reaction from fox news analyst brit hume. do you expect romney to come out with the libya stuff as strongly as i just did? >> it will depend a bit on the context on which it comes up whether a direct question to him whether he as an opportunity to take it on or it doesn't. or whether the president brings it up first. i have been so wrong so often about these debates. i told you earlier this year, debates were going to be all important. history shows they are not. >> bill: i'm so happy you brought that up. can i paraphrase barack obama, can i do that? can you say that a bit louder, brett brit. >> i was suggesting about the second debate because it was going to be based on the people in the audience. this was a townhall format. it won't be such an aggressive debate. i was wrong with b that. i would be hesitant to do so. >> bill: look, here is the deal with bob schieffer. he knows that candy crowley got hammered. he also knows that he is liberal. sheef ser a liberal. i worked with him. schieffer is a liberal. so there is nothing

brit hume, fox news senior political analyst.of national public radio, criminal berkimberley st we showed a sharp drop from 8.1 positive to 7.8%, brit, big a boost for the president and how big a set back for romney. >> it improves the talking point the president has, it is now, you know, below 8%, 8% has bone thrown into space for some time and i don't know how people make up their minds on the economy based on the unemployment number. i think they make up their minds on the economy based on what they see around them and feel in their own life and what the people they know and, or are related to, are telling them about their experience in the job market and so on. and, given the fact that left intact, in this job report is the overall employment and underemployment rate which is up to 14.7%, and unchanged, very bad number indeed, i think that reflects what people see around them and i don't think that this helps the president, very much. >> chris: mara, 7.8%, do you think that changes people's perception that, well, maybe the ec

we covered that speech on "special report" with brit hume. a sound bite from senator obama on his concern about the federal response to hurricane katrina. other media outlets covered it as well. but what was not covered then was senator obama's praise for his controversial pastor jeremiah wright. the additional comments what about he called disparity in the way new orleans got federal assistance after katrina and his charge that that was because of race. >> there is a law, federal law when you get reconstruction money from the federal government called the stafford act. basically it says when you get federal money you have to give a 10% match, local government has to come up with 10%. every $10 federal government comes up with, local government has to give $1. now here is the thing. when 9/11 happened in new york city, they waived the stafford act and said this is too serious a problemch we can't expect new york city to rebuild on its own. forget that dollar you have to put in. here is $10. that was the right thing to d do. when hurricane and

brit, first your thoughts. >> brit: well, one thought would be, i thought bob schieffer did a good job in the same way jim lehrer did which was by keeping a light hand in letting the candidates go at it as much as possible. the ii thing i thought about this was mitt romney had a job tonight. that was to come across as a plausible commander and chief. it would have been very damaging to him if there had been areas of the world and subject matters raised by the questions or raised by the president that he didn't seem to really know anything about. i didn't detect such a moment. he seemed to me smooth and fluid and well informed about all the matters that came to hand and he had something to say about all of them. i don't think it hurt him that he and the president didn't have broad disagreements about some of these matters because i don't think these are the issues on which the election is likely to be decided. i do think that he did effectively use the economy and the weakness of the economy as a weapon in a debate about foreign policy and our position in the world. i would say this abo

brit, how big a boost for the president. how big a setback for romney? >> improves the talking point that the president has. it is now below 8%. 8% has been thrown in his face now for some time. >> i don't think, however, people make up their are minds on the economy based on the unemployment number. i think they make up their minds about the economy based on what they see around them and feel in their own life and what the people they know are are related to are telling them in their experience in the job market and so on. given the fact that left intact in the job report is is the overall employment and underemployment rate up to 14.7% and unchanged a very bad number indeed. i think that reflects what people see around them and i don't think this helps the president very much. >> chris: mara, 7.8%. do you think that changes people's perception that well, maybe the economy is getting better. in. >> i think it can. but i agree with brit. t has to do with how people are feeling about their own situation. we have seen consumer confidence getting better. i

