country. that's it for "the five." the two major party presidential nominees go to battle over national security and supporting the u.s. military. while both tout endorsements from flag officers. this is "special report." good evening. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. keeping you, your family, and america safe is the focus of the presidential campaign tonight. donald trump and hillary clinton will participate separately in the commander in chief forum in new york tonight. clinton was off the campaign trail today, but put out another list of military leaders said to be in her corner.

trump outlined his plan to go after isis, and to increase defense spending a day after revealing his own list of military backers. chief political correspondent carl cameron begins our coverage in new york where trump is about to speak to a conservative group. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: in pennsylvania where hillary clinton leads polls, donald trump argued only he will truly rebuild the u.s. military. >> if she can't remember such crucial events, and information,

honestly, she's totally unfit to be our commander in chief. totally unfit. >> reporter: trump now pledges that in his first 30 days as president, he'll have the military draw up a plan. he promised to rebuild the military by reversing spending cuts mandated by the last budget sequester. >> i will ask that savings be accomplished through common sense reforms that eliminate government waste and budget gimmicks. >> reporter: he questions clinton's physical and mental capacity. >> sometimes it seemed like there wasn't a country in the middle east that hillary clinton didn't want to invade, intervene in, or topple. she's trigger happy, and very unstable. >> reporter: a day after trump unveiled endorsements from retired military brass, an analysis by the daily beast notes many were not involved in iraq nor afghanistan. and five flag officers were implicated in the military's tailhook sex scandal in 1991. trump promised to increase spending on the u.s. missile defense system and suggested he could improve relations with russia and vladamir putin who trump has praised. >> russia has defied this administration at every single turn. putin has no respect for president obama and has absolutely no respect for hillary clinton. >> reporter: trump told bill o'reilly that his refusal to release his tax returns until after an irs audit is complete

does have an exception. >> when is she going to release her e-mails? let her release her e-mails and i'll release my tax returns immediately. >> reporter: he continues escalating the charge that the clinton foundation scandals amount to criminal misconduct. >> her conduct is disqualifying. this is like watergate but worse. >> reporter: but trump is under fire for having made an unlawful contribution to a group tied to attorney general general pam bondi. trump spoke with her by phone before the donation and held a fund-raiser after her office decided not to join the suit. and the trump campaign is about to end its so-called blacklist for certain national media from its events. for months now, a number of organizations, including the washington post and politico, have been banned. that all ends tomorrow, they

say, when their press credentials for trump event also be restored. >> carl, thank you. congressional republicans are pushing for new hearings about the clinton e-mail scandal. meanwhile, a major media outlet is pushing the clinton-kaine ticket in defiance of tradition. jennifer griffin is outside clinton campaign headquarters in brooklyn tonight. >> reporter: for the first time in more than 75 years, the dallas morning news is endorsing a democrat for president. today, the texas newspaper endorsed hillary clinton, "trump's values are hostile to conservatism. he plays on fear, exploiting base instincts of racism and misogyny to bring out the worst in all of us rather than best." the latest fox news poll shows 60% of those polled thinks donald trump is hiding something by not releasing his taxes. among them, 36% of republicans and 61% of independents. >> he clearly has something to hide. he owes it to the american people to come clean and release

those tax returns. >> reporter: the latest national polls show the race tightening. a new georgia washington university poll shows clinton up by two points, within the margin of error. perhaps most surprising is a new poll from arizona showing clinton up by nearly two points in the reliably republican state, with a whopping 22% of the state still undecided. more evidence that unresolved questions surrounding clinton's handling of her e-mails continue to hurt her in terms of public trust. the house oversight committee today sent a letter to plat river network, which oversaw clinton's private server, asking for any and all records about the employee who deleted clinton's e-mail archive after there was a preservation of records order by congress. congressman jason chaffetz says

it's far from over. >> we have monday where we're going to drag up the odni, we're going to bring up the representative from the department of justice. there will be a series of hearings. >> reporter: when asked about the clinton foundation, hillary clinton's running mate tim kaine didn't seem to know that it was still accepting foreign donations. >> the foundation is taking one step forward right now by saying there's no corporations, no foreign connected countries, not taking them right now. >> reporter: a kaine aide said he misspoke. separately today, a state department lawyer told a federal judge of the 30 benghazi e-mails that the fbi recovered from clinton's e-mail server, only one was new.

