth that president obama is in deep trouble and he and handlers know it. they show the race tied or funding ahead but others share the values being a stronger leader and being more honest and more 93 percent of voters in the poerl said policies and competence were more important than like ability. that's an area like ability is a large advantage. add to that the survey which voters by 62 percent to 30 say economic growth was more important to them than economic green et. with the attack on the business record and repeated none too subtle appeal mr. obama is clearly shooting for a big democratic turnout in november.

gallop reports the number of democrats enthusiastic about voting this year is 39 percent down to 61 percent four years ago. 51 percent of republicans say they are more enthusiastic that is up. when you put this together you know where mr. obama is reaching out to bill clinton. 8 minutes after the hour let's get to maria moline gnaw. maria as you read in the background we are talking about heat. >> in parts of the south. we did break the record high temperatures across parts of kansas. also down into missouri.

we are rooking at temperatures that reached 111 degrees. we are expecting to see more of the same with temperatures reaching 110 degrees. kansas experiencing extreme heat. it doesn't help the drought conditions going on. a relatively good day across new york city once again. 77 for your high temperature warm in carolina and also into the city of rally. because of all of the hot temperatures across parts of the plains into the south we have a number of heat advisories. that's when you combine temperatures and humidity

levels. early this morning a severe thunderstorm watch in effect for birmingham and montgomery from 7 a a.m. local time. we could see large hail and gusts. if be head west ward isolated showers and storms as well across parts of the rockies and parts of the plains. we haven't hit august yet. we can expect more heat in the weeks ahead. the end of summer the ceo of travel site air fair. august 21st the deals are expected to last into early october. as people head home from the beach kids head back to school.

the overall consumer starts to hunker down ahead of the holidays. welcomed relief if you are planning that get away. if you were traveling at the beginning of this year you would pay 5 percent more for your air fair compared to last year. last year's prices went up 8 percent ditto for the year after that, too. >> u.s. postal service has been having a lot of problems for the last year and more problems today. >> much more problems. it is bracing for the first ever default. the postal service adds 5 and a half million dollars for future retiree health benefits. that's due tomorrow. they don't have the money. if they default the short term effects will be minute pal. they still get your mail but it's the long-term damage that is really worrisome. there's a problthey may make arrangements to take more mail out of the system. already the government said it's going to stop mailing social security checks next year. we are seeing businesses flop.

>> who is better off children or parents? >> everybody wants kids to be better off economically. only 14 percent of people surveyed by rasmussen they think that is actually the case that their kids will be better off. 65 percent said they don't think their kids will be better off. >> we all want our kids to be better off than we are. >> 14 percent number is a rrd l record low. >> why do we have to end on a bad note? >> we will leave you with a happy tune right here. the time is 12 minutes after the top of the hour. for those that endure super long commutes you might have to end sleep -- you might have to give up sleep or even family time. there's one thing people are not willing to give up. routine traffic. this is not good news. quickly turns terrifying as a driver opens fire on a police officer. the chilling scene is all caught on tape. as we head to break the prices

at the pump. national average 3.50.

nancy pelosi may soon call it quits. recent talk is she may leaf

congress after the november election. democrats facing an uphill battle the laip labor department not to make mass layoffs even though the companies must give 60 days notice. the service committee chairman buck mckee an is outraged this. he says it is politically motivated since the warnings would come 4 days before the election. about half of the cuts would be in the defense industry. time for another look at whose talking this morning. we are talking about brit hume talking mitt romney's vice presidential pick. how will it impact his chances to win the white house in november. brit hume says not so much. >> i don't think either of them makes that much difference. the history of these things is going back to 1960 the vice presidential nominee doesn't real ry end up mattering in terms of the number of votes you

get. it has been a long time since it has. >> in 1960 i researched my new book killing kennedy johnson was put on the kennedy ticket to get texas which he won by only 40,000 votes. so now romney needs florida. if he loses florida in ohio he's done. >> i agree with that. all that makes sense on paper but it has been a very long time since we can point to an election in which the vice presidential mnominee has brought -- >> you don't think rubio could deliver florida. >> i think romney can win florida but not because of his vice presidential selection. >> we will cahear from karl rov on what states he thinks are critical to this election. >> time for you to brew on this. a lot of us have long daily commutes in order to get to

