>> gretchen: sneakers. $300 sneakers. >> too opinionated for early in the morning. thanks a lot. and have a great "fox and friends" starts right now. >> gretchen: good morning to you . it is wednesday august 22nd. i am gretchen carlson. remember this comment from president obama that got business ownered fired up? >> you a business. you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> gretchen: the back lash was not good . paul ryan is headed to that scene to offer his vision. >> steve: republicans bracing for unpredictabluations. first the big storm brewing in the gulf. and second vice-president joe

biden is taking a trip down to tampa. >> and high school vald dick torrian meant to say heck and said hell. now will not get her diploma. is it lel? "fox and friends" starts right now. ♪ ♪ "fox and friends". >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. we have eric bowling sitting in here today. i watched the five working out and saw bob was doing everything in his power to shut you up. >> eric: he gets that way. >> steve: sibling. >> eric: uncle thing. >> gretchen: i that was coming. >> eric: did you see the finger . he gave someone the finger. >> steve: he's got mrca and we are like sit over there?

>> gretchen: hopefully he's on the mend. >> steve: last week joe biden went off of the teleprompter and said mitt romney will put y'all back in chains. today paul ryan will be in virginia where president obama went off the teleprompter a moment or two and said this he would really like to take back . >> if you got a business. you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> steve: she's given the republicans a hammer to beat him with. >> eric: in fact the republican convention tuesday speeches we built this in response to the friday 13th gaffe president obama made when he was off of the teleprompter. paul ryan will say we did build this.

it is a great thing. when president obama said you didn't build that he exposed what he is. he is a big government guy. if you built a business it is l fault. it defines the difference between obama administration and the entrepreneurial spirit. >> gretchen: who will introduce paul ryan today? it will be the owner of the bakery. how did they come to the forefront of people's mind. that bakery is where vice-president joe biden's staff came in and wanted to do a pressentious vent they -- pres event. thank you but i don't agree and i will take a pass. he will be introducing

congressman ryan today. >> steve: the people will be handing out cookies in the event. that is a bonus if you decide to spend your day in roanoke listening to paul ryan. >> eric: it cost that guy $25,000 because they had to shut it down. you can't explain crum and get it bakery to back off. funny stuff. president obama releasing a brand new campaign adjust days after facing the artecle alleging he should be more focused on solving property. >> there an arcticle that laid out a new obama administration strategy of getting america's poor children out of the poverty.

and the education secretary arnie duncan is quoted that he and the president believe only way to end poverty is through education. and the president obama administration released a new ad called children. >> mitt romney supports paul ryan's budget that cuts education 25 percent. >> >> the mitt romney campaign spokesperson said when it comes to the education system, the republicans offer a better life and saying this is more of the same from the president who hasn't fixed the economy and hasn't kept his promises to the young people. the romney campaign will help graduates and all americans

enjoy a future. on monday congressman ryan said this. >> there are things to do to get more transparency so educators and school of catholic higher education temperature is a great education. [applause] >> we want them to compete for your business as a student based on quality and outcome and affordability. that kind of competition works everywhere. >> but the president said all of the big checked should be signed over to the schools. >> over the next two and half months, the other side will spend more money than we have ever seen ever. i mean, they got folks writing 10 million dollar checks. 20 million dollar checks. and they should be contributing that to a

scholarship fund to send children to college. >> and something else the rom no campaign said under president obama too many young americans are suffering from high college costs and we expect the battle for their vote to continue to play out and so many colleges are important swing states. >> steve: peter mentioned the money. more good news for team romney. the romney campaign and the republicans as well. they have 185 million funds waiting for the general election and president obama is 50 million behind. >> eric: president obama spent more than million - on 10 million than they took n >> gretchen: this morning we are talking about spaghetti.

i am about to get hungry for spaghetti and meatballs it is a spa spaghetti strategy. paul ryan called taa. you throw everything against the wall and you see what sticks. here is a quote from the congressman. you can tell with what i call with president obama's spaghetti. they will throw stuff to see what sticks because the president can't run on his agenda. look how bad it is. >> steve: something else paul ryan said in chester, pennsylvania. he said and this is funny. remember the other time, when he, the president of the united states said people want to cling to their guns and religion. i am a deer hunter and i am happy to cling to my guns and religion. >> eric: paul ryan is right.

president obama can't run on his record . he has gasoline prices 103 percent higher than when he took over . household net worth is down 35 percent. >> gretchen: i know we will talk about gas prices. i can't believe that topic doesn't have more traction. >> eric: is it is going in to the debates and election. four dollar gallon gasoline. >> gretchen: people are paying it thinking that that is where we are now. >> eric: high cost goes hand in hand with the main stream media which during the george bush days made it a headline. we don't hear much about it unless you are watching here. >> gretchen: speaking of headlines, this is a breaking news open. u.s. open referee lois goodman appearing in a different

court. goodman was arrested on the way to the u.s. open tennis for killing her 80 year old husband in april with a coffee mug. she told police in los angeles it was not murder he had fallen down the stairs. congressman to akin defying the republican pressure for dropping out of the race in missouri. several prominent republicans called on akin to step down after he made conroversial comments about rape. akin said he feels like he can win. akin hoping to win could control which party controls the senate. graffiti on upon roof of the tampa building one block where the republican national convention will be. >> there is a small percentage

meant on disruption and those are the individuals that will be dealt quickly and those are the individuals that left those items on the rooftop. >> gretchen: they are watching isaac, not a person. yes, a rop top storm off of the florida cost and making its way north. rnc has a back up plan should the weather become an issue. zack zack not the sook -- isaac not the only guest. vice-president biden may tryy to crash. this ignores an unofficial campaign of toning it down during the other campaign's convention. what do you expect? >> steve: when we were in st. paul in our tent outside of the excel center, that was the last time joe biden was on the

program in the republican convention . he was doing satellites and what not. >> gretchen: there was also a hurricane on the first day and they cancelled the republican convention . >> eric: you guys will be in a tent. if there is a hurricane. >> gretchen: batten down the hatches. >> eric: going to be real good tv . >> gretchen: we'll have to go inside in the basement. and we'll come crash on your set. >> steve: we are not afraidd of the weather. >> eric: don't bring bide boyd. >> gretchen: does the president's health care bill have a bonus buried inside for his supporters. what the law might do for the union. >> eric: and how the simpsons took tax payers for a million bucks .

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>> gretchen: much has been said about the cost of the affordable care act and the power of the government to make personal choices. but our next guest said that there is a hiden agenda and at the same time benefiting the president's biggest supporters and that would be union. government unions control america and rob taxpayers blind. he found proof that obama care secretly designed to boost the power of big labor. i understand the book came out yesterday and doing welll. >> steve: it is. >> gretchen: what made you interested in health care and unions? >> steve: - on

>> it didn't start that way. it was growth and unemployment and follow the money it leads back to the government unions and the shadow boss says. >> gretchen: you say health care and obama care was a give me to the unions. >> it is huge for the unions. right now 1.5 unized health care woers. under obama care you will have 21 million health care workers and a lot of those can be unized and every million people that can unionize, that is a billion dollars in dues. government employee unions take in huge amounts of monies. huge. >> gretchen: talk about the waivers that they were able to get. i find that fascinating, the unions were behind obama care and applied for waivers

because they didn't want to have to pay so the waivers cover 88 percent by yown -- unions. >> that caused the cost of obama care to go up. but that was not the real issue. they just wanted more. and remember en government employee unions buy their politicians, they want to make sure they stay bought and dictate everything they get. government employee unions are the greatest scam perpetrated on the american people. >> gretchen: in what way? >> it is a scam money goes from the politician back to the union back to the politicians . no one is representing the taxpayer. the taxpayer should be out in the street asking the politicians who is the shadow bosses? american peoplor government

union heads. >> gretchen: you talk about national security employees was unionized. >> 20 percent of our department of defense has been unized. we have 700,000 civilian workers and 60 percent of those is unionized and what they do being unionized, they file greviance. one file would a greviance that cost our government a lot to defend because they raised the soda rate 50 or 55 cent for a can of sode a. 40 percent of the homeland security has been unionized and border patrol agents and immigration agents. it is amazing and parts of the coast guard and it is all going on without anybody realizing it unions take in 14 billion a year in dues and it may be as high as 20. >> gretchen: that is interesting analysis. and no one did it before.

and mallory factor did it and shadow bosses is out. >> gretchen: should students be tested for heart problems before they are allowed to play. can your dream come true? million dollar jackpot. the casino made a mistake and now they want their money back. mornings aren't alwayserfect.

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>> steve: quick wednesday morning headlines. a southwest plane struck by

lightning in the vegas airport. the plane was parked in the gate when it was hit. eight crew members was on board but not injured. the plane was taken out of service for safety sake. bizarre twist in the train derailment in maryland. it forced the 911 pretrial hearing in gitmo to be delayed it is disrupting internet service. fiber cuts was the cause. the trial hearings set to start tomorrow. >> state of the pennsylvania is asking high school coaches to take additional responsibility and keeping an eye out on a condition . should it be man dated that students be tested before they hit the field. i was reading up on this.

the numbers are staggering . how many people's kids die because of sudden cardiac arrest. >> 7000 kids die from cardiac arrest. what is most disturbing, the vast majority don't know they are it. you have a son playing sports and i am concerned about this. representative mike derib has kids the same age and he's concerned and he's author of the law. >> the man date of legislation is to remove the child from the field if symptoms occur. a coach can't furn their head on symptoms of a cardiac arrest. part of the train law is to address the on field scenario. if you see the symptoms that that child is removed and

directed to a cardiologist or medical doctor. >> people have symptoms and don't know what they are. >> what are they? >> fatigue and heart is race shortness of and blackout. >> doc, they are symptoms of being winded when you are running up and down the field in 90 degrees. >> i feel if you have a symptom a cardiologist should know. i introduced drew harington who was screened in time but almost died. >> during the summer and vacation . we take a family vacation to cape cod, massachusetts. i ft my heart beat fast and i didn't know what was happen thought i had too much sugar and i had no idea and that's when i thought may need to see

a doctor. >> eric: that's why it is important, dock. the kids can be safe. >> for every 7000 there is kids that can be saved. they can do things. they can fix your heart and do surgery and go on medication and goa back on the field it is not that you will not play sports again. you need medical treatment first. >> eric: what is the lesson to partners. >> don't think it is just coca-cola. you think it is the heat. and i will have gatorade and water. get checked by the physician . >> eric: high school valedictorian meant to say heck but said hell will not get her diploma. is it legal?

