thanks, greg. >> greg: you got it. >> bret: good evening. i'm bret baier. breaking tonight, the u.s. strikes back hitting iran-backed proxies carrying out a series of airstrikes today in eastern syria. this, as houthi militants have shot down an american reaper drone off the coast of yemen. that follows dozens of recent attacks we have been telling you about against facilities housing u.s. troops. this is increasing. another pushback by the u.s. chief national security correspondent jennifer griffin is at the pentagon tonight with the latest. good evening, jennifer. jenngood evening bret. new airstrikes against iranian targets in northeastern syria. we now have a statement from defense secretary lloyd austin, quote: today at president biden's direction, u.s. military forces conducted a self-defense strike on a facility in eastern syria used by iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps. the irgc, and affiliated groups. this strike was conducted by two u.s. f-15s against a weapons storage facility. this precision, self-defense strike is, a response to a series of attacks against u.s. personnel in iraq and syria by irgc quds force affiliates. austin went on to say the united states is fully prepared to take further, necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. there have been more than 42 attacks by iranian proxies on u.s. troops and bases in iraq and syria since october 17th. earlier, we confirmed that houthi forces in yemen have shot down an american mq 9 reaper drone earlier today as it was flying over the red sea. this is a $32 million unmanned surveillance aircraft, which uses sophisticated cameras, sensors and radars to collect intelligence. high powered cameras detect heat and operate with little to no light. it can fly for up to 27 hours at over 25,000 feet. the iranian backed houthis, who in the past have used fa 6 surface to air missiles to down an reaper in 2019 released this footage of the downing today. on october 19th, 2023, the uss carney, which was in the red sea at the time, shot down 15 drones, four cruise missiles, that were fired during a nine hour time span by the houthis from yemen toward ilat, israel. iran has olong backed the houthis in yemen. not just iran proxies in the middle east carrying out attacks attempting to spread the conflict. today brazilian authorities arrested to suspects linked to hezbollah who were planning attacks on jewish synagogues and targets recruiting brazilians to carry out the attacks. brazilian police raided two 11 locations in two states to break up what they described as a terrorist plot. >> bret: jennifer, you spent so much time in israel and know hamas and hezbollah. we haven't seen those suicide bombers, those attacks like we have seen before. but that has to be on the mind of authorities not only in israel but around the world. >> absolutely. in fact, most likely toes kind e suicide bombings would take place in soft targets around the world where you would not expect it. the reason you are not seeing it inside israel is you have basically a wall celebrating the west bank and checkpoints stopping those kind of suicide bombs. that's why the wall was built, frankly, back during the second inat this fat da. so, certainly the israeli police, israeli security forces on high alert for any kind of attacks right now given the numbers try a tack. >> bret: jennifer griffin at the pentagon. jennifer, thank you. pressure though is increasing on israel as it prosecutes this war against hamas, hamas leadership. several of its closest allies including the u.s. now pressing for what are called humanitarian pauses to allow for the importation of necessary food, water, medicine and fuel to gaza. israeli officials say idf troops have reached the heart of gaza city. senior correspondent mike tobin is in sderot, israel tonight with the latest, good evening. mike. >> and, bret, a source tells fox the u.s., israel and qatar are talking about a pause in fighting up to three days in exchange for hostage release. absent an agreement, israel presses on with the offensive. >> amid destruction and churned up dirt, israeli forces are in the early stages of destroying the vast tunnel network nicknamed the metro under the gaza strip. at least 1 # 0 tunnel entrances located and destroyed why by combat engineers. hamas released a video with their fighters in the rubble of gaza using ak-47s to take pot shots at mechanized army. >> hamas terrorists are telling themselves there will be a cease-fire. there is no cease-fire. we continue forward. >> israel only increases combat intensity, from the air, by land, and sea. israeli military leaders claim forces are now surrounding and in the heart of gaza city: in droves, palestinians who originally refused to evacuate take advantage of the humanitarian corridor opening each day. >> we were scared. we thought they would kill us last night. we moved south. >> on foot, pushing wheelchairs and carrying their belongings, they marched south to limited safety and overwhelmed