special thank you to general flynn, first time on couch, you survived. do you like it? are you coming back? >> it was fun. melissa: you were great. any final thoughts for us on the weekend? >> have a safe, happy, labor day weekend. melissa: thanks to everyone. we'll be back tomorrow noon eastern. "happening now" now. >> bracing for tropical storm hermine. >> 6,000 other troops now stand on alert with the storm expected to make land fall as early as tonight. recovering all the news happening now. >> i want you to know if i am fortunate enough to win this election, i will be a president for democrats, republicans, independent, for people who vote for me, for people who don't. for all-americans. >> the race to the white house tightens as new polls show donald trump closing the gap with hillary clinton. our controversy for the

democratic nominee now catching up with her as gop facees a problem of his own. the perception he is sending mixed messages on immigration. >> both of our countries will work together for mutual good and most importantly for the mutual good of our people. >> we will build a great wall along the southern border and mexico will pay for the wall. >> did he clear that up last night? it is all happening now. >> we begin with this fox news alert. the race for the white house getting closer according to brand-new fox polls. welcome to the second hour happening now on thursday. i'm jon scott. >> hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. there are to event in ohio today. speaking to veterans in cincinnati on national security and wrapping up a few moments ago a rally in wilmington where he tripled down for a wall along the u.s. southern border.

>> don't worry, we will get a wall. that wall will go up. we will build a wall. mexico's going to pay for the wall. it's poisoning our youth and others. our youth is being poisoned. people are being poisoned. we have to get it stopped and we will get it stopped and we will get it stopped quickly. >> last night i outlined a bold new immigration reform to create prosperity and opportunity for all of our people. especially those who have the least. we will treat everyone with dignity, respect and compassion. but our greatest compassion will be for the american citizens. >> today's swing comes after trump's quick trip to mexico to meet with the mexican president. and last night's speech in arizona on immigration that was much anticipated.

hillary clinton also in ohio yesterday speak together same american legion convention in cincinnati. today vice president joe biden is in the buckeye state on her behalf and we heard a little bit from joe as the vice president the last hour on our program. >> nationally our new fox poll reveals clinton and trump are nearly tied in a four-way race with the libertarian and green party candidate. clinton at 41. trump's 39. the real clear politics average shows them about four point apart. >> so whatever we cut it, it looks like the race is tightening. in the meantime, hillary clinton's unpopularity appears to be rising. our fox news poll finds she is catching up to trump in that category. 53% see her unfavorably to his 56. all the controversy surrounding her campaign beginning to take a toll. that's one of the questions asked today. fox news contributor and former bush adviser karl rove thinks so, writing team clinton's pathetic excuses and the wall street journal as the column just the other day writing quote

the emergence of 15,000 more details and shady deals by her family's foundation put hillary clinton back on the defensive. that a bad place to be as the campaign kicks into high gear on l labor day. chris, let's start with what karl rove mentioned in his column. just the timing. regardless of the candidate, there is where labor day and after labor day. why does that matter? >> i'm not sure it matters as much as it used to. in fact if you were to look over last, i don't know, half dozen election cycles, the person leading on labor day almost always ends up winning and people get pretty locked up into their opinions. but having said that, there is still room for change and clearly over the last two weeks, prelabor day, there is a tightening of rights, i think attributable to two things.

one, trump had his best two weeks of the campaign since becoming nominee. hasn't made self-inflicted errors mistakes. whether it comes to taking on a gold star family or getting into fights with republican leaders with paul ryan. and just as karl rove mentioned, hillary clinton add couple of bad weeks and revelation that fbi uncovered 15,000 new e-mailes. revelation by associated press that she had about 150 meetings with nongovernment, nonforeign, nonu.s. government officials in her first couple of years of the state department. more than 50% of those were with donors for the clinton foundation. all of the e-mails about the cozy relationship between the foundation and clinton state department. all bad news. and i think karl is right, it has put her on the defensive. >> let's talk more about the clinton campaign. do you think her numbers are getting worse when it comes to unpopularity or untrust worthiness because of her actions, her own stories, or because trump had some good

