ou have aanhattan y the@ç sidewalks.ç jamie: the gunman according to the nypd is dead. for.g cared e details when the commissioner speaks top of the hour. thanks nor being with us. "happening now" starts now. jon: we begin with this fox news alert on that mass shooting, just outside new york city's empire state building. according to the new york fire department two people are dead, eight others injured. the gunman shot dead by police. we are waiting for a police conference with mayor bloomberg and the new york city police commissioner. this terrifying incident happening on the crowded streets of manhattan, 34th streets and 5th avenue after 9:00am this morning local time. emergency units on the scene minutes after getting the call. witnesses say the gunman reportedly a recently fired employee, was shooting indiscriminately into the crowd and people began running for their lives.

the attack happening outside the iconic sky scraper at the height of the morning rush-hour in an area packed with tourists, and ordinary new yorkers on their way to work. federal officials saying the attack is not related to terrorism but was some kind of a work-place dispute. joining us now with new information pat brosnan a former new york city police detective and the ceo of brosnan work consultants. a work-place shoot stph-g. >> we have shooting? >> we have a number of people with boots on the ground. this was actually on the 11th floor. what seems to have transpired is that a recently terminated individual went up and shot his boss in the face on the 11th floor at 10 west 33rd street. outside the building was one

of -- you'll see them all the time, you'll see precincts throughout the city from all over 75 commands where they are in midtown as a general and specific deterrent for terrorism. two police officers from the south bronx were in uniform sitting in a van. they saw this guy come out of the building. they were aware of the shooting. it's unclear if he shot directly at them, but in the ensuing running gun battle which began at 10 west 33 and culminated at the secondary crime scene on 5th avenue and 34th a number of shots were expended on both sides. jon: the original shooting was a blockade way from the empire state building on 33rd street. then you had a sort of running gun battle with police that carried on down the street. >> correct. it's right out of your worst nightmare. like you mentioned earlier, it was at the top of the rush-hour in the shadow of the iconic empire state building. the fact is during the course of this running gun battle at least

five or six other individuals were shot. it appears that the preliminary reports are that there are two dead and at least five others who were shot as a result of this gun battle. >> we have some eyewitness reports from people who were there at the scene. i want to play those for our viewers now. >> all of a sudden there's just cops running down and people are on scene. it was a scene like out of a movie but it was raoefplt it wasn't thareal. it wasn't that long ago that 9/11 happened. so i said is this happening. >> we were about to leave our apartment. we heard shots fired from the outside. ran to the window, ran onto our balcony where we could see straight over in front of the empire state building where we saw officers with a gun pointed at the suspect who was actually then lying on the floor. >> did you see the shooting at all? >> no we didn't see the shooting but we heard the gunshot from

the balcony. >> what was your reaction to this when you're looking at this out of your window. >> totally surreal. just thought it was a movie set. couldn't comprehend what happened. we thought maybe there had been an accident. then saw the man lying on the floor with the gun pointed at him. jon: back to pat brosnan, a former new york city police detective who has been talking to his sources. the police believe there was just one shooter an is dead after a gun battle with police. >> exactly right, jon. there was one sole shooter. it was work-place violence related. he did in fact kill his former boss. and he is now no longer with us. he's shot dead by two uniformed police officers from the 42nd precinct, a job exceedingly well done on their part. jon: it sounds like it, and the investigation will continue. pat brosnan, former nypd detective thank you.

>> reporter: charlie gasparino has sources within the nypd and he has more breaking news. >> we are trying to piece this together and we are waiting for mayor kelly and mayor bloomberg to give us the final details. both individuals it looks like, the perpetrator and the man he shot initially wo*rbgd a worked on haven imports on the 11th floor of west 33rd street. as we've been reporting they had a work-place dispute. this is a company, haven imports that designs ladies handbags i am told. the manager is the gentleman who was shot. we understand he was shot in the head. the perpetrator was a designer of ladies handbags, is what we are being told right now, at least according to people that know both men who work in that building. that's all we have right now. we're hearing it's a work-place dispute between a manager, who fired his employee yesterday,

and the employee came back today shooting. and, you know, when we're talking about who might be dead out of this obviously the perpetrator is i believe confirmed dead, the other gentleman who our sources are saying diseased in this is the manager, the gentleman who fired the perpetrator who shot him this morning where this all occurred. i know you had patrick on before who said this occurred on the 11th floor. that is yet to be determined. it might have occurred downstairs. we don't know yet. that's why you had so much confusion and others being shot in the melee. what is scary about this is that those others were shot purely as it appears, in the gun fight that occurred between the police, who were on the scene, as we were reporting. i understand they were there, they were on a terrorism -- antiterrorism detail when it happened. >> reporter: i understand that the nine wounded you've been talking about have been taken to

local hospitals. tell you what you know about the shooter. >> from what i understand, and i'm getting this from people who worked in the building, worked next to him, he was a designer of ladies handbags. we don't have any of this confirmed. this is as you know a chaotic situation. we are going by, you know, accounts from people that are close to the situation, so i always hesitate to say this is confirmed news. apparently he was clearly an employee. from what we understand he designed ladies handbags. that's what haven imports is. it's one of these handbag accessory companies. he had an argument with his boss, he was fired yesterday, and today he committed the crime. >> reporter: charlie, you know we were reporting earlier that according to an eyewitness the gunman was described, again, this is according to an eyewitness, he's described as a middle aged man in his 50s, caucasian, dressed very casually. >> right, right. and, yeah, you know what is interesting about this situation is just how confusion the story is at first. initially police thought he was

a guard who worked in the empire state building around the area. what i'm hearing now he's not. he's an employee of this haven imports. initially everybody thought it was -- police thought it was a robbery. and i think the operating assumption is now that it wasn't, that this is purely a work-place dispute that ended very tragically. in an area of town, guys, and you know this area. >> reporter: we do, very well. >> with people, tourists, penn station where people come in from long island. grand central station not far away. a college in the area, this was an insane situation. >> reporter: charlie, thank you very much for that -- all those details. stick around for us because we'll come back to you a little bit later. charlie gasparino from the fox business network. jon: and important bit of politics now a new break out

poll from fox news showing the state of the presidential race and this race could not be any closer as the republicans get ready for their national contention in tampa. good morning to you i'm jon scott. >> reporter: good morning to you i'm arthe arthel nevell in for jenna leave. it's the republicans time to shine in florida despite the storm clouds from tropical storm isaac. the political world awaits governor mitt romney's transformation from g.o.p. presidential candidate to g.o.p. presidential nominee. all eyes will be on what message comes out of this convention. >> the campaigns have been pretty negative this year and the media negativity may be reflecting campaign negativity. and i have a sort of contrary view actually that the campaign that goes positive, the first campaign that goes positive will

benefit. i have the sense that voters out there, citizens out there are actually kind of hungry for a positive message about the future. i know it's a cliche that of course negative campaigning works, otherwise why would people do it? i wonder if the campaigns have gone too far and the media has compounded that by being so negative. jon: an hour from now governor romney and congressman ryan will attend a rally in michigan. in recent days both men have fanned out across the country to visit crucial swing states. they are reuniting in a battleground state one to which the governor has very deep ties. we are talking about the state of michigan up here, where mr. romney grew up and where his dad served as governor. taking a look at the statistics, 16 electoral votes are up for grabs in michigan. like many states this one faces a tough economic environment. take a look. the unemployment rate in michigan stands at 9%. gas prices are part of the reason. $3.90 the average price for a

