tomorrow live from new york. bret baier and megyn kelly will have live coverage of the battle debate and then scene hasn't analytical and greta van susteren of course more bill comes first. >> bill: o'reilly factor is on. >> this business about the libya conflict has been like the october mirage, it isn't an issue. >> liberal press spinning the libya situation is unimportant. is that true? and libya will be the center of foreign policy debated. we'll have full coverage with our panel. >> truth telling it straight is the best way. >> bill: it will be moderated by bob schieffer considered a liberal individual. will it matter? and also tonight. we'll take you down to boca raton, florida for the inside story with ed henry and carl

cameron. caution, you are about to enter the no-spin zone. factor begins right now. >> bill: hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching the last showdown and that is the subject of talking points memo. tonight's foreign policy debate in boca raton will feature two different philosophies. president obama won the election last time by repudiating the american power as the big stick in the world. more obama believes the foreign policy decisions made by the bush-cheney administration hurt america because they alienated many countries that could have helped us. barack obama was a fierce opponent of the iraq war and presented himself to the world as a man that that would seek consensus rather than a

president that would do whatever the heck he wanted to do. that foreign policy appealed to many americans who were tired of seeing complicated situations like iraq and afghanistan drag on and on. he went out of his way to tell the world that the u.s.a. would no longer to take the lead in controversies. we would work with other nations to solve problems. we saw that in libya. now many, including governor romney, believe that president obama's foreign policy has weakened america and emboldened our enemies. romney says iran, egypt and taliban and others no longer fear us therefore americans are in far greater danger than they were when president bush was in power. in short, governor romney believes in the big stick when necessary. that is crux of tonight's debate. whether america is in an exceptional country that has a moral right to lead the world,

or whether we are a country no more entitled than anyone else. more romney is a huge advantages because of the libya business. i am sick and tired of hearing about it. president obama owes the american people, we the people, a press conference. he owes it to us to explain what the hell happened over there and why security was not what it should have been. this i don't want to hear any more excuses. i don't want to see any more finger pointing. i want to know the facts from the president's own mouth. more obama is in charge of foreign policy. again he must hold a press conference and explain it. if romney demands that tonight, and doesn't get mired down in details that can't be proven, he'll win the debate. it's now been a month and a half since four americans were murdered and we have not been

told what happened. that is not the way free society is supposed to work. finally, it's vital for both candidates, governor romney's momentum has it almost everywhere and if he wins tonight he will likely to be the next president of the united states. president obama knows that. he must counter romney and emerge as a wiser man on foreign policy. that is more obama's challenge which he will undergo in less than an hour from now. that is the memo. now to the top story tonight. reaction from fox news analyst brit hume. do you expect romney to come out with the libya stuff as strongly as i just did? >> it will depend a bit on the context on which it comes up whether a direct question to him whether he as an opportunity to take it on or it doesn't. or whether the president brings it up first. i have been so wrong so often about these debates. i told you earlier this year,

debates were going to be all important. history shows they are not. >> bill: i'm so happy you brought that up. can i paraphrase barack obama, can i do that? can you say that a bit louder, brett brit. >> i was suggesting about the second debate because it was going to be based on the people in the audience. this was a townhall format. it won't be such an aggressive debate. i was wrong with b that. i would be hesitant to do so. >> bill: look, here is the deal with bob schieffer. he knows that candy crowley got hammered. he also knows that he is liberal. sheef ser a liberal. i worked with him. schieffer is a liberal. so there is nothing wrong with it. bob schieffer is entitled to do whatever he wants to do. he has to ask about libya.

i would assume he would ask president obama the question first. you would assume the guy on the scene you ask. so let's assume, if schieffer doesn't ask libya, he has to retire tomorrow. maybe he wants to because he is 75. it's the big story. it's everywhere. big foreign policy story is libya. so it has to be asked. now, what i'm asking you is, does romney take that issue and try to just nail the president with it putting him on the defensive for the rest of the debate? >> i would think he would try to make the most of it. i suspect he would go about it in such a way that he'll look presidential in doing it. what that means, you don't do it like a strual brawl. you do it like somebody who is bidding to be commander in chief. >> bill: would this be presidential, more president, can i ask you why you haven't had a press conference in a

