Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20110902

martha: things are fabulous. bill: good morning, as we labor over the laker day weekend. good to see you. martha: good to see you. you can't avoid it. good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. we have this latest round of economic news which is of course a big disappoint not just for the millions out of work in country, but it can't be going down too well at the white house. bill: stuart varney leads our coverage and good morning to you. first, take us inside the numbers, break it down. >> okay. there were no new jobs at all created in the month of august. zero. worse yet, you go back to july, and you look at the number of jobs created that month, and this new report cut that number in half. now, if you look at the rolling trend here, we've only created 40,000 new jobs per month over the last four-months. that's the average over four-months. that's terrible. it would take, what, 170 months to get -- that would be 14 years, to get back all the jobs that we lost in the recession. this was a terrible report. period. bill: wow. stuart, yesterday at this time, you said within 24 hours, we will know whether or not we're headed for another recession or whether or not we're in a recession. what's the answer now? >> we may well be in a recession as of the month of august. we are certainly trending in that direction. all of the indicators are pointing south, and this jobs report, as bad as it is, suggests that we're either in or definitely going into a recession. i think you can say that flat out. bill: the numbers on construction, manufacturing, productivity, they all came out yesterday, right? tkpwhrao yes. now today, you've got this zero jobs growth in the month of august, government jobs down 17,000, down 71,000 government jobs in july, and don't forget, just yesterday, the white house itself, the white house, came out with a forecast of 9 percent unemployment, all the way through 2012. i stress that, is the white house. which has a vested interest in looking on the rosy side of things. that's a very negative picture to be painting, 9 percent unemployment. bill: when you look at reelection for a second term president, i don't think anyone has ever won a second term with a rate that high. >> i believe ronald reagan won a second term in 1984 with a rate just over 7 percent, but the rate was declining. 9 percent and holding steady at 9 percent is a very difficult hurdle to get over for a sitting president. bill: so this has been the story of the country for three years. >> yes. bill: and now we can say, after this white house report that you just mentioned, that it will be the story for at least two more years. >> yes. bill: is that the minimum? >> it could be more than that, depending upon policy. if policy were to shift in a way that moved the economy, of course we'd be looking a little brighter, but in the absence of any new radical policy changes, yeah, we're looking like europe. that would be high unemployment, high taxes, massive debt, cradle to grave security, and massive government spending. that's the way we look now. we look to be in place for that for several years to come. bill: stuart, see you at 9:20 on fbn, you got plenty to talk about with this number out today. >> yes. bill: over to martha now with a closer look at this. martha: let's look at some sort of historical context now. where these numbers should be. how all of this would look if we were in a healthy economy. what we've seen it looking like before. as stuart varney just said, the unemployment rate for august is 9.1%, the cbo, the congressional budget office which crunches all the numbers for the government, says that it should be at 6 percent in a healthy economy. that's the ballpark number that you want to be at. to put that in perspective, we have been above 9 percent for 26 out of the last 28 months, so we have been well above more than 3 percent -- more than 3 percent above what the market needs to be to have healthy employment. that's full employment, at 6 percent. that's the twi look at that. let's look at the monthly nonfarm payroll numbers, basically the number of jobs added each month. zippo. zero. not one job added in the month of august. that is the first time that that has happened in u.s. history, since february of 1945, and that is just a stunning reality of where we stand right now. so you've got 125,000 jobs a month that would be needed, just to keep up with population, so every month, you want to see 125,000 new jobs, we have zero. we have done that 12 months, we've made that 125 number only 12 months in the last 4 1/2 years. so when we look at this, it's just so difficult, you know, to put a good face on this, because we've been looking at -- >> bill: impossible. martha: we've been looking at these negative numbers so long and it raises the question, have we sort of broken the model in items of what we're used to in this country, in a recession dip in recovery, are we dealing with what many call this new normal and i think these numbers substantiate that theory. bill: so it is topic a next thursday night. martha: you bet it is. bill: at 7:00, when the president speaks. we just got word from the white house, president obama has delayed his departure to camp david by about 2 1/2 hours. given that, there's a possibility we could get a statement from the white house on this and may see him in the rose garden. we'll hold on for that. we'll also hold on for this. this is new fallout in the battle between boehner and obama, do americans really care, and what about speaker boehner's own jobs speech expected to come in days as well? we'll talk to congresswoman marsha blackburn on that as well. martha: let's talk about the weather, folks. sorry to say, the gulf coast is now bracing for a massive -- massive drenching, right now a tropical depression is in the gulf, packing winds of 35 miles an hour, threatening to become a major storm that could dump a ton of heavy rain on louisiana, the area they're most concerned about at this point. so at a time when the northeast is still grappling with hurricane irene and the aftermath of that, nobody in louisiana wants to take any chances having seen what goes on in places like new jersey, connecticut, new york, vermont, so they're getting ready for their own torrential downpours. listen to this. >> the levees are taken care of, we are closing the gaps in case but it's a caution. >> on the east bank, we have the temporary gates of the 17th street canal, if the lake gets to 5 feet above, they would have to close. >> let's begin clearing our gutters, you are allowed from now until this event ends to park on the neutral ground should you think that your vehicle is in harm's way. martha: meteorologist janice dean, live in the fox extreme weather center. janice, how's it looking on all of your screens for these folks? >> it looks like we're going to see a tropical storm form within the next several hours, tropical storm lee, but regardless of whether this is a depression or a storm or even a low grade hurricane, it's going to dump massive amounts of rain, unfortunately, across portions of louisiana and into mississippi. so right now, winds are at 35 miles per hour and those winds could be bumped up within the next several hours, new advisory coming out at 11:00, a new track, but we do have a tropical storm advisory posted for much of louisiana, including new orleans, as well as southern mississippi, and here's our cone of uncertainty, and as you can see, there's saturday, but look at wednesday. it hasn't moved much. right now, it's moving just north, at 1 mile per hour, and that is why we are concerned. this storm is going to sit and spin and spin and spin and bring more moisture into areas that could really be inundated, martha. i just want to show you one of our forecast models, showing upwards of 12 inches, some areas could get isolated amounts of 20 inches of rain in the next five days. martha: wow, and we've seen what that can do here in the northeast, in new england, over the past couple of weeks. so let's turn our attention now from the gulf over to the storm that is brewing in the atlantic called katia, what is she bearing for us? >> katia has been downgraded to a tropical storm but we're still going to monitor her progress over the next several days, martha. still expected to become a hurricane and those are the lewood islands to the left of your screen, northern lewood islands, so becoming a hurricane again by the weekend and again we'll be watching the storm for days to come as it comes close to the u.s., but we don't think at this point it's a threat, but bermuda needs to keep an eye on katia. martha: thank you very much. lots to keep you busy in the weather center. thanks janice. head to foxnews.com/weather, enter your zip code and get the latest forecast in your area and boy, don't we do that a lot lately with all this going on, checking in to find out what does tomorrow hold. bill: the campaign trail on the battle for the republican nomination, michele bachmann in a speech, veterans in minnesota drawing comparisons between herself and former british prime minister margaret thatcher, as well as a republican icon in the u.s.: >> ronald reagan and margaret thatcher did what they had to do. they forged a powerful partnership. they turned their countries around. they restored them as economic and military superpowers. and the world was better for it. and in the process, they defeated the soviet union without firing a shot, and they fundamentally changed the economies of both nations that ushered in a period of peace and prosperity that was unparalleled in the history of the world. we find ourselves today in search of another margaret thatcher, to restore our great country to the thriving nation that i believe we can be again, and as the leader for global peace and through its resolute strength, but the good news is, we can take our country back. bill: that speech from the 93rd american legion national convention. we have new fox polling numbers out that tell an