north carolina to help us out. >> steve: good morning, i am not only in north carolina. i am in charlotte, north carolina . >> that is slow on the update, steve. sounds like you have a great show, no rest for the weary. from tampa to charlotte. have a great show. "fox and friends" starts right now. >> thank you. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. hello, everyone. we are live in charlotte, north carolina home of the dup - on democrat national convention. i am gretchen carlson thanks for sharing your time today. a top democrat admitting that things are not going so well >> can you honestly say people are better off today than four

years ago. >> no, but that is not the question. >> gretchen: the answers get more interesting when the obama top aides weigh in. >> steve: one of the delegates booted by police for bizarre behavior. we'll do some 'explaining. >> brian: one driver went in the stand. what was it like seeing that coming your way? "fox and friends", right now. ♪ "fox and friends". ♪ >> steve: live from the nascar hall of fame in the heart of

charlotte, north carolina it is "fox and friends" live from the dnc on this labor day, folks. >> gretchen: we are in the nascar hall of fame. nascar is really big in north carolina. in a minute, brian will give a tour. >> steve: do it now. >> brian: there is no way to show you the whole area >> chris: it is gigantic. >> gretchen: we have three hours. >> steve: hop up for a second. come down the cat walk here. at great expense. what i have done secured passage throughout the nascar grounds via this device. remember we heard this device would change anything. ladies and gentlemen brian kilmeade on the segway. >> brian: let me see if i can do it put my foot in the middle. there we go. hiover here is the pit.

and that is a place to eat. gretchen demands it. and understand that john legend will be performing in eight hours and we have a lot to catch up. this is nascar hall of fame. this is coopers town of racing . we'll go to glory road in 30 minutes and see all of the past great cars and degrees and angles of the track. over here is how i got here today. follow the sign. that is the "fox and friends" visit charlotte sign . over here in the middle. right in the middle and totally secured. and right over here is the flat screen. my we said i could take it as long as i use the umplela. nascar via the segway. i believe it was supposed to stop. nice segway.

>> steve: i have no idea. it is a flying dismount. >> gretchen: you were going to get me food. where is the coffee. >> brian: i was afraid to get the coffee. i didn't have my id. >> gretchen: take that little segway and go pick up the jave a. >> brian: you shouldn't have coffee. it is another convention. >> gretchen: yippiee. >> steve: we have great caterers. there is a coffee machine on the second floor . >> gretchen: at 9:00. in the meantime we are a day away from the dnc and president obama trying to make a case for four more years. >> thursday night i will offer you what i believe is a better path forward and will grow the economy and create more jobs and strengthen the middle class.

>> gretchen: we have a look at how the dnc is marking labor day. >> we are here in uptown charlotte where the organizers basically arranged a labor day celebration in the most anti-union state in the nation. north carolina in the bottom of the list of the union membership threeship. they are calling it carolina fest and labor groups plan to protest. democrats did what they could to manage the big labor protest to hold the convention here in charlotte by demanding union labor be used to revamp the arena and the carolina panther stadium for president obama's acceptance speech. carolina has a 9 upon.6

unemployment rate. that was not enough for big labor. richard trump said we will not be buying sky boxes or bringing a big staff to the cop vention. in a later to council members last month and others have declined to contribute to the cost of the convention. security is tight here members of the occupy wall street protest. their threat to protest the republican national convention was rained out. they could get rained out here. local labor unions are making light of what they see in charlotte. they are holding a hug from thugs. and meanwhile, the folks will be treated to good food and music and headlined by james taylor and safe to believe he will not be allowed to leave until he sings carolina on my

mind. >> gretchen: thank you, we'll talk to you throughout the week. this speech on thursday, the has a big problem because the democrats can't answer the one question that is so central in every presidential election which is: are you better off four years later since electing president obama? many of the aides on the top programs could not answer that program. >> david, can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than four years ago. >> here's what i can say, chris. we are in a better position than we were four years ago in the economy. we were losing 800,000 jobs a month when he took place. >> can the president argue that americans were better off today than four years ago?

>> listen george, the american people understand we got into a terrible recession and economic situation only thing like the great depression. >> can you honestly say people are better off today than four years ago. >> no, but that is not the question of the election . we are not well off as when george bush broht us job losses and deficit and the desert wars. charged to credit card. >> yeah, but. >> brian: so this is amazing. keep in mind, george bush had 52 months of economic growth and adding jobs in the gdp. here is the bigger question. can president obama live up to what he was saying in '08. he had greek columes and great speech and phope change . how does he attack this?

>> steve: that was a high bar four years ago and one report they will have columes out of bank of america stadium here in charlotte. but for them to blame george bush, is that all they got. >> brian: bob scheifer said we are talking about president obama not george bush. >> steve: david axelrod said the republicans were divided when they were down in tampa? oh, really? there is a number of democrats that are from states that simply don't agree with the direction that the president is taking us. places like west virginia, and missouri and a number of top democrats are not showing up. >> gretchen: senator clar mccas kill will not be here. she is from missouri and she led the charge and one of the first people to endorse barack

obama in 2008. and senator joe manchin. he's been against the president's policies . governor of west virge will not be. congressman of montana and mathison. my list has eight democratic members of congress choosing not to come. >> brian: they'll do the best they can. but you can't give up a week of campaigning. and the according to gal up president comes in to 43 percent. we know secretary of state clinton is not allowed to come by law. and. and there is one guy as governor andrew cuomo. he's not front and center. >> gretchen: he's cominged last day.

he's been some what of a centist in new york . he talked about reigning in entitlements and tax cuts for people who are considered to be over the wealthy line. >> steve: one top republican will show up that will be paul ryan who will do campaigning here. hundred miles from where we are sitting right now and head up to iowa and west coast and while mitt romney is in the home of the former lieutenant governor. >> gretchen: kecking off headlines now because the democratic national convention. it is over for one delegate. he agreed after impersonating a member of congress. they called parra medics after seeing the intoxicated friend unconscious. the delegate claimmed to be a member of congress. officers threatened to arrest him when he refused to provide

identification. check out the rement of isaac spawning tornados in missouri and dumping inches of rain. no one was hurt. over in louiana more than 150,000 people are without power. can a -- a fast-riving perl river. the parish residents said the rivers will crest at 19.fivefeet. this afternoon president obama will tour of the storm damage in the state. a terrifying scene in a race when a trash crashes in the stands. you can hear the screens of frightened spectators. their injuries are not life

threatening. the truck's hydrawlic steering went out causing the driver to lose control. he made it out okay. >> russell crowe getting lost off new york long island kyacting a friend. they towed the two guys to shore. crowe tweeted a coast guard and said they didn't get lost but ran out of day. what does that mean ran out of day. daylight? >> brian: it is a australia way. >> gretchen: cool way of saying daylight. >> steve: 13 minutes after the stop of the hour. we are still waiting for daylight in charlotte. gas prices hitting a high x. not just hurricane isaac's fault. what is the driving factor about the gas prices and why is not anybody talking about

it? don't expect anyone to talk about it in this week's convention. why is that? are they trying to keep a secret? we'll talk to him. he bolted right up to the set. >> steve: where is security? look you are on tv. ♪ ♪ ♪ rock the clock. ♪ rock this town, rock it inside out. ♪ ♪ losing weight clicked for me when i found a plan that was as active and on the go as i was. weight watchers online is absolutely that tool. it was never further away than my pocket. my sidekick! the weight tracker really let me see that my real problem area was when i was traveling. it allowed me

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♪ >> take up your yourself and think yourself lucky that i am giving you audience tomorrow instead of 20 years from now. >> the great oz has spoken. pay attention to the man

behind the curtain. >> brian: our next guest is just like in the wizard of oz. don't be fooled by the man behind the curtain. who is running the show in the dnc, gretch? >> gretchen: he said labor yunce are not spening as much money in charlotte, but they are calling the shots. author of shadow bosses explains. >> good to be here. >> gretchen: richard trumped us. and they are not going to buy sky boxes. >> not buying sky boxes but they said they will have 400,000 people out in the streets knocking on doors for obama and he said they will spend half billion dollars. but what you don't understand the back room deals and cuts. they know unions are not polling well. they want to get that separation on the big public

relations stage of the convention. behind the scenes, the deal was cut. >> brian: you are telling me the real outrage for choosing north carolina is off of the shelve. >> they know what they are going to do and obama is the union label president. they have to keep him in there. or they are in trouble. this is a big that's what conventions are. they are targeting that show just right. >> gretchen: what is the hug a thug booth? >> they call themselves thuggings. i wonder if our thug-in november chief, obama. he is the thug in chief. you go to the booth and get hugged by a union guy. >> brian: we'll find out what it is about. what is the big picture. you hear about the diminishing impact over the decades. >> total union membership is

12 percent of our work force. if you look around here and see the noise, it you would think it is over half. it is amazing the oomph they have. they have the bucks. we say in shadow bosses. 14 billion a year taken in for dues and they use it for political purposes and mostly for dems. >> gretchen: are they trying to down play their influence in the convention because of the attention that the unions have got nen the state of wisconsin when they took on governor scott walker and arguably lost? >> they are mas querading of being upset. but they are behind him in terms of money and people. obama never came to wisconsin. if he had come to wisconsin he could turn out hundreds of people.

that could hurt his reelection. they know what they are doing and they are doing it real well. >> brian: you can see the numbers. congratulations on the book. >> shadow bosses. >> brian: that's what you discussed. coming up. a grand prix race goes wrong. cars are flying off of the track and the driver is now banned. >> gretchen: dnc theme revolves a better future. is that because the president running from his own record in we'll have a fair and balanced debate coming up next. ♪ . ♪ i may not be a pin. but the boys say i do. ♪ ♪ if i gave them. >> this program is brought to you by union pacific. [ male announcer ] in blind taste tests, even ragu users chose prego.

