>> rick: hello, everybody, i'm rick folbaum welcome to a brand new hour inside americans news headquarters. >> juliet: welcome to the weekend. it's the committee still. the president touts his economic plan this labor day weekend as republicans push their own plans to get america back to work. >> rick: all of this as voters prepare to have their voices heard in the midterm elections now just 59 days away. but who is counting? among them working class voters who historically have always voted for democrats, but, they may be up for grabs this time. a fair and balanced debate is coming up. >> juliet: plans to raise a culprit in bp oil spill have hit a major snag. efforts on the efforts to hoist the blow out preventer. ♪ >> rick: but let's begin with new trouble for democrats ahead of the mid terms. the party currently holding large majorities in both the house and the senate. but several new polls suggest a major shift in the balance of power could be on the way. molly henneberg is live in washington for us. molly, nice to see you. a new poll suggesting that african-americans aren't very enthusiastic about these upcoming elections, right? >> hi, rick. nice to see you, too. yes, at least not as fired up as they were for the 2008 presidential election. gallup asked black and white voters if they were thinking, quote, quite a lot or some about the upcoming midterm in 2008 over 2008 both groups were giving the race for the white house a good bit of thought. going into the mid terms only 25% of blacks compared to 42% of whites are thinking quite a lot or some about these mid terms. one democratic strategist says it may have to do with president obama's first two years in office. >> given that he has not achieved the success that i think that i think any of us would have wanted him to achieve, there is a sense of disillusionment, disappointment among his core supporters which were largely though certainly not entirely african-americans and i think their level of enthusiasm for voting this time is demon strappably less as a result. >> shone says opponents of president obama are much more excited about the mid terms and change this november compared to supporters of the president. rick? >> rick: molly, another poll, this one showing that republican outsiders may have an edge? >> well, gallup gave respondents four types of candidates, a republican serving in congress, a republican who nasa not served in congress, a democrat serving in congress and a democrat who has not served in congress. and asked for whom they would vote. a plurality of people, 38%, picked a republican who has not served in congress. 24 percent said a democrat already serving in congress. republicans say that's not good news for the democratic majority in washington. there is always going to be that percentage of people who will support incumbents. 98% of re-electability rate for most incumbents. not surprising that some incumbents do do well. overwhelming majority of view the races a want a republican and b want an outsider. this poll is very consistent with that. >> he says people want a quote, seed change this fall. rick? >> rick: molly henneberg in washington. thanks. >> juliet: president obama is touting economic the economy would be in worst shape if it weren't for his administration's actions so far and he plans to do more he says, julie kirtz has the latest from washington. >> juliet, calling this the worst recession of our lifetime president obama says the middle class has been squeezed the most and he promises to work hard to turn that around. he spends the weekend at camp david but obama used his labor day weekend address to talk about his efforts that create jabs, make college more affordable. cut taxes and overhaul the healthcare system. more discouraging news from the labor department. 54,000 jobs in august. unemployment rate ticked up to 9.6%. >> long before this recession hit, the middle class had been taking some hard shots. long before this recession, the values of hard work and responsibility that built this country had been given short shrift. >> as the president and economic team try to reassure americans that better days are ahead, many in the g.o.p. say obama's recovery summer has failed to materialize. and it's time to do something new. >> the nation's unemployment rate has now been above 9% for 16 consecutive months. this is despite the fact that the obama administration promised that the trillion dollars stimulus would keep unemployment below 8%. so the question remains, where are the jobs? >> expect more talk about jobs and the middle class from the president after a weekend at camp david he hits the road, pushing his economic message. aids say on wednesday he will lay out a new set of ideas in a speech from cleveland. but not a big new stimulus plan like last year's. juliet? >> juliet: julie kirtz reporting from washington. thank you, julie. rick? >> rick: working class voters making up a key part of the electorate. with the economy at a virtual stand still no surprise that at love them are expressing frustration. and with roughly two months to go until election day, democrats painfully aware that in tough times it's easy to blame the party in power. republicans know that, too. they are hoping to capitalize on it jake