good evening, brit. >> hi, bret.the night of september 11th ambassador chris stephens walked a visitor out into a quiet night after a quiet day. only minutes later, the compound was overrun by heavily armed men who waged an hour's long fire fight that left stephens and three other americans dead and the facility in ruins. we now know that within 24 hours the state department had determined the attack was terrorism, and we know the department never concluded the incident had anything to do with that video critical of the prophet mo muhammed. two days later the press secretary said the violence was, quote, in response to that video adding, quote, we have no information to suggest it was a preplanned attack. two days later un ambassador susan rice was sent by the white house on to five sunday talk shows to make the same claim saying it was the best information the administration had. it now seems nearly inescapable not only that all of this was false, but that the white house knew it was false, so should the obama campa

brit hume fox news senior political analyst. bob woodward of the washington post and author of the new book the price of politics. syndicated radio host laura ingram and jeff zeleny from the new york times. same question i asked both campaign advisors. where is the race? >> it is tight. there was momentum and is momentum for romney coming out of the first presidential debate. i don't think that it was entirely breaked by the dominant if not necessarily attractive performance by vice president biden this week. so i think that is about where it stands. the race had begun to tight and little bit, chris, be even before the first debate. and we all know who covered the stuff for years that late in a campaign typically from sort of mid october forward races tend to tighten. this one has started to tighten. it may tighten further. but at the moment it looks like mr. romney has a little something going and the president has a challenge this week to try to turn that around. >> chris: jeff as the one of us spending the most time actually

brit hume joins me now. 22 days to go.t is your read on how it will look over the next three weeks? >> i don't think we have a clear sense, martha. my experience has been that debates usually don't make much difference in these campaigns, but the first debate clearly did make a difference. it seemed to be the event that romney had been trying to develop for a longtime, in which he finally got people to take a serious look at him, people who might be plea paired to make a change, take a serious look at him and find that they liked what they saw, or at least enough of them did to give him a boost. the president obviously has the opportunity this week to try to change that perception back. i think it will be hard to do. first debates tend to leave a lasting impression. everything has been different this year. the polls are peculiar, the circumstances are odd. the president has defied gravity to remain as high in the polls as as he has as far as what the country faces, the things he promised to do and so on. i feel like i'm a

all right, brit, thanks very much as always. next on the run down, is mitt romney politicizing the murders of four americans in libya or is he doing the responsible thing by holding the obama administration accountable? an intense debate moments the day of these attacks with half information in a way that was denounced by both republicans and democrats. there is no doubt that he is working hard to exploit this issue. >> bill: well, you can decide whether governor romney is exploiting or rendering, rendering legitimate criticism because the obama administration still has not clarified what the heck happened in libya. >> when the vice president of the united states directly contradicts the sworn testimony of state department officials, american citizens have a right to know just what's going on. we're going to find out. >> shepard: joining us now from washington to analyze mary katharine and juan williams. legitimate or exploitative. >> exploitative there is a legitimate discussion to be had. when you hear governor romney talking

brit hume, fox news senior political analyst.tic strategist joe trippi, karl rove, founder of the republican super pac, american crossroads, and, fox news political analyst, juan williams. let's start with karl rove's electoral map, based on public polls from last week and let's look at it. very pretty, i must say. karl, you had states followed or leading obama in various shades of blue. with 237 electoral votes. states solid or leading romney in shades of red and pink with 206 electoral votes an 8 tossup states in yellow and, you need 270 to win the presidency, now, let's look at another chart from last monday, and, this shows all of the states -- well it doesn't show all of the states, but, in any case, it shows the toss-up states and some of the leaning obama and romney. anticipate movement in this last week? >> well, we'll know tomorrow night with our electoral college map and now we're at a point in the campaign where there is little movement, the momentum was on romney's side and, the closer you get to the end, one of two s

