mccain. i know that the other ticket opposed this surge, in fact, even opposed funding for our troops in iraq and afghanistan. barack obama voted against funding troops there after promising that he would not do so. >> and senator biden, i respected you when you called him out on that. you said that his vote was political and you said it would cost lives. and barack obama at first said he would not do that. he turned around under political pressure and he voted against funding the troops. we do have a plan for withdrawal. we don't need early withdrawal out of iraq. we cannot afford to lose there or we're going to be no better off in the war in afghanistan either. we have got to win in iraq. and with the surge that has worked we're now down to presurge numbers in iraq. that's where we can be. we can start putting more troops in afghanistan as we also work with our nato allies who are there strengthening us and we need to grow our military. we cannot afford to lose against al qaeda and the shia

senator mccain? >> well, thank you, tom. thank you, belmont university. and senator obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting. and, alan, thank you for your question. you go to the heart of america's worries tonight. americans are angry, they're upset, and they're a little fearful. it's our job to fix the problem. now, i have a plan to fix this problem, and it's got to do with energy independence. we've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us -- like us very much. we have to keep americans' taxes low. all americans' taxes low. let's not raise taxes on anybody today. we obviously have to stop this spending spree that's going on in washington. do you know that we've laid a $10 trillion debt on these young americans who are here with us tonight, $500 billion of it we owe to china? we've got to have a package of reforms and it has got to lead to reform prosperity and peace in the world. and i think that this problem has become so severe, as you know, that we'r

so we have john mccain to thank for at least warning people, and we also have john mccain to thank forside and just do what's right to fix this economic problem that we are in. it is a crisis. it's a toxic mess really on main street that's affecting wall street. and now we have to be ever vigilant and also making sure that credit markets don't seize up. that's where the main streeters like me, that's where we would really feel the effects. >> moderator: senator biden, you voted for this bankruptcy bill. senator obama voted against it. some people have said that mortgage holders really paid the price. biden: well, mortgage holders didn't pay the price. only 10% of the people who are, have been affected by this whole switch from chapter 7 to chapter 13 -- it gets complicated, but the point is this: barack obama saw the glass as half empty, i saw it as half full. we disagreed on that, and 85 senators voted one way, and 15 voted the other way. but here's the deal. barack obama pointed out two years ago that there was a subprime mortgage crisis and wrote to the secretary of treasury, and he

and so has john mccain. have to fight for our freedoms, also, economic and our national security freedoms. it was ronald reagan who said that freedom is always just one generation away from extinction. we don't pass it to our children in the bloodstream; we have to fight for it and protect it, and then hand it to them so that they shall do the same, or we're going to find ourselves spending our sunset years telling our children and our children's children about a time in america, back in the day, when men and women were free. we will fight for it, and there is only one man in this race who has really ever fought for you, and that's senator john mccain. >> thank you, governor. senator biden. >> gwen, thank you for doing this, and the commission, and governor, it really was a pleasure getting to meet you. look, folks, this is the most important election you've ever voted in your entire life. no one can deny that the last eight years, we've been dug into a very deep hole here at home with regard to our economy,

senator mccain? >> well, thank you, tom. thank you, belmont university. and senator obama, it's good to be with you at a townhall meeting. and, alan, thank you for your question. you go to the heart of america's worries tonight. americans are angry, they're upset, and they're a little fearful. it's our job to fix the problem. now, i have a plan to fix this problem and it has got to do with energy independence. we've got to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't want us very -- like us very much. we have to keep americans' taxes low. all americans' taxes low. let's not raise taxes on anybody today. we obviously have to stop this spending spree that's going on in washington. do you know that we've laid a $10 trillion debt on these young americans who are here with us tonight, $500 billion of it we owe to china? we've got to have a package of reforms and it has got to lead to reform prosperity and peace in the world. and i think that this problem has become so severe, as you know, that

