Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom 20120813

good to be home. [cheers and applause] i'll tell you, i love wisconsin. [cheers and applause] oh, i see my family over here, that is this half of the stadium. this is such a phenomenal place to live, work, to raise your family. martha: quite an emotional moment there for 42-year-old paul ryan, who has had a meteoric rise in his party. now you have the republican ticket in place. they quickly got down to business. they focused much their weekend focusing on president obama's as they see it, struggling economy. >> when he ran bain he created jobs. he turned around failing enterprises. he has first-hand experience that if you have built, started, or run a small business, you did that. >> we're going to do everything in our power to keep america strong with strong families and strong values, a strong economy, the strongest military in the world. we will restore american strength. >> we want to have the kind of an election where we earn your support. where we win an election because you said, go fix the mess in washington, so when we win this election we go fix this mess in washington. martha: all right. so that is what it is going to be like when this pair gets together. paul ryan reaching out to iowa voters. governor romney in the key battleground state of florida. 29 electoral votes are there. that's where we find our chief election correspondent, busy man all weekend, carl cameron. carl, how is it going? >> reporter: it is going about as swimmingly as the ryan-romney ticket hoped it would. he will have an event in st. augustine in a short time. romney campaign said they sent him there in the first solo debut to bracket president obama's three-day stint in the hawkeye state. mr. romney canceled an event here in florida in orlando to rest up after a grueling campaign week. last night in waukesha was a moment. mr. romney choked up as he did his wife ann when paul ryan began to set a tear on the stage there. a number of poignant moments where he was fighting back tears not to let himself be choked up. he got down to business and began criticizing obama administration and its failure to create a budget and deal with the nation's budget crisis as well as economic doldrums. here is a little bit of it. >> here is our choice. do we want the opportunity society with safety net, land of upward mobility where people make the most of their lives up with they can get ahead and or go down the path of debt, doubt and despair. do we want to copy europe? no. >> reporter: romney took the stage shortly thereafter. at one point his remarks were interrupted by a demonstrator. he took charge. watch. >> young man, this group here is respectful of other people's rights to be heard. [cheers and applause] and if you want to find yourself a different place to be disruptive because here we believe to listening to people with dignity and respect. >> reporter: the chemistry between ryan and romney was obvious. it seemed to elevate romney's game a little bit. he turned the disruption from the demonstrator and pivoted and took it to president obama. listen. >> no question if you follow the campaign of barack obama he will do everything in his power to make this the lowest, meanest negative campaign in history. we're not going to let that happen. this will be a campaign about ideas, about the future of america. this is a campaign about greatness, about america's future for your children, for the world. mr. president, take your campaign out of gutter. let's talk about the real issues that america faces. >> reporter: republicans have been clamoring for more muscular campaigning from mitt romney with paul ryan. you see mr. romney going after president obama, saying get out of the gutter. pretty tough stuff. he will campaign in st. augustine. the orlando event was canceled to rest up. miami later this afternoon and ohio in events in that key battleground state in tomorrow. martha? martha: feels like the momentum is on the move. carl, thank you so much for florida this morning. let's see how this all place out. governor romney and paul ryan on a tour of key swing states. sunday morning they went from virginia to north carolina. made two stops. north carolina has 15 electoral votes. the state is particularly importance in 2012. think back to 2008. candidate obama won north carolina by just 14,000 votes. that is .3%. it was a squeaker in north carolina. that has the republican ticket taking a very close look at this state as one they believe is in play for them. that is president obama in '08. first democrat to win there since 1976. gop carried that state in nine of last 10 elections. that is north carolina. take a look at this. governor romney and paul ryan wrapped up in ryan's home state of wisconsin. this is becoming a real focus in this election. that state has not voted for a republican presidential nominee since 1984. there has been a whole lot of shake-up in the republican corner in wisconsin in recent, in the past couple of years really. 10 electoral votes at stake in wisconsin. there are 12 swing states if you take a look at it in this election cycle. including the all-important state of ohio, 18 electoral votes in ohio. let's not forget from. florida. where governor romney will spend his time today. florida has voted republican in six of the last eight presidential elections. 2008 was not one of them. less than 3% was the victory in president obama. more than 105,000 jobs have been lost in florida since president obama took office. those are really the key battle ground states that will get a lot of focus from this pair over the coming days. here's a look at that. all right, gregg. gregg: martha, the president expected to focus very heavily on ryan's controversial budget plan today in iowa. yesterday he commented on the pick for the first time, pradsing ryan as an articulate spokesman for governor romney's vision one which with the president says he fundamentally disagrees. >> now this kind of top-down economics is central to governor romney and it is central to his running mate. just yesterday morning my opponent chose his running mate. the idealogical leader of the republicans in congress, mr. paul ryan. gregg: the president's bus tour will make two stops in iowa. the president expected to greet voters at the iowa state fair in des moines. congressman rye yawn wasting no time for the president not having a budget plan of his own. >> the contrast could not be more clear. when he was governor of massachusetts, he balanced the budget without raising taxes. [cheers] president obama has given us budgetses with no balance ever and a lot of new taxes. [booing] if president obama's economic policies of borrowing, taxing and spending worked, we would be entering a golden age alongwith greece. gregg: democrats zeroing in on ryan's controversial budget plan, specifically its proposed cuts but governor mitt romney making it clear he has his own budget plan, not ryan's. either way here is what the ryan plans look like. it proposes cutting tax rates and dramatically revamping medicare though current medicare recipients would not be affected. ryan says that would save more than five trillion dollars over the next decade. much of the savings is supposed to come from repealing the new health care law and making major reforms in programs like medicaid and food stamps. stew varney, host of "varney & company" on the fox business network. stu, what does congressman ryan want to do, qhashgs does president obama want to do? >> you're right to focus in on medicare because that was the picked over throughout the weekend after the vice-presidential pick. start with the paul ryan plan, if you're 55 or older you can keep medicare now to eternity. no change at all in medicare if you're currently 55 or older. by the year 2022, medicare will shift. seniors will get a government payment which they can spend as they see fit on private health insurance policies. that is the ryan medicare plan in a nutshell. the obama medicare plan, consists of large cuts, up to $560 billion over 10 years, plus tax increases. so the difference between the two is pretty stark. paul ryan would reform the entire system. president obama would keep the current medicare system going. just cut it and tax more to keep it going. gregg: stu, how exactly would the president make cuts? >> that is the interesting point. according to the congressional budget office the cuts would total 564 billion in 10 years. you would get those cuts because of obamacare which would lower the cost of the delivery of health care, plus, the elimination of waste and fraud. that means, that the president proposes to reduce, cut, by one billion dollars, every week and keep it up for 10 years. i could ask the rhetorical question, gregg, which government agency or program has ever cut anything like that from waste and fraud ever in america. gregg: and the answer is? none. >> yes. gregg: none of the above. i had a feeling it was rhetorical in that regard. stu varney, good