Border Patrol agent fatally shoots California woman

CHULA VISTA, Calif. –  A Border Patrol agent fatally shot a 32-year-old mother of five Friday in suburban San Diego as he rode on the hood of her car after she ran into him, authorities and family members said.

The agent fired after being driven several hundred yards on the hood, Chula Vista police Capt. Gary Wedge told The Associated Press. The woman was later identified in a police statement as Valeria Alvarado.

The shooting occurred about five miles north of the Mexican border as plainclothes agents were looking to serve a felony warrant in the area to someone other than Alvarado, Border Patrol Deputy Chief Rodney Scott told U-T San Diego.

Scott said the agent was stuck atop the car as Alvarado drove.

"Fearing for his life, he discharged his weapon to get the vehicle to stop," Scott said. No other agents fired.

Alvarado was declared dead at the scene, and the agent was taken to a hospital. His injuries were not clear.

After talking to investigators, family members including her husband and cousin told U-T San Diego that Alvarado was a housewife and mother of five children ranging from ages 3 to 17 who went by the name Monique.

"I love her to the fullest. That's my heart," husband Gilbert Alvarado said. "Where's the evidence my wife threatened a trained officer? I want justice."

Family members said Valeria Alvarado grew up in Chula Vista where the shooting took place but had been living about five miles away in the Southcrest neighborhood of San Diego, and they did not know why she was in her former hometown.

Hector Salazar, one of several neighbors who witnessed the incident, said he saw a man in civilian clothes on the hood of a black car aiming a gun at the windshield.

Salazar told U-T San Diego the man started pulling the trigger, and he heard about five shots. Moments later, other plainclothes agents approached the car, he said.

The person named in the warrant the agents were serving was not apprehended, Scott said.

The FBI and Chula Vista police are investigating.

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King calls for Rice resignation over Libya story, Kerry defends

A top Republican called Friday for U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice to resign over her "misleading" statements on the Libya terror attack -- escalating a brewing battle between lawmakers and the administration over the changing narrative.

Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who heads the House Homeland Security Committee, told National Review that he thinks Rice should resign over the controversy. He was referring to her repeated claims during interviews on the Sunday after the attack that the strike was a “spontaneous” reaction to protests in Cairo over an anti-Islam film -- though officials now acknowledge it was a coordinated terror attack.

"She is America's foreign policy spokesman to the world," King said. "The fact is she gave out information which was either intentionally or unintentionally misleading and wrong, and there should be consequences for that. And I don’t see how she didn’t know how … that information was wrong.”

He called for a “full investigation.”

King’s statement, the first call by a top-ranking lawmaker for a resignation in connection with the controversy, triggered a swift response from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who leapt to Rice’s defense. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was “deeply disturbed by efforts to find the politics instead of finding the facts in this debate.”

“Everyone who cares about the four fallen Americans in Benghazi would do well to take a deep breath about what happened and allow Secretary Clinton's proactive, independent investigation to proceed,” he said in a statement. “I’m particularly troubled by calls for Ambassador Rice’s resignation. She is a remarkable public servant for whom the liberation of the Libyan people has been a personal issue and a public mission. She's an enormously capable person who has represented us at the United Nations with strength and character.”

King’s statement, though, was a sign he perhaps wasn’t satisfied by the claim by the nation's top intelligence official Friday that administration officials who initially said the attack was spontaneous did so based on intelligence officials' guidance.

The statement by Shawn Turner, spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, was put out late Friday -- the statement appeared to take the blame for the confusion, and also marked a complete reversal from the administration’s initial claims about the origin of the strike.

"As we learned more about the attack, we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists," Turner said. "It remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate. However, we do assess that some of those involved were linked to groups affiliated with or sympathetic to Al Qaeda."

Turner, though, sought to explain that officials who discussed the attack as spontaneous did so based on intelligence community assessments.

"In the immediate aftermath, there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in Cairo," he said. "We provided that initial assessment to Executive Branch officials and members of Congress, who used that information to discuss the attack publicly and provide updates as they became available. Throughout our investigation we continued to emphasize that information gathered was preliminary and evolving."

However, sources have told Fox News that intelligence officials knew within 24 hours the attack that left the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead was terrorism, and that they suspected it was tied to Al Qaeda.

It's unclear, then, why the intelligence community told Executive Branch officials it was spontaneous. In the midst of the changing story, King and other Republicans have complained that they were misled by the administration. They pointed to briefings as well as Rice’s Sunday show comments.

Meanwhile, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising questions about security at the compound in Benghazi. All members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote to the State Department on Thursday asking for additional details about security at U.S. diplomatic posts and for a fuller explanation of the attacks on U.S. compounds in Libya, Egypt and Yemen.

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Top intelligence official backtracks on Libya story, says initial assessment premature

The office of the United States' top intelligence official appeared to take the blame Friday for the Obama administration's changing narrative on the U.S. Consulate attack in Libya, saying administration officials who initially claimed the attack was spontaneous did so based on intelligence officials' guidance. 

The statement by Shawn Turner, spokesman for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, was put out late Friday -- at the close of a tumultuous week for the Obama administration over the Libya attack. 

The White House has had to steadily backpedal over initial claims that the attack was inspired by protests in Cairo over an anti-Islam film and was not pre-planned. Top officials started last week calling the attack "terrorism." 

Turner's statement marked a complete reversal from the initial claims. 

"As we learned more about the attack, we revised our initial assessment to reflect new information indicating that it was a deliberate and organized terrorist attack carried out by extremists," Turner said. "It remains unclear if any group or person exercised overall command and control of the attack, and if extremist group leaders directed their members to participate. However, we do assess that some of those involved were linked to groups affiliated with or sympathetic to Al Qaeda." 

Turner, though, sought to explain that officials who discussed the attack as spontaneous did so based on intelligence community assessments. 

"In the immediate aftermath, there was information that led us to assess that the attack began spontaneously following protests earlier that day at our embassy in Cairo," he said. "We provided that initial assessment to Executive Branch officials and members of Congress, who used that information to discuss the attack publicly and provide updates as they became available. Throughout our investigation we continued to emphasize that information gathered was preliminary and evolving." 

However, sources have told Fox News that intelligence officials knew within 24 hours the attack that left the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans dead was terrorism, and that they suspected it was tied to Al Qaeda. 

It's unclear, then, why the intelligence community told Executive Branch officials it was spontaneous. 

In the midst of the changing story, Republicans have complained that they were misled by the administration. They pointed to briefings to lawmakers and comments made by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice on five Sunday shows in which she claimed the attack was spontaneous, not pre-planned, and tied to the anti-Islam film. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are raising questions about security at the compound in Benghazi. All members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote to the State Department on Thursday asking for additional details about security at U.S. diplomatic posts and for a fuller explanation of the attacks on U.S. compounds in Libya, Egypt and Yemen. 

An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News on Friday that no threat assessment was conducted before U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and his team began "taking up residence" at the Benghazi compound -- describing the security lapses as a "total failure." 

The source told Fox News that there was no real security equipment installed in the villas on the compound except for a few video cameras. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, the intelligence source said the security lapses were a 10 -- a "total failure" because Benghazi was known to be a major area for extremist activity. 

There had been four attacks or attempted attacks on diplomatic and western targets leading up to the Sept. 11 strike on the U.S. Consulate. 

Based on that information, a former regional security officer for diplomatic security told Fox News, the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi had to have been classified or assessed by the State Department as a "critical threat terrorism or civil unrest posting." 

Fox News was told that State Department standards for diplomatic missions overseas dictate physical security standards for this classification. There are two sets -- classified and unclassified requirements. The unclassified standards include a 100-foot setback for the buildings from the exterior walls which should be three meters high, in addition to reinforced ballistic doors and windows which can withstand an hour of sustained assault. 

Based on the video and photos, none appear present at the consulate. 

The former regional security officer, who has worked in the Middle East, told Fox News that the standards are designed to give an ambassador, his or her team and diplomatic security that "golden hour" to burn classified dockets and call in military help for an emergency evacuation. 

Fox News' Catherine Herridge and Pamela Browne contributed to this report. 

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Revolution: "Chained Heat" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

The second episode of Revolution continued the story in a confident manner, introducing several new elements along the way.

Daniella Alonso (Friday Night Lights) was introduced as Nora, someone Miles described as “really good at blowing stuff up.” And while we didn’t get to see that particular skill set, there was still a decent amount of action in this episode – something that’s always a question when you move from the always higher-budgeted pilot of a series to the regular episodes.

The portrayal of the agreeably Han Solo-like Miles as especially talented in this regard continued – most notably when he managed to fight and stab someone while he himself was handcuffed. And Charlie had some very cool moments herself, first when she managed to deftly chain up Nate, and second when she used that hidden wrist gun.

However, the episode was pretty inconsistent with the pilot as far as Charlie having hesitation to kill her enemies in the midst of battle (and Miles' concerns on that front), considering she’d shot a dude with a crossbow last week - in front of Miles, no less. At least the flashbacks to right after the blackout did a nice job of showing how Rachel tasked Charlie with being Danny’s protector – and how Mama showed that when someone tries to take your stuff and won’t listen to your warning, you shoot that person. Either way, by the end of the hour, Charlie had killed two guys in the midst of freeing a bunch of enslaved workers, so hopefully this issue has been put to rest.

I do hope this show gives us a better reason to care about Danny as the weeks go on. Right now, the quest to save him is meant to the main point of concern for Charlie, but he’s a pretty blank slate at this point – as is Nate, whose name isn’t Nate.

Better served here were Aaron and Maggie. Aaron had better lines than in the pilot, including “Great, they’re having a sale on heroin!” and his description of the blackout as having “cornholed the laws of nature.” His insistence that it was a manmade event, if correct, does give us our first kernel of tracking down the source as an actual person.