weeks. >> no. i think the unfavorable numbers, in fact if you look in the two-way race her numbers haven't dropped all that much. still leading by six point and since early august in the fox poll only down one point. trump up three. so his rise has been more responsible for the tightening of the race in the two-person race than her fall. but there's no question that these -- this constant -- you know, we all thought in july, or a lot of people thought in july when james comey, fbi director, said there would be no criminal action taken against hillary clinton, that it was behind her, has sure risen. as we have seen in the last couple of weeks, revelation of new e-mails, e-mails from the officials in the clinton foundation to people in the clinton state department asking for favors, asking for meetings. access, things like that. that's all been bad information for her and now we find out that some of these new e-mails may even involve benghazi.

clinton told us that the only e-mails she had deleted were nonwork-related. now it turns out there were som she had deleted them. >> we don't know what these e-mails are. we don't know if they are duplicate. we don't know if we have seen them before. we are waiting to see. and you said a lot of folks made up their mind. will that really matter? >> that's a good question. and particularly on the e-mails, one has to wupder, the fact that favorables are going up seems to indicate it does matter. but you have to wonder, this scandal, whether the private e-mail answers private server, ties to the clinton foundation, this has been going on for over 15 months now. you have to wonder unless there is an extraordinary smoking gun and we haven't seen so we don't know what we don't know, you have to wonder if there is a game-changer. a lot of the feeling about the clinton foundation and e-mails has been factored into the polls and people's public opinion. >> so let's have a little bit of

background. we just heard in that soundbite yet again comment about building the wall. so there is a lot of talk of trump transitioning his campaign, transitioning him to be more scripted. but yet we heard a soundbite that could have been played a couple of months guy. a familiar slogan from donald trump. when do you think when you take the last two weeks, and really the last 24 hours, where do you think his campaign goes from here? >> it is interesting. i was the anchor we had on special report last night on hammer and hayes who haven't said a lot of nice things about trump. and they both thought his meeting with the mexican president, pena nieto, was one of the best of the campaign. he looked, sounded like a president. the mexican president treated him like an equal. that was all good stuff for donald trump. but then as you point out, jenna, he went last night to phoenix and basically gave a red neat speech on his policy and again you say today in ohio.

so it is a little confusing. there are definitely mixed messages as to where he stands. if it is an effort to broaden his base and clearly his base loves what he had to say the last two dayes. but if it is an effort to broaden his base to hispanics, other people of color, more moderate republicans, who may have been concerned, generally vote gop but may have been concerned whether trump is too divisive, i'm not sure that he sent a clear message that they can vote for him. >> interesting. we will see what the polls say when viewers are asked about it or voters are asked about it. i want to ask you as well about what is going on on fox news sunday with jill stein. we have the polls and perhaps we can show them again. when you show the four-way race with the poll numbers look like. and jill stein is polling. gary johnson is polling. what is their impact on the race over all at this point and where do you see it going? what questions do you ask? >> you look and between the two of them, 13%.

not enough to get either of them on the presidential debate stage. you need 15% to cross that threshold. but it is interesting in the two-person race, trump trails clinton by 6 point. but in the four-person race, he trails by only 2. so those two independent candidate or third party candidate, gary johnson libertarian and jill stein ring party candidate are taking more votes from clinton than they are from trump. so it is interesting to see what's going to happen and in fact some people have suggested, given all of that that trump aught to be pushing for one or both of them to be on the presidential debate stage because they might hurt clinton and work to his advantage. having said that my guess is they will success or fail on their own. >> trump tried to weigh in on a few different debates, as i'm sure you're familiar, chris. we'll see if he can negotiate different terms for either of the candidates. we won't hold our breath, right? chris, thank you very much. we will watch chris this weekend for fox news sunday exclusive.

