resonance. they're testing the limits how far they can go. they're trying to see what kind of reaction they get from the mainstream media. what kind of reaction they get from the romney campaign and call mitt romney a murderer and get away with it. jenna: do you think they are? >> i hope not. i think the romney campaign needs to make this unacceptable and not simply say oh gee, mitt romney is for a better health care system. this is really beyond the pale and president obama needs to denounce it. i think mitt romney should not only call on president obama ask it be taken off the air but really think seriously making a much bigger issue what kind of campaign president obama's supporters are running. this is beyond any pale, i've been around presidential campaigns. there is lot of slightly below the belt punches and that kind of thing but this is really a new low. jenna: so the super pac is defending it, bill burden the guy that runs the super pac and this is part of $20 million ad buy in battle

ground states that is the plan now. we'll see what happens next couple hours. not just states could be running ad. obviously national media. we ran a part of it. who do you think is really gaining from this right now? is it mitt romney or is it the president? >> i think that is very much toe be determined. in a nice world, if you run a below the belt ad, unjustified attack on someone you would pay a price for it. but in the real world, unless someone calls you on it, unless some one hits back and someone says, mr. president, are you okay with this ad? do you think bill burton worked for you? bill burton is close associate of yours. your campaign manager david axelrod. this is fine with you? unless some serious people stand up and say it with indignation and anger i think they could get away with it. mitt romney needs to show anger. candidates are taught to be disciplined, calm, cool and collected. that is what voters want as

president. if someone accuses you of murdering someone you're entitled to get outraged and angry. jenna: where do you think it goes from here? >> i don't know. if they get away with this, unfortunately, voters say i don't know maybe there is truth to that. is that how heartless he is a capitalist? does he really not care about people. he needs to defend himself. surrogates need to defend himself. this is not a case where one of your own staffers say, gee, mitt romney is a good guy. his health care plan would take care of this you need serious people out there. chris christie or paul ryan out there saying this is totally unacceptable. this is totally unacceptable. jenna: interesting you would mention those names, bill. we'll talk a little bit about the vice-presidential pick which is something folks are talking about. i know you are at "the weekly standard" as well. the names that have been mentioned at least right now, senator portman from ohio, governor pawlenty from minnesota. but you also have paul ryan getting back into the mix here. congressman paul ryan of wisconsin.

"wall street journal" had this to say about paul ryan today. just wanted to share this with you get your thoughts, pull up the full screen for everybody to see that quote. this will be a different sound. pull up the full screen. "the wall street journal" says beneath it all you can hear the murmurs of the ultimate washington insult that mr. ryan is too dangerous because he thinks politics about things that matter. that dude really believes in something and we certainly can't have that. all of which, highly recommend him for the job. what do you think about that, bill? is paul ryan the guy? >> i think he could be. he should be very serious considered. steve hayes and i argued about this a few days ago. good to have the "wall street journal" on board. if you want a serious forward-looking campaign. we have a choice ahead. we're going off a cliff. we're bankrupt. we need right policies to fix this, paul ryan is the right vp choice. he best legislator the republicans have. mitt romney should pick him. the alternatives, marco

rubio, incredibly talented, young politician and i do think chris christie has come back into the mix in the last few days. i think ryan and christie are the two bold picks are now vying with the two safer picks, rob portman and tim pawlenty. i have got to say this ad, jenna, helps make the case for christie. if they're going to run this kind of campaign against mitt romney, who do you want by your side defending you? paul ryan would be great. chris christie would be greater. chris christie would be a tough guy. i would want chris christie. if we're getting in a knife fight i think chris christie would bring a pretty big knife and wouldn't be hesitant about wielding it. jenna: i understand your conversation completely. >> i withdraw that metaphor and i don't think it is fair to chris christie. probably doesn't do knife fights. he is bulldog. let me go to a dog metaphor. chris christie is a bulldog and maybe you want a bulldog with i in the presidential race. jenna: if this ad changes anything, changes dynamics and could affect decisions like that the reason we're

taking a closer look. we'll see what happens next several days and weeks. billing be careful of the knife fights. we're watching you. thank you very much. >> thanks. jon: new insight into the financial climate of city government. the california school district taking on unbelievable amounts of debt to finance short-term loans, cash it needs now for roof repairs and upgrades. some experts saying more cities are facing similar decisions in this very tough economy. mike emanuel is live from washington for us. what is the situation there in california, mike, and why would a community undertake this? >> reporter: jon, it is essentially the need for cash now and wanting to pay for it years from now. they are borrowing $105,dollars over 40 years. and the school district doesn't have to pay principle or interest for 20 years. the pitch is paying for it now and community won't raise local property taxes. a local group is concerned. >> poway told the entire

bond would cost a certain amount. what happened that price tag essentially doubles. it is costing more than what we were originally told it would cost. >> reporter: part of the problem during the recession tax revenue was down. so communities are taking this type of gamble, jon. jon: so they're borrowing 105 million. what is it going to cost them to repay it? >> reporter: nearly a billion dollars. you know, essentially, in other communities there are concerns what long-term pension debt will do. in some cases communities are being forced to decide, pay for government services or make a payment on outstanding debt. experts say that may scare off businesses locating in a certain community and people looking to buy a home. here is one expert's take. >> it is important to understand that the real risk here is not even to today's taxpayers. it is to future taxpayers however. and it's a very big risk the cost of paying this back is so great it is really based on appreciation of property

values. >> reporter: malanga notes voters around the country put restrictions how governments build up debt because they worry about these kind of issues but in some cases state and local government officials will work with investment firms to look for creative financing, jon. jon: create tiff gets paid back by a different generation, or so it would seem. mike emanuel in washington. thank you. >> reporter: thank you. jenna: right now we'll head overseas and get the latest there in syria. we have new reports that iran is calling for the syrian government, their ally to sit down with talks with opposition groups, the same groups they have been fighting in the streets. meantime president assad has assigned a new prime minister to replace the one that reportedly defected this week. while all this is happening, turkey is reporting that 50,000 syrians, 50,000, have crossed the border hoping to find refuge there in their country. leland vittert is live in jerusalem watching all of these developments. leland? >> reporter: hi, jenna.

right now we not only have the humanitarian crisis on our hands but also appears though the rebels are really losing ground in the battle for aleppo. street-to-street fighting there, the rebels are running low on ammunition. the casualties are mounting and it appears nothing is sacred anymore. take a look at this video from earlier yesterday at a funeral. [shouting] [gunfire] that was an artillery shell landing in the middle of a funeral procession in the southern part of the country. in aleppo the street battles continue. the rebels hoped to claim aleppo as their base. from there they could resupply and launch attacks out as they try to take a foothold in one part of the country. that is the reason the syrian army is hitting back so hard, particularly in the northern part of the country. a win for the rebels means they have a foothold. it also means they're showing to the world they have become a cohesive fight

force. a win i government troops, once again puts rebels on the run and shows they are little more than an insurgency group. it also probably provides the world a lot of indication of president assad will stick around for the foreseeable future. speaking of the foreseeable future, iran and russia have called their own quote, friends of syria meeting, to talk about the syrian crisis there. the question though really becomes what does this mean having iran and russia talk about how to end the bloodshed in syria is a little bit like having meeting of the proverbial's fox's friend how to guard the chicken coop. iran and russia have been providing syrian president assad so much cover as he continues to crackdown on his own people. this is looking increasingly, jenna, like we're moving towards a proxy civil war where you have the iranians and russia on one side and then you have the united states, western allies and the gulf states like the united arab emirates and

qatar supporting the rebels there in syria as the bloodshed continues to get worse. jenna, back to you. jenna: some much our suggests already suggested we're already there at that proxy civil war state. leland, thank you so much. more on that as we get it. jon: some parents arrested for a heinous crime. charged with disciplining their children using a military technique. some have called torture. also a risky rescue at the bottom of the world to tell you about. why a flight crew rushed to antarctica during the most dangerous time of year there. i'm feeling a very strong ma spirit present. it's the priceline negotiator. >>what? >>sorry. he wants you to know about priceline's new express deals. it's a faster way to get a great hotel deal without bidding. pick one with a pool, a gym, a great guest rating. >>and save big. >>thanks negotiator. wherever you are. ya, no. he's over here.

