the evening now in many of these places moving west to east. if there were friday afternoon prayers, a lot of times after the prayers we see this in the streets. you have to think about american personnel inside these embassies and their own safety and well-being. our best for them to get through this. martha: thanks for being with us today everybody. we'll see you back here on monday. "happening now" gets started right now. jenna: constantly developing situation overseas as we continue to watch what is happening in tunisia. a few things we want to point out to you. despite the black smoke on your screen there, we don't know from the source of it. we understand from the associated press it is coming from in or around the embassy there we do have reports as well of protesters throwing stones. police being at battle as it is described with people on streets there but two important things to note today. tunisia is the place where some suggest the arab spring began when a street vendor

lit himself on fire on the street in protest of the government. so that's one of the reasons why we're watching tunisia, to see again where is this arab spring headed? the other thing is the timing. it is 4:00 p.m. now in tunisia. 4:00 p.m. is around the time where afternoon prayers begin. we expect to see in the next hour or several hours after the expectation violence will get worse not better. you can see the live feed switching to local news. a lot of things happening in the entire mid-east. something we're watching closely on fox news. jon: the violent protests seem to be spreading across the muslim world at this hour. take a look at egypt. riot police clashing with hundreds of demonstrators in tahrir square after the friday prayers there, just blocks away from the u.s. embassy in cairo as the egyptian president appeals for calm on state television. in lebanon reports of at least one person killed as angry crowds burn american

flags there, chanting anti-u.s. slogans and burning american businesses. in the northern lebanese city of tripoli as pope benedict xvi arrives for a three day visit there. in yemen a u.s. marine fast platoon is on the ground to bolster embassy security as yemen any forces fire warning shots and water cannons to keep protesters at bay. visiting the u.s. consulate in benghazi today expressing his sympathy for the killing of ambassador chris stevens there and three other americans earlier this week. we will try to keep a handle on this fast-breaking story as events in the middle east seem to be deteriorating but first right now brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: on that, the situation in the middle east shifting the focus on the campaign trail to foreign policy. governor romney trying to

get back to talking about the economy. we're live in the key battleground states he is visiting today. also a guard held hostage at knifepoint for hours at a maximum security prison. you won't believe just how some other inmates helped to free him. and apple known for its smash hit products but this might be a little ridiculous. amazing video of scenes ransacking an apple store that you got to see to believe. it is all happen -- "happening now." jenna: a lot of news and a lot of news sources today. we appreciate the time you're spending with us. happy friday to you, everybody. i'm jenna lee. jon: i hope this turns out better than it is starting. i'm jon scott a new round of violent protests raising fears of more potential attacks on u.s. targets overseas. one of the most explosive

demonstrations today in egypt's capital, cairo. riot police there firing tear gas on hundreds of protesters blocks away from the american embassy. this comes at anti-american demonstrations intensify across the muslim world from north africa to the middle east to pakistan and indonesia. many of the clashes breaking out after worshippers left friday prayers. the u.s. already ordering a diplomatic and dramatic security increase at its missions overseas. james rosen, live from the state department. james. >> reporter: jon, and jenna, good afternoon. there are several different balls floating around here we have to keep our eyes on across north africa and the middle east. let's start with tunisia and tunis. i believe we have live footage of tunisian television as they're covering events. protesters scaled the wall at the u.s. embassy in tunisia apparently corded to wire reports. started setting fire to trees and started breaking

windows inside the compound. authorities, local police on the ground in tunisia fired back, first with tear gas. now reports say that five protesters, five people, any way are wounded due to gunfire outside the embassy or somewhere in the vicinity of our embassy in tunisia. also gunshots have been reported at or near our embassy in sudan. now all of this comes as officials here in washington had been breathing a cautious sigh of relief the violence though feared could break out particularly in egypt and yemen was not materializing. officials here and at the u.s. national security council at the white house i should say are continuing to monitor the situation outside the u.s. embassy in cairo. aids to secretary of state clinton things in cairo and capital of sanaa are better today than yesterday despite the conclusions that the conclusion of friday prayers might usher in a new wave of violence in the muslim capitals. u.s. officials have seen positive steps from the

newly-elected egyptian president, mohammed morsi, the leader from the muslim brotherhood faction. foaling a reportedly blunt phone call from president obama to morsi calling for bold action to protect u.s. personnel on the ground. this included televised appearances by him for muslims to protect the guests in their country and a statement released by the muslim brotherhood which they urged muslims to form a human chain around any embassy that might come under attack in their respective countries. my colleagues at pentagon, justin and jennifer griffin confirmed a marine f.a.s.t. team is on the ground in the yemeni capital sanaa as a precautionary measure. once again a loud plume of smoke is reported to be emanating from fires inside our embassy in tunisia and gunshots have been reported both there and as there near the u.s. embassy in sudan.

busy day for officials in the state department and around the world. jon. jon: looks like a bad situation. we'll keep an eye on it. james rosen at the state department. jenna: let's show you a little bit what james has mentioned. we'll show you a few key areas today. that is what yemen looks like. that is where according to our reports a marine unit is being sent to deal with the aftermath of an attack on our embassy there. that is the fresh images we have out of yemen today. this is cairo. in egypt clashes between police and protesters continue for a fourth day. again we're carefully watching the next hour, several hours now, after afternoon prayer. cement barriers have been built to keep people away from the embassy. that has been working, sort of. we've seen some cross that barrier. in sudan, troubling new video showing protesters storming what we believe our embassy there, smashing windows and throwing rocks and setting fires. take a look at that crowd. there is a lot to get to today. greg palkot is live in

london and yemen and other places. greg? >> reporter: it is a remarkable day, jenna. it is supposed to be a muslim holy day of prayer. there is knowing holy or sacred about the violence all of you are recounting. let's try to give you a little bit more context. let's go to tunisia first where you have been reporting and jon and james has been reporting smoke being seen coming from the u.s. embassy complex. protesters in the thousands gathering outside of that embassy, going over the walls. there was at least five people injured. we are told, tunisia, right next to libya, where of course we saw the four american diplomats including the u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens killed in the brutal attack earlier this week. over in sudan as you noted we're seeing same thing. reports of protesters scaling the walls at the u.s. embassy. thousands of protesters outside. certainly extremist elements in the country we tangled with in the past. protesters going out on the street taking out against u.s. and other western

symbols. the german embassy in sudan also hit because of alleged slights against the muslim faith reported from germany. in tripoli now, tripoli, northern lebanon, that is, another symbol of u.s. power, capitalism, whatever you want to call it, two fast-food restaurants, kentucky fried chicken and arby's were set on fire. one attacker killed and 25 people injured. pope is visiting lebanon this weekend, very important. as you've been the noing another day of protests in cairo, police clashing with protesters, this day kept away from the embassy. a wall being set up at one end of the street, away from the u.s. embassy. president morsi once again going out on tv. as you noted too, yemen as well, my own contacts in the country saying that the security stiffened, helped by the u.s. marines, but another battle, all of this set off by the made in us