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>> have you heard this there are accusations that the white house is feeding questions to reporterings. i don't know if this is true. i watched the president's press conference yesterday. it looked like you be the judge. >> mr. president, a couple of questions with the economy what can we expect. [inaudible] >> very funny. >> that is one of the members of the press corp that might be asking a tough question

there. >> steve: he said in 2008 maybe the main stream media was not quite fair. >> gretchen: if you are just waking up. a underground subway blast in manhattan. check out the amazing security camera footage that captured the explosion . >> eric: woah. >> gretch: the explosion tooked people on the sheet. and it shot debreese eight stories high. they put a protective cover over the wrong hole in the planned explosion . the blast knocked people off and damaged businesss and a witness said it was scary. >> just doing the regular blasting for the subway and there was a loud bang after the blast. and it was a lot of smoke coming out. >> gretchen: the chairman of the mta calling the blast

unacceptable. >> steve: there is extreme weather in northern california where a wildfires destroyed buildings. many of them homes. the fire spread over 33 square miles and officials were forced to close road and highways and a mother-in-law in shasta county. the firefighters were called in to help the fire fights to get it under control. there is a lot of wildfires out west. >> eric: atlantic city suing 14 gamblers who won after realizing the cards were not shuffles. the players noticed the same sequence of card and they raised l bucks from 10 and 5000 and won. and now the casino wants the winnings paid back and suing the card makers for the

unshuffleled decks. the lawyer for the players said they did nothing wrong. >> steve: that's why it is called gambling. >> gretchen: nothing knew when homer simpson bungled and sd. (yelling) >> gretchen: but his latest screw up leaves the u.s. postal service on the hook. u.s. is losing 1.2 million of unsold simpson stamps. a new report revealed that it printed one billion stamps to mark the show's anniversary and only 318 million were sold . you can't do a half price sale. >> eric: you blame home are for that. >> steve: you have to pick the stuff who wanted. >> eric: who is the genius who wanted sell the stamps >> chris: one of the genious who

runs the post office. we'll bring dick morris in. >> good morning, new yorkers always have a blast. >> steve: thank you very much. thanks to our wrong protective cover. in this skegment you are going to star long side paul ryan . we'll play sound bites and this is how he's been framing obama care versus medicare and fixing it, listen. >> you will hear a lot from president obama and yes from joe biden. you are hearing a little bit about medicare these days . what they will not tell you, they turned medicare into a piggy bank to fund obama care. they took 716 billion from medicare to pay for the obama care program. >> steve: with these three sound bites, figure out how

effective of a running mate mr. ryan is. and how he framed the medicare debate. what do you think? >> i think that is brilliant idea of the piggy bank expresses it wonderfully . ryan when i met with him a couple of times, i word that he was too much of a policy wonk. but he has a great way of phrase and simplifying it. it is a complex transaction and to call it a piggy bank is accurate and something that everyone can happened. and preempt the main obama attack which is on romney over medicare. because they are claiming that romney and ryan might hurt medicare in 10 years. they won't, but they are claiming that. obama hurt it last year. >> gretchen: so does the piggy bank line trump throwing granny off of the -- >> yes, they scooped the money

out . give a senior citizen or someone over 55 a choice between risking that other people may find medicare cut in 10 years and they themselves not getting medical care because the program is cut now and in the next few years it is obvious what they will choose. >> eric: i studied paul ryan's plan. he called it a piggy bank. social security was supposed to have two trillion and they took the money out and put iou. under obama care they are doing the same thing, right, dick. >> worse, there is no iou. the social security buys government bonds just like you and i do or a bank does. they are redeemable in court. they can recovery that money.

the medicare money is a budget cut where they don't spend the money and they give it to obama care and there is no iou left. that money is gone. how he's helping to frame now that the president changed the welfare to work requirements. here is a sound bite. >> look at how president obama walked us back from welfare. in wisconsin it was a smashing success and welfare reform moved people from welfare to work. the president is moving us back. we want people to go from welfare to work. job training benefits in welfare reform are key to getting people on the live to self sufficienty. >> steve: what do you think of this analysis. >> it is brilliant to bring it up and phrase it like that. in 1996, clinton used welfare

reform to explain to the american people he was not an old tile liberal and tax and spend liberal and by signing the bill that half of the party opposed literally. they split 99 to 99 . he aligned himself with a reformist faction and ryan is raising the issue back again where obama reversed the clinton reform and putting obama back on the left wing of the party and kind of the wing opposite bill clinton and it is brillient for him to raise that. >> gretchen: what about something we were supposed to hear about the president. about clinging to your guns and religion . >> remember this other time caught on video people like to cling to their guns and religion . hey, i am a catholic deer hunt yer i am happy to cling to my

guns and my religion. >> gretchen: effective. >> yeah, very coming at a time when todd akin and running around loose and talking crazy stuff about abortion and rape. and this shows, obama doing the left wing equivalent of that. that quote would have knocked him out of the race in any other race for any other cand date it is bad as on the left as todd akin on the right. >> eric: give us a sense paul ryan. great him. >> brilliant chose. a fast baller coming out of the bullpen. someone wrote about a new york senate mayorial candidate. we are used to romney speaking. we may like him. he's kind of old hat and obama and biden is worse. this guy is fresh, young and new and articulate and

substantative and has everybody's respect and not a light weight . brilliant and he's leak a shot of adrenalin in the conservative movement. >> steve: i think i heard four brilliants and so you like him. see you back here next week. >> gretchen: coming up next on the run down. a high school victorian that meant to say heck but accidentally said hell in her speech. can the school deny her the diploma. >> steve: and another name thrown in the mix. [ female announcer ] caltrate's done even more to move us.

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>> eric: late night shake up. abc bumping up jimmie kimble live and he will go head-to-head with jay leno and david letterman. and night line at 12:30 a.m. . the switch set to happen january 8th. and police looking for a person who duct taped a turtle. they called rescue crews to come can take it down. he is safe and now in a local shelter. >> and high school in oklahoma is refusing to hand over a diploma to the valedictorian after she used the word hell instead of heck. he submitted a copy and it said heck. but she ad libbed and said hell. is that legal. here is the trial attorney and

defense attorney. they join us . we have eric starting. you think that the school is doing the right thing by saying unless you apologize you don't get your deplom a. heck yes hell no. here's what i think . the courts have said this. just because a student goes in a school and supposed to be educated that you give up your constitutional rights. however, there is always a however, schools have a right in an educational environment to limit and protect certain speech. and more so than the government can, to nonstudents. we are dealing with first amendment. the word hell, i don't know if that is the appropriate four lettered word we are talking about. this happened in oklahoma. the issue is that the school has a right and

responsibility, this was submit she deviated from the speech and now the school is making the argument, we have a right to protect our students and words of crosby stills and nash. teach our children well >> it is not a bible belt but in the bible they use the word hell. >> yes, and the mascot is the devil . we ask the school where is their mascot. a place that is hot and not so nice. the school gets an f. at the end of the day. they were unreasonable . kaitlin was using a line in reference to a popular movie that referenced a graduation scene and in the end of the day. she is a 4.0 valedictorian opportunity and gets a full scholarship and forcing her to get a written apology.

it is ridiculous and completely unreasonable on this. i am with the student. >> steve: you would think they would cut her slack. the high school principal requested a private apology before releasing the diplom a. it was reasonable and in keeping with the law. eric what do you think. >> life is a four letter word and they need to get with it it was a valedictorian and she should get her diploma. >> steve: final word. >> school gets an f and kate lin gets an a. disporportionate responses don't work in life. >> steve: nicely done and a heck of a debate. seth and eric. thank you for joining us

today. >> thank you. >> steve: now it is time for the viewers. is the cool in the right or wrong spot. high school crack food crack down coca-cola ban and so are pop corn and chips. the reason, they may affect how your kids learn. pop corn? we'll report and you decide. and then it is the top issue in the election. the economy. who has the better plan barack obama and mitt romney and stewart varney has thes, he will share it next.

>> gretchen: over 500 of the nation's economist put their weight behind the cand date they feel is right. who are they throwing it behind. >> mitt romney. >> gretchen: is that it okay. >> i interviewed a lot of demdeps. and they have the same talking point. they say all economist agree raise taxs and spend more money. government spending, that's not correct. not all economist agree. 526, of them taken from university private enterprise and think tank say no, we are with romney's idea and this is what we want to do and successfully grow the economy. and here is no consensus in

the economic community around president obama's economic policy. none what ever. >> steve: look at the people out of the 500. these are nobble laurettes. are they famous. >> yes, they are names that our viewers do not know but they are known in the economic community they have 520 others say romney's plan is to the way to go. >> gretchen: it is interesting polls neck and neck between obama and romney. but romney is pulling higher on the economy. it doesn't seem task the over all polling. >> i cane work it out. if you ask them a economic question . who is best for the ecnomy and manages it the best mitt romney comes out ahead. is that the key issue in the

campaign it is supposed to be. >> eric: came out with a 59 point plan and why doesn't he come out with his version of 999 and wouldn't take a nobble to figure it out. >> you dig in reduce them to one liners. >> steve: he's down to six. >> you lower tax rates. eliminate deductions. >> i thought it was i varney plan. >> no. romney wants to reduce tax rates for everybody and corporation. you reduce tax rates you stimulate the economy and bring in more money to the federal government and lower the deficit. and entitlement reform and spend less money. >> eric: so much noise about mitt romney trying ticle a

guy's wife. >> it is not true that all of the economist agree. >> steve: we'll watch you on fox business. >> thank you. >> gretchen: should the vice-president of the united states compare the republican party to this. >> over the objections they sound like squealing pigs. >> gretchen: all right we'll analyze. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the moist, chewy, deliciousness you desire. mmmm. thanks. [ man ] at 90 calories, the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real. [ female announcer ] and now, try our new chocolate chip cookie

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. today is wednesday, august 22. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for spending part of your day with us. the vice president going off prompter again exactly one week after causing a stir for saying republicans want to put people back in change. now this. >> over the objections they sound like squealing pigs. overt objections -- over the objections of romney and all his allyies. >> gretchen: likening republicans to squealing pigs. is this crossing the line again? we report. you decide.