>>in the refrigerator?

jon: right now new info in some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. delaware parents are charged with waterboarding their daughters. at least one of the girls told police her father held her face under a running fawcett and told her she could last five minutes before brain damage set in, allegedly his wife just stood by and watched. police are back out in a popular new york city neighborhood looking for

clues in a 33-year-old missing child case. they're checking out a former convenience store where the sister of the suspect her brother lured etan pate and later killed him. a pretrial hearing is scheduled for the accused fort hood gun man. attorneys for hasan nidal want to brock testimony from a terrorism expert. he hasan is charged with killing 13 at that military post in 2009. jenna: we have new information on a daring mission to evacuate an american from the bottom of the world. pilots making a rare mid-winter landing on a runway made of ice in antarctica. flights are normally made during the continent's summer but the situation is so dire that they had to take the risk. david lee miller is live with the latest details from our newsroom. so why, david lee? >> reporter: jenna right now authorities are not releasing the name of the person needing medical help. we do know this individual worked at the national science foundation's mcmurto

research station on antarctica. at this hour this individual is now in christchurch, new zealand. they were brought there about eight hours ago. they are getting the necessary medical treatment. they are at a hospital in cries church. underscoring how difficult the evacuation was. there were no scheduled flights from to october. that is mid winter in antarctica at the research center. this special evacuation had to take place. jenna. jenna: we mentioned that runway made of ice. that doesn't sound like a runway you or i will ever land on, maybe in our lives, we'll see. sounds a little sketchy, doesn't it? do we know details about the rescue and how it all went down? >> reporter: indeed. complicating things they say no u.s. plane was available. that's when the australians stepped in. an australian rescue team said they were willing to take part in the rescue effort. they flu in an airbus a-319. they landed on the airstrip

made of ice. this was a very dangerous mission. we have a file photo shows a similar aircraft at the research station and you can get a sense of just how difficult this landing was. not only were there freezing temperatures but you also have to take into consideration this is a daylight picture. the landing took place with just a sliver of daylight. it was planned to coincide with the sliver of daylight to make the landing as safe as possible. just in case the new zealand air force agreed to provide search-and-rescue, jenna, that was in the event the rescuers themselves needed rescuing. fortunately that did not happen. the airbus was on the ground for about an hour. the patient was put on board. the plane was refueled. as i said at the outset he is now in christchurch, new zealand hopefully getting the medical treatment he or she needs. to keep in mind before you can be stationed at research center, jenna, i'm told by

officials you have to undergo an extensive medical exam and dental exam to try to avoid the teach of evacuation that took place in just the last few hours. jenna? jenna: wow that's incredible. nice to know teams are prepared to do that though. quite an incredible operation. david lee, thank you. jon: a bomb goes undetected at a government building and now the report is out on what went wrong. you won't believe it. we are live at the breaking news desk. as the race for the white house heats up there is word it could all come down to just one issue. what that issue is. plus what the president needs to do to try to win re-election, next.

jenna: welcome back, everyone. what a headline we have for you now. a bomb went undetected at a government building in

detroit last year for weeks and no one noticed. now a federal review is trying to explain why. there's a lot of questions of course that go along with this story. rick, what do we know? >> reporter: jenna, this is really unbelievable. a canvas bag containing a bomb allowed to sit underneath a security check-in desk at a federal building in detroit, as you said, three weeks. this building houses fbi offices, other federal offices as well as security guard, saw the bag, had no clue what was in it but proceeded to stash it under the desk anyway. three weeks later, other guards tried to figure out what was in the bag. at least two of them put it through the x-ray machine. another guard apparently shook it, to try to figure out what it was. thankfully the bomb never went off. that was the name of the building right there in detroit. it was eventually determined to be an ied. the detroit police were called in. they were able to disarm it without any problems. but the whole thing led to an investigation and those

findings just now released. the department of homeland security's inspector general finding that the guard, the private company, the contractor that employed the guard, and the federal agency that oversees security at the building, all sharing responsibility. the report saying in part, although the i.e. d did not explode, it represented a risk to the safety and security of the building and to its occupants. but the investigation found, jenna, this was an isolated case, not a widespread problem at this particular ped ral building. a handful of people losing their jobs because of this including the guard and at least one supervisor. as for the bomb, a michigan man arrested and charged with leaving it outside the building. jenna. jenna: how lucky it didn't go off. how scary. didded review say anything about the changes they made except for the firing to make sure it doesn't happen again? >> reporter: they looked to make some changes. a lot of people involved in the incident, were retrained,

given new training so they might be able to avoid this from happening in the future. jenna: wow, shaking the bag with an ied in it. >> unbelievable. jenna: so bizarre almost funny if it wasn't so scary. seems like right out of a movie. rick, thank you. we'll keep watching for updates on that story for sure. jon: fox news is america's election headquarters and right now the rhetoric on the presidential campaign trail is heating up over everything from gas to controversial advertising but the despite all the tough talk our next guest says winning the white house in november ultimately could come down to just one issue, the economy. let's talk about it with larry sabato, director for center for politics at the university of virginia. so it's back to bill clinton's theory, that the economy is really all there is to talk about? >> well it is not all there is but, jon, i really do think it is absolutely central to this election. as you noted some days you can get up and think we're

talking about everything but the economy. but in the end the economy will drive most of the votes cast in this election and, that really is the central problem for president obama as our piece in the crystal ball by professor jim campbell up at suny buffalo makes clear. jon: but explain this. the economy is not doing particularly well. the president made a lot of promises about keeping unemployment down that haven't come to fruition. and yet the president remains personally very popular and, in many of the polls, is still leading mitt romney. can you explain that? >> sure. it's summer. and right now, personal popularity can be more important than some of the other fundamentals in an election. in a general election though, assuming, assuming that the opposition candidate, that is, mitt roll any, plays his cards well, and focuses intensively, even maybe

excessively on the economy, one would think some of that would change. given the numbers in this article, president obama clearly has one of the worst economies to come up during a re-election campaign. you know, by some measures only jimmy carter had a worse economy during his re-election campaign. so we'll see whether, whether governor romney can really do what he has to do but he certainly has the material to work with. jon: is it just a matter of pointing out the misery that people are feeling right now? or does you have to do more than that? >> well i think fundamental to his success clearly is making the connection between average voters, the economy, and president obama's responsibility for the economy. that's always the responsibility of a campaign. they have to do it. no one is going to do it for them. even the super pacs can't do what they have to do. jon: so is that why the president is talking about anything but the economy?