berliner is a deputy policy director from a washington d.c. based think tank. david winston is republican strategist and former director of planning for house speaker newt gingrich. gentlemen, thanks for being here. we appreciate it so, jake, wasn't it supposed to be the summer of recovery? isn't that what it was dubbed? and i remember the vice president coming out and touting they beginning here we are it's labor day weekend. what's going on? >> i think we can all agree the economy is not where we want it to be. people are still hurting out there. democrats aren't where they want to be in the polls either. you will see the president, the vice president, his economic team doing what you just reported they were doing u when is going out and talking about their significant accomplishments. i mean, the economy is -- it's inarguably in a much better place than it was 18 months ago. they have done some pretty impressive things in their time in power. i think you will continue to see them talk about that voters will respond in the next two months. >> david, union folks, the middle class people that we mentioned in the introduction here before we began this discussion, a reliable vote for democrats, usually. are republicans making headway this time around? >> well, sure. i mean, like everybody else in this country, union voters are concerned about the economy. and i have to say, having a president go out and talk about the accomplishments he has made in terms of the economy is sort of like a football team being down by 30 points, talking about all the first downs they made. i mean, the problem that this president has is that people have lost confidence in his ability to manage this economy. going back to he said if the stimulus passed unemployment wouldn't go above 8%. we have seen 16 months in a row higher. we have lost 233,000 jobs during the recovery summer. they have lost confidence. that's huge opportunity for republicans. we have to answer that question as well what's our plan. >> rick: sticking with the football analogy that was just tossed out there, and here we are coming up on the start of a new season, momentum is so important. you know, and heading into an election, you want to have that momentum. do democrats have any momentum right now? i mean, it seems like they have lost their mojo, no? >> i want to agree with something that david just said, that it's really now on republicans to prove that they have a plan to govern. you know, you see the president out there laying out the democratic plan. and republicans, if they want to increase their power in washington really have to prove to the american people that they have a plan to make their lives better and to make the economy better. and so far we really haven't seen that from the republicans. you look at john -- >> rick: heading into the mid terms do democrats have any? >> i think you see the president going to cleveland this week because he sees a big opening. he sees the john boehner gave a speech there is a week and a half ago that had no new ideas and would increase the deficit by over $4 trillion. we looked at the numbers. and so that opening is a big source of momentum for the democrats. and i think you will see them -- i think you will see that played out in the next couple of months. lick lick david, we have heard from john boehner and other republicans who have put out some pretty concrete ideas for what they would do differently if they were to assume power in the house. do we need to hear more concrete ideas from republicans though? >> no. republicans have to answer the question how are we going to grow the economy and create jobs? i mean, absolutely agree on that point. but i would also suggest that what john boehner laid out in his speech was, in fact, remarkably different in terms of the way it's being portrayed. look, he is being the tax cut policy of john f. kennedy and ronald reagan. democrats because they have nothing to say all want to point the finger at bush. in fact what boehner laid out was a relatively clear direction that is dramatically different from where this president is taking the country. we know that doesn't work because, in fact, if you take a look at the 1930s and what happened in terms of the great depression, is he trying to implement those same policies including the hoover herbert tax cut increebses that he -- the president is about to do that on this economy. the fact is this guy does not know where he wants to go in terms of the economy. the american people know that i agree republicans do have to offer an alternative. >> rick: jake, president obama when he was running for office, he was able, it seems anyway that he was really able to tap into something. not for all americans, obviously, he didn't win 100% of the vote. but for a lot of americans, he tapped into something that spoke to people. it just seem to a lot of people anyway. speaking to the concerns. i mean, we did a poll, fox news did. and we asked what are you extremely concerned about? and it seems like everything that people said they were extremely concerned about had to do with the economy, had to do with the size of government. is the president really able to address those concerns? >> yeah. i think he absolutely is you know, he has been