that one was from a u.s. ambassador praising clinton after her benghazi testimony. judicial watch says it wants all of the e-mails released. bret? >> jennifer griffin in brooklyn tonight, thank you. last night on fox news, julian assange threatened to release more clinton e-mails next week, claiming they will be very damaging. he further challenged clinton's claim she didn't recognize that a handful of e-mails had classified markings. >> hillary clinton says that she can't remember what a "c" in a bracket stands for. everyone in positions of government and wikileaks knows it stands for classified confidential. it was, we have already released thousands of cables by hillary clinton, here she is. clinton, see that's her signature. clinton, the "c" in bracket right there. >> i couldn't see it, but maybe you could. catherine herridge is here tonight with new information about those e-mails. good evening. >> reporter: one of our contacts has reviewed the three e-mails that had classified markings and they told us one of the e-mails has multiple classified marketings, the c for confidential, the lowest level

of classification, and then every other paragraph is parked with sbu, which means sensitive but unclassified. you never see these codes in the context of anything but classified. she said thousand thought it was an alphabetical listing. >> we're learning more about march 15. >> reporter: this month is really the pivotal month when you look at the allegations of obstruction of justice. on march 2, 2015, "the new york times" was first to report that clinton was using this personal account for government business. then within that first week, there was a preservation order, and also a subpoena from congress. by the 9th of march, plit river networks that was managing the server was notified they had to

preserve the records. by the 25th of that month, there was a conference call with clinton's lawyers and shortly after that, the records were deleted by plat river networks using that bleach bit technology. so what you can see here, at least is lining up with the timeline to suggest that there was a deliberate deletion of records when there was an order to preserve. >> so that's what they're going after, the timeline. we heard late today reports that the fbi director james comey sent out a memo internally to defend his decision not to prosecute. >> cnn was first to obtain this memo. we've read it, and what's really key here is the fbi director is defending his decision not to recommend criminal charges in the clinton probe. he said it was really not a cliffhanger at all to these agents. the second is that he's defending the release of the fbi file on a friday before the holiday weekend. you and i know that's the preferred slot for bad news. he said it was just ready at that point. i think the big takeaway here is

there is internal dissent within the fbi about comey's fegs and he's trying to quell that. as we reported, one of the shoes that may still drop in the presidential campaign is another batch of leaked e-mails regarding hillary clinton from wikileaks. we have news and perspective tonight about julian assange, wikileaks founder. >> we might put out some teasers as early as the next week or the week after. >> reporter: for the clinton campaign, that ominous threat from julian assange to release more of her communications carries serious weight. it was wikileaks that embarrassed clinton and the party. the leak led to the resignation of chairman debbie wasserman schultz during convention week. assange suggested the new release will shine a light on clinton that the press refuses

to. >> the american liberal press is falling over themselves to defend hillary clinton, are wrestling a demon that is going to put nooses around everyone's neck when he wins the election. >> reporter: what he may produce is anyone's guess. wikileaks philosophy of radical transparency -- >> it's so hard to justify, even if you think some of the material they're putting up is to the public benefit to have discussed. there's lots of stuff with little public benefit. >> reporter: critics suggest his threatened release may be part personal vendetta. while clinton was secretary of

state, the obama administration launched a criminal investigation of wikileaks. it remains active but on hold. an ambassador in london where he received asylum six years ago. >> the united states is continuing to pressure countries to extradite assange. so this is one of the reasons he fears returning to sweden to deal with the criminal cases there. >> reporter: prosecutors hoped to interview assange today at the embassy. but officials balked, leaving formal rape charges against him in doubt. >> we will not be able to formally indict mr. assange if we can't interview him. >> reporter: late today, the clinton campaign responded to assange's threat, accusing donald trump's associate roger stone of colluding.

