16th, 2012. i'm shepard smith. we're back tomorrow for "studio b," 3:00 eastern, 2 in oxford. bret baier and megyn kelly will be back for our coverage of the debate just before 9:00 eastern. and mr. bill o'reilly is up next right here on fox news channel for the journalists of fox news, thanks for checking in. the o'reilly factor starts right now. >> bill: the o'reilly factor is on, tonight: >> i said that i would cut taxes for middle class families. and that's exactly what i did. >> bill: big night for the president if he doesn't do well for n. this debate he may lose the election. we'll have the latest polling and analysis from krauthammer, sabato, and rasmussen. >> a diplomatic security agent working in the tactical operations center immediately activated the imminent danger notification system. he. >> bill: the libya scandal grows. now state department people say they heard the terror attack live.

why then did secretary of state clinton and president obama know nothing about it? colonel david hunt has been investigating. >> are you leaning obama or leaning romney. >> i'm leaning obama. >> i'm leaning toward romney because the country is in disarray and the country needs something different. >> bill: watters is out at hofstra university. he is primed and so are the students there. you where to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. the big debate had just one hour from now that the subject of this evening's talking points memo. there is no question that this vrabel shootout at hofstra university on long island is vital for president obama. he has another shaky performance the odds are he will lose the election. let me back that up with

polling. according to the rasmussen daily tracking poll, among likely voters, mitt romney now leads the president by two points. also gallup daily tracking has romney up by 4 points, the largest lead the governor has in that poll. and the swick states are also trending toward governor romney. in new hampshire, now a tie in the suffolk poll. in iowa according to the arg poll it's also a tie. in pennsylvania quinnipiac says president obama leads by 4 but he was up by 12 about three weeks ago. so you can see that all over the u.s.a., mitt romney is surging while the president is having problems. thus, thus, tonight's debate takes on a huge importance. as does its town hall format. there will be about 13 questions asked by the regular folks who were selected by the club agency. the moderator cnn correspondent candy crowley will then ask follow-up questions. the candidates will have six minutes to address each situation. questions can be anything but they have been vetted.

ms. crowley knows what the questions are. apparently nobody else does, we hope that's the case anyway. president obama will most likely try to convince voters that mitt romney is simply blowing smoke. that he has no problem-solving capability. that's what i expect barack obama to do tonight, simply turn every question into this quote: so what's governor romney going to do? he hasn't told us. like joe biden the president will try to diminish the governor. romney should be prepared for that. and he should begin unfolding some specific plans to deal with the economy, and the chaos overseas. if romney does not get more precise this evening, he will likely lose the debate. but even if the governor stalemates the president, he wins. barack obama has to dominate the town hall or we may be looking at a new president. and that's the memo. now for the top story tonight. let's bring in fox news political analyst charles krauthammer who joins us from washington. what did i leave out, charles?

>> well, you were right except for one particular. i don't think romney needs to be precise. i don't think he needs to do details. he has given infinitely more details than romney has on anything. in fact on medicare he has proposed what everybody considers a pretty radical plan in great detail with great courage. i think what romney needs to do, detail say i have given all the outlines, all the principles in my tax plan and the president has got the reason we are talking about my plan and my details is because obama offered nothing, no plan on entitlements, no plan on tax reform, no plan on the budget. in fact, not only has he not presented a plan for the future but for the last three years he hasn't presented a budget that hasn't been rejected by the congress unanimously. something like 420 to 0 by the house and 9 to nothing by the senate. so who is asking whom for particulars? obama is running on pure air.

