and the biggest show of the year. >> gretchen: firefighters on the after the show show in the calendar. log on for the after the show show. have a great day. >> brian: we'll see you on "the five" tonight. guys. we've got a fox news alert to start things off. it has toe do with unemployment claims which are higher this morning. a brand new jobs report came out half an hour ago. here's the number. it shows 366,000 people in this country walked into the inopen employment line for the very first time this week.ery first time this that is worse number than cone mists were expecting. good morning being i'm martha maccallum in "america's newsroom". gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. with the republican national convention just over a week away, a lot of digits there, we should hit that $16 trillion mark just as

republicans take the national stage. martha: big number. stuart varney joins me now. host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. stuart, good morning. the weekly jobless claims number, what do you make of that? >> it shows the economy is not getting any weaker. jobless claims are pretty stable but at a very high number. 366,000, that is high number. that means the economy is still weak. we still have 8.3% unemployment. we're only growing win 1/2, 2%, that's it. essentially, martha, these numbers tell us, they confirm that our economy is bouncing along the bottom. that's all you can say. martha: people talk about the fact that businesses are sort of stuck. they don't want any growth or hire new people because they don't know what is coming. that is a big issue for us here. you talk a little bit about the debt as a backdrop for this convention season. we're about to hit a huge, huge number. >> okay.

the debt as of right now is 15 trillion, 972 billion. do the math. in $28 billion time we will hit the milestone, 16 trillion. we've never been there before. we're adding to the debt, roughly 3 billion a day. that means in nine or 10 days we'll hit 16 trillion. this is weekend right before the republican con -- convention. gee, martha, do you think the republicans will make an issue of debt hitting that $16 trillion number right before they have the convention? odds are they will. martha: we'll hear a lot about that number. it has been extraordinary what has been added to the debt in four years, stuart. >> it is. it is five 1/2 trillion dollars in the last four years added to the debt. 16 trillion, here we come. martha: that is really exciting. thank you very much. we'll see you over on the business channel. their, stuart.

gregg: a fox news alert now. breaking news on wikileaks founder julian assange. ecuador granted assange political asylum. he has been holed up in ecuador's london embassy trying to avoid extradition to sweden where he is facing potential charges of sexual misconduct. fred palkot is following. he has more from london. greg, what prompted that decision? >> reporter: a lot of politics here. it took about an hour, gregg. we're following the press conference from ecuador. they granted political asylum as expected to julian assange the note tore rusz -- notorious wikileaks founder. he is holed up in the embassy here in london. we heard from the foreign office in the u.k., it told us off the record. it changes nothing. they will move forward, they will arrest him the minute he steps out of that embassy. they are told they will not

allow him safe as passage out of the country. they are bringing up little-known law that allows them to enter the embassy grounds if they feel they need to move them. ecuador has goten very upset. basically in breach of bail conditions. he faces that european arrest warden on sexual misconduct in sweden. he appealed it three times. he has lost. the u.k. feels it needs to move. assange is notorious in washington and elsewhere for the wikileaks release of thousands and thousands of classified documents regarding state department, defense department actions and that is the contention of the assange team, backed up as we've been listening to being with door, if in fact if he got extradited to sweden and possibly move onto the united states and face charges there. and maybe face some stern, stern administration against him in the u.s. ecuador basically backs that up. the u.s. has not said

anything publicly on that. the u.k. saying that they will move. they're watching this very closely right now. we have a stalemate in london still regarding this situation. gregg: in other words, gregg, he is essentially trapped inside that embassy in london and his alternatives are, he can either give himself up, or, he can try to secretly escape somehow, or, london authorities height just go in there and grab him inside the embassy, right? >> reporter: exactly. there is a big police presence outside of the embassy. they're seeing whether they would move when this decision was made. they have not moved. if he leaves again the police have said they will move against him when he comes out of the embassy the if he tries to get into a car. from the experts that i've been talking to, they say he could just hole up there for a while longer. perhaps call the u.k.'s bluff and continue this political asylum within the embassy. that embassy by the way across the street from the

very exclusive harrah's department store in london, gregg. gregg: you can be sure they're watching for "the great escape.". we'll be watching as well. greg palkot live in london. thanks very much. martha: we have new details on a bomb threat that grounded a plane departing new york city. it is an airbus a380 that was bound for moscow. it made an emergency landing in iceland. a spokesperson for the russian airline said anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat to the nypd the pilot called an emergency. they touched down in iceland. ail passengers were taken off the plane. a security sweep is now underway. back to politics now. we are awaiting republican vice-presidential candidate, paul ryan. he will be speaking at a campaign rally in ohio a little while from now. president obama and governor romney go head-to-head today over their medicare plans. here is what they're saying

about that. >> the president takes $617 billion out of the medicare trust fund to pay for obamacare. i think this is something which seniors will be very concerned about. >> my plan reduces the cost of medicare by cracking down on fraud and waste and subsidies to insurance companies. their plan makes seniors pay so they can give another tax cut to millionaires and billionaires. martha: congressman ryan wrapping up the two-day swing through the very important state of ohio. critical battleground state. it has 18 electoral votes in ohio. chief washington correspondent james rosen is in north canton, ohio. james, good morning to you. we understand congressman ryan will talk a little bit about foreign policy this morning as well which is an area we haven't seen him delve into yet since has been the vp nominee. >> reporter: that's right, martha. good morning. looks like it will be another overflow crowd for the v vice-presidential

candidate where he will call china to crack down on intellectual property theft as he continues to assail president obama on medicare cuts and unemployment. he will return to yesterday to his alma mater, university of miami at ohio. the obama campaign says the medicare cuts go at doctors and insurers. ryan aims fire at one leading democrat not appearing on no ballot this fall, the senate majority leader. >> there is a guy named harry reid. i'm not sure if you ever heard of him before. [booing]. i guess you have. they haven't passed a budget in three years that is fundamental lack of leadership. we'll lead. we'll get spending under control. we'll get the budget balanced. we'll leave other children a debt-free nation. that is key to job creation. >> reporter: as we know congressman ryan is very enthusiastic about the medicare debate, telling fox

news and others we think we can win this debate. key to that will be the appearance on saturday in central florida, home to many seniors and many medicare recipients, martha. martha: sure is. a lot of buzz in the crowd behind you this morning, james. we also understand congressman ryan will address or has just addressed the, speaking error you might call it. one of joe biden's gaffs. the vice president made pretty controversial remarks in virnia on tuesday. what did he say about that? >> reporter: this was congressman ryan's first statement on those controversial comments from vice president biden. the vice president was speaking, if you haven't already heard about this in danville, virginia, on tuesday. he said that governor romney's proposals, specifically his opposition to the dodd-frank regulations of wall street and the financial services sector, would quote, put y'all back in chains. aides to the vice president said they were playing off romney's frequent quotes on

