>> that's it for us. do we love the people of new hampshire? >> i still love new hampshire. i always will. >> the first in the nation primary state. almost nine months later -- >> please, come out and vote on november 8th here in new hampshire. >> i won new hampshire, my first victory. >> is now a key battleground for the presidential race and for control of the u.s. senate. "special report" from the granite state starts right now. we are coming to you live tonight from new hampshire, inside the iconic roby's country store. many candidates have campaigned right here. i'm bret baier. over the next hour, we will

bring you up to speed on what's happening in this first in the nation primary state. it was one of our first stops. now it's our last road show with "special report" before election night coverage at fox news headquarters in new york. right now, here is the first look at brand-new national fox polls on the presidential election. a tightening race. donald trump has pulled to within three points of hillary clinton in the four-way survey. clinton had a six-point lead in our last poll. this poll shows movement with independents, shifting to trump in recent days. in the head to head, clinton's seven-point lead has trimmed to five. in the latest survey here in new hampshire, clinton has a 46-42 edge on trump. the four-point cushion, less than half the nine-point lead last month in this state in that poll. it has the u.s. senate race here deadlocked at 46 each. senator ayotte was up two last month but has trailed in others.

senator ayotte will join us in a moment. a few minutes ago, a new nbc poll here in new hampshire has clinton with a nine-point advantage over trump in that poll. that's up two from just two last month. in the senate race, nbc has senator ayotte with a one-point lead over governor hassan. it was eight points last month. with the major party nominees, donald trump began the day with another business trip. this time to washington. he was in dc to formally open his new hotel, just down the street from the white house. trump says criticism over the timing of that event is unfair since hillary clinton missed several days of campaigning to study for the debates and took in an adele concert. in an hour, trump will hold a rally. we will have a live report from there. hillary clinton, who is celebrating her 69th birthday today, held a couple of events in florida, a state trump must get in order to have a chance of getting to 270 electoral votes. she told a syndicated radio show

she's sick of the meanness and wants to increase fun and bring people together. her idea, a big national dance party. in other news, ash carter is ordering the pentagon to stop seeking repayments of enlistment bonuses given to members of the california national guard who served overseas. carter instructed officials to set up a steam lined process by the first of the year to help troops get relief from the overpayment obligation. in international news, two earthquakes have hit central italy. just two injuries are reported so far. this comes, of course, after a powerful earthquake killed nearly 300 people two months ago in italy. anti-government protesters jammed the streets of ven ez with a l -- venezuela's capital today. the president's allies have

blocked efforts to hold an election. first up tonight, something a little different. we begin our election countdown series, issues that matter. here is the full list based on a recent fox news poll. the number one issue is, of course, the economy. number two, terrorism. then it's education, race relations, federal deficit, health care is sixth, then climate change, foreign policy, immigration. and at number ten, drug addiction. that is where we begin tonight. this evening, rick leventhal here in new hampshire with concerns about the growing drug epidemic affecting the country. but specifically, this region. >> reporter: authorities call this operation granite hammer. agents with the drug enforcement administration join local police busting suspected drug buyers, home to more hair oe

home to more hair roin and opio addicts than almost anywhere. >> new hampshire has suffered so greatly from the heroin crisis and the drugs pouring across the border. the rate of heroin overdose has nearly quadruple in the state. once again, our politicians have tragically failed this country. >> reporter: both candidates have addressed the issue. >> when you are republican to get help, there's not enough places to go to get help. we are losing thousands and thousands of americans of all age, but particularly young americans under 40. and we have got to address this. >> reporter: hillary clinton pledged $10 billion to fight the epidemic. $7.5 billion to support a federal state partnership that aims aims to prevent and treat. she wants to expand treatment instead of jail for non-violent offenders.

