newsroom now hustle and bustle full activity every single day. what an amazing 18 years it has been for the fox news channel. thank you for making us number one. bill: just coming off three months of the best ratings we have had in 18 years. there is our newsroom today. thank you, thank you, thank you. and we are still hiring and still growing. martha: we will see you tomorrow, thank you, everybody. ♪ eric: it could be the last stands, key town about to fall. pounding isis forces. kurdish forces fighting to hold their ground as thousands of terrorists close in on that

city. so what does it mean if it does fall? >> turkey's president says it is about to fall to the president. also saying there strikes alone will not stop them. they now fly over the town within sight of the turkish border and thousands of citizens leave from their home fearing for their lives. they want to take it to consolidate across iraq and syria to gain complete control of the self-declared capital. live on the border with the very latest. greg. reporter: shannon, the deadly fight continues including some seriously stepped up u.s. involvement. first important and ominous frontlines today. for the second day in a row, the blacblack isis flags of terror e

over the syrian town. we can see them on the eastern side of that town. so far we have not been hearing a lot of large explosions today, what we're hearing is small arms fire across the town probably a sign of street to street battles involving isis and the kurdish defenders of the town. this as the u.s. finally steps up. the heaviest bombardment of positions yet the u.s. coalition. five different airstrikes hitting tanks, armored vehicles and guns. the main fight now is inside that city, and it is hard to fit isis without civilians were deadly casualties. also a fight on the side of the border. angry kurds upset about turkey not doing more. they want to do more, they want turkey to do more against the

terrorists. security responded aggressively. one hopeful note in all this fighting and casualties, there is a flag up, a kurdish flag. they are still fighting against isis, maybe not for too long. shannon: the latest there, thank you. eric: shannon, for more on this were joined by former cia operative and secretary of defense and the heritage foundation senior fellow. we are told 12,000 innocent people are trapped as 9000 terrorists close in. what if there is a slaughter or a massacre, will the isis terrorists take it? >> it looks like they will take it. it is going to give them confidence, you just mentioned the bloodletting.

it is likely to be more if isis takes it over. they have to relook at their plan and decide.+=ñ eric: yet, the kurdish government vowed kobani will not fall. why are the turks not doing anything? speak of the turks are holding out, they have been eight partner. but what they not only want is a fight as part of the coalition a fight against isis but a fight against assad. i understand senior u.s. officials are talking to coalition partners including turkey and it is important they are able to twist some

diplomatic arm to play the role they need to play. from a security standpoint, they have to get on board and we need good, solid diplomatic efforts to have that happen. eric: do you think those tanks are on board? >> they have conditions. it will only move if it is infringed upon such as if they move across the border. they want to go after assad as well. very problematic ally if you can call them an ally. eric: leon panetta, take a look at what the investor is saying. leon panetta confirms the president has been blaming iraq leaders for his own disasters. thank heavens for a rare

democrat who place plays his coy before ideology. the new islamic state increases the risk iraq will become al qaeda's next safe haven. former ambassador to iraq has a book out. he says there was a startling lack of attention at the highest levels in dealing with all this and the islamic threat. will we be here now if you administration had been on the ball? >> i don't think so. many have been talking about the threat coming from isis, prevalence with a complete withdrawal. we shouldn't forget about the fact we have decisions coming up about afghanistan and the movie in iraq we don't want to see replayed in afghanistan. i think they're just confirming what many of us analys and was e known for a long time, this was going to be a major problem. it is going to be i think a

threat to the homeland becoming increasingly a threat to the homeland. eric: what does it mean if it does fall? >> it is strategic, a hit of territory with the capital. it gives them confidence, could bring more fighters, more funding, more terrorist wannabes and it could be a humanitarian disaster. already is a him a terry and disaster. eric: trapped as it seems to be on the verge of a victory. peter brooks, thank you so much. shannon: now believed to be the first person to contract ebola outside of west africa be at it increased to block flights from those countries where it has killed 3000 people, president obama says the government will increase screenings of passengers coming into the u.s. from west africa.