unshackling the economy and he was not not refering to slavery. >> these are the kind of things when you're desperate in the campaign. i think you will hear nor of these things as they go on. they have a terrible record. they can't run on it. >> reporter: just a few minutes away from congressman ryan here at walsh university in north canton, ohio. once again we're expecting him to talk about china, trade issues, but also once again medicare and the all-important issue of this election, job creation, martha. martha: james, thank you so much. gregg: winning ohio is always key. the buckeye state has picked the winner in the last eight presidential elections. no republican has ever won the presidency without carrying the state of ohio. back in 2008 president obama defeat the senator john mccain by 4 1/2%. that is less than 300,000 votes. we're getting some brand new details about additional speakers for the republican

national convention later this month. some big names have been added including senator robb portman of ohio, virginia governor bob mcdonnell and louisiana governor bobby jindal. remember fox news is america's election headquarters. "america's newsroom" will be live in tampa for the republican convention and in charlotte for the democratic convention as well. the event is august 27th. complete coverage though begins sunday, august 26th. martha: we'll be there. looking forward to that. a lot coming up. some are saying purple may soon be governor romney's favorite color. a new swing state poll out there showing a slight momentum shift in this race in the swing states. this is what everybody is focused on very squarely. we'll take a look at that coming up. gregg: president obama backing joe biden over those chains remarks that james just told us about. >> unchain wall street. [booing] they're going to put y'all

back in chains. gregg: well the romney camp calling it a desperate attempt to drag the campaign to new lows. ♪

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gregg: well the results are in from a us air force test of an experimental jet we've been telling you about. so-called, wave rider. unmanned plane designed to fly six times the speed of sound, getting you believe it or not, from new york to london in under an hour. unfortunately the test didn't go exactly as planned. seconds into the flight the plane broke into pieces over the pacific ocean. the air force saying all right, it is a disappointment but it is part of the process. now on the bright side of things. those traditional flights to london are a great time to catch up on the summer reading. "war and peace". great expectations. martha: we've got new polls

out this morning showing governor romney gaining new momentum in the key swing states. this comes in the immediate aftermath of choosing congressman paul ryan as his running mate. according to purple insights poll, governor romney is edging out president obama by 1% in florida. 48-47. that is well within the margin of error. this florida battleground state carries 29 electoral votes. that is look at what is at stake there. ed rollins joins us. he is former deputy chief of staff of president reagan. he managed re-election campaign for president reagan in 1984. numerous roles in elections we can't count them all. >> good morning. martha: good to have you here. let's go straight to, first your thoughts on the overall, the fact they're making ground. >> you're getting momentum. the key thing ryan has proved to be a real addition here. conservatives are pleased

with him. a smart articulate guy. one of the candidates will grow on you. more people see him on television. he is a great interview, more substance he is able to display more better people feel about the choice. martha: you wanted him to get right into the medicare debate and take it head on. feels like he has been doing that the past few days. >> he has not only been doing that, he has the president and vice president sort of on the defensive. they're having a hard time explaining the facts which obviously they were able to kind of wallpaper over in the course of the cuts that they're making, to obamacare. the great rule in politics is a vice-presidential candidate can help you a little or hurt you a lot. this one is helping us. unfortunately the incumbent vice president is hurting this president. no one has had a worse week than he had. he is stumbling. people talking about replacing him on the ticket. they won't do. martha: you know what state he is in and not sure what century he is in over the

course of the past 24 hours. looks at some numbers. virginia. we want to look at. there is virginia, 45-48 in favor of governor romney. according to one poll. i also want to look at ohio, right after that. as we've been saying all morning and as everybody knows that follows these things you really can't win without ohio. this is flip. obama in this poll led ohio 48-45. romney seeing the biggest gain in ohio. >> ohio is critical state. this is similar. governor kasich had a similar position. chairman of the budget committee. fox contributor for many years. went through this kind of a battle two years ago. my sense is the battleground state. this is the ultimate state that will give us the presidency. martha: ryan helps him in ohio. a big asset in ohio, right? >> the great thing about ohio he will grow on people. he is smart. he is substantive. he will not make the mistakes unfortunately sarah palin did after the initial rush. i think to a certain extent

he knows these issues so well. there is probably nobody on this ticket, including the president. martha: we want this fight. i want people to ask me about what our plan is for medicare. what our plan is for taxes. he is excited for it. >> well he should be obviously is only guy with a plan. as he laid out today, that clip that you had on, harry reid has been in control of the senate. has not passed a budget in three years. the president's budget went down 99-0 to zip in the democrat controlled senate. he is only one who basically understands this issue and pushing it forward. martha: let's put up colorado while we're doing this we talk about sort of the history of meaning of a vp pick, right? do you sense in any way this time, is it different? >> it is a very strong ticket. what it has also done. made romney stronger. romney has been out there on the trail not talking about his taxes or bain capital. he is talking about very substantive issues. obviously that is how he will win this thing. martha: would you advise them to be together more often on the trail?

there has been discussion as well. >> i think that is a good strategy. get a tandem act together. traditionally after a few weeks you send the vice president to raise money or someplace. this is nine states. this is really, at the end of the day you're not talking about 50 states. you could have them together. i think there is great strength. martha: where would you have him concentrating? if you were in charge of the campaign, what would you say to ryan, this is what i want you to do every day? >> basically, three or four times a week he would be in ohio or florida. >> three or four times a week in ohio or florida. he. martha: he went to college in ohio. >> florida is media state. there are 10 media markets. he can do local interviews. be on our network all the time doing a great selling job. martha: ed, thank you so much. >> my pleasure. martha: ed rollins an expert on these issues. we appreciate your input. gregg: four more years, that's what the president says he needs to get the economy on track. didn't he say he could do the job in three years?

remember that? steve forbes straight ahead. >> a new showdown over illegal immigration. arizona governor jan brewer defying the president's new policy that went in effect a few days ago. we'll tell you what jan brewer is up to. >> they're here illegally and unlawfully in the state of arizona. it already has been determined you're not allowed to have a driver's license if you're here illegally. >> opportunities only woman come once in a lifetime and you need to take full advantage of it. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

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gregg: a four-star army general under investigation now for allegedly misusing hundreds of thousands of government dollars on lavish trips. steve centanni live in washington with more. steve, who is in trouble

here and why? >> reporter: yeah, gregg, fox news has been told an investigation by the defense department's inspector general is complete now. it find that four-star general william kip ward, allegedly misused government funds as he traveled around the world. at the time he was in charge of the newly-created africa command and was based in germany. he was the first person to serve in that position. for 17 months the army has been investigating accusations against ward. meantime he has been assigned here in the states to serve assistant to the army's vice chief of staff. defense officials tell fox news it is believed general ward in his position as head of after frick cancom misused his position and spent thousands on hotel and travel and allow family and others to travel on government plane. it could face a possible demotion and could lose about a million dollars in retirement benefits.

meantime he is serving as a two-star major general, gregg. gregg: any idea when a decision will be made on this? >> reporter: we're told defense secretary leon pa he note at that could make a decision by end of the month t could mean a lower rank for the general. the case brings to mind that lavish conference in las vegas thrown by the general services administration in 2010. that event cost taxpayers more than $800,000. there is no word at this point of any criminal charges against general ward. gregg? gregg: who can forget the drumsticks and we're not talking turkey. steve centanni. good to see you. thanks. >> reporter: you too. martha: president obama is defending his vice president joe biden after those controversial comments that critics say were emeant to evoke images of slavery. is this with we're at in this campaign now, folks? plus this. >> seattle mariners, felix

hernandez, the 2-2. he got him! 34 years! 119 games! it finally happened a perfect game by a seattle mariner. it was done by the king!. gregg: not just a no-hitter, a perfect game. all hail to the king. felix pitching for perfection, the 23rd in major league baseball history, saying he did it for the fans.