the office of personnel management ignored basic required security controls and failed to recognize the abilities of the enemy. the opm says it does not agree with much of this report. senior pentagon officials say a russian jet buzzed a u.s. navy spy plane today over the black sea. the official tells fox the su-27 russian plane came within ten feet of the american plane, almost colliding. russia's defense ministry says the u.s. plane was flying with its transponder off. u.s. officials said it's not required for military aircraft to have the transponder turned on. this adds to other recent buzzings of u.s. aircraft and ships by the russians. we now know that the almost $2 billion payment to iran earlier this year by the obama

administration was in cash. well, we do not know is why it took so long for the president's people to say so. tonight from the state department, james rosen has an update to a story he first brought you last month. >> reporter: we have nothing to be ashamed about. mark toner acknowledged that the u.s. used three separate cash payments to settle a dispute with iran worth $1.7 billion. for weeks, the obama administration would only confirm that the initial payment of $400 million had been made in cash and was timed deliberately to help complete a deal for the release of american hostages. an arrangement many deem ransom. while claiming the administration has been forthright, toner acknowledged having released key details only in a piecemeal manner.

>> if we operate out of caution, it's for a good reason. >> reporter: it was from a treasury account that the disbursements were withdrawn. the fund's website shows 13 withdrawals on january 19, adding up to the $1.3 billion in interest. but it shows a 14th withdrawal for $10.4 million. it brought the u.s. well over the announced $1.7 billion settlement figure. >> so what is this other $10.4 million? >> i'll have to look into that as well, james. >> reporter: nor could state say whether the payments met legal requirements. judgment fund payments are to be made by electronic funds transfer. fiscal service will issue an electronthe payee's commitment. in a waiver in accordance to the requirement for payment by eft is appropriate, fiscal service will issue a payment by check.

>> were any such waivers sought in this case? >> i don't have the answer. i would assume so. >> reporter: the chairman accused the administration of circumventing the law. >> i think this is really one of the biggest scandals, to launder money to iran to exchange for hostages. which funds the qods forces in iraq which have killed hundreds of americans around the world. >> reporter: bret? >> james rosen, live at the state department. thank you. reports tonight of another chlorine gas attack against

civilians in syria. it occurs as the u.s. and russia continue to talk about ways to end the civil war there. connor powell is on that story from our middle east newsroom. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: the intense fighting in syria's northern city of aleppo showing no signs of letting up. backed by russia and iran, pro-assad forces continue to consolidate control of neighborhoods previously held by rebel troops. as the syrian army advances, opposition groups say government planes dropped barrels of chlorine on civilians. more than 80 people with breathing problems were treated in underground hospitals. the use of chlorine is not uncommon in syria, with both sides accusing the other of using the chemical weapon that's banned under international law. while chlorine kills few, the fumes spread panic and instill fear among helpless civilians. in london, opposition leaders today again called for assad to step down.

>> translator: it is not possible to accept bashar assad, not for six months, a day or even one minute. >> reporter: however, in recent months, the obama administration has given mixed signals whether it might be willing to accept russia's demand that assad remains in power. the white house believes ending the syrian civil war is crucial to eliminating the chaos that allows isis to exist. even as the u.s. and russia inch closer to crafting a temporary cease-fire agreement in a joint strategy in syria. today, defense secretary ash carter clammed russia. >> russia with the support of the assad regime, has made the situation more dangerous, more viole violent. >> reporter: despite carter's strong words, it was announced that secretary of state john kerry will meet with russia's

foreign minister later this week. like it or not, peace in syria increasingly runs through moscow. bret? >> connor, thank you. up next, why one lawmaker showed up on the house floor today with 100 mosquitos. kfyr in north dakota with an arrest warrant issue. the two painted graffiti on construction equipment as part of a pipeline protest, all caught on camera. fox 5 in atlanta with the crash of the small airport leaving three people dead. the accident happened between a pair of single engine planes. it happened this morning at the west georgia regional airport. officials say the planes were attempting to land. this is a live look at san francisco from fox 2, our affiliate out there.