to see you, stu. thank you very much. >> gregg, thank you. martha: paul ryan may be relatively young at the age of 42 but he really has quite a long resume'. he has been in congress seven terms already, 14 years. he held the important position of house budget committee chairman where he has done a lot of work as you know. but before running for office paul ryan served as legislatetive director for kansas republican senator sam brownback. when he ran for congress in 1988 he was little-known outside of his hometown in janesville. he captured 57% of the vote in a very democratickic in wisconsin. he has been shaking things up. he held office hours in a an old truck converted into an office. he kept up that habit. he sleeps on his couch in his office in congress when congress is in session. we're getting started here on a monday morning. lots to talk about. we'll look at ryan pick with backers like sarah palin. with a strong history of the fighting government spending, will he re-energize the tea party and conservatives? we'll talk to steve hayes about that. gregg: a major security breach at one of the nation's biggest airports. how did a man manage to make it over a fence across two runways before anyone noticed him? martha: a good trick. the top lawmakers throwing down the grauntlet today. this is big news on capitol hill today. preparing to file suit against attorney general eric holder over "operation fast and furious". as the family after border patrol agent waits for answers about this program that have been linked to their son's death. >> he is a liar. i think he is lying to the american people. >> that when he said i did not know nor did my attorney general authorize this program, you think that is untrue? >> yes i do. yeah. and i think he knew about my son. i think it went all the way up the ladder to him and they're protecting him and holder. whoa. right? get. out. exactly! really?! 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[ male announcer ] there's oreo creme under that fudge! it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. why should saturday night have all the fun? get two times the points on dining in restaurants, with chase sapphire preferred. martha: governor romney's vp pick seems to be recharging his presidential campaign. we saw the crowds. they were cheering on the new team at the events in several battleground states over the course of the weekend. meanwhile the 2008 republican ticket saying congressman ryan is the right pick for mitt romney. watch this. >> excellent choice. a new generation of leadership in our party and our nation. a man who understands the most compelling challenges this nation faces. >> i'm excites now we have a team of romney-ryan that will certainly offer an alternative to the vision that barack obama and joe biden have for america. martha: stephen hayes, senior writer at "the weekly standard" and a fox news contributor. he was at the romney-ryan rally in wisconsin last night. steve, what was it like. >> good morning, martha. it was certainly enthusiastic. i they were expecting in the neighborhood of 4,000 people. they ended up with 13,000 plus and i think, look, you saw in some way as different mitt romney, a more energized and more enthusiastic mitt romney reminiscent of the romney we saw on the campaign trail back in the days before the wisconsin primary in late march and early april when he was campaigning with paul ryan then. he seems to feel more comfortable on the stage and seems to actually enjoy being with paul ryan on stage. martha: you're so right. almost feels like somewhat of a sense of relief that you have a teammate. that you have somebody on board with you. i'm fascinated how this decision was made. look at a lot of people in the mix including tim pawlenty and rob portman, who a lot of people thought might have been the romney safer choice you about what us did this say about romney, sort of as an executive, the way he made this decision on a personal busy and on a practical basis? >> well, you know, it is very interesting to me. paul ryan was advising mitt romney informally. they had regular talks what needed to be done going back to almost last summer when paul ryan decided not to run for president himself and he talked with mitt romney throughout the fall. there were a couple of conversations that may have stuck out. there was one conversation that paul ryan described to me back in march in an interview he walked through mitt romney exactly what was going to need to be done if romney were elected in the first si his presidency. ryan laid out a pretty aggressive plan. said this is what needs to be done, governor romney. and the governor responded by saying we can't wait six months. we need to do this in the first 100 days. i think certainly for ryan, that was a moment where he thought this was a guy who really gets it. i think that is one of the conversation they had that sort of cemented this bond we're seeing play out on the stage in wisconsin and elsewhere. i'm fascinated about how these decisions are made and the process that goes into it. watching the cbs interview on "60 minutes" last night, governor romney suggested that although he liked paul ryan all along he was really open until august 1st when he made the decision. he was considering all his options. it is starting to feel as though these two men made a connection some sometime ago and were leaning in this direction earlier than anyone thought? >> yeah, i think that's true. go back to the time period, the 10-day time period before the wisconsin primary on april 3rd. it was interesting when i interviewed paul ryan in may for the big profile we did in the "weekly standard." i talked to him about that period. he said it was interesting, the first day, the first event they did together, paul ryan's job was to get up and introduce mitt romney, basic, standard form introduction. the second event he was given a microphone and told to stand up there and allow to answer questions with governor romney. the final four events that the two men did together, ryan was given a seat on stage with governor romney. was a equal participant back and forthwith mitt romney on stage. paul ryan told me that idea didn't come from romney's staff. it was nothing that paul ryan pushed. it was something governor romney told his staff to do. bring this guy on stage with me. i want him to be a equal participant in the town hall settings. you saw the settings, traveling press corps, i talked to a number of press corps, said this was a different romney than we were seeing on stage before the wisconsin primary. martha: working with that person, we've clearly seen that between these two men, even right on the ground floor following this story, steve. great to talk to you, today, mr. wisconsin, yourself. we'll see you soon. >> thanks, martha. gregg: didn't used to be that way. in decades past when you look at some of the veep choices didn't have much chemistry. johnson, kennedy, for example. martha: there is always so much discussion how romney did or didn't get alongwith other candidates when he was running. gregg: yes. martha: this seems to be genuinely good friendship that built between the two men. makes it really, really interesting to watch. gregg: we'll tell you, new fallout in the "fast and furious" scandal coming up. top republicans once again taking on attorney general eric holder, this time in a court of law. >> when you go to congress and you're there eight, 10, times you continue to say, i don't recall, i don't remember, i didn't know down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion doars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. martha: we are back on a monday morning. former president george w. bush also weighing in and offering his seal of approval for the romney-ryan ticket, making the following statement. quote, this is a strong pick. governor romney is serious about confronting the long-term challenges facing america and paul ryan will help him solve the most difficult issues, i should say, that must be addressed for future generations. he has been very quiet really throughout this campaign but clearly expressing his support for this team. >> have you and your attorneys produced internally the materials responsive to the subpoenas? >> we believe that we have responded to the subpoenas. >> no, mr. attorney general, you're not a good witness. a good witness answers the question asked. let's go back again. gregg: well you, probably remember that one. the testy exchange between congressman darrell issa and the attorney general eric holder taking place in congress. and now, the verbal fireworks over "fast and furious" could resume in a court of law. congressman issa planning to file a federal lawsuit against the attorney general for failing to turn over documents related to the botched gun-running sting operation. doug mckelway live in washington with that story. hi, doug. >> reporter: good morning to you, gregg. we learned of this yesterday through a tweet of chairman darrell issa of the house oversight committee. his tweet he had read, quote, we're filing charges against attorney general eric holder tomorrow. the suit will be filed today in the federal court in the district of columbia. recall that the house voted to holder in contempt over "fast and furious" in june. holder still didn't comply. holder maintained that the oversight committee was seeking documents not germane to the investigation and the investigation itself wa purely political. >> over the past year-and-a-half congressman issa and others have focused on politics over public safety. >> reporter: holder said that the documents that the committee sought were internal communications how doj would be responding to the congressional questions and that that was all. gregg? gregg: doug, this contempt lawsuit where essentially you goo before a federal judge and say, your honor, make them produce the documents. this is not unprecedented, is it? >> reporter: not at all. this lawsuit is very much consistent with how the contempt of congress path went in 2008 when the democratically controlled house voted then to hold white house chief of staff josh bolton and white house counsel harriet miers in contempt. they didn't comply with congress so the white house sued the bush administration. they worked out a where bolton and miers testified. no reaction from the justice department. deputy ag said once litigation is initiated we will respond. the white house claimed executive privilege over the documents. we'll see what happens later today, gregg? gregg: what do you bet u.s. versus nixon will come into play during that debate in court. doug mckelway. thanks very much. >> reporter: sure thing. martha: paul ryan has not been afraid to take on the president in health care, challenging him in a famous one-on-one exchange. we'll show that to you. remind you about when that happened. will he bring that to the fight now? gregg: the republican presidential ticket is all set. there it is. brand new poll numbers coming out on the heels of governor mitt romney of picking congressman paul ryan as his running mate. what the voters say about that still to come. >> we can either stay on the current path we're on, a nation in debt, a nation in doubt, a nation in despair, a nation with high unemployment where we're giving our children a diminished future, or we can change this thing and get this country back on the right track. 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>> no. i think in terms of political issues this makes things a lot easier for them. they're basically going to talk about the ryan budget. yes he is an articulate spokesperson for it. there is no question. if romney wants to talk about this issue he picked the right guy, no question. gregg: yeah. >> the question why would he want to talk about the things that paul ryan has recommended because they're so politically toxic. even if you look at not just his budget, he was one of the people pushing privatizing social security. gregg: sure. >> that was something the bush administration even ultimately rejected because they thought it was too politically toxic for them. gregg: we're showing in florida, st. augustine a live picture of mitt romney before a crowd of folks campaigning today. ford, i want to back track if i can speaking of budget matters and the economy. here is paul ryan a little bit more than a year ago presenting his budget. take a listen. >> instead of taking 20 cents out of every dollar made in america to pay for the federal government, my children will have to take 40 cents out of every dollar. that means double the tax burten. that means a diminished future. the president is basically saying those people in congress who want to keep this government size relative to where it has historically been, who want to keep it, who want to keep it basically limited, are crazy. gregg: look, ford, ryan may energize the base, fiscal conservatives, tea partiers, but, what about those all important independent and swing voters? does he attract them, or, alienate them? >> well, look in his congressional district, i mean he is able to swing voters, both sides of the aisle into his favor. i think what the ryan vp choice sends is a clear message to independents that mitt romney is serious about getting america's fiscal house in order and serious about putting americans back to work. really the romney-ryan ticket is about big ideas in the future. paul ryan is really going to have to draw on his keen knowledge of complex fiscal matters to articulate them in cogent way. kirsten is right, the romney-ryan ticket can in the win the white house without florida and ohio. they will have to beat back the mediscare attacks. gregg: kirsten, ryan does have a very compelling personal history. he is a devoted deficit hawk. he is vigorous advocate for, free markets, smaller government. how might he do against joe biden in the one and only vice-presidential debate? >> i think he is a good, he is a clearly a person who is good at persuading i disagree he has a great history as a deficit hawk. he actually voted for every single one of george bush's budgets. this is something he discovered after barack obama became president. that is something he will have to answer for. he has helped add plenty to our deficit and, plenty of out of control spending by the government. gregg: yeah. >> i do what think what you raise is the most important thing. how can he do with independents? third way, a centrist think tank had done polling on this issue shd, independents want all o approach. that is not paul ryan's approach. paul ryan is approach to have tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts. that's not what independents are looking for. >> ford, quickly, i'm out of time here. is it possible seniors and those nearing retirement in the all important battleground states especially florida and ohio will be wary of paul ryan's plans to modify or overhaul the entitlements, especially things like social security? >> that is absolutely right. that is exactly what the ryan-romney ticket have to worry about. kirsten is trying to define paul ryan. what mitt romney, paul ryan said, whatever plan comes up with does not affect 55 or older. if they drive that message they will play offense. trust me, joe biden and barack obama will be scared and shaking in their boots. gregg: we remember the grandma over the cliff. pushing grandma, look, the fact check organizations, most of them took a look at that, said that was really, really unfair. kirsten powers with, ford o'connell, good to see you both. >> thank you. >> thank you, gregg. martha: you think it is unfair to push grandma over a cliff? gregg: it didn't affect grandma. grandmas were not affected by paul ryan's plan. martha: we have new reaction coming in from paul ryan's hometown, people in janesville, wisconsin, where he has won seven elections but there is a mix out there as always. listen. >> good for the community. good for the state. i think it is good for the republican party. >> i think it is just very exciting. >> i have never voted for paul ryan and i never will. >> his ideas are solid. we have a deficit problem that needs to be solved. martha: back in 2008, rock county, which is the county that encompasses janesville, voted overwhelmingly for president obama. a little bit more about the town. we'll be hearing quite a bit about it. it finds itself in national spotlight. it has a population, janesville does, of 60 thousand people. it described as well to do neighborhood in wisconsin. he lives there with his wife janna and three children. gregg: does well there. martha: this is the land of russ feingold and/orry begins of unions. we've seen scott walker win there and hold onto his governor job there. wisconsin is really interesting test case for everything that is going on right now politically. gregg: a little personal background on paul ryan. he is a fifth generation wisconsin native, born and raised there in janesville. his hobrys -- hobbies including hunting and fishing. he is a bow hunter. he likes rock and roll. who doesn't. you will find rage against the machine and led zeppelin on his ipod. martha: not uncommon for most 42-year-olds i would imagine. $100 million security system is in place at one of our nation's busiest airports. how did somebody hop the fence, walk across two runways before anybody seemed to notice. >> we'll show you that crazy story this morning. gregg: why congressman paul ryan's understanding of the budget goes back to the reagan era. how the vice-presidential pick learned from one of the founders of reaganomics. 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[ angela ] creating an experience instd of just a meal that's endless shrimp. my name is angela trapp. i'm a server at red lobster and i sea food differently. you'll inevitably find yourself on aolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic. and for the blind spot monitoring that helps remind you that the highway might not be as desolate... ...as you thought. ♪ gregg: welcome back. a major security scare at one of the nation's busiest airports. a stranded jet-skier was able to walk through a state of the art security system at york's jfk airport. he swam three miles towards the light of a runway. climbed eight-foot high fence and walked across two runways into a terminal before anybody noticed him. passengers were stunned a at the breach. >> certainly they need to look at vulnerabilities like that from the water side. if somebody can climb up a fence and get in, doesn't make me feel safe flying through kennedy. hopefully they will do something about it. >> doesn't speak well for the people responsible and requires investigation so it happen again. gregg: delta air lines workering eventually the stopped the man. airport officials say they're investigating. martha: so long before paul ryan became the vice-presidential candidate he cut his teeth in washington as protoe shea of former buffalo congressman jack kemp. kemp was a pro-growth, pro-trade leader during the reagan revolution. ryan took that knowledge. he brought it to the house budget committee. no surprise he and governor romney are making the the soaring debt and struggling economy a centerpiece of the campaign. >> some are fearful if we stay in the track we're on we'll end up like greece and we're going to have like europe has, the cronic high unemployment and low wage growth and fiscal calamity right at the door. that is not the path we'll take us down. i see our president making us more and more like europe. i don't want to be like europe. i want to be like america. martha: stephen moore, senior economics writer for "the wall street journal" he has known congressman ryan for 20 years. both you and congressman ryan have reputation of being very young and very smart covering these issues. no surprise you know each other. >> martha, let me tell you something. i'm not so smart i remember the day paul came to me in the spring of 1998. he said, steve i'm going to run for congress in wisconsin. i said, paul are you crazy. you can't win that district. that is a democratic district. thank goodness he did not listen to my advice. i did know him very well at the time when he worked for jack kemp. a guy who i loved. paul and jack have so many similarities in terms of their upbeat persona, kind of sunny side that america can grow out of its problems and no problem for this great country are too large to solve. martha: their stories back in 1994, he was an aide, a congressional aide on the hill at the age of 23. and people would turn to him and paul, what are the numbers on this? this is a buy who is so steeped and has done so much homework. he never has a hard time coming up with answers and seems to be respected for that on both sides of the aisle. >> yeah. one of the ways he won that really tough first race, again a democratic, blue-collar district that had been held by democrats for many, many years he did very well, martha, with the blue-collar working class voters and also with women. mitt romney has a gender gap problem, there is no question about it. obama does better with women than mitt romney does. paul is very appealing to women voters. he always done very well because he speaks of those kind of kitchen table issues, martha. and you know this as a woman yourself, people who pay the bills in most households are the women. martha: we won't talk about what goes on in my house. i'm not the best bill payer but fortunately my husband is pretty good at that. anyway i get your point. i get your point. in terms of jack kemp for people who think about jack kemp, how do you equate jack kemp's philosophy the way he looked at solving the problems the country has with the realities we are now and the way ryan takes it on? >> really great point, martha because there has always been kind of a tension in the republican party for the last 30 years or so between kemp vision which is grow your way out of these problems that we don't need to cut, cut, cut. and then, the kind of what reagannites call the root canal republicans. the ones who want to slice these programs. paul is a very inspired choice here because he brings together both of the wings. he has the kind of kemp growth vision, unless you get the economy moving you will never balance the budget but he also has sensible cuts to programs that need to be put on a leash in terms of the big entitlement programs like medicare and medicaid. he does it in a way that i think are acceptable to people. i heard you guys talking a couple minutes ago. there is no question the democrats will start running those ads, mediscare with granny going over the cliff. there is no question that is coming. martha: it already has. thank you very much, steve. always good to see you. >> i'm glad paul didn't take my advice. martha: i bet he is too. thanks a lot. take care, steve. gregg: he was only 28 years old at the time. amazing. the. the fight over fuel becoming a hot campaign topic as gasoline prices continue to spike. we'll look where the candidates stand on the issue of energy independence. martha: boy, did you see this yesterday? rory mcelroy taking the golf world by storm. the 23-year-old from northern ireland won his second major, routing the field. nobody was close to rory mcilroy. he is number one player in the world right now. tiger woods said quote, he was very good. gregg: eight strokes, wow! second time he has done it by eight strokes. martha: we'll be right back. [applause] >> of course to my left -- martha: well the reverend billy graham is now recovering at a north carolina hospital. he is being treated for bronchitis. we understand the 93-year-old is in stable condition and resting comfortably. yesterday he was even able to watch his grandson preach on television. no date was set for his discharge yet. a statement says he is looking forward to returning home to his family. we wish him well. gregg: well, up, up and away for gasoline prices sitting highest level since the middle of may. the increasing sticker shock at the pump fast becoming a major issue on the campaign trail, possibly shaping who wins the race for the white house. so where does each candidate stand on that? john roberts live in atlanta with more on that. hi, john. >> reporter: good morning to you, gregg. gas prices average across the country, $3.69 a gallon. according to "the lundberg survey" says that is up 36 cents since july. what are the presidential candidates doing in their energy plans to keep the price of gasoline down? let's look at obama plan. he is pursuing what he calls all of the above strategy with emphasis on traditional fuels, oil, natural gas, coal. many critics say this is white house hostile to the coal industry. a very emphasis on the following three things. alternative energy, environmental concerns and new mandated fuel efficiency standards. the white house is already made investments, ill-fated ones in alternative energies. remember solyndra and the president touted algae as a source for energy. that is long way off. but still his supporters say. way to go. >> china is investing alternatives. not because of love from the environment. they are doing it because these will be the jobs of future. social mobility and profit behind it. >> critics say when it comes to alternative energy, they should not fund commercial enterprises but going at it a different way, gregg. gregg: john, what about governor romney's plan. tell us about that. >> reporter: governor romney's plan to get more out of the ground, more out of sea. governor romney said i will build the keystone pipeline, one of the first things he will do said if i have to bliled it myself. he would open the outer continental shelf to drilling. this is not just the gulf of mexico, eastern united states, potentially the western united states where possible. open more federal lands to drilling. streamlined regulation so that the industry is better equipped, better able to it doe. the here is a real difference when it comes to alternative energy. would limit government funding to basic research in alternative energy as opposed to commercial development. the united states energy information agency says we have a whole lot more fossil fuel than we're producing now only if we could get access to it. that is something someone from the american petroleum institute soundly agrees with. this is what he told me. >> there is a vast at amount of oil on federal lands we could develop. over 100 billion barrels. if we produce that over 30 years, or 10 million barrels a day or what we import from oil. >> reporter: gas prices potentially could spike again. the price of ethanol going up because of drought in the midwest. the white house is considering a waiver so industry wouldn't have to put ethanol in gasoline. that could potentially spike the price of gasoline becauseth noll right now, gregg accounts for dollar of price of gasoline. gas far more expensive than ethanol is. gregg: john roberts in atlanta. john, thanks. >> we're getting brand new poll numbers. these were taken after paul ryan was added to the republican ticket. we'll look at those. we'll show you what is in there. they could be pivotal in terms of this moment in the campaign. talk about that coming up. gregg: reports of less than stellar turnout yesterday for the president's campaign event in chicago. as governor mitt romney fires up crowds at a florida rally this morning. >> the successes of some do not make us poorer. they do not make us better off. i will not apologize for success at home and i will never apologize for america. managing my diabetes is part of my life, between taking insulin and testing mylood sugar... is this part of your life? freeste lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy. freestyle lite needs just a third the blood of onetouch ultra. really? yep, which is great for people who use insulin and test a lot. max and i are gonna run out and get them right now. or you can call or click today and get strips and a meter free. test easy. martha: we've got brand-new poll numbers that came out this morning. they were taken at least in part after governor mitt romney announced paul ryan would be his running mate. the race for the white house is about tied up according to the numbers. rasmussen's daily tracking poll shows governor romney with a slight lead over president obama. 49-47. one point higher than before saturday morning's announcement. could this whic wisconsin congressman choice be with game changer? ed rollins will be here to give us his take a little bit later. paul ryan looking to expand governor romney's lead. the wisconsin lawmaker will have company on the campaign trail because president obama is also kicking off a tour in the key battleground state of iowa today. might get crowded in that beautiful state. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." good to be back with you, i'm martha maccallum. >> i'm gregg jarrett in for bill. congressman ryan getting his first real test as governor romney's running mate. he will sharpen his ticket's campaign message. >> we can put ourselves on the path toward a welfare state with a debt crisis, where we now see the government's role as not promoting equal opportunity and protecting our natural rights. this country is so special, the state is so special. it's so special, because it's the only country founded on an idea. it's very special. that idea in a nutshell, it's in the declaration of independence. our rights come from nature and god, not from government. [cheers and applause ] martha: very emotional appearance over the weekend in wisconsin. i'm joined by chief washington correspondent james rosen in des moines. can we expect the message to be changing or recrafted at all? >> good morning from iowa. we have already seen congressman's ryan message sharpen considerably over the first 48 hours since he joined this ticket to the point where his appearance with governor romney he accused president obama of lacking a moral compass and accused his administration of being wasteful and corrupt. he was visibly emotional, attended by somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 people. at other stops they have wielded local economic data points. the jobless rate, the jobs lost under the obama administration to take the case for the raoeupbz ticket. the ryan-romney ticket. >> my veins run with cheese, bratwurst and a little miller. [applause] >> i was raised on the packers, badgers, bucks and brewers. [applause] >> i like to hunt here, i like to fish here, i like to snowmobile here. i even think ice fishing is interesting. >> one aspect of congressman ryan flying solo on the campaign trail that we expect to see more of soon is his fulfillment of his associative duties as a fund-raiser for the campaign. martha: everybody is learning a lot more about paul ryan than we ever did before. you have his teammate, governor romney who is in florida today. has he shifted his message since he added paul ryan to this ticket. >> noticeably. governor romney explicitly casts this election in the same terms as president obama was casting it as a choice election and not strictly as a referendum on the obama presidency. even since the addition governor romney has maintained many ingredients of the same stump speech that he had been using previously, his portrayals of president obama as a european-style social democrat and the you didn't build that statement. the presumptive g.o.p. nominee has used his he selection of paul ryan to cast president obama as a politician who in essence plays dirty pool. >> barack obama is going to do everything in this power to make this the lowest, meanist, negative campaign in history. this is not going to happen. this will be a campaign about ideas and the future of america. this is the campaign about greatness, about america's future for your children, for the world. mr. president, take your campaign out of the gutter, let's talk about the real issues that america faces [cheers and applause ] >> congressman ryan will not have the swing state of iowa to himself today. president obama is also campaigning in the state today. martha: james, you have a pride twinkie for us out there okay. >> you got it. gregg: it's too early to think about that. martha: never too early. gregg: it has been a journey that he calls surreal and now congressman paul ryan is revealing for the very first time the great lengths to which he went to keep his vp announcement secret, getting dropped off at his home in wisconsin, talking about where are my keys, i have to go around the back, eventually escaping into the woods behind his house. >> it was more of a walk. i grew up in those woods. the grove backs up to the house i live in now. i know those woods like the back of my hands. so i just went out my back door and went to the gully in the woods i grew up playing in and i walked by the tree that has my free fort that i built. and i walked next to the driveway i grew up w. the chie up with. gregg: phil keating is live in miami where governor mitt romney expected to hold a rally later this afternoon. the ryan pick sure seems to have out witnessed the reporters camped out in wisconsin. not that it's that difficult to out witnes witt witt reporters. >> every media association had a reporter outside the homes of vice presidental short listens, that included senator marco rubio of florida, tim pawlenty of minnesota. ohio senator rob portman. reporters saw ryan arrive and he said i don't have my keys. that's when the reporter saw ryan go into the backyard of his house, allegedly to get into his house that way, but now we know, all of that was a ruse, ryan obscured by his house walked through the woods to an awaiting van. by saturday morning in norfolk, virginia, on board the u.s.s. wisconsin. this was a ryan-romney ticket unveiling. gregg: i would have camped out in a tree where you could see everything. no i won't. thanks, good to see you. martha: stickers in your hair at the end of that adventure. the whole ryan family made their debut on the presidential campaign trail, giving many americans the first glimpse of ryan's wife jana. they met through a mutual friend in 1999 where ryan was a few months into his first term in congress. she was working on capitol hill. they married in 2000. she was working as a tax attorney and they moved to janesville, wisconsin to raise a family. they have a daughter age 10. two sons ages 8 and 7. i think that is a good order for a family, girl, boy, boy, that's what i have too. gregg: fox news alert weather alert, a semi truck is violently tossed on its side in the middle of a divider while rains and storms go through durant, oklahoma. it left a lot of folks without power. no serious injuries have been reported so far. martha: president obama is set to unveil new plans today aimed at helping drought-stricken farmers. one of the programs the president is expected to announce directs the agriculture department to buy $170 million of meat and fish. it good go towards nutrition assistance programs. maria molina is live with the latest on the weather. >> good to see you. i don't really have that great of news. we have a storm system that already brought areas of rainfall to where we need it the most, states like arkansas, parts of indiana and illinois early to morning. unfortunately that storm system is wrapping up and leaving behind drier air in place. we are seeing the extreme to exceptional drought conditions worsening. last week 25%, this week 28%. we are seeing the worst category of drought wars evening across this part of the country in the central plains and we have been experiencing very hot temperatures. it's raining right around the chicago area, across the state of indiana where we really need the rain, western parts of kentucky getting drenched, also tennessee, across texas. last year was a big story out here. we had a horrible drought across texas, we are seeing much needed rain across western parts of the state. some of the rainfall will come from severe thunderstorms today, large hail, damaging winds and even isolated tornadoes possible. martha: maria thank you. we'll watch out for that with your help. thanks very much. gregg: as the race for the white house enters a brand-new phase governor mitt romney is hoping to get a big boost from his new running mate. >> we want to elect men and women who run for office and tell us who they really are, what they really believe, what they are really going to do, and then when they get elected they do that. [applause] gregg: karl rove says this pick shows the election is now about big ideas, top g.o.p. strategi strategisted rollins will be here to weigh in on this. martha: one of the rooms president obama was working and speaking in last night was about half empty. some reporters dispute that notion. the big question is whether or not some of the hype has worn off for the president as he campaigns out there right now. we'll talk about that. gregg: an unusual incident in the strait of hormuz. what ripped a gaping hole, look at that into the side of a u.s. navy destroyer, coming up. it's something you're born with. and inspires the things you choose to do. you do what you do... because it matters. at hp we don't just believe in the power of technology. we believe in the power of people when technology works for you. to dream. to create. to work. if you're going to do something. make it matter. gregg: welcome back. iran is raising the death toll from a pair of twin earthquakes this weekend to more than 300 people. the government has been facing harsh criticism for calling off rescue efforts less than 24 hours after the disaster. the quakes leveled at least six villages, injuring more than 3,000 people. iranian officials say relief efforts have been speedy but people there remain skeptical. they say some of the affected areas are very remote and not even accessible by car. martha: leading conservatives now saying that governor romney's vp choice will make the 2012 race about bold, big ideas, two very different visions for america. here is karl rove. >> he embraced the ia of reform of these big social institutions, reform of the budget process, a serious effort to reduce the deficit. he talked earlier this spring about tax reform. by his choice today he signaled that this is going to be the focus of his fall campaign, a reformed conservatism aimed at getting the country's fiscal house in order. paul ryan will be an excellent partner for governor romney in this effort. martha:ed rollins is former deputy chief of staff for president reagan and managed his campaign for re-election in 1984 and held major roles in nine other campaigns and we are glad he is a fox news contributor. this took a lot of people by surprise. the thing is that portman or pawlenty would be a safe pick for mitt romney an didn't want anybody who was going to out shine him. he really made a bold and what i was saying before a very executive decision in many ways i would say in choosing paul ryan. >> he did. he took someone very bright, articulate and respected by his house members. the republican party today is a lot of it is the republicans in the house who have really driven an agenda. paul has been a very significant part of that agenda. the democrats are going to run hard at him but at the end of the day we have a trillion-plus deficit every year, a social security that can't pay for itself for the foreseeable future. we have a medicare programs that ten years from now will be out of resources. you start getting ready for something with some resources. i think the dialogue will be very interesting. martha: let's take a look at the electoral map here. you've got wisconsin which is his home state which is clearly now in ten. >> there is teny electorial votes. martha: if he can help mitt romney with wisconsin and ohio and gets 28 electoral votes that could possibly offset florida. let's take a look at florida -- that is ohio again. i believe it's 29. >> it's 29. martha: do you think that is possible? >> i think that's possible. i don't think we should concede florida at this point in time. once again if you go argue to the senior citizens in florida, this doesn't affect you. this affects your kids and grand kids. and long term you don't want a system that basically is going to bankrupt them and not be resources for them. it's a careful argument but you've got to make the argument. martha: would you suggest -- he did not go to florida today, governor romney is in florida today. what would you say to him? you understand, we all understand what the on shraug onslaught is what is coming it's the pushing the old lady over the cliff with the ryan-like suit on. would you go at it full bore. >> i'd be running it ike a governor's race, nailing television commercials. would i get my marker down, this is what the plan really is and not let the democrat is define it. martha: you're waiting right now. there is one florida video that came out that has folks basically saying, i don't want my medical coverage taken away and the truth is and we'll get into this in a moment if you're over 55 there is no change in the current romney plan. >> no change. martha: an interesting moment was caught off mike between bill clinton and paul ryan a while back. bill clinton basically said, hey, good job, you're getting it out there, putting your budget off there. he said it's just a starting point. this was off mike. do you see paul ryan as someone able to work with folks? he's in congress, will he be able to craft something that might be more palatable. >> first of all the ryan budget has passed the house not the senate. that won't be the law of the land. they have to begin with the premise. the good thing is even though romney had a 59-item plan that nobody remembers, the premise of his plan is you've got to fight the deficit and make cutbacks on the entitlements and you have to basically lower taxes to basically create an environment where money is coming in. i think if you begin with that as a premise then you can sort of add the details as you go forth with the understanding that congress, both democrats and republicans could have a say in it. one of the most liberal members of the congress is senator widen from oregon. ryan and him have worked very closely together on projects in the past. he's a bright guy, respected by his colleagues, democrats and republicans and will be a great assett. >> what do you think the administration response was to this pick? were they gleeful or nervous. >> our size is energized. the conservatives that know him are excited. the democrats are excited because now they think he could paint romney with a brush. they will try to make the ryan plan and make it the policy of romney. romney has to articulate his own policy, and it's a combination. martha: thank you very much. we'll see you soon,ed rollins. gregg: as thousands greet mitt romney and paul ryan in wisconsin, dwindling numbers for the president. has the honeymoon with the white house ended somewhat? martha: attorney general eric holder back on the hot seat, the new step that congress is taking to get to the bottom of the botched gun running sting fast and furious, brand-new information coming out on that today. that is right after this. down here, folks measure commitment by what's getting done. the twenty billion doars bp committed has helped fund economic and environmental recovery. long-term, bp's made a five hundred million dollar commitment to support scientists studying the environment. and the gulf is open for business - the beaches are beautiful, the seafood is delicious. last year, many areas even reported record tourism seasons. the progress continues... but that doesn't mean our job is done. we're still committed to seeing this through. yeah, and i took on all the bigger, tougher ones. but now that mr. clean's got this new select-a-size magic eraser, i mean, he can take on any size job. look how easily he gets things cleaned. it's enough to make you cry. you, specifically. not me. i'm just happy we don't go near rex's mobile home as often. because it's hard to clean or because you're scared of an itty-bitty doggy? 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[ male announcer ] new mr. clean select-a-size magic eraser. lets you pick the right size for every job. martha: folks, it is 24 past the hour right now. a u.s. navy destroyer slides with an oil tanker in the strait of hormuz and this was a result. it left a gaping hole in its side. thankfully no one was hurt on either vessel. the cause is under investigation. the navy says the incident was not combat related. more than 400 people in lake county, california forced out of their homes when two fires spread into one large fire overnight. firefighters are battling the flames. jennifer aniston is ready to say i do again. even gained to her longtime boyfriend, a screen writer, and actor, jennifer aniston split from her first husband brad pitt back in 2004 and he went onto marry some other actress, i don't know who she is. gregg: one never knows. maybe the second time is the charm for jennifer aniston. a lot of male hearts are broken today. a growing problem on the immigration front. thousands of criminal aliens remain in the united states long after they've supposedly been kicked out. and there is little the u.s. can do. but texas congressman ted poe is taking them on. -p william la jeuness on. william la jeunesse is live with the story. >> they commit crimes, serve their time, they are released then we try to send them back to their home country, but those countries refuse to take them back. right now we have no choice but to let them out and many commit new crimes. lois didn's decker haven't have to die. a judge ordered him deported after his crime. he was released and later strangled the 73-year-old grandmother. >> she should have been a little old lady when she died by god's hands, not by yours. >> islam is not alone. >> the suspect got a prior criminal record. >> after serving time for robbery a judge deported this man, but when vietnam refused to take him federal policy required he be released after six months in jail. in march he allegedly mass occurred a family of five. >> there has to be some consequences for leaving those criminals in the u.s. >> congresan ted poe wanted to punish offender country by denying them student, tourist visas. the bill was watered down and just applies to diplomatic advice as. >> i don't know why the state department seems to take the side of foreign countries over our own american interests in the united states and says, look you take these people back or the consequence is going to be no visas for your nationment. >> but this list of top vie litter, cuba, vietnam, jamaica, india and pakistan describe why that is not likely to happen. >> it will throw a monkey wrench into diplomatic relations. it is a nonstarter for that reason. >> poe says we need leverage to force the countries to take the people back. the administration says it's too strong they prefer it on a one-to-one or case-by-case basis. poea's bill is in committee right now. gregg: thanks. martha: democrats appear to be ready to pounce on the new vice presidental candidate and it could center their argument on paul ryan's plan for medicare. we'll talk to the dnc, ask how they plan to go at it. it is a hot debate. we'll give you a preview moments away. gregg: an animal show at one county fair goes terribly wrong. the whole thing caught on videotape. martha: ouch. gregg: what happened when this alligator clamped down on this trainer's arm. never put your hand where it doesn't belong. that is the lesson here coming up. >> i don't know what went wrong, but he starts crushing down on the bone, the muscles start coming out the arm, bleeding everywhere. oh, my god, i don't even know. it was just the craziest thing to ever see. 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sph that's wha >> that's what romney set out to today. with sarah palin there was a huge surge of enthusiasm. that's great. i am happy that people that are extremely cove conservative can be happy with an extremely conservative candidate. republicans in congress have chosen to be very, very extreme and now the architect of a lot of those policies is on the ticket. martha: i want to get to medicarement i want to play this piece of sound from paul ryan on the 60 minutes interview last night. this part didn't air but in it he started by saying that his mother is a medicare recipient in florida, and then he said this. >> our point is we node t need to preserve their benefits. you must reform it for those of us who are younger. we think the reforms are good reforms that have bipartisan origin, they start fred the clinton era in the 90s. >> some people in florida say they don't want my benefits taken away. they are clearly over the age of 55. that is not what is in this plan. it wouldn't affect anybody over the age of 55. >> well, if paul ryan wants to extend the coladvance see of medicare he should support the fact the president has extended it for 12 years and including the fact that the president has taken waste out of there and unnecessary payments to insurance companies. all that is good. but the challenge is when you look at what paul ryan is proposing on medicare and what he proposed on social security, it's turning a solid system into a risky one. stop and to think -- martha: it's not a solid system, mayor. it's going to go absolutely bankrupt in the next 12 years. to say that medicare is a solid system. do you really believe that medicare is a solid system going forward? >> i believe the president extended that 12 years and that is helpful. i believe we need to continue to move further. i don't think it's at all wise to do a risky scheme similar to what president bush wanted to do with social security. martha: in terms of the 500 billion that the president is going to carve out of medicare, the president has already said that he will cut medicare by 500 billion, some of the estimates go higher than that, that is the cbo number that they matched but has not started to document exactly where the tprauz and waste and abuse is cut out of the system, where is a billion a year going to come from? we haven't heard any details on that. >> the president has talked about how unnecessary payments into shaourpbs companies and some of the tprauz and waste can and should be cut. not only does the president believe that, but paul ryan believes that because that is directly in his unbudget. what we see is paul ryan with mitt romney support wants to end medicare as we know it. as i say had we done the sort of risky themes with social security as bush and ryan proposed think what would have happened when the stock market collapsed. martha: i just watched this ad this morning. isn't it diseve morning. >> it's about introducing all sorts of risk into the medicare system when we should be focus owned the things the president is focused on. reform the system to get rids of waste. don't give unnecessary payments into shaourpbpayments to insurance companies. martha: this is the central debate no doubt now that paul ryan is in the mix we'll talk a lot about medicare and explaining exactly what his ideas would present. i thank you, mayor. good to have you here today. it will be a feisty debate and we'll watch more of it coming up. thank you, sir. >> thanks, martha. gregg: republicans also keeping up the pressure on president obama now reportedly telling how some of the 2008's campaign promises and see whether they hold up for reality. reacting for the first time, reince priebus who is chairman of the republican national committee. great to see you. i'm told you were listening into the dnc's vice chairman's remarks a moment ago. what is your reaction to them. >> i want to say i'm coming to you from des moines, iowa, we are excited to be here. getting ready to go to the state fair. we might even try a little bit of the fried butter today. gregg: what is your reaction to the mayor? >> my reaction, yeah, my reaction is, is that it's full of deceit and deception. the fact is martha hit the nail on the head. any person -- and when we're talking about what paul ryan proposed -- any person in america that is 55 or over, none of this discussion has anything to do with you. everything will move on as planned. what we're talking about is what we're going to do about people who are my age, in their 40s, whether you're republican or democrat there is one thing that we can agree on. we know that if we do nothing with medicare we are not going to have medicare as we know it. what ryan were proposed, for those people who are under 54 we've put together a system that number one guarantees affor guarantees aeu affordability. this plan does that. if you want to buy a traditional medicare plan you can do that. if you want a plan provided by a private insurer you can do that. this is very simple stuff and a lot of these guys don't have their facts straight. gregg: in the last hour we had quite a debate as to whether -- on the following basis, surely this pick will energize the base, the fiscal conservatives, the tea partiers, but will it tend to attract or alienate the important independent dent swing voter? what do you think? >> i think it l. i think people appreciate the fact that mitt romney has a plan to get our economy back on track, that they appreciate his leadership and vision in choosing paul ryan. i think people are sick and tired of this plasticized society of speeches and things not getting any better. gregg: some of these ads by the obama campaign seem to be working in some of the key swing states. florida, ohio, pennsylvania, those ads seem to be working. romney's negatives are pretty high. >> when you lie enough and you put enough money behind it sometimes it has an affect, but it's not going to work any more, because now the rnc and mitt romney are going to be able to out spend barack obama and the democratic national committee. so they chose to spend all their money early. now we're going to bring the facts to the american people, that they deserve about how we're going