month and a half? >> the problem is last time he tried asking the president asking questions, it didn't work very well. i'm not sure he wants the president to have a press conference about it. i understand your impulse getting the facts out. president is going to fall back on the idea we still don't know all that we should know. >> bill: so if mr. obama could lose the election? >> i don't think he will lose it on this based on this. i don't think people will go to the voting booth, i don't like this libya business. i'm voting for romney. it does chip away at the president's credibility in general and raises character questions about whether he and his administration can tell a straight story about something, let alone tell the right story. >> bill: what it comes down to now, i've always said this -- as brit pointed out rightly the debates are going to be huge and

going to be a referendum on barack obama. i still believe this vote is going to be primarily about the president and not about mitt romney. the reason that romney is rising in the polls is because people say, you know what? he can handle it. he can handle the job. when you see an opponent who can handle it, then you focus in on who has the job now. this the same thing that happened. you remember this better than anyone. when ronald reagan presented himself that way, when he was no longer an actor from california but a serious guy who americans said, you know what, this guy could do it, they turned over to carter and said you are screwing it up. >> i think that would say in reverse order. they had their doubts about carter. results were poor and they were looking to reagan if he was someone other than the dangerous person he had been characterized

as. if the campaign you have the obama people that mitt romney is somebody -- you'll probably harry this tonight -- wants to get us in more wars. romney may be aggressive in the debate but he needs people to think that he won't use willy-nilly force. >> bill: that is an easy. >> it may be easy and may not be easy but it is necessary. >> bill: if romney says the way you layout of wars be strong, that is what is he going to say. >> perhaps, we'll see how he does with that question. he is going to have to argue that the presence of strength and the belief in the world that you are willing to use it is what keeps the peace. that is the argument that i think is strong in his favor. >> bill: brit hume. thank you. some new information about the

libya murders and most of it is not good news for president obama. and bernie goldberg, can the moderator be fair. the factor is coming right back.

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>>. >> bill: next segment tonight. there were many reports about what exactly happened in libya. as you know chris stevens and three other americans murdered. it's impossible to verify. as i said, we need a presidential press conference. rally of peters author of book, colonel in tonight's debate what would you do personally if you were mitt romney on the libyan situation? how would you handle that? you heard brit hume has to be done presidential?

>> i would ask the president to send his director of national intelligence, director of central intelligence and director of the national security agency to capitol hill to testify under oath about what they knew and when they knew it. no need to go into sources or methods, no top secret stuff, just under oath, what did they know and when did they know it. the reason i throw the ngsa in there, keith alexander would not lie. two, the national security agency already picked up the phone chatter which would tell us this was a terrorist attack. >> bill: you would challenge the president during the debate on television to do that. would you say, will you do that? is that how you would pose it? >> yes. i would do it in a civil tone and civil voice. make it clear that the american

people deserve answers on this. bill, look, we've all got our views. as a former intelligence analyst i told you the first night this was a carefully planned attack. it couldn't be anything else. no reasonable adult could conclude anything else. the president owes the country straight answers and the guy --. >> bill: so you have to assume that president obama will dodge any director question like that. i'll tell you what i will do -- that is his favorite line. he used it three times. i will tell you what i will do... then he launches anything something like that. how much do you push him? how much does he push him on it? does he get him to corner, i don't want to on to the next question. i want to get it resolved tonight or does he let it lie in the air? >> i think governor romney needs to clearly methodically state the basic facts of the case.

bret baier laid out the other night, president obama would have to respond. to me, personally, this is bigger than watergate. nobody died at watergate. this affects the united nations foreign policy and establishment in the media is letting it go by. >> bill: i don't know we can use it cover-up. i wouldn't use it yet. what i am saying that something that all americans should agree upon, unless you are some crazed loon that the president should hold a press conference and answer questions about the press. i would like to hear from petraeus and nsa and other state department under oath. i think that would be instructive but the president is the leader of the country. its month and a half and i don't understand why we aren't having

a press conference. >> because this guy is the ultimate duck and dodge guy. you are going to hear the department of treasury go about man who makes things happen and another man that makes things up. he won't hold a press conference unless you and others really press him. he will present scary indicate. >> bill: the whole nation would see that. the press so his side generally speaking but in a press conference, look, every agency is investigating this. los angeles times and "washington post." that situated to handle it. do you think that barack obama is going to do the bin laden card tonight? is that his strongest suit? >> it's his only suit. its call any president would have made, he delayed making the call.

