freedom for a man has reportedly been acquitted and released. welcome, i'm gregg jarrett. >> heather: i'm heather childers. breaking development coming from the american center for law and justice. pastor sentenced to death by iran simply for being a christian. he was in prison for three years and waiting execution for refusing to renounce his faith. his ordeal drawing international attention and condemnation. leland vitter has more. >> reporter: for a while. he was just thought to be hours away from being executed for refusing to renounce his christian faith and also refusing to say that he would take back his muslim faith. now, we are told that he has been released and with his family. this all began back in 2009 when he was arrested for converting from being a muslim to being a

christian. in iran that is something that carries the death penalty. in 2010 he was convicted and sentenced to death and in iran, executions can happen very quickly, just with a few hours notice. at that point he became a cause celeb. he was focus of a big twitter campaign and also the united states congress weighed in asking for them to honor and allowing for freedom have religion. in the past couple of hours he was convicted of a much lower crime, that is evangelical actions toward fellow muslims. he was released for time served. we have to put that in larger context in terms of nuclear program and delicate game between diplomatic chess, israel and also iran. we're in the middle of september right now. just a couple weeks away from the u.n. general assembly.

typically in september iran makes a gesture to show leniency. last year the u.s. hikers were released. this year they are releasing him although it seems a very, very small gesture for the amount of pressure the iranian president is going to be under when he goes to new york in a couple of weeks. >> heather: thank you very much leland. >> gregg: presidential race is kicking into high gear with the final campaign battles set to begin. president obama is in florida looking to pick up the state's treasure trove of 29 electoral votes. any moment he is xooptd to take the stage. ed henry is traveling with the president. what is happening there? >> reporter: final steps of the

campaign, two months to go. they are shadowing each other. yesterday it was governor romney going to iowa and new hampshire that the president went to to try to get a bounce of the national convention. today as the president in florida starting a bus tour. that is where governor romney had the republican national convention. this is key because of the electoral votes, but the real clear politics average how tight it is. it is basically 47.3% for the president. 46.7% for mitt romney. can't get much closer than that. the president is trying to sort of get those few undecided voters in his camp. there is a huge choice both on medicare and affects senior citizens but the economy. he was mocking mitt romney earlier for being obsessed. >> all he has to offer is the

same prescription they've had for 30 years. tax cuts, tax cuts, got a few gut a few regulations, more tax cuts. tax cuts when times are good, tax cuts when times are bad. tax cuts to help you lose a few extra pounds. tax cuts to help your love life. >> so you can see the spent trying to make this a choice about the future, next four years, but the republicans continue to try to do, what about your record over the last four years. don't forget that. given that weak jobs report on friday it may be difficult for the democratic ticketed to make the case that the economy is getting better. remember vice president biden we've turned the corner. there is obviously questions about that. >> gregg: ed is live in florida, thanks very much. >> normally, let's take a look at the white house, that is where ed normally is. you can barely see the white

house on the left. it is storming so hard. very, very heavy rain in the nation's capitol on the right. you can't even see that. i wanted you to know a tornado warning is in effect for fairfax county, virginia and severe weather there, it is moving northward through new york. they have cancelled the women's final will of the u.s. open or postponed until it tomorrow night. we'll have a full weather updated very shortly. >> another n other news, governor mitt romney rallying voters in virginia. he just wrapped up a campaign event in the key swing state. in just a few hours from thousand he is set to attend a party at the richmond international raceway. but he is starting his day in boston. that is where carl cameron standing by live with us with

more from there. >> romney is a big car guy so take a little nascar this afternoon. earlier today he was out down in virginia beach and fired up and going after democrats for the controversy in many ways overshadowed much of their democratic convention. removal of planks for god that their official party platform. today it was very clear that mitt romney wants to push a values criticism of democrats and the president for what happened at the democratic national convention, not just the removal of god but the idea there was a temporary omission and big battle to include jerusalem as the capitol of israel. this is an example of how democrats are not in touch. >> that pledge says under god i will not take god out of the name of our platform. [ cheers and applause ]

>> i will not take god out of our coins and i will not take god out of my heart. we are nation bestowed by god. >> reporter: romney went on to say we are nation indivisible. he won't aapologize for americans here at home or abroad. new rhetoric from mitt romney revealed after the democratic convention ended playing off the controversy and using the pledge aloomingians and basic american civics to drive the point home. >> heather: carl cameron, thank you so much. >> gregg: the jobs market is certainly stuck in low gear right now. millions of fellow americans having a lot of trouble leaving the ranks of the unemployed and well, what can be done to get the jobs machine cranking up again? former labor secretary will be

with us with answers. >> heather: plus a group looking for a little fun on the job that became a youtube sensation and then losing their joshs after their bosses failed to see humor in it. >> doesn't it say that it made, but i lost my job.

>>. >> gregg: fox news weather alert. once again this hour, brand-new tornado warnings, maria molina is live in our extreme weather center. >> we are continuing to track the line of storms that have impacted the washington, d.c. area. i wanted to point out we have a large concern for damaging wind gusts that could produce damage. these wind gusts could be excess 60 to 80 miles an hour. it will bring power lines down and tree branches. damaging wind gusts, large hail, dangerous lightning and flash flooding that is possible. that chance for severe weather does extend from parts of new england down to the carolinas, throughout the rest of the day into the night time hours. we do have tornado warnings that go out to central maryland.

prince gorges county and east central maryland. you do need to seek shelter or in this particular tornado warnings goes 4:45 eastern time. earlier today we did have a tornado that was confirmed by county officials across fairfax county and also in queens county in new york city. we had a tornado that was also spotted. we had video of that. we'll bring that later today. greatest chance for severe weather, in parts of new hampshire and up stated new york including the city of albany, down to the philadelphia area. large hail, damaging winds and even some tornadoes will be possible. there is a difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning. a tornado warning means there could be a tornado on the grouped. a watch means there is a chance for it. you have to stay alerted throughout the rest of the several hours and across the new york city area, our tornado

watch is going in effect 9:00 p.m. eastern time. another tornado watch further off to the north until 10:00 p.m. including parts of vermont and new hampshire and upstate new york. you can see further across to the south, in philadelphia severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00 eastern time. >> gregg: let's transition, the white house on the left and the nation's capitol you can't see amid heavy downpour there. on the right-hand side of your screen and again, the nation's capitol with tornado warnings and great many of the counties in virginia and maryland that surround the nation's capitol. what a downpour. we'll continue to follow what is happening as the system continues to move northward and into new york, as well. keep it right here for the latest weather data. >> heather: a number of outages,

about 42,000 people without power. >> gregg: a california judge ruling that arnold schwarzenegger did not break any laws when he cut the manslaughter sentence for a political ally hours before the governor left office. and faa is investigating why an airplane part the size of a refrigerator door fell from the sky and crashed into a washington state neighborhood. teachers in chicago preparing to to walk on monday. union opening a strike headquarters in case this weekend's negotiations do not pan out. >> heather: on the heels of dnc a disappointing jobs report. the august jobs report shows only 96,000 jobs were added to our economy last month. much less than expected. the unemployment rate fell to 8.1% only because so many people gave up looking for work, only