anti-muslim movie. also off maybe by a lot of other sentments out there. a remarkable day, jenna. we haven't seen a day like this in a long time. back to you. jenna: well putt, greg. thank you very much. greg mentioned what happened in cairo. we want to put in a little perspective to this. the images are stunning but let's dig into the numbers as well. cairo is the egypt's capital. that is city of more than 10 million people. that is several times larger than manhattan for example. our embassy is not far from tahrir square. but unlike last year, number of protesters outside our embassy are estimated in the hundreds, thousands compared with tens of thousands that filled tahrir square at the height of the egyptian revolution last year. to put in perspective, in iran back inch 1979 tens of thousands marched in the street as that country underwent over its

revolution but only hundreds rioters. hear is the perspective. a few thousands of protesters in city like 10 million like cairo is not a lot. but the past shows us takes very few people to cause an international incident which is why we have this perspective today and our attention cast towards the middle east. however we do have breaking news inside the united states as well, jon. jon: that's right, jenna. this fox news alert comes to you from the university of texas at austin, the official website of that school posted a few minutes ago saying that evacuation orders have been issued for all buildings on the ut campus due to a threat that came in at about 8:35. all buildings are to be evacuated. people are being told to get as far away as possible. we understand from the director of communications that at about 8:35 a.m., about an hour and a half ago, a little more than that, a male with a middle east

accent, claiming to have placed bombs all over campus called in to the university. he said he was with al qaeda. that the bombs would go off in 90 minutes. out of abundance of caution the president of the university decided that all buildings on the university campus should be evacuated. this is going on at the university of texas at austin. all buildings on campus evacuated. we'll keep you updated. jenna: well our very own campaign carl cameron is on governor romney's trail. he will join us from the battleground state of ohio where the republican presidential nominee will rally his supporters later on this afternoon. so we're watching everything politics today. also a sad milestone in the disappearance of these two young girls, elizabeth collins and lyric cook. the latest on the search for the missing cousins and what police are now asking the public for just ahead. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement

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jenna: a fox news alert taking you to austin, texas, where we're watching an evacuation at the university of texas because of an official threat made to that campus there. here's what we know from the director of communications. that just over 90 minutes ago they received a call from a man they described as having a middle eastern accent that claim he placed or someone placed bombs all over the campus. the campus is right in the middle of austin. it is a fairly big campus. tens of thousands of students go to the university of texas. the man claimed he was with al qaeda and these bombs would go off 90 minutes from the time he made the call. we're past that point but obviously officials at the school are not taking this threat lightly. the campus is evacuated and all of the students and faculty and people in the area quite frankly are being

told to stay far away from the campus. so we'll continue to watch the situation out of austin, texas. meantime we want to take you across the world in fact. we'll take you to lebanon that we're seeing other live pictures coming in of the pope who is in lebanon. do we have the pictures or we have the video? here he is are he doing masses at the st. paul basilica in lebanon. he is starting a three-day tour at precarious time in the middle east. we're keeping an eye on pope benedict saying mass today. this is now live pictures we have in lebanon. keeping a look on a whole different variety of topics on "happening now" and turning to a little politics, jon. jon: that's right. to the race for white house. brand new polls just out show president obama with a five to 7-point lead over governor mitt romney in three key battleground states. the polls taken in days immediately following the democratic national convention. in florida president obama

leads governor romney by five points, 49-44%. according to the new nbc news, "wall street journal", marist poll of likely voters. in ohio the president leads by 7 points. in virginia the president leads by five points, 49-44%. with us national reporter for "real clear politics" ear run mcpike some would attribute this the postconvention bounce to the president is. that what it is? >> it absolutely is. we're seeing that in some state polls. these are single polls in each of these states. what i'm looking at is the "real clear politics" polling average of some of the states and showing a much tighter race in states like virginia and iowa where the president just leads by a whisker, under a point in each of those states. the most important one you mentioned there is ohio. and that's the state where president obama has been growing his lead. he now leads mitt romney by more than 4 points.

and i think that is what will be most important here to see how mitt romney handles that. we should see him pick up the campaign schedule in ohio i would imagine and spend more money on ad traffic there. jon: well you hear joe biden say that general motors is alive bus of barack obama. is that, is that a point that is selling well in ohio? >> that certainly is. and one thing i would point out too is i covered mitt romney in fairfax, virginia, yesterday and he added back to his stump speech some pretty tough talk on china. and that also resonates in ohio. i think we'll be seeing him change his messaging a little bit and taylor it specifically to ohio as he did yesterday for that same reason. jon: we also heard governor romney talk about the fact what he proposed pour the auto industry was an organized bankruptcy which essentially what happened to general motors. >> that's right, but you're seeing the obama campaign use that against him and do it very effectively.

we're seeing that the media in ohio, the editorials seem to favor the president on this point. so he is going to have to taylor his message a little bit more specifically to that state in order to cut the president's lead there. jon: the astounding thing how few voters in this race are undecided, with the economy where it is, there aren't many people out there who are ready to have their minds changed?. >> earth that. it's about 5 to 6% of the electorate right now. what strategists i told me and pollsters analyzing this race say, those 5 to 6% are unlikely to break for president obama because they know him so well and understand where he stands. it is mitt romney who has a better chance of getting those voters to his side at the very end which is why he is more, doing a persuasion campaign right now where as you see the president and the first lady and the vice president in more of a mobilization mode, just telling people to get out to vote whereas mitt romney is

trying to convince them to come to his side right now. jon: well, these debates could be critical. they start in denver october 5th. we'll be watching. i'm sure you will be too, erin mcpike, real clear politics. >> thank you. jenna: bk out to tunisia to the capital of tuniswer watching a developing situation. the black smoke on the screen was being described as around the embassy. what we're learning now some protesters were able to get over the wall. maybe we shouldn't use word protesters because maybe we should use rioters at this point because that is what is happening in tunisia. they're setting cars on fire in the embassy. that is one of the reasons we're seeing black smoke. we're seeing reports a single report at this time, some rioters set fire to an american school there in tunis. that potentially also could be where the smoke is coming from. a slightly confusing situation as we're watching this live scene develop. scenes throughout the day in

tunisia and quite frankly throughout the day in a few key cities including cairo and in cairo, egypt and yemen as well and sudan that the riots are getting worse. we'll continue to watch the developing situation in tunisia. be right back with more breaking news on "happening now"

jon: a fox news alert. we told you that a little less than two hours ago the university of texas at austin received some kind of a bomb threat and as a result the university has decided to evacuate its buildings from the official website posted just a couple minutes ago. evacuations due to threats on campus, immediately evacuate all buildings and get as far as away as possible. more information to come. we have more information for you now from rhonda weldon. she is the director of, i'm

sorry the director of communications from the office of the vice president there. is the evacuation still underway, rhonda? >> yes, it is. jon: because it was our understanding that this caller with a middle eastern accent claimed to be from al qaeda and said they had placed bombs all over campus that were due to go off in 90 minutes. do i have that right? >> i do, that's correct. jon: but this came in at about 8:35 your time. so the 90 minute window has passed right? >> that's correct. but law enforcement is investigating the situation and we won't be reoccupying the buildings until they feel that we're going to be safe. jon: obviously it could be a hoax. it sounds like a hoax but you can't be too careful these days. >> that's correct. a lot of things are taken into consideration before you empty buildings with 50 to 75,000 people. jon: yeah. so all of those buildings have been cleared of their

occupants? >> all of the buildings have been emptied and we have asked people to get away from the buildings, as far away as possible at this time. jon: any idea how long it will be before your students and faculty can go back to work or go back to school? >> no, sir. i, i know that law enforcement, local and federal, are investigating this situation in keeping our leadership aprized. i'm sure that once they feel comfortable, we'll be reoccupying the buildings. jon: was there anything else going on campus? is there anything else that would lead you to believe that this might be a credible threat? >> i don't have that information, sir. i just know that you t met with the leadership and this was the decision made. jon: we hope it goes well for you. the window has passed. the caller apparently claimed that the bombs would go off at university of

texas at about 10:00 texas time. about 11:00 eastern time. so that window as i said has passed. nothing has happened. that is the good news. for now those tens of thousands of students who attend the university of texas at austin are still out of class. rhonda weldon the communications director there. we thank you for the phone call. jenna: as we continue to watch the situation in texas there is also a new flashpoint in the growing wave of anti-american violence overseas. the protests right now taking a deadly turn in one country. we're going to bring you a live report just ahead. plus the turmoil overseas increasingly becoming the focus of the presidential campaign. republican nominee mitt romney looking to shift the debate with a new round of political attacks on the president. that's just ahead. i'm only in my 60's...