hi, jonathan. >> this is indeed the first known case of a person acquiring ebola out of africa. involved in the treatment of two preece who became infected while administering the patients in west africa and were brought back to spain for treatment. both eventually died. one received the spear mental drug, the other did not because the worldwide supply of that drug had run out. the take a long time to produce and before this outbreak, the numbers affected by this awful disease were relatively small and therefore hard to attract the same research and develop mid-funding you would see for the treatment of diseases that affect millions such as aids. although the jury is out on the effectiveness, there is a push to ramp up approval of experimental ebola treatment. the use of a drug.

after lab tests suggested in the treatment of ebola. that drug is being given to thomas eric duncan, the liberian man who didn't show any symptoms until after arriving in dallas. the fact an an infected person o get in undetected have some calling for a ban of flights from west africa be at but as it would not stop the outbreak or the threat to the u.s. >> we want to make sure we don't do a threat backfires because if you stop travel and isolate these countries, it is harder to get help. it will spread to other countries in africa and ultimately we may be dealing with this for years on end. >> instead, beefed-up screening of incoming international passengers in the u.s. of this point the emphasis has been on outgoing passengers as they leave west africa.

shannon: jonathan, thank you so much for the update. eric: some new fallout from the secret service. lawmakers are waiting to hear on capitol hill from the new head of the agency about what they would do to fix it. chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel live in washington with a preview. >> today's meeting on capitol hill is an off the record briefing for staffers but the start of the outreach to congress. the acting in term director of the secret service was spotted at the white house yesterday getting a look at the north area where the fence jumper entered the executive mansion before eventually being captured by an ofoff-duty secret service snipe. while the iraq war veteran omar gonzalez getting through five layers of security entering the white house with a knife set off alarms for many officials in washington, lawmakers expressing concern of the culture of the secret service, the command

structure, training issues and more. >> there needs to be a reveal of the rules of engagement and astonishing lack of attention that seems to be the focus. it needs a fresh view from the va. >> since removal of the secret service director, we have been hearing about morale problems at the agency. and being caught up in the homeland security brought christie. former insider now running for congress spoke what issues inside the secret service. >> the rank and file agents feel the allegiance is not to them, but to say somebody later on can go into business with them together. this created a significant problem is distrust and in our business trust is all that matters. >> joe clancy sharing his initial observation.

eric: maybe they can lock the front door. thank you so much. shannon: deadly road rage or self-defense? a murder case hinges on that. questions as this man heads to court after a shooting left a father dying on the side of the road as his wife watched in horror. and for top executives getting kicked out of the va as a veterans affairs commission tries to recover from a shocking scandal. but why aren't they doing a whole lot more? óqoqúúñ@

eric: writes now some crime stories we're following for you. accused of shooting a driver. calling it deadly road rage. they say the victim had gotten out of his car to ask why the suspect was driving aggressively. and the beating death of a coworker had a distribution

facility. he beat the 38-year-old woman with a tape dispenser. and a deadly game of show and tell, delaware police say they took hundreds of packets of hair went to a day care center and pass them out thinking they were candy. luckily none of the children open the packages. the mother was arraigned and child endangerment and drug charges. shannon: four senior executives are about to leave the va in response the scandal of a long wait time for veterans waiting for veteran health care. making it easier to actually fire va employees. allison barber says letting people go doesn't seem like nearly enough, a lot more to this story. these people are being let go,

only one of them was linked to the wait time scandal. >> only one was. the other three had different issues that popped up in the past, some going back to 2012, there was a big one that came up in alabama with some incident where the director had done something were had taken the va person to a crack house. very confusing to follow because it was so odd. different things like that, sadlsummary and pittsburgh was d because she was tied to overseeing a big disease outbreak and that was a huge scandal where somebody had to be fired for it and she is being fired because of that now, but it is not necessarily just because of the scandal everyone knows so well that has led to a lot of the changes we know now. only one person is actually a direct result of the wait times the start of the whole scandal of people realizing there were so many problems within the agency.