a conversation with green party presidential nominee jill stein. check your listings for local fox station. catch that program at 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. here on the fox news channel. >> this fox alert. computer hacker noon as guccifer sentenced to more than four years in prison. the judge sending him way for crimes associated with hacking 100 americans, hacks that eventually exposed hillary clinton's private e-mail set-up. catherine herridge is on this story from d.c. catherine? >> thank you. the hacker who exposed clinton's e-mail account in 2013 was sentenced to four years in prison. he continues to cooperate with

american investigators. what is fascinating is that guccifer did not plead guilty to hacking blumenthal's original account, one of the nine charges. it was that hack of blumenthal that first revealed secretary of state clinton was using a perth server for government business. when guccifer was extradited from romania to the u.s. in may he told nbc and fox news by phone that he had breached clinton's system. >> you accessed a lot of accounts, marcel. >> yes. >> was the clinton server easy or hard? >> claiming those claims were live but comey said in july he won't recommend charges but saying clinton and those in her circle were targeted and her system was vulnerable. >> we did not find direct

evidence that hillary clinton's direct e-mail domain was hacked successfully in 2009. given the nature of the system and actors potentially involved -- >> just for a little bit of context here, for the u.s. government to spend so much time and resources to bring the romanian to the u.s. just in may and then to let him go back home without serving more prison time here is really highly unusual. and also, the fact that guccifer never pled guilty to hacking blumenthal, this effectively white washes his role in exposing the clinton.com account in 2013 that got the whole thing rolling, john. >> there are a lot of questions to be asked and answered. >> this is crazy. i don't know what to tell you. >> catherine herridge, i'm sure you will stay on it. >> if that is catherine's reaction then there is something. she knows a lot. we will see where that story

goes. a fiery blast on america's space coast as a rocket goes up and massive explosion. that explosion was felt miles away. elon musk weighing in on twitter. we will tell you about that. what was on board that space x rocket. plus, florida bracing for a storm that could make a mess of the holiday weekend. we're tracking hermine, where it is heading and how strong it will be. and we want to hear from you. hillary clinton's lead is shrinking in recent polling. including fox news polls out last night. do you think that reporting on the e-mail and clinton foundation controversy are starting to hurt her? are is it candidates like donald trump, jill stein, and join fox.com to join the conversation.

i just want to find a used car without getting ripped off. start at the new carfax.com show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search at the all-new carfax.com. fox news alert on whether it could impact travel for millions of american. tropical storm hermine gets ready to slam florida tonight or maybe early tomorrow. it is sparking mandatory

evacuations. plus, the pentagon just activating a hundred national guard troops to help the first responders in florida with 6,000 other troops now on alert. we have live team coverage of this. the storm is tracked at fox storm weather center. steve has more for us now. steve? >> jenna, steady rain here in cedar key. this tount is under mandatory evacuation order. along with a number of other low-lying counties under voluntary evacuation orders. people are talking there could be from 6 to 8 feet here, a storm surge that could really cause some inland flooding. the storm itself is a very wide one so we are less focused on where it would make land fall as opposed to the potential damage it could do here as far as flooding going. cedar key is a small town of about 8 will 00. even though there is a mandatory

evacuation in effect, a lot of people say they have decided to stay and try to tough it out. those conditions could be worsening over the next few hours. this entire area is expected to be under water and we are expected to lose sewage and watter in the near term. emergency responders say they wouldn't work when it is more than 40 miles an hour wind and main road in and out of here could be flooded out in the next couple of hours. worsening conditions here expected over the next few hours. jenna, back to you. >> steve, thank you. >> for the latest now on the track and strength of hermine, let's check in with rick. he is very busy in the fox weather center. rick? >> these storms aren't just a point, they are a big area. you see that with this storm right here. extending out across the central gulf and across parts of florida. obviously the center of it comes on shore and makes a big impact for storm surge. everything to the the right of that is where you see the storm surge and it is right here in the big bend.