donald trump short on specifics says he will stop the flow of illegal drugs into the country in part by building a wall and will help all of those people so seriously addicted get the assistance they need. the number of addicts has skyrocketed in the past decade. fuelled by the use and abuse of prescription drugs and the rise of fentanyl, an opioid 40 to 50 times stronger than street level heroin. dealers mix the two to lure users. the results can be deadly. tens of thousands of overdose deaths every year nationwide. at least 80 here in manchester since january. >> we with well over 600 calls on overdose calls alone. >> firefighters spend much of their day responding to od calls, trying to resuscitate addicts three to five times every shift. >> you have been with the fire department for 32 years. ever see anything like this? >> never. never. >> reporter: this woman lost her

stepdaughter amber to a heroin overdose. >> they're not talking about a plan. what are you going to do that's going to save a life tonight? >> reporter: dennis is a recovering addict whose wife died of a suspected od. >> if i mourned every single person that we lost directly or indirectly, i would be in mourning 24 hours a day. >> reporter: now he is counseling others on the challenge of overcoming opioids. >> you can provide an example for somebody. but nobody will change unless they do it themselves. >> reporter: the manchester fire department created a program to try to help called safe station. it encourages anyone with addiction issues to walk into a firehouse and get fast tracked into a treatment facility. >> when we go to them, it's because they have hit rock bottom or they have overdosed. when they come to us, it's a choice. >> reporter: this was aaron's second visit in a week.

>> i'm not a bad person. i made bad choices. i'm not going to give up on myself. >> we look at it as if you show up once and you come back twice, that's 100% success rate because you found us the first time and you had an issue and came back. >> reporter: this woman handled many of the cases of the cases referred by the fire department. she and her staff couldn't save them all. >> i can think of four of them l that rattled us. >> communities are being ruined. if anything can be republicaned to a weapon of mass destruction, it's this. >> reporter: interdiction efforts can't fix this that will be waiting for the next president to address. >> whoever is in charge in the white house, this is something they need to pay attention to. >> the street level busts will continue. they are trying to follow the supply chain from the buyers to the sellers to the distributors. the treatment facilities staying

busy here in manchester with with addicts walking in looking for help. people are dieing, too. this is a crisis that stretches from coast to coast with nearly 50,000 overdose deaths every year. that's more people than are killed in car crashes. >> a huge story. you did a great job talking to all sides. this didn't start with heroin and fentanyl. this epidemic was fuelled by prescription drugs. right? >> reporter: right. america has just under 5% of the world's population. we consume roughly 80% of the world's pain medication. literally billions of pills annually, including the highly addictive oxycodone. they often switch to heroin which has a similar affect but is cheaper. the dea received criticism for doing more to not target the drug suppliers. all of this creating a huge challenge for whoever moves into the white house in january.

>> thank you. that's why immigration and border security is a huge issue here in new hampshire. the senate race here has huge ramifications nationally with democrats trying to retake the senate. they see a vulnerability here. we will talk with kelly ayotte in just a moment. first, they set the table for us. >> reporter: it's a senate race that mirrors the battle for control of the senate. it's a virtual tie. maggie hassan is battling it out against the republican incumbent senator kelly ayotte. issues like the heroin epidemic and the economy are taking a back seat to donald trump. >> the top of the ticket that's really impacting things. they're the tail on the dog. it's donald trump and hillary clinton wagging the tail. >> reporter: for months ayotte walked a tightrope of supporting trump while stopping short of

supporting him. >> i think that certainly there are many role models that we have. i believe he can serve as president and so absolutely. >> reporter: she says she misspoke. five days la s later she withdrr support of trump. >> the information that came out from the tape came to the issue of assault. wasn't my daughter to know where i sit on this issue. i won't be voting for our nominee. i won't be voting for hillary clinton. >> at the end of the day, she can try to distance herself all she wants. she was choosing him to be our representative. and that was a political calculation. and then when the political wind shifted, she shifted. >> reporter: on monday, hillary clinton stood with hassan. clinton is giving republicans hope they can keep the seat.