Maggie meanwhile had a legitimately poignant scene, revealing she carries her old iPhone with her because, “Somewhere inside are the only picture of my kids” – a sad line that rings true in this day and age, when having physical photos is less and less common.

This episode very quickly revealed a different side of Neville in an efficient manner, as we saw his genuine concern over one of his men being mortally injured, while expressing, “the Monroe militia is the one thing between us and total anarchy.” This is where hiring an actor like Giancarlo Esposito really pays off, because man can this guy sell conviction like no other.

Less involving is Monroe himself, which could become an issue as the series goes on, given he is meant to be the main villain – the Emperor to Neville’s Darth Vader. Even when cutting open a man for saying he’s not scared of him, he doesn’t really convey menace, at least so far.

Hopefully the inclusion of Rachel isn’t his storyline improves things – you can never go wrong with more Elizabeth Mitchell. The original version of the Revolution pilot sent to critics in May had the reveal of Rachel being alive (then played by Andrea Roth) at the end of that first episode. I was a bit worried the producers had decided to really drag out that reveal when they cut it from the pilot, so it was good to see it was simply held for one week.

Lastly, Grace and her old school computer got an unpleasant surprise with the arrival of Randall – who had an electronic prod of some sort that is our second example of power still working in certain devices. Curiouser and curiouser...

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Looper: Joe Vs Joe Mission

In the run up to the release of the awesome sci-fi thriller Looper starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis on Friday September 28, the filmmakers are giving you the chance to become a real-life looper by joining a UK-wide online race.

There are ten online missions dotted around the internet, with exciting spot prizes up for grabs for completing each mission. Complete all ten missions and you'll be entered into a draw to win a iPhone 5 and the chance to interview director Rian Johnson!

To get involved all you need to do is sign up at JoeVsJoe.co.uk. Once your profile is created, players will receive updates on the official site, Facebook and Twitter, telling them where to go to unlock daily missions. Missions will be hidden on websites, Twitter, Facebook and in cinemas. By completing the missions and entering their answers in the Joe Vs Joe website, the trainee Loopers unlock and receive a fragment of a map that will eventually reveal the location of their other self.

IGN's Mission

When you're a young Looper like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), you get the girls, the cars and the money as standard - but you've got to keep your eye on the ball. Test your own smarts by watching the below trailer and tell us: What colour is the lampshade that levitates?

Visit www.JoeVsJoe.co.uk to input your answer now.

Entering this ninth mission today on IGN will give you the chance to win a Storm Blackout watch, but if you've entered every mission over the past nine days - and play the final task tomorrow, you could win an iPhone 5 PLUS the chance to interview Looper-director Rian Johnson. The Storm Blackout watch, which is water resistant to 50m, has super matte black links and lazer dial which changes colour under different lighting. This watch also has a 3D dial with edge to edge glass and STORM’S signature rotating disc date feature.

Full competition terms and conditions can be found at www.JoeVsJoe.co.uk 

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Gas prices fall but pace could be slow because of supply issues; oil prices rise

Gas prices are finally heading lower, but motorists shouldn’t expect the numbers at the pump to drop quickly this autumn.

The national average for retail gasoline fell about a penny Friday to $3.833 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s down 4 cents from a week ago, the biggest weekly decline since early summer. The average price is still 50 cents higher than on July 1.

Gasoline prices typically drop in the fall as refiners begin selling winter blends of fuel, which are cheaper than those used in the summer to help curb pollution. This year, however, supplies are tight because of refinery outages in some regions, including the Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Isaac. And the gasoline futures market, which dictates the price at the gas station, has been volatile.

That all adds up to gradual relief at the pump.

“It’s going to be a slow pace of decline because it takes a while to catch up with the low stocks that we kind of faced after Hurricane Isaac,” said Tom Kloza, OPIS chief oil analyst. “Gasoline supplies are by all measure still pretty tight.”

Refinery issues have particularly affected the Northeast and the West Coast. Motorists in those areas, as well as Illinois and North Dakota are paying the highest average prices, from $3.971 per gallon to $4.419 per gallon.

The lowest average prices range from $3.592 to $3.70 and can be found in New Mexico, Texas, the lower Midwest and parts of the South.

In other trading, the price of oil rose, but still had its biggest weekly decline since late June.

Oil got a boost the past few weeks as the U.S. and Europe implemented measures designed to bolster their economies. But demand for oil remains sluggish and supplies are plentiful. Global growth is sluggish, which means less demand for energy products. That led traders to pull back this week, with oil falling $8 per barrel in three days.

Traders have to weigh slower global economic growth against the uncertainty of potential supply disruptions due to unrest in the Middle East. “The market is just trying to find its footings,” said Andrew Lebow, senior vice president of energy derivatives at Jefferies Bache LLC.

Benchmark oil rose 47 cents to $92.89 in New York. It fell 6.2 percent for the week.

Brent crude, which is used to price international varieties of oil, rose $1.39 to $111.42 per barrel. Brent dropped 4.5 percent for the week.