temporary housing. >> we didn't have food or drinking water. there wasn't drinking water for our children. they struck the bakeries. there is no life in gaza. >> g-7 nation growing a growing calls for humanitarian pause in the war to get aid in and people out. the group also unequivocally condemning the october 7th terror attacks. this as the u.n. secretary general says the laws of war are being violated all around staggering civilian casualties, the use of human shields and hostages. >> it's absolutely essential that all hostages are released immediately and unconditionally. >> israeli forces are so deep in gaza city, witnesses say they are less than a kilometer from the schiff if a hospital. israel's shim bet says hamas senior leaders are hiding out in hospitals especially schiff if a, hoping they won't be bombed, bret? >> mike, thank you. the biden administration is putting plenty of stock in last night's off year election wins and the results across the board. it is hoping its diplomatic efforts can come up with long-term changes in the middle east. white house correspondent jacqui heinrich has that story tonight live from the north lawn. good evening, jacqui. >> good evening, bret. we have heard increasingly loud calls from the biden administration for israel to take action against what they call extremist settlers in the west bank. and now the administration is taking things a step further. saying that after the war, gaza and the west bank should be unified under the palestinian authority. essentially a step toward a palestinian state. netanyahu's hard line government has expanded jewish settlements into the west bank. so this is a new development. but this thorny issue was in the background today as officials spotlighted the 2024 campaign. >> the way the administration sees it, democrat winners in last night's state and local elections got there through biden's values and agenda. >> voters have been clear, regardless of whether they are in a so-called red or blue state the government should not be telling a woman what to do with her body. >> officials highlighted kentucky governor andy beshear's win over republican attorney general david cameron and sunk cost of $30 million trying to tie him to biden. >> he called in a beshear-biden agenda. >> abortion messaging was the key to beshear's win according to team biden and also a reason they can forecast their own despite the president's poor polling. >> democrats today in the hand wringing knock it off. >> americans are far more divided can on biden's support of israel and war against hamas. new a.p. polling shows only 36% strongly believe the u.s. should provide aid. 40% say israel's military response has gone too far. among democrats that number is 58%. the president unmoved, officials say. >> is he all the cfrp r. concerned about back sliding in support for among key constituencies of his base. >> is he not gonna development policy options here for the united states or risk our national security interests again according to polling data. he is going to do it based on principles. >> jacqui: the white house is not admitting that biden is having a tough time to convince israelis three day pause in fighting to get hostages out. >> no. i can't confirm those reports. i can confirm that in almost every conversation we are having with the israelis right now we are talking about the benefit of humanitarian pauses. >> jacqui: we have not seen the president in person today and tomorrow he'll be in illinois talking about union jobs. but the latest developments are areas of widening disagreement between netanyahu's government and president biden's white house. bret? >> bret: jacqui heinrich live on the north lawn. jacqui, thank you. ♪ >> bret: breaking tonight, new legal problems for the president's son, his brother, and a business partner. subpoenas have now been issued. correspondent david spunt is in washington with specifics. good evening, david. >> hi, bret. house republicans are taking their biggest step yet in the investigation into not only hunter biden, but the biden family as a whole. house oversight chairman james comer announced the subpoenas just a few hours ago. comer wants hunter biden, the president's brother jim biden, and business associate rob walker to testify before congress. this all relates to the overarching investigation into what comer calls questionable business dealings involving the biden family. comer also wants testimony from sarah biden, the wife of james biden, hunter biden's wife, melissa cohen, and halle biden, the widow of beau biden, who was later romantically involved with hunter biden. financial records, the committee subpoenaed earlier this year, revealed that members of the biden family received more than $1 million in payments from accounts related to rob walker. hunter biden's attorney, abbe lowell said in a statement to fox news that his client is eager to appear publicly at the right time. adding: this is yet another political stunt aimed at distracting from the glaring