it may come down to who voters believe can keep the president in check. >> they want someone like governor hassan who will be a rubber stamp for hillary clinton. >> i will always stand up to my party. >> reporter: they will debate november 2, giving them one final big opportunity to swing voters their way in a state that allows for same-day voter registration. >> thanks. kelly ayotte is trying to hang on to her job here against fierce competition from democrat governor maggie hassan. we invited the governor to speak with us. she declined. senator ayotte has joined us. how are you? >> great. good to be with sgyou. >> this race is tight. this poll is out. it's directly tied. inside that poll, senator, there are favorable, unfavorable. your favorable has dropped eight points since september. your unfavorable has gone up three. obviously, there was a debate in there where you had this nuanced

position of supporting but not endorsing donald trump. is that hurting you here? >> i actually think this, we know this is going to be a close race. right now the people of new hampshire are focused on who will be their voice in the senate, who will be that strong voice to stand up for their rights to fight for them no matter what. to get things done on the fiscal state of the country, keeping the country safe in a dangerous world. now with rising cost under obamacare, this is a big in addition this race. >> you have said that it's important for republicans to hold on to the senate. you talk to people and they say, why? why is it so important? why does it matter? if it's a president clinton, what happens? why is it important? >> it matters so much in terms of the supreme court, in terms of the fiscal state of the country. i'm running against governor hassan who has never seen a tax increase she doesn't like. in terms of people keeping more money in their pockets, oursmal thrive and grow, instead of being a burden by regulations

and increased taxes in washington. it matters so much if we're going to do anything about the health care law. because can you imagine hillary clinton with a rubber stamp like my opponent in terms of what she would do on those issue snz. >> you have used that line, rubber stamp. we asked her about that. here is what she said. >> i will always stand up to my party. i disagree with hillary clinton and the president on closing guantanamo. i reject the president's proposal. i don't think it addresses national security interests our our interests abroad. i oppose and differ with secretary clinton on the fact that i think we should take a temporary pause and truly audit our refugee vetting system because the fbi and cia have said they have concerns about it. i differ with the president on the tpp. i differ with both of them on an internet sales tax. >> she says she stands up -- >> she has her talking points. on issues for new hampshire, first of all, the security of

the country, one of the first things she did is endorse the iran agreement, which is dangerous for the country, for the world. we have seen iran's bad behavior. i have been a critic of it. obamacare, thinking about the higher cost, higher co-pay, premiums. she's with secretary clinton on this. she will follow her lead. secretary clinton wants to expand obamacare, not fix it with more competition, more choice, less one size fits all from washington. she has a history of tax increased. secretary clinton wants a trillion dollar tax increase. governor hassan has increased taxes on small businesses shgz c, campers, smokers. you name it. these are big issues. she is not going to differ from hillary clinton. >> you mentioned health care and the premiums that we are hearing about across the country going up. the administration is confirming. here in new hampshire, the granite state has the second lowest increases in the country for the benchmark increases for the silver plan compared to

other states, between two and 14%. how do you -- >> tell that to my constituents. they're telling me the stories. i was at the olive garden. i had a young man who is a cook who had a plan he liked before. he can't keep it. i'm meeting families that have higher deductibles, higher co-pays. they had plans they liked they couldn't keep. they are seeing higher costs. if you have a 10% increase, that's a big deal for a family. deductibles going higher. this is what i'm hearing. governor hassan is not going to do anything to change that or to make sure new hampshire has more choice. >> it's a similar story in the new hampshire economy, the unemployment here is 2.9%. well below the national average. the median income is higher than the national average. how do you make the case that the obama administration handling of the economy here in new hampshire is having a negative affect and should lead

to a republican -- >> i can make that case easily. there's not a small business i visit that doesn't have a story from an alphabet soup agency in washington of more paperwork, more regulations. again, when we think about some of the proposals that are out there, governor hassan, she vetoed a budget because it decreased business taxes. she was the architect of a small business income tax in this state that thankfully others later overturned. there's big difrnferences for businesses in the state. i happen to be the wife of a small businessowner. landscaping and snowplowing. i live it. i know what we need to do. we can't have washington continuing to burden our small businesses on taxes, regulations, higher health care costs. these are all issues where there's big differences in this race. >> your husband is also a former a-10 pilot. >> he is. >> he have a lot of experience on national security issues. are you satisfied with the state of the u.s. military now? what will the next president