In other trading:

— Heating oil rose 2.32 cents to $3.12 per gallon.

— Wholesale gasoline rose 3.85 cents to $2.9425 per gallon.

— Natural gas rose 8.8 cents to $2.89 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Federal investigator: White House personnel may have been involved in Colombia prostitution scandal

The lead federal investigator into the Colombia prostitution scandal said for the first time Friday that White House personnel may have been involved -- despite administration claims to the contrary. 

Charles Edwards, the acting inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, wrote in a letter to Sen. Susan Collins that his office's investigation into the April incident found "a hotel registry that suggests that two (non-Secret Service) personnel may have had contact with foreign nationals." 

The letter came two days after a FoxNews.com report revealed possible White House advance team involvement. 

One of those employees, Edwards wrote, was a Defense Department employee "affiliated" with the White House Communication Agency. 

The other, he said, "may have been" affiliated with the White House advance team. 

The White House denied the claims Friday. And Edwards wrote that his office did not pursue those leads "because they are not DHS personnel." 

Edwards wrote that while the allegations that went beyond the Secret Service "were outside the scope of the investigation, one of these employees is a Department of Defense employee affiliated with the White House Communication Agency and the other, whose employment status was not verified, may have been affiliated with the White House advance operation." 

That statement, though, calls into question claims made back in April by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about the possible involvement of the White House team. Carney said that the White House counsel's office conducted a review and "came to the conclusion that there's no indication that any member of the White House advance team engaged in any improper conduct or behavior." 

The Obama administration stood by its original claims in reaction to Edwards' statements. 

A senior administration official said the member of the advance team was a "volunteer," as opposed to a White House employee. Further, the official said the volunteer was wrongly implicated based on inaccurate hotel records. 

White House spokesman Eric Schultz backed up Carney in standing by the original White House review. 

"As we've said for months, the White House review concluded that no members of the White House advance team, either staff or volunteers, engaged in inappropriate conduct during the president's trip to Colombia," Schultz said. 

Collins said in a statement Friday she was "troubled" by the new revelations, though, citing Carney's original claim. 

"On April 23, the White House spokesman said that the White House counsel's office had conducted its own review and concluded there had been no credible allegations of misconduct by anyone on the White House advance team or the White House staff. The White House explicitly denied any involvement after its own investigation and now the IG is questioning that account. This raises concerns about the credibility of the White House investigation," she said. 

A Secret Service source who was on the April Cartagena trip also questioned Edwards' claim that the leads were not pursued. The source told FoxNews.com that agents on the trip were specifically asked about White House staff, and that those leads were pursued by the DHS investigators. 

"He is lying that (White House) leads weren't pursued. I was asked by ... investigators if I knew about (White House) staff with girls along with many other (Secret Service) types that were interviewed," the source said. 

"He is playing with the truth," the source said of the IG's claim that White House leads weren't followed. "We were questioned specifically about the White House staff. We were all questioned." 

Edwards' letter came in response to an inquiry from Collins about the status of the DHS internal investigation. A spokesman for the DHS inspector general told FoxNews.com earlier this week that the investigation had recently been completed and the report would be submitted to administration officials in a matter of days. 

On Wednesday, FoxNews.com reported exclusively that the probe conducted by Department of Homeland Security investigators into the Cartagena scandal turned up claims that two members of the White House team had checked in prostitutes to the Hilton hotel in Cartagena. 

When Carney was asked Thursday about the forthcoming investigative report on the Colombia prostitution scandal, and the FoxNews.com report, Carney noted that the report was not yet public and that the White House had not seen it. 

"I have no comment on an IG report that nobody has seen," he said. "We'll await the report." 

Carney, though, said the White House stands by its counsel's office report from April concluding no White House staff involvement.    

Edwards, in his letter, asked to schedule a time with Collins to provide "a personal briefing on the scope of the investigation and a summary of our general findings." 

The letter to Collins was also sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who fired off a letter of his own on Thursday to White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler demanding answers about the alleged White House personnel involvement. 

Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, cited the earlier FoxNews.com report and asked a string of pointed questions -- namely, he noted the White House never got back to him with more information about its counsel review and asked about the forthcoming investigative report. 

"Now more allegations have arisen regarding White House personnel procuring prostitutes during the President's trip to Colombia," Grassley wrote. 

He asked whether the White House has been in contact with the inspector general's office, whether the White House had any input in drafting the report and if the Secret Service was aware of alleged involvement of White House personnel. "If the report includes the findings that are being reported how did your initial review fail to uncover the involvement of these staffers?" Grassley wrote. 

The letter from Edwards also provided additional details about the original investigation into the Secret Service. 

Edwards wrote that investigators interviewed 251 Secret Service personnel, as well as reviewed travel records and hotel registries. 

"Based on these interviews and the review of these records, we identified thirteen individuals who were then employed by the USSS (Secret Service) who had personal encounters with female Colombian nationals consistent with the misconduct reported around the time of advance activities for the President's visit to Cartagena," he wrote. 