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martha: president obama speaking out for the first time since the vice president joe biden's controversial comments. here's what he had to say. >> what joe biden was talking about, again, is an example of a substantive argument, a substantive issue that the american people should be concerned about and his phrasing is a distraction from what is at stake. martha: according to the president, what mr. biden meant to say that americans would be worse off if republicans succeeded in dog away with new restraints on banking and financial institutions on wall street. here is the original comment from joe biden. >> romney wants to, he said in the first 100 days he will let the big banks once again write their own walls. unchain wall street. he going to put y'all back

in chains. martha: mixed response as you can hear to that in the crowd. governor romney says that the remark is just an another desperate line of attack, he believes from the obama campaign. joined by troy murdoch, syndicated columnist ranled fox news contributor. >> good morning, martha, how are you? martha: i'm fine. are your thoughts? what do you think about this? >> i was disturbed to hear this comment by joe biden. he goes down south and breaks out the southern accent. guy from delaware suddenly sounds like he is from the mason-dixon line. this is a effort to gin up the brac vote. i think it is race bating. part of a very pattern and obnoxious hateful things we hear from the left. i which president obama would stand up to the man that talked about bringing us all together and not living in red and blue states but. he ought to give a speech, as early as this afternoon

and calling in his supporters to stop talking about racial matters. talking about jim drove being brought back if we have voter i.d. cards. talking about as nancy pelosi said that the republicans are. e e.coli crowd. paul ryan not doing something like but literally killing a lady by throwing her off a cliff. even michelle obama saying if you vote for republicans people will get cancer. this is extremely devisive and obnoxious schuss and would not bring us together as president obama promised when he ran four years ago. martha: if you listen to the dialogue and you ask people how they feel about issues of race in this country right now, the president basically is saying look, you know, his phrase was a distraction to his point. and his point was that if, if you elect mitt romney you will have sort, will be

unleashed on wall street, regulations he believes should be in place won't be there anymore. do you believe joe biden went off script here, that he said something off-the-cuff that was interpretly incorrectly, or do you think he was trying to appeal in that crowd in a way that, you know, that dealt with, dealt with race that catered to them in that way? >> i think the latter. if he wanted to talk about banking reform he should talk about banking reform. i don't think anybody said the banks held americans in chains especially in 2008 when they had the meltdown issue the banks were probably lending too much money to people who couldn't pay back their loans. instead he stood in front of this group in danville, virginia, in the south, predominantly black audience said romney and company would put y'all back in chains this means one thing, which is returning to slavery. you can disagree with mitt romney on taxes you could disagree with them on medicare, but the idea that republicans will bring back slavery is obnoxious and false. it is kind of rhetoric we hear from democrats every

four years when they try to gin up democrats. martha: it talks down to people if you interpret it the way you interpret it, right? >> con descends to black people. con descends to everybody. does joe biden think black folks are so stupid we'll go back to the plantations and go back to slavery. even bringing up that sort of thing is completely inappropriate. it is far beneath the office of the vice-presidency and beneath the kind of politics in this country in 2012, well after jim crow ended, well after the civil war ended. shame on joe biden for bringing up this kind of rhetoric. president obama should call him on the carpet and tell his supporters to drop it, focus on issues and talk about the terrible economy and how we get out of this mess and stop discussions about slavery and e.coli and giving people cancer and sort of the things we heard from the democratic left, the last few months, even before that. martha: interesting. thank you very much for your opinion this morning. good to see you this morning.

>> good to see you. gregg: a new shark sightings off cape cod. got martha's attention here. a fisherman spots what is believed to be a great white while he and his crew were looking fortuna. the shark took the looked about 12 feet long. the boat was only three miles offshore. experts say they're pretty confident it was indeed a great white. a few weeks ago you recall a great white attacking a swimmer 500 yards off cape cod beach. the swimmer suffering bites to his legs. marine experts say the large seal population there is attracting sharks closer to shore and, of course seals is in a lunch and dinner. martha: yummy. they love it. thousands of them out there to eat every day. i wonder if that shark was tagged or not. they have tagged so many of them. i didn't get a close enough look to tell if the shark was tagged. i would be interested to

know. let's look what is going on in the markets this morning. not a whole lot. they will probably react once things get rolling on wall street to the brand new unemployment report that came out earlier today. the dow closed yesterday with a loss of seven points. it is summertime. not a lot of trading going on. volume is pretty low. 13,165 was the close. we'll keep an eye on the markets to see what they're doing throughout the morning. gregg: august, notoriously the lowest volume generally speaking in the stock market. all the indices. thousands of the illegal immigrants, young ones, lining up for work permits under president obama's brand new policy but arizona governor jan brewer drawing a line in the sand. we'll tell you what she is doing. martha: plus asking for four more years to get our country rolling again. >> so if you're willing to work with me one more time, and stand with me one more time. martha: the question on all voters minds, will be what

about the last four years? should the president be given another shot? that is what voters must decide and steve forbes is going to talk about that in a moment coming up. we'll be right back. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide.

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o why not use all your vacation days this year? get points you can easily redeem for your vacations, with chase sapphire preferred. martha: here is what is developing here in america's news room this morning. no criminal charges expected against former hedge fund mf global including top executives like new jersey governor jon corzine. this after disappearance of one billion dollars of customer money one year ago. the whole thing is in the final stages. a branch of the state department that looks into climate programs overseas is accused misspending millions of dollars. a audit points to a number of lapses by the department including sloppy paperwork and missing documents. how about this? olympic runner jeff demps wants to play football. he is a former running back from the university of florida. several nfl teams are

interesting interested in signing the 22-year-old athlete. picture the guys running the sprints going down the football field. you want to put a ball in their hands and say go. gregg: can he hang onto a ball? can he take a hit? martha: he did it in college. gregg: we'll wait and see. he will make a lot of money. a plea for four more years the president telling a group of supporters in iowa. he can jump the start the economy and get people back to work if he has a little more time. >> i till you what. we've come too far it turn back now. [cheers and applause] so if you're willing to work with me one more time, and stand with me one more time, and knock on some doors one more time, and make some phone calls one more time, if you're willing to vote for me this november, we'll win davenport, we'll win iowa, we'll win this election. we'll finish what we started