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jenna: fox news alert and welcome back. the situation across the middle east really spreading and developing minute by minute here. we're watching several key areas from tunisia to egypt to yemen to sudan now. lebanon as well. it's been quite a 72 hours quite frankly in the world we live in today. we're joined by former u.s. ambassador to the united nations ambassador john bolton. if you could, a big picture to all this? >> i think what we're seeing really the true nature of

the so-called arab spring. although we hoped it would have a democratic outcome it was really fueled more by rereligious fanaticism, anti-western feelings against authoritarian regimes but not to replace them with a democracy. as with the arab spring 18 months ago and demonstrations seemed to spread all across the region we're seeing it again now. we don't know how it will play out but i must say it has the appearance of 1979 when not only did we have hostages taken in tehran, our ambassador in afghanistan was killed, our embassy in pakistan was burned other embassies were attacked. jenna: what were you doing in 1979? >> i was getting ready for ronald reagan's campaign then and practicing law. it is eerie how many similarities there are. jenna: i ask because wonders how we change the outcome. obviously an ambassador killed in afghanistan. we have already ambassador killed in libya. we have to be careful about

comparisons to hostages taken in embassies. how do we learn from the past here and apply what could be modern foreign policy, whatever you like to call it to the situation as it stands? >> i think much of what is going on is simply indigenous to the countries involved and woe shouldn't overestimate our ability to affect them. i think we misunderstood the nature of turmoil we've seen in the region in the past 18 months. it is not motivated by a desire to make egypt into switzerland. that is not what motivates these people. i think part of it is --. jenna: what does motivate them? >> i think it is religious fanaticism. that idealogical urge, not related to economic conditions. it is, it is religious, a feeling we don't understand in the secular united states so well. jenna: that is broader question. does religious fanaticism, if that is what it is need to be met with something equally asfa gnat tick if you will to tamper it or temper it to make sure it doesn't explode? >> certainly nothing of the same ilk but what i think

the united states needs to protect its interests and protect its friends in the arab world and israel and friendly arab countries is a position of strength. what they see across the region is american weakness. an inability over a sustained period of time to stop irrapian support for terrorism. to stop iran's nuclear weapons programs. the projected withdrawal from afghanistan. the inability to stand up for our interests. jenna: ambassador, we're seeing marines and f.a.s.t. teams going into certain areas. ships are off the coast of libya. there is seems to be a response coming. it is not clear at this time. can we make up for lost ground if that is the set as press dent in the past?. >> we're in a hole. it is hard to get out quickly. these deployments are reflections of failure. they are reflections we need the assets available for possible nonpermissive evacuation of american diplomatic and american personnel. that's what they're there

for. jenna: you think that is where it is going? >> i think it is close to that i don't think you can leave american personnel in embassies so poorly protected by their host countries when we've seen four americans brutally assassinated in libya. let me say it is not just the official americans who are at risk. we have tens of thousands of private citizens there doing business, tourism, family work. they're all at risk too and they're not protected by diplomatic security. jenna: i believe the number in egypt at this time according to our latest research, 90,000 americans currently in egypt -- >> beyond the official personnel. jenna: ambassador, thank you very much. fast-moving events. we appreciate it. ambassador just mentioned iran. our next guest is the part of a report that was weighing cost benefits of a military attack on iran. and jim walsh is with us, international security expert at mit's security studies program. jim, thanks for rolling with us. because the topic is slightly changed. we see fast developments

across the middle east and i would like to get your perspective what this means for iran? we're not talking about iran over the last week. so what do you think all, what is the impact? >> well, i think it does raise one of the issues in the report. now the report is nonpartisan. we have democrats and republicans, former national security advisors and we don't make recommendations. what we try to do is lay out costs and benefits and readers can judge for themselves. but one of the considerations on the cost side if you take a military strike in the context of the arab spring, of rising uncertainty in the region, what are the unintended consequences, you know, if we're getting this now, what would you get if you took a military strike against iran? so it does echo that go ahead. jenna: jim, is the opposite also entertained? that a strong force used against iran could stop some of the unrest? that the show of force would be intimidating to other countries in the region? >> i know the ambassador just suggested that but i thought it sort of

contradicted what he was saying earlier. these are driven by local conditions. it is not, problems in egypt, problems in yemen, violence in tunisia has nothing to do with iran. we could settle up iran tomorrow peacefully or by use of force and we would still have the problems that we do. why? it's not because it is a rehim just issue. yes there are fanatics in each of these countries. it is really a political problem. we have had change in the middle east. we have not reached the report point though where they have consolidated. there are governments that don't have control over their own territory. example, libya. that violence has been going on all through the summer. no one reported on it. then finally when an american was killed it became more of a focus but this is a political, not a religious problem. we have had countries that have had civil wars and yet don't have a consolidated government to insure peace and security on their own territory. jenna: the opposite can also be entertained, and i bring up that point, some more of the disorganized governments

are watching our behavior with more established regimes and they're watching how we're acting with a country like iran and may or may not change their behavior because of that. why do you not think that is true? >> i think when you're in the middle of a struggle to win your own power in a government, you're not looking at other countries. you're looking to win that struggle with your own people. assad doesn't care what is happening in iran. assad in syria wants to kill his own citizens so i can hold onto his own power. in egypt, they're in competition with elected government. they don't care on iran. they're struggling with each other. when you're in the middle of fight you focus on the fight in front of you, not what is happening around you. jenna: very interesting perspective. jim, thank you very much. >> thank you, jenna. jenna: jon? jon: fox news alert, jenna, and republican vice-presidential candidate paul ryan is in washington, d.c. speaking at the values

voters summit. he will address some of the issues that have been embroiling the middle east. let's listen in for just a moment. >> are evil and violence overcome? that is how we keep problems abroad from becoming cries seas -- cries crises. that is how you keep the peace. that is what you will have in a romney-ryan administration. [applause] in the all-important election of 2012, values voters are also economic voters. this election will hold the incumbent accountable for his economic failures and affirm the pro-growth agenda of mitt romney. it is true, that president obama, he had a lot of problems not of his own making but he also came in with one party rule, and the chance to do everything of his own choosing. the obama economic agenda