talking about the economy. he is going to continue to talk about the economy. he is talking about the struggle of every day people. how for the last decade you saw, you know, every day people had their wages stagnate and incomes decline. and they really weren't able to get ahead. and so you see the president putting himself on the side of every day americans and putting forward plans to help those people get ahead. i think he is moving forward and offering a credible plan. >> rick: david, the democrats have to have a plan up their sleeve. they are not going to go down without a fight. poll after poll, i observed carat after indicator. all spelling bad news for the democrats. there has got to be some kind of surprise headed our way, don't you think. >> i don't know. partly of what happens attacking republicans that's what you do when you don't have anything to say about yourself you attack the other party. republicans did that in 2006. i know that they realize that they have got to change this dynamic but when you go to your basic philosophies how you look at the economy putting lots of money into government and that will stimulate the economy that hasn't worked. they are struggling where to go next. they don't know at this point. right now at this point look give you a simple example when obama is talking about not allowing the tax cuts go through in terms of those making over 250,000, is he negatively impacting about half the small business income in america. all right. he knows that's a problem. i think they are just sort of flumixed at this point about what to do. >> rick: maybe that's the direction when we talk about tax cuts and bush tax cuts about to expire largest tax increase in history is facing the american people. this is true and voters know about it. and the president knows about it, too. maybe that's the october surprise, an extension of the bush tax cuts. >> well, you know, this president certainly isn't opposed to tax cuts, the stimulus actually included the broadest tax cut for working people in the history of this country. but i think if you want to talk about track records, which i think is what you are going to see over the next two months, you see a president who saved the country from falling off the edge, from falling into the second great depression. versus a party that has no new ideas and saw a lost decade where people weren't able to get ahead. i think voters when they hear mitch mcconnell out there talking about ideas that aren't very convincing, they remember why they voted out the republican party in 2006 and 2008. so these next two months are going to be pretty interesting. i think you will see corrected plans from the democrats. i hope you see some good plans from the republicans. >> rick: i agree with you, they will be very interesting. we will be covering every minute of it we appreciate both of you coming in on a holiday weekend, no less. we you have come back in when it's not the holiday and not cancel any barbecue plans you have. gentlemen, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> juliet: that's right. it's a holiday. syracuse is playing football right now. tigers won today. congratulations. got to move on to serious news now. potential progress in the push for middle east peace. palestinian good mood after this week's meetings in washington. israeli president shimon peres say the talks had a surprisingly good beginning as well. reena ninan has the story in jerusalem. >> hi, juliet. the arab newspaper claims that the palestinianian attitudes towards peace talks talks have d 180 degrees claiming there is less perform on the -- pessimism on the ground. it's too early to tell. >> palestinianian and israeli leaders met in washington this week to formally launch direct peace talks. it's the first time in two years direct talks have taken place. ahead of these talks, there was really very little optimism on the ground that it would lead to an agreement. the main issue of concern for israelis will be security. they may be more willing to make concessions on jerusalem and land ownership if security can be guaranteed. this past week, four israelis, including a pregnant woman, were gunned down and killed in the west bank by hamas militants. hamas is interested in seeing these talks go nowhere. as for the palestinian authority represented by palestinian president mahmoud abbas, they would like to see full sovereignty of east jerusalem, ultimately it will come down to a leadership issue. can these leaders make hard decisions and find a way to sell it to their people? >> the next round of peace talks will begin on september 14th and 15th in egypt. middle east experts say these talks need to remain out of the media spotlight for their to be substantive progress on these talks. juliet? >> juliet: reena ninan thanks very much. a death toll rising in pakistan. 