gallon of gasoline in michigan. the foreclosure rate, one of every 529 housing units is in foreclosure. michigan ranks 8th in foreclosures, nationwide. today marks the third time that mitt romney has visited the state since basketball being the presumptive republican nominee. for context in that same time starting back in april president obama has not returned to michigan. today the president has no scheduled events. this evening mr. obama heads to camp david. a new fox news poll shows in a head-to-head match up the presidential race is a virtual tie. the romney-ryan ticket edges obama biden by just one point. what sets this poll apart is it is the first time fox news has conducted a poll among likely voters this year. that means an apples to apples comparison cannot be made to previous polls. "real clear politics" shows an extremely tight race. you can see the numbers there. let's back to all the activity

in tampa. steve brown is there live with the latest developments. how are preparations going, steve? >> reporter: as far as we are told they are going well, and on schedule. you can't hold a convention without a big venue convention center or stadium. you can't hold them without signs and without balloons. the balloons are being assembled as we speak, something in the neighborhood of tens of thousands of them being collected just showing you that we will leave no stone unturned here in tampa. to the serious nature of the preparations, and that being isaac, there are some concerns that, you know, that storm could be headed this way. and the mayor of tampa talked about this yesterday. >> tampa is really, really excited about hosting the rnc. we don't have any plans to cancel it. the decision on the proceedings would be the rnc's decision. my role would be to call the evacuation and at this point we are not looking at doing that. >> reporter: we are repeatedly told by the folks at the rnc

that one way or another they will get their business done and that will be nominating officially mitt romney for president of the united states. jon: what about the convention schedule, though any changes. >> reporter: there actually have been. traditionally the roll call, the actual nomination process happens later in the week. that is going to happen on monday. the campaign says this was done largely to keep the transportation issues at a minimum having to bring people back and forth to the venue. but there was also tossed out by the campaign this fact, that as soon as he is the nominee he can get into the general election funds that they haven't been able to tap into, can't touch those until you are actually the nominee, so roll call monday means he gets access monday night. jon: steve brown reporting live from tampa for us. steve, thanks. >> reporter: we are continuing to monitor what we now know was a shooting that took place a blockade way from the empire state building. we are waiting for a press conference involving mayor

bloomberg from new york and police commissioner ray kelly. the scene is still active there are reporters on the ground. we'll have more for you when we return as our coverage on fox news continues. stick around. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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arthel: fox news alert as we continue to monitor a work-place shooting take being place this morning in new york city, the heart of the city, leaving two people dead, including the gunman. we are awaiting a press conference from police commissioner ray kelly, as well as the mayor of new york city, michael bloomberg. we'll cover that when we get it in the meantime the world of politics continues to roll on. jon: we are right now just days away from the beginning of the republican national convention and the democrats to follow. the g.o.p. is getting ready to officially nominate governor mitt romney as its presidential candidate. the governor set to address the convention in tampa. one prominent columnist says

america is going to meet mr. romney. peggy noo noonan is a form speecformer speech writer. you say this is his chance to introduce himself to an election threat who hasn't really been paying attention up until now. >> the great thing about a speech like this and a convention like this is that a candidate, especially a challenger, even more than an incumbent can come forward and for 45 minutes more or less uninterrupted tell you what he stands for, why he's here, what he wants to do, where he learned what he learned, who he is. jon: he says that to some extent today in the "wall street journal." he has an op ed piece talking about what he learned at bain capital. is that something you think he should do more of? >> i thought that was a very interesting piece, because it added substance to something. it added substance.

romney asserts i know how to turn things around. in that article in the journal he sort of talks about what he learned as he tried to turn things around, and sort of -- you got a sense that the experience of life was going through him, and he was getting some conclusions from it, and getting some of where he stands. i think that kind of thing is very helpful. i would love to have seen him done it. it sounds like what he talks about his friends when they talk business. jon: you have a handful of suggestions for him as he makes this speech. we have condensed them on put them on the screen. you say he must address spending, first of all. >> sure it's a major issue all americans talk b. they all worry about the hemorrhage of spending in washington. but as i say, spending has a big brother, and that is growth, and the creation of jobs, and economic expansion, and sort of getting back -- getting your hands back on the old america and kind of trying to make it new again. jon: you say he should not shy

away from religion? oh, no, everybody knows he's mormon. this is a major part of who he is, and how he goes into the day each day. it has informed him, go with it, talk about it. jon: you also say he should use humor. some people say that mitt romney is not the most funny guy out there. >> yeah i talk to people who work with him and i've done a few interviews with him. he is actually a funny guy. i think he should let that part of his nature be more present. but beyond that as i say in the piece, the president, president obama is someone who is a little bit flinty, he's a little bit proud, he doesn't like it if you spoof him or make fun of him. therefore, go for it. have to fun with his leadership. if romney hits him with some good funny, memorable lines it would be effective and add to

the joy of nation. humor is good. jon: you said he should mock the networks which are given the barest minimum coverage to this convention. >> i'm an old school purist on this. every four years, we have two major parties in this country, every four years they have their convention, they tell you what they stand for and why. let's be serious, cover those conventions. i know all the reasons not to, i just don't think they stand up. we are a great democracy, we are a political being, cover the convention. jon: i like your line, this isn't edward r. murrow in charge of the news, it's gordon gecko in charge of programming. >> that's how i see it. let's let that sit there. jon: good to have you. arthel: michael bloomberg, mayor of new york city addressing the press about that shooting that took place outside the empire state building, let's listen in. >> earlier this morning, a little after 9:00am a man who

had been fired from his job about a year or so began shooting near the empire state building but out on the street. he killed one person and at least nine other people were shot. some may have been shot accidentally by police officers who responded immediately, and while confronting the suspect and fatally shooting him, unfortunately there may have been other victims as well. all of those are not seriously wounded, and there is no expectation that any of them will do anything other than recover quickly. i ask everyone to keep the victims in their thoughts and in their prayers. this is a terrible tragedy and there is no doubt that the situation would have been even more tragic, but for some extraordinary acts of heroism. every day as you know our police officers put their lives on the line to protect us. they did so again today, responding immediately, and they

were joined by a number of civilians whose bravery and assistance probably also saved lives. new york city as you know is the safest big city in the country and we are on pace to have a record low number of murders this year, but we are not immune to the national problem of gun violence. let me turn it over to commissioner kelly. >> thank you mr. mayor. i want to stress that what we have is preliminary information and there is an ongoing investigation of course. at 9:03 this morning, in front of 10 west 33rd street a disgruntled former employee of a company at that address shot and killed a former coworker, striking him three times. the subject, jeffery johnson, age 53, then fled eastbound on west 33rd street to 5th avenue when he walked northbound along the curbline with a .45 caliber handgun secreted in a

black bag that he had under his warm. a construction worker who had followed johnson from west 33rd street alerted two uniform police officers who were on post in front of the empire state building's 5th avenue entrance as part of our counterterrorism coverage. as the two officers approached johnson he pulled his .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol from his bag and fired on the officers, who returned fire killing him. an additional nine individuals were either wounded or grazed during the exchange, six of whom were removed to bellevue hospital, and three to new york presbyterian cornell medical center. all are not likely to die. johnson had been employed for six years at hazan imports as a designer of women's accessories. during a downsizing at the company about a year ago johnson

was laid off. in a dispute with one of the former employees of hazan, in front of the building, johnson produced a pistol and fired at close range, striking his 41-year-old victim in the head. we are withholding the victim's identity until family notifications can be made. the area in and around the empire state building remains an active crime scene with 5th avenue closed from just below 42nd street to 33rd street. 33rd street is closed between madison avenue and the avenue of americas. 34th street is closed between 7th and madison avenue. mr. mayor. >> let me just stress that this is the beginning of an investigation. there were a lot of people that were injured. two are dead, the perpetrator and his victim.