work. those is spend an hour or more sacrifice this, sacrifice time with family but they refuse to sacrifice tv time. >> brown university even those with the longest commute of three hours ti three hours still managed to fit in the hour and a half of tv but only 14 minutes of exercise. so that leads us to your brew on this question of the day. if you could only choose watching tv or having family time or exercising, which one would you choose? send your comments over to us you can tweet them to us at fox friends first or shoot us an e-mail at foxfriendsfirst@foxnews.com. not to beat up on the guys but i think they are choosing tv time. i would choose family. >> at least we say we will. coming up inflation nation.

as the grocery -- you have seen these grocery prices lately they are high, high, high. we are going to show you several ways that you can actually cut your bill while you still manage to eat well. >> i can't wait for this segment. this walrus busting a move to michael jackson without missing a beat. you could learn a few moves from that guy.

>> a judge awarding the families killed in 9-11 attack $6 billion. this is the first for those responsible for the civil attacks for civil penalties. whether the plaintiffs will see

a penny still unclear at this point. there is a settlement over back pages was to minimum wage. they pay 7 bucks $0.25 because the city didn't have enough cash to meet payroll. a lot of folks noticed the sticker shock in the grocery aisle is now expected to get worse with the drought in the midwest. other extreme coupons which can seem a full-time job. what can we do to help cut costs. vera gibbons is here to help us. >> if you don't want to do the extreme coupons there's another route. it's a little time consuming because you have to figure out which stores have the best prices on what. >> how do you do that? if you buy tide detergent you

are going to compare it to every product? >> see who has the cheapest prices. sometimes the drug stores do better sometimes the warehouse clubs do better. >> they jack up the prices>> if you are saving if you go to a regular store all of the time women have been doing it for a while now men are getting into the game. >> you really say by joining those programs. a lot of store brands. generic brands you think they are better than ever. >> generics are coming a long way. a lot of people are making the kirkland signature products from costco. their brand of choice they say they are just as good if not better. that's how far along they have

come. >> ghichl a try. >> you won't try to save money on paper, too. >> you have all of the insider. >> here's another good one. plan your menus weekly because they save trips on the grocery store. >> you make more trips. over half of all of the grocery store purchases are impulse buys. people love you. everything from your phone and you can share recipes the whole nine yards so you don't have the paper list with you. have a list, plan out your week minute us and shop strategically. >> it is harder to find coupons. if you combine the coupons you don't want to deal with the coupons there are other strategies. >> thank you so much. great to have you with us.

i have three little boys they eat a whole lot. there is a shocking new report out now revealing illegal immigrants arrested for crimes commit even more crimes once they are released. we will tell you about that. routine traffic stop goes wrong as a driver opens fire on a police officer. the chilling scene all caught on tape. we will show it to you when we get back.

>> it is half past the hour now. we have the lathes head lanes for you. now for your 5 at 5:30. the top five stories making news at this hour. the bomb threats at wal-mart have soared in central california. that happened late last night.

700 people evacuated from a store. new jersey police say no he can explosives were found. a shocking congressional report feel one in five illegal immigrants arrested for crimes the department of homeland security statistics based on nearly 8500 drunk driving offenses. more than 6,000 drug arrests. there were also arrests for murder and kidnapping. jude dish ry committee chairman lamar smith is outraged this. he says americans are suffering the consequences as president obama failed to enforce immigration laws. no comment from homeland security on this. this is a routine traffic stop and it quickly turned tear fying for an indiana police officer. (gun shots) >> wow. >> suspect james lockhart firing those 12 shots in 16 seconds. then he got in his car and took

off. officer matthew fox was hit but in minutes another officer shows up. >> hang in there. >> i am dying. >> no you are not. you are not going to die. >> officer fox is in good condition and is recovering at the hospital. police tracked down lockhart at his department. he was shot and killed by police after he again fired at officers. how terrifying for an officer when your colleague is saying hang on you are not going to die. >> let's go to massachusetts a frightening scene in cape cod as a man who was body surfing with his son is said to be attacked by a shark. witnesses say it was like out of the scene of the movie jaws. >> a fin about yea big came out and it was torquing and then it was just like what did we just see. it was like out of a movie. you knew that was a shark. >> it was unbelievable. we thought we were watching a movie. we all looked at each other