and we'll remind the world why the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth. gregg: well, juxtapose what he was saying in 2009, february, the beginning of his administration when the president told nbc's matt lauer he had about three years to do the job. >> i will be held accountable. you know i've got four years and, you know, a year from now i think people are going to see that we're starting to make some progress but they're still going to be some pain out there. if i don't have this done in three years there will be a one-term proposition. gregg: recently told a group of donors i will need four more years to finish the job. steve forbes is chairman and editor of chief of forbes media. he joins us live. steve, great to see you. >> good morning. gregg: i want to put up a couple graphics for you to look at. the first is unemployment. there it is, three years ago, february '09. 8.3%. guess where it is now, 8.3%. moving forward now, take a

look, at the debt clock. there it is, almost 16 trillion. we have added 5.2 trillion to the debt. so my question is, by his own standard, and timetable, has the president failed? >> $5 trillion to go nowhere? i think that answers the question in of itself. if you take the labor force participation rate of four years ago, that unemployment rate would probably be in double digits, around 11%. eight years ago, labor participation rate would be 13%. so we're like a car on the open highway. we're going about 20, 25 miles an hour when we should be going 7 are 5 miles an hour. you change drivers, if a team that should win the world series is in last place, you get a new manager. gregg: look, steve, the president says the usual standards for recovery do not apply here because this is a unique set of circumstances, a catastrophic financial crisis, and that terefore,

it's going to take longer. doesn't historical record in america belie that fact? and i'm thinking about the unemployment rate that ronald reagan had to wrestle with, which was higher? >> it was higher and it peaked at almost 11%. and that crisis, in many ways was more severe than this one. the banking system was in far worse shape. you had 20% interest rates, really depressed stock market and bond markets were in the tank. and so he had a very severe crisis, yet when he was running for re-election we were creating two to three million new jobs a year, unemployment was plummeting, america was on the ascendency and people felt this country was on the right track and in the lead again and indeed we were. gregg: i was looking at the bureau of labor statistics 55 months after the recession began. the unemployment and underemployment is close to 15%. steve, normally the deeper the recession the stronger the recovery.

shouldn't we be now, by that standard, in the third year of a raging recovery boom? >> yes. even in the 1970s when we had three ever more severe recessions each one was followed by a snarp shape back. the question became, could i sustain it? it was not until ronald reagan that we could. after every sharp downturn, even in the 1930s we had a sharp snap back until policies got in the way again. we have never had such a feeble recovery in american history from a sharp downturn. gregg: steve, in terms of solutions, the united states has the highest corporate tax rate essentially in the world. would lowering the tax rate from 35% to, say 25%, help american businesses become more competitive and thus grow and add jobs? >> it would indeed. and, why not, why stop at 25. why not go to 15 or 20? some other countries have done. how about simplifying the

tags code so we don't spend 7 billion hours a year filling out tax forms and crazy things like that. stop trashing our own currency. start over again on a health care and get patient control. basic things like that and you will see the economy roaring back. your rep is piling on taxes to make even president obama drool. 75% coming on in france. gregg: to what extent uncertainty over things like health care costs and regulations and taxes detering the hiring of, by small businesses especially and economic growth? >> it is very real you bring somebody on, you usually know what you will pay them and what the fringe benefits are. today you don't know. will it be $2,000, $14,000? will you have to pay a fine because you don't have the health insurance? you don't know. when there is uncertainty you sit on the sidelines. the whole system is paralyzed. federal reserve is punishing savers with capital creation

and risk-taking. the whole thing is convoluted. you get new management. you it didn't try and didn't work and even by president obama's standards three years ago. gregg: the flow of the banking system, is nonexistent. steve forbes, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. gregg: good to see you. martha: president obama calling governor romney's tax plan trickle down snake oil we'll talk to one of the chief architects of reagannomics and get the cold hard facts. gregg: emergency over a dangerous virus carried by mosquitoes and a mayor taking out dramatic steps but it may already be too late. >> three or more human cases of west nile virus in a very tight area. >> i'm concerned about all children and babies. >> they are solid months late on this.

gregg: raging wildfire promptings new evacuation in washington this morning. flames forcing hundreds from their homes in the central part of that state, 75 miles east of seattle. the fire destroying dozens of homes across 35 square miles. hundreds of cattle and other animals have died. more than 800 firefighters are working furiously to control that blaze. it is just about 25% now under control so far. more than 22,000 acres have burned. martha: disturbing new details about the shooting inside the headquarters of a christian lobbying group in washington, d.c. the fbi is now calling this an act of domestic terrorism. now police are crediting the guard that was shot for preventing what could have been a deadly attack. peter doocy has more for us live this morning from washington. peter, what are you learning? >> reporter: martha,

authorities are so far tight-lipped what kind of evidence they have got. but the fbi says taken into custody was floyd crkinss the herndon, virginia. he is being held on charges of assault with a deadly weapon. we have learned from mr. cork kins recently volunteered for the lesbian gay, bisexual transgender community. posed as an tern to get through the entrance of family research council. police were combing his neighborhood looking for clues. a reliable source told us the firearm found at scene of the crime was purchased august 10th six days ago and purchased legally which suggests that the suspect did not have a major criminal record, martha. martha: do we have an update on the injured security guard? >> reporter: we do. his name is leo johnson. he was shot in the arm. in the last hour we heard from the president of the family research council,

tony perkins, who says i was at the hospital when i came out of the surgery shortly before midnight. the surgery went well. when i told him his actions were heroic to protect his colleagues. he told me reacted anyone at frc would have responded. we're grateful for outpouring of prayers literally around the world. the d.c. police chief said leo johnson was a hero. an fbi representative said he went above and beyond what he was supposed to do in that situation. martha, back to you. >> thank you very much, peter doocy. gregg: arizona governor jan brewer taking on the white house issuing an executive order flying in the face of the president's new immigration program. details ahead in a live report. martha: some new poles on medicare with disgorging news for both campaigns. what americans think about the economy. some of these results will surprise you. we'll be right back. hey, i love your cereal there --

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martha: we start with this fox news alert. governor jan brewer is new setting up a new showdown with the obama administration over undocumented immigrants. she's got her own executive order this time as governor of that state. that's how we start a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill. governor brewer denying taxpayer funded benefits to young illegals who get work permits under the president's brand-new policy. this on the same day as thousands lined up to apply for federal permits under president obama's new deferred action plan as it's called. officials say the new program could let a million immigrants

avoid deportation for at least two more years. martha: it's interesting because the new rules do not give illegal immigrants a chance at becoming citizens. and that is why governor brewer argues that they are not entitled to public benefits, she says. here she is. >> with the obama amnesty plan that doesn't make them legally here, because they haven't even applied yet for whatever work permits that they are going to go for. so we will issue an employment authorization card to those people that applied but they will not be entitled to a driver's license, nor will they be entitled to any public benefits. martha: william la jeunesse live on this in los angeles. give us a little more on the reasoning for this. william. >> reporter: arizona in general and governor brewer in particular have been a thorn in the president's side and remain so. brewer is basically saying this is a state's right issue and this could very well become a major campaign issue in some states. in 2004 arizona voters overwhelmingly approved an