he is talking about, you know, well, there's this other ad we've been talking about that essentially says mitt romney is responsible for a woman's cancer death, that kind of thing, is that why the president is talking about anything but? >> exactly, jon. look if you're president obama, you have two things you can do. one is to change the subject. that's assuming governor romney lets him change the subject. the second thing is to hope for better economic news in some of the reports coming out in the fall, the reing jobs reports for example. that's it. you change the subject or hope for better news. jon: larry sabato, looking into the crystal ball there at the university of virginia. larry, thanks very much. jenna: right now there's some new talk, about, well, what is potentially the biggest investment any of us will ever make in this country, our home. some real estate watchers saying housing has really turned around but could any talk of a recovery right now actually be a little overblown? we're going to dig a little

deeper into that. also this political ad you've seen it, featuring this man's story triggering a fierce outcry from the romney campaign and even some democrats. is it just changing the conversation as larry sabato just said away from the economy? is there something in this that we need to pay attention to what it means for 2012? a fair and balanced debate coming up. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. @ by what's getting done. measure commitment the twenty billion doars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar

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jenna: let's talk a little bit about the real estate market now. some real estate watchers are pointing to signs that

we might see a recovery right now. that a recovery in prices is underway but, i know you have heard that before and some are saying that a closer look at the numbers suggest it still may be a little too early to tell if a real recovery is happening, a real recovery. adam shapiro, what do we know about that? >> reporter: well, there are a lot of markets in which prices have stablized. some people are saying they have hit bottom but the real indication are priests really and truly going up for the long term? for instance in miami, florida, we saw prices go up 6% month over month. but if you look at data from fiserv which took a look at the case-shiller index and even the famous professor, mr. schiller is not calling a bottom in the housing market. they are predicting in the next two years we'll see overall price decrease in the miami market that could be as high as 8%. let's look what they're saying. for instance look at homes for sale in the united states first quarter of 2012

and 2013 fiserv says they will see prices fall 1%. jacksonville, 3.6%. orlando, 6.8%. philadelphia, down 1.9%. to call a bottom and say we're out of the woods, fiserv won't go that far. they say too many people are still underwater with their mortgages and still a lot of foreclosed properties that hit the market and drive prices down. jenna. jenna: everyone wants to get in the perfect moment. once everyone convinced there is a recovery it is too late for the real bottomed prices. >> reporter: that's right. jenna: maybe a conversation we'll have for the next couple years. see you soon. >> rorter: take care. jon: back now to one of our top political stories of the day, the raging controversy over a super pac ad. it was put together by president obama's supporters and it ties the death of this steelworker's wife to governor romney. the gop presidential candidate's campaign accuses president obama of hypocrisy especially after he just complained about quote, the

crazy behavior of the super pacs. this as word comes from the president's own campaign was caught lying about the contents of the ad. his deputy campaign manager, stephanie cutter saying she didn't know about the facts of the steel worker's case but just a few months back she hosted a conference call where that same man spoke extensively about his story. let's talk about it now in a fair and balanced debate with bob beauprez, former republican congressman and gubernatorial candidate from colorado. donna gentile, advisor to general bob casey, governor of pennsylvania and former staffer of governor ed rendell. donna, does this ad cross the line? >> no, i don't think it is crosses the line. i think this is a real story. lori: soptic is a real guy with a heartwrenching story to tell. this is story that speaks fundamentally what is wrong with america. this is fair game.

this the ethos of the american economy, in this man's terrible circumstance. jon: bob, i will let you address her points. >> well, i'll tell you what is fundamentally wrong with america right now is that the economy is in the tank and this president hasn't done anything to turn it around. that is what has got people troubled. everybody grieves alongwith this gentleman for having lost his wife but, to your, center of your question, jon, did it cross the line. liberals all over the country are even saying it crossed the line for heaven sakes to call mitt romney basically a murderer? barack obama and his team will go to any lengths, pretty obviously, to avoid talking about the economy, to avoid mentioning that we've still got 23 million people in america underemployed or unemployed or given up walking away that the family budget has taken a $4300 hit under barack obama, that health care in con to what he

promised in my state in colorado, four years ago, that health care would go down $2500 a year. we now know from the cbo it is going up $2500 a year. that's a $5,000 delta. that is what is on the minds of voters and that is what on the minds of families, not some cooked up deal that pretty clearly, jon, pretty clearly is crossed the line in campaign finance laws. stephanie cutter clearly was in the middle of this. jon: donna, talk about what that ad doesn't say. the guy says, bain capital closed my steel company. i lost my job. my wife came down with cancer. and we didn't have health insurance and she died. what he doesn't say is that bain capital, mitt romney had left bain capital well before his plant was closed. he doesn't say that his wife still retained her own health insurance after he lost his. and he doesn't say that her death came five years later. i mean there is an awful lot

of missing and misleading information in there, wouldn't you say? >> no, i would not say that. this is an ad that intends to convey information and a sense of what is going on in america. this weekend in philadelphia, we are going to meet thousands and thousands of joe soptics. there are going to be hundreds and hundreds of people that have a very similar story to tell and it is hard wrenching. i mean when we talk about romney and his creative destruction, that is very much part of the ethos of rebuilding companies, what they fail to point out, in any of their ads is that creative destruction takes people like this man and pushes him off the ladder to the middle class. jon: why is not, why would it not be fair then for republicans to go out and find 1,000 people who have lost their jobs under the obama administration and who have had loved ones die of cancer? why would they not then turn and lay those deaths at the

president's feet? >> i think we will see many things like that in and others between now and election day. jon: you do? >> i do. i think that, i think that there are going to be no limits to what will go on with the multiple super pacs that are on the other side of this equation. so i mean i don't think this super pac can be faulted for telling an important american story. jon: even if -- >> speaks to. jon: even if it is essentially, i mean, it seems like a stretch of the truth? >> there are no misstatements in this ad. the facts are the facts. there may be an obligation to expand on the facts. jon: all right. >> and i think there are people available to engage in that expansion. difficulty to do in a sound bite though. jon: congressman beauprez, does it stretch the truth? >> of course it stretches the truth and multiple reports out this morning, jon, prove that it stretches the truth. more than it really underscores how desperate

the obama campaign is. they will go to any length, cross any line, propriety line, even lee galty line, as we talked about a moment ago. stephanie cutter from the campaign clearly involved in this super pac's commercial. that is illegal activity. they will do anything to stop -- >> that is not true, congressman. i am sorry. i'm sorry, to interrupt you that is not true. the super pacs are crossing lines all over the place on the other team. jon: stephanie, cutter host of the this conference call where she included this man in a conference call with a bunch of reporters and now, several months later she professes not to know anything about his story. >> look they were so desperate, jon to get the ad now, now they're so desperate to wash their hands of any responsibility, you connect the dots on that one with, jon. >> there is one dot i would like to connect that i think is important. i think the disgraceful behavior of some of the people who are attacking this ad.

for example, on youtube today, this poor man, who lost his life, his wife, his entire life circumstances he is being referred to as joe septic. joe septic? that is mean. jon: stephanie, i lost my mother, i lost my mother to cancer. i've been called a lot of names. you know, -- >> i doubt you were called joe septic, congressman. jon: well, you're talking to jon the host here. >> jon, i'm sorry. i beg your pardon. jon: i called you stephanie. i was thinking of stephanie cutter. we're all confused. >> i understand. jon: thank you both. >> not about some things though. jon: congressman beauprez, and donna genteel o'donnell. thank you both. >> thank you, jon. jenna: we'll continue to watch that story as it develops over the next several hours. in the meantime a day at the beach turns truly desperate with two children and two ad dults swept out to sea. the incredible rescue caught you on tape. we'll show you that coming up. a new editorial warns

the white house and gop, everybody together, are putting the economy at such serious risk, that we could really be headed toward something disasterous. coming up the author joins us with why he thinks we could be headed toward another depression.

