Transcripts For FOXNEWS Americas Newsroom 20100831

neither individual showed up on the terror watch list. bill: also at the last moment, apparently they changed their travel plans and why that? putting it all together, here's greg palkot live in london with the latest on this, gregg, good morning over there. >> bill, martha, a lot of question, some answers we are getting and some we'll get probably in the next couple of hours and what we can tell you from our contacts in holland, two men both with ties to the u.s. and yemen are held for questioning by dutch authorities and we are told, they are suspected of, and i quote, planning a terror attack and, also, of arson and they were arrested yesterday morning at the airport and they were taken off of a united airlines flight coming from chicago and what raised alarm bells was what was found on luggage, not traveling with them but from chicago to washington, dulles airport, for further travel, on board, that suitcase was including watches, strapped to an empty pepto bismol bottle, knives and a box cutter, watches, taped into a bundle and one of the suspects, $7,000. all of that was spotted in the luggage of one of those individuals, when he started his trip from birmingham, alabama to -- there is nothing illegal about that but altogether it was suspicious when they changed their travel plans and as you noted, the alarm bells rang. bill: they came to travel plans in chicago for a direct flight and put it together, greg and why is it worrying. >> reporter: the white house spokesperson, roberts gibbs, said this morning these are suspicious events, and the suspicion is that in fact this was a possible dry run for yet another possible terror attack in the air. and it appears they were testing security at various vantage points including amsterdam and other airports and this, bill, has faint -- i must underscore faint but disturbing echos of last year's failed attack involving a man, umar farouk abdulmutallab, and here, ledge delay got his training in yemen and he was coming via amsterdam and heading towards detroit when, fortunately, the attempt failed, and, the two individuals were talking about, also, have links to detroit and we must underscore, too, friends and possible family who know these people are innocent and couldn't have done this, but, a lot of hard-looking right now by the authorities. bill: a breaking news story and we're on it, thanks, greg palkot in london on that and people close to the suspects, say hezam al-murise who traveled to the u.s. on a visitor's visa and lived and worked in the metro detroit area and ac medal mohammed nasser al-soofi is the yemeni with permanent residence status in the u.s. and lived in detroit until 2-3 years ago and his cousin says there is no way he's a terrorist. >> he's not the same guy, not the same guy. he's a good guy. he's honest, whatever, he's -- because, ahmed, we know him, he's a great guy, he's honest, whatever. ever, never believe he could do something like this bad he's a guy, he don't even know -- don't know how to even type in a computer or use e-mails or whatever, he's a funny guy, that's all. bill: and, the men met up in chicago and flew onto amsterdam, as we said earlier and a lot of you are watching the story on-line and we want to hear from you, head to foxnews.com/"america's newsroom" and, do you think u.s. airport security is effective? is that yes or is that no? place your vote, on-line, right now. martha: and, a lot of questions in that story make you think of that and the national guard troops ramping up their presence at the u.s.-mexico border and the u.s. troops are in place and overall california gets 224 troops. some top republicans from the border states -- here we go. >> they have been doing medical screenings, background checks, weapons qualifications, as of yesterday, we were fully operational on all of our sites. >> some troops, top republicans from the border states are criticizing the plan, and, they are saying that a lot more manpower needs to be put there, to stop the mexican drug smugglers and human traffickers on the border as the federal government takes a legal shot at arizona and in moments we'll speak to the co-author of the immigration bill that sparked the show down, that is still going on, between arizona and the feds. bill: south of the border, skarn law enforcement taking a -- mexican law enforcement taking a major lit, police chiefs announcing the cut of 3200 officers, suspected of corruption, 10% of the force there. and all part of a push to purge the force of anyone secretly working for the drug cartels. 6 minutes past the hour. martha: the futures indicating a negative start amid disappointing news about the economy and wall street expecting reports to show that there is a decline in manufacturing activity and boy, we have been seeing that over the last several years, and, a dip in consumer confidence is also expected but, we'll wait and see how the numbers come out and sometimes they surprise us and slow growth in home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas, again, we're going to see that right, hovering at 10,000 now, for the 30 in the dow jones industrials and president obama ending his vacation, by saying that he has a plan for this sluggish economy. but he says senate republicans are blocking a bill that would channel $30 billion into small business loans. >> president barack obama: what we did know was it took nearly a decade to dig the hole we're in and it will take longer than any of us would like to climb our way out and there is currently a jobs bill before congress that would do two big things for small business owners. cutting more taxes and make available more loans. unfortunately, the bill has been languishing in the senate, for months. held up bipartisan minority that will not even allow it to go to a vote. that makes no sense. martha: let's get the low done from fox business network's stuart varney who thinks the president's plan would be a drop in the bucket and joins us now. stuart, give us background on this small business proposal that the president says republicans are holding up and if only they would say yes to it the spigots would be open to small business. >> number one you are righted, it's a minuscule problem, $30 billion worth in a $14 trillion economy and also, not a new plan, it has been around for months and a lot of the money, the $30 billion, would go to help and prop up some very weak community banks. some people are calling it a former t.a.r.p. program. and that is not the way to create jobs, backing up shaky community banks. and, then we have this issue of the tax credits and, investment incentives for small business. fair enough. $18 billion worth. it will go away after one year and the president wants to raise taxes january 1st on successful small business owners, you give with one hand and take away with another and, the bottom line, people are looking at this plan, the $30 billion plan, they say, look, it's not a big plan, it's not a new plan, and, frankly, martha, there is consternation in the financial world the president tonight will talk about rapidly and not the rapidly unwinding economy of today. martha: there are a couple of ironies and the reasons you are laying out have a lot to do with why the senate republicans have decided not go along with the bill. and we'll hear more about that but i also think there is irony in the fact that the president is saying that he is cutting so many taxes or small businesses and i think he said there were at least six cuts, for taxes and small business and the one hand he is recognizing there's a philosophy of cutting tax in what he believes will spur the economy and he's raising them january 1st. >> the president's policy has not worked at this point and the economy is spiraling down and not expanding aggressively and the president is coming along with more of the same. and, you know, there really is consternation, in the financial world we don't have a big, new plan and the left is really hard for a big new stimulus program, a trillion dollars worth of new spending, that is what they wanted and they are not going to get it. martha: what should be done, good spectrum here, stuart varney, thank you. bill: and the president's speech in primetime, live tonight on the fox news channel. where else would you go for crying out loud. martha: we're there. bill: amen to that. there's a historic search for republicans, the new polling and what they show about the g.o.p.'s chances of winning control of the house. and, the senate. in moments. martha: and, a great debate taking a few new turns, find out why the justice department is going after arizona now in a whole new way. plus, state department soaks man pj crowley will be here and will defend the state department's decision to include the arizona immigration law where? in the government's human rights report on the united states, that will be presented to the u.n. bill: also, where will this monster hit. martha: you have an opinion. bill: that is earl and there is a new warning, martha, this hour about the giant storm, a cat-4 monster. martha: that, he is. bill: heading up the east coast. back in a moment on that. >> a big holiday weekend coming up and we are watching it closely and we talked to our state agencies and everybody is ready and we are watching it and crossing our fingers that it doesn't impact the weekend everybody annika enjoy it but, again, people really need to pay attention what is going on over the next couple of days. a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. when gladys discovered the scent of gain came in a fabric softener, she couldn't help herself. ah, the things we do for love. the amazing scent of gain in detergent and fabric softener. old legs. p.a.d., the doctor said. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor 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[ female announcer ] talk to your doctor about plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. why does it say box tops for education on your soup?so. oh, it's a program that raises money for schools. that's great, but this is a can. ye it is. you can't have a box top on a can. yes we can. but a can isn't a box. we know. i don't think you do. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. captioning performed by mediacaptioning.com we know. i don't think you do. martha: a tragic breaking news story out of arizona right now, there is a multiple car crash that we're looking at here, on the i-10. and -- i-10 westbound is closed as a result of the accident, at least one person is reported dead, and, there is an suv rollover as you can see, in these pictures, we are just getting these into us, it is early in arizona, this morning, and we can report at least one person has been killed, there are 7 injured and i can -- i-10, westbound is closed and these are live pictures coming to us from a horrific accident in the phoenix area. in arizona, and that is the i-10, westbound, we will continue to let you know what we have learned about the extent of the accident, you can see the traffic backed up there, for miles. bill: in the meantime, more news out of arizona, facing a new immigration lawsuit, this time, phoenix community colleges are accused of discrimination and the justice department says the schools there, violated federal immigration laws by treating job applicants differently because of their status as citizens. chris covath is running for the senate in arizona, and maricopa county, east side of arizona, are they guilty of criminal nation. >> i don't think so. the justice department's lawsuit against maricopa county communities college is flimsy. they have to show that the colleges intentionally discriminated and, furthermore, have to show that the colleges treated people differently when they were applying for jobs after the colleges knew the people were authorized and thai they say they are looking to make sure people are authorized to work in the u.s. bill: what if they can prove -- they ask one guy for a drivers license and the next guy for a drivers license and you a utility bill and a cable bill and a passport... i mean, can you prove the case that way? >> well, they can try but have to show the college was intentionally trying to treat aliens differently than citizens and once they already knew they were illegally here and the colleges say we weren't sure they were illegally here but to back up, the lawsuit is a very narrow area of the law and it illustrates how outrageous the justice department's approach is, we have hundreds of thousands of employers, across the country, who are not following federal law, who are not demanding any documents. the federal law says when the person fills out their i-9 form and get a job, the employer has to ask for certain documents, hundreds of thousands of employers are not complying with the law and the obama administration, instead is going after the one employer in maricopa that is trying to comply with the law -- >> that is a good point, because we have heard from that administration and from the bush administration, also, when it comes to illegal immigration they were not cracking down on businesses anywhere in america to make sure they were not hiring illegals and why is washington doing this? they have it in for arizona? what do you think. >> i think so, look at the targets they've chosen, maricopa county and go after the state of arizona and the sheriff of maricopa county, who is under a civil rights investigation which uncovered nothing wrong that he has done in his enforcement of the law in arizona. you see they are piling on arizona, it is pretty clear to me, that the justice department has become so politicized and are so anti-arizona, that it is clouding their judgment and they are not making good judgments on the basis of whether the law is being violated, they are going after arizona. bill: we'll take the question to the department of justice and see how they respond to that. and another item here the customs enforcement memo uncovered a while back, apparently the memo came back a while back, uncovered recently and they -- the memo suggests that if you have an illegal who is married to a u.s. citizen, who has relatives, here's the memo on the screen now, who lived here in the u.s. legally, you should dismiss their cases, essentially that is the argument and go after the more dangerous illegals. if that is the case, what they appear to be doing is to allocate the resources in a way where they would crack down on the offenders, and allow those who are living by the law to go ahead and -- >> it is crazy. bill: not be taken into custody and i think on the surface it sounds practical. do you see how that -- >> on the surface -- on the surface it sounds like, hey we are allocating resources. but, what they are really doing is they are taking cases that have already been brought and cases already in the immigration court and dropping the cases, cases where the taxpayers, we've invested millions of dollars, apprehending the aliens and getting the cases started and beginning the removal process and now the obama administration -- department of homeland security is dropping the case, dropping them cold and saying -- >> why that is happening, do you think, chris? >> because they are sending a clear message that the only aliens they are interested in deporting -- and they've said this in multiple ways and forms are illegal aliens who committed additional crimes beyond their immigration crimes and say to the world, you violate our immigration laws, we don't care and we'll drop the case against you and we will not deport you, and this is the unmistakable message and they've started dismissing cases in the houston area, in a way it is kind of like a de facto amnesty and we say we will not -- they say we will not enforce the law against you, and -- >> and, they'd argue we have to go to the most dangerous, and allocate our resources in that way. >> you can go to both, they can do both and the federal government has been doing both. bill: chris, thanks for coming in, he wrote the law in arizona and running for secretary of state in the state of kansas, thanks, chris. >> my pleasure. martha: the developer behind the mosque near ground zero is starting to speak out, talking about his vision for an islamic center that could bridge the gap, he believes among all faiths, is that the solution and what we are learning about his background. bill: and tracking hurricane earl, a story every day this week, making a beeline towards the east coast with a slight wobble here and there. making a huge difference for billions, millions of americans. bill: here we go, a fox news weather alert, category-4, earl, a strong storm, maybe just a -- maybe a deadly hurricane, in the -- and forecastest warning, it is heading dangerously close to the east coast, and a bit later in the week, people warned to get ready for the worst from north carolina all the way up to the state of maine and live team fox coverage throughout the hour as we track earl, it is could be tens of millions of folks, affected by that storm. martha: president obama departing the white house just moments ago, and is headed to fort bliss, texas and he'll meet with troops who have already served in iraq, and this as president obama gets ready for a big speech tonight, a primetime speech that will mark the formal end of the u.s. combat mission in iraq, and meanwhile, the troop draw down comes to a close and the u.s. is leaving behind a special task force in the northern city of kirkuk, part of the region with strong ethnic and sectarian and political tensions in that area, and let's go to dominic denatali, streaming live from kirkuk today, with more on what we can expect. dominic. >> martha, here we are in the capital of kirkuk and it's not just a case of sectarian tensions, nor, terrorism, but ethnic tensions here, and, which help create a volatile amount of tension we have here and general odierno, the out going general, in iraq, says it is the biggest long term threat to stability in i think and let's talk to one of the iraqi security forces, leaders here, we have the deputy police commissioner, of kirkuk, general sirhan, thank you very much for joining us, and you are concerned about the american withdrawal and actually don't want the american troops to leave. due to concerns about the stability. why is that, major-general. >> first of all, i want to say that... [inaudible] especially for the army... [inaudible]... logistics and the training and especially the technology they have, we have very small provisions, this time. what we have... [inaudible] for to us make our mission and to make our... >> thank you very much for that and thank you very much, and, we do know, that you need the ongoing assistance of the u.s. forces going forward, and, martha, we understand, here in the north, many of the commanders, the iraqi security force commanders are -- and now, the question is whether or not the u.n. peacekeepers should step in and, they say they would rather have the u.s., because they know the whole story, back to you. martha: dominic, thank you very much and remember, here at home you can tune in tonight for our special coverage of president obama's oval office address, marking the end of the u.s. combat mission in iraq and the coverage will get underway at 8:00 p.m. eastern, and it is anchored by bret baier, and only on the fox news channel. bill: a struggle it has been in the country, huh? and is -- it's not over and they have to figure out their way forward, and, that is kind of a film with a blank answer at this point. martha: and we've heard a lot, with that said, military officials from iraq, said, just then, people are concerned about us leaving and concerned about the civilians in that country and you wonder who is hovering over the border waiting to make their move, an interesting situation, we hear a lot about it -- we'll hear about it tonight from the president. bill: you heard it, the first time in one polling company's history, republicans are gaining in a column that is without precedent. we'll show you the numbers and debate what democrats need to do to counter