s. republican presidential frontrunner donald trump signs a pledge to endorse the eventual nominee and forego a third party run. why now? and does it change this republican race? this is "special report." >> good evening. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. republican party leaders are breathing a tentative sigh of relief tonight after getting donald trump's assurance that he will not run against the eventual nominee should it be someone other than him. the signing of that loyalty pledge, trump's announcement of that, and the news conference that followed, became a big afternoon tv event and another opportunity for the frontrunner

to tout how far in front he really is. chief political correspondent carl cameron has tonight's top story. >> reporter: donald trump signed the republican national committee loyalty pledge to not run as an independent or third party candidate and back whoever wins the gop nomination. >> i will be totally pledging my allegiance to the republican party and the conservative principles for which it stands. >> raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. >> reporter: only trump declined taking such a pledge during the fox debate last month. before today's announcement, trump met with the republican national committee chairman reince priebus. trump denied any deal in exchange for his pledge. he said he quote had no intention of changing his mind. >> i'm not controlled by lobbyists. i'm not controlled by anybody. i'm controlled by the people of the country in order to make our country great again. i see no circumstances under which i would tear up that pledge. >> reporter: a feistier jeb bush at a new hampshire town hall

this morning was already throwing elbows. >> there's one candidate in the republican party that is preying on people's angsts and fears. donald trump's view is that end is near. his pessimistic view is, let's close the borders. all based on negativity. >> reporter: bush came out swinging first thing this morning after trump complained last night about his speaking spanish on the trail. >> i think donald trump is trying to insult his way to the presidency and it's not going to work. he wants to tear us down. he doesn't believe in tolerance. he doesn't believe in the things that have created the greatness of this country. it's hurtful for a lot of people and mr. trump knows this. >> reporter: trump doubled down this afternoon. >> we're a nation that speaks english. and i think while we're in this nation we should be speaking english. that's how assimilation takes. and that's how -- i mean, whether people like it or not, that's how we assimilate. >> reporter: bush got an earful about illegal immigration from a voter. >> we're pissed off. right now there's an air of appeasement. >> reporter: bush dubs trump's plan to build a wall and have

mexico pay for it quote ludicrous and trashed trump's plan to deport the 11 million immigrants here illegally now. >> rounding people up, dividing families up, creating real chaos. it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to round people up and ship them off. >> reporter: the latest national monmouth poll shows that donald trump has crested 30%. ben carson's the only other candidate in double digits. and jeb bush has been dropped into the sicngle digit with the rest of the pack. and there are still months of political campaign battles ahead, bret. >> carl cameron in new hampshire. thank you. apparently taking one for team clinton has its limits. a form aide to hillary clinton is taking the fifth rather than testify about clinton's so-called home brew e-mail meanwhile one of clinton's most trusted confidantes has spent several hours in a closed door deposition on capitol hill today. chief white house correspondent ed henry is covering the clinton campaign tonight. >> reporter: the stakes were

just raised big time in hillary clinton's e-mail controversy as a former aide who set up her server has decided to plead the fifth to avoid subpoenas compelling him to testify to three different congressional committees, including the special house panel investigating benghazi. >> i know in the past a lot of people have invoked their fifth amendment privilege. you'll have to ask him why he did. you're free to glean whatever inference you want from the fact he did. >> reporter: former aide bryan pagliano worked on clinton's 2008 campaign, then became an i.t. specialist at the state department in 2009 and helped set up the server at the new york home of the secretary and former president bill clinton. an aide to senate judiciary chairman charles grassley, who is also seeking his testimony told fox "mr. pagliano's legal counsel told the committee tuesday he would plead the foift any and all questions if he were compelled to testify." the clinton camp insisted today they wanted pagliano to talk, and cited the cooperation of

other former aides like cheryl mills who today went behind closed doors to testify before the benghazi panel. clearly not really such a great day in clinton world. though her staff tried to keep a stiff upper lip. spokesman nick merrill declaring "she has made every effort to answer questions and be as helps if as possible, and has encouraged her aides, current and former, to do the same, including bryan pagliano." the top democrat of the panel rushed to clinton's defense claiming pagliano is only taking fifth because he did not want to be drawn into a political spectacle. even he admitted it would have been better for pagliano to talk. >> am i surprised that he has decided to take the fifth? no, i'm not surprised. am i disappointed? yes. because i would have loved to have heard what he had to say. >> reporter: and republicans note it's harder for clinton now to try politics when there's also a nonpartisan fbi investigation looming. >> this is the one guy that could put all of this to bed.

