y made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. only depend underwear has new confidence core technology for fast absorption and the smooth, comfortable fit of fit-flex™ protection. get a coupon at depend.com >> coming up next. "special report." hillary clinton's campaign is riding high after her debate performance in vegas. but bernie sanders surged. the email investigation, and a possible joe biden run. still, looming. this is "special report." good evening and welcome to washington, i'm brett baier, hillary clinton did nothing to jeopardize her front-runner status during last night's first of the campaign. democratic debate. what was billed as a clash between the five declared candidates was essentially a one-on-one between clinton and primary challenger bernie sanders. all the threat from vice president biden's possible entry may be starting to fade.

chief white house correspondent ed henry has tonight's top story from henderson, nevada. >> as a pumped-up hillary clinton thanked supporters and a debate watch party lasted into the night, even some republicans quickly declared her the winner of the democrat's first clash. >> we're going to win. >> one notable today appeared to be vice president joe biden, who was either just trying to stay neutral. or was raining on clinton's parade with a luke warm grade. >> i thought they all did well. >> top clinton advisers told fox immediately after the debate they see no credible path to the race for biden. the privately admit another clinton stumble after months of sliding polls over her email controversy would have panicked her fundraisers and other allies and opened the floodgates for a biden rescue mission.

>> she obviously performed well last night. >> a reminder that the rest of the field struggled to look presidential. so clinton took a giant step toward locking down her party's nomination by dwarfing the others. democratic nominee bernie sanders stated that he does not believe in capitalism. >> jim webb opened the door to illegal immigrants getting obamacare. >> her explanation for flip flops may sting in a general election. >> if you are learning you're going to change your position. i never took a position on keystone until i took a position on keystone. >> then there are her trust issues, more easily side-stepped when she's among democrats. >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails. >> thank you. me, too, me, too. thank you, bernie. >> republican kevin mccarthy's comment on the select committee on benghazi are the gift that keeps on giving for clinton.

>> if this committee is basically an arm of the republican national committee. >> yet an fbi investigation of the clinton's email set-up is still looming for the primaries and the general elections and the questions of trust remain. asked in a new fox poll, if clinton has been honest on the events surrounding benghazi, 32% say yes, 60% no. >> benghazi emails, all of that will be brought up by republicans running against her in questioning her trust and honesty. but right nowky guarantee you that the republicans are going to have a bunch of problems, too. >> now clinton's strong debate performance led some tom democrats amused that the dnc never should have limited the number of debates in the first place if clinton like the republicans had started debating back in august she might have h had, not have had such a brutal summer. republicans are predictably trashing last night's debate for

failing to hold clinton's feet to the fire on a number of points. chief political correspondent carl cameron has that part of story tonight. >> republicans could not wait to condemn democrats for last night's debate. ted cruz focused on bernie sanders' socialism and hillary clinton's big government. >> last night was an audition for who would wear the jack boots most vigorously. last night was an audition for who would embrace government power to strip your and my individual liberties. >> jeb bush suggested clinton's rivals covered for her by downplaying her email scandal. >> i thought it was interesting that they didn't go after her particularly on the email issue. look there's an fbi investigation. she hasn't been forthcoming. that's a national security question. put aside the legalities of this. it's clear that the russians and the chinese were trying to hack into her server. >> donald trump said clinton prevailed. >> i think she did her job, think she got through the debate. i personally thought she won the debate.

i thought bernie was off. he was to the doing so well. i thought that the other people shouldn't even be up there, to be honest with you. >> it was basically a liberal versus liberal debate about who was going to give away the most free stuff. >> it's no secret that democrats think marco rubio could be a formidable foe and. >> i anticipate that, that that's what their specialists said. that the clinton campaign and the democratic party are specialists at the personal destruction of individuals, they've done this for years. >> dr. ben carson has walked back his assertion in support of the second amendment that hitler's mass murder of jews might have gone differently if hitler wasn't disarmed. >> i never intended for my words to diminish the enormity of the tragedy. >> rand paul struggling to qualify for the next primetime gop debate streamed his campaign day live on the web yesterday and got annoyed by a particular question he gets a lot of lately. >> the third question most popular question from google is,