nobody else, thank god. but the rest is we're doing an investigation. we'd be happy to take a few questions but i'm not sure we know any more than was just said. [inaudible question] >> he does not appear to have a criminal record but it is at the very beginning of our investigation. [inaudible question] >> we don't know very much about him. we are just starting the investigation, trying to fill you in, because the public is concerned, and they should be, but we just don't know yet about the victim or what interaction had occurred, whether there was any between the victim and the murderer. yes, miss. [inaudible question] >> do we know the ages of anybody? >> yes, the shooter was 53 years ever age. the person who was killed was 41 years of age. >> any of the others -- >> there were no children, no children who were shot. i would say, and no elderly

people. people in a middle age range. [inaudible question] >> i'm sorry? [inaudible question] >> i believe there are two women and seven men. [inaudible question] [inaudible question] >> walked a block, maybe, something like that. because the police were there on their usual counterterrorism assignments, saw this. went off him, a construction worker helped identify them. they had approached, the guy pulled a gun and tried to shoot the cops and kill the cops and the cops returned fire and he is dead, the perpetrator is dead. yes. >> could you clarify how many weapons -- >> we think there is only two -- there's only one weapon from the perpetrator, and then, of course, the police officers in defending themselves. yes, miss. [inaudible question] >> we have no information, miss, that is the trouble. we'll be happy -- as we get

information later in the day, we'll be able to put it out. these are very preliminary times and we don't want to speculate on everything. we do know the number of people shot and we do know that the victim is dead and that the perpetrator is dead. yes, sir. >> where was the construction work and do we know who he is? and is he the hero in this. >> i don't know. we all use the words hero. he did what he should have done. he identified what he saw to the police. when he saw something he said something and then turned it over to the professionals and that's that. [inaudible question] >> we don't know, there is speculation that that's happened. but we do know that we have on tape the perpetrator pulled his gun out and tried to shoot at the cops. whether he got off any bullets or not to be determined. how many he shot earlier yet to be determined. we do know that the cops fired back. the tape clearly shows the guy has the gun out and is trying to kill the police officers

which -- [inaudible question] >> we just said, miss he worked for an apparel company, women's apparel, yes, miss. [inaudible question] >> it's still under investigation. we don't know. the details are going to change. later on today we'll put it out. i don't want to give you any misinformation. yes, miss. >> what are the officers in the process of doing right now and how long is this perimeter going to stay up. >> it's going to take a while. we always look for shell casings, for witnesses, we look at videos from building security cameras. the police go through a time -- a honed checklist looking for evidence without destroying anything. and getting as many witnesses. if anybody has seen anything call the police department, call 311 and they'll connect you with the appropriate people and we'd love to have every bit of information. we'll take one or two more because i think we're just going around with the same things. >> did he say anything,

commissioner? >> we don't think the gunman -- not as far as -- >> unknown at this time. >> unknown. it happened very quickly. it happened very recently. [inaudible question] >> do we know where the suspect was from, the shooter. >> he was from manhattan. last question, miss. >> at this point you said there were multiple shots from officers, possibly inadvertently hitting civilians. >> that's correct. it's under investigation. we just don't know. >> only two officers fired shots, though? >> we believe the only shots were fired by the perpetrator and by the police department, there is no evidence that anybody else was involved. the police department had two officers there. >> two officers. >> that's correct that's all we know at this point in time. if it's something different, yes, if not we're going to go over the same thing. [inaudible question] >> we don't know where he came from. everything occurred outside. and it happened to be near the

empire state building, but as far as we know there was no connection to, nobody going in or out. the company that he worked for is a local company but not in the empire state building is my understanding. last question, miss. [inaudible question] >> yes, it's a .45 caliber pistol that has eight magazine -- the magazine holds eight, and yes, miss, last question. [inaudible question] >> we just don't know we don't know anything about it. it's much too early. what i want to do is assure everybody this is nothing to do with terrorism. there is clearly a murder here and a murder victim. the police responded very quickly because they were on the scene at a post where we assign police officers in the normal course of protecting this city. there were a number of shots fired. the perpetrator perpetrators clearly turned his gun on the police and tried to shoot them.

whether he got off any bullets we just don't know yet. the cops returned fire killing him. that's what we know. and that everybody else that was shot was just grazed or is going to survive. jon: that is the summation from the new york city mayor michael bloomberg about shots fired outside of the empire state building this morning. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more pcessed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i kn is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains. search great grains and see for yourself. but they have to use special care in keeping the denture clean. dentures are very different to real teeth. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident is designed to clean dentures daily.

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jenna: even if you have never been to new york city, you have probably seen and empire state building. this morning, it is the side of the shooting leaving two people dead. we found out from ray kelly that the shooter is jeffrey johnson, a former employee of shanghai henson import and export. his coworker were former boss, 41-year-old victim, we are not sure of his identity. they are withholding that at the moment. thirty-fourth street and fifth avenue, very busy intersection in the heart of new york city. chaos this morning in the middle of rush hour. david lee miller is there on scene with more in terms of eyewitness accounts and what is happening now. reporter: to some extent, people are breathing a sigh of relief. it is terrific what took place here. the police mazur, ray kelly, he said this was not an act of terror, but an incident that was

criminal in nature. it involves a discourage disgruntled worker, jeffrey johnson. he ambushed someone who was at the company where he once worked. this individual was will shot a number of times and killed. he was followed by a construction worker. the construction worker had seen the initial shooting and alerted police standing outside the empire state building. they alerted him to what had happened. he reached into a black bag, the shooter did, a 45 caliber handgun, the police office. as many as nine people were shot. none of those who have been injured are in any life-threatening situation, we are told. when the shooting was over, the gunman was dead. again, relating the fact that this was a criminal act.

the mayor said that civilians played a heroic role. the outcome today was less deadly than it otherwise might have been. as many as nine people have been wounded, none of those fatalities are reported to be life-threatening. >> that is good news in this story. david lee miller, thank you for that update. we will continue to follow this. stick around for more as we get around and new information. jon: we have brand-new fox news polls on the presidential race. let's take a look at the favorable and unfavorable ratings of the candidates. among likely voters, it is very close. president obama has a slight edge in both categories over governor romney. it is also close on a hot the hot topic of the economy. likely voters trust the romney-ryan to get to do a better job of improving jobs and

the economy over the obama-biden ticket. 45% versus 43% in that category. for more on the polls, let's talk what julie radinsky and a fox news contributor, alice stuart. a former presidential campaign organizer. julie, we will start with you first. he is essentially tied in the polls with his challenger. what does that save you? >> because it's going to be an incredibly close race. i am crossing my fingers that it will be over on election day. these national polls are not supposed to look after the close look at the polls in swing states. because those are the fools polls that will decide who the next president will be. in all of those states, obama

has consistently led time and time again. the most recent polls, whether florida or ohio, michigan, and so on and so forth come he has done much better than mitt romney has. consistently. despite the massive amounts of money, this race is pretty much tied, with barack obama leading slightly in all of the states. that just says to me that the dynamics of the race have not changed in the past eight. >> 12 months. jon: 75 days ago. if voters don't know much about mitt romney, do you expect that it will break in his direction in the 74 days? you have a tie right now. >> they will certainly learn so after the convention. it is key to look at mitt romney leading in the polls as a virtual tie. to be in the spot with an incumbent president, that's a loss for the current president. the fox poll, which is a great pool, by the way -- romney is

leading the independent voters. the independent voters will decide the election because they are results driven, not a party driven vote. they trust governor romney to win this case. also, mitt romney is leading in the enthusiasm race, and that is critical. we had a great report from his previous yesterday. we have 250 offices and we need that to kick things into high gear. jon: the second of the additional post we had to add here, adhere, we were just touching on this. how interested are you in this presidential election, president obama supporters say 47% said they are extremely interested. 50% of governor romney is supporters say they are extremely interested. that is what you were talking about. in another poll, the big issue of last week, who would do a better job of protecting medicare we met president obama wins 46 to 42%. but typically, julie, that is an issue which democrats dominate.