jenna: "happening now", the coast guard releasing video of a rescue off the coast of astoria, oregon. emergency responders getting a call from a witness who said two children and two adults were swept out to sea. you have two cruisers rushing out to the scene. you can see that motorized lifeboat arriving alongside the swimmers. rescuers pulling all four from the water safely. apparently everyone is in good condition despite a little hypothermia. lucky folks in oregon there today. jon: there are new concerns, the economy, bad as it is, could get worse, a lot worse before it gets better.

some experts say the president and republicans in congress are taking a huge gamble putting off addressing the fiscal cliff issue until after the election. let's talk about it with peter morici, economist at university of maryland. former chief economist for the u.s. international trade commission. you used the "d" word in a recent article, peter, depression. you say that is what is ahead if the president and the congress can't find some common ground? >> absolutely. if we have a second recession, in the as sense of a deal on the fiscal cliff, we'll certainly give us a recession. we're not likely to rebound again. the definition of a depression is when you have a downturn and you can't get back up. it doesn't have any capacity to regenerate the economy. jon: well, this is the greatest nation in the world. why wouldn't we have the ability to pull out of another recession? >> well, this last recession was very deep and severe. and a lot of folks still haven't recovered. they run down the ira's,

keough's and savings. they used to use that money to buy cars which got the economy going. this next time around they won't have savings. there are a lot of families with one earner and used to be two and earning a lot less wages. if we go down again, to 12 to 13% unemployment there won't be any rye serve capacity. jon: what about stimulus? the president would say priming the pump with more stimulus money would do the trick? >> well the federal government has already borrowing about $900 billion a year. about 8.5% of gdp. actually a little more than 900 billion. we already have a deficit of 1.3 trillion. it is highly unlikely we could borrow much more money than we're borrowing now. it is really, we basically have to print the money and that would be highly inflationary and cause a lot of panic. it might cause people to be ato make loans rather than make them. jon: what are you advising the president and the congress to do here? >> well, they're

will be able to force through a tax increase anyway. he should be ready to deal now. i think it would be good for the country. get it off the table by fairly quickly and get on with the campaign. jon: all right. peter morici. as you interesting. good to talk to you, peter. thank you very much. >> take care. jenna: well, what do you think about testing your child's dna to see if they're fit for different

sports? would you do it? the tests are out there. next we'll talk to a doctor about whether this may actually help your child become the next great olympian.

jenna: right now olympians are in london showing off results of years, and years and years of hard work. so many of them started training as children. in fact take a look at a few gold medalists. miss at this may-treanor winning gold played in her first volleyball tournament at eight years old. michael phelps started swimming at age seven and gabby douglas started when she was three years old. parents are looking for a way to give their kids a competitive edge. aren't we all?

for less than $200 there are at home tests that can tell if your child has a predisposition being good at certain sports. joining us a pediatric doctor and specialist in young adult sports medicines. doc, you're not attached to any of the genetic tests. we want to bring you in as an expert and a mom. we want to talk about whether the genetic tests really work. do they? >> you know i think there is genetics that do obviously play into how someone will be in terms of sports, in terms of future endeaf vours but really hard to take one small test taking one small piece of information and say that will change the way people, you know, take their kids and make them or, suggest that they play sports. it is a small, small piece. there is so much to sports beyond genetics. there is the environment you live in. how hard working that you are. how determined that you are. there is luck that is

involved in some of this. so i think that it is very premature to say there is genetic test out there which sport your child will play and whether or not they will be an olympic medalist or elite athlete. that is not something we should do at this point. jenna: there is one company that has at home test and you basically swab the child's cheek and less than $200. what they're testing for the gene, actn-3. they say this gene really impacts muscle fibers and can tell you if your child will be better in endurance sports or powersports. is it true that one gene can tell you a little bit about the muscles in your body? >> so from what i understand about this is they're looking at exactly what you say, this one particular gene that basically will put you in one of three categories. whether you have this gene, whether you have two copies of this gene, one copy or know copies. everyone in the world will fall into one of these three buckets. sort of like saying are you a brunette, are you blond or are you a redhead?

what they're doing is taking this information and saying that if you have two copies of this gene it suggests that you may be better at strength and powersports. is like saying if you're a brunette you're more likely to be the ceo of a fortune 500 company. it is a real stretch lear. that is study they looked at where they got this test from and where the information came from did show in australia elite sprinters tended to have more frequently of -- frequency of this particular gene. 30% of their normal population who are not elite athletes had this gene as well. it is not necessarily saying your kid has the extra potential or will do anything with it. jenna: interesting to put it in hair color, that really hits home for us. i have only 30 seconds here. i know you're a mom with two young sons and every parent wants to give their kids the best opportunity to do well. >> right. jenna: how do you navigate that? someone who knows sports medicine what is the best thing to do?

>> i would tell parents instead of spending $200 on the test and take that $200 and invest into your kid into a sport they might never pick or choose to do and see if it is something they enjoy. sports should be fun. jenna: good advice. >> be something we enjoy for the rest of our lives to help develop team work, individualism and learning how to win wand lose. it is not all about winning and it shouldn't be doctor, nice to have you today. great perspective. >> thanks very much. jenna: we'll see you soon. we'll talk about more incredible athletes a little later in the program. tomorrow in fact, the ironman, comes to new york city. sneak-peek at that is coming up tomorrow. we have another hour of "happening now" coming up next. hi. i'm henry winkler.

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361,000 americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week, slightly down, and also signals a little bit of an improvement in the job market. we need that number to stay consistently below 375,000 to make a dent in the overall employment, unemployment rate. we definitely see it this week, we'll be watching it for the next several weeks to come. >> reporter: rick folbaum in the control room, more stories we're working on brand new this hour including this one out of colorado and a hearing in the movie massacre case. what the media is asking the judge to allow that would dramatically effect your understanding of what story. we'll have that for you. also, one day after a witness in the drew peterson murder trial had to run from the courtroom in tears, more dramatic testimony expected today. we'll have an update for you. and a series of small earthquakes in southern california. to big deal or a sign that perhaps -- no big deal or a sign

that perhaps something larger could be on the horizon? we'll break it down for you. all of that plus breaking news on the second hour of "happening now" starting right now. jon: fox news channel is america's election headquarters, and with three, less than three months to go before we go to the polls, governor mitt romney is in new york today, then he kicks off the weekend with a bus tour hitting four key swing states, virginia, north carolina, florida and ohio. the governor of each of those four states will join mr. romney for that individual leg of the tour. let's take a look, first, at the state of virginia. a couple of the stats, the governor there is a name you probably know, bob mcdonnell. he is a rising star in republican circles. state of virginia has 13 electoral votes. if you take a little look at some of the history of what's been going on there, president obama has visited the state six times, mitt romney has visited

four times. in terms of unemployment, virginia enjoys a better than the rest of the nation's average, 5.7%. heading now down south, one state in the -- i'm sorry, the immediate neighbor to the south, north carolina. take a look at some of the stats on north carolina. the governor there, bev perdue, a democrat. the state carries 15 electoral votes, and they are going to be hotly contested this time around. each candidate has visited that state an equal number of times, one visit for the president, one visit for mitt romney. and in terms of unemployment, the unemployment rate in north carolina 9.4%, higher than the nation's average. head down south now to florida, all the way down south. of course, we have seen in the past how important florida is to a president, to anybody who

wants to be president. the governor of florida, rick scott, a republican, obviously. he has parlayed a business career into the governorship. 29 electoral votes in florida, more than one-tenth of all of those needed to win the election. in terms of -- i'm sorry, in terms of the history there, you can see florida a pivotal state for both men. president obama has visited four times, governor romney three times, and the unemployment rate in florida? 8.6%. now let's go up to ohio. take a look at that state. ohio pivotal, obviously, in every presidential race. everyone who wants to be president tries to win the state of ohio. it has very often been the determiner. the governor in ohio, john kasich, the former republican congressman who did so much work on the budget while he was in the house.

