the race against time in the clinton e-mail scandal. federal agents said to be working 16 hours a day as millions of voters watch the news and wait with just one week left before election day. this is "special report." good evening. welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. the calendar says november, but the reverberations for one of the all-time political october surprises are still being felt all across the nation. federal agents are at this hour scouring through tens of thousands of e-mails which may or may not exacerbate what has become a nightmare blast from the past for hillary clinton

with an e-mail investigation about classified material and another about her role as secretary of state and interaction with the clinton foundation. donald trump, meantime, is seeking to take full advantage and if you believe the late ef polls, he is making progress, one week before election day. the latest abc/"washington post" tracking poll has trump leading nationally by one point. that for those who are asking is a democrat plus ten poll. but in that poll with likely voters expected to vote on election day, trump now leads 50%-39%. chief intelligence correspondence catherine herridge begins our coverage tonight are the latest on the e-mail investigation. good evening. >> a government official confirmed today fbi director james comey and his boss attorney general loretta lynch have met for the first time after his decision to reinitiate the clinton e-mail case. the official characterized the meeting as cordial, as the review shifts into high gear. two intelligence sources report that over the weekend, a

multiagency task force from the clinton e-mail case was reengaged with analysts working overlapping shifts covering 16 hours a day to identify new classified material. the objective was more clarity on the records recovered from anthony weiner's computer for fbi director james comey if he faced more pressure for answers. and to assess if intelligence was compromise. a software program with key search terms called d-duping which knocks out duplicates. with sunday's warrant, investigators can read the e-mail content. the first step is relatively quick. >> you can process a very large volume of e-mails to eliminate duplicates, eliminate redundancies and focus your teen attention on the documents of the e-mails that are new. >> reporter: a second phase kicks in known as, quote, eyes on, fbi phrase for physically reviewing the e-mails then farming them out to intelligence agencies for final classification. the trump campaigns believe

highly sensitive documents are on the computer. >> the bureau is having to get cleared personnel to be able to look at these e-mails. so if they're looking for cleared personnel, that means that they have probably discovered, they probably discovered classified information in this f 650,000. >> reporter: the fbi is not commenting as the justice department sent this letter to capitol hill pledging every available resource to expedite the review before election day. but the justice department official who wrote the letter has now surfaced in wikileaks. in this september 2008 e-mail, john podesta recommends cad zik for a supportive role in the campaign calling him, quote, a fantastic lawyer who kept me out of jail. meantime, karen dunn, and attorney representing huma abedin, weiner's estranged wife, is telling reporters that abedin was surprised to learn her e-mails were on the computer. "from the beginning, miss abedin has complied fully and voluntarily with state department and law enforcement requests including sitting for hours-long interviews and providing her work-related and

potentially work-related documents." late today the conservative group, judicial watch, released new clinton e-mails uncovered by the fbi in the first review. the records show that november 2010, secretary clinton's unsecured server was attacked tip times in two days. the secret service was informed. though the fbi director said in july there was no evidence of a breach, though he could not rule it out, bret. >> catherine, thank you. >> you're welcome. now to wikileaks. the numbers are staggering. 25 document dumps so far encompassing some 42,000 e-mails. yet, that is just 1/15th the number of e-mails reportedly found on anthony weiner's laptop that the federal task force is combing through. you just heard about that. that does not mean the wikileaks e-mails are not revealing quite a lot about what was happening behind the scenes inside the clinton campaign. and potentially doing damage to the clinton brand and hillary clinton's campaign. here's chief national correspondent ed henry. >> reporter: an explosive new e-mail shows bill clinton lined

up a cool $f6 million for his foundation from sheikh mohammed from ethiopia, one writing "it would be crazy to go to ethiopia for a conference, unless sheikh mo sent us a check." bruce lindsay replies, "if the call is made, it will help us get the $f6 million. i think we should call. if elected, the foundation will ban foreign money. another new e-mail shows in 2015, she privately wanted the flow of foreign money to continue as long as there's more disclosure. bill clinton also wanted more foreign donations if they're submitted to, "an independent body for review. the obvious challenge with this is there is no independent body to make that review." and a newly leaked e-mail from march 2nd, 2015, the night "the new york times" revealed clinton used a private e-mail account as secretary of state shows,

