>> some pro-lifers say this federal order prohibiting funding for the new healthcare law has a loophole. >> the exective order of the president did not prohibit abortion funding in the high-risk pools. >> high-risk pools are the taxpayer funded insurance coverage plan for uninsured americans who have preexisting conditions. initially states like new mexico and pennsylvania indicated the plans would include abortion coverage but then reversed course. spokesperson for the health and human services department said in all the high risk insurance plans abortions will not be covered except in the case of rape, incest or where the life of the mother would be in danger. pro-life democrats who sought the executive order before they would sign on to the healthcare bill. >> the health of the president and speaker, we had an agreement to protect sanctity of life and healthcare reform. >> this shows the obama administration is showing true to its word. >> a big test of whether the executive order has full force and effect and does it have teeth in it and can we use it to stop funding of abortion? mexico is a perfect example it's worked well. >> owe pro-lifers disagree saying it does not cover all window for federal dollars to pay for abortion. the problem is executive order doesn't trump what congress does. the fact that congress passed the healthcare reform act without a ban of federal funding of abortion in it left us with this huge gaping loophole now we are seeing come out in pennsylvania and other states that are working to implement the law. >> still, prochoice lawmakers say the executive order is clear to states. >> if they want to use the state funds, they may set different standards. but the federal funds are strictly limited. >> pro-choice advocacy groups such as narol pro-choice america say it's wrong-headed an explicable abortions will not be covered in high-risk pools. pro-lifers point out health and human services did not release the requirement for the plans yet and until it's in writing they are concerned that the federal dollars may be used to pay for abortion. bret? >> bret: all in the regulations. thank you. three republicans lawmakers are accusing obama administration of promoting abortion in kenya and say they used money for civic education to support a draft constitution. that could make it easier for a woman to end her pregnancy. the embassy says the recipients of the fund gave some of the money to groups promoting the bill. it's illegal under the u.s. la for the government to lobby for or against abortion in foreign countries. >> back here at home, the spokesman confirmed that the new federal regulations will require healthcare providers to have technology enabling them to calculate a person body mass index. which is used to determine obesity. b.m.i. is a relationship between height and weight and the stimulus package requires providers to have the height and weight information stored electronically and available on new exchange. new test results are in for the temporary fix of the well cap in the gulf. officials say it's good news, worries still persist over potential leaks. correspondent william la jeunesse is here with an update. good evening. >> since capping the well, they expected increase in pressure from methane. they expected the 2500 pounds per square inch, they got 6700. so while there is no evidence of a leak, there is ambiguity of the finding. what does it mean for the gulf? more uncertainty. >> until it's stopped permanently, i have no trust. too many things are happening. >> anger, resignation and among the golf residents, optimism. >> i hope it works. >> sigh of relief from both ends of pennsylvania avenue. >> even if a shut-in is not possible the new cap and the equipment in the gulf will be able to contain up to 80,000 barrels. a day. that should allow us to capture all the oil until the well is killed. >> glad we got a stop and let's hope it stays that way. make sure we understand what happened so it can never happen again. >> should the well hold, national incident commander thad allen is expected to order engineers to open valves on the sea floor and begin pumping oil up to containment vessels on the surface. the same time the officials are expected to restart drilling to relief wells allowing b.p. to permanently kill the well sometime by mid-august. >> good they got it stopped and now they need to focus on the clean-up. >> i'm sure the work for b.p. is no less difficult. cleaning up the billions of oil and restoring a reputation for company every bit as soiled as the beaches and marshes of the gulf coast. >> we start harder and vigorously on a clean-up. >> b.p. says it paid out $200 million to 32,000 individuals and companies damaged by the spill. the administration said it would charge b.p. a royalty on every barrel of oil recovered and all the oil spewed in the gulf if it determined b.p. was negligent. so the low pressure could mean that there is a leak somewhere or that the well is depleted. incident commander to thad allen number one and increase seismic mapping of the ocean floor to see if there are fractures. number two, visually look for oil leak around the well. finally, they brought in a sensitive acoustic ship to listen for the methane bubbles to indicate there might be oil somewhere leaking on the oil floor. bottom line is it's hour-by-hour to determine what is next. >> we'll head back for breaking news from the briefing