wondering did we just see what they think we saw? >> the man was bitten on both legs? he is recovering from a hospital in massachusetts. the wounds will be examined to figure out if it was a shark or not. that beach needless to say has been closed. >> he is not doing the moon walk but a walrus is a smooth criminal. ♪ ♪ >> how cute is that this this video taken at an aquarium showing the sweet moves were not that bad as he dances along side his trainer. those are your 5@5:30. 32 minutes after the hour now. let's talk politics. mitt romney is getting ready to finish the 3 countries overseas tour on a high note. doug luzader is live from washington with the details.

tell us about this trip to poland going over pretty well. >> he wrapped up his over seas trip. national polls continuing to show a very, very tight race. the battle ground states may be shirting -- shifting a little bit. >> i wish you to be successful. to europe as well. the rest of the world, too. so governor romney get your success. be successful. >> that is the kind of backing that could play well in the midwest. it is there president obama will try to plan his own flag this week with a campaign trip to ohio just one of three critical states gop strategist karl roaf says is moving in the president's direction. >> three tossup states colorado,

michigan and colorado. one change from a tossup state to a solid romney state, missouri. second two states, minnesota and new mexico moved from obama to lean obama. >> a lot of states in play right now. they are planning to invigorate their base at the democratic convention calling on former president bill clinton to deliver a prime time speech. he will formally nominate him as presidential candidate. it will alienate independent voters in critical swing states both campaigns are fighting so hard for. >> doug luzader thank you so much in washington for us. heather, you have already left your house.

this morning a lot of folks watching have not. before you do you need your first degree weather update. we are talking about record high temperatures being set across the plains states including states like kansas oklahoma and even into parts of arkansas. we saw record eyes being set up to 111 degrees in wichita, kansas. that's the actual temperature not the heat index values. in the southeast high temperatures and humidity. some could produce high weather. we could see that across alabama early this morning. there are showers across parts of colorado utah and arizona. nothing too heavy right now. keep an eye on it. we are expecting it to fire up during the afternoon hours.

alabama you have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 7:00 a.m. local time including birmingham and montgome montgomery>> let's talk entertainment news sheryl crow is grant add temporary restraining order against a crazed fan of hers. the singer says the 45-year-old man publicly threatened to shoot her and has been posting disturbing messages about her on facebook since april. sumer lo -- summer loving i happened so swiftly. check out the hottest new couple. taylor swift and the son of rfk junior, connor kennedy is his name. the two were seen kissing and holding hands at the family compound in massachusetts. the breakup between twilight stars and kristen stewart and rob pattinson is getting even

uglier. the two are now in a bitter custody dispute over their dog. pattinson is said to be heartbroken after learning stewart cheated on him with her married director. >> with the starting lineup sports stories making headlines at this hour. 17-year-old missy franklin breaking the u.s. record in the 100 meter back stroke. >> missy winning the first gold medal of her career. she is from colorado dedicating her race to the victims at the movie theater massacre. let's take a look at the current medal count. nine gold medals 17 total. u.s. 5 gold medals.

france and korea rounding out the top 5. he broke his bronze medal in the shower. he took that medal every where. didn't want to take it off. the strap snapped and the medal fell to the ground or in the bathtub. luckily for him he's going to get a replacement. don't bathe if with it if you win a gold medal. 38 minutes after the hour. this photo coming to light at the first set of lavish setting by the gsa surfaced weeks ago. now we are hearing about dozens and dozens more. a questionable cases. we will break it down in just a bit. >> it is your last chance to answer our question of the day. if you could choose to watch tv or spend time with your family or exercise which would you choose? e-mail coming up next.