failed not because it was stopped but because it was passed. [applause] that's a key distinction. and here's what we got. prolonged joblessness across the country. 23 million americans struggling to find work. family income in decline. 15% of americans living in poverty. the record is so uniformly bad that maybe you have noticed something. president obama himself almost never even uses the word record. that is except when he is trying to trade on the record of bill clinton. in his convention speech the president never said that simple word, record. he didn't say the other word,

stimulus, either. because wasted $831 billion of borrowed money. at a time of mass unemployment, he didn't even say unemployment. because we're in the slowest recovery since the great depression. and by the way, he didn't even use the word recovery either. never mind that recovery was what all america expected from barack obama. you see, he wants us to forget all of these things and lately, he has been trying out a new tactic. it is a classic barack obama straw man. if anyone dares point out the facts of his record, why then they're just being negative and pessimistic about the country. the new straw man is people hoping for the decline of america. you know, it is pretty sad but this is the closest president obama can come these days to sounding positive himself. what we have to face up to all that has gone wrong these past four years so

that the next four years can be better. ladies and gentlemen, we can afford to make economic failure a two-term proposition!. [applause] you know lately the president has been also trying out sports comparisons. he compares his fourth year of his term to the fourth quarter of a basketball game. you can expect more of this. because if there's one thing that the man can do it is talk a good game. [laughter] only problem is the clock is running out and he still hasn't put any points on the board. [applause] his whole case these days is basically asking us to forget what he promised four years ago and focus instead on his new promises.

that is fast move to get around accountability. he made those ringing promises to get elected. without them he wouldn't be president and now, he asks as if it is unfair to measure his performance against his own words. but here's the question. if barack obama's promises weren't good then, what good are they now? if we renew the contract we're going to get the same deal. [applause] if we renew the contract, we'll get the same deal with only one difference. in a second term he will never answer to you again. in so many ways, in so many ways starting with obamacare. reelecting this president would set in motion things that can never be called back. it would be a choice to give up so many other choices when all the mandates of government-run health care come down, the last thing

the regulators will want to hear is your opinion. when the obama tax increases start coming, nobody in washington will ask whether you can afford them or not. when all of the new borrowing brings our national debt to $20 trillion, and then 25 trillion, nobody is going to ask you about the debt crisis or even help you prepare for it. but we, the people, need to think ahead. even if our current president will not, in order to avoid the crisis while there is still time. everyone knows that president obama inherited a bad economy and four months from now, when mitt romney is sworn in as president he will inherit a bad economy but here's the difference. when a romney-ryan administration takes office we will also take responsibility. [cheers and applause]

instead of dividing up the wealth, our new president will get america creating wealth again. [applause] we're going to revive free enterprise in this country to get our economy growing faster and to get our people back to work. [applause] on the path that this president has set, by the time my kids are my age, the federal government will be far bigger and more powerful even than it is today. at that point this land of free men and women will have become something it was never intended to be. we're expected to meekly submit to this fate but i've got a different idea and i'm betting that most americans share it. i want my children to make their own choices to define happiness for themselves and

to use the gifts that god gave them and live their lives in freedom! [applause] that's the american idea. [applause] you know, you say things like this and our opponents will quickly accuse of you quote being, anti-government. president obama frames the debate this way because here again it's the only kind of debate he can win, against straw man arguments. no politician is more skilled at striking heroic poses against -- >> usa. usa. usa. usa.

usa. >> let me say it again. [applause] >> and we all know. this no politician is more skilled at striking heroic poses against imaginary adversaris. nobody is better at rebuking nonexistent opinions. barack obama does this all the time. and in this campaign we are going to call him on it. [applause] the president is given to lectures on all that we owe to government as if anyone who opposes his reckless

expansion of federal power is guilty of ingratitude and rank individualism. he treats private enterprise as little more than a revenue source for government. he views government as the redistributor and allocator of opportunity. well, the results are in for that too. here we are, four years of economic stewardship under these self-proclaimed advocates of the poor and what do they have to show for it? more people in poverty, and less upper mobility wherever you look. after four years of dividing people up, with the bogus rhetoric of class warfare, just about every segment of society is worse off. to see how all this played out in any country would be bad enough. to see it becoming the daily experience of life in the united states, is utterly contrary to everything we're entitled to expect. mitt romney knows that this

country and all the millions who are waiting for their working lives to begin again were made for better things. to borrow the words of another mentor of mine, jack kemp, i had to do that for dr. bennett. [applause] mist and i understand that no government in history has been able to do for people what they have been able to do for themselves when they were free to follow their hopes and their dreams. [applause] under the current president we are at risk of becoming a poor country because he looks to government as the great benefactor in every life. our opponents even have a new motto. they say, quote, government is the only thing that we all belong to.

i don't know about you, but i have never thought of government as something that i belong to. as a matter of fact, on the seven occasions i've been sworn in as a member of congress, i have never taken an oath to the government. the oath that all of us take is to support and defend the constitution of the united states under which government is limited and the people are sovereign! [cheers and applause] that's what we do. that's who we are. [applause] . in the experience of real life the most important

things we belong to, they have a very different hold on us. i'm a catholic. not because anyone has ordered me to accept a creed but because of the grace and truth revealed in my faith and that's how we all feel about the faiths we hold. in the same way we americans give ourselves to every kind of good cause. we do this for the simple reason, that our hearts and conscience have called us to work that needs doing. to fill a place that sometimes no one else can fill. it is like that with our families and communities too. the whole life of this nation is carried forward every day by the endless unselfish things people do for one another without giving it much thought. in books they call this civil society. in my own experience, i know it as janesville, wisconsin. [applause]

janesville is a place like 10,000 others where a lot of good happens without government commanding it directing it it or claiming credit for it. that is how life is supposed to work in a free country. [applause] and nothing undermines the essential an honorable work of government more than the abuse of government power. and in the president's telling government is a big benevolent presence gently guidings our steps in every turn. in reality, when government enters the picture, private institutions are so often brushed aside with suspicion or even contempt. this is what happened to the catholic church and catholic charity this is past january, when the new mandates of obamacare started coming. never mind your own conscience they were

basically told. and from now on, you're going to do things the government's way. ladies and gentlemen, you would be hard-pressed to find another group in america that does more to serve the health of women and their babies than the catholic church and catholic charities. [applause] and now, suddenly, we have obamacare bureaucrats presuming to dictate how they're going to do it. as governor romney has said, this mandate is not a threat or insult to one religious group. it is a threat and insult to every religious group. he and i are honored to stand with you, people of faith and concerned citizens in defense of our religious liberty. and i can assure you, when

mitt romney is elected, we will get to work on day one to repeal that mandate and all of obamacare. [applause] finally, when he tries to make big government sound reasonable and inclusive the president likes to say, we're all in this together and here too he has another handy straw man. anyone who questions the wisdom of his policies must be lacking in compassion. who else would question him but those mean people who think that everybody has to go it alone and fend for themselves. we're all in this together. it has a nice ring, for everyone who loves this country, it is not only true

but obvious. yet how hollow it sound coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born. [applause] giving up any further pretense of moderation on this issue, and in con pleem disregard for millions of pro-life democrats, president obama has chosen to pander to the most extreme elements of his party. in the clinton years the stated goal was to make abortion safe, legal and rare.