whoever he or she is have to deal with on that front? >> i'm not satisfied. i believe that these automatic cuts to our military which i opposed are taking us into a direction where we are shrinking the size of the military. it's dangerous in light of the threats we're facing from isis, iran, aggression from china and the south china sea. many of the terrorist, al qaeda continuing to threaten us. we need to do more to make sure that we have the equipment and training for our men and women in uniform and we continue to support our veterans. that has been a priority of mine. so many veterans still unfortunately are dealing with the va in struggling to get the care that they deserve for having defended this nation. >> which candidate is best positioned to advance u.s. interests around the globe? >> i know my role in the armed services committee is -- >> no, no. >> i think the people of the country will decide that. for me, from my perspective, my role is going to stand up for

the military no matter who is in the oval office. that's what i'm going to do. >> donald trump won here in the primary. aren't you risking kind of i'll naturing some of the voters by the position you have taken? >> my position is based on what is in my heart on this issue. i'm a former prosecutor. when those tapes came out, that crossed a line into criminality for me. i'm the mother of a daughter and american. i'm going to write in mike pence. >> i want to ask you finally -- we did this piece about the drug epidemic. here in new hampshire, opioid, it's at the center of the nation's opioid epidemic. one of the highest addiction rates in the u.s. total deaths from opioids, 245, projected 488 total drug deaths here in new hampshire by the end of the year. it's a huge -- >> devastating. i met so many mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers who lost someone they love. this is an issue i worked on in

the senate. we were passing a bill this summer. can't do it all from washington. it's really focusing on the health for prevention, treatment and recovery. i've been focusing on the southern border. that's where this heroin and fentanyl are coming from to places like new hampshire. border security will help as well. >> senator ayotte, we appreciate your time. >> thanks. >> we did invite governor hassan. more details on the polls. we will see what the candidates are doing. we are inside two weeks to election day. hard to believe. we are live from new hampshire tonight at the historic roby's country store, a new hampshire tradition. stay with us. ♪

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welcome back to new hampshire. while this state has only four electoral votes, it's very important to the electoral equations for both hillary clinton and donald trump. the two nominees are concentrating right now on a handful of other states where huge numbers of electoral votes are at stake. carl cameron is in north carolina where donald trump will speak in the next hour. good evening. >> reporter: as we head into the final stretch, the campaign is accelerating. more events, more polls, more insults. donald trump says he wants to drain the swamp in washington, d.c. where he opened his new hotel today and latched hillary clinton to obamacare. >> remember, hillary said herself, it was called hillarycare before it was called obamacare.

she made that statement not too long ago. now she's trying to withdraw that statement. >> reporter: clinton and trump are in a dead heat. when it comes to who voters trust more to handle foreign policy, clinton is at 55% with a 15-point lead. on immigration and terrorism, clinton has a 3-point lead. on the economy, trump has a 4-point advantage. the democrats barnstormed florida where trump leads by two within the margin of error. at event to organize her ground game, clinton mocked trump. >> while the hotel may be new, it's the same old story. if you have friends who are thinking of voting for trump, i want you to tell them that he relied on undocumented workers to make his project cheaper. >> reporter: the clinton campaign released two closing argument ads today. >> a steady hand or a loose

cannon? common sense and unity or drama and division? >> reporter: trump has gotten traction, pounding clinton for defending obamacare. >> one of the greatest betrayals has been the issue of immigration, illegal immigration violates the civil rights of african-americans. no group has more economically harmed than low income african-american workers. >> reporter: both trump and clinton have halted in-person appearances at big donor fund-raisers. clinton outraised and outspent trump. mike pence campaigned in the red state of utah today, which hasn't voted democrat for five decades in presidential politics, but is a tossup because of former republican turned independent candidate mcmullin who is acting as a

