today is election day in several states. more than 300 cities have mayoral races including houston, fill l.a. and san francisco. kentucky will elect a governor in a race that's become a referendum on obamacare. two michigan lawmakers booted from office over a sex scandal and cover-up are trying to get their jobs back and marijuana is a hot topic. voters in colorado will decide what to do with all the extra tax revenue from pot sales and ohio could make history with its marijuana vote.

correspondent matt finn tells us how tonight. >> it's the first time a state is voting through a constitutional amendment on both recreational and medicinal pot on the same day. the movement in ohio has shifted from a grassroots battle over principle, into a corporate grab for dibs on the right to harvest pot. even attracting celebrity investors like nick lachey. >> ohio is my home and i care very deeply about the people here. >> lachey will own one of the state's ten pot farms that will exclusively produce the supply for all of ohio's proposed 1100 dispensaries. but a second initiative on the ballot challenge those farms as a monopoly. pro pot advocates argue legalization will keep the money in the state. and make the supply cleaner. >> we require that there be regulation on whatever is grown. that there testing of it so the consumers know what they're consuming. if you're patient you know what's in that marijuana. >> opponents say it will increase dang anywhere daily life. people driving while high and employers facing the liability

of impaired workers. >> as an employer in ohio, this goes into place, you're going to have to drug test your employees before they come to work, after they've gone to lunch, after they take a smoke break. >> political critics argue that the pot campaign is an opportunity to pick up the support of pot-smoking millennials. the marijuana mascot has cruised college campuses, include encouraging students to register to vote. ohio governor and republican hopeful john kasich says legalizing weed tells children it's okay to light up. >> i'm totally opposed to this. >> if legalized the ohio marijuana industry is expected to generate up to $100 million a year. brett? >> another big ballot issue is in houston. it involves law that can be seen as a major step forward for inclusion.

or a major step backwards for religious freedom. depending on your point of view. chief legal correspondent shannon bream has the specifics. >> a yes vote on proposition 1, is a vote for treating everyone in houston fairly and equally under the law. >> it's a fight so contentious supporters called in oscar winning actress sally field to help make their case, after a heated bat that will went all the way to the texas supreme court, including subpoenas ordering pastors to turn over their sermons, the so-called hero ordinance or prop 1 goes to a vote in houston today. the houston equal rights ordinance prevents discrimination based on more than a dozen categories, including sexual orientation and gender identity. for instance, businesses must allow individuals to use whichever rest room they choose regardless of their physical gender or characteristics. at the risk of criminal penalties and fines of up to $5,000. >> the bill is not about equality, it's about government coercion of people who don't share the government's world

view on sexuality. >> ryan anderson, author of truth overruled, the future of marriage and religious freedom is among critics who say while the ordinance appears to have noble goals, how it plays out in reality should concern people of faith. >> other states and cities that have created this sort of ordinance have used the law to penalize catholic charity adoption agencies, they've penalized christian bakers, florists, photographers, simply for wanting to be free from government coercion, for wanting to run their charity or business in accordance with their values. >> prop 1 supporters have mobilized progressive religious leaders within the community. >> hero serves as a local tool to insure that all houstonians will enjoy protection from discrimination. >> hoping to minimize the influence from houston's megachurches, whose pastors have been urging their parishioners to oppose the measure. >> a coalition is trying to rally support including apple

and united airlines. 2016 democratic front-runner, hillary clinton has tweeted in support of prop 1, gop contender mike huckabee has led opposition to it. still ahead, is the keystone xl pipeline dead? the manufacturer appears to throw in the towel at least for now. first, it was not a missile. but it might have been a bomb. pentagon take on the crash of the russian passenger jet.