john mccain was being. so we did, you know, a survey of all of our ads and said that only 15% of them or less were negative, but people were hearing those, and that's the image they got. we then said, well, the obama people were more negative than mccain. it's true, he was running more negative ads because he had so much more money, he could run the negative ads and still run a bunch of positive ads. but that's been what we're used to, the idea that there's going to be a mix of positive and negative, and the candidates genuinely worry that they're going to be seen as too negative. and so they have reputational risk and election risk at stake in their ads. the super pac ads don't have the same risk. we don't know who these people are, we don't much, you know, care what we think of them, and they are 99.9% negative. .. if you allow one person to of anonymously solely the debate any significant way, you know, there's -- >> surely the mechanisms while they're not as sharp, super pacs still to stand. that is if

powell was saying what they gave him and senator mccain supported.alk about dick cheney and then, that's what powell was doing, the information that the administration had supported. but is this sour grapes from senator mccain because colin powell also didn't endorse him in 2008 and supported then senator obama? >> well, al, you took the words right out of my mouth. that's just what i was going to say, that it is sour grapes, very much so for john mccain but also the fact that one of mitt romney's top surrogates in john mccain came out and had to criticize colin powell, tells you that this endorsement really stung. not only for john mccain but for mitt romney as well. >> erin -- >> colin powell has apologized for that presentation to the u.n. and if john mccain has apologized for the things that led us into war, i missed that. >> all right. good point. ryan grim and erin mcpike, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >>> coming up, today president obama did something that no president has ever done before and it could be big in this election

that is mccain in front of the romney stage. got it? we don't have that.stage. bret baier, i bumped in to him and we chatted about what he'd report on. fantastic. young romney fans. they love "the five." the last one coming up to do the show, i bumped in to candy crowley. how are you? she is like who are you? [ laughter ] >> bob: did you have young obama supporters you got together with? >> eric: i didn't see anyone walking around. i would have talked to them. i'd be honest, there weren't democrats here. i looked for democrats to talk to. i'm fair and balanced. >> kimberly: i'm curious about candy. you approached her. how did it come about? >> eric: she was talking to governor rick scott. producers said anybody but him. candy, i want to say been hard on you. i wonder what you expect out of bob schieffer. i said i'm with "the five" on fox news in new york. she said okay. he will be fair. she was wearing flip-flops. >> andrea: so you ran in to stephanie cutter. have you seen the romney folks? what are they saying about what the strategy will be tonight? >> e

senator mccain is a perfect example. he worked together with teddy kennedy and senator daschle, so many other people. we have seen his political courage. there are not enough at stories on the media done on the people who have political courage. they always want to look for the negative. >> it has become more so -- political suicide than it used to be. part of it is the drawing of district lines of that everybody agrees with you and the only way you can get in trouble is to not be pure enough, not liberal enough or conservative enough. the challenge to face in your last senatorial election -- a challenge from the right, which was kind of the fact highly than behave in the senate to some degree. we have seen that with both parties. it seems to be getting worse and harder rather than people making it easier. >> let me make two points. one, let's not forget that in 2009 and 2010 the democrats had the whole majority of both houses of congress and the presidency. they were veto-proof. we had stimulus packages, obamacare, dodd

who had voted for john mccain.nding out in front of his house with his yard sign calling for the repeal of republicans' union stripping law. this republican firefighter won against the republican party in his state thanks to all those petitions, they got the union stripping law on the ballot for repeal and ohio voted to repeal it by 22 points. it was not even close. it was a blowout. with that republican overreach, ohio republicans woke up the electorate and the electorate kicked them in the proverbial butt. you want to know who what was the activists in the fight in ohio, who was helping them in ohio with the machinery of the campaigning, leaflets, phone calling, door knocking, rallies, get out the vote, with the work that goes into a presidential campaign? who helped ohio do that work in 2011? it was the obama campaign. jeremy byrd, national field director for the obama campaign was on the ground in ohio joining the fight last year. they did not leave the state in 2008 after obama won it last year. they didn't le