spoiler for trump. tomorrow trump has three rallies planned in ohio. hillary clinton will be here in north carolina. for the first time of a joint campaign appearance with the first lady michelle obama. >> carl cameron in north carolina. thank you. the defense has rested in the bridgegate trial of former aide to governor chris christie. the governor has not been charged and maintains he had no advance knowledge of the plan. although, trial testimony has suggested that is not the case. we are learning more tonight about the confusion and disarray in the clinton campaign during the early stages of her e-mail scandal. ed henry tells us, team hillary knew immediately the problems were bigger than they were letting on. >> reporter: as soon as hillary clinton e-mail scandal broke, she downplayed it. >> i opted for convenience to

use my personal e-mail account. >> reporter: in private, a top adviser bluntly admitted in a march 7, 2015 e-mail, there is just no good answer. we need to gut through the process phase, get them out there and let the content do the talking. three days later, the aides who were not confident they had good answers, let clinton go out and vow -- >> i have absolute confidence that everything that could be in any way connected to work is now in the possession of the state department. >> reporter: another new e-mail shows on march 8, 2015, even clinton adviser mandy grunwald wondered about a report that there were gaps in the official e-mail, including no e-mail from the trip where this photo of clinton on her blackberry was snapped. she asked, do we have an answer for why there are no e-mails from the trip to libya? clinton needed e-mail the least when she traveled. she had both her deputy chiefs

of staff with her, me, always a high ranking state person most relevant to the issue. that does not explain why there are no e-mails from the trip where clinton was clearly on her blackberry. especially since the fbi reported at the end of march 2015, the i.t. company overseeing her server used bleach bit to delete thousands of e-mails. "the new york times" revealed she use aid pd a private accoun. they issued a subpoena to preserve all records that day. john podesta e-mailed mills, think we should hold e-mails to and from the president? march 7, mills wrote they needed to clean up the president's answer about when he learned about the server. today we learned on march 5, rinus urged clinton to hold a transparency day. claiming of clinton, e-mailer in chief is in a very good place about all of this.

clinton promised there was no classified information on her server. that was false. fbi records show the state department withheld from public release 18 confidential messages twez t between the president and clinton. >> thank you. project veritas has released its fourth in a series of undercover videos. it shows how a group turned a $20,000 donation into the access that has resulted in all of the videos it released. have exposed links between the hillary clinton campaign and outside groups promoting her campaign. yesterday, the head of the progressive advocacy group americans united for change told fox and friends that his organization does coordinate with the clinton campaign insisting that it is 100% legal. the obama administration is trying to shift the blame for rising health care insurance costs. those are the first comments since monday's admission that obamacare preem miums are going

by an average of 25% across the country next year. kevin cork has more. >> reporter: is it a political pothole? by any definition, price spikes in atted forabthe affordable ca at an inopportune time. clinton puts her in the position of trying to defend obamacare. >> we're going to get co-pays and premiums and deductibles down. we're going to tackle prescription drug costs. we can do that without ripping away the insurance that people now have. >> reporter: it's not just clinton. from new hampshire to florida to arizona, democrats have been forced to fend off criticism for supporting obamacare. republicans have taken full advantage. >> hassan supports the healthcare law. >> the costs have gone up. >> we're paying more out of pocket than ever. >> reporter: the issue offers gop candidates up and down the

ticket something to stoke the base in the final two weeks of the campaign. today, officials actually blamed republicans for the pending rate hike. >> republicans would rather pla. that is true with the republican approach to a wide range of issues. there's no better example of their approach to play politics and not solve problems than when it cop comes to the affordable act. >> why solve a problem they didn't create? >> obamacare is expensive. it does not work. it's causing an impact across all points for people that even aren't on obamacare. >> reporter: you may recall back in 2007, the president said, your premiums will not go up. paul ryan, the house speaker today issues a statement. he said, well, given the 25% rate hike that we have heard about, he is calling it now the lie of the decade.

>> kevin cork live on the north lawn. thank you. stocks were mixed today. dow was up 30, s&p lost 4, the nasdaq dropped 33. we're inside the two week mark until election day. we will hear from some of the locals here in new hampshire and the experts on what is happening here in this state and around the country. that's next.