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♪ >> allyson: quick headlines for you. a homicide bomber crashes a car in a u.s. vehicle killing two pakistani and injuries others. two americans are among the injured. and a former assistance for lance armstrong claiming that armstrong said everyone does it when asked about doping. mike anderson said armstrong had banned steroids in the medicine cabinet. armstrong denied the doping. we'll go back to the set. >> steve: thank you, gretch. in last week's rnc republicans had themes of "we built if." how will the democrats counter that message. joining us live from the nascar hall of fame national democratic strategist bob

weiner and shawn spisit. last week republicans had an effective week in tampa. how do you counter that. >> clint eastwood talked about the empty chair and romney is the empty suit. he has no specific lans. just yesterday they are the party that wants to decimate medicare and social security and cut half. >> steve: really. that is news to me. >> it is new to the american people given the ads republicans are putting out there. >> steve: shawn, mitt romney empty suits . his likeability went up in a 6-point swing. >> governor romney laid out a five-point plan to get people back to work and careers going for people who transition to the 21st century. and make us envelope

independent. bob and his party are having a trouble answering the question. are you better off than four years ago. no. the economy is worse. 43 months of 8.3 percent unemployment and the debt is going to hit 16 trillion while they are here this week. they will have a tough time answering that question: are you better off? the answer is no. what they will do blame everyone. >> steve: we had governor o' mallory blaming bush. is that what we are going to heard that. >> i get so tired of they have no plan and things are not as good. we come out of a crash. we reversed the rising bubble and three straight years of rising jobs. >> steve: we are down 300,000 -- >> four and half million jobs and that was 800,000 miles

loss. we are gaining >> chris: all of us upon to. >> i hope. >> senator mcconnell didn't say that. >> steve: on the chat shows they tried to get obama surrogates to answer the question. are you better off today than four years ago. >> yes, we are. you reverse the bubble. i think we could have had stronger answers. yes, we are better off. you take the first two months of rise and crash and then reverse it. >> steve: axelrod didn't have an answer. >> take the next three years of increased jobs and you haven't taken away. the republican party want to take away from seniors and women. >> steve: are you doing a war on women on this show? >> and the party of the forced ultrasound. that's why there is a gender

gap. >> here is the problem. the president campaigned and said i know how to fix this. kiget it moving. and the answer is, we are making a little here and there. we are not better off. he said he would cut the deficit in half and a plan to get unemployment around 6 percent . a plan to deal energy, nothing, nothing, nothing. and they will hear instead of talking about their agenda, this is why the republicans are bad. attacking mitt romney and blame bush. they certainly are not going to talk. >> steve: we'll which way it goes. >> that is not true. president obama wants to take half of the money from the closing down of the wars and use it for deficit. >> steve: these are a talking point machine. >> they are concrete plans that republicans never want to here. >> steve: thank you so much. thank you live today in the heart of the charlotte. as the upon dnc kicks off here in north carolina, a

disturbing report from the nation's capitol showing thousands of dead people who are registered to vote. and nascar hall of fame is our home for the next week. brian will give us an exclusive tour of glory road. first the beach boys. sorry. i butchered the name. ♪ you better know the guy. ♪ ♪ that caught my. ♪ today's birthday did is brought to you by red where we see food different >> you can make the match all day. try as much as you like any way you like. just 14.99 . [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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>> live from the heart of the charlotte we are here in the nascar hall of fame . yesterday when our plane was flying in charlotte. and on the left side of the plane was the charlotte motor speed way. charlotte is in the blog. >> gretchen: you and i were on the same flight but i was on the right side of the plane. i didn't get a chance to see that. i was talking to a former football player had interesting conversation. >> steve: brian kilmeade is in the 160 million hall of fame.

you are on glory road. it is beautiful. >> brian: interesting my luggage and cell phone are on different flights. i am inside of the hall of fame. and this is buzz, one of the fine historians here and best in the business to tell us about the history of the cars and racing. first of all to the immediate left. >> 39 ford coupe that won the first nascar championship is what the moon shiners used to outrun the revenuers. >> brian: by the way how fast would that go? >> are bey. >> brian: the year is >> 1952. hornet. it >> brian: it is pointed out by gavin who watches children's movies. and we spread out and get sleeker? >> this ushered in the era.

running 145 miles per hour. and biggest win for lee petty didn't like it and sold it >> brian: father of? >> richard petty. >> brian: we move down the line. grades mimic all of the tracks of nascar. >> this was the first superstar of nascar and won the southern 500 with this car here. >> brian: seems as though we could find out on the road. this is the most successful car in the history of the nascar. >> that's right. richard petty drove this car to 27 winning including 10 in a row. >> brian: it has a lot to do with the driver though? >> yes. >> brian: how fast. >> are -- 1divide 5. >> brian: you need to be morital epted back then or now? >> it takes skill. but they are dealing with

little aerodynamics and brutal and no steering. these guys today have a curby ride. >> brian: like my first car chef's nova. it was a hand me down. that is another story. this car. >> buddy isaac, can you see the longinose. that is what detroit came up with. >> brian: david petersen. bubble gum here. >> two of the race that nighify was cigarette lighter. >> brian: he smoked. snerks five sticks of gum. and still three on the dash from 1973. >> brian: zoom forward in jeff gordon's car. some of the actual cars and some of them replica. that was begin to you by the family and they said one thing to you guys. >> brian: yes, it one the

19nen daytona 500 and then went to the museum and original 19nen dirt on it and you are not allowed to clean! >> brian: that's the deal i have with the tahoe. and great job. talk to you all weekend long. back to steve and gretchen with the latest. >> allyson: we are outside . and it is time to do the headlines. >> steve: cool thing about that. i grew up watching those stock cars and nice to see them under one roof . 25 machines before the hour. group dedicated to fighting voters fraud making a troubling discovery in north carolina. finding 30,000 dead people still registered to vote. the group compared death record toz voters rolls. they are reviewing the list and take appropriate action.

north carolina does not have a voters id law and meaning that somebody could walk in and claim they are somebody else and then vote. >> gretchen: welcome to detroit. secret service has a uhall stolen. the rented truck was taken from a hotel parking lot. the truck was found yesterday afternoon. biden is scheduled to speak and the theft will not affect the event. >> brian: meanwhile too busy to arrest a murder suspect. a detroit man turned himself in. >> steve: the suspect went to a fire station and when firefighters called police. they were told all officers were out on high priority calls. the suspect went to a local prewhere he was arrested. police officials are now investigating. >> gretchen: look at a crash in the belgian grand prix

sends cars flying off of the track. one of the drivers troy to squeeze through a small cap. it took out two other cars along the way. all four drivers were unharmed and the driver is banned from the next race in italy. >> steve: meanwhile, a lot goes on behind the scenes in the dnc in charlotte and you might be wondering why some states are better than others in getting good news of the podium. >> gretchen: there is a inside look inside of the convention hall seating. todd, you showed us the prime states right up in the front. are they the same states in the dnc or are they different? >> very similar but some differences. i have tol you something, guys, yesterday was the most anticipated moment of the convention where people found

out where they were going to sit . we were there to document the entire event. ♪ ♪ democrats are sizing up bragging rights as they learn where the delegates will sit inside of the time warner aren a. ohio is within a pitching wedge of the podium. >> we feel good and excited about the head of us and the message we'll hear from the speakers and obviously from the president and great week in charlotte. >> buck eye delegation will rub shoulders from friends of american samow a. indiana will not. >> indiana is closest to the rest rooms. >> this is about prime real estate and north carolina and colorado and virginia. they have the best seats in

the house . look at where president clinton's home state. >> we are not surprised we are not on the floor. >> so who decides who goes where. >> it is technical. you pick a number out of the a bowl. just kidding it is about the size of the legation. >> democrats in the nose bleed section are putting on a brave shelves but they would announce global warming to have a seat in the front row. and by the way, folk arkansas delegation say it is not that bad in the nose bleed. they are close to the bathrooms and close to the concession stands. >> steve: very handy. >> gretchen: back to the food. that would be my place there.

>> steve: todd is going to be with us all week long in charlotte. will we see mitt romney in north carolina? no, we'll see paul ryan campaigning in the western portions of the state. but romney will be up in vermont in the home of the former lieutenant governor and he will be doing debate prep. >> gretchen: using this week to get prepared. there will be three debates coming up soon and one vice-presidential debate. that's where they will prepare. and talking about where -- >> brian: coming up on october 3rd. president obama doubled down and campaigned and mitt romney feels comfortable for going down four days. that is a mistake. you have to get busy. >> steve: do what paul ryan does. he will be in north carolina

and going to go to ohio and iowa and the west coast. >> president on rob portman to be a good president obama. >> steve: he will be surrogate with mr. romney. >> gretchen: imagine seeing this on your labor day beach trip. a greatt white washed ashore. >> steve: and this week dnc promises to be tar studied. power couple. pennsylvania state coupem vin cent hughes and his actress right joining us live from the nascar hall of fame. ♪ ♪ it is loud. ♪ ♪ ♪ let's go last. [ male announcer ] while many automakers are just beginning

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♪ "fox and friends". >> brian: welcome back everybody. gas prices. one of the busiest driving days of the year. they are at a record high. they are live in southwest houston. hey, ford. good morning, how arial doing. this is a highest price of gasoline we have seen in houston and in the country this late in the summer on labor day. up 30 cents a gallon and here in houston, average price is 3.80 and higher than that in the country and in california over four dollars a gallon and demand has increased in the end of the summer on lieu the labor day weekend . last week with isaac. first tropical storm and out in the gulf and interrupted energy operations for several days. that doesn't help anything with gas prices.

by the end of the day. we might see perhaps as early as tomorrow. we might actually see a decrease in the demand that could lead to a slight decrease in depas lean prices by the middle or end of the week demanding on where you live in the country . that's what we are hoping for here in houston. back to you. >> good job, and thank you very much. who cares, we are working. everybody else is on vacation, gretch? >> gretchen: this week's democratic national convention set to host marc anthony and actress eva longoria. and our next guests know about mixing politics and celebrities. joining us now is vin cent hughes and his lovely, lovely wife. i am sure there is a lot of loving going on between the two of you. you are also lovely. good to see.

cheryl we have met before. and never met you before vin cent. cheryl even though you are a broadway actress and celebrity and you are politics, too. >> i love my politics, i get to sleep with state senator vin vent hughes. >> gretchen: got her line down. you met on a blind date. >> yes. >> gretchen: that's how i met my husband. what was it about cheryl because you were in politics. >> you look at her. we kind of fell in love the moment we saw each other and it is a great experience. it is not about the politics and profession, it is more about the person. we also make sure we ground our relationship in that and it is a tremendous wonderful blessing for the two of us. we know it is a blessing from god. >> gretchen: you are here

supporting about the president. >> absolutely. >> gretchen: many of the aides were asked are people better off today than four years ago when they were elected and they seemed to skirt the issue. can you answer that question for me today. >> if he had not been elected, the country was going into an economic collapse. he made a brave decision and difficult decision to pull the country out of economic collapse and made the most difficult decision which was to protect the health care which right now people are benefiting from. and it was not popular but it had to be done. >> gretchen: people critized him for doing health care first instead of the economy. >> a healthy people are a strong people and right now in this time, we are understanding why health care is so important. there is a lot of peoples that

are carrying the burden of illness with them and have no recourse. there is a lot of people experiencing why we need better health care in these united states. and what is wrong with being wrong with being healthy and educated? nothing and we need to rise above on both of those issues>> gretchen: you are from pennsylvania. that will be a swing state will it not. on how do you see it going. >> pennsylvaniians know the president reflects what pennsylvania needs as opposed to governor romney's. as we have done four and eight years old we will elect a democrat and make sure the president is successful. >> gretchen: you believe the president should run on his policis and not look into the past four years ago. >> you can't ignore the past but you have to talk about

where you want to go as a country. we are moving forward. policiless that governor romney and got us in the economic craziness. old bush economic policy and. it is not working. >> gretchen: the campaign is so divisive will the president try to make all people come together this week or will it be what some people deemed class warfare. >> i don't know where that came from. because you know, what the president tried to do from day one was bring us together as a people. there is something else going on that keeps saying that he is the divisive one. we all know the ones who believe in true hope and true change knew that that was what had to change. divisiveness that was already there. and so to say he brought it is absolutely wrong. if he was bringing one thing

it was to bring us altogether. people need to leave old argument in the past. it is not about being divided. it is about coming together. "america the beautiful" for real. >> gretchen: i a lot of you disagree with you . that's what makes the world go around. >> approximate t it makes us wonderful in america that we can agree to disagree. are we better off. yes, we are. >> gretchen: she's about to break out in song. >> brian: hey. >> gretchen: thank you. coming up a day on the water about to turn ugly for this family. you will nolt believe what happened next. how far will the main streamm media go to help president obama? that's next. ♪ ♪ better let go.

♪ ♪ ♪ i can't get no.