65 people now reported killed. second attack this week on shiite muslims in pakistan. three homicide bombers killed 35 people on wednesday. the pakistani taliban and extremist sunni muslim group claiming responsibility for both of those attacks. across the border in afghanistan a new wave of violence, homicide rider targeting a group of afghan policemen. the explosion killed seven people. bomber also killed three people, wounded nearly a dozen more in a separate attack on a u.s. army convoy. this is all coming as afghan president harmid karzai calling for peace council saying is he willing to negotiate with taliban leaders who sever ties to terrorist networks. >> rick: 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocking new zealand's southern island. rasmgs the city of christchurch. amazingly, when you look at this damage, no one was killed here. something that the prime minister in new zealand says is an absolute miracle. freelance journalist from auckland, nick smith joining us on the phone from new zealand. it's good to talk to you. these pictures are absolutely amazing. i understand though that there is some more bad weather headed that way. tell us. >> that's correct. gale force winds have started as we speak to hit the north of the city gusts coming through up to 130-kilometers plus the forecast is for heavy rain. and the city is crippled and understandable concern that they did -- the high winds will reach through the damage. >> rick: these winds are 81 miles per hour. not quite hurricane force winds but still very, very strong winds. and when you consider what people there are dealing with it's certainly not going to be very welcomed. how is it that no one was killed in this when we look at the damage here, the buildings that just collapsed, was there a warning for this? did people know it was coming? >> nobody knew it was coming. the scientists -- appears to be a new fault. not an existing fault line, a new fault, it's an inexplicable, people can'tunder and it stand why there are not been fatalities. only by the grace of god. >> rick: yeah. talk about the damage, rick, to the infrastructure. i know the power lines are down obviously. what exactly is the damage like? >> that is a work in progress. the real concern here -- power is back on to about 90% of the city. the real concern is that the spine of the city, the sewage system, the water system is completely wrecked people can't flush their toilets. they are having to boil their water for three minutes. people are digging holes in their backyard. 375,000 people in the city. and this could go on for weeks. >> rick: unbelievable what's happened in the city of christ-church. freelance journalist joining us on the phone from new zealand. thanks for the time. >> thank you. >> juliet: efforts to raise the device that failed to prevent the gulf oil leak hit a snag. icy solids have built up on the faulty blow-out preventer as it's called. they have to wait for it to melt before it can be lifted to the final 500 feet to the surface. blow out preventer is considered a key piece of evidence into the investigation into the oil spill. so, fbi agents are waiting to take possession of the device once it's on board. >> rick: when we come back, tony blair running into hundreds of protesters as he tries to promote his new book. we will tell you what the demonstrators were throwing at the former prime minister and what police did as a response. >> juliet: some of america's best roadside attractions could soon close th r their doors forever. what you can do to save little slices of -- >> rick: looks bike dutch wonderland ♪ singing this will be the day that i die. ache. alka-seltz gives you relief fast. 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[ high male ] fizz, fizz. alka-seltz gives you relief fast. host: could switching to geico did the little piggy cry wee wee wee all the way home? piggy: weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeee weeeeeeee. mom: max. ...maxwell! piggy: yeah? mom: you're home. piggy: oh,cool, thanks mrs. a. anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. hey what's going on? doing t shipping. man, it would be a lot easier if we didn't have to weigh 'em all. if thosboxes are under 70 lbs. you don't have to weigh em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in te country for a low flat rate. no weigh? nope. no way. yeah. no weigh? sure. no way! uh-uh. no way. yes way, no weigh. priority mail flat rate box shipping starts at $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. >> rick: welcome back. quick check on the headlines now. authorities in pakistan saying suspected u.s. missile strikes have killed seven militants there, happened in a tribal region near the afghan border. police in dublin arrested four demonstrators outside of tony blair's first public book signing. protesters throwing eggs and shoes at the former prime minister. book buyers appear to be outnumbering the protesters and craigslist. >> i was going to say look at those. it looks like a melee there. >> rick: yes, it was. craigslist apparently shutting down adult services section. the move comes after 17 state attorneys general demanded the shut down over ads for prostitution and child trafficking. >> juliet: now you see it, now you don't. the slugging u.s. economy is driving some of the country's most unique muslims out of business. you better take a look while you still can. mike tobin has the story. >> the incarnation of american kitch places like the dutch village may be disappearing like the culture they display ♪ >> it's no smith zonian, if you were driving the kids down the road you might just stop when you saw the