>> eric: brit's pipes and anarchists found in the roof of a tampa building near the site of the republican national convention. authorities are on high alert. >> steve: maybe ike will blow that off. america's assault on religion now hitting ground zero. a group of atheists suing to have that cross removed from the 9-11 museum because they say the cross itself makes them physically and in some cases mentally ill. seriously? it's true. we'll tell but that lawsuit and so much more. "fox & friends" hour two for this wednesday starts right now. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. eric bolling. >> eric: atheists are crossing the line. >> gretchen: not only anarchists which we had four years ago at the democrat and republican, but this time anarchists and occupiers.

>> gretchen: and isaac. >> eric: maybe. >> steve: suddenly it becomes the vowel convention. a bunch of vowels. >> eric: another a that we can apply, but we won't. >> gretchen: today we have eric bolling filling in for brian kilmeade. so good to have you here. let's talk about -- >> steve: the a stands for atheist. >> eric: yes. >> gretchen: we're going to talk about the rnc. it's the republican national convention being held in tampa. but a prominent democrat is actually going to be there. who is it? yep. that guy there. vice president joe biden. all right. he's not going to be speaking at the republican national convention, but he's going to be down in florida trying to take a little bit of the thunder of the storm of isaac moving in. he'll be there monday and tuesday trying to drum up support for the democratic side of things. >> steve: the video you're looking at right there is joe biden who was in downtown minneapolis yesterday and remember last week he said that mitt romney is going to put y'all back in chains.

mr. biden had a teleprompter there, so he did not go off copy. he did say a couple of things, he repeated for the millionth time, osama bin laden is dead and gm is alive. how is that for a bumper sticker? there was something new and that was he compared republicans to swine. listen. >> overt objection they sound like squealing pigs. overt objections of romney and all his allies we passed some of the toughest wall street regulations in history, turning wall street back into the allocatear of capital it always has been and no longer a casino and they want to repeal it. >> gretchen: if you're covering joe biden, it's actually great assignment because you're just sitting there now waiting for that one thing. >> steve: you got to hope you go to an event where there is no prompter. >> gretchen: he did it again. >> eric: he has the prompter and he literally kind of ventures

off prompter, this analogy and this time it was squealing pigs. >> steve: so during the republican convention, joe biden will be out there and he's going to be trying to scrape up some headlines. reince previn, who heads up the rnc, said the nice thing about going first, the republicans go before the democrats, is that whatever they do to us, we can do ten times to them. there you can see the rnc hq in tampa, which we'll be at a week from now. >> eric: i can't see paul ryan going to hang out in the parking lot of charlotte for the dnc. it just doesn't seem like something he would do. i think it's hilarious joe biden will be walking around trying to talk to people of the it's like, you're not invited. go somewhere else. >> steve: the way the story broke, some republicans heading to florida heard secret service guys talking about when the vice president comes down, and they go wait a minute, the vice president is going to be there in person? that was the headline. >> gretchen: it's a good strategy because of his gaffes

as of late. people are going to be following him around. he is going to make news down there whether or not he makes gaffes or not. so it is good strategy on their part. >> steve: the republicans say they've got a strategy as well. they're going to have a presence at the democrat convention the following week. >> gretchen: all right. let's get some of your headlines. speaking of the rnc, bricks, pipes, anarchists, graffiti found on the roof top of a tampa building one mile from where the republican convention kicks off. police taking this threat very seriously. >> there is a small percentage that will come here bent on destruction and disruption and those are the individuals that we will deal with very quickly. those are the individuals that left those items on the roof top. >> gretchen: republican organizers are keeping a close eye on tropical storm isaac. it's off the florida coast, making its way north. the rnc insists they have a back up plan should the weather become an issue. u.s. open referee goodman

appearing in this a different kind of court. she was arrested on her way to the u.s. open in new york for killing her 80-year-old husband in april. get this, it apparently was with a coffee mug allegedly. she told police in l.a. it was not murder. she claims her husband fell down the stairs at their home. a fox news exclusive. the nation's top general revealing he's disappointed that former navy seals and other members of the military are criticizing president obama's administration for, quote, milking osama bin laden's death for political gain. >> the problem is that when you use the military -- i'm not speak about them individually or specifically now -- but if someone uses the uniform, whatever uniform it is for partisan politics, i'm disappointed by that 'cause i think it does erode that bond of trust we have with the american people. >> gretchen: it's the first time a senior pentagon official has spoken out publicly about the group's ad that criticize the

white house for alleged security leaks. high school students in portland, maine, can kiss that can of soda good-bye. the school district banning the sale of them on their property and bans them at staff parties for teachers and football games. officials also banned popcorn and potato chips and urging everyone to eat hummus instead. the portland claims that the snacks affect how kids learn. those are your headlines. i love hummus. there's a lot of calories. chick pee, you eat a whole bunch of that. i'm not sure that's better off calorie content than some of that other stuff. that's my personal opinion. >> steve: part of the plan. >> gretchen: it's very high in calories. yes. >> eric: salsa? >> gretchen: lower in calories. >> eric: i love it. >> steve: also -- >> gretchen: load up on the chips. >> steve: when the chips are down, the president shows up in

the white house briefing room. he did that a couple of days ago because he had been taking criticism over the sunday shows where mr. president, you haven't shown up, you haven't given us, the white house press corp briefing since march. besides, you've only talked to entertainment tonight and been asked really tough questions, like this one on the radio in new mexico. listen. here is the president. >> our big question is red or green? >> i think you've got to go with the classic red, although every once in a while, green is solid. but i'm just going with red on this one. >> you had a super power, what would it be? >> this sound kind of -- kind of a weird super power action but if i had something that i could immediately wish for, i would love to be able to speak any language. >> steve: so there you see the president when he was asked about what's your favorite color and if you had a super power what, would it be.

>> gretchen: don't you think he feels weird answering those questions? if you're president of the united states -- >> eric: he doesn't want to answer the hard questions. he sounded pretty comfortable answering the red versus green. >> gretchen: i understand the back drop and why they're trying to avoid the issues. when you're president of the united states, really? you're going to answer a question about red or green or super hero stuff. >> steve: well, boxers or briefs? they're doing these softball interviews and now it has been revealed that apparently they have been talking to a number of local tv affiliates and apparently one of the caveats was the president will sit down with your reporter to talk about the news of the day, which we say the news of the day is in the case of it last week, sequestration. you can have an interview with the president, but you got to talk about sequestration. in other words, the white house is saying you get an interview, but talk about what we want. >> eric: sequestration or your favorite color or favorite super

power. otherwise forget it because we certainly don't want to talk about jobs or gas prices and definitely don't want to talk about household net worth. >> gretchen: the reporters could actually ask other questions after they dealt with sequestration, or at least if they got it in, but they only had ten minutes. if you listen to this president answering questions, maybe most presidents, he answers a question for about seven minutes. so the idea that you would actually get to other topics is the point here, that they didn't get to many other topics. here is what michael goodwin, a guest on the show on mondays and he writes a column, several, for the "new york post." here is what he said about that. without double standards, the media would have no standards. so the wrapped and rumpled press corp. looked like props in a campaign commercial. maybe they will be as obama spent most of his 20 minute operation in attack mode. that was referring back to that impromptu press conference that he had with the white house press corp. the other day. >> steve: jake tapper of abc was on laura ingraham's radio show the other day and they were analyzing how the media

essentially backed the now president back in 2008. listen to this. >> i said that i thought the media helped tip the scales. i didn't think the coverage in 2008 was especially fair on neither hillary clinton or john mccain. i felt with hillary's election and other decisions, magazine covers, photos, campaign narrative, that it wasn't always the fairest coverage and i hope it doesn't -- i hope that doesn't happen again. >> steve: mark halprin from time said a couple days ago, the press pretty much does whatever the white house wants it to do. will it be different now four years later? don't hold your breath. >> gretchen: you heard it before, democrats claim mitt romney and paul ryan would end medicare as we know it. is that really true or is it a lie? our political panel separates fact from fiction and they're next. >> eric: then skip school, it will cost you 75 bucks. is finding the kids really the answer to get them to come back.