>> time to give you the headlines. a good samarit an come tots rescue in the coast of northern washington. nearby voterss rescued all 7. no one was hurt and the cause of the fire is expected. terrifying of a shark washing up in massachusetts . it shut down two beaches. it is not known how the shark ended up there and died. miles of the beach is shut down because of shark sitings being a problem there. >> steve: thank you, gretch.

rnc in the rear view mirror and the dnc coming up ahead through the windshield will the media coverage be different. joining us is tony cats. >> good morning to you. great to be in charlotte. this is incredible. >> steve: we are in the nascar if i'm hall of fame. what observations of the coverage last week. >> if i pay attention to certain specific networkings. everyone belongs to the republican party is old, white and grumpy and if you watched it. you learned an unbelievable amount of diversit yea great message of economic freedom and all of these people talk about one percent and 99 percent. you listen to the stories and nicky halle and rubio's and they belt it it is a great message. this is not les egg money or

kennedy time. >> steve: you see media bias in the way the main stream media covered the rin. we had gavele, gavele in all of the speeches. but the networks cut away. why wouldn't they show mi- love and ted crz. >> why wouldn't they show it. if your life is built on a mime and class warfare and race warfare. why would you show the thing that blows up the mim e. last thing progressives want to do is tell their people. wait a second. it is a complete and total sham . >> steve: main stream media must are horrified to find out that romney wound up with higher ratings with likeability and that is what they wanted slow. rasmussen a 6 point swing. >> that will change and obama will get his bump. romney went in with a plus one

and i think in the end of the day he comes out with a plus one. people liked what he had to say. they liked the way he talked about the kid and pile on. and he gave the right answer. one person is going to make the earth heal. i will give you a yob and help your family. no way they can take away the 8.2 percent. people want jobs and they want it now. >> steve: something interesting. we understand all members for the most part liberal radio talk show hosts welcomed in the rnc last week . i read the blogs where a number of conservative talkers are worried about coming here and they worried that they would not be welcome. >> i didn't ask if anybody was welcome. charlotte is in the united states and i showed up. i would be able to find a conservative radio host afraid to show up here?

someone telling me that something is going to happen to conservative radio hosts and someone putting that forth. i would like to meet that person as well. >> steve: folks here have been friendly to all of us. tone cats here in the hall of fame. >> brian: looks like jay lenogarage. >> steve: his is actually larger. >> allyson: look at a family enjoying a gorgeous day on the water and about to get the shock of your eyes. brian get your eyes -- wait a second. react that video. no run intended. >> brian:y rerack all of the video. we are not talking about president obama. we are talking about valerie jar ed revealing how much power and influence she has over the president and the entire staff. it is staggering.

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could've had a v8... >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. live from charlotte, north carolina, home of the democrat i can national convention. today is monday, september 3. it's labor day, 2012. i'm gretchen carlson. this is no way to kick off a convention. a top dem admit things aren't going so well? >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. >> gretchen: well, it is the question for many of you and your e-mails are pouring in. your answers coming up. >> brian: then the president's senior campaign advisor, david

axelrod calling the rnc a terrible failure. we guess he forgot to check the polls, 'cause guess who is up? mitt romney will discuss. >> steve: coming up, a beautiful day on the water about to turn real ugly for this family. what happens next? oh, man. we're going to bring it to you in moments. stand by for that. "fox & friends," hour two, live from charlotte starts right now. >> brian: we are live in charlotte, north carolina. this place is beautiful and it's full -- is this thank is a huge city. 7,350,000 people, but -- 750,000 people, but more important, it has us. we'll be here all week long, right in the nascar hall of fame. >> steve: the largest city in north carolina. it's also the second largest

financial center in all of the united states, second only to new york city. it is known as the queen city because as you know, come on, everybody, charlotte was, of course, the wife of king george iii. >> gretchen: really? thank you for that bit of a history lesson. the only other problem, though, is that there is a 9.6% unemployment rate here in charlotte. >> steve: don't blame charlotte. >> gretchen: which is higher than the national average. a lot of that has to do with the fact that it is such a banking center. a lot of people had trouble with their jobs during the recession. we'll be talk being that this week. >> brian: here is why it's important for the p. he took it last time by 14,000 votes over john mccain. he wants it again. he thought by bringing the convention here it will help give it o him. right now it seems like mitt romney has a slight lead. it is a growing hispanic community within charlotte and north carolina. >> steve: because we're talking about the race, the presidential rakes it would be appropriate that we're in front of one of the capitals of racing, live in front of the nascar hall of

fame. built a couple of years ago by the city of char l. they spent 160 million bucks on this place and it's fantastic. throughout the week we'll give you a tour inside and out. >> gretchen: it's time for your headlines for monday of the democratic national convention hasn't started yet. but it's all right over for one delegate from california. he's agreed to leave after allegedly impersonating a member of congress. the delegate reportedly got disruptive with the staff at his hotel. when they called paramedics after seeing his intoxicated friend unconscious on the ground. when police arrived, the delegate allegedly claimed to be a member of congress. officers threatened to arrest him. when he refused to provide identification. the remnants of hurricane isaac strong enough to spawn tornadoes in missouri. no one hurt and no reports of major damage. in louisiana, more than 150,000 people remain without power. electric companies say it could be days before all the lights are back on there. fast rising pearl river causing

concerns about a new round of flooding. the mayor says it's expected to crest at 19.5 feet that, will be some time today. this afternoon, president obama will tour the storm damage in that state. check out this video. a terrifying scene, a monster truck show in oregon when an out of control pick up crashes right into the stands. watch this. you can hear the screams of all the frightened spectators. three people were hurt. look at that. fortunately, their injuries were not life-threatening. officials say the truck's hydraulic steering suddenly went out, causing the driver to lose control. he made it out okay as well. here is the boat story. a missouri family, the fun takes a horrific turn. all caught on camera.

you see them being thrown back and forth after their boat plows into a large wake at high speed. the driver then loses control and gets slammed to the side of the boat. all seven passengers hurt. five of them treated at a local hospital for minor injuries. >> steve: oh, man. look at the sunglasses flying. >> gretchen: those are your headlines this morning. >> steve: democrats now on deck after a rousing rnc convention where mitt romney and pauline chiou laid out their plans for the future. president obama and vice president biden will try to convince voters they deserve four more years. >> brian: wendell goler is in uptown charlotte with a look at what's on top. hey, wendell. >> brian, the convention doesn't start until tomorrow, but the city is really ready for it. charlotte awoke to this headline in the observer this morning. a dozen parties across the area with bluegrass, moon shine, boiled peanuts. they'll also find a lot of streets closed and heavy securities with police officers from around the state flown in here.

and the uptown area where i am cordoned off for something called carolina fest, a labor day celebration and the most antiunion state in the nation. big labor really wasn't happy about the democrats holding their convention here. president obama has been working his way here in a tour of battle ground states. he's been to iowa, colorado, he'll hold a rally in ohio before touring the damage left by hurricane isaac. ohio is critical to his reelection hopes. his lead has disappeared since the republicans finalized their ticket. yesterday in colorado, mr. obama previewed some of the speech he'll give on thursday. >> thursday night i'm going to after you what i believe is a better path forward, a path that will grow this economy and create more jobs and strengthen the middle class. the good news is you get to choose the path we take. >> the president's been trying to regain some of the enthusiasm that surrounded him in 2008, hope being one of the casualties

of the slow economic recovery. he's been doing a lot of the events on college campuses, 15 million young people have reached voting age since 2008. still democrats may struggle to fill the 74,000-seat stadium where he will give his acceptance speech thursday night. >> steve: thank you very much for the live report from here if charlotte. we mentioned we're here at the nascar hall of fame. if people would like to come and watch us as we do this, we're not inside the frozen zone. we're here at the intersection of east martin luther king, junior, boulevard and south bravard. you know where it's at so you can drop by. the question is, how much stronger is the security going to get as the festivities continue throughout the week? >> gretchen: it was pretty light this morning compared to tampa. but that could be because our location not inside the zone. it could be because the president is going to be giving that speech thursday night. not at the place where the rest of the convention is taking place throughout the week. so maybe he'll never be at that particular area. so they're not going to have as

much security. we'll keep you posted throughout the rest of the week. in the meantime, the number one question that people think about, i think, when they go into the voting booth and they're going to vote for a president is how is their pocketbook feel? is it thicker or thinner? and are you better off now than you were four years ago? well, some of the president's aides had trouble answering that pointed question throughout the sunday talk shows yesterday. here were some of their responses. >> david, can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than they were four years ago? >> here is what i can say, chris. i can say that we're in a better position than we were four years ago in our economy in the sense that when this president took office, we were losing 800,000 jobs a month. the quarter before he took office was the worst quarter that this question country has had economically since the great depression. and we are in a different place 29 straight months of job growth, 4.5 million private sector jobs. are we where we need to be? no. but the problem with what

governor romney said is for three days, they never offered anybody a plausible alternative. >> you keep talking about romney. i'd like to talk about the obama record and i want to put some statistics up on the screen. unemployment was 7.8% when the president took office. it's now 8.3%. median household income was almost $55,000. it's now less than 51,000. gas was 1.85 a gallon when he took office. now it's 3.78. almost double. the national debt was $10.6 trillion and it may go past $16 trillion this week. so just looking at the president's record and those statistics, david, is the average american better off than four years ago? >> chris, as i said to you before, if the average american recognizes it took years to create the crisis that erupted in twain and peaked in -- twain and peaked in january of 2009 and it's going to take time to

work through it. >> steve: the answer is no. >> brian: i guess the answer is no. david plouffe couldn't answer it governor o'malley. the answer is the average american, who seems to be cutting the president a lot of slack. they say, i'm not better off, but who do i blame for that? republicans for not getting along with the president as people portray them? do i blame george bush? believe it or not, george bush is still on the radar with many american homes. what do you say? beverly says no. after working in the kentucky coal fields, i was laid off thanks to obama and the epa. there is no question about that. >> gretchen: we are living on the same amount of money we were four years ago. prices have doubled or tripled since 2009. with all the hidden taxes in obamacare, i cannot imagine how we're going to get through this if things keep on going the way they have. >> steve: e-mail from carol says my family is not better off. my husband and i have half the income we had four years ago. our two 20-year-olds had to move

back home due to job loss. >> gretchen: i think at that is a central question for the campaign and i think it was governor o'malley who said that's not the question of the campaign. but keep your e-mails and tweets coming to us. isn't that what the most central question other than your pocketbook in the campaign? are you better off? a lot of -- not just economically. >> steve: the thing about governor o'malley, he said no, we're not better off and he immediately blamed george bush. to his credit, phil schieffer on -- bill schieffer. >> brian: he goes by bill or phil. >> steve: bob schieffer. one of my neighbors is bill and phil. >> gretchen: bill and phil? >> steve: he said hey, governor, george bush isn't on the ballot. anyway, david axelrod said yesterday that the previous week in tampas with a failure fore the republicans and yet when you look at the polling data that has come out, mr. romney has

actually wound up with a bump in the polls. if you look at rasmussen, which is three-day moving average, obama 47. romney, 45. that was before the convention. and now after the convention take a look at this. romney 48. obama 44. i believe that is a six-point swing in the favor of the former governor. >> gretchen: you could argue that after this week that then maybe obama will get a little bit of an uptick or maybe not. it depends what is said this week and how it resonates with the american public. a lot of people will be fed up with this sort of argues and divisionsiveness that has been going on of the if it's more of that, maybe he won't get a bump. >> steve: larry sabato has been talking about the focus bumps and what he has said is he didn't suspect the president and joe biden would wind up with a bump because they've been president and vice president for four years and everybody knows what they're about. >> brian: there is a lot of bumps in our conversation. let's go to break.

coming up, she has unmatched access to the president, more than his chief of staff. even joe biden. i'll switch prompters. a closer look at unpress did noted power of valerie jarrett. >> gretchen: democrats had trouble answering the question, are we better off than we were four years ago? up next, an obama supporter, the mayor of minneapolis answers that question for us. >> steve: how are you? >> great. >> steve: beautiful day in charlotte whoa.