billboard. >> here we have wooden shoe making, cheese making demonstrations and performances, polk dancing, the dance lessons. >> like any luxuries even kitch is taking hit in the economy. fewer visitors. >> i think you can blame a good piece of it on the economy. even our large donors over the last couple of years as the economy went down we saw their donations go down. [siren] >> the antique toy and firehouse museum in bay city, michigan gets visitors from all over the country. >> we have horse drawn, hand drawn and back to the oldest motorized fire truck that we're aware of in the nation. >> but attendance is burning out. owners are keeping it running at their own expense. the former post office in saginaw, michigan looks like a castle and cost as king's ran some. >> postal inspectors years and years ago used to open this up and they used to spy on the people sorting mail in the room below. >> visitors can still spy on each other but only because taxpayers are helping keep it open. in north carolina, the chapel hill museum could no longer afford to stay open. and the fayetteville museum of art closed after 38 years. >> we're getting by. and we're hoping for better economic times. we're looking for ways to generate additional income outside our normal sources. >> dodges are hard tore come by these days. that means renting out locations for events or charging for exhibits that are normally free. some exhibits are being sold just to keep the doors of the museums open. historians say we are not just losing history, we are losing american culture. ♪ >> and, they warn, if you don't visit some of these sites soon, you and your kids may never get the chance. mike tobin, fox news. ♪ >> rick: those are fun places. we used to stop at some of those kind of places jiewlgt juliet you have like 30 kids now. would they like that stuff. >> rick: i think they would. especially the clogs. >> want to hear a bunch of sets of clogs walking around your house. i'm sure your wife would love that. >> rick: take your ear plugs out. aftermath of hurricane earl, there was a little bit to talk about. taking account though the real damage done, plus, how business owners are trying to bounce back. that was the real problem, a lot of people cancelled reservations to certain places because they were afraid of earl. >> for labor day, especially. closer than a front row seat look horse racing from the saddle of a 1200-pound thoroughbred. >> rick: that's cool. >> juliet: scary. thanks to t venture card from capital one, we gedouble miles on every purchase. so wearned an l.a. getaway twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use oucard. no matter at we're buying. and since double miles add up quick... romans! get em! 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>> juliet: top of the news. >> rick: cold water on delegates feeling optimistic about peace talks. he said right now it's too early to tell. >> juliet: ' .1 magnitude quake toppling roads in new zealand. we just heard about that no one killed luckily. only two serious injuries reported. >> rick: president obama using weekly radio and address talk about the economy. committed to helping middle class americans who have been squeezed by the recession. >> juliet: speaking of president, he is getting a slight boost in our latest fox news opinion dynamics poll. 46% of voters now approve of the job he is doing. up 3% from last month. but other polls don't paint as rose a picture. laura ingle is live in new york. what else are voters talking about today? good to see you. >> good to see you. hi, juliet. we are talking about the war in iraq, how well the president is doing. and, yes, a lot of concern about the economy. that is the number one thing. when asked whether the obama administration has made the economy better or worse, 47% of those we asked feel the economy is worse because of the administration's efforts while 36% say the economy is doing better. now, right now we have got not surprisingly democrats 63% or more likely than republicans. 8% to say the obama administration has made the economy better. that's slightly more independents that are also feeling obama made the economy worse than better. voters were also asked if they thought the stimulus plan worked. the majority, 57% think that the 800 billion-dollar economic stimulus plan hasn't worked. just over one in three, 7% think it has helped the economy. >> juliet: laura ingle reporting from new york. thank you very much. always wonderful to see you. rick? >> rick: all right. let's move on now. hurricane earl brushing by the northeast. have you heard about this before making landfall in canada as a tropical storm. in its wake, pounding surf but mostly sunny skies. the real damage left by this storm may be its economic impact. jennifer davis is live in new orleans or rather orleans, massachusetts. jennifer, good to see you. business bouncing back here? >> hi there, rick. they sure hope. so it is a picture-perfect day on cape cape cod. blue skies, sunny, 80-degree weather. except not everyone is here that would be on a typical labor day weekend. no question there was but a few hundred people that lost power and very minor flooding. biggest hit was to questions like the orleans inn here. typically this would be a