that, in a moment. martha: and he's this youngee y racer to die at indianapolis motor speedway, at 13 should he have been behind the wheel and should an adult make that call, this is a very controversial issue, and, all centers around the tragic loss of this little boy and we'll talk about it, coming up. "4 million drivers switched!" gecko water bottle... notebook... chamois... gecko: sir, i feel a little bit uncomfortable with all... you know... with all this. i mean, it's not about me. should be about how geico's the third-largest car insurance company in the nation. things like that. boss: oh, of course! we're not gonna get carried away. gecko: uh...yeah... all right as long as we don't overdo it. vo: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. so you think your kids are getting enough vegetables? yeah, maybe not. v8 v-fusion juice gives them a full serving of vegetables plus a full serving of fruit. but it just tastes like fruit. v8. what's your number? martha: new polls out this morning show republicans have taken an unprecedented lead, this is a gallup -- gallup poll, as we head into election season. take a look at the tracking poll from gal up, 51 percent of americans say they will vote for a republican candidate in the upcoming mid terms this fall, 41 percent say they would choose a democratic candidate, that 10 percent gap is actually the largest that we've seen in gal up's history. which is very interesting. mary katharine is with us, of standard & poor's, and fox contributor and kirsten powers, also a fox news analyst. ladies and gentlemens, nice to you have here. let me get your reaction to the number, a big gap in the gal beyond poll. >> it's unprecedented and all the times they've been polling this this has never happened before. it runs ahead of the lead in the generic ballot that republicans had in '94 before the big wave. i think that's important. what we should stipulate is there is no generic gop candidate. in certain races certain ones will be stronger and certain ones will be weaker, it's no guaranty, but it's indicate thank it's bad for democrats, just not how bad they are. martha: when you look at the poll you can see the flipflop and this dramatic gap and there's a great piece by jake poss at real clear politics and he claims and i want to get your thoughts on this, kirsten, he says this really does go back to health care, thedon't want to accept this, as sort of overarching theme of what he writes about but says it goes back to last summer and when you look at it, the g on that -- gop surge began then and gdp was up 5 percent and the economy was improving but the unhappiness goes right back to health care. >> yeah, i don't really agree with that, because i think even if you can look at the numbers and say the economy was improving, i don't think atthy point really since obama has been president americans have felt that the economy has been improving in any really measurable way. for the most part, people are really struggling, they're really feeling the anxiety of not having jobs, of just the general generic -- general economic anxiety and as long as the unemployment rate is high, people are going to be unhe. i just -- i really, at the bottom line, it is unless the economy turns around before the mid-term elections which i think is very unlikely and again, turns around in a way that people feel it, not the way that economists think about it, then democrats are in trouble. martha: you can look back and ask yourself if democrats could have changed tact, if they had changed things that would have improved their chances and go back to the new jersey race that could have changed things as well. a lot of people say the house is going to go republican, that seems to be the prevailing wisdom. whether or not it's true, we don't know. but he's saying take a look at the senate, where they only need ten seats, mary katharine, he says in eight seats across the country, republicans are ahead, illinois is in a tie, nevada has harry reid by one point and he says boxer, blumenthal and gillebrand hover around 1 percent and think it's likely the republicans will take the senate has well. what do you stph-pbg. >> i'm not as good a prognosticator as mr. morris is. a lot of things would have to go in republicans' direction on election night, almost all of them in order to flip the senate. it's possible, it's problematic for democrats that's in play, we're talking about boxer being in trouble, about west virginia being in single digits. it's a conservative state but they generally don't elect republican senators. we're talking about connecticut, where blumenthal was supposed to be a sure thing. a lot of things would have to go right, though, for it to flip the senate. martha: what's the one thing to do to switch this picture or alter it or witch is it the democrats' direction in the next few months, is there anything they could say or the president could say that makes people say you know what, they're changing their tune? >> i don't think so. it's the economy. we have to also remember that typically, historically, the president will lose seats during the first mid-term election so that was already baked into this, that was already going to happen, then you add in the fact that the economy is not going well. unless obama can convince people that look, yes, the economy hasn't turned around as much as we hoped it would but we're on the right track, don't go back to what we had before because then that's going to undo all of the stuff that we've done. now, i think he's tried to make that case and i don't think he's been able to do it. if somehow he could make that case, then yes, he could turn things around but i just don't see that happening. martha: we know a couple of months can be a lifetime in politics, a lot could happen between now and then, so we'll watch it with great interest and your help, ladies and gentlemens. kirsten, mary katharine, thank you. >> thank you. bill: after labor day, it's going to take off like a rocket on this mid-term election. it's a week from today! martha: when you look at the course of history on these things, so many events can happen that can really change the ballgame, so it's one to watch. bill: you mentioned health care. there's new polling, new numbers out on health care showing 45 percent of americans oppose the law. that's a seven-point drop in support from only one month ago. and the kaiser family foundation poll, 42 percent of respondents approve, 45 percent against that. this is consumer friendly provisions of the law. we're set to -- they're set to kick in next month, which include a new ban on lifetime caps on insurance coverage. those numbers just fresh this morning. martha: this poll comes out and health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius says democrats have more work to do in reeducating the public. she says there is misinformation due to the mid-term political season. she says she's especially concerned about the opposition among senior citizens, saying about 1 million have received medicare rebate checks but continue to oppose the new law. i think a lot of them are nervous about how things might change for them and they are concerned. bill we mentioned earl. we're going to keep a track on earl. you'll see the latest radar swirling in the corner of your screen. throughout the program today, and also throughout the week. janice dean is top of the hour, she's going to tell us the latest numbers that she's getting from the national hurricane center. in the meantime, a surprise eruption from a volcano that's been dormant for 400 years, just sitting there, until now, and that could impact travel plans this labor day weekend? whoa! martha: plus outrage in arizona. you know what? ra lot of other places. we're getting a ton of e-mail from viewers on this question. the u.s. state department, accusing the grand canyon state of human rights violations in a report to the united nations. we're going to talk to c.j. crowley, spokesperson for the state department, we're going to ask him why hillary clinton is defending this position to put the arizona law before the u.n. rights commission -- human rights commission. we want to know what you think, look at foxnews.com, keep it coming, we've been hearing from you a lot, and we appreciate it. we'll be right back. martha: a somewhat surprise volcanic eruption could hurt your travel plans, in indonesia, this was reported a couple of days ago, this blast is spewing ash and smoke more than a mile high. indonesian disaster mountain has set down domestic flights, they've evacuated 30,000 people in this situation. it last erupted, get this, in 1600! more than 400 years ago. and you all remember last april, a similar situation when a volcano in iceland erupted and caused major flight issues all across the northeast in europe. we'll see if we're in for any similar delays in this one from indonesia. >> will president obama credit president bush tonight in his speech for the success in iraq? bill: again, gretchen, i think you've asked me this question twice and i've given you -- >> no, this is the first time i've asked you the question, will president obama thank president bush tonight? >> i have a hard time -- >> for the surge? >> no, that is now the fourth time. >> well, you haven't answered it. no -- will he credit president bush tonight for the success of the surge? >> that's number five. bill: we'll find out later tonight what the answer is there, robert gibbs earlier today with gretchen on fox p* friends. later tonight a major speech on iraq. arizona senator john mccain, a long supporter of the surge, slamming the president and his administration today saying the president has shown no understanding that the surge that president bush ordered back in 2006 did improve conditions on the ground and led to the ability to withdraw troops today. mccain cites the policy was sabotaged by democrats in congress, including senators barack obama, joe biden and hillary clinton, all of whom called for the withdraw of u.s. forces regardless of the conditions or consequences. it would be nice if