are you surprised? >> i'm not surprised. they have gone a lot of attention over the romney-ryan peck. after tampa, florida, it is a promise chance to shine. they can talk about their record and contrast it with mitt romney's intolerance. the bottom line is that seniors and others come once they learn about the contrast between the two medicare plans, they will clearly see that paul writes plane and one at mitt romney has endorsed -- it decimates medicare for people like me who are not yet seniors. it makes seniors pay almost $7000 more by getting rid of obamacare and replacing it with a policy differently is going to hurt seniors come even seniors were 65 years and older today. jon: i have to ask you this question. it he worked for rick santorum, governor romney took a beating during the primary season. are those bruises still there, and will they be -- will they go

away over the next 74 days? >> i'm sure that they will. there is a heated battle between hillary clinton and barack obama. that is part of process. that is part of the vetting process. but as we move into the convention, we are going to hear a lot more from mitt romney mitt romney and the romney-ryan ticket and their plan for the middle class to make things better for the american middle class. people are dissatisfied with the leadership of the obama administration. failed to make things better for the american people. what we are also seeing in these key battleground states, these races are tight enough and that is going to be critical as they moved to november. governor romney and mitt romney are closing the gap. because their policies to help strengthen the middle class to rein in government spending and encourage private sector growth and do all we can to balance the budget. that is what people are concerned about. jon: somebody has 74 days. thank you both so much. >> thank you. jon: a fox news alert for you.

information that we are calling the empire state l.a. shooting. it it took place at shanghai henson import and export. someone answered the phone, he answered and said are you open, he said i am from fox news and we have no comment at this time. our investigation continues ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> we continue to cover the shooting at 10 west 33rd street grid around the corner from the empire state building. a former coworker is dead. 41-year-old man, we are not releasing his name at the moment, the victim is dead. the shooter is dead, the shooter is 53-year-old jeffrey johnson, killed by police. charlie gasparino joins me to tell me how the gunman died. reporter: new details.

mr. johnson, a designer of ladies handbags, shot the gentleman who owned the company where he works. >> he was laid off one year ago. he was fired yesterday, and today he acted in revenge. it is a chaotic, tragic scene. there is a silver lining, he confronted his boss, mr. johnson did. from what i understand, with a handbag and a gun in his hand. spotted by a construction worker in the area who followed him around the corner on the side of the empire state building and he alerted police. there were two police there. anti-terrorism sources.

he began shooting indiscriminately where other people were shot. he was killed by the police, and i will tell you. a bullet in a nearby car. people being hit. this is a malay and it occurred in front of that brewery. >> i have been evaporated, 9:03 a.m. this moment, people on the way to work, a busy intersection. some sound now from people on the scene. eyewitness accounts. >> i heard shots. i thought it was firecrackers at first. everybody started running for cover along with me. the girl that was running next to me fell down to the pavement, and when i looked at her, i could see that she had been hit in the leg. >> we can only imagine what that was like. so real, but we continue the

story and continue to cover it. we will be back in a moment. charlie gasparino, thank you very much. more details on the empire state building shooting. more to come on fox news plan? first we're gonna check our bags for free, thanks to our explorer card. then, the united club. my mother was so wrong about you. next, we get priority boarding on our flight i booked with miles. all because of the card. and me. okay, what's the plan? plan? mm-hmm. we're on vacation. this is no pl. really? [ male announcer ] the united mileageplus explorer card. the mileage car ith special perks on united. get it and you're in.

jon: 20 years ago today, hurricane andrew struck miami. a major tour headed in the general vicinity of florida, just in time for the gop convention. hurricane andrew was a category five monster. packing 150-mile an hour winds. killing 26 people and left her a billion dollars worth of damage in its wake. phil keating is live from miami with a look back for south floridians.

i was there at the time. andrew remains a defining moment. reporter: absolutely. even to this day. you either lived in florida before hurricane andrew or after hurricane andrew. it was 5:05 a.m. on a monday morning when the eye of this monster hurricane slammed south of miami in homestead, florida. within minutes, it was a massive bomb looked like it had exploded. entire neighborhoods flattened. 50,000 homes destroyed. 90% of all the mobile homes in miami-dade county left twisted ruins. the satellite view still looks ominous to this day. florida in the red zone is approached. packing 165-mile per hour winds according to the national hurricane center. some gusts approaching 200 miles per hour. it cost $30 billion in damage. it was the most costly natural disaster at the time. immediately, it left a quarter of a million people homeless, in

its path changed dramatically at the last moment. because everyone here in miami was thinking that the hurricane was actually going to strike north of miami around fort lauderdale. at the last second, it veered south and hit homestead, catching people off guard. jon: i remember i was living in miami at the time. it also strengthened, amazingly quickly. on friday it was nothing. by the weekend, it was a monster. reporter: absolutely. it went from a tropical storm one day to category four within 36 hours. it is amazing with rapid development. a lot of it contributed by weather conditions, allowing this to happen. a storm surge peaking at 17 feet, causing widespread flooding, of course, massive power outages and, of course, 46 people directly killed and up to 35 and directly killed in total.

those that did not evacuate did not heed the warning of the state and the federal government at the time. they stayed and wrote this hurricane out. the horror stories are just amazing. the survival stories are amazing. even to this day, 20 years later. many people emerging from their homes like zombies. the upside, if there is an upside to hurricane andrew, it was a great wake-up call. building codes are now much stronger than they were back then. in fact, miami-dade county now has to be able to withstand 146-mile per hour winds. of course, everyone in south florida, keeping an eye on tropical storm isaac. when hurricane andrew hit on the state 20 years ago, it was the first tropical storm of the season. here we are today, and it is number 10 with tropical storm joists performing yesterday. jon: i will never forget being in a safe house with my couple of young kids back then. things can change quickly, but it doesn't look, at this point,

like tropical storm by zack -- isaac turn into anything too bad. jon: harris: governor mitt romney in paul ryan will be there nextlk week for the gop convention. we will keep you posted on the coverage i get the same questions -- what is it? how does it work? so i thought that the best way for you to get those answers is to actually meet a client and a one reverse mortgage licensed professional. come on... what happened when you made that call? first of all we had to clarify immediately that the house would be mine. people think they don't own their home and that's not the case at all. what did the one reverse mortgage then do for you? well i can meet the expenses at the end of the month with no anxiety and then i can go on trips once in a while. it changed my life. [ henry ] if you're a homeowner 62 or older, call now and get your free guide and dvd. can one reverse mortgage help you?