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answer to this question: are you better off than you were four years ago? >> yes or no are americans better off today than four years ago? >> listen, george, they did a good job of reciting all the statistics everyone is familiar with n it sounds like a year ago the president told me, i don't think americans are better off than they were four years ago. you still can't say yes. >> well, we've clearly improved, george, from the depths of the recession. >> david, can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than they were four years ago? >> here is what i can say, chris. i can say that we're in a better position than we were four years ago in our economy. >> gretchen: so the question still remains, are average americans better off than they were four years ago? joining me is the mayor of minneapolis and the supporter of the president who will be speaking at the dnc tomorrow. good to see you. >> good to be here. >> gretchen: i'm gog have to

pose the exact same question to you. you had a little more time to prepare for it. but are americans better off today than they were four years ago when the president took office? >> yes, they are. >> gretchen: in what way? >> 850,000 jobs a month. we're on the brink of losing the american auto industry. we had two wars. and enormous other challenges faced the president as he walked in. day one. they said this president, mr. president, the economy is about to collapse. mr. president, the core of our manufacturing, auto industry, is about to collapse. he got to work. first thing he did was he said to women, you deserve equal pay for equal work. i was raised by a woman, single woman. that means a lot. college students, what did he was take the mid -- he wants to put billions more into college loans. middle class. what he said, part of the reason this economy collapsed is because people were gaming the system. he created a consumer protection area and actually stood up for

people so we wouldn't have this happen again. of course, he saved the auto industry. >> gretchen: it's interesting because you gave a better answer than his own advisors whether or not people agree with u.s. a different point of view. but do the president's people come to you and say, here are the talking points. when you get asked a question, here is what you should focus on? >> i'm a mayor in minneapolis. but the good news is i'm also a mayor. mayors around america have been on the front lines. what i can say to a neighborhood where people had challenges with public safety and we really had challenges, we were able to put more police on the streets. we were able to put more firefighters and teachers in the classrooms. we looked at students who wanted to learn and looked at reforming education. a mayor in america is on the ground and you see this. big cities and small cities. >> gretchen: so you're still a staunch supporter.

i want to throw these numbers out to you because these are the numbers of the american people are looking at and saying, hmmm. unemployment then with 7.8%, now 8.3%, the worst. median income with 54, almost $55,000. now it's close to 51,000. gas was 1.85. now it's 3.78. the national debt was $10.6 trillion. now it's almost $16 trillion. it will reach $16 trillion this week during the democratic national convention. how do you answer that? >> if this set collapsed and you and i were out on the ground, you think somebody should say our hair is messed up? this is much more serious. they want to know if we're doing the work it takes. the president walked into a really paralyzed washington that was gridlocked because of the economy and moved forward and so when you look at, for instance, all the work in the recovery act, i see that all the time. i see that in the bridges

redone. in minnesota, we had that horrible bridge collapse. bridges have been repaired across the country. that means construction work. >> gretchen: i think, mr. mayor, with all respect, a lot of people thought running on the hope and change mantra that, that success would happen in the four years that the man was president. and that you wouldn't have to look back and blame bush. isn't that just an easy out? >> well, look at the hope and change that we've seen. for instance, i think there has been a huge change in what can happen in a financial industry that frankly was part of this collapse. i love the banks. but there is a watchdog in the government who is part of it. not stopping business from doing what they should too. but there were people trying o game the system. we americans do really, really well when we have a level playing field. they're shameless. >> gretchen: you'll be speaking tomorrow at the dnc. we'll look forward to that. good to see you. >> you, too. >> gretchen: coming up, want to live two years longer? who doesn't?

there is one simple thing you can do starting today. i want to find out what that is. talk about unfortunate timing, the national debt set to hit $16 trillion, this week in the middle of the dnc. the chairman of the rnc has something to say about that. reince previn is up next. [ male announcer ] how do you measure happiness? by the armful? by the barrelful?

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on a >> steve: it's time for your news by the numbers. first, 1 million. that's how many followers republican presidential candidate mitt romney has on twitter. he tweeted, this, thank you, urging them to keep up the momentum. the mitt mentum. 30,000. that's how many dead people are still registered to vote here in the state we're sitting in, north carolina. that's according to a

nonpartisan group. the board of elections says they're looking into it. and finally, 3.83. that's the national average for a gallon of gas today, breaking the labor day record set in 2008 by 15 pennies. that's news by the numbers. >> brian: 23 minutes after the hour. national debt is expected to cross the $16 trillion mark. that's more than i have in my checking about. right in the middle of the democratic national convention. the obama campaign seems to be placing blame on republicans for exploding the debt. listen? >> they are not credible on the deficit. paul ryan stood on that platform and looked up at that debt clock and he made no mention of the fact that he voted for every single one of the policies in the last decade that are at the root of the explosion of the debt. two unpaid wars, two unpaid tax cuts, unpaid medicare prescription drug program. they have no standing to talk about deficits and their plans today would explode them in the

future. >> gretchen: joining us is reince previn, the chairman of the republican national committee. good to see you. >> good morning. >> gretchen: how do you respond to david axelrod? it was of the brain child of your organization to put that debt clock up at the rnc. >> first of all, i don't think anyone said there isn't plenty of blame to go around. the fact of the matter is, the president put the debt on steroids. he in 3 1/2 years, drew the debt by -- grew the debt by 51%. clearly the republican party and quite frankly, if anyone has a -- paul ryan put, in spite of political peril a budget on the table that tackled the debts window which the president ignored. the problem the president has is that he's seen as a hypocrite on the issue. he doesn't seem credible because he's the one that promised the carpet the world. he's the one that promised to cut the debt and the deficit in half, the deficit, and get the

debt under control. he didn't do it. >> steve: he promised to carpet the world? that's a good line. >> that's what he promised to do. unfortunately, he didn't come close. in the end, their biggest problem is in spite of the distraction, the shiny o at thend of the day, this is all going to come back to the facts and the fundamental question. are you better off today than you were three or four years ago? that's their biggest problem in vulnerability because the answer is no, we're not better off. >> gretchen: it seems that they have an answer for that as we've just seen from this morning and on the sunday talk shows, they're going to blame bush. >> they're going to blame bush, but the problem is that when presidents run for reelection, they have to account for their record and the future. the question that americans will be asking themselves, is is this next four years going to be different than the last four? so far the president hasn't been able to answer the question. >> brian: their big criticism was i didn't hear and the president must have been watching because he said he didn't hear any plans.

he thought he was on nickelodeon nickelodeon -- in this case at night. he said he didn't hear plans. did he miss something? >> of course he missed something because one of the fundamental plans of mitt romney is to take spending, which is 25 cents on every dollar made in america today, is used to run the federal government. he wants to take the 25 cents down to 20, where it's been for decades and decades. then he said he wanted to do small business tax cuts from 35% down to 25%. he talked about a 20% tax cut across the board for all americans. talked about regulation reform. talking about simplifying the tax code. the problem that the president has here is that if people think that you're stuck in neutral and can't get the car in first gear, what makes you think that it's going to be any different over the next four years? that's his fundamental problem. >> brian: we appreciate you adapting your vernacular in the nascar hall of fame.

>> steve: david axelrod said yesterday that mitt romney has got no plan. the president does. here is mr. axelrod. >> we also need to take steps to grow the economy in the long run. the question is, do we do that by cutting tacks for the wealthy or do we pay down our deficit and invest in things like education and training, research and development and innovation, clean energy technology, infrastructure, the things we know we need to grow the economy. the president has a balanced plan for the long-term, as well as a plan for the short-term. governor remain knee has neither. -- romney has neither. >> steve: we'll see if people buy that. as to the result of the rnc, mr. romney wound up with a bump. so the answer, are you better off, you reince previn, to say four days ago the answer is yes, you're better off. >> we're definitely better off in the sense that people got to know mitt romney a little bit last week. i think ann romney hit it out of the park. paul ryan, mitt.

the problem with the comments are the president has been the president obviously for four years. he hasn't even passed a budget. they haven't done the fundamental -- >> steve: he had it down to 97-0. >> exactly. but he's the one that proposed trillion dollars deficits, the biggest deficits in the history of america. his actual record is lousy on the subject of governing in this country and fulfilling the promises he made four years ago. we're running on a cr in this country with a president that ran this country with a house and senate and they've got nothing to she for it but a terrible economy. >> gretchen: weigh saw you in tampa and now we're in charlotte. it's a gorgeous city. good to catch up with you again. >> thank you. >> steve: straight ahead on the rundown, the most powerful person in the white house, valerie jarrett? coming up, a revealing look at just how much influence she has over president obama. she's probably more powerful than joe biden.

>> brian: then you have not heard with details about the president's startling connection. that is the real cause of the economic collapse i love this time of year. it's like its own new beginning. it's all about change. the kids are going back to school, it's the perfect time to get back to you. to do something for yourself. a perfect time to join weight watchers. you spend your life taking care of others, why not take this time to take care of you? why not join weight watchers and start losing weight and feeling good, right now? you deserve it. you just gotta believe. join for free. weight watchers. because it works. ♪ believe in yourself morning because my back hurt so bad.

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♪ . >> brian: i never heard a doctor in the medic. i heard the song! >> steve: we are sitting live in the heart of charlotte, north carolina, in front of the gorgeous nascar hall of fame! >> brian: we're going to be showing you different portions. it's a beautiful city. the banking center of the world. a lot of people think it's second to new york. i'll name it number one 'cause we're not in new york. a lot of people say wow, the president has to go to speak on day three of their convention when he's been vilifying the banks for so much time. is that going to be awkward? >> gretchen: that's why it was an interesting pick to come here, amongst many other reasons. but because of that, remember when he called bankers fat cats,

that was maybe three years ago, so to come to the center of the banking industry to speak, it will be interesting to see if they can fill all 73,000 seats over at the bank of america stadium. also there is a threat of rain. so there better be a back up plan getting going. >> steve: ponchos for everybody. >> brian: straight there at the time warner center (the convention center where they're going to have much of the convention is right there. >> brian: 'cause i was going that way. >> gretchen: you go down there, that's the protesters. >> brian: fine. i think they'd love to see me. >> steve: there is bank of america stadium. but we understand they're probably not going to mention bank of america. we've got headlines on this monday, labor day morning. republican presidential nominee mitt romney taking a break from the campaign trail to prepare for his debates with president obama. he's spending the labor day holiday weekend at his home in

wolfboro, new hampshire. his campaign says he'll spend three days preparing for the debate showdown. ohio senator rob portman, on this program a couple of days ago who was on the vp short list will be standing in as president oba. portman played then senator obama in debate preps for john mccain back in 2008. >> gretchen: these veterinarians are trying to nurse five pilot whales back to health so they can one day return to the ocean. they were among a group of 22 whales beached in south florida this weekend. the others did not survive. about ten people are now monitoring the five around the clock and feeding them through a feeding tube. wildlife experts say the youngest survivor is a female under the age of two because pilot whales are so close knit, if there is one sick member, the others usually follow that whale to their death. wow. >> brian: whose idea was that? teachers and students in alabama being taught a new method to deal with the hackers of the being told to fight back.