but that was a different time and a different president. now apparently the obama-biden ticket stands for an absolute unqualified right to abortion at any time under any circumstance, and even at taxpayer expense. [booing] when you get past all of the president's straw men, what we believe is plain to state, these vital questions should be decided not by the caprice of unelected judges but by the conscience of the people and their elected representatives. in this country we believe in showing compassion for child and mother alike. we don't write anyone off in

america, especially those without a voice. every child has a place and purpose in this world. everyone counts. and in a just society, the law should stand on the side of life. [applause] so much of our history has been a constant striving to live up to the ideals of our founding, about rights and their ultimate source. and our opponents convention a rowdy dispute broke out over the mere mention of that source. i mean for most of us, it was settled long ago, that our rights come from nature and nature's god, not from government. [applause] very clear. that's the american idea

idea a disregard for rights, a growing government and a static economy, a country where everything is free but us. this is where it is all tending. this is where we're being taken by the present administration. this is the road we are on. but, my friends, from road has an exit just ahead, and it is marked tuesday, november 6, 2012. [cheers and applause] we can be confident in the rightness of our cause and also in the integrity and readiness of the man who leads it. he is a solid and trustworthy, faithful and honorable man. not only a defender of marriage,

he offers an example of marriage at its best. not only a fine businessman, he's a fine man. worthy of leading our country and ready to lead the great turn around that we have spent four years waiting for. you know, i'm not the only one who's told mitt that maybe he needs to talk more about himself in his life. it wouldn't hurt in voters knew more about those little things that reveal a man's heart and character. this is a guy who at the height of a successful business turned the entire company into a search and rescue operation the moment he heard that a colleague's young daughter was missing. he's a man who could have easily contented himself with giving donations to needy causes, but everyone who knows him well will tell you that mitt has always given himself. he's one of those guys who doesn't just exhort and oversee

good works, but shows up the does the work. mitt romney is the type we've all return into in our own communities, the man who's there right away went there's need but never first in line when praise and credit are being handed out. he's a modest man with a charitable heart, a doer and a promise keeper. he's the kind of person every community could use more of. and he'll be the kind of president who brings out the best in our country. [applause] when he asked me to join the ticket, i told governor romney, let's get this done. [cheers and applause] that's been my message ever since, and now i'm asking all of you the same. we know what we are up against. we know how desperate our opponents are to cling to power,

but we are ready. and i hope you are too. because i know that we can do this. whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country, let's put these divisive years behind us, let's give this effort everything we have, let's get this done and elect mitt romney the next president of the united united s of america! [cheers and applause] thank you, everybody, and god bless you. [applause] thank you very much. thank you. jon: paul ryan, the republican vice presidential candidate, speaking at the values voters summit in washington d.c. he began by addressing some of the security situations that have caused such concern in the middle east right now. we're going to take you now to the white house. jay carney, the presidential spokesman there, meeting the press as he does most every day in the west wing. he says that the president will be leaving the white house in a couple of hours to head to joint

base andrews where he and secretary of state hillary clinton will meet the plane that is bringing in from germany the bodies of ambassador chris stevens, also diplomatic worker sean smith, a former state employee and glenn doherty and tyrone woods, the two former navy seals who had been contracted to work security for the state department. all four of their bodies coming into joint base andrews in a couple of hours. the president and the secretary of state will be there to greet them. there had been one report in one british newspaper suggesting that there was known to the state department some intelligence that these attacks were in the works. jay carney shot that done, said there was absolutely no actionable intelligence that could have been acted on to prevent the attacks on our embassy. if you'd like to hear what's going on at the white house right now, we have the entire remarks from jay carney, the presidential spokesman,

streaming live for you on foxnews.com. jenna: well, now we take you to another fox alert. we began last hour telling you about an evacuation at the university of texas in austin. now we have another university that is also under an evacuation because of, apparently, a bomb threat. by the way, if you're trying to get on the web site of north dakota state in fargo, north dakota, we found the web site very slow, but it does have this urgent security alert when you get to that home page. you click on that, it gives you some more information as far as evacuations. but this seems to follow a very similar timeline to what we saw at the university of texas. apparently, the university, the north dakota state university issued a statement around 9:40 central time asking all employees and students to leave the campus because of a bomb threat. now, the university of texas we got a little more detail. apparently, someone called the campus and said that there were bombs all over the campus, the

university of texas described it as somebody with a million dollar l eastern -- middle eastern accent talking about al-qaeda. we do not have those details of this threat in north dakota, but the timing is, obviously, suspect. we have two big universities under evacuation because of a bomb threat. as we learn more, we will bring that to you. jon: and more on that massive evacuation at the university of texas at austin now. students there ordered to leaf campus -- leave campus buildings just about an hour and a half ago. a school official saying anonymous call was received. harris faulkner is following it live from our newsroom. >> reporter: well, the latest right now is massive gridlock leaving off that 50,000-student campus at university of texas. we are still led to believe that the things are still being evacuated, buildings there are still being evacuated. that call came in, as you said, a couple of hours ago, jon. i know last hour you spoke with

the director of communications from the campus, and the update now is they are still telling students, warning them to stay as far away as possible as they work to clear the buildings. they will not be letting people back on to that campus until that is done, but the lines leading off the campus are very thick right now. we're told orderly, calm, but that's a lot of people to move in a short period of time. not sure how exactly full the campus was, but capacity would be several thousand, tens of thousands of students. we'll continue to follow this and let everybody know what's happening there at the university of texas in austin. back to you. jon: all right. harris faulkner, let us know if they get the all clear. thanks, harris. and this fox news alert, u.s. embassies under siege across the muslim world, and violent anti-american riots exploding just days after those four americans were murdered in libya, thrusting foreign policy to the forefront of the u.s. presidential election. hello, i'm jon scott, welcome to the second hour of "happening now." jenna: and i'm jenna lee.

we just saw vice presidential candidate paul ryan touch on foreign policy before turning to the economy. certainly a lot to coffer today. we want to head to the middle east now. we have some brand new video of the widespread riots. in tunisia, reports of rioters setting fire to an american school there, also burning cars within the parking lot of the u.s. embassy. police in lebanon opening fire killing at least one and injuring dozens others in lebanon, and new reports the u.s. embassy in sudan has been breached. we're going to go to cairo first. leland vittert is streaming live from the capital of egypt. leland, what's the latest? >> reporter: jenna, still tonight as the sun sets here in cairo, thousands of demonstrators in the streets, many trying to breakthrough the barricades towards the u.s. embassy. you can see the embassy complex right here behind us and then pan down to where you see this huge concrete barricade that has

been built by the protesters, and we've had this pitched battle with rocks back and forth with tear gas. right now the tear gas is thick enough that it's pushed the protesters out of the away. our photographer is going to pan to the left where you see tahrir square and the muslim brotherhood gathering there for sundown prayers. among that crowd we have seen a lot of banners including large posters of osama bin laden four feet high. some of the video from today shows the clashes that have happened with these protests. this is a very tough crowd, a very angry crowd that is walking into tear gas and hails of rubber bullets. so far the egyptian military police have been able to hold the line and keep the protesters from reaching the u.s. embassy which happened on tuesday. we have not heard reports of them being able to get there so far. i want our photographer to pan up just a little bit, you're going to see a big red poster here. that is the poster of blind cleric, the cleric who was