mccain was being. ads.d a survey of aour that was the image they got. we said the obama people were more negative than mccain. he had some much more money. he could run those ads and still run a bunch of positive ads. candidates are genuinely leary they will be seen as too negative. they have the reputation risk and the election risk in their ads. whereas super pac ads do not have the same risk. we do not care what we think of them, and they are 99.9%-. it is not 50-50. they are almost 100% negative ads. that is something after the election we need to think about as an effect of this new campaign finance world. the message that the american people are getting full throated is that these people are helpful. >> that is another point about the anonymity of speech. if you allow one person to anonymously sully the debates in a significant way, you know, there is a cost for that. >> these reputation mechanisms while they are not as sharp, they do still stand. if there is a widespread perception romney has co

bob b enair and john mccain wil join us as well. but i want to start with, intelligence correspondent suzanne kelly. >> >> the fbi is expected to take the lead on this investigation. >> so, it is not clear. fbi will take the lead on interviews and cia. others will be there? >> that is what was expected. it's not clear that the cia will take the lead and other intelligence will be there? >> that's what we understand you understand what this looks like with law enforcement. but we are told that right now the fbi is told to take the lead. they would be able to uphold in court but that the intelligence agency will be there as well. they want to know how many other people they can lik nk to the attack in benghazi. >> so, his name is ali alhazri. we know that he was posting details of the attack as it was happening on his social media websites. >> as it was happening? >> as it was happening. spectacular detail. when you do something like that it makes it easier for people to track you down and find you. we know that he went from libya and

. >> in a joint statement, senators mccain, graham and ayotte said "this is a laudable gesture" talking about what secretary clinton did yesterday, "especially went white house is trying to avoid any responsibility whatsoever." erick erickson at redstate.com writing this headline, hillary clinton prepares to see underside of obama bus. meanwhile, the obama administration is reporting that the white house has moved armed drones into position in north africa and put specials on forces on stand by the military weighing how it will react should investigators find a militant group responsible forth death of chris stevens and three other americans, john. >> can i just say, it seems to me that secretary clinton's statement is the first mature, effective thing the administration has said about this and it strikes me the act of someone taking responsibility you as she says, and doing her job. is the president ultimately responsible? yes. as president kennedy said, i'm the ultimate responsible officer of the government but the idea that that is her being thrown under the bus is, seems to me, wron

we did not even know of john mccain would show up on the night. so that september, mitt romney had a tough month, people ask me all the time with a point to happen? , if you's pretty early think. think. 18 days with sarah palin seemed like a lifetime to me. got two lifetimes, that's like 40 days. a lot can happen on the campaign trail between now and then. it's a very interesting time. let's roll back a little. let's talk about the early days. first, my story. how i got to the campaign. i will go back to september again, 2006. my wife and i were sitting on the banks of the potomac in alexandria, virginia. we have our pad and paper. paper being married to a serial campaigner, she has to go through this ritual every year where we say what are our goals for the year? it never goes exactly the way we want, but it makes me feel better, and she plays a long. we're on the banks of the potomac and we had a nice life. i had a consulting practice i was very happy with and i enjoyed the balance of my life. my wife was working at the university doing public r

the governor currently outperforms john mccain among independents, men and mid western voters.president obama won four years ago. let's bring in john harwood. john, so in 2008, president obama won those groups that romney is now doing well with. the latest data shows the president kept his double digit lead among women. do we see a tighter margin? the president's support is sky high among african-americans, latinos he's up by more than 60 points. and the numbers are good, but at this point, are they enough to win is what the obama campaign is wondering. >> well, the obama campaign could still lose it. mitt romney is very close to them in battleground states. but at this moment when you look at the electoral map to get to 12 270, romney is not where he needs to be. he is doing better than john mccain with some of the key groups, but he has to do a lot better. other thing worth noting is that mitt romney needs to win white voters by somewhere in excess of 60%. w why? because as i said, he has to do better than mccain, but white voters will be smaller this time. we've seen in ever

