martha: not too heavy handed though. we'll be here tomorrow morning with all of you to talk about what went down. bill: yeah. enjoy the debate and a great lineup tomorrow. see you then. jenna: brand new stories and breaking news right now. jon: it is the final showdown between the two candidates, the president and governor romney set to spar over foreign policy. will their performances convince the key undecided voters? the attack in many libya sure to be a topic, we are going to talk with someone who has an incredible firsthand account right from security officials who were there in the thick of the attack. and our fox news voter fraud unit digs up a doozy. democratic officials in one state in big trouble for, get this, vodka for votes. you can't make this stuff up. it's all "happening now." ♪

jon: we are just hours away now from the third and final presidential debate of this campaign season. the race for the white house could not be any closer. will tonight change anything? we'll see. good morning, i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. there's a live look at the debate stage at lynn university in boca raton, florida. tonight's focus, foreign policy. and while jobs and the economy remain the number one issues among voters, america's role in the world taking center stage in tonight's 90-minute head to head. president obama and governor romney will face off on a number of politically-charged issues including the war in afghanistan, the nuclear standoff with iran, trade with china and the president's handling of the september 11th terror attack on our consulate in libya. that attack, of course, four americans murdered there. senior national correspondent be john roberts live in florida with the very latest. so, john, any hints on what we expect to see tonight? >> reporter: we've got all kinds of hints, all kinds of

strategy for you this morning. you know, even romney's closest advisers will admit that foreign policy is not his strongest suit, but they do believe he can narrow the experience gap by talking about the following things: his vision for the or united states on the world stage, american exceptionalism and by bringing it back to his strongest suit which is the economy, arguing that you can't have a strong foreign policy, you can't have a strong military without having a strong economy. and the campaign trail yesterday in colorado springs, his running mate, paul ryan, suggested that president obama is projecting weakness. >> our adversaries when they see us projecting weakness, when they see us hollowing out our military, when they see us equivocating when it comes time to stand up for our beliefs and our values overseas, they think that we are a superpower in decline. they think that we are weakening. and we are weakening ourselves, we are less safe. >> reporter: now, romney will also make the argument that a strong economy engenders respect around the world, and a strong

military means rather than going to fight a war, you may avoid a war because no one wants to take you on. jenna: all right, so that's romney's strategy. what about the president's? >> reporter: well, the president's strategy is to portray governor romney as a novice, that he is all wrong on foreign policy, that he fails the commander in chief test. looking back on that trip he made to to olympics and israel in which he ticked off america's strongest ally in europe, and they have a new ad out that suggests governor romney would want to continue fighting two wars as opposed to reaping the dividends of peace. >> obama's brought 30,000 soldiers back from afghanistan and has a responsible plan to end the war. romney calls it obama's biggest mistake. it's time to stop fighting over there and start rebuilding here. >> reporter: now, the obama campaign says the president would rather take that money from fighting the wars and invest here in america, but here's something to compare that to and contrast it with. on the campaign trail, he always says that president bush put two wars on a credit card, so if

he's trying to take money that was on a credit card and apply it here at home, there really is no money unless he wants to borrow more to pay for it, jenna. jenna: interesting point, john. thank you very much. jon: for more on this let's bring in the editor of the weekly standard, bill kristol. he is also a fox news contributor. you had some advice for mitt romney as to what you expect or what you think he should say and do in tonight's debate. do you want to talk about that, bill? >> yeah. i mean, i think it's hard for a challenger to have a foreign policy debate with an incumbent president. he just knows a lot, he can cite people in his administration. well, mitt romney, it's easy for you to say that, but i was talking with david petraeus yesterday or this world leader last week which means there's a big hurdle to get over. the good news is if he gets over that hurdle, i think mitt romney could win the president. i think he should above all be presidential. don't try to score every debating point that i would like to score if i were debating juan williams about foreign policy.

don't think of it as a debate, think of it as your moment to be the next president of the united states in the eyes of 60 or 70 million viewers. don't be the challenger, the critic of the current president, be the next president which means, of course, distinguish your proposals from what president obama's doing, be critical of president obama in the past, but above all lay out your vision for the world. john roberts, i thought, put it pretty well just now. if that's what the romney team's telling john, i'm encouraged. if you're going to make the world safer, how your foreign policy is a forward-looking foreign policy. jon: here's how one electoral expert put it in the weekly standard, see if you recognize these words, mitt romney's task is to rise above partisanship and gamesmanship above debating points and electoral calculations. mitt romney's task is to speak for america. so you're saying ignore, i don't know, speaking for, speaking as

a republican or as the republican nominee? >> or at least down play that. let me give you two examples, jon. on libya, i mean, believe me, we published in the weekly standard, i've argued this on fox, fox has done a terrific job on reporting what really happened, the cover-up afterwards. i don't think he needs to go into that level of detail. this was a terrible thing that happened. we have four americans killed there. it was a tragic failure. president obama, as you've said, you take responsibility for it, i can do better. on iran might there be negotiations after the election? well, if there are, mitt romney has to say, of course, he would love it if iran would negotiate to give up its nuclear program, but president obama's tried to negotiate for three-and-a-half years, he's sent mixed signals, and negotiations haven't worked. he, mitt romney, can say would be a stronger, tougher and better negotiator. the chances of peacefully resolving the iran issue are better with mitt romney negotiating than with barack obama. i don't think he needs to sound like me or charles krauthammer,

which is i think sometimes my arguments are okay, he needs to sound like the next president which means conservatives aren't going to get that much red meat, honestly, from mitt romney tonight, but since they probably want him to win the presidency more than they want him to win debating points, i think that's okay. jon: what about his comment to dmitry medvedev, that he'll have more flexibility after the election? >> i think that's a good thing for mitt romney to cite. and he, mitt romney, is going to be a steady hand. he has said what he would do in broad outlines, obviously, foreign policy is not like domestic policy, you don't have a checklist of little things you're going to do, it's a matter of dealing with crises as they arise, but basically the strength he will project standing with our allies like israel, not overruling the generals in terms of having a politicized withdrawal schedule, those sorts of things i think mitt romney can cite as a contrast between himself and president obama. but the contrast should always be looking forward to a romney presidency and not simply

criticizing the last three or four years of the obama presidency. jon: bill kristol from the weekly standard, a fox news contributor, bill, thank you. >> thanks, jon. jon: america's election headquarters the only place to catch the third and final presidential debate. coverage and full analysis starts tonight. 8:55 eastern right here on fox news channel. jenna: well, as jon was just talking about with bill, the deadly terror attack in benghazi topping the headlines since it happened nearly six weeks ago, and during that time we've heard many different versions of exactly what happened. but now the eight guards in charge of security at the u.s. consulate the night of the deadly siege are sharing their story, giving a blow-by-blow account of what went down from the explosions that started it all to the group of terrorists who suddenly overran the compound and set off a long firefight. when it was all over and the guards finally evacuated the compound, looters moved in, and they were the ones -- according to this new report -- who found

ambassador stevens still breathing and still, well, gripping to life but unconscious at that time. joining us now is the author of this report, stephen -- [inaudible] he's in benghazi, he's a writer for time magazine, and we just want to mention that to our viewers, steven, because sometimes the connection can be a little spotty. what stands out to you from the conversation that you had with the guards on the ground? >> well, first of all, thank you for having me, glad to be with you. um, first of all, there was no protest outside the u.s. 'em embassy in benghazi on september 11th. i've spoken with many of the libyan guards, all the libyan guards who were on duty, and they've all relayed a similar story to me. the night was quiet, they suddenly heard shouts of god is great, and then the gunfire and explosions began within a minute or two. the guards were completely overwhelmed, and it continued throughout the night. the attackers came in, they let everyone else in through the gate, and attackers came in through the gate. so anyone in the compound at