behind the world trade center bombings in the beginning of the 1990s, now in jail in the united states, and that's one of these people's big demands, they want blind cleric released, and they also want the u.s. ambassador here in egypt to leave. at least local media reports say that the u.s. ambassador has defied those wishes, she just landed a couple of hours ago according to local media here. jenna, though, it is a very fluid situation and, clearly, a situation which could get out of control quickly here in egypt as these people are very angry chanting we sacrifice, and i quote: we sacrifice our soul, our blood for you, the prophet, that being a reference to that movie made which they believe is disrespectful to the prophet muhammad. jenna? jenna: so a few things, leland. first of all, the new president of egypt who's part of the muslim brotherhood called for the blind sheikh to be released from prison during one of his first addresses there as president. you've spent so much time in this country, you've seen the entire revolution play out

between the time where mubarak was still in power until now. just from your reporting on the ground, what differences do you see between the crowds you maybe saw 18 months, six months ago versus the ones that you see on the streets today? >> reporter: the biggest difference is just what they are doing here, jenna. eighteen months ago you walked down, you said i'm an american, they said we love america, we love freedom, welcome to our country, we want democracy, help us kick hosni mubarak out. now you go down into the crowd, we aren't going down. now the crowd is chanting "death to america." "we hate america." and they're attacking the u.s. embassy. it is a totally, totally different crowd. some of our other journalist colleagues, not americans but who appear to be western, say they have been harassed down in this crowd in very, very bad shape as people are throwing rocks at just about anybody they can, jenna. it's a very different crowd, clearly a lot more anger out here than you had, and that

anger directed now at the united states. jenna? jenna: some very important perspective for us, leland, thank you so much. now 6 p.m. in cairo, egypt. just a few minutes from now we're going to talk to an expert on the middle east who has seen and experienced islamist groups from the inside. his critical insight into what's fueling some of the outrage we're seeing and how we can better deal with this anti-american, anti-western ideology and what we need to do about it. jon? jon: we are finally getting some new details on what appears to be a well-coordinated and deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in libya which took the lives of four americans including this man, ambassador chris stevens. national security correspondent jennifer griffin just received the latest briefing from the pentagon, she joins us live from there. jennifer? >> reporter: hi, jon. it's a sad statement that the most peaceful place in the middle east today is afghanistan. the pentagon says the protests over the anti-islamic youtube video are peaceful.

now we've just learned that in addition to two destroyers, u.s. navy destroyers off the coast of libya, the pentagon is sending a marine platoon to yemen to help secure the embassy there. meantime, we are getting new details about the attack on the consulate from libyan officials. it was a sophisticated attack that took place over a period of hours in two locations, the consulate and a secret safehouse several miles away according to these libyan officials. the attackers arrived in armored vehicles and may have been tipped by spies in the libyan security forces. they used a few protesters outside the consulate as cover. the attack in libya should be viewed as separate from the protests elsewhere. cia chief david petraeus just finished briefing the house intelligence committee about the attack in libya can and the protests in the middle east. democratic congressman dutch roomers burger who was at that briefing had this to say about the libya attack. >> at this point it looks as if it was a spontaneous situation that occurred and that as a

result of that, that the extreme groups that were probably connected to al-qaeda took advantage of that situation, and then the attacks started. and also the fact that when the attacks started, it was dark. so there would be a coffer of darkness for anyone who was attempting to attack the united states facility. >> reporter: no one is willing to call the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya a terror attack at this time. back to you. jon: we'll see if that changes. jennifer, thank you. jenna: a busy friday. we're following multiple breaking news stories right now. you have the protests turning violent at embassies in tunisia, yemen and sudan, evacuations at two u.s. universities, texas and north dakota, and news from the white house that the president will head to greet the bodies of those killed, those murdered in libya this week. a lot to keep track of. more breaking news and developing stories right after this quick break. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack.

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jenna: some new video just into our newsroom. take a look at this. this bus plunged off a bridge in los angeles. apparently, on the 110 freeway. and no one was onboard, and there's no reports of injuries, so you ask then, how did the bus drive itself off the bridge, right? well, apparently, according to a local news report the driver on the bus with no one else on the bus realized that here she had broken through a boundary and that their brakes weren't working, so they were able to jump off the bus before the bus goes plunging over this bridge and ends up looking like that. we've got to talk to that bus driver, jon. if there's somebody that we need

to talk to today, it's someone that was able to jump off that bus before it went off that bridge. jon: yeah. that's an expensive accident. jenna: luckily, no one was hurt and no injuries. so more out of los angeles as we get it. jon: back inside america's election headquarters, and right now president obama is coming off a trip to colorado, one of the most competitive swing states in the 2012 campaign. the president reaching out to middle class voters in jefferson county, a suburban area on the west side of denver. republican challengers mitt romney and paul ryan both holding recent events in the same area. republicans say the key to success in colorado could be winning back jefferson county. it was once considered a republican stronghold. the latest polls show president obama pulling ahead in colorado, he is up by nearly four points in the real clear politics polling average. he leads 49-45.3%.

let's take a look at some of the facts from colorado. the economy there, well, unemployment just even with the national average, 8.3%, the u.s. 8.3%. these are july figures, i should point out. the unemployment rate actually dropped a little bit, but that was large hi because of -- largely because of people leaving the work force or leaving the active search for work. the number of foreclosures in august in colorado, 1 in 617 units, that's slightly better than the national average of 1 in 681. gas prices in colorado, a little bit better than the national average as well, $3.69, nationwide it's about $3.87. in terms of the history of presidential candidate visits, you can see both are taking this state very seriously with its six electoral votes. seven visits for the president, four visits or for mitt romney. let's talk about it with allison sherry, a washington correspondent for the denver

post. allison, a lot of people nationwide in our latest fox news poll, 80% say they think we are still in a recession. what's the mood in colorado? >> i think colorado mirrors the national average. as you can see, the unemployment rate is the same, um, and people are still feeling, you know, i think it's going to come down to the suburbs and women, and i think people are going to have to make a decision, you know, on election day on whether they feel better, you know, now than they did four years act, and they're going to have to think about the future, and they're going to have to say, you know, who do i trust with the next four years because it's been a hard four years we just came out of. jon: when you and your editors put pen to paper and think about the issues that matter to colorado voters, what are you writing about? >> we're writing, i mean, we're writing about the economy, we're writing about, um, i mean, i actually think that some, that the campaign, the obama campaign has tried to target women in that state, and in august they

were sort of going after some women's issues and trying to paint mitt romney as, you know, extreme on abortion and birth control and those sorts of things. i've seen them step away from that a little bit, and there had been a post-convention bump in colorado. you noted that there's three or four points ahead, the president's three or four points ahead at this moment. you know, romney's campaign said yesterday that they seem very desperate, they're coming to colorado so much, and, you know, i don't think anyone really knows how it's going to the go. jon: a lot of voters yet to be persuaded, it seems. >> right. jon: we'll see what happens come election day, november 6th. allison, thanks very much. >> thank you. jenna: breaking news on bomb threats forcing thousands of students and faculty off campus in two states. continuing coverage and the latest developments ahead. [ owner ] i need to expand to meet the needs of my growing business. but how am i going to fund it?

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. jon: foreign policy is shooting to the forefront of this presidential race as anti-american riots break out in the middle east and the greater muslim world. both campaigns are sparing as to how it should be handled. a couple of political pros with us now. bob beckel is a cohose of the five and a democratic campaign manager. ed rollins has managed many republican campaigns. let's talk about it. in a situation like this. americans like to flock to the flag. are they flocking to our president? >> you don't quickly react to something like this. like he did and get himself in

the kind of trouble he did. it's not just democrats, it's republicans jumping on. taking on a foreig a president in a foreign crisis is not good in the short run. i think romney's instincts weren't very good. >> you're talking about the news conference when he came out on the night of september 11th and criticized the tweets and statements from the cairo embassy that sort of apologized nor something. >> i would not disagree with anything he just said. i think at the end of the day you do rally around a president in a time of national crisis. you can go three or four days after that and dispute and debate the middle east policy of this administration, but you don't do it at the time of the moment and a time of great tragedy. romney needs to give one figure foreign policy speech and do well in the debate on foreign policy. jon: didn't the state department back up his position when they

refuted the statements coming out of the cairo embassy? >> i don't think anybody cares at this point in time. the story of the week is four americans were murdered including one of our ambassadors. what went on first and after doesn't matter. that is the crisis. equally important as you look around the world the american public does not want to see american flags burnt and do not want to see our embassies crashed, and us older guys who remember 79 this reminds us so much of that activity and that wasn't a good time for activity. jon: i remember 79 and it wasn't very good for the president in the office at the time, jimmy carter. >> i was in the office at that time. people did rally to carter for a short time. as time wore on and assed very well no, sir. it about got to the point where people said, what are you going to do. that raised the incompetent issue and he was stuck with that

for the rest of the time. you still have enormous advantages being president of the united states in a foreign policy debate. i don't care what the situation is. romney made that statement before the news was clarified that the ambassador and others were killed. he was really talking about the cairo embassy at that point. you just -- on that particular point, on any foreign policy you have to wait. it may be tough to wait but you've got to wait. jon: governor romney seems to try to make the point, you know, well he's been slammed by the president, the president says look, this guy doesn't have foreign policy experience, neither did then senator barack obama when he was running for president. but people i guess forget that and romney can't dial back the clock four years to make that point. >> you can't. you're not starting to ground zero. the president is an incumbent president. he will be responsible for the middle east policy, he does get pretty good marks on that front and romney can't make that up.

what americans care most about in this election in spite of the sort term little crisis going on here, and i don't dismiss the importance of it in anyway, shape or form, they want to talk about the economy, who is going to get jobs, who is going to get americans back to work. that is the strength card for romney. the more time he spends here trying to be the foreign policy president the weaker he appears. >> if you go back to the fall of 2008 there wasn't a foreign policy crisis. mccain continue really use his foreign policy experience. and obama sort of slid in on that one. that is something that now romney is faced with this and he's going to have to be substantive about it and he's not being very substantive. jon: both of you are saying in this case in this awful week in which this ambassador was killed, president obama comes out on top. >> i think he won the week, the polls are starting to go bad for romney he has to have a good week next week. >> i continue agree more. jon: jenna. jenna: a short time ago, jon the

vice presidental candidate paul ryan wrapped up the speech before the voter summit in washington. his message and how it was received. we'll take a closer look at that. he had an inside view as an activist being able to see some islamic groups from the inside and now has a critical eye from the outside looking in. what is going on inside the mind of an anti-american riot tere in the street of cairo? how do we deal and handle our relationships in the middle east? we'll bring you a very unique perspective next. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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>> reporter: i'm harris faulkner as the breaking news desk with a couple of stories we've been following for the past couple of hours. we want to bring you up to speed. we are expect being the university of texas at austin to hear from officials there. in 30 minutes they planned a news conference. here is why. a massive evacuation on that campus today, ordered more than two hours ago after a phoned-in bomb threat came in and it was pretty specific from a man who claimed to have placed bombs all over the campus, some 50,000 students go to school there. he said he was with al-qaida and the bombs would go off in 90 minutes. that time deadline has passed. the evacuation order still stands. the gridlock has issued as they have taken tens of thousands of people off that campus today in reaction to this. taking it very seriously. we hope to hear from them in less than 30 minutes.

the other situation is playing out at the north dakota state university in fargo, north dakota, another hugely evacuate waeugs. hugelyee wack sraeugs. 14,00 hugely evacuation. police have blocked off all streets to and from the university as they get the students and faculty off the campus. the bomb threat not as specific, we don't know the details. they are taking this seriously. we'll keep you apprised of both the situations. back to jon and jen a. jenna: out breaks of violent riots across the arab world today that we're keeping a close eye on directed as american targets. we'll drill down into what is happening in cairo now. there is an intense scene right near the u.s. embassy that follows an eruption there in the past days. rioters scaled the embassy walls, burned the american flag. egypt is a critical part of our strategy in the mideast, a

longtime ally and sip kwrepbt of billions of dollars of taxpayer money. egypt today is under a new government run by a muslim brotherhood president and our relationship not just in the last 72 hours, hour relationship with the country of egypt is being tested. joining us next,ed hussein, a senior fellow for middle eastern studies, he's also the author of the book, the islamist, why i became an islamist fundamentalist, why i became one and why i left. tell us about your journey. >> i think it was a journey that was ordinary to thousands of young muslims around the world. i was born and raised in europe, many of my con temporaries were born in the middle east and went many of us went through i islamism as a form of political affiliation, a grievance and mindset of confronting the west

and create a different world. as you grow up you sober and you realize that the mindset of confrontation and agitation isn't necessarily the most constructive way forward. after about five years to be precise i left and i joined what you might senior a mainstream political party. jenna: was there a tipping point, one particular incident that happened that made you turn back and pivot if you will? >> there was a murder on my own college campus because of the mindset of being against the west, and a nonmuslim student was killed. i think more specifically i had more interaction with people who were nonmuslims, discussions with people who were secular liberals, many of them conservatives and that starts to open your mind a lot more, and the main point is, you know, i had an education and i'd grown up and you see through the fallacies and the flaws and the hypocrisy within those organizations, an important point for me personally was i realized the more involved you get in these activist political

organizations in the name of religion initially in the name of islam, soon you realize how distant they are from islam the pious faith. you saw this disconnect between my parents' form of sufi mainstream islam to the activist islam we are seeing in cairo of anger, burning flags of attacking the west. i made a choice of the form of islam i wanted, the old islam of my parents or the new confrontational form of islam. jenna: we are going to fast forward now. you're a scholar you visit middle eastern countries. every six waebgs you travel overseas to find out what is happening, meet with a variety of high-ranking officials. let's go to egypt now and what we are seeing. who is really running the government and what should every american know about the new leadership of egypt? >> that's an excellent question. and it's worth remembering that thus far in the last sort of 65 days or so much could have gone

wrong in egypt and they haven't. the peace with israel more less holds. the terrorists in sinai are in check, you know, booze and bikini is readily available in egypt, trade with the west is in place. the major concerns that somehow sharia law is going to be implemented overnight hasn't happened. that is good news and it's worth remembering. last week we had 1 ao 0 businessmen fro100 businessmen from the u.s. drumming up trade relations. what happened is an organization inside egypt exploited this movie that came out earlier this week. order people in egypt did not get average taeulte agitated by watching something on youtube. but activists said if you're a real muslim come and protest. it's calling out the core of your faith. and for -- you asked about the

