forum dropped the u.s. from fourth to fifth, on its list of most competitive economies, president obama is putting the finishing touches on his much anticipated jobs plan. chief white house correspondent ed henry reports the president is on the president to deliver. >> reporter: as president obama met with stars of the sprint cup nascar championship, the aides continue to rev up expectation for new jobs plan. >> the measure he puts forward tomorrow night are the kind of things that will help spur economic growth. that will lead to greater and faster job creation in the united states. >> trouble may be brewing on the left. with the top democrats declaring the leaked price tag may fall short of the big bold action they want. >> i'd have to see what $300 billion consists of. you know, if it's only extension of tax holiday. not sure that is enough. >> reporter: fox democrats fox news the $300 billion price tag is not ok rate. there are hints the package might be more expensive. white house aides may not say so publicly perhaps so president can surprise the base with bigger than expected package. >> i'm not going to get in specific numbers about the cost of the proposal. >> reporter: a bloated price tag would provide fodder for growing number of republicans who say they will skip the speech. because there is nothing new in the talk of initiatives like extenting the payroll tax cut. and boosting infrastructure spending. >> the president set the bar high for himself calling a joint session of congress. he might have been better off if he had presented these ideas at a truck body shop like mitt romney did earlier in week. >> adding to the pressure, most speeches to a joint session are "state of the union" addresses early in the year. now there are just four months left in the year for congress to act on the jobs plan. plus, get $1.5 trillion in deficit cuts by the super committee, which holds the first meeting thursday. >> we're committed, this committee get an outcome. we believe that by reducing our debt, we create a better environment, to create jobs in america. >> reporter: raising questions how congress the president blasted for inaction can get both done. >> now jay carney said he was joking about congress only working two days a week but he insists the president is serious about paying for this entire jobs package with new spending cuts. but once again, the white house is saying he will not reveal details of those spending cuts on thursday night. but promising he will do it at a later date. bret? >> bret: ed henry live on the north lawn. thank you. one way to grow the economy is to grow the foreign market share for american companies. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel tells us about a new push to get old trade deals through congress. >> our beef with the president is to get the free trade agreements up here to sell our beef. >> the pending agreement signed more than four years ago with south carolina, panama and colombia, would increase u.s. exports by $13 billion a year. leading republicans say american exporters are paying a price. >> in the month of july alone, e.u. exports to south carolin -a increased by 36%. a lot of that is our market share. our workers, our formers and our service providers suffering. >> reporter: critics from the deal come from the president's party saying they only benefit multinational corporation and not workers. congressman from maine says he will vote against the treaties and continue to fight for fairer trade that promotes the export of american goods, not american jobs. during his august midwest tour, the president criticized congress for not ratifying the pacs though the white house has yet to send them to lawmakers. the hang up has been over trade adjustment assistants, money to retrain workers losing their job due to foreign trade. >> we'll get the trade adjustment assistant done before we do trade bills. otherwise we won't do the trade bill. >> at the white house, spokesman carney expressioned hope the trade deal and assistant will pass congress in timely fashion. >> we're hopeful we will reach a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the sequencing and the processing by which it will be taken up. >> reporter: those in favor argue trade deals would support 250,000 american jobs and will provide boost to economy, what the president hopes to achieve with the jobs plan unveiled tomorrow night. >> mr. president, we believe a good place to start, in creating more new jobs in the country is to send the united states senate trade agreements that have been sitting on your desk since the day you were inog rate rate -- inaugurated. >> they met today with white house chief of staff and director of legislative affairs on this issue. with so many anxiety now about job creation, there is a sense they may finally be getting close to getting the deals done. bret? >> bret: mike, thank you. employers posted 3.2 million job openings in july. that is the largest number since august of 2008. there are roughly 4.3 unemployed workers for every opening. it was a big day on wall street. dow added 276. s&p 500 up 33. the nasdaq closed 75 ahead. some of the credit for those numbers goes to germany's high court. which today ruled that the nation's participation in financial bail-out of other euro zone countries is legal. but it said that parliament must be consulted in future plans to commit taxpayer money. ceo of gibson guitars in the u.s. will attend president obama's job speech thursday. as a guest of tennessee congresswoman blackburn and will sit in house speaker john boehner's box. that could prove a bit embarrassing for the president. senior national correspondent john roberts reports on one administration effort that could cost american jobs. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: they are on iconic piece of americana. guitars made in usa and coveted by musicians around the world. here at the gibson factory in nashville, the future is uncertain. after the federal agencies, million dollars worth of exotic tone woods from india. claiming the wood was illegal to import. >> they are making a position to shift the jobs overseas. >> gibson chief legal council makes that claim because according to the government, the same wood it seized would be perfectly legal to import if it was finished by the workers overseas. >> it's such an outrageous position, it's hurt gibbson tremendously. criminal sized gibson in the workplace and the worker. >> at one point, 40 employees transformed the wood piece to precision fret boards. according to government documents they should haven't the jobs. indian workers should. what is most puzzling is the indian government freely allows export of wood seized at gibson. gibson is not the only u.s. company using it. george gruen owns one of the most prestigious guitar stores. the wood gibson is using is from the same country an cut to the same specks as wood used by every other guitar maker. if it isn't legal, then all of those maker makers in the usa an deep trouble. >> gibson ceo henry jeskowitz told cavuto he has no idea why gibbson was targeted. >> we're trying to do the right thing with sourcing. we don't know why they are picking on us. >> many insiders wonder if politics is involved. gibbson ceo donated to republicans. while presidents and other guitar companies which have been left alone identify themselves as democrats. attorney general eric holder today dismissed the notion of a political vendetta. >> the action with the justice department in that matter and the actions that we take in all matters are based on the facts. the law and enforcement responsibility we have. no politics involved. that is not how we make decisions in this department. >> gibson did have a problem with the imported wood from madagascar that was seized in 2009. two years later, no charges have been filed that case. but it may have put the company on the radar of the federal authorities looking for anything that is a miss. one other point that was brought up to me by workers in fack forry floor, this is a nonunion shop. many other guitars are made with union labor. >> bret: more on this with the panel. john, thank you. former vice president al gore is criticizing president obama over his decision to halt pending epa air quality rules that opponents said would cost millions of jobs. gore blogs, "instead of relying on science, president obama appears to have bowed to pressure from polluters. the result will be increased medical bills for seniors with lung disease, more children developing asthma and continued degradation of the air quality." firefighting crews in texas achieved 30% containment of the huge wildfire near austin. at least two people have died in that blaze so far. it destroyed 800 homes. the fire is most catastrophic of the more than 180 across the state. major blooding in the forecast along the pasaic river in new jersey as leftover from tropical storm lee drenched much of the northeast. four people have died. rising waters of a rain swollen creek forced evacuation this morning of 3,000 residents in wilksbury pennsylvania. some tv stations in wisconsin will not carry the president's speech thursday. we will tell you why later in the grapevine. first, republican presidential hopefuls begin a series of crucial debates. naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. this is what we can gather from an ordinary crash test dummy. two million data points. this is what we can gather from a lexus crash test genius. [ engine revving ] when you pursue industry-leading safety, you don't just engineer breakthroughs in simulation technology, you engineer amazing. ♪ what makes us number one in motorcycle insurance? we love bikes. we love riders. and most of all, we love to ride. perfect hair every time. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. >> bret: republican president earn candidate participate in the fourth debate of the campaign season tonight in california. chief political correspondent carl cameron is live in california with a preview. good afternoon, carl. >> reporter: this sets up series of september showdown. three debates in less than three weeks, a huge test for the new front runner. texas governor rick perry cut short campaigning to deal with the home state ongoing wildfire crisis, but tonight he will face seven rivals eager to burn off some of the popularity as front-runner. perry prefers not to strike first but has a potent counter punch. he could win tonight by make nothing major mistakes. former governor mitt romney laid out as plan yesterday tweaks perry as career politician who wants to end not reform social security and medicare and proposes border fence to curb immigration. romney needs to reassert himself as top job creator. this could be a make or break month for minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann who has slipped to distant third in the poll. her campaign is going through a staph shakeup. she needs a game-changing performance less he be overshadowed completely. three-time candidate and congressman ron paul is tied with bachmann for third in many polls and a bigger flame-thrower than she is. particularly where perry is concerned. paul has slammed perry for backing down in the '80s but perry took the famous counterpunch noting that paul resigned from the g.o.p. for the first white house bid in '80s a libertarian. jon huntsman has got an lot of love from the media but not from the g.o.p. and polls. without break-out performance he risks falling out of favor with conservatives. former speaker newt gingrich had a strong performance in the last one. rick santorum. all three are short on cash and stalled in the low single digit of the polls. no matter what happens tonight, they will have a chance to amplify their performance. >> bret: carl, news about chris christie that could tell us about his plans. or lack thereof. >> reporter: he has taken the job as deputy chairman of governors association. he has a day job as the job of new jersey. he says he is not running for president. this is further evidence he intends to stay out of the white house fray in 2012. >> bret: carl, thank you. brit hume has thoughts heading to tonight's debate. good evening. republican presidential race seems remarkably far advanced considering there is months to go before anyone casts a vote. the isn'tment is soft with the candidates bobbing in and out of the league and latest newcomer rick perry a stranger to voters outside his home state of texas. paradoxically, perry is ahead in the g.o.p. polls and in trouble. the image emerging of him in some media accounts is of a far right cowboy with views out of the american mainstream. if this image sticks perry could fall from grace with the electorate