the big story there tonight, one of them, apple unveils its new iphone, which does not have a headphone jack. the iphone 7 will rely on wireless bluetooth. cost, just under $650. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway. we'll be right comfort food...

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the u.s. senate has once again tried and failed to pass a bill funding the fight against the zika virus. if you hear this story some places, you would think that only republicans are to blame, but that is not true. and as usual, republicans and democrats are pointing fingers at each other. correspondent rich edson is on capitol hill to tell us just how intense this debate is becoming.

>> reporter: mosquitos, on the house floor. >> this is the fear of floridians, right here. it is not good enough to work on a compromise for months and months with no solution. the time for politics of zika is over. >> reporter: pushing the boundaries of acceptable congressional props, florida republican david jolly presented to his colleagues about 100 mosquitos from his home state capable of carrying the skoozik virus. congress has returned to capitol hill, still divided over how to counter the zika virus. >> people have asked us, why don't you show the pictures? it's just too horrible. we could never subject families who are affected by having the world see the suffering that they are going through. >> reporter: last night nancy

pelosi's colleagues blocked the republican effort. republicans paired their zika legislation with the annual spending bill for military construction, containing a measure to allow confederate flags to fly at cemeteries again. >> democrats can't seem to take yes as an answer on zika. this is a third time the democrats have had an opportunity to vote on that issue. obviously they chose the special interest that they have. >> reporter: republicans have also pushed redirecting obamacare funding towards zika mitigation efforts. senior lawmakers are hinting at a likely outcome, indicating they will include zika funding in a massive spending bill, designed to finance much of the federal government before the money runs out. failing to pass that bill would shut down parts of the government, an outcome republican leaders claim they will avoid.

on zika funding, a course close to the talks says the two sticking points there, finding a way to pay for some of that zika funding and that fight over planned parenthood. bret? >> rich, thank you. the house will vote this week on a bill permitting families of 9/11 victims to sue foreign governments that may have supported the terrorists. the senate has already passed a similar measure. house members hope to approve the bill before the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this sunday. president obama is expected to veto the measure. he has expressed concerns about u.s. ties to saudi arabia. the house oversight committee has subpoenaed the state department for records pertaining to the deletion of a video in 2013. that included our own james rosen's questioning of a state department spokeswoman about the

iran nuclear deal. investigations have been unable to determine exactly what happened. we've been follow thing story, as you know. now chairman jason chaffetz is demanding the state department turn over all its records after an earlier request was not fulfilled. the dow lost 12, the s&p 500 was down a fraction. the nasdaq gained eight. donald trump and hillary clinton are disagreeing about the federal reserve. he says it's partly to blame for the sluggish economy. she says he should keep quiet. >> the rates are artificially low so obama can say he did a good job. that's the only reason the rates are so low. we have a false economy. >> he should not be commenting on fed actions when you are either running for president or you are president. words have consequences.