is rand paul still running for president. and i don't know, i wouldn't be doing this duff-ass live streaming if i weren't. yes, i still am running for president, get over it. where's rand paul in the polls? this is not live, we can't edit this, right? >> tomorrow, the candidates' third quarter fundraising numbers will become public. jeb bush let us know that he plans to do more than put it out. he's going to give us a complete list of his bundlers, big donors and his medical records, this is about transparency and you can expect tomorrow he'll be making references to hillary clinton and what he references her lack of it. >> back to rand paul and that back-lit live stream in a motel parking lot. >> not smart. >> and making lemonade out of lemons, you can now get a $20 rand paul t-shirt that says i watched rand paul live stream and all i got was this dumb-ass t-shirt. there you go. a pentagon official is reporting progress tonight from a third session aimed at avoiding any conflicts between

the u.s. and russia in the air space over syria. also today, a u.s. official confirms to fox there's evidence cuban paramilitary and special forces units are on the ground in syria. latest fox news poll indicates 61% of those surveyed believe u.s. national security is at stake in syria. but only 20% think president obama has a clear strategy in the conflict. >> president obama may be reconsidering the commitment to get all but a few relative few american troops out of afghanistan. correspondent doug mcelway at the pentagon says conditions on the ground may force a change in plans. the tweet from the editor of the respected military blog, the long war journal was unusually blunt. quote how the hell does al qaeda operate two camps, one that is 30 square miles inside afghanistan if it is a spent force? it was a reference to a major operation this month by u.s. air and special forces as well as afghan ground forces against two al qaeda training camps.

one of the camps outside kandahar, an area half the size of washington, d.c. >> this is a significant security development. these were two huge terrorist camps, within taliban territory. material to make ieds was found, anti-aircraft weapons, machine guns. this confirms recent report that there was a larger al qaeda presence in afghanistan and they're more spread out across the country than at any time since 2001. >> a press release from u.s. military headquarters in afghanistan spoke glowingly of the operation quote one of the largest joint ground assault operations we have ever conducted in afghanistan. a testament to the professionalism and expertise of our afghan partners. but the revved-up pace of u.s. operations presented a stunning contrast to what president obama promised last march. >> we've been able to draw down and remove ourselves from a combat role as president ghani

indicated. without collapse as was predicted. >> faced with al qaeda's stubborn resurgence in afghanistan, the president has been forced to slow the pace of his troop draw-down. still holding to plans that only a skeletal u.s. force of 1,000 would remain to guard the embassy when his presidency was over. but today even that hope faded. "the new york times" reporting the president is considering a force of up to 5,000 even after 2016. >> the president's concession to facts on the ground in afghanistan comes as a new fox poll shows americans remain concerned about his leadership on foreign policy. with 52% finding him weak and indecisive, compared to 32% who find him strong and decisive. down two points from last year, down ten points from two years ago. >> there have been over 300 air strikes thus far this year in afghanistan. evidence that major combat operations are far from over. brett? >> doug mcelway live at the pentagon. thank you. what do you think? do you think the u.s. should

have more or fewer troops in afghanistan? let me know facebook.com or on twitter at brettbaier, you can use the #special report. political correctness in the battle against domestic terrorism. here's what some fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. wsvn in miami as a small plane crashes into a mobile home park killing the pilot and a 21-year-old woman inside one of the structures. no word on what caused the crash. the plane was flying from orlando to nearby lantana. fox 11 in los angeles with the city council's consideration of a proposal to impose fines or shut off water to residents who continue to use it excessively. news reports say one bel-air homeowner used 12 million gallons in a recent year, enough for 90 households, california is in the midst of a severe drought. a live look at st. louis,

the mississippi river from fox 2, the big story there tonight -- a very weak grade for the mighty mississippi. a study gives the river a d-plus citing pollution, flood control and the poor conditions of the locks and dams throughout the river basin. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway. "special report" will be right back.