stay tuned. >>> up next, john mccain using storm relief to attack president obama on his handling of benghazi? we'll have the details. >>> and in the big finish, richard wolffe joins me to the presidential campaign a week before the election. we're coming right back. >>> one week from tonight we may >>> one week from tonight we may know who the next president will be. hurricane sandy has presented a unique challenge for the campaigns just one week from the the election. president obama canceled campaign events in order to monitor recovery efforts. in an e-mail to supporters, campaign manager jim messina asked for donations not for the campaign, but for the american red cross stating "soon enough we'll get back to work on the most campaign of our lifetime. but the most important thing at this moment is you and your loved ones are safe and the rest of us do what we can to speed the recovery." the romney campaign, on the other hand, found themselves struggling to find the right tone. in an effort to avoid seeming insensitive to the millions of americans affected by the storm, the romney

i spoke to senator mccain moments ago.d others in the senate are pushing for more answers from the president about how he could not have been aware of the prior attacks that happened on the ground in benghazi and if so what he did about them. >> reporter: that death tere from senator lindsey graham to the white house very direct and pointed. senator mccain, senator ayotte asking about the previous attacks. you had this uk ambassador convoy getting attacked in june, a very military coordinated terrorist attack and people knew it and the long list of attacks prior to the september 11th attack. now you have secretary clinton saying the responsibility spots with her. this will not end here. we are actually working on an hour special that will be finished this week. we don't have times for you but it will run the end of this week into weekend, numerous times on benghazi, and we've been doing some investigating over the past few weeks, and it should be interesting. martha: you sure have, you've had great stuff on it and the team

senator mccain joins me ahead. the big "360" interview.alk about syria as well. n your own butter too? what? this is going to give you a head start on your dinner. that seems easier sure does who are you? [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. five delicious cooking sauces you combine with fresh ingredients to make amazing home-cooked meals. ♪ ambiance [ female announcer ] new progresso recipe starters. your head-start to home cooked. [ female announcer ] new progre♪so recipe starters. ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot. ...i'll look back on this day and laugh. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment! luckily though, ya know, i conceal this bad boy underneath my blanket just so i can get on e-trade. check my investment portfolio, research stocks... wait, why are you taking... oh, i see...solitary. just a man and his thoughts. and a smartphone... with an e-trade app. ♪ nobody knows... [ male announcer ]

you get a sense of how relentlessly message to john mccain is. he used the term spread the wealth of around three times. another thing that strikes me is how obama is making eye contact with became the entire time he is talking. he looks right at them. there was a lot of discussion from the earlier debates in 2008 that mccain was having a hard time making eye contact. it came off as rude. another thing that jumps out on me is the contrast of the youthful obama and a much more senior mccain. obama actually was more the adult in my opinion in that relationship in that he was very calm and cool under fire. mccain, although that last debate was his best, he had moments where he was a little erratic and some of those earlier debates. >> you said, both president obama and governor romney share a sense of trepidation about going mano-a-mano on live television. how may it went up boxing them in? >> neither one of them has and enjoyment of debating. that is a weird word to use. i think the ones who are really good at it and the ones who really come across

mccain slammed the president's handling of the the attack on the american consulate in libya. >> this president is either engaged in a massive cover up deceiving the american people, or he's so grossly incompetent that he's not qualified to be commander-in-chief of our armed forces. >> or senator mccain certainly isn't bitter about losing to barack obama back in 2008. his decision to politicize what was allegedly supposed to be an apolitical gathering speaks volumes. tonight there are millions of americans being assisted by the federal government who i'm sure would argue with senator mccain's assessment of president obama as grossly incompetent. if you're looking for a way to help, consider donating to the red cross. you can visit their website at redcross.org. >>> coming up, sandy's impact on the election. we're just one week away before the country goes to the polls. can the president go back to the campaign trail? should he? should he stay on this assignment? richard wolffe weighs in next. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, h