words move markets. >> lawmakers are looking for answers tonight about why federal reserve banks operate as they do and if anything can be done to make them work better. peter barnes is here tonight with that story. good evening. >> reporter: the fed is trying to fend off continued attacks on its structure and operations from politicians on both sides of the aisle in congress. many republicans are still angry about the bailouts for big banks during the financial crisis and want more accountability and transparency at the fed. some democrats agree, but some also charge the fed has been helping mainly wealthier americans by boosting the stock market through low interest rates, have not been doing enough to help working class people and needs more diversity to promote worker's views. officials say they are improving transparency and diversity and argue low interest rates have

been helping workers by making it cheaper to borrow. but that hasn't stopped congress to consider multiple bills to reign in the fed. >> i don't think this is an issue that will go away, because people feel frustrated. they don't necessarily understand what's going on. they don't feel like they're being represented or heard all the time. and that's one of our jobs is to make sure that that is happening. >> reporter: jehe worries about changes to the fed by congress, especially arising from the current hot political environment. >> i am concerned that we've -- we maybe are coming into the cross hairs, and i do worry about our ability to sustain the monetary policy independence we've been able to sustain over the past couple of decades. >> reporter: the hearing came ahead of the fed's next policy

meeting when members could vote for an increase in short term interest rates, but only if they see a healthy growth in the economy. critics want the fed to weight for stronger job growth. >> peter, thank you. it is back to school week for millions of families around the country, and an increasing number of schools are attending charter schools. dan springer tells us tonight even though the results are said to be overwhelmingly positive, not everyone in the education system is on board. >> reporter: the excel charter school in kent, washington is off and running, with a keen focus on science technology, math, and the arts. 2/3 of the students are racial minorities and half from poor families. but in the first year, they outperformed their traditional public school peers. >> we have the ability to make decisions that are always best with what students need. and we're always adapting and adjusting. >> reporter: 25 years after the nation's first charter, these public schools of choice, which

don't answer to local school districts, have never been more popular. there are now a record 6800 in the u.s., serving 2.9 million students. 6% of all kids in public schools. a more than doubling over the last decade. the results are promising. a 2013 stanford study found on average charter school kids gained an additional 28 days of learning and reading per year and 40 more days of math than their counterparts in district run schools. but many teachers unions are still fighting charter schools. >> we want to make sure the paramount duty of the states are taken care of. >> reporter: the washington education association challenged a charter school initiative passed by voters and now it's soon to blox the legislator's fix. the state supreme court ruled charter schools were ineligible to receive money from the general fund. >> charter schooling threatens to disrupt arrangements around

teacher benefits, teacher insurance policies and pensions. charter schooling creates disruptions that might affect teacher's jobs. >> reporter: the lawsuit won't threaten this school year for washington state charters but puts their futcher in jeopardy. the rapid growth continues in most of the rest of the country, giving parents more educational options than they've ever had before. bret? >> dan, thank you. where do the candidates stand on this? donald trump is in favor of charter schools. he spoke about charters at a rally last saturday in ohio and he hadvocates merit pay for teachers. hillary clinton said that traditional public schools and charter schools should share ideas. that comment was met by boos from that audience. she's against the use of vouchers, and for-profit charter schools. growing debate within the medical community about whether

doctors should allow their personal beliefs to affect how and when they treat patients. shannon bream is here with the latest on that. good evening. >> reporter: an international group says it's time for doctors and nurses with personal, moral objections to certain procedures and objections to put them aside or leave the profession. lawmakers here in the u.s. say it's just one of the reasons why they're pushing for new conscience protections. the international coalition which includes at least one u.s. professor argues that patient's rights must take precedence over those who may object to procedures and treatments that conflict with their own personally held beliefs. it sates practitioners who object must explain their rational and have their rational assessed by a tribunal, compensate society and the

health care for theirto perform. and u.s. lawmakers say developments like these are why they're pushing for new laws to shield medical students and professionals who have moral objections to practices like late-term abortions. though they don't expect president obama to support their efforts. >> we have on unholy alliance with the big abortion industry, and he does all kinds of things to protect them. but doesn't lift a hand to protect someone who has a deeply held belief in helping them to make sure that they are protected, as well. >> reporter: democrats say the proposed law would have disastrous consequences. >> what this bill does is it allows whole new classes of people to refuse to provide services to the women of america. it allows employers, it allows health care plans to refuse to provide women the services they