ohio has 18 electoral votes, very pivotal. both candidates are going to try to win them, and that's why both men have visited this state five times. the unemployment rate in ohio right now, 7.2%. carl cameron is our chief political correspondent, he has been on the road trailing the romney campaign, and that brings him here to our new york newsroom. so mr. romney is in new york raising speculation about his vice presidential pick. could it be chris christie, the governor of neighboring new jersey? what about that, carl? >> reporter: well, at this point in the sort of massive speculation frenzy, people should be prepared to not be surprised if there's a surprise. but he's really not here raising speculation. he's here raising money, the reason they come to manhattan is to go to a whole host of fundraisers, and he's already raised about $5 million. mr. christie, however, has said repeatedly he doesn't think he's going to be pick, and romney

hasn't been asked, nor has he mentioned mr. christie. the race for romney now really is about getting ready to make this announcement for the vice presidential pick. romney's got a few more fund raisers to attend here in new york, and then it's back out on the campaign trail for a bus trip that'll start at the end of -- this weekend. and it's really meant to show everything off, giving him an opportunity to meet with all the candidates, the vice presidential prospects. and in that map, jon, one thing that we certainly know from mitt romney and barack obama's travel schedules, their ad expenditures, their emphasis and their infrastructure, of all the battleground states, there are four that they're watching most carefully, ohio and florida, as you said, and colorado and virginia. and if you're involved in political travel, those are the four states we've been in most, those are where the candidates are going most, and those are probably going to be the most pivotal states, and that's where the bus trips will be going next week. jon: we thought that romney was going to be picking early. is this considered early in the campaign season? >> reporter: we're still a

little bit early. we're about two-and-a-half weeks out from the beginning of the republican convention. historically, going back to 1980, virtually every single running mate in both parties was pick inside the week prior to the actual convention. some of the conventions took place in july, others were delayed until august. technically, if mr. romney were to make his pick next week, that would be out of the norm. there's only one exception to all of the running mates picked since 1980, there was 20 days ahead john kerry's pick in 2004 when he picked john edwards. romney's, obviously, not going to be doing it this week, we're confident of that, so maybe next week during the bus tour. the truth is he could do it right on the eve of the convention and rather than play it early, which was initially proposed as an opportunity to perhaps create more buzbee amplifying his message with his running mate maybe even a week or two ago, the focus now is how to play it forward, how to maximize the announcement of the running mate, really amplify it at the convention and head out on the campaign trail in part to

overshadow and step on barack obama's convention that takes place immediately after the republicans'. jon: and when you look at the names out there, there is all kinds of speculation. >> reporter: paul ryan, tim pawlenty, marco rubio and, of course, there's tim pawlenty. it's an interesting study, too, both pawlenty and portman are out on the campaign trail as surrogates for romney, campaigning hard, carrying his message and competing quite openly on the campaign trail against democrats and making themselves available sort of as auditioning for the vice presidency whereas march cow rubio -- marco rubio and paul ryan not so much. paul ryan's about to go on family vacation, and marco rubio's just wrapping up a family vacation, he'll be back out on the campaign trail this weekend. so you've got those actively campaigning for romney and those who appear to be laying low. we'll find out which strategy seems to be working best. jon: but you can't anger the

kids when it comes to vacation planning. carl cameron, we'll have you back later in the hour, thanks. jenna: fox news alert from the state of colorado. we're awaiting a hearing in the movie pass kerr investigation -- massacre investigation. since the arrest of james holmes, all documents in the case have been sealed. there's also a gag order meaning lawyers can't speak about the case. but today more than a dozen news outlets are asking the judge to release those court papers and allow us in the case to speak a little bit more freely to the lawyers and get a little more information. casey steegal's life in colorado with more on this. casey? >> reporter: yeah, jenna. if he's present, this will be 24-year-old james holmes' third time before the judge. you know, obviously, he has the right to attend today's hearing, although legal experts say he also has the right to waive today's appearance because as you said, really, this particular hearing is all about the media. twenty-one press organizations including the fox news channel are fighting to have the court

documents unsealed and the gag order loosened. the motion argues that this lockdown of information essentially violates the public's right of access to records of criminal prosecutions, but the lawyers fear that this could jeopardize the accused gunman's right to a fair trial. >> the prosecution cares about the record in this case. if errors are made, that hurts the likelihood that the verdict will be affirmed. capital punishment is on the table. everybody is trying to be as careful as possible. >> reporter: meantime, private attorneys have been retained by the university of colorado to represent in this woman, dr. lynn fenton, the woman identified as james holmes' psychiatrist and also to represent the campus police officer who was reportedly contacted by fenton because she had, quote, concerns about holmes while treating him according to published reports, but that's just the thing. nobody is commenting, nobody is

talking. everyone's citing this gag order, jenna, and that is what a lot of people sure hope that judge william sill vester lifts today. jenna: we'll look forward to that ruling. thank you very much. >> reporter: yeah. jon: we told you about a massive fire this week at one of the country's largest fuel refineries. now a second fire breaking out at that same plant. big questions about safety there and whether this might end up hitting us when it comes to gas prices. jenna: two times in one week, a little bizarre. jon: it's pretty strange. jenna: also we have that growing controversy over some of those negative campaign attack ads. we're going to talk a little bit more about that and also what the candidates are saying about each other's plans for the economy. that's all ahead on "happening now." questions? anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life.

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jenna: a fox news alert, want to take you out to california now. l a second fire wreaks out at a -- breaks out at a huge refinery in the san francisco bay area.

we told you about this earlier in the week. this is not as big as monday's massive fire, but it could have an impact on the entire state. claude dean is live on the scene in richmond, california, with more. >> reporter: we're at the main gate of the chevron refinery, and this is where they're kind of staging everyone out here. we know that cal osha is on scene, the epa is investigating. but you talked about that fire that we had yesterday, and one of the big issues still a big concern is safety. what happened after that monday fire is that they got that under control, and they had a small fire burning, really just to burn off any excess oil they could in the main crude oil unit for this facility. that was down to what they described as a basketball-sized fire. then yesterday a pipe that was damaged in the original fire started leaking, started a secondary fire, and that caused that secondary response. what that does is highlight the damage that is to this unit,

damage they're still trying to assess and figure out. and so they said they can't even get investigators in until they make sure that the entire area is safe, and that's still being done. so in terms of time frame to get in there to figure out how significant the damage is and how long repairs are going to take, we don't know, but that could take months. how that will effect the oil supply, well, this refinery goes for 15% of the state. there is word that other refineries could take over for that, but that is all still something that we're watching very closely here in richmond. we'll send it back to you. jenna: claudine, thank you so much. jon: president obama is in colorado reaching out to voters in what carl cameron describes as a very key swing states. nine votes in the electoral college. the president is pushing his argument for economic fairness and attacking republican plans to get the economy back on track. >> that's their basic idea, you get rid of regulations, and you cut taxes for wealthy americans,

and somehow, you know, jobs and prosperity, jobs and prosperity will all rain down on all of us. this is the path they're proposing. if you think i'm exaggerating, you go to their web site, you look at the bills that have been passed by this house of representatives. that is where they will take us if they win. >> no! jon: meanwhile, governor mitt romney is slamming the president's record on the economy and jobs while laying out his own plans for economic growth. let's talk about it with steven hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard, also a fox news contributor. we heard the president there describing republican plans, why doesn't he talk about his own, steven? >> well, you know, it's interesting, jon, just listening to that clip that you played, the president, remember, had numerous events at the white house and out on the campaign trail over the past several years touting his own efforts to decrease regulation. i mean, he's had numerous events.