>> bill: here is why i'm going to disagree with you. >> i will give you a shot. >> bill: you have got to fill the air time. the air time -- you know candy crowley is going to go after romney for particulars, so that if i'm the governor, i have them. he doesn't have to get micropinheaded boring everybody to tears. he can just say, listen, in my tax reduction plan, i am going to cap certain taxpayers at a level where they don't take any more deductions and that will make up for the income tax cuts. that's all he has got to do. that will confuse president obama, sigh. it will confuse him. and once one of the candace gets confused, and then you say something well, what's wrong with that? what's wrong with that? all right. you want to raise taxes on cap gains, which might destroy investment in this country, that's insane. all i'm going to do is basically make investment

easier. that's the kind of stuff where, look, you agree with me that barack obama is going to try to put mitt romney on the defensive early, quick, and that's what is he going to try to do, right? >> exactly what i think. >> bill: okay. but you come back with specifics and then you regain the offense by that. go ahead. >> well, look, they want to pin romney down. they want him to say i'm going to eliminate the mortgage tax deduction. >> bill: you don't have to do that. >> that's exactly right. all he has to do and he did that in the first debate. he said, for example, we can cap the deductions at a certain amount of money, period. and the other thing he can say and that he will say and that he had said is this: he turns it around on obama. he says, look, your own debt reduction commission, the one you appointed and then ignored said that every year the government foregoes $1.1 trillion of revenue because of deductions,

loopholes and exemptions. over 10 years that's $11 trillion minimum. and i'm only going to -- i'm only going to use broaden the base, eliminate deductions at about a third of that the way i'm going to do it, unlike what you did, which is to ram through obama care purely on your party's vote, without gettingsultation from the other side, i'm going to do it in a way that it should be done. >> bill: that's specific, charles, you are agreeing with me. that's specific. >> if all we mean by specific is to give an answer, yes. but he should not be numbers. >> bill: that's hard to criticize. >> we agree. you came around to my view i appreciate that. >> bill: sure. >> sure. >> bill: if you are mitt romney, do you ram libya down the president's throat? >> i don't ram it but i think there is going to be a foreign policy question. and obama is going to -- you know, he will resort to the only thing he has got, the bin laden raid. and romney is going to say, you know, that was a great thing, but you have been

claiming ever since you said even last week al qaeda is on its heels, al qaeda is on its heels? they just killed our ambassador the first murder of an ambassador in 30 years. they just sacked an embassy. in the demonstrations just one month ago, four american embassies had the flags destroyed and the al qaeda flag hoisted about above them. and you want to claim that this is a success and al qaeda is on its heels? mr. president, you misunderstood how the war on terror is fought. >> bill: guy further than that. >> yes, there is justice in killing usama bin laden, but it is not a foreign policy. that's the mistake you are making, mr. president. >> bill: all right. guy further than that. as soon as i get the foreign policy question, even if it's about the malukins out in the specific i turn it around to the middle east. i look at the president and i will go will you explain to me why the u.n. ambassador was out there for a week misleading the american public?

can you explain that to me? see, that's what i do, you put him on the defensive. >> well, you know, it's about time somebody did because the mainstream media let the story go for at least two weeks. >> bill: they are still ignoring it? >> until fox shamed them into doing at least some coverage. we agree. we should be his coaching team you and me. >> bill: well, have you much -- >> -- you are the anglo did you know dundee, you are the cut man in the corner. >> bill: this is making me nervous. you are coming down to my level. see you are way up here, charles. you are way up here. >> i know. every once in a while i have to stoop to conquer. no way around it. >> bill: another green business bank rolled by the taxpayer has collapsed. we will give you the details. she and others heard the 911 terror attack in libya live. wyoming didn't hillary clinton and barack obama know about it? we'll have a special report upcoming.

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>> bill: barack and hard place segment tonight another green business collapses, a 123 systems a litani i don't mean lithium battery maker has filed for bankruptcy. received $250 million president obama was bullish about it because he likes nonfossil fuel energy. >> these are not about the bad prevents we'll present but the good things we will build there is a 123, a clean energy manufacturer in michigan that just hired its 1,000th worker as demand has sored for its vehicle components. companies like these are taking root and putting people to work in every corner of the country. >> bill: not exactly. that company has now played off at least 350 workers. joining solyndra and other green companies in bankruptcy hell. joining us now from hofstra university where he prepping for the debate allen colmes and here in the studio monica crowley. monica, no gloatings all right?