>> bill: romney is not going to say congratulations, i'm glad you did it. >> of course, romney can't attack him for killing bin laden. what romney needs to do, he needs to lay out the consistent litany of failures, collapse of the russian reset. the failure to support the revolution in iran. the mishandling of the arab spring. not standing up to china. a mess in syria. throw a dart on the map and obama has failed america in that spot. >> bill: thanks very much. we'll hear another side from wesley clark. he is defender of the president. his advice on libya and other foreign policy matters. they say libya is no big deal. more on that. moments away. [ male announcer ] every day, thousands of people

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. >> bill: continuing the impacted segment joining is wesley clark. have they asked you for advice on libya, and how to handle it? >> i think the simple answer on libya is this. no president has ever been able to prevent bad things from happening somewhere around the world for americans. ronald reagan lost 280 marines in beirut. george h.bush stood by while kuwait was invaded. george w. bush had 9/11 happen on his watch. bad things happen to our country even when a good guy is president. >> bill: i don't know, just a second, wait, general. >> let me finish my point.uestid something bad happen.

what does the commander in chief do about it. number one he immediately strengthened diplomatic security everywhere that our embassies should be in danger. number two, he reinforced to back that up. number three he called the heads of state and emphasized their responsibility. number four, he put in motion a plan to go get the guys that did this and bring them to justice. number five, no, not anybody would have done that. he did it. and a good leader did it. you are talking about bill, wait a minute. you are talking about something. you are not letting me finish my point. >> bill: that is because your point is too long. you have to abide by the rules. >> i told you. >> bill: here is the crux of the matter. it's not about protecting americans, you are right. it's impossible to do that all over the world. it's not about reaction after.

it's about an explanation straightforward about what happens. president has not given it in a month and a half. would you advise the president to do it tonight when he has an opportunity to tell the american people exactly what happened? >> bill, i think the president ought to go through the process and find out what happened. let me give you an example. after 9/11, the democrats pulled together with republicans. they did not take or attempt to take partisan political advantage over one of the greatest disasters ever to we fall the united states. they could have. after all, a republican was the commander in chief. he was on vacation. during the time -- he didn't read and none of that came out during the time. >> bill: you saw the reaction in tampa. whoa, wait a minute. remember the president was in the classroom in florida when he got the word from andrew card

and didn't immediately. he got hammered by the left. you remember. that come on. no spin here tonight. >> he gave a statement. a joint statement to congress and democrats and republicans fully supported him. the investigation to find out what happened took four years, bill. >> bill: don't you think we should have a progress report there was so much misinformation coming from the white house and the u.n. ambassador. don't you that is worthy? >> maybe there should be. >> bill: maybe there should be? >> yes. we live in a free society. >> bill: i think there has to be. >> you think libya is the key issue in this election? i don't care about it. i wish it never happened. >> i wanted to know what happened. that is what i want. >> what i want i wanted the american people to look at the big picture and make a wise

decision on who could be the best commander in chief. >> bill: don't you think that issue is hurting your guy? >> your premise, i'm not talking about horse race, i'm talking about what is good for america. >> bill: you are a foreign policy advisor. don't you think this is hurting your guy? >> i think that president obama has done a great job as commander in chief. i think when you lay it in the right frame, the american people see it, too. look, bill, if you go back and look at the big picture, getting out of iraq, getting osama bin laden having a plan for afghanistan, rebuilding our allyians and compare it what he faced when he came into office and mitt romney hasn't given us a single plan, not on iraq, not on afghanistan, not on terrorism. instead, he has tried to take political partisan advantage that should have been used to bring the country together.

>> bill: we appreciate your point of view. factor moves ahead. libya says no big deal says "time magazine". that seems to be new mantra. and bernie goldberg on bob schieffer, can be he fair and balanced. stay tuned for those reports. d e that i could smoke . [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serus allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems,

