ine prescribed by rheumatologists. >> gretchen: was that fantastic or what? [ cheers and applause ] >> steve: they'll be in the after the show show. have a great weekend. we'll see you next monday, everybody! good morning. we have brand new developments in the plit political mid slippinging over mitt romney's taxes. obama campaign leveled a new request of their own wards to all of this. good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum here in "america's newsroom". gregg: good friday morning, martha, i'm gregg jarrett in for bill hemmer. this controversy began after senate majority leader harry reid took to the floor of the senate that claimed an unnamed source told him that governor romney did not pay taxes for a decade. reid has never revealed his source or offered any

concrete proof. martha: governor romney went and looked over his taxes then he had this to say. watch. >> harry reid's charge is totally false. i'm sure waiting for harry to put up who it was that told him what they told him. i don't believe it for a minute. every year i paid at least 13%. if you add in addition the amount that goes to charity, the number gets well above 20%. martha: very interesting development in about all this an hour ago. the obama campaign is trying to cut a deal of sorts with the governor, promising that they will back off this whole issue if he does something on his side. peter doescy live at the white house. the obama campaign is asking governor romney to release five weeks of returns. then they will say they won't mention it during the rest of the campaign. how did they settle on the number and what kind of offer is that. >> reporter: obama campaign says that is all the years

mitt romney has been a candidate for president. those five years will answer questions about the effective tax rate mitt romney paid during that time. any foreign accounts he maintained. any foreign investments and any types of tax shelters he used. campaign manager to campaign manager letter sent from jim messina in chicago to matt rhodes in boston, messina writes, if the governor will release five years of return i commit we will not criticize him for not relosing anymore in ads or public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign. martha there is no commitment not to criticize what is in the tax returns. there is a promise not to criticize for mitt romney not releasing more years of tax returns. martha: there it is. is the romney campaign going to take the obama campaign up on the offer? what is the response from them so far on all of this, peter. >> reporter: martha, 10 minutes ago we got a copy of the letter matt rhodes with

the romney campaign fired back to jim mess seen in chicago. in the first line. it is clear president obama wants to talk about nothing more than mr. romney's tax returns than the issues about voters, putting americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending. there is nothing in the offer. mitt romney gave a little bit of detail about 10 years worth of his tax returns, which is actually twice as many as the obama campaign is asking for. >> i did go back and look at my taxes. over the past 10 years i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6 is or something like that. paid taxes every single year. >> reporter: ann romney said in an interview that aired last night she and her husband is very transparent of what is legally required of them. the more they release, the more they get attacked. >> there is response from

the romney campaign on all this. it is not as if the irs investigating governor romney here. the obama campaign is asking for some kind of sort of resolution on this foreign investments and all of this stuff with really no bases for thinking there is anything in there that they need to be concerned about, correct? >> that is correct. they just say that, look, we'll stop talking about the amount of tax returns that have been released. we won't put out anymore ads, we won't send our surrogates out to criticize you but we want five years worth. they don't indicate there they think there has been any law breaking. they say there are four things they want. they want to know the tax rates that he paid. foreign accounts that he maintained. foreign investments he made and any type of tax shelters he might have used. they don't allege any kind of wrongdoing in terms of breaking the law. martha: peter, thank you. lots more coming up this morning. peter doocy in washington. gregg: so one kind of

wonders what senate majority leader harry reid's reaction to the latest development might be. take a look at the statement released this morning from his spokesman, quote, we'll believe it when we see it. until mitt romney releases his tax returns, americans will continue to wonder what he is hiding. senator reid has yet to reveal just who his unnamed sources are regarding governor romney's tax returns of the past. martha: so here's the question. are we knee deep in silly season at this point, folks? should the obama campaign be focusing on something more important than mitt romney's tax returns, i don't know, maybe the economy for example? we'll debate all of this fair and balanced in the next hour. gregg: meantime governor romney pulling out the whiteboard to explain the difference between his medicare plan and what the white house is doing. mr. romney trying to literally spell out his policy to voters. take a listen. >> my plan presents no change.

the plan stays the same. gregg: governor romney's running mate, congressman paul ryan, taking their message straight to seniors as the white house defends the president's health care overhaul. >> mitt romney and i will protect and strengthen medicare, leave it intact for our current seniors and is a save it for the next generation. [applause] the congressional budget office said if you do that, seniors on average will see costs rise by $6400 per year. gregg: which the ticket on the republican side disputes. we're going to have more on this in a couple of minutes. stay tuned. martha: as far as campaigning for the white house today, most of the candidates are not in the middle of campaign mode at the moment. president obama and vice president joe biden, no events on their schedules for the day. governor mitt romney is attending a fund-raiser in long island, new york. congressman ryan campaigning at several locations in key

battlegrounds in the state of virginia. that has of course 13 electoral votes in virginia. very important state. back in 2008, virginia went blue with president obama becoming the first democrat to win the state since lbj back in 1964. but since then there has been something of a red wave going on in virginia. republicans taken over both chambers of the state legislature and electing republican bob mcdonnell of virginia. republicans hold their largest majority ever in the virginia house. a lot of focus on the state of virginia. and what will happen there. that is why paul ryan is there today. remember, fox news is america's election headquarters, in case you were wondering. the republican convention is over a week away. join bret baier and megyn kelly and the entire fox news election team for all the big speeches and complete analysis. "america's newsroom" will be there as well starting on sunday. see you there. gregg: breaking news in afghanistan. yet another deadly attack by

afghan forces on american troops. a newly recruited afghan policeman suddenly opening fire and killing two u.s. servicemembers. that assault coming just moments after the americans handed him his weapon, in a swearing-in ceremony. connor powell streaming live from kabul, afghanistan. connor, these attacks seem to be happening every day now? >> reporter: gregg, it is an alarming trend we've seen explode this year across afghanistan. just in the last week or so this is at least the sixth attack on u.s. and coalition troops. this attack was meant to be a celebration, a graduation of this local afghan defense police force. they were supposed to help fight the taliban. one within seconds of receiving his diploma and his weapon, turned his weapon on u.s. troops. we believe two u.s. special forces soldiers were killed. u.s. military not confirmed that officially. that is the understanding what we're hearing happening. we're also hearing there was another attack in kandahar.

although two u.s. soldiers were injured they were not killed but the trend here is alarming. we've seen this explosion of these attacks, so-called green on blue attacks here in afghanistan where members the afghan security forces attack u.s. and international troops, gregg. gregg: it happened 31 times this year so far. connor, the taliban are they using these attacks to their advantage? >> reporter: well, mullah omar, the spiritual leader of the taliban just less than 24 hours ago called on all members of afghan security forces to attack u.s. and coalition members. the u.s. military says despite some 35 u.s. and international troops killed alone these are separate attacks there is not a systemic problem across afghanistan with the security forces. it appears that way to many afghans. it undermines the sort of trust the afghans here in afghanistan have in their afghan security forces. it undermines the trust between the united states and their coalition partners with the afghan security forces.

so really doing a lot of damage here, even if it is not a systemic problem it is a real problem here in afghanistan. gregg: indeed it is. conor powell live in afghanistan. thanks very much. martha. martha: we're just gerting started on this friday. there is serious fallout on the president's immigration policy concerning young illegals. it is setting the stage for a new fight brewing between the federal government and the states? gregg: team romney raking in the campaign cash these days. since picking congressman paul ryan for veep. we'll ask former governor mike huckabee if the pick is a game-changer. martha: a new business owner takes issue with the president's recent comments on building businesses. >> somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we had that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you got a business, that, "you didn't build that". somebody else made that happen.

martha: he will tell you what he did when members of the obama team came calling. this business owner, when we come back. juicy brats grilled up on a thursday. the perfect use of the 7th inning stretch. get that great taste anytime with kingsford match light charcoal. it's time to live... wider awake. only the beautyrest recharge sleep system combines the comfort of aircool memory foam layered on top of beautyrest pocketed coils to promote proper sleeping posture all night long. the revolutionary recharge sleep system from beautyrest...

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gregg: you're going to love this and probably say to yourself and say, why didn't i think of that? a new way to help troubled swimmers. it is called emily. emergency life saving lanyard. it helps lifeguards reach swimmers more quickly. emily provides a floettation device until human rescuers can get to them. emily made the first rescue in oregon last month, saving a father and a son. martha: wow! pretty cool. so tomorrow marks one week since governor mitt romney tapped congressman paul ryan to be his running mate. it is clear the choice has begun to reshape the

presidential race. with the gop ticket enjoying a bit of a wave of momentum. look at this. governor romney and congressman ryan raised $10.2 million in campaign cash since that announcement was made. nearly $125,000 donors contributing to the campaign. 68% the total amount raised since last saturday has come in from brand new donors to the romney campaign. if you're raising money that's what you want to see, new donors coming and that is up 68% i should say. on the other side of the ledger here it has been a very tough week for joe biden as the incumbent vice president. maybe one he would rather forget. talking about reform on wall street, vice president taking major heat for those remarks to a largely african-american office. that happened in danville, virginia. here is a recap. >> unchain wall street. going to put y'all back in chains.

martha: whoa. maybe he wishes he didn't say that now. how much has changed in the past week over these dynamics in the race for the white house? joining us now a man who has been there and a man who enjoys this entire process former governor of arkansas, mike huckabee, the host of "huckabee". welcome. >> thank you, martha. martha: joe will take the weekend off. nothing scheduled for him this weekend. you think that is an accident? >> no. he is going to the time out chair. have a talk with harry reid's imaginary friend. perhaps they will sit down and chat how they need to be careful what they say because words do come back to haunt you. joe biden has had a tough week. he didn't know who paul ryan was. thought he was governor. couldn't remember what century he was in. thought it was the 20th. couldn't remember what state he was in. told the people in virginia they would help him win north carolina. i guess will bus them down to vote and help them out since they're not winning north carolina. a tough week for the joe biden. yesterday a apparently

chitchat at white house. a woodshedding. now joe doesn't have a public schedule that tells us a lot. martha: all of this happens, fortuitously for the romney campaign. it looks like, beginning there is no bump from the ryan nomination. and yet you look at these fund-raising numbers. what is your analysis how these numbers are coming in. >> i think it is a terrific bump for the romney campaign on a number of fronts. number one, you need not to have any major problems in the rollout of the vp. mitt romney had no, there were no grinches t went flawlessly. more importantly the reaction from the people in the party was very strong, very positive and people who are sort of the journalistic, supposedly, nonpartisan and objective observers even had to admit this was a gutsy move on romney's part. it sets up romney made not a political decision but a policy decision. and he made a personnel decision. that shows that he is taking the position seriously, not just saying who can help me

get elected but who can help me positive earn. that was significant. martha: to that effect, over the weekend, we talked about the fact joe biden will be at home. paul ryan and his mom, betty, the aptly named bettity douglas is talking about medicare. she is a medicare recipient. she lives in florida. she will be with her son over the course of the weekend. how will that develop, this whole medicare conversation? >> it may be a conversation the white house never opened up. paul ryan is quite articulate, explaining if you're over 55 nothing changes. if you're under 55 you don't want anything to change, nothing changes. the big change if we leave obamacare in place and medicare premiums will be jacked up pretty high. that will be starting right away. i think paul ryan has done exactly the right thing. he is not the least bit afraid to take this issue on. martha: this is fascinating to me. you listen to a variety of media and read all the different things that are out there, there is

obviously there is a camp that believes this is the biggest disaster that mitt romney could have ever done. picking paul ryan will seal his fate and that, the medicare issue is one that democrats are so enthusiastic about slamming paul ryan on. and yet, as paul ryan came out and said, look, i'm from a really heavily democratic district. he has been able to convince people before. what do you think will be the end story on this? >> i think the end story mitt romney ticked picked a very articulate spokesperson for his point of view. you may not agree with everything in the paul ryan plan. you know what is the difference? he has a plan. you know how many budgets president obama has signed? zero. he is the first president in u.s. history never signed a budget. paul ryan develop ad budget. harry reid sits on it thinking it will hatch like an egg and it doesn't. when we ask who is developing a plan to get this country back on track, even if they don't agree with every aspect of the

paul ryan approach the fact he has an approach. better to land an airplane with an approach than not one. martha: the plan he put out there i guess the big question can they win florida? can romney and ryan convince seniors in florida they're the better option? especially the fact both sides saying they will basically eliminate an equal amount of money for medicare by two different avenues? >> keep in mind we have a record to see how paul ryan did with senior voters in wisconsin. they contributed over 400,000 to his campaign. he won with 68% of the vote in really a democratic district. if we want to see a past is precursor to the future paul ryan will do fine. because one thing is, he is not afraid to the answer the questions and he can answer. this is a person can dig into the policy discussions and he can explain it. he can respond to it. and he can answer it. that is one of the great pluses that he brings. bigger issue of mitt romney

elected. >> he has betty going for him. my mom is named betty. mike huckabee. always good to see you governor. >> thank you, martha. gregg: love the name betty. perfect. arizona governor jan brewer saying that federal policy or not, her state will not allow illegals to get public benefits like other citizens. so is president obama's new immigration policy setting up a new showdown between the states and uncle sam? martha: it is the worst outbreak of west nile virus to hit texas in decades. more than a dozen deaths across the state of texas, the state is now forced to undertake a massive effort of spraying from the sky to get this under control. >> we loaded up with lots of bug spray before we left the house. >> i think the spraying is great. it is the west nile i'm concerned about. you've been busy for a dead man.

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gregg: west nile virus hit dallas, texas, very hard. authorities spraying pesticides from the air in an effort to stop the potentially deadly disease from spreading even further. now, there are at least 17 deaths reported across the state, 10 of them in dallas county alone. >> i think we need to get rid of the mosquitoes. they're obviously causing a lot of sickness and some deaths. so i'm all for it. >> it is killing people. that is enough. you don't need to know anymore. >> i never seen them this bad. gregg: west nile virus is carried by mosquitoes. this could be the worst outbreak of virus in texas history. casey stiegel live in dallas in one of the hardest hit areas getting sprayed. casey. >> reporter: more than 400 confirmed state cases of west nile virus here in texas. this is not a problem unique to the lone star state. take a look at the map you

can see really cropping up all over the place. mississippi reporting 59 cases. 52 in louisiana. 49 in oklahoma. and 32 in south dakota. those are the top five states. nationwide some 26 people have died. all of these numbers according to the centers for disease control and prevention. texas is on par to have the worst outbreak of the virus in state history. the reason we understand, an early spring and extremely hot summer and doctors say, doctors at the cdc say, that this hot weather both increases the mosquito population and also causes more of this deadly virus to be carried in the ma suit toe's glands, if you can believe that, gregg. gregg: did the aerial spraying work so far? any way to tell? >> reporter: well we don't know because last night was the first night for it. they dropped pesticide out of the back of an airplane over some of the zip codes that are hardest hit. we are standing in one of those, an area known as

white rock lake here in dallas. last night two different planes taking to the sky. you can see from the video. about 106,000 acres were sprayed. more areas scheduled for tonight and into the weekend. and gregg, you asked about the success rate. well they say that the success rate of killing off the infected mosquitoes with this method is much higher than traditional ground spraying. listen. >> i know that last year after an application in kentucky that we did after the flooding there, we had an 88% kill rate. in boston i think they had something like along the lines of 60 some percent. those are very strong indicators you will knock down significant portions of the population. >> reporter: there was a large group of residents here in the dallas-ft. worth area concerned about the aeal spraying health concerns. however the scientists both with the cdc and the environmental protection agency trying to insure the community and the public that this in fact is safe and it is very necessity point, gregg. gregg: you're standing in a

dangerous place. i hope you have your bug spray on. casey stiegel. >> reporter: got it in the truck. gregg: put it on. it will not do you any good in the truck. casey stiegel. thanks very much. martha: a group of bystanders show you what it means to be hero. how they worked together to save a woman and her disabled sister from their burning car. gregg: very dramatic. the president's nondeportation policy for illegal immigrants, leaving states to handle vexing questions, just who get as driver's license or health care or in state tuition. we'll have a fair and balanced debate coming up next. >> they're here illegally and unlawfully in the state of arizona and already has been determined that you're not allowed to have a driver's license if you're here illegally. >> definitely a great opportunity for me to be able to contribute back to the country and get my degree. that i exist. i will no longer be in the

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handing out driver's license or extending other benefits that citizens enjoy. let's bring in our panel to talk about it. democratic pollster and president of momentum analysis, margie o'mara. former assistant to president george w. bush brad blakeman. as you know states have individual rights to confer certain benefits and privileges and i just named a few of them but has the president now created by executive fiat a status for these people that is so vague and ambiguous that it is really left the states in a situation where they have to cobble together or craft rules that are inherently inconsistent? >> absolutely, gregg the you know as a lawyer and i know as a lawyer that the executive order that the president issued on immigration is a trampling of states rights. the states are not going to put up with it. we saw what governor brewer did of arizona.

she issued her own executive order. there will be no driver's licenses to create a status for people here illegally. remember on 9/11. how did the hijackers got on planes? they used driver's license. they weren't here legally. you create a whole quandary of props for people that intend bad acts against americans but also trampling of states rights where they have to follow a vague law which, implies legal status for people who are clearly here illegally. remember in 2008. president obama promised immigration reform. gregg: right. >> promised in his first year. he is delivering what he can't do through legislation. the --. gregg: margie, the obama administration said to the supreme court do not allow states on immigration matters to create this patchwork because it is inconsistent. now they're saying forget all of that, is the president being inconsistent if not hypocritical? >> look, you're absolutely right that states, we don't have comprehensive immigration reform under bush an republican congress.

haven't had it yet under obama and absolutely right states have their own laws. in this case this particular policy very popular. "fox news poll" couple months ago showed 54 support the policy. it doesn't do anything to force straits to change driver's license laws. refers to small group of population. gregg: 1.7 million. >> who were brought here who may be eligible. listen, they were here, they lived here at least five years. brought here as children. they're in school. right with the law. they haven't, they have served in the military and, gives them a temporary work permit and prevents them from being deported. there have been more deportations under obama and president bush. gregg: we're here about inconsistency and danger, latter part. brad, california is now using the president's executive decisiondefered statue people who are here illegally a driver's license. now the 9/11 hijackers, many of whom were here illegally

as well-being obtained state licenses using them to board the airplanes. could one, argue, brad, the president is making it easier for acts of terrorism to be committed? do you worry about that? >> i sure do. i lost a nephew in 9/11 who was a first responder. i am very concerned that the federal law is supposed to, supposed to have uniformty among the states and now you have a again, a patchwork which the supreme court was trying to avoid where certain states are going to issue driver's licenses and certain states are not. what do you think people who have bad intentions in this country are going to do? they will not go to arizona. they will go to california. >> has nothing to do with driver's licenses. gregg: the 9/11 commission investigating attacks urged the states to tighten their licensing requirements. has the president with his decision undermined the recommendations of a 9/11 commission, a very important set of recommendations? >> this doesn't have anything to do with driver

license as. >> margie, please, only reason we're talking about decision on driver licenses made two days ago by governor of arizona. we hear california is taking opposite view. that wasn't decision. made announcement. i want to make announcement. she in follow up interview was unclear how it would change --. gregg: you deny that california will now give illegalses driver's licenses because of president's decision? >> look, look the political will --. gregg: do you deny that? >> i can't speak for the state of california laws. all i can say obama's policy is popular. it is pop roar across the country. refers to people brought here as children doing everything --. >> popular in theory but not in practice. will not work in practice. we know that. >> people will be talking about the student next door who was brought here at 5:00. who has documentation and a passport. who has, proof of all of their identity and just wants to be able to go to school. serving in the military. gregg: margie, we'll leave

you with the last word. thank you very much for being here. margie omero, brad blakeman. thank you both. >> thank you. martha: new this morning, in russia, three women from a punk band pulled off a provocative stunt against president vladmir putin found guilty of quote, hooliganism. they were arrested in march after bursting into moscow's main cathedral calling for the virgin mary to protect russia from the newly-elected president putin. how about that? greg palkot joins us now on the story in london. greg, what is the significance of this hooliganism verdict? >> reporter: martha, we have been watching this live feed coming out of the moscow courtroom and listening to the verdict being read out in a very lengthy process in that courtroom. the three female members of that punk bandstanding inside a glass box in that courtroom. sometimes smiling. sometimes impasse sieve. the charge which they have found guilty of specifically is hooliganism, motivated by religious hatred because

they did perform the protest in the most sacred place in moscow, the cathedral of christ the savior back in fenn. as you noted the protest was also against vladmir putin and his government. why many think that putin had a real hand in this verdict since elected this year, again as russian president. he has been a pushing a crackdown on dissent, on opposition. this might be one more example of that, martha. martha: what happens next, greg? >> reporter: what we're waiting to hear an maybe we'll hear hear in the next couple minutes is the sentence. they could get seven years. prosecutor wants three years. they have served about five months in jail. the sentence could tell us how tough putin wants to be. he has been indicating he might be a little bit lenient. might be swayed by the international support and protests in favor of this group. we've been hearing pop stars like madonna and paul mccartney speak out for them. there have been protests and rallies in moscow. we've seen arrests today in moscow. also here in london and

paris. even the past couple days in new york. or he just might stiffen his resolve, play to his base. the opinion is divided at home over these folks. we'll bring you that sentence in the next couple of minutes. back to you, martha. martha: those are scenes you don't see every day. that much we can be sure of. greg, thank you very much. greg palkot in london. gregg: thanks but no thanks. a bakery store owner in virginia, telling vice president joe biden to stay away. he says it has to do with one comment that has gotten a lot of attention on the campaign trail. >> if you have a business you built it. if you got a promotion you earned it. if you made the honor roll you achieved it. in this country we're driven by free people pursuing their dreams. we celebrate success. we do not attack success. i will not apologize for success here or success of america abroad. [cheers and applause] okay, here's the plan.

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gregg: developing right now in "america's newsroom.". an evening rush hour nightmare in los angeles the entire northbound side of the 405 freeway, shut down for hours by a multicar pile up. fuel spraying the roadway requiring a hazmat team to clean it all up. some injuries were reported. in new york a carriage ride ending in a crash after the horse bolts off. the carriage slamming into a car. one person injured. witnesses say the horse, who was not hurt, seemed to be spook the by something. you're not going to believe this. passengers on a diverted air france flight asked to chip in for fuel. happened after unrest in beirut forced the plane to land in neighboring syria. the airline apologizing for the incident. sanctions against war-torn syria made paying for refueling a bit tricky. in the end passengers were not out-of-pocket any cash. kind of like college on a road trip you had to chip in for fuel. martha: kind of. a lot cleaner.

gregg: yeah. i wonder how far 20 bucks worth of jet fuel will get you. martha: fill 'er up. i've got 20 bucks. boy this story is getting a lot of attention, folks. virginia bakery owner making national headlines now because he said no, very politely, he would prefer if the vice president did not stop by his shop when he was there campaigning. it seems that the vice president's staff wanted to do a photo-op at this, cupcake kind of bakery store, called crumb and get it. it is a fairly new shop. this all happened during a recent campaign swing through the state of virginia. the owner acknowledges it is a new store. he could certainly use business. he could not say yes because he disagrees with president obama's recent remarks on who deserves the credit for a business's success. >> this is an opportunity of a lifetime, you know. and, essentially i said no, offense to you or the campaign but i just decline you guys coming in here. at that time, she said, well,

you know there will be a lot of press. there will be a lot of activity. very simply, you didn't build that, speaking of small businesses and entrepreneurs all across the country. and, actually last night, my wife was up all night long. did not sleep. she worked a full 24 hours. martha: there you have it. steve moore is senior economics writer for "the wall street journal." steve, good morning. those, "you didn't build that", four words that we're all going to look at the campaign no matter how it comes out as being a pivotal moment in all of this. >> i agree entirely with that, martha. you know mr. mcmurray has become a folk hero in virginia for his actions. and he speaks for a lot of small businesses. i travel around the country and i don't think that the white house completely gets it, how, insulted entrepreneurs and small business owners like mr. mcmurray feel towards that statement that president obama said, that

you didn't do it yourself. so, i think, the bottom line here, martha, is that i think the president has a small business problem. that entrepreneurs and small business employers, really have come to regard this administration as hostile to their interests. martha: you know it is interesting, because after this happened and the story started to get out, it was texted to somebody. you know the way these things catch fire in the current media you world we're living in. >> exactly. martha: the store was flooded with customers in fact. people came in and wanted to help, they want to stick up for him for doing that. and it was, there's even a story on the local press i was reading that suggests that the secret service folks also came back and bought cupcakes and gave him some credoes for standing up which i find very surprising. we may hear more about that. i doubt they would take that kind of chance given they work for the administration and white house. i don't know if we'll hear more about that one or not. but it goes to this point.

getting support, "joe the plumber" character got. >> was going to say that. martha: in this instance with president obama. >> you took the words right out of my mouth. that is exactly right. he has become the "joe the plumber" of this election season. we'll see whether this story escalates. it is not just a one statement that president obama made, that one foolish statement made about small businesses. it gets to four years of policies. when i talk to small businesses they say they think washington has come to regard them as kind of enemy combatants. you look at obamacare which really hammers small businesses. whether you look at the tax increase you and i talked about on this show coming on january 1st, that about half the income that will be taxed under that tax is small business income. so, small business owners are really fearing, feeling fearful. and i've got to say this, martha. i've been a small businessman myself. it is not easy. there are a lot of sleepless nights. you never know when the customer will come in the door. we should be celebrating the entrepreneur. they're the spinal cord of

the u.s. economy. i think they're feeling like, from the white house, where's the love? martha: steve, i want to seize in some statistics here. the president made that piled billed "you didn't build that" roanoke, virginia. it is a swing state to watch in the election. >> that's for sure. martha: a purple strategies poll came out the other day, yesterday in fact, it shows that mitt romney has gained 48%, right now, to 45. virginia, is a state, 13 electoral votes. it is a state that president obama won, beat john mccain in for the first time that a democratic nominee had won virginia since lbj. so how virginia goes will be quite interesting, isn't it? >> it is. my state by the way. i live in virginia. we're saturated with tv and radio ads already on this campaign. but you know, other than florida, the only go states in the south that barack obama has any chance of winning are florida and virginia. so we're going to see, that's why i think this incident is important because it is kind of

galvanized, not just small business owners but employees. against some of the things that president obama has said about small business. you denies that this was a slur to small business but if you listen to that tape as i have done five or six times it is clear what he meant. he really believes government is the inspiration for small business, not the kind of sweat equity that people put in those companies. martha: steve, always good to talk to you. have a good weekend. >> okay, martha. see you soon. >> president obama's campaign offering governor romney a deal of sorts on this whole tax return issue. should we even be talking about this? should the white house focus on the job crisis in this country? a fair and balanced debate coming up on that. martha: two women surrounded by fire, trapped in their burning suv. how a group of strangers raced against time and saved their lives. it is an incredible story.

gregg: want to tell you about this incredible rescue in the state of mississippi. more than a dozen people pulling a woman and her disabled sister from their burning suv. people leaping from their cars and flagging down truckers, try to get water, hoses, fire extinguishers, anything as the flames inched close and closer to the driver and her passenger. on the phone is the director of public affairs for the mississippi highway patrol. they see this weakage, the fire, the smoke billowing and two women are trapped inside. tell us what they did. >> well, you know, fortunately we did have motorists that observed the crash. immediately responded to the vehicle, to see what could be done to get the driver and the passenger out. you know, a lot of times this ends tragically but

yesterday was a very good day for the monte family due to these good samaritans. gregg: one of the things they did, first of all was get the disabled sister out of the back passenger seat. they broke the windows and able to get her out. different matter for the driver. the woman was really trapped, behind the steering wheel, right? what did they do to get her out? >> well the reason the sister was, removed first because they could get to her, and they're trying to formulate a plan, to get the driver out. and you've got to keep in mind too, with the flames and where the fire was located, it is in proximity to the driver. you know, what the people that were coming to the seen with ice chests with water, seem meant mixer was there. the driver was actually putting water on the vehicle to get the flames and heat down to where the motorists were able to get the seatbelt off of the driver, and remove the driver.

gregg: yeah. they kept telling the driver, who was screaming in panic we're not going to leave you here to burn. we're going to get you out. and all of these people, complete strangers, risking their lives to save these two women with, right? >> you're absolutely right. this shows you when people work together, they knew that this woman could lose her life and these motorists actually put their life at rick, to get her out. this is one of the success stories that, you know, we're just absolutely, you know, thrilled to be involved in. gregg: courageous, heroic people, thanks for sharing the story. congratulations to all of those people out there who helped those two. >> thank you. martha: what an incredible story. gregg: good for them. martha: real heroes. our thanks to them. thank goodness those women got out of the car. coming up on "america's newsroom", a former union chief is in hot water. what he is accused of doing

with hundreds of thousands of dollars from hard-working border patrol agent. that is coming up. gregg: republican vice-presidential candidate paul ryan hitting the campaign trail in the key battleground state of virginia. why tomorrow could be the most important day yet for the romney-ryan.

martha: busted for fraud. a former border control union chief is indicted on charges of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in union funds. brand-new hour starting right now. "america's newsroom" on a friday morning. good to have you here, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. gregg: i'm gregg jarrett in for bill. 22 years on the job as union chief now terrance j. bonner, formerly of the national border patrol council is on the other side of the law, accused of cashing in on personal trips, meals, sporting events, even visits to an alleged mistress. martha: no, no, no you can't do that, right? court documents show he submitted six years of travel

expenses. william la jeunesse is following this story from our west coast newsroom. what does this indictment exactly allege? >> reporter: bonner wasn't alone, he was president of the union council but the secretary and treasurer of the union was also accused of knowing about this and helping him pull it off. bonner has been with the border patrol for 32 years, 22 as union president. that means he's not in the field. he worked out of his home outside san diego, traveled around the country a lot going to border patrol substations, negotiating contracts, meeting with report, so he traveled a lot. he controlled the executive committee of the union and adopted policies that allowed him to do this like clothing allowances, gifts for spouses and children and lost wages, which was basically over town. they found he billed the union for 70,000 thrarz for work h $70,000 for work he did not do. and 50,000-dollar for visiting his mistress? chicago, going to hockey events

and other sporting events. he would submit false claims seeking lost wages for time frames when he was not working or union activities but at home downloading, viewing, a archiving pornography. you had the people out working, and their money was run by two guys who basically stole it. martha: don't you deserve a trip to your mistress once in a while? unbelievable these allegations. what does the border patrol union who has put all their hard-earned money into union dos, what is their reaction? >> the rank-and-file feels violated. i've talked to him, you've talked to him over the years,

they've already derided him. he was the joys of the union. i've spent a lot of time in the field in texas and arizona and i didn't get a feel as to how they were represented. the person who succeeded him said quote, obviously this will be a black eye on our organization for years. we were always above all of this. this was an isolated incident. there were no other, he must mean current union officers involved. some people i've talked to today said they knew he was under investigation for a period of time. he gets a lot of jail time if convicted, on 11 counts, 20 years per count, back to you. martha: serious charges, william, thank you. william la jeunesse. gregg: want to update you now on a breaking news story out of moscow. we told but the provocative punk

rock brand that was charged criminally. they were found guilty and a judge has entered each member of this band, again a punk band to two years in prison, two years in prison each for this stunt that criticized the president vladimir putin. and in fact the exact term of the charge and conviction, they committed an action driven by relidg religious extremism. we don't have such charges here, but they are going to spend a lot of time behind bars. republican vice presidental candidate paul ryan hitting the campaign trail solo again today in the state of virginia after talking jobs and the economy as well as medicare in ohio

yesterday. >> more and more americans, they think the country is off the wrong track. they don't see that their dream, their destiny is as easy to get as it was when they were raised and taught about the american team by their parents. what we are going to offer are solutions. gregg: 13 electoral votes up tore grabs in virginia and the match up there definitely a toss up. chief washington correspondent james rosen is live in springfield, virginia. james, the commonwealth has come to hold a special place in the hearts and minds of the senior staff of the romney-ryan campaign. tell bus that, why? >> reporter: good morning, gregg, aides to ryan referred to virginia as the scene of the line, that is the straight where president obama while visiting on friday the 13th made his famous community to small business owners, you didn't build that. the g.o.p. vice presidental

candidate who stumped yesterday in the critical battleground of ohio will in his remarks today at west springfield high school portray the you didn't build that remark as a window into the incumbent's soul, evidence of hostility that he has for small business. he will offer a preview of a crucial session to be attended by his medicare mother. republicans hope to seize the high ground with seniors on the medicare debate. it's one that ryan told the ohio audience yesterday, he and mitt romney want to have, need to have and will ultimately win. >> when he passed his signature healthcare achievement, obamacare, he raided $716 billion from medicare to pay for obamacare. [booing ] >> this will lead to fewer services for seniors. president obama's campaign calls this an achievement. you think raiding medicare to pay for obamacare is an

achievement? [audience says, no ] >> neither do i. >> they say in the first four years of office they will create 450,000 jobs alone. gregg: how does he respond to the aggressive stance on medicare. >> the obama biden campaign says that the allegations are plain out false. the cuts will be inflicted not on immediat medicare recipients but on providers, doctors, hospitals, insurers as a way of slashing unnecessary spending. obama for america, the president's re-election campaign arm has released another ad on this subject this morning. >> now mitt romney is day abging thattacking the president on medicare? they say it strengthens

benefits. and the ryan plain, aarp says it would undermine medicare and lead to higher costs for seniors. >> it's been interesting to watch congressman ryan finish his first week on the ticket. he's getting stronger and surer. his aides says they are still learning properly how to prepare and brief the candidate. gregg: thanks very much. martha: the entire state of oregon is now under a state of emergency as crews of racing to battle fast moving wildfires there, trying to prevent new fires from igniting at this point. they are calling up federal and national guard firefighting resources to help out. oregon is just one of the western states burning right now. this is the scene in idaho, firefighters are racing to save homes from a dozen wildfires burning across the states. for many people living in the