to get our economy back on track. only mitt romney is providing solution toss these problems. gregg: i notice that the vice chair a moment ago referred to paul ryan in the exact term almost as david axelrod, the senior adviser to the obama campaign, he called ryan assert tpaoeubl right wing ideolog. given the conditions of the economy, high unemployment, anemic growth maybe there is an april tithe for a conservative aeu deol gee this year, maybe they actually uttered a compliment. >> david and the president have -- they are pretty good at writing speeches and making promises but not very good with following through with them. i think most americans will agree that given the state of our economy, given the fact that spending is out of control, isn't it every member of the house and the senate, isn't it their responsibility to come up with solutions to problems? isn't that what we want in this country? and that's what paul ryan has done and mitt romney is a leader for taking that message forward. martha: reince priebus who is chairman of the republican national committee, great to see you from iowa. don't suck down too many of those deep-fried products there at the iowa state fair, okay? >> yeah, i hear they have a foot-long hot dog wrapped in bacon deep-fried waiting for us. >> i'm thinking lipitor right now. >> take your statin pills. martha: thanks for that advice. things are getting pretty ugly on capitol hill. a house committee suing attorney general eric holder. this has been coming for a longtime. now this it's happening, what will he do about it. that is coming up next. gregg: plus a daredevil chimp. that is right, makes a greatest cape and it's not the first time. why the owner says this latest incident may not be an accident. >> this looks like we're complete idiot, how the hell could the other chimpanzee get out? ve lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together. well hello, welcome to hotels.com. summer road trip, huh? uhuh yep uch let's find you a room. at hotels.com, you'll always find the perfect hotel. because we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice no. laugh... awe uch ooh, yeah hmm nice huh book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com gregg: a new twist in the botched gun running sting operation known as fast and furious. a house committee says it's suing the attorney general eric holder today in federal court for failing to hand over what it says are key documents related to the operation which let guns slip into the hands of drug cartels. we have a former federal prosecutor and an executive director of the american center for law and justice. if the infamous february 2011 letter was a lie, isn't misleading congress allegedly a crime, and under u.s. v nixon you can't hide behind executive privilege. >> that is right. that is not an excuse to not provide the documents. the supreme court of the united states held you cannot use the executive privilege in circumstances like this to khaoel shield wrongdoing. that would be wrongdoing if they were purposely misleading congress which also would raise a question whether eric holder himself committed perjury at that point. >> let me go to you, jordan. there are two kinds of executive privilege, the first is the presidential communication, i'm not sure that applies here. the other one is deliberative process. who is going to win this executive privilege under the second provision? >> you know it's interesting, gregg, because the president asserted deliberative process privilege, but as chairman issa has pointed out, congressman issa and the committee has pointed out it's really what easy certificating is the presidential communications privilege, direct discussions, research done for the president. that is different than what happened here. people who are lower ranking executive branch officials have privilege, but to overcome it all you have to show, not criminal activity is government misconduct or the evidence of government misconduct. the letter alone i think gregg from february the fact that it was repealed in december there is your evidence. what the court has said here in d.c. where this case will be filed, it will be filed today has said the privilege then disappears. gregg: i'm not sure holder can win the privilege battle but he can run out the clock can't he? what can a federal judge do? what are the sanctions if he finds against holder and holder still refuse stphes. >> they can certainly they can try to put pressure on. there will be public pressure as well as now a judge, in addition is saying you have to turn over the documents. there are potentially -- if the court holds someone in contempt they can issue -- they can issue financial fines, also put people in jail, put the attorneys into jail. they can say, it will be a long shot that maybe eric holder himself is in contempt of court. there are options there for the court although they are unlikely to use them. the reality is probably what 4 will happen is the judge will issue an order saying they have to produce the documents. gregg: and holder will appeal it. the timing of the assertion of executive privilege seems to a lot of lawyers to be rather fishy. it was inch sroebd ait was invoked at the very last moment. doesn't that call into question in the mind of a federal judge the legitimacy. >> absolutely. this was not a privilege asserted to keep someone from testifying before congress, like eric holder, like all the other department of justice staff, all the atf staff. remember the documents, gregg that this is about and for everybody who is watching, these documents ahe department of justice didn't tell the truth in february and why it took them until december of the same year to go back and say, sorry, congress, what we told you wasn't true. that is what this is about. not fast and furious the plan. >> two fine lawyers, good discussion. thank you very much. martha: let's go to jon scott and see what is cooking for "happening now" today. >> reporter: a busy couple of hours ahead. americans all abuzz about mitt romney's vp pick. some democrats say ryan's name on the ticket helps president obama. we'll talk to john mccain and kelly aeu kwrot to get their thoughts. a story we covered extensively five years ago, a woman and her three kids shot to death in her suv. the trial starts today. we're all over it. right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. what was supposed to be a cool gator show at the county fair. watch this. the alligator springs around and chomps is arm. the trainer walked away with nothing more than a few stitches. there was screaming. little kid were getting up to what was going on. joined by a br professional alligator handler and also known as the swamp master. what do you think happened here? >> good to see you again. obviously this guy made a really bad mistake e had a bad day. he's a professional but looking at it i think he didn't take his time, it looked like he rushed it a little bit. he was handling a pretty aggressive alligator. it's very technical handling alligators, people don't understand that every show could be your last. i think this guy might have figured this out after this bite. martha: you've been bitten too. what were different about the circumstances, what could you tell about what this guy did wrong based on what happened to you? >> every day is different. i was a little damaged and hurt going into the day. it was 105 degrees. there are always factors involved when you're doing an alligator show. there's weather, people. he might have just had a bad day, i'm not sure. from what i saw he just didn't take his time. he kind of rushed him a little bit, his jump was off. you can't afford that to happen if you're a professional alligator handler. it's devastating and you saw what happened. martha: obviously they want to show the algate tpher a wil alligator in a wild way. that's part of the show. but something went very wrong. >> it is. it's sometimes called alligator wrestling. alligators don't know anything about wrestling. in their particular show they dive on the back of the alligator, they pick it up and throw it around. i don't do that. i hop on their back and handle them as humanely as possible. they have a great show. i'm not in to picking alligators up and throwing them around for the crowd. martha: i think that is a great idea, swamp master. >> it's really not a man against breast thing. beast thing. they have a great show, the guy just made a bad mistake. martha: thanks. take care. i'll stay in the studio with no alligators. gregg: all right. outrage over a major security breach at jfk, the details coming up next. ♪ ♪ proud to and on our own ♪ proud to be homegrown ♪ a familiar face and a name you know ♪ ♪ can you hear it? ♪ fueling the american spirit ♪ no matter when, no matter where ♪ ♪ marathon will take you there ♪ fueling the american spirit and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. it's called a reverse mortgage. 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