pentagon officials say the russian plane that crashed into the egyptian desert saturday was not shot down. but there was an explosion. which means terrorism is still on the table in the investigation. correspondent conner powell updates that investigation and

the grieving from our middle east news room tonight. >> the remains of some of the 224 victims of saturday's deadly plane crash were returned to russia today. as family and friends gathered in st. petersburg, to pay tribute to those lost. >> translator: we won't be able to replace those who died, unfortunately. but we can help every family, every relative. this is our direct responsibility. >> four days after the russian metro jet plane crashed in egypt's sinai desert, there were more questions than answers. airline officials publicly ruled out human error or a mechanical failure. instead blaming an external impact and hinting that terrorism was the likely cause of the crash. but pentagon officials tell fox news while there was a sudden and unexpected heat flash at the time of the crash, there is no evidence of a surface-to-air missile being fired towards the plane. and during an interview with the british columbia:00, egistian

president al sisi downplayed terrorism as a cause saying quote when there's propaganda that it crashed because of isis, this is one way to damage the stability and security of egypt and the image of egypt. believe me the situation in sinai, especially this limited area is under our full control. as investigators sift through the debris and examine the flight's black boxes, no one is ruling out terrorism as a cause. an on-board bomb is still a possibility. but so, too, is a mechanical malfunction. russia's airline industry has long had a spotty safety record and the airbus a-321 suffered structural damage 14 years ago during a hard landing, which, if not properly repaired, could have caused the plane to break up in mid air. with so many unanswered questions, the u.s. embassy in cairo today ordered its employees to avoid egypt's sinai deny earth until further notice. >> russia and egyptian officials

said the investigation could take months, meaning a clear answer to the cause of the crash is unlikely any time soon. brett? >> thank you. volkswagen says it will cooperate with an epa investigation into new charges this it installed software on some of its larger diesel engines to cheat on emissions test. the accusations are the first to involve the company's prestigious porsche brand and its audi vehicles. vw denies that the software on the six-cylinder cars was intended to bypass emission regulations. on wall street, the dow gained 89, the nasdaq finished ahead 18. robin hood and william tell would be appalled. a boy with an imaginary bow and arrow gets a very real suspension from school. next in the grapevine.

it's been said that a camel is a horse designed by a committee. and committees are flourishing under the obama administration. costing billions of dollars. for fiscal year 2014, the congressional research service says 825 federal advisory committees were active. with almost 70,000 members serving on them. the pricetag? $334 million. since 2009, the total cost of

committees is more than $2 billion. the department of health and human services operated most groups with 264. besides being expensive, the meetings have become less transparent, with 71% held behind closed doors. the highest percentage since 2004. zero tolerance policy in school, strikes again. media reports say a cincinnati first grader was suspended for pretending to shoot an imaginary bow and arrow at recess. pretending. in a letter, sent home, the principal explained quote, i have no tolerance for any real, pretend or imitated violence. the 6-year-old's mother admits she had trouble explaining the three-day suspension to her son. quote i can't stop him from pretending to be a superhero. i can't stop him from playing ninja turtles. i can't stop him from doing these things. and i don't think it would be healthy to do so. finally from grade school

zero tolerance to political correctness in college. the university of nebraska at lincoln has launched a think before you speak inclusive language campaign. two terms that should not be used, man-up. which the campaign says reinforces masculine stereotypes that are unhealthy for everyone. and crazy. which quote minimizes human emotions and those affected by mental illness. the university insists the campaign is not about censorship, but boosting awareness and starting conversations about language. the people behind the keystone xl pipeline are for a while putting the project out of its misery. kevin corke is at the white house to tell us about an unusual request from north of the border. >> for a white house accused by critics of slow-walking the project from the beginning, news that the company behind the

project, transcanada has written to secretary of state john kerry asking for a delay in the department years-long review seemed remarkable and unnecessary. >> i don't have an update for you in terms of where the state department is in the process, but given how long it's taken, it's it seems unusual to me to suggest that somehow it should be paused yet again. >> for seven years, the fate of the project has languished behind a shrouded, multiagency process amid debates over climate change, energy security and safety. critics say the project would require too much energy, increase greenhouse gas emissions and threaten water safety. backers say it's far safer than transporting oil by train. would drive down energy costs and create much-needed jobs. >> it's about jobs, it's about millions of dollars of tax revenues that will help fund our too muchers, our schools and infrastructure this is a devastating hit in an area that can least stand it.