later this hour. thank you. checking world headlines now. many vendors at the grand bazaar in tehran are continuing the work stoppage, protesting a planned 16% tax increase. the original tax hike was 17% before the strike. some shops reopened after the government backed down a bit. as you can see, many remain closed. the u.s. is trying to get israel and the palestinians to reengage in direct talks. u.s. special enjoy george mitchell meets with mahmoud abbas saturday. today he talked with benjamin netanyahu. the key disagreement over settlement construction in the west bank and east jerusalem. former state department worker will serve life in prison without parole for spying for cuba. kendall meyers was sentenced with his wife gwendolyn. they say the couple betrayed the u.s. for three decades and deserves heavy punishment. we have word on a possible second terror attack planned for christmas in the u.s. catherine herridge has a fox news exclusive. >> at the u.s. embassy in london, the f.b.i. legal attache wrote an unclassified report in early december 2009. according to the documents obtained by fox there was intelligence chatter that extremists allegedly wanted to smuggle components for improvised explosive device for i.e.d. similar to devices used by roadside bomb in iraq. east africa to the east coast of the u.s. for a future terrorist attack planned for 25 december in new york. the two-page report was vague and said a test run was planned for late they're evening. "the extremists allegedly planned to smuggle unknown components of unspecified explosion i device on cargo flight from nairobi airport to england where they'd be bound for new york city." the report stated the "the final target of the attack was not known, but extremist members discussed restaurant and nightclubs this new york city." as for connections to the failed bombing in christmas day when umar farouk abdulmutallab carried a bomb packed in his underwear, federal and u.s. intelligence officials did not draw conclusions. but the documents raise the question. were other plots out there? >> intelligent official told fox to his knowledge chatter was not substantiated and including that they were coordinating the effort with a somali man living in new york city. they added the raw intelligence was a good example of the threat information available and the length extremist groups would go to crack attacks against the u.s. homeland. bret? >> bret: thank you. if we told you about the latest white house czar, you'd say we were kidding. we are not. we tell you about it in the grapevine. straight ahead, replacing a legendary senator on a short-term basis. >> bret: in america's news headquarters tonight, we now know who will take the place of the late west virginia senator robert byrd for a while. chief political correspondent carl cameron reports the newest senator will barely have time to move in his office. >> reporter: until a special election this fall, joe manchin tapped a 36-year-old former policy and political aid as a placeholder to fill a senate seat left vacant by death of robert c. byrd. >> i'm now extremely proud, very proud to appoint cart goodwin to the united states senate. >> goodwin worked on manchin's campaign in 2004 and became the chieve legal count and will be the youngest serving senator sworn in on tuesday. senator byrd often carried copy of the constitution with him, casting the moment as generational passing of the torch, manchin gave a copy he received from byrd to byrd's successor. >> he wrote in this book to me, and i am pass iing this book to the new united states senator that will be seated in his honor. >> my sole objection is to make west virginia proud and i will have no agenda other than to work and fight hard every day for the west virginia families. >> that puts him at odds with the obama administration even before he is sworn in. west virginia's economy hinges on coal and goodwin vowed to oppose the administration cap and trade climate legislation as death sentence for the national economy starting with his state. >> i will not support any piece of legislation that threatens any west virginia job, any west virginia famil famil family. >> reporter: mansion said he intends to run himself and goodwin agreed to consider the appointment temporary. the g.o.p. needs ten more senate seats to reclaim the majority. republicans are likely gaining in indiana, arkansas, north dakota and close races in california, washington, nevada, colorado. they may find manchin hard to beat. he is popular and renowned statewide political machine. most republicans think the best hope is shelly morcapitaux and many think is best position to challenge manchin in the fall. >> almost sure for the house re-election and not sure risking a senate run. republicans hope she can run for both seats but the west virginia temcally controlled legislature, which -- democratically controlled legislature which is passing rule for special election this weekend will write the rules to help mansion. >> bret: all right, carl. thank you. the latest fox news opinion dynamics poll indicates a large percentage of americans are fed up with the balance of power in washington. 50% of the respondents said democrats having the presidency and congress has been bad for the country. 