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jon: high noon on the east coast. we begin this hour with fox news a fox news alert about a shooting on the streets of manhattan where new information is just coming in. much of it to place right outside the empire state building at about 9:00 o'clock this morning. local time. the gunman is what police are describing is workplace shooting. david lee miller is live. reporter: just a few moments ago, the mayor and the police commissioner concluded a news conference. the mayor described what happened. it is a terrible tragedy. he also mentioned the fact that

there were extraordinary acts of terrorism. the words of mayor bloomberg. the shooter has been identified as 41-year-old jeffrey johnson. he was a disgruntled employee of an apparel company. this company, located in the shadow of the empire state building on 33rd street, about one block away from the empire state building. according to the account of the news conference, he fired as many as three times at another employee he was stopped by a construction worker nearby. johnson put his weapon in a black bag and walked north up fifth avenue to one of the entrances to the empire state building. at that point, the construction worker, who had been following him, and notified two police officers outside the empire state building. he was on counterterrorism duty. the officers realized something was wrong.

johnson pulled his weapon and that is when there was a shootout. when johnson was dead, we are told that as many as nine other people were wounded. none of those injuries are described as life-threatening. nine people being treated at new york city hospitals. when it comes to the construction worker who alerted police to the presence of the shooter, the mayor, when asked, said simply this. he did what he should have done, he saw something and he said something. jon: maybe we are fortunate that it wasn't worse than it was. david lee miller outside the empire state building. thank you. harris: in the meantime, the countdown continues. just 74 days until americans go to the polls. it is good to see you. jon: i am jon scott. apparently it is a quite day for it the president at the white house. tonight, mr. obama heads to camp

david for the weekend. >> and trying to get the campaign focus back on the economy with mitt romney, after social issues dominating the week. both men in michigan, the battleground state. it carries 16 of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the white house. fox news is your election headquarters. we have peter burns live in washington dc. the first we go to karl cameron. he is live in appropriately named commerce commission. reporter: the romney-ryan ticket will be making its big united debut appearance in mitt romney's native michigan. this is a state that republicans have not won since 1988. the romney-ryan ticket has it squarely in its targeted sites as a pickup state. it hopes very much to win. romney was born here, he has lots of strong support.

it is a potential signal for women across the country. in recent days, the addition of ryan to the ticket has stephanie helped mitt romney across the country. in the national polls as well as key battleground states. in many states, barack obama won in 2008. the polls are now tied and the swing states, about 11 strong. in most states, it is a virtual tie. a couple where each have a lead. here to be in michigan, in advance of the convention, they hope to expand the battlefield and launch aggressiveness. for months, obama-biden campaign's spending lots of money, and attempt to define him and an early part of the summer when voters aren't necessarily paying attention. to many, mitt romney did not respond aggressively. it was a big attempt to withhold his artillery until now.

republicans believe the race begins at labor day. the rnc is a trigger switch. the definition of mitt romney on his terms, not how the democrats want to follow him. it begins this week and next with this convention in the run-up with it. lots of new records for romney-ryan. a new wall street journal talking about the lessons he learned at bain capital. he signaled that he is going to aggressively tout his business career as a weapon against barack obama. romney bertini says has never created a business and doesn't understand how to create jobs. this is the beginning of the romney-ryan aggressive pushback. there will be tens of millions of new ads from both outside groups and the campaign itself. as soon as the republican national convention ends. at that point on he will have access to the hundred and $80 million he has raised. he is not entitled to spend it until he formally accepts the nomination and that will come next week.

arthel: the crowd, the excitement there -- but that's a foreshadowing, next week will be exciting. thank you very much, karl cameron. in the meantime, we have new fox poll numbers on the economy. which candidate do americans trust for jobs? represents a governor romney and vice president paul ryan. if they become back, they would do a better job improving the economy and creating jobs. as compared to 43% from president obama. that was in the three-point margin of error. in the meantime, in an exclusive interview with the fox business network, governor romney says he does not believe another stimulus would help the economy. and he would make some big changes at the fed. bringing in peter barnes for the fox business network in washington to analyze all of us. what you said? >> that's right. we heard from the federal reserve this week that it is considering another round of economic stimulus, monetary

easing. possibly including something called quantitative easing, which involves billions and billions of dollars in bonds being purchased to keep interest rates low. governor romney said do not do this. >> you know, i don't think qe-2 was terribly effective. qe-3 and another that stimulus is not to help this economy. that is the wrong way to go. i think that it also sees the kind of potential for inflation down the road that would be harmful to the value of the dollar, nothing harmful to this development and stability that our nation needs. reporter: governor romney also stands on supporting ben bernanke. not that ben bernanke is looking for that, romney said regardless committee does not want to keep ben bernanke in that position. earlier this week, one of his top economic advisers, glenn hubbard at columbia university, said that mitt romney should reconsider that position.

that mitt romney told us yesterday, no way. he will not reconsider. ben bernanke would be out in romney administration. arthel: we are all waiting with bated baited breath. peter burns, thank you very much. jon: also new information about chaos at the empire state building in new york city. just outside it. two people are dead, including the gunman. he opened fire into a crowd. people say that they know who did this and why. arthel: also, a woman and her child falling in front of an oncoming train on the tracks. what happens next? we will show you. jon: also, party convention preview. what president obama and governor romney need to do at their upcoming convention. and who needs to shine more we met we will ask a veteran of so many presidential campaigns. but bonds is coming up next pitching is 100% mental. you have to be locked in. you know i've been out there trying to focus with a headache

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arthel: "happening now" a mother and her child falling into a subway track. the mother and her 4-year-old boy suddenly dropping from the platform. there were two very quick thinking bystanders at the station in cambridge to help them out. take a listen to the witnesses. >> you're not going to let that happen and not react. you can't sit there and watch her get run over. >> i wouldn't think, i would just react. arthel: woman admits that she was rushing through this train station and not paying close attention. she is grateful to her rescuers for saving her as well as her little boy. jon: right now, party

conventions are coming into focus. mitt romney at a rally in michigan. the republican national convention begins three days from now. he gets a chance to reintroduce himself to americans with a primetime political spotlight on him and tried to put in the voters that he needs in november. the governor's wife and governor chris christie will be speaking also. the big opportunity for the governor to try to draw in women voters and fire up tea party republicans. in the meantime, obama is turning to a former president, bill clinton, to shore up his support among the faithful and independent voters as well. mr. clinton slated for a primetime speaking role at the democratic convention. a starring role in a new ad for the president's campaign. let's talk about it all with a political pro, ed rollins, he managed mike huckabee's run for the white house. he is a fox news contributor and joins us now. philip elliott put out an

article in the ap today, saying that barack obama needs to remind voters why they loved him in 2008. mitt romney needs to get to know voters and like him better. reporter: that's a good way to begin. this has to be romney's party. conventions are a little outdated now. what they are is an opportunity to articulate your vision for where you want to take the country. romney has obviously made great strides in last couple of months, putting his party back together again. this is his opportunity to talk in terms of how he will get this economy moving out, bringing good people in and show leadership. jon: the selection of paul ryan to be his vp nominee. has he helped solidify or convince? reporter: es energize the conservative base as circulated for years ago. the difference is that paul has the ability to go long term. he is very suspect. no one knows more about the budget than he does, and honestly he will be a great asset for this campaign.

jon: at the same time, president obama and the groups supporting him have spent $120 million, most of it on negative advertising, trying to paint mitt romney in a negative light. has it worked? reporter: it has not worked. it has been one of failure. what they try to do is make mitt romney and unacceptable art as an alternative. they spend millions of dollars trying to do that. they have put little tiny dents inside of cars or that they don't have the faith to knock that off and i don't think the next eight weeks we have left -- i don't think people will pay attention to the candidates and not so much the negative advertising. wall-to-wall. jon: the polls show that this race is tight and it doesn't seem like there are a lot of undecided voters out there left to be swayed. reporter: there are very few. both campaigns would tell you privately that it was worth 5% of the electorate that are undecided. no democrats are going to shift for obama people and no republicans will ship at this point in time.

