martha: good morning. i'm martha maccallum. both sides are campaigning in critical swing states prepping for the big foreign policy debate that happens monday night. they had a little bit of fun last night. some people humor rouse jobs at themselves and others. that appeared at the new york city al smith charity dinner. >> i'm pleased that the president is here. we were chatting pleasantly this evening as if tuesday night never happened [laughing] i credit that of course to the cardinal. he is, it's taken new york's highest spiritual authority to get us back on our best behavior. i was actually hope the president would bring joe biden along this evening because he will laugh at anything. [laughter] [applause] >> in less than three weeks voters in states like ohio, virginia and florida will decide this incredibly important election. which begs the question, what are we doing here? [laughter] bill: they will be in florida, soon enough. senior national correspondent john roberts in new york. >> reporter: good morning to you. a lot

here is martha.a: about 36 hours now after sandy first hit, and the big question for so many families along the shoreline is where do we go from here? there is a nation-wide effort underway to get much-needed support to these people. look at these houses just smashed together along the shoreline, and we are going to talk about how to help. bill: on and on it goes, right? the first votes have already been cast, early voters are out there, even though we are six days away from the election who does that benefit and who might it hurt? bob and andrea on deck. bill: have a lock at this image from the mta, the mass transit authority here in new york city. this is an image that is coming to us in lower manhatten. that would be down around battery park city, perhaps the wall street area. but there is an image that's been sent out on behalf of the mta that shows the standing water even today in new york. you think about how deep these subway lines go beneath the street. it could be 50, maybe a hundred feet de

martha: i'm martha maccallum. fortunately the fbi was way ahead of this guy and his thousand pound bomb was a dud. the self-professed martyr did not know that. he repeatedly dialed a cell phone he thought was a detonator. here is more from house homeland security chairman, pete king. >> he was very strong supporter of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula which operates out of yemen. he did make reference himself to knowing people in al qaeda. bill: the intended target only blocks away from the world trade center site. that is where we find rick leventhal this morning. what more have we learned about the attempted attack, rick? >> reporter: good morning bill and martha. i confirmed this morning this young wannabe jihadist was under constant video surveillance by members of the joint terrorism task force. there was a room full of law enforcement officers watching this guy on big screens in the operations center downtown. he was followed by a surveilance team and arrest team from his home in jamaica, queens, to a wareho

martha has more. martha: senator john mccain also taking issue with what secretary clinton is saying about libya. putting out a statement with fellow republican senators kelly ayotte. this is laudable gesture what you hillary clinton heard her say, begin the quote again. especially when the white house is trying to avoid any responsibility what every sew. the security of americans serving our nation everywhere in the world is ultimately the job of the commander-in-chief. the buck stops there, says senator mccain. and he will be guest this morning. we'll speak with him at 9:30 in "america's newsroom". we'll talk about whether the white house or the national security team there missed the warning signs in benghazi. that is ahead in a couple of minutes. >>> this fox news alert now. the presidential candidates ready for round two in their debate series with only three weeks to go from today. 21 days away, folks. tonight is a town hall-style debate. it takes place at hofstra university on new york's long i

good morning, martha. martha: good morning. i'm martha maccallum. these e-mails are raising questions why the administration repeated i claimed it was the result of a spontaneous protest. we're told, 400, look at all the national security personnel who received the e-mails in realtime. first one sent out 4:00 p.m. eastern on set of the 11th. here is a quote from it. the regional security officer reports that the diplomatic mission is under attack. embassy tripoli reports approximately 20 armed people fired shots. explosions have been heard as well. ambassador steve who is currently in benghazi and four chief of mission personnel are in the come pound safe haven. the 1th of february militia is providing security support. bill: catherine herridge is in washington live with us. good morning to you. explain the significance of the e-mails we're now seeing. >> reporter: these new documents first on attend by fox appear to be the most significant we've seen to date on the libya scandal as e-mail traffic takes the real time information on the attack and of