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>> steve: since paul ryan became mitt romney's running mate, some democrats have taken to the air waves to argue the republican ticket will, quote, end medicare as we know it. and this famous ad showing a paul ryan look alike pushing granny off the cliff. oh, man. it came back electee split. are these attacks fair or is obamacare that really puts granny in danger? we heard a lot about that this week. joining us is our political panel. former lieutenant governor of new york and author of the obama health law, what it is and how to overturn it, betsy mccoy.

the president of ending spending.com, brian baker. and former advisor to hillary clinton and fox news contributor, jehmu green. good morning to all of you. >> good morning. >> steve: by the end of the segment, they're all going to be yelling at each other. brian, we're going to start with you. the democrats say republicans are going to throw granny from the cliff. is that accurate? >> absolutely not. in fact, the only person in this race that's cut medicare is president obama. the congressional budget office put out a report showing that the president's health care law called obamacare cut $716 billion from obamacare. on the other side, romney-ryan plan will protect and strengthen medicare. >> steve: in fact, if you are 55 or above, it doesn't do anything for you. jehmu, i got a feeling you disagree. >> yes. i disagree with the fiction that has been put out there by many republicans that these are cuts. remember when republicans -- >> steve: they are cuts. they're taking money out of medicare and putting in

obamacare. >> remember when they used to talk about waste and fraud in medicare in have you heard those two words in any of the conversations that we've been seeing over the last couple of weeks since ryan was nominated? no. because they know that the $716 billion is actually savings when you look at the waste and fraud that is coming out -- >> steve: why haven't we been saving that for the last four years? >> the reality is president obama, through the affordable care act, through obamacare, went in examine took out that waste and fraud. it helped shore up the medicare program and the reason paul ryan included those savings in his own plan is because we all want to get rid of waste and fraud. we don't want to give the money back. >> steve: jehmu said that they're shoring up medicare by taking $716 billion -- >> no, let me explain where that money is going. they're paying doctors to care for seniors less than doctors are paid to care for patients on medicaid, the program for the poor. and only a third of what doctors

are paid to care for patients on private insurance. so doctors aren't going to be willing to care for seniors. those who do aren't going to be willing to spend time on things like hip replacements versus low pay and here is the hitch, doctors will be barred by law from charging an extra fee to give you the care you need. so you're trapped. >> steve: it's going to be harder and harder to find doctors who take it. >> i want to come back to the political point. first of all, it's the congressional budget office. that's a nonpartisan organization. but secondly, the day that mitt romney picked paul ryan, the democratic campaign committee tweeted out and said, save medicare. vote democratic. we saw the ad of a paul ryan look alike pushing granny off the cliff. i talked to my 91-year-old grandmother last night in wisconsin and she's on medicare. she said listen, the romney-ryan plan all know won't cut medicare for anybody under the age of 55. so it's just absolutely a lie to say that medicare is going to be cut -- >> the benefits will absolutely be affected because one, they will be paying more for

prescription drugs and they will actually not get the preventive services that are included -- >> let me point out stop distorting -- >> section 4105 a empowers the secretary of health and human services to eliminate, that's the word, preventive services for seniors and half page later, powers the secretary to expand preventive services for people on medicaid. the agenda couldn't be clearer. this law takes benefits away from seniors to expand benefits for people under age 65. >> you are wrong! section 3105. i challenge you on that one! >> steve: i told you by the end of the segment they were going to be yelling! all right. we're going to end it right there. >> this actually helps save medicare. >> it's a lie! >> steve: strong words and this happy panel will stick around and debate this coming up, most americans say they are not

better off than they were four years ago and that's not all. brand-new poll shows president obama and mitt romney running neck in neck. so what does all this mean for the president? and america's assault on religion now hitting ground zero. a group of atheists are suing to have that cross removed from the 9-11 museum because they say the cross makes them literally sick road trip buddy. let's put some music on.

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>> eric: welcome back to control one where all the smart people hang out. two hours, how long a woman in illinois was stuck in the mud up to her shoulders. firefighters had to pull her out of the luckily she wasn't her. seventy-five dollars, that's how much the new britain school district in connecticut wants to fine students who play hooky. they hope this will improve student performance. finally, 315 bucks, that's how much you can pay if to feel like a champion. nike set to release this new pair of lebrons later this year. steve? >> steve: got to be kidding me. meanwhile, there is a brand-new usa today poll out this week that asks the ronald reagan question, are you better off now than you were four years ago? the results should make president obama nervous. 56% of swing state voters say they are not better off. 55% of voters nationwide said the same. take a look at this, the president and governor romney are split by just one point three months before the election, according to this new a.p. poll. our political panel is back now

with their reaction. jehmu, let's start with you. you know, i haven't heard that many people say, i'm better off today than i was four years ago. you're better off today than four years ago because you're working at fox. >> four years ago i probably weighed 20 pounds less, so i don't know if i agree with you on that. but i think you have to ask another question: who do voters think will actually make them better off four years from now and what we're seeing is that voters are really -- the more they get to know governor romney, the less they think they will be on his side. >> steve: don't you think part of that is because your side has run you can, where are your tax returns? he's only going to do two years. we should see a dozen years. john mccain did two. >> it's been standard practice. he should follow in his dad's foot steps. >> steve: kerry's wife did zero. >> she wasn't running for president. what we're seeing in this climate is that the president is

an open book. you have to look at everything we know about president obama. what is governor romney hiding that he didn't want to hide from john mccain. >> steve: is mitt romney hiding something? >> absolutely not. mitt romney has given more disclosures than any other candidate. he's filled out all his financial disclosures. that's why everybody knows his background. more importantly, we talk about the ronald reagan test. i want to talk about the bill clinton test. when he ran for president in 1992, he asked about unemployment, job, he asked about the deficit. on every single one of those test, he said george h.w. bush failed. under the bill clinton standard, barak obama's presidency has been an absolute failure. unemployment is up, way up from where it was four years ago. the deficit is way up. consumer confidence is way down. so i think under any standard, president obama's presidency has been a failure. >> steve: one other thing, betsy, is the fact that president obama, we know for sure he wants to get reelected, but we don't know what his plan is. what is his plan to how it fix anything? mitt romney said if elected,

i'll create 12 million job. >> that's right. president obama's plan so far has been inactivity and the congress has gone along with him, unfortunately, on that. when you look at the labor participation rate, which is even a better measure of what's going on in the nation than unemployment, unemployment is ticked up to 8.3%. labor participation rate is so low, 63.7%, it means people are underemployed, unemployed. they've given up hope. and it's not going to improve because the hirers are on the side lines 'til after this election. regulations, the fear on higher taxes after the election is all holding back employers from offering a people jobs. >> steve: well, people are hungry for something. they want this to turn around. the big question comes the first tuesday in november, who is going to help us? >> they want the truth. >> steve: jehmu, they do want the truth. >> we have to keep in mind what got us here to begin with. >> steve: we want the truth, not distraction. great debate today. >> thank you.

>> steve: all right. families want justice to be served, but there is yet another delay in the pretrial hearing for the accused 9-11 master minds. what went wrong this time? we have a live report from gitmo in a couple minutes. tired of hearing democrats blame bush for the current administration problems? according to former secretary of state madeleine albright, you better get used to it. >> so how long are you people going to blame the previous administration? >> steve: is that fair? caught on camera. oh, boy. then, does this little boy look like a threat to you? well, he was just banned from wearing his favorite team shirt because it is considered a gang symbol. [ female announcer ] caltrate's done even more to move us.

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meat in little pieces. >> gretchen: haven't seen the movie, so i don't know what he's talk being. >> steve: he also did a joke about how welcome to the "tonight show" or as comcast which owns nbc refers to it as the expendables because they cut something like a quarter of his staff. 25 people. >> eric: took a big pay cut. >> steve: and he got bad news because jimmy kimmel is moving up a half hour and the program nightline, moving to 12:30. >> gretchen: okay. let's do some headlines. >> eric: expendables? aging super heros. >> steve: brian loved it. >> gretchen: that's a fantastic movie. now the headlines. amazing security camera footage capturing a subway explosion gone wrong in manhattan. check this out of the sudden blast. yep. startling people, shooting debris eight stories high. streets of manhattan. you can see bystanders running for coverment the "new york post" is reporting they put up a

protective cover over the wrong hole during the planned explosion. it damaged nearby businesses, but amazingly, no one was hurt. witnesses understandably shocked and upset. >> i'm shaking. i mean, this is extraordinary! we did not move to this neighborhood to be killed by dynamite! >> all of a sudden i heard some boom, boom, like that. i turned around and i saw rocks and debris flying. >> gretchen: that was good animation. the chairman of the mta calling the blast unacceptable. we don't know what's going to happen. >> steve: fire in the hole. meanwhile, when will democrats stop blaming former president george w. bush for the current administration's problems? according to madeleine albright, former secretary of state, never >> gets up and says, how long are you people going to blame the previous administration? and i said forever.

>> steve: she made the remarks at a foreign policy event in the state of missouri. >> eric: not kidding. the mother of this oklahoma boy is outraged. she says her five-year-old son was humiliated after his principal asked him in front of the whole class to turn his shirt inside out. it didn't have any proceed fan on it. just the name of his favorite college, university of michigan. so why is he in trouble? according to the dress code, students are only allowed to wear apparel from oklahoma colleges. a code was created in 2005 to rid schools of gangs. the school district says it might need to make some changes. >> steve: you think? >> gretchen: looks like you can call it live with kelly and michael. ex giants star michael strahan will be named kelly ripa's co-host. he logged the most appearance out of the many people who subbed following regis phil bin's departure. he's an analyst on fox nfl sunday and expected to keep that job as well. kelly ripa will officially make the announcement september 4 on the show.