63% of working age adults in the work force. that is the lowest level since 1981. that translates to nearly 89 million able-bodied adults who are not earning a paycheck right now. what effect will it have on the president's reelection campaign. joining us is erin mcpike, reporter for real clear politics. thank you for joining us. there is another poll i would like to pull up for folks. it's gallup daily tracking poll for friday for president obama approval rating. it's at 52%. the highest since the killing of osama bin laden. this was taken from the 5th through the 7th and the jobs report came out friday. 96,000 jobs created we need at least 100,000 to keep up with population growth.

erin do you think the job approval rating will stick or the latest job report counter any convention bounce? >> it will probably countered the convention bounce. in his speech on thursday night, president obama started to lay the groundwork to prepare people for this by saying, our path, means the democrats' path is harder but leads to a better place. many analysts said the speech wasn't that great. it kind of fell flat on the heels of michelle obama's speech but, of course, david axelrod and campaign aides have done the same thing saying they didn't think they were going to get much of a bounce out of the convention anyway. on the heels of these two conventions, we are nowhere different than where we were before the convention, very even going into the debates. we'll have a very level playing field on october 3rd.

>> heather: president obama was given a heads-up as to what this jobs report would be prior to his speech which is normal. he knew it was coming. he is campaigning today in florida, a state with the highest elderly population and unemployment rate of 8.8%. there is four key battleground states where the unemployment elevated above the national average. we mentioned florida, in nevada, 12%, north carolina, where they had the dnc. 9.9%. michigan, 9%. 735 delegates up for grabs among those states. how does the obama campaign win them over with job reports like friday's? >> what they are doing is running a very specific state by state campaign. so when you talk about michigan, president obama's team has made the case that the auto bailout has helped a lot of workers in michigan.

of course, president obama is leading the polls in michigan, although he is not in a state like north carolina. romney campaign by contrast is running more of a nationalized campaign and talking about specifically these jobs numbers. we're hearing more fragmented message from the obama campaign because they wanted to win some of those states. they are leading in some of those states, including nevada with terrible jobs number. >> you talk about specific targeting. in his stops in new hampshire we heard the president talking about pre-sent private sector job growth for 32 consecutive months but there is still 261,000 fewer people employed today than when he was sworn in. the jobless rate when we was sworn in, 7.9%. it hasn't been below 8% since. as we saw in his last jobs report. almost 400,000 people gave up. how does the obama campaign and

the romney campaign targeted those voters? >> it's a perilous thing to focus specifically on just the unemployment number because while we talk about how this past jobs report was very bad, it did go from 8.3 to 8.1. let's say it falls further to 7.9 and he does get below 8% simply because more people have come out of the work force, just having a 7 in front of the unemployment rate as opposed to the 8 could be viewed as a good thing for president obama. that is why the romney campaign is really hammering this particular fact so many americans are moving out of the work force. that is what we're going to hear a lot from the romney campaign while the obama campaign will be focusing on the jobs added. >> heather: in states they do have better than average jobs numbers. and obama and romney they campaigned in those battleground

states, in new hampshire, for example, 5.4%. in iowa, 5.3%. other battleground states in this category, virginia, 5.9%. ohio, 7.2% and wisconsin at 7.3. how will those campaigns move forward in those states as we hit the final days, no doubt a lot of money will be spent? >> no doubt. you hit the two states that will be most critical. virginia and ohio with lower than the national average unemployment rates, very important for the obama campaign. if romney can't win those two states, he cannot win. pathway is not without those two. you can expect that president obama will talk about the unemployment rate being very low in those two states. mitt romney has a challenge for that very reason. >> heather: erin mcpike, thanks for joining us. 60 days, a little less.

we appreciate it. >> gregg: 59, we keep count. >> group of lifeguards in the state of california finding themselves in hot water after doing a parody videotape gung man style. ♪ ♪ not note. >> gregg: you didn't know gungman. the city says they have nothing do with the content of the video but the unauthorized use of the pool facility, but fired lifeguard, it did not affect their job performance. >> i was a manager and they want me to be the eyes and ears of what was happening. i did my job. i didn't think it was about saying i lost my job.

>> this was my only job and my only source of income in paying for books and contributing my schooling. >> gregg: all but one of 14 lifeguards is in college and they say they were using the job to pay for their education. maybe they could profit with the videotape. >> heather: it looks like the pool were closed. there weren't a lot of folks in the pool. >> gregg: i do that every time i go to the pool. that is my look. >> heather: do you do the dance. >> gregg: i do it everywhere i go. >> heather: i think it's a challenge to do it before two hours are up. new arrest in a murder of a american border agent. brian terry's killing, it was linked to a botched gun trafficking operation. >> gregg: latest job numbers show more americans have given

up throwing up their hands, throwing in the towel but it hurts. what needs to be done to turn this around. we'll be talking to the former u.s. labor secretary elaine chou. >> bad news later. we have seen over the last three and a half years, a lot of bad news. americans are tired of being tired. e was awesome last night. we got crushed, dude. awesome game. nice. saints are getting good, huh? shotgun formation... yes. zone blitz, they disguise it so well. with nfl mobile from verizon, no one will know the game better than you. best defense in the league... well, almost no one. i will eat you. watch live games thursday, sunday and monday nights, plus get nfl redzone and nfl network coverage 24/7 on nfl mobile and experience football on verizon 4g lte. 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.