they will make one or two decision. either they are going to vote are not going to vote and it is coming to make down to make sure that your voters to the polls in those last independents come in to the polls. jon: i'm not a political expert like you, but i am thinking that if you have that very few people who are undecided, and, you know, this president has been in office four years, they know him well and they know what he's about and they know what he's likely to do. i think the advantage among the undecided lies with the guy that they don't know as well. reporter: sometimes they make a decision. i like the present, i don't like the person -- if you are undecided after all that has gone on, you are not as interested as we are in the day-to-day aspect of it. sometimes, it is a gut check and sometimes an emotional thing. that is why this is important at the beginning of the fall campaign. that last lab at the olympics -- it's here on out. jon: one of the things of the

president and the people around him try to do is paint mitt romney in a negative way because it is bain capital time. in "the wall street journal" with an editorial, what i learned from bain capital, talking about job creation. would you advise him to do more of that kind of thing? >> absolutely. it's a great part of the story. he made a lot of money, at the end of the daytime he has a great record. he's going to talk about his governorship and what he has done. the key success he had turned around the olympics, which is what is heated in the olympics and bain capital -- a turnaround artist or that's what this country needs. jon: is worth reminding people that making money is not a bad thing. reporter: we basically want to get america back to work again. jon: ed rollins, always a pleasure. arthel: as we continue here at "happening now", bullets fly in new york city outside the empire state building. the gunman is dead and so is his former boss. stunning details about how the

gunman was taken down at police. the prosecution is set to wrap up the case against drew peterson, the former illinois police officer on trial for murdering his third wife. we will take a look at some dramatic testimony. he coached his fourth wife to live for him. our legal panel comes up in three minutes ♪

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>> are fox news alert. we are getting some of the first photos from the chaos that erupted in the vicinity of the empire state building on the streets of manhattan about 3.5 hours ago. there you see the white sheet lying on the sidewalk. we believe that to be covering the body of the suspected shooter in this case. police have identified 53-year-old jeffrey johnson, who lived in manhattan.

the story told by the mayor and police commissioner, ray kelly, is that he walked up to someone that he worked with were worked for at his former company. hazan imports. about 9:00 o'clock this morning. and he shot that person in the head on the sidewalk. that person later died on the way to the hospital. 41-year-old victim there. a construction worker then followed the suspect. jeffrey johnson, as he walked toward the empire state building. outside the empire state building, there were for a couple of cops on antiterrorism duty. the construction worker alerted them to this suspect. the cops then detain him. he is alleged to have pulled a gun out of his bag. the cops pulled their guns and all hell broke loose. the gunman was then shot dead by police in that spot. but nine other people, seven men into and two women were also shot on the streets of new york city in very crowded conditions

in the middle of the morning rush hour. apparently, none of those injuries believed to be life-threatening, but yes, what a wild scene outside the empire state building. we will keep you updated as we learn more. arthel: it was a wild scene inside the courthouse. prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case today in the murder trial of drew peterson. after some explosive testimony. describing how the former illinois police officer allegedly coached his fourth wife to lie to police for him. stacy peterson told this reverend that drew peterson admitted he killed his third wife and coached her for hours on how to lie and cover up for him. of course, stacy peterson went missing and houston is the prime suspect in her disappearance. there is no physical evidence tying him to the murder of his third wife, kathleen, whose body

was found in a dry bathtub in his home. police originally classified her death is a drowning. joining me is checked merlin, criminal defense attorney, donald swygert, a police officer and prosecutor, pardon me for messing up your name. good to see both of you. i say why all, because yesterday in a court room, the jury -- they sort of had a large outburst. aghast to some of the testimony they heard. we are talking about the pastor testifying that basically, wife number four was told to cover up for the killing, the alleged killing of wife number three. donald, i will start with you. is this the linchpin in this case? >> it may or may not be. i think that what we have to understand is that the jury is going to be given instructions to take this testimony with a lot of caution. because the person who made this statement was not cross-examine.

but evidence is very powerful and very dangerous. that is why we have rules here. in many cases, this evidence comes in any completely interesting manner to render a verdict rated three dangerous as testimony against drew peterson. arthel: if it is dangerous, how does the defense poke a hole in that testimony? >> well, they didn't do it yesterday from the reports that i saw. as a matter of fact, it seemed to fail completely, other than taking a couple of potshots at the reverend, because of his ties and his concern that stacy peterson was a married woman and she didn't want to be seen as doing anything wrong. other than that, this is damaging testimony. probably preventing the defense from getting a directed verdict. i think they were hoping because there was no physical evidence, they had a chance to get a direct verdict. this is damaging testimony. arthel: no head, donald.

>> i would agree with chip. the cross-examination of this witness was really bad. asking the pastor if stacy peterson was trying to seduce him -- [talking over each other] arthel: they said that, just to put it in context, because stacy peterson -- she had the pastor meet her at a starbucks in town. she allegedly told them all the account of what happened. arthel: jon: i'm just saying that that is why they were saying that. two people together alone. let me continue with testimony from yesterday. that same conversation that took place at starbucks in town where the pastor said that stacy peterson, she told him that she woke up in the middle of that night, she couldn't find drew peterson or find him on his phone. she saw him dressed in black, empty nevada women's clothing into the washing machine.

then stacy peterson said that drew peterson for his own close in the machine. you know, some of the testimony that the jurors are not hearing because it is considered marital privilege, conversation between husband and wife. the jury hearing that testimony. chip, back to you. how do you think that the jurors will process that testimony? >> well, i don't think that they are going to process it very well in front of drew peterson and in his favor. all of a sudden, at the very end of the prosecution, they hammer this point with the reverend coming through and testimony from cece peterson, which is interesting. the jury is not being told that stacy peterson has disappeared. this is a very unusual case heard the prosecution is very strong. the question is whether or not drew peterson, because of the testimony, may take a stand on defense. arthel: donald, do you think that will happen? will he take the stand?

>> would be crazy to do so. a razor thin case. if he does that, he may give the prosecution what they need. a lucky break. they need some kind of a mistake to be made by the defense, and the stupidest thing they can do is put back i understand. arthel: we will keep watching. donald and chip, thank you both so much. good to see both of you. jon: a fellow named isaac in the caribbean gaining strength. all eyes on tampa, florida. what can people expect? is again one? we will check in with the fox news extreme weather center. also, new information about the deadly shooting outside the empire state building. >> i walked across the street, and i heard the shots. and then i was halfway down by the empire state building and