martha. martha: hot in here.ll right, so major new health warnings we want to talk talk to you about this morning as well on rare deadly illness. treatments for a minor condition killed at least five people so far and thousands more may be at risk. bill: also terrible news for drivers in california. the huge change at the pump overnight. the near record price that people are paying out there. whoa. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it mahelp lower cholesterol, how does it work? you just he to eat it as part of your heart healthy diet. step 1. eat the soup. all those veggies and beans, that's what may help lower your cholesterol and -- well that's easy [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. martha: exclusive interview with the man at the center of a criminal investigation into suspected voter registration fraud in florida. senior correspondent eric shawn live in our new york city bureau. good morning, eric. >> reporter: we will be exonerated so says embattled republican

good morning, martha. martha: good morning bill. good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. it started out with president obama really on the offensive. a more measured governor romney as we went into the initial moments last night. but the showdown moved on to pretty tense exchanges we haven't seen from the last couple of debates. >> we're talking about the middle east and how to help the middle east reject the kind of terrorism we're seeing and rising tide of tumult and confusion and attacking me is not an agenda. >> we have things called aircraft carriers where planes land land on them. ships that go under water and nuclear submarines. so the question is not, a game of battleship where we're counting ships. it is, what are our capabilities. >> you went to the middle east and you flew to egypt and to saudi arabia and to turkey and iraq. and, by the way, you skipped israel. our closest friend in the region but you went to the other nations. and by the way, they noticed that you skipped israel. >> a few months ago when you were asked what's the biggest go owe political threa

martha: hmmm. proclaiming his innocence the former coach and at least some of his victims are planning to address the court today. of course we'll bring you that as soon as it cops in. as soon as the sentence is handed down. bill: breaking news on that. governor mitt romney delivering what his campaign called a major foreign policy speech in virginia. during that address he suggested that the president's leadership style has made the middle east more dangerous. >> the president is fond of saying that the tide of war is receding and i want to believe him as much as anyone else. but when we look at the middle east today, with iran closer than ever to nuclear weapons capability, with the conflict in syria threatening to destablize the reemg on. and with violent extremists on the march, and with an american ambassador and three others dead likely at the hands of al qaeda affiliates. it is clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office. bill: there was a

martha. i confirmed this morning this young wannabe jihadist was under constant video surveillance by members of the joint terrorism task force. there was a room full of law enforcement officers watching this guy on big screens in the operations center downtown. he was followed by a surveilance team and arrest team from his home in jamaica, queens, to a warehouse where he allegedly load ad van with his 1000 pound wannabe bomb. 20, 50 pound bags of ammonium nitrate covered with a tarp. he headed to the federal reserve bank downtown in new york, with a undercover agent with him. they parked out front under the watchful eye of the fbi. went to a room nearby at the millennium hotel where the suspect allegedly record ad video where he said, quote we will not stop until we attain victory or martyrdom and then he tried to set off the bomb with his cell phone. >> law enforcement is vigilant. certainly we understand the public can become complacent. we had no successful attack here in levens years but

martha: good morning, everybody, i'm martha maccallum. tonight will be the last time the president and governor will be on the same stage. focus tonight is foreign policy truly a topic that could not be any hotter. bill: both sides debating the administration's actions before and after the terror attack in libya. republican senator lindsey graham on "fox news sunday" with chris wallace. saying the white house reaction to it is one for the ages. >> i'm totally convinced this will go down in history as one of the most major breakdowns of national security in a very long time. bill: to florida we go and senior national correspondent john roberts live at lynn university, boca raton, the site of tonight's debate. good morning. >> reporter: bill, good morning to you. libya and the situation at the consulate in benghazi is expected to figure prominently in tonight's debate. he is likely to say something along the lines when you called this a act of terror the day after the incident, why then did your united states ambassador go to the united nat

martha. martha: you about first, bill, team fox coverage on this monster storm. rick leventhal live in point pleasant beach, new jersey, maria molina tracking storm in the extreme weather center. let's get started with wrik on the shore where the effects of sandy are just beginning to be femt. good morning, rick. >> reporter: good morning, martha. conditions deteriorating here. my rain suit covered with sand and as sandy starts to reach the jersey shore. this town is under mandatory evacuation order. this is not barrier island but officials were worried because they expected surge to be significant. you can see the water reaching this pier out on the beach. local authorities went door-to-door yesterday telling residents to get out. they say most of the residents did heed the warning as they have up and down the new jersey coast. this entire state is being threatened now. the governor made a very clear plea to anyone in low-lying areas, don't be stupid and get out for this reason. you see wate