interesting story about michele bachmann. we're going to get to that a bit later this morning. martha: those are a few of the stories we're watching in america's news raoplt. we've got a lot going on. take a look at what's coming up. she's not running for president yet, as far as we know, but we may find out something over the weekend from sarah palin. what are voters saying about whether or not they think she should run? interesting stuff. bill: they battled over jobs, spending, the economy, the debt ceiling. on tuesday, congress is back in session. so what are we going to get then, america? >> martha: and as we approach the 10-year mark since the 9/11 attacks, a new study has just been released on firefighters and cancer, that contradicts a recent federal report. that's coming up. >> it's definitely had -- taken its toll on my family. thank god i've had my wife to support me. >> i didn't expect to retire as a cancer patient. martha: let's take a look at dramatic new video we just got in from that earthquake on the east coast last week. watch this, all is normal at first and the chaos and destruction, look at that, this is a high school near the epicenter in middleton, virginia, panic breaks out as students and teachers start running for the exits. the high school is holding classes at a middle school right now while the cleanup is underway. kreuzy afternoon. o crazy afternoon. bill: what a day to forget at school, right? not easy to do. new assessment on the state of al-qaeda, u.s. counterterrorism chief john brennan says that groups is on the ropes and says al-qaeda members are struggling to find a new leader and having trouble getting organized to carry out attacks. peter brooks, former cia officer and senior fellow at the heritage foundation, peter, good morning to stkpwhraou good morning, bill. bill: is al-qaeda on the ropes? >> well, i understand what john brennan is saying. obviously, taking down usama bin laden this year and just recently, they got this fellow, al rahman, the new number two in al-qaeda, number one out there who took usama bin laden's place, ayman al-zawahiri is in place but they have taken out some of the senior leadership in pakistan. what i'm worried about is we don't become complacent and some of the other affiliates are dangerous, in yemen, al-shabaab in somalia, we've had a number of attacks in iraq, that probably have fingerprints on it from al-qaeda and there are parts of africa. i don't think we're there yet, i understand what he's saying but complacency would be a big mays tick, especially in the shadow of 9/11. bill: would you agree that he said the white house has the right formula to take down al-qaeda and its leadership, meaning they have to look over their shoulder time they get together and sit down or nominate someone else for a leadership post? >> absolutely, and this is a continuation of what the bush administration did, of course. i don't agree with everything they're doing. i have problems with the ideas that they don't really want to call terrorists terrorists and other things. but the fact of the matter is, is that keeping pressure on them, making them keep their head down so that they can't plan, train and operate, is certainly a good thing, and this is what we've been doing for the last ten years, and one of the reasons we've had success in preventing plots. of course, international cooperation is important, obviously the relationship between the federal level, the state and local level. remember, bill, we've had 40 attempted attacks against the united states, or some would call fort hood an attack, over the last ten years, so we're not necessarily out of the woods and we've got this big anniversary coming and we need to be very careful and very vigilant about that. bill: those lone wolf scenarios here at home is what keeps people up at night in your community and the kind of work you do. what the white house said a few days ago in this "new york times" article is that the message overseas from the united states is that al-qaeda has been marginalized, so don't give the mantle to them at this point on the 10-year mark. i think that goes with what john brennan is trying to describe here. do you agree with that message? >> i think that keeping pressure on al-qaeda, we have continued to discredit them. remember, bill, once again, there's the hard power side of it, which is the military and intelligence, then there's the soft power side as well, discrediting them. remember, al-qaeda killed more muslims than any other group. and that's something that's important. and i think the good news out there is when you see these changes in the middle east, when you see egypt, you see tunisia, we're not sure about libya yet, but the fact is nobody is saying, holding up signs saying usama bin laden is the way we ought to go or al-qaeda's route is the way we ought to go, so i think that's a good thing, and i think that comes from the pressure that's been put on this organization over the last ten years, and the international cooperation, but that has to continue. like i said, i don't think it's over yet. bill: you referred to this in your first answer. what brennan said is that the relationship with pakistan is improving. that's a good thing. but yemen is a, quote, tinder box. what do we do there? >> well, you know, of course, pakistan, the relationship couldn't get much worse, really, but i hope he's right about turning counterterrorism cooperation -- counterterrorism cooperation improving and that includes places like libya, but yemen is a real challenge. the current government refuses to lead. remember the leader, they tried to assassinate him, he's been in saudi arabia, very ill. the challenge here is to try to get counterterrorism cooperation back up again, take unilateral action where we have to such as drone strikes. remember, that fellow, anwar al-awlaki, who is an american born yemeni cleric that's been responsible for at least three attempted terror attacks against the united states, including fort hood, is out there. and he is targeting us. and we need to be very careful about him and keep pressure on him. bill: peter, thank you president peter brooks, live in washington. on saturday night a. special fox news reporting edition about the threat of al-qaeda in yemen, and it features exactly what peter was talking about. it's called "the secrets of 9/11", you can see it prime time saturday night. what do you think at home? go to foxnews.com and take our nonscientific poll, is al-qaeda on the ropes, what do you think? tell us what you see and what others are saying online. but you can cast your vote, foxnews.com, cast your vote while we're online here! martha. martha: think about that and vote on that poll over the course of the break. in the meantime, this to share with you. some of the biggest banks in the united states could be facing billion dollars losses, so how will that impact those banks, their stocks, all of that? why the agency finished fannie and freddie is now blaming them for the housing crisis. bill: over the weekend be sure to check out fox news sunday, special guest, dick cheney. wallace and cheney, in a can't miss one on one. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> ♪ >> bill: that's off an 8-track! those crazy crocodiles, look what a lifeguard rescued from a swimming pool in aus rail kwrarbgs the baby croc, about 16 inches long. martha: you make it sound like he's so brave! i have a lizard at home that's that big! bill: the lifeguard said he initially thought the reptile was a rubber toy until it stphrap dollars its jaws. now he looks big and ferocious. they took the little guy away before the adult swim. martha: he's underage, he has to sit on the edge of the pool while the grownups swim! all right, moving along, we're now getting estimates coming in from the damage from hurricane irene. thousands of homes are said to be dealing with some kind of flood damage, you know, some very extreme and not so bad. david lee miller is joining us live in your new york city newsroom. now that we're adding things up here, what's the latest assessment of how much damage there was? >> as the water continues to recede we're learning a great deal more and the damage appears to be more far extensive than many first thought. in one county in new jersey, some set county, northern new jersey, home to 300,000 people, at least 3300 homes we're learning were damaged, martha. the good news, in many instances the water did not rise above the basement, the office of emergency management is still receiving reports across the state about the damage in places like paterson, where president obama is going to visit on sunday. meanwhile, all across the northeast, people continue to realize their lives are not going to be the same any time soon. take a look at some very compelling pictures we have that show 14 miles of the port ver -- jervis train line, twisted like a pretzel by the storm, one official with metro north which runs the line says he's never seen anything like it, it is going to take months and millions to repair. also, still reeling from the storm, vermont, the main national guard -- maine national guard has said they're going to tkpheup and send 100 soldiers there to help repair roads, also joining them, national guard from new hampshire and illinois, but hundreds of roads in vermont, still remain closed. and in order to try and at least improve the quality of life for people there, the state is now in touch with some 1000 contractors and consultants to at least try and get the state up on its feet, but the damage in vermont, very, very severe. you can see it there for yourself. martha: people are really going to feel how difficult it is to get around when everybody is finally back from vacation. you also see a huge influx after labor day, school gets going and some of the roads are so hard to get through, it's going to be a rocky period. what about the electricity? how are they going to get that back up an running at this point? >> reporter: you know, at the height of the storm, there were about 9 million people who