the obama administration is adding to the counterterrorism bureaucracy. chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge tells us about the latest step to fight home grown terror with what some critics consider more red tape and political correctness. >> whether it's an isis-inspired plot in garland, texas targeting free speech or the murder of bible study group members in south carolina by a 21-year-old gunman fuelled by hate, the new justice department position will serve as the main point of

contact for u.s. attorneys. and better coordinate strategy and resources. >> terror and extremism do not always originate elsewhere. or take place outside our borders. homegrown violent extremists can be motivated by any viewpoint on a full spectrum of hate. >> while the motivation for the savage acts like the recent shooting at an oregon community college can be broad there is a common link -- just like isis, these hate groups use social media to pour gasoline on the fire of radical ideas, once contact is made, followers are redirected to encrypted communications, leaving fbi agents blind to their activities. >> social media in this space can also create for an extreme segment of our society, a sort of radicalization echo chamber. >> where monday than 70 islamist plots, a system that doubled the number of fbi joint terrorism task forces working with u.s. attorneys, critics question the need for another layer of bureaucracy and the desire to

lump the threats together. >> this kind of political correctness in the way we focus on domestic terrorism is stupid. right? it really is stupid. these are very different groups with very different characters, that have very different threat profiles. >> that's why another position is necessary. the white house referred questions to the justice department and the obama administration is constantly evaluating new strategies to combat vile ent extremism. brett? pentagon officials are scouting sites in colorado as potential homes for prisoners from guantanamo bay. president obama has promised to close the detention facility. but congress is blocking him from transferring prisoners to the u.s. so far. a navy spokesman said the team is assessing colorado's super max prison in florence and at a state penitentiary in cannon city for what he called a limited number of detainees. many israelis and israel supporters say it's another slap in the face tonight from president obama for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu.

the white house is lumping both israel and the palestinians together for criticism over the recent escalation of violence in the region. correspondent connor powell has the latest from jerusalem. >> jerusalem is a city on edge as attacks on israelis continue. a 70-year-old woman was stabbed outside the central bus station today. the attacker killed by police as he tried to flee. this is just the latest in a growing string of brutal attacks carried out by young palestinians in recent weeks. most armed with just knives. >> in order to achieve peace, terrorism must stop and real security arrangements must be implemented on the ground. >> in an effort to stop the bloodshed, israel implemented a series of new security measures, including deploying soldiers around the country and erecting checkpoints throughout palestinian neighborhoods, effectively dividing jerusalem. the moves so far have done little to stop the violence. which began this summer when

right-wing israeli groups pushed to expand access to the al aqsa mosque compound. a site holy for muslims and jews, but where jews are prohibited from praying. palestinian president mahmoud abbas said it could start a war. and in a sharp rebuke to israel, the obama administration placed blame for the violence on both sides, highlighting a jewish attack on four arab men last week in an israeli city. >> we've will a chance to look at that attack more deeply and i think you're going to ask me what do we consider an act of terrorism and we do. we certainly individuals on both sides of this divide are, have proven capable of and in our view, been guilty of acts of terror. >> prime minister netanyahu offered to restart palestinian peace talks with palestinian

leaders. however just a few months ago he rejected the two-state solution. and brett, given the tensions here, it's unlikely that talks will start any time soon. >> connor powell live in jerusalem. still ahead, the president back-pedals on giving a pass to hillary clinton over her emails. first, the millennial vote in 2016. what's it worth and how to get it.

there may be a second software device on 2016 volkswagens to help them cheat on emissions tests, the company made the disclosure to american regulators last week. volkswagen is already facing a criminal investigation and billions of dollars in potential fines over its original

so-called defeat device. also today, a german magazine reports at least 30 vw managers were involved in the cheating program. stocks were off today, the dow lost 157. the s&p 500 fell 9. the nasdaq was down 14. the 2016 presidential campaign is shaping up as a battle for millennials. correspondent molly lyon reports on howdates are getting caught up in a youth movement. >> in 2010, danny valagi and her mother launched a baking business from their kitchen. today wicked good cupcakes is a rising success. they ship nationwide and the state of the nation matters to this young entrepreneur. >> well, being in a small business, i want the next candidate to help all the small businesses out there that are struggling. or who are not struggling. >> millennials, those who came

of age near the turn of the century or beyond. make up the sing many largest generation in history and they're a powerful voting bloc. in 2008 the outvote helped secure the white house for then senator barack obama. but -- >> the younger members of the generation, those who came of age a little bit later remember not the movement of the obama campaign in electing the first african-american president, instead they remember 20092010, when we had gridlock and recession and we saw their friends, families, neighbors, losing things, losing jobs, losing houses. the the very different angle of which they came of age politically. >> with a new election cycle under way, john delavope believes the outvote is up for grabs. but both parties may struggle to earn the trust of millennials. a junior at harvard believes that the economy, foreign policy and health care are all important issues. >> gridlock in a lot of