initiative that denied public benefits to illegal immigrants. brewer claims that despite the president's decision to give these young illegals work permits and a reprieve from deportation for two years they are still illegal immigrants and not entitled to public benefits. why? because the president did not go through congress which rejected the d.r.e.a.m. act an did not issue and executive order. brewer is basically calling him out saying if this is not a law but prosecutorial discussion then arizona is not obligated to follow it. >> i certainly believe that what the obama administration, when they issued their amnesty that it was, you know, not right. it wasn't proper. i think that it should have gone through congress, i think it should have been determined by the elected officials and just not by the administration all of a sudden deciding immigration laws. >> we are in uncharted waters. illegal immigrants to apply for deferred action will have this

piece of paper from immigration that entitle else them to work and to be in the u.s. legally to get a job for two years. in arizona aside from not being deported, it's somewhat meaningless, they can't get a license, state id or any benefits. martha: looks like it is crying out for further definition. how are people reacting to this? >> reporter: the administration, the ball is in their court. opponents marched on the state capitol complaining about what governor brewer did. some members of the state legislature, democrats basically accused her of political grandstanding, of being mean-spirited and she is putting obstacles in front of these young people. i will tell you that the -- and the arizona democratic party says this amounts to tkpwaou gubernatorial temper tantrum. but she does control.

so they are going to back her up. martha: and she has scorpians for breakfast. william good to say you. gregg: the vice presidental candidate is expected to speak any moment now. the future of medicare is a hot button issue. according to rasmussen reports more voters in the key battleground state of florida are scared of the impact of president obama's healthcare law and how it will have an impact on medicare than they are of the vice presidental candidate paul ryan's proposal. 48 to 41%. we are seeing a similar result in paul ryan's home state of which i wisconsin. 48% to 41%.

we have scott rasmussen. >> the romney campaign is very aggressively taking on the offense in the issue and challenging president obama's performance on it. a lot of americans don't know what they think of paul ryan's plan yet but they do know what they think of the presidential healthcare law and most want it repealed. in florida, senior citizens obviously most affected by this are more likely to be afraid of the president's program than they are ryan's plan. it's still early, gregg, these numbers could flip. both these states vitally close. mitt romney up by two points in florida. he's also up down now in wisconsin which is a change since adding paul ryan to the ticket. that is a state that barack obama won by 14 points last time around. gregg: before i get to the next poll i want to show reviewers, before we get to that, this new ad run by the romney-ryan ticket, which essentially is targeting president obama and

saying, look, he's cutting $716 billion from medicare in favor of obamacare, has that been seen by a lot of folks that you polled? >> i don't know that it's been seen by an awful lot of folk at this point in time, but we do know that during the entire debate over the healthcare law there was a lot of discussion of the cuts to medicare, that's one of the reasons that senior citizens were opposed to the plans and why seniors more than anybody else want to repeal that law. again, any time you have a new person on the national stage like paul ryan you get these instant numbers, democrats and republicans will both make their case over the coming week and we'll see if they hold. if these numbers slip if people become more afraid of ryan ar's plan that is very good news for president obama. gregg: i want to run through new a couple of more polls, this one targets the state of florida, generally speaking how would you rate the u.s. economy these days. there you see the numbers, 1% excellent. 7% good.

fair 38%, and 52% say poor. talk to us about that. >> look, all across the nation most americans every night for the past four years have said our country is in recession, we are seeing the same thing in state after state. people are very concerned about the economy. only 33% believe their own finances are in good shape, that is down 2 points since the president took office. the economy is the first, second and third most important issue in florida and across the nation. the problem that a lot of voters are seeing is they don't think either side has a solution. gregg: all right, scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports. some of the latest polling date a. scott, thank you very much. >> thank you, gregg. martha: fox news alert the taliban is now claiming responsibility for shooting down a nato helicopter in afghanistan. that caused a crash that killed 11 people, including seven u.s. troops. the blackhawk was shot down in the southern part of

afghanistan. we are told that four afghans have also been killed in this. three members of the country's security forces and one civilian interpreter. nato is investigating the crash and has commented on these claims by the taliban. gregg: more than a dozen people are dead in a string of bombings across central and northern iraq. more than half of the blast targeting the city of kirkuk. a car bomb exploded outside a restaurant and a second bomb detonated targeting the officers rushing to the scene and a third attack targeting the home of a military officer. this is at the center of an oil-rich center home t home. martha: we have to warn you that this video is very graphic. people were literally digging

through the double and they were hoping to find their loved ones alive after an assault on a city in syria. it killed at least 40 people and injured 100 others. leland is live. >> it's unclear right now as we are trying to figure out is the syrian air force targeting that residential neighborhood as a warning to the civilians there supporting the rebels if that area, or were they trying to hit a opposition depot nearby? either way the results are horrific and it is difficult at best to watch parents dig through the rubble trying to find their children. many of the 40 killed were indeed children. of the hundred wounded a lot went to the hospital, the hospital became overwhelmed, they had to lock the door and send people across the border to turkey for medical care. this highlights a couple of issues, the syrian rebels do not

have the ability to combat president bashar al-assad's air power and are unable to hold any ground as this war goes forward. number two, there is a huge deficit of medical splice to deasupplies to deal with mass casualties events that happen during this civil war. despite this horrific news and the news that the syrian government is bombing civilian targets the russian government said today they will continue to support president bashar al-assad. it makes it unlikely that we will see a no-fly zone to prevent these attacks. martha: it's hard to watch but it's so important that they be seen so we get a window as to what is truly going on in syria. leland vittert, thank you very much in jerusalem. gregg: confrontation between several nations is now escalating. ecuador about an hour ago said that it was granting asylum to

wikileaks founder julian assange. sweden has summoned ecuador's ambassador, calling the assange decision by ecuador unacceptable, left hand side of your screen there is the embassy where for the better part of two months the wikileaks founder has been hold up trying to avoid prosecution. now his alternatives are as follows. he can either give himself up, continue to hide inside that building or he can try to somehow escape, or london police may just decide to go in there and nab him. and now we are hearing from ecuador being called in by sweden to say, this is unacceptable, can't do it, don't do it. we'll let you know what happens next. martha: this could get interesting. stick around. president obama has slammed governor mitt romney for his tax

plan. the president has dubbed to plan trickle down snake oil, that is his quote from the campaign trail yesterday. we'll take a closer look at his tax plan and talk to art laugher, the architect of reageanomics. gregg: the organization behind feelings to dead people and pets, state officials say they can open the door to voter fraud. martha: a deadly outbreak in texas is becoming a huge story. it's happening in dallas. the city is using a controversial method to stop the spread of this virus. for the first time that we've seen this kind of effort in almost half a century. >> they are pretty bad. i'm more worried about the west nile. i can always clean off whatever she eats, it doesn't matter. i'm more worried about her getting sick. thursday.

