geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. >> thumbs. >> have a good weekend. see you monday. >> that's the new one. this is a fox news alert. i'm bret baier in washington. after a debate in cleveland, watched by 24 million people here on fox, republican presidential candidates are in atlanta tonight for a gathering of conservatives. we will have that story in a minute. but first the breaking news. new details on a story we broke last night involving one of america's most dangerous enemies. an even more questions about president obama's iran nuclear deal. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is at the pentagon with our top story.

>> live from the pentagon. we'll try to get that piece queued up. jenn, breaking news on the story that you broke yesterday on soleimani. >> reporter: what's interesting, bret, is that yesterday it was very difficult to get any u.s. officials to comment or confirm the story. today iranian officials came out and in fact confirmed not only that qassum soleimani under sanctions by the u.s. since 2005 had traveled to russia. they also confirmed he was there to do weapons deals, arms deals with the russians, including talk of the s 300, the s 300 missile system. bret? >> let's take a listen. >> a day after u.s. officials refused to comment, iranian officials confirmed today general soleimani the heavily

sanctioned revolutionary guard quds force commander did travel to russia last month adding he was seeking weapons deals including the s 300 missile system. today the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, samantha powers, acknowledged the u.s. is very concerned about this development. >> this travel ban requires all states to prohibit soleimani from traveling to their nation. and the only exception to that is if the iran sanctions committee grants an exemption. >> reporter: the white house was reluctant to comment, publicly avoiding blaming the russians for hosting the iranian general. >> i can't confirm these specific reports. but it is an indication of our ongoing concerns with iran and their behavior. >> reporter: according to two separate western intelligence sources, soleimani arrived in moscow from tehran on friday, july 24th, on iran air flight 5130.

and departed just three days before secretary of state john kerry testified about the iran nuclear deal before the the senate armed services committee. assuring congress pressure would remain on iran's shadowy general. >> and under the united states initiative, qassum soleimani will never be relieved of any sanction. >> reporter: in moscow, general soleimani met with president vladimir putin and russia's defense minister. the news comes as a u.n. arms embargo against iran is slated to be lifted in five years, a controversial last-minute add on to the nuclear agreement. soleimani was photographed in iraq recently on the front lines as his shia militias battled isis, also in defines of the travel ban. he is blamed for the deaths of 500 americans in iraq. he orchestrated the thwarted

aassassination attempt -- >> part of the deal was lifting the international sanctions on general soleimani. the day general soleimani flew back from moscow to iran was the day we believe that russia used cyber warfare against the joint chiefs. >> reporter: the former head of the powerful house intelligence committee, congressman mike rogers, issued a statement highlighting his concern quote a leading general in iran just told the world that the united states of america is irrelevant and russia welcomed him with open arms. bret? >> jennifer griffin live at the pentagon, thank you. president obama is dealing tonight with the first major democratic defection in the senate over his nuclear deal with iran. correspondent rich edson has that story from the white house. >> reporter: serious weaknesses, troubling and better off without it. just several of the more than 1600 words new york democratic senator chuck schumer uses describing the iranian nuclear agreement. he will likely be the senate's

next top democrat. he said he opposes the deal because in part he claims it would allow iran after 10 to 15 years to be a nuclear state with the blessing of the international community. the secretary of state disputes that claim. >> i profoundly disagree with the judgment made. i would respectfully suggest that rejection is not a policy for the future. it does not offer any alternative. >> reporter: congressman elliott angle and brad sherman top two democrats on the house foreign affairs committee are joining schumer in their opposition. as they voice their opposition, president obama again compared american critics of this deal to opponents of it in iran. >> the reason that mitch mcconnell and the rest of the folks in his caucus who oppose this jumped out and opposed it before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done. and in that sense, they do have

a lot in common with hard liners who are much more satisfied with the status quo. >> reporter: and the white house says officials deny schumer's defection will persuade other democrats to oppose the deal. >> so i think there's a preponderance of evidence to indicate democrats are going to make up their minds not based on senator schumer's conclusions but based on their own conclusions about the merits of this agreement and the strategy to prevent iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: the white house says the president is confident in his administration's ability to build support among democrats for this deal. congress weighs in next month. bret? >> rich edson live on the north lawn, thanks. while much of the political universe including many of you spent the day reacting to the first of the season gop debates in cleveland, several of the participants were already doing followup work in front of a sold out gathering of conservatives in georgia. correspondent jonathan sarie has coverage tonight from atlanta. >> reporter: after what some are calling a winning night at last