this time would have known this was an orchestrated attack from the beginning, so it's hard to make sense of the administration's claim that they were unaware of the circumstances for so long. jenna: stephen, have any of the guards been contacted by u.s. officials, by our government? >> my understanding is that some of them have, some of them haven't. a few of them were flown out to speak to american officials before they came here, but there's still quite a few of them who have not been interviewed. jenna: and what have they said about those that were behind this attack? who are they, where are they now, what's the description from the guards? >> well, nobody really knows where they are at the moment. there's rumors that they're in china, there's rooms that they're -- rumors that they're in -- [inaudible] but nobody really knows who they are. there's rumors that they're foreigners. some of the guards claim that they saw people in afghan garb, that they looked like they weren't from the area, people in benghazi just don't wear this kind of clothing, but they couldn't tell from the dialect

whether they were from the city or not. it's very difficult for them to actually know where they were from, but they don't think some of the attackers were from benghazi. jenna: one of the interesting parts of this account that you bring us and there's so many different tidbits that are new and interesting to us, steven, is the difficulty that the marines that were coming in to try to help protect the consulate and the compound had trying to get to that area. tell us a little bit about why. >> well, the place had been completely overrun. everyone was overwhelmed inside. outside the libyans were actually quick to respond. there is a libyan militia that responded quickly, but when they arrived at the entrance of the compound, they were driven back because the people outside were too aggressive, and they started shooting at them. so it took time for people from the annex, the quick reaction force, to get there, but there was still too much fighting. they didn't want to risk going in. there were too many attackers. so they remained with the militia until the, until the

fighting subsided about 90 minutes into the attack. jenna: just a quick final question here. there's been, you know, obviously, a lot of conversation about what happened in libya and our actions afterwards as a country. what do you think the consequence of very little u.s. presence on the ground right now and no retribution at this point? >> well, really a -- it's a difficult situation because the libyans are very grateful for the americans for what they did last year during the revolution, so people, they want to help america, they love america, but they don't want an american presence on the ground. if you start taffe drone strikes -- and everyone's for that -- but as soon as one person is killed, they will start to turn against the americans. so it's very important that if there is offensive action, it needs to be done very properly, and they really can't mess it up because right now libya is really, has the most favorable, um, is the most favorable to the americans right now, and it's really important that it stays that way because libya can be a

very strong ally in the future. jenna: that's really important context for us because i know you've been traveling all over the middle east all throughout the arab spring. stephen, i hope this isn't the last time we have you on the program. we'd love to have you back, and we encourage our viewers to check out your piece in time magazine today. >> thank you very much. jon: some gripping reporting he did there. jenna: amazing. another few were part of that british contracting organization that we've heard a little bit about, some interesting perspective on how they survived as well and what actually was in front of them. jon: it is a piece worth reading, and can i think a lot of people should check it out. as president obama and governor romney grower up for -- gear up for tonight's battle, we'll take a look behind the numbers just ahead. and no end in sight in that deadly meningitis outbreak tied to contaminated steroid shots what doctors are doing to try to treat the growing problem. plus, another blow for lance armstrong. the new fallout from the doping

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jon: a fox news alert, there has been an attempted attack on finland's prime minister, an attack which guards were able to stop. apparently, he was making a municipal elections appearance, a campaign appearance, in a town in finland when a knife-wielding man came after him. guards were able to stop the attack and detain the man. there is no word about the suspect, who he is or what the motive might have been. but some scary moments there in finland as that nation's leader came under attack. again, it was stopped by security guards. we'll keep you updated. jenna: well, lance armstrong's no longer a tour de france champion, the governing body stripping him of the title that made him aous hold name. it's really about those yellow

t-shirts, right, julie? >> reporter: yeah. apparently lance armstrong was not only the leader of the cycling pac, he led a massive doping program on his teams according to the u.s. anti-doping agency. that disturbing finding is actually what led to the cycling governing body's decision to strip him of his seven tour de france titles, banning him from professional cycling for life. uci's president said at a news conference, and i'm quoting: lance armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling. this is a landmark day for cycling. he also added that he was sickened by what he read in that usa da report singling out the testimony of david sue bring sky saying this, and i quote: the story he told of how he was coerced and to some extent forced into doping is just mind-boggling, end quote. the usa da reports as armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster epo and blood

transfusions, included statements from if 11 former teammates who testified against armstrong. armstrong all the while, though, denies he ever doped saying that he passed hundreds of drug tests during his career, but he chose not to fight the usda arguing that the process was just biased against him. the decision, by the way, also clears the way for tour de france organizers to officially remove armstrong's name from the record books, erasing his consecutive victories from 1999 to 2005, jenna. jenna: and then you wonder who's the champion if everybody was -- >> reporter: can you imagine whoever came in second place all of those years? they deserve the title. jenna: well, we'll see if anybody was drug-free. again, according to that one report, though, and lance armstrong reports he passed hundreds of tests. >> reporter: that's true. jenna: julie, thank you. jon: new questions about the way to treat the deadly meningitis outbreak. there are now 285 confirmed

cases tied to contaminated steroid shots. 23 people have died, and thousands of people who have received the shots could still be in danger. jonathan serrie is live in atlanta. jonathan? >> reporter: hi, jon. the dilemma is that the you treat every single one of these patients exposed to this potentially contaminated steroid, some doctors believe you may end up doing more harm than good. to put this all in perspective, the tennessee department of health estimates that only 5% of the patients exposed are getting sick. so if those figures hold true for the rest of the nation, preemptive treatment would subject the 95% of the patients who are healthy to personally dangerous anti-fungal medications which require long hospital stays and can cause serious side effects including kidney and liver damage. what's important is identifying symptoms early in the patients who develop fungal infections. take a look at the most common initial symptoms for patients being sickened by this outbreak. less than 15% of patients start

out with typical signs of meningitis. the vast majority, 81%, start out with headache, and about a third will develop fever or nausea. north carolina recently reported its first death in connection with this outbreak. family members have identified the victim as 77-year-old elwena shaw and say she had been suffering severe headaches for more than a month before doctors realized what was wrong. so, jon, while only a small fraction of these patients exposed to these potentially dangerous meds may actually get sick, it's important that all of them, their families and physicians, pay close attention to any uncrucial symptoms. jon? jon: so many nervous people out there. jon nan serrie in atlanta, thank you. jenna: we just heard from someone on the ground in benghazi, and there's no fallout from the deadly attack in libya. what lawmakers are now saying about the aftermath and how the white house responded. the benghazi controversy far from the only hot topic expected

at tonight's presidential debate on foreign policy. certainly, a lot to get into. we're going to go in depth next. [ female announcer ] food, meet flavor.