not a huge population area which is one bright side to this. but we are getting a lot of indication that very strong winds are extending much further out from the center so tropical storm warnings have now been extended south to include the tampa st. pete area. expect to see wind in excess of 40 miles an hour right there. also you see the band of heavy rain already moving on and we have seen some spots around the tampa area that have seen an excess of 10 inches of rain already. where you see purple, that's hurricane force wind and notice 10:00 p.m. tonight there in apalachicola. that is this one computer model. we aren't saying that's exactly what is going to happen. i point this out because if it hits land, this piece of land there, just south, if it hits there, it will make a land fall earlier. if it moves further off towards the east, then it has more ocean to go over and it becomes a later land fall, maybe two or three in the morning. either way all of this area is going to get really very strong winds and a lot of rain. some spots well over a foot of rain probably.

then we will watch what happens with the storm afterwards. here across areas of the mid-atlantic, carolinas, georgia, we will see some spots, 4 to 6 inches of rain, maybe more than that by tomorrow and saturday. that means inland flooding as well. very far way from where the storm makes land fall in florida. this is what the track is extended now. national hurricane center track coming up here across part of the coastline and then we watch this storm kind of stall out here. somewhere, off of new jersey, south of long island. take a look at this. sunday morning 8:00 a.m. tuesday morning, 8:00 a.m. as well. two days and right in that same spot. a lot of variability of what happens later with this. in the storm short term though, the storm is up to 70 miles an hour and we have a hurricane on our hand. >> and someone will be very soggy. rick, thank you. >> you bet. >> back to politics now. critics accusing donald trump of doing an about face on

immigration. why our next guest argues that trump's basic message hasn't changed. the impact of that, i head. ahead.

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there's a lot of value that cated for both countries by working beautifully together. both of our countries will work together for mutual good and most importantly, for the mutual good of our people. >> we will build a great wall along the southern border. and mexico will pay for the wall. there will be no amnesty. >> statements from donald trump yesterday. first in mexico city, then in phoenix. what did you think about it? some are calling it a tale of two trumps. the republican nominee striking

what seemed to be different tones on immigration yesterday. first in that appearance with the president of mexico. then later at a rally in phoenix. let's get an evaluation from betsy woodruff, political reporter for the "daily beast." elena johnson. betsy, is this the tale of two trumps? >> his tone is different in mexico in afternoon than in f n phoenix in the evening. however, his views haven't changed in any substantive way since he rolled out his proposal last august, more than a year ago. the meat and potatoes of that proposal have remained consistent. pushing for biometric entry/exit system for a crack down on immigrant who stay longer than their visa he allow. of course for a wall. and on top of that tripling immigration customs enforcement

officers which would make it easier for trump to have more deportation. that massive number. the fact he is being polite and cordial with the mexican president is not a a tone we don't hear very often from him. but when it comes to policies trump advocates, it is pretty darn consistent. >> so for you betsy, you think this is a change in tone rather than substance? >> absolutely. >> all right. eliana, what about it? there has been observations, speculation, that donald trump is softening his tone on immigration. is he? >> trump himself said that. we have seen him do a and dance, both trump and campaign sur surrogates and campaign manager for the last week and half saying he would make a pivot on immigration and it all led up to this big speech last night preceded by his visit with the mexican president in mexico

city, mexico yesterday. we got two very different things. serious sedate and sober donald trump in mexico city showing that he could stand next to a world leader. and we had the less serious donald trump playing to a crowd in phoenix last night. and i think the fact that he was bambastic at a campaign rally took way from the subtle policy changes. the major one was there won't be a deportation force. you know, day one of his presidency intended to kick out the 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. that force will be specifically directed at dealing with the illegal immigrants who have committed crimes. that is a change for trump. >> one of the questions is, you know, how do voters take all of this? do they take him at his word or do they not? we today had to go back to pay so three and half months ago. there is a 54 to 42% margin,

voters believe trump will build the wall he has been talking about. and by a slightly smaller margin, 50 to 44%, they believe he will forcibly deport illegal immigrants. clearly, not normally the kind of thing betsy that becomes a headline for a presidential campaign. but much of what donald trump has done thus far is sort of state upon this issue. >> certainly. and that's what makes his campaign so unusual and atypical. and not just voters who say that trump is going to be consistent when it comes to actually pushing for some substantial hike in the number of deportations. it is also folks in the immigration community, immigration hawks for instance. center for immigration studies that have pushed for years for a substantial crack down on undocumented immigration. pushing long and hard for the u.s. to do more to enforce immigration laws. i was talk together head of that group last night after trump's