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>>. >> gregg: it is bottom of the hour, time for the top of the news. national weather service confirming a tornado struck a beach front neighborhood in queens, new york. a massive funnel cloud hurling sand and debris. several reports of power outages. >> heather: and campaign ads, now expected to top one billion dollars according to a media tracking company. both will spend more on air time

than they did in the first five months alone. >> gregg: an iranian pastor sentenced too death has reportedly been released. this from the american center for law and justice. he is 32 years old imprisoned for three years awaiting for execution for refusing to renounce his christian faith. >> heather: federal police in mexico say they have arrested a suspect in the 2010 killing of u.s. border patrol agent brian terry. it has been the center of a scandal over the gun running sting operation fast and furious. peter doocy has more over this latest arrest. >> he is now in custody of mexican authorities who apprehended him on authority in sonora state.

five men have been charged with the murder of the border patrol agent. one was arrested thursday, one is on trial in arizona. three are still on the loose. authorities aren't saying which man they say fired the fatal shot but the five men from mexico allegedly crossed the southern border to rob some drug smugglers to be spotted by the u.s. border patrol who engaged them in a gunfight that left agent terry dead. investigators say soon figured out two of the guns they left behind were linked to a united states justice department sting operation fast and furious to let buy guys bad guns in the u.s. and walk across the border with them with the hope they would eventually help build cases against the leaders of violent drug cartels. the house oversight committee demanded documents to try to figure out who is to blame for the failure of this operation, fast and furious.

after president obama asserted executive privilege to block most of the documents the house still voted to hold eric holder in contempt of congress but the doj declined to press charges. things have been quiet on the hill for a few weeks but they should pick up september 11th with a new hearing examining a doj inspector general's report. >> gregg: peter, thanks. new jobs numbers are out signaling a struggling u.s. economy. american employers adding just 96,000 jobs in the month of august. that is much less than expected. the labor department says the overall unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% only because more americans, 368,000 of them simply gave up looking for work. now that is the lowest job participation rated in 3031 years. the question is why -- 31 years. >>line chou is involved in the

romney campaign as the national chair of his asian-americans and pacific islanders. sits on our board parent company news corporation. thanks so much. nice to have you here. it's a pleasure. >> great to be here with you. >> gregg: president obama says his policies have added 4.5 million jobs since the recession ended but if you average out all the gains and n recovery since world war ii we should have added more jobs by now? >> absolutely. >> gregg: has his policies acted as depressant instead of a stimulant? >> the president is good man but over the last three and a half years it's obvious he can't handle the job. he doesn't have the leadership nor the experience to lead our economy to much healthier state.

yes, 93,000 net new jobs were created last month, but we need on average about 150,000 netted new jobs to be created every month to keep up with population growth. we're not seeing. that we're also seeing that 42% of those who are unemployed have been unemployed for more than six months. that the longest stretches of unemployment. then there is so many people who are working part time jobs and they would love to get full time jobs but this economy is not creating jobs so they can't get those jobs. if you count those marginally attached workers to the work force, plus the unemployed, you basically have a real unemployment rate of 14.7%. so the situation is pretty bad. we all know someone in our neighborhood, our friends, our neighbors, someone's kid who graduated from college and they can't find a job, for three and

a half years this economy has not been producing jobs at a level that is compensatory. >> gregg: bill clinton you heard him at the convention, he offered this defense of president obama, take a listen to this. >> president obama started with a much weaker economy than i did. listen to me now. no president, no president, not me, not any of my predecessors, no one could have fully repaired that all the damage he found in just four years. [ applause ] >> gregg: that is not true when ronald reagan sought reelection, he dropped unemployment 10.8 to 7.3 and the economy was booming at 6.3% compared to today's 1.7%. so bill clinton wasn't right in his assessment, was he?

>> this is slick willie talking, remember? let's look at the facts. remember there is a sharp recession which is what we experienced, there is a sharp rebound. we should experience g.d.p. growth of 4.5%. we are seeing g.d.p. growth of 1.7%. the question is, all right. president obama is blaming everybody else for what has happened to the economy except his own policies. yes, he may have inherited a bad economy in 2009 but his policies made it worse. we are saying increase uncertainty and uncertainty on taxes, laws he has passed created uncertainty. >> gregg: what does romney have to offer to grow jobs? >> governor romney has a five point economic plan. we have to achieve energy independence. many of things states that were

cited had low unemployment rates because they were involved in energy creation. we have to get off of foreign energy sources and it will create lots of jobs. secondly have all we have to open up foreign markets to american goods and services. third we've got to retrain our people, relevant skills that will allow them to act as real jobs in the real economy. fourthly we've got to reduce the deficit because our deficit situation is making our markets less attractive than other markets around the world. we are no longer an island on to ourselves. we are part of a worldwide competent and we have to make the best economy that welcomes capital and investment and businesses. >> gregg: well, also part of this five-point plan is to reduce taxes and reform the tax code. here is the thing. governor romney is not saying

which exemptions or deductions or tax credits could be cut or reduced. look, tens of millions of americans rely on those to reduce their tax burden. it means a lot to them in terms of their take home pay. the food at the they put on the table and clothes on the children's back and roof over their heads. here is my question: don't they deserve to know which of those is at risk before they cast their ballots? >> i think overall it can be said to keep our economy going and make it strong, it's really very simple. if the private sector creates the jobs. it's not the government. they have to create the jobs through the private sector that creates jobs. tax reform is fundamental that make our economy reduce taxes that makes our economy strong. so as for which that have tax specifics, i think that is going

to be part of a larger discussion and a larger picture. >> gregg: governor romney, i saw him in an interview, we'll work it out with congress afterwards. average voter is saying to themselves, am i going to lose my mortgage interested deduction if i vote for romney, and earned income tax credit, tuition and energy credits and personal exemption, all of those according to governor romney are on the table. my goodness, wouldn't people be hesitant to cast their ballot in favor of them if they think, all those things are at risk? >> i don't think so. i think the american people understands what a horrible situation we are in these days with our country's deficit. i think it's ironic and amusingly so, this is a serious matter, that our national debt has hit $16 trillion on a very first day that the democratic convention met in charlotte. then the american people

understand because we are seeing the economy go south and people do not have the consumer power with or purchasing power to buy a what they need. i think the american people will have a real choice this november. they understand and even though tax reform is difficult, there is overwhelming recognition there has to be tax reform on to reduce taxes. >> gregg: the words trust in politician in my experience are mute liquor exclusive terms. there is a lot of faith going on. >> lower taxes are good for job creation. lower taxes are good for tax creation. >> gregg: elaine chao, thanks for being with us. >> heather: controversy over a new book, accusing the president to negotiate with republicans. >> gregg: moving display of patriotism in honor of september 11th, what one man is doing to remember the victims.