the training in the school district includes throwing things at an attacker or tackling them. officials say they're still teaching them to lock the doors and hide. sometimes that is not an option, obviously. so you got to go to plan b. >> steve: want to live longer and you out there in tv land? then stand up. a new study finds that sitting for less than three hours a at this can extend your life by two years. researchers say sitting could be as dangerous as smoking. so stand up. no matter how much you work out or eat healthy, sitting around can take years off your life. here is why. researchers believe standing helps manage your blood sugar and process your cholesterol which lowers the risk of heart disease. so stand. >> brian: i don't believe that study. >> gretchen: it makes sense because think about the next generation of kids doing a lot of sitting, playing video games,

sitting on computers. a lot of people are sitting at a computer job all day long. it leads to a lot of other problems. people who are really active now are celebrities. a lot of the celebrities will be speakers here. they may have eva longoria coming, but are they lacking political star power? the speaker tonight is the mayor of san antonio on monday night. so do they need more stars to show up to kind of keep up the whole reputation that the stars follow the democrats? >> steve: they'll have jimmy carter on videotape. the keynoter is the mayor of san antonio. cory booker, julian castro, no state office. sammy baldwin, who is considered politically to the left, running against tommy thompson and probably going to lose in wisconsin senate race. some critics have said, where is the political star power? all the star power they've got are celebrities. do you really care what rich celebrities from the left coast,

how they are going to vote? are you going to vote according to the person that eva longoria supports and she does support the president of the united states? >> brian: we'll see how many will show up because a lot of them will say they're not coming. in terms of the mayor of san antonio, they look at him as an up and coming star, even though he's a mayor and not a governor. in terms of cory booker, he may just be running a city in newark, but it's hard to find anybody who doesn't think he has enormous potential. >> steve: although he was in the dog house when he said the bain comments. >> gretchen: he's probably going to run for governor against chris christie in new jersey. >> brian: and by the way, the governors who think so, think they get along. but he's pretty confident he could beat him. but in the big picture, too, bill clinton will be the major star and he's being counted on. there is always these different stories about bill clinton saying, yeah, i'll speak in one slot. the keynote slot. i don't know if you can believe

that. >> steve: it sounds like he'll be somebody who will introduce him. i was reading on-line that so many people in the obama camp, apparently one of the provisions was bill clinton will speak, but you're not going to review his comments. so the obama people are terrified, how much is he going to talk about bill clinton and how much is he going to talk about barak obama? 'cause it's an open secret, hillary clinton probably going to run for president four years from now. >> gretchen: that's what i was going to say. is there any way to vet his speech? i think a couple months ago, he went out against the four top policies of president obama. so will he do that center stage at the dnc? stay tuned for that. >> brian: rounces kind, you have that book, and the story in the "new york times," one consistent theme, it's all about the obamas and all about hailing the power of one valerie jarrett, a king maker in chicago perhaps that cleared the way and kind of

coached the then senator, state senator to his run for the presidency. she has so much power in the west wing and has some people concerned and at least taking notes. >> gretchen: one of the biggest issues that she had power on apparently was that whole contraception mandate part of obamacare. apparently it was valerie jarrett who really wanted to push for that even though many people, including joe biden, who is catholic, thought it might be an affront to the catholic church across america. it turned out that it was. apparently it was the power of valerie jarrett thinking that it was more important to woo the female vote, those when would go along with that, versus upsetting the entire catholic institution. >> steve: clearly she's more powerful than the vice president of the united states. she came to logger heads with rahm emanuel a number of times. she won. she came to logger heads with bill daley. she won. and by virtue of the fact that they have got this article in the "new york times" today saying that all the big problems

the president has had, you can kind of trace them back to her. you wonder if somebody is kind of throwing her a little under the bus. for instance, in the edward klein book you mentioned, the amateur, it's interesting because she's the one who makes it sound like, because she's the gate keeper, soured the president's relationship with oprah and you look at all the statistical information and it looks like oprah really helped get him nominated for president. >> brian: and the question is, is it somebody like david gurgen, he goes okay, i'm going to go with a guy with experience. but if valerie jarrett is the most qualified person to be closest to the president, where is her experience to be able to give the president this valid advice which he seems to be listening to? we're not talking about just the "new york times" today. this is a theme throughout. she was the one who blasts people who she feels is not doing the president right and she decides who sees the president. >> gretchen: that would be why she's as close to him as possible because he needs somebody like that to be the hatchet person. >> steve: just one other thing

is had the president listened to valerie jarrett, there would have been no raid on bin laden because she said just like joe biden, don't do it. >> gretchen: since the convention doesn't officially start until tomorrow, security is still being finalized and wghc reporter nicole ferguson live outside the arena where the speeches will be given. bring us up to speed on the security. >> well, we have a lot more than we even had yesterday because today is the big carolina fest. this is a big labor day celebration, a lot of families coming into uptown charlotte. every street you can imagine is shut down around here. that's pretty much what you see behind us. the cops getting ready for all of that. when you're navigating around the city, you have to remember that the officers you run into aren't from charlotte. they're from, of course, across the country. so it was even difficult for us checking in and getting to the site where our truck is set up for our morning show to get out here because there was little

direction or few people who knew exactly where to turn us. so that's what's pretty much going on today. again, the big carolina fest, which starts at noon, all of these streets shut down for the first time this week. and lots of signs up and a lot more police presence than we saw earlier. you also have the first lady coming in today and she's, of course, prepping for her speech tomorrow night. but attending a lot of events throughout the week. so visibly well see more secret service. we've seen the helicopters as we were driving in yesterday. we'll see a lot more of that today. the biggest thing for people who live around here, i'm actually staying with a friend from charlotte -- is to stay out of uptown. just to stay as far away as you can because it's unlike anything the city has ever seen before. you just have to have a really good pair of walking shoes to get around this place. >> gretchen: yep. no kidding. that's what happens when the big conventions come to town of the

nicole ferguson, thanks for that update. >> steve: now something to do at noon, carolina fest. >> brian: next up, the worst wedding guest ever? wait until you hear about the guy who was busted stealing the gifts. >> steve: that's so shabby. then the president said, you didn't build your business. the government did. up next, somebody who disagrees with that. the vice president of pita pit will share his success story. >> gretchen: the aflac question of the day, barn in 1965, he has become famous for his use of the word, winning. >> steve: mr. tiger boss. >> gretchen: who is he? be the first to e-mail us with the correct answer. for once i know it ♪

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government vehicle, killing two pakinstanis and injuring 19 others. the attack happened as the vehicle left the u.s. consulate in northern pakistan. two americans are among those injured. talk about the worst wedding guest ever. minutes after exchanging their wedding vows, a couple chased down a guest who tried to make off with their gift money. the suspect, the boyfriend of the groom's niece, ran into a bathroom to hide and stuffed the envelopes down his pants. but the bride, her new hubby and guests jumped into action and chased him right into the hands of the police. all right. they got him. brian? >> brian: all right. thank you very much. i believe you tossed to me. but i'm hearing the director feed. i want to adjust that. we built this was a rallying cry at the republican national convention. joining me now is one businessman who is very familiar to you, "fox & friends" viewers. he built an extremely successful business. he says with no help from the government. peter riggs, vice president of

pita pit, welcome. >> good to be here. >> brian: you came on in 2010. originally autopsy customer and what did you decide to do? >> after being a customer and seeing how great it was as concept, decided to become a franchiseee. and after growing that business for a while, started to try to develop more territory, got to know the founder pretty well and said hey, i'd like to get more territory. he said, why don't you become a partner of mine. we can expand across the u.s. got my father involved, other partners, and away we went. >> brian: you went to the banks and took a risk. you took a big risk because you're taking rents and leases all across the country, training people who are making that investment and that's a responsibility. who else took that responsibility? >> other small business owner friends of ours that we had known for a long time of the we said, people we wanted to work with. we said, you guys have done well with your businesses. how would you like to come and be a part of this business with us? so it was actually a collection of small business owners. >> brian: i want to get into your minds. there's a lot --

mindset. there's a lot of people laid off and want to be in control. when you hear we didn't build that. you didn't about that by yourself and you got lucky, everybody ems works hard what, is your reaction? >> it's very mind boggling because that's one of the key aspects of a small business or a franchise especially. you say i want to take my destiny in my own hands. i want to be in control of whether or not i have a job. >> brian: no guarantee of success. >> absolutely not. it depends on how much hard work you're willing to put in at any given time. that's really what it comes down to. these people back here, they're working every single one of our franchiseees says i don't want to be behold to be a boss. i want to do as well as i can based on the amount of effort i'm willing to put in. >> brian: a lot of people say you have to go to the bank. it's harder to get a loan now. you got a loan in 2010 when it was tough. correct? >> absolutely. it's very tough now. it's been getting tougher

because things are hard examine there is a lot of uncertainty examine a lot more regulations being put on small business owners by the government. which makes it harder. we have thin prophet margins. they have to work hard to make sure they squeeze every penny out. >> brian: that's when governor romney says one of the things he wants to do is cut small business tax which is will help. pita pit is healthy for you, you took the risk. if you want to do it, about $200,000, is that right? >> that's right. >> brian: and the good thing is, we get to eat for free. at least that was the promise. steve and gretch, i'll see what i can get for you when i come back. >> steve: we eat for free 'til 9:00 o'clock. get a to go bag. thanks. >> gretchen: coming up next, the side of the subprime mortgage meltdown you haven't heard about and looks like the president could be involved? tucker carlson is here live with that story. it's that guy sitting right there. >> steve: first on this day back in 1966, sunshine superman by

donovan who was on our show. number one, usa

>> steve: the answer to the aflac trivia question is charlie sheen. the winner is jacqueline totten from new jersey. meanwhile, did president obama help bankrupt black homeowners? a startling new expose in the daily caller is revealing how a mortgage discrimination lawsuit by then attorney barak obama

left many african-americans on the hook for home loans they could not pay back. nearly half of the clients from his 1995 lawsuit against city bank have gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices and only 19 of them still own homes with clean credit ratings. joining us now with a closer look is the founder and editor of the daily caller, tucker carlson. good morning to you n good morning. >> steve: you're a reporter out in chicago. not so junior. they found this story that the president of the united states, back before he was even u.s. senator, was involved in this lawsuit against city bank. what was the lawsuit? >> if you're wondering what obama did as a community organizer, this is it. the lawsuit in 1995 was against citibank, class action suit, it basically accused city bank of excluding them from mortgages because they lived in bad neighborhoods. a process called red line. not too many years later t became clear that most of the

clients couldn't pay and had spotty credit histories. a lot of them had already gone bankrupt. but they pushed anyway on the o grounds it was racist not to give them mortgages. and the inevitable results happened, which is you just said, only 19 still own homes. >> steve: i've never heard this story before and it's so -- it's indicative of the president's mindset. back then, he felt that people who could not afford homes should own them. >> deserved homes. our reporter spent months on this, interviewed a lot of the plaintiffs. many had no idea obama were involved in the suit and were told why did they give me a loan when it was obvious i couldn't repay it. to those who say why is this significant? this is at the heart of the 2007-2008 economic meltdown. subcrime mortgages, mortgages under government pressure were made to people who couldn't repay them, tanked our economy. >> steve: so when the president of the united states, he was out last week, he'll be out this week talking about how

republicans destroyed the economy, when, in fact, when you think about the very roots of the catastrophe, it all went back to people were in homes they could not afford. >> exactly. the striking thing in this case is here obama spent a good portion his life working on this. it fell apart. again, 19 of them out of one of these still own their homes of the that's a disaster. almost without precedent, and there is no evidence the president has ever gone back to look at the wreckage. our reporter could not get comment from the white house on this. no evidence obama ever went back and talked to these people or tried to figure out what went wrong. >> steve: it's such a blockbuster story. do you think anybody in the main stream media will ask the president about it? >> i think it's hard to ignore. obama was at the center of the sub prime mortgage crisis f. that's not a story action i don't know what is. >> steve: clearly he was taken aside. he was working on behalf in the lawsuit of the people who could not afford their homes. he was standing up there saying they can afford their homes. what happened at the end? who won? >> barak obama won. he worked on behalf of a lawyer

called judson minor and the self-righteousness which they pursued this, and basic will he had city bank in a hammer lock with the clinton administration aid, to provide loans people couldn't repay. >> steve: those people stayed in their homes? >> yeah, a lot of those people lost their homes. >> steve: all except 19. >> exactly. >> steve: that's a crazy story. thanks for bringing it to us. meanwhile straight ahead on this monday morning, labor day, imagine seeing this in your backyard. a blackhawk helicopter right next to your kids' swing set. what's going on? we got details straight ahead. what will the president do if he wins a second term? maybe the question is, what he won't do. joe trippi and karl rove are going to segueway into charlotte. they were in tampa, now they're going to segueway here. do you know how to stop that thing? [ rosa ] i'm rosa and i quit smoking with chantix.