did not have electricity. now, across the entire east coast, that figure is about 418,000. quickly, i'll tell you about massachusetts, some 26,000 people there do not have power, 22,000 of them are customers of national grid, customers very angry that the president of national grid went on vacation the thursday before the storm. the next day, workers were told they couldn't take any time off. the president returned on tuesday, she says she couldn't get back from her hawaiian vacation to celebrate her 25th anniversary any seen and the fact that she was out of state five days had nothing to do with restoration efforts. nonetheless, people are angry. martha: that's unfortunate timing. so irene taking out an iconic tree in arlington national cemetary, 220-year-old oak at the grave site of president john f. kennedy was destroyed in this storm, officials saying it stood through the construction of arlington house, the pre-civil war home of general robert e. lee, and the creation of the cemetary back in 1864. very sad. that beautiful oak tree. lost in that storm. bill: such a wonderful place to visit, every time in washington, no matter the time of year. especially now, too. sarah palin, still not saying whether or not she'll run in 2012. and a surprising new fox poll shows whether or not voters even want her in the race. martha: those numbers were very surprising. stick around for that. plus the white house says americans don't give a lick between the clash between president obama and speaker boehner about that whole timing issue with the football and the jobs speech and the debate. rebound come woman marsha blackburn tells us what she thinks. >> i bet you guys love this stuff. i know it's cat nip but we're not focused ton. >> here's a basic question here. if you can't even get the congress to agree on a date for a speech without a political side show, how can the american people expect you can do something much more difficult, come up with a jobs plan to deal with the decifit? >> because the side shows don't matter. martha: all right, here's my prediction for what's going to happen in the market today. here's what the open looks like, down about 191 points, i predict it will be low volume, there's not a lot of folks trade thr-g and they will dump andgate out and leave for the day. i see most of the action happening early in the session and gone. bill: they don't want to be holding it over the labor day weekend. watch that throughout the morning, right? a takes a couple of minute phos dow 30 to open but we'll see. new reaction on the jobs front on the heels of congress coming back from the august break. what with ce expect next week? doug mckelway, good morning, any indication that congress might be working closer with the white house or not? >> reporter: bill, if i can conjecture, absolutely none, even before congress returns on tuesday, the house on wednesday, things are off to a rocky start with the back and forth between the president -- and president and boehner about the joint session of congress and to the antepates dollars substance of the president's jobs address. if congress pass it is and that's a huge it if, the white house expects this to happen: >> i think based on what you're talking about economic predictions, yes, economic analysts, economists, will be able to look at this series of proposals and say that based on hisso -- history, based on what we know, based on their collected expertise, that it would add to economic growth and it would cause an increase in job creation. >> reporter: but if the package is heavy on government stimulus, it will be a no go in the republican-controlled house. president obama wants government action, the republican congress wants government contraction. that impasse will color every tell on the agenda, an stkwhraepbd includes the work of the supercommittee, that group of lawmakers has to agree on $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next ten years or automatic spending cuts take effect. also federal regulation, house republicans plan on having one vote each week for the next couple of months to repeal ten federal labor and environmental regulations on businesses. the issue of appropriations, congress has to figure out spending for the new fiscal year, which starts october 1st. then there's also the question of disaster funding, of course, a new ballgame with the hurricane that passed and also the earthquake which occurred the same week, all of this as an election year lurked over the horizon and the sniping has already begun. bill: that it has, and it will continue. it's going to be an interesting week when they all come back, doug. enjoy the weekend while you have it! doug mckelway in washington. martha: as the wrangling over the president's jobs plan continues in washington, we've got brand new fox polls that shows some interesting numbers here. take a look at this, 74 percent of americans now say the u.s. political system is not working the way that it's supposed to work. only 22 percent out there feel pretty good about the way things are working in washington. let's bring in a.b. stoddard, associate editor for the hill, a.b., always good to see you. what do you think of that number? >> that number, john mccain -- once senator john mccain once joked about low approval ratings that when you get down to numbers like that you're talking about friends, family and paid staff! that is a profound number. we've seen it coming for a while. americans have watched under republican president and a republican congress, that party run up the debt, and then they've watched a democratic president and democratic congress do the same under obama, and then they've watched both parties try to blame each other for it, and then you see in a divided government that we got after the 2010 election the two parties, whenever they're forced to make a decision together, they either bring us to the brink of a government shutdown like they did in april or bring us to the drink -- brink of default like they did in august which ultimately downgraded our credit rating and they don't like what they see. martha: in my years of covering politics and watching all of this, i don't ever remember a time when there's felt like there's such across the board sort of throw your hands up and shake your head and say what the heck is going on inside the beltway, and i'm also surprised -- you know, we talk about congress and a lot of that -- congress is reflected in that number we saw as well, but the president himself is getting so much crit keufpl from -- criticism from folks who have been so supportive of him over the last couple of years. let's take a look at this quote that came in from a liberal talk show host, and i want to show this to you because i found this really remarkable this morning. he says these guys in the obama camp are in for a horrible rude awakening. sometime in the next year they're going to blink and realize they are lying flat on their backs on the canvas, then as they finally stumble up, they'll realize they have to start fighting and they should have started fighting 11 rounds ago, then panic will set in but i'm afraid it will be too late by then and it seeks to something that several people who have tpwhreupb talked about who were supportive of the president, that he's not fighting, not trying, in their opinion. >> that's right. i mean, they are obviously conservative republicans -- obviously conservative republicans are angry the president and have not agreed with him since he was inaugurated in 2009, but his base in particular and also independents who supported president obama are very disappointed in him. many of them expected a larger stimulus package, they expected a stronger health care law that would involve the public option for a different kind of health care system than the one that the law produced, they do not like that he's tripled down in afghanistan, they don't think he's fought strongly enough for jobs. they're very angry with him for agreeing with republicans last december to extend the bush tax cuts for all brackets, including the wealthy. that was break in the campaign pledge. democrats are very upset with president obama and it's a real question for him going into next year's election. they're not going to vote for republicans, but will they not give money, will they not turn out the vote for him. martha: that's a good question. i want to squeeze in one spot with you, the sarah palin poll, which is interesting, she's expected to make some nunment, we don't know what, over the course of the weekend, but i thought this was something -- interesting, 74 percent say they think she should not return and very interesting, 66 percent of those who say they are tea party voters say she should not run. what do you think, a.b.? >> well, whenever we look at polling on sarah palin, it tends to reflect two concerns: one is about readiness, and one is will electibility. so even people who admire sarah palin in those polls often say they don't think she's ready and those who admire and support her and believe she is ready often say she's too polarizing to be elected. they want a winner this time, they want to beat president obama and often you're seeing conservatives who really admire sarah palin, believe she could be president, saying it's not time for her to run this time. martha: very interesting, a.b., thank you very much, have a great weekend. >> thanks, you too. martha: thank you very much. you can watch all the republican contenders in the next fox news debate. we're teaming up with gogel -- google. it's going to be so great, it's in orlando, florida, you'll be able to submit questions to the gop yourself, for the first time you'll be able to vote on which questions you want the contenders to answer, it's a youtube-google linkup, go to fox news, scroll down to the spotlight section, click on the gop presidential debate, that takes you to the story with more details about that debate, the gop republican debate is hosted by fox news and google, did i say, on december 22nd, don't miss it. bill: so we're coming into