brit hume fox news senior political analyst. democratic strategist joe trippi. karl rove founder of american cross roads and fox news political analyst juan williams. start with karl rove's political map from last week. take a look at it. very pretty i must say. states solid or leading obama in various shades of blue with 237 electoral votes. states solid or leaning romney in shades of red and pink with 206 electoral votes and 8 tossup in yellow with 95 electoral votes. you need 170 to win the presidency. now, look at another chart from last monday and this showed all of the states and. so leaning obama and romney. any movement in the last week? >> well, we will know tomorrow night with our electoral college map. right now we are at a point in the campaign where there is very little movement. the momentum was on romney's side but the closer you you get to the end one of two scenarios happens. either 1980 and rapid movement in one candidate's direction or movement towards romney but slowing simply because we are getting down to a thin group of people left undecid

>> bret: brit?what's likely to happen tonight, because going on past experience i didn't think the first debate would make that much difference, and it seems it's made quite a difference. this format would not seem to lend itself to one opponent effectively attacking the other, if you get into that mode you can get into trouble with the audience, but who knows. i'm looking forward with great anticipation. i feel like a cub reporter coverings his first debate, learning once again that anything can happen. >> bret: brit how many, cub reporter. brit, joe, thank you. >> megyn: chris? >> both campaigns say both candidates have two goals tonight. for obama, as we've all said, be more energetic, show up, be more aggressive, especially they want him to challenge romney on areas where the obama campaign says that romney has been lying about his record. obama's other job, to be much more specific his agenda for a second term, where he would take the country. for romney it's about being empathetic, that he nee

we are joined by a senior political analyst, brit hume.st,let's begin with the debate and the fact that all of these polls are showing an overwhelming lead and shift between romney and obama. what is going on? >> the condition of the country, both real and perceived, these are not neutral conditions of the kind of rise rice very close elections. these are decidedly negative conditions for an income that could be running. and i thought that it was remarkable that president obama deemed to be so wellhead and how the election seemingly in hand. now, we have had an event in which the president was required to defend his record, a difficult record to defend. he did n not do it very well. i'm not sure how well it could be done. mitt romney had a good night. and the chickens are coming home to roost or if gravity in the selection should favor the challenger and now it is beginning to hearing after hearing, in the weeks ahead, this is a very difficult moment for this administration. irrespective of the political context. >> i agree with that. i th

brit, first your thoughts. >> brit: well, one thought would be, i thought bob schieffer did a good job in the same way jim lehrer did which was by keeping a light hand in letting the candidates go at it as much as possible. the ii thing i thought about this was mitt romney had a job tonight. that was to come across as a plausible commander and chief. it would have been very damaging to him if there had been areas of the world and subject matters raised by the questions or raised by the president that he didn't seem to really know anything about. i didn't detect such a moment. he seemed to me smooth and fluid and well informed about all the matters that came to hand and he had something to say about all of them. i don't think it hurt him that he and the president didn't have broad disagreements about some of these matters because i don't think these are the issues on which the election is likely to be decided. i do think that he did effectively use the economy and the weakness of the economy as a weapon in a debate about foreign policy and our position in the world. i would say this abo

brit hume and joe trippi. okay, brit. your thoughts? >> well, you are right, governor romney came out. he was aggressive. when do you that, you are always in danger of seeming rude or... pugneighbors. i don't think he d. -- bug -- pugnacious. high seemed to display extraordinary knowledgeability. i don't think president obama had a bad night in the sense that he was way off his game. he was a lot like the president obama we are used to hearing. i don't think he seemed rusty. but i don't think he had the spark or the energy or the precision tonight that governor romney had. governor rom he in a good night. he didn't have a big moment that becomes a sound bite and affects how people look back on the debate. but this was a strong performance by governor romney. he needed one. i think he got it. >> joe? >> i think romney did himself a lot of good tonight. he was there on the issues. he knew his stuff. he didn't back down to the president or the moderator. and he didn't -- he didn't cross the line because you can do thie backfired on him. i