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[ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8... >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. live from charlotte, north carolina. on this labor day, it's the home of the democratic national convention this week. today is monday, september 3. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time. this is certainly not a good way to kick off the convention this week. a top dem admitting things aren't going so well in our country? >> can you honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago? >> no, but that's not the question of this election. >> gretchen: it's not? well, let us know. and even the president's top aides having trouble with that same question. >> steve: was that bill or phil schieffer? as the dnc kicks into full gear, you might be wondering, where is mitt romney? you might not see him, but he's

doing some very important work behind the scenes after a very positive and successful rnc. we've got the very latest live from car lot -- charlotte. >> brian: one of these things just does not belong. imagine seeing this in your backyard. a blackhawk helicopter right next to your kid's swing set. how the heck did that get there? >> steve: can we ride on it, daddy? >> brian: "fox & friends," the home of your 2012 election starts right now. >> gretchen: good morning, everyone. welcome to charlotte, north carolina where karl rove and joe trippi are going to duke it out on the segways. >> i hope not. >> steve: the segueways coming from charlotte, north carolina

tours.com. there you can see as we're live in front of the nascar hall of fame, we've set up our tent right here at the intersection of south bravard and east martin luther king, junior, boulevard. if you're in charlotte, drop by. we'll be here all week long. we're just outside the frozen zone. >> gretchen: my goal is get on one of those segueways in my high heels been the end of the show. do they allow women? >> steve: absolutely. >> brian: they're chasing each other. if they could get along, maybe by the end of the week, they'll be on the same line. they'll agree on everything. >> gretchen: i doubt it. >> brian: in the beginning issues they were a little hesitant about getting on. now, we can't get them off. >> gretchen: i was worried they were going to crash. >> brian: if we can get a third segueway, would you do it? >> steve: i think that is a brilliant idea. it all depends on whether or not our director thinks it's a good idea.

>> brian: really? okay. >> steve: absolutely. >> gretchen: you figure that out. i'm going to move on to wendell goler. democrats putting the final touches on the dnc which kicks off tomorrow. will president obama be able to convince voters to difficult him another term despite a still struggling economy? wendell goler live in uptown charlotte with more this morning. good morning, wendell. >> good morning. the democrats will hold a three-day convention, but unlike republicans, they planned it that way. the business starts tuesday. the day basically a party day with a dozen gatherings and a big one in uptown called carolina fest. they've been setting this up all night. lots of food, including carolina barbecue, which is not to be confused with barbecue from anywhere else in the country. in fact, the barbecue sauce from coastal carolina examine western care lie -- and western carolina aren't the same. this is not just to make up for the disruption the convention is causing for the people of charlotte, but aimed at easing the concerns the big unions had about holding the convention in north carolina in the first place. it is the least union friendly

state in the nation and unions reacted to that. afl-cio president said, quote, we won't be buying sky box or bringing a big staff to the convention. in a letter to executive council members last month and other big labor groups have declined to contribute to the cost of this convention after doing so in 2008. president obama is working his way here with a series of rallies in battle ground states. yesterday he was in colorado. >> you get to choose the path we take. you can go with their plan to give massive new tax cuts to folks who have already made it. or we can go forward with my plan to keep taxes low for every american who is still trying to make it. >> the president will be in ohio today before taking a look at the damage caused by hurricane isaac in louisiana. gretchen, brian, steve? >> gretchen: all right, thanks so much for that update. let's talk a little bit about what the president hopes to accomplish when he gives his speech here on thursday night in

front of arguably 73,000 people. will it be a success? well, will he actually talk about his policies or will he blame former president george w. bush? if you listen to the sunday talk shows, when his aides were asked, are you better off now than you were four years ago? they didn't really want to answer the question. it seems like they're going to continue along the path of blaming president george w. bush. >> i thought brit hume put it perfectly in that the republicans have not stated this. the recession hit its peak before the president took office and we started coming out of this in june of 2008, 2009 when he came in, before even the stimulus package started getting its feet or started kicking in at all. so you look at where we were and where we are and the numbers don't add up. >> steve: exactly right. and remember, four years ago at the last dnc, it was all about hope and change and fast forward to today, suddenly the democrats don't want to answer what has become the gold standard in questions when it's time to determine whether or not somebody gets four more years with the keys to air force one.

and that is are you better off today than you were four years ago? started with ronald reagan, it continues to today. but today interestingly enough, the president and his men can't answer the questions. if you were watching the sunday shows. watch this. >> david, can you honestly say that the average american is better off today than they were four years ago? >> here is what i can say, chris. i can say that we're in a better position than we were four years ago and our economy in the sense that when this president took office, we were losing 700,000 jobs a month. are we where we need to be? no. >> can the president argue that americans are better off today than they were four years ago? >> listen, george, i think the american people understand that we got into a terrible economic situation, a recession only that -- the great depression the owning thing the country has seen like it. >> can you say the people are better off today?

>> no, but that's not the question of this election. the question without a doubt, we are not as well off as we were before george bush brought us the bush job loss, series of desert wars, charts for the first time to credit card, the national credit card. >> gretchen: i found it amazing that governor o'malley from maryland, democrat, that he would say that is not the question of this election. it's not? i mean, i think people vote with their pocketbooks is it thinner or thick. >> rick: and then implicit in that question is, are you better off? are you better off now than you were? more than on just the economy, a lot of other issues. >> brian: can you say that in school? you need to answer that question. i need to hear a question more of the answer i want to answer. >> steve: the thing is, last week they were very good at drawing a picture that people are not as well off today as

they were four years ago. when paul ryan was talking about the young people who voted for obama for the first time to living in their parents' basements with the faded poster of barak obama. we asked you -- >> brian: mine was twisted sister. >> steve: when we were growing up. not four years ago. >> brian: it was a long time ago. >> steve: i had farrah faucet. we asked you what you thought, so barry in north carolina e-mailed us. in 2008, i was preparing to retire. now i'll need to work at least until 2018. my sons and daughter-in-laws are struggling. my client companies are closing one after another or scaling back. are we better off? no. >> gretchen: this e-mail from vivian in tennessee. after 57 years of marriage, congratulations, we are spending our children's inheritance fast. our income has not gone up and the cost of living has doubled with food examine gas prices

soaring. savings keep disappears quickly. >> brian: wow. that's unbelievable. and finally, from michael in ohio, mr. president, the gas in my car, snow blower and weed whacker are more than my 401(k). who was allowed to put tack on your wall? i had to use fun tack. my mom was tired of st. patrickling before paint -- spackling before painting. >> steve: it's interesting, david axelrod was on with chris wallace yesterday and he answered at one point when he was dodging the question, he said, you know, who is better off these days? all the people who work at the car companies who were bailed out. people who have been able to refinance their homes. they're better off. >> brian: not those who own dealerships, not those who own stocks in those companies, certainly aren't better off. they found out through the mail that they were out of a job! >> steve: right. take a look at the people who were able to refinance their homes in the last year or two.

their homes are worth a fraction of what they were four years ago. >> brian: the people at chrysler are speaking italian and the people at ford said r is my bailout? what do i get now for not need ago bailout? >> gretchen: all right. so maybe that's why some prominent democrats are not going to be showing up at the convention. number one, i think, senator claire mccass kill from missouri. she was the prominent endorse of president obama. and she will not be here. senator joe manchin has come out against some of the major policies of president obama. he also will not show up. the governor of west virginia will not be here. congressman ray hall, john tester. so far there are eight prominent democrats in congress who will skip the convention all together. >> brian: you said that andrew cuomo is coming the last day. i was pretty surprised he wasn't given a prominent speaking part. he was the governor of new york who froze taxes, told everyone, we're going to get rid of the rich guy tax because it was forcing everyone out of new york city. i thought he would be the poster

child. >> gretchen: now you know why he's not, though. because he doesn't fall in line with the policies of the obama administration. >> brian: that's right. >> steve: he's been able to work in a bipartisan way. i think they may have considered inviting chris christie because he also is bipartisan, but then again, he's a republican. he was working last week, too. >> brian: get off the beach. >> gretchen: let's get to some of your headlines now for your labor day. the democratic national convention hasn't started yet, but it's already over for one delegate from california. why? he got booted for impersonate ago member of congress. police say he got into a fight with the staff at his hotel when a drunk friend passed out in the lobby, when paramedics tried to treat his friend, he claimed to be a member of congress. he was arrested when he did not turn over i.d. there are now in effect in parts of alabama and mississippi as remnants of the storm moved throughout the country. this twister spotted in missouri. no reports of major damages or

injuries. then we move over to louisiana, more than 150,000 people still without power there. the pearl river causing serious concerns about a new round of flooding in st. tammany parish. the river expected to crest at 19.5 feet today. this afternoon, president obama will tour the damage in that state. wait until you see this terrifying scene. this is in a monster truck show in oregon. yep, that truck out of control crashes into the stands. you can hear the screams of frightened spectators. three people were hurt. their injuries are not life-threatening. the truck's hydraulic steering gave out, causing the driver to lose control. i believe the driver was not hurt as well. imagine looking out your window and seeing this, a blackhawk helicopter. yep, right in your backyard. guys with guns climbing out of it. it happened to one woman in

ellisville, end. she says at first it sounded like crashed. that wasn't the case. the national guard says it was working with police on a drug operation. they found 60 pot plants in the woods behind her land. that was the reason why it ended up right next to her play yard there. >> steve: live from charlotte, straight ahead, hollywood heavyweight actor russell crowe needing a little rescue. this was no movie scene. hello, russell. >> gretchen: what will the president do if he win has second term? maybe the question should be what he won't do. joe trippi and karl rove taking over the streets in their segueways. i don't know if we're going to get them up on set 'cause they might just continue to race. right now it's trippi by five feet. rove doing a circle. >> steve: they look like a couple of mall cops [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso.