>> steve: congratulations. it's a bizarre twist in that deadly train derailment near baltimore, maryland. it has forced yet another delay in the hearings at gitmo. what's that baltimore gitmo? what's the connection? katherine heritage is here to explain it. katherine? >> good morning. we were leaving washington yesterday when we first heard about this train derailment in baltimore and when we get there, what we found is had it knocked out the fiber optic lines that provide the internet service to most of the navy base. so this pretrial hearing has now been put off for a day. we also spoke to one of the 9-11 families who traveled to gitmo this week just to be in court for their son. >> my son was the gentleest and most determined human being. >> when her son michael, a

gifted artist with the navy was killed in a pentagon command center on 9-11, an admiral offered to search for his remains. all the admiral found was this gold chain and the 13 cents in michael's pocket. >> i'd like there to come a time when i can stop crying. >> she's packing her bags because through defense department lottery, she got one of ten seats inside the military court where victims' families can witness the pretrial hearing. just shy of her 94th birthday, his grandmother also wants to be there. >> the government won't let me. i'm too old. they won't be responsible for me. there is nothing wrong with me. >> rick: both women want to give the 9-11 suspects, including the self described architect of the attack, a taste of jackson heights in queens. >> don't met i might not spit. i want them to see my face. >> i want to look at those animals and say how do you dare to turn out the light on my

life? >> we may be looking at another delay. late last night the reporters were told on thursday at the latest we'll make a decision on whether to evacuate us and temporarily shut down the hearings if this tropical storm isaac turns into a hurricane and continues on its path to guantanamo bay. back to you. >> gretchen: wow. couple delays in action there. katherine, thanks very much for your reporting on that topic. let's tell but this other thing 'cause it has to do with 9-11 and the attack on the world trade center. maybe you've seen the images of this cross that is going to be placed down there or has been placed down there as a memorial and a tribute to what happened back in 2001. now an atheist organization has filed a lawsuit to bring that cross down because they say that they have suffered physical and mental illnesses as a result of having to look at that cross and it's something that they do not believe in. >> steve: in the lawsuit, american atheists versus the port authority of new york and

new jersey, they say that we feel depression, headaches, anxiety, mental pain and anguish from the knowledge that they are made to feel officially excluded from the ranks of citizens who are directly injured by the 9-11 attacks because they don't believe in god, they don't believe that cross should be there. the director for the american atheists was on last night with laura ingraham on "the o'reilly factor" show and had this to say about the lawsuit. >> the case has been brought because the other people, there were about 1,000 people who were involved, victims of 9-11 whose families were not christian and those families have been denied the ability to place a memorial in this museum to represent their faith or their family or their loved one that has perished. that's what the real crux of this lawsuit is. so those people, they're not being allowed to represent and honor their family members in this memorial. some are jewish. some are atheists. nonbelievers.

>> gretchen: i understand the jewish point of view. there may be symbols to represent the jewish religion as we know. but what do you put up for atheists. >> steve: unless they take down the c they want something else right next to it, loo i can a big a for atheists. >> eric: stop. absolutely crazy. stop it. i was there. i lost a loft friends in that. i watched that thing, that cross would end up being two i beams put together. it happened. it was a symbol of hope for so many people. so many people who lost their loves. so many family members that went there every single day carrying stuffed animals to loved ones that they couldn't bury because they were buried in the rubble. >> steve: that is an artifact. >> eric: these atheists have nowhere to go with this. 2,000 people by her own admission, she said 2,000 people are christians there. that's symbol to them. by the way, i think somewhere around 80% of america is christian or believes in some form of christianity.

that symbolizes something very hopeful to them as well. these people need to back off. >> steve: we're not in the business of providing equal faith for all. >> gretchen: that's a tribute because usually people back off and decide to make everything politically correct. i'm very surprised by that statement, but it's a good one. coming up, it's a parent's scariest moments. your baby is sick. now there is word the antibiotics you give them could make them fat? >> eric: do you want to pay down your own debt but don't know where to start? financial analyst dave ramsey does. he's here next to explain. >> steve: first, the aflac trivia question of the day. born in 1941, this football head coach is known as the big tuna. who is he? e-mail us about this atheist thing where they want to take down the cross at 9-11. we want to hear from you. right back [ male announcer ] when a major hospital

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>> steve: quick headlines on this wednesday morning. a new study finds giving infants antibiotics in their first six months makes them 22% more likely to be overweight by the age of three. there is good news, too. researchers say the child's weight appears to go back to average by age seven. florida international university is making sure homes and buildings are stronger and safer. the wall of wind project is manufacturing category 5 wind to test, as you can see right is there, if all the homes built after the hurricane can withstand cat 5 winds. apparently some can. that's good news. gretch? >> gretchen: thank you very much. new research is confirming what our next guest has known all along, to get out of debility, you need to start -- debt, you need to start small.

dave ramsey came up with the debt snowball plan. you got the smart hat on today. tell us about this plan and what this study now says confirms how smart you are. >> this northwestern professor put together a plan showing us that what we've been teaching for 20 years does actually work. personal finance is about 80% behavior. it's only about 20% head knowledge. to get out of debt, you got to have quick wins. you list your debts, smallest to largest. you pay minimum payments on everything but the little one and you attack the little one with a vengeance. when it's gone, you take the payments you used to pay there and attack the next one. when that's gone, you attack the next one. this intensity increases as you continue to win because you get to mark big red lines through there and you're actually seeing progress in your finances. >> gretchen: yeah. i think everyone can relate to that sense of accomplishment when you can cross something off your list. right?

>> absolutely. it gets you moving and keeps you thinking about this. sometimes people say, and the critics have always said of our plan, well, dave, you need to pay it off math mathematically, which would be highest interest rate to lowest. if we were doing math, we wouldn't have credit card debt to start with. this is not about math. it's about modifying behaviors. >> gretchen: all right. so hats off to you on that and hopefully people listened to you and have helped leave some of their debt. let's go to some e-mails. brandon from tennessee. in listing out our debts, would our home equity line of credit, $22,000, come before our student loans at $55,000? great question. what's the answer? >> it absolutely would. we put home equity loans in the debt snowball if they're less than half your annual income and i suspect here that's the case. obviously it is a smaller debt than the 55,000. so yes, we're going to do that. the other interesting thing about that is that you need to remember, student loans are forgiven at death, or upon

disability. home equity loans are not. so yet another reason to pay off the home equity loan first. >> gretchen: here is alicia from new york. i'm $78,000 in debt and beginning to put together a plan. the problem is, i don't have any savings. shouldn't i start saving money first? >> well, we teach you what we call baby step one, which is put $1,000 aside as a little miniature starter emergency fund. that's really all. then you need to completely stop saving money. one of the things that causes the debt snowball in our get out of debt plan to be so successful is this increased unbelievable focused intensity. so you completely focus on the debt after you've got the $1,000 there. >> gretchen: all right. some very good answers to some debt questions and once again, congratulations on the snowball theory. you were right. we'll see you again next week. >> thanks. >> gretchen: coming up next on the rundown, are you always nervous, scared to speak in a meeting, always shaking? does that make you normal or does that make you nutso?

dr. keith ablow with his diagnosis next. fittingly, he's on the couch. first, on this day in history in 1966, "summer in the city "by the loving spoonfuls. i bet it was the number one song, what do you think? [ female announcer ] so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number?

>> steve: aflac answer is bill parcels. the winner is the person who got it in first. >> gretchen: we don't know who the winner is. whoever you are, congratulations. >> steve: somebody knows. >> gretchen: speak of this, normal or nuts? it's a question everyone asks once in a while. we asked dr. keith ablow that question each and every week.

he's back again on the curvy couch to answer your e-mails. good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> steve: doing great. we got three questions. you ready? >> yes. >> steve: first question, is he normal or nuts? my military friend lost his uniform and bought a replacement uniform. he never got further than boot camp, but wears the uniform everywhere, even at a recent reunion. is it normal to crave attention this way? >> well, first of all, we honor anyone who served even for a day. so let's put that as our disclaimer at the beginning. but this man is crazy. why? because he underneath that suit of armor, he apparently doesn't have any self-esteem. maybe he was terribly injured from not getting past basic training. i don't know what it is. but look, come out of yourself. you've got gifts, real gifts. you don't have to play dress-up. right? i'll save you if you show up here in a uniform.

>> eric: they'll think you're nuts for thinking he's nuts. >> i'm telling you, there are people with -- can you imagine a pilot who retires and wearing it everywhere. you're like brother, let me help you. >> gretchen: interestingly enough, the supreme court ruled on them, you can dress up all you want, they're not illegal. >> perhaps not crazy, going everywhere in it, yeah. >> eric: once a week for the past four years, i send a letter to donald trump for ideas. my wife says i'm compulsive. what say you? >> here is the psychiatric arithmetic. one, two, even three notes to donald trump trying to get your idea to the floor, that's normal and persistent. this is crazy! this is something doing is weekly. take one of your ideas and act on it. you're not going to be adopted by the donald. he doesn't have time for you. he's not that in to you.

so the bottom line is, listen, this is an excuse for not acting yourself. turn pro. start a business. >> eric: i'll stop sending them. >> gretchen: here is the next e-mail. we got two nuts so far. i've always been a nervous, shaky person. recent it's gotten worse. i cannot carry a drink without spilling and a recent meeting i turned into a shaking blob of jello. can i fix it? this should help this person relax. you're normal. see my tone. this is very healing to people, i find. and the reason why people flock to me for help. it's normal. first of all, rule out things like hyper thyroidism, parkinson's, get the physical stuff out of the way and be reassured. anxiety is everywhere and it's more painful than depression for a lot of people. but here is the best part, it's just as easily treated. which is easily. >> steve: you have to figure out what's making you anxious. >> first of all, there are medicines that are highly effective and yes, there you go.

you're like my brother here. i believe that there is always something, music playing in the background that's making you shake a little bit, the dance you don't want to do. >> steve: it triggers it. >> sometimes my walking into a room will do this to people. >> gretchen: is there a mind over matter thing, because if somebody shaking, can they actually will themselves to not shake? >> they can sometimes. when i speak with people who do speeches, for instance, i say if you don't think of the people looking at you, but instead you have in mind, listen, what can i give them during this time? i really want to focus on delivering my message perfectly, you can sometimes anilate that anxiety. there are mental tricks you can play with great effect. >> eric: if i'm shaking in my uniform when i'm writing donald trump a note -- >> you're not leaving my office. >> gretchen: send us your e-mails for dr. ablow and he'll answer if you're normal or nuts next week.