that is innatch rated -- infatuated with him now. many republicans think the only way to lose is nominate exotic candidate who scares off the independent volters. perry himself provided ammo for attack on him with the past statement about things like secession from the union and the alleged unconstitutionality of social security. that will sound extreme to a lot of voters. image of rick perry that emerged about the texas fires is the calm, knowledgeable serious and sensible governor. the challenge as he embarks on the series of debate to show that is who he is not the other guy with flamboyant statement. >> bret: you mentioned his statement and writing about social security. critics have jumped on that and analysts say it could be vulnerability for him in the general election. how does he get around that? >> he said a couple of things about social security. he talked about the unconstitutionality. that is a settled issue. most americans don't agree with that. perry, himself, could say there is no support in the tenth amendment for the idea but he could say he is not going to pursue that and the justice department won't try to overturn social security on the constitutional question. he also said it's a ponzi scheme in some respect is it a ponzi scheme, but the truth of defense in court is not always defense in politics. he has to do explaining with that, too. >> bret: thank you. fox news, google and the florida republican party will host g.o.p. presidential debate september 22. you can participate with a question, comment or a vote by going to youtube.com/foxnews. you can even submit a video question but climming the ask a question video tab on the right-hand side of the page. we will tally your vote. tune in to see which one will make the cut. straight ahead, troop withdrawal from iraq begins. but with the 9/11 anniversary this sunday we look at whether we're safer than we were ten years ago. weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? 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[ male announcer ] each of these photos was taken by someone on the first morning of their retirement. it's the first of more than 6,000 sunrises the average retiree llee. ♪ as we're living longer than ever before, prudential's challenge is to help everyone have the retirement income they'll ne to enjoy every one of their days. ♪ prudential. bring your challenges. >> bret: checking international news. russian jet with a professional hockey team crashed shortly after take-off today. at least 43 people were kil killed. two more critically wounded. the team featured several top european players and former national hockey league stars. in india, a bomb hidden in a briefcase ripped through a crowd of people waiting to enter a new delhi courthouse. 11 were killed and 76 wounded. terrorist group linked to al-qaeda claimed responsibility. pakistan state-owned airline says it received to bomb threat today. both planes landed safely. a pair of suicide bomber attacked army office and they did not kill him but his wife and 22 others died. the attack comes days after the arrest of three al-qaeda suspects in that city. pentagon is raising security level of the military bases across the country because of the upcoming anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. spokesman says the order is not due to specific or credible information about any threat or planned attack but it reflects the worry about homegrown terrorism. national correspondent kathryn herridge has more on that. >> according to a new survey by george washington university there is a spike in the number of homegrown cases from september of 2001 to may 2009, 21 home grown terrorism cases were identified. since then, 31 cases, so that amounts to more than one case every month in the last two years. >> yes, it's a threat. yes, we worry about somebody grabbing a gun and going down some place and doing something awful, but they will never just do that. in all the cases you had seen, there are indicators leading up to that event. they were radicalized to get there. >> after 9/11, the u.s. intelligence community believed there needed to be person to person contact, mentoring thing. individuals cross the threshold of violence. now may be possible to do it virtually. the poster boy for jihaddist is anwar al-awlaki believed to be hiding in yemen. the first american on c.i.a. kill or capture list, uses web to spread ideology of hate. they were citing the lack of specific information or lack of sharing or old data or too much data. >> it's not jug how we respond to ten years in the terrorism problem but how do we respond to the al-qaeda revolution when we aren't dealing with the al-qaeda members. >> spike in home grown cases comes down to two factors in 2006, al-qaeda made a decision to go after american recruits with clean backgrounds and in 2006, internet was the driver of radical islam. bret? >> bret: thank you. >> you're welcome. >> bret: decade after the attacks are we safer? correspondent shannon bream takes a look. >> the terrorists only have to be right once, we have to be right all the time. that is a difficult thing to do. >> for ten years there has been no terror attack approaching what hit the united states on 9/11. in the last decade, security measures put in place means the way average americans lived their lives changed. nowhere is that more pronounced than at the nation's airports. taking off your shoes, tossing any liquids more than three ounces, body scanners, thorough pat-downs. explosives testing and in-depth questioning can all be a part of the process. >> the vast majority of people recognize all the things we do are for their safety and protection. >> reporter: there are skeptics like republican congressman chavitz who says he worry he is're engaged more in security theater than being safer. >> we have had tens of thousands of security breaches. we to have better results because the threat is real. >> a brand new fox poll shows most americans 54 p.c. do believe we're safer today than we were before the 9/11 attacks. 33% think we're less safe. 11% think the safety is the same. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says the threat reconciliation evolving. they are focused on more than large scale attack. >> what we see now are smaller plots involving fewer people so they are more difficult to intercept. >> top officials inc