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>> brian: we're inside the nascar hall of fame. first quick headlines and then two guys on segueways. david cameron expected to shake up his cabinet for the first time replacing unpopular ministers with younger legislators. i guess age does matter. experts say the change is necessary now that britain's economy has fallen back into recession. a former assistant for lance armstrong claiming in an interview that armstrong said, quote, everyone does it when asked about doping. mike anderson also says armstrong had banned steroids in his medicine cabinet. armstrong denies doping. these guys are no dopes. steve, carl, trippi? >> steve: thank you very much, brian. that better? all right. the president's advisors are not able to answer the question, are you better off today than you were four years ago? what is the answer?

our average american -- are average americans better off or not? joining us, senior advisor, deputy chief of staff to president george w. bush, karl rove. and former manager to howard dean's presidential campaign, joe trippi. were you scared at all on those segueways? >> you know -- >> steve: your name is trippi. >> there was no safety equipment and their stunt doubles are in the contract for carl and i. >> don't try this at home because these were professionals on a closed course. >> steve: you were good sports. karl, what about the question that all of the surrogates were out there and couldn't answer the question. >> it's tough to answer it in the affirmative when president obama came into office, unemployment was 7.9%. it's now 8.3. the number of americans out of a job are looking for full-time work or dropped out of the work force is larger, 23 million people total. per median per household income

is down. price of gasoline doubled. national debt. we'll cross 15.9. we'll cross $16 trillion during the course of the democratic national convention. >> steve: let's see how joe answers this. he used this depicting the stats, we're not better off. when you look at the number of jobs that have been created, for the most part, they're low paying jobs. the jobs we don't want. >> well, look, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month when he came in. we're now 29 straight months of job -- >> steve: net, we're still below the number of jobs. >> that's right. but there is a million auto workers in the auto industry who have their -- who wouldn't have them if romney had been there 'cause he wouldn't be for the bailout. look, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. i think they're going to make the case for what they have to do in the future to keep the country moving. >> steve: does it hurt his side that they can't answer? >> yes, it does. look, the fact that we spent a

trillion dollars on a stimulus bill, nearly a trillion dollars and the president said we'd have roughly 12 to 13 million more americans working today if we did it and that if we did nothing, i mean, we're worse off than what he said would happen if we did nothing. >> steve: joe, if the president is reelected, what's he going to do different in the secretary term? there is a real possibility that the republicans will hold both the houses and then how does he get anything done? >> i think that's probably true with romney, too. you've got the problem of either one of these people wins the presidency, they're either going to likely -- not democrats in the senate, even if the republicans were to take it for the democrats to thwart romney if they wanted to and the same with the house gop. so against obama. so it's going to be a very difficult thing. the only way i think either one is able to do anything is compromise, assuming that the other side wants to do that, which i think will happen because the american people are so sick of the gridlock. >> steve: we heard the president say, after i'm relie detectorred, i'll have a lot

more flexibility. >> if he hasn't been able to operate in a bipartisan manner, dismissing republican suggestions about the stimulus by saying i won. going for 51 weeks without talking to the republicans about health care and then putting them in front of the television cameras to try to force them to vote for him, if he hasn't been able to govern in a bipartisan way in four years, why should we think he's going to do anything different in the next four? last election, i want to be the president of red states, blue states, and he gave the back of the hand to the republicans. now he's get not guilty a close election. he says, well, i'll work with them in the second term. well, you didn't in your first! >> steve: we understand you did segueways. are you willing to hang glide off the side of a building? >> no. >> i'll do it. >> steve: sit right here. they're sticking around. new poll numbers say mitt romney did not get much of a bounce from the rnc. is that right? we'll talk about that. then you're not supposed to tackle the cheerleaders. the cheerleaders' surprising

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>> brian: welcome back. trippi and rove. first off, the beginning, inside the nascar hall of fame. thanks for tuning in on labor day. see that car? that's why nascar got started. it raced on sand. more of a tour on galorery road. this is a shocking revelation. in this car, this is tim fox

car. in his car for eight races, he raced with a monkey in it. these stories are true. chris, let's make our way down the road a little bit. i know last hour, two hours ago, we showed awe lot of these. here is the winningest car ever. a guy who will hopefully be joining us at some point. lee petty. that was joe petty's dad. a little bit later on, you see the cars. this is the first car, we understand, built to race on sunday and fell on monday of the here is david pearson. david pearson was known as a guy who would smoke and chew gum during a race. some of his gum is still under the dashboard. i used to do that, but i was punished. he got a lot of prizes. as you see here, working our way down, yarborough. this over here is a concept car. this is one of those cars that never came to market.

they would also have races with these concept cars. chris, lean in. this car is down -- this is a mixture of prototypes and actual cars. this is jeff gordon's car on the raceway. jeff gordon's car, that's the exact car that jeff gordon won in. they said yeah, you can keep it, as long as you promise to leave the original dirt on it. these are just some of the things you're going to see down here in the nascar hall of fame and glory road attracts a lot of people and feel this. this is the texture of the track in which these cars were racing on. incredible stuff here at the nascar hall of fame. now for a tv hall of fame continuing segment starring steve doocy and karl rove and joe trippi playing themselves. >> steve: that's right. brian, thank you very much. we'll talk about this republican presidential nominee, mitt romney was looking for a post-convention bounce after his big speech at the rn, this last week. did he get one? brand-new polls out. according to elan university and

charlotte observer action mitt romney wound up with a four-point bounce in north carolina. 47 to 43 where we're sitting now. what do you think? >> look, first of all, this is going to be a difficult one to measure because we have the conventions right next to each other. i think a better way of looking at it is from the time he announced ryan, like real clear politics went from four down to dead even in the polls. my suspicion is that we'll have a modest bump and it will be difficult to measure because of the back to back nature of the conventions. >> the average nonincumbent convention generally gets a bump around five points. i think romney is going to get that. whether we can measure it or not, he'll get it. then karl is right. we're right back in the democratic convention. there will be a bump out of that. we may be right back where we started. maybe romney ends up a point edging out a point or so. >> steve: there is another graphic we're going to show you. we just talked about the elan

poll. the whole idea about last week, correct me if i am wrong, was to show the country is a -- he's a likeable guy ready to be president. his likeability factor went up. >> look, i don't want to overplay the likeability thing. richard nixon was not the most likeable character in the 1968 election, for example. but look, the purpose -- this is a close election in which movement will be small. and so every advantage, every opportunity you have to take advantage of that bump moving the dial a little bit, and last week did deepen and broaden their understanding of romney. going into it, it was said many knew enough about him. that's a very high number. so that convention was valuable in doing that. the question is, how much movement can the president have when everybody knows or thinks they know so much about him? >> i think like it or not, that's what this convention is going to do. try to fill in the blanks on romney. not because they can't fill in the blanks on obama, but because

that 30% is still there. there is still a group of people who tonight know enough about romney. so if you can fill in the contrast there, they're going to do it. that's just what an incumbent does. >> isn't that an amazing admission of failure? i can't talk about what i've done and i don't have anything to do for the future, so i'm going to spend most of my time, half or more of my time -- >> forward. >> look, i think both conventions really were sort of focused on the fact that people aren't going to change their minds that much about the incumbent president. they either are for him or against him. they either approve of his job or don't. he had 44 approval on the economy. so it's about those 56% doing something else. >> republicans attempt to advance their cause by talking about their candidate and what they would do and their party and the democrats trying to advance their cause by tearing down the other guy. a frank admission of failure. >> that's never happened by the other party -- never does that. >> steve: it will be interesting to see 50 some days from now

which worked. we'll know then. thank you very much. excellent job. >> segueway? >> steve: we got the segueways all day if you want to take them. >> we'll take them. >> young entrepreneur is a woman owned company. >> we're going for a tour of charlotte. go to the internet, find them, come and visit the town. >> steve: queen city. thank you. see you tomorrow. meanwhile straight ahead, it's the question everybody is asking: are you better off today than four years ago? hear from the republicans who voted for obama in the last election. will they stand by the president? then what better way to celebrate labor day, which is today, than with the symbol of america, the bald eagle. this isn't just any bald eagle. what makes this one so special? find out next. ♪

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>> brian: what a way to celebrate labor day than with a symbol of america, an american eagle. she's known as an eagle ambassador and her home was chosen to host the convention delegates yesterday. that happened yesterday. we are very privilege to do have

with us a special trainer and a very special bird. >> steve: we are. lady charlotte is here along with her handler, amber, and jim warren, executive director of the carolina raptor center, good morning. >> good morning. >> steve: what is this eagle's name? >> this is zalotti. it's golden in czech, one of our volunteers named the bird. this is a golden eagle. they're native to this part of the world. beautiful board. >> brian: 26 years old? >> yes. >> brian: i had no idea they lived this long. >> they can live a long time in wild. but in captiveity, he eats on a regular basis. >> brian: it's getting that deductible. >> steve: can you get her to turn her head around? >> zalotti does whatever they want. she's fascinated with everything. >> brian: this is truly an american holiday. >> oh, yes. >> brian: that's when the eagles are called on to come out and address classes and forums.

>> we take them to all kinds of events, veterans programs. you can't get any more patriotic. >> steve: why don't you turn around so we can see her. keep going. there we go. >> brian: there you go. we just want zalotti to look at ted, the camera guy. what about this eagle here? this one has got some sort of crazy head gear on. what does that do? >> that allows the bird to be relaxed a little bit. this is lady charlotte. she had a big event last night, so she's coming off the party. so we're letting her kind of chill out for a few minutes. >> steve: that's are blinders so she can't see what we're doing or talking about. she can hear. >> she can hear. it helps them relax. you cover the bird's head, she's more calmer. >> brian: will you allow them to fly, will they come back? >> this bird cannot fly. she's missing his wing entirely from a gun. so lady charlotte could possibly fly, even though she's miss ago wing. she's got part of her right wing misting due to an electrocution.

we have birds that fly and the delegates last night got to see a flight show. steve: that's awesome. so these are rescue eagles. >> exactly. zalotti came here from arizona. came from the raptor center out there to here. >> brian: we heard growing up, these are endangered species. how do we save the bald eagle? >> we've done a great job. it's off the endangered species list because we protected their habitat. we don't use ddt anymore. we're actually seeing more bald eagles in north carolina than we've seen in 50 years. >> steve: we thank you both for getting up early and bringing them down here to the nascar hall of fame. >> brian: i feel bad this eagle is not going to recognize us when we see him in the street because of that mask. >> steve: with my night goggles. >> brian: thanks for coming down. >> steve: now we got headlines for you. a group dedicated to fighting voter fraud making a troubling discovery in the state we're in right now.

north carolina. >> brian: could you keep it down a little bit? he's chopping up eggs. >> steve: the nonpartisan program fighting 10,000 dead people registered to vote. the group compared death records to voter rolls to complete the list. the board of elections says it's reviewing the list and will take appropriate action. north carolina does not have a voter i.d. law, meaning you do not have to show identification to vote. you just show up and vote. >> brian: joe trippi's fault. he makes the order during our show. getting ready to hit the road this labor day? get ready to pay more at the pump. the average cost for a gallon of regular is 3.83. that's 15 cents higher than the labor day record of 2008. no prizes for this one. while hurricane isaac is being blamed for shutting down refineries in the gulf, energy experts say rising crude oil costs throughout the summer are also playing a part. >> steve: meanwhile, in show business news, he usually plays

the hero, but in real life, russell crowe needed help getting rescued. the oscar winning actor apparently getting lost off long island. >> brian: i can't believe it. >> steve: while he was kayaking with a friend. he reportedly flagged down a coast guard for help. they towed them to shore safe and sound. crowe later tweet add thank you to the coast guard and said they didn't get lost. they just ran out of daylight. >> brian: right. by the way, that's the last thing i heard before i got on the plane is, have you seen russell crowe? i had to get to charlotte. boise state cheerleader gets caught in the cross hairs of a play during a football game against michigan state. watch this. the quarterback throws the pass intended for the wide receiver. the ball sails out of bounds and the girl gets tackled on the side line! the cheerleader apparently all right. she laughs it off. who gets to ice her down after the game? she's okay. >> steve: and there is the pita pit pita that joe trippi ordered that caused all the racket.