shannon: this is one of those things we see with other agencies the government has made a big deal out of this person being terminated or being forced out, and then we are told they were let go anyway. the chairman says bragging about the proposed removal of somebody already announced his retirement can only be described as disingenuous. department leaders must not tolerate this incident and what appears to be blatant deceit. >> it does seem to have newspaper clippings of this particular department that up on the website announcing his retirement but when i spoke republican staffers, they told me what this seems to be is kind of a problem of almost a backout the va put in the regulations so basically when the reform was passed the standard is set up was the va secretary can walk in an office and tell somebody you are fired, they would have seven days to appeal it the judge would have 21 days to make a determination on whether or not they were going to lose their job.

they said at a regulation when now it seems to be the case and this is what they have written the announcement of the proposed pittsburgh firing. they have written the hell about a five days where they can apply to the secretary evidence sending letters kind of countering to their proposed firing at the end of that waiting period, the secretary would make a final determination if they would actually go through with the proposed firing. almost this five day grace period. it is not necessarily a lot, but the people i spoke to said that is enough of a time where you have some people who can say we're going to treat her and they still get their full benefits and all of their pay. some people from the department of veteran affairs have commented on the idea of whether or not this guy had retired. doinduring investigation a pensn that, but decided does seem like he has announced his retirement is probably something a lot of taxpayers wouldn't necessarily be thrilled with.

shannon: talk will be hundreds of executives and the fact many of them probably have some accounting to do for these weights times, for people leaving and only one of them tied to the weight scandal, do think there will be other fire inspector mark >> the threat was interesting to me, if this is nothing like enough, so just in this isn't good enough right now, is this a failure of the new leadership? they say they don't necessarily think is going to be that. a lot of lawyers working at the va and the tendency is to be cautious rather than necessarily make an example out of someone. look back at things like from 2008 through 2012 when one person was fired. now they're still. if you receive benefits until actively fired. this certainly an improvement from where it was before but they still have a long way to go and what everybody recognizes is going to take a while.

shannon: good to see you today. eric: and new clue as police hunt for the suspected shooter. accused of killing one. coming up, he will play was turned up in the woods and how to help the month-long search for this man. and an american teenager from the chicago suburbs. guess what, i hit accused of trying to join isis. the evidence against him and how his neighbors are reacting. >> i am shocked, i am shocked. you don't think this is going to happen in your neighborhood, and it is scary. ok, why's that? no hidden fees, from the bank where no branches equals great rates.

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in a letter that he was angry about, quote, immoral western societies and upset that his tax dollars were going to be used to kill muslims. the fbi taking him into custody at o'hare as he was trying to board a flight to turkey. his arrest took his neighbors by surprise. >> like i said, i grew up here. it's a very quiet, unassuming town. you don't hear about something like this ever, you know, around here. a couple of break-ins of cars and vandalisms and that kind of thing, but nothing to this extent. >> i'm shocked. i'm shocked. i are kids who live here, and it's like four doors down. you don't think this is going to happen in your neighborhood, and it's scary did that resolve, i mean, is there going to be another one? that's what scares me. shannon: his parents appeared with him in federal court yesterday where a magistrate ordered him to remain in jail until his detention hearing thursday.

eric: shannon, there's new information now on the nearly month-long hunt for the survivalist accused of ambushing two pennsylvania state troopers, killing one. this as a new clue emerges. a handwritten letter believed to be from that suspect was found in the pennsylvania woods. that's where they think he has been hiding out since he allegedly ambushed those troopers at a police barracks, an attack authorities say that was aimed against our government. rick leventhal has the very latest. >> reporter: hey, eric. state police won't confirm it, but sources say a letter was found in the is search for eric frein, and i'm told it describes his ambush of two troopers and how he felt when he shot them outside the police barracks in northeastern pennsylvania, also how he lewded capture that first -- he eluded capture. police recovered other items belonging to the 31-year-old