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about immigration. >> illegals. i would like to see them go back. >> take care of the american people before the foreigners. that would be the bottom line. >> i understand our country is free. let immigrants in. but you know, you don't want to let everybody in. you need to do some background searching and stuff like that. >> reporter: another major concern in this state of less than a million and a half people, terrorism and security. >> gun violence and terrorists who can get into america or become radicalized in america. somebody has to do something about that. it's not right. it makes america unsafe. but i'm not voting for donald trump, because he makes me feel unsafe. >> i'd like the safety of our country. you know, it's getting a little out of control. >> i don't want them to go to war. what's going on outside of america is affecting what's happening in america. >> reporter: it's not all about the issues for new hampshire people. it's about personality. that's turning out to be a problem for both major party

candidates. >> i don't like any of the candidates right now, from a presidential standpoint. >> there's no way i would vote for trump. i'm voting for hillary clinton. that's the biggest issue for me is that i think he's ridiculous. >> i'd like to see hillary because she's a woman. but i think we need to have someone strong like trump. >> reporter: new hampshire voters are living up to their independent attitudes, even when it causes problems at home. >> he is trump. i'm clinton. kind of funny we're in the same household. we will cancel each other out. >> reporter: this is the state where first in the nation primary voters have the same attitude with the general election. voters throughout the state kept telling us over and over they just want to back somebody in november they like. bret? >> thank you.

look at the race on the average of polls before we bring in our panel. the presidential race with the real clear politics average has hillary clinton up seven. the nbc poll in here and the u.s. senate race we have the race split essentially with kelly ayotte up 1.3. clinton and trump visits to new hampshire, clinton 24, trump 30. then we have the spending on ads. so far, clinton 1.33 million. trump $604,000. to give you a sense here, senate race expenditures, campaigns and outside groups, governor ha sha, 51.9, ayotte, $51 million. we want to bring in local journalists. james feddel and paul

steinhouser. what's your sense on the ground how this place is going? >> this campaign has been stuck at tied for well over a year since maggie hassan joined the race. the number everyone is watching is the presidential race. the spread between most -- most people believe hillary clinton win will. if the spread is six or seven points or under, kelly ayotte is in the game and has a shot of winning. if we get above that, if hillary clinton wins by eight, nine, ten points, if that happened in 2008, she may be done. >> two polls out today. they are both different. the presidential race you have clinton up nine and then clinton up four. is it possible that donald trump closes the gap here in new hampshire? >> a lot of people are saying when it comes to the polls, trump supporters aren't expressing their true feelings. maybe they will vote for trump. trump thinks it's winnable. you talk about the campaign visits.

he has come up on his eighth visit on friday tomorrow. clinton has been here twice. >> whether kelly ayotte -- she's not going to campaign with him. >> pretty clear. >> she told me on that, writing in pence. how does that go over? >> she's been outperforming donald trump in every poll here. is it hurting her? not so much. there's not a clear alternative. there's no candidate that conservatives can go to. >> we know the answer to that. in poll after poll after poll, no change even though she did divorce trump. >> the issues, immigration runs high here. if you ask that question, immigration is top. tied, i assume, to the drug issue here. >> immigration has been a big topic sitting on republicans here for a long time. >> illegal immigration situation is small here. >> i know. newt gingrich had this right years ago when he described the issue up here. it's a cultural issue more than

anything else than a physical issue or direct -- we're not on the border except for canada. the opioids is a new way of talking about this as a concern. >> there's been a battle in the senate race over opioids. it's nasty with some of the outside ads. the governor criticized for what she has or hasn't done when it comes to the drug crisis. >> this state knows hillary clinton very well. this state has a tradition of being independent. is a splitting ticket kind of vote in a place like new hampshire something that is very possible? >> i think it's very possible. a lot of us are looking at that potential dynamic. if hillary clinton wins by a couple points, four, five, six points, kelly ayotte has a high favorability rating. she may survive. if it's bigger than that -- the question people are looking at is, is this a race that john mccain lost in 2008 by ten points and republicans suffered down the ballot or that obama beat romney by seven points?