>> steve: making dreams come true, the surprise of a lifetime for some "fox & friends" viewers. >> serious? >> yes, congratulations! >> no way! >> oh, my god! >> steve: awesome. >> eric: meet the navy veteran and his family getting a complete home makeover. >> gretchen: homer simpson managed to back uple things. how the simpsons took taxpayers for more than a million bucks. >> steve: dope! ♪ ♪ [ man ] excuse me miss. [ gasps ] this fiber one 90 calorie brownie has all the moist, chewy, deliciousness you desire. mmmm. thanks. [ man ] at 90 calories, the brownie of your dreams is now deliciously real. [ female announcer ] and now, try our new chocolate chip cookie 90 calorie brownie.

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>> gretchen: good morning, everyone. today is wednesday, august 22. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for spending part of your day with us today. do you remember this remark from president obama that got business owners across the country all riled up? >> if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. >> gretchen: well, today congressman paul ryan heading to roanoke, the scene of that controversial comment to offer the republican plan for the future. >> steve: meanwhile, if you want to bring your cameras, they've got to see your questions first. the white house reportedly laying out some ground rules for

local reporters who want to interview the president. wait until you hear this one. >> eric: and republicans bracing for two pretty unpredictable situations at next week's convention. first there is that big storm brewing in the caribbean, tropical storm isaac. then there is vice president tropical storm joe biden. he's headed there, too. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> steve: lot of wind. >> eric: could be a hurricane by the time the hrnc rolls around. >> gretchen: that is, as we were discussing earlier, similarity to 2008 when we were at the rnc in st. paul, minnesota. there was a hurricane in louisiana. joe biden also made an appearance there. two for two. >> steve: he was on the "fox & friends" show and they did cut -- they cut the first day of the convention short because of

hurricane gustav. remember that? >> eric: i think i know what the democrats have in mind. they're going to send joe down, he's going to make a huge gaffe and then we're going to talk about the gaffe instead of the convention. >> gretchen: certainly part of the strategy is to send him down there to get press coverage away from the rnc. whether or not he makes a gaffe, people will be waiting. >> eric: care to wager? i bet awe dollar. >> gretchen: i bet you something like that. >> steve: i bet you he does. if they don't have a teleprompter. he had a teleprompter yesterday in minneapolis to make sure he stayed on message last week when he said the mitt romney wants to put all -- y'all back in chains. no teleprompter. gaffe prone. >> gretchen: squealing pigs on the teleprompter yesterday? >> steve: yep. >> gretchen: president obama facing more criticism from mitt romney over broken promises considering our nation's spending. wendell goler has more on that and what the president is up to this morning. good morning. >> good morning. the president is in las vegas

this morning for a round table discussion with teachers at a high school. he's been visiting nevada regularly, aiming to put that formally red state in play again this fall. local poll indicates he and mitt romney are pretty much tied in nevada. romney is in iowa focusing as you say, on spending, hammering mr. obama for fail to go live up to his promise to cut the deficit in half in his first four years. republican vice presidential pick paul ryan is in roanoke, virginia at a bakery that turned down a visit from vice president biden. ryan is playing up the you didn't build that line from the president's speech in roanoke, even though the that wasn't the business, but the roads and internet that support it. biden is in detroit where the most popular bumper sticker is gm is alive and bin laden is did he do. he attacked romney over his former firm's outsourcing. >> i love when i pointed that out months ago and been talking about it, the romney campaign

responded and said biden doesn't understand the difference between outsourcing and offshore ing. what difference does it make? they don't have a job! >> polls shows nationally, mitt romney's pick of ryan has gotten a little bit of a bump. the split is 47% for the president, 46% for romney. it was 47, 44% last month. statistically, both are basically ties since there is a three-point margin of error. that same poll gives romney a ten-point lead among independents. gretchen? >> gretchen: wendell goler, thanks so much for that update. >> steve: meanwhile, the president of the united states was at capitol university yesterday in columbus, ohio. he was taking a shot at his -- he's in front of a college crowd and he was taking a shot at mitt romney who mitt romney has -- when asked about what kids should do because it's hard to find the money to go to college, mitt romney said shop around and stuff like that. here is the president on

mr. romney and how he should give his campaign donations to scholarship funds to put the kids who are listening to the president through college. >> over the next 2 1/2 months, the other side will spend more money than we have ever seen ever. i mean, they got folks writing $10 million checks. $20 million checks. they should be contributing that to scholarship fund to send kids to college. >> gretchen: this is going to be the latest debate now because a lot of the e-mails coming in this morning are about education and obama and biden will be -- i think this will be the theme of the week. >> eric: can we talk about what he just said there? he said mitt romney should spend his campaign donations on scholarship funds. president obama is also going to spend the most amount of money in history as well on his campaign. where is he spending his? he making donations to

scholarship funds? i'm not sure he's doing it with his money. >> steve: also one of the things that the romney camp is putting out is the fact that four years ago, so many first-time voters, kids who were 18, were just going through college, just starting college, voting for the president of the united states. now four years later, they're graduating from college and they can't find a job. suddenly the hope and change for a lot of those college students look ago lot different than it did in 2008. >> gretchen: we have a lot more to talk about. first, we got to bring you some headlines for wednesday morning. u.s. open referee lois goodman scheduled to appear in court instead of a tennis court after being arrested for the brutal murder of her 80-year-old husband. she was arrested while traveling to the u.s. open in new york. police say goodman killed her husband using a coffee mug. they won't say why. but she told police in l.a. it wasn't murder. and that he fell down the stairs at their home. today is deadline day, the government must tell an appeals court why the man charged in the fort hood shooting rampage

should shave his beard. last week the trial was put on hold for the third time because major nidal malik hasan is refusing to be clean shaven. he says the beard is an expression of his muslim faith. however, it violates army regulations. the judge also calls it a distraction. pipe, graffiti, anarchists found on the roof top of a tampa building one mile from where the republican national convention kicks off on monday. police taking this threat very seriously. >> there is a small percentage that will come here bent on destruction and disruption and those are the individuals that we will -- left those items up there. >> gretchen: organizers are keeping a close eye on tropical storm isaac off the florida coast, making its way north. the rnc insists they have a back up plan should the weather become an issue. not sure what it is, but we'll find out. isaac not only the only unpredictable convention crasher heading to the rnc.

vice president joe biden may try to crash the party in tampa. he is holding a rally on monday, which is the first day of the convention. this ignores an unofficial tradition of campaigns toning it down during the other's campaign event. those are your headlines >> steve: apparently the republicans have the same plan to do the same thing to the democrats, but reince previn says whatever they do to us, we'll do ten times worse to them in charlotte. let's talk about this, the president of the united states made a surprise appearance in the white house briefing room. he had not done a briefing with the press, the white house press since march, but he had been doing a number of interviews that some had considered softballs by talking to entertainment tonight and local radio shows like this one he did recently where the radio d.j. asked the president of the united states the tough question, mr. president, what's your favorite color? >> our big question is red or

green? >> i think you've got to go with the classic red, although every once in a while, green is solid. but i'm just going with red on this one. >> you had a super power, what would it be? >> this sounds kind of -- it's kind of a weird super power, but if i had something that i could immediately wish for, i would love to be able to speak any language. >> gretchen: i think a lot of people would -- i'd love to do that. the red or green thing has to do with salsa or chili because they were in the southwest. >> eric: which now makes it so much more important. now i'm -- i'm sorry with the color now that it's chili, we realize those are hard. good job, radio press, asking the tough questions. >> gretchen: here is the other interesting thing that's coming out about these types of interviews and that white house briefing that the president did the other day, is that he's also doing these local interviews,

but apparently the press for the president, the press people who are forgetting him, are telling the local interviewers, you got to stick to one topic that we want you to talk about. so this week it was about sequestration. remember, those are the mandatory cuts that are coming to the department defense because nobody could come up with a debt commission report. nobody could come up with how to stop the debt in this country and so now sequestration is going to take effect. those reporters are being told, you have to only talk about that in the interviews. is that transparency? >> steve: they can ask other stuff, but they only get ten questions. when the president went into the briefing room on monday, he answered four questions and it took him 22 minutes. each question, five minutes. you don't get a lot in. michael goodwin, who writes for the "new york post" said this about the press: without double standards, the media would have no standards. so the wrapped and rumpled press corp. looked like props in a campaign commercial. maybe they will be as obama spent most of his 20-minute oration in attack mode.

and there wasn't really on monday much follow-up because the president of the united states said, you know, nobody called mitt romney a felon. well, mr. president, actually your assistant campaign manager, stephanie cutter, did call him a felon on july 12. >> eric: also of note, we talked a little earlier about the cash on hand by the two campaigns, mitt romney has about $60 million more than president obama has in his war chest. but president obama has the main stream media on his side. a -- inform free media. >> eric: a lot of the stories are skewed that way. so it takes a lot more money for romney to get his message out. >> gretchen: speak of media bias, jake tapper for abc was on laura ingraham's radio show and he had this to say about his thoughts about bias back during the indicate campaign. >> i said that i thought the media helped tip the scales. i didn't think the coverage in 2008 was especially fair to

either hillary clinton or john mccain. sometimes i felt like story selection and other decisions, magazine cover, photo, texts, campaign narratives, that it wasn't always the fairest coverage and i hope it doesn't -- i hope that doesn't happen again. >> steve: also mark halprin from time magazine a couple days ago said that the press corp. for the most part does exactly what the white house wants them to. >> eric: i think there was a politico editor who said most of the press is democrat and they skew a lot of stories. >> steve: are things going to be different this year? four years later? what do you think? e-mail us. do you think now that they're saying okay, we weren't fair last time, will they be fair this time or will they put their thumb on the scale again? let us know. >> gretchen: coming up on "fox & friends," bistanders rush to help a woman in distress. the bad news, they accidentally tackled the wrong guy. pinning down the victim by mistake. >> eric: then your dream come true, hitting a million dollars jackpot.