night's debate in ohio, florida senator marco rubio spoke out in atlanta today at the annual red state gathering. >> we will be able to leave for our children, not just a great country but the greatest nation, greater than it's ever been. and we will be able to say that we were the authors of a 21th century that history will record was also an american century. >> reporter: rubio was among five republican presidential contenders to speak at today's sessions. >> both this administration and the republicans in washington, d.c. i will suggest have failed us when it comes to funding our military. >> let us not be apologetic for our position on life as conservatives. >> immigration without assimilation is invasion. we must not let that happen in america. >> from defense to abortion to immigration, the candidates are using these early events to tout their conservative views before an influential crowd. according to emory political science professor merle black. >> the overwhelming majority of

people who show up and say it's a red state will be very very strong conservatives many of the party activists. they're look for a candidate. they're looking for someone who expresses their views. but at some point they're also looking for someone who has a chance of actually being nominated or actually winning a presidential election. those calculations come in much later in the process. >> reporter: late this afternoon, former hewlett-packard carly fiorina rallied the crowd. most analysts say she won the debate yesterday. >> we have reports from the inspector general that they find federal government employees watching porn all day long and pulling down the same pay pension and benefits as somebody trying to do a good job. really? as donald trump would say, you're fired! and donald trump is among five additional candidates scheduled to speak at the red state gathering tomorrow. the normally outspoken candidate

expected to address fans at a red state tailgate party at the college football hall of fame. bret? >> jonathan serrie, live in atlanta. up next, breaking down last night's republican presidential candidate debate. first here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. fox 20 in montgomery, alabama, as six people were injured when a tornado partially collapsed the roof of a walmart in troy. none of the injuries serious. the storm also flipped a 18-wheeler and tore out a wall of a nearby sporting goods store. fox 35 in richmond, virginia as the state begins recalling and replacing license plates bearing the image of the confederate flag. last week a judge issued a ruling dissolving a 2001 injunction that allowed the symbol to appear on specialty plates. and this is a live look from denver and our affiliate fox 31. a team from the epa accidentally triggered a huge release of orange and yellow mine wastewater into a tributary of

the aminus river toward dorango. drinking water is not affected so far. that's a look outside growing up, we were german. we danced in a german dance group. i wore lederhosen. when i first got on ancestry i was really surprised that i wasn't finding all of these germans in my tree. i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. the big surprise was we're not german at all. 52% of my dna comes from scotland and ireland. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story. get started for free at ancestry.com.

last night's primetime candidate debate was the most watched event of its kind ever. and it did not disappoint, especially if you were trying get a good look at donald trump. chief political correspondent carl cameron has a recap. >> reporter: the day after 2016's first gop debate, jeb bush was at a popular lobster house on the coast of new hampshire with little to say about what some critics called a tepid performance. >> if the cumulative effect of shaping people's opinion about who you are that matters over the long haul. >> reporter: but donald trump made headlines from the outset, getting booed and interrupted as he explained being the only candidate unwilling to rule out

running as an independent if someone else wins the gop nomination. >> you can say not say tonight you can make that pledge? >> i have to respect the person if it's not me the person that wins. >> this is what's wrong. he buys and sells politicians of all stripes. >> dr. paul. >> look. look. he's already hedging his bet on the clip tons. >> trump praised universal health care in other countries, otherwise mentioning few policies specifics while railing against both parties. >> because our leaders are stupid. our politicians are stupid. >> reporter: hoping to co-opt some of trump's feisty supporters ted cruz one upped him. >> it's not a question of stupidity. it's that they don't want to enforce the immigration laws. that there are far too many in the washington cartel that support amnesty. >> reporter: strong reviews for marco rubio who cast himself as an upbeat, new face of conservati warned about comparing experience against the democratic frontrunner. >> if this is a resume'

competition then hillary clinton is going to be the next president. >> reporter: ohio governor john kasich got a favorite sons reception in citing his opposition to same-sex marriage urged his party and the nation to nonetheless practice tolerance and compassion. >> we need to give everybody a chance, treat everybody with respect, and let them share in this great american dream that we have. you know what? god gives me unconditional love. i'm going to give it to my family and my friends and the people around me. >> reporter: as other candidates boasted about their various groundbreaking political achievements, dr. ben carson got laughs naming some of his innovations in neurosurgery. >> the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think if you go to washington that someone had beat me to it. >> reporter: chris christie who backs restoring some patriot act surveillance programs tangled with rand paul who calls them unconstitutional, warrantless searches. >> when you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air about this you can say things like that. >> this is the problem, governor. you fundamentally misunderstand the bill of rights >> caller: christie sparred with mike huckabee who says