huge weekend for them. there is no question though owner ed moss says they have taken a hit. here is what he said. >> we are always 100% booked. today we do have rooms available. it is beautiful. we do have people coming in last-minute reservations. but we have never before had a labor day where we weren't totally booked. >> ed says typically they are 100% booked on labor day. rye now he put them at 60%. good news though the patio full of a lot of people eating at their restaurant. is he hoping in the next couple of days this weekend they will be able to bounce back. >> looks like a pretty time to sit outside and eat some dinner, jennifer. what about the people who stuck around, who didn't cancel their reservations, their friends probably thought they were nuts. they are the smart ones, aren't they? >> really, absolutely, you know. there were a lot of them. we wandered around town in a town called chatam about nine miles from here today. lots of people, families with kids who said, look, it didn't look like it was going to so bad. they are happy today. plenty of people here but not normally the level they see. folks say it's been a good summer for them. all is not lost. they have think they have a couple more days to bounce back. biggest effect of earl here at least was an economic one. >> rick: jennifer davis orleans, massachusetts. thank you very much, jennifer. >> juliet: speaking of the economy, finally good news to report. retail sales jumping 3.3% at major chain stores that happened in august. but high unemployment and disappointing housing numbers have some analysts predicting something dire called a growth recession. in other words a jobless recovery. all of these terms being thrown out. can all of these things be possible. chairman and ceo of capital l.l.c. good to have you here. thanks for being here. we keep hearing about this double dip. this phrase keeps getting thrown out. what exact solid a double dip and is that something we're going to experience in the future. >> normally over the lounge run the economy grows and in a recession it dips. we have had a very bad recession in 2008-2009, and then we went into several quarters of recovery. the fear is about it is about to roll over and roll into recession again forming a pattern that would like being look on a chart like a w. i don't believe that's going to happen. >> while. >> interest rates very low. growth outside of the united states have very strong. you notice i didn't mention constructive economic policies at home because i don't think we have that piece in place. but hopefully we will over the next year or so. jolt juliet i want to get some of your thoughts on that. retail numbers as we just mentioned. sales going on, prices were slashed. folks were going out. back to school specials. that seemed to push people out the door did. it do that? >> it did. and i think what you are seeing in part is that confidence is stabilizing at the consumer level. it had fallen back since the spring. the stock market had gone down. there was questionable economic issues. a lot of people on people's minds higher taxes, lots of regulations in the economy now. >> it confuses people because we report that these retail numbers tweag actually exceeded expectation but numbers are still my? >> it is. >> why are people still going out and spending? >> you have got to keep in mind 80% of people have jobs buried in the number that came out friday is indications that the work length has lengthed and average hourly wage inched up a little bit. people are feeling better and that's where you have to count on the spending that's going to propel the economy forward. >> juliet: what are they spending on? big ticket items or smaller items? >> the surprise in these numbers was really interesting because just two days ago the print media had been -- had stories out there saying back to school spending was disappointing. fry dand day and friday they were reporting up -- people are spending on basic things, not on cars and houses yet. >> and that obviously would -- if that happens and that would signal a goofed good recovery or at least a recovery? >> you need the u.s. consumer to click in in order to have a strong, robust, global, economic environment. it's strong outside the united states. china is very strong. india is very strong. europe is stronger than people thought. we need to get the u.s. economy going. >> juliet: the president says over and over, we are moving in the right direction. he is happy with the movement. is he right? >> i think that,you know, if you were in a 747 heading towards the ground and tried to bottom out you could say we are headed in a better direction. i think that's true right now we need more clarity on regulations, as its, you need a pro growth pro business environment. a lot of small businesses haven't felt they were in that environment. that's why they haven't been hiring jowlt -- >> juliet: what can folks expect? >> i would say in spite of all the issues in the u.s. economy, i think there is going to be an upside surprise. mainly because some of the growth outside the united states will spill over into the united states. and because the federal reserve is keeping rates so low. >> it's going to sum sim lace car sales. we ever going to have