self-taught survivalist including cans of tuna and ramen noodles which they believe he's living off of. they recovered his rifle and extra ammo early in the search and also found at least two homemade pipe bombs, and they're concerned about booby traps. we're learning details about some of the unsealed warrants, police seized dozens of items from frein's parents' home including hard drives, computers, passport, various writings and photos, a night vision sight and a book on sniper training. and the warrant reveals he texted a friend just four hours before the shooting writing: i stayed at your place last night. all is good. i met your aunt, she was showing upstairs to someone. heading back to delaware now. despite a massive manhunt involving hundreds of state and local police, federal agents, no one has gotten close enough to catch frein, he is still

considered armed and dangerous and remains on the fbi's most wanted list. eric: all right, rick. hopefully it's just a matter of time. shannon: a hot button social issue sparking strong reaction on both side. new reaction to the court's decision on same-sex marriage. we are live with that story. plus, new fears about ebola after a nurse becomes the first person known to contract the deadly disease outside west africa. can the virus spread more easily than we've been told? we're going to go in depth on that. faster than d-con. what will we do with all of these dead mice? tomcat presents dead mouse theatre. hey, ulfrik! hey, agnar! what's up with you? funny you ask. i'm actually here to pillage your town. [ villagers screaming ] but we went to summer camp together. summer camp is over. ♪ [ male announcer ] tomcat. [ cat meows ]

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shannon: still to come in this hour of "happening now," president obama taking new steps to contain the ebola outbreak and to get the first reports of a person known to have contracted the virus outside west africa. mexico's president call anything federal agents and the military after reports that dozens of student protesters may have been killed by local police. and naval warfare taking a giant leap into the 23st century -- 21st century as the defense department unveils the first unman had had, self-guided patrol boat -- unmanned, self-guide patrol boat. >> as you know, we recently received w0r from the united states supreme court that they would not hear utah eat case regarding -- utah's case regarding the prohibition of same-sex marriage. the court has declined to hear that case and other cases similar to that in other states. i can tell you that i am surprised about this and

disappointed. i believe that the people deserve to have this hearing taking place at the supreme court level to determine, you know, what is a significant issue of our time. eric: some strong reaction from utah governor gary herbert among others to yesterday's surprising supreme court decision rejecting appeals from five states on the issue of same-sex marriage. william la jeunesse live in our los angeles bureau about what this all mean this is. hi, william. >> reporter: well, eric, the court's decision no not make a decision remains, in many ways, a landmark ruling meaning gay marriage is now legal in half of the u.s. including the five states that tried to ban it, indiana, oklahoma, utah, virginia and wisconsin. by declining to take their case, the high court lets several lower court rulings stand allowing gays andless beeps to immediately -- lesbians to immediately get married as some did yesterday. none of which pleased opponents.

oklahoma governor mary fallon saying the will of the people have been hijacked by unelected, unaccountable federal judges, and utah's governor also believes state voters have a right to decide the issue. >> while i continue to believe that the states do have the right to define marriage and create laws regarding marriage, ultimately, we are a nation of laws, and we here in utah will uphold the law. >> reporter: now, for an issue as divisive as this, there's been a remarkable turn around nationwide. eight years ago gay marriage was legal in just eight states, today it is legal or soon to be in 30 states and remaining bans -- whether approved by voters or lawmakers -- are likely to be struck down. >> this is just a big day for us. we can finally plan our wedding -- >> uh-huh. >> -- we can invite our family members and our friends and celebrate together. we can start making family decisions, we can plan for

children and -- >> adopt. >> reporter: now, while most believe the supreme court's decision effectively ends the debate, there is an outside chance it will revisit the topic should a federal appeals court in ohio side with supporters of traditional marriage and once again giving them an opportunity to get involved. eric? eric: all right, william. still winding through the courts, thank you. shannon? shannon: aerial drones have been a big game changer for our military lately. now the navy is unveiling the first unmanned, self-guided patrol boats. they can lead warships they are protecting and attack potential threats on the water. joining me now a naval warfare correspondent for "defense news." christopher, this sounds a little sci-fi. how does it work? >> well, you know, actually unmanned vessels have been around since about the days of radio. it's actually being able to control it isn't anything new. what they're doing here though is they're doing a whole swarm of boats at the same time. they've got, they had an