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>> gretchen: it's week four in the drew peterson murder trial and taking a very interesting turn. the judge in the case ruling prosecutors can introduce new testimony accusing peterson of trying to hire a hit man to kill his third wife, kathleen savio. here now with more on this, judge jeanine live in chicago. she's been in the courtroom since the start of the trial. what are we to make of this? you talked about this how important the evidence will be, the judge will let it in. >> yeah.

the huge day for the prosecution yesterday when the judge made the decision to allow the jury to hear that drew peterson in late 2003, and remember, that kathleen savio was killed in february of 2004, that drew had offered a co-worker $25,000 to kill his wife or have his wife killed, and pay someone to do it and keep whatever he needed. peterson did this in his police car with an individual who has testified at hearings that drew took him by the place where kathleen savio worked to identify where his ex-wife was working. and this is huge evidence for the prosecution that the judge had originally denied on the first day of the trial. so in addition to that evidence of allowing the hit man testimony, the jury heard yesterday from dr. mary case. she is a nationally known triple board certified pathologist who said two important things. number one, there is no way that

the hit on the back of kathleen savio's head would have caused her to be unconscious. it was not that deep and therefore, she couldn't have drowned as a result of that hit in the head. and that the hit in the head did not occur as a result of anything in the tub. it was too smooth. it wouldn't have been horizontal. it would have been vertical. she was powerful. she sparred with the defense attorney. she was clear, concise, and i think probably the prosecution's strongest witness. you know, gretchen, i noticed this last week, last week the jurors came in all wearing red one day, then the next day, i believe they were wearing blue or black. >> gretchen: why? >> yesterday they all wear green and the court officer who wears a dark blazer with pants wore a green shirt. so someone sitting in the courtroom, i have never seen this in all the cases i've tried

and in all the juries that i impaneled. but to me, it's a show of solidarity. it means one of two things. either they're on one side or the other. but it tells me there will be no hung jury. that this jury is agreeing to be united -- >> gretchen: i don't really have time to get into that. but that sounds fascinating. i'm surprised the judge would allow that. >> the judge has no control over what a juror wears clearly. they can wear whatever they want and they're sending a message and i can't wait to talk to them when the trial is over. >> gretchen: fascinating. more testimony on deck for today and jeanine will fill us in tomorrow. you can catch her shows saturdays at 9 p.m thanks so much. can you say -- eric? say do for me. >> eric: do. >> gretchen: homer simpson bungles things once again. how the simpsons took u.s. taxpayers for more than a million bucks? we're making their dreams come true. the surprise of a lifetime for

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>> steve: we got some headlines. amazing security camera footage of the watch the top of your screen. it captured a subway explosion gone wrong in manhattan. new york post reporting subway workers accidentally put a protective cover over the wrong hole during a planned explosion. luckily, nobody was hurt in the blast. and the u.s. postal service losing $1.2 million on unsold simpson stamps. the inspector general revealing

it printed 1 billion of the simpson images in 2009, but only sold about a third of them. homer simpson would say, doh. in this case, it cost us a lot of dough. >> gretchen: the surprise of a lifetime. surprise of a lifetime for some "fox & friends" viewers. we know when times are tough, taking care of your house falls to the bottom of the list. we partnered with gaf, north america's largest roofing manufacturer and ply gem to give three deserving winners a complete home exterior makeover. >> eric: this morning alisyn camerota is out in connecticut ready to introduce us to our second set of winners. the phipps family. what's going on? >> hey, guys. great to see you. i am here with the phipps family. the past four years, life really dealt them a series of blows. first there was steve's illness and then mary lost her job

because she was busy taking care of steve. then exactly one year ago, this week, hurricane irene came in and all of that left their home in very bad shape. when they found out they were the winners of the homeliest home contest, they were elated. >> hi. >> mary? >> yes, congratulations, no way! oh, my god! >> we're going to give you a full makeover, new full roofing system, windows, siding, stone and other stuff. >> oh, my goodness! >> when hurricane irene hit, we watched pieces of our house go flying through our neighborhood. the roof in the back flew off and went into the neighbor's yard. large limb from the tree in the backyard not only fell, but it

flew and smashed into the house. >> i saw you walking up, i thought to myself, this doesn't happen to people like me. you know. this is an opportunity for her to get a house she's always wanted and something that i can't give her, you can. >> i definitely felt that he deserved us to do something for him because he's done so much for us. he has been in the navy for 23 1/2 years and he's sacrificed a lot for us and fortunately -- unfortunately with medical condition, he can't get things done the way he would like to for us. >> right now everybody is going through tough times, tough economy, a lot of weather conditions negatively affecting homes and a lot of homeowners that can't do anything about it right now. gaf, we thought this was the perfect opportunity to give back to do something for people.

ply gem has an on-line visualization tool that you can select all of the options on the outside of your house that will creek an architecturally unique look. >> are you excited to get your house done? >> yes. >> i don't have to describe it as ugly green house on the corner anymore. >> i take pride in everything that i own and just to know that it's my home. when people come it my house, they can go wow, this house is gorgeous. >> their house is gorgeous. i can attest to that. in about 20 minutes from now, we're going to talk to these guys. you do talk, right? >> yes, we do. we're going to talk to these guys, marry more about their personal story, plus yesterday was mary's big 40th birthday! we have an extra little present for her that we will reveal then. so we'll go back to the studio and we'll see you guys in 20 minutes. >> steve: thanks. less than a half hour from right now, you'll find out what the phipps' new house looks like.

>> gretchen: if it looks anything like the home that they fixed up on monday, it's going to be fantastic. >> steve: 27 minutes 'til the top of the hour on this wednesday. a group of atheists say that the 9-11 memorial cross pictured right there, literally makes them sick. could their latest lawsuit actually have it taken down? we'll read your e-mail and share them coming up next. >> eric: remember the casino that is suing its own players for winning too much money? now we know exactly how they pulled it off and wait until you hear what caused this million dollars mistake. perhaps maybe. ♪ [ male announcer ] to hold a patent that has changed the modern world... would define you as an innovator. to hold more than one patent of this caliber... would define you as a true leader. to hold over 80,000...

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>> gas prices hit an all-time high for the month of august. expected to go even higher. you know, you can tell gas prices are going up. you notice this? prius drivers starting to get that smug look on their face again. you know that little smear they give you? >> steve: we know what you're talking about. >> gretchen: except most people drive in cars that operate via gas, so they don't really like the high gas price. i'm stunned by the fact that there is not more discussion about this new normal which is the way i have seen it for the

last year or so. is this the new normal and people don't gripe about it anymore? do you like paying 3.72 a gallon for gas? i was in europe, it's not that different from what they're pay not guilty europe. we used to say all the time, wow. those europeans have a bad rap. they're paying so much for gas. pretty much the same now. >> steve: over there, it's expressing liters in ounces and gallons. when i talk to my friends about the high cost of gas and usually it's the guy pumping the gas into the can, i ask how many people complain? he goes everybody. eric, you detailed since this president took office, the cost of a gallon of gas has over doubled. >> eric: 103% higher. the difference is when he took office, president obama raised his right hand january 20, 1.73, it's 3.72. that's 1.78 a gallon more. let's put it in perspective. we use 139 billion gallons of gasoline in america per year. so if you take the 1.89,

multiply it by 139 billion, you come up with $240 billion per year, four years later. talking close to a trillion dollars more that we're paying into the pump that we don't need to be doing. now, something interesting is going on over the last couple of days. president obama indicated that he may be willing to release oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. >> steve: our back up plan? >> gretchen: that's interesting timing. >> eric: very interesting timing. 700 million-barrels in case there is a supply disruption. we don't have a supply disruption. also the "wall street journal" reporting today that there is a deal in philadelphia for the carlisle group a private equity group to buy a refinery, oil refinery, turning oil into gas, but being facilitated by the administration right now. i'm all for the administration facilitating these oil deals because it makes gas more plentiful. but what they're willing to do is relax some of the environmental restrictions on that refinery. >> steve: on that one. we haven't built a new refinery in this country for many years.

>> gretchen: how would they justify dusting off these old plants for the potential release, with the strategic reserve? >> eric: they're saying they don't want to hit americans' pocketbooks. >> steve: you mean election? >> gretchen: that's my point. it would be for all political purpose. >> eric: it's only politics. politics. there have been four other releases, hurricane katrina, one to pay down bill clinton to pay down the debt. none of them have resulted in lower gasoline prices one month after the release. it's not about gasoline price. it's more about making it seem like the obama administration is being -- >> steve: pro-active. >> eric: pro-active in gasoline prices. diesel prices for the first time in months hit $4 a gallon average today. >> gretchen: it would be a huge story if this were four years ago, my belief is. they did make it a huge story with george bush. >> steve: they're still blaming george bush. >> gretchen: it's not a big story. i can't imagine that americans feel good about paying that price for gas.