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arthel: a fox news alert out of new york city where we are learning more about the man who opened fire right outside of the empire state building. he was shot and killed along with another man police identified as the victim. several other people were hit by bullets, some of which we're now learning may have been fired by

responding police officers. david lee miller is live on the scene with more. david? >> reporter: just a few moments ago there was a news conference held by the mayor and the police commissioner, the mayor described what happened this morning as a terrible tragedy, but he also said that there were extraordinary acts of terrorism. this we do know, the shooter has been identified, 53-year-old jeffrey johnson, apparently he fired multiple times at the president of the company where he was once employed, killing the president of hazen imports, that individual identified as steve hercolino, and then the shooter made his way up fifth avenue. he encountered two new york city police officers, there was a shootout. a number of people were wounded, as many as nine bystanders. the shooter himself was killed by new york city police, and witnessing all this was a producer for the geraldo show on fox. she was walking down the street. jackie, you're last name? >> boothby. >> tell me, what did you see and hear? >> i was crossing the the street

right here. i heard four gunshots, and all of a sudden i just saw people fleeing the scene. as i was crossing the street, a woman actually fell at my feet. i tried to help her up, but i was nervous that the gunman was going to keep shooting, so i kind of ducked behind one of the planters on the street. when i thought it was safe, i got up and tried to prop her head up, but everyone just fled from the area. then the cops came, actually, right away, and the ambulances were there right, like, within minutes. >> reporter: did you hear the shooter say anything? >> no, i did not. you could just hear the gunshots. they were almost very muffled, i wasn't sure that's what it was at first, but then i saw people falling, and i assumed it was a shooting. >> reporter: we're glad you're well. thank you for talking with us. i know you're a little shaken up, but we appreciate you letting us know what you saw just a short time ago. one of the things worth noting, this could have been a great deal worse. the police commissioner revealed just a short time ago that the shooter had in his possession a

magazine, more ammunition, he was prepared to reload. back to you. arthel: dade lee miller, thank you very much for that live report. jon: and a fox news alert now on tropical storm isaac, gaining strength apparently over the warm waters of the caribbean. the storm is headed twad haiti and the dominican republic right now. the latest projections show it could hit florida. in that state people are preparing for what may come as isaac moves along, securing boats, boarding up windows and buying supplies like these folks. >> got batteries and flashlights and water. >> we have water at home. >> got some water -- batteries. >> if there is something wrong here, we have to buy for prepare. >> listen, you've always got to have the correct essentials. you need plenty of water, but you also need plenty of beer. >> all eyes on tampa as the republican convention is set to kick off that that tropical storm brewing. one of the possible concerns,

huge delays at tampa international airport. still, the mayor there optimistic. >> tampa is really, really excited about hosting the rnc. the decision on the proceedings would be the rnc's decision. my role would be to call the evacuation, and at this point we are not looking at doing that. jon: the democrat mayor there happy to welcome those republicans to town. rick reichmuth is tracking the storm from our fox weather center. >> monday's going to be a bad travel day, tampa getting in and out monday is going to be rough. definitely see the rain there not a direct landfall, i don't think, in the tampa area from the storm, but we're going to be seeing a lot of very strong wind and rain certainly across a lot of florida. that means localized flooding because we've had a lot of rape across florida, so the ground is saturated, and this is a really big storm. it's starting to look better on satellite representation, getting some of the stronger storms wrapped around. the back side of the storm, that

means along with some of the other representations on that satellite, i think we're going to see this strengthen even more. it's already up to a 60 mile-an-hour storm. it's got a lot of land mass over the next couple of days. these are the various tropical models that we look, and they're still not in that great of agreement, unfortunately, so it's been really difficult for us to say exactly where this is going to go, and from one model run to the next, they're varying wildly, especially out around the 3-5 day period. some of the models towards new orleans, a lot of them around panama city, maybe towards apalachicola. but it's such a big storm that we're going to be seeing big impacts for a lot of people. by sunday morning it's going to spend a lot of time over land, so however this emerges back here across parts of the water will determine how strong it will become after that. ultimately, we're talking the official forecast, a category one storm making landfall across the eastern gulf area sometime tuesday night into wednesday, but, jon, that's a lot of time, and if it goes across that land

as a stronger storm, could be a stronger storm still yet here when it makes landfall eventually. jon: and arthel is pushing that thing away from her hometown, new orleans. arthel: indeed, i was trying to do that. right now our national debt racing to $16 trillion, also this week the cbo saying a fiscal cliff scenario would plunge the nation into a recession, but one leading economist says he sees light through the gloom and doom. mark zandi, chief of moody's.com. he says, quote: it feels like political stars are now aligning so regardless of who wins the next election under almost any scenario, they will get it together. odds are good they will come up with a plan that addresses the fiscal cliff, the treasury debt ceiling -- which expires early next year -- and fiscal sustainability, end quote. and here he is now, joining me, mark zandi, he also, by the way, has a new book coming out september 12th, called "paying

the price: ending a great recession and beginning a new american century." mark, let's get right to it. hello, and why are you so optimistic? >> well, most fundamentally, i think american businesses are in good financial shape. they've done a lot of hard work dug recession, their profits are now at record levels, profit margins have never been higher, and they've done a good job getting debt down and getting their balance sheets in order, so it's no longer a question of can american businesses invest in -- and hire more aggressively, it's now a question of confidence, a question of willingness. you mentioned the fiscal issues and, of course, there's europe, a lot of things to be worried about, but i think if we can get a bit of clarity with regard to those issues, then these better fundamentals will shine through. arthel: how do you get clarity regarding those issues? >> well, it's going to take some reasonably good policy making and perhaps a little bit of luck. i think in the case of europe we're getting a little bit of both. it's a process, and the europeans aren't working as fast

as anyone would like, but with each round of financial turmoil coming out of europe, they seem to be getting it together and doing the right things, and i do think by this time next year most of those issues will be behind us. the fiscal issues, of course, they're very big, and we're going to have to wait until after the election to see how the election goes and what the landscape looks like -- arthel: hang on for me, mark, because you're saying -- first you said it doesn't matter who wins the election, now you're saying we have to wait until after the election. of course, governor romney, he's running on his strength as a good businessman, and he says he's the one to turn around the economy, but you're saying it doesn't matter who wins the election. >> yeah. no, i think regardless of who wins, either president obama or president romney, they've got to address the fiscal cliff, and they will. they have the to raise the treasury debt ceiling, and they will. and they have to hay out a credible path to fiscal sustainability, stabilizing the debt to gdp. so i think those three things

will happen because both democrats and republicans, again, regardless of who wins will have leverage, and because of that they'll come to terms that are sufficient to lay the foundation for this better economy. arthel: well, you're confident that congress will get together, some americans are not so confident according to polls. [laughter] we wish for the best for the economy for our great nation, so, mark zandi, i have to say good-bye, and i thank you for your time, sir. >> thank you. jon: couple of big gaffes on the campaign trail, but one got way more attention in the mainstream media and on social media. a sign of media bias? our news watch panel weighs in. the. plus, a horrifying story, a teenage girl saying she was held as a sex slave for more than two years after she went missing. her daring escape to freedom, coming up. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly

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jon: right now another media firestorm this week to examine, but is the coverage always fair

and balanced? ask yourself. social media and the airwaves exploding, in overdrive, really, after missouri senate candidate todd akin's controversial remarks about rape and abortion. compare that to the media's treatment of the republican -- i'm sorry, compare the media's treatment of the republican to the gaffe from vice president joe biden the week before, telling an audience of many african-americans that the romney team wanted to put them back, quote, in chains. an analyst from the media research center finds akin's remarks drew four times the coverage of biden's. let's talk about it with our fox news watch panel, judith miller, rich lowry, the editor for the national review joins us as well, both are fox news contributors. how do you explain the disparity in the amount of coverage, rich? >> well, a couple things. i mean, one, this is certainly the democratic message of the week, todd akin, and how it's supposedly going to change the

whole political debate, and people all over the country are going to vote for president based on what todd akin says. then you have layered on top of that just almost all reporters are proo-choice, they don't understand or particularly like pro-lifers, so that's added an element of bias on top of the usual partisanship in this case. jon: judy is shaking her head. >> no, i'd like to think, and i do agree with you, rich, that some reporters are pro-obama and would like to see him win and that most reporters tend to be pro-choice. however, i think the reason that todd akin's remarks took off is that they played to this general theme, and the general perception that the gop is waging a war against women and trying to limit access to family planning and to abortion and to other things and rights that women feel they have. this would not have gotten 96 minutes worth of air time from

three networks had it not touched a nerve. jon: 45 stories at last count. fox news asked, you know, people out there in america who do you think most members of the media want to win the upcoming election? the numbers, well, they might surprise you. 61% say they think the media want president obama to win, 15% say governor romney. what do those numbers say to you, rich? >> it tells me at least 15% of people aren't paying attention. [laughter] on the war on women, i mean, judy, we sort of agree here, that's a democratic theme. it's a white house theme, and it's one the media is extremely sympathetic to and willing to promote at any given moment. and if you just want to go from a straight down the middle perspective, president obama's an extremist on abortion. he doesn't want to restrict it in any way. he's more out of step with the public on this than todd akin is because 60% of people say abortion should either be illegal in all circumstances or legal only in very narrow

circumstances. jon: isn't it true, judy, according to the polling that the country has become more conservative on abortion? >> they have become more conservative on abortion, but that's because women have grown accustomed to having these rights, and all of a sudden the rights, they have to think about this for the first time, are in jeopardy. and i'm afraid, rich, you and i are just going to have to disagree. if you look at todd akin and the nine resolutions that he and vice presidential nominee ryan have, have offered, you see a steady pattern of limiting access to family planning and to abortion. that's not a point of view, those are facts. >> right. and 60% of people, i think about 61% of men in the latest gallup poll, about 60% of women say abortion should either always be illegal or should be legal just in very few, narrow circumstances. so that is the mainstream position of the country, and president obama is more out of step with that than todd akin is

because president obama favors no restrictions whatsoever and, actually, favors a federal law that will wipe out all current state and federal restrictions. that's the radical position. >> ryan had to walk away from their own party's platform. i think that tells you everything you need to know. jon: well, there's the fair and balanced debate you're not get anything a lot of other places. [laughter] judy and rich, thank you both. we'll have much more on the coverage of the candidates and this election coming up this weekend. be sure to catch news watch with yours truly and our great panelists, tomorrow, 2:30 eastern time. around around interesting debate, indeed. coming up, a massive explosion in louisiana. it happened right in the middle of one of the state's main highways. look at those flames. what caused it, and is traffic moving? we're going to have the latest coming up. finish whoa, look at all those toys. insuring that stuff must be a pain. nah, he's probably got...

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doing something stupid. they don't want, you know, to be blamed for getting so close and panicking the driver that he then causes a huge accident and kills, you know, hurts or kills someone else. and so they'll stay behind and just try to monitor things and keep an eye on the situation. obviously, our friends from wsvn are helping with their sky force chopper. no doubt police are tuned in to this signal as well. they know where this guy is. let's listen in to the wsvn chopper pilot now. >> we did see some debris come off the car when we first got on scene as it was changing lanes, but so far it appears that he's slowing down here. the police officers are stopping, he's run into traffic and come in to hit the back of a vehicle there. there's no place to go. we're going to try to turn around now very, very carefully while other helicopters in the

area -- now he's backed up. you can see damage to the front of that vehicle. he's still trying to get around and doing some very difficult things here, maneuvering between several vehicles. he's at the exit ramp here. let me see where we are. he's at the exit ramp of 27th avenue, now he's going backwards, he's going onto the feeder road, the side road here going westbound in what would be the eastbound lanes. you see at least one police officer making a u-turn. we're west of 27th avenue, now we've got the miami gardens police officers there, and he's obviously going the wrong way on what would be the exit ramp. now he's got a tractor-trailer he's maneuvering around. this is a very, very dangerous situation here, and we advise all of our viewers that this is live and things as they unfold, you're going to see it hear -- here if you keep your eyes glued to the tv set. the vehicle is turning southbound.

we see some debris fall off the front of the vehicle. the tire looks like it's lacerated there. it's going to go right underneath us, joe, hang on, let's see where he ends up. all right. we're still going to be going southbound here, and we're in the area of the airport. that would be around 37th avenue. and we're following this vehicle along with the police officers. let me back up, you see the miami gardens police officer there in hot pursuit now. we're going to have some intersections coming up here. again, very -- don't have to overstate it, but it is very, very dangerous. we're now in a neighborhood here right off of what would be the northeast corner of the airport. we have a police helicopter right underneath us, and you can see police officers parallelling not only on the street here that the vehicle is on, but also on the adjacent streets now and looking to try to get this driver of this vehicle to stop and take him into custody. but right now he's an unwilling

participant, and he's just driving like a bat out of hell, if i can use that phrase. again now, we're spinning around here. looks like we're going southbound, we're coming southbound up to 151st street, and he's going to be going east on 151st street. you can see the police officer right behind that vehicle, smack dab behind that vehicle. we'll bring the camera out just a little bit. miami gardens assisting, now, the county here. and we're turning northbound in the area of around 35th or 36th avenue. now we're back going eastbound. vehicle may have lost a tire there, you can see that the vehicle is slowing down somewhat in this community, in the neighborhoods here which would be part of the miami gardens area. still on the south side of the palmetto expressway. other police officers on adjacent roads there, somebody getting their vehicle right off the roadway here. let's see, he's blocked by a vehicle. a police officer. he's spinning -- gone into the

easement and lost traction there for a moment but still, still manages to continue eastbound underneath some trees there. and now he's, again, turned southbound. southbound, joe. there you go. he's cut through a yard there, cut through somebody's front yard. we've got another helicopter off the nose, joe. okay. and -- jon: this is one of the more incredible police chases i have ever witnessed. it happened, it's happening right now in the miami-dade area, a town where i lived for about 14 years. a guy in a champagne-colored silver mercedes sort of mini van is leading police on a chase that went up to 111 miles an hour on the pal palmetto expres, state road 826 in miami. he is now in this working class area bouncing between opalaka and miami gardens, and it looks very, very dangerous.

let's continue to listen in to ralph rayburn, the excellent helicopter reporter from wsvn in the sky force chopper. >> so now we're in the area of st. thomas university and miami pace high school. so it's going to be 32nd avenue, and the vehicle is going back northbound towards the palmetto expressway past these vehicles on the wrong side. there you saw a van had to move out of the way from that vehicle as it was in oncoming traffic, again, whipping around another vehicle, and let's look up ahead. yeah, we've got the palmetto expressway coming into view. again, being pursued by that -- well, it appears to be an unmarked unit. now he's turning and going eastbound. he's eastbound here on the side road, the feeder road to the palmetto expressway here. let's see, he's going to get jammed up, according to my pilot, he's going to get jammed up here as traffic is backed up here from the incident that occurred earlier.

oh, okay, going right by the myrtle grove elementary school on the north side, and let's see what we've got here. all right. there's not going to be any place for him to go unless he turns into the parking lot. now he's crashed into a fence, into the fence there. he's not moving. police officers have now rammed him in the back. he's out, he's going to try to hop over the fence here. he's scrambling up the side of the embankment. we'll widen the camera out. we have police officers in pursuit of him, and we're looking to see where he pops out here. anybody sees -- we have weapons drawn here, we have police officers with weapons drawn telling him to give himself up. the only delay is we're waiting to see what happens next here. people have flipped open the car door there, we have got an area heavily wooded or heavily landscaped area there right on