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after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long. >>. >> heather: welcome back. right now president obama in kissimmee, florida, speaking to a grassroots campaign. about 3,000 people in attendance. >> still the largest middle-class the world has ever known, that built the greatest economy the world has ever known. the whole bargain is real simple promise that if you work hard it will pay off. the promise that if you acted responsibly, you will be rewarded. that everybody in this country gets a fair shot and everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules. from main street to wall street,

to washington, d.c.. [ cheers and applause ] >> now, some of you know that i started my career in public service working in the shadow of steel mills and working with folks trying to rebuild their neighborhoods. that process of jobs disappearing overseas, families struggling with the costs that keep on going up even though their paychecks aren't going up. people taking more and more debt just to pay for tuition or gas or food on the table, that process has been going on for a decade. then it culminated in the worst financial crisis and depression or recession we had since the great depression. millions of people lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost their savings. it's that tragedy we have been fighting to recover from ever since.

we have made progress. [ applause ] >> but we know we haven't made enough. >> heather: talking about the economy there. you are listening to the president, with 8.89% unemployment right rate. governor romney is speaking also today. we'll that i can that in around 7:30. you can watch this event and mitt romney, streaming live on our website. go to foxnews.com. >> gregg: the united states is designating the pakistani based network, a group has been blamed for a string of high profile attacks targeting american forces in afghanistan. pakistan's intelligence agency support hakanis to leverage. the haqqani and it could raise

tensions with the afghanistan and pakistani governments. let's bring in steve yates. former assistant for national security affairs under dick cheney. i have to confess, i thought haqqani was a designated terror group. given their terror record. why did it take so long for the official designation? >> it's exceedingly difficult. they attacked the u.s. embassy in kabul a year ago. there was obvious signs what they are up to hitting our troops, destabilizing afghanistan. only real explanation would have to be hesitancy among some in washington to think differently about pakistan which remains most dangerous country if the world. >> gregg: is this increasingly politicized?

>> i do. after 9/11 it did open a lot of times for us to have multilateral squeezing of finances but odd cases for north korea being removed and iranian freedom fighting organization remaining on the list after forsaking violence. it comes down to a political and risk calculus in washington. >> gregg: you know better than i do the u.s. relationship with pakistan is encumbered and strained. so what now? >> i do think this will raise some attention publicly. the government of pakistan is not going to say they have an opinion one way or the other. they will say these are not pakistanis, they are operating on their territory for very long time. we really have quite a dangerous situation in pakistan. the president said he would give us a new strategy for dealing with pakistan. that seems to passed away with

holbroke. unfortunately the death of osama bin laden didn't solve this. we have islamic groups, nuclear weapons and unstable region. >> gregg: as you pointed out, upon taking office the president promised a new strategy with pakistan to improve relations, what happened with that? >> number one, i imagine was harder than the bright minds thought it would be when they came in. the reality was it takes a lot of leadership, a lot of focus and probably some risk taking to change course. in a country where nuclear weapons and terrorist organizations intertwine. issue of one thing to withdraw troops from afghanistan. any hinted of tensions rising with pakistan was keying them off the political objective of lowering troop levels in afghanistan. >> gregg: speaking of lowering troop levels, i want to ask you about that. the impact on afghanistan and

american relations, what it means to the war on terror after this commercial break. stick around. we'll be right back. more of our conversation with steven yates.

>>. >> gregg: back with steven yates on the u.s. designating the

haqqani network as a terror group because we already thought it was. given the rise of the haqqani and increasingly fractious relationship with pakistan, is it even all the more risky to be withdrawing troops from neighboring afghanistan? >> i would say i have to defer to the general allen on his judgment. he is an absolutely stellar marine with great judgment. i have full confidence in his judgment. i hope that our leaders in washington are looking carefully to what he says. it's are risky to pull back on troop levels in an uncertain environment where these ungoverned territories in pakistan continue to have bad elements running seemingly uncontrolled. >> gregg: what could happen? >> number one, we could have things spin out of control. there could be another attack

where there is large numbers of casualties. yet are you going on retreated in an attack on us? there could be unfortunate slippage in the weapons controls in pakistan where they have world's weapons falling into the world's worst hands again. afghanistan is not exactly the best endowed place for a stable government and economic development. this is long term. it would be irresponsible to turn or back. >> gregg: when you tell the enemy out in advance all they have to do is hunker down. so to a return to the same taliban controlled afghanistan which is fertile ground for terrorism? >> sadly the risk is high if we drawdown to zero and perception of withdrawal. we have just neighboring pakistan and afghanistan the situation in iran. so the situations we are facing

at the same time that are challenging america's leadership and challenging our will and putting at risk this dangerous and vital region are too many right now. >> gregg: steven humiliates, thanks very much. good to see you as always. >> heather: coming up. tornado watch is in effect for northeast. new york city getting hit by a twister today. maria molina with the latest. >> gregg: more than just a funnel cloud. bob...

oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners.

>> heather: hello, everyone. i'm heather childers. welcome it a brand-new hour inside america's election headquarters. >> gregg: i'm gregg jarrett. topping the news, republican presidential nominee mitt romney strikes hard against the president today for the dismal unemployment numbers. we're going to get a live report. >> heather: meanwhile, president obama is in the crucial swing state of florida insisting that he needs more time to get the economy going. we will take you live to the sunshine state. >> gregg: and he was sentenced to death for convert to go christianity examine trying to register a home based church in iran in 2009. but today an iranian pastor is set free, all the details in a live report from the middle east coming up. >> heather: we begin with a fox extreme weather alert. much of the east coast experiencing a dangerous weather outbreak. here is the current radar showing watches and warnings,

from the carolinas to new england. the risk include damaging winds, hail, dangerous lightning, flat flooding and tornadoes. look at this amazing video. you can see there showing a dark funnel cloud striking the breezy point section of queens, new york. the national weather service confirming it was a tornado. but new york city isn't out of the woods yet. here is a live look at times square. actually that showing the white house on capitol hill. >> gregg: it's looking better. >> heather: yeah, it cleared up since the last hour. here is times square as we were mentioning, the new york city area. also still under a threat for more severe weather. dc, that's where the national weather service says there has been sightings of two possible tornadoes in that region. as gregg was saying, looks like that cleared up. we'll see what happens next.

meantime, anna kooiman is live in new york city with more from here. >> as you were mentioning severe weather popping up along the east coast from the carolinas to new england as a strong cold front continues pushing eastward. much of the northeast is under a tornado watch until later tonight, including new york city and the surrounding areas where a tornado touched down this morning in brooklyn and queens. the video you're about to see here is from breezy point in queens where firefighters have responded to reports of trees down, awnings and shingles being ripped off houses and some power outages. the general manager of the breezy point surf club tells the associated press that the storm ripped up cabanas and picked up industrial sized metal trash bins. the national weather service just minutes ago officially saying a tornado touched down with winds up to 70 miles per hour. the storms are part of the system that raced across the midwest yesterday, producing more than 350 reports of severe

weather and leaving four dead, including a child in oklahoma. tornadoes are a rarity in new york city with only eight reported since 1985. while most are not as intense as storms seen in the midweeks the large population density usually means many more are affected. in september of 2010, two tornadoes ripped through city with winds up to 125 miles per hour, tearing down thousands of trees and leaving more than 40,000 people without power. one person died. the weather is also putting a damper on the u.s. open where the men's semifinals were temporarily delayed from heavy rainfall. while the women's finals were washed out, delayed until tomorrow. heather. >> heather: thank you very much. anna kooiman live from our new york city news room. >> gregg: the culprit for the outbreak of violent storms is a powerful system marching toward the east and we have brand-new reports of two possible tornadoes as we were talking about in the washington, d.c.