exercise where they did 13 boats, they can do up to 20, and these craft are autonomous, they can think for themselves, they're programmed to recognize a number of scenarios, they can act in concert, they're maneuvering together. some of the pictures that the navy released show a whole bunch of the boats all turning together at the same time, and then another bunch turning in a different direction. that's very new. they've not been able to do anything like that before. shannon: all right. so these things can actually make decisions or judgment calls about where to go or what to pursue? >> to some extent, yes, they can. the photo you see right there, those are actually little target craft that have all been fitted with this rack. it's an electronic rack. the whole thing is called caracas which is an acronym for something. but you can take any kind of boat, this is -- what you see right there is a regular inflatable boat, a rib that's on virtually every navy ship, and

they've taken this system, they've put it on it. one thing they want you to notice is that in this demonstration like in that photo, we have a security craft in the front, and there's a little target boat in the back. they have a multiplicity of different craft here that they've been able to take this, system, this rack, stick it on and now you have a boat. you notice it's got a gun in front of it, and that's one of the issues here is how would you use this. so there are really two things going on here. one is the technological, the technical achievement of being able to combine so many craft together at the same time and have them operate. by the way, you can have one sailor controlling up to 20 craft at the same time. that's -- so one guy can't really maintain the situational awareness that every single boat is going, they're going to need to have around it. you need to depend on the craft themselves to do it. so part of the issue is what do you do with this?

now that you've got it, what can you do with it? shannon: yeah. >> and maybe -- go ahead. shannon: i was going to ask you, what is the downside? maybe that will be part of your next point there regarding how these would actually be used in real-life scenarios. >> right. i think from a nonlethal point of view, it's very interesting. so, you know, i mean if you're doing force protection, you want to -- you're trying to protect your ships around you, maybe you can swarm on a suspicious craft that's coming toward you. they like to use the example of the cole. the cole, the destroyer cole -- which was attacked more than a decade ago in a foreign harbor in aden -- was actually refueling, but there was a little boat, one single boat that was moving innocuously in the harbor and suddenly turned and charged the ship and blew a hole in the side of it. so maybe in that instance you could have had these swarm boats patrolling. and they could, even if the --

as soon as the boat began to look suspicious, the swarm boats could have gotten in between and maybe started to shoulder the other boat. the problem comes in the use of deadly force, arming the ships with guns because, you know, you can't run around somebody else's harbor shooting guns very off. you're probably going to hit something that you don't intend to do. and when they have the scenario of a swarm of enemy boats attacking your ship, you want them -- they want to counter the enemy's swarm with a swarm of your own. but a swarm implies boats going hither and hither and all directions. if they're armed, at some point you're probably going to be shooting at the thing you want to protect, and that's a question they're really going to have to work on. shannon: yeah. i mean, it provides an interesting new tool but raises all kinds of interesting new questions with it. christopher, thank you so much for giving us a peek at it. >> sure. shannon: eric? eric: fascinating. mexico's president taking some dallas cantic steps. have you ard -- drastic steps. the bodies of student protesters

were found in a mass grave, and the question they're asking this morning; did the mexican police kill them? plus, that virus that is sweeping the nation, well, it's now blamed for the death of a little 4-year-old boy. it's a mysterious illness. as the victims, those who are coming down with it, mount up and it especially hits children. what you need to know to keep your kids safe straight ahead on "happening now." [ breathing deeply ]