martha? martha: yeah. they tried to and make sure that what they actually said was seen in a clear light after that last debate. john, thank you so much. it looks like it is a little chilly in ames, iowa, this morning. john roberts on the campaign trail. governor romney will deliver the speech at 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon. coverage begins on "america live" with megyn kelly which begins at 1:00 p.m.. bill: paul ryan rallying supporters in virginia, 13 electoral votes there. he compared governor's plan to the president obama's economic record in charlottesville. >> here is the issue. he promise the economy would grow at 4.3% if we pass the stimulus. it is growing at 1.3%. we know if we go with more of same suite get more of the same with a debt crisis. these five agenda solutions are specific ideas to get people back to work. to get people who used to be in the middle class in poverty back in the middle class. bill: ryan went on to warn president obama is proposing nothing different for four years, therefor

martha? martha: the white house response to the benghazi attack prompting a heated exchange on sunday between chris wallace and obama senior advisor david axelrod. this after axelrod suggested that the attack only become a big political issue because governor romney was trying to exploit it all for political reasons and then happened. watch. >> wait a minute. this is the first u.s. ambassador that has been killed since 1979. susan rice came on this show and five other and gave the american people a story that turned out not to be true and you're saying we shouldn't discuss this? that we should wait for the investigation to be completed? >> no, no. >> that's what you just said. >> that is, chris calm down. that is obviously not what i'm saying. i just -- >> you wait a minute. we should follow the lead of chris stevens -- >> i'm happy, i'm happy to discuss it with you. >> talking about what he said day after the attacks. nobody is criticizing him what is he saying now except except the obama ca

martha: all right.eral thank you so much for your insight. we'll watch it closely and tuck to you again soon about it. thank you sir. >> okay, martha, take care. bill: 24 minutes before the hour. the president's healthcare law headed back to the supremes for a completely different reason than before. we'll explain what is happening on that. martha: final preparations underway for a record-breaking skydive from the edge of space. ♪ i'm going down, down, down, down. ♪ bill: here we go, guys, check it out. a live look inside university of denver, the auditorium, the arena where everything goes down tomorrow night. 50million-plus americans will be watching. local fox denver has video screen right right there how they transformed the arena and set everything up. it appears obviously that the two men will be standing and not sitting. there will be peed yum podiums that each will standby. that is your format. several hundred people will be inside, i think 200 was the number that was given out. anyway, join bre

martha. martha: strong words. more on that later. >>> all right, so back to the campaign trail here for a moment. the buckeye state is shaping up as a must-win once again. this is a live look at the ohio state university. college campuses are heating up as a major front in the battle to win this campaign and this state but what will it take to win over the kids with the backpacks walking across there on that beautiful fall day? this. >> there is no hiding under a rock. you have to be in a different universe if you haven't received some means of voter contact, whether it is a phone call, a door knock. >> there is a lot of weight on your shoulders. >> a lot of weight. a lot of weight. ♪ [ male announcer ] start with nothing, build a ground-breaking car. good. now build a time machine. go here, find someone who can build a futuristic dash board display. bring future guy back. watch him build a tft display like nothing you've ever seen. get him to explain exactly what that is. the thin film transistor display... [ mal

martha? martha: john, thanks very much.l: one of the president's top advisors governor romney looked like he was debating candy crowley, the moderator more than the president. was he right? did governor romney have two opponents on the stage? john sununu answers that. martha: the governor's personal finances come front and center, as the governor comes out swinging. that exchange straight ahead. >> have you looked at your pension, mr. president, have you looked at your pension? martha: the candidates came out swinging last night in round two, they traited jabs. one of the most heated exchanges happened when they discussed the tereist attack i terrorist attack in libya. i'm martha maccallum good morning. bill: i'm bill hemmer good morning. president obama, governor romney clashing over the characte characterization of the terror attacks in benghazi on september 11th leaving four americans dead. governor romney questioned the president's claim on whether his administration started calling the attack an act of terror setting u

martha, back to you. martha: very interesting. bill o'reilly think about governor romney's performance last night? he will join us here in "america's newsroom" with his first take, his first reaction to the big night last night. bill: looking forward to that, huh? martha: yeah. bill: the number one issue if you haven't heard, jobs, jobs and more jobs. who made the better argument on how to create more jobs, america, herman cain is live on that today, stay tuned. martha: new concerns our government failed to secure highly sensitive documents that were left behind after the deadly attack on our consulate in libya. how could that happen? we are live in washington. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare? that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs

martha, back to you. martha: thanks, bill. focus shifts to the vice-president deng debate which happens tomorrow night. earlier i sat down once again with ann romney. here is what she had to say about her husband's running mate, paul ryan. >> i'm excited again for the american people to see him. they don't know him. he is such a great guy. he is so genuine. he is so ernest. he is so well-spoken. he so intelligent. knows his facts. it will be great for people to really get a chance to get to know him. martha: mrs. romney also had some choice words for the obama campaign and its accusation that governor romney had lied during the debate. we're going to show you what she said about that. that is coming up. we'll play the full interview in next hour of "america's newsroom". bill: looking forward to that, really. 10:15 live. new polling from the battleground state of nevada it shows a virtual tie. president up only a point 47-46% according to a survey of the "usa today poll" commissioned by las vegas review journal. four years ago

martha: u.s.e getting superhuman inspiration overseas in the form of their favorite comic books. the deep, a come big store in huntsville, alabama, collecting donations for their fourth, sorry, comics for troops drive. a customer who was deployed overseas asked them to hold onto his subscriptions while he was away. store managers thought, why stop there? >> they really like the slice of home that it brings them they say. they grew up reading comics. comics tend to have the ability to lift spirits there. they're serving for us. any little bit we could do would be, goes a long way and letting them think about home and, looking forward to coming back. martha: that's great. good for them. previous drives netted up to 20,000 comics much the drive ends this thursday. favorite comic book? bill: superman? only because i dressed like superman every halloween. that is lay-up. martha: mine is archie. absolute favorite comic. bill: "mad" magazine. that is all we've got. got anything else? martha: no, i'm good

martha. >> martha: go ahead. >> martha, look -- investigative committee spent months and months and months going -- [overlapping dialogue] >> months and monthsch they found no evidence of cronyism. i love my friend here! i am not allowed to show letters, but go to our web site, he sent me two letters saying, by the way, you can send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of wisconsin? we sent millions of dollars. you know-- >>> you did ask for stimulus money. >> on two occasions, we advocates for constit wens applying for grants. that's what we do. we do that for all constituents. >> this is such a bad program. he writes me a letter -- writes the department of energy saying we need this stimulus to create growth and jobs. his words! and now he is sitting here, looking at me -- by the way, that program, again, investigated. what the congress said was, it was a model, less than 4/10 of 1% waste or fraud in the program. all of this talk about cronyism. they investigated, and investigated, did not find one single piece of evidence! i wish he would just be more candid. >> was it

martha. martha: boy, no doubt, bill of that.u a little bit further along the jersey shore here, south where the storm came on last night. we've got significant damage in all of those beautiful towns up the coast you've got wildwood and stone harbor and avalon, all the way up to point pleasant and bay head all those towns along the shore. barrier islands, long beach island hit very hard roads completely washed out to get out there to the barrier islands. rick leventhal has been awake all night covering the story for us. he stands right now in point pleasant beach. good morning again, rick. >> we witnessed that storm surge come ashore obliterate the downs here along point pleasant beach. we are on philadelphia avenue. a wall of water, you can see the water still standing here. you can probably see that white car marooned in the floodwaters. i want to introduce bruce cochran, a homeowner whose house is right down where the car is. you say you have a couple of feets in your house. >> a couple of feet. the oak floors are buckling fro

>> brian: is it wrong to disagree with martha? >> martha: absolutely.ming at you and saying you're wrong about this and defending something you did a year and a half ago or two years ago or saying something in a series of events went like this when you know it's different. you got to be ready to answer, you got to have a clear thought. >> steve: plus, this president famously, when you ask him a question, answers in about 12 minute sound bites, as we've seen from some of the east room press conferences. so they got to boil it all down. okay, you got to be more tight and if possible, ends with a zinger. >> martha: someone suggested he should try get under the president's skin a little bit, that the president has -- reading one advisor last night, he has a thin skin, according to. so and if he rattles him a little bit, it might be effective. we'll see if he goes there. >> brian: mitt romney doesn't really like it, especially when you bring up stuff about his wealth. when you bring up something about his wealth, he tends to get defensive. i think they'll go