christie's means plans to raise social security is wrong. >> i think it's fundamentally lying from the people and stealing from them and we shouldn't be doing it. >> reporter: scott walker said to redirect their criticism to the former secretary of state. >> every part the world that hillary clinton touched is more messed up than before. >> the next debate is after labor day when campaigns seem to shift into higher gear. the race could look a whole lot different in six weeks, bret. hillary clinton made a point of getting out word she would not watch the debate. at least not live. but many of her minions? yeah, we can say they're minions. they did. chief white house correspondent ed henry talked to some of them. >> reporter: hillary clinton was in california talking health care. and keeping up with the kardashians instead of the republican debate. snapping a selfie at a campaign fundraiser that kim kardashian

posted to her twitter page with the word president misspieled while kris jenner got her own hashtag on instagram. though clinton was still all over both debate. essentially the 11th person on stage in primetime. >> the russian and chinese government know more about hillary clinton's e-mail server than do the members of the united states congress. >> reporter: and hillary was also pilloried during the earlier republican clash as well. >> hillary clinton lies about benghazi, she lies about e-mails. >> reporter: while clinton took the night off from pushing back, her aides set up a war room at their brooklyn campaign headquarters. >> hillary clinton wasn't on the stage, but we felt that she was the clear winner. >> reporter: where top aides told reporters that republicans spent more time on clinton than issues like the middle class. and they're itching to take on someone like jeb bush in the general election. >> you know, some days i think jeb bush, i'm concerned that jeb bush will be the nominee. some days i'm concerned that jeb bush won't be the nominee. because some days that seems

appealing to have him be the nominee. >> reporter: though that nagging e-mail issue was front and center in a post debate interview with clinton spokeswoman karen finney on fox news.com. >> where's the server? >> that's an excellent question. and it's one that i am sure chairman galley will be asking hillary clinton about on october 22nd. >> seriously. is it at hillary clinton's home as she said in march or somewhere else? >> i'm going to let hillary clinton answer that question on the 22nd. put it this way. it's secure. >> reporter: those troubles may explain why clinton did not author the most retweeted post with the #gopdebate overnight. that distinction did not go to any of the gop candidates, either. democratic socialist senator bernie sanders, a thorn in clinton's side, had the most retweeted post as he declared "it's over. not one word about economic inequality, climate change, citizens united or student debt. that's why the r's are so out of touch. in fact, sanders is planning a major rally this sunday in oregon. there's so much interest he's now moved it to a venue that

holds at least 20,000 people. a crowd that neither clinton nor the republican candidates have come close to. bret? >> ed henry in new york, thank you. still ahead, legionnaire's disease is back and ten people are dead in new york. first jobs are up and unemployment stays steady. but what do the numbers really but what do the numbers really mean

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u.s. employers added 215,000 jobs in july, the labor department says the unemployment rate held steady at 5.3% for the second straight month. the dow today lost 46, to prolong its losing streak to seven days. the s&p 500 was off 6, the nasdaq dropped 13. for the week, the dow fell 1.75

percentage points. the s&p 500 was off 1.25. the nasdaq was down 1.63%. let's talk about what all this means. joining us tonight from new york, fox business networks melissa francis. good evening, melissa. so we're in a tough stretch for the market. why? >> reporter: absolutely. i mean you were just talking about it. this the worst stretch in four years. the last time we saw this happen was when there was a big debt ceiling fight. it's not good. there are a lot of reasons for it. some of it is mixed economic data. you talked about the jobs number out today earlier. and that's one of it. it's sort of it's like a medium jobs number. it's kind of good, it's not great when you look under the hood. there's also the fact that we see china, which seems to be trying to come in for the soft landing and may not be sticking it too well just to go to some of your analogies from last night. europe again also looking like it's falling apart. then we've seen earnings out of corporations this quarter that have been just kind of meh. so out there investors aren't