>> it is 18 minutes before the top of the hour. a woman is praised for saving her husband and her child. watch her jump into action and push both out of the way seconds before a truck falls over.

one of the world's most widespread power failures. half of the population is left in the dark. >> now in japan. four new tiger cubs are the main attraction at the safari park there. they get to play with the cubs under supervision. tickets selling out in just about 3 minutes. ainsley over to you. >> thanks heather. two new jersey men facing charges today that they created a fake 9-11 charity. then pocketed tens of thousands of dollars in donations. good morning. the two guys are scam artists. they drove around collecting 10's of thousands of dollars in donations for a phony 9-11 charity.

66-year-old mark nimcheck and thomas scaljione. a truck had the names of 9-11 victims on it. they would sollity donati-- sol donations for families who had loved one die. they collected money for a donation that never exist. he would come to charity events and tell people he was a former navy seal when in reality he was an ex-con. >> he was too much self promoting. i know for a fact navy seals would never, ever do what he was doing. navy seals probably the most humble people on earth this guy was the complete opposite. >> the two defendants used a national tragedy to dupe the public. these defendants are causing additional emotional distress

for their alleged grieving. he called into question his motive and tread den shalls. they impounded that red pickup truck. it is scheduled for friday morning. thanks so much carrie. if convicted pretty low to do that. >> the gsa is coming for scrutiny known for the lavish conference in las vegas is being looked at for other events and conferenc conferences. we are talking about dozens and dozens of them. diane macedo has the report. >> that is a vegas conference caused taxpayers to how longs transportation chairman. they are looking into 77 more.

micah says the organization is keeping information from congress since the first year he started in the case about a year ago as more information comes to light he says it is becoming more apparent. why? >> there may be as many as 77 conferences that we are going to have to look at. they are absolutely apauling. now we see why they have done everything they can to stone wall congress to keep the information from becoming public. but fortunately the scandal is mushrooming to a pretty high level. part of the reason for gsa lack is after the controversy came to light some of the replacements may have been involved in the latest scandals. micah adds the conferences aren't the worst part. the reason congress started investigating is the gsa had

federal property vacant or under utilized. while it is a waste in the millions the under utilized assets being recovered were in the billions. you can expect to hear more on the story and the next hearing is scheduled for tomorrow. >> thank you so much. earlier in the show we asked you to brew on this issue. there is a new study out that shows those who spend an hour aa day commuting to work will sacrifice sleep exercise and time with family but not television. we wanted to know if you could only choose watching tv or familiar tliem or exercise which would you choose? here are some of your responses. with your smiling face it is hard to give up my tv time. good answer, joe. we love you. >> ryan says this i wake up early i could still hit the gym and spend the evenings with my wife and son. >> karen said i watch an exercise show on tv with my family.

that's a good one, too. thanks to everyone who responded. keep the comments coming and appreciate you watching. it is now 10 minutes before the hour. the moves might be fake but it was a real deal for world wrestling entertainment as a fire breaks out just before the show. talk about another bum deal. forced to retake state exams because the school lost their answers from the original test. let's take a look at brian kilmeade. good morning my friend. >> do you not know what's coming up or are you pretending not to know? did you not check our rundown? >> we never know what is coming from you. >> senator james imhoff will tell us what's at stake. bill clinton will be speaking at the national convention will it hurt obama while making clintons look better than before.

we will examine the author of red ink and the olympics. we will look at the olympics. we have a huge agenda. we picked out our outfits we know what we are going to say. it's a matter of waiting for the clocks to tick our way. i am going to stair at the time now. ♪ ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow

♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream

>> it is now 10 mints before the hour. here are a look at headlines this morning. sacramento international airport getting the okay to replace tsa. this is the third to make a move at private security at the checkpoint. they will be trained by the tsa. the airport's director says the move will bring about a higher level of customer service with the same level of security. tsa employee union disagrees

with this. 17 high school students will have to retake the state exam required after their answer sheets went missing. the city not sure what happened to the test. four teens unable to graduate because of the mishap. how ep set would you be? 24 counts of first degree murder. 116 counts of attempted murder. those are some of the charges against the suspected colorado movie theater gunman as you see james holmes. here to breakdown all of the charges criminal defense attorney and fox news contributor arthur eye daidala. 58 wounded 116 counts of attempted murder. >> for each individual there are two theories. one theory is intentional murder. the prosecutor would have to