area. let's get caught up on everything with meteorologist maria molina live in the fox extreme weather center. >> that's right. we have two reports of tornadoes across the dc area and we do also have that confirmed tornado now by the national weather service across breezy point in new york. queens county. that system is estimated to have 70 mile-per-hour winds, which make it a ef 0 tornado. you can see here are images coming out of basically the area where that confirmed tornado now, and it's believed that actually started over water and it was a water spout. then moved onshore into breezy point surf club. there was a tornado warning at the time. so this is why it's just so important that we seek shelter right when these tornado warnings get issued because there could be a tornado on the ground. that tornado again, maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour, aside from a tornado risk today, we also have a chance to see damaging wind gusts easily in excess of 70 miles an hour.

at times that can bring trees down and that can bring power lines down. take this risk seriously. we have possibly severe weather as far north as new england and as far south as the carolinas. a number of severe weather watches in effect. the greatest risk area is the area shaded in red across parts of upstate new york, albany, burlington, vermont, new york city, and philadelphia, very large cities that aren't really used to seeing tornadic activity here across northeast. nome are these cities not used to seeing this kind of activity, but it's also somewhat unusual to be talking about severe weather at this time of the year. typically we're talking about tornadoes during the months of april. also may and june. so a little late in the season here to be seeing such a strong front pushing through. we're getting into the fall months and now we're talking about cold fronts that will be bringing in much cooler air. that's what we're seeing behind the front. drier air, cooler air and that clashing air masses, warm, humid air ahead of the system, that drier air that cause this is explosive development in storms,

you can see we have many severe weather watches in effect across parts of new england, down into the carolinas. these are the expected expiration times. across new york city in effect until 9:00 p.m. eastern time. within this line of storms, we also have a number of severe thunderstorm warnings because aside from tornadoes and also damaging wind gust, you also have the possibility of large hail, dangerous lightning and even some flash flooding as the rain comes down very heavily and gregg, here is a quick shot of that map. i just mentioned typically we see the peak of activity during the month of april, may and june. somewhat unusual during september. but not unheard of. >> gregg: indeed it is. thanks very much. we'll check back with you as things develop. >> heather: more now on the deadly oklahoma storms that we told you about. the fierce thunderstorms that rolled through the state yesterday killed four people, including an infant. the bodies found in two different areas. police say the baby and two of

the adults were found in a creek after their mobile home was destroyed. here is the undersheriff describing the scene. >> residents just back to the east of us here was probably hardest hit. they was totally destroyed, they were found underneath a lot of the rubble and in a small creek right there. >> this came in so fast. i mean, originally you would have thought you were going to get a nice little rain. then all at once, the wind hits. there wasn't time for anybody to do anything. it just come in way too fast. >> heather: the straight line winds, they also flipped a semi, pinning a fourth victim, a 70-year-old man, under his truck . >> gregg: turning to election politics, governor mitt romney on the campaign trail in virginia today where polls show he and president obama are locked up in a dead heat. mr. romney back on the road after a week of debate preps and

laying low during the democratic national convention. the governor telling the crowd, if he's elected president, he'll put the u.s. back to work. cheat political correspondent is here. governor romney learning new language in civics to fire up the crowd. tell us about it. >> both candidates are doing everything they can to sort of gain some sort of an advantage. you talk about how the polls are tied, both campaigns basically in chicago and obama's camp, boston for mitt romney's, they readily acknowledge the race could end up 51-49 and pick them examine in the electoral college map, it will go down to the last couple of days before they know which states to worry about most. in the case of the new rhetoric, an example in romney'ss case of his real serious focus on trying to make the best of every last of the 59 days remaining in this campaign. and today at virginia beach, very, very tough stuff. taking the pledge of allegiance and going through it line by line and using every single

sentence that every american student knows, every single american citizen knows have to have memorized, every american patriot can do by rot, and taking mr. obama to task with them. here is a sampling of that. >> one nation, indivisible. i will not divide this nation. i will not apologize for america abroad and i will not apologize for america here at home! [ cheers and applause ] with liberty and justice for all. with liberty, i will not forget that for us to have liberty here, for us to be able to protect ourselves from the most evil around the world, for us to share liberty with our friends around the world, we must have a military second to none, so strong no one would ever think of testing it! [ cheers and applause ] >> for the last couple of weeks, he's been aggressively going after president obama for the sequestration issue, the idea

that the fiscal cliff hits come next year and instant massive defense cut also kick in automatically. romney says he doesn't think that's a good policy. he think the president should do something to stop it and he would. all very aggressive and in part, gregg, because the romney was in the tight water of virginia beach, heavy, heavy, populated with military families, active and retired. a huge part of their economy down there. with the job numbers yesterday talking about how anemic the recovery is overall nationwide, it's hard not for romney to be so adepressive. >> in the good old says, you used to get a huge bounce out of conventions. sometimes 15 points or so. but now adays, not too much of a bounce. who got the bounce here? did they cancel each other out? what happened? >> well, historically the convention bounce is really about three to five points. so there isn't much to begin with. both campaigns argue when you look at the amount much money that's being spent by outside lots, lots of toxic ads on the

air action when they were back to back, they started before labor day, there may not be much of a bounce. but mr. obama and the democrats went second. so if romney has a disadvantage because the democrats went last, another explanation as to why he's being so aggressive through this weekend and will next week at every opportunity do what he can to criticize the president for his last 3 1/2, now almost four years in office, making the argument that the promises the made made back during 08 have not been closely realized. >> gregg: carl, thanks very much. >> heather: president obama also hitting the campaign trail today in a key battle ground state. he's attending a rally in the terrific in florida. earlier he made an appearance in seminole where he told supporters that republicans are dead wrong in calling the u.s. a country in decline. we will have a live report on

the president's florida trip, that is straight ahead. >> gregg: and intense contract talks resuming between the chicago teachers union and district reps. the goal is to avoid teachers walking off the job on monday for the first time in 25 years. lots at stake for chicago's mayor, rahm emanuel, who has made school improvement a central theme of his administration. here is union president karen lewis on are they stand. >> the house of delegates of the chicago teachers unions set a strike date for monday, september 10. and that has not changed. >> 11:33 on sunday night, you plan to negotiate? >> absolutely, because we are here to negotiate for better schools in chicago. period, and a fair contract to go along with that they. >> gregg: the teachers union is demanding more money, better job