speech and when a told me is look as long as trump is surrounded and endorsed by sessions, alabama senator who may be the top immigration hawk, as long as he has steven miller, one of the top aides on staff, people who want to see tougher immigration enforcement aren't going to be that stresd about whether or not trump will actually do it if he gets elected. the reality is the immigration platform he laid out a year ago is pretty much exactly what these folks want to see and his team is comprised of people who have spent their years advocating for much stricter immigration enforcement. his tone might change, vocabulary might change but he won't have a credibility issue and i think last find that solidified that. >> eliana, it's been a good couple of weeks for the trump campaign and one success after another. elections are won among the independent voters. did his tone yesterday, actions and words yesterday, in your view, sway any independent?

>> yeah, i would say it's been a better couple of weeks for trump coming off a really disastrous couple of months for him. the question is, is it good enough? and i think stylistically, trump's stylistic bombast tends to overshadow what his message is, if he was moderating policy to reach those independents. so i think it'll be really difficult for him to broaden his coalition unless he moderates style and we see more of what he gave m mexico city with the president of mexico more serious and sobriety. but i think the test will come with the first debate on september 26th. >> that will be one to watch. eliana johnson, betsy woodruff, thank you both. >> thank you. >> the iraq nuke deal claiming teheran was allowed to pend the rule. also, 272 day answers counting since hillary clinton's last news conference.

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fox news alert on word after secret loophole in the iran nuclear deal where the u.s. and other nations agreed to allow teheran to evade restrictions in order to meet the deadline for that landmark agreement. a lot of talk about this several months eye go and now we are revisiting it yet again. james rosen inside the state department with more for us now. james? >> jenna, good afternoon.

it is called the good isis. institute for science and international security. and it is led by someone who is one of the most respected nuclear analyst and arms control experts in washington. david albright is a trained physicist who trained as a weapons inspector in iraq and testified numerous times before congress on nuclear issues including the iran nuclear deal. his report first disclosed by reuters alleging the joint commissions stab lished to oversee implementation of the deal, a group kprooe comprised of iran, u.s. and others to have an agreement to constrain iran's nuclear program have been secretly and systematically the requirements that iran must live up to. this includes caps on the enriched uranium. hot cells, which can be used to pursue a plutonium path it a nuclear weapon. and iran's storage of heavy water, another element in a potentially plutonium based

weapon. the skejs process has been secret and secret or confidential arrangements directly linked to the deal that don't have oversight and scrutiny. a colleague adding moreover the process raises the question of whether iran is exploiting the mechani mechanism. of course jcpoa means a joint comprehensive plan of action, the nuclear deal. fox news was told the u.s. and partners did not and will not allow iran to skirt its commitments in any assertion to the contrary is completely false. iran, these officials insist, has been over the 300 kilogram limit and quickly addressed its brief success of heavy water to the satisfaction of u.n. inspect poerps we will have a briefing a short while from now around 2:00 eastern time. if it doesn't deinvolve into

highly technical jargon around the production cycle, we may get to the bottom of this. >> thank you, james. >> thank you. >> so presidential candidate hillary clinton continues to avoid press conferences. the democratic nominee going now roughly nine months more than 270 days without holding a formal news conference. her campaign says she is answering questions from reporters one on one. is that enough for you? senior political correspondent mike emmanuel is live with an examination from our d.c. bureau. mike? >> john, good afternoon. instead of doing full news conferences, hillary clinton has appeared on late night tv with jimmy kimmel. also called in by phone to cnn and msnbc in the past week or so and just this morning her running mate senator tim kaine was asked about the lack of interaction with reporters covering her. >> you see hillary take questions from reporters everyday.