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gregg: state of emergency in and around dallas, texas, after a

deadly outbreak of the west nile virus. the dallas mayor has take an controversial step of ordering insecticide to be sprayed from the air in addition to ground spraying. it will be the first time that's happened in almost 50 years. >> i'm in a tight window because we have people dying, okay? we have to have a sense of urgency to get this done now. that is the most important thing. i want to take the politics out of it. i want to say this is my responsibility. i will take the heat for it, and i think that is the right places to be. gregg: critics are saying that aerial spraying won't really do much. supporters argue we are only halfway through the typical west nile season, something has to be done and done now. 14 people have died from the west nile virus in texas, hundreds more have become sick. martha: back to politics now. president obama slamming the romney-ryan tax plan saying that the republican ticket is just trying to trick americans, he says, into thinking that their

policies are going to work. here is what he said. >> they have been trying to sell this trickle down snake oil before, and guess what, it didn't work then, it won't work now. secretly i think they know this. i think they know their plan is not very popular. you can tell that because they are being pretty talking about my plan. they are throwing everything at the wall to see fit sticks especially about medicare. martha: art laffer is a former reagan staffer. do you think it will work? >> no i don't e. was at the university of chicago he should have taken some of the economics courses there. trickle down economics, which is the practice skwroe the

pejorative way of calling it. you had kennedy with his supply side or trickle down economics, beautiful it was called the kennedy go-go 60s. you had the four stooges, johnson, ford, nicks con and carter. you had reagan with trickle down economics. you have clinton with supply side or clinton economics, which was a boom. now you have bush and obama with sort of the same sort of bad economics and the results are pretty terrible, martha. what can i tell you. i wish he'd take a course in economics. martha: you know, here is what i think on the campaign trail. it's a compelling argument if you tell most people in america, you know, if you say, look, the rich folks are not paying their fair share. if we could just get them to do that then you guys won't have it so rough. i think most people would hear that and say, well that makes

sense to me, if you're not in that at category you're going to say, why shouldn't they pay more? >> the question is we have the bottom half that doesn't pay any. there are any income taxes collected from the bottom half. the wop 1% said something like 40%. there is only so much more you can take. if you take it these people know how to get around it. these are the people who create the jobs, output and employment. if you get them to close down their packet tees and operations you're going to get exactly what obama has got even. martha: you said that they know how to get around it. one of the things that i think maybe is not talked about enough is that some of the plans that we've seen, and this is involved in the romney plan as well, i believe, is that it would lower the tax rate for the wealthist americans. it would lower the tax rate for corporations. >> sure woman. martha: wsure would. martha: a lot of the loopholes you just referenced would be

gone. if those are gone you are going to generate revenue into the tax stream. i think that is something if you take away the loopholes i think that is something that people could relate to and wouldn't mind hearing more about. >> you said it perfectly, martha. that is exactly right. that's what we did with the 86 tax act we dropped the highest rate from 50% to 28%, got rid of all these deductions, exclusions, exemptions and loopholes. martha: which makes those people pay more taxes. >> because we got people off the unemployment roles on to the tax roles, onto growth, output and employment. it worked beautifully and the democrats supported us. joe biden voted with us. chris dodd voted with us. chuck schumer voted with us. barbara boxer voted with us. these people know, if you want to tell the truth about obama he knows. he would never run his family budget the way he runs our country's budget.

none of them would ever run their family business the way they propose running our country's business. it's just bad economics, it doesn't work. and we've got to get to supplies-side progrowth where people get rewarded for doing well. martha: do you feel confident that romney-ryan would do that, that they would be able to pass that kind of plan and institute the real kind of tax reform we're talking about here which would flatten out the tax curve considerably and get rid of the loopholes we are talking about. >> i really think that is true. i'm a big fan of mitt romney's. i've known him for a longtime. i think he's a really good person and would make a great president. his experience is in the private sector with a small stint as governor. if you look at paul ryan, his experience in the public sector really complaints the sort of romney ryan rya-ryan ticket. you'll get a reagan style,

kennedy style clinton style boom. no one really understands what clinton did but he cut government spending during his all eight years more than any other president. martha: you're coming up with a very bayh par very nonpartisan historical look at it. >> it's just economics. martha: always good to talk to you. thank you. gregg: fireworks in the race to the white house. governor romney saying the attacks from the left are getting u-g-l-y. >> they've had have ithey are demeaning the office of the presidency. martha: let's talk about the golden ticket that someone just woke up hundreds of millions of

dollars richer. who is the lone powerball winner, and is it gregg jarrett? that is the kwef the question of the moment. gregg: it is not. martha: not me either. ♪ it's the golden ticket. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] this is the land of giants. ♪ home of the brave. ♪ it's where fear goes unwelcomed... ♪ and certain men... find a way to rise above. this is the land of giants. ♪ guts. glory. ram. ♪ proud to and on our own

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yeah i want to try this shrimp and i want to try this kind. th wait for this all year long. [ male nouncer ] red lobster's endless shrimp is back, but only for a limited time, for just $14.99. try as much as u like any way you like, like new teriyaki grilled shrimp or new parmesan crusted shrimp, for just $14.99. [ angela ] creating an experience instd of just a meal that's endless shrimp. my name is angela trapp. i'm a server at red lobster and i sea food differently.

martha: about 24 minutes past the hour right now. a hearing is set for today for two penn state officials charged in the child sex-abuse scandal. lawyers for athletic director tim curley and retired vice president gary schultz will try to convince the judge to dismiss the charges tkpwaeupblgz them against them in that case. and there is new evidence that your genes may protect you against dementia. people who don't suffer from

dementia are less likely to have relatives who suffer from dementia. let's hope we have those genes, folks. jennifer aniston is taking an unusual step to keep the details of her impending wedding top secret. she is said to be leaking false information to her so-called friends about the wedding so she will be able to pinpoint the inner leaks in her circle. martha: i do this all the time. put out false information to figure out which of your friends -- come on. gregg: maybe she is afraid that angelina jolie will show up. martha: i could care less. gregg: she got an 8carat emerald-cut diamond ring. that is big, that is huge. secret winning tickets in the $337 million powerball jackpot. this is the fourth largest powerball prize ever. i checked my tickets, not happening for me.

julie banderas with all the details in our newsroom. where was the ticket sold. >> reporter: 8carat diamond will be a drop in the bucket for a single winning ticket. it could be a group or pool. it's $337 million worth sold at a gas station in michigan in a town called lapier45 miles north of detroit by the way. so far no word on who the win error winners may be or if anyone has stepped forward to claim the prize. in case you you missed last night's drawing though here are the winning numbers again followed by my phone number. i'm kidding about that part. the michigan lottery does confirm somewhere in their state there is a lucky winner. we'll just have to wait to find out who that is, gregg. gregg: any other winners out there, people who didn't actually get the powerball itself or some of the others. >> reporter: there were eight tickets that matched five of the winning numbers.