security, and a new teacher evaluation system. >> heather: fox news alert. out of iran, a christian pastor imprisoned for three years for his faith is now free. fox news confirming an iranian court released pastor, the 35-year-old father of two was awaiting execution for refusing to renounce his faith. demands for the pastor's release coming from all around the world, including the u.s. congress and we will have more on this developing story in a live report later this hour. >> gregg: and on to pakistan where a young christian girl accused of burning pages of the koran has also been freed from jail. her release coming one day after a judge granted her bail. the 14-year-old was taken from the prison in an armored car and escort to do a helicopter while covered in a sheet to protect her identity. the girl had been held for more than three weeks after neighbors accused her of violating the

country's strict blasphemy law. >> heather: coming up, a i didn't remember this week convicts drew peterson in his third wife's murder. and now several of the jurors are speaking out about their decision. this as we get word that peterson could be facing some brand-new charges. judge jeanine weighs in on that. >> gregg: and the presidential election now in high gear. some folks already taking part in early voting, believe it or not. 59 days left. so now that the conventions are over what, did voters take away from it, if anything? we'll have a fair and balanced debate next. >> we need a new president to get america on track! i love america! i love you! i love the work you do! i'll protect this land and keep it strong and create the future for your kids they deserve! thank you so very much! thank you !

>> heather: we want to go straight to maria molina in the severe weather center because we have more tornado warnings to tell you about as the east coast braces for severe weather throughout today. we've seen it developing. what's the very latest? >> i'm just reading a tornado warning that was just issued by the national weather service, including northern burgen county

in northeast new jersey and would beland county in southeast new york. examine this particular tornado warning until 5:45 eastern time. just issued a few seconds ago. and basically they're stating this particular thunderstorm is capable of producing a tornado and located about six miles to the west of richwood or near wayne and moving toward the northeast at 35 miles per hour. severe thunderstorm warning was also issued for the city of new york. if you have the images of times square, we can pull that up and take a look to whether or not there are still people there because hopefully they are not. we could see some wind gusts in excess of 60 miles per hour with some of these storm. they could be impacting the new york city area coming up at 5:30 p.m. or a little after that. a lot of heavy rain is expected. flash flooding will be possible. you can see the line of storms stretching across portions of upstate new york, through northeastern parts of new jersey examine also parts of maryland. of course, we'll continue to

keep you updated. >> heather: don't be fooled when we talk about the straight line winds because those sometimes can be just as damaging as tornado. >> that's right. >> heather: thank you so much. >> gregg: president obama hitting the campaign trail today in florida. he is now in kissimmee. part of a two-day bus tour of the state. ed henry is live with more. hi, ed. >> the president wrapping up a rally here. interesting because you've got a mother lode of electoral votes. 29. look at the average of polls, the president and republican mitt romney separated by less than one point. just very small margin. that's why the president is hoping to get a bounce out of the democratic national convention. now they're on this bus tour. his campaign noting he got donations from 700,000

supporters during convention week. any bounce could be snapped by the fact that that weak jobs report on friday was a wake-up call about the fact that the economy is still struggling. the president conscious of that, tried to tell supporters here that he knows more work needs to be done. >> we made progress, but we know we haven't made enough. we've got more work to do. nobody is satisfied with the status quo. there are too many folks out there who still need a job. too many folks whose homes are still under water. we've got a lot of work to do. >> that work will include not just the president out here on the road, but former president bill clinton will be in florida, we've just learned, next tuesday and wednesday. he'll be in miami and orlando. you saw him stand up for president obama at the democratic national convention. now he's hitting the road, gregg. >> gregg: ed henry live in kissimmee, florida. quieted crowd, thanks very much.

>> heather: with the republican and democratic national conventions over and done with, analysts are noting the different approaches that we saw from each side. republicans rarely mentioned president obama by name. while democrats, they came out strong in their criticisms of governor mitt romney. so what can we take away from the conventions as the campaigns begin their final sprint toward the november election? let's bring in our panel, fox news contributor and syndicated columnist cal thomas and joe sestak. i want to ask you both about your overall perceptions of both conventions. let's begin with the dnc that just wrapped up in charlotte. cal, i'll begin with you. what's your take? >> i was at both conventions, heather, and i felt the democrats engaged in political cross dressing. they stole a lot of themes from the republicans, we've all heard them b. my mother, my

grandmother, scrimped and saved, sowed my clothes together. my father had to walk through snow and when he got there, there was no lunch and he had to shoot squirrels for lunch. the different between the democrat and republican stories is that the republican convention was promoting self-help, persistence, do it yourself and not rely on government. and the democrats were saying, my mother, grandmother, did all this, but it was a wicked and oppressive country and they did it in spite of that. i thought after the democratic national convention, i was watching something from venezuela. >> heather: congressman sestak? >> i thought both did well. in the republican convention, they made mitt romney appear, and he is, a human, charitable, religious man. i think that's what they need to doors identify this candidate better than he had been able to himself. on the other hand, i thought particularly by bill clinton, at the democratic convention, they laid out the case very well of

why there is a choice. that wonderful praise he used is, you know, president obama got handed over a big mess and because he didn't clean it up again, the team that handed it to him said give it back right now. i think that to cal's point, he's absolutely right. least halfway. this is a choice about the republicans very well saying we are a nation of individual freedom, we don't want our government to interfere with that. the president clinton with president obama laid out what is an historical fact. government can also enhance our individual freedoms. woman's rights to vote, or laying down roads in an infrastructure like the internet and rural communities that can enhance our opportunities. both are values of america's character is what i think this nation in the common sensecal way of those individual voters understand is america is about. protect us from government, but at the same time, use it as a tool, accountably to enhance our individual opportunity. >> heather: i want to talk specifically about undecided voters. i was just reading a gallup poll

that talks about the number of undecided voters actually down significantly. this poll found it was hovering between 6 to 8% this time. in 2008, the number of undecided was 11%. there is another "wall street journal" poll that puts the undecideds down further at 3%. which convention did a better job of swaying those undecided voters, cal? >> it's hard to say. frankly i think if you're undecided at this point, you probably shouldn't be allowed to vote. come o. we've been saturated with commercials, campaign commercials from both sides, the super pacs. inundated with all kinds of things. frankly, i have not seen the political wing of the democratic party, the left political wing of the party exert itself with such force. frankly since chicago in 1968 which, of course, was the ends of the middle of the vietnam war. i was astonished if the democrats want to reach out to the middle and to the undecided