it feels like 2008 more than 2012. of course, romney is looking at different poll numbers than the rest of us. >> i'm struck by the governor. she says she's going to stand up to her party. she says it right next to hillary clinton when she's campaigning with her. the independent streak again. >> very important here. four out of ten voters here are undeclared on independent. that's why you see them touting their independence from their parties. hassan says she will disagree with the president. >> thank you very much. four electoral votes, a very important state. next up our national panel looks at the poll on the presidential race and where we are. back in new hampshire in a minute. ♪

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there are only 13 days left in this important election, and i have to tell you it is so clear how high the stakes are. >> my theme today is five words: under budget and ahead of schedule. that's what we did. this is what i want to do for our country. and this is what we are working so hard to do. >> donald trump at the international hotel. trump international hotel in washington, d.c. hillary clinton down in florida. the candidates today, as we mentioned trump was in washington, d.c., also in charlotte, north carolina. and kinston, north carolina. his vice presidential nominee, mike pence, reno, nevada, salt lake city, utah, colorado springs. hillary clinton in lake worth, florida. tampa, florida. tim kaine new town,

pennsylvania. allentown, pennsylvania. bill clinton in north carolina and chelsea clinton had three stops in ohio. clinton has a 3 point lead. that has shifted, in part because of independents. and you take a look at the four-way presidential vote preference on independents and that is a shift from 38% to 41% for donald trump. 31% to 28% from our last poll on hillary clinton. let's bring in our national panel. brunell donna shae is the national coalition for donald trump. she joins us from chicago. in washington, mara liasson national political correspondent. "national public radio" and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. thank you all for being here. mara, first to you, do you see this shifting? do we see a traditional tightening or do you think this is roughly where it has been? >> i think it's roughly where it has been. there might be some tightening of the polls. i do think that this race

has been remarkably stable with hillary clinton having a lead and sometimes it gets bigger, but donald trump has yet to kind of reverse the dynamic of the race and start getting ahead in the battleground states and flipping some of those blue states red. >> brunell, i wanted to ask you about another poll question in here and it deals with minorities, specifically the white and black vote. hillary clinton with 82% of the black vote in this poll. donald trump with only 5%. and you see the breakdown there. from your perspective, what does that tell you and what does it mean? do you think it's real? >> god bless you and god bless america first. what i would say is that donald trump is the people's candidate. he is the person who is saying jobs. that is he going to give school choice. and those are big issues, even in the african-american community. so i'm going to tell you

there's backlash when you say hey, i'm a trump supporter and i'm black. so what i suspect is going to happen is on november 8th, black people who have been quiet and afraid to speak up are going to speak up louder than ever in that voting booth on november 8th. they're going to vote trump, and then they may vote for democrats straight down the ticket. but there are a lot ofle who arg me. they are afraid to speak up, but you'll definitely see on november 8th that it is greater than 6%. more like 16% to 25% black vote. >> brunell, on the issues, you think that donald trump is well positioned here as the change candidate. you think, i guess, that these polls, the majority of the polls are not catching that? >> what i would say is, yes. i mean, the american people, the hurt, the pain, the suffering, the struggling that's going on on the ground, it's heart-breaking. and i believe that so many

americans poor and middle class are veterans who have felt hopeless in this last eight years are going to walk in to that voting booth on november 8th and they're going to express that hurt. they're going to express that pain in a mighty way, in a mighty voice in favor of donald trump, the change agent. we know he is not part of the corruption that we are seeing in our government. each if our media he is not part of the corruption. and so america is going to speak loud and clear. whites, macs, hispanics, arabs, chinese, we're going to speak loud and clear that we are tired of the corruption and we're with donald trump. we want to drain the swamp. that's going on in washington, d.c. >> and that's his tag line there. charles, you listened to brunelle, you listen to other supporters. there is this intensity. there is this enthusiasm.