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some liberal columnists are saying this: >> this business about the, you know, the libya consulate has been like the october mirage. it really isn't an issue. and so, once again, tomorrow obama is going to have a very strong position because his foreign policy has been largely successful in terms of substance. >> bill: all right, joining us now to analyze that statement and the situation in general mary katharineham in washington and juan williams is in boca raton this evening. i guess this is new because the general just said it too. it's no big deal. not an important issue and i'm going it's not? and you say? >> it's not all that big for the voters. i think brit said to you at the top of the show this is not the number one issue for voters. it's not the number two issue. it's not the economy. it's not jobs. it's not deficit so it's not even the number three issue. what we have seen is is that as this issue has gotten more and more attention, we have

seen obama's favorability numbers on foreign policy go down. so, he now has a slight lead in terms of who do you prefer to handle foreign policy over governor romney. but it's smaller. it still has not become determinative, bill, and that is the key thing here. obama don't think he liar. they like him. when they look at this issue, you know, they see obama having gotten out of afghanistan, out of iraq, leaving afghanistan, i should say. they see him having handled libya and egypt without having u.s. forces intervene on the ground with boots. and they think, given the war weariness in the country that that's a pretty good way to go. >> bill: i disagree. i think that the libya situation is hurting the president. i know it's not nearly as important as jobs and the economy. however, in a foreign policy debate, if i'm mitt romney, i'm making this the centerpiece. what do you say, mary katharine? >> i think it's a big deal on its face with four americans dying. and i think the thing is for

the obama campaign is that they need to be careful how they talk about this. when stefanie cutter, the spokesperson is saying that this is not a foreign policy failure, i know it's her job to say that, but it feels like a dismissal of the problem and the president needs to be careful about how he talks about that. i do think there is a sort of an institutional advantage for incumbent in this swalings. he is the guy in the room with the briefers. he has a sort of gravitas on that. obama's case is he on the ipad with the briefers about security. he has advantage. when the american people learn more about this particular situation, which is the most recent foreign policy situation that we're going to be talking about, the libya and benghazi stuff, it is a problem for him because it gives people more information. when you hear more information, you find out there was a distinct lack of security before the attack and a distinct lack of answers as to why after the attack. i think that's a weakness. >> bill: as the general pointed out rightly, and the president can't protect every american. everybody can make a mistake. but, juan, doesn't it trouble you as a member of the press

for a long time, that the president doesn't hold press conferences, he doesn't feel it necessary to keep people up to speed on what's going on here? i mean, it would seem like, you know, you hold a little press conference, here's what we know. this one made a mistake. we're sorry about it. we are correcting it. doesn't that seem logical? >> yeah. but, remember, you are in the middle of a very intense political campaign, bill. >> bill: all right. this is part of it. this is part of it, juan. he is getting hurt. you just admitted he is getting hurt. >> i said in terms of the polls the polls are close. he is still in favor. >> bill: getting hurt on the issue. >> my point to you is, if you look the administration officials have been before congress, administration officials, including the director of national intelligence, director of cia have put out statements. >> bill: yeah, and they all contradict what the president, u.n. ambassador said and what his press spokesperson said. >> no, no. that's not true. >> bill: sure it is. >> yesterday there was a report in the "the washington

post" about what came out in the initial assessment from our intelligence agencies and backed up what susan rice said on tv. so, it has confirmed. >> bill: juan? >> the initial assessment from our intelligence assessments was that this was linked to the video in egypt. >> based on one phone call: that information was based on one phone call. reporters and it's been reported in every single outlet reporting on this that intelligence officials thought that it was a planned attack from within 24 hours. it was based on this one phone call that it was cherry picked that it might have been based on the video. i do think there was an attempt to take it down that road and talk about the video for two to three weeks which the administration has to answer for. here is the thing for mitt romney. >> bill: does have to answer for it. >> they do need to answer for that thing. >> bill: but they are not answering for it. >> here's the thing for tonight though, mitt romney i do think as brit was saying needs to look presidential. look on the face it was a failure of intelligence and security. it needs to be dealt with in the future and why aren't we

answering questions about how it wasn't dealt with. i think that on its face does it. >> that's fair. if he goes after leadership and he says that obama's leadership is flawed, look at what happened in syria and china and russia. it brings in as part of that mary katharine and bill. if he pills it out as a single issue he is in danger as being seen as trying to politicize a tragedy. >> bill: when we come right back, bernie goldberg on tonight's debate moderator bob schieffer. can he be fair? bernie is next. dad vo: ok, time for bed, kiddo. lights out. ♪ (sirens)

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us bank. >> bill: thanks for staying with us, i'm bill o'reilly in the weekdays with bernie segment tonight, in just a few minutes, cbs news man bob schieffer, 7 a years old, will take the stage to introduce mitt romney and president obama in the last presidential debate. mr. schieffer is considered to be a liberal man. joining us now from north carolina is a man who knows him very well, bernie goldberg. so are you comfortable with schieffer moderating the debate? >> let's say i'm not worried. you are right, i do know schieffer. i worked with him at cbs for a very long time. you worked with him. and despite the good old boy texas routine, despite the ah shucks demeanor which he and dan rather have down pat. schieffer is no bumpkin.