so at one time the president believed that decreasing regulation would, in fact, help businesses. and the president at the same time has argued against on a couple of different occasions raising taxes on the wealthy during an economic downturn. he apparently now, i think, in the context of the campaign wants to make a more political argument that those are unwise and that republicans, that's all republicans have planned for the economy. jon: there seems to be this recurring theme that the white house is pushing, this romneyhood theme that mitt romney is the rich guy who's going to rob the poor people. is that how you see it? >> well, that's certainly the argument, i think, that they'd like to convey. look, if president obama wants to -- it's very clear, i think, wants to make what are, in effect, class warfare arguments. he wants to suggest that mitt romney's tax plans and broader plans for the economy will do nothing but enrich the already wealthy. he made this argument explicitly last week pointing to a study by the tax policy center from the

brookings institution and the urban institute suggesting that governor romney will have to raise taxes on the middle class and the poor. now, i will say just as a side point a couple of scholars from the tax policy center have subsequently challenged some of those obama administration claims, some of the claims that the obama administration used in it ad saying that mitt romney wants to raise taxes on the middle class. jon: one of the issues that the romney campaign is bringing up is the question of religious freedom and saying that the president and his people are declaring war on religion. is that an effective line of attack if, in fact, the economy is issue number one? >> yeah, i think it is. and what we've seen over the past week, perhaps, is the romney campaign apparently expanding its argument against the president, against the obama campaign team. they seem to be incorporating new and different lines of attack against president obama including this welfare attack which i think they've made for a

couple days this week and made quite effectively and also now this war on religion attack. and the reason that i think the war on religion ad, the war on religion argument could be particularly effective is i think it's something that voters throughout the country, many catholics in particular, are hearing when they go to church on sundays. catholics are hearing on sundays that the president didn't keep his word with respect to requiring catholic institutions to provide things that church teaching suggests they should not, and they're hearing that, and they're hearing it regularly, almost every single weekend. jon: all right. well, the bitter battle goes on. 89 days until we decide at the polls. stephen hayes, thanks for watching this election with us. >> thanks, jon. jenna: well, damaging testimony in drew peterson's murder trial, but the jury almost never got to hear it. we're going to tell you about the shocking account that left one witness sobbing on the stand

and running out of the courthouse, by the way. we also want to talk a little bit about this. you want to become an undersea explorer? here's your chance. how you can hitch a ride on the super falcon.

jenna: well, some provocative testimony driving a key witness to tears in drew peterson's murder trial. the judge handing the prosecution what's being described as a huge legal victory, allowing them to introduce some hearsay evidence that's normally barred from court, although it's situation to situation. it's for the judge to really rule on. the former illinois cop is accused of killing his third wife, kathleen savio. sobbing on the stand was a friend of kathleen savio, a

critical prosecution witness that testified that savio once told her of a threat peterson made bragging, quote: i could kill you and make it look like an accident. faith jenkins is a former prosecutor, and fred tecce is a former federal prosecutor. welcome to you both. i just got some new information -- >> thank you for having me. jenna: i just got new information from inside the courtroom. there's another witness on the stand right now, a friend of kathleen savio, and the judge is also allowing this testimony. mary parks says this, that savio told her that peterson had grabbed her by the neck, pinned her down and said why don't you just die. that's what she says, fred. but this is hearsay. is this effective? will this effectively prosecute drew peterson? >> well, let me tell you something, jenna, this is a tough case against drew peterson from the prosecution's standpoint. these statements are out of court statements, they teach you

that the first year of law school. the statement by the second witness that he threaten today kill her, i don't put as much weight on that statement. the statement that he told her i could kill you and make it look like an accident which is exactly what happened, i think, is a statement that gets to the heart of the case and buries the guy. jenna: a second witness coming forward saying not only were these threats made, but that kathleen savio showed her red marks on her neck. what do you think about this? >> well, here's the thing, jenna, you can't convict people of murder based on statements in their words alone. you have to be able to prove their actions, actions that constitute that they actually committed a crime. here is state cannot even put drew peterson at the state of the crime where kathleen savio died, and the defense is not even conceding this was a homicide. they're still saying this was an accident as the first medical examiner ruled it was. so this is a case where, in my

opinion, there's built-in reasonable doubt. jenna: even if a judge allows hearsay in, the jury still has to think about, hmm, do i believe that person on the stand? do i believe it enough to convict someone of murder? >> well, i've got muse for you, words alone concern news for you, words alone can convict. sometimes a confession would be words alone. in this case we have a guy who's a bad guy. he's not a good guy. he brings out anger with anyone who meets him, and i think the jury -- what juries are very, very good at is assessing credibility. and if the jurors believe these witnesses, then i think they're going to get the guy. remember, he was a police officer. that's your theory when you're the state. he was a police officer, he knew what he was doing, he actually sat in on the interview when they interviewed his wife regarding the missing of the one before that, and the guy set the whole thing up to make it look like an accident. i hear what faith is saying, yeah, these are tough things, and originally they thought this

was an accident, but that's the way he staged it. jenna: faith, what do you think? >> the jury's not going to hear about the fourth wife that went missing, and second, jurors want some type of evidence. they want to be able to connect the dots. i think there are too many missing pieces here. when you can't even put drew peterson at the scene of the crime as the sate legs -- state alleges it is and say this is how he did it, it's very hard for a juror to convict someone of such a heinous crime without being able to make that connection. >> hey, faith, what part of i said the prosecution has a tough case didn't i make clear? >> no, you made that clear. >> one of the things they won't hear he's a prime suspect, but the woman who testified yesterday said when his other wife went missing, she finally heard back from the state police, so the jury has heard testimony that one of his other wives somehow disappeared. jenna: the judge has to rule on this hearsay evidence as it

comes out. >> right. jenna: is this already setting the foundation for an appeal no matter what the ruling is here, and what does that mean for us that are watching justice at work, if you will? >> right. because, i mean, this is -- the judge is really setting a precedent here because, you know, a different judge, different circumstances, jenna, could rule the exact opposite. could say these statements are too unreliable, so you're absolutely looking at grounds for a possible appeal here. jenna: faith and fred, nice to have you both with us. we'll be talking about this case certainly for the next couple weeks. thank you. >> thank you. jon: running for president, of course, means spending a lot of time on the road, and that holds true for the reporters who cover the campaign. nobody knows that better than our campaign carl cameron. he will join us in the studio. and they weren't the big ones like this northern california quake back in 1989, but a series of mid-sized quakes in southern california has folks there very much on edge. do these smaller quakes mean

something bigger is imminent? we'll ask an expert. >> and then the cannes section there was a bunch of glass jars that fell down and cans that fell down. luckily, nobody got hurt.