path of these fires, they are forced to leave their homes and all they can do is pray they have a home to return to. >> i'm pretty attached to this place, so it means a lot, so it's -- um, it's going to be hard. but we are hopeful it will not come this way, it's going to be great. but i've been up here a lot since i was a kid. >> everybody is afraid, our nerves are shot. we just wish it would get over. let the fire come if it's coming and get it over with so that we can start putting it back together. martha: you've got to hope for them. dan springer is live in washington. what is the latest on the taylor-bridge fire. >> reporter: the news is getting better here in central washington aided by a second straight day of much lighter wind crews were able to make progress yesterday. they have this fire 33% contained, and the big news is no new structures were lost as they were able to dig some lines and they are keeping that northern flank, that stubborn

northern flank in check now otherwise the fire could race into other communities. residents were allowed back in their home, some of them anyway. and they are hoping for another day of gains today as thunderstorms are forecast for saturday. hundreds of residents are evacuated, and i tell you a lot of smoke in this area making it difficult for people to breathe, especially people with breathing difficulties, martha. martha: we wish them well, than that you very much. big fight going on out there. thanks, dan. gregg: we are getting new reaction from governor mitt romney to calls for him to release his tax returns. >> harry reid's charge is totally false. i'm still waiting for harry to put up -- told him what he said they told him. gregg: now the obama camp is offering governor romney a deal, show us returns from the last five years, and we'll shut up. is that the right move? martha: and lots of talk about this gentleman, the vice

president joe biden, even some speculation from some corners that he might not even be on the ticket any more. the white house says that is not so. what is next for joe biden. gregg: questions about the shooting inside the headquarters of a christian lobbying group. a man opening fire after lashing out at their political policy. is that a hate crime or not? our panel debates. >> we do get threats and take precautions. look, we never thought it would come to a point where people we disagree with on issues of marriage or religious freedom would come in with a gun. buying this juicer online was unbelievable.

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gregg: massive waves pounding the chilean coastline. the water reaching breach walls, the water is so rough it caused a cargo street called the ocean brees to crash up onto the rocks. the navy calling helicopters in to launch a daring rescue

mission. they helped bring all 22 crew members to safety, and all reported to be in good condition. martha: this is abreuing story this morning. nooyi action now from governor romney over the white house offer on his taxes, and what they see as what should be the disclosure. here is how we got here. the governor took to the microphones, he told everyone how much he paid to the government, listen to what he said. >> i did go become and look at my taxes and over the past ten years i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. so i've paid taxes every single year. martha: now the president's campaign manager, jim messina, today, this morning sent governor romney's campaign a letter saying this. if the governor will release five years of returns i commit that in turn we will not criticize him for not releasing more, neither in ads, nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the

campaign. laying a deal on the table, saying we'll shut up if you give us five years at this point. juan williams, fox news political analyst, mary katherine ham of "the daily caller." welcome to both of you. we asked the romney campaign for a response as many media outlets did. the note starts, interestingly, hey, jim, thanks for the note. it is clear that president obama wants nothing more than to talk about governor romney's tax returns instead of the irk use that matter to voters like putting americans to work, fixing the economy, range in spending. if governor romney's tax returns are the core message of your campaign there will be ample time to discuss it over the next 81 days. see knew denver it says at the bottom, thanks, max rhodes. they are not going for this. >> reporter: this is a give the mouth a cocky type of

situation. cookie-type of situation. i would note with hillary the barack obama campaign did the same thing in the primary upping the ante and moving the goal posts on tax returns. the harry reid accusation is so irresponsible and made up i'm not sure why anyone would believe once he gives his tax returns to harry reid he's not going to continue to make things up. i think the romney campaign has a pretty good argument on why you don't want to get into this. he's up there with a white board explaining medicare and i'm not sure that this actually rates on the top-ten concerns of americans right now. martha: i'm not sure either. juan, do you have any thoughts on sort of why they keep going down this road? they are talking about the foreign accounts. if there were real issues there i have to believe the irs would be all over the governor about them. they are not. why does the campaign feel it's so important to deal with all of this? >> it's political dynamite.

you have to love politics. this back and for the is delightful. it's so petty. if you have a man running for president of the united states who is putting his money in offshore and swiss acts and taking advantage of loopholes, a lot of americans -- i know i pay more than 13%, they are going to say, that man is super rich and he's only paying 13%? that is political dynamite. martha: why not just come out and say, why doesn't he come out and say, look, my wife and i have paid millions and millions of dollars over our lifetime in taxes, and to charities, millions and millions of dollars. so if that is not enough, you know, we've done everything legally, let's just move on. the obama campaign keeps wanting to go become to it. >> reporter: that is not the standard, martha. let's say it's legal. what you just heard from harry reid -- he never said that there

was anything illegal, he just said he suspected or heard this guy paid no actioness. >> which is ludicrous. >> if it's so ludicrous why doesn't he release the tax returns and let everybody see? >> treating that accusation as if it's a legitimate road of inquiry is insane. if mcconnell tried to pull the same thing on obama the press would never follow down that road. i heard when they put paul ryan on the ticket it was a home run for them and they wanted to talk about medicare all day long. we have romney talking about medicare with a white board explaining things to people and all of a sudden they want to talk about tax returns today. it feels a little old and like they are losing. >> why is everybody making such a big deal on the republican side over vice biden's gaffes and this and that because they are trying to distract people from talking about paul ryan and medicare. >> they are trying to point out that the obama campaign is being really nasty and he's not the

above the fray guy as he used to be and mitt romney is talking about medicare with the white board. >> when they talk about entitlement president -- >> because he wants regulations? because they did hhs. >> even president clinton the sing of welfare reform said that was a ridiculous thing. >> it was against the law what they did. nevada has requested to wipe out the work requirements. >> these are republican governors who are asking for more flexibility so they can get people into work training programs and do a better job in helping us recover from this recession. martha: just from a strategy standpoint is this letter that came from the obama campaign, give us five years and we won't bug you any more. do you think that is a good idea? >> they are trying to keep the fire aflame. they are putting more gas on it, martha, it's total politics, redick just and fun. we should all have a laugh.

martha: if there is no illegality, this the irs is not after them i don't think it's anybody's business. >> oh, stop, if they only paid 13%, martha? what phers average to you pay in taxes? i bet you pay a lot more than 13%. martha: yeah i do, you know what i would say to anybody wanting to know about it. it's none of your business. >> you're not running for president. martha: unless there is something illegal, two years, that is exactly what john mccain did. i think they are barking up the wrong year. >> two years? one year and an estimate. martha: we'll talk more about this. thank you, good to see you. thank you so much. gregg: allegations of lewd behavior rocking immigration and customs enforcement employees already filing a lawsuit. now congress is getting involved in this. we'll take a closer look at that case. martha: there are new fears that the taliban is infiltrating afghanistan's security forces. it comes as we learn of another disturbing incident of an afghan opening fire on the americans who are there to train them.

that raises a lot of questions about our exit strategy from afghanistan. we'll be right back.