no gloating zone. no gloating. we don't want to see any american business collapse, right? >> right. >> bill: when you invest, you being president obama and the obama administration 250 million of our money, the 1 percenters paying a lot of those taxes, this is another tee up for mitt romney. how many more of these businesses are going to go down the drain? this is crazy. >> right. and the timing on this because it happened today where this company went belly up hours before the presidential debate does give mitt romney another piece of ammo to use against president obama. remember, when you use the word invest or the president and his team uses the word invest, what they mean by that is not private investment. he they are talking about taxpayer dollars. this is what happens when you have direct government intervention in what should be the private sector. >> in the private sector. >> right. >> bill: dart board. we will throw money at this country. >> correct. it tries to correct a marketplace where it doesn't exist. >> i don't agree with that i

agree with colmes okay something. i think planet is better if you have nonfossil fuel energy. i would love to have wind mills and non-lithium batteries but the technology simply isn't there yet. the government is pumping all of this money into it to try to prop the industry up and create jobs and it's turning into a disaster, colmes. right? >> actually not. there have been about a million jobs created because this energy investment program. by the way this particular company was supported by republicans, by pete hoekstra. furthermore, in this program of investment in energy companies, about $2.87 billion is set aside for companies that default out of 16 billion that go to invest in these companies. they are probably going to come in about $800 million in what they're going to have to pay in default. it's actually making money and dozens of companies are successful, pardon me, and the detractors of obama are cherry picking companies like beacon, like solyndra and like this one and ignoring all the ones that are successful. >> bill: i don't know any

companies that are successful on the level that monica crowley and bill o'reilly are benefiting. can you give me one? >> well, we are all benefiting, for example. >> bill: no, no. we are not all benefiting. colmes, take a deep breath now, air in, let it out. one company. one that benefits monica and bill? one? >> diamond green diesel in new orleans, a biodiesel project which will triple the amount of domestically produced renumber diesel. >> bill: diesel? >> yes. >> bill: how am i going to use that? >> well, it helps truckers, it helps people deliver goods. >> bill: truckers? >> when you bring down cost of delivering products around the country. that's one of many that are successful. >> bill: are you buying this. >> i'm not buying this. look, there is a basic philosophical argument here that the government should not be involved in any kind of social engineering in the economy. that's what got us in trouble with the housing prices. >> bill: doesn't the government have an obligation though to get us away from oil, which is killing us, from

coal which pollutes the air? if they could find something better. >> this is what the market place is for. this is why we should unleash the private sector to create these things where there is a marketplace. and there is reward and there is -- by the way, this is all crony socialism. you had solyndra, major investor in solyndra, major obama donor and with a 123, you had the ceo david vino a major obama donor. a board member of a 123 was actually invited to sit on the white house advisory board. >> bill: that's not good, colmes, that crony stuff. i have got to run on another topic it's not good. >> you can't call it socialism though because we give all these breaks to oil companies to the tune of $110 billion over 10 years. >> bill: i don't like -- you are preaching to the choir here. libya, it's a mess. we have hunt coming up behind you guys. and he is furious.

state department says they were listening in on the attacks. so, if i'm mitt romney, i look at the president and i say with all due respect, i need -- and in answer to this question who told you u.n. ambassador mislead the american public? legitimate question? >> yes. i would turn to romney and say why did you jump to conclusions and say we were supporting the people who were attacking us. >> bill: evade the question and attack romney for asking it. >> i would turn around. >> bill: you evade it and not answer it? >> go back to romney and speaking before he should have on the whole issue. >> bill: you do that all the time on the factor. colmes would evade the question. i think that would be obvious to the millions of people watching the debate if the president doesn't answer that question. >> correct. here's the problem with that strategy, alan. we have the sitting commander and chief, his name is barack obama. mitt romney is not the commander and chief yet. >> bill: i don't think you are going to be able to petty fog that colmes. you have got to have the

commander and chief answer. four dead americans including u.s. ambassador and two navy seals. what broke down and why is there a coverup? >> that's two general though. >> what are they covering up? >> you can't do that. if you accuse the president of a coverup or a lie, you are going to lose with the american people. >> you can state it more diplomatically. >> why did your u.n. ambassador mislead the world for seven days? >> and why? who ordered it and why? >> bill: colmes, of course. >> during the bush administration there were nine attacks. >> bill: bush administration? ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it for the next with president, let's go right back there. >> you can't like biden laughed you can't have a double standard. >> bill: you know what? we will have him run over by a diesel truck if we have double standard. >> at least the price will be down because the gas we are making to run me over. >> bill: i hope you are not going to frighten those people out there, colmes. we would like to remind you

alan's new book thank the americans for saving american. monica's tone what the bleep just happened. colonel david hunt angry about the 9/11 terror attack in libya. new embarrassing information that colmes would evade out of the state gement. watters world jesse asking the students what up? >> do you know president obama's education plan? >> not -- like i haven't really looked into it so. >> what's your major? >> education. >> okay o. >> bill: factor will be right back. ♪

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>> bill: impact segment tonight last week charlene lamb testified that she and others testified she and others actually heard the terror attack in libya life. we have another chaotic

situation. all of this has infuriated fox news military analyst david hunt who joins us now from boston. why are you so upset, colonel? you know, we are all -- all americans lament the loss of four lives in benghazi but you're a little bit more angry about this. why? >> we have the finest military intelligence agency in the world that have been honed in 11 years of war. we have pinpoint communications, satellite, land line, and we have the senior state department official in charge of security admitting that she listened to a six hour fire fight in a command center which means the rest of the government has -- hearing that information or having it reported to them. what i mean by that is the secretary of state and that's the security advisor in the white house. chief of staff in the white house, president of the united states. the national intelligence director and on and on for during that six hour fight

knew that we had an embassy being attacked and we americans being murdered and we didn't do a damn thing about it. >> bill: i'm not sure about the chain of command here. >> and then lied about it. >> bill: i'm not sure about the chain of command here. you have this woman in the state department. >> right. >> bill: she is listening and others in the state department. now, you would assume that immediately they would get a message of some kind to the secretary of state, their boss, hillary clinton. you would assume that and then you would assume that hillary clinton would get a message over to the white housepronto, g problems here in benghazi. we have got a u.s. ambassador who is in trouble. you would assume all of that would take place. but obviously it didn't. i don't think it took place, colonel. i don't know who screwed up or who didn't do what, but i don't think -- i think there was mass confusion. >> there were four embassies attacked in a 24-hour period. it's not credible to believe that the secretary of state was not informed by the senior

security officer on watch, okay? and they have always these other command centers, you were in two of these command centers one in iraq and one in afghanistan. >> bill: listen, i agree with you and i will go a step further. if secretary clinton wasn't informed, she should have fired that woman immediately. >> exactly. >> bill: boom, out, gone. >> we had -- we have -- down the street from the embassy a classified area that had -- was later had to be closed down. the national intelligence community, the military community, the command structure of the united states of america is designed since 9/11 to do just what i'm telling you it didn't do, which is react to a terrorist attack. and we have got the senior state department official in charge of security admitting that she listened to it for six hours and, of course, she informed her bosses who informed their bosses, my point is, and and then they walked out of that a week

later and lied about it. so we have got four americans dead and then lie about what happened to them. it's outrageous. we have. >> bill: 45 seconds left. when you use the word lie, are you 100% positive that hillary clinton, barack obama lied to the american public? >> i did -- yes, i am telling you that mr. lamb's mouth to secretary of state's ears to the president's ears it was reported that the embassy is under attack by -- not by a mob. they knew that to be true while the incident was going on. and we had the capability to at least try to help that embassy and didn't. that's outrageous and criminal as far as i'm concerned and it's nothing -- got to be called a lie. there is nothing else true they knew what they were saying. >> bill: plenty as the factor moves along this evening. will the libyan scandal hurt president obama's chances? we will will talk to two pollsters next up. take you out to the debate site on hofstra university

where jesse watters is scaring some of the students out there. we hope you stay tuned to some of those reports. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today.