he spent half his life in washington. he knows what's going on. and i think tonight he is going to be tough on both candidates. he knows that conservatives are out there just to pounce on him if he makes any mistake at all. i don't know that that matters to him. but he is not going to go easy on barack obama and tough on mitt romney. the spotlight is too bright. the stage is too big. and he is not that dumb. so i'm not worried. >> bill: i think he might even be tougher on the president than on the governor because he doesn't want to be accused like candy crowley was of helping out the president. so that's what i -- i would be stunned if schieffer favors the president tonight. >> but he said something interesting along the very lines of what you mentioned about candy crowley and all. he told a newspaper in fort worth, texas where he is from, i'm just going to read you one sentence here. he says people pay too much attention to moderators. we are like umpires.

you only hear criticism from the losing team. well, what schieffer is really saying there is that there is no legitimate criticism of candy crowley or martha raddatz or jim lehrer or bob schieffer tonight possibly, it's only sour grapes or whining from whose guy lost. what if the moderator screws up and effects the outcome of the debate? are we not allowed to criticize the moderator then? we criticize umpires if they screw up and effects -- effect the outcome of the game. what schieffer did in that quote is what so many mainstream reporters do. they are saying we're pure, we're above it all, and if you don't believe that, if you think we, the journalists are the problem, then you, and i'm pointing to the people at home, then you are the problem. >> bill: right. and you take take the reality that your side lost. >> right. >> bill: one of the things that bob schieffer could do is skew the debate one way or the

other by his selection of questions. because unlike the town hall and unlike lehrer, schieffer has total control over the q and a here. he has total control of the topics. we know what the topics are going to be. first one is going to be america's role in the world. it's a squishy little thing. do you expect schieffer to go in with the libya thing hard because he could if he wanted to. >> yeah. you said early in the program if he doesn't ask anything about libya, he needs to retire? >> bill: yes. >> oh, yeah, big time. >> bill: you agree with me and not joe klein. joe klein says not important, forget about it. >> look, i have got to tell you about that joe klein observation. i don't even get that. i mean, libya is is a major story in every big newspaper in the country. it's finally made network news. i have a funny feeling that if four americans were killed in libya after they had asked for

more security and george w. bush were president, joe klein would think it was an important story. i mean, this is just a liberal journalist who is rooting for barack obama, dismissing, dismissing libya as an issue. and i'm wondering since we heard it from him and we heard it from the general tonight, i'm just wondering if this is the new talking point. >> bill: it is, definitely. but president obama can't do that. see, he he can't just say hey, this isn't important. i mean, that would be the end of him. but bob schieffer has to make a decision, and this will be well worth watching everyone. whether to make this a central issue issue of the policy debate and say listen, mr. president, i don't understand what happened there. do you want to tell us tonight? you have got an opportunity right now to tell us, or, does he do it in a kind of round about, oh easy way so that they can get away from it? >> well, you know, we will

know soon enough. >> that's right. libya and iran, you know, libya and iran are the two big specific issues and the whole middle east is, you know, he has got to ask some good questions about this. if he doesn't, he is going to get nailed rightly. if he doesn't, and he is going to say it's the loser's side who is complaining, which is what that quotation is about. you know what? really, bill, i'm not worried. i think he knows that everybody is watching and he -- i'm not worried. let's put it that way. we will see but i'm not worried. >> bill: yeah. he has got to be tough on both sides. >> very briefly, the only possibility is that because he has a liberal world view will he deemphasize libya or anything else? >> bill: we'll see. >> because it isn't big in those liberal circles. that's possible, i guess. >> bill: bernie, thanks as always. on deck ed henry, carl cammeron. go down to florida to see what the boys have to say after these messages.