you can judge how that effects, you know, turnout and the close here over the next than less than two weeks. >> i think enthusiasm for trump surely exceeds that on the part of democrats for hillary clinton. it's not enough because the universal republicans, at least it's not enough now. the universe of trump supporters is simply not large enough to carry a plurality. i do think it's interesting and important that the rate -- the race has tightened. mara is right that to some extent we are back where we started the beginning of the year. but if you look at the seminole event of the last month, which was the release of the hollywood access tapes, the accusations, when the bottom dropped out for just a few days of the trump campaign, i think the real story is the narrowing as a result of that. that was an occasion where trump could have just disappeared. he didn't. he has held his own and two things have happened.

one is that for hillary there have been these wikileaks releases, which have cumulatively, not individually, but cumulatively reinforced the impression of a thoroughly corrupt campaign. and the cynicism of depths that we haven't seen. and i think that's been important and you add obamacare, which is an extremely important issue that swayed two midterm elections and crushed the democrats. it's now back as a result of those released numbers. >> mara, about that, about obamacare, about these issues as they are playing out in the final days, and you see $102 million being spent on this senate race here in new hampshire, obviously the balance of power is a huge story on election day. >> yeah, the balance of power is huge. if hillary clinton wants to fix obamacare, which is what she says she wants to do she has to have a democratic congress or at least as much as she can get to help her to do it. donald trump says he wants to repeal and replace it

which is the republican proposal. i think the wikileaks thing, the -- today the stories were about the wikileaks -- leaks were about the emails. the emails is kind of a headache for hillary clinton that keeps on throbbing. it just doesn't go away. and you really see a behind the scenes look of how her campaign officials understood what kind of problem it was. they were kind of tearing their hair out. why she didn't get this out earlier or have a better explanation. and you see the kind of inner circle around her, her personal aides really being the kind of secretive, not transparent, all the kinds of things that, you know, have helped her get hugely terrible numbers on honesty and trust one way or the trustw. >> yeah brunel, what' brunelle,e most important thing to you and do you care how the house races break down? >> the most important issue to me is economics because

the last eight years the economy, the poor people of this nation have suffered. the middle class have suffered and let me tell you something, the american people don't want to be dealing with a. person going into office with all the baggage, with all the investigations that are going to be on top of hillary clinton. our nation needs to heal. we want to heal. we want peace between the races. we want to make sure that our youth, whether they're white, back, hispanic, have jobs. we want to make sure that the municipal court, you know, that the constitution is protected. those are american issues. that has absolutely nothing to do with your race. that's to protect this nation. and then we want tougher immigration, to make sure that our borders are safe. that we are not fighting i will locally aliens and refugees for jobs. americans are tired of

fighting other people for jobs. and so that frustration is real. that hurt is real. and for the polls and different people to try to dismiss that, it's not right. it's not right. we're hurting. america first. >> brunell, thank you for your time. the panel a little firstier tonight. i appreciate it charles and mara in washington, thank you very much. we'll you have back. we'll you have back. final thoughts after a quick

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issues that matter to voters with rick leventhal looking at the heroin, opioid addiction crisis. that will post on our website soon. tomorrow education concerns with report from casey stegall in texas. everyone is counting town the big election. 13 days where we will bring you complete coverage, a brand new set at our headquarters in new york. thanks for the iconic country store and thank you for joining us, fair, balanced and unafraid. >> good morning. it is thursday, october 27th. closing the gap. 12 days before this election new fox news polls showing donald trump catching up into hillary

clinton making this race closer than ever. >> we are going to win north carolina and florida and ohio and iowa. we are winning a lot of states. >> it is a fight to the finish as both candidates fan out in the states that matter most. we are live in washington. >> we see pretty thick smoke. it is a little concerning. people were panicking. >> rush hour nightmare panic as they were forced to jump out of windows yards from where the bosses ton -- boston marathon happened. >> you don't have to wait in line this holiday season. "fox & friends first" starts right now.

>> don't wake up when it is over. wake up when it is beginning. you are watching "fox & friends first" on this wednesday -- thursday morning. >> thank you for starting your thursday with us. we begin with the race for the white house. this race is closer than ever. 12 days out. >> donald trump three points away from hillary clinton in a four-way match up among likely voters. >> garrett tenney is with us as the race heats up. >> hillary clinton may have the lead but donald trump has the momentum in the latest