him pleading the fifth speaks volumes. >> reporter: clinton aides said today she's eager to testify to the benghazi panel in late october. though that also means the story may have legs as we edge closer and closer to these early caucuses and primaries, bret. >> ed, thank you. a russian ship comes what might be a little too close for comfort to a major american military installation. while china impresses and surprises during a muscle flexing in beijing. national security correspondent jennifer griffin is keeping track of all of it from the pentagon tonight. >> reporter: a 70-gun salute in tiananmen square to mark the end of the war with japan. a show of strength ahead of president xi's visit to the white house later this month as china demonstrates its military prowess 70 years after world war ii. 20,000 soldiers marched through beijing today. on display a cruise missile known as a carrier killer

capable of destroying an aircraft carrier at sea. and china's j 31 fighter jet, a near replica of the u.s. f 35, the most expensive weapons program in pentagon history. the chinese version, some say, engineered with stolen u.s. technology. then a surprising announcement by the chinese president. an admission that the chinese economy, like the u.s., requires defense budget cuts. >> translator: i announced that china will cut its number of troops by 300,000. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin watched from the stands. russia and china recently finished joint naval exercises in the sea of japan. >> their navys have been working together now for a couple of years. we've got to remember going back to 2003 and the crisis in the syrian civil war, chinese and russian vessels sore sorteed together in the meditteranean as a warning to the united states and nato. >> reporter: off the state of georgia, a russian spy ship

capable of cutting cables and tapping into other underwater sensors passed within 300 miles of the u.s. ballistic submarine base at kings bay, home to the u.s. navy's ohio class fleet whose boomers are capable of firing multiple warheads that can strike up to 240 cities at once. furthermore, those five chinese war ships that were seen? the bering sea while president obama was visiting alaska, they have since reversed course. we're told by pentagon officials, bret. >> and jenn, what about these new attacks by isis using chemical weapons? >> reporter: bret, new evidence tonight that isis has launched more attacks using mustard agents. in response the pentagon has ordered its 3500 troops in iraq to dust off their chemical suits and refamiliarize themselves with their protective equipment. isis has fired more shells at kurds, causing painful blisters and a rocket near the mosul dam which left a mysterious yellow cloud in the air, bret.

>> jennifer dwrgriffin at the pentagon. a county clerk in kentucky is ordered to jail over her refusal to grant same-sex marriage license. fox 8 in high point, north carolina where the fatal crash of a marine corps helicopter. it happened last night at camp lejeune. one marine was killed, 11 injured. fox 25 in boston as police in milles say an officer's story yesterday after being fired on before he crashed his cruiser was fabricated. the they say the 27-year-old part-time officer fired the shots into his own vehicle. he will be terminated from that force. this is a live look at chicago from our affiliate fox 32. the big story there tonight, that manhunt continues for three suspected cop killers. a woman who called police claimed to have seen two of the men. she was arrested after admitting she made the whole thing up. she said she wanted attention from a family for whom she works as a nanny. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back.

a county clerk from kentucky is about to spend her first night in jail. she arrived there after sticking to her beliefs about same-sex marriage. chief legal correspondent shannon bream is here with details. good evening, shannon. >> reporter: good evening, bret. just a short time ago kim davis refused a deal that would have allowed her to get out of jail, saying she would neither issue marriage licenses for same sex couples herself nor authorize deputies to issue them. the governor says he will not call legislators back into a special session in order to address this issue. saying her conscience and religious convictions would not allow her to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples, rowland county kentucky clerk kim davis found herself headed to jail.

federal judge dave dade bang said "i myself have genuinely held religious beliefs. i took an oath and oaths mean things. >> she's required to follow the law and grant those marriage licenses. >> reporter: davis, an elected democrat, cannot be fired. the kentucky legislature would have to impeach her. today d.c. democrats quickly backed judge banning's decision. >> the success of our democracy depends on the rule of law. and there's no public official that is above the rule of law. >> reporter: 2016 democratic frontrunner hillary clinton tweeted "marriage equality is the law of the land. officials should be held to their duty to uphold the law end of story." 2016 gop contenders were quick to weigh in as well. mike huckabee "who will be next? pastors? photographers? caterers? florists? this is a reckless, appalling, out of control decision. senator ted cruz asked, where is the call for president obama to resign for egg knowing and defying our immigration laws, our welfare reform laws and even his own obama care?

adding "when the president resigns "then we can talk about kim dave is. >> marriage has been redefined in america radically. now the question is, will the religious rights, will the free speech rights of government employees who don't agree with what the supreme court did, will they be accommodated? >> reporter: a short time ago, kr carly fiorina tweeted this "lois lerner goes on paid administrative leave from the irs but kentucky clerk kim davis goes to jail? the only deputy clerk who is refusing is kim davis's son. he will not be fined or jailed because the other deputy clerks will perform the function. but bret, kim davis will remain behind bars. >> shannon, thank you. stocks were mixed ahead of tomorrow's august jobs report. the dow gained 23 today. the s&p 500 was up 2. the nasdaq fell 16.5. almost 12,000 students are asking the federal government to erase their college loan debt.

the spike in what's called the borrower's defense follows the collapse of a for profit chain called corinthian colleges that had become the symbol of fraud in the world of higher education. also today, a report says a majority of students taking the sat college entrance exam are not ready for college-level work or career training programs. we're still waiting to go hear whether vice president joe biden is going to chase after the top job. biden was in florida today to push his boss's legacy iran nuclear deal. senior national correspondent john roberts is in davy, florida tonight with how those two things might converge. >> i was sort of the skeptic in the administration. >> reporter: vice president joe biden told skeptical jewish leaders in florida today he too had reservations about cutting a deal with iran. but in the end, he insists, it was the right thing to do. >> it will make us and israel safer. not weaker.

>> reporter: outside the center where biden was speaking, those assurances were roundly rejected. a group of jewish protesters, many of them democrats, warning iran can't be trusted. vowing to punish lawmakers who back the deal. >> next november we are going to remember who went with this deal and who went against the deal. and we the people will speak. >> reporter: that could mean problems for biden if he makes a third run for president. he hasn't tipped his hand yet, but biden's two-day swing through south florida sure had the feel of a campaign. and what he told students at miami-dade college about the importance of going back to school could have been a metaphor for his own thinking. >> people who aren't willing to risk failing never succeed. >> reporter: biden will decide in the next few weeks. he's not yet sure he has the heart to do it, still pretty banged up, he says, by lingering grief over his son bo's death. but people who came to hear him speak about education were all in for a biden run. >> given the choice between hillary clinton and joe biden

who would you go for? >> joe biden of course. >> i'd probably choose joe biden. if you were to have asked me two years ago i think i would have chosen hillary. >> just doesn't come across as likable. >> reporter: biden would likely face long odds. he'd have to wrestle the party machine back from hillary clinton and convince voters he won't flame out like he did twice before. >> do you think joe biden has a chance against hillary clinton? >> i think hillary clinton has the edge in popularity. so everybody wants that first woman president. >> reporter: it's unclear what biden's path to victory might be. somewhere between bernie sanders on the left and hillary clinton in the middle. doesn't leave a whole lot of space at the moment. if clinton begins to falter because of the e-mail scandal the vice president could suddenly find himself with a whole lot of running room. bret? >> john roberts live in florida tonight. thank you. in boston tonight, patriots fans are celebrating tom brady's victory over the nfl in the deflategate ruling. a federal judge struck down the league's four-game suspension of

the star quarterback, saying commissioner roger goodell had dispensed his own brand of industrial justice. goodell says the nfl will appeal. still ahead, the journalistic conscience of pbs is ripping one of its main news anchors for what he calls an inexcusable self-inflicted wound. first it is the picture that is breaking hearts around the world. and focusing new attention on europe's migrant crisis. ooñóokñ.??????ó

the crisis in hungary over migrants trying to head further west is growing more desperate tonight. it comes as the struggle of hundreds of thousands to escape violence is symbolized by a single heart-breaking picture.

here's senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palka. >> reporter: it's an image that shocked the world. a 3-year-old toddler found dead on a beach in turkey. his father and mother also killed drowned trying to reach greece. newspapers told the family including the surviving father fleeing fighting from syria. >> is anybody with a sense of humanity that could not be moved by what i saw today? i see the body of a young boy watched up on a beach like drift wood. >> reporter: migrants from syria and other hot spots, asia and africa are on the move to europe. some 340,000 this year alone. hungary is a crucial transit point to richer european countries, especially germany. several thousand migrants camped around the budapest train statio station. >> [ inaudible ].

>> reporter: this morning, officials opened the station's doors and refugees jammed into trains aiming to reach the border with austria. instead the train stopped well short. one upset man grabbed his family and went down on the tracks. police took them away. the migrants heard they were to be taken to a refugee camp. that set off another clash. the crowd refusing to leave the trains. some of the tactics that hungary has been using, including a 100-mile-long barbed wire border fence. >> the moral is to make clear, please don't come. why you have to go from turkey to europe? turkey is a safe country. stay there. it's risky to come. >> reporter: hungary even blamed germany for attracting refugees. meetings of european leaders in the coming days will try to coordinate a so-far ragged e.u. response >> translator: what we have done today no longer suffices. there are countries who are snot knot responding to their moral obligations. we have to go further. >> reporter: as for america, in

the last year the u.s. has taken in just over 1,000 syrian refugees. voices on capitol hill and elsewhere are calling for the administration to do more as well. bret? >> greg palkot in london, thank you. guatemala's congress has accepted the resignation of president otto perez molina who was in court today hearing charges he was one of the leaders of a customs fraud ring. a spokesman says president molina submitted his resignation last night after a judge issued an order to detain him. the white house reacted today. >> we commend the people of guatemala and their institutions for the manner in which they have dealt with this crisis and continue to underscore our support for guatemala's democratic and constitutional institutions. >> perez molina maintains his innocence. no grapevine tonight. when we come back, almost 1 million pending health care requests from veterans. and no way to figure out what to do with them.

the nightmares continue for the v.a. and america's veterans. correspondent kevin corke at the white house tonight tells us about the latest horror stories, almost 1 million of them.

>> reporter: the veterans administration once again on the receiving end of a scathing report, detailing stunning mismanagement. in its assessment the v.a.'s inspector general found that more than 300,000 dead veterans were still listed on v.a. computers as actively seeking care. part of a massive backlog. the i.g. said v.a. workers appear to have deleted 10,000 benefit applications without even processing them, and that 13% had been waiting for treatment for more than five years. in one case, the i.g. cited a veteran who had been placed on pending status for 14 years. the v.a. is still delivering health care and other benefits in the same way that they were a year and a half ago. and they haven't made any real fundamental reforms to fix those problems. >> reporter: this latest v.a. controversy also raises questions about the president's promise to fix the problem. despite a change in leadership, a listening tour and hiring more workers, critics say very little has changed. >> president obama owns the

problems of the v.a. 100%. congress has given him and the v.a. secretary everything they have asked for to fix these problems. >> the president is not going to be satisfied at all until every single veteran in the country is getting access to the benefits and health care they deserve. >> reporter: the issue's become a hot topic on the 2016 campaign trail. >> today the wait lists continue to grow for veterans. >> the waits now are the longest in history. and that's the way we're treating our greatest people. and it's not right. >> i will focus the pressure of the citizenry of this nation on the political class to do what must be done. >> reporter: v.a. officials tell us tonight they're aware of the problem. but critics argued that comes too little and too late for too many. bret? >> kevin corke on the north lawn, thank you. the man who was supposed to be the ethical and journalistic conscience for pbs is slamming one of its top news anchors tonight. fox news media analyst and host

of fox's media buzz house kertz fills us in. >> reporter: the pbs network's ombudsman has taken issue with glen ifell. she was tapped to moderate two vice president yal debates. she covered the story when benjamin netanyahu came to washington to oppose the emerging iran nuclear deal. >> for 39 minutes today, the prime minister of israel held forth before congress attacking a potential nuclear accord with iran. the highly controversial speech was boycotted by some, praised by others, and challenged by the man at the other end of pennsylvania avenue. >> when the president clinched enough senate democratic support yesterday to save the deal, ifell seemed to echo the administration line on twitter. with the iran deal, iran's program is significantly less dangerous. this is what that famous drawing looks like now.

a version of a netanyahu time bar chart sent out by the state department. ifell's most damaging words "take that, bebe. ombudsman michael getler writes "to personalize it is inexcusable for an experienced journalist who is the coanchor of a nightly news anchor watched by millions." she should have tweeted she was -- was trying to underwrite the white house's own tone and remains an unbiased observer. with many journalists having endangered their jobs on twitter this remains as the ombudsman put it a self-inflicted wound. donald trump says he will not run as an independent if he does not get the republican presidential nomination. does that pledge change this race? we'll ask a special expanded panel, easten, lane, human and kr

raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. mr. trump. >> i cannot say i have to respect the person that if it's not me, the person that wins. and i am discussing it with everybody. but i'm talking about a lot of leverage. we want to win. and we will win. >> the rnc has been absolutely terrific over the last two-month period. and as you know, that's what i've wanted. i've wanted fairness. the best way for the republicans to win is if i win the nomination and go directly against whoever they happen to put up. and for that reason, i have signed the pledge. >> donald trump today almost a month after that debate answer has signed this loyalty pledge, pledging to remain in the republican party and not to run against a possible other

republican nominee if he's not that person. let's bring in a special expanded panel. fox news senior political analyst brit hume, syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. >> when you posed the question you got a lot of criticism later from trump supporters and trump himself thought was somehow unfair, illegitimate to ask that question. i think what we saw today was retroactive vindication, not only of the legitimacy of your question but its importance. we had a whole day devoted to this. and i think you asked the right question at the right time and now we have a different answer. >> well, it was a day about this. and isn't that something? like it became this event. and it became this news conference that that is his strength. it's in his wheel house to answer all these questions and become the moment. >> and that's why he does have

the potential to defy history. because this was a moment of victory i have to say for the rnc, which was flummoxed from the outset on how to deal with this force of nature. now he will be within the ranks of the party. and you have to wonder how many people within the rnc are silently betting that he won't win. they're betting based on historical trends like the fact that polls in this period in 2008 showed rudy giuliani ahead up by 30. we've seen in the past outliers like a mike huckabee or buchanan not go very far, top out. people are betting that's what's going to happen here. but here's the flip side of that pledge. if he does defy history, and if he does get the nomination, the other candidates are bound to support him now. >> right. and they did do that by not raising their hands on the debate night. today by all accounts all the other candidates have signed

this pledge. chris christie did it on our air. >> i already said on august 6th, i'm going to support the republican nominee for president, whoever that is. whether it's myself or whether it's one of the other 16 folks who are don't need reince priebus to come and meet with me before deciding whether to do this or not. so there you go. september 3rd, '15. i'm in i signed. >> mr. trump told me yesterday he supports you over hillary clinton if you get the nomination. would you support him? >> yeah, i would, of course. of course i would. we need to be unified. we need to win. >> jeb bush did tweet out also after this whole big thing about the pledge, voted republican since 1972 in a handwritten note on twitter. chuck. >> i got to say, not so found an overly skeptical note here, i don't know if this is a binding legal document like what's the legal status of this thing and whether it's even worth the paper it's printed on. but it is, yeah, okay.

i guess you could say it's a victory for the rnc by keeping him on sides at least for the time being. but it's a little bit of a defeat, too. remember the autopsy after 2012 and how we have to change the tone of the republican party and reach out to latino voters, et cetera. now trump has forced them to embrace him. even jeb bush going around the country in spanish talking about what a phony conservative trump is now being put on the spot and made to endorse him against h l hillary. we'll see how it plays out but i think this is a two-way street. >> i happened to think watching the decision if he did agree to sign the pledge instead of once again putting his thumb in the eye of the republican party as he has repeatedly done not only to the party but to many of its candidates it would not go down well with his supporters. boy, was i wrong. i've heard from a lot of them today. one has the distinct impression that they were going to be with him no matter which way it

winter. and they didn't even like somebody raising the question. so i think this does not do him any harm, that he goes along with what the party bosses wanted. and my guess is that the trump machine goes on. i will say this. >> there's a candidate that is unlike any we've seen. >> unlike any i've ever seen. i was on up in maine for the month of august. and i swore off television. then i had it on a couple of nights where trump was giving news conferences or making a speech. i thought well i'll watch a little of this. i was transfixed. you can't take your eyes off the guy. he is the most entertaining political candidate by far i've ever seen. and again today i heard him say the words he's going to sign the pledge. i thought that takes care of that story. i sat down in my office and it was on the tv. next thing you know i was watching. i couldn't take my eyes off the guy. he is absolutely fascinating. now, whether this will translate over the long haul or as nina suggests he will fade, i don't know. but for the moment he's the most

interesting thing around. >> what precipitated this, though, also was south carolina. because he had to say that he would run in the republican party to be on that ballot. and that's the mainstay. but other states are considering it. chuck, you mentioned this back and forth about speaking spanish. take a listen to this. >> well, i think that when you get right down to it, we're a nation that speaks english. and i think while we're in this nation we should be speaking english. that's how assimilation takes. >> the fact that he would say you only can speak english is kind of ridiculous if you think about it. are we going to close all the foreign language classes? this is a diverse country. we should celebrate that diversity and embrace a set of shared values. and mr. trump doesn't believe in those shared values. >> look, i admire the fact that jeb bush is multilingual. i admire the fact that so many people are multilingual. and i also think that english is the official language of the united states. >> charles. >> look, i think i support the idea of official english.

i have supported it for a long time. we ought to have one official language. but that's a step. and obviously that's a key to assimilation. but that's a separate issue as to when you're in a press conference and somebody who is spanish speaking addresses you in spanish, whether you ought to have the graciousness to answer them in their own language if you're capable of it. as jeb was. to me it's a question of etiquette and sort of being civil with somebody rather than the big principal. if you care about assimilation then propose and pass a law that makes english the official language of the united states. which i support entirely. >> nina, quick look at these polls game out today. monmouth national poll, trump again up, up to 30%. double-digit lead. and you do with these head to heads, trump versus bush, trump is at 56 to 37. and then trump versus cruz, 48 to 41. but here's the interesting thing. donald trump versus ben carson,

he loses. 55% to 36%. and carson has seen a move in these polls. >> a cry for civility, i guess. people wanted ben carson. ben carson i think is incredibly popular with an evangelical audience. we're seeing now these are very important voters in the primaries. so i think that's what you're going to see. it's important again with these early polls to take them with some skepticism. again, rudy giuliani was at 30%. fred thompson was at 15%. and john mccain again back in the late 2007 was at a distant fourth. he ended up being the nominee in 2008. so again, is trump somebody who defies political history? i mean, the way he's able to define people like jeb bush by saying he's low energy, sort of nasty comments that define people so brilliantly in a way because that's what people have

been saying about jeb bush is a smart politician, too. >> here's what he said about ben carson at "the daily caller" a very difficult situation he'd be placed in he's really a friend of mine. i think it's a difficult situation that he puts himself into to have a doctor who wasn't creating jobs and would have a nurse or maybe two nurses. this is donald trump on ben carson. >> well, that's a new line of attack. too few nurses in your operating room, and how many jobs are created by a brain operation. i had not heard that line before. but i will say this. what trump and carson have in common is they're outsiders, they're not part of -- heck, who knew they were even part of the party a few years ago, let alone candidates. and there's a huge appetite on the republican side and on the democratic side with bernie sanders for people not only not establishment, not even closely attached to the party too. >> add fiorina and cruz who i think has been such a problem for the republican leadership in congress, that he can

legitimately be seen and is seen as an outsider. you add up the four percentages for each of them you get to a very big number with people at this stage, this summer, craving a candidate from outside the normal political system. >> you've got to admire trump's creativity. who could have imagined that you could find a line of attack on this sort of saintly surgeon by saying that in separating siamese twins he wasn't hiring enough people. next

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has decided to take the fifth? no, i'm not surprised, am i disappointed? , yes. >> i know in the past a lot of people have invoked their fifth amendment privilege but you have to ask him what did. why is it that you would not encourage him to actually answer their questions? >> well, because, a, it's his constitutional right. and, b, has his own lawyer and his own counsel. >> he works in this building right now. not for -- in some annex. >> we were not aware or consulted about this decision. >> well, former clinton aid brian who worked with the clintons in the 2008 campaign, then became an it specialist at the state department in 2009. he helped set up the server at the new york home of secretary clinton and the former president. he is pleading the 5th. taking the 5th to three congressional committees saying he doesn't want to self-incriminate. what about this and how it fits into this bigger picture? we're back with the panel.

brit? >> certainly goes to the question of whether anything illegal was happening here. if he thinks and his lawyer thinks that he might make himself vulnerable to criminal charges by merely testifying, that certainly raises that question. now, look, as a practical political matter, taking the fifth has been shown to work very effectively against contemporary congressional investigations, exhibit a being the case of lois lerner who so far as i can tell has suffered no consequences as a result of that. nor has she been under the thumb of any apparently serious criminal investigation. >> but her former boss was also not running for president at the time. >> yeah, that's true. i think, i think it's a telling moment and it tends as so many things have lately to keep this story alive. >> chuck? >> what i'm pustled by is why the committee junt doesn't offer him blank blank immunity and compel his testimony. i'm seriously wondering what's appreciating him from doing that he is not the mastermind. whatever plot there was, he is not the mastermind of it. he is the guy who installed the thing and he has a lot

of relevant information. that's what they should be interested in. i'm surprised they are allowing themselves to be thwarted by. this especially given that hillary clinton and all her aides claim and elijah cummings claimed they want him to talk. >> i think it's smart legal advice on the part of his lawyer. if you look back to the 90's and all the collateral damage that happened to people in the clintonor bit during investigations, dating back to the macdougalls and white water, and you look at what's happened to people not just in clinton investigations and others, it's a quick hot, skip, and a jump to it a bad memory to being indicted for impeding an investigation. >> sure. but the clinton campaign, charles, has said and insisted that they encouraged everybody to talk to these congressional committees, including brian pagaliono. >> that's what they say but you don't know where the one eye was winking when they were telling him that if you go through the logic, you ask yourself why would the guy take the fifth?

what's he afraid of? he is just an it guy. he could hardly be prosecuted for having set up a server on behalf of the high administration official. so what's he afraid of? i think it has to be contradictory testimony, perjury. for example, if you ask him what were you told? what did the secretary say she wanted? did she give you a reason? what was hidden in here that we don't know? all of these things he would rather not have to say because you can be sure they will be contradictory testimony. i agree with you that he should be given immunity. but i think the reason it's not happening now is they want to have all the ducks lined up so they will know from other testimony what to ask him. i think it's a good thing to wait and then you give him um mount and you get the story. >> cheryl mills, former chief of staff up on the hill testifying closed door sessions today. i do want to play one sound bite from brian fallon, spokesperson for the clinton campaign. asked about why the deleted emails. >> why didn't she keep them on the server?

>> i don't know what the relevant -- the pertinence of that would have been. the justice department, in addition to having the electronic form of the pdf's that was provided to the state department. they also now have the server. i don't know what the fbi is going to do with it. but they may very well. >>, the wiped server. >> any type of operation. >> the wiped server, right, brian? >> i don't know what wiped means. >> wow. i mean, chris? quickly? >> every day it seems there is an explanation from the clinton camp that makes even less sense than the last one. that is an absurd statement by that guy. and hillary's whole defense lately has been that, you know, the documents are marked classified as if her emails, as if to be somebody sitting over her shoulder with a stamp every time she sent out an email stamping it classified. information -- secret information is not classified because it's marked. it's marked because it's classified. and the issue is the information and the quality of it. and these explanations simply are absurd.

>> i don't know what wiped means. that's it for the panel. but stay tuned for a moment so nice we had to share it twice. we're at least trying to.

finally last night we told you how singer rachel platton surprised one cancer patient for a bedside deuteronomy. there were technical difficulties when we tried to air that video. we will try again. 7-year-old jeremiah fighting cancer with rachel platton.

it's about jeremiah's fight song ♪ it's been my fight song ♪ ♪ i'll be strong ♪ be my fight song ♪ and i don't really care if nobody else believes ♪ i got a lot of fight in me. >> keep fighting, jeremiah. we had to try again. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and >> good morning. it is friday the 4th. this is a fox news alert. were they caught on camera? there's a brand new clue in the search for three cop killers still on the run.

all hope may not be lost in finding those men. >> that kentucky county clerk waking up in jail for refusing to compromise her beliefs. >> she has been ordered to stay there until she changes her mind and changes her conscience. this is unprecedented. >> hitting the roads this labor day weekend you better put down your phones. brand new ways cops are trying to catch you texting behind the wheel. "fox & friends first" starts right now. >> good morning. you are watching "fox & friends first" on this friday morning. it is labor day weekend. i am lia gabriel, oo. >> i am heather nauert. >> the shirtless gunman who opened fire at a california college campus overnight. one person is dead and two

others hurt. at least two are students. it is not clear which one. the gun meyer exploding near the buys ball fields of sacramento college after some sort of argument. i was shirtless and wearing cargo shorts. it is unbleer if he has ties to the pool. classes will be in session today. a crucial through. residents in the area where lieutenant blen wigliniewicz wad down. that video will be turned over to homeland security for help. >> i am told by the homeowner or by the party that handed us the video that is supposed to be high definition. we have high hopes. >> police say they have recovered the gun