she does -- she talks to the press everywhere she goes. she did a press conference -- >> really? >> but the last one was december 4th of last year before any americans voted or caucused. that day one question was about how she would pay for some of her proposals. >> i can't briefly summarize but i will certainly send you a long list and it is a -- a lot of it is on my website. because i'm targeting high income earners. targeting closing corporate loop holes. >> no surprise her critics including her opponent donald trump are calling clinton out on it. >> you as reporters who give her all of these glowing reports should ask yourselves why. and i'll tell you why. because despite the nice plat tudes, she's been a mess. >> fox news media analyst kurts calls the lack of news

conferences unprecedented and it likely has something to do with the polls. >> the fact she is 2 bb 3, 4, 5, 6 points ahead allows her to sit on her lead and not take what she sees as the risk to open herself for questioning from the press corps for 20 or 30 minutes. >> with the clinton's foundation within her inner cirque aelt the state department and continuing questions about her e-mail use, analysts who adjust when she does meet with reporters it will likely be hostile. john? >> interesting prediction. mike emmanuel. thank you. >> sure. >> a senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's plan for the tea party seems to be working. did it come at a price? what is that plan? our political panel is up next to break this down. also, where is crocodile dundee when you need him? right? how wildlife officials managed to catch this beast in the land down under. better buckle up.

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wrangling a big crocodile, wanted for eating cows. officials capturing the 13-foot reptile by setting a trap in the water. the croc put up a fight before rangers could subdue it. they still had a challenge on their hand. >> a bit of an unorthodox obstruction from the cage due to the situation where the water hole was on limited access. he got a little bit away from us but we ended up getting hold of him. >> again, wanted for eating cows. cows. the reptile was taken to a crocodile farm. officials leading the trap behind saying they are still searching for another croc even bigger than this one. >> whoa! this presidential election there's a lot of talk about the downed ballot candidates running for house and senate. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has his own plan to keep the senate in con trel.

part of that is to minimize the tea party influence. there is strevidence that strat is working. latest examples showing mcconnell's mission is meeting with some success. the kentucky senator is living up to his vow to crush the anti-establishment movement that offered fierce competition in 2014. a headline from the washington post today catching our attention reads why mitch mcconnell's strategy to quash the tea party is working. the article goes on to say in quote handy victories by senator's john mccain and marco rubio primaries tuesday completed the sweep for the republican establishment duplicating a goal mcconnell set in the 2014 cycle. the dominance by senate republicans could provide the rope map for gop strategies in other races particularly future presidential campaigns. they could also mean the

weakening of the conservatives's ability to raise money and pressure senators that they will draw a strong primary threat. joining us now to talk about all of this, former chief council and senior leadership adviser and chairman of the senate democratic committee and former deputy campaign manager for carly fiorina and former rnc spokesperson. welcome to both of you. sarah, you first. does this mean really that influence of the tea party is all but dead? >> oh, i mean, it made for a great headline. but when you really look into this, there's not a whole lot there. donald trump was the establishment's 17th of 17 choices. so this idea we should set that aside but look at primaries in states is a little bit silly. mitch mcconnell and the leadership i think would make a huge mistake to treat donald trump at the black swan event and yet the primaries are really

what is going on. donald trump has set aside other details of how we got here, donald trump is a system of the anger among conservative voters and if that's ignored it is not just going to go away on november 9 when donald trump wins or loses. >> dennis, there is probably no more soft-spoken southern gentleman on the senate floor than mitch mcconnell. but when it comes to politics, he can carry a very sharp knife. >> well, you know, i had the fortune of working on the senate floor for more than five years and getting to observe many of them, including in particular senate mcconnell. and the place is littered with people who underestimated his smarts. and i think that paul cane's brilliant piece and today's washington post shows that. if you are the majority heard as mcconnell is in the senate, what you want to do is maintain majority. that means you need candidates who will win the general election and not just primary. and that is what he has done rather ruthlessly.