gregg: fox news alert. and afghan police officer opening fire on american soldiers killing two of them happening in the western province today. it is the latest in a disturbing string of attacks by afghan forces on international troops now. a taliban leader claiming it's because their fighters have infiltrated the afghan police and army. mike bigger, former c.i.a. covert officer, and a global security firm. 31 times these green on blue skeulgs have take killings have

taken place. 39 nato officers have been killed, including 33 americans. is it the taliban? >> a portion of it is. if you talk to defense officials they say about 10% so far, you know, of casualties can be attributed to infiltration. the taliban of course have you to take with a grain of salt any time they come out with a public statement for news organizations that they are responsible, and that they've been inch fill traeugt. of cours infiltrating. it's in their best interests to promote this. the short answer is yes they have infiltrated the afghan military. we've been painfully aware of that. in the past five years there have been maybe a hundred deaths in allied forces attributed to green on blue attacks. the worrying part is that a third of those have happened during the course of this year. gregg: it's got to be very frustrating, osama bin laden is dead but mullah omar, head of the taliban who protected him

for all of the years before the 9/11 attacks and to some extent afterwards he is still at large. has that got to be job one, hunt down omar, and kill him? >> it's at the top of the hit parade. we have a bigger issue and it's colored the entire afghan experience for us ever since we went into tora bora. the afghan people, and that's the government, the military, everyone there in afghanistan, has been completely aware, ever since our initial presents sense there in tora bora that very successful tactical missio morphed into building. from that point on the afghan population has been aware that we will leave. we are walking out that door at some point. and now for us, as americans, we think, it's been eleven years, it's been an eternity. but in afghan time that is a blink of an eye, that doesn't mean a thing. martha: and mullah omar has

simply out waited us. as we beginning to get out, in october, will americans remain behind at increased risk, even more vulnerable to these inside attacks, green on blue attacks? >> absolutely. it's a very important point that you raise. there is no way, as we pull the combat troops out and try to do more of a training exercise almost, and a mentoring exercise there is no way to separate the afghan troops and the military and the police from our forces and from nato and other forces. unfortunately there is no real answer to this. how do you prevent the grown on blugreen on blue attacks? logistically and reality says you can't. you have this situation. you can do the vetting that you can. it's very difficult to do due diligence in afghanistan coming into the military and police. gregg: you can only do so much. they are trying real hard to get eight but, you know at it, but

not a lot of success. mike baker, thank you very much. martha: the obama campaign has explored the idea of someone else besides joe biden on the ticket, what the white house is saying about awful that today and who those reports claim they may be looking at. gregg: a dramatic rescue after a young girl finds herself stuck between two brick homes. just how did she get there? the chilling videotape coming up next. ♪ why not get buried in something other than work? get two times the points on travel, with chase sapphire preferred. it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories.

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martha: update on this russian punk rock band sentenced, the members of it to two years appiece for speaking out against the government. there is a ton of response to this. you can see on the left-hand side of your screen, that is outside the courthouse. a huge number of people have gathered there. but the united states embassy is now coming out saying in russia that they believe that the sentences are disproportionate to their actions. we are going to continue to keep an eye on this. that is the band performing on the right hand side of your screen. more of that to come. gregg: fox news alert now out of the white house where a new report suggests as recently as two weeks ago the obama campaign was considering a plan to replace joe biden with hillary clinton on the democratic ticket. and right now the vice president is off the campaign trail spending some time back home in

delaware. doug mcelway is live in washington with more of this. what is the source of this report? >> reporter: it comes from the authored kline, the former editor and chief of "the new york times" magazine, whose recent book the amateur paints a picture of a deeply troubled white house. he reveals a shallow president supported by a cast of true believers, all of them united by leftist politics. that's where kline is coming from. kline said when offered the vp position a couple of weeks ago in meetings with valerie jarrett, hillary clinton declined. she thought she would be tarred as a loser if she lost and tried to win in 2016. if she was on the ticket and continued his socialistic policies she'd have to defend those policies if she ran in 2016.

jay carney shot down any suggestions that biden would not be on the ticket. >> the president has given him the vote of confidence and you've defended the vice president repeatedly, to settle this once and for all, this is the ticket, obama biden. >> yes. and that was settled a long, longtime ago. >> reporter: he said one place he would not go for advice on vice president running mates is to senator mccain. that a reference to senator mccain responding to neil cavuto and whether by the even should step aside. gregg: even though the white house has shot this down is kline sticking to his story? >> reporter: he sure is. asked on a radio show, for example, if he really believed that secretary clinton was asked to join the ticket he said this. >> i don't believe it, i know it. i kh checkei checked with my sources in the clinton camp and this is what they told me.

>> reporter: the relationship betwee between clinton and obama has been kur courteous, but over policies it's been very, very contentious. martha: congress is launching an investigation into allegations of lewd conduct at immigration and customs enforcement, better known as ice. this calls a lawsuit accusing ice chief of staff suzanne barr creating a frat style house, and her screaming and a male employee saying she wanted to have sex with him and moved three belongings of employees into a bathroom. i guess putting all your stuff in the bathroom prank is something you might expect to see in college perhaps but not by the head of the ice agency.

>> she's been put on leave. and there is lawsuits by the former head of the new york ice office of big job that he was passed over for promotion by department of homeland security chief janet napolitano who is in charge of ice. the real problem is the border patrol that ice is in charge of is a miss. my brother was a deputy chief of police in tucson, he was theee lay son with the border patrol. it's riddled with ka rufplgts thcorruption. the head of the border patrol has been indicted for embezzling union dues. that is a problem. we can't cleanup or close our border to illegals with a dysfunction tphal agency. i predict ward less of who wins in november we will see a whole ice cleaning in this department. martha: if that is true that would be a good idea. janet napolitano says she has no intention of stepping down as the head of homeland security

which oversees ice. do you think that situation might change if president obama is reelected? >> it's not her call to stay, it's the president's call. any president-elect towed a second term usually replaces half of his cabinet or more. of course if romney win has will obviously be a replacement. martha: these allegations as you say they go to the new york office as well where a lot of it started. now congressman mccall is call for an investigation. he oversees homeland security on his house committee. where do you think this goes from here? what is going to happen? >> nothing before the election, because these things move very slowly. you have to have internal investigations, the lawsuit will grind on in court. these are very troubling charges because in addition to the head of the new york office making these allegations he's backed up by two other ice employees who have similar lawsuits and grievances. clearly this is an agency that is in trouble and morale is very, very low according to the people i talked to there. we can't solve our border problem with an ice problem

already this big. >> the suggestion is that janet napolitano is sort of hopping friend of hers over positions and putting her friends in positions others deserves. >> that is internal wrangling. i don't know what the truth of the matter is. i do know this every cabinet officer brings their friends in but ultimately they have to be economy. they can be your friend but they have to be competent. apparently ice can't working very well. we know that from congressional oversight meetings. apparently the job she's doing we aren't getting the job done clearing up the border. martha: thanks, john fund, always good to see you. gregg: new definition of a hate crime after a man opens fire inside the headquarters of a christian lobbying group. turns out not all shootings meet the same legal standards. our panel takes this on just ahead. martha: stranded on the top of a mountain, this pup meeting his

guardian angels. the heart-warming story of his rescue is coming up. >> we knew this dog's life was in jeopardy. we thought if there is something we could do we better do it. we would have had a heck of a time sleeping that night if we would not have gone.