different factors in washington that have really made me think i'm not really sure what party that i believe in. >> drew weber, vice president of nyu's college democrats, questions the priorities of politicians. >> representing corporations, others representing billionaires, or just representing who is going to cut them the next check or do they really care about the needs of people and what they need to get ahead? in this country? >> i'm hoping that a lot of my generation will stand up, make the smart decision and vote for someone who is going to help us out. >> in 2012, 18 to 29-year-olds gave president obama 60% of their vote. but delavolpe shows younger millennials are slightly more conservative than their older counterparts, they're less willing to trust the status quo. he believes the time is right for both parties to reconnect with younger voters. brett? >> molly lyon in newton, mass. thank you. how not to fight a fire with your personal vehicle.

that's next on the grapevine.

now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. a federal whistleblower protection program recently fired an employee for one thing you would not expect --

whistleblowing. a san francisco tv station reports the former investigator says he was canned for reporting bureaucratic dysfunction. darrell whitman says management at the occupational health and safety administration, osha, encouraged the speedy and sometimes unwarranted closure of investigations, in order to clear up backlog of cases. osha disputes whitman's claims. saying he was fired for numerous reasons, including lack of candor during an investigation meeting and unauthorized release of government documents. whitman's case will go to the office of special counsel, another government agency that is supposed to protect whistleblowers. a corrupt chicago politician, that's really not new, but now it seems not even the schools are immune. media reports say the former head of chicago public schools pleaded guilty to steering about $20 million in contracts to a consulting company in exchange for $2.3 million in kickbacks.

and the guarantee of a job for her down the road. outside the courthouse, barbia bird bennett directed her comments to the students, quote i am terribly sorry and i apologize to them. they deserve much more, much more than i gave them. she face as maximum penalty of seven and a half years. in prison. finally, stop, drop and roll is good advice for putting out fires. most of the time. but after letting a garbage fire get out of control, a missouri man tried to put it out by rolling his van back and forth over it. it gets dumber, the kansas city star reports the van had a full tank of gas along with live ammunition inside. upon realizing the explosive potential of the situation, the driver ran for safety, a fire crew showed up to try to keep the blaze under control. president obama's team is walking back his recent comments which seem to give hillary

clinton political cover over her email scandal. correspondent kevin corke is at the white house with what is being said now and why. >> i've taken responsibility for it. i did say it was a mistake. >> it was all too familiar. former secretary of state hillary clinton telling the audience watching last night's democratic debate that though it was a mistake to use a private email server during her time in office, the level of scrutiny her decision has gotten is unwarranted. >> what i did was allowed by the state department, but it wasn't the best choice. and i have been as transparent as i know to be. >> plainly, there wouldn't be a need for more transparency had clinton, like everyone else in the obama cabinet used a secure government server, obama has turned over 55,000 pages of emails from that server, investigators from the fbi, state department and house benghazi committee continue to look into whether she sent or received classified material, a violation of federal law something clinton denies. this, as the state department struggles to hire enough staff to review the emails.

firms there telling a federal court yesterday, that despite a goal of 50 additional staffers to do the job, it's been able to find fewer than three dozen applicants to make offers to. >>ky tell you that this is not a situation in which america's national security was endangered. >> when president obama told "60 minutes" he didn't think clinton's email scandal compromised national security, it reinforced the fear among many on capitol hill that the obama justice department would be hesitant to prosecute clinton. >> the president has a healthy respect for the kinds of independent investigations that are conducted by inspectors general and where necessary by the fbi. >> last month texas senator john cornyn asked attorney general loretta lynch to appoint a special counsel to take up the investigation. critics point to the doj's response to the tea party irs scandal and a lack of prosecution in the fast and furious gun program as examples of selective enforcement. but doj sources say prior investigations into former senator john edwards and new

jersey senator bob menendez, both democrats, prove the department's impartiality. >> private email server during the select benghazi committee investigation. speaking of, one week from today clinton is expected to testify before that committee on capitol hill. it should make for a very interesting day. brett? >> kevin corke live. more on this with the panel. hillary clinton survives, some say she thrived in the first democratic debate. what is next for her campaign and that email investigation? we'll ask the panel, when we come back.