feeling terrell confident and are wondering if the end is near. >> so 5.3% unemployment. a good number overall. but we often talk about the underemployment, the people stopped working. the market clearly is not celebrating. why don't they feel better, americans? >> reporter: no. and americans don't feel good, either. and that's because when you look inside your paycheck it's not growing. that's really the biggest problem that you see within the jobs report. i mean, wages are only up 2% in the last year. and if you've gone to the grocery store that's not good enough. and if you want to know why companies aren't paying more it's because right now they don't have to. let me give you some stats. there were 8 million americans out there that are looking for work. if you have a job, those 8 million people want your job. so your employer doesn't have to pay you more because he can replace you in a heartbeat. 14 million people have left the job market. 6.3% are part-time and need to work full time. so bret, there are a lot of people out there that want your job and mine. that's why they don't have to pay more. >> that's right. melissa as always, thank you.

have a great weekend. the fate of colorado theater shooter james holmes will be revealed at the top of the hour. jurors say they have reached a decision on whether holmes will be put to death for killing 12 people and wounding 70 others at a suburban denver theater three years ago. the defense has argued capital punishment is not appropriate because of holmes' mental problems. there has been another american viciously murdered, allegedly, by a known criminal immigrant in this country illegally. from local police refused to retain for the feds. village for martinez ramirez is accused of raping and fatally beating 64-year-old marilyn faris. federal officials asked authorities for notification if they planned to release ramirez from custody on a probation violation, but santa barbara county california officials refused. new york is dealing with a killer tonight that has taken ten lives already and threatens 101 more. that killer comes from something

you and your family may have contact with. correspondent laura ingle is in the bronx tonight. >> reporter: they sit atop thousands of buildings nation-wide. large, industrial-sized cooling towers. health officials say these air conditioning units which help keep people cool could also be making people very sick. and in some cases, killing them. now officials with the centers for disease control are in new york city, responding to a call from the governor to help tackle the worst legionnaire's outbreak in the city's history. >> this is a disease that is very common. it's often difficult to diagnose. and it's very very difficult to trace. >> reporter: this summer, five cooling towers in the south bronx, including ones at hotels and hospitals, tested positive for legionella bacteria the cause of leak gionnaire's. the disease that was discovered in 1976 is a severe, sometimes

lethal form of pneumonia that has spread through the air. now push is on trying to get every cooling tower in new york city that hasn't been cleaned in the last 30 days washed out and tested within the next two weeks. a new mandate from the city instructs all building owners with cooling towers to test and disinfect them or face being charged with a misdemeanor. >> we are doing this out of an abundance of caution. everyone understands that the outbreak has been limited to one community in our city. >> reporter: as the scrubbing of cooling towers goes on, health officials are telling residents to be on the lookout for any sudden flu-like symptoms. and if they persist, get to a doctor. >> young, healthy people almost never get this infection. it really only occurs in people who are elderly, people who are heavy cigarette smokers, and people who have some underlying immune condition. >> reporter: the cdc reports there are up to 18,000 cases of legionnaire's each year in the united states. one person died from

complications from the disease yesterday in cleveland. and on average there are over 500 cases a year in new york city. bret? >> laura, thank you. no grapevine tonight. up next, we'll start our panels a little early with reaction to last night's megadebates in cleveland.

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i just don't think it's very professional. i do say this. if you're going to do that to me i think it's great. but you have to do it to everybody else or ease it up. >> i'm going to support the republican nominee. but it's going to be me, because i think over the long haul people are going to want to know that i have -- that the candidate can win number one. and number two, that person needs to have the leadership skills to fix these things. >> donald trump today reacting to the debate. jeb bush out and about in new hampshire as a red state forum of conservatives happens in atlanta. let's bring in our panel. jonah goldberg, senior editor at national review. kirsten powers, "usa today" columnist and syndicated columnist. charles krauthammer. okay on twitter, on a couple of interviews, donald trump says he thought the questions were unfair and that they were not equally fair to everybody else as opposed to him. >> well, this is a bit of a paradox. this is a guy who's running as the tough guy, foundation of his

campaign is our negotiators, our president, our administrations are stupid, theet kicked over negotiations. i'm going to kill china in negotiations. i'm going to build a wall and i'll make mexico pay for it. and i'm going to stare down putin. and now he says that he was treated not nicely by three fox news anchors. it doesn't quite fit. he's extremely upset, i think. >> kirsten. >> the questions were absolutely fair and he's the frontrunner. the frontrunner always gets more questions. and rightly so. there was nothing he's being asked about verbatim quotes that he made. if he can't answer those kinds of questions then he shouldn't be running for president. i just feel there was absolutely nothing unfair about it. it was extremely professional. if you went back to any debate, the frontrunner has always been treated that way or at least should be being treated that way. >> i would argue, jonah, that a lot of those questions were tough to a lot of those candidates.