campaign chairman john podesta wrote cheryl mills, "not to sound like lanny but we are going to have to dump all those e-mails so better do so sooner than later." the timeline created by these wikileaks disclosures show a far different approach of holding back information, starting with the candidate. when the "times" story first crossed on march 2nd, podesta asked campaign manager robby mook if he had any idea of the depth of it. mook replied "nope." trey gowdy subpoenaed clinton's e-mails, same day citing executive privilege, podesta wrote mills "think we should hold e-mails to and from the president?" mar march 7th, president obama said he learned about it from news reports. mills writes "we need to clean this up. he has e-mailses from her. they do not say state.gov." that same day, philippe reines

reveals there's no good -- >> to err on the side of providing anything that could be possibly viewed as work related. >> now, we've obtained talking points from bill clinton's $6 million phone call, noted he went to the sheikh's private suite in ethiopia and played the saxophone. committed to $20 million felt some this was coercion. >> that's from an aide to clinton saying he felt like it was coercion. >> amazing. ed, thanks. now to the nominees. both are focusing on major battleground states as we approach the final week of the campaign. fox news correspondent jennifer griffin is in florida with the clinton team. >> reporter: hillary clinton returned to florida in a desperate attempt to regain an advantage in this key battleground state, a lead that has evaporated since revelations that the fbi is again looking at

e-mails from her staff. she was joined on stage by alicia machado, the former miss universe who trump once called miss piggy. >> he calls women ugly, disgusting, nasty, all the time. he calls women pigs. rates bodies on a scale from 1 to 10. >> reporter: clinton tried to stay on offense releasing this attack ad targeting trump's treatment of women. >> i'd look her right in that fat ugly face of hers. she ate like a pig. >> reporter: the real clear politics average of florida polls show donald trump up by nearly a point, and an abc/"wall street journal" poll shows that national enthusiasm for clinton has fallen since the fbi revelations. late last week, trump led 53-51 points in enthusiasm. as of this poll's release, he leads 53-43, a sharp decline for clinton in recent days. the president weighed in during an outreach to young millennial voters in an interview with comedian, samantha b. >> when men are ambitious, it's just taken for granted, well, of

course they should be ambitious. when women are ambitious, why? that theme i think will continue throughout her presidency. >> what do we want? >> reporter: clinton was greeted by trump protesters at her first stop. newly released archival documents by the fbi today of an investigation it wrapped up 11 years ago into president clinton's last-minute pardon of democratic donor mark rich raised eyebrows among clinton campaign staff that the fbi, again, was interfering with the u.s. election with just a week to go. "absent a foya litigation deadline, this is odd. will fbi be mosting docs on trump's housing discrimination in '70s? a senior law enforcement firm tells fox this release was done in response to a standing foia request adding the releases happen as soon as they're ready for public consumption and suggesting the timing of today's foia dump was a coincidence. clinton and her team continued to question the fbi's renewed investigation, ensuring voters the agency will reach the same

conclusion as before, that there's no case there. clinton heads to arizona tomorrow. a traditionally red state that the campaign believes that they can flip. her running mate, tim kaine, will give a speech there on thursday entirely in spanish, a sign of just how important the campaign feels the latino vote is in these final days. bret? >> jennifer griffin with the clinton campaign. jennifer, thank you. republicans are not relying only on the e-mail scandal to try to swing late deciding voters. they are also seizing on recent negative news about skyrocketing premiums and deductibles with obamacare. chief political correspondent carl cameron has that story tonight from wisconsin. >> reporter: adding more policy to his closing pitch, donald trump in valley forge, pennsylvania, renewed his promise to repeal and replace the affordable care act on this the first day of open enrollment for next year's coverage. >> i will ask congress to convene a special session so we can repeal and replace. and we will do it very, very

quickly. it is a catastrophe. >> reporter: the obama administration announced recently that premiums are going up a minimum of 25% across the country. >> here in pennsylvania, premiums are going to increase more than 60%. that means parents won't have enough money to pay their bills or get medicine for their kids. >> reporter: the republican ticket reunited on the road giving running make mike pence a chance to cast trump's recent surge in the polls in part to thei obamacare. >> the latest polls have donald trump leading nationwide. democrats and independents are joining this movement. republicans across the country are coming home. >> reporter: though trump's polls have improved, he's still being outdone on the ground game and in the air war. democrats are unloading. accusing the fbi of a double standard for publicly discussing the clinton e-mail investigation but not trump's ties to russia. the clinton camp released a lengthy statement and tweeted a link to reporting by the liberal website, slate, last night, suggesting one of the trump tower's computer servers has

communicated with russia's alpha bank. the trump campaign denies that. the clinton camp called it the most direct link yet between donald trump and moscow. but the feds say as part of their ongoing investigation into russia's attempted interference in the u.s. election process, they have yet found no connection to trump. the fbi has opened a preliminary inquiry into former trump campaign manager paul manafort for consulting work done years ago for ukraine's russian-backed president. manafort has said he's heard nothing about it. separately "the new york times" say documents show trump avoided paying millions of dollars in income taxes when his creditors decades ago forgave millions of dollars in debt which he did not report as income. the legal loophole has since been outlawed by congress. trump rallies tonight here in wisconsin, home state of house speaker paul ryan. today ryan said he did vote for the republican nominee, but seemed at pains to avoid actually naming the candidate. when asked if he was going to come to tonight's rally for trump, ryan said he was unaware it was happening.

bret? >> carl cameron live with the trump campaign in eau claire. carl, thanks. federal agents are dealing with a growing challenge at the border with mexico. an increasing number of people from far-flung corners of the world are now trying to sneak into the u.s. via that route. more than 8,000 people from india, china, romania, bangladesh, nepal, were arrested between october 2015 and this past august. residents of philadelphia are trying to cope with a transit strike tonight, about 5,000 workers have walked off their jobs. the philadelphia system provides about about 900,000 rides a day. does not affect commuter rail lines and service outside the city. stocks were down today. the dow lost 105. the s&p 500 dropped 14. the nasdaq was off 36. tonight's "issues that

matter" report deals with a real pocketbook issue. the federal deficit. that's the amount of money the u.s. spends each year that it technically does not have. those annual deficits add up to the national debt which is closing in on $20 trillion. with a "t." tonight chief legal correspondent shana breen tells us it's a numbers game. americans like you seem to be losing. >> i don't think either candidate really gives much of a damn about the debt issue. >> reporter: both hillary clinton and donald trump have talked about it. trump citing it in his announ announcement speeches, one of his top goals should he become president. >> reduce our $18 trillion in debt because, believe me, we're in a bubble. we have artificially low interest rates. be careful of a bubble because what you've seen in the past might be small potatoes compared to what happens. so be very, very careful. >> reporter: and for clinton, it was part of her final argument in the last debate about why she's the right one to tackle the now nearly $20 trillion

beast. >> i pay for everything i'm proposing. i do not add a penny to the national debt. i take that very seriously because i do think it's one of the issues we've got to come to grips with. >> reporter: yet for all their talk about the debt, neither has been very specific about actually reducing it. >> anyone who's watched the debate, we've seen sort of the occasional references to it, but not really any sort of substantive plans for how to deal with the national debt. >> reporter: entrepreneur will harper knows about debt. he elected to take on more of it to get his mba, and then again as the founder of a startup. it's part of his daily reality. >> i'm paying more in servicing my debt each month than i am in rent. >> reporter: for harper, it's a calculation about what debt now can offer versus value later. a conversation he doesn't think the candidates are having with americans. >> i gain tremendous benefits from having done an mba, from the education, from the network, and i think in the long term, that's going to pay off.

so i hope that our critical discourse surrounding debt will look to find that calculation. is what we're getting good enough to justify the expense, particularly the expense that we're going to be paying for in the future? >> reporter: each year the federal deficit is the difference between what the government takes in and what it spends. since 2002, we've always been in the red, starting with a shortfall that year of nearly $158 billion. by 2004, the yearly deficit had climbed to $413 billion and began to taper off a bit. the number jumped again in 2008 to $459 billion. and from 2009 to 2012, we hit deficits well over $1 trillion every single year. by 2015, that number had slowed. something the obama administration touts, but still left a federal government $438 billion in the hole for that year. those repeated deficits have combined to push our overall national debt to more than $19.8

trillion. that equates to a burden on every taxpayer of nearly $167,000. it's grown a whopping 240% since 2001, and shows no signs of slowing down. and while the problem is a very real one, the consequences don't seem to be. at least not yet. >> little bits of it become new each year, and they're refinanced and refinanced with imaginary money created by the federal reserve. it's not real money, but we accept it as if it were real money. we're all sort of living in a gigantic disneyland of fake money. >> reporter: it's hard to get presidential candidates to outline concrete plans that would certainly involve curtailing federal spending when almost no one is feeling the effects of the debt. >> this is a problem where both parties are basically unwilling to either acknowledge the problem or take the serious steps that are necessary to deal with the problem. >> reporter: scour both candidates' websites, and you won't see much on the topic. trump mentions it as a key

issue, but without a plan to get rid of it. other than an overall discussion of improving the economy. on the issues section of clinton's website, the words "national debt" don't seem to appear at all. which brings us back to will harper who doesn't have the luxury of ignoring the debt he's incurred. he's used to making significant sacrifices and he thinks americans are ready to have a conversation about how we all can if we actually want to put the country back into the black. >> if debt is a thing that we do need to bring down, then how can we all take on the consequences of bringing it down rather than trying to have someone else pay the consequences of reduced spending? >> reporter: one expert i talked with said the $20 trillion in debt is just the tip of the iceberg. that if we factored in all the debt obligations the federal government has made into the future, the figure is actually closer to $100 trillion. bret? >> amazing. shannon, thank you. tomorrow, our "issues that matter" series continues with number four. race relations. mike tobin reports from chicago.

up next, with all the talk about russia this election cycle, a story about how the clintons helped russia get control of half of america's uranium. first, here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. fox 48 in baltimore, federal investigators look into a crash involving a commuter bus and school bus that has left six people dead. it happened early this morning. a public schools official says no students are among the fatalities. fox 6 in birmingham, alabama, experts say motorists could soon begin seeing higher costs at the gas pumps in some southern states after a pipeline explosion in alabama. colonial pipeline says it shut down both of its main lines of monday's deadly blast and alabama's governor has declared a state of emergency. aaa says drivers could see higher prices within about a week. and this is a live look at new york from fox 5. one of the big stories there tonight also deals with gas. new jersey has raised its fuel

tax by 23 cents a gallon. it's the first increase since 1988. the state's gasoline tax was the second lowest in the nation. now it's the sixth highest. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. people would ask me in different countries that we traveled, what is your nationality and i would always answer hispanic. so when i got my ancestry dna results it was a shocker. i'm from all nations. it puts a hunger in your heart to want to know more.

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now tonight's installment of our look at how the clinton finances, the clinton foundation, and the clintons' ambitions often intersixect. few stories have generated more controversy than the reports th give russia control of american uranium. the reporters, themselves, have actually been assailed including pulitzer prize winning "new york times" reporter joe becker who

we have interviewed several times on her work. becker has stood by her story amid withering criticism from the clinton campaign. >> lawyers cannot donate to a presidential campaign. that's meant to limit the influence of foreign governments and foreigners on our political process, but they can legally donate to charitable foundations like the clinton foundation. >> reporter: billionaire businessman, a canadian, is a friend of the clintons and large donor to their foundation and had an interest in uranium mines located in kazakhstan. >> bill clinton has a public press conference with president biev where he praises his rule and praises his human rights record but the bottom line is after they leave, a couple of days later, frank justra gets his uranium concessions which end up being enormously lucrative to him and a small

group of canadian mining investors. >> his company was like a bit player and really had gone from worthless shell company overnight got this huge uranium mining deal and then soon after that, bill clinton got a huge donation, $31 million to his charitable foundation followed by a pledge to donate $100 million more. >> reporter: so what happened to justra's company that benefitted from that deal in kazakhstan? >> what happened, the company merged with another company called uranium one. and that was in 2007. mr. justra told us that he at that point sold his shares and got out of the business and the new company, of course, has the kazakhstan assets that mr. justra acquired and it also starts to go on a buying spree in the united states. >> reporter: and then, the russians bought it. >> it would amount to 50% of projected uranium output by

2015. >> reporter: in other words, russia took control of what was projected to be up to half of america's uranium. >> now, does secretary clinton factor into this? >> for that deal to go through, it needs federal government approval and one of those people that has to approve that deal is secretary of state hillary clinton. >> who as senator clinton was vigorously opposed to these kind of buys from countries into u.s. property. >> that's a great point, bret. you remember the dubai ports deal, for example, she was opposed to. >> we believe that no foreign government should control our ports. >> in this particular case, we're talking about uranium. we're talking about things that relate to the nuclear industry. we're talking about the russian government. >> which already provides equipment, material, to iran. >> that's correct.

>> reporter: it took some digging to find out how it was invested in the clinton. >> let's go to the fernwood foundation. >> it's controlled by ian talfer who ends up being the chairman of uranium one, the russian-owned uranium company. ian talfer in fwec2007 made an individual contribution to the clinton foundation. they did disclose sha closclose. this particular case made a payment of $250,000 to the clint clinton/justra initiative. they were required to disclose it. they failed to do that. this is a hidden contribution. over the course of a couple years, you're talking about more than $2 million from the fernwood foundation to the clinton foundation when you actually go to the clinton foundation website, itself, on disclosures and type in "fernwood," you find no contributions listed whatsoever. >> when mrs. clinton became secretary of state, she signed a memorandum of understanding with the obama white house because

they understood that having a secretary of state whose husband is collecting money from various foreign interests could potentially pose conflicts of interest. and so they laid down certain rules. they said you can't take money from a foreign government and they also required that the clintons make all of their donors to their family foundation public. and contrary to the agreement that they had with the white house, those donations were never made public. >> reporter: ian telfer told "the new york times" he made the donations based on his wish to personally support mr. justra in his charitable work, not based on any relationship to the clintons. he also said that he never spoke to either president clinton or then-secretary clinton about his company, uranium one. frank justra has said, quote, "the new york times" story presents no evidence of wrongdoing or impropriety, replete with innuendo and irresponsible unfounded speculation. the clinton campaign had this to

say about sweizer, campaign spokesman brian fallon said, "hillary clinton herself did not participate in the review or district the department to take any position on the sale of uranium one." >> the campaign said typically these kinds of decisions don't go all the way up to the secretary and instead are decided at the assistant secretary level, and they produced -- assistant secretary -- to say she had never intervened on any case that he was involved in, but they didn't say, wouldn't, couldn't answer, is was she briefed? did, you know, before this decision was made? they didn'r: fallon also says, "without presenting any direct evidence in support of the claim, the "times" story like the book on which it is based, wrongly suggests that hillary clinton's state department pushed for the sales's approval

to reward donors who had an interest in the deal." >> the biggest donors to bill clinton's foundation built, financed and eventually sold off to the russians a company that held huge stakes in kazakhstan and american uranium reserves while she was secretary of state. the chairman of that company made undisclosed donations during that same timeframe. she was part of a process that reviews deals like this where you have a strategic asset and implications for national security. >> becker also takes issue with the clinton campaign implying her reporting had anything to do with peter schweitzer who you also heard in that segment. to the contrary, becker says the "times" did its own investigating and interviews for its report. as we told you earlier, house speaker paul ryan said today he did vote for donald trump, saying he voted for the gop nominee. but ryan reiterated h ed he wil

be campaigning for trump. other top republicans also withtewit withheld their support from the republican nominee though they promised to support the eventual winner of the primaries. correspondent doug mcelway is here to tell us who's breaking that promise. good evening, doug. >> good evening, bret. it was a year ago at the first 2015 gop presidential debate? august of 2015 where you posed a question to the then ten candidates, will you pledge to support the eventual gop nominee for president? >> raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. mr. trump. mr. trump. to be clear, you're standing on a republican primary -- >> i fully understand. >> the place where the rnc will give the nominee the nod. >> i fully understand. >> well, as it turned out, trump, for now obvious reasons, is honoring that pledge, but another candidate has broken it. john kasich, the governor of the

must-win key swing state of ohio, voted absentee yesterday for a write-in candidate, senator john mccain. it's a vote that doesn't even count in that crucial state because mccain's name is not among the 18 certified write-ins. some see kasich's write-in vote as a symbolic middle finger flicked at the gop nominee. >> i'm going to say to john kasich, if you're watching, john, you signed a pledge. you signed a pledge saying you would support the republican nominee for president. you promised that you would follow through with that. jeb bush, i would say the same thing to you. you signed a pledge. >> most of trump's other vanquished primary foes have swallowed their pride and plan to vote or have already voted for him. they include senator rand paul, former governor mike huckabee, dr. ben carson, governor scott walker and senator ted cruz. still licking his trump-inflicted wounds, florida senator marco rubio also voted for trump but when asked about it seemed disinclined to admit it.

>> who'd you vote for? >> marco rubio. >> for president. >> i'm not voting for -- in fact, i think the events over the last 72 hours reminds us, this country, we can't have a president under fbi investigation. >> carly fiorina was not on that main stage at that first debate but after the trump/billy bush controversy, she pushed for governor pence to head the ticket and like all the others has been vigorously campaigning against trump and for gop candidates at the statewide races. bret, back to you. >> doug, thank you. in international headlines, iraqi special forces have entered the outskirts of mosul and are encountering some stiff resistance from isis there. it's the first time iraqi forces have stepped foot in the city since isis took over more than two years ago. the majority of the iraqi military still about six miles from the city center. we'll keep you updated. benjamin hall on the ground. north korea is preparing to test fire another medium-range ballistic missile in the next 24 to 72 hours according to

authorities. that's what two u.s. officials are telling fox news tonight. last month the communist country attempted two such launches and the u.s. military says both failed. americans in india are being warned about possible terror strikes. the u.s. embassy in new delhi is calling on american citizens there to be vigilant following reports isis terrorists may be planning to attack targets inside the country. saturday the state department ordered the evacuation of family members of the u.s. consulate staff in istanbul, turkey. we are one week away from election day here in the u.s. the fbi e-mail investigation, latest from wikileaks and certainly that's all making it interesting. we'll head to the campaign trail and we'll talk with our panel after the break. want longer lasting heartburn relief?

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replace obamacare, we'll destroy american health care forever. it's one of the most important reasons we must win on november 8th. >> i learned way back in elementary school, i learned it in sunday school, you know, it's not okay to insult people. it's not okay. and look at what he does. he calls women ugly, disgusting, nasty, all the time. he calls women pigs. rates bodies on a scale from 1 to 10. >> that's the campaign trail today. here is the latest in the polls. the latest poll, tracking poll, abc/"washington post" puts donald trump up 46%-45% in the 4-way race. interestingly voting early versus on election day. here you see the breakdown. hillary clinton 54%-41%. donald trump likely voters on election day, 50%-39%. and then enthusiastic, tracking very enthusiastic about a

candidate, and you see saturday, sunday, donald trump 53%-43%, and that changed from thursday, friday, 53%-51%. here are the candidates today. sometimes it tells us what they're doing. as far as the campaigns' focus, donald trump in valley forge, pennsylvania, eau claire, wisconsin, his v.p. nominee, mike pence, also in pennsylvania twice with two stops. hillary clinton in dade city, florida. three stops in florida today. bill clinton also in florida. tim kaine in appleton, wisconsin. and madison, wisconsin. president obama in columbus, ohio. vice president biden in charlotte, north carolina. and bernie sanders in portland, maine. maine has had a lot of people there this year for two electoral votes. mercedes schlapp. a.b. stoddard, real clear politics. syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. okay, a lot has happened, mercedes, over a short time.

the question is, how much is it changing the map? >> that's a great question. i mean, you would think there's been such a huge turn of events with the fbi re-opening the case, wikileaks exposing a lot of this corruption of what the campaign, clinton campaign advisers are been talking about, whether it's podesta, dumping the e-mails. i think that, look, there's a real challenge here which is that although the democrats are feeling this anxiety, there's this panic mode right now within the democratic party, within the clinton camp. they're still feeling pretty confident about the electoral map. for trump, it is critical for him to either get, besides those six key battleground states, florida, iowa, north carolina, i mean, you're talking maine, ohio, nevada. the three other states he's got to be looks at, that's only 266 electoral votes. colorado -- >> or michigan. >> or michigan. that's still an uphill battle.

that's where i think you're going to see the trump campaign focusing on. if he's able to deliver the message he did today on obamacare, on trade, very effective, on message. i think it could definitely help him. whether he can bin win it, that different story. >> what's interesting, a.b., the trump story was on obamacare and jobs and he largely stuck to the script, almost completely. the hillary clinton message today was about women and temperament. and what he says about women and has in the past. and it coincided with an ad that they put out today. >> yeah, well let's start with trump. i thought it was very effective to focus on obamacare. i actually think this issue is moving the polls away from hillary clinton last week, even before the big shocker on friday. >> we should point out, open enrollment day for obamacare. >> right. these premium hikes have been devastating. she's been campaigning on them for over a week in the right places. it's going to be a huge issue i think when you look back at the exit polling after the results come in.

hillary clinton has no choice but to finish this campaign, although she wanted to end on give the voters something about me pitch. she can't. she's trying to deflect away from the fbi. she's spending too much time talking about jim comey. so she needs to go back to scaring republican women who are never going to vote for trump into getting in the car and supporting her. and that's why she's using al e alicia machado, all this other stuff. >> it's not a motivator -- >> they think it's the only base play they got. >> it's the base play. charles, mercedes mentioned the podesta e-mail in wikileaks today, e-mail change one, an exchange between john podesta and cheryl mills, former chief of staff for hillary clinton. this comes on march 2nd, the day -- 2015 -- the day "the new york times" breaks the story about the e-mails. john podesta says "we are going to have to dump all those e-mails so better do so sooner than later." cheryl mills responds, "thank

you, you just got your new nickname." get out the e-mails, release them. the problem is what happened. they chose to release some then they destroyed 33,000 of them with the bleach bit. the other problem is, a couple problems, one is they by commenting on this e-mail authenticated the e-mail and the e-mails that they haven't done before. and the other thing is if they were going to dump the e-mails, they would is been dumping classified information. >> there is a word, if you want to release e-mails, there is a word for that, it's called release. he didn't use the word "release." he used the word "dump." dump means you're releasing something but you're doing it in a way that it will disappear. now, it seems to me quite obvious what's going on here. the instinctive reaction of the clinton campaign, again, reflecting the candidate, herself, is to dump.

it's to hide. it's to cover. that's been the way the clintons have operated for 30 years and that's what they ended up doing. they ended up segregating 30,000 e-mails and then destroying them so that trey gowdy said even god can't read them now. that, look, what's happening here is she is now drowning in the cumulative effect of the wikileaks and of the fbi deal. she can't get her message out. i think a.b.'s exactly right. when you have to bring alicia machado back on stage three weeks later or is it now four weeks later, that shows you got nothing left in the tank. this is a desperation move. it's her only move because nothing she says can escape the black hole of all this incoming ammunition. we are looking at all of the weeds and the details of this. nobody is out there, but what they see is cover-up, concealment and perhaps even

lying. >> i mean -- >> there's no way out of that. >> if you give them the benefit of the doubt about the dump and say they were just trying to get it out, it's still, to charles' point, messy and i said today, somebody asked me, i said it's like donald trump's superstorm sandy in that it happens right before an election, and it fits the narrative, like president obama was saying i get things done and i work across the aisle. and he shows up in new jersey and hugs chris christie and suddenly that fits. >> it's perception. >> this kind of malaise about the clintons on a number of fronts fits the narrative that trump's been talking about on the trail. >> it's a perception of the deceit of the cover-up, of the dishonesty, of why we can't trust hillary clinton. and that's becoming, i think, just so central to this election and the fact that hillary clinton is not giving a good enough answer, period. she's trying to run out the clock. she hopes she can get through election day by just focusing on donald trump. it just leaves the americans thinking, well, also you have the doj serving as sort of the political arm of the clinton

campaign. it's messy. it's why american voters are feeling they can't trust the government. and it's why hillary clinton is right now basically trying to have a life saver out there to see if she can get through this election and win. >> we will talk about the latest specifics about that e-mail investigation. also, paul ryan and his role, what he's doing and saying now. more with the panel when we come back. why do protein drinks taste chalky? then get worse? introducing protein shots from 5-hour energy. protein shots from 5-hour energy are smooth and tasty, and still deliver 21 grams of protein with 100 calories. they're great for workouts. so great that if you don't get up to fifteen percent more reps, more laps, more distance, we'll give you your money back - period. protein shots from 5-hour energy. great taste. 100 calories. 21 grams of protein.

the fbi has been frustratingly noncommittal and they don't say a thing when it comes to donald trump and investigations against him. yet when it comes to hillary clinton for some reason, they're more than happy to talk. >> don't you think it's interesting that hillary spends all this time talking about this

and yet most of the people who've been heavily involved in protecting the security of this country for the last 20 years in both parties have endorsed thel security issue is. >> former president clinton and the campaign manager robbie mook talking about the fbi and how it's not fair what james comey did. releasing that letter. also talking about the lack of investigation in to a connection that they say between donald trump and the russians. the "new york times" writes it up this way. law enforcement officials say that none of the investigations so far have found any conclusive or direct link between mr. trump and the russian government. and even the hacking into the democratic emails, fbi, and intelligence officials now believed was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing mr. trump. our sources point to the same thing, that preliminary inquiry we talked about last night. we're back with the panel. a.b., has the focus on james

comey and the democratic effort to kind of -- i heard numerous times that he, potentially was like j. edgar hoover an out-of-control fbi director. a guy that they praised just weeks ago when he finished the first investigation. >> well, i don't want to be repetitive here, but i do have to go back to the facts that when james comey concluded this investigation, in which he had not impaneled a grand jury, not searched the clinton foundation, not allowed the agents to search her home, all of this is out of bounds and out of normal protocol and normal practice in which five grants of immunity were given to her top staffers, not including huma abedin when there was no charge brought. you give immunity when you're going to bring a charge. so now he comes back after being overly transparent on july 5th to coming in sort of giving this cryptic letter in which he doesn't talk about the actual substance of the new findings and why they could be pertinent and then we

find out there was no warrant and he hadn't seen them yet or whatever. it gives oxygen for the clinton campaign to continue talking about why this is so unorthodox particularly when you have senate judiciary chairman chuck grassley jim jordan the caulks can guy in the house on the benghazi committee making her life miserable and gonzalez former a.g. for bush saying this is wrong. >> doesn't this also though poke the bear and try to get whatever is on that laptop and say we told you it is illegal. >> look, i think from the clinton campaign's point of view the attack on comey from the democrats attack on comey is classic clinton style. they went after ken starr they made him the boogie man. they turned the country's anger against him and they won. they came out of that scandal whole, if not whole at least alive, which is what clinton had wanted. but i want to add one point on this russian bit. i don't understand why

people conclude that this is not what the russians have been doing wikileaks and the tampering is not to elect donald trump but simply to disrupt the campaign. we forget two things. donald trump is running -- sorry, that was a freudian slip, putin is running a one-man rule in russia. he decides what happens and people forget that he has a personal animus against hillary clinton. four years ago there were demonstrations when he ran for re-election. demonstrations in moscow that were hugely embarrassing that he and his propaganda machine in russia directly blamed on hillary. and he's a man who would want revenge and who would get it. and as for -- if his reasons are not personal but national, and why wouldn't he prefer a candidate like trump who has been praising of putin rather than somebody who would likely carry on a more anti-russian

policy? so why it's assumed they are not doing this, the russians, deliberately, i don't understand. >> i think their intelligence officials have pointed to that but to the specific investigations on the ties, everybody we talked to said they're just not. >> no. i understand. you can have all the intelligence information you want, but they are impugning motive to what the russians are doing. i don't see any intelligence on that that explains why it's not a deliberate attempt. >> i want to turn quickly mercedes to what paul ryan said this morning that he has basically voted for donald trump although didn't mention his name and the other republicans who, like john kasich writing in john mccain's name. people who took the pledge during the primary and are not upholding that pledge. >> i have to tell you i have spoken to a number of g.o.p. grass roots activists. they are incredibly upset with the fact that the party has not united around donald trump. i think the mere fact that john kasich decided to write in john mccain that presents

a problem for him politically in the future for him to even consider running for 2020 if donald trump were to lose this election. and i don't think the grass roots activists are about to forget that. >> a.b.? >> i think john kasich is a defiant guy and was -- told us a long time ago he wasn't going to support trump. i think if he is not running for 2020 i know he wants to be a part of rebuilding the republican party and he is going to stick up for the trump was a mistake wing and he wants to be a leader in that effort. he won't be alone. i think that's why he did it and why he announced it publicly. >> if donald trump shoots the gap and wins this election? >> i don't think john kasich cares. i think the republican party is going to have a nervous breakdown if trump wins as well, even if he loses. >> going to have the same even if he loses. one way or the other, there is a civil war coming and it starts the day after election day. >> that is it for the panel. stay tuned. we'll take a look at one of the best costumes from the white house halloween party after the break.

finally tonight, president obama and the first lady hosted trick-or-treaters at their annual halloween white house party yesterday. the president was all smiles as he greeted the costumed kids, even one dressed in a more politically themed costume, a lame duck. ♪

♪ >> he said, michelle, look, a lame duck. look, he has got the sling. the whole thing. all right. there you go. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. a lot happening this week. "on the record" stars with -- ss with my good friend brit hume just down the hall right now. >> it is wednesday, november 2nd. 6 days until election day.

it is sprant to the finish. >> hillary clinton dodges the fbi investigation by unleashing an all out assault on trump supporters. >> for any democratic voters who are having a bad case of buyer's remorse, you can change your vote to donald trump. we will make america great again. >> i am sick and tired of the behavior of people who support donald trump. >> we are live as the candidates double down on key battle ground states today for your final push.

>> sound of sunshine. going to be a beautiful day in new york city. 6 days to go. i can't even believe it. >> i am abby huntsman. >> i am heather childers. donald trump and hillary clinton are ceasing the last few moments of the election. >> an anti obamacare message is making people listen. >> they have the phone numbers to prove it. >> polls show him ahead nationally by one point. trump at 46 percent