i'm a progressive. but i'm a progressive who likes to get things done. i never took a position on keystone until i took a position on keystone. >> when we talk about syria, you're talking about a quagmire in a quagmire. >> what i believe and why i have advocated that the no fly zone,

which of course would be in a coalition, be put on the table, is because i'm trying to figure out what leverage we have to get russia to the table. >> the know-fly zone in syria, which i think is a very dangerous situation. could lead to real problems. >> are you going to be testifying before congress next week about your emails. for the last eight months, you haven't been able to put this issue behind you. >> i have answered all the questions and i will certainly be doing so again before this committee. think it's pretty clear what their obvious goal is. >> the american people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails. >> thank you. me too, me too. >> ha was the big line there at the end. >> bernie sanders getting a lot of attention, the democratic debate. as we look live on henderson, nevada and hillary clinton is delivering a speech there. following up on that debate. which her campaign was reported to be giddy about. turning the tables and maybe turning her campaign around.

let's bring in our panel. steve hayes, senior writer for the "weekly standard," mara lieson, and syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. >> bill clinton sent out one of those fundraising emails today the subject line was wow wow wow. they felt she was commanding, she was loose, she was the happy warrior. she got to the left of sanders on guns, to the right of him on capitalism. they're feeling pretty good. on the other hand, sanders says we raised $2 million off the debate. and we were the most googled. i don't know if it's going to change their relative standing. but i do think that it calms the fears of some nervous democrats that she was going to continue to weaken. and it might have had an effect on joe biden. which we will see. >> in coming days. >> yes, yes. >> i love that. >> she got to the right of bernie sanders on capitalism. who knew we were debating

socialism and capitalism in the united states of america in 2015. >> but we are. there was a debate about that. >> denmark, norway and sweden. >> and it was, it was a moment. i think it was a moment. it tells you a lot about the modern democratic party. there's a lot of media coverage about republicans and they move to the right and the party split to the right this is certainly true of the democrats, if you look at the debate last night, the debate was who could go farther than barack obama. who can be further to the left of barack obama. hillary clinton said repeatedly that she wanted to, she was going to on keystone, going to on free tuition, free obamacare to illegal immigrants. one after the other they tried to outdo each other in giving free stuff away. i was, i thought anderson cooper did a good job. i was a little disappointed that there was never at any point in this entire debate, a question about how you pay for this anybody can get up and give a laundry list of things they'd like to do. the real question is how you pay

for it a harder question for democrats. >> charles? >> the answer is you get mexico to pay for it. that's a bipartisan answer. from china, too. but i'll leave it alone. i think it's over with the policy of yogi berra. sometimes it really is over. the nomination fight against with one caveat. unless she's indicted, she's going to win the nomination. and the reason i've been saying this for a couple of months, the reason is you could see it on the stage. he has no competition. these guys, are opponents, barely could have made the undercard debate on the republican side. and the fact that you've got an avowed socialist running as her chief opponent shows you that it's a token opponent. after al likes denmark. he represents vermont. which is america's denmark. and he's sort of out of practice about how to make an argument that's nonsocialist. you look at what she did last night she did what she had to do. she started out 50 points ahead of him and then it became a

catastrophe when the difference was only a 20-point lead. 20 points is where she is now is a landslide. and with the debate did, is it froze it in place. the nomination contest ended when sanders said -- we're sick and tired of hearing about the damn emails. you're running against a front-runner. who is being investigated by the fbi and you say, this is now officially off the table. no democrat will discuss it. and it will not be discussed, means that between now and the convention, it's not an issue. of course it will be an issue in the general election. but if that's off the table they have nothing and there's nothing that will stop remarks -- >> what about another way to look at that we're sick and tired of listening to the damn emails. as a democrats are sick of it and worried about it and i'm the alternative. is that not it? >> well he could have said that