i mean, i think every one of those questions in that opening round about electability dealt with that candidate's vulnerabilities and what could cause him not to get the nomination. >> yeah, look. every single -- i'd say for the first hour, every single one of those guys got some rough questions. i can see why the trump people might think in the second hour there were too many questions about justify your existence and all that kind of thing. but then again, trump is the frontrunner. trump has a record that a lot of people don't know. but the things they find just baffling, sort of you'd have to be too stupid to be a spell checker add an m and m factory baffling is this idea that your opening question about whether or not you would be the republican nominee whether you would support the republicans if you're not the nominee that somehow that was an unfair question. he has talked about this in interviews time and again. you guys were literally, physically on the stage for the republican convention right for the competition he's the frontrunner for the republican nomination. and he has hinted and joked and teased that he may not -- he may run a third party. and it's unfair to ask him about

that? that is bizarre beyond words. yet all day long twitter is blowing up with people saying how this was an unfair question. i think it is ridiculous. >> all right. there were a number of exchanges during the debate. one of them happened between governor christie and senator rand paul. >> i want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people. how are you supposed to know, meghan? >> use the fourth amendment. get a warrant. >> when you're sitting in a sub exhib committee blowing hot air about this you can say things like that. >> here's the problem, governor. you fundamentally misunderstand the bill of rights. i don't trust president obama with our records. i know you gave him a big hug. if you want to give him a big hug again go right ahead. >> senator paul, you know, the hugs they remember are the hugs they gave to the families who lost their people on september 11th. those are the hugs i remember. >> that was fiery. >> it was. and i know it was sort of at a high decibel. but this is a fundamental issue

that divides conservatives and divides the country. and i thought what was amazing in this forum, ten candidates with one trump that everybody had assumed would be the focus of this. and you ended up with several really substantive debates like over nsa and security. there was another one about entitlements. there were several about immigration. that's quite a feat. i think it was one of the most successful debates ever. and you see it in the numbers. but i just mean as a piece of political theater and also as a form of information. ten candidates. and actually having the drama and the gripping, compelling stories that you saw, that's remarkable. i think that's why there was such a huge audience. >> yeah. speaking of the audience, we had the two debates. the one at 5:00 to 6:00 with bill and martha. 6.1 million people watched that. that would have been the second highest primary debate viewership behind orlando last

cycle. and in the primetime debate, 24 million people tuned in. >> yeah. you know, it's interesting. because a lot of people are saying, well, everybody was tuning in for donald trump. but i think the other number sort of undermines that argument a little bit. it would suggest that people are really interested in this election. and that frankly i think that the republicans have a really good field. i think that there's a lot of anticipation to see who's going to kind of pop in these different debates. and then with the first debate, carly fiorina emerged as such a star that i think that they both ended up just being really fundamentally good, interesting, informative debates. >> speaking of carly fiorina, she was at red state today, continued her efforts and talking about hillary clinton. >> and in order to win, we're going to have to have a nominee who throws every punch, who will not ever pull her punches. we're going to have to have a nominee who will point out hillary clinton's lack of

accomplishment. we're going to have to have a nominee who points out that she is not trustworthy. and yes, indeed as i told chris matthews over and over again last night on msnbc, she did lie about benghazi. she did lie about her e-mails. and she did lie about her server. >> jonah, she continues to gain a lot of attention. >> she does. and i should do a quick full disclosure thing. my wife worked with carly fiorina on her last book. she does not work for her now. and my views are my own. but that said, coming out of the 5:00 debate, i was thinking that maybe she would emerge as the star and the most talked about thing over the evening. certainly it's not a bad place for her to be in a position where everybody is saying, wow, you really should have seen carly fiorina last night. i mean, that is a good buzz place for her to be. she might have been drowned out on that stage with all the screaming and all the attention on trump. so i think she came out of this really well. she still needs the fundraising to build up the campaign more. but she's in a good place.