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we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. jon: we're in america's election headquarters putting you in the front row on the campaign trail. our chief political correspondent carl cameron has been on the road with the romney campaign.

he is getting ready for an upcoming bus tour through four swing states. it is a rare opportunity to talk to carl in person here in new york. this bus tour, mitt romney is making a lot of buzz with the bus tour. >> and milking it for his vice-presidential pick. he will have all the likely prospects out with him on the trail on the bus trip. romney told me in an interview earlier this week it doesn't matter who had speaking engagements at convention. that couldn't disqualify them. he who is campaigning with on the bus tour doesn't mean they're in or out. we shouldn't be surprised if there is surprise in all this. the principals. marco rubio, paul ryan, tim pawlenty. rubio has been on a vacation and ryan is about to take one. so they're going low-key as this thing gets finalized. jon: doesn't that suggest it is not a paul ryan if he is going on vacation. >> because he is going to hide and doesn't want to get asked questions from guys

like us if he is going to be running mate. this is part of romney campaign to build the hype. there was talk about months ago if he would make the announcement early. we're still 2 1/2 weeks out from the convention, which means if he announced it this week or next he would be out of the norm for earl announcement. all of them before 1980 were done prior to the convention with the exception of john edwards. jon: could a vice-presidential pick help him fund-raising in key campaign states? >> mr. romney is in new york today. he will raise somewhere between $3 million today and raised 2 million in iowa which is a record for republican fund-raising there. does he need a lot of help? he is already beating barack obama in the cash department. that doesn't become quite the impetus many thought it was. national polls are basically tied. the battleground states are all within the margin of error in most cases although about obama has a bit of a lead in ohio. at this far out, mitt romney is exactly where a

challenger wants to be within striking distance of the incumbent. jon: you have been following campaigns since the fox network was born. what do you think of the tenor and tone of this campaign? >> it is vastly different. when you look at the real major issues at hand, whether the size of government, the national debt, the economy, the jobs problems, international issues, the level of trif alty, that both candidates have acknowledged, really is a, is sometimes a little bit of a worrisome in terms of what the voters, whether they can be really informed by all this and what we as reporters are faced with are attack ads and sound bites from the candidates repeated incessantly on very narrow swath of issues we're dealing with. the money is extraordinary. social media made an impact. it is still the same thing. candidates have to point out differences from one another. show weaknesses in the opponents and amplify strengths they have. sometimes on a blog, it is still the candidates talking. they're not addressing

issues substantively as you would expect. jon: carl is chasing the romney campaign. president is in my home state of colorado. we have a snippet of him speaking. if you would like to catch the president's remarks in full at pueblo, colorado, we have it streaming live for you on foxnews.com. campaign carl cameron. good to have you here in person. >> on the road tonight and on the bus saturday. jon: a lot of bus miles and airplane miles ahead. 89 days to go. thanks, carl. jenna. jenna: can we keep him in studio? jon: yeah. jenna: the earth is shaking in southern california at least 30 quakes striking since tuesday night. just yesterday, four mid-sized quakes hit. they were centered near and around orange county. the strongest, magnitude 4.5. you definitely can feel that. it was felt across a wide swath of that region, giving some shoppers at one market quite a scare. >> we were getting our

produce for the day and, all of sudden it just, it shook and we heard these jars coming off the shelves and after we walked through saw all the broken glass and they're right in there cleaning it up. but it is kind of scary. jenna: yeah. knocking jars off the shelves there, that could make you nervous. a recent studies have suggested a swarm of smaller quakes, sometimes comes before a big quake. many people in southern california remember the northridge quake back in 1994. it was 6.7. much, of bigger than these earthquakes. it was responsible for the deaths of 57 people. damage was estimated at $20 million. we'll talk to a doctor, size poll gift with the western observe tear at the department of. doctor, nice to see you again. nice to have you with us. these swarms have been described as not completely out of the ordinary but they're raising a few eyebrows. what do you make of them? >> well, swarms of

earthquakes like we've had in southern california do happen in california. so in that sense they're not particularly unusual. of course what interests seismologists, could something bigger happen? most of the time a big earthquake doesn't happen but maybe everyone, two times out of 100 a bigger earthquake could strike. jenna: i also was reading about patterns and sometimes these swarms can create patterns or that is something someone like you would take a look at. can you tell us a little bit more about that? >> what we do we look where the earthquakes are occurring. we look at the orientation of the fault they occur on, compare that to the local geology. we're look tock see if an area looks like might be sympathetic for having further fault movement. maybe tomorrow, maybe not until next week. maybe not for five or 10 or 20 years but those are the patterns that seismologists look for in earthquake data. jenna: the size span is quite long anywhere from a few days to 20 years.

everyone is asking the question about the big one. you and i talked about it a couple times on the air when we talk about whether the big one is coming. when you see it in california do you see it as a sign california is due for another big earthquake? >> well, certainly these could indicate that another earthquake might be coming. in this particular case these earthquakes are occurring apparently on the whittier fault. and so that fault had some earthquakes in 2008. and so we study the patterns of these earthquakes and we say okay, is there something looks like it is consistent that might be building up for the future? there is no indication but on the other hand we're continuing to study. jenna: we're definitely continuing to watch it here. i have to ask you a last question. early warning systems put in place in california apparently they wored here with a few of the earthquakes. they weren't huge but enough the early warning system was triggered. about a nine seconds heads up but doesn't sound like a lot but it counts. what do you think of those

systems? is this a sign that is giving us some more resources we didn't have in the previous big earthquakes? >> to a seismologist this is a perfect test of an early warning system. not a strong earthquake, not damaging but we see that the system worked. we see the kind of warning it can give. and it helps us educate people about what early warning systems can do. so i think it is very exciting. jenna: i will take nine seconds if you can get it, get underneath a doorway. been in a few big earthquakes in san francisco. dr. ebel, nice to have you with us. thank you so much. >> thank you. jon: you're a northern california girl. jenna: i am. jon: you have had two quakes. jenna: different than southern california. yes, if you have lived out in california for any extended period of time you've probably been through a few pretty big earthquakes. that is what is scary about them. you never know. sometimes with hurricanes get a little heads up. tornados, a little heads up. earthquakes. jon: nine secondses of

warning. tough to get under the desk. we're talking about a new drug war, not south america but popular vacation spots being used by the cartels to easily get drugs inside the u.s. we ride-along for a nighttime hunt for cocaine smugglers. plus we have a champion. the kid putting all of his opposable thumb skills to work for some big money. [ male announcer ] research suggests the health of our cells plays a key role throughout our entire lives.