we can all stipulates senator john mccain is a veteran. some of the votes you cited are votes i took on the house version of the senate bill and john mccain voted the same way i did. it sounds like you do not know exactly how the senate works or the house. again, i have to get back to the issue, the notion that it was dismissed as frivolous or as not without merit, you are talking about something different. they did not make any determination like that at all. they did not say it was areas. look at the record. >> i did look at the record. you do not find that. >> you want to talk to tom davis, a republican ranking minority member on the committee at the time, they will tell you that. >> we will move on. this is a form with the two candidates running for u.s. senate in arizona. democrat richard carmona and republican jeff flake. just two weeks ago, one of the border agents working on border patrol was shot and killed. that was a friendly fire incident. at the time, people came out and the blame was assigned. some of the blame went to illega

and you'll hear as well from senator john mccain. i want to start with the suspect and a "360" exclusive. earlier reporting said access to the suspect was being blocked. intelligence correspondent suzanne kelly has learned otherwise. she joins us now. what have you heard? >> right, anderson. what we're hearing from a u.s. government official that the u.s. does fully intend and expect to get access to this individual. there's a little bit of negotiating going on. there's a process in place. the fbi is expected to take the lead on this negotiation, though intelligence officials are also expected to be in the room when he's questioned. >> so it's not clear -- so fbi will take the lead on interrogation or interviews, and cia, others, intelligence will be there? >> that's what's expected. exactly. now, obviously, you understand how this works with law enforcement. with fbi taking the lead versus intelligence taking the lead. but we're told right now fbi is expected to take the lead in this. so they're gathering evidence for him that they

go to oralb.com for the latest offers. >>> up next, john mccain using storm relief to attack president his handling of benghazi? we'll have the details. >>> and richard wolffe joins me to discuss how sandy will affect the presidential campaign a week before the election. we're coming right back. with the theory of relativity, the next... stop, stop, stop! my car! not so much. but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility -- what's your policy? >>> one week from tonight we may know who the next president will be. hurricane sandy has presented a unique challenge for the campaigns just one week from the the election. president obama cancelled campaign events in order to monitor recovery efforts. in an e-mail to supporters, his campaign manager asked for donations not for the the campaign, but for the american red cross stating soon enough we'll get back to work on the mo

leaving. >> cenk: senator mccain, what on god's green earth are you talking about?ll is this? everyone in afghanistan lies and says senator mccain, usa, usa. they're not going to do that. russia tried it. alexander the great tried it, the british lied it, and they're not going to lie down. what on god's green earth are you talking about? look at the numbers here. we just reached 2,000 deaths in the afghanistan war. 17,644 u.s. service members were wounded in action. now, what will war in afghanistan? a minute of 20,000 civilians killed, this is an epic disaster. "abc news" has more on this. >> uneasiness is part of the mission until the last american troops leave afghanistan in in 2014. >> the sound of a little test fire catches everyone's ear. hardened warriors on edge over those insider attacks. >> cenk: and they are not alone. now, the n.a.t.o. secretary general coming out, talking about how we might have to leave quicker than expected. that's really interesting. quote, you may see adaptation of our presence, our troops can redeploy, take on other tasks or even w

also shaquille o'neal john mccain and geraldo rivera. we have three hours cram packed.t here on "the fox news channel. >>> growing up in a family that flew the american flag every day gave me a sense of national pride. i am grateful for the opportunity to serve the united states coast guard. that is why i am proud to be an american. >> nine minutes to the top the hour. give your kids a grade boost by putting them on adhd meds. he is prescribing them to low income children saying it's their only hope to success. he hopes to modify their behavior and as a result improve grades. >> a firer men going without food and water for days. they were five miles from an island when their engine died. they didn't have any oars so they broke off pieces of the boat to make paddles. they are said to be okay. >>> obama and mitt romney taking a break from tat the charity dinner in manhattan. unlike the heated jabs in the presidential debate it was all in good fun. >> for just a few minutes they set aside some of the heated political rhetoric they even shook hands in place for a few laughs