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jon: the timeline of terror, and the changing narrative of the deadly benghazi attack tops the agenda ahead of the presidential debate on foreign policy tonight. our chief intelligence correspondent be catherine herridge has been doing some great work on all of this. she's live with more on this for us now. >> reporter: good morning. fox news is told there are epic consequences to the administration's leaking of intelligence to defend its positioning on benghazi when the actual intelligence reviewed by the chairman shows quite the opposite. >> within 12 hours of that incident, the intelligence committee received a report that

said this was a military or militia-style event which would contradict all of what they were talking about. >> reporter: rogers also provided to fox news new information about the level of premeditation or preplanning including blocking teams between the consulate and the second attack site at the annex, kill or capture teams and a reserve team or quick reaction force to deal with supplemental forces if they were sent in in response to the attack. >> there's indications that they provided a blocking element so that there couldn't be movement between the two facilities or at least they could deal with movement to the two facilities, and there's also information that they, indeed, had a reserve team ready for any quick reaction force that might show up to help at the consulate. that's a fairly complicated, sophisticated thing to do that you just don't grab a few weapons and jump out of the truck and coordinate on the spot. >> reporter: but on the sunday talk shows, a chief adviser for president obama said it's the

republicans who are exploiting the attack for political advantage. >> there's only one candidate here who's tried to exploit it from the beginning even while the flames were burning in benghazi. mitt romney was sending out political press releases on this, and the whole republican party has followed. >> reporter: rogers also told fox that he believes very little progress has been made in finding the individuals who are responsible for the attack adding that the intelligence also from intelligence services overseas still points to al-qaeda's affiliate in north africa, aqim, as well as ann starral sharia, and he told fox he believes some of the suspects remain in libya, jon. jon: catherine herridge with some sobering stuff there, thanks. >> or you're welcome. jenna: well, the controversy sure to be a hot topic in tonight's debate, but several other key issues are also importantful we have the nuclear standoff with iran, we have the war in afghanistan and, of course, china's economic policies as well.

joining us now, michael hanlon, brookings institution's senior fellow and co-author of "bending history," a book that was published during the president's first term, of course. michael, great to have you back with us. >> nice to be with you, jenna. jenna: we know both candidates are going to have their agendas for tonight, and we have to ask what the agenda should be for the american people. what do you think is the single most important issue we should hear about tonight from either candidate? >> well, i do think you're right to mention iran. certainly, how we handle that nuclear crisis -- which, as you know, has been developing over a number of years, so maybe it should call it a crisis -- how we handle that in the next one to two years could decide whether the united states goes to war again in the middle east or whether we face a nuclear-armed adversary with extremist ambitions. teeth one of those prospects is very good -- neither one of those prospects is very good. and the candidates aren't that far apart. but every nuance is important because this is a very delicate

matter, as you know. so i would certainly begin with that. i would also say that handling the rise of china certainly has to be up there in the top couple of issues as well. and you mentioned, again correctly i think, the economic aspect to that. there's also a broader strategic aspect, and we should be hearing from the candidates how they envision trying to be firm and resolution towards china without unnecessarily risking war. again, that's a tough, fine line to walk, but i'd like to hear from the candidates to see how sophisticated their understanding is of how you do both at the same time. so i'd start with those two. jenna: those are some big topics, and you've alluded to the point that sometimes it doesn't feel -- and many have discussed this -- that either side is that far apart in their policies. walter reid just wrote this, this is how he looked at the vice presidential debate on foreign policy. he says the democrats think the world is a mess, don't really know how to fix it and would like to cut the defense budget. the republicans think the world

is a mess, don't know how to fix it and think we need a stronger defense. one side wants bigger defense, one wants smaller defense, and that's really where we're splitting hairs. what are your thoughts? >> yeah, it's not a bad sound bite, and it's a good way to react. on defend spending, there is a difference. i think it's been exaggerated. some people have said it's a $2 trillion difference in their ten-year projections for planned spending. as i calculate it, realistically it's more like a half trillion dollars or about $500 billion over a ten-year period, and that's about 8% plus or minus of what the spending would otherwise be. that's enough to talk about, that's enough to base a vote on. the good news is there's some reasonable degree of consensus here. it's not like mitt romney is some super extreme hawk, it's not like barack obama is some extreme dove. the two are relatively close to the center, but there's enough of a difference that voters, i

think, can see a meaningful difference of opinion, and that can inform their vote. as to whether the world is going up in spoke, here i would probably disagree with walter russell mead. there are plenty of dangers out there, but this is also the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, and that should make us remember the cold war was not a picnic. i think it was much more dangerous than the years we've been living through, and we have to bear in mind the great powers of this planet are not in open conflict or even on the verge of conflict with each other. that's pretty good news historically speaking, so we've got to keep this a little bit in perspective. jenna: some very important context today, as always, michael. we look forward to your thoughts postdebate. thank you very much. >> thank you. jon: just about two weeks to go til election day. we have brand new polls in the race for the white house. what the numbers mean. we'll go in depth. [ male announcer ] are you considering a new medicare plan?

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in 10 key gaat he will ground states, identified as competitive by "politico". that is according to a "politico" george washington university poll. joining us executive editor of "real clear politics", tom beavin. tom, according to your distillation of these polls, at this point in time it is advantage romney but just by a hair? >> well, certainly at the national level that's true. and that "wall street journal" poll that you mentioned was taken after the deck debate. so looking, sort of at the data set in total, it certainly president obama may have slowed romney's momentum, and stopped it briefly. doesn't look like he turned it around. things are looking moving in romney's direction. this is about the battle grand states. there are eight states we're looking at very, very closely. >> so the momentum is with romney? >> i think so, yeah. i think, you know, as i said there's no indication really, very little evidence that president obama has turned

things around and got things moving back in his direction. he may have slowed romney's momentum with his second debate performance but looks like things are sort of moving in romney's direction. jon: a couple of questions caught our eye in "the wall street journal" poll. when voters were asked if your can date, if the candidate has a message or do you know what they would do if elected, 57%, say, yeah, i know what mitt romney and paul ryan are intending to do. that is up from 52% last month. the president 61%, say they know what he would do but that's down from where he was last month. what does that say? >> well, i think it points to romney's first debate performance. 70 million people watched that debate. up until that moment a lot of information they received, especially folks in the battleground states have been negative advertising from the obama campaign and his allies. he was portrayed as this caricature. a lot of voters watched the

debate, said he wasn't all he portrayed to be. that he actually did have a plan and he laid it out, he was pretty aggressive laying out his five-point plan of the president obama has gone on to say, you know, romney wasn't telling the truth about his plan, nevertheless message got through at least to some voters he is pushing that he has a plan to get the economy moving again and it's resonating. jon: on that point, especially in the battleground states, the obama campaign decided in the spring, well before the mitt romney was the nominee they decided he was the guy who would get the republican nod. they started negative advertising you were referring about. so when voters were asked in "the wall street journal" what are your feelings toward each candidate, mitt romney gets 43% positive rating, 44% negative ratings. president obama has better numb berks 49%, 43% negative. but the interesting things those are the highest positive numbers that governor governor romney enjoyed to this point?

>> no, that's right. for much of the summer we were talking about the historic likeability gap between the two candidates. president obama is always likeable figure and remains so despite voters don't necessarily like some of his policies or the direction the economy is going in. romney, his likeability, numbers were way down. he was trailing obama by 15, 20 points. that gap is now gone. they're basically tied. if you look at our average of the favorability ratings of both candidates, it disappeared, that first debate performance again for romney managed to undo hundreds of millions of dollars worth of advertising that obama put out there in early, in the summer. jon: tom beavin is the executive editor of "real clear politics." it is going to be a fascinating a couple of weeks. tom, thank you. >> you bet. jenna: we're counting down to election day and counting down to the final presidential debate as well which focuses on foreign policy, both in it to win it as they say. a fair and balanced debate. a look at their stratis about and the importance of

tonight's showdown. speaking of foreign policy, new concerns that the bloody civil war in syria is spilling over to lebanon. why does that matter? we have a live report next. [shouting] [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. in what world do potatoes, bacon and cheese add up to 100 calories? your world. ♪ [ whispers ] real bacon... creamy cheese... 100 calories... [ chef ] ma'am [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

jon: so tonight is your last chance to see these two go head-to-head, president obama and governor romney, talking foreign policy in the debate tonight in florida. some analysts cite only minor differences in the candidate's views on key issues but president obama's senior campaign advisor says otherwise. he says the president will out on top by drawing a sharp contrast between himself and his challenger. >> people want to know they have a strong steady hand in the oval office. they don't want someone who is reckless and consistently wrong on foreign policy issues as governor romney has. we all remember his "dukes of hazzard" tour of international destinations over the summer where he, not only roiled countries