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jenna: if you're out in phoenix you had to deal with quite a lot over the last couple hours. a massive dust storm is there. more than mile high cloud of dust traveling at 35 miles per hour is what you've been facing the storm is known as an haboob. it is arabic word for winds. they're very common in the southwest. when they hit the blinding dust can reduce visibility to near zero in minutes. jon: i have a sister out there. i have to call her to see if she is okay. trouble in paradise, customs and border protection is reporting a

alarming rise of cocaine and heroin through the u.s. virgin islands and puerto rico. a sign that drug cartels are increasing using saycation spots popular for u.s. citizens as a pipeline to get i will lead good onto the american main land. phil keating live from san juan, puerto rico. phil? >> reporter: the drug-related violence definitely taking its toll. even locals tell me they now think twice about venturing into old historic san juan especially after dark. for the south american drug cartels these islands are now coveted for location and domestic status. >> deploy to the northeast. >> reporter: it is wheel up yet for another night of high-tech hunting for cocaine smugglers. >> looking at a vessel. >> reporter: on these routine missions this officer with u.s customs & border protection uses infrared radar and intel to alert boats on the water to

interdict around the coast of puerto rico. >> before we didn't see as many mother ships coming to puerto rico and dominican republic, now they're becoming ordinary. >> reporter: almost as ordinary, enormous busts like this, so much cocaine it took a production line of people to haul bag after bag from the van to the table. some bricks labeled with the tiger. >> approximately 1,000 kilos. street value over $80 million. >> reporter: the u.s. commonwealth is booming as a transshipment point for the south american drug cartels because once the drugs get here they're much more easily smuggled into the u.s. mainland as domestic cargo. >> we need more resources and this is the proof. we're not just saying it. we're showing it. 80% of this 800 kilos would have been going through the northeast corridor. >> reporter: mail inspections revealed the drug trade there as well. >> told you there is coke in there. >> reporter: every day another boat. >> there is a need for, demand for cocaine.

>> no, it will never end over here. >> reporter: now the superintendent of san juan's police, the state police force as well as the governor have been calling for the united states to really commit to what is called the caribbean border initiative which could result in more resources, more millions of dollars and more officers down here in puerto rico to battle the drug smuggling but so far it appears to be a funding issue. no comment from the white house. back to you. jon: phil keating live from san juan. thank you, phil. this just in. as the curiosity rover sends back the sharpest pictures yet from mars we're awaiting a news conference from nasa and they ought to be very proud. rick is live at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: you like this story, jon, so do i. if you're a space news junkie this is some of the coolest stuff i will ever see. mars curiosity rover beaming back pictures of the

landscape. they say it looks a lot like the mojave desert in california. curiosity landed on mars late sunday after 352,000 mile, eight month long journey. after it starts using high-tech camera equipment on board, curiosity will send back the best quality look of mars that anybody has ever gotten. that is coming soon. right now the rover parked looking through rocks and soil, looking for anything that could provide evidence of life on mars. curiosity will spend two years doing that and then the plan is for the rover to steer itself about four miles away from the base of something called mount sharp which is where scientists say there could be signs that water once existed. this is the most ambitious rand expensive mars mission yet with the price tag of about 2 1/2 billion dollars, jon. the stakes are high. but so far so food. we're all curious to see what comes next from the rover. jon: jenna is looking for evidence of shopping on mars. jenna: can they get it on

space level a little bit between of two of you. i don't know. >> reporter: keep looking, jenna. jenna: there is something for everybody in space exploration. just the angle you take. now to politics. a campaign controversy stirring up the tight senate race in massachusetts. is taxpayer money being used to help democrats there? we'll take a closer look at that. plus a new way to fly but this time not to mars. it's underwater. how a technological breakthrough is creating new opportunities to explore our planet.

jon: right now we've got curiosity up on mars as we told you but how about a new way to explore some of the unseen parts of our own planet? a submersible vehicle that moves under water kind of like an airplane. if all goes well, makers of

the deep flight super falcon hope to conduct and underwater loop. it is designed by the same team that built a deepwater submarine for billionaire richard branson. gram hawks is the engineer and inventor designer of the deep flight super falcon. this thing is far from the old globes that they used to drop down to explore the deeper portions of the ocean, huh? >> yeah. about as far as you can get. jon: you put some wings on it. you have a propulsion civil and what does that allow to you do? >> well, it is literally underwater flight. i mean, i understand you're a pilot. this is an underwater aircraft. nothing like this submersible. >> yes. as a pilot i've been loop da loops before. that has never been done in a submersible vehicle? >> no more than you can do that in a balloon. this is the cherry on the top. we're just showing how

beautifully maneuverable this thing is. jon: you're hoping to be able to prove that, you're going to be able to demonstrate that in the days ahead, huh? >> yeah. we're trying to fund that through kick-starting with people. we have already thrown its on its back. so we know it's safe it has not been done yet. jon: how deep can this particular submersible go? >> oh this particular one is just to fly with the animals. just ready to 1,000 feet but that is pretty deep. jon: yeah, that is mighty deep. it gets dark 500 feet, doesn't it? daylight doesn't penetrate? >> that is exactly right. so this is really intended to move with big animals in the twilight sown down to 500 feet, you're dead right. >>. jon: what is the goal for this particular craft? do you hope to bring the costs down enough that people would use them at resorts for instance, diving and that kind of thing? >> yeah. this particular machine is mine and, you know, doing a

loop is a blast and for this machine it will be moving and filming big animals, but we have to bring this to the public. jon: you're going to be trying the loop in lake tahoe, do i have that right? >> yeah. we set up a test range there. the weather and everything there is ideal. >> we'll look forward to updating our viewers whether you get the thing tried out there. lake tahoe is beautiful. i was just there. graham hawks, thank you. >> thank you. jon: we'll be right back. ♪ constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'.

♪ jenna: you know, when you're walking down the streets of new york city, you nearly always bump into somebody that's on their blackberry or iphone texting away, they're just not paying attention. well, there's experts out there in new york texting champs, if you will. a real champion. you're giving me that look.

[laughter] but austin of wisconsin winning the title of fastest texter in america for the second year in a row. he beat out ten other contestants in new york city's times square. 100,000 people tried out for this. he says he's saving the $50,000 in prize money for college. what did he have to do? he had to type a line from twinkle, twinkle little star blindfolded, among other things, so it went easy. jon: i would encourage my kid to text if it would win a scholarship. jenna: $50,000. jon: wow. jenna: i'll tech you. maybe we should get in on that. jon: right here in new york city. thank you for joining us today. jenna: "america live" starts right now. shannon: fox news alert, new fallout from the campaign ad controversy that will not go away. welcome to "america live," i'm shannon bream in for megyn kelly. president obama campaigning in the key battleground state of colorado today trying to turn

the headlines back to his economic message. instead, the campaign story continuing to get all the attention is a pro-obama super pac ad that suggests governor romney may be responsible for a woman's death. here's part of the ad. >> and that's when they found the cancer, and by then it was stage iv. there was nothing they could do for her. and she passed away in 22 days. i do not think mitt romney realizes what he's done to anyone. and i, furthermore, do not think mitt romney is concerned. shannon: critics are calling the attack ad despicable, deplorable and blatantly false, but so far the obama campaign is refusing to denounce it or ask that it be withdrawn. earlier today governor romney took to the radio accusing president obama of overstepping the bounds of acceptable campaign speech while also alluding to the president's 2008 campaign. >> whatever happened to a campaign of hope and change -- >> yeah.

>> i thought he was a new kind of politician. shannon: chief white house correspondent ed henry is traveling with the president live in pueblo, colorado. hello, ed. >> reporter: good to see you, shannon. you can hear the president right behind me making his case to people here in pueblo, and he is hitting mitt romney hard on the issue of taxes and what not. but as you say, he has not yet spokessen out against this democratic super pac ad that supports him. allies of his led by a former white house aide, he has not denounced it, the obama campaign has not denounced it. what the campaign has insisted is that they knew nothing about the details of this man's story even though we now know that the obama campaign, in fact, in may hosted a conference call with him, enabling him to tell his story about his wife dying of cancer, etc. so they at least knew some details of the story even though they've been insisting otherwise. and the bottom line is last night the president here in colorado was denouncing super