need. >> reporter: the house has passed its version of a measure that originally came from the senate. so now the work shifts back to the senate, but the white house has already issued a veto threat. bret? >> shannon, thank you. national security and the so-called ransom payments to iran. we'll discuss the latest revelations with the panel

the american people have a big choice to make when it comes to national security. on the one hand, we have donald trump who disrespects our military leaders by saying, and i quote, i know more about isis than the generals do. >> immediately after taking office, i will ask my generals to present to me a plan within 30 days to defeat and destroy isis. >> the two major party candidates talk about national security as they get ready for a commander in chief forum

tonight. more about this issue, let's bring in our pant. dan balls, mercedes and charles krauthammer. dan, the focus foreign policy, this seems to be a driving issue. but these elections seem to focus on the economy and that's where things mostly turn. >> they do. i think this will still turn on that, but there's no question that national security is a bigger issue this time than it certainly was in 2012. the world's in turmoil. there's questions about both candidates and where they stand and how reliable they would be as commander in chief as presidents. so it's heightened the discussion. tonight we'll begin to get a look at it, but this is a debate that will carry on through the election. >> mercedes, hillary clinton going after again and again and again temperament of donald trump. donald trump today going after the temperament and performance

of hillary clinton. take a listen to trading attacks today, donald trump and hillary clinton. >> sometimes it seemed like there wasn't a country in the middle east that hillary clinton didn't want to invade, intervene in, or topple. she's trigger happy, and very unstable. hillary clinton's legacy in iraq, libya, syria, has produced only turmoil and suffering and death. >> he's very loose in his talk about nukes. he says he doesn't care if other countries get them. doesn't know why they haven't been used already. i mean, it's so mind boggling. >> thoughts? >> the battle is about the qualities for commander in chief. is it the temperament versus the trust issue. for hillary clinton, she's been focussing time and time again how dangerous donald trump is. he's unfit to be president. for donald trump, he's making the case that you look at hillary clinton's record.

it's a failed policy in the middle east, the middle east is more unstable now that we've seen before. we've seen the failures in libya, egypt and now syria. and putting the focus on e-mails, which is the trust issue. can we trust hillary clinton to be commander in chief knowing she can't figure out what is classified information. >> and the honest and trustworthy numbers suggest that trump's doing better than hillary clinton in the new cnn poll. charles, your thoughts on this? >> that's true, her numbers are sinking, his are staying the same. so he's rising on that measure. but there's no connection with the trust issue, and whether people believe you can be commander in chief. richard nixon was known as tricky dicky. he was never trusted. but everyone agreed that the pluses had to do with his knowledge of foreign affairs and it turned out he did rather well on that measure.

you know, look, you get trump saying that he has a plan for isis, and the plan is to ask for a plan when he gets into office. that's not much of a plan. and considering that he would ask for the plan from the generals, who he says know less about isis than he does, i think it's more an exercise in rather remarkable humility on his part than it is a grand strategy. >> on the flip side, you can argue that the obama administration plan hasn't worked and hillary clinton's plan is to continue president obama's plan. >> i would argue that nobody has a plan, particularly this administration. i think the president actually has a vision, and he did years ago, that he would just gradually squeeze them out of iraq and leave the syrian part to his successor, which i think is sort of what is unfolding. but it's not quick enough or decisive enough. but nobody has a plan. the difference is that trump says he has one, and he'll do it

quickly. and that he knows exactly what it is. but he didn't want to tell the enemy. that didn't sound like he's hiding it from the enemy. >> dan, what about this tactic to go to the left of hillary clinton on her hawkishness, on the fact that she's trigger happy. the fact that you have a republican nominee now saying that the democrat is more likely to be engaged in countries around the world than we shouldn't be? >> it's one of the question marks about donald trump. obviously we know that hillary clinton is more hawkish than president obama. but donald trump has sort of tried to have it both ways, which is on the one hand we're going to bomb the you know what out of isis. and on the other hand, we're not going to do the kinds of things that hillary clinton has done. we're not going to be as interventionist. as charles suggests, that's a question about what donald trump really wants to do or would do. so i think that raises both the issue of temperament and stability. but also knowledge and