prove at trial is that individual who is killed joe schomo who was killed that he went over and executed joe schomo so that is one count. as opposed to the depraved indifference to human life which means you go in and fire the gun randomly. there will be a lot of eyewitnesss and they are all going to be individuals. he went right over to and executed there are other individuals who he just sprayed the bullets all around. that goes for the people who died unfortunately and the people who were seriously injured. the prosecutor didn't over charge the case. she focused on what happened to the movie theater. she could have added on dozens of charges of what was happening at his apartment and all of the bombs and trip wires. she focused what she needed to

focus on to get the strongest conviction. a psychiatrist sent a notebook to the psychiatrist. will that notebook be used as evidence in court or will it be kept confidential? >> if the defense raises insanity defense then it 100 percent is relevant. if they don't my assumption is that the judge is going to take it into his chambers he's going to look at it and he's going to decide you can see this part but kaunt see that part. if he says i need to kill somebody, he probably will. >> if you were the defense attorney what is your strategy? >> i don't know if there's a strategy. i would talk to my client and say the most realistic outcome is what is your preference? would you prefer to do life without parole. at your age you will be in a box

for a long time or do you prefer to have a need will in your arm. we are going to try the insanity defense. i am not going to lie to you there's not a high degree of success. you want me to work on some sort of a plea bargain i will. >> would you represent him? >> 5:55 in the morning. just so people know the individual lawyers who represent these people they are on a list that the judges keep and the judge calls you and says can you represent this client. i need you. not can you. i need you. basically we have an unspoken rule you don't say no no matter how heinous the crime is unless you have a personal conflict. >> thank you for your tips on all of the information. stick around we have plenty more. 5 to the top of the hour. not your normal wake up call. a hot air balloon landing in the middle of a neighborhood. is it the good, the bad or the ugly? heather will tell us. it's the word of the day.

can you figure this one out? stick around for the answer.

happy birthday! thank you, nana send money to anyone's checking account with chase quickpay. all you need is an email address or mobile number. you're welcome. take a step forward and chase what matters.

,. >> just about 6:00 on the east coast as we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly. first the good. a texas woman modeling a wedding gown will soon have a dress of her own. take a look at this. ♪.

>> oh, trevor k is popping the question to his girlfriend during a wedding fashion show in houston. she said yes. that's the bad. and people waking up to the shocking scene, a balloon landing right in the middle of the street. the pilot claims he did it on purpose because he was waved in by a homeowner? all right. nobody was outside at the time and the power lines are underground. now the ugly. the set for wwe monday night's raw, catching fire during the rehearsal at the bank arena in cincinnati. no one was hurt and the snow did manage to go on. are you scrambled up now? >> yeah. we have like one minute left. >> waving in a hot-air balloon. ♪ i love -- >> that's cute. >> hi, gretchen. i miss you. >> i miss you, too. >> arthur, have a great day. everybody have a great day.

fox and friends starts right now! >> good morning, everyone. today is tuesday. it's the last day of the month. it's july 31st already. hope you will have a fantastic day. i'm gretchen carlson. and the president rich and the tax, not getting the feedback he wanted. it may have his campaign scrambling. we will give you the poll results. >> and bill clinton hopes to sell bill clinton to a not so approving public but one aid said but -- bubba will be pulling the lever for the campaign. >> and one said he will give the kids a salary but only if he shows up for class. i'm doing it for the money, hone. fox and friends starts right now! [rooster crow] >> i sense we are going to

disagree on a certain talking point today. >> really? >> i bonder if it has to do with the aa ching that brian just alluded to? >> well, it hasn't worked in that town before so let's see if it works this time. >> i will get it down further, should you pay your kids to do chores around the house? >> yep. >> you do? >> yeah. it's all part of the reward system. maybe two bucks. you didn't do the same thing as a parent? >> we didn't pay an allowance. >> you didn't pay en allowance ever? >> we never did but they got money. >> pay by the chore or give an overall salary for the month. we will examine those things. >> and presidential candidate mitt romney is getting ready to wrap up his overseas tour. he spent his last day in poland where he got a warm welcome. and whilhe