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when we ask about libya, specifically, 35% say the president is doing a good job. that's down from 44% a couple of weeks ago. so there is some slippage but it's not yet reached a level where it's having an impact on the polling results. >> bill: is it possible that, you know, the mainstream media, dr. sabato, is not really enthusiastically covered this story. but as it becomes more problematic, for example, say the governor makes it an issue tonight, governor romney in the debate, which he could well do, all right, by taking my suggestion and flat out asking the president why is u.n. ambassador mislead the world for seven days? do you foresee that then rising not about libya so much but about competence? >> yeah, absolutely. look, candidates, even more than the media set the agenda, particularly in the last three weeks of the campaign. the libya issue, even if it isn't being covered, you know, in the way that republicans

would want, it can be used by romney to put his opponent on the defensive. >> bill: absolutely. >> that's how you use an issue like this. if he raises it tonight, it's not just a one day issue. we have got on october 22nd, the foreign policy debate. >> bill: yeah, next monday. so you can continue it there. >> bill: you both agree and you are doing this in a nonpartisan way that if the governor made an issue out of the libyan situation tonight, that would then rise in importance. it's not going to overcome the economy. but it certainly is going to become more -- because then the mainstream media would have to cover it, scott. do you know what i'm talking about? >> yes enforcement certainly in governor romney brings it up it will become more of an issue. i also think just like anything else in this campaign, if the governor can connect it to concerns about the economy, it is a stronger issue. >> bill: i don't know if you can do that. >> no, no, no. the way he can do that bill, is not directly about the economy but questions of

competence. >> bill: yes, competence. say look, you can't control the economy overseas is falling apart. your administration is in chaos. you don't know what's going on. >> that's a question about president obama being in charge. >> bill: do you guys think it was fair that hillary clinton is in exile in peru. i don't think that's fair. i would go to guatemala but peru that's way down there. >> bill, she is taking one for the team. >> bill: she is not really taking anything for anybody. she is flying first class on a private jet to peru on staying in a suite that costs $3,000 a night. if that's taking one for the team i'm ready to go at any time. i'm making a joke out of, this i'm responsible. okay, mrs. clinton if you are responsible tell me why. what happened? that's all we want to know is what happened. let's take a look at swing states. we did this in the talking points memo. iowa is tie now in one of the polls. new hampshire is a tie in one of the polls. and romney is really coming on in pennsylvania. scott, so is this all off the

first debate? >> the first debate about 2% of voters changed their mind. it went from a slight romney deficit to a slight romney lead and, yes, the swing states are following. the swing states are very competitive. ultimately i think comes back to three states, florida, virginia and ohio. ohio is still the president's strongest state and the one that he is really basing his hopes on. >> bill: if romney wins florida, virginia, and north carolina, new hampshire, and i expect him to win those four that i just said, he can afford it lose ohio, can he not, doctor? >> he can afford to lose it as long as he picks up colorado and iowa. >> bill: and nevada? >> and nevada and remember wisconsin is also an alternative. that's 10 electoral votes too. there are pathways outside of ohio. people are focusing too much on ohio. yes, it's important, but there are other pathways to 270.

>> bill: because barack obama has done a good job in ohio as far as he saved a lot of auto working jobs there. they have a strong union deal in ohio. a lot of money pumping in there. cleveland very liberal area for the president. but i still think that the money he momentum is growing for romney. right now and we're, what, 25 minutes before the debate. romney's momentum is still growing. now, it could -- as soon as he gets into the debate, that could just bang, could hit a wall, all right? but right now everything is going romney's way, scott. >> everything has gone romney's way but i think you can easily overstate that, for the last 100 days the two candidates have been within three points of each other 89 times. it is a close race. if barack obama has a better night tonight, that momentum could stop, it could drift back the other way. bill, i don't think there is any way that anybody can safely say who is going to win this election. tonight, the next debate of important issues libya and

economic issues. >> bill: by the end of the week you will have the first polling off this debate, right? >> yes. >> about friday i would assume. >> friday we will have good numbers. >> bill: thanks very much. we have a brand new bill o'reilly.com question for you. can you be good friends with someone with whom you disagree politically? can you be good friends with someone how disagree politically? "yes" or "no," bill o'reilly.com. we have fabulous deals on killing kennedy, killing lincoln and lincolns last day kids book on bill o'reilly.com. if you buy any of the books you get lis wiehl's latest book darkness rising. books make great gifts. jesse watters at the debate site talking to students about presidential politics. wawrs -- watters is next. ♪

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[ elevator bell dings ] [ sighs ] how mad is she? she kicked me out. but took the best stuff. i'll get the wrench. ♪ [ male announcer ] kohler's tresham collection. life. with a twist. ♪ >> bill: thanks for staying with us, oil bill o'reilly in the watters segment tonight two presidential candidates getting set to debate in a few minutes. jesse watters rounded up a few students to see what they know and what they don't though. ♪ [chanting] >> are you guys excited for the debate? >> we are so excited for this debate. >> i think it presents a huge

opportunity for student to get out the vote. >> what year are you guys? >> we're freshman. >> vow no idea what's going on. >> no. >> what your major. >> my major is political science international affairs minor. >> broadcast journalism minor. >> psycho psycho analyze me. >> i thought we were going to have some fun. >> are you enthused for this debate. >> i'm very excited. >> i look cold. >> i'm excited i didn't decide to wear a coat. >> your mom is going to be angry. >> would you keep out of this? now shut up. >> you guys were there. you were aallowed to ask a question, what would that question be? >> what are you going to do about college tuition raises. >> you think you would get a straight answer "yes" or "no." >> absolutely not. [ laughter ] >> it would just be they enjoy the campus enjoy hofstra university. >> you're going to get one shot and you are going to ask how do you like the campus. >> you get one shot look at me, okay? >> i ask president obama where is the jobs? they are not here. >> what are they going to do to handle the recent immigration problem. >> i would probably ask about

global warming. >> you would ask about global warming and it's really cold right now? >> yeah. >> the ice man cometh. >> how would you procedure advertise poor for the cold. >> i think i would ask about something about foreign policy the whole debacle going on in libya. i really do think they are trying to cover something up. >> you can ask romney a question. >> i don't think he he is really elaborated on anything. >> did you watch the last debate. >> yes i did. >> did ask heard when romney explained five point plan. >> yes did i. >> do you remember any of those five points. >> no. >> she was a bad egg. >> what would you ask these guys if you were at the town hall? >> peperoni or sausage. >> in wanted the double cheese and sausage. >> why do you support the president. >> healthcare. >> you like obama cancht the idea of it is very good. >> so far with the obama presidency america is in decline i know mitt romney. >> he is on gay marriage a lot i think that's good like equal rights. >> you are impressed with the president's job record? >> yes. >> no. am i suppose to be?

>> are you putting me on, man? >> i am supporting romney. you know, i'm pro-life. >> i lean more towards obama. i'm leaning towards romney because even as original supporter of obama i saw after four years that not a lot was done. >> anything you want to say to bill o'reilly right now? >> um, um,. >> what exactly are you trying to say here? >> i do not own a television. >> shame on you. >> i do watch the o'reilly factor and he is from the neighborhood. he is a great guy. >> you have got trouble right here, bub. >> what do you like about the show. >> the fact that he stumps everyone. [ laughter ] >> oh, jeez, i don't know. >> he is the man, i watch him every night in my dorm my roommate doesn't like him but whatever. >> i don't think i know him that well enough. he is -- u. -- >> bill: sounds like you watters okay some days get him a cold will you. he is cold. >> that's not me.

i'm always appropriate. >> you are always glib. number one, is hofstra like most colleges, a liberal place that kind of leans towards the president? >> i think it's a politically engaged campus because they have this debate almost every four years. i would say it's about 60/40 obama in over romney right now there is a lot of romney supporters hitting the streets and a lot of undecided voters. these people are actually going to make their decision based on the president's performance in the debate tonight. which is shocking to me how anyone could be undecided at this point. >> bill: okay. now, behind you is this spin room. this is the no spin zone. those are the people that are proud that they spin, right? >> right. they spin for a living. there is actually an anheuser busch hospitality tent right next door so a lot of these sur imats and -- surrogates and supports are getting lubed under and come over and spin. i ran into howard dean just

now. i said dean when are you going to come on the factor. >> he says i'll come on the factor when bill comes on my show i said dr. dean i didn't know had you a show. >> does he have a show? >> i don't know. >> bill: i think he might be big bird. he might be under that costume dr. dean. >> elmo. >> bill: i'm glad you called him doctor. you don't go up to the former governor of vermont and call him dean. you can do that dean martin. >> you know i'm respectful. >> bill: that's right. we try to be to everybody. you go back to dr. dean and tell him we hope to see him here in the next few days. all right, jesse watters, everybody. >> i will welcome him with open arms. >> bill: after the debate in a moment we'll go back to the debate site talk to ed henry and carl cammeron the guys covering the presidential race. a report after these brief messages. you see us, at the start of the day.

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>> bill: back ever the book segment tonight, ed henry covers the president for fox news, carl cameron reporting on mitt romney. both of the guys are standing by at hofstra university where the debate is just moments away. tell me something i don't know, ed. >> well, the president just had a steak and potatoes dinner, bill. that's one thing i can tell you that you might not have known. did he that with his wife. i just spoke with two top advisors to the president who are back stage with him. they just saw him. two people also the same people i spoke to before the first debate in denver who were telling me he looked calm and cool. tonight they are saying he looked energetic. one of them said he is ready this time. what they mean by that is that he has watched the videotape of the denver debate several times and realizes that he blew it frankly. he didn't have enough pep. he didn't show that he really wanted this job that he thirsted for it that he wanted it for another four years and that he was going to turn the economy around. they know he needs to do that tonight. here is the challenge though. these two advisors told me that he also realizes that

while he has got to show energy, he can't be too negative it's a town hall format he can't make up for lost time about beating up on mitt romney about bain and everything else. he wants to score points but doesn't want to come across as -- firm but respectful. >> bill: you might not know this, it's not good to eat starch with steak. you shoulding eating vegetables. steak and potatoes no good. blots you up. so if you hear a little rumbling that's what that is all about. now, cammeron, the governor had a little chicken. >> i'm going to see ed henry's steak and potatoes and raise you are row rotisserie chicken with the wife and kids. ad buy biggest one week ad buy in the campaign. 3 million in florida, 2 million in ohio. a million and a half in virginia and the rest spread out over 6 or 7 states.

get, this as of your show opening up tonight 500 hours exactly until the first polls close exactly three weeks from today. >> bill: what are these ads going to say? negative ads against obama or positive ads saying romney is the greatest? >> couple of things in the messaging more bipartisanship about romney being able to work with democrats back when he was the governor of massachusetts. also through the this week a real escalation of romney's assertion there is too much government under obama and debt is out of control. big speech plan at the end of the week to do that which is supposed to be to interrupt what is expected to be a big big focus on foreign policy after this debate ends running up to the one on monday which entirely about foreign policy and take place in boca raton, florida. >> bill: earlier in the program we talked at length about libya and what a mess it is becoming. and i suggested that if mitt romney wanted to put the president on the defensive immediately he brings that up. going to be hard if he is talking about jobs in ohio to stretch it over to libya.

it's a competency thing. but you have got to assume that the president is going to be ready for the libyan deal but still there are a lot of unanswered questions here. >> right. there are. you would assume he would be ready think about it you would have also assumed that vice president biden would have been ready last thursday. >> he wasn't ready. >> he wasn't. >> he ended up changing the story yet again. romney advisor today said that the governor is definitely going to bring it up and point it out that you time for the president to man up because female secretary of state got ahead of him taking responsibility. we will see where romney goes that hard tonight. >> bill: what do you think? is romney going to go after him on that, cammeron? >> he has got to be careful not to look like he has a testy attitude because this is in front of voters.

he has been training real hard on mannerism so he can connect with voters and he show he can be successful and empathize with voters when they ask him questions. both cases whether it's the president or mr. romney they are going to take questions from the audience. answer the voters questions and say i hope that answers your question and turn it right around and turn it into an attack on one another. the president knows he had has to be prepared for romney's aggressiveness. the obama campaign hasn't been the least bit coy about. this they have been boasting about how the president is going to be. ' the onus is on the president. he has got to turned the tide. the vice presidential debate didn't hurt romney in the polls. it didn't change romney's momentum growth. the president has to try to stem that tonight. >> bill: all right, gentlemen. be careful in that spin room. those people are vicious. it's like the walking dead in there. they will bite you and then you will will turn into a spinner. that's what happens. you have got to be very very careful in that spin room. >> the stops right here. >> bill: it is. that is it for us tonight as we are leaving you a few minutes early so that

ms. megyn kelly and bret baier can set the debate stage. they are over in hofstra which is, i don't know, 15 minutes from my house over there. they don't want to see me over there i am bill o'reilly. thanks again for watching us this evening. please always remember that the spin doesn't indeed stops here because we're definitely looking out for you. >> welcome to the second presidential debate between president obama and governor romney. i'm bret baier live in the spin room at hofstra university in hem stead, new york. >> i'm megyn kelly. the town hall setting with undecided voters from that saw county right here in new york, best suited to the questions suited more to an emotive type

of candidate, but none is running this year. the moderate orcor candy crowles decided on the questions. the stakes are extraordinary high. aides say president obama will be more energetic and aggressive. governor romney will try to gain the momentum he captured in denver, knowing his opponent is geared up for a much tougher fight. bret? >> bret: pretty good golf voice. well done. for the president being fired up and ready to go, and not overcompensating will really be the challenge. for governor romney, his first debate performance clearly moved the polls, but it also raised expectations for tonight. let's bring in our panel tonight. fox news senior political analyst brit hume and former howard dean campaign manager and fox news campaign manager, joe

trippi. joe? >> the audience they're going after is women. let me tell you why. before the first debate obama had a lead of 15 points among women. that first debate romney closed that to almost nothing. biden didn't win some of those women back. this debate really is about, i think, can obama bring them home. can romney hold on to them? >> bret: brit? >> i'm hesitant to say what's likely to happen tonight, because going on past experience i didn't think the first debate would make that much difference, and it seems it's made quite a difference. this format would not seem to lend itself to one opponent effectively attacking the other, if you get into that mode you can get into trouble with the audience, but who knows. i'm looking forward with great anticipation. i feel like a cub reporter coverings his first debate, learning once again that anything can happen. >> bret: brit how many, cub reporter. brit, joe, thank you.

>> megyn: chris? >> both campaigns say both candidates have two goals tonight. for obama, as we've all said, be more energetic, show up, be more aggressive, especially they want him to challenge romney on areas where the obama campaign says that romney has been lying about his record. obama's other job, to be much more specific his agenda for a second term, where he would take the country. for romney it's about being empathetic, that he needs to relate to the real people, the voters who answer questions in this town hall format to show he's not the uncaring, out-of-touch rich guy that the obama campaign has spent millions of dollars in ads portraying him to be. his other job tonight to show this is a beg election, voters face a big choice in two competing visions for the country. finally, to back up what joe said, both campaigns say special focus tonight, women. the obama campaign needs a big edge of women to win this election. romney started to cut into that in the first debate. he wants to keep that going.

that's what we'll be watching tonight. >> megyn: chris, thanks. >> bret: after the debate, we'll have complete analysis, and we're partnering with twitter, monitoring the millions of tweets sent during the debate. this is essentially our version of a countrywide town hall, where anyone can weigh%in. when the debate's over, we'll highlight the moments that got the most people tweeting, and the top topics they were tweeting about. for some context here, the first presidential debate of 2012 was most tweeted political event in history. raking in more than 10 million tweets during those 90 minutes. now more tweets in that one debate the 9.5 million tweets during the entire democratic convention this year. also during the debate tonight, this is something different. you will see this counter from time to time at the bottom corner of the screen showing the number of tweets being sent per minute about this debate. at one crucial point during the first