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[ inhales ] [ male announcer ] at cvs health, we took a deep breath... [ inhales, exhales ] [ male announcer ] and made the decision to quit selling cigarettes in our cvs pharmacies. now we invite smokers to quit, too, with our comprehensive program. we just want to help everyone, everywhere, breathe a little easier. introducing cvs health. because health is everything. eric: so what's ahead on "outnumbered" at the top of the hour? >> hey, eric, just four weeks to the midterms with control of congress at stake, so how much do people care? stunning numbers in a major new poll. >> a men's magazine is under fire for an article on how to talk to women about sports. and a woman wrote it. [laughter] with her small brain. why people are so outraged, we'll get to that. >> plus, is hollywood finally getting behind faith-based films with left behind number three at the box office? our hashtag one lucky guy tells

us about his new religious-themed movie. >> that's right. james denton, grr, he's going to join us on "outnumbered" that's at the top of the hour. eric: all right, see you in 15 minutes. >> thank you. shannon: mexico's president ordering federal agents and the military to take over security in the southern city of aguala and determine whether more than two dozen bodies found in a mass grave are the remains of students attacked by local police during a protest. the new federal unit is tasked with keeping order in the town and helping to search for the 43 students who are still missing following that attack last month that's believed to have killed at least six people, maybe many more. prosecutors say they're still trying to determine the motive, but they think local police may have been operating with a known drug gang. ♪ ♪ eric: and there are new concerns right now about the ebola outbreak and how exactly ebola can be spread. this after a nurse in spain becomes the first person known to contract that virus outside

of west africa. at the same time, president obama says our government is now considering more careful ebola screening of airline passengers who arrive from west africa. but for now is ruling out a complete travel ban. this after this man, thomas eric duncan, of course, the liberian man who allegedly lied on his travel documents about his exposure to an ebola victim there, he was able to come here. he is now in critical condition at a dallas hospital. so how do we stop ebola? joining us is dr. earnest patty, emergency medicine at st. barn bus hospital here in new york. you know, there are concerns now, doc, that ebola could be spread for easily than we were first told. >> the topic seems to be viruses, right? we know viruses are spread via exposure to people who are infected, right in and the ways in which that happens is they're shed in different bodily fluids like saliva, blood, usual, feces, things of that nature. so to me, it makes sense that if you shed virus in your saliva or

your nasal secretions and you sneeze or cough, that can also be transmitted to ore folks that are in -- other folks that are in close contact. eric: we're told it cannot be spread through the air, but you're saying potentially if someone has ebola and sneezes, potentially can you get ebola? >> what i'm saying is it's a possibility. you know, viruses are constantly mutating and changing the ways which they regenerate and the ways which they spread as well. i brought a simple example. i brought my little spray bottle, i'm going to aerosolize some water. one things the cdc does say is to decrease procedures when taking care of patients with ebola, procedures such as respiratory treatments, things where droplets are created. i'm sure everyone's aware that droplets, if they get on another person, could potentially spread. eric: first we were told, as you said, only body fluids, saliva, blood, this sort of thing.

we're also apparently learning now that ebola, the virus can actually last for a few hours on doorknobs and on countertops and such. we weren't told that before. >> well, that's -- that's considered universal precautions in every hospital setting. i mean, we've been treating -- eric: what if it's at the coffee shop or the diner or out in the shopping mall? >> well, the good news is if you're not infectious, you don't have a fever, you're not going to be depositing this virus -- eric: bottom line, is it hard to get and contract ebola? >> well, sure, because right now we have limited people who are in the united states with the virus. so it's definitely difficult to get it. but vigilance, common sense are things that need to dictate. eric: that's what's happening right now. meanwhile, there's another virus going around the country, and the medical examiner in new jersey just ruled that a little 4-year-old boy who was from that state died from enterovirus 68. it's a severe respiratory virus that's affected 600 people around the country. here's the little boy, his name is ely waller. he goes to sleep, his parents

kiss him good night and, tragically, he doesn't wake up. in a statement the parents say our perfect, beautiful son -- they call him a shy little puppy who wants only to make people proud and happy and full of unconditional love. doctor, this is so sad and so tragic. how do we stop enterovirus, and what should parents look for? >> being a father and a doctor 3450eus, it's tragic. -- myself, it's tragic. parents have to be aware of changes in their child's symptoms. this the child's breathing very fast -- if the child's breathing very fast, saying they can't catch their breath, not doing normal activities, things that are out of the norm -- and, let's face it, most parents know their -- eric erik you may think it's just the flu. parents will say, well, it's the flu. >> you may but why not be safe versus sorry and have your child checked out? you know, don't forget, it's the flu season approaching, and we have already started our intense vaccination process at the

hospital. people need to get them early, they need to build -- eric: so you're saying get the flu shot and also if you have a child who comes down with something, take that extra step. go to the doctor, check it out because of enterovirus. >> sure. and take time to remind your children, proper hand washing, cover your cough, you know, don't share tissues or handkerchiefs, if kids are sick, keep them home but get them checked out if you're concerned. eric: all right, doctor, thanks for filling us in. shannon: it is almost lunchtime and a lot of folks out there in a hurry, but you might want to steer clear of the drive-thru lane. why it's slowing to a crawl around the country. and budgets for the all-important campaigns weeks before the election trying to get voters on the fence to vote get voters on the fence to vote their way. ♪ "here i am. rock you like a hurricane." ♪ fiber one now makes cookies.

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shannon: so is it faster to hit the drive-thru for lunch? a new study finds it's definitely slowing down. a fat food trade -- fast food trade publication said the average time jumped from two and a half minutes to three in just a year. complicated dishes may take longer to make and a bigger push for accuracy in thrive-thru -- drive-thru lanes. eric: it's hot, you can stay in the air-conditioning, i mean, i'm sorry about the -- shannon: something tells me that study's not going to persuade people. eric: well, we'll see about those jalapeno poppers. we're watching on the political front about ten key states in the battle to control the senate, the list includes colorado where all registered voters get mail-in ballots. you know what that means? armies of campaign workers right now hitting the streets to try

to find those people who have not returned their ballots. alicia acuna has more from denver on this get out the vote effort. >> reporter: yes, with money roll anything from donations and out-of-state interests, the budgets for the ground game here in colorado are huge. campaigns now have the technology to track who has voted and when, and they can -- and if someone hasn't mailed in their mail-in ballot, canvassers will so kindly offer to send it in for them. campaign canvassers swarming in what political analysts anticipate could be a record-setting year for grassroots efforts in a midterm. >> hello, is mr. cahill home? >> reporter: high profile showdowns for the u.s. senate and controversial amendments making this an all-out foot race. >> do you think that you would stand with us and vote no on the amendment? >> based on what you said, it sounds like i would vote no. >> reporter: the targets are persuasion voters, people who do

not fall strongly one way or the other. >> you wallet to always pivot been want to always pivot back to those main talking points. >> reporter: colorado will automatically send every registered voter a mail-in ballot. the bulk of the country offers early voting, just three states -- washington, oregon and colorado -- use mail-in. >> this tends to be a very western phenomenon. >> reporter: oregon and washington saw striking increases in participation after going all mail-in. historically, analysts say republicans are more likely to vote early, but in this state there have been exceptions as campaigns have learned from the obama blueprint which bucked conventional wisdom. upping the ante here, a new law passed by the democratically-controlled 5ch?$r and votevr]án day. eric? eric: all right, alicia, thanks so much. it's no longer election day, it's election month. >> reporter: that's right. absolutely. shannon: well, some stories we're working on brand new for

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i love it. and mama loves you. ♪ >> did you hear about this? apology letter from united airlines to one of the passengers has gone viral. the airline refers to the passenger as "mr. human" on three separate occasions. mr. human in question is really journalist who works for the fox affiliate in tampa. chris shared the email with his twitter followers and it went viral. this is the second embarrassing customer email for united in recent months. in august they referred to the person as customer name. how about that? >> oh, it never ceases to amaze.

we'll see you back here in an hour. >> "outnumbered" starts right now. >> we begin a fox news alert. stunning new developments out of the middle east. turkey's president is now warning a key syrian border town is about to fall to isis militants. this would be the most severe setback since u.s. led air strikes started last month. the army is caring through khobani with tanks and heavy equipment. some of that equipment is what we left in iraq. they've raised black flags on the east side of town. that would give the savages of isis control of a large swath of land bordering turkey and open smuggling lines for supplies not to mention the death toll potentially with all the refugees camped along the border. we're watching