that are not as friendly to us, but our best ally, britain, he was wrong on libya. he was wrong on iraq. so, you know, people can have a chance to take a measure of these two guys and say who do i want as the commander-in-chief? who do i want leading the war on terror? i think we're going, to, i think that is very stark contrast. jon: former new hampshire governor and romney senior campaign advisor john sununu says the governor can come out on top if he hits the president hard on libya? >> i would keep reminding america that this president went to the u.n. and said six times that it was the video. this president sent his, you know ambassador out. i think we, he should just keep reminding the public that this president has never had a straight story on this. the white house has never had a straight story. and we probably won't find out for months until the president's quote, investigation unquote, is complete. jon: joining us now for a fair and balanced debate,

sean spicer, communications director for the republican national committee. brad woodhouse, communications director for the democratic committee. i play moderator. gentlemen, try not to interrupt. sean, you heard david axelrod referring to mitt romney as reckless and wrong in his foreign policy pronouncement. how do you answer that? >> i think after the first two debates they realize they're down 0-2 and they need something to change the narrative. governor romney made a very clear choice how he would lead the country on domestic issues he will talk about his vision for america in the foreign policy. how he will treat our friend. he will become a friend of israel again. he won't treat them as this administration has, allowing them to question their place. he will be tough on iran, tough on syria. and, he is going to be tough on those who aren't with us. so i think tonight will be another of what you've seen in the last two with the governor making it very clear how he is going to lead this country.

the choice is in november and lack of an agenda and policy that this administration has for a possible second term. jon: brad, some say that this president comes into the debate tonight with the advantage, simply because he has been in the oval office for the last four years. he has been the guys taking those 3:00 a.m. phone calls? >> i think he does have the advantage but not just because he's been in the oval office. he has been effective. look, jon, he made promises in the last campaign, he kept virtually every promise we made. he said he would end the war in iraq. he has. he said if opportunity to get bin laden he would. he did. he said, begin to end the war in afghanistan. he is. he said he would apply sweeping sanctions against iran. and he is doing that. he has a record in foreign policy that is beyond repute. the republicans are trying to politicize a tragedy in libya because they know that the president has a stellar foreign policy record. now on the other hand, if you want to go back to george bush, dick cheney,

cowboy diplomacy and you want more elective wars, another land war in the middle east, commit troops back to iraq, you should support mitt romney. that is not what the president wants to do. he wants to draw down, wants to end, draw down our troops and wants to nation-build at home. jon: let me interrupt you there, sean. >> you want to talk about that foreign policy? iran is four years closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon. >> that is simply not true. >> had its relationship with the united states downgraded. our strongest ally in the middle east. issue after issue. there are a series in libya a series of unanswered questions in the administration. they want it to go away. they want to have an investigation that occur. for two weeks. american people kept hearing about. >> jon, let me get in here. now you want us to hear everything is fine and good. jon: go ahead. >> i find it, i really find it, sean, i'm really embarrassed for someone like you who served our country overseas that you are party to this politicization of

this issue in libya. the administration, -- >> is that asking questions? asking questions? is politicizing? >> no. >> you're not your nominee -- >> you're the same guy -- >> hold on a minute, jon. let me get in here. your nominee came out a statement the night our ambassador was being killed. he tried to politicize the issue from the beginning. he gut his butt handed to him on the last debate. he made a fool of himself. he made a fool of himself in the last debate. [both talking at once] jon: we are reaching that point that i didn't want it to get. nobody is, nobody is hearing anything. gentlemen, hold on. gentlemen, we'll have to leave the debate there. i apologize, i hoped that our viewers got something out of that last segment there. but we're going to have to say good-bye. we'll all look forward to the debates tonight. brad woodhouse, sean spicer,

from the republican and democratic sides respectively, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: now as the president and governor romney prepare for their final faceoff, here is the friendly take on their last showdown from "saturday night live.". take a look. >> let's get something straight right now. i'm not your friend. >> i'm not yours either, sparky, okay? by the way, hey, what is your salary as president? >> 400,000. 400,000, yeah. what is it to you. >> 400,000? that's what i pay my cats. >> obviously we need to do everything we can to become energy independent. >> really? then why have you cut drilling permits on federal land by half. >> that is not true. >> how much did you cut. >> not true. >> you incident cut anything? you're not going to cut anything. >> i'm about to cut. >> you in fact i'm willing to bet here and now, that you have never, in your life eneven once, used phrase, terrorist at act. >> i get the transcript. get it. >> governor, he has in fact used the phrase terrorist act. >> candy, no, no, no candy,

come on. >> i'm afraid he did. >> candy please. [laughter] jenna: they're not going to be walking around this time around. jon: they will be seated. we're not going to see those in your face moments. >> you know what i think they should do? do the debate and take the two candidates and run them through a course to see how things go, you know what i mean? jon: we'll see some of that, aren't we? >> we'll bring that back around next hour. coming up. jon: look at the dow. big drop on friday. more than 250 points. down a little bit today. there is question whether or not the rally we've seen since june is over. one of the questions is, what is next for the market? we'll be talking about that in a live report coming up top of the hour. plus a voter fraud investigation expands to include a state representative accused of trying to trade vodka for votes. and he is not the only one of the that story next

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jenna: vodka for votes. how about that? how did that proposal work out? not well apparently for several folks in arkansas who admit to dumping ballots cast for the opposing side and even planning to offer vodka in exchange for favorable votes. eric shawn is live with this story in new york city. >> reporter: jenna, we were showing fancy stuff there, but this was the plan. vodka for votes. these little half pint plastic bottles of vodka like this one we bought for two bucks in arkansas. well officials say it was all to steal an election in that state. that's what prosecutors say did happen in the eastern part of arkansas. it was a scheme that included absentee ballot fraud and buying votes in exchange for money and food besides the booze. so far, nine people have

been charged and democratic state representative hudson hallum and three others pled guilty. he was forced to resign from all of this from office. he allegedly told a codefendant, a local city councilman, quote, we need to use the black limo and buy a couple of cases of cheap vodka and whiskey to get people to vote. >> guess i always knew all the along it was wrong but at first i really didn't think it was that big of a deal, you know, because i always heards that's what everybody did. >> reporter: the scheme involved opening absentee ballots. checking if the votes were for hallum if they were cast for his opponent kim felker, they were destroyed. arkansas officials they are finding fraud. others like republican state representative brian king are calling for stricter laws to stop voter fraud. >> when you steal an election, you get cheated. somebody worked hard to gain the will and trust of the people. when you steal an election

you compromise that. that shouldn't be compromised in democracy. >> mr. hallum faces a possible five years in prison of the his name is on the ballot for next month's election but officials say if he wins he will not serve. if you suspect problems where you live, there is our address, voterfraud@foxnews.com. jenna: you leave the bottle right here, eric. you don't leave it around the newsroom. >> never open it. jenna: eric shawn, thank you. jon: a major tax battle shaping up in the golden state. do californians need to pay more taxes to save the education system? we'll look at both sides of the debate. my coanchor like you have never seen her before. flawlessly groomed anchor woman monday through friday. but a mud covered mess come the weekend. for a very good cause. jenna lee, one tough mudder, coming up.

jenna: president obama and governor romney set to share a stage for a final time before the election. welcome to the second hour of "happening now" and a big week ahead, i'm jenna lee. jon: and i'm jon scott. tonight in the florida they will sit down with five topics on the table; the middle east ask and terrorism, america's role in the world, afghanistan and pakistan, israel and iran and the rise of china. both sides hoping for a breakout performance just 15 days before election day, november 6th. with the latest "wall street journal"/nbc news poll showing the candidates are now tied 47-47 among likely voters. bret baier is the anchor of "special report," he will be there tonight, he is there now. so, bret, the two debates that these two guys have had have been among the most memorable presidential debates ever.