what do you make of how mccain handled this and other republicans? kelly ayotte says she won't campaign with him, and we know how important female voices are for both democrats and republicans? >> it's actually been split, tamron. i'm surprised. mccain has had this different reaction. senator ayotte said she can no longer came pain for him. congressman pence first said he should apologize and he kind of backtracked a bit. senator cornyn, who runs the senatorial committee for republicans is standing by richard mourdock and what he said and said it's true. they were up twisted. he feels the same way i do because i'm pro-life and so does joe donnelly running against mourdock. it's a mixed reaction. i was just surprised that mitt romney would risk this kind of focus on something like this in the final days by saying he can still run my endorsement ad, even though i disagree with him. >> last night on rachel maddow's show, she talked about mourdock, but the larger picture of other men in the gop who have uttered similar -- that is not familiar. not simila

52% said then senator barack obama. 45% said john mccain. it is shaping up a little bit different this time around. we have two vice presidential candidates who are both catholics. at the top of the ticket, one is a mormon, the other is a protestant. >> one issue we haven't talked about is that archbishop dolan is at the forefront of the catholic church's battle with the white house over the health and human services mandate requiring religious, institutions, hospitals and schools to cover contraception, the morning-after pill and contraception. he is involved in a lawsuit against the department of health and human services and criticized by some catholics for extending the usual invitation to the president given the tensions between the white house and the fact that the church has argued that the administration has been infringing on religious liberty. it is very interesting. i doubt we will be hearing many jokes about contraception from the president tonight. >> they have just introduced the former governor of massachusetts, the republican

senator mccain joins me ahead for a big "360" interview.'ll talk about syria as well. p >>> the fallout continues with the lance armstrong doping scandal. there's a big change at the live strong charity. that's ahead on "360." >>> the town hall format can be a tricky one. four years ago, my next guest faced off with then candidate obama in nashville, tennessee. take a look. >>> senator mccain suggests that somehow i'm green behind the ears and i'm just spouting off and he's somber and responsible. >> thank you very much. >> senator mccain, this is the guy who sang bomb, bomb iran, who called for the annihilation of north korea. i don't think that's an example of speaking softly. this is the person who after -- we hadn't finished afghanistan when he said next up, baghdad. >> i'd like equal time to respond. >> yes. last word here and then we have to move on. >> not threw. not true. i have obviously supported those efforts that the united states had to go in militarily and i have opposed those that i didn't think so. i understand what it's lik

that was game over for john mccain. by winning the great state of ohio, barack obama won the presidency. mr. obama closed off john mccain's path to the white house by taking that one giantly-important swing state and it was all over. in presidential politics ohio is a must-win. for republicans, winning ohio, it doesn't guarantee you will win the white house, it's not enough just to win ohio, obviously, but it is necessary to win ohio. if you lose that state, you will lose the presidency. it is the hinge, it is the glue for every republican presidential campaign in modern american history. losing ohio has meant losing the white house. in 2004 the democratic candidate john kerry, he did not concede on election night. john kerry and john edwards were waiting on results from ohio. when ohio went to president bush, the next day, the day after election night, that is when that race was over but not a minute before. ohio is that important in modern presidential politics. both the romney and the obama campaigns are out stumping

john mccain. when we come back, a guy behind all of the debates. say what you will, they have been captivating both sides riveted. my next guest is the reason behind that. [ male announcer ] do you have the legal protection you need? at legalzoom, we've created a better place to turn for your legal matters. maybe you want to incorporate a business you'd like to start. or protect your family with a will or living trust. legalzoom makes it easy withtep-by-step help when completing your personalized document -- or you can even access an attorney to guide you along. with an "a" rating from the better business bureau legalzoom helps you get personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal se