>> juliet: michael steele, fending offer calls for resignation from members of his own party, a firestorm erupting after he was captured on camera, at a fund-raiser saying the u.s. was on the wrong side of history in the conflict with afghanistan. and the head of the republican national committee also saying the war was president obama's choosing, molly henneberg reporting live from our washington bureau, they are calling for him, huh? >> reporter: michael steele sent out an e-mail to some republican supporters and in part because he says it is important to, quote, clarify his remarks, about afghanistan. but, bill kristol, a conservative, and the editor of the weekly standard, has said steele should resign. and, now, liz cheney, daughter of the former vice president, and chairman of "keep america safe" said the chairman of the republican party must be unwavering in his support for american victory in the war on terror. a victory that cannot be accomplished if we do not prevail in afghanistan. it is time for chairman steele to step down. this follows steele's comments at a private connecticut fund-raiser that we're captured on camera and he said the war in afghanistan was, quote, a war of obama's choosing. and, that everyone who tried to win a land war in afghanistan, over the past 1,000 years, has, quote, failed. now, in the statement and in that e-mail to supporters, steele says, quote, as we have learned throughout history, winning a war in afghanistan is a difficult task. we must also remember that after the tragedy of september 11th, 2001 it is also a necessary one. the stakes are too high for us to assess anything but success in afghanistan. but some say to quiet his critics steele may need to do more and say it more visibly. take a listen: >> he's going to have to take the public stage and tick his lickin' there and say, basically, that he misspoke, it was not a war of our choosing, it was a war of the al qaeda and taliban's choosing when they came to our shores, when al qaeda came to our shores on 9/11 and launching attacks from bases inside afghanistan. >> reporter: an r.n.c. spokesperson says steele believes the president owes the american people an explanation, of, quote, his strategy for winning the war in afghanistan. juliett. >> juliet: molly henneberg live in washington, thank you, molly. >> rick: it is note chairman's first run in with continues various as he draws fierce criticism and calls for his resignation, will the latest gaffe cost him his job, our political panel, cal thomas, a syndicated columnist and penny lee, a democratic strategist and welcome to you both and we should mention we reached out to chairman steele and his spoke man, doug hye and they have been frequent guests on the fwosnetw and declined to be interviewed and cal, let me start with you, there are republicans and democrats who have their share of gaffes and this is more than that, it seems to me. this is not somebody saying something embarrassing or putting his foot in his mouth, it is someone who it seems does not have a grasp of recent american history. you know, it seems like michael steele would lose on the show "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" >> you are right, rick, about gaffes not being unusual, they happen all the time and of course, the gaffes alone were a -- if gaffes alone were a reason for resigning, joe biden would not be vice president now, it's not about that and not about being on the wrong side of the war. and not even about the expenses in los angeles and -- a few months ago, r.n.c. staffers went out and caroused and drank a lot and billed the r.n.c. this is about contributions, and the fact is, any political party will tell you a leader of the party cannot bring in the contributions from the big donors, is a problem. and, this is the major thing that the republican national committee men and women are going to have to look at. if michael steele cannot continue to bring in the big bucks he might have to be replaced, for that reason and maybe no other. >> rick: penny, democrats must feel like the gifts keep on coming. joe barton, boehner, leader john boehner and now, michael steele. and i'm guessing that if you had your way, michael steele would say stay just where he is. >> absolutely, as a democrat, the democrat i absolutely works she's as you said the gift that keeps on giving and his fundamental mistake, which continues to be, with yous he has failed at the number one thing that you should not do in campaign politics and that is, make the story about yourself. he has done it, joe barton did and others with their gaffes as they continue to make the argument about themselves, instead of what the party stands for and what the party believes in. so, i applaud those republicans that have said, enough, enough is enough. the straw has been probien brok cal says it will directly correlate to the donations, but as a democrat i will say, that, keep him there and keep him going, we like what we see. >> rick: it must be tough for you personally, cal, you were an early supporter of michael steele. you came out early on and i wonder, you know, here we are, republicans are potentially on the brink of making major strides in the midterm elections, coming up, in november. i just wonder why they would want to keep michael steele around. >> a good question. i guess you have to ask them, rick, but you are right. i was an early supporter of michael steele not only because he represented a different face for the party, party that is still seen as mostly white, doing better about younger african-americans, and some hispanics, but, also, because he has a great personal story of overcoming and had a difficult struggle, flunking out of college, johns hopkins, his mother encouraged him to go back, a wonderful personal story, a story of america about overcoming, not just singing we shall overcome but he's not the only african-american in the party, one of those who ran against him, ken blackwell, intelligent and articulate and smart and as joe biden would say, clean candidate, he's still out there and wants the job and i think he might be a good candidate for it. >> rick: is this affirmative action, cal, you are talking about replacing an african-american with another african-american. >> i think it is a good message, i don't think it is affirmative action when you really need to put a different face on you party, and when you -- the cameras pan the floor, the past republican national conventions and i have been to a lot of them and they are mostly white people and that's not the future of america. there are hispanics and african-americans and asian people, all kinds of people... >> let me ask penny about this. >> show a different face. >> rick: since he raised the point of race, are there republicans who may be reluctant to give chairman steele a hard time and come down on him because he's block at a time when the party might want to have a person of color as their chairman? >> the republican party does have a problem with their base, they have been seen as getting older and whiter. and, sometimes that helps you in the midterm election as the electorate is smaller but they have a perception problem going forward and whether or not they can expand upon the base they have and what you saw in 2008 was a lot of white voters in the south, with a predominant base and it wasn't enough to win a presidential election and they need to find ways to expand and i think republicans are right to call into question his leadership because it's not about race. it is about the continuing dpei gaffes he continues to make and whether it translates into gaffes or his personal philosophy. >> rick: john fund from the "wall street journal" was on this network, just i think about two hours ago, exactly, predicting the story would go away and that in a couple of days, no one would remember what michael steele said. at a fund-raising event in connecticut. >> we won't! >> rick: a couple of nights ago. >> wishful thinking, i think and john is a friend, but... >> it is july 4th weekend. >> rick: and people will have their barbecues but i think the story will continue on, into next week, and, i'm just wondering, because, you know, rush limbaugh has not had a chance to weigh in on it yet, he has not been on the radio, at least not to my knowledge, since it became public, what happens if rush gets on the air, on tuesday? or when he's back in the chair and says michael steele has to go? they had their back and forth, before, what do you think? >> right, they did an limbaugh took him on and michael had to apologize to rush limbaugh and there were editorials in the "washington post" and other columns, saying, what is this, apologizing to a talk show host. but, it is a pattern and a pattern -- look, everybody is entitled to one or two gaffes, i've had them and i'm sure penny had them. >> rick: i've had them, too. >> of course, that is why you have teleprompters. and... if it becomes a pattern and as penny says and he becomes the story rather than the ideas and issues and objectives of the republican party, no person is worth keeping on for any reason, who becomes a distraction. >> rick: if rush limbaugh goes on the air this coming week and calls for him to go away i imagine it plays into the democratic play book. there has been a lot of talk about rush limbaugh saying he's the head of the republican party and that would give them an opportunity to do that, wouldn't it. >> once again we'll see who is the true spokesperson of the republican party and whether it is rush limbaugh or it is those that have been elected. i think it will be a very telling sign and will also vooek speak volumes to what the message is going to be, in 2010, who really does lead the republican party. i think it will be fascinating to watch. >> rick: penny lee and cal thomas on a holiday weekend, thank you both for coming in. >> happy holidays. >> rick: enjoy the 4th. >> you, too. >> juliet: vice president biden making a surprise taririp to ir and the vice president will spend the fourth of july with the troops and he's also expected to meet with iraqi leaders in the hopes of resolving a political impasse, that has crippled the nation's government for months. david piper is streaming live from baghdad. david? >> reporter: hi, juliett, yes, the visit by vice president biden does of course as you say help him celebrate fourth of july with the troops. but as you it seems try to help sort out the differences between the leaders here in iraq, and bide en has not been here since march's inconclusive election and politicians have not been able to work out their differences and as they squabble the militants are trying to fill the vacuum launching daily attacks on the iraqi secure forces and the political uncertainty could continue into august and all but 50,000 u.s. troops are set to leave by the end of the month. now the vice president who is being accompanied by his wife, jill, has been the point man on iraq for the obama administration, having visited here several times and he's already had meetings with u.s. ambassador to iraq, chris hill, and the top american military commander in iraq, general ray odierno. and the vice president is also scheduled to meet a barrage of major political leaders here, to try to sort out their differences, and get a new government. for this country. back to you, juliett. >> juliet: david piper in baghdad, thank you. >> rick: from the persian gulf to the gulf of mexico. and the latest now on the disaster there, day 75, oil skimmers are heading back to the region, and now that hurricane alex has come and gone the world's largest oil skimmer is tested in the gulf, owners of the tanker claim it can scoop up to as much as 21 million gallons of oil-tainted water a day. can it actually work? phil keating is live from grand isle, louisiana, phil, how is a whale, the name of the ship, performing? >> reporter: we'll know most likely the earliest on monday. and, it is out there, six miles away from where the deep water horizon blew up and sank, beginning april 20th and 6 miles off of that, of course is a whole lot of oil in those waters and it is being tested, 350 foot long tanker ship, retrofitted, specifically to become the largest skimming vessel in the world, ten stories tall and basically is aptly named and would operate like a whale. it would crews around the sea, the gulf of mexico with all of the slots around the bow it would work like a whale's mouth and take in water, sea water and then within the ship, the sea water would be separated from the oil, the oil would be contained on board, and, the cleansed sea water would then be spit back into the gulf of mexico. will it actually work? it never has been tested before, the taiwanese owned ship, a lot of people here, around the gulf of mexico hope it will work, because its owners say it can actually filter out an skim 400,000 to 500,000 barrels of oil a day, and that is 21 million gallons, keep in mind, about 60,000 barrels on the top end a day, by the government's estimate is flowing into the gulf and if it can actually work, and work at that volume, well it could really do a great job at skimming a lot of the gulf of mexico fast. >> rick: let's talk about business on grand isle. it looks like a beautiful spot but looks empty. with the exception of you and your crew. i'm wondering, here we are, fourth of july holiday weekend, what is going on there? do you see anybody? >> it is really sad. well they've actually gone now since i turned my back on the back side of the shot, three people were out on the beach, that was the third group we saw all day long, and look at the sweeping shot of the beach, a gorgeous beach, gorgeous gulf of mexico, and today he's been a gorgeous day, as you can see by the dark skies coming in, and, starting to get afternoon showers but because the water is off limits because of the health hazard because tar balls and tar mats have been washing on shore for weeks, and actually the orange fence line which prevents tourists or anybody from the public from actually going towards the tiger dam, which is on the high water mark, to keep anything from coming up beyond it and, these beaches up here and we have only seen cleanup crews here today and three groups of tourists, some people come down here and these are called camps, these houses on stilts, and most belong to families who have their real houses and residences elsewhere, but they come down here to the lovely barrier island of grand isle and can hang out on the beach and do it every fourth of july, 3 or 4 families in each house, a big party weekend, and peel on the beach would be right now, having beers, having barbecue, and shooting off fireworks and instead it looks like the dead of winter on a cold, rainy day. nobody at all. >> rick: phil for your sake -- >> families, kids out here having a good time, people out fishing on the beach. and, now, it is nothing. absolutely nothing. depressing. >> reporter: a park ranger down here at the end of the barrier island, grand isle state park which is typically 100% occupied on fourth of july weekend and this year, 50%. >> rick: wow, phil keating, i hope you find a barbecue, my friend, live from grand isle, louisiana, phil, thanks so much. >> juliet: wildlife officials are scrambling to relocate tens of thousands of sea turtle eggs from the gulf of mexico, and eggs like these you are about to see are vulnerable to the oil washing up on the shore like many other things and the u.s. fish and wildlife service is working to move them to safety, beach crews uncovered a nest of the eggs on alabama's fort morgan peninsula earlier this week and they were gently placed in toy a bucket for transport to a special warehouse at the kennedy space center and once they hatch workers will release them one by one into the atlantic ocean. >> rick: the pentagon is issuing new rules of engagement with the media. the milary now cracking down on who talks to reporters, when, and why. the secretary of defense robert gates sending out a memo with a reminder of the rules and a new order of clearance before interviews are granted, secretary gates saying it's not connected to general stanley mcchrystal's interview with "rolling stone" magazine, an interview of course that cost the general his job. malani wilkes reporting from washington. >> reporter: the pentagon is tightening up on how the military interacts with the media. defense secretary gates issued the order late friday, in a memo to top military and civilian brass, he writes: i am concerned that the department has grown lax in how we in cage with the media, we have -- engage with the media, too many are talking to the meade. >> outside of channels, providing information which is incorrect and out of proper context or unauthorized, the directive requires all interview requests from the national or international media be cleared through an assistant defense secretary for public affairs, a defense official tells fox this is not a response to a controversial rolling stone article. he says the new order was in the works before that, but admits the article will likely reinforce gates' decision to send out the memo now. no question, the magazine story shook up the military, general stanley mcchrystal stunned his superiors with criticism of civilian leaders an ended up resigning as top commander in afghanistan. clearly, reporters worry about a chilling effect. if all interviews must be cleared through the pentagon, our sources might be less frank and might want permission before speaking and slowing down our news-gathering and doug wilson claims the order means reporters will hear from people who have the most complete picture over each issue. rick. >> rick: in washington, thanks. >> juliet: a man suspected of gunning down two florida police officers setting off a massive man hunt turned himself in, dante morris appeared in a courtroom, charged with two counts of first degree murder and police say he shot and killed two tampa police officers, doing a -- during a routine traffic stop. it happened on thursday. investigators say morris is also linked to other killings in florida. funeral services for both officers were held today. dire warnings this week about the national debt and what must be done to stem the flow of red ink, the financial advisor will break it down in practical terms. >> rick: looking forward to that and free speech takes many forms and is easy to recognize when it is denied. a shocking story out of canada that highlights the importance of first amendment rights in the u.s. don't go away. g, we've been there for clients through good times and bad, when our clients' needs changed we changed to meet them. through the years, when some lost their way, we led the way with new ideas for the financial challenges we knew would lie ahead. this rock has 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[ female announcer ] stop mid-morning hunger with kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats® cereal. an excellent source of fiber from 100% whole grain that helps you stay full, so yon stay focused. also, try chocolate little bites. so, how'd the meeting go? outstanding, i wowed them with my chocolate chip center. and at holiday inn, you always can. holiday inn. stay you. and stay rewarded with the hit it big promotion-- earn up to five hundred dollars at over three hundred retailers. >> juliet: welcome back, senators using the republican address to call for the government to get its financial house in order after the congressional budget office warned this week, the national debt is reaching, quote, unsustainable levels. options for dealing with the problem were laid out in stark terms wednesday on capitol hill, watch: >> i heard you describe it, what is going to be necessary to solve this problem over an extended period of time, are either 25% increase in taxes or 20% reduction in spending. or some combination thereof. in a future year. is that correct? >> that is the order of magnitude, yes. >> juliet: joining us now is financial advisor, president of diversified financial consultants, great to see you gain. >> great to see you. >> when you hear from an expert who deals with our budget and they say it has reached -- going to reach unsustainable levels what does it mean in laypersons terms. >> what we are really talking about going forward is that we have a certain amount of revenue coming in and that is taxation and a certain amount of expenses going out and the two are on really diverse courses hear and if we keep this up, we literally will get to a point where we have more debt than we can afford to service. >> juliet: i talked with someone about it today and it is am b ambiguo ambiguous, what exactly does it mean and, saxby chambliss says it is -- debt is one of the greatest threats to our country and mike mullen says the same thing. >> at some point, the problem is where we are borrowing the fund today, to get the money to pay the debt, the interest on the debt or actually spend we may not be able to get the money, like china or our own citizens and if we get to the point where no one will lend us the money we turn into greece and we have to pay substantially higher interest rates or default and that is clearly not on optian o the earlier we deal with it, the less painful it will be. >> juliet: the national debt is $13 trillion and we are basically paying the interest on it. >> we are certain not paying it down, as a matter of fact, this year alone, we are $1.5 trillion further in debt and the estimate depending on whether you listen to the democrats or republicans will get worse, just how worse will it get over the next couple of years. >> juliet: i guess that is the big question and they say it can double in five years, a significant amount of money. >> that is where the confusion is, the democrats paint a rosy picture. talking about spending coming down and, more importantly, talking about the economy going through a real aggressive recovery, where tax revenues will come in. the republicans don't see it that way at all and think spending will continue at this outrageous pace, and, more importantly, the tax revenue is not going to be there, the economy is not going to recover, as quickly as the democrats are expecting, and if that happens, major, major shortfalls. >> juliet: the gentleman who said the debt was reaching unsustainable levels is a guy named doug elmendorf and we'll have one of three things has to happen, increase taxes 25%, reduce spending by 20%, or you do a combination of both. i mean, none of these things actually sounds too peachy. >> listen, at the end of the day there is no easy solution because if there were our politician would have figured it out already, the bottom line here is they are going to have to cut the areas that are really considered untouchable, the defense, social security, medicare, things like that. so, that is not a politically easy conversation to have. and, i imagine that at some point, they won't have a choice and will have to deal with these issues. >> juliet: saxby chambliss said the national debt rose $2.4 trillion since obama took office and, $5 billion a day they computy, is it more than normal. >> we have gone through the worst recession i have ever seen and plus we have had a double whammy and i don't know if you can blame the obama administration, let's pick one thing, unemployment. here a case, the government was spending extra money to provide unemployment benefits but the seniors decided, you know what? i cannot find a job and i'll retire and collect social security and started collecting social security and now we find that social security is in a deficit situation, so, it is really something you could not have projected. >> juliet: dominic we expect you to come up with an answer. we need a solution. >> the country needs to find an answer. >> juliet: dominic, thanks for joining us. >> have a great day. >> juliet: good seeing you. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands... >> one nation, under god. >> indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> rick: the economy may not be cooperating but there is plenty to celebrate about america, this july 4th weekend. and, john stossel takes a look at just that in a new special, called... appropriately enough... what is great about america. one quality that is undeniably great about our country, our freedom of speech and all you have to do is look to our neighbor the north to see what could happen, without those protections, watch: >> reporter: he knows all about canadian speech prosecution because he was the editor of the little magazine, which reported on those mohammed cartoons that led to riots around the world. >> we wanted to show our reader ship what the fuss was about. >> reporter: he discovered in canada the fuss was about him. >> i received a complain against me for hate speech. a government bureaucrat grilled me on my religious and political views and, i gave the -- if i gave the wrong answer i would be subject to fines. >> canada has a free speech list. >> we have an asterisk next to our freedom of speech, there is no asterisk on the first amendment in the states. >> the first amendment allows citizen journalism and all sorts of citizen speech. >> you work for us! >> reporter: people are free to criticize members of government and they do. >> you and your cronies in the government... do this kind of stuff all the time. >> rick: a little clip, john stossel's what's great about america airs tomorrow night and tonight, at 9:00, eastern. right here on fox news channel. >> juliet: i always loved john stossel. he lays it down. >> rick: great addition to the fox family. >> juliet: changing of the guard in afghanistan, general petraeus taking command and stock of what lies ahead, a report from the war zone. coming up. >> rick: also the economy in nevada, may be on the skids but you would never guess from the boom in vague. >> juliet: it looks like your house, i bet! >> rick: yeah, wait until you see, a tricked out home, casey steegel is checking it out, lots of glitter there. >> reporter: my house, too for the record, guys, 10,000 square foot villa for rent inside caesar's palace in sin city, what $40,000 a night, you heard it right, 40 grand, will get you, coming up next, in a live report, here, on america's news headquarters. [ air blowing ] [ clattering ] [ male announcer ] when you're all out of good ideas and you've moved on to the dumb ones, it's time. american standard heating & air conditioning. a higher standard of comfort. i got an egg [pop] i got gum a kazoo a candy necklace i got one of these [pop] a stamp helium fabric softener ear plugs [pop] lipstick two pills a day is what it takes to stay alive if you're hiv positive. those pills cost about forty cents a day. >> juliet: welcome back, the bottom of the hour, time for the top of the news, liz cheney says dpop chairman michael steele should resign over remarks suggesting the u.s. cannot win the war in afghanistan. cheney is the former -- current daughter actually of former vice president dick cheney, and she says steele's comments were deeply disappointing and wrong. >> rick: also today, vice president biden is in baghdad, he's there right now, actually. trying to coax iraqi leaders into ending their government stalemate and various factions remain deadlocked wherever" political bloc should pick iraq's new leader after the disputed march elections and a red cross official describes a terrible scene in the congo, a fuel tanker overturning and exploding, sparking a fire that killed at least 220 people. including dozens of women and children. u.n. peacekeepers rushing to the scene to evacuate survivors. >> rick: day 75. of the oil disaster, in the gulf and the catastrophe's economic toll continues to grow, this time last year, hundreds of tourists hit florida's beaches to celebrate the fourth of july weekend and now, it is a totally different story, the oil spill is keeping a lot of people away, and beaches are closed, business owners are struggling to survive and craig boswell joins us live from pensacola beach, florida, craig, what is the scene like there? >> good to see you, rick, first glance it looks like a normal beach and the sun is out and widen out the view and it is a completely different story, the environmental and economic forecast here is dismal at best, first thing you notice is, it is sparse on the beach here, on the fourth of july weekend, and, the biggest weekend of the summer, here. other thing you will notice, there is no one in the water. the health department says the gulf water is not safe, and a public from noaa is that the winds will continue to drive more oil ashore, the area of the panhandle, hosts 100,000 visitors typically on this holiday weekend and now, hotels are reporting a 50 to 70% occupancy rate, and restaurants are saying, their business is down by at least 50%, and, those that are here, this weekend, fear that lives here changed forever. >> this is depressing. i mean, that is kind of like the reason the kids were so excited to come here every year is for the beach. >> all i see is an empty bay, one person out there, rare, individual, one person, ought to be 30 boats out there. we see one. >> reporter: we walked along the beach with lisa jackson, the ep a administrator, visiting florida, alabama, and mississippi and louisiana and she talk to the worker, scooping up tar balls, off the surface of the sand, getting a feel for the damage here, and, we asked her about the difference between the health department saying not to get into the water and the county government not completely shutting the water down, actually, asked if she'd get in the water. >> i haven't gone over to the water but, based on the fact the beach is... i'm not going to the water today. >> reporter: here's the rub, now there is no federal government guideline to determine how much oil is safe to be in the water where people are swimming, that is what county leaders are waiting on and they are meeting this afternoon and lisa jackson left the interview, going over to meet with the county officials here to determine what to do down the road, long term we have the question of help and short-term the economic question as these businesses struggle to stay alive this summer and have serious questions about that, right now, rick. >> rick: craig boswell on a beautiful fourth of july holiday weekend, thanks so much. >> juliet: general david petraeus preparing to take up his post that's commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan and is working to start off on the right foot with civilian leaders and must work with the war-torn nation. connor powell has the story in kabul, afghanistan. >> reporter: the general made his first public appearance since arriving in afghanistan last night and today at the u.s. embassy he stood shoulder to shoulder with ambassador karl eikenberry and delivered a message of unity between the military and civilian leadership in afghanistan and said cooperation is not optional. and it is a necessity here, between this military and civilian leadership in afghanistan and the general will officially take command tomorrow of all of the u.s. and nato forces here in afghanistan, and he does it at a time when there is rising violence and the tab is surging and opening -- taliban is surging and opening up fronts across afghanistan, this is a dangerous and deadly time for international troops here in afghanistan. but he does it at a time when all the resources general mcchrystal and general petraeus and other backers of the surgery push for are in place and the straernl is in place and general petraeus said he will not change the overall strategy here and the troops are now in place, and now, it is simply a matter of implementing the strategy, juliett in. >> juliet: connor powell in afghanistan. >> rick: twists and turns in the russian spy case, prosecutors say two more of the 11 accused are admitting to using fake names, michael zatolli and patricia mills were living as husband and wife in virginia and prosecutors say the couple confessed their real names are mikhail kutzhuk and natalia perezehva, they are charged with money laundering and being spice. >> juliet: anyone coping with alzheimer's disease and couples often are led to divorce because of illness and a spouse physically healthy as a horse and mentally a shell of their former self, the author of jan's story joins us now, i have to say, a personal note, this book that you wrote affected me so much. and, i want to explain the story to you, the folks there, you covered myriad wars and you have been in dangerous conflicts and had things blowing up next to you and bugged by kgb agents but chose to write a love story, a personal and true love story, why is that? >> i think i wanted people to understand, by people, i mean other care givers and people involved in this, i think it is difficult to over estimate how solitary and lonely a job it becomes, your world shrinks down to taking care of the person that you love. it almost destroyed me. and, i wanted to make sure that the next person on the journey, and there are going to be millions more on this journey, had a chance to read at least one version, not a prescription, not preaching, just one version of what the journey was like. >> juliet: it was incredibly difficult journey for you, obviously as well as your wife. the first time you really knew something was wrong, with your wife, basically, out of the blue, jan disappeared for like -- and not physically disappeared but sort of just kind of checked out, for three days and that is when you knew something was wrong and she was young at the time? >> she was 55. got up in the morning, went to do a story and came back in the afternoon. and, jan basically had walked into alzheimer's. she was hearing voices, for three days and did things like put her street clothes on when it was time to go to bed and could make a sentence and -- it is hard, a full and complete sentence but words would be out of order, we lived in tokyo and i called a neurologist in san francisco at 4:00 a.m., my time and the neurologist said, based on what you tell me, jan has alzheimer's disease. and i rejected the concept, and the neurologist said, she has alzheimer's disease, there will be good days and bad days, basically, saying your life has changed. >> juliet: one thing i think was difficult, i know, was difficult, you articulated it very touchingly is you both knew, she knew, but you both... you didn't want to accept it and didn't want to deal with it and i don't want to give too much of the book away but it is a love story, not a happy ending, and, in certain ways i don't want to give the end away, again. but, despite your love and everything that you have given to her, there were a lot of people in her life and your life who were very, very upset with you. why? explain that. >> there were people who felt -- here's one of the cruelties of the disease. and i really understand this. the disease changes the mind. the brain, but not the body. it is not like cancer, where we sometimes see people lose their hair or a disability, or losing a limb, something like that. jan today looks great. if you saw her you would say, oh, jan, you look terrific. you look normal. jan today, this articulate, bright, once foreign correspondent, cannot make a complete sentence. but, if you don't want to see the jan as ill you will not site. you will see her bright, bubbly personality and those people who wanted to deny what happened to her, see that. and, when they see that, they believe i have done wrong by putting eher into an asistered living facility and the answer is some of them detest me for the decisions i've made to take care of her. >> juliet: there are man questions i'd like to ask you, because, again, this book profoundly affected me. i really have to say that and i think everybody watching this really needs to get this book, because it is a life changing book, i think for a lot of folks, that will read this. and it reminds you, stop and smell the roses, cherish the people that you love, and be with them and appreciate them. barry, thank you so much, appreciate you joining us today. >> thank you for having me. >> rick: yes, thank you for telling your story, i want to check out the book, jan's story. i'll go and find it. >> juliet: a love story, and also a heartbreaking story and eye-opening, really is. >> rick: i'm glad we did that story. when we come back the fourth of july, a great time to reflect on the founding of our country. also, a time to remember the battles that helped shape its character and preserve the union. peter doocy, live for us, in gettysburg, pennsylvania, hi, peter. >> reporter: rick, high, i'm going to take you back in time, 147 years to the front lines of the civil war. right after this. thanks to aarp, we can have more nights out. and i can get more laps in. ♪ our card lets us head to the beach more often. and lets us barbecue more often. my new glasses help me see everything. the new website helps me do everything. [ female announcer ] with aarp you get so much more out of life. ♪ discover the best of what's next at the new aarp.org. >> juliet: a "fox news alert," live pictures of a fire, 4 alarm fire, san jose, california, started a bit after 1:00 local time there, the building houses businesses and that is pretty much what it is. we we'll keep you abreast of the situation if developments begin to happen. rick. >> rick: juliett, gettysburg, pennsylvania turning back the clock, 147 years today. the sounds of canon fire booming across the legendary battlefield as civil war reenact tors take on the bloodiest battle in american history. peter doocy following the action live in gettysburg and joins us, hi, peter. >> reporter: rick, so this is gettysburg, where the confederate fought the union for three long days, and which were noi dominated by the south and eventually won by the north and the war, won by the north as we know and 2010, today many of the same sights and sounds from civil war are here, 2,000 reenactors are fighting each other in authentic uniforms and guns and canons an carrying out the realistic missions for the thousands of people gathered here in southern pennsylvania. [gunfire]. >> the heat and the gear i'm carrying, and the impound rifle it gives you a feeling, that otherwise it wouldn't give you, and it is important to keep it alive and understand the sacrifices of the forefathers and the troops. >> reporter: these guys definitely keep history alive, not only do they turn back the clocks on the battlefield, they also party like it is 1863, off the battlefield, camping out an cooking in simple tents without any modern luxuries and the modern version of the battle nobody dies but they say it is important to honor the 51,000 men who died here, on this field, in the fields near this, 14 years ago. this weekend. back to you. >> rick: staggering number to think about the history there, peter doocy live in gettysburg, thanks. >> juliet: one of the hottest phones in the country now, brand new revolutionary iphone-4. but, does it meet the hype? "consumer reports" telling u us next. but i don't remember. i don't know where i really was. i do not know what i had for breakfast. i do not know who won the game. i don't recognize this man. if you or someone you know is struggling with a drug or alcohol problem, there is a solution... recovery. tdd: 800-487-4889 for information, and for hope. through treatment... my life's a whole lot brighter now... brought to you by the u.s. department of health and human services. >> rick: welcome back, the initial mad rush to get the fourth generation iphone is over and so, now this people, not me, i have the old one, now that some people have had a chance to see how it performs, how does it stack up against other smartphones. >> juliet: consumer resource is here to break the down, good to -- "consumer reports" is here to break it down, good to have you here, he has the old thing! >> from last year! >> throw it away! >> is that the 3gs. >> rick: yes. >> you will most of the features if you get the free update. >> rick: i did. away ahead of you. >> you have most of the benefits. >> rick: i don't need the -- >> only if you want the video camera and the exclusive feature, the gyroscope, which, there is not much to do on it yet, i'll get it up here quickly. >> rick: one of the features this is e front-facing camera. >> it is note first one, there is another phone that had it first but it hayes fronts a fro camera. i want to show you the see you r -- show you the gyroscope and it automatically positions the screen to go with the phone and with though iphone it works... >> rick: you can't crack that egg. >> you can't crack the egg, you can flip it and do anything you want. that is unique, too. >> juliet: can you scramble it. >> you can scramble it and draw on it. >> rick: the overall rating, "consumer reports" gives to the iphone... >> it is still in our testing and will be the ratings the next few days and subscribers can see how well it is but we have every reason to expect it will do well. there is controversy regarding reception with the phone which we are checking out right now and initially we couldn't get it to do what the -- the death grip, basically, if you hold the phone in your left hand the signal may drop off and people have had the problem, others don't have it. >> rick: apple says they'll fix the problem. and maybe we do it with the software. >> a software issue, but, they say it is just the meter, that does that, but it is -- the actual signal that cuts off and you lose the phone signal, that is a little more serious. >> juliet: the next one. >> rick: what are the other ones. >> what we have here, it came out early june, the evil 4g, the first phone to run on the -- evo 4g and runs on the 4g, fourth generation and promise data speeds and the kind you get at home on wifi, 3, 4, 5 megabytes per second. >> juliet: put it next to the iphone. >> notice how much larger it is. wrong phone, actually. this is the evo 4g. they both have the -- >> rick: they look similar. >> 4 inch screen and 8 mega pixel camera and front facing video camera for video shaat but unlike the iphone you can have the video chats over the phone network and i've phoned, video dhats chats are limited -- iphone, they are limited to a wifi zone and own with other... >> juliet: the big guy. >> this is a big guy, same size, motorola droid x on verizon. >> juliet: the screens are the same, the outside portions -- a bit larger, it looks like. >> a little bigger and the screen is the same size, 4.3 and is a trend we are seeing in a lot of phones, we sides sharper screens, they are getting bigger as more phones are asked to serve to watch videos and we were surprised with the iphone and thought it would have been a little bigger but the screen is still the same size when they introduced it in 2007. >> rick: after all these are telephones. i mean, you get down to it. -- >> you can make calls. >> rick: that is one of the things, a knock against am which runs on theeth -- apple which runs on the at&t network. >> iphone users complain about at&t, about data usage and their frustration with it and one thing we haven't seen in any phones, particularly smartphones, voice quality has not improved in years. they keep adding new features and better cameras and voice quality is either good or fair for most phones in our testing which is... >> juliet: you have your iphone. >> rick: i want the new one. >> juliet: david, our producer, i have his iphone. >> rick: always good to see you, mike. >> juliet: things are working quite well, actually -- who is this. >> rick: have a great 40fourth july weekend, fox report is coming up, right now. ...