what does each side want to do, hope to do tonight? >> hey, jon. it's really interesting, these debates and this election season have made a huge difference. that first debate it didn't just move the needle, it moved a surge of support for governor romney and changed the entire dynamic of the race. the second debate, it stopped the bleeding for president obama, and democrats exhaled. they breathed a sigh of relief that he was back in the game, but it didn't move the polls that much, at least according to most of the polls you're looking at in the past week or so. this debate, you're right, is the closing argument, and it does deal with foreign policy, and that's what the topic and the subject matter and moderator bob schieffer will focus on that. but expect domestic policy to come up as well. the national debt is seen as a big national security issue, and the turn will happen throughout the 90 minutes. and there also will be closing arguments for each of these candidates, governor romney and president obama, and that's the

unfiltered closing argument that they'll make to millions and millions of voters two weeks ahead of election day. jon: over the weekend "the new york times" printed this article suggesting that the iranians have agreed to one-on-one nuclear talks with the united states. then the obama administration rushed out and said, no, that's not the case. is that a soft spot for them tonight, i mean, the relationship with iran? >> boy, i mean, that topic will be a big focus of at least one of the five- topic discussions. and each one starts with a two minute question, two minute response and then facilitated discussion for the rest of the time. iran and how to deal with iran, israel, that will be a big topic. i can tell you this talking to a number of people close to allies throughout the middle east that many were taken by surprise by that new york times article, and they were not briefed about any

of that. so when the white house walked it back, it does create quite a stir not only here in the u.s., but as you can imagine around the world and in the gulf region. jon: governor romney is said to be more in his comfort zone when he's talking about the economy rather than foreign policy, but even the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has said that our national debt is one of the biggest national security issues that we face. in some ways governor romney can pivot to combine the two, can he not? >> sure. former chairman of the joint chiefs, admiral mike mullen, said that numerous times saying that the national debt and strength at home is a real national security issue. he's, governor romney's been saying that on the trail. you'll also hear about national defense and the sequester, the cutting of defense that is pending on january 2nd and how that effects our posture. you'll likely hear a lot about

american exceptionalism and how we project around the world. so, again, coming back to domestic issues will happen in these 90 minutes and how it all plays out, it'll be interesting. i don't think they'll be throwing a ton of mud, at least not anything like jenna lee did -- [laughter] jon: yeah. >> in the race. i wanted to transition there for you. jenna: that was good though. jon: we're going to save that for the end of the hour, but that was something to see. jenna: thank you, bret. jon: bret baier, we know you have a lot of work to do, thanks for taking the time. tune in to fox news tonight, you can catch the final presidential debate and the best political analysis anywhere. our live coverage begins mud-free, 8:55 eastern time. bret baier and megyn kelly, your anchors. and, of course, catch bret monday through friday on "special report," tonight's show live from boca raton. jenna: keeping it clean for the rest of the hour.

jon: always try to. jenna: well, the president is into florida right now after getting last minute debate prep in. ed henry is live in boca raton, florida. ed, we talk about this ahead of every debate, how high are the stakes really tonight? >> reporter: well, yeah. we've been saying they've been high every time, but since this is the final debate and tomorrow will be two weeks from the election, obviously, it doesn't get any bigger than this. and especially because so much of the focus of the campaign has been about the economy and domestic issues. as bret was just laying out, especially given the benghazi terror attack so close to the election, this has shifted things and put national security which had been on the back burner on the front burner as well. take a listen to republican senator lindsey graham yesterday on fox news sunday. >> what happened in benghazi is a case study in failure at every phase before, during and after, and what they did after the attack, i think, is just absolutely unacceptable. they tried to confuse, delay and

deny, create a narrative this was a spontaneous event when it was not. >> reporter: and the competing narratives and the competing stories that the obama administration put out after that terror attack, you'll remember, that was one of the hottest moments of that second debate at hofstra university in new york. no doubt that both candidates are going to want another crack at that because the president seemed to win on some points because in that case mitt romney didn't seem to have all the facts altogether, and his campaign sort of regretted that he had the president on defense in that second debate over libya and kind of did not put him away on that issue, so you can bet it's going to come back up tonight. we'll see how both sides handle it. jenna: we certainly will. for most of the campaign, though, the president's been leading mitt romney when it comes to foreign policy. what does it look like now? >> reporter: well, the president's been slipping on his handling of foreign policy, probably because of the benghazi terror attack, but also because in these debates, you know, it's hard for mitt romney three, four months ago to compete with him

on foreign policy when he's not commander in peace. look at this poll from ohio, the president at 49%, he was at 53% in september. you see a small gain for mitt romney. then look at florida. the president back in september was at 52%, now down to 47% in terms of who you trust to handle foreign policy right here in the sunshine state, mitt romney up three points. they know they've been playing some defense on foreign policy, and that's why senator dick durbin, one of the president's closest democratic allies, said this yesterday on fox news sunday. >> of course it involves an act of terror whether it was the result of a spontaneous demonstration or whether it was planned. this is just unacceptable that you would attack another embassy and kill the ambassador. it is terrorism in any form. >> reporter: and you know that the president had been coasting on foreign policy somewhat earlier in the campaign with that slogan that vice president biden was really pushing, general motors is alive, osama bin laden is dead. clearly, the romney campaign has made some ground up by saying it's not quite that simple.

as you see al-qaeda rising again in place like iraq and afghanistan, that's going to be another hot issue tonight as well. jenna: lots to watch for, ed. thank you. >> reporter: good to see you. jon: keeping a very close eye on wall street today after the big selloff on friday that sent the dow tumbling more than 200 points, the biggest decline since june. checking the markets now, the dow down about 6 points, the nasdaq down fractionally as well, so what can we expect for the rest of the trading day and your 401(k)? lauren simonetti joins us live from the fox news business -- fox business network. lauren? >> reporter: hey, jon. wall street is worried about earnings. we saw it on friday which was, ironically, the 25th anniversary of the stock market's deepest percentage plunge in history called black monday, 1987. investors got earnings on friday from the mcdonald's, ibm, general electric. while each has their hands in broadly different markets, there was one thing they add in common; weaker revenue numbers

for the third quarter. that means companies are selling fewer items because demand around the world for things like big macs and computers is drying up. just this morning caterpillar, the world's biggest maker of tractors and can heavy equipment, said its latest sales missed expectations because the global economy is slowing faster than they thought. that means dealers are looking to cut inventory and caterpillar is cutting production which means layoffs. out of the s&p 500 companies -- and these are the names you likely own in your 401(k) -- out of the companies that have already reported earnings, 61% have missed wall street expectations. that compares with an average 38% miss in a typical quarter over the past decade. so much worse this time around. so, obviously, wall street is nervous with two weeks before the election and a couple months before we may go over the fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts and what they can do to the economy and your portfolio. jenna, jon? jon: all right. keep an eye on it for us, lauren

simonetti, fox business network, thank you. jenna: certainly, the economy may come up tonight as one of the national -- jon: you think it's got to, yeah. jenna: right. we'll see how that comes into the debate. much more on what to b expect tonight including what both candidates need to say to get voters on their side, we'll hear from experts on that. plus, a new concern syria's civil war could have a larger impact on the middle east. could this video only be the beginning of things to come in lebanon? we'll tell you about that. plus, here it is, the evidence from this weekend, jon. jon: you all look the same. jenna: well, that's me right this front looking exactly as i do on television, i know it's hard to, you know, see any difference. jon: yes! don't stand up. jenna: we certainly got down and dirty this weekend for a great cause. [laughter] i'm almost to the end. it's a cause to honor our fallen heroes. more video coming up. usly. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink,