football season and debate season. martha: going to be very exciting. bill: the bulls are off and running. running to the stock aid today, down 241 in the first ten minutes of trading for wall street. so we will watch that throughout the morning, coming up, that jobs nup, and the question persists, rather, are we in another recession now. also, they risked their lives during the attacks of 9/11. did that make them sick? did that give them cancer? a new controversial study into 9/11. >> every time you went to pick up a piece of steel, the dust was just -- the air quality, yes, i was definitely concerned about it. and it was toxic, and you could see smoke rising, continuously, from the pile. cosmo martha: all right, let's you a look at some of the headlines developing now in "america's newsroom", we've got the gulf coast bracing for torrential rains that could bring very bad flooding in that area, a tropical depression is making its way to louisiana right now, and in alaska they've now canceled the tsunami warning. it was issued after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the waters of the pacific ocean earlier. also, how about this? a fire ball fight in el salvador, people toss fire balls at each other at this annual event. that sounds like fun. it is meant to celebrate volcanos, the devil and a saint. it is highly dramatic and quite something to look at. it goes back to 165 #, bill! bill: a fire station nearby, right? i mean, you don't know! there was a new study suggesting there is no link between toxins at ground zero and cancer. those findings now clashing with the new york city fire department study that shows first responders to this site are suffering an increased rate of cancer. fox news health medical a team, dr. david zomani, chief of robotics at mount sinai hospital, good morning to you. >> good morning. bill: the latest study said what? >> this recent study basically said there's really no increase in the risk of cancer or death among the firefighters. they looked at about 42,000 samples, which is a big sample, of the potential people at risk and you have to be very careful about the word potential, because the question is whether if you're right in the center of that trade center, world trade center, as opposed to someone three, 4 miles away, are they really at the same risk, and they included a lot of people in that sample. you can have dilution and wrong responses. bill: they said there's no connection based on the study. >> what i would say is you cannot make a conclusion from these studies. bill: really? >> you look at a study from the new york fire department, basically about 19 percent increase in the risk of cancer, and with this, there is really not. but the trend is about to take off. so we have to be more patient. when you deal with cancer, bill, that's a very business, because it takes time for it to develop. 5-10 years is not lg enough to be able to get all of our answers. you may see like a totally different interview five years from now. so we just have to be -- >> bill: so when you say the trend is about to take off, that means -- >> what they did, in one of the studies, they looked at 9000 firefighters and they saw a small increase in the risk of lung cancer in those, not disastic -- statistically significant. so you can't make a significant conclusion but there is a trend in the increase in cancer among some of the patients so you have to wait a little longer and ten years is not long enough to certainly make any -- >> bill: but even that trend that you're describing to us, is that definitive now? >> it's not. all we can say is that there's a small, slight trend toward an increase in cancer. nobody will debate that there's an increased risk of asthma, there's acid reflux, 28 percent, asthma, none of those, we'll debate, but when it comes to cancer, we need a little longer period to make a final conclusion. bill: now, when you talk about these studies, and any medical expert does, they talk about the size of the sample and you referred to that. how big was this sample, was it sufficient in your view. >> well, in the new york fire department, they looked at 928. those were firefighters that were in the core area. when they look at this study, they had 42,000 people looking at a larger sample of people and i'm a little concerned there do be a dilution or error in this study, so we have to be very careful and look at this a little more thoroughly. >> bill bill what does this do to the argument on behalf of firefighters who are looking for compensation or something to help them along with their medical condition, that they will argue until they go to their grave that they did not have that prior to the attacks ten years ago? >> i think it's a difficult situation for them, because these are the guys that really risked their lives and helping out other people. no one will debate you that because of these dust and toxins in the world trade center -- or look at what's happening in japan -- we're not going to see any kind of cancer as a result of that radiation that happened in japan this year or next year, but if you wait another 5-10 years plus, you're going to have multiple myelomas, leukemias, et cetera. so unfortunately, our heart goes to them for what they did, and they're in a very tough situation, but today, with these studies, i as a cancer surgeon cannot tell you for sure whether there is any conclusion from these studies that came out. bill: why do all these studies contradict each other? can you reach a finding based on anything you're looking for? >> i think what we need is a real independent group of people that would come and look at this, and really -- because we can take the same data and interpret it in two different ways and come up with two different conclusions. but they found some trepb in the increase of this cancer. it's just not statistically significant and that's what we're trying to say here. you look at these people, in the core of that, were exposed highly compared to other people, you may see a much higher increase. bill: doctor, thank you for coming in today, david samadi, *t, part of our fox news medical a team. go to foxnews.com/america's pneum room. leave a question for the doctor, shoot me an e-mail, also, twitter, bill hemmer, we call it because you asked, bya. martha: we've been looking at the jobs market this morning. very tough news there, and especially tough for one group of americans: black men, facing astronomical unemployment rates. listen to jesse jackson on this. >> this is an undeclared state of emergency. if the same attention were given to hurricane irene victims, was given to victims here -- this is a perpetual irene, if you will. martha: we're going to show you the city leading the country in that grim statistic and what's being done about it. plus, the surf is high and deadly out west. the famous beaches of southern california, now turning into a danger zone. bill: enjoy your labor day weekend, but do not forget about these american soldiers returning home from wars overseas. this from michigan: >> what's it like right now, just to finally have him in your arms? >> it's amazing, it's awesome. you know, being over there, i just tried not to think about it, because i had a mission to do, so actually being home now, being home, you know, kind of hard to describe. so i'm just really happy. bill: that's the picture of the day, isn't it? look at that. national guard troops in michigan just finishing a seven-month deployment in the war. martha: all right. this is not so great. we've got those bad jobs numbers that came in from august, zero jobs added in the month of august, and add one group in america, black americans, struggling to find work is really a standout in terms of the bad situation here. mike tobin is live on that for us in chicago. hi mike. >> reporter: hi martha. you mentioned the zero job growth and national unemployment figure, but they only get worse among african-americans. if you look at the number of black americans unemployed, that figure is about 17 percent, the unemployment figures are a little higher with black men than they are black women. then, if you go to the troubled inner cities, you would find that unemployment among african-americans is around 40 percent. >> it's no surprise in this economy that one in ten are out of work. but the department of labor shows that number doubles for black males. the reason isn't clear, but some say it's a combination of racism and lack of education. >> people fear african-american males in particular. for some reason. second is we as black males need to make sure that we go to school and get educated and trained in a particular field. >> those statistics are a big concern in detroit, mich, a city with a high level of poverty, unemployment and long term economic decline for the automakers. >> we need food on the table when companies ran into trouble and downsized, many of us began losing our jobs. >> in the 1950, detroit had merely 2 million people but race riots in the '60s and downturn in the economy fueled a mass exodus, the population is now just over 700,000. to survive, detroit is reinventing itself, beginning with bringing business back. >> african-american business can contribute greatly to the economy, and as we have african-american-owned firms not only do we revitalize detroit but the state of michigan. >> dollars come from the obama administration's program to boost troubled cities, called strong cities, strong communities. >> it's on course to create a rebound. we have the largest exporting border in the united states, that goes from detroit to windsor, we have major fortune 500 companies in the city of detroit. >> now, the congressional black caucus has been going around the country, hosting job fairs, 20,000 people attended an event in compton yesterday, and a frustrated cry went out from that event, that this president is not doing enough to tackle head-on a crisis among his most loyal constituents. martha. martha: that situation -- tough situation to be sure, thank you very much. bill: look at those lines. will new e-mail evidence field questions about the box running scandal -- guns running scandal known as fast and furious? >> where do you go to find a busess backed by the superguarantee®? only& suonline.s®. on your phone. or in the book. go to superpages®. and let the good guys save the day. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. the best approach to food is tkeep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the otr guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. martha: we're kicking off with this "fox news alert" them. market is taking a dive after the dismal report on the unemployment situation in the country. there's a live look at the big board on this friday before labor day, down 217 points, right now. a half-hour after the opening bell. it follows those new numbers that show that the economy added zero jobs. zero, that has not happened since 1945, folks, the unemployment rate and it stays where it is at 9.1%. as we continue to take a look at what is going on. we could be worried about a double dip recession and who isn't worried about that and we'll keep an eye on the action down there while it exists. the friday right before the holiday and also, evidence of what may be a cover-up in that federal gun running sting that went horribly wrong, we are learning government officials tried to conceal connections between the gun that killed border agent brian terry, and operation fast and furious. we have new information on this, folks and leading lawmakers are demanding answers from the justice department and we'll speak to one of them in a while. how we get started with a brand new hour of "america's newsroom," 10:00 on the east coast on this friday morning, i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer, happy friday to you, allegation of a cover-up days after a big shakeup at the agency responsible for the botched covert mission, congressman darrell issa and senator chuck grassley say the attorney general is not cooperating in their investigation. martha: also learning that more firearms from fast and furious have now been showing up at violent crime scenes in mexico and the story is getting bigger and bigger. and william lajeunesse has been on it since the beginning and joins us now from los angeles. >> reporter: there are three developments to tell you, contrary to earlier testimony at least three white house officials were briefed about operation fast and furious, while the president said he knew nothing about this operation, we now have confirmation that his national security staff did. secondly, the number of violent crimes committed with fast and furious guns is not 11, as the administration previously admitted. but, could be as high as 28. and finally, newly revealed documents suggest a cover-up, by the u.s. attorneys office in an effort to conceal evidence that guns recovered from brian terry's murder scene belong to this scandal. wh why is it important? the u.s. attorneys office claimed there was a lack of connection between the man who bought the weapon and the man who fired the shot and that, they said is denying the family's right to be listed as a crime victim and now, even the u.s. attorney who made the decision says he was wrong. secondly, investigators say the atf could have arrested the straw buyer, before he bought the weapon that killed brian terry. but, they chose not to. according to a letter from congressman darrell issa and senator charles grassley, they say assistant u.s. attorney tried to conceal the fact that apparently engaged in communications in the hours after agent terry's death that both contemplated the connection and sought to prevent the connection from being disclosed and there are allegations the u.s. attorney's office tried to stop atf agents from stopping the guns going to mexico and they retaliated against the whistleblowers and finally, even after the operation was apparently shut down, the atf in phoenix was trying to buy a 50 caliber weapon that they would have then represented and sold to the cartel representatives. martha? martha: this gets deeper and deeper, all the time. william, thank you. you laid it out really well for us and we appreciate the update on the new developments on fast and furious, senator chuck grassley, also at the center of the investigation, he will join us, less than 30 minutes from now, and we're going to get his take on this. you don't want to miss that, coming up in a half-hour. bill: in the meantime, four minutes past the hour, we are learning uncle sam, is going after the big banks in america. a new report, the agency behind fannie mae and freddie mac is planning to sue a number of banks for their roles in mortgage melt downs. do they have a case? laura ingle is live in our new york city newsroom. >> reporter: some of the country's biggest banks are expected to be hit with the lawsuits filed in the coming days, in federal court and we're talking bank of america, jpmorgan chase, goldman sachs and deutsche bank are reportedly on the list according to those close to the case. the suits will be filed by the federal housing finance agency which oversees mortgage lenders, fannie mae and freddie mac. and the suits will argue that the bank, which put together mortgages, and marketed them as securities, to investors, were misleading and a background check required under security walls were not conducted and evidence of borrower' income were exaggerated or left out and, then the securities lost value and fannie mae and freddie mac lost more than $30 billion, from the shaky deals and the lawsuits are expected to be filed by next tuesday, just before the deadline expires for the housing agency to file claims under a three-year statute of limitations. it is also the three-year anniversary of the federal takeover of fannie mae and freddie mac. now, in july the federal housing finance agency filed the suit against securities firm ubs, for at least $900 million, for misrepresenting the quality of mortgages it backed. financial service industry executives argued the losses on the mortgage backed securities were caused by a wider downturn in the economy, and, the housing market, not by how the mortgages were originated for bundled into securities. now, they say investors like fannie mae and freddie mac were seasoned enough to know the securities were not without risk and bank officials warn legal attacks on them will delay the recovery of the housing market if banks are heavily penalized, and cause further losses across the financial services industry. bill: we'll see if they have a case in the end, lauraing in gal -- laura ingle in new york city. martha: muammar qaddafi is on the run and releasing a defiant message from his hiding place, urging his supporters as he has all along to fight on in the face of rebel calls for them to surrender. >>. >> translator: how could we surrender ourselves again, are we women surrendering ourselves to our husbands and surrendering ourselves to our captors, how can we speak of anyone governing the libyan people, if we want a long war, let it be a long one. if libya burns, let it be. don't they want to governor libya? they will not be able to govern it as long as we are armed and fighting in every pass and valley. martha: no shortage of rhetoric from that man, dominic joins me live, streaming live, from tripoli and, dominic, what can you tell us us. >> reporter: martha, as far as his on-air rants go, this was quite a really raving one. he was virtually foaming at the mouth, martha, saying extraordinary things and effectively initiated a call to civil war. and he said, prepare for guerrilla and other types of war. to fight the occupation, an occupation he claimed was led by nato and he said nato was about to invade libya and the supporters, it was their priority to kill the armies of the enemy, and he described whether they were libyan or foreign. and, it sound like he is feeling ever more cornered. and this comes after the rebels have actually given his supporters an extra ten days to surrender in the city of sirte, and, in the city in the southeast of here, and down in the south, a city which are the last strongholds he has left and the forces are mulling over whether they should hand over their weapons and are losing their nerve and the rebels believe they should be able to take over the rest of the country without any blood, and, indeed the tribal elders they are talking to are thinking it through. all the same, there are real threats of civil war here, even possibly between the rebels, the national transitional council announced the fighters must return to their original villages to prevent any tensions rising, between the rival rebel groups and we know there are great efforts here in the city to start collecting up weapons which they've begun to do and are trying to actually mitigate any impact or any additional causes that could lead to civil war here, martha. back to you. martha: a lot remains to be written in the story. dominic, reporting from tripoli. bill: and from hillary clinton, the secretary of state, talking about qaddafi, saying we must fight against the defiant regime. clinton also talking about the only man convicted in the deadly lockerbie bombing of the late '80s, saying that abdelbaset al-megrahi, the man belongs behind bars. >> the united states categorically disagrees with the decision that was made two years ago by the scottish executive to release abdelbaset al-megrahi and return him to libya and so we'll continue to pursue justice on behalf of the victims of this terrorist attack. the united states kept open the case concerning the lockerbie bombing... bill: the pan am flight 103 over lockerbie scotland, killed 189 americans. martha: parts of massachusetts are still in the dark in the wake of irene, having had no power for nearly a week but patriots had plenty of power, the stadium was like a light house in a sea of black, so what gives. bill: a generator. and, president obama's jobs speech is sandwich between a public debate and a football game. marcia blackburn, republican, reacts. martha: and the rise of freedom like you have never seen it before. >> not to rebuild these would be to give the terrorists exactly what they were looking for. 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[ male announcer ] sitting. waiting. hoping. that's a recipe for failed investing. open an e-trade account and open doors, seize opportunities, take action with some of the most powerful yet easy-to-use trading tools on the planet all built to help you maximize the potential of every dollar you invest. successful investing isn't done by throwing ideas against the wall and hoping. it's done by lowering your costs and raising your expectations by using unbiased research and powerful screeners to build a diversified portfolio with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and every etf sold. and we'll help you every step of the way. with 5-star research and free education covering everything from the basics to advanced investing strategies. start now and we'll give you up to $500 and let you trade free for 60 days. visit our website, call us, open an account. e-trade. investing unleashed. bill: they were ready for football in new england last night but in the shadow of the bright lights, thousands of residents were sitting in the dark in foxboro. giants took on the patriots, in a pre-season game. foxboro, yet, outside gillette stadium, the town had no power, thanks to irene. and locals now are fuming at the power company, national grid, just as word comes out that its president was celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary in hawaii, as irene rolled up the eastern seaboard. whatever the case, whatever the back and forth, national grid says the patriots are not to blame. the team set up generators in town and donated tons of items. martha: and, do they prefer they played in the dark? really! alarming jobs report came out as the white house says president obama's decision to move the date of his jobs speech had nothing to do with g.o.p. press, you have watched the back and forth, right and it caused ed henry, white house correspondent to ask this question at the daily briefing yesterday. listen: >> why not give the speech from the oval office tonight, saying here is my plan -- >> he wants to speak before congress, he recognizes that while there are things he can do without congress, and he will do them, there are actions that need to be taken, with congress, that require legislation to grow the economy and create jobs. martha: all right, let's see what congress thinks about that, at least one member, martha blackburn is the deputy whip, good to have you here today. >> good to be with you. thank you. martha: is that important, that he give the speech in front of you all and get your cooperation? >> the american people do not want to hear another speech. what they want to see is action, they want to see problems solved. the president doesn't have a plan. he has had a teleprompter, marcia, people want to throw the teleprompter in the trash. they want this president to say, here is a plan of action. he has been unwilling to do that and, while congress is trying to cut regulations, while the house is trying to cut regulations, he has 9,000 pages of new regulations for obamacare and they are planning to roll out 4200 new rules and regulations, from different federal agencies come october 1, which is the start of the fiscal year, and i think the american people have just about stopped listening to this administration. martha: here's the one thing, a lot of folks, obviously a lot of people agree with you and, some disagree with you on this, but when you look at it, are we looking at basically a stalemate? because, if president obama has dug in his heels and the democrats have, on the way it should be fixed, and we know what you think on your side about how it should be fixed. lowering taxes and all of that, are we looking at a stalemate? do the american people have to sit around and wait and hope things, you know, get better by -- over the next 14 months or whatever until the election? >> i don't think so. what the american people are wanting to see is an administration that will -- is willing to admit they made a mistake. their stimulus didn't work, 1.3 million additional americans have lost their jobs, since the stimulus. the jobs, the unemployment rate, has stayed well above the 9%, and, martha, what they want the president to say is, look, government intervention has not worked. let's try something different. and, what we have been saying is, lower your taxation rates, apply regulatory certainty, make certain that you are going to roll back some of these rules and regulations... so they know what is happening. martha: i have talked to some people, you know, in the market, and, they say they don't expect to see any big changes until 2012 in terms of what will motivate the market. so, the indicators are that nobody expects that the administration suddenly is going to say, you know what? we made a mistake and the stimulus didn't work and you know what the other side wants? more stimulus. they want the president to be bold. you know, jonathan alter is tweeting this morning that he wants the president to be bold, getting a ton of criticism from that flank as well and the likelihood he's going to say, i decided i am going to work like ronald reagan and cut everybody's tax across-the-board, not likely. >> well, what he could do is say, you know, last january, i told you i wanted to reduce regulations, and, pinpoint which regulation and we have do that in the energy and commerce committee, fcc regulation, epa regulation, we have a laundry list and there are ways in an orderly process go about right-sizing, reducing the size of regulation and getting bureaucrats off the back of these employers and in this august i've met with everybody from oil refineries to alternative energy companies and from hospitals to banks to small business manufacturers, and they all are complaining about the agencies. we know what the problem is, we need a president who will say, i made a mistake, apply some leadership, and, change course. when 2/3 of the american people say, mr. president, you are on the wrong track, then it is time to listen to the people. martha: we'll see. all of the controversy has done one more thing, put a lot more focus on the speech and he'll be in front of all of you and everybody will be watching across the nation, before the football game, apparent and we'll see where it goes and, zero jobs added in august, got a lot of attention this morning, congresswoman blackburn, thank you. >> yes, it has. bill: packers, saints, you like green bay or new orleans. martha: i'll take new orleans in that game. bill: i'll take green bay, for a coffee. serious warning for beach-goers. now there is a swimmer missing, and dangerous high waves and rip currents hit the beaches right on labor day weekend. martha: and remembering september 11th as the nation prepares to mark ten years since the attacks that changed our country forever. >> as we approach this, you really feel it, deep inside and you come close to them and see the individual names of people who died on that day and you see, literally, hundreds and hundreds of names, surrounding each pool. ♪ okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? 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[ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? martha: special aircraft joining the fight against the stubborn wildfire in texas. the planes are capable of dumping water from lakes to douse the flames. at least 40 homes in texas have been destroyed. adding to the heart ache it comes on the heels of a much larger fire last spring that destroyed 160 homes, in the same general communities. >> suddenly, the -- like a fire tsunami. just a wall of fire, probably 100 feet tall, sweeping through. martha: the latest fire that broke out tuesday, as of late last night, they said it was about 50% contained. bill: and good luck in the west if you are swimming out there, deadly waves out there and an unusually high surf chewing up the shoreline, breakers more than 13 feet high at some of the most popular beaches. 20 feet high in the famous strip known as the wedge. that is near newport beach. that looks kind of fun, right there. and the search for a 26-year-old swimmer was called off late yesterday and life guards saying the water is not safe for even the most advanced swimmers. v remember you get stuck in a rip current and stay parallel to the show and let the currents take you and go parallel, can save your life in the end. martha: all right, the world trade center site, the rebuilding effort, very much moving forward, right now, the site's largest tower growing one story a week at this point and looks more impressive, every day. >> already, it is the tallest building in new york and it's on its way to being the tallest building in the western hempisphere and from the top you will be able to see the curvature of the earth and we'll be building a complex that will last for generation, not building something for the next ten years but for the nokes thousand years. martha: i was down there the other way and it is really impressive and the site represents so much more than new buildings and offices, and to the families of those who were lost on that day we are a week away, now, from a very significant marker of ten years, september 11th. so, tonight, fox news takes an in-depth look at what has happened at that site, over the past decade. here's a sneak peek. >> it was a towering landmark that said "new york." >> i think the city of new york came to love them. i certainly did. >> a symbol of economic might. >> the world trade center was not appreciated as architecture. >> and a target to the enemies of freedom. >> like being in a horror film... >> staggered by 9/11, america vowed to fight back. >> get out there and kick some ass. >> and rebuild. >> not to rebuild the buildings would be to give the terrorists exactly what they were looking for. >> a decade later. a story of rebirth. >> we wanted to find a way to reflect the fact