those are worth a million dollars each. two of those tickets were sold in indiana, the others were sold in kansas, kentucky, new jersey, which is right around the corner here. new mexico, pennsylvania and virginia. there was also a ticket sold in nebraska that added the power play to win $2 million. and of course you know it's not unusual for the big winner to wait a little while before coming forward to claim the prize and when they do we'll let you know. remember last time there was that false alarm, that woman who came out and she said she had the ticket hidden in the mcdonald's or something. gregg: and she couldn't find it. >> reporter: there are some interesting characters that come out of the closet during these lottery winners. martha: crazy. gregg: thanks julie. martha: there are new concerns about voter fraud ahead of the november elections. why did one group send registration forms to people who have no business voting? and the forms were already filled out. they have no business because they are no longer with us i think. that is coming up in a live report. gregg: a wild rescue caught on

tape. look as a child gets himself in a very tight spot. yikes. we are going to show you how they got him out of there. ♪ here i am stuck in the middle with you. yes, i'm stuck in the middle with you. and i don't know what it is i should do. so hard to keep the smile off my face. ♪

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martha: governor romney repeating claims that the obama team is running a desperate campaign filled with reckless and dishonest attacks in his opinion. here he is. >> his campaign and the people who support him have launched a series of vitriolic attacks on a personal basis which i think is really demeaning the office much thof the presidency. it's unfortunate that these ads are dishonest and distorting. their degrading nature i think diminishes the white house. martha: let's bring in our panel, both are fox news contributors. good to have you both here this morning. i want to jump right in and play what brit hume said last night when he was speaking with greta van sus trep van susteren. >> this is ugly. about as ugly as i've seen it get. i've covered a lot of

campaigns. this is pretty rough. i think some of the things that have been said about mitt romney and as you pointed out, you know, that harry reid allegation was just unbelievable. i've rarely seen anything like that as someone as senior as the senate majority leader. these off the cuff comments that come from people like senator biden. he may not have meant it. joe biden is personally a nice guy. he's said these things from time to time, these remarkable things and it's been pretty rough. martha: it has been pretty rough. when you look at it. and there is the charge that harry reid comes out and says, oh, well i heard, i heard he doesn't pay his taxes. i can't tell you who said it, i can just tell you that's what i heard. he's been called a felon, he's been called a murderer if you take a look at that ad, doug. is this the roughest campaign you've ever seen in. >> i've seen a lot. i was in the white house for the 1996 campaign for bill clinton, and we tried then to stick as close as we could to the issues of the day, and i think we succeeded.

but the premise of brit hume's comments are exactly right. this is down and dirty. i would say that the republican primary was pretty tough on its own right, and there is a larger issue though, and i think monica would agree with me, the real issues of the campaign get lost in these smears, counter smears back and forth. we are not talking about the debt, the deficit, job creation, economic growth, we are not having serious debates about that, we're in an environment, martha, where the result, and i'm not saying there is causality, is that we really have a violent attitude. i think it's tragic what happened at the family research council, my heart goes out to them. i think we all have to understand we have to lore the tone to avoid a harshness and hostility creeping into our politics leading to very, very sad outcomes. i think brit was right and i hope we can move away from it. the obama campaign does deserve

to be condemned for tactics that have no place in this campaign. martha: it really takes the person at the top, i think, in this situation, to stand up and say, i'm not going to accept this in my campaign i don't want to hear this kind of talk, and so far there is no signs that the obama administration and the campaign have any plan of doing that, monica. >> yeah, no, that is right. doug has been around campaigns for a longtime, we've all witnessed them. presidential campaigns in particular can get really brutal. nobody is naive about that. what bothers me about the conversation here is the moral equivalent, that somehow both campaigns are equally guilty of doing this. to doug's point about how the issues are getting lost, one of the big reasons if not the biggest reason why team obama keeps trying to smear governor romney, and again none of us are naive here but to go out and repeatedly call him, a felon, a tax cheat, a murderer and according to joe biden an aspiring slave owner is because

team obama can't talk about the issues. they don't want to talk about the issues. there is no economic record for him to run on therefore by default he's going into the smear mode. all governor romney is trying to do is actually talk about the issues, but he is now forced on the defensive to try to defend himself on fend off these very, very vicious attacks. so i think to draw moralee kweuf lance and equate the two campaigns is absolutely incorrect. it's team obama who has resorted to this and he should be held to account. to your point, the fish does rot from the head. in terms of this campaign president obama himself the president of the united states will not condemn this kind of language and it looks like he's condoning it. martha: let's talk about the romney side and whether or not they are guilty of any of this as well. doug, you pointed out in your first comments that it got pretty ugly during the nomination process. newt gingrich was very angry and upset about the way he was treated during the primary season in this. when we go through and look at

what is the worst thing that the romney campaign has thrown at him, when i looked at the comments from the obama campaign about this they say the president is desraoeufs, that it's a campaign of hate, they find that to be an equivalent to what has been thrown at mitt romney and also the charge that the president is degrading the presidency, which is a pretty strong charge, doug. >> it is, but to me, again, martha, the problem is that since governor romney has not defined an alternative set of policies, and he's a blank slate the obama campaign has been running negative ads, some of which do go over the line, but they've been working and it's the reason why the race is tied. and i would say to governor romney, the best way you can elevate this campaign is to talk specifically about your plan for america to revitalize the country and then the negative ads will stop working. bottom line, i think we -- both side need to change the tone, and monica would i would say to you it's not who is worse but who could be better. we are all americans, we want to

revitalize this country. we can't sustain the economic conditions and the politics we are now living with. >> you know what, doug i agree with you on that. that's why i think romney's comment that we just rolled there was so effective not just in terms of the complaint and what he's dealing with with team obama but also the tone. he's talking about what he's facing from the obama team more in sadness than in anger and i find that very effective. >> i think you would agree that he has been far more negative than positive in the campaign. he would do well to change the tone of his remarks. >> we need happy warriors here. martha: we are already in october and it's august in terms of the tone. whoever gets desperate on either side it gets pretty ugly. we've seen it, all of us many times. great to see you both. >> thanks. gregg: new concerns about a program meant to promote voter registration. people in several states receiving forms partially filled

out, some of the names of their pets or relatives who are no longer alive. even people not legally allowed to vote say they have received forms telling them to register. it's coming from a group called the voter participation center. eric shawn is live with the latest. tell bus this group. >> this is a voter registration form, it looks official but it was mailed by that private group trying to get people to complete the form and mail it to election officials. the group, the voter participation center is a washington d.c.-based organization engaged in voter registration. but across the country their mailings have in some cases gone to dead people, noncitizens, children, eve even dogs and cats. only 10% of the forms turn out to be valid. he charges what the group is doing can lead to voter fraud. >> i understand there will be errors, there always is, but to

the magnitude of what we are getting here in louisiana, or did get is just -- it's ridiculous, and i think it needs to be exposed for what it is. >> reporter: in virginia the romney campaign demanded an investigation of the group's mailings. the state board of elections declined but did request changes in future mailings, gregg. gregg: what exactly is the group saying? >> reporter: the group says it's only trying to help people po register people who are under represented, people such as single woman, and minorities. they say that claims of possible voter fraud in their operation are quote, far tefpd fetched. they say they regret any mistakes and they are trying to fix any problems. >> there are going to be tighter screening processes in place and things will be continually improving, and these opportunities for someone filling out a form who shouldn't receive the form in the first place will be reduced more and moreover time. >> reporter: the group touts it's nonpartisan status. critics have pointed out that many of its officials of former

democratic political officials and consultants. mr. tomorrow as insists what it does is nonpartisan and so far they have registered 1.5 million people. gregg: thanks so much. eric. martha: a group of former special forces operatives are calling out the commander in chief and scolding president obama for taking credit for the killing of osama bin laden. we are going to play you this controversial ad and we'll report it and talk about it, you can decide what you think about this one. gregg: a n u.n. and her friends are trapped in a car surrounded by rising floodwaters and nowhere to go. my goodness, what happened next? in three minutes. >> it was frightening, believe me. >> i didn't realize it was so deep and my car went through and then in the middle of the street it started sinking.