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jon: a fox news weather alert for you now. we just got word that a tropical depression is forming in the

caribbean, it could become a named storm as it moves further toward the east. meteorologist maria molina is tracking it from the fox weather center. >> reporter: hey, jon, we're talking about tropical depression 18 that has just officially formed, and it could be tropical storm sandy by later on today, so we are seeing the storm become better organized. showers and thunderstorms across the southwestern caribbean, and regardless of whether it becomes sandy later today or not, it is going to be producing a lot of heavy rain, possible mud slides across hispaniola, jamaica and portions of eastern cuba, so we do need to keep a close watch on this storm system, especially across the caribbean in the next several days. it could become a tropical storm system, could be near hurricane strength as it does approach jamaica early wednesday morning, and the storm system is forecast to move through the bahamas and by next weekend just be off the wees coast of the -- east coast of the u.s. keeping a close watch on the storm, we have several days to go.

jon? jon: all right, thanks very much, maria molina, fox weather center. jenna: in the meantime, as we've been mentioning, foreign policy front and center tonight. one issue certain to come up is the civil war in syria as there are concerns today that the violence is spilling over into neighboring lebanon. the latest evidence is this video from beirut. more violent and deadly clashes breaking out between supporters and opponents of the syrian regime. this is all sparked by the assassination last week of lebanon's intelligence chief who was a powerful opponent of syria. leland vittert's going to sort through all of this for us, he's live in jerusalem with more. leland? >> reporter: jenna, let me break this down for you. lebanon is always just a few car bombs away from a civil war, and right now on the streets of beirut and some of the cities up in the north lebanese army units are in full combat gear trying to sweep the gunmen in these opposition groups off the

street. the video from inside is awfully eerie to look at when you see the type of violence going on there. it mirrors that of the 1980s and certainly could turn into an all-out civil war like what we have right now inside of syria. this started on friday with a car bomb that killed a senior intelligence official who was a big supporter of lebanon and not much of a supporter of president assad, had been trying to clean out a lot of the pro-assad element there within lebanon. the primary suspect in this car bombing is a lebanese-backed group hezbollah, and after that car bombing the groups you see right now out fighting were loyal to the man who was killed, mostly sunni muslims who started with burning tires on saturday, and then we've had these gun battles over the past couple days as that intelligence official was laid to rest. right now, jenna, it's hard to see where this is going to go, whether hezbollah gets involved or not is a big question. so far the best-armed group has

sat it out. back to you. jenna: leland, we'll watch to see how it develops, thank you. jon: a split-second decision as a mom runs toward the flames to save her baby from a fire bomb, and police need your help with a mad bomber still on the loose. plus, they're putting the finishing touches on the setting for tonight's final presidential debate of this campaign season. we are live from boca raton, florida. neil cavuto joins us straight ahead. jack, you're a little boring. boring. boring. [ jack ] after lauren broke up with me, i went to the citi private pass page and decided to be...not boring. that's how i met marilyn... giada... really good. yes! [ jack ] ...and alicia. ♪ this girl is on fire [ male announcer ] use any citi® card to get the benefits of private pass. more concerts. more events. more experiences. [ jack ] hey, who's boring now? [ male announcer ] get more access with a citi card.

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jon: inside america's election headquarters now, our nation's foreign policy to be the topic of tonight's presidential debate, but voters remain firmly focused on which candidate can do a better job dealing with the economy.

the latest "wall street journal"/nbc news poll shows governor romney holds a six-point lead, 46-40, among registered voters when it comes to handling the economy. let's talk about it with neil cavuto, the anchor of "your world with neil cavuto." bill clinton got elected largely with a single-handed focus on the economy, can mitt romney do the same, neil? >> he will try tonight to bring it back to the economy and what it says about our own national security because unlike bill clinton that was dealing with a comparatively small debt when he started talking about these issues when he was running for president, today we're looking at better than $16 trillion. as you and i have discussed, jon, that limits your options abroad. and in extreme cases, it makes you look like a joke abroad when no less than iran's president starts mocking you, you know you've hit the bottom of the barrel there. so i think what they're going to be trying to emphasize tonight in discussing issues like foreign policy is how our debt, how our staggering economy and

this very anemic recovery kipps our image abroad and ties our hands when dealing with crises abroad. china comes to mind as a very big example here. we will talk tough about china, but we're not going to talk too, too tough because we're not only a big market for their goods, but they, of course, are a big buyer of our bonds and treasury notes. so you have to be careful here. this whole issue of how we are looked at abroad really comes back to financially how we are seen. generally, the stronger the u.s. economy looks, the more robustly we're received abroad. the more pathetic it is, the less so. jimmy carter, we looked pathetic economically, and that was the view we had around the world. when things started improving under ronald reagan, even though they personally abroad did not flip over ronald reagan, there was no denying the success that was happening under his presidency. so that was the first, of course, respect but with fear. so, yeah, i think along with an

answer to your point is that these two issues are going to be interwoven tonight, and expect mitt romney to do a lot of the weaving. jon: it is a complicated relationship with china, as you point out. they sell us billions of products, and they buy trillions, i guess, really of our debt. of the two candidates, though, governor romney has talked tougher about the relationship with china, has he not? >> he has, but, you know, no matter how we cover it over the years whether it was bill clinton promising a tougher response than he felt he had over george bush sr. over china and all the way through today, we need china, china needs us. we have this sort of pact with one another that's almost out of an episode of "the sopranos," and it's like the two mob families have to get along. i know i'm vastly trivializing this, but if you think about it, jon, it comes back to who serves each other's interests, and we both serve one another's interests. all of a sudden it's a lot of

u.s. businesses that want to expand and take up shop there. apple, of course, which is coming out with a smaller ipad this week, where do you think they're made? they're made in china. if we were to shut things down, would we welcome shutting things down for apple? conversely, china rips us a new one almost every other day, but we are the number one market for all of their goods. where are they going to sell those if not for us? so i think it will be probably important that bob schieffer, the moderator tonight, to say exactly how far, gentlemen, would you push it? it's one thing for the to go after tariffs on tires and the rest because he think that is the chinese are rigging the market or for mitt romney to argue for a fair playing field and not rig their currency which gives china an advantage over pricing its goods. you know, the issue will be how far do you push that. and, again, that's an economic issue. but, jon, one that obviously maries on the national security -- maries on the national security points because

if china owns you economically, which you could argue they own a lot of our debt, do they own your militarily? that'll come up tonight, no doubt. jon: fascinating to watch. neil cavuto, thank you. neil's coverage on the fox business network kicks off 8 p.m. eastern from boca. his big-name guests include senator marco rubio of florida, former governor sarah palin, congressman jim buy burn and senator john mccain. jenna: the countdown to the final showdown. in three minutes we're going to ask juan williams what president obama needs to do tonight on this very stage. you're getting a sneak look at it. and a new fight over raising taxes that could impact tens of millions of americans in just one state. critics say even if those taxes go up, it'll do little to fix any financial be problems. others say it's the only way forward. we're going to break it down just ahead. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?