that so many people died together. >> remembering... >> the museum it will tackle difficult things. >> and resurrection. >> people look and say, my god, isn't that fantastic? martha: isn't that fantastic? we will see this tonight, fox news reporting. freedom rising, with shepard smith, a two hour special, tonight, 9:00 eastern, right here, don't miss it. it is a spectacular look at how these buildings will change the skyline of new york city in a way that will be welcome because there has been a hole as we look at the skyline for so many years and it is a significant symbol. bill: watch it, as it develops every day and we'll be down there on the ten-year mark, too, broadcasting that morning and we'll relive a lot of that, together, again. we're watching the marks now, taking a bit of a hit after grim unemployment numbers. you have to go back to 1945, when you found the u.s. did not add a single job. that is what we got in august. and now this is meaning double dip recession and we'll talk to gerri willis, 199 to the negative side for the dow 30. martha: an pollid polling numbem the fox news polls and give governor rick perry an edge for the g.o.p. race for the white house. which candidate is taking the biggest hit since perry got in? >> we do not have to accept our current circumstances. we will change them. we are americans. [cheers and applause] @ ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah @ take a look at the markets, down 209 points right now, after a very tough unemployment report that came out this morning. as you can see it's been a tough day for the dow jones industrial average and you've got unemployment remaining unchanged, 9.1%, we're getting a little too used to this neighborhood on unemployment, zero jobs added in the month of august. if you don't think you ever remember that happening, that's because it hasn't happened since 1945, when we all remember what a great period that was in american history. gerri willis joins us, anchor of "the willis report" on the fox business network. we are basically the post-depression period in terms of this unemployment number. how bad is this, gerri? >> this is very bad, this is atrocious, this is not what anybody expected. consensus was add 75,000. i thought that goldman sachs was being negative by saying there would be 25,000 jobs added. in reality, the economy -- we would hope the economy had ten times that amount added each month. martha: we went through the markers for a healthy economy and we've been so far off of them for so long in terms of jobs created, in terms of the overall unemployment number. i mean, you wond -- you wonder, the president has to look at this situation and say -- does he say what we're doing isn't working? >> well, we're expecting a big jobs speech coming next week, but you've got to ask yourselves, what can the president do. what we have in this country is a crisis of confidence, and it's playing out in the jobs numbers, it's playing out in almost every sector of the economy. people have to start feeling like hey, i want to buy a house because i'm confident that home prices will go up over time. hey, i want to go to the mall today, because i believe i'm going to be employed tomorrow. but we don't have any of that. and not just with consumers. with executives. ceos. i think this number will have them putting their heads in the sand for another who knows how long. martha: i talk to folks who say we really are waiting until 2012 to see kind of whether or not we're going to have the same administration, are we going to have a different administration, that will give us the best indicator of where things are headed. that's still a long way away. >> one four-months until the next election and americans can't sit on their keester. a lot have been employed for a year or longer. folks can't wait anymore. we need to see job creation. the question is how can it happen. it's completely unclear how it could happen. you know, i ran across interesting numbers about the jobs created by stimulus, 47 percent of those jobs went to people who were already employed. they switched jobs to take the stimulus job. that's not what we want. martha: gerri, thank you for that cheery report, that was great, good to see you. have a good weekend, gerri! many thanks! all right, let's go to bill, we'll get a look at these polls numbers we've got as well. bill: like that animation, you know? it's tricky sometimes. we got some brand new fox polling numbers, they're out, they put rick perry on top of the nomination pack, perry with an eight-point lead on mitt romney, holding 28 percent to romney's 18. karen henretty, doug schoen, former clinton pollster and fox news contributor, how are the two of you doing? good morning to both of you. >> doing good! bill: karen, do you think this rick perry bump is for real or is he the flavor of the month for now? >> no, this is a very real bump. this is a concern among the romney camp all along that when perry got in it wouldn't take just a bite out of the bachmann campaign but in fact he was going to take a bite out of the romney campaign, which is exactly what has happened. he has a great record as a successful governor. i think more importantly, what we're seeing is we have a candidate out there who loves to campaign, who is bringing some real positive energy to what i think up to this point has been a bit of a lackluster campaign. bill: all right. doug -- >> this is real. bill: how do you see it now? because you'd think that romney is pulling wrong switches right now. what are you talking about? >> well, here's what's going on. if you look at the activities of the candidates, bill, mitt romney is now desperately trying to seek tea party support, michele bachmann is beginning negative advertising against rick perry, saying he's not a real conservative, and when you see candidates attack and changing tactics, bill, it means that what karen is saying is exactly right, rick perry is for real, particularly with these jobs numbers. he's the job creator in texas, this plays into his hands. bill: you went even further with the producers earlier today saying that mitt romney is panicking. i don't know if that's the case yet but these numbers don't mean much until these guys go head to head in the next debate, then there's another one after that, we have the fox news debate in september and two more in october and that's going to shape these two men. i want to get to the women on the republican side, because here's what we found in our polling, also, michele bachmann has flat lined. or even dropped lower, you could make that argument. she was at # 1 percent, two months ago in june, she's at 4 percent in her polling today. has she been kicked, karen? >> yeah. i think -- and i said this right after the iowa -- or the ames straw poll in iowa, that michele bachmann hit her high water mark. i believed that then, it's absolutely accurate today. i don't see that there is a real poll of voters for her to draw from that aren't already with her. i think that there's a much better narrative and a much more rationat for going with rick perry. you are a social conservative, you also want someone who can fix the economy, who has a good record to run and the fact is governors have better records than members of congress. bill: what do you think explains this for bachmann, doug? >> i think what has happened is that rick perry is getting 36 percent of the tea party vote and she's getting, michele bachmann, is getting about 19. he's won that constituency now. it's forced both candidates to dramatically change their approach. and i think karen is exactly right, that this is now rick perry's race to win, and i think you're absolutely right, there are two or three debates he's got to perform well in, but if he does, he's on a path towards victory. it's not locked up, but he's heading clearly in the right direction. bill: quickly to both of you, another surprise to many, republicans don't want sarah palin to run for the white house. >> right. bill: our polling show 74 percent say no. what's going on there? >> i'm not surprised by that, either. republicans want to win. they want to make sure that we don't have four more years of barack obama and really bad economic polices that take us even further into the red in this country, and you know, they might like sarah palin, they like her as a personality. i don't think they see her as a leader. he's not shown a lot of leadership over the past couple of years. i think she's more of a celebrity status within the party and there's a role for her, but i think that's the extent of it. bill: what do you think about that, doug, have republicans moved past her now? >> i think in a certain sense, they have, largely because sarah palin herself has shown no inclination to run, her disorganized bus tour, her schedule that seems to change hour to hour, says that she's really not prepared to run, and bottom line, she remains a compelling figure in the republican party, but not as a presidential or vice presidential candidate. bill: doug, thank you, karen, thanks as well. enjoy labor day weekend. do not miss our next gop debate, bret baier is host, chris wallace and megyn kelly there to question the candidates, september 22, 9:00 eastern time on the fox news channel and you can submit questions for the republican candidates. here's how you do it, go to foxnews.com, scroll down to the spotlight section and click on the gop presidential debate. there's more information on how you can submit your questions and how you can get involved from home. check it out online now. september 22. martha. martha: so on campus, he was a were dollars -- a respected professor. off campus, police say he led a double life. why this educator is now a fugitive from the law. bill: weapons from a federal gun running sting funded violent crime throughout mexico, one of them used to murder they believe american border agent brian terry. now reports say the white house knew about the operation. senator chuck grassley, leading the congressional investigation, will react to all of this in minutes. >> brian