>> a little sound bite from carly fiorina and rick perry in the primetime debate. back with the panel after a quick timeout.

is there anyone on stage, and can i see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the republican party? [ cheers ] >> mr. trump. [ audience boos ] >> he's already hedging his bet on the clip tons, okay? so if he doesn't run as a republican, maybe he supports clinton or maybe he runs as an independent. but i'd say that he's already henling his bets because he's used to buying politicians. >> i've given you plenty of money. >> that's right. >> just to be clear. we're going to move on. you're not going to make the pledge tonight. >> i will not make the pledge at this time. >> okay. >> and that's how the debate started. jonah, before we move on from

mr. trump, you had some thoughts. >> look, most hilarious thing about his response there was -- which you didn't show on the tape was -- he did say he conceded that if he is the nominee he will not run as a third party candidate. which was the most gracious concession imaginable. i was saying if i win powerball i will not question the methodology of the lottery commission, either. it was such a strange thing. and he did let slip the one word leverage which was like this crouton in the word salad. this incoherent thing that he threw out there. that at least made the concession what he's trying to do is blackmail the republican party not to be mean to him. that's fine. that's a perfectly intelligent strategy to have. but it undermines the idea that your question wasn't fair. because he's actually admitting that's what his strategy is. >> all right. other people who come out of that debate in a positive territory, maybe not a winner but had good moments. >> there was no clear winner as we saw in the earlier debate with carly fiorina.

i thought if there had to be one in my mind it was marco rubio. just because he's young. he's not that young but he looks young. and i think one of the issues was when he's on the stage with these other people is he going to look presidential? and i think he did. i think he met the bar. i think he was very on point, very well-spoken, charismatic, and seemed very comfortable there. and he was the one person i think popped. there were other people, though, that i thought christie actually did a really good job. i was sort of surprised. and kasich. the question with kasich though of course is that the base has so many issues with him. but he had a very very solid performance. >> and a home crowd, obviously. ben carson finished strong, according to many. here's part of his closing statement. >> i haven't said anything about me being the only one to do anything. so let me try that. i'm the only one to separate siameses twins. the only one to take out half a brain although you would think if you look at washington that

someone had beat me to it [ laughter ] [ cheers ] >> but i'm very hopeful that i'm not the only one who's willing to pick up the baton of freedom. because freedom is not free. and we must fight for it every day. every one of us must fight for it because we're fighting for our children and the next generation. >> and charles, we saw him here on center seat. he's very affable and comes across that way. do you think he had a good night? >> i think he had a rocky night until then but he had a rocky night because on some of the issues he wasn't up to speed. for instance, the question he was asked about the syrian red line. he ran away from it. but that was such a good ending. it was so charming and sort of human. and it connects. i think that redeemed his night. and since it's the last image that you have of him, i think he came out slightly ahead. i would add to kirsten i would actually agree, rubio, if there was a winner it was him.

he was charismatic. he was sharp and concise. and he looked -- you know, he could be a president. christie as well. he got into it. he got into two big debates. and i think he won in both. but he showed if you're interested in toughness but you also want a guy with experience and knowledge, he might be your guy. two others were huckabee and cruz. each of whom did what they do best. huckabee affable, effective, a great line at the end where he seemed to be attack trump but it was an attack on clinton. and cruz is always a good debater. handled himself. he was asked a question about god. and within three sentences he was talking about how great a candidate he is and how he's going to win. that's really hard to do. he did it well. >> he's comfortable in that environment, clearly. >> look. he's a great debater. and he showed it. >> we will take another break, come back with the panel in a moment with the friday lightning round.

this is the type of reaction which needs to be shown. if iran is not even ready to accept and respect travel ban against a person like mrsoleima how can we expect them to live up to the nuclear agreement? >> that day we believe russia used cyber warfare against the joint chiefs. we need a new commander in chief that will stand up to our enemies and that will have credibility. >> well, talking there about the story we broke on fox yesterday, our pentagon team did, that general qassem soleimani, the head of the iranian quds force

heavily sanctioned by u.n. security council sanctions son fined to iran he traveled to russia. and he was talking about s 300 missile systems and met with a lot of people including russian president vladimir putin. we're back with the panel for the friday lightning round. jonah, what about this story? >> i think it's a huge story. it's symbolically also judge huge because it jud miundermine entire idea the iranians can be trusted to play by the rules. they're not playing by the rules now. the idea they'll be playing by the rules down the road when we have so many more opportunities for mischief and cheating under this horrible deal, it should be a wake-up call to some of the democrats who are lining up in favor of it. >> speaking of that, kirsten, a loss of senator schumer, congressman engle. what do you think about the democrats and the vote counting on iran? >> well, based on people i've talked to they still feel confident they're going to have the votes. and the sense is that schumer is not going to be lobbying people to move him over to his side,