36 say it has been a good thing. colorado republican gubernatorial candidate scott mcginis says he will repay $300,000 he received for writing essays about water rights that included work that was not his own. he has blamed staff members for the two incidents of apparent plagiarism. well, the cap may be holding, but there are still a lot of upset people along the gulf. that story ism coming up. and straight ahead, the perils of the presidential vacation. >> bret: some of the movers in washington got more moving and shaking than they expected. magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit just after 5:00 a.m. centered in tu burr ban maryland. the strongest quake within 30 miles of washington since record-keeping began in 1974. the first family is out of town this weekend. vacationing in maine. this video was shot just this afternoon. the president, mrs. obama, the daughter, advisor valerie jarret boating in frenchman bay. tonight, white house correspondent wendell goler reports no matter who the president is, taking time off has its own challenges. >> every president periodically escapes if what harry truman calls the great while jail, but the rest and relaxation come at a price. golf matches while b.p. wrestled to control the gulf oil spill led republicans to call president obama out of touch. >> scheduling more tee times than phil mickelson than the greatest environmental disaster in our nation's history is out of touch. >> some headed they are going north to maine after heading them to the gulf coast. >> this is still a place open for business and welcoming to vacationers and people can have a wonderful holiday here. >> at a time when he can set an example for the country by vacationing on the many places along the gulf coast that aren't sullied by the oil spill. he has chosen not to do that. >> we had an incident in crawford the way they control the duties much like at the white house. >> every president is always on the clock. >> the work of a president is making decisions. that work is ongoing. it doesn't matter whether they are on the golf course. timing is everything. mr. bush was flying back to washington from his ranch when he took a look at hurricane katrina's damage. too far away the critics said from offering help or feel the victim's pain. in 1992, democrats said his father's golf so he was too out of touch with the recession at the time to feel the country's pain or deserve re-election. clinton vacationed first but they found wyoming looked less elitists and more appealing. they calculate what we see of every president's vacation and don't and warn against rating a president by the time he takes off. >> jimmy carter had the lowest number of days off and the highest inflation. >> president obama may yet vacation on the gulf coast in an nbc interview he didn't rule out changing plans to go to martha's vineyard next month. the b.p. spill caused him to put off a planned family trip to indonesia where he spent part of his boyhood, a trip he put off earlier in year because of the healthcare reform debate. bret? >> bret: wendell goler with a gorgeous background there, bahaba in maine. thanks. consumer prices fell a tenth of a percentage point in june. stocks were down big today. there is a $500 million settlement for goldman sachs of civil fraud charges, the largest fine levied by the securities and exchange commission and critics say it's slap on the wrist for investment bank like goldman but the s.e.c. officials consider it a shot across the bow to other big firms. >> i think it will have a profound effect. once again, $15 million deal that carries with it a $550 million penalty is a powerful message. that no person's career or compensation or future prospects is going to be bolstered by engaging in deception or non-disclosure to get a deal done. >> bret: the first woman ever elected as a lutheran bishop resigned from her post in northern germany. bishop jepson was accused of not thoroughly investigating reports of a sexually abusive pastor and she says she does not recall being told about it. many people of faith are not happy with a billboard campaign promoting the right to die. religion correspondent lauren green shows us what the fuss is about. >> my life, my death, my choice. that's the message looming large over a busy new jersey highway. part of a national campaign sponsored by the final exit network, right to die group. >> what are we trying to do is to let people know that we are here. that there are choices out there. >> bob levin founded the new jersey chapter after watching his mother and first wife die following long painful battles with cancer. he says the billboard aimed only at adults were suffering from incurable disease. >> we think they have the right to choose the end of their life. on their own terms. however they want to do it. >> the archdiocese of newark, new jersey, is blasting the billboard, saying the message is not consistent with the beliefs of the faith. >> it contradicts everything that catholic teaching says. our lives are to be respected and cherished. >> one psychologist for society of prevention of teen suicide calls this sign irresponsible, saying you can't control who sees it. that the message may push the depressed over the edge. levin disagrees. >> one of the great things about america is we have free speech. you can put anything you want on a billboard. people will react to it the way they do. we can't take responsibility for every kid that reads a billboard any more than anyone else can. >> both sides clash over the definition of "compassion." >> i want to help. i want to show compassion. i want to do what i think any civilized person ought to do. that is to care and to provide whatever sort of relief that i possibly can do. >> what we really should be saying is we need to the people in and re-establish the connection with them for the humanity and for the dignity and do what we can for them while they still are alive. >> according to religious scholars, none of the major religions condone suicide, including buddhas and hindus who believe it's bad karma. in new jersey, lauren green, fox news. >> bret: army is reporting a record number of suicides in june. 32. that includes active and non-active duty personnel. army officials launched a new suicide prevention video and say they will no longer focus efforts on mainly active duty soldiers. >> the number one thing we're trying to do is make sure we've got the services, the soldiers need, support network they need at each post camp station. and out deployed to our reserve components. >> you will never guess what kind of new czar the president has just appointed. we'll tell you. and the sniping between republicans expected to challenge president obama has officially begun. >> bret: now some fresh pickings from the political grapevine. some critics say this is a czar-hungry white house. now the president has a new senior policy advisor on the menu, a man at one time was the obama chef in chicago. 29-year-old sam kass quietly promoted from the food coordinator or chef to senior policy advisor for healthy food initiatives. tasked with lowering obesity rates. while president obama hometown paper notes it's no joke though it sounds like a bad one, the promotion is right in line with the first lady's promotion of healthy eating. mrs. obama's office says his duties did not change but the new title accurately reflects his new job. we're told kass' salary is $92,000, far below other senior policy advisors who make $170,000. two of the possible 2012 republican presidential contenders are already taking off the gloves. albeit through anonymous underlings. one told magazine that palin is -- another romney aide says if she is standing up in a debate and the answers are more than 15 seconds long, she is in trouble. palin's camp hit back soon after calling the move immature and chiding, "she's not focussed on promoting herself or disparaging other republicans. we need to all come together in what should be a great year for us in november." romney looked to end the dust-up calling the palin critics "numb skulls," tweeting she has proven her smarts and they have disproven theirs. finally, texas congresswoman sheila jackson lee might want to brush up on the history and geography. >> today we have two vietnams. side-by-side. north and south. exchanging and working we may not agree with all that north vietnam is doing but they are living in peace. >> bret: vietnam is one country, unlike north and south korea. jackson lee, senior member of the foreign affairs committee tells fox, "i misspoke," and did not add that the nation was united as one. ♪ ♪ as we told you earlier, b.p.'s new cap on the broken oil well is holding so far. but results will be reassessed in a few hours. during the 88 days of the disaster the region's ecosystem has not been the only victim. a significant human toll as well when it comes the livelihood of thousands of people. correspondent orlando salinas reports that disaster is far from over. >> reporter: for nearly three months, destin, florida, like the rest of america's gulf coast community has been held hostage by the b.p. oil spill. >> the problem is the psychological impact on the tourists. >> reporter: use of the temporary cap is met with a mixture of relief and frustration. >> we still have 60% less tourists. people up north thinking that there is oil on the beach. it's very difficult to convince them it's not true. >> some panhandle restaurants which make the year's profits in the summer have seen business drop as much as 50%. at a.j.'s, the kitch season slower than it should be. the wait staff is glad the leak is stopped but is nowhere near ready to forgive. >> i feel when i go to the b.p. office it's almost going to get a welfare check in a lot of ways. >> most service industries along the gulf paid a deep pocket price and realize tourists might not soon forget the oily images on the beach and a mile down. >> the only thing we can do to survive. but this is a community of survivors. it's similar to a hurricane. or weather that comes through. we survive things. >> while b.p. says it isn't ready to call the temporary oil cap a success just yet, many of those affected by the spill say they aren't ready to forgive b.p. anytime soon. in destin, florida, orlando salinas, fox news. >> bret: pro-lifers worry about loophole in the law. >> bret: every week on foxnews.com/specialreport page, viewers vote on what topic we should discuss this in the friday lightning round. the first topic as of 3:00 eastern, winner is, drum roll. the black panthers fall-out. there you -- it wasn't even close. 5,700 votes for black panthers fall-out. back with the panel. this, of course, is the obama's handling of the federal voter intimidation case against members of the new black party in philadelphia. and this came out largely after a department of justice lawyer, jay christian adams said that the department of justice essentially had stopped moving forward with this case; specifically, from above. political implications that they would not go forward with the case against an african-american being the person involved here. a lot of coverage here on fox. not a lot elsewhere. robert gibbs, the white house press secretary was asked about it and he said i haven't paid attention it to. back with the panel. juan? >> i think it's a small case, but i think deserving of attention to this extent. nif act of voter intimidation in this country deserves major attention and should be stopped. but i think it's a small case in this record. i think behind it is this kind of, you know, idea that oh, my gosh there is a black president and a black attorney general and now they're getting back at the bush justice department which was charged by not only the inspector general there, but others with non-prosecuting some of the civil rights division cases that they should have been. so now the idea is these guys now are not prosecuting cases in which the black people are charged with potentially discriminating against whites. my sense is this is a big political fight. does it amount so much in terms of substance, no. >> bret: even k.t., if you have j. christian adams coming out, former justice department attorney saying this was bigger, broader, mandate from above. >> this guy had been wearing a white hood and carrying a burning cross, instead of black beret and a billy club we'd still see protests in philadelphia. i think it is a real issue. and disappointment of it is that this is a president who a lot of people supported it because they thought he was a post-racial president. we want to get beyond that. so much of what president obama is doing is through the eyes of race. even talking about al-qaeda. now al-qaeda is attacking uganda, example of the fact that al-qaeda doesn't value blacks as much as they do white lives. it's all just sort of skewed. i think a lot of us just want to get past it. >> bret: charles? >> i think i have to weigh between the two of you. i'm not sure it comes from obama. i doubt he's involved himself in this case. i think it those do with the civil rights division. there are people there who are committed to defending african-americans, because of the history. that's what it was all about at the founding. and now that we're 50 years later, there are some who might resist trying to prosecute case against african-americans. if so, that's what adam says he heard in the meetings, if so then i think it's a cautionary tale and it will end, i think it will end as a deterrent to any race consciousness in how they deal with the cases in the future. >> bret: next up, british ambassador to the u.s. says it was a mistake to release the lockerbie bomber. he was released because doctors said he had prostate cancer. likely only three months to live. turns out he had much longer to live and when he returned to libya, he was welcomed home. now senators want a probe to find out if b.p. among others, other problems also lobbied to get the bomber released. charles? >> i would not be surprised if oil companies lobbied. there is a long history going back decades of oil companies selling their souls, french oil company in iraq, arm & hammer and oxy hammer in libya and almost consistent, et cetera, et cetera. blame for the brisht government could resist lobbying or accept it and it made the decision to accept the release. apparently the obama administration signed off on it. in the end, the buck stops with governments and not lobbyists. >> who gave it the diagnosis? socialized medicine, they were off by ten years? not going to die in three year, he's got ten years? >> b.p. looks like they have dirty hands here. i can't -- it's unbelievable to me that for a prisoner transfer, they say consider our business interest. should have had nothing to do with the fact that this man was being in prison for having killed so many people. >> bret: quickly, down the line. iranian scientist gets back to tehran and the u.s. pays him $5 million. he can't get $5 million. what is the deal here? >> trying to make a case he can see his 7-year-old son. he just wants to see his family. >> k.t.? >> two versions of this, one he was a double agent, that he had been feeding us intelligence and we had been running him for a number of years and he was one of the people that may have fed us intelligence to led to the faulty national intelligence estimate two years ago about the iranian nuclear program. on the other hand, the other interpretation is he a guy that changed his mind. either way, we look like dopes. >> stories involving spies, i won't -- i never believe either side. everybody is lying. either we lie t cover up his role he is triple-eight or we're lying to cover our rear end because we botched this guy. and he turned on us. and he played us. nobody knows. nobody will ever know. >> bret: he doesn't get the money, by the way. that's it for the panel. stay tuned for a president who appears very relaxed out on the campaign trail. >> bret: finally tonight, well the president got a victory this week with the financial regulatory overhaul bill passing the senate, he has been under a lot of political pressure lately. when he goes out on the campaign trail for house and senate democrats he seems to unwind, relax, enjoy the moment you decide. here is the president campaigning for harry reid in nevada. >> my honor to introduce to you the president of the united states, barack obama. [cheers] ♪