martha: wait until you see this. a daring rescue after flash flooding in new york city

trapped an 86-year-old nun and two of her friends in their car. a fast-moving storm caught them off guard. emergency crews and another's pho*eand other pho*e motorists and the erred their prayers and brought them to safety. >> the car went dead and it started to float and the water started to come through. >> they were asking for help and we needed to give it to them. if not we would have had three people who would have drowned. martha: thankfully no one was injured in that. that was a rain storm yesterday around here. gregg: new controversy today from ra group o a group of military and intelligence operatives slamming president obama aoe he's bragging about the killing of osama bin laden and suggesting that the white house is behind a string of security leaks. >> i don't see why anybody would

purposely put lives in jeopardy. >> it is my civic duty to tell the president to stop leaking information to the enemy. gregg: the obama campaign dismisses the videotape comparing it to swift boat veteran ads that attacked democratic presidential candidate john kerry back in 2004. general jack keane is a retired four-star general, former vice chief of staff of the army and a fox news military analyst. president obama denies it. if it turns out to be true that the white house leaked classified, national security information to gain political advantage do you think it's fair for these exofficers to be leveling this kind of public criticism of the president? >> first of all this special operations community is a unique organization in and of itself. the elite of our military, and

the special operations forces we sr-r the very best in the world and we value their service. like any americans they have a right to speak out separate from their active duty service now in a retired status. i think, you know, fundamentally i don't believe they begrudge necessarily the president of the united states who takes some credit for a decision that had such a decisive result as the osama bin laden raid did, and was so personal to the american people. i think at the heart of this is the frustration that they feel, and others feel in the united states to deal with these security leaks, because the leaks are so dangerous to those who are serving, and others who are operating in the intelligence community. gregg: i want to ask you about that specifically. congressman peter king who sits on the intel committee in the house and also chairs the homeland security committee said this. and we'll put it on the screen. the leaks clearly came from -- come from the oval office and the situation room. their obvious intent is to aid

the president's re-election. now he's a republican. the white house, he further states, leaks put the lives of u.s. service members, intelligence officers and civilians at risk. but a democrat in the u.s. senate, dianne feinstein who is chair of the intel committee in the senate says it jeopardizes national security. how does it do that, sir? >> well, i think fundamentally in two ways. admiral bill mccray convenient who is the combatant commander for special operations command and oversaw the osama bin laden when it took place, he has publicly said that these leaks could endanger the lives of his special operations forces and they have to stop. and he has said that publicly as a serving active duty officer. that tkra ma tiesess how serious they are. the second thing is the leaks reveal the ongoing covert cyber operation that we were executing

against iran. and i've never seen anything quite like that in my -- all my years of service, and the leaks also outed a double agent who was a member of the al-qaida who was working for us. and can you imagine the other double agents in the world who were doing the same thing and what that does to the c.i.a. case holders who are working with people who are putting their lives at risk every single day. there is no doubt that national security is impacted by the scale and scope of the leaks. gregg: and senator feinstein suggested acts of criminality may have happened here associated with these leaks. general, jack keane, thank you so much for being with us. good to see you. >> good to see you, gregg, as always. martha: let's go next door now to jenna lee who is getting ready for "happening now" today. hi. jenna: a couple of big topics to cover today. a top republican is suggest inch thsuggesting the president should simply drop joe biden from the ticket. is that a good strategy? arizona governor jan brewer says

those in those country with temporary legal status will not get things like driver's licenses in the state of arizona. is she right? is that legal? we'll talk about that. for anyone who uses antibacterial soaps or detear gents, a new study says a chemical found in a lot of these common products leads to a whole new set of health problems. more reason to stay inside and just watch the news all day, right? we'll talk about that. martha: moreeason not to carry around all that stuff in your purse . clear it out. thank you very much. gregg: or your man bag. martha: exactly, or your man bag stpwhaofplt look a look at this little boy, that is the worst video. somehow he got stuck between two concrete pillars. they had to really work hard to get him out safely. we'll show you what happened. gregg: get him out, quick. [ angry ] i just ate an untopped triscuit. and it was delicious. angry satisfied customers... see? mmm...delicious! people who've been robbed of the great tte of an topped triscuit,

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this all summer this severe drought in many parts eve of the country having an impact on the mighty mississippi river as well. water levels are getting close to record lows there. mike tobin is live in memphis on this. it's hard to believe a yor year ago you were down there because the mississippi was at record-level flood stages. a whole different story now. >> reporter: it's amazing. a year ago at this time the water would have been 50 feet over my head if i was standing in this exact place. transportation becomes slower and more costly and treacherous with lack of water. ultimately it cost you money. 50 to $60 billion of cargo moves up the mississippi every year. it drains water from 40% of the continental u.s. so when mid america is dry the

big river isn't so big and the giant barges are at risk of running aground. >> the coast guard is working wind straoe to assure that the impact is minimal. we have safety advisers in place. >> reporter: here is where the river level ultimately gets to your pocketbook. in normal time a tugboat could push one ton of cargo 616 miles for one gallon of diesel fuel. now with the river low they with push fewer barges, simply put it cost more to get things down the river. that river is an artery for everything from corn to fuel. >> freight is so much more expensive it's going to be passed on. i heard the other day where they are expecting food prices to go up 5 to 7% and this will be part of that increase. >> reporter: and today the water is just about two feet above the record lows of 1988. the good news is that the army core of engineers has been hard at work dredge and setting up infrastructure intending to focus the water to the main channels. the only shut downs have been

for nighttime navigation and when a barge runs aground. martha: interesting story. beautiful part of the country. thank you so much. gregg: it's meant to protect you of course from germs. just how safe is that hand sanitizer you've been using? well, we'll tell you coming up.

gregg: incredible videotape out of china take a look at this. rescue teams working to free a little boy whose head is lodged in a concrete balcony. take a look at that. you can clearly see the little boy is terribly scared there. firefighters very, very careful using spreading pliers to expand the hole so the boy's head to slip out. he's okay, just a little upset. martha: oh, his little face is so cute and all his family is all waiting for him with open arms when he gets out of there. i don't think he's ever going to try that trick again, i just have a feeling. gregg: how did he get his head in there in the beginning. martha: he was looking at