brit hume joins us on why the opinion polls seem to include more democrats than republicans. >> bret:ia's civil war is spreading according to witnesses on the ground. jordanian soldier was killed during a firefight with militants trying to cross the border in to syria. and clashes are reported in lebanon. between supporters of both sides of the syria conflict. syria will almost certainly be on the agenda tonight. for the debate. no matter what the polls say after the matchup. you might do well to understand just how the polling process works. all the way along. senior political analyst brit hume joins us from washington with insight on that. >> hi there, bret. there is heartburn in republican circles over the polls that appear to have a disproportionate number, percentage of democrats responding. the critics may be right but there may not be much pollsters can do about it and they should not try. pollsters try for samples based on what census data say is the proper percentage of characteristics as race, sex and age. these qualities are not subject to continual change. person's politic

all right, brit, thanks very much as always. next on the run down, is mitt romney politicizing the murders of four americans in libya or is he doing the responsible thing by holding the obama administration accountable? an intense debate moments away. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there you go. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not. i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. marie callender's turkey breast with stuffing is a great reason to slow down. creamy mash potatoes, homestyle gravy and 320 calories. marie callender's. it's time to savor. the day of these attacks with half information in a way that was denounced by both republicans and democrats. there is no doubt that he is working hard to exploit this issue. >> bill: well, you can decide whether governor romney is exploiting or rendering, rendering leg

with us now is fox news senior analyst brit hume. i think the expectations for this debated are too high. people, particularly conservative americans, republicans are kinding expecting mitt romney to go out there and do something. i don't know if that's even possible right now. the public broadly speaking expects mitt romney to win. low expectations i suppose. the history as your comments suggest is that debates don't tend to change the trajectory of a presidential race very much. there has been a few cases where they have but just a few you are looking at this stage if you are a romney voter or fan for something that would change the apparent course of the election which you look at the thing nationally and it appears to be a pretty tight race. if you look at it in the key states. president obama appears to be ahead nearly everywhere. and by a significant margins in some places such as ohio where it's several points. now, you can't say that it's over. it certainly is not straight line projections are very dangerous in politics. thin

all right, brit, thanks very much as always. next on the run down, is mitt romney politicizing the murders of four americans in libya or is he doing the responsible thing by holding the obama administration the obama administration an intense debate moments look, if you have copd like me, you know it can be hard to breathe, and how that feels. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain,

brit hume, fox news senior political analyst.tic strategist joe trippi, karl rove, founder of the republican super pac, american crossroads, and, fox news political analyst, juan williams. mayor stephanie karl rove's3 rawlings blake is speaking at the citt's emergency now open around the clock. clock.let's listen ii.- statee of emergency in the city and in the state state 3 3 3state in the - statt of emergency in the city and in statetatee--3 3 3 3state statecity and in the state state 3 3 3 3 3 you caa track sandy as it approaches foxbaltimore dot com.. the predicted storm &ppath s on our homm paae... you can control thh radar images right down to the ime it will be in your area. area.and with a storm this bii... you knoowthere will be powee outaggs.we wwll stream all of our newscasts on tte web and to mobble devices.so if you lose power... you ccn stiil access the latest weather information from us on your cell phone.. or i-pad. hurricane sandy informatioo... .24 hours a day.. at foxbaltimore dot comwe will also be n the air it

brit, your thoughts. >> brit: well, my first thought would be if i were an obama spawrstder or perhapsf i were the president himself, what i would like to be able to do tonight would be to portray mitt romney as a man so committed to military force that he would be the kind of president who would be likely to get us into war while i, the president, have been the kind of president who is getting us out of them. getting us out of iraq on the process of getting us out of afghanistan, avoiding military conflicts elsewhere, trying to solve things through cooperation with other countries and putting pressure on countries like iran to do the right thing. mr. romney, it seems to me, has a somewhat different challenge. people seem to be taking a hard look at him now as their possible next president. and while this election may not be decided on national security and foreign policy issues, it none the less is a test for him as to weather he has sufficient command of them to be a plausible commander and chief. so, both men, it seems to me, have opportunities and challenges. the president obviousl