that this is just his view on this. it's not -- for some people it was unexpected, for other people it was completely expected. he's always been a hawk. to a certain extent the fact that he's doing it almost shows that the white house has the votes that they need. because he probably wouldn't necessarily be doing it if it wasn't the case. >> by the way, president obama was pressed on that statement that he said that the republicans were tied to hard liners essentially in iran. take a listen to this on cnn. >> the reason that mitch mcconnell and the rest of the folks in his caucus who oppose this jumped out and opposed it before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done. in that sense, they do have a lot in common with hard liners who are much more satisfied with the status quo. >> so i guess that now includes chuck schumer.

>> it does. and it shows how ridiculous it is to make it a republican-democratic issue. the only real partisans here are the democrats who know it's a terrible deal but don't want to cross the aisle and join republicans on this. but i think the soleimani story gives you one reason why it isn't a partisan issue. this is occurring while the debate is happening. this is occurring three days after the secretary of state states in congress that under american initiative, qassem soleimani will never be relieved of any sanctions. and here he is on the loose in russia. it undermines entirely the idea that the lifting of the arms embargo was five years away. they are negotiating arms deals today. everything the administration has said is shown to be naive or false. and that's the reason you are getting all this opposition. >> okay. winners and losers. winner first. jonah. >> my winner as i suggested earlier is carly fiorina. it's very rare especially in a forum like that you can be a

breakout figure and i think she was. and my loser is barack obama. in part for the reasons that charles referenced. i thought his speech on iran was one of the most repugnant, divisive and irresponsibly cynical things i've seen in a foreign policy speech in my lifetime. he unleashed incredibly bad demons in this country, and he will be remembered very negatively for it by historians. >> winners and losers, kirsten. >> my winner is rubio for being the breakout at the debate. and my loser is hillary clinton because of the rise of carly fiorina. not that i necessarily think she's going to be the nominee and beat her, but i think having a really articulate woman who's clearly not afraid to challenge hillary could end up being a real problem for her. >> winners and losers. >> winners the gop. it has the strongest field of candidates since at least 1980. but that was overshadowed and distracted from by all the attention to trump over the last month. the irony is trump is the one

who brought everybody into the circus to have a look last night, those huge numbers. what they saw was a strong, capable and confident republican party. loser jon stewart. it's a coincidence his last show was on the night of this fox debate. the results are in. fox 24 million people, stewart 3.5. i'd say this round goes to roger ale. >> that is it for the panel. but stay tuned for some of your friday feedback.

finally tonight, some friday feedback on the debates. primetime debate in particular from todd h. on twitter "my wife and i were looking forward to first debate but were appalled by the nature and direction of

your questioning." this from chad edward reed, jr. "if people were expecting the host to treat the candidates with softball questions then too bad." john on facebook "it was not a debate it was an ambush. trump 2016. from suzie smith "fox should be ashamed." sandra k. barnes "all three moderators need to leave fox news." dave morris "you guys did the best job and asked the fairest questions i have ever seen in a debate" sharon rust "i was disappointed in the attack questions. should have been on the issues only. sorry, bret, you all usually do a great job. just not this time. joe lombardo, bret i thaw you and kelly and wallace were terrific last night. 24 million of you watched last night. i'd say 45,000 of you decided to e-mail me. and many more on twitter and facebook. we are continuing to read those feedbacks. and we'll bring you some of them

along the way. thanks for the friday feedback. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight and every night. that's it for this "special report." fair, balanced, and panel. i'm megyn kelly, this is the kelly file. good night. tonight. >> our country is in serious trouble. we don't win anymore. >> reaction to the big gop debate. >> senator, you know, when you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air like this you can say things like that. >> who stood out and who could have done more? mark steyn is here with reaction. 2016 will be a fight. i'm a conservative. i can win this job, i can do this job. >> carly fiorina had a strong showing in the early debate. will this push her into the top ten? >> we need to secure the border. >> they don't want to enforce the immigration laws. >> immigration was front and center last