voters, that convention looked like it was all about abortion, contraception, same sex marriage. is that really what concerns most of middle america? i think it's the economy and job s that's number one. that's why i think romney and the others had the advantage. >> heather: or maybe they seen the polls and determined there aren't a lot of people undecide sod were rallying their base. congressman sestak what, do you think? >> yeah. what i think is that the conventions did not understandably move the undecided voters. who are, as you just said a few minutes before we came on, it's about one percent dividing the two candidates. the undecideds aren't moved by a lot of the political advertisements. the short 30 minutes. they're waiting for the debates. those meant a lot. if you're undecided now or some of the polls show 20, 25% of those who say now they're for

each candidate, they are willing to switch their vote. there you'll have the debates where you're not stage managed. you're up there by yourself and they're waiting to see if they're get more specificity to these vague at times type of promises. that will be the determinant, on both domestic policy examine foreign policy, which is the last one that is going to be had. that's going to make a difference. >> you're absolutely right, joe. absolutely right. you saw what the debates did for mitt romney. they honed his skills. he was able to defeat a very, very good field, especially newt gingrich and rick santorum. i agree with joe, i think the debates are going to be the heavyweight version of the thriller in manila. a lot of people watching. >> heather: l. thank you both for joining us. thank you. gregg? >> gregg: go, frazier. more like down goes frazier. brand-new reports of two possible tornadoes near the nation's capitol. this after a rare twister hits a

neighborhood in new york city. we'll have more of that incredibly dramatic video. the latest on the damage coming up. >> heather: getting dark outside our studio here. and a christian pastor in iran facing death for his beliefs now a free man. the details on his courageious journey. that is up next. >> he appeared before the court three times and each time the judge advised him to repent or return to islam. however, he did not repent. he didn't want to repent. hi, i'm phil mickelson.

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>> heather: it is the bottom of the hour. time for the top of the news. brand-new report of two possible tornadoes near washington, d.c much of the east coast remains on high alert for severe weather. >> gregg: a twister already touching down in queens new york this morning. there is the videotape.

hurling debris in the air, knocking out power and upsetting residents. >> heather: president obama telling an audience in florida that republicans are, quote, dead wrong calling america a country in decline. gop presidential nominee mitt romney is holding a campaign rally in virginia. >> gregg: new developments out of iran to tell you about where family and friends are welcoming home a christian pastor who has been in prison for almost three long years. the 35-year-old man was awaiting execution for refusing to renounce his faith when suddenly he was set free by an iranian court today. leland vitter is live with more. >> he at one point were told was hours away from execution. he had been released now by the iranian justice system with the equivalent of what you might call in the united states, time served.

we'll break it down. in 2009, he was arrested for converting from islam to christianity in iran that is a capital crime. he spent a number of years in jail in 2010. he was convicted and sentenced to death. then sort of became a cause celeb. 3 million views on twitter with people passing messages back and forth asking for the iranians to abide by international treaties which allow for the freedom of religion and the united states congress even got involved in the situation. you now have to sort of look at this in a broader sense. as we know, iran does not have a western justice system, not known for their fair and impartial trials in that country. every september we see the iranian regime do something to show some type of goodwill to the international community ahead of the u.n. general assembly. that is when the iranian president is going to show threw in new york in a couple of weeks. he will face off with president obama and also israeli prime

minister, benjamin netanyahu over the iranian nuclear issue. last year we saw the iranian release those two american hikers that they have been holding, accused of spies. this year it appears they're releasing the pastor, who had become an international issue. on the other hand, it seems as though that is a very, very, very, very small step for the iranians to gain any kind of international goodwill when it comes to the negotiations on their nuclear program. gregg, back to you. >> gregg: they're very firm about the apostasy. the penalty is teth. this is a stunning term of events. one does wonder about the motivation. leland, thanks very much. >> heather: with just two months until the presidential election, a new government report suggests the department of defense is failing to provide voter assistance to military members and their families. that's a violation of federal law. molly henneberg is live for us

in washington with more on this story. hi, molly. >> heather, six republican senators are really upset about this and say the defense department's efforts to uphold the law are, quote, at best, a hollow exercise. the 2009 law requires that the pentagon set up a voter assistance office on every military base to help servicemen and women maneuver through the voter registration processes and/or to request an absentee ballot. republican senators cornyn, ayotte, imhoff, chambliss, by point to a new report by the pentagon's inspector general saying attempts to check on the offices, quote, failed about 50% of the time. and the senators say where there are voting assistance offices, quote, they located many of them in places that can be hard to find or else play no role in administrative in processing or outprocessing for deployment. for example, the base library or chapel. as such, most newly assigned military service members and also deploying service members

have no meaningful opportunity to receive the necessary voter assistance during these key transition periods. the pentagon is defending its efforts to help military families participate in the election process and say there is a reason why the offices may have appeared to be out of contact to the pentagon's inspector general. >> we have joint bases that grow. we have other kinds of things that happen so that in any military environment, whether the subject be voting or anything else, phone numbers change, e-mail addresses change. >> a spokesperson for defense secretary leon panetta tells the washington times that he will respond to the senators directly. heather? >> heather: molly henneberg live in washington. thank you. >> gregg: it took jurors just a couple of days to convict drew peterson of killing his third wife and now several of those jurors are speaking out about their decision. this as peterson's defense team says it plans to appeal the verdict. do they have a case on that?

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>> gregg: despite a lack of physical evidence, jurors were convinced that drew peterson indeed murdered his third wife, kathleen savio, and they convicted him this week. now several of the jurors are speaking out about why they did not believe the former illinois cop's claim that his wife's death was accidental. take a listen. >> the deliberations began, we first talked about what the doctors had to say and we pretty much all agreed that it was a

homicide. we did not think that the doctor -- >> there was too many bruises and too many parts of the body. >> the testimony from stacy, that was to us the biggest part. >> gregg: here to talk about the trial, judge jeanine pirro. based on those sound bites, it sounds like they zeroed in on exactly what you had been talking about, the incriminating statements that were made by drew peterson, though triple hearsay and dr. michael bodien, and other doctors. >> every time i hear that sound that you just played, my faith in the criminal justice system is restored. this was about common sense. this was about a jury saying i don't care how many experts you bring on this side or that side, when a woman has this many fresh bruises and she's squeezed down in a bathtub, she didn't fall. and tonight on my show, we're going to have some of the jurors. we'll have the d.a. himself, the defense and we're going to have the sisters of both the victim