the way i heard it and i'm sure the way hillary heard it and the way the campaign, i think the way almost everybody heard it is it's not irrelevant. it's her defense, it's a ginned-up thing. kevin mccarthy launched the whole meme. she has a get out of jail card free at her disposal. she played it very well. saying even the republicans are saying it parts of the witch hunt. i think his meaning was clear and it closed the issue. >> it's not closed at the white house and they have walked back what the president said on "60 minutes." >> it is important for her to answer these questions. to the satisfaction of the american public and they can make their own judgment. i can tell thaw this is not a situation in which america's national security was endangered. >> we've heard you many times. you know, for a variety of different topics today. say i cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. there is an ongoing

counterintelligence investigation on this. >> is there an attempt to steer the course of that investigation? >> certainly not. the president respects the independent integrity. independent investigations, including those conducted by the fbi. >> he went on to say that what he was saying, the comment that he used was what we know right now. >> which is remarkable, is it not? >> it's very unusual. the president has been meticulous up until now about saying no comment when there's an ongoing investigation. there's an ongoing investigation. and he talked about it. it's possible, although i've asked the white houses and they won't admit it it's possible he just got out ahead of himself. but they say that it's based on what we know now. even so, it's really unusual for barack obama to comment on when there's an ongoing investigation. >> so it's totally inappropriate for the president to do that. i mean he's in effect their boss. i mean he's telling them what he wants the outcome or what he believes the outcome of the investigation to be. >> for some like fbi director

comey, who has a history of standing up in the investigations, before, even in administrations that don't want him to, doesn't this send a signal that, hey, i need to finish this job? >> we have that one example from the bush administration, the dramatic example at the hop hospital bed. but that doesn't mean that's the way he will conduct himself now. one hopes that is the case. but at the same time the fbi is carrying out the investigation, you have the justice department defend dwending hillary clinton in court on some of the very same charges. it's not at all clear to me that is going to be done by the book. i will take issue with what charles is saying, it may not be a big issue in the primary if joe biden doesn't get in. i don't think the email issue disappears at all. there was consensus in the room there was applause in the press filing room yesterday when this happened. this is not over. you have a full fbi investigation that by all accounts is expanding at this point. they just seized four servers from the state department. they went to a second tech company. you have the benghazi

investigation about to release a new batch of emails, where these emails are in hillary clinton's own words, hillary clinton and her own advisers. she can't very well say this is somehow partisan because it came through the benghazi commit tixt they're her own words. she's going to have to defend what's in those emails. >> i'm not saying the email issue is dead. all i'm saying is as an issue in the democratic nomination. process, it is dead. no other candidate will pick it up. it will not hinder her march to the nomination unless she gets indicted. but of course it will be a big issue. it adds to her baggage and she's going to have to answer in the general election. but until then, she will be crowned at the convention next year. >> next up, is president obama about to change his mind on afghanistan?

together with our allies we will complete our mission there by the end of this year. and america's longest war will finally be over. >> today, fewer than so thousand troops remain on a mission to assist the afghan forces. we will continue to bring them home and reduce our forces further down to an embassy presence by the end of next year. >> well, maybe not. there is some change on the way potentially. how many troops are left on the ground in afghanistan. here's a piece from the "new york times." those of us who worked with the afghans over the last decade or more feel we have established a relationship, that is of some enduring

value said james dobbins the obama administration former representative for afghanistan and pakistan. i can't promise you maintain ago commitment at the current leveill maintain a stable afghanistan he said but leaving behind too few you troops would lead to an afghanistan in complete complete turmoil. you like syria, he said? how would you like to have another one? there is one assessment. we are back with the panel. charles? >> well, he could also have said you like iraq, how would you like to have another one? look, he think it's clear that the military is putting a lot of pressure of people who have been there. all of our experts, including you go back to the signatories on this to madeleine albright who isn't exactly a right wing exsecretary of state all say we have to leave a residual force. we know what happened when obama refused to do the same in iraq. it's now essentially a colony of iran and all the other consequences that we know about. so, isis on this obama is