a key sent year. not a booch. >> we will see you next december to see in any of this held true. >> 1200-pound thoroughbred. >> rick: and they're off. a jockey giving us inside look at horse racing in southern california. this is a 25-year-old rider who agree to wear a helmet camera mounted to his helmet. our tour guide taking the lead down the stretch in this 8-horse race. losing a close one at the wire. still very cool to watch, right? >> yeah, really cool. scary looking. >> juliet: let's watch a little bit more as i talk about. this many have come to rely on the various functions of smart phones and all the things that they have to offer. picture a smart phone as you watch the horse racing. with some kinds of phones on the market -- which one is that? >> this is the iphone. >> juliet: are you happy with it. >> rick: very happy with. >> juliet: is that on the consumer list top ones. blackberry curb, torch. breaking down their top smart cell phones coming up next. 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[ male announcer ] talk to your doctor about chantix. find out how you can save money on your prescription and learn terms and conditions at chantix.com. >> rick: well the era of the smart phone is definitely upon us. >> juliet: you wouldn't know. this is my phone. it's from the 1920s. >> rick: look at that. >> juliet: look at the giant battery on the bottom here. >> rick: you need to get a new phone. >> juliet: time to go. >> rick: we will help juliet get a new phone because she needs one. >> juliet: i definitely need one. nowadays we rely on the phones to access the web, take pictures which my phone doesn't do. >> rick: which phones give more bang for the buck. "consumer reports" which ones are a cut above the rest. >> juliet: mike from "consumer reports" is here. great to you have here. >> smart phones now, they have been packing them with lots of applications and throwing the kitchen sink in there, g.p.s., and cameras, and multiple emails. but that can be a bad thing. if they -- you can easily get lost. well, the latest smart phones, the latest generation do a better job of not only organizing the applications but keeping you up to date. they have better alerts. and they integrate them so that you can, for example, if you -- you are a social net worker, facebook, and you are on twitter, and the other things, can you view all your tweets and facebook postings on one page. all of these phones do that. >> rick: first of all, we should say that all of these phones you are going to show us about $200. all the same price. let's see what the best ones are according to "consumer reports" starting with the motorola. >> this is the droid x. it's our top rated phone for verizon. it's got the largest screen you can get on a phone right now. it's 4.3 inches. and it's got a 8 mega mix sell camera. i can shoot h.d. video. not like h.d. camcorder but pretty good at least to show on h.d.tv set and certainly enough to enjoy on a big screen like this. >> juliet: all righty. moving on to our second phone. >> this is the evo ford g. >> i like the name. two big things besides having the front screen. front facing camera for video chats. something we will see more of in upcoming phones. already on iphone as well. it runs on a new kind of network 4 g which is ultra fast. similar to what you can get at home. so now as these video files keep getting bigger and all of that you will want a network like that. right now sprint is the first and only carrier with 4 g. you will see more one from verizon soon and eventually from at&t. >> juliet: you mentioned the iphone. where is the iphone 4? >> it's not in here. it's doing well. it's in the lab. it's a high rated phone but. >> reception problems. >> rick: you could not recommend -- are you the one behind that, mike? are you? >> we love the iphone. it's a great phone. it just has this flaw that, you know, apple has made a great strides in addressing it, you know, by providing cases that help alleviate. >> reception issue that people are complaining of? >> reception issue but not a full solution because they are going to pull the program away on september 30th. we haven't yet changed our status. but, again, picture the iphone is like the ferrari of phones with a big scratch on the side. we want the dealer to fix it. >> let's move on to the other ones that you like. samsung? >> new kind of phone. it's a new generation of phones from samsung, available on teen mobile from 200. called the samsung trying to get the screen up here. one of the things -- one of the best displays we have ever seen it's -- >> maybe -- if you can get the play. on. -- it fell asleep on me. here it is. and, here is a sample, let's see if we can get it on screen. >> rick: oh, very nice. >> synergy there. >> my boss is going to kill me. >> "avatar." it's got one the best displays not only on the phone, 4-inch screen but when you want to beam it, can you beam it to a tuition, it looks really good there, as well. >> rick: the last one that you i think is the one juliet is most interested in. >> it's a blackberry. turn off the movie. it's a blackberry torch 9800. a lot of people have been looking forward to this, not just because of it's a new phone but it's carrying blackberry's new operating system