>> this as gasoline prices have trapped dramatically in the past year and a half. falling $2.20 a gallon. the president has expressed reservations about the project and leading democratic candidate hillary clinton says hee opposes the pipeline. activists opposed to the pipeline took to the internet to hail transcanada's decision as a victory. but lawmakers on capitol hill said in this instance a delay doesn't necessarily mean a defeat. >> i think the fear right now is that the president was getting ready to oppose it and put a final close-down on it and this just keeps it alive. >> transcanada may be banking on better success with the next occupant of the white house, especially if it's a republican as each of the gop presidential candidates has expressed support for the deal. brett? >> kevin corke on the north lawn, thank you. veterans affairs officials subpoenaed to appear before the

house veterans affairs committee invoked their fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, 16 times in a hearing yesterday. dana rubens and kimberly graves are suspected of abusing the va's relocation program to scam hundreds of thousands of dollars. >> their relocation expenses were exorbitantly more than even the highest ranking military officials received when they and their families are ordered to move. >> the two women were dismissed from the hearing after they refused to testify. hillary clinton moves left and bumps bernie sanders out of the lead in one key primary state. we'll look at the democratic presidential race and a new poll that shows her head to head with a top republican, all of that when we come back.

i think we should not risk the potential catastrophes that

could come about from accidents in looking for more oil in a pristine, one of the few remaining pristine regions of the world. i'm going after any financial institution that poses a risk to the well-being and the prosperity of america and america's middle class. we need to close the loopholes. and support universal background checks. how many people have to die before we actually act? >> hillary clinton out on the campaign trail, moving left on a number of issues. compared to her main competitor, bernie sanders. new polls out in new hampshire, she retakes the lead, even slightly in the latest monmouth new hampshire poll in the democratic race, you can see the changes. nbc/"wall street journal" poll, a national poll, she has a huge lead on the overall numbers. 62%. you look at the internals, some of the questions, her

favorability. upside-down. 47 to 40%. the question honest and straightforward, a good rating, 27%, poor rating, 53% and here's the pollster, the democratic pollster, fred yang, who said hillary clinton is unique among the field of 2016 candidates, everyone has an opinion and the opinions are pretty hardened. the voters admire her for her knowledge and experience, while their doubts center around integrity, likeability and being an agent for change. with that let's bring in our panel. syndicated columnist george will, ron fournier and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. george? >> hillary clinton has a problem, the energy in the democratic party son the left, particularly in the portion of the democratic party that nominates candidates. and they like what sanders says, sanders says, we want a whole lot more of everything the government does. her position is, we want a little bit less than a whole lot

more of what the government does and that doesn't galvanize people. she has an opening on gun control. because kim straso is no stranger to fox viewers says his natural constituency is socialist opposed to gun control. but probably about 84 of them in the country. that's his position. he says he's from a rufl state, people like their guns, she says the second amendment is a loophole and she has a way of finally getting to his left. >> the fact that she has to go left tells you a little something, ron, about the state of the campaign. considering the fact that largely inside and outside the campaign people said, well she had the best ten days of the whole thing. >> well it tells butt state of our politics, you have the democrats, especially bernie sanders lumping to the left. taking the whole party left and you have the republican field being driven to the right on issues like immigration and gay rights and even abortion issues that are going to be hard for them in the general election. she's got other problems, she's flip-flopping the gun issue. her tone is much different than

it was in 2008. that gets to her central problem, which is credibility. interesting thing about the poll today, it shows that voters are much less likely to see the benghazi or the email scandal as something upon which they will vote. even when you boil away those issues, people don't trust her. it's always going to be a problem with everything involving her. people don't trust her and it's hard to vote for somebody you don't trust. >> these numbers are almost exact i the same as they were before the debate. before the benghazi testimony. before joe biden got out of the race. >> even when the media and a lot of voters are turning away from those two issues, they still don't trust her. that's the fundamental flaw in her candidacy. >> charles? >> she's still up by 30 points. the nomination is in her pocket. i think she simply wants to run left, she makes it by acclamation, she wants it to be a coronation. the reason she's able to