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and you never need referrals. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. t your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. jenna: well, just about eight-and-a-half hours from right now the president and governor mitt romney will take the stage for their final debate before voters head to the polls. tonight's topic, foreign policy, of course. it certainly is an important issue and one of the things we'll be watching is how libya is discussed at this time. what does the president need to do for the american people here tonight? we get juan williams, a fox news political analyst.

juan, great to have you today. >> thanks, jenna. jenna: let's talk a little bit about what the president needs to do. we saw that for mitt romney denver was really a game changer. the second debate seemed like the edge went to the president, but some still describe it as a little bit of a draw. how can the president make tonight game changing for his campaign? >> well, i think he's got to be dominant in the terms of knowledge of foreign policy. i think he's got to make a strong case for his leadership, jenna. and on the contrary, i think mitt romney has to make the case that when you look at ongoing events in the middle east particularly in a place like egypt where you've had the muslim brotherhood come more into power, that the spring awakening, the way the president's handled it, has not been in the best interests of the united states. so that's the key for romney, to question obama's leadership on critical issues. and libya may be part of that attack, although his top aides and top aides to president obama also indicate they don't think it's going to be the center of this debate. you know it was the big moment

back in the last debate. jenna: do you think that's a mistake for either gentleman if it's not more front and center? >> well, i think that there's lots of people who are pushing governor romney on this point especially from the right, they want and sense that this is a vulnerability for president obama. however, as you know last time when governor romney mentioned it, he mentioned it in terms of the president's use of the word "terror" and got caught up in that, and the president came back saying he was personally offended, that these people worked for him on a personal basis, his ambassadors. so the question is how can governor romney go at it in an effective way, and i think the consensus is here as we approach tonight's debate is he's got to do it in terms of the president's overall leadership, overall handling of foreign affairs, and that would go to issue even about russia, telling the russian leadership, putin, just wait until after the election or how he's dealing with china. it's the overall arch of his leadership and saying i don't think it's been so good for america. that's the image, the impression

that i think mitt romney wants to -- jenna: you and bill kristol agree on that point. he was with us last hour, and he said the same thing, it has to be a bigger conversation than some of these issues. >> right. jenna: it was interesting, after the last debate we spoke with an undecided voter selected to be in the audience, and she was very frustrated that either man did not answer questions specifically when they were asked. politico today has an interesting article about the president's strategy, and they point out that the president has thus far resisted calls to offer a bullet point plan for a second term and really map that out. as a democrat, what do you think about that? is that a mistake by the president? >> well, i think he has laid out a plan. again, it's a matter of specificity. i mean, go back to the democratic convention, he said he had a phi-point plan. his -- five-point plan. his plan has to do with reviving the manufacturing sector, hiring a number of teachers, going after making sure that people like policemen, teachers have jobs, opportunities that the cutbacks on the state level

don't impact them. and i think overall his idea is, as he has said many times, is to grow the middle class. but again, when you come to specifics, i think people generally say i want more meat on the bone. now, he has then turned, of course, to governor romney, and he's said that romney's plans, everything there his jobs plan to his tax plan and his ability to reduce the debt don't make sense. he says they're sketchy plans. if you remember, he said would anybody invest in a person, i'm going to get you there, but i'm not going to tell you how you're going to do it. i think voters, it's interesting, they say, you know what? i know what happened over the last four years, tell me exactly what your plans are. and this is something that if the candidates can turn tonight even though it's a foreign policy debate, if they're able to turn in some way and say here are my plans about how what happens in america impacts the world and here is what exactly i'm going to do for america, that might be a very good ploy

by one side or another, and it could be the winning moment in this debate. jenna: so it'll give us a lot to talk about tomorrow, that would be good. we hear the wind whipping outside, juan. is it kind of windy, getting the momentum going towards the debate tonight, i can feel it. [laughter] >> but you know what? we can use it. it's hot even with the wind blowing. jenna: oh, give us a break, we've got our coats on in new york. thanks for the time today. >> my pleasure, jenna. jenna: catch our debate coverage starting tonight at 8:55 eastern time, your favorite cast of folks breaking down what we hear tonight, we still have to wait and see, jon. jon: going to be fascinating. in wisconsin right now police are trying to piece together the events that led to a deadly shooting inside a day spa. they think the suspect might have been targeting his estranged wife in an attack that left three women and the suspect dead. steve brown has the latest, he's live in chicago. steve? >> reporter: jon, it's been about 24 hours since shots

started ringing out at this day spa in the western milwaukee suburb of brookfield, and still police have only identified the shooter who is himself, deceased. that would be radcliffe houghton, age 45. his body was discover inside the aftermath inside that day spa with what appears to be, according to police, a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. he reportedly arrived by cab yesterday with a backpack, and this was all about 11:00 yesterday morning. then shots rang out, and police emergency calls were made. a fire was also set inside the day spa, also believed to be the work of houghton. when police were finally able to clear the area, get the fire under control and walk in, they found three women shot and killed, another four women wounded, three of those ended up having surgery, one is still in critical. when the news about this incident and radcliffe houghton's name started surfacing linked together, the information, the news stunned

his former neighbors. >> very unusual. i can't -- we just seen a picture, and we said, god, that is him, you know? we just seen the picture of his son. we knew him, we know him. we met when he first met his wife and everything else. you never know until you know, you know? pretty unusual for a fella like that. i always thought he was a -- my impression of him was a real nice kid. >> reporter: police have described this as a domestic dispute gone wrong. there is little doubt that radcliffe houghton was there to seek out his estranged wife, xena. police have not said whether or not she is one of the three people killed or one of the four wounded, although that is being reported by abc news, that she is among the dead in this particular incident. there was a restraining order taken out against radcliffe houghton by his estranged wife, this in the aftermath of an incident where the woman's tires were slashed at her place of

work, at the spa yesterday. in a filing for that restraining order, she mentioned her husband had accused her of having an affair, and he would throw acid at her face or light her up with gasoline. shortly thereafter, the judge issued a four-year restraining order against houghton where he was supposed to, afterwards, turn in any firearms or weapons that he may have had. jon? jon: what an appalling story. steve brown in chicago, thanks. jenna: well, folks in california already pay some of the highest taxes in the nation. but the state says it really needs more money now, so there's a new push underway to dig deeper into residents' pockets and raise taxes even higher. william la la jeunesse is live n los angeles. this effects your pocketbook, doesn't it, william? >> reporter: well, imagine -- jenna: sorry. [laughter] >> reporter: 52 cents of every dollar that you earn to government. that would be the combined federal and state income tax rate for the top taxpayers in california if the president's tax plan is approved along with

a 30% tax increase proposal from governor jerry brown. >> ask the higher income earners to the today -- pay a little more to keep the economy strong. >> reporter: governor jerry brown says californians need to pay more. >> it's either massive cuts to the schools and colleges, or the most blessed and the most well off paying one or two or three percent more. >> reporter: if it sounds familiar -- >> i also want to ask the wealthiest households in america to pay slightly higher taxes. >> reporter: brown did take a page from the obama playbook. >> the plan ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. >> reporter: their fair share means the top 1% will pay up to 13% of their salary in state income taxes, or roughly one-half of the state's income tax revenue. it also slightly raises the sales tax. >> we already rank number one in all 50 states in state sales

tax, and we have the second highest income tax rate. >> reporter: but brown's prop 30 isn't the only tax increase facing voters. >> prop 38 spends billions on more education dollars straight to our local schools. >> reporter: prop 38 raises income taxes on all taxpayers, not just the wealthy. critics oppose both. >> it's kind of like being given a choice between the gas chamber and the electric chair. both are going to be detrimental to our economy, they're going to drive more businesses ask ask jobs out of state. >> reporter: polls show both measures in trouble. >> californians don't like paying higher taxes on themselves. it's been almost 20 years since californians went to the ballot and voted to increase their own taxes. >> reporter: now, both increases are supported by the unions, and yet despite, jenna, about $70 million in advertising, support for both is below 50%. back to you. jenna: william, thank you. jon: some shocking video as a

maniac tosses a molotov cocktail setting his victim on fire. we'll explain what happened there. plus, explain this. our own jenna lee is one tough mudder. there she goes! oh! [laughter] jenna: it's okay, i do get up. jon: nice. we'll tell you what that's all we'll tell you what that's all about for a good cause coming, up. diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'.