experience. and that's where they engage. >> i want to ask you about "the washington post" 50 states effort that you've been doing. we have this washington post survey monkey and some of the electoral breakups that you have right now. you've been traveling a lot. the most interesting thing i thought from a lot of this data is the number two was the effect of third party candidates in all these states. i think we have that up. what have you found? >> well, there's no question that when you bring the libertarian and green party candidates into it, hillary clinton's lead is narrower than if they're not in it. the real clear politics number is like a point or a little more than a point smaller. we found that there were at least three states that move from kind of hillary clinton's column into the toss-up column. it didn't directly help donald trump but created a larger batch of competitive states. i think the survey we did, which

was a survey in all the 50 states, a huge online sample, 74,000 respondents showed that this race has tightened, that trump has some strength in the midwest that he can try to exploit. he's not over the hump yet, but he has strength there. that hillary clinton is able to put some red states in play, but that the bottom line is that he still has a much narrower path to 270 votes than she does. >> the electoral college. but this race is so strange. a new poll out in rhode island that says donald trump is down by two. there's a poll out in arizona that says hillary clinton is down by three. these are two states that are all republican in arizona, all democrat in rhode island. >> i guess what i would say about that is, one, donald trump's an unconventional candidate. so in some sense that can scramble things. the second is, by election day, these states line up kind of like they have done historically. we don't know what their actual numbers would be, but there's a rank order.

>> no one thinks hillary clinton is going to win texas this year. >> although we had it as a dead heat. but this is a time in which that normal order gets messed up, and i think we're seeing some of that in the polling right now. it will begin to fall into a more predictable pattern. but not until after the debates. >> the debates matter this time. >> the debates matter and you're seeing gary johnson in the teens. can he make it into the debates? >> last thing i wanted to mention, we covered the iran payments. we were one of the organizations that broke this story originally. now we find out that there were cash payments. we don't know whether it went to a third party and then cash to tehran. but how this affects this administration and possibly even hillary clinton. understand that she wasn't in the office when it happened. >> number one, the dribbling out of the information. yes, they said the payment was

made at the time. but the idea that it was on an airplane -- on airplanes that were unmarked and they were holding it until the hostages were released and that was done in cash and foreign currency, all of that indicates something quite humiliating, if nothing else. and it's obviously the administration did not want anybody to know. that was a concealment operation and it came out. and the second is, what are we doing bargaining in this way with a terror country when we sat down originally for the nuclear negotiations? we should have had an demand on the table that we are not going to talk until the hostages are released. next up, are we about to see more revelations on the hillary clinton e-mail scandal from

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everything he says can't remember what c in bracket stands for. everyone in position of government knows it stands for classified confidential. and in fact, we have already released thousands of cables here she is. that's her significant. clinton with a c bracket right there. thousands where she, herself, has used the c in brackets and signed it. we might put out some teases. i don't want to promise anything, because you have to see how the formatting goes. but we might put out some teases as early as the next week or the week after. >> julian assange founder of wikileaks now at the center of this 2016 presidential campaign saying there may be more shoes to drop or as he

says there likely will be in the clinton email scandal. we're back with the panel. charles, it's interesting that we are now at this point that with perspective as doug mckelway showed earlier in the show, this guy is not well respected or looked at. he is a cyber criminal. he is facing charges in hishomes being interviewed on many channels, including this one. and at the center of this campaign. >> look, it's disturbing that our election could hinge on the actions of an accused rapist hiding out in the ecuadorian embassy in london on the one hand and a man who in one way or another is likely releasing the information that wikileaks is in turn releasing a former kgb agent and thug who runs russia. not a very savory proposition for american voters. i think either side has to be a little bit careful. the democrats are rightly afraid of what shoe could drop. on the other hand, the expectations are building that there is a bombshell.