>> brian: order a quiet pita during the show. >> steve: i think that was karl. >> brian: sure. blame it on him. so typical of you. >> steve: gretch, over to you and your three special guests. >> gretchen: all right. thanks so much. as the dnc gets ready to kick off, the burning question is, are you better off than you were four years ago? things are different today than back in 2008 when then senator obama accepted the presidential nomination. listen to this. >> we measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when bill clinton was president. [ cheers and applause ] when the average american family saw incomes go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000 like it has under george bush. >> gretchen: well, it seems like a long time ago, especially given a new report that says the average household income fell more in the years since 2009 than during the longest recession in u.s. history.

joining me to discuss how things changed for them in the last four years are a panel of charlotte residents. mike is the former president of realtor company. wendy and robin, an entrepreneur and small business owner. her company is the vivita. she makes things for small tykes. thanks for being here today. >> thank you. >> gretchen: wendy, let me start with you. i know you voted for president obama in 2008. >> i did. >> gretchen: in 2012, you plan to do what? >> plain to vote for obama again. >> gretchen: why? >> i have a nontraditional family. i have a partner 25 years, a woman of the we raised two children together, a 15-year-old and a 19-year-old. and when i listen to all the issues, and they're so complicated and i know that there are different ways to attack the issues, what it comes down to me for who do i feel like is going to support me, my family, and affirm us as a

family. >> gretchen: for you s more social issues or is it the economy? >> it's more social. i want to be able to look into the eyes of my daughters and say, i voted for the person or persons who i believe will affirm and support our family. >> gretchen: interesting, because so much of the discussion seems to be about the economy. if we look at these unemployment rates, under president obama, in 2009, it was 7.8% and then it's gone up to 8.3%. and so mike, i ask you because i know that you would be one to tell me that your business did suffer over the last four years. >> it did. i am a small business owner, own a real estate company. i closed it a year and a half ago. >> gretchen: you voted for president obama. >> i did. >> gretchen: you say you got caught up in the hope and change. >> i drank the kool-aid. >> gretchen: are you drinking the kool-aid for 2012? >> from a different pitcher. from mr. romney's can. >> gretchen: why? >> well, i just feel like that

the promises that were made four years ago certainly haven't been met and i think that we need a change, another change and people can get by the personality of mitt romney and he's obviously a proven businessman and he's done an excellent job in that arena. i think that's what the country needs right now, is a proven business leader. >> gretchen: robin, you know about running a business. you're an entrepreneur. you make things like this little band that goes around glasses for little kids. who did you vote for in 2008 examine who will you vote for this year? >> 2008 i voted for mccain. primarily on my personal beliefs and just where i thought things are what i thought he did. and then this year i'm voting for romney. >> gretchen: why are you choosing republican and republican again? >> well, right now i definitely feel like it's the small business choice to make. i have seen my business not do as well as it should have and i started off six years ago with a company and i started off strong

and things were going really well. and as through the past four years, just hasn't been the progression that would have normally and should have been the trajectory that it should have followed. >> gretchen: what was it for a small business owner for yourself? was it regulation? we hear that a lot. or was it just the economy in general? >> it's the economy in general and on top of that, the regulations. i haven't been able to hire the people i would have. i would have been four to five regular full-time employees by now had i not been concerned and really truly scared of what would have come. i wouldn't be able to support them or keep the business going. it's a combination of the consumers not spending, because my products are accessories. they're not buying accessories at this time. and then not being able to predict where things might go. i feel like i'm initially i had a strong business plan and followed the normal path for that. but that is definitely out the window now. it's just survive. >> gretchen: if you guys would stick around, please, 'cause we'd love to do another segment with you and get your thoughts a little bit into the deeper

conversation on it, a brand-new fox news poll suggests that more families believe their finances would improve if mitt romney wins the election. so does our panel agree with that question? then a 13-foot great white washes up on the middle of a crowded beach. we'll tell you where this happened. right back i love this time of year.

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it's a world unlike any alice has ever seen before. the world of new friskies plus. which is friskies plus more. till you finish your vegetables. [ clock ticking ] [ male announcer ] there's a better way... v8 v-fusion. vegetable nutrition they need, fruit taste they love. could've had a v8... >> brian: quick headlines. homicide bomber crashes their car full of explosives into a u.s. government vehicle, killing two pakinstanis and injuring 19 others. the attack happened as the vehicle left the u.s. consulate

in northern pakistan. two americans are among the injured. look at this, great white shark washes up on the shore in massachusetts. the terrifying discovery shut down two nearby beaches. it's not known how the 1600-pound shark ended up there, how he died. my sense is no water. ten miles of cape cod beaches have shut down because of shark sightings. look out. gretch? >> gretchen: all right. thank you so much. a new fox news poll suggests that more families feel their financial situation will improve if governor romney wins the presidency than if president obama wins reelection. back is our panel of charlotte residents. mike cash, owner of cfo services, wendy, an entrepreneur, and robin. robin, let me start with you on this one because that poll says that the majority of americans feel like their personal finances will improve under a president romney instead of a president obama. your thoughts? >> i definitely agree with that. i think he has a stronger sense

for business and i think that's essential for our economy now for the next four years coming up. i think if we don't have somebody in that's going to have that strong sense of how to bring the middle of our economy back to the point that it needs to be, that it's families who are not going to have that support and the finances that we need to run our families. >> brian: wendy -- >> gretchen: wendy, you are going to vote for president obama. i want to put up a graphic that talks about what robin was alluding to, which is median income. back in 2009, it was almost $55,000 a year. now it's dropped to just a little under $51,000 a year. so if you're giving advice to president obama, how does he argue that we're better off now? >> these are such complicated issues. i know i'm not qualified to solve them. and i choose to believe that there are intelligent, well-intentioned people trying to solve these issues. in my mind, the only way, regardless of who is in the

white house, these issues are going to be resolved on a sustainable basis is to work together and that's my biggest complaint over the last four years is just how do we get people from both aisles to work together? because they're smart people. >> gretchen: you don't blame president obama for not crossing over to the other side and working together? >> no. i think everybody has got to want to come together examine i think that -- and i think that for whatever reason, all the dynamics that were so divisive and even the conventions and the elections, it's so much theater and so much acting, we were talking earlier, i don't know what the truth is anymore. i can fine an expert that says that examine an expert to say that. >> gretchen: that's called spin, my friend. mike, your thoughts about when you look at the difference between 2009 and now, gas prices are higher, median incomes lower, unemployment is higher. your thoughts?

>> well, that's why i'm voting for romney. i agree with what we knowy said -- wendy said. it's not all one person's fault, but i really think that the change that we need is with romney to surround himself with smart people. not saying that president obama's people aren't smart. but they've had their chance. four years is long enough to try to -- in my opinion, to get us on the right track and we're not. as you said, gas prices are really high now and median income is down and there is a lot that needs to be worked on and i still think that it needs to be -- we need to tackle this from a business standpoint. i think social issues are right up there. he's certainly not going to abandon those. but in order to address some of the social issues, we've got to get people back to work and in order to do that, i i think we

need someone with a plan and i think mitt romney is that person. >> gretchen: wendy, robin, and mike, we're just talking to normal charlotte residents and getting what's on their minds this morning. thanks so much for your time. >> you're welcome. >> gretchen: thank you. coming up, she has unmatched access to the president. more than his chief of staff. even vice president joe biden. who are we talking about? up next, a closer look at the unprecedented power of valerie jarrett. first though, let's check in with martha for what's on at the top of the hour. hi, martha. >> hi there, gretchen. good morning, everybody. from inside the convention center in charlotte as paul ryan spends the day here in north carolina trying to extend their gain, we will try eric from the republican campaign. we will speak with ben la bolt about how they will try to sell hope examine change for a second round. bill and i join you in charlotte moments away at the top of the hour. we'll see you then

>> brian: up with of the president's closest friends, advisors, cementing her role in the west wing and has been from day one. according to a new "new york times" story, valerie jarrett, even has her own secret service detail. so is it possible that she's pulling the strings behind the administration's major decisions? is she qualified to do that? joining us now is the former pollster for president clinton and fox news contributor, pat goodell. this isn't new, the power of valerie jarrett. but something else has really

got your attention. >> well, i'll tell you what's gotten my attention, not that she's the most powerful or the closest person to the president, this woman has a secret service detail. she is not a chief of staff or someone with a national security portfolio. she's a general advisor. this is unheard of. you're talking about 24 hours of round the clock service. this is a white house that argues it is for ordinary people, that it's not out of touch. it's romney and the republicans. but this woman has a full detail secret service. men and women who are around the clock, working on her protection. for what? this is a boon. this is kind like versailles, i'm afraid. when you tie this to what she's doing, the question is why? who is she? >> brian: right. who is she? she evidently paved the way for him in many ways his advisor and great person to hook him up with powerful people when he was a state senator and paved his way as the u.s. senator.

and then was there for him and his wife as he became president of the united states. the question is, should he be more powerful than the secretary of state? should she be more powerful than the chief of staff when she basically chase to do chiefs of staff out, according to these stories? >> according to the story, look, the white house source, many people in the white house sources, they report she drove two -- got rid of two chiefs of staff, that she -- this is a woman who is not particularly, i think, necessarily qualified for high policy position. she drives a lot of the administration policies. apparently including that controversial contraception decision. but look, you have tom donnellan, national security advisor, who is also unqualified in his job who is a political operative. he's running national security. so maybe we have a problem here. but this -- i look at the secret service thing examine it upsets me so much because it's unprecedented and it really is an imperial presidency. and i remember in 2010, there

was a woman in seattle, molly north, who was a cartoonist. a liberal rather tanist, alternate paper. she suggested a al-awlaki, ahead of the al-qaeda. they should go into hiding. but the day the f.b.i. would not protect an american citizen on american soil from -- here she is, the white house, without any responsibility that requires her to have a full secret service detail and i was told -- >> brian: the details are one thing. the other thing is influence the other. if it's like clark giffords, that's a choice you make. but you have someone who has no resume to be telling people about more than -- be more powerful than the treasury or secretary of state. here is what she said about her role. let's take a look at when she says about her role. my role is to insure that a wide

and diverse range of perspectives are heard to inform the president's decision making process and give the president candid advice. for that, she does. pat goodell who worked for jimmy carter. >> thank you. >> brian: more "fox & friends" in two minutes [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis sympto. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic.

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it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. >> gretchen: they finally let me on the segueway. >> brian: as we move our way through, tomorrow is a big day. great guests. we'll also have a surprise. my surprise that was so talked about. >> steve: you lost your voice. >> brian: it will be unveiled. a little later, we'll be going throughout charlotte, north carolina, and seeing this wonderful city, seeing how the dnc is taking care -- >> gretchen: i'm stuck!