martha, back to you. martha: thanks, bill. focus shifts to the vice-president deng debate which happens tomorrow night. earlier i satown ce reh s tay t us'sni mapa ryan. >> i'm excited again for the american people to see him. they don't know him. he is sh a great guy. he is so genuine. he is so ernest. he is so well-spoken he sontelligen kns hiac itlat fpl tow et ce ma: mrs. romney also had some choice words for the obama campaign and its accusation that governor romney had lied during the debate. we're going to show you what she said about that. that is coming up. l thl llokorto thal 10:15 live. new polling from the battleground state of nevada it shows a virtual tie. president up only a point 47-46% according to aurve he " t p viou.asas four years ago president obama easily won the state by 12 percentage points. today nevada has highest unemployment rate in the nation that could support governor romney's point that thneto ce er niewl hamerysh interesting numbers emerging now. we're getting started this morning. we've got mu

-- >> go ahead. >> martha, look. his colleagues spent months and months and months -- >> this is the inspector general. >> months and months. they found no evidence of cronyism. and i love my friend here. i'm not allowed to show letters, but go to the website. he sent me two letters, saying, by the way, can you send me some stimulus money for companies here in the state of wisconsin? we sent millions of dollars. you know -- >> you did asking if stimulus money. >> on two occasions, we advocated for constituents applying for grants. that's what we do. we do that for all constituents. >> i love that. i love that. this is such a bad program and he writes me a letter, saying, the reason we need this stimulus, it will create growth and jobs. his words. and now he's sitting here looking to make -- and by the way, that program, again, investigated. what the congress said was, it was a model. less than .4% waste for fraud in the program. and all this talk about cronyism, they investigated, did not find one single piece of evi

and our team is standing by, including the moderator of the debate, our own martha raddatz.ut we begin with abc's jonathan karl right now. jon? >> reporter: diane, it was an even harder fought than the presidential debate, but today, both men quickly hit the campaign trail, trying to take advantage of whatever momentum they can. fresh off the big debate, joe biden rallied supporters in lacross, wisconsin -- paul ryan's home state. >> i am sure you observed last night, we had a little bit of a debate. >> reporter: ryan, out for a family breakfast in kentucky, seemed pleased, too. >> i feel great. >> reporter: it was a debate that sets the stage for the campaign's final month, laying out big differences on the central issues. like whether tax rates can be lowered without adding to the deficit. >> not mathematically possible. >> it is mathematically possible. it's been done before. it's precisely what we're proposing. >> it has never been done before. >> it's been done a couple of times, actually. >> it has never been done before. >> jack kennedy lowered tax rates, increased gr

facts matter martha.ll of this loose talk about all they have to do is get to a american amount of enriched uranium and they have a weapon, not true. and if we ever have to take action, unlike when we took office, we will have the world behind us, and that matters. >> what about bob gate's statement. could prove catastrophic haunting us for generations. >> biden: he is right. >> ryan: and what it does is undermines our credibility by backing up the point when we make it that all options are on the table. that's the point. the ayatollah see these kinds of statements and they think i'm going to get a nuclear weapon. when we see the kind of equivocation that takes place when the green revolution started up they were silent for nine days. when they see us putting daylight between ourselves and our allies in israel that gives them encouragement. when they see russia watering down any further sanctions -- the only reason we got a un sanction is because russia watered it down. >> biden: martha -- >> let me ask y

. >> martha: okay. let's move on to afghanistan. >> can i get into that. >> martha: i would like to move to afghanistan, please. that's one of the biggest expenditure this is country has made in dollars and more importantly nlives. we just passed the sad milestone of losing 2,000 u.s. troops there in this war. more than 50 of them were killed this year by the very afghan forces we are trying to help. now, we have reached the recruiting goal for afghan forces, we have degraded al qaeda. tell me, why not leave now? what more can we really accomplish? is it worth more american lives? >> we don't want to lose the gains we have gotten. we want to make sure that the taliban does not come back in and give al qaeda a safe haven. we agree with the administration on their 2014 transition. look, when i think about afghanistan, i think about the incredible job that our troops have done. you have been more than the two of us combine the. first time i was there in 2002, it was amazing to me what they were facing. i w