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to social media promotions that turn fans into customers... to events that engage and create buzz... to e-mails that keep loyal customers coming back, our easy-to-use tools will keep you in front of your customers. see what's right for you at constantcontact.com/try. jenna: well, some new, disturbing video showing a harrowing moment really as a man in california is set on fire and engulfed in flames. police say the man responsible came up from behind an alley and threw a fire bomb at the victim's feet. narrowly missing a mother and a child nearby. police say they have no motive, but it appears as though the two men did not even know each other. in the meantime, the victim remains in serious but stable condition. the suspect still on the loose. jon: incredible.

the moderator of tonight's foreign policy debate, bob schieffer of cbs newses, says he wants to help viewers get a better understanding of the candidates, but the moderators in the previous debates came in for a fair share of criticism over the way they handled their roles. schieffer delling the star telegram in texas that people pay too much attention to moderators. we're like the umpires, you only hear criticism from the losing team. jim pinkerton is a contributing editor and writer for the american conservative magazine, alan colmes is host of the alan colmes radio show. alan, we thank you for your new book, "thank the liberals for saving america." [laughter] jim, are you one of those who is critical of the job, for instance, that candy crowley did in moderating the last debate, and is that simply a case of conservatives saying she handed the debate to the president? >> no, i don't think so at all.

i think anybody who said it was look for her to try and tackle mitt romney. look, i think bob schieffer who i think is a good guy and a gentleman has a choice to make tonight. if he is like jim lehrer in the first debate, which is safe, play it low key and mild, um, then he'll get clobbered by the main stream media whereas candy crowley and martha raddatz were much more in the face of the republican presidential and vice presidential nominees. and they've been lauded. cnn's actually doing ads praising crowley, how proud they are of her, and so i think that's schieffer's choice. do i want to go low key or get in the face of mitt romney and be praised? his choice. jon: let's take another look at that candy crowley moment. alan, i know you have some thoughts on it. here it is. >> let me, let me call it an --

>> can you say that a little louder, candy? [applause] >> he did call it an act of terror. it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out, you're correct about that. jon: alan, you don't have a problem with what she did there? >> no, i'll tell you why. you'd see that mitt romney was basically in candy crowley's face and challenging her on that particular point, and she was responding to mitt romney who i thought was quite aggressive, in fact, i thought he was acting like a bully in that debate and demanding time that was not necessarily his. so it was -- he was in her face, and she was responding to him addressing her. i didn't have a problem with it. jon: the point that i've made before, though, is that mitt romney first addressed it to the president, said, you know, you calledded it an act of terror. the president had an opportunity to answer -- >> well, he did. jon: he didn't. >> he said check the transcript, and the transcript, in fact, shows he called it an act of

terror, did the same thing the next day in ten very. so, in fact, she was right on the facts there. he was challenging candy crowley, and she was responding to him being in her face. look, this idea of attacking the moderator, i think bob schieffer has it right. the losing team or the losing person seems to attack the moderator, and let's not go -- they were attacking candy crowle debate even took place. >> well, alan, here, let's just put this on bob schieffer. here's a book that i actually dug out of my library at home, it's from 1989 by bob schieffer, and the title. of the book is "acting president. ronald reagan and supporting players that helped him create the illusion that he held america spell bound. illusion, spellbound, actor. that is not to say this is a horrible book, it just means that it's unique to the liberal mindset that reagan, example of another previous republican president, was an actor floating along, and that's bias.

he actually co-wrote, co-authored that book with a guy who worked at cbs news and also wrote all dan rather's books. >> a 1989 book, you have decided that bob schieffer will not be a fair and balanced moderator. >> i'm saying he's got a 40-year record at cbs to answer for. >> it's a very good record, as a matter of fact. i think both sides have been pretty praiseworthy of bob schieffer. let's attack the guy before the debate even takes place. jon: history's always worth noting. jim pinkerton, thank you, alan as well. jenna: it's a crucial battleground state, one both candidates desperately want to win, and now a new report just how far governor romney may be going to secure it on november 6th. also, counting down to the final presidential debate. we're going to look at how this faceoff will matter in the overall fight for the white house. we are the house when it comes to the big game. yeah. it's his thing. i don't even participate. boom! here it comes! bring it back! bring it home! [ male announcer ] when you combine creamy velveeta with

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jenna: well, we are your election headquarters, 15 days left until the election, and we're taking a closer look at the key battleground states, and it doesn't get much closer than the state of virginia. let's talk about what the economy looks like in the state of virginia. you see the unemployment rate is well below the national average, defense contracting, defense very big in the state, we'll talk about that with our next guest. the president and mitt romney almost equal among the number of visits that they have paid to the states, and if you take a look at the polls, you can see call visits and basically equal in the polls. the president and mitt romney according to real clear politics, 48-48%. julian walker is a staff writer for the virginian pilot, came out with an interesting report over the weekend, julian, about mitt romney making some changes in the virginia. what are they? >> well, the romney campaign has, is bringing in some staffers from pennsylvania and michigan into virginia according to republican sources that spoke

with us. the romney campaign sought to downplay that a little bit and say that they are temporary moves, moves that will be perhaps moving around and changing throughout the remaining days of the race. but the romney campaign has brought some staffers into virginia, perhaps a sign that they see the state as winnable as you see the polls narrowing and as you pointed out, essentially, a statistical dead heat now in virginia. jenna: very interesting to see what that strategy is, if they're doubling down in that state, they maybe see victory there. talk to us about the defense issue because defense spending could come up when we talk about foreign policy. how is that issue playing in the state of virginia? >> well, virginia's a state whose economy is heavily reliant upon defense. in northern virginia, in the beltway region outside of d.c., you have the pentagon, and you've got lots of military-related facilities both public facilities in terms of actual bases, and you also have a lot of defense contractors. in the hampton rose area of the state, the eastern portion along

the atlantic coast, you have a lot of defense installations as well, norfolk, you have the world's largest navy base. so the debate over the she questionser, the one trillion in automatic federal spending cuts, about half of those coming for military that are set to kick in in january, that has been a big issue on the ground here. and while the economy is kind of first and foremost in people's minds as this is really a kitchen table/pocketbook kind of election, defense is a key component of that because of how heavily reliant virginia's economy is both on military personnel and the defense contractors who reside and have their businesses here. jenna: yet another big reason to watch the debate and see if there's any movement in the polls postdebate. julian, we look forward to having you back on the program, as always. thank you very much. >> thank you for having me. jon: here's a question for the viewers, not for you. jenna: okay. jon: does this sound like a fun weekend for you, navigating an obstacle course the miles long -- 12 miles long with a few

electrical shocks? jenna tells us what it's really like enduring the infamous tough mudder.

jenna: well, it's the self-proclaimed toughest event on the planet, the tough mudder, and i had the great privilege this weekend to run with team brian in honor of my friend, brian bill, a navy seal who was killed in afghanistan. his sister amy is setting up a charity in the his honor to the children of navy seals could go on adventures like their dad and uncles would have taken them on. this is the brian bill project, and what an adventure it was. >> brian bill. >> hoo ya! >> let's do this! [cheers and applause] jenna: the beginning of the course, they say at least 25 obstacles, 12 miles, and within the first ten minutes you've been dunked in an ice pool and are freezing cold and then suddenly you're doing this event and completely covered with mud.

that's my husband next to me. it's great for marriages, by the way. highly recommend it. [laughter] a whole lot of mud, a whole lot of fun, and you go from all of these mud hills to more mud hills and more mud hills, and then there's wall scaling as well. you see some of that. a swim in a river to a rope climb, that also was part of the challenge. and the worst event for me personally, that was getting electrocuted. the electroshock therapy. you're already wet, and you're in the -- yeah, i can feel it right now. and it stings. it stings, jon. jon: ouch! jenna: we have about 50 people on our team, that was a big help, and you run up mount everest, and you just hope to get up there. so i had some helping hands, that certainly was something good. this is right at the end, so you really needed it. but yet, jon, after all of this -- jon: 12 miles of this?