in this case and stacy peterson, the fourth wife's sister as well. what you had was, i think the rise of common sense because after casey anthony, we all lost faith in the system, saying without physical evidence, you can't get a conviction. >> gregg: there is a reason why hearsay evidence is quite often excluded, because it's inherently unreliable and triple so when you have triple hearsay. here you got a guy saying to the jury what he heard from the fourth wife, but what she heard from the defendant. that's triple hearsay. that's triply unreliably. >> let me ask you this, does that mean that if i killed the fourth wife so she can't testify in the third wife's trial, and if i kill the third wife so i wouldn't have to pay her divorce money, that i should be able to get away with the murder on the grounds of hearsay? there is something called forfeiture by wrongdoing. you forfeit the right to claim

hearsay when you kill the witness in order to stop her from testifying. >> gregg: the defense still has a shot of getting this conviction thrown out by going up on appeal. there was a motion before the trial ever occurred in which they challenged this hearsay evidence. it wasn't all the way through the court system to the appellate court in illinois. >> what does that tell you, gregg? >> gregg: it tells me the supreme court in illinois could decide differently. >> what it tells us, as lawyers, the of two us, that the appellate courts have already ruled. the motion in limeine said this is allowable and the judge has limited what the appellate court said. >> gregg: it didn't go to the illinois supreme court, did it? >> it went to the appellate court. the bottom behind, the hearsay has been allowed from the common law. all right? and the theory of forfeiture by wrongdoing allows the prosecution to do it -- this case is whittled down over and over again. >> gregg: you know what else may be troubling to people, to

vigorous defense lawyers, i used to be one, the jurors admitted afterwards, yeah, we did have some knowledge that the fourth wife had vanished. >> so what? every on the planet knew that. i mean, look, gregg, here is the thing, when i was a judge, i would say to the jurors, look, even if you heard about this case, you promise me that you will make a decision based upon the evidence that you hear within the four walls of this courtroom? >> gregg: what if jurors said to themselves, he's got to be guilty 'cause the fourth wife is probable will he dead. that's not right. you ought to be -- >> what does that mean? if i tell enough lies that i can't get a fair jury and therefore, i could get away with it? crop on. >> gregg: speak of which, he could be charged now with stacy peterson, though there is no body. >> you'll have to tune in to my show tonight, i have the state's attorney who will be here here. we'll ask him that very question. we've got the defense. we'll ask them whether or not

they thought that the way they handled this case was appropriate. and we'll find out whether or not and the answer is very simple. without a body, you can't prove a murder. >> gregg: one of the things that the defense lawyers really struggled with was their client, he wouldn't shut up, forgive me for using that term. and yet he clammed up when it came time to take the witness stand. >> you know, one of the grounds that they now say, gregg that, will be the basis for an appeal in the ineffective assistance of counsel is that they didn't seek a mistrial at a particular time. i was in the front row when the defendant said that his lawyer, when drew stowed his lawyers, i do not want a mistrial. so i would suspect that these lawyers may have gotten something signed where they can't claim that. >> gregg: jeanine pirro, you got an action packed show tonight. >> i too, i do. >> gregg: 9:00 o'clock eastern time, right here on the fox news channel, "justice" with judge

jeanine, or some semblance thereof. thanks very much. heather? >> heather: coming up, new post-convention poll numbers are out. we will find out if either candidate is seeing a bounce from the big event. t about a mi from tests like this. ♪ and even more from real families who use them like this. we think there's another test to consider. it's based on one simple question. after living with your van, would you buy it again? more town & country owners do than the owners of any other minivan. it's called the test of ownership, and to us, it's the most important test there is.

>> gregg: the latest polling numbers following the republican and democratic national conventions show a horse race in the battle for the white house. take a look at this. the latest polling average from real clear politic, president obama leads governor romney by just over one point, 47.2 to 46%. >> heather: and look at rasmussen's daily tracking poll. president obama holding a two-point lead over governor romney. 46 to 44%. the difference there within the margin of error. and for more let's bring in scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports.com examine author of "the people's money." it is a tight race to say the least, scott. >> it sure is. what's really interesting is if you went back to the morning before the republican convention began, that first day, president obama led by two points. both teams had their convention. and the president still leads by two points. we don't know if things will

bounce around more. but essentially the only thing that's changed in the last two weeks is the democrats are now much more enthusiastic about the campaign than they were a couple of weeks ago. >> gregg: i want to talk to you about tax increases, tax deductions and stuff like that. you pulled the folks who think whether the taxes are going to go up as a result of this. what did you find? >> well, right now people are very skeptical. they assume sooner or later, middle class taxes are going to go up. they are even more confident that they'll go up if president obama is reelected than mitt romney. but on the question of whose taxes should go up, most voters think there should be more taxes on the rich, but if a candidate promises that, the numbers are dead even. there are just as many people now who say they would vote for a candidate who promised to oppose all tax hike as one who said he would raise taxes on the rich. i think this has more to do with skepticism about the politicians than anything else. >> gregg: well said.

>> heather: we had these job numbers that came out on friday. 8.1% unemployment. when it comes to consumer confidence, that's also a good indicator in terms of the economy where we're going. how do people feel about it? >> right now in terms of the their own personal finances, just under half of all americans say things are still getting worse. only 21% say they're getting better. one of the reasons for that? more than a quarter of all people who were fortunate enough to have a job are worried about losing it. there is a lot of insecurity in the work force. there is a perception that the national economy is struggling. i think you have to have a little context here. the numbers are weaker today than they were in january. but they're better than they were a year ago or two years ago. >> gregg: all right. what about whether folks think their income is going to go up, stay the same, go down? what did you find? >> right now lurities say looking out over the next year, the pay will stay just about the same. if you want a silver lining,

it's that the people who say hair income is likely to go down fell from 13% down to 8%, which is the lowest we have ever recorded on this particular question. i think that kind of sums up the mood that we're seeing overall. people are saying, yeah, maybe it's not going to get a whole lot worse, but we're not excited that things are getting better just yet either. >> heather: with the dnc wrapping up, we heard a lot about foreign policy, a lot of folks slamming governor romney saying that he lacked experience in that area, romney camp saying they are weak when it comes to afghantan specifically, what do people think should be done there? >> half think it's time to bring all the troops home right now. and the reason is because people no longer sense it as a vital national security interest of the u.s. only 31% think we can win. heather, if this was a different year, those attacks would be very significant. eight years ago when bush ran for reelection, more than 40% of

voters said national security issues were most important. today, only 5% say those national security issues matter most. it's all about the economy. >> gregg: scott ross mawsen, thank you very much, miasmousen reports, always good. as we wrap up, i was curious about why not so much of a convention bounce for either of the candidates. 1976, jimmy cart her a 16-point bounce. reagan in '80, 13-point bounce. mondale, 12-point bounce. dukakis, 18-point bounce. of course, we know what happened to him. >> heather: i was going to say. we know what happened to him. >> gregg: that's going to do it for us. are i can rick, arthel nevillek taking over top of the hour we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working

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