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martha: an amazing story of compassion in colorado. a pair of hikers discover a german shepard stranded for 13 days, thousands of feet up on top of a mountain. they continue carry him down by themselves. they organized a team of experienced hike toers go back uhikers to go back up and rescue the dog. they think it was the right thing to do. >> everybody want toye wanted to help. those who could did. >> the thought of a dog slowly dying on a mountain was pretty tough to stomach. that's why we went. martha: good thing they did. that dog was severely dehydrated. had trouble breathing, but should be okay. a fight it is underway

regarding who should get the dog. the original owner came forward but rescuers don't think he should get the dog back. gregg: new questions about the government's standard of what qualifies as a hate crime. attorney general eric holder calling the shooting earlier this month at a sikh temple in wisconsin a hate crime, while other recent high profile shootings do not meet that sthapb ard, like the family research shooting in washington on tuesday and the fort hood shooting. here is press secretary jay carney. >> violence of that kind has no place in our society: this goes to the greater discussion we've had about violence in america and the need to tackle it on multiple fronts. >> do you consider it a hate crime -- >> those kind of determinations are made by the f.b.i. i know the f.b.i. is part of this investigation. gregg: tom kniff a former prosecutor. richard roth also joins us.

first hate crimes. hate crime is a by as crime driven by hatred over somebody's status or their beliefs. doesn't the family research council shooting merit hate time status, tom? >> yeah, i mean look, gregg, as you said, any crime that is -- what defines a hate crime, the concept of a hate crime is relatively new. it's only in the last, ten, 20 years that we started talking about this. it goes to the intent of the actor. when the intent is motivated by bigotry, by as, hi tried toward a kick group or class of people that's what we label a hate crime. in this case if this individual perpetrated this crime not out of shear greed or malice, but particularly because he had this disassociation with this particular group. gregg: exactly.

i want to play a sound byte from the head of the family research council, here it is. >> because they disagree with our position on marriage and certain religious issues have labeled us a hate group. that gives license to lunatics like this to come in with a gun and shoot innocent people. gregg: frc is allegedly a hate group and yet an attack on it because of their beliefs is not a hate crime? >> tom is right, however the issue is whether the act is influenced by hatred, bigotry or it's influenced by the individual's own personal experiences, their crazed experience and their frustrations, and their disturbances. the authorities who look into this conclude, obviously they have more information than all of us do which one is it, is it bigotry or this guy's own, you know, pent up crazed frustrations, that's real it issue. gregg: the 0 other thing i don't get is the inconsistency it would appear in the use of the law of domestic terrorism.

i want to put it up on the screen. it is defined as an act intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence a policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination for kidnapping. how in the world is the fort hood shooting not domestic terrorism? tom? >> yeah, one word, gregg, politics. if you look at the political climate in 2 ao 09 whe 2009 when the fort hood massacre occurred, we had president obama withdrawing the combat troops from iraq which was one of his promises in his campaign. war on terror, we continue use that in the obama new speak dictionary. the administration did not want to deal with an act that was labeled islamic extremism at that point in time when they

were trying to wind down the war in iraq and the war on terror generally. anybody who -- we had the likes of dr. phil and so forth come on air, without knowing any of the facts and start talking about ptfd. this is a defendant who is an army doctor who had never been in a combat zone, gregg. and anybody who dared to say, well let's look and see if this might be islamic fundamentalism, or extremism they were labeled a racist. gregg: how is it possible, richard, very quickly that the attorney general could characterize this sikh shooting as being investigated for domestic terrorism and fort hood is not? how is that pos>> here is how i. i agree these are very distinct concepts. the question is whether or not the action is an act to influence government policy. a white supremacist who walks into a room and shoots people because he believes they should not live in this country is as the authorities believe

influences government policy. a guy who goes into fort hood and does something similar, just pulls out a gun and shoots, they believe is someone who is untphraoepbse untphraoupbsed by government policy stphaoeu didn't like the government's policy as carried out by the military of which he was a member. >> you're absolutely right. somehow the authorities believe that it's not that, that he's crazed and he has his own beliefs and it's own experiences. i agree that there is a lot of politics in play here. gregg: it may be because fort hood is being prosecuted under the military code of justice. thanks very much. good to see you both. martha: let's go over to jon scott and find out what is coming up on "happening now." jon: happy friday to you. the obama campaign is back pushing to see mitt romney's tax returns. the romney campaign says the president is trying to distract from his own failures. will the great tax return debate influence this election?

karl rove weighs in. who won the week with your two political pros. the white house strong in its vow to keep biden on the ticket. is that a negative or plus for the ticket as he tries to win re-election. the danger of double-decker buses. how safe are you if you hop aboard? a new report raising real concerns. on "happening now" at the top of the hour. martha: thank you, jon. speaking of double-decker buses, london's inspiring olympic moments are far from over. we'll introduce you to the archer who overcame overwhelming odds to aim for gold at the paraolympics. gregg: the curiosity probe may be a world away exploring the surface of mars but it seems to be getting awfully cozy with pop star brittany spears. well, she's kind of furious.

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gregg: a game of hide and seek goes terribly wrong for one girl in china look at this. she managed to wiggle her way in to the small gap between through homes. but that space was so tight she wasn't able to move her arms or legs to get out. firefighters eventually had to use hand tools to create a hole to reach her. they said power tools could have injured her once they did get to her doctors say she suffered only minor bruises. kids get in the most -- the darnest positions. martha: the little boy yesterday his face was stuck between the concrete.

he was looking for a good hiding place too i bet. this is a great story, archery of course requires years of training and untold skill. what it doesn't apparently require is arms. matt stutsman was born without them. that has not stopped him. he is aiming for gold at the london paraolympic games. we are live in chicago with more on this incredible story. >> reporter: if you ask him how it is he got so good so fast at archery he says a lot of practice and how i was raised by his adoptive parents. >> if i had something that was tough they didn't just do it for me, they said okay, matt, we want you to sit down and really try your best to figure out how to figure this problem out. >> reporter: he was already a hunter perfectly capable of hiring a firearm when he picked up archery three years ago largely because bow hunting season starts earlier. now as far as learning how to handle a bow and arrow --

>> you can find anything on there but you cannot find how to teach a guy without arms how to shoot a bow. >> reporter: it was trial and error. he is a determined man and he got really good, world-class good, really fast. >> i believe what i have is a gift. i was born without arms. but in return i believe that i was gifted with the ability to shoot. >> reporter: during the paraowe limb nick qualifying he came within two points of a world word. his teammates believe that he is a contender for a medal if he's on in london. martha. martha: wow. what a great guy. what a great story. steve, thank you so much for bringing that to us. we wish him good luck. that is going to be exciting to watch. gregg: congressman ryan were trying to introduce himself to the american people as governor mitt romney's running mate. coming up you're going to get karl rove's take on how he and the romney campaign are doing thus far.