let us know. >> eric: now the headlines. bizarre twist in that deadly train derailment near baltimore, maryland, now forced the delay in the hearings said to begin at guantanamo bay for the five men charged in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. the derailment is disrupting internet service and access to government servers at u.s. military bases there. the hearings are slated to start tomorrow. however, we're learning tropical storm isaac forms into a hurricane, the hearings could be postponed yet again. steven? >> steve: let's take a look at some weather on the west coast. northern california, a wildfire destroyed at least 50 structures. a lot of houses. fires sparked by lightning on saturday. so far it's spread over 33 square miles. as a result, officials were forced to close some roads and highways as a precaution. an emergency has been declared in shasta county, california. the national guard is being called in to help the firefighters get the fire under

control. >> gretchen: earlier this month, we told but an atlantic city casino suing its own players for winning too much money. now we know ha caused the $1.5 million mistake. the golden nugget casino now planning to sue its playing card manufacturer as well. the casino claims it provided preshuffled decks that weren't shuffled at all. that explains the 14 players who won that money fair and square during a hot streak at one of the tables. the lawsuit filed against the players will proceed as well. attorneys for the casinos say the big winners must have known the cards am in order and they should have spoken up. come on! would do you that? if you started knowing that here comes four aces, here comes four kings, would you speak up? or would you just take the dough? >> steve: i'm winning too much. >> eric: here comes all my black chips. >> gretchen: the bets started going way up. >> eric: check this out. some good samaritans accidentally helped a robber get away. it happened at a new jersey gas

station. you see this woman trying to get away from a man. witnesses thought he was trying o hurt her. so they grabbed and held him for police. while the woman got away. it turns out he was the victim. the woman stole 400 bucks and a gold necklace from him. police is a suspect in the robbery, but she has yet to be brought into custody. you always don't assume. it's always the guy who is the bad guy. >> steve: damsel in distress. let's tell you about this, the american atheists filed suit against the port authority of new york and new jersey and at issue is there is a large cross pictured right there, remember that, that was pulled out of the rubble of the 9-11 attacks there at the world trade center. it's going to be part of the memorial. well, according to the atheists, just having that there physically makes them sick. they say depression, headaches, anxiety, mental pain and anguish from the knowledge that they are made to feel officially excluded from the ranks of citizens who

are directly injured by the 9-11 attacks. they don't want that cross there and if they can't get the cross taken down, they want a gigantic a for atheists or something like it. >> gretchen: that's crazy because i don't even think a gigantic a is the official symbol for atheism. is there a symbol for atheism? i don't think there is a symbol because you don't believe in anything, so what would be the symbol? that's why this, to me, is outrageous. if you're an atheist, i mean, then that's your personal choice. but you shouldn't be saying that that needs to come down because of what it represents to the majority of the people. >> eric: i have a few ideas for these symbols. but i can't really say what it would be on tv right now. what the a might stand for other than atheist. again, i was there. i saw the buildings come down. i lost 16 close friends in that attack. there is an overwhelming majority of the people who believe in some sort of christianity that were there that are families are there, that are in america who look to the world trade center as a

symbol of hope and freedom. these atheists need to take this fight and take it somewhere else. that cross wasn't built. it was a broken piece of the building that ended up that way. it means a lot to a lot of people. they should back off. >> steve: it's from that day. john is an atheist and he e-mailed us. as an atheist, i am tired of other atheists filing suits against christian symbols. this country was created on freedom of religion. >> gretchen: interesting. from steve, the cross wasn't created benin. it was discovered in the rubble of the world trade center tragedy. it should be left as it is in the 9-11 museum. >> eric: instead of a cross, what about a peace sign? >> gretchen: it wasn't discovered that way. the point of this was that it actually -- those two beams fell in that manner and that is why it represents so much more than just a cross and just a religious symbol. they happened to fall that way. it's not like they came up with the idea to put a cross out.

>> eric: that thing was stuck there. i remember seeing it stuck in the middle. all the rubble had fallen around it, it stuck in the middle. there were workers, people who lost their lives, there were workers around there hanging their hats on it, hanging any sort of memento of loved ones around it, it meant so much to so many people. i just don't get why this one has to be it. >> steve: i remember that. and i remember that so many people looked to that cross and said, see, it's there. they needed a sign and it was there. >> gretchen: so far they're going to leave it there. days away from the start of the conventions, will they make a difference in the polls? larry sabato peeks into his crystal ball. >> eric: the big reveal of this home makeover is almost here. alisyn standing by. ali? >> i sure am standing by and on the other side of your screen right now, you should be able to see what the phipps' house used to look like until one week ago when they got a beautiful new house and we'll show you that in about ten minutes.

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[ male announcer ] get up to 795 miles per tank in the 2013 passat tdi clean diesel. that's the power of german engineering. see your local dealer for special lease and finance rates during the autobahn for all event. >> eric: we're five days away from the republican convention in tampa, florida, where mitt romney will officially receive his party's nomination. but will convention provide mitt romney a bounce in the polls? what about president obama and the dnc? larry sabato looks into his crystal ball. take us through it. do conventions provide bounces? >> they usually do. although there are varying sizes. when you don't have an incumbent in the race as we had in 2000, we didn't have an incumbent, it was an open seat candidate, you tend to get a larger bounce because people don't know the candidates as well. they learn a lot during the

conventions. when you have an incumbent, particularly a polarizing incumbent, whether it was george w. bush in 2004 or president obama today, you have less of a bounce because people already know where they stand. they're either for or against the incumbent. >> eric: but what about in the case of the rnc, paul ryan being named the vice presidential nominee relatively recently. a lot of people may be the first chance to see him. do you expect any sort of bounce in the rnc this time? >> yes. i think there will be a bounce for the republicans because ryan is so little known and believe it or not, to a lot of viewers, mitt romney is relatively unknown. they know who he is. they don't know a lot about him. the more people learn and the more they have their partisanship reinforced by key speakers like chris christie at the republican convention or bill clinton for the democratic convention, then probably a bounce will show up. remember, it might disappear in a few weeks, too.

that's what normally happens with polling bounces. >> eric: and very quickly, the rnc announced the focus of their first day was going to be we built this. seems to be a very popular moniker on the right, at least among conservatives. >> yes. it might be reinforced if there is a hurricane. the hurricane tearing things down and the republican theme of we built it. but yeah. you want to pick themes that will have an impact on a broad audience. i think that's one that will have an impact on the republican leaning audience that's probably likely to tune in. >> eric: larry, not a lot of time left. on the dnc side, there has been reports that maybe they're not going to fill a stadium. maybe they're not going to fill certain venues. would that maybe have a look into the a smaller bounce for the dnc? >> it's possible, but i think the smaller bounce will come simply because after five years of campaigning and governing, the vast majority of americans and indeed convention viewers know what they need to know

about president obama to be either for him or against him. i don't imagine that a convention is going to add that much. it rarely does. >> eric: we got to go, but thank you very much and our coverage starts on sunday. thanks. >> thank you. >> eric: think you got a full tank of gas? think again. up next, a major auto recall gauges across the country are wrong of the the big reveal. it's coming up. alisyn? >> hey, eric. for nip who likes -- anyone who likes surprises this morning, we have a great one. on one side of your screen, you see what the phipps' house used to look like a little more than a week ago. and this morning, we're going to show what you it looks like today and we're going to get their reaction. first, let's check in with martha mccallum for what's coming up at the top of the hour. >> i can't wait. and coming up here, we are awaiting the new numbers from cbo on where the u.s. debt is headed. that will be breaking news this morning on "america's newsroom." joe biden refers to poem as, quote, squealing pigs.

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>> eric: quick headlines. brand-new recall just announced for owners of nissan's suv, up to 7,000 of its new jx 35 models have a fuel gauge that's completely wrong. the reports being full even when it's not. owners should take the suv back to their dealers. and until late night shakeup, abc is bumping up jimmy kimmel live by half an hour. he'll go head to head with jay leno and david letterman at 11:35 p.m. eastern. nightline is slight slated to begin at 12:35 a.m the switch set to happen

january 8. gretch? >> gretchen: that's upbeat music 'cause we have an upbeat story. the phipps family has faced a lot in the past few years with steven having to retire early from the navy due to illness and then hurricane irene wreaking havoc on their home. but today the phipps family finally getting the home they always dreamt of and it's thanks to gaf, north america's largest roofing manufacturer, and ply gem, the leading manufacturer of exterior building products in north america. here without further delay, let's go to alisyn camerota who is with them. >> gretchen, this is the moment we've all been waiting for. so first, let me show you what the phipps home looked like just a little more than a week ago. as you can see, it need some tlc, it was in a bit of a state of disrepair after hurricane irene, and now this morning we are happy to reveal what it looks like today. take a look at this beautiful basically new house that the

phipps family gets. look at the lovely, lovely colors, all the details, the trim, the siding. it's just beautiful. so let me bring in now the phipps family and talk to you guys. mary, let me start with you, how are you feeling when you see this home? >> so excited, so happy. eternally grateful for everybody that put all their hard work into this. it's beautiful, as you can see. >> it really is. steve, what's your favorite part of the home? >> besides the color and styling and everything else is the fact that it's a house that i was able to give to my wife, you know. her being happy is what -- sorry. is what makes me happy the most. >> steve, i know this is so emotional for you because these past years have been really tough for you guys. you got sick and had to retire from your career in the navy. >> right. >> and it's been hard for your family. >> it has been. the last three years, she's been the rock that held everybody together. and you know, i didn't want to

leave my job, but i had to because i wasn't medically fit to serve anymore. she lost her job to take care of me. and she's the one that keeps everybody together and keeps everybody sane. >> you had had bouts of rheumatoid arthritis, which can be debilitating. how is your life different today? now with the new home, what's easier about it? >> everything. we don't have to worry about, did you close that window tight enough? it's closed, it's locked. >> when a wind storm comes, you know -- everything, i'm happy. i'm just elated and proud to say that's my home, you know. things like this don't happen to people like me. i'm grateful for everybody that was involved in this process. >> we're grateful to you for your service. we're happy that you don't have to prop up your window with a drum stick from guitar hero anymore. let me quickly bring in alyssa and john. these are the folks from ply gem and gaf that made it happen. why did you pick this family?

>> they were our winners for weather related incident. they got hit by a lot of storms, including hurricane irene. when we showed up, there were shingles laying in the grass, the gutters were hanging off the house. but also with steve having served in the military and having illness, they were really triple category winners, which is why we were so thrilled to be able to give them one of our newer products, gaf timber line, lifetime warranty, so you tonight have to worry about that. >> that's great. john, what did you do to the house? >> we took it from the roof line down of the put new siding on, new windows, stone along the base there, nonoralling for the front porch. i can't take much credit for the design of the home, because the phipps took their vision and look what they did. >> terrific. we'll have much more in the after the show show with these guys. congratulations. >> thank you. >> it's a great house. back to you in the studio. >> steve: thank you very much. i think we have another surprise for the phipps family when we return in just about two minutes. stay with us

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