but he did it at a cost. and the cost is, by basically painting the opponents of the senate candidates and negative light rather than running on a positive campaign, and therefore they don't have an agenda to run on when they get there, and you end up with gridlock and being the party of no again. thaents the big risk, which is going to fuel the anti-establishment wing of the party even more. >> sarah, you know, is the -- he said anti-establishment wing has fuel now. but the anti-establishment wing has fuel since at least 2010. and so far, other than, well, maybe the election of ted cruz in the senate who has been a thorn in the side of mitch mcconnell, there isn't a lot of success to show for it. >> i think ted cruz is a great example. candidates matter. what the anti-establishment folks have failed to do particularly this year but in the past as well is recruit

candidates that can actually run a good campaign, get some money behind them and get the organization behind them. ted cruz is the opposite. he was a candidate that was able to do all those things and therefore ran an effective race. you look at mccain and rubio he's opponents, and obviously mccain and rubio were also just a better candidate far and away. so it is not just the ideology. it is also the individual candidates absolutely still matter to voters. >> what about the -- what about the make-up of the senate, dennis? we were talking earlier this morning about the fact you've got 24 -- sorry, 24 republicans defending seats, only 10 democrats. if mitch mcconnell manages to eek out a victory and keep his senate majority, does that prove the wisdom of his tactics? >> i think by definition. i think senator cruz is the exception that proves the rule. the reason you can talk about senator cruz and no one else proves the wisdom of mcconnell's strategy. the truth is, that

anti-establishment tea party candidates often can win a primary if they play their cards right, if they're a good candidate and if the mcconnell-backed candidates don't run the right the right r is a very ugly, negative race. but they can't then turn around and take that primary win and take it to the general. and mcconnell said years ago, all that matters is winning the general. winning the primaries don't really count if you can't win the general. we'll find out, pennsylvania, nevada, north carolina, those are the key states, the swing states where the battle for the senate will be fought and won. and you need candidates that can win general elections that don't have narrow, highly ideological positions. senator mcconnell has maneuvered the senate candidates to have general election appeal. we'll find out who would win, but they would have almost no chance if they were narrow-cast, senator-cruz-like candidates. >> we'll have to leave it there,

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hi, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. breaking news, as we've now expanded storm warnings. and new indications that hermine might be part of the first landfall of the season, the latest. did hillary clinton ever complete her mandatory security training at the state department? we'll talk to a lawyer and find out what he knows. for the first time in the united states, mosquitoes are testing positive for zika virus.

where this is happening and what you need to know, live on "america's election headquarters," just minutes away. an explosion at the spacex site at a test ahead of a weekend launch. >> reporter: no cause exactly yet. standard procedure for rocket launchers, couple of days before a launch, to go ahead and do a dress rehearsal. spacex takes it one step further by igniting and firing the engines for a few seconds. that's called the static fire test. that's when there was a problem discovered today, loudly. you could see the smoke for miles and you could feel the explosions for miles. this happening at the cape canaveral air force station launch pad which spacex leases for satellite launches. facebook had planned to use a part of the communications satellite for part of its africa

coverage. this morning's explosion could be felt for several miles. >> they were doing a static fire test and there was an explosion. i felt it. it was a few minutes ago. >> reporter: that from a woman across the river over in titusville. 20 minutes ago spacex said, "the anomaly originated during propellant loading of the vehicle. for standard operating procedure, all personnel were cleared and there were no injuries." last summer, nasa had an explosion blamed on tank overpressurization. like today, everything was lost, which then included a dragon capsule. nasa has made nine successful rocket launches since then. the big question for nasa is what to do when late next year, early 2018, it plans to send up

its astronauts on board the spacex dragon with the same type rocket. >> that's interesting. more on this as we get it, phil. thanks very much. we'll be right back. (climbing sounds)

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thanks for joining us. >> here's martha with "america's election headquarters." >> thank you, jenna and jon. we start with a fox news alert. evacuation orders are now in place for florida as tropical storm hermine approaches. residents until the panhand residents in the panhandle are being told to head to high ground. fox team coverage for you, jonathan serrie is in panama city where it is starting to kick up a bit. but rain is starting to