He said the encounters took place at the Hotel Caribe, the Hilton Cartagena and at a private residence. "Our investigation determined that twelve of these thirteen USSS employees met the female Colombia nationals at bars or clubs and returned with them to their rooms at the Hotel Caribe or the Hilton Cartagena Hotel. In addition, one USSS employee met a female Colombian national at private residence," he wrote. 

Three of the women left without asking money, five asked for money and were paid and four asked for money and were not paid, Edwards wrote. Police arrived on the scene when one of those women complained. 

"Although we found that these agents engaged in misconduct, our investigation developed no evidence to suggest that the actions of USSS personnel in Cartagena compromised the safety and security of the President or any sensitive information during this trip," he wrote. 

A voicemail left for a spokesman for the DHS inspector general requesting comment on the letter was not immediately returned. 

Contact Jana Winter at jana.winter@foxnews.com

FoxNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report. 

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Judge strikes down Wisconsin law limiting union rights

MADISON, Wis. –  Wisconsin judge on Friday struck down nearly all of the state law championed by Gov. Scott Walker that effectively ended collective bargaining rights for most public workers.

Walker's administration immediately vowed to appeal, while unions, which have vigorously fought the law, declared victory. But what the ruling meant for existing public contracts was murky: Unions claimed the ruling meant they could negotiate again, but Walker could seek to keep the law in effect while the legal drama plays out.

The law, a crowning achievement for Walker that made him a national conservative star, took away nearly all collective bargaining rights from most workers and has been in effect for more than a year.

Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void.

In his 27-page ruling, the judge said sections of the law "single out and encumber the rights of those employees who choose union membership and representation solely because of that association and therefore infringe upon the rights of free speech and association guaranteed by both the Wisconsin and United States Constitutions."

Colas also said the law violates the equal protection clause by creating separate classes of workers who are treated differently and unequally.

The ruling applies to all local public workers affected by the law, including teachers and city and county government employees, but not those who work for the state. They were not a party to the lawsuit, which was brought by a Madison teachers union and a Milwaukee public workers union.

Walker issued a statement accusing the judge of being a "liberal activist" who "wants to go backwards and take away the lawmaking responsibilities of the legislature and the governor. We are confident that the state will ultimately prevail in the appeals process."

Wisconsin Department of Justice spokeswoman Dana Brueck said DOJ believes the law is constitutional.

The ruling throws into question changes that have been made in pay, benefits and other work rules in place across the state for city, county and school district workers.

 Walker's law, passed in March 2011, only allowed for collective bargaining on wage increases no greater than the rate of inflation. All other issues, including workplace safety, vacation, health benefits, could no longer be bargained for.

The ruling means that local government and schools now must once again bargain over those issues, said Lester Pines, an attorney for Madison Teachers Inc. that brought the case.

 "We're back to where we were before the law was enacted," he said.

 Pines predicted the case would ultimately be resolved by the state Supreme Court.

 "What's going to happen in the interim is unknown," he said.

The state Supreme Court in June 2011 ruled that the law was constitutional after it had been blocked by a different Dane County judge on a challenge over its passage being a violation of open meetings law.

 Walker introduced the proposal in February 2011, six weeks after he took office. It resulted in a firestorm of opposition and led to huge protests at the state Capitol that lasted for weeks. All 14 Democratic state senators fled the state to Illinois for three weeks in an ultimately failed attempt to stop the law's passage from the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The law required public workers to pay more for their health insurance and pension benefits at the same time it took away their ability to collectively bargain over those issues. Walker argued the changes were needed to help state and local governments save money at a time Wisconsin faced a $3 billion budget shortfall.

Anger over the law's passage led to an effort to recall Walker from office. More than 930,000 signatures were collected triggering the June recall election. Walker won and became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall.

 The lawsuit was among several filed against the law.

A coalition of unions filed a federal lawsuit in Madison in June 2011, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause because it exempted firefighters and police officers. A federal just upheld most of the law in March, but the rulings are under appeal.

Another lawsuit was filed in July 2011 by two unions representing about 2,700 public workers in Madison and Dane County. They also challenged the law on equal protection grounds. The case is pending.

Democrats and unions were ecstatic with Friday's ruling.

"As we have said from day one, Scott Walker's attempt to silence the union men and women of Wisconsin's public sector was an immoral, unjust and illegal power grab," said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

The Democratic minority leader in the state Assembly called the ruling a huge victory for workers and free speech.

"This decision will help re-establish the balance between employees and their employers," said Rep. Peter Barca.

Republican Rep. Robin Vos, a staunch supporter of the law and the presumptive next speaker of the Assembly, called the ruling an example of the "arrogance of the judiciary."

"I'm confident it's a single judge out of step with the mainstream," Vos said. He said the law is working "and we'll continue to implement it."
  

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McCain says Libya strike a 'terrorist' attack, joins others in challenging protest claim

Sen. John McCain joined other top lawmakers Friday in claiming that the strike on the U.S. Consulate in eastern Libya was a "terrorist attack" and not just a protest spun out of control. 

McCain made the comment following an intelligence briefing on Capitol Hill Friday. The Arizona senator said it's hard to know what exactly took place, but stressed that it was not a mob but a calculated act by a small group. The perpetrators, he said, were "terrorists." 

The comments by the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee come on top of assertions by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers that the strike was coordinated. 

"It just seemed too organized, too well-structured," Rogers, R-Mich., said again Friday, in an interview with Fox News. He said there was "a high degree of command and control," calling it an "act of terror." 

Rogers said many factors challenge the claim that the attack was spontaneous. 

"I get a little suspect when we conveniently sweep it by -- saying, 'Oh it was spontaneous, next question,'" Rogers said. He acknowledged that "might be the end conclusion" but said that appears extremely unlikely based on available intelligence. 

The lawmakers were casting heavy doubt on the narrative, which has lived for days, that the attackers were protesting an anti-Islam film in the U.S. That film has been linked to other demonstrations raging across the Middle East and North Africa all week, but Rogers and McCain suggested Libya was an entirely different situation. 

The Libya strike resulted in the death of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. The bodies of those killed were returned to the U.S. on Friday, in a ceremony attended by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. 

The president is back in Washington Friday after a week on the campaign trail. He briefed top lawmakers on the situation Thursday and has held a series of phone calls with the leaders of Libya and Egypt. 

Still, some Republicans have questioned Obama's response, claiming he hasn't shown leadership in this crisis. The Mitt Romney campaign, looking to gain a political edge on the foreign policy front, has taken to calling the administration's handling of the crisis "amateur hour." 

But Republicans outside the Romney campaign are also calling for a tougher response out of Obama, and calling into question the explanation that the heavily armed attackers were merely protesting over an anti-Islam film. 

"They've got to get out of campaign mode and get into leadership mode," said Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Va., a member of the House Armed Services Committee. "And they really haven't done that, they haven't done it in this situation." 

Speculation about the true root of the attack grew following a report in Britain's Independent claiming officials believe the attack was planned, that the State Department may have had warnings in advance and that sensitive documents have since gone missing from the Benghazi consulate. 

The Obama administration pushed back on the report. 

A spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence called the article "absolutely wrong." 

"We are not aware of any actionable intelligence indicating that an attack on the U.S. Post in Benghazi was planned or imminent," he said. 

"We have no intelligence suggesting this attack was premeditated," another U.S. official told FoxNews.com. 

Yet a State Department official reportedly told lawmakers Wednesday that he did think the assault was planned. 

The Independent report quoted a Libyan troop leader who assisted in the rescue operation that night saying "I don't know how they found the place to carry out the attack. It was planned, the accuracy with which the mortars hit us was too good for any ordinary revolutionaries."
Eastern Libya's deputy interior minister was quoted Thursday saying the attacks may have been timed for the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. 

Seth Jones, former adviser at U.S. Special Operations Command, connected it to a call by Al Qaeda's leader to avenge the drone-strike killing of a terror operative in Pakistan. 

"This was not just about any sort of a spontaneous revolt. This was an organized attack," he said. 

Meanwhile, the top lawmakers on the Senate homeland security committee wrote a letter Friday to the Office of Inspector General for the State Department requesting an investigation into security measures at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, were the latest officials to express concern about the security protocol at the post. 

Outside the growing questions in Washington, the Obama campaign has also aggressively defended itself against sustained criticism by the Romney campaign. It slammed Romney's advisers Friday for their earlier "amateur hour" comment, repeating the argument that Romney is improperly politicizing a sensitive situation. 

"It is astonishing that the Romney campaign continues to shamelessly politicize a sensitive international situation," the Obama campaign said in a statement Friday. "The fact is that any president of either party is going to be confronted by crises while in office, and Governor Romney continues to demonstrate that he is not at all prepared to manage them." 

Fox News' Catherine Herridge contributed to this report.

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White House warns planned budget cuts 'deeply destructive' to military, other agencies

A new White House report issued Friday warns that $110 billion in across-the-board spending cuts at the start of the new year would be "deeply destructive" to the military and core government responsibilities like patrolling U.S. borders and air traffic control.

The report says the automatic cuts, mandated by the failure of last year's congressional deficit "supercommittee" to strike a budget deal, would require an across-the-board cut of 9 percent to most Pentagon programs and an 8 percent cut in many domestic programs. The process of automatic cuts is called sequestration, and the administration has no flexibility in how to distribute the cuts, other than to exempt military personnel and war-fighting accounts.

"Sequestration would be deeply destructive to national security, domestic investments and core government functions," the report says.

The cuts, combined with the expiration of Bush-era tax cuts at the end of the year, have been dubbed the "fiscal cliff." Economists warn that the one-two punch could drive the economy back into recession.

The across-the-board cuts were devised as part of last summer's budget and debt deal between President Barack Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans. They were intended to drive the supercommittee — evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans — to strike a compromise. But the panel deadlocked and the warring combatants have spent more time since then blaming each other for the looming cuts than seeking ways to avoid them.

The White House report continues in that vein, blasting House Republicans for an approach to avoiding the sequester that relies on further cuts to domestic programs while protecting upper-bracket taxpayers from higher rates proposed by the president.

In advance of the report's release, White House press secretary Jay Carney went on the offensive, blasting "the adamant refusal of Republicans to accept the fundamental principle that we ought to deal with our fiscal challenges in a balanced way."

In advance of the election, rival Democratic and GOP sides are dug in, unwilling to make the required compromises and unable to trust the other side. It's commonly assumed that there will be more serious efforts to forestall the cuts in a postelection lame duck session, though it may only be for a short time, to give the next Congress and whoever occupies the White House a chance to work out a longer-term solution.

If not, sharp cuts are on the way.

The report warns that the Pentagon faces cuts that "would result in a reduction in readiness of many nondeployed units, delays in investments in new equipment and facilities, cutbacks in equipment repairs, declines in military research and development efforts and reductions in base services for military families."

On the domestic front, the White House warns of dire effects as well.

"The number of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, Customs and Border Patrol agents, correctional officers and federal prosecutors would be slashed. The Federal Aviation Administration's ability to oversee and manage the nation's airspace and air traffic control would be reduced," the report says. "The Department of Agriculture's efforts to inspect food processing plants and prevent foodborne illnesses would be curtailed."

Many big programs, like Social Security, Medicaid, federal employee pensions and veterans' benefits and health care would be exempted. Medicare would be limited to an $11 billion, 2 percent cut in provider payments.

Also cut would be $14 million to treat emergency responders and others made ill as a result of the 9/11 attacks; $33 million for federal prosecution of violent crimes against women; and $2.5 billion for medical research and other work by the National Institutes of Health.

Other cuts would include $5 million from Obama's own office at the White House; $140 million from financial aid for college students; $216 million from efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons; $471 million from highway construction and $1 billion from aid for handicapped and children with other special needs.

The 394-page report, however, simply lists the dollar amount of the cuts but fails to address their real-world impact. For instance, it would cut the number of food inspectors and air traffic controllers on the job. But when asked on a conference call, a top White House official wouldn't say whether such cuts would require closing meatpacking plants or shutting down smaller airports.

"The report makes clear that sequestration would cause great disruptions across many vital services, from cancer research at NIH to food safety efforts at the Department of Agriculture, and public safety at the FBI to lowered military readiness," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the Budget Committee's top Democrat. "It's time to stop the political games and start working together to prevent the sequester, protect the economic recovery and get our fiscal house in order."

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Violent protests across Middle East target embassies, Pope visit to Lebanon

Anti-American protests erupted across the Middle East on Friday, following week-long demonstrations outside of several U.S. embassies and a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that left the U.S. ambassador and three others dead.

Protesters reportedly broke into the German Embassy in Sudan -- pulling down its emblem and raising the Islamic flag -- and demonstrators in Lebanon burned Kentucky Fried Chicken and Arby's restaurants while chanting against the pope's visit to Lebanon.

At least one protester was killed and 25 were injured in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli after clashes between police and protesters over an anti-Islam film, security officials said.

In Egypt, protesters in Ciaro's Tahrir Square could be seen carrying a 4-foot-tall poster of Usama bin Laden, and graffiti reportedly found on the U.S. Embassy there read: "Take care America. We have 1.5 billion bin Ladens."

In Sudan, police fired tear gas to prevent protesters from storming the U.S. Embassy outside Khartoum, according to eye witness accounts. About 5,000 demonstrators arrived in buses and cars to gather on the main street outside the embassy, Reuters reported. 

Several hundred protesters in Cairo, meanwhile, demonstrated blocks away from the U.S. Embassy as the president went on state TV and appealed to Muslims to protect embassies, trying to patch up strained relations with the United States.

The protesters, who gathered after weekly Muslim Friday prayers, tore up an American flag and waved a black, Islamist flag through the streets. When protesters tried to move toward the embassy, they were confronted by lines of police who fired tear gas.

"With our soul, our blood, we will avenge you, our Prophet," they chanted.

Ahead of the clashes, Islamist President Mohammed Morsi spoke for more than seven minutes on state TV, his most direct public move to contain protests since an angry crowd assaulted the embassy Tuesday night, scaling its walls and tearing down the American flag.

"It is required by our religion to protect our guests and their homes and places of work," Morsi said. "So I call on all to consider this, consider the law, and not attack embassies, consulates, diplomatic missions or Egyptian property that is private or public."

He denounced the killing of American ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, who died in an attack Tuesday night on the U.S. Consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi along with three other Americans.

"This is something we reject and Islam rejects. To God, the attack on a person to Allah is bigger an attack on the Kaaba," he said, referring to Islam's holiest site in Mecca.

The region is bracing itself for more protests after traditional mid-day Friday prayers over the anti-Islam film produced in the United States called "Innocence of Muslims." The movie ridicules the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester.

Morsi's own Muslim Brotherhood group has called for peaceful protests to denounce the film.

A firebrand cleric with the beard of a Salafi Muslim, known for their ultraconservative views, blasted the film and in his sermon in Cairo's Tahrir Square said it was upon Muslims to defend Islam and its prophet.

Protesters have been clashing in Cairo with police since the unrest Tuesday night. More than 240 people have been injured in the clashes, including a number of policemen, and 31 people have been arrested.

In Sudan, a prominent sheikh urged people on state radio to protest outside the main mosque in Khartoum. Sheikh Mohammed Jizouly said protesters would then move to the German Embassy in the city center to protest alleged anti-Muslim scrawling on mosques in Berlin and then to the US embassy, just outside the capital, to protest the film.

"America has long been an enemy to Islam and to Sudan," Jizouly said.

In Israel, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police have boosted the number of officers patrolling east Jerusalem and Jerusalem's old city to thwart potentially violent protests following Muslim prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

Protesters are expected to march to the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem.

A small, peaceful demonstration was held Friday outside the U.S. Embassy in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

A prominent cleric in Indonesia has urged Muslims there to remain calm despite their anger about the film. But Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia, a branch of the international network that advocates a worldwide Islamic state, on its website blamed the U.S. government for allowing the film to be produced and released, calling it "an act of barbarism that cannot go unpunished."

Meanwhile, a Libyan airport official said all flights to and from the eastern city of Benghazi were canceled due to security concerns. The nearest airport is 200 kilometers away. The airport official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Benghazi is where the attack on the U.S. consulate took place Tuesday.

Click for the latest updates from the State Department on Twitter.

Fox News' Leland Vittert and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Violence spreads across Middle East over anti-Islam film

The Obama administration is bracing for the possibility of more violent anti-American protests after Friday's weekly prayers, traditionally a time of protest in the Middle East and North Africa, following  protests outside of several U.S. embassies and a Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that left four, including the U.S. ambassador to the country, dead. 

All of the U.S.' diplomatic missions overseas were on high alert Friday, and Secretary of State Clinton issued a statement strongly denouncing the anti-Islam video that is purportedly the cause of the violence as the administration sought to pre-empt further turmoil at its embassies and consulates.

"The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video," Clinton said before a meeting with the foreign minister of Morocco at the State Department. "We absolutely reject its content and message."

In Indonesia, the largest Muslim majority nation in the world, leaders and a prominent cleric urged citizens to remain calm despite anger over the film. Meanwhile, Jakarta police spokesman Col. Rikwanto tells The Associated Press the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta did not request any increased security, but 250 riot police have been put on alert ahead of expected demonstrations.

The embassy issued an email to American citizens saying a demonstration with an estimated 300 people was expected after Friday prayers.

The Obama administration was caught by surprise by the ferocity of the Sept. 11 storming of the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed the American ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other embassy staff members. 

Libyan officials said Thursday they believe the attack in Benghazi was a planned operation by heavily armed militants that may have been timed to mark the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the U.S., and that the militants used civilian protesters as cover for their action.

In Egypt, protests continued into the night Thursday for a third day. Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters and the two sides pelted each other with rocks. But unlike Tuesday, when protesters climbed the embassy's walls and several of them breached its grounds, police kept the protesters away from the compound.

The Health Ministry said 224 people, including policemen, were wounded, but they mostly suffered minor injuries. Twelve protesters have been arrested.

In Yemen's capital of Sanaa, hundreds of protesters chanting "death to America" and "death to Israel" stormed the U.S. Embassy compound and burned the American flag on Thursday.

Yemen's president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, quickly apologized to the U.S. and vowed to track down the culprits, just as Libya's president did. Egypt's Islamist President Mohammad Morsi, who had been slow to speak out on Tuesday's assault on the embassy in Cairo, promised Thursday that his government would not allow attacks on diplomatic missions.

In Iraq, several hundred Shiite hardliners protested Thursday in Baghdad's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, and the leader of an Iranian-backed Shiite militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, threatened anti-U.S. attacks.

In Iran, about 50 protesters shouted, "Death to America" outside the Swiss Embassy, which looks after U.S. interests there. Riot police kept the crowd at bay.

The State Department said on Twitter that U.S. diplomatic posts in Kuwait, Jordan, and Oman would be also on alert for possible protests going into Friday. 

The Obama administration sent two warships to the Libyan coast and 50 Marines were sent to the Libyan capital of Tripoli to help with security. Obama told voters campaigning Thursday in Colorado that the Benghazi Consulate killers will be brought to justice and that protecting  Americans serving abroad is one of his highest priorities.

The spreading violence comes as outrage grows over a movie called "Innocence of Muslims" that was produced by anti-Islam campaigners in the U.S. and mocks Islam's Prophet Muhammad. 

The amateur-like video was produced in the U.S. and excerpted on YouTube. It depicts Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a madman in an overtly ridiculing way, showing him having sex and calling for massacres.

Click for the latest updates from the State Department on Twitter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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