and if there isn't, i think it will be a huge advantage for the republicans. on the other hand, she has painted him as a doctor strange love mad man. all you have to do is show up at the base and not froth at the mouth. >> this is donald trump. >> he will have won it hands down. either side, the expectation management here, i think, is pretty much out of control on both sides. >> mercedes, about julian assange? >> i have got to tell you, between the russian hackers, assange, the amount of influence and power that these individuals are having over our election process is scary. i mean, at the end we got to think about the fact that assange is able to go on national television, make his case, talk about these potential emails coming out and what does speaker pelosi do, for example? she says speaker ryan, letter urging that the republican candidates do not use hacked materials. it's causing this paranoia in the political system right now. and i think that obviously i think it's obvious that we

need to be concerned about this. >> i want to play the sound bite just to give you a different context. this is hillary clinton back in 2011 talking about julian assange and the wikileaks case. >> i think that in an age when so much information is, you know, flying through cyberspace, we all have to be aware of the fact that, you know, some information, which is sensitive, which does effect the security of individuals and relationships deserves to be protected. and we will continue to take necessary steps to do so. >> interesting to hear that in the context of all that we're covering with the clinton email situation. then your thoughts on this and how it all plays out? >> well, i think there is no question given what we saw from wikileaks at the time of the democratic convention that the democrats are rightly nervous about what further might come out. >> do you hear that? >> you hear it.

i mean, you heard it at the time. you heard it when what what happened on the eve of the democratic convention. what more might be out there? i mean, there were rumors that there was more coming at the time. nobody quite knew what it was but there were rumors it was going to be effecting the clinton campaign or hillary clinton directly. i think at this point, given the damage that that did, it didn't effect hillary clinton per se. but given the damage that that did, they have to be nervous about it. but, you know, look at who we are dealing with on the other side as charles says. >> when you hear hillary saying that about secrets, you realize that this election, this is the festival, this is an orgy of ironies, there is nothing that you see from six months ago that isn't a direct contradiction or sort of mocks what the current positions are. and it's going to get worse between now and november. >> she should have stayed away from the emails. >> bumper sticker and orgy

of irony. >> i'm not putting that on my car, charles. >> it was working for me. >> that's it for the panel. stay tuned. it took an act of congress but a female world war ii pilot has finally been laid to rest at

finally tonight, elaine harman died at the age of 8 a. she made arrangements to be laid to rest at argueton

testimony. today that happened. she was a member of the warp who flew noncombat missions during world war ii. they did not receive military status until 1977. eventually they were eligible for burial at arlington. last year though that changed pause of limited space. but harman's family fought the rule and in may president obama signed the bill allowing women in arlington. fewer than 100 of them are still alive today. we thank them for their service and sacrifice. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and still unafraid. "on the record" with brit hume starts right now. "special report" online begins in just seconds. >> it is thursday september 8th. donald trump verses hillary clinton, a sign of things to

come. the candidates clash on national security in front of a military audience. >> under the leadership of barack obama and hillary clinton it has been reduced to rubble. it is embarrassing to our country. >> mold make the best commander-in-chief? we will break down their plans. >> a veteran demanding answers from hillary clinton. >> let me get this information. you clearly corrupted our national security. >> the pressure now p mounting as the democratic nominee tries to claim the state department's corrupt e-mail system. >> how owe po nents derailed the soccer star's progress. >> "fox & friends first" starts right now.

#>> no sunshine yet in new york city. we are one day closer to the weekend. good morning to all of you. you are watching "fox & friends first." >> thank you for starting your day with us. the candidate show down aboard the intrepid. >> facing off in the military forum weeks ahead of the first presidential debate. >> henry is live for us with tonight's biggest moments. >> it is a warm up to the main event. the