did ultimately come home that christmas. we buried him not far from the house that he was raised in, just prior to -- just prior to christmas day. bill so news of a respected college professor now considered a fugitive, accused of living a double life. forty-three-year-old dr. stephen kinsey, professor at cal state san bernadino. police say he also led his local chapter of the fear devils disciple, an outlaw biker gang. he was just charged with heading up a methamphetamine ring. nine other suspects already arrested but kinsey was nowhere to be found when at -- ats raided his home, they found a pound of methamphetamine, along with a cache of weapons. the school says it's the first they are hearing about it and they are stepping up security to get to the bottom of it. >> we asked that if a government official made a wrong decision, that they admit their error and take responsibility for his or her actions. we hope that all individuals involved in brian's murder and those that played a role in putting the assault weapons in their hands are found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. martha: very moving testimony. that was the cousin of an atf agent who was killed in the line of duty during a botched gun trafficking operation that was known as fast and furious. fox news is now confirming that three white house officials received e-mails about that operation, fast and furious reportedly put weapons in the hands of mexican drug cartels to trace them and eventually lead to more intelligence and investigation in bringing them down, but now, there is new evidence that once it went wrong, there were efforts to cover it u republican charles grassley has been at the center of this investigation, and has driven it all along. he is the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee and joins me by phone this morning. senator, welcome, good to have you with us. >> i'm very happy to be with you and thank you for your interest in this very important but stupid program that we're dealing with. martha: you know, you listen to brian terry's cousin, and you think, we are all very interested in this, because it is very important in terms of border security. they're interested in it because it has to do with their family member, and there are perhaps countless other family members who have been affected by this program that went awry as well. what are the new revelations in terms of what the white house knew, as far as you understand it, senator? >> well, senior i know, this is the first evidence we've had that people in the white house knew about it, and we're told in the newspaper article that nobody else but these three people in the white house knew about it, but it leads to the very same question that we first asked in my january 27th letter to justice, who knew what and when this decision was being made. and what we're trying to find out is at the highest level of government, who gave the okay to go ahead with this stupid operation that led to the death of perry -- terry and who knows what else. and so the white house. males lead us, i think, to the first time to somebody in the white house, and presumably, people in the white house want us to think that only these three people knew anything about fast and furious. but if their advisers to the president on national security -- if they're advisers to the president on national security, why wouldn't they be telling the president about important relationship in our relationship with mexico if we have a government-sponsored program to send guns overseas, and as part of our international relations with another country, and they're in the national security agency, why wouldn't they be telling other people and just keeping it among themselves? martha: it falls into the category of if you didn't know, it's probably in your job description that you should have known, and that becomes a problem as well. there's also this e-mail that we want to bring up that was from doj attorneys, and we want to take a look at this. it also suggests their understanding of how all of this is going, and it goes to the fact of, you know, trying not to make any correlation between what happened to brian terry and a gun that may have been traced back to this program and mr. hurley says this way we do not divulge our current case, fast and furious, or the border patrol shotting -- shooting case. i guess there's a number of ways this could be interpreted as to whether or not they are trying to maintain the integrity of perhaps what they thought may be a good program in items of finding these guys, the drug cartels, through these guns is that what do you make of this statement? >> i make of this statement that transparency brings accountability and the people making statements like that don't want to be held accountable for what they might know about this situation, and particularly if they were in a chain of command where they could have stopped something that went awry or where they weren't listening to whistleblowers down on the grassroots of the agency that were telling them that this was not a program that was going to work, and their prophecy came true in the death of terry. it looks to me like people were not on top of things the way they should have been and that now, because they might be held responsible, they don't want to let all the information out. so it's another piece of evidence from my point of view of where we have been stonewalled to a great extent and only to a lesser extent recently since january the 27th. martha: i understand. senator charles grassley, always good to talk to you, sir, thank you very much. >> yeah, thank you. martha: fast moving story, and we're keeping on top of it. bill: you listen to him talk, and you figure there's more to come at some point. jenna lee is working on "happening now" down in our newsroom. what's going on? good morning to you. jenna: hi there bill, the jobs report a big headline grabber, i know you've been talking a lot about it. are we facing another recession. you're going to hear from one of the top economic advisers on "happening now". we want to hear from you, go to foxnews.com/happening now, click on america's asking and weigh in on jobs and everything else. we have new polling on the president, karl rove is going to join us on that. and a disease you haven't likely heard of and affects more women than you think, why it matters and what it is, next on "happening now". bill: that's interesting. big show. thank you jenna, see you soon. >> sounds good. bill: the latest threat in mexico's deadly drug war, why teachers say they're afraid and won't show up for school. bill: there is a chilling start to the school year in the country of mexico, 140 schools in acapulco new closed because teachers refuse to show up for work. steve harrigan in miami on this, what's the threat against these teachers? >> reporter: ordinarily it's the students that are scared the first day of school but in acapulco, it's the teach e.600 of them scared of being kidnapped, killed or decapitated by a drug gang, 600 staying out of class, they got a type letter requesting all the teachers' names, addresses, cell phone numbers and voter registration cards, the letter also said we're going to demand a tax of 50 percent of their salaries or else. these elementary school teachers make about $325 a week, now a notorious drug gang known for decapitation wants half of their salaries. bill: what does this say about the bigger picture of drug violence in that done? >> certainly we're seeing it more and more and now in acapulco. it's not just drug gang killing drug gang members, they are expanding their operation to extortion, to civilians, they're really trying to become the law that can impose taxes on civilians under the threat of death. bill: steve harrigan on that story out of miami today. martha. martha: the markets have been reacting to this really weak jobs report. in fact it was a zero jobs report. that was the news this morning. so does this raise the chances that we are sort of back into a recessionary mode? this is the sort of tough question that everybody is grappling with today as they look at these numbers. plus a young womantation on one of these, a black bear. how she fought him off. incredible story. >> ♪ [ male announcer ] sitting. waiting. hoping. that's a recipe for failed investing. open an e-trade account and open doors, seize opportunities, take action with some of the most powerful yet easy-to-use trading tools on the planet all built to help you maximize the potential of every dollar you invest. successful investing isn't done by throwing ideas against the wall and hoping. it's done by lowering your costs and raising your expectations by using unbiased research and powerful screeners to build a diversified portfolio with stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and every etf sold. and we'll help you every step of the way. with 5-star research and free education covering everything from the basics to advanced investing strategies. start now and we'll give you up to $500 and let you trade free for 60 days. visit our website, call us, open an account. e-trade. investing unleashed. martha: we know they make them pretty tough in alaska. this is unbelievable. 22-year-old brooke collins saw a black bear that wanted to make a male out of her dog fudge. what did she do? she punched that bear right in the nose. shocked the bear, the bear dropped the dog, and the bear ran off. collins says she knew it was a dumb thing to do. i'm sure the dog appreciated it. maybe it was exactly the right thing to do. bill: the big bear story. are there pictures? martha: you are so skeptical. bill: i'm just saying. martha: you never believe anything, this one. bill: this weekend we'll take a look back at 9/11 and we'll try and see what happens since and what the future holds including the rebuilding effort of the site. shepard smith, a terrific program tonight two hours starting at 9:00. secrets of 9/11, i'm your host. who helped the terrorists that da

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