undertake that. she looks at the republican side, who should have spent the last five months attacking the seven years of democratic governance and attacking her and her record, but instead have been lobbing insults at each other and are spending a week gloating about their triumph over cnbc when they should have quit while they're ahead and come back to what the country wants to hear. what they're going to do. the degree to which the republicans, 16 candidates have ignored the real opposition, meaning the democrats, obama and hillary, is simply astonishing. that's allowed her to go to the left. because she knows there's been no damage done from ammunition from the other side. >> but does she have to go to the left to get this nomination? you're saying this lead is humungous. she's going to have to come to the center if she gets the nomination to try to get to independence. but she obviously feels like she's vulnerable on the left. she's either greedy for the

complete control of the delegates at the convention. perhaps. maybe she thinks there's stuff lurking out there that will come out of the fbi that might give her a setback. i think she wants, she's not taking anything for granted. she has an opponent who is weak intrinsically. can never really beat her unless something happens. she wants to make it impregna impregnable. >> there are fewer and fewer people in the middle who actually vote. i think she's looking beyond the nomination, which i agree, she pretty much has wrapped up. she's howky make sure my people will vote. >> given what charles is right, she's going to be nominated. let me propose a novel thought as to why she's saying this. she believes it. >> no! >> what if she's a person of the

left? she's been in the public eye now for a quarter of a century. there are very few undecided people out there. she's probably not going to move many people out of her way, maybe she's just going to say what she thinks. >> i'm willing to entertain almost any crazy theory. but that one is beyond the pale. i don't think she, she's a person of the left the way her husband was, the way obama is. but that she has any principles that she will stick to? look what she did on keystone. what she has done on the war. she will change as is required. >> universal background checks, ban on domestic abusers, repealing illegal protections of manufacturers. those aren't exactly extreme measures, those are in the mainstream of america right now. >> let's get to another part of the poll, "wall street journa / journal"/nbc poll. this is ben carson, the only person in the republican field who ties her in this poll.

trump is down eight points, rubio down three. take a look at ben carson with independents. versus hillary clinton. 47%, 34%. i think there are a lot of people, george, who are saying wow. this ben carson thing. >> i think they are, also there's a way of polling where you put well-known person against a fictitious name and you wind, you find the base vote against that person. and not to disparage ben carson. that's part of it here. is carson is a place holder for anybody but hillary and that's the anybody but hillary vote. >> she's winning against rubio. she's winning against bush. she's winning against trump. she's not winning against cars and she's losing big against independents. >> i think a lot of this is he's a relatively unknown figure to people outside the republican party. he's obviously an outsider and he's not hillary clinton. he's getting a lot of the

anti-hillary vote. it's not just republicans looking for an alternative to the status quo. >> i don't know how long that lasts. >> he's not a fictitious name. he's been out there for six months. he's leading in the latest republican polls. there's something about him. i think it's the anti-establi proposition. in somebody's who unlike trump, the who is the other alternative, looks benign and kind of sweet and you can't not like him. it's a hell of a way to pick a president. but in other words i have no explain. next up, is russia reversing course? and is the coalition against isis falling apart?

many will look and say you have broken your promise about boots on the ground. have you? >> well, keep in mind that we have run special ops already. and really this is just an extension of what we were continuing to do. we are not putting u.s. troops on the front lines fighting fire fights with isil. but i have been consistent throughout that we are not going to be fighting like we did in iraq with a battalions and occupations. that doesn't solve the problem. >> president obama on the special ops troops heading into syria. as the president said, we have been on the ground for quite some time and now he is making that covert operation public for taking credit for doing something on the ground.

meantime, the "new york times" had a story about the coalition falling apart. the arab alliance. and beyond the logistical tack factors the alliance faces a more serious challenge in the long term though it's intended to begin clawing back territory in the arab state in islamic state. it is a complex situation. we're back with the panel. charles? >> well, the president likes to tell us, several hundred times, that what he is not doing. is he not launching another iraq war. yes, we know, mr. president, you are against the iraq war. but it's now more than a decade later and it's seven years into your