leadership inside egypt, the government, their challenge it's the muslim brotherhood president as you correctly identify. he's dependent on the votes from that religious right wing and he can't be seen to be isolating them by being too close to america. he's walking a very tightrope. jenna: you mentioned a few key points there, including what it means to be a true muslim. is a true muslim in egypt right now anti-american, anti-western according to the government and the muslim brotherhood that is in control? >> true muslims, i mean i meet them in mosques and university campuses, and we interact as fellow believers. i ask your viewers to travel to egypt and see starbucks, mcdonald's, hollywood movies, baseball caps, american-english accents. jenna: they are eye dole hraoeuzing. >> real love for america, then there is in other hate, a love-hate relationship. jenna: there its obviously an

ideology that is anti-american and does exist. how do we confront that effectively? >> you're absolutely right. that is the dark side to the love relationship there is this hate tkreud for america. you need to puncture the narrative that america is at war with islam, several points that al-qaida uses to hit out against the west, but central to all of this is the united states government is at war with islam and muslims and therefore muslims ought to resip ra indicate and that is a lie. jenna: can the government solve that or does another voice somewhere within our culture need to come up and confront that? >> the strongest ambassadors against this voice are the millions of american muslims who live in this country who die for this country abroad fighting in iraq and afghanistan, they prove by their daily law abiding existence here that there is no contradiction between a full muslim and a full american, and when they are brought forward to be, you know, civil society

ambassadors essentially for the unite etd states. some of this is beginning to happen to be fair, i think you'll see more muslims in the middle east beginning to realize that the america that they think is reality is actually al-qaida's propaganda. jenna: much like you did. >> precisely, yes. jenna: thank you so much. we've covered a lot of ground there, certainly a lot of breaking news. and look forward to having you back on the program. >> thank you, jenna. jenna: we have to turn to more breaking news now. jon: that's right, jenna, this fox news alert dramatic pictures today out of tunisia among other arrob countries in tun tunis the american embassy coming under attack. smoke rising on the horizon from the direction of the embassy. this is new video just into the fox newsroom. you can see military vehicles there. we have reports of protestors attempting to scale the walls and throwing rocks. a senior u.s. official is telling our pentagon producer, quote, tunisia security forces

have responded effectively thus far to the incident at the american embassy in tunis. we are continuing to keep a close eye on the events there. for the moment the tw t, nisians are doing precisely what they should do because of this event. this is a school set aeu fire near tha fire near the american embassy. events are changing by the minute. we will continue to keep you apprised of what is going on as best we can in that part of the world.

jon: we brought you coverage of this live about an hour ago. paul ryan the vice presidental candidate rallying the republican base at the values voters summit. facing though at least two hecklers who repeatedly interrupted his speech. the crowd doing their best to show support. congressman ryan just wrapped up his remarks, all of this coming at a crucial point in the presidential campaign.

molly henneberg is live in washington with more. >> jon, those hecklers were part of a group that want corporate money out of politics. a group of conservatives, mostly religious politically active voters here today, they are at a lunch break now. they gather once a year to hear from poll teugts politicians and others. vice presidental candidate paul ryan wrapped up his speech. he started off by talking about the unrest in the world and had this to say about president obama's foreign policy. >> mobs storming american embassies and consulates, iran four years closer to gaining a nuclear weapon, israel, our best ally in the region treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the obama administration amid all these threats and dangers, what we do not see is steady, consistent american leadership.

>> reporter: prior to congressman ryan telephone speakers including tea party favorite senator jim demint from south carolina, paul rand from kentucky and michelle bachmann from minnesota. house majority leader eric cantor from virginia fired up the crowd when he criticized president obama's healthcare overhaul and its controversial mandate that organizations including catholic church and catholic groups have to provide to insure contraception. >> many of our fellow americans are now being forced to take our government to court to sue them, to sue our government in order to practice our faith. now this is not what america is about, and this is why we must repeal obamacare. >> reporter: congressman ryan is off to a rally in virginia, but there -- there has been a response from the obama campaign to his remarks here today. they say, congressman ryan had, quote, over-the-top, dishonest attacks in his speech today.

jon. jon: but no specifics apparently. they didn't point to anything this that release that they called dishonest. >> reporter: they were just responding to the speech in general. jon: okay. thanks very much. molly henneberg in washington. jenna: school administrators taking no chances today following bomb threats in austin, texas, and par fargo, north dakota. thousands of students forced off campus. we are awaiting a live news conference at the type of the hour, you will get that live. we are learning at the university of texas there was just the news released that students will be able to get back on campus noon central time, noon local time in austin, 1pm eastern time. classes, however, remain canceled for the rest of the day. we'll bring you more news as we get it. multi-policy discount. paperless discount. paid-in-full discount.

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jon: president obama and his administration are facing criticism over several gaffes this week on foreign policy. the mainstream media seem to be going off governor romney for speaking too soon his thoughts on what is going on in the middle east. let's examine it now with our news watch panel. judith miller is a pulitzer prize prize winning investigative reporter. kristen powers is a columnist for the daily beast. both of fox news contributors. this bleeds into the political segment that i was doing earlier withed rollins and bob beckel. people say that politics should be separated from what is going on in the middle east, but obviously the occupant of the oval office has a huge role to play in how we respond to all of this. and that is where these two things go together. what did you think about the criticism mitt romney took in the press for making that statement releasing a statement on the night of september 11th? >> the night of september 11th, or the killing

of the embassy. you know, the problem with mitt romney is the timing of his statements, and especially with respect to the ambassador, the fact that the facts did not support what he was saying. the facts changed. once we learned, jon, about the death of the ambassador the message should have changed, it didn't, and he's had the same problem consistently. jon: so you think as some reporters suggested that he spoke too soon? >> yes, he spoke without knowing all of the facts, that is always dangerous, but especially in foreign policy in a foreign policy crisis, which is evolving so quickly. jon: kirsten? >> i don't -- he should have waited because he was going to get criticized for it. i don't think he caused any harm but he should have known the media would attack him for it. i don't agree with the changing facts. for that time this had been going on for quite some time, the white house was completely

silent but for the statements coming out of the embassy, which were the official government statements. jon: which the state department then retracted. >> the state department could have done this much earlier and they didn't say a word. you didn't hear anything until mitt romney spoke, and mitt romney was going on information that they allowed to be the only information coming from the u.s. government for hour after hour after hour, and interestingly, suddenly as soon as mitt romney put something out, boom, in my email i have an email from the obama campaign who is outraged over mitt romney. they still have said nothing about the actual attack, nothing coming from the campaign, or the president about the attack but they are sending out emails at midnight about how outraged they are over a press statement. jon: what about the president's statement that we don't consider egypt to be an ally? how was that covered in comparison with how it would be covered if mitt romney had said it? >> i think the press did jump on a that and say, wait a minute we

demand a clarification, is israel -- is egypt, or is egypt not an ally, and they forced the president, first of all, to have a very technical definition of what constituted an ally, which was preposterous on its face. secondly after it became clear that the president was trying to send a message, a message to president morsi that the status of egypt and its relationship with america would depend on how he handled this and what he said i think the press backed off a little. but the administration never made the context clear. >> nor did they tell the state department. jon: it's been a messy week. >> it's been a messy week. >> thank you both. you can join me and our panelists for fox news watch this weekend, saturday afternoon, 2:30 eastern time, a special expanded edition this week. we'll be right back. e got marri. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three.

it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule.

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