going to have to relent. what he he cares about his legacy and image. he wanted to be able to say i got us out. i think he is worried about one thing. if he continues on this path and evacuates, when obviously the afghans are under real pressure from the taliban and now even from isis, we can have a scene like saigon 1975 with a storming of the embassy, americans being air lifted and catastrophe. he can't have that happen on his watch. he would rather have if on the next watch. so i think he will be careful about evacuation. i suspect he will keep the troop level where it is. >> latest fox news poll, marah, president obama on foreign policy. the president's leadership on foreign policy weak and indecisive at 52%. strong and decisive at 32%. we have seen these numbers upside down for a while now. but there are, with with syria, now with afghanistan, the question is whether a thousand troops is still too few. >> well, that's a good

question but is he taking the advice of his military advisors who announced not long ago that they thought that the levels they were talking about were too low and they were recommend ago higher level. we are hearing the number 5,000 which would keep it at a steady state. as much as the president wanted to get out, he doesn't want to leave chaos behind either. >> steve? >> look. we saw the clip from the president speaking in may of 2015 talking about 10,000. the gains that we have seen al qaeda and the taliban make have come with that level of force or greater. why does he think keeping a thousand as residual force will weaken them in any appreciable way? i think it's a fool's errand to suggest that. beyond that what i think this tell its us about the administration's from the get-go was deeply flawed. strategy separate al qaeda and the taliban to pretend that the taliban was somehow gettable. they were mod moderate. they weren't allied with al qaeda. it was wrong. we know it was wrong through

documentary evidence. we are seeing it was wrong because we have the new amir of the taliban's swearing. this was a failed strategy from the beginning. what the president is doing by offering to keep a thousand if that is what the number is an attempt political cover. it's not real numbers. >> we have seen the taliban moving forward. capturing new territory other places. back in a few weeks ago, john mccain was in a hearing talking and asking questions about what the force should be on the ground. here he is asking about theok conditions on the ground. >> do the conditions on the ground warrant a change to the current plan that calls for by the end of 2016, we would be an embassy centric force? >> sir, again, basissed on conditions on the ground, based on the transition is i

have talked about, i do believe that we have to it provide our senior leadership options different than the current plan that we are going with. absolutely. >> short answer, yes. >> we have about 10,000 now. nato has about 17,000. obama always wants to split the difference which i think steve is right. it won't be enough. they ought to leave the force level where it is. remember, this is obama's war. he said when he came in he triple the number of troops. he said we have to win this war. he didñi the surge and he obviously never really had his heart in it. four of the five deaths in the afghan war have come under obama p ps commander and chief. i think he feels some responsibility and he you hope he keeps it. stay tuned for a moment you may have missed during the democratic debate coverage. looks like some folks have had it with their airline credit card miles. sometimes those seats cost a ridiculous number of miles...

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one occupied. >> cnn is prepared in the event of a joe biden candidacy and the debate appearance there it is a podium number six. we have it waiting in the wings just in case vice president joe biden decides to join us. we have been showing our

viewers all morning there is plenty of space on this stage if the vice president decides to join us. >> i have even seen a spare lecturn lurking off stage if he wants to join us. he can join this debate almost up until the last minute in case of joe biden were breaking out podium number six. >> [ laughter ] >> cnn, such amateurs. >> he never came. and who knows. he might not do that sixth podium. thanks for inviting us in for "special report." fair balanced and unafraid. no "special report" online tonight. greta goes "on the record" right now. >> it is october 15th, 2015. this is a fox news alert. over yiet chaos at airports across the country. flight delays long lines and how

it could effect you today. >> isis is recruiting right here on american soil 24-hours a day in every sij state. the fbi director has a live report. >> odom is in a fight for his life. they revealed the moment when he was found passed out in a nevada brothel. "fox & friends first" starts right now. >> good morning to you. you are watching "fox & friends first". it is thursday morning. i am ainsley earhardt. >> the weekend is almost here. thank you for starting your day with us as always. >> the computer system that checks airline against the no fly list crashes.

very long winding lines at airports across the country. among those affected, new york, la, atlanta, dallas and charlotte. a witness at the jfk airport reports the chaos. >> thousands of people up stairs, down stairs. the lines were crazy. the peop there were people that couldn't walk. >> the system is back up and running smoothly. customs and border protection claims there is no indication the destruction was malicious in nature. >> an air force plane forced to return to paris. cabin crew realized two passengers were missing. they discovered four bags had been loaded on to the plane. the passengers missed their connection. the flight continued on to south africa. a new include