administration. you have done nothing. what he is he talking about and what you have mentioned give appearance motion. make it look as if something is happening so at least he can say, can issue statements. it has done nothing on the ground. the russians and iranians and hezbollah have shown how you change the status of forces. the balance of balances on the ground by doing something. they are right. that a civil war generally isn't ended by military means. although i would give you the example of appearatics that was a pretty definitive ending. when you want to end a war yes it will be diplomatic ending the way it's ended, who wins, who loses, depend on where the forces are on the ground. the russians and iranians have shown they will do something. obama shown over and over again 50 special ops in this vast kurdish area everybody knows it's a joke. they have been attacking our

kurdish allies which is why we can't do a fly zone. >> we have been operating a special forces base out of iraq for quite some time. but the russians, it does not appear that they are moving the needle on the ground which is leading some to say they may be quick leaving assad on the side. saying we may go forward without assad. >> assad has got to be sweating bullets right now, don't you think. >> it's complicated sort is of decision the president has to make. a lot of americans are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. they demand that he should be clear and honest and consistent. the president of the united states said i will not put troops on the ground in syria. that is clear, that is sweeping. we had grounds on the troop in syria. when he asked did you break your promise the only answer is yes. it's not to wiggle away and spin it around some more. it's the dishonesty of this

that gets me. >> about three weeks ago the president sent a letter to congress saying he is send ising a problems approximately 90 troops to kamaroon to fight boca are a hand. he said these forces are equipped with weapons, that's a start, for the purpose of providing their own force protection and security. it is really hilarious to watch the semantic summer sawlts. they will not be on the front lines as though there are lines like trench in world war i. it's a fluid situation. not battles and occupations. remember, this isn't is an administration that bombed libya for eight months and got its compliant lawyers to say this did not constitute, quote: armed hostilities for eight months. these people, are if nothing else semantically nimble. >> vegas mission, the spinning, this lying, it is very much like vietnam. >> on the upside, if russia, as the president has talked about, is stuck, he can't get the military motion

along with the iranians, to it move the ball does the political solution have more problems. >> i don't think they are stuck. what they did do immediately and quickly was to arrest what looked like a pretty possible, perhaps a probable collapse of the regime. so that has stopped. it's arrested, and now they are pushing back, taking more territory. the big beneficiary, of course, is isis since the russians are attacking the non-isis forces. so isis has occupied areas north of aleppo. but this idea about chucking assad, they don't need assad the person the russians will sacrifice him if they establish another strong man from his clan it will be advantageous for the russians not to have the albatross of assad's crimes but to have a secured mini state which is what they are trying to construct. >> is this the camel nose

under the tent on the number of troops on the ground. >> no. obama is not going to do more than he is doing. >> yes, he is punting it to the next president who will jack up the numbers. >> no. no more troops. >> that's it for the panel. stay tuned for extreme weather conditions according to california standards.

test finally tonight, weather coverage gets very good ratings. severe storms, ice storms. but wind? in southern california,

local news reporters stretch to get out to the extreme weather coverage. >> we are seeing some pretty heavy wind gusts. seat the flags flapping behind me. >> take a look at all these flags on top of the restaurant here. they have been flapping very hard all night long. >> so we saw a lot of the palm trees really moving as caroline has mentioned. other trees blowing around. >> halloween decorations were blowing away, flying all over the streets. it's not hall bow wean it's hallow wind. >> please keep our flags in your prayers at this difficult time. >> i mean, did you see those palm trees? they were swaying. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. greta goes "on the record" right oo owe tatlanta makes pot legal goes up in smokes.

election resultings from overnight. quentin tarantino doubling down on his claim cops are murderers. >> i have to call the murdered the murdered an the murders the murders. >> we are live since the first anti cop rally. >> g mail has a new feature. "fox & friends first" starts right now. ♪ >> good morning. hope you are doing well. you are watching "fox and friends first". i am anna kooiman in for ainsley earhardt. >> i am heather childers.

san francisco embattled sheriff at the center of the sanctuary city controversy voted out of office by a land slide. it is one of many election day results. garrett tin tihas more. >> the sheriff who is out of a job. the sheriff received heavy criticism after the july shooting death of 32-year-old kate stein lee by an undocumented immigrant released by the sheriff's office only months earlier. family members of other victims, though, say the sheriff losing h his job isn't enough. >> everybody in san francisco is pointing fingers so he is pointing fingers at the mayor, the mayor is pointing fhi