president obama could finally find it in himself to give his predecessor the credit he deserves. part of operation iraqi freedom, spider, welcome back here. >> good morning, bill, how you doing? >> bill: i'm doing fine. i think the thing that we all have to keep in mind during this speech later tonight is after such a bruising war, the battle is not over, because the iraqis literally have to finish the job now. isn't that the point? >> bill, absolutely. it's not over. my son-in-law just redeployed to iraq for his second tour, he'll be there for another year. it's clearly not over, and it remains very personal. the iraqis have a lot of building to continue to do in terms of not just the military force, but i would say fundamentally in terms of all forms of governance and how they have delivered goods and services, how they interact with their neighbor, et cetera, and they've got some very tough neighbor, obviously. we've seen a war by proxy down in the southeast in iraq for quite some time, led my region, so there's a lot of work that needs to be done. it's not over. bill: with regard to your family member, and the 50,000 other u.s. forces who are still there, they're there to keep the peace, because the -- that issue has not been settled in the north and this issue you have in the southeast, involving iran, is still out there. >> absolutely, bill. this is -- and my concern is when you say it's over but you don't put up a mission accomplished sign is that america's attention, albeit fleeting anyway, is going to be increasingly diverted to something else. look, this is still very, very personal. we're going to be there for quite some time. i would not hazard a guess. but i think our experience, both in europe and in the far east and korea, we should take a hard look at. we know how to do coalition warfare, we know how to do stability operations, we know how to do advise and assist-type missions. this is going to require the u.s.' focus for quite some time. bill: i mentioned this issue about thanking the previous president. will that happen tonight? i wasn't sure from gibbs' response if that would be the case or if he didn't know, or if it just simply would not happen, the focus would be on the military men and women who have served. >> well, bill, from my perspective, i could get off the grid and go sideways quickly if you asked me more political questions. that's not why you engaged me in this conversation this morning. i frankly don't know. certainly it would be the right thing to do. president bush understood this, he took advice from his military leaders, and we achieved the success where we are right now. clearly, there's a measured success and there's a heck of a lot of work that needs to be done. but i think the focus should be on the young men and women and our leaders who have managed to deliver us to this point, in southwest asia, specifically in iraq, where we're enjoying this -- frankly, enjoying to see this rebirth and maturation of this country called iraq. bill: you make a great point and we'll conclude on that. it's not just about iraq. it's about the united states being a global leader. and it says a lot about our future in that part of the world with regard to iran and afghanistan and whether or not ultimately the decisions we made can pave a better future for tens of millions of people living there today. spider, thank you for your time out there in colorado today. we'll be watching tonight, i know you will as well, okay? check it out, prime time. also check out our website before this evening's big event, go to foxnews.com foxnews.com/aehq, mek's election head kwaerbgs and you'll find it interesting, up in the three challenges president obama faces in the speech tonight and tune in, 2:00 eastern time, anchored by bret baier out of washington, d.c. it's all prime time tonight. martha: looking forward to that, we'll have great coverage of that this evening. how about this, he speaks of a mission of peace and understanding and building bridges. new details are emerging about the path of a developer -- about the past of a developer behind the mosque in ground zero, the picture they paint is of a man we know very little about. we are learning more. bill: voters in alaska are waiting their turn, they cast ballots about a week ago. still no winner. we might see a 2010 version of the hanging chads! how about that. >> the division of elections is going to come out with a certified and accurate count at the end of the day. nine things that have gone on in the campaign or in the election count reflect that there has been attempts to perhaps skew results, but in the end of the day, we believe that the division of elections will have a certified count that really does reflect the will of the alaskan people. bill: news on the housing market just breaking right now. this is something we've been waiting on. we just found out in june, home prices in 17 major american cities rose. they rose 1 percent. i mean, it's something! but it's only 1 percent, and apparently, they're taking advantage, home buyers, of the tax credit you could get, $8000, that has since expired, and because it is now expired, economists and others who watch this sector of our economy expect prices to fall for the rest of the year now that the demand has faded. so they survey all these top cities, 20 different cities across the country, they found 17 jump about 1 percent. home prices nationally, up 4.8%. compared with the first quarter, you know, of this year, taking advantage of tax credit, but it's only temporary. it's very short-lived. about as long as that news alert we just did! , which was 18 seconds. martha: moving on here, let's get back to this issue for a moment, the little-known developer, not too many people knew who he was until recently, he's behind the islamic cultural center mosque behind ground zero, speaking out, detailing his vision of how he hopes this center will bring people together, but sharif al gamal and accusations that he brutalized tenants over a rent dispute are some of what is surfacing in his background. it's raising new questions. he said yeah, i've done bad things when i was younger but i've changed. lisa evers has this story for us: >> it matched the needs of my community. it matched the needs of my muslim brothers and sisters, my christian brothers and sisters, my jewish brothers and sisters, who live and work in lower manhattan. >> that's what sharif al gamal told cbs and of on -- 60 minutes about the ground zero mosque. he had an arrest record n. 1990 he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, in 1992, driving while intoxicated, 1993, petty larceny, in 1994, an arrest for patronize ago prostitute but he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, then in 1998 and 1999, two more disorderly conduct charges. he now says i regret many things i did in my youth, i have not always led a perfect life, my faith teaches me every day about humanility. court papers show in the fall, charges were dropped and later settled civilly, el-gamal paid $16,000 to a tenant who charged he punched him in the face and broke his nose and cheek bones while trying to collect rent. el-gamal told police i don't know how he got hurt, maybe he ran into the door or maybe the door hit him when we swung the door open, i didn't hit him, his face could have run into my hand and about his sudden appearance in the spotlight, el-gamal insists it never crossed his mind the location of the mosque would be so controversial. >> because i did not hold myself or my faith accountable for that tragedy martha: that's pretty interesting. the the nyw police reporting on that. bill: i guess he's taking no money from iran or hamas. we're following it. eric bolling is all over that with "money rocks". >> investigators are looking into a jet lining braking systems, trying to figure out how well they perform in the rain. this follows a scare last december in jamaica, pilots used maximum braking power but the boeing 737 slid off the runway. investigators do not believe there was a significant pool of water 2e9 -- at the time so, the fuselage ended up cracking in two places and dozens of people were hurt. trying to get answers on that for the flying public. martha: boy kwroeu boy, this is a huge story and it's a huge -- look at that hurricane, swirling over the virgin islands at this point. may be a stormy labor day, folks, for millions of americans all up and down the east coast. hurricane earl is the name of this baby. it is a category four, it is exiting the carribean. we're going to get a new update on this storm track. they can check out what is happening for your weekend coming up. bill: the tools at the mexican-u.s. border, the tools that be soon be deployed to protect us. martha: breaking developments this morning on the border battle, a political pressure cooker and what could become a storm, for the history books, right now, a third predator drone, start with the border issue, is headed south of the border. and, south to the border, i should say, tomorrow we'll see it for the first time ever, authorities will be able to patrol the entire stretch of land separating the u.s. from mexico, and, to the north, they are counting every... it could be a hanging chad situation, in the final front fear and the absentee ballots, in the dead heat for the republican senate nomination in alaska and in the, earl, this is a name you'll hear a lot of over the coming days, forecasts, that is how we start a jam-packed hour, a lot going on in "america's newsroom," i'm martha maccallum, we are glad you are here. bill: good morning, i'm bill m hemm hemmer, e stands for earl and it will be teasing the east coast of the u.s., every day, this week. martha: aha. martha: team fox coverage, janice dean is live in the fox weather center and first, steve harrigan feeling earl's full force, live on st. thomas in the u.s. virgin islands, steve? >> reporter: martha, you can look around and see some of what earl has left behind here, as it apieced over st. thomas, a lot of downed branches and trees, across the island. and, there are some houses with roots off and downed power lines and there is a curfew in effect, right now, no electricity, from much of the island and no cell phones, either, and i think what caught many people, especially, tourists, by surprise, here, was just how quickly the storm developed. i heard one man in the lobby of the hotel say when i get on my plane it was a tropical storm warning and he is faced with having to ride out a major hurricane and the storm went from a cat-2 to a category-4, and that is winds of over 135 miles per hour. and, the challenge now, for many people, stuck down here is how to get out before the next one comes, because fiona is brewing and, the same path and any airlines and airport and ships are closed down due to the storm. martha, back to you. martha: steve, thank you very much, look at that, 135 miles per hour, category-4 and you have hurricane warnings, that are now in effect, really from florida, through the carolinas, and, we are seeing it could impact all the way through the weekend, up the east coast, to maine. and, janice dean is live in the fox weather center and, janice, everybody is trying to figure out where this will hit us. >> right, i want folks to be prepared, okay? if you live from the outer banks to coastal maine, you want to know what your preparation plan is, and, you know, you will know it and if the storm doesn't reach you, that is great. but at least you'll have something in effect, because, we are days away from the storm, potentially, potentially making landfall, across the northeast coastline, and there is the storm and i want to make mention we don't have any hurricane warnings, just yet, but this time tomorrow we'll probably see hurricane watches posting -- posted along the east coast, and, keep that in mind and there is our storm right now and you can see the eye is dined kind o disappeared and is restructuring, an eye wall replacement cycle and the outer eye wall collapses and the inner eye wall takes over and happens with a major hurricane and is trying to reorganize and get strong, so this is a potentially dangerous scenario, to see this occurring, the eye wall replacement cycle, water temperatures, extremely warm, there is nothing in the way from the storm not to strengthen, perhaps further, closer to a category-5 storm and we haven't seen a cat-5 in the atlantic basin since 2007. and, it is possible with the storm, and, the tropical storm watches for bahamas an turks and caicos and there is the path, guys, 11:00, new advisory comes out, a complete advisory and with each advisory we fine-tune the forecast and you can see, we are still in that cone of uncertainty. along the coastline and, if this storm comes close to the west earn border, of the cone, we will be dealing with hurricane-force winds and life threatening storm surge and heavy rain up and down the northeast coast and i cannot stress it enough, you need to pay attention. martha: sure do, serious situation, and a monster hurricane, out there, right now, janice, thank you very much. we know, she'll be on this throughout the day and she said we'll get an update at 11:00, so you want to stick around for that and we'll get a new track on the storm. bill: from the east coast to the southwest border, beefing up security with the feds, now planning to have drones monitoring our entire southwestern border, starting tomorrow. coming at the first of 1200 national guard troops, deployed to the area. and is it enough to secure the border? the sheriff is back with us, sir, good morning to you, tomorrow, drones are in the air in texas. does that help? >> well, i can tell you a couple of drones and, literally what we are getting here in arizona, is 30 soldiers. right now. and, this falls far short from what we really need and the president and his administration, have been dragged, kicking and screaming, to this point, even, because they are saying, hey, everything is fine, and the border is secured, and, they are ignoring the threat, not just the public safety threat, but, literally, the national security threat, to america. when there is nearly a million people coming in through arizona, every year, and we don't even know who the majority of these people are, where they came from, and, where they are going. so, how can that not be a threat to our very security here in america, and a post 9/11 world. bill: and we talked about this in the past and those on the other side of the argument, they would debate that nothing would satisfy you. what would satisfy you? what would get the job done? >> how about the fact that i served in iraq, in our nation's military, and, we have had 150,000 soldiers there, and we have spent 775 billion with a "b" dollars over 4,000 american lives, and we can defeat foreign armies and stabilize countries, liberate countries and yet, we are saying, this president says nothing will satisfy us? that is damn straight, because this is america, this is or country and we can't even secure our international border. and, i had a dispute, two deputies in a shootout, just two weeks ago, and this president has been on five vacations this year, and we can't go on a vacation, promise that in arizona. that he should come here and see, pack up the first family, come here on his sixth vacation and walk in the very area that this government put up signs, in my county, warning our citizens, american citizens, to stay out, and this is not acceptable for america. bill: just to be clear, i wasn't taking those words from president obama. i was paraphrasing some on the other side who have disagreed with your position. that is an aside and i think you want 3,000 soldiers on the border. >> we do. bill: but you think politics are at play here. >> they are and here, literally, shouldn't... it shouldn't surprise people that this administration is looking at this politically and we are only getting 500 soldiers in arizona, and when we need 3,000, armed soldiers, to properly secure the border. we know what it takes, we have done it in yuma and we can do it here and i refuse to accept this throwing up the arms and -- in defeat, attitude we can't achieve it. it is because, by design, they don't want to achieve it. they want to provide amnesty to these folks. bill: sheriff, thanks for your time. we'll watch it. drones in the air tomorrow in texas, from arizona, thank you, new fallout in the fight over the immigration law in arizona, jan brewer outraged in a state department report to the u.n. in it, the feds include the legal challenge to arizona's immigration law. as a way the u.s. government is predicting human rights and the governor calls that down right offensive and moments from now we'll talk to a state department spokesman, p. j. crowley about the governor's comments and why it is the case. martha? martha: we're getting a lot of e-mail on that issue, already, we'll bring some of those up with p. j. crowley and in the meantime, the president is heading to fort bliss, texas where he'll personally meet with the troops. and this as the president prepared for his address to the nation tonight from the oval office which marks the official end to the combat mission, in iraq. alicia acuna is live at fort bliss in el paso, texas and what will we hear tonight from the president and, what about the visit to fort bliss, this afternoon? >> reporter: hi, martha. yes. we will hear from the president, while he is here at fort bliss and this is strictly a meeting between the president and the men and women who are stationed here at fort bliss and he wants to thank them personally for the work they did in iraq and this is before he heads back to washington to prepare for his oval office address to the nation and senior white house officials say tonight the president will announce the official end of the united states combat mission in iraq, and, explain the advise and assist diplomatic task for the 50,000 troops still serving and this morning on "fox & friends" robert gibbs explained as much and also, making reference to former president bush's may 2003 "mission accomplished" speech, tonight's speech, this is not a victory lap. >> you will not see any mission accomplished banners that will be unfurled and you will not hear the president say the words "mission accomplished." we understand violence will still continue and we understand we have troops there, and -- but, it is important to transition our role out of iraq and put the iraqis in control and make sure the iraqis are responsible for the decisions that have to govern that country. >> the president is also expected to acknowledge the 4400 men and women who paid the ultimate price in iraq, including the 51 soldiers who were based here at fort bliss, mart martha. martha: alicia acuna, they say. you can watch the president's oval office address on fox news channel, coverage begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern and will be anchored by our own bret baier and lots of analysis, coming up tonight on the fox news channel. bill: you got it. meanwhile, world out of texas, the governor rick perry asked to meet the president during the visit to texas, today and the request, apparently, denied. and an aide to the republican governor saying he wanted to talk about border security with mr. obama, and, the aide said the white house told the governor's office the president was not available for such a meeting and no comment from the white house, thus far. martha: all right, we are following new developments this morning in the arrest of two men who may have been trying to pull avenue a dry run for a potential terrorist attack and up next a former cia agent and three major u.s. cities where investigators are now focusing this investigation. bill: also, there is fierce opposition to a mosque in the central part of america. now, the investigation into a fire at a construction site, that was expected to expand the mosque, 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[ shapiro ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. bill: work has begun in chile on the escape route that will eventually bring the trapped miners to the surface and they are waiting patiently. a massive drill has made a preliminary test hole and while they wait it out, the trapped miners have work to do, they have to clear the rock that falls as the escape roll is drilled, and that entire prospected to take months. and they wait. martha: state department is standing by its decision to in cl clue the arizona -- include the arizona immigration bill, the human rights -- the report about the u.s. will be sent to the u.n. human rights council and arizona governor jan brewer condemned the report, in a scathing letter to secretary of state hillary clinton and the governor called the report down right offensive and here she is with greta last night, take a look. >> simply put it is down right offensive, those are your words, what is down right offensive? >> well, it is absolutely... nationalism gone amok. we are really offended, greta. that the obama administration, the secretary -- clinton would take a dual enacted law, senate bill 1070, send it to the human rights council at the united nations, and we believe... they owe us an apology and certainly want them to remove it from their report. martha: p. j. crowley is the spokesman for the state department and welcome and good to have you here as always and what is your response to governor brewer, she wants you to take this out of that report to the u.n., and, she thinks it is offensive and she says it's a duly enacted arizona law. >> first establish the facts. we have a 30-page report, called the universal periodic review, and we have submitted it to the human rights council of the u.n., and, we're talking about paragraph 95, it has 3 sentences. it says, the issue of the arizona law is a matter of public debate, in this country, and it is undergoing judicial review, and the case is ongoing. and, now i have confidence that you read the report, martha and in it, it shows, demonstrates we have unparalleled freedoms in this country and the report basically says that our human rights record in the u.s., is second to none. and, that said, what we have done is we have had a process, we engage civil society, around the country, and, we listen to them, they told us the things that were of concern to them around the country, and we duly recorded our public concerns in this report. and, this is a model of what we wanted to have other countries around the world. martha: i understand. >> the kind of process they want, we want them to achieve so we advance human rights around the world. martha: but it raises the question, why is it necessary to include a reference to that law, and that was duly enacted by the legislature in arizona and it is going through a process and everybody understands that but what i am hearing from a lot of our viewers out there is if they find this act on the part of the administration, so discouraging, and, that we would want to bring this forward to the u.n., where there are so many egregious human rights violations around the world, that are being considered, by the human rights council, that if they take seriously their mission, they should be focusing on things like floggings, and accusations of saudi arabia that they wanted to paralyze a man as punishment, they see this as so far out of the realm of having to be included in any discussion that handles things that are so egregious and offensive assest and upsetting as those. >> we have to lead from example and i'll draw from senator john mccain, in a different context and he said about torture, a few years ago, he said it's not about them, it is about us and we have put together a process where we engage our own people, and we address the issues that are of concern to them. and we wanted to see that happen in other countries. and we -- we have a national and international debate, about flogging, about trials, you know, where we don't have a jury of their peers, and this is exactly the kind of debate that we wanted to have in this world. martha: understood. >> and when we have the debate. martha: understood. >> we end up winning, so i don't know what we are -- >> i hear your argument and we need to be a model for the world and the u.s. has to hold itself to a totally different associate standards than countries that allow -- >> martha, you are wrong, we are holding ourselves to the same standards that we expect other countries to -- every country, every country that is a member of the u.n. is going through the same process, and we have shown them the best way we think to accomplish this. martha: i think as americans we hold ourselves to an even higher standard, and, that in this country, we would never put ourselves in the same category with people who allow flogging, stoning, cutting off of people's noses and the kinds of things many people think the human rights commission should be focusing their energies on and let me make the point, p. j., in arizona, and in the country, there are about 60% of the people who feel that the law is just about right, or that some believe, 14% say it has to go further and they see the fact that it is raised in this context, and, try to -- the fact that it is raised in this context with the human rights council as offensive to their beliefs and they also wanted to know, why the administration is not doing more to protect the human rights in their states, of people who are being, you know, hurt, and offended by those who are crossing the border. i know there's a lot in there. give me your thoughts. >> the answer is quite simple. we actually are dealing with the issue, true to our faith, our values and our laws. and what we are saying in this report is that there is an issue of controversy in the u.s. and, it will be settled through a vigorous public debate and will be settled under the rule of law and that is actually what we are doing in this country and there are people who have views on all sides of the argument, and, this is exactly what we are trayi trying to tell the rest of the world. we have an issue of concern anywhere in the world and you resolve it through a vigorous public debate and resolve it under the rule of law. martha: then, the whole issue in arizona according to the administration, is a states right versus federal rights issue, in what has been brought by the justice department, there is no mention of human rights violations, civil rights violation, they say, no we will not go down the road and it is about states and federal rights and why would that be included in a u.n. human rights council letter? >> well, again, leadership by example. there is -- you are exactly right. there is a states right issue here and we will resolve it, between the federal government and the states, and we are seeing the same issue in a place like iraq where you have issues regarding what will the powers of the federal government be in iraq and what will the powers of the provinces be -- >> not sure what that has to do with the human rights -- >> we are leading by example and demonstrating to countries around the world we'll keep ourselves to the same standard we expect to keep them to, i hear what you are saying and i can tell you a lot of people are discouraged is the word i would use. thank you very much, p. j. crowley, good to talk to you, today, thank you, sir. bill: interesting debate, 21 minutes past the hour and a race down to the wire there, counting ballots by hand in alaska, we'll take you live to anchorage and see who is on top today. activia has delicious news for dessert lovers. often, the best part of a meal is the dessert. but sometimes after a busy day and a heavy greasy dinner... my system needs some tlc. now there's something new. 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incidents and witness believe other vehicles were targeted. >> i felt so sorry for the people that are just trying to build a place to go. >> it's not a hard thing to do, accept each other for who we are and let it be. >> reporter: the group gathers by candlelight outside the courthouse, calling for nonviolence. >> you don't know anything... >> reporter: but even the vent was attended by people who don't want the mosque. the spokesperson for the islamic center tells us they are frightened by an event like this. >> those who give us support, it shows what a great place murpheesburough is. >> reporter: they are not calling it a hate crime or terrorism, she believes it is clear. >> i believe it is a hate crime and whether it has to do with religion or someone being hateful i feel personally that ills a hate crime. >> reporter: the tensions are certainly high in murpheesburough but leaders on both sides of the mosque controversy tell fox 17 news violence has no place in the debate. bill: john dunn reporting there, thanks to him for that and one opponent of the mosque says that she received threats. martha? martha: there is drama in the last frontier state, accusations flying in the nail-biter of a g.o.p. senate primary, folks, the counting of absentee ballots is going on today, with the race, when we will know, how long... bill: i don't know, from here to anchorage, right and we are watching the developments and the arrest of two men who may have been trying to pull off a dry run for a potential terrorist attack. was it a simple misunderstanding or something far more sinister? >> any time anybody has cell phones taped to bottles, and triggering devices like digital watches it sounds per se like something you would want to know about. ♪ ♪ what the people need ♪ is a way to make 'em smile ♪ it ain't so hard to do if you know how ♪ [ female announcer ] fall for the ozarks in branson, missouri! music and nature in peect harmony! fabulous shows! shopping! lakes! outdoor 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. martha: "fox news alert," for you, counting the final ballots in the fight in the g.o.p. senate nomination, alaska, this one is a squeaker and lisa murkowski against sarah palin backed challenger joe miller, 1600 votes, between them. and accusations of campaign irregularities are now flying in recent days and last night, and mr. miller went on the record, to discuss it. >> we are confident the division of elections is going to come up with a certified and accurate counts at the end of the day, and, the things that have gone on in the campaign or in the election count, reflect that there has been attempts to perhaps skew results, but at the end of the day we believe that the division of elections will have a certified count, that really does reflect the will of the alaskan people. martha: all right. that is what he said and dan springer is streaming live from anchorage, alaska and how many days will it take to count the ballots and when will we know the winner? >> oh, we'd like to know that answer, but, you know, today they expect to get through about 15,000 of the 25,000 challenge ballots and absentee ballots left to be counted and we still may have 10,000 to go and you know we have another count to be released on friday, and they are saying it could be until september 8th, though, before they have the final tally and we should be a lot closer to knowing the winner after that and we'll have add a lot of absentee ballots to the mix and joe miller is hanging onto a 1668 vote lead and if he extends the lead it will be tough for lisa murkowski to overcome that. martha: a nail-biter and the murkowski campaign is accused of fraud, really. what is being alleged against them? >> reporter: well, specifically, sarah palin's personal attorney, and he's now working for joe miller, he filed a complaint, formal complaint yesterday with the attorney general, and the lieutenant governor here, alleging that murkowski had a campaign observer, inside of and elections office, with a backpack and a cell phone he was testing from that phone, information out to people, outside. and, the most scurrilous allegation is that he got onto a department of elections computer and, may have tried to skew the results of the election. now, the elections director in alaska said he absolutely could not have access to the vote totals and couldn't do anything to change the vote compilation, if you will, and, that doesn't mean that he didn't do something else, when he was on some sort of a computer inside of this elections office, last friday. martha: something to look into, dan spring, thank you very much, from anchorage, alaska and we'll hear more from joe miller and he'll be on "america live" with megyn kelly during the 1:00 p.m. show and, pluses fox news will effort reaction from the murkowski camp as well and all of that to look forward to on the news channel, today, bill. bill: what do you think, let's go back to tallahassee. investigators say it may have been a dry run for a catastrophic terror attack, two men now under arrest in amsterdam, this morning, pulled off a commercial flight after a shocking discovery, reports say a cell phone taped to a pepto bismol bottle was found in their checked luggage along with a knife and box cutters and they arrived in the netherlands on board the united airlines flight out of chicago and originally they were expected to fly to washington, d.c. and then, continue their travel, and both men, though, after they met up in chicago, changed their flights to go direct from chicago, all the way to amsterdam. it was in amsterdam where the luggage was discovered and turned over to authorities and they have been arrested and there are multiple questions about what they were up to, it is a bit of a mystery and peter brooks is here to answer that, a former cia officer and senior fellow at the heritage foundation. what is your theory. >> i think it was a practice run for a terrorist attack and think about it, bill, these guys get on planes at different places, memphis, birmingham, go to chicago and luggage goes to dulles and they take off for amsterdam and while they are flying to amsterdam the plane explodes in the sky between chicago and washington, d.c. there is no doubt in my mind it was a practice run and they were probing our defenses and seeing how good we were and -- >> and stop right there, peter, this is a major violation of what we are all about now. because, you are not allowed to be on a plane unless your luggage is verified. i mean, the luggage should never be in the care -- undercarriage of the plane, if you are not on board, right? that is rule number one. >> that's right. that's right. there's a bunch of problems here and they actually -- actually may put something in there that would look -- what their bomb intended to be looked like, and they wanted to see if the screeners were paying attention when they passed it through and put it into the cargo hold of the aircraft and they took off for another destinations and the other question here is, bill, what group is this? al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, anwar al-awlaki, the yemeni cleric and i think it could have been a terrible tragedy if it had been a real terrorist attack. bill: peter, just crossing the wires, right now, the u.s. government is now saying that the fbi is -- looked at this case and these men and they say there is no trial run. for any future terrorist attack. just crossing the wires, right now, would you fight back on that? >> i would at this point. i mean, obviously they have access to information that i don't have access to, bill, but, right now, i don't know why you would ever attach a cell phone to a pepto bismol bottle or a watch to a -- an empty shampoo bottle, do you, if it walks an quacks like a duck it is probably a duck and in my mind that happened here and i'm certainly open to what the fbi has that you and i don't have access to. bill: crossing the wires now, the story, man, got our attention and something we want to figure out as i know you do as well. maybe they were testing the system, maybe it's not nearly as nefarious as we think but it's an answer we need today. i'll give you the last word as we tray and get more news out of washington. >> absolutely. >> absolutely, bill, complacency is a terrible thing and i think we are in the cross-hairs, look at detroit and fort hood last year and the problems in yemen and complacency is the biggest challenge as the terrorists themselves. bill: peter, thank you. peter brookes with us today, 22 minutes before the hour, more news on that when it breaks here on "america's newsroom." martha, what is next. martha: deadly drug violence turning parts of northern mexico into a war zone. but, today, the mexican government is claiming a major victory in the battle against violence. bill: also, 13-year-old boy killed while racing his motorcycle, the indianapolis motor speedway, now growing continued various on whether or not he's too young to be riding. in a moment, we'll speak with the doctor who says there is one thing parents need to ask themselves, before allowing their children to take part in extreme sports, minutes away. >> the second rider, he hit him from behind and his bike flew up five feet in this ae air and la 25, 30 feet beyond him. at purina one, we want your dog to be as heahy as possible. so, we set out to discover the science in some of nature's best ingredients. we created purina one with smartblend. new, delicious shredded morsels and crunchy bites, wi real meat, wholesome grains and antioxidants, for strong muscles, vil energy, a healthy immune system, and a real difference in your dog. purina one improved with smartblend. discover what one can do. bill: i want to follow-up on the "fox news alert," trying to figure out why these men were arrested in amsterdam, you heard our conversation with peter brookes, officials are telling "the associated press" in washington. the it is unlikely they were on a test run for a future terror attack, the two men arrested in amsterdam did not know one another and were not traveling together and they both boarded the flight in chicago and apparently they missed their connecting flights, and to dulles international, outside of washington, and, the united airlines booked them on the same flight to amsterdam and they were sitting close to each other on the flight but customs officials are now saying they discovered one passenger was not on the flight from dulles to dubai, and that is when they called that plane back to the gate and took his luggage off the plane, which is what you are supposed to do. it was then they discovered suspicious items in his bags. and -- bag, rather and what was there, the suspicious items, the pept - bismol taped to a cell phone and a contraption, cell phones tied together and that is where the mystery lies as to what was in his luggage and apparently authorities in washington are now saying there was no dry run for the terror story. we are on that as we get more breaking news from our own folks in washington, in a moment here, martha. >> let me tell you, this is a story many of you have been e-mailing us about and now, critics are questioning whether the tragic death of 13-year-old peter lenz could have been avoided if he was never permitted to race his motorcycle at the indianapolis motor speedway, and wxin's jean cox reports on the story out of indianapolis. >> reporter: the news images made public show emergency crews working to bring 13-year-old peter lenz back to life and many parents in the stands and thousands on internet web sites question if 13 is too young to ride competitively on a machine that reaches over s00 miles per hour. >> we are working with the officials throughout the last 24 hours... >> reporter: the day after the crash officials in the indianapolis motor speedway continue to pledge whatever resources are necessary to determine what caused him to fall off his motorcycle and be run over by a foam competitor on a warm-up lap. >> unfortunately, i think the other rider, did not see peter, until it was too late to take evasive action. >> and this is the cr-85 hon do. >> reporter: his granddaughter is 13 and she's a motorcycle racer. >> she tried swimming and, kind this. >> reporter: an arguably, much safer, she and her family decided competing on the cycle is fun and rewarding enough, to stick with it. >> she has gotten bruises and bangs and stuff and, she was on krc crutches a couple days. >> reporter: the grandfather, raced as a professional in 197 so. >> i have been around it all of my life and had a couple of friends who were killed racing and it's not you know -- it is very unusual, for it to happen but it does happen. >> reporter: he says he has yet to discuss the peter lenz tragedy with his granddaughter but he says it will be on their minds but will not change their minds about the sport. martha: the grand prix racers union plans to review the rules and safety requirements of this and i'm joined by dr. robin silverman, a child an adolescent specialist, good to have you with us. we have received so much e-mail and the majority of it says this boy was doing what he loved and his family made a decision based on his maturity an skill level and how he wanted to spend his life, his life was cut way too short. but, is it anybody else's business, if the family decides that this is what they'll do. >> well, parents do need to be the ones who decide, that is what needs to happen and the sport needs to regulate as far as safety and making sure that everything is spelled out as far as risks are concerned. but, at the end of the day the parents need to set the boundaries and educate their child about the pros and cons and what it is they are going to be doing as far as safety is concerned and they need to understand the experience, and the confidence of that child, and, the emotional development of that child, and, set goals and parameters, for them in value. martha: you know, one of the most important things, some of the e-mails talk about the risk of football and downhill skiing, certainly, in every sport any child under takes, there is an element of risk. and, i think that one of the big questions is, whether the child is doing it because it is what the child loves and wants to do or whether the parents are, you know, pushing the child to do something that is a success they want to see for them and i'm not suggesting the lenz family and every indication is that the young boy absolutely loved what he was doing. but, what about the other dynamic? >> well, right, we want to be sure the child is not living for the parents. and, we wanted to be sure the child is doing it for the right reasons. is it because of popularity? is it because of peer pressure, trying to impress somebody, looking for the rush or is it because they truly love it, and only a parent and that family can really effect that. martha: i remember listening to lindsey vonn the other day and he said how important it is to love it and the downhill racer takes their lives in their hands every time they go down the slope and in our society, we are pushing kids to achieve the goals younger and younger and younger. >> and we have teens that say i need to top that and that is the natural thing a teen would want to do and it looks cool, what can i do to beat the record and we need to be sure we regulate that, boundaries, with confidence building among teens. martha: you have, you know, the position of doing what you love, and living your life the way you want to live it and families, and, i think that everybody understands, you take into account a certain amount of risk. do you see anything detrimental to these kids, in this specific sport being allowed to do this at this age. >> here's the problem with this type of sport. once you are doing it you are in it and once you are riding and mid-air and going at warp speed that is what you are doing. it is not like you can say, you know, i don't feel comfortable or safe now and there needs to be a different assessment when it comes to this kind of sport. martha: all right, i want to thank everybody who send sent in their thoughts and our thoughts and prayers are with the lenz family and the little boy's family who was involved in the accident as well, the impact on them is difficult to be sure. thank you so much, good to have you here today. bill: a great guest, too, thanks, in a moment, hurricane earl, quickly moving toward the u.s., where is he going to hit? janice dean says a small wobble in the path might make a difference between a glancing blow and a life-threatening hurricane. the latest on earl, the advisory is out, in moments, you'll hear it first, after this. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. we're a fan of simple ingredients. so we seeded that into something much bigger. the home farming movement. ♪ join us at triscuit.com/homefarming. bill: we now that he have investigation in to possible criminal charges after a bengal tiger and monkey escape and loose at a florida zoo and diane fernandez, our affiliate, wsvn reports on what might have happened there. >> a little bit bigger, jumped over and hopped over again and walked out. >> reporter: two days after the escape of this prime mace, sets off a chain reaction, complete with a high-flying 700 pound tiger. >> we were extremely scared. >> and rushing everybody doubt. >> reporter: jungle island's curator. >> so unexpected, we're trying to figure out how he got over the top. >> reporter: and fish and wildlife investigators... >> a bizarre situation. >> reporter: can't explain how a tiger this size could even escape. according to junkal island personnel the tiger clearly had a running start and took two giant steps and jumped and, he hit the fence, and stunning himself and everyone watching. >> and, on the radio, we got the people, immediate people to safety. >> reporter: but the fact it did, triggering an investigation that will likely result in criminal charges against the park's owner and hundreds of dollars in fines. >> the fact is an animal escaped, and, therefore, somebody needs to be held responsible. >> reporter: it could also spark a statewide revision, of fencing requirements for carnivores like tigers and the 10 foot requirement is exceeded by jungle island but the 12 foot fence and two foot overhang, not, enough, when it went after the ape, watson, saturday afternoon, a faulty door is blamed for his escape and he's kept out of view and he's shaken by what happened and the tiger exhibit is shut down until a faller fence is built. bill: and they'll probably need one, diane fernandez, wsvn out of miami, florida. martha: bill was telling you moments ago, breaking details about the story of two men, who were detained, for allegedly, the initial story was about trying to pull off a dry run, and now we know inside their luggage, there were things like a watch taped to a pepto bismol bottle, a lot of questions out there, but investigators are now down playing the threat, and we're asking why. bill: we are and there is -- they are still under arrest in holland, and five different police departments responding to a brawl in a mall and what happened to trigger the fight. >> people were running and falling and cops showed up, and, there weren't enough police to handle the situation, and, one of the cops got punched in the face. fiber one chewy bar. how'd you do that? do what? you made it taste like chocolate. it has 35% of your daily value of fiber. tasty fiber, that's a good one! ok, umm...read her mind. [ male nouncer ] fiber one chewy bars. thought, end of the line, i was headed to a nursing home. well, i'm staying in my own home now, because we chose hoveround! hoveround's compact round design makes it easier for you to maneuver through the tight spaces in your home. and best of all, 9 out of 10 people pay little or nothing for their hoveround, so call now and you can be the next to pay, "zero...i paid nothing for the unit at all." hi, i'm tom kruse. if you're faced with losing your independence, hoveround can help. call us today! choose hoveround and stay in your own home. i did and so can you! call right now. call hoveround today and you'll receive a free mobility consultation, a free dvd information kit and free hoveround delivery to your home. go to hoveround.com or call the number on your screen. bill: fox news hraoert on earl, this is what we are waiting tporbgs the national hurricane center out a moment ago with its numbers, category four, now churning its way north of the dominican republic there, moving it 14 miles an hour, which is pretty fast for any storm, even a storm of this size, but 135-mile an hour winds at the core? that's a strong storm. still, a thousand miles away, though, from cape hatarus, north carolina. i think about this time tomorrow we'll have a good idea tomorrow as to whether or not north carolina is going to get a glancing blow, whether or not folks in the northeast should still to continue to watch this very, very closely. martha: a big one. 135 miles per hour. all right, we've got a very good story coming up for you tomorrow and we want to tell but it, this is about the first of the 1200 national guard troops on the border, they've reported for duty there at the u.s. border with mexico but over the last few months camera crews have been going there as well and tomorrow we're going to talk about this amazing new national geographic channel show called "border wars" and it profiles the border patrol agents so you can get inside their world, see what they deal with every day. here's a quick look: >> i got him, i got him, i got him. >> guards apprehend two women who don't make it over a barbed wire fence. >> hold it right here! >> and the third, who lags behind. >> the others disappear into the dark. martha: boy, there's a lot more of that. it's amazing footage. we're going to show it to you right here tomorrow in "america's newsroom", you're going to meet the producers of this show. it is fascinating stuff, you're going want to be here for that. bill: we'll take through, take to the place that we've been talking about for months now, the southwest border with the u.s. what do you think is going to happen with earl? >> martha: i'm always a -- this usually peter out but this one scares me. bill: the one thing about the northeast we haven't seen in years, the water temperature, it's so much harmer -- warmer than it has been in many years. martha: we've been hearing from years we're going to get hit and we never do. i'm thinking this is the one, if not earl, maybe fiona. bill:

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