blackberry 6. >> it has the little thing that slides down. i like that. >> it's got a slide out keyboard which is great. blackberry customers are really addicted to their keyboard and the rock solid email network and so forth. but they have been looking at iphone users and google phone users with envy. so here we go. we have a touch screen but we have all the blackberry controls. and. >> juliet: i love that. >> like the other three phones here, can you wirelessly. you can hook up a laptop wirelessly to broad the internet. use it as a modem for your laptop. >> juliet: do the pictures and the video? >> it's got a good camera but it's not h.d. it's a touch lower. the thing these three phones do better than this blackberry. again, this is -- consider this training wheels for blackberry wheels trying to get into the multimedia world. these phones do a much better job of, if you take a picture you can blast them all over the place. you can share them on facebook easily and all that this isn't as intuitive. >> juliet: also has a smaller screen. >> has a smaller screen but it does have a real keyboard. one thing again these phones do, the last thing i would like to say they all have a feature called universal search. again, when i said everybody is throwing the kitchen sink into these phones. they there are a million applications. well, all of these phones have usually it's a magnifying glass symbol that if you hit it and you start typing, it will scour the phone and the internet for whatever you are looking for. if you are looking for music. if you are looking for an app. it will look tum. >> rick: and they make phone calls, too. >> and they make phone calls. that's one the best things about the blackberry. >> rick: mike is with "consumer reports" magazine. mike, always good to see you. thanks for coming in. >> juliet: thank you, mike. >> you are welcome. >> juliet: massive protests against new government crack down. next, the new group that french president sarkozy wants to, quote, systematically -- and then there is this >> special. >> i would know that mustache anywhere. >> juliet: he is so great. taking a 40 years leap. herald with a special perspective geraldo with a special look coming up. he recommended citracal. it's different -- it's calcium citrate, so it can be absorbed with or without food. citracal. human rights groups say sarkozy is stigma advertising security gains with security crack down. >> rick: looking back on four decades from the business from the civil rights business to vietnam to the fox news channel. geraldo reflects on an amazing career. ♪ [speaking spanish] >> my good friends, i would like to you meet my good friends nelva, roger, tex, frank, bill and jim. >> the eyewitness news team the reason people like them so much is because they like people so much. >> i first heard of this big place with the pretty sounding name because of a call i received from the member of the willow brook staff. this is what it looked like. this is what it sounded like but how can i tell you about the way it smelled. >> ladies and gentlemen, geraldo rivera. ♪ the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. >> abc's wide world of entertainment ♪ >> thursday night special. >> very, very special treat for y'all. >> here is the anchorman of good night, america. geraldo rivera. >> geraldo rivera presents an exclusive, intimate hour-long look at this remarkable star. >> geraldo, thank you more tonight on 20/20. >> geraldo has more from new york. geraldo, this is too much. >> it's funny, it's pathetic. it's all of those things. >> a mystery of al capone vaults. >> a massive concrete vault has been discovered. >> the geraldo rivera special. >> modern love. >> bid a sweet farewell to the sexual revolution. >> devil worship. >> whether satan exists is a matter of belief. >> we continue our investigation into a sorted story of multiple murder and apparent greed. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome geraldo rivera. [cheers and applause] >> it is my constitutionally protected opinion that o.j. simpson has gotten away with murder. >> i'm geraldo rivera, upfront tonight, a story that will -- ♪ >> one of our vehicles hit a land mine. we have got casualties. >> children found sleeping in cages inside this house behind me. >> how long have you been at willow brook? >> what do you think? -- geraldo rivera. >> rick: he is an icon. you can catch this two part special just tune in this saturday and sunday, 10:00 p.m., geraldo at large. plus, there is a whole special section on foxnews.com about his anniversary including a piece that geraldo wrote himself. >> juliet: we have to say, knowing him personally, is he a wonderful, wonderful man, kind, sweet, generous man. love you, geraldo. >> rick: that's it for us. thank you for watching. >> juliet: julie is up next. fox report. but sometimes after a busy day and a heavy greasy dinner... my system needs some tlc. now there's something new. introducing activia dessert. rich, silky, smooth yogurt with desserty flavors like strawberry cheesecake, blueberry cheesecake, and peach cobbler. and because it's activia, it helps regulate my digestive system. mmm, works for me. new activia dessert. ♪ activia ... 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