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>> bill: back of the book segment tonight, let's go down to florida where the final presidential debate begins in just a few minutes. joining us from boca raton, fox news chief white house correspondent ed henry and fox news chief political correspondent carl cameron who is covering the romney campaign. karl, we're going to begin with you tonight, tell me something we don't know. >> i have got two for you. one, mitt romney's mock debate rehearsals were moderated by a stand in bob schieffer who was tom later iny who went out and bought a bunch of purple shirts and ties to match what schieffer does on sunday talk show when he is not trying to be all red not blue state. lots of speculation ripping around the romney press corps in republic circles that

mr. romney might alter his position about face-to-face talks with the iranians over nuclear program. the romney campaign saying over and over we don't know what he is going to say but he has always been consistent diplomacy and peace you never take the military position off the table. got to be careful how that is answered tonight. >> bill: how about you, henry, what about barack obama? has he got anything new? what's he going to be doing? >> let me give you color. he decided to hang out with marty and ron. kicked out axelrod. they went to have a meal without the president. the president for a second debate in the row i told you last time he had steak and potatoes with his wife. did the same tonight. maybe he thinks good luck charm. i know you don't like that combination of starch and meat. the president likes it. he thinks he is going to do well. in terms of the approach, they are gaming this out that they think mitt romney is going to come into this debate in the words of this advisor to the president, hug the president and not be slash and burn because mitt romney has done well into the first two debates. the last thing he wants to do

is slip up, do anything that will bring any of that down. the president's goal tonight is to show that there is sharp differences between these two men on foreign policy and not let him try to pull any of that and sort of blur those differences. >> bill: i would be surprised if governor romney, cammeron, comes in hugy feely because he has got a couple of big things, you know, the libyan thing, obviously we have been talking about, a lot of this program. that's unexplained, to be generous, unexplained. and then he has got the iranian situation where you have got disenchanted b netanyahu in israel. have you got a whole bunch of stuff. if the governor doesn't use it, i think it would be a huge mistake. >> not just national security but international security hinges on what presidents and would be presidents say. so romney has to be cautious to not be undiplomatic or to be sort of in politic. having said that the romney campaign the governor has been very clear about stark stark

contrast when it comes to his views versus the president. the romney campaign, the governor himself acknowledges that his answer on the benghazi issue in the last debate wasn't as sharp as he would like it to be. this is a candidate who walks into the staff meetings and takes responsibility where he has come up short and says how do we fix it. and generally speaking at the second bite of the apple mitt romney bites hard and he offensive doesn't get it wrong. libya debate portion of this could be consequential for romney as is the iran part. when it comes to israel we are in boca raton, a high concentration of jewish voters here on the atlantic coast of florida and in south florida in general. it matters. mitt romney has a long-standing friendship with benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel. has said that the obama administration has thrown b.b. under the bus and israel under the bus in a lot of cases. >> bill: i think he will emphasize that tonight. he almost has to. ed, why hasn't the president held a press conference about libya? we're debating this tonight. it just seems to me to be one

glaring omission. you get out and you say, look, here is what we know, here is what we don't know and you just lay it out there. instead, just like a rope-a-dope he puts his hands up, taking it boom, boom, boom. why doesn't he just have a press conference? >> the last debate he said, look, i take responsibility. he did that after secretary clinton had already taken responsibility. and in terms of a news conference, the bottom line is they have got these investigations going on at the fbi and the state department, and you can guarantee the white house wants all that to last after the election, the last thing he wants to do is deal with this again at a news conference face tough questions about it before the election. they want that all after the election. the other thing they are trying to do as important as this debate tonight is, both campaigns know that it's going to be all about turnout, starting tomorrow when he we are two weeks from election day. and that's why the president, feeling the heat in these battleground polls, which have turned against him in the last couple of weeks, is going to be hitting six battleground states in the next two days. that is by far the fastest pace that he has had this whole election season. he knows he has got two weeks to go.

he is not going to leave anything, you know, on the sidelines. he is going to get in there and do what he needs to do. >> bill: i think he is getting hurt on this libya issue. if he doesn't clarify it -- he has an opportunity tonight to do that. it depends on how schieffer frames the question, but the president does have an opportunity tonight to frame the issue. all right. what we know, this is what we don't know. this is what we are doing, ba ba ba ba ba. which is what i expect him to do. i don't expect him to take the punches coming from mitt romney. all right, guys, we appreciate it very much as always. that is it for us tonight. as we are leaving you a few minutes early so that bret baier and megyn kelly can set the stage for the third presidential debate. now, remember, what happens tonight is very, very important. as we said in the talking points memo for both candidates. if mitt romney is perceived to be the winner tonight, he will be the next president of the united states. no doubt in my mind. so, barack obama has to come out on top tonight. if it's a stalemate, romney