failure of representative and his maga allies to prove a single one of their wild and now discredited conspiracies about the biden family. local earlier today wrote a letter to new house speaker mike johnson asking him to call off probes into hunter biden. the spokesman for the speaker told fox news in part president biden and the white house have repeatedly lied to the american people about his involvement and knowledge of the biden family's business dealings, receiving millions through their shell companies from foreign adversaries. now, the top democrat on the committee, jamie raskin, said after nine months, the committee did not produce any evidence of a crime, much less than impeachable crime. bret, a white house spokesman says chairman comer is once again lying to the american people. back to you. >> bret: we will stay on it all. david, thank you. former president donald trump's daughter ivanka trump took the witness stand today in the civil fraud trial against her father and adult brothers. correspondent nate foy once again outside the courthouse tonight in manhattan. good evening, nate. >> good evening, bret. ivanka trump remained poised and collected on the witness stand today. she answered questions from the state and lawyers for her father former president donald trump. she left the courthouse tonight just like she entered it this morning without speaking to reporters. a state court denied her request to avoid testifying in the trial. during her direct examination, ivanka testified she never prepared any statements of financial condition for the trump organization. she answered questions about helping secure loans to buy products as far back as 2011, which is outside the statute of limitations, she also testified she didn't recall the specifics of several emails within the statute of limitations. ivanka is no longer a co-defendant, after a state court dismissed her from the lawsuit because of the statute of limitations ran out. but, after her testimony tonight, new york attorney general letitia james spoke about her as if she was still a defendant. >> she clearly was involved in negotiating and securing loans, favorable loans for the benefit of the trump organization. mr. trump and her brothers and for herself. >> bret, former president donald trump laid out his defense on truth social today writing, quote: no victims, no defaults, conservative financial statements. 100 percent disclaimer clause, corrupt attorney general, trump-hating judge equals no case. trump's attorney alina habba says they will move for a mistrial tomorrow. >> it is very clear that they have failed to prove the essential elements of the case. >> the state rested its case today, bret. so if a mistrial is not granted, trump's lawyers will call their own witnesses to the stand to present his defense starting on monday. bret? >> bret: nate foy outside the courtroom. nate, thanks. up next, results from last night's elections, what they may mean going forward. ♪ dry skin is sensitive skin, too. and it's natural. treat it that way. aveeno® daily moisture with prebiotic oat is proven to moisturize dry skin all day. you'll love our formula for face, too. aveeno® he hits his mark —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. i'm sarah escherich, i'm the life enrichment director at independence village, the senior living community in waukee, iowa. everybody here really, really make you feel like family and that they love you. our goal with tiktok was to enrich the lives of our residents and just to be able to show people what senior living can be like. i think i am a tiktok grandma. my kids think i am. i mean, we're the ones that are being entertained. time goes faster when you're having fun. every day, more dog people are deciding it's time for a fresh approach to pet food. developed with vets. made from real meat and veggies. portioned for your dog. and delivered right to your door. it's smarter, healthier pet food. >> bret: the stocks were mixed today the dow lost 40. the nasdaq was up 11. ♪ ♪ >> fox news democracy 23 because the third presidential debate takes place in almost miami tonight comes just one day after democrats did very well in off year 23 elections in a handful of states. 31 to be specific. a handful of big ones. we have fox team coverage, aishah hasnie. senior national correspondent rich edson in washington with a look at what really happened yesterday. good evening, rich. >> good evening, bret. democrats across the country are touting these results for governor, state legislatures and ballot initiatives. party officials say these 2023 elections show democrats have the winning 2024 agenda. >> i'm a little disappointed. >> governor glenn youngkin campaigned across virginia to secure the state legislature for republicans. instead, virginia voters handed democrats control of both the state house and senate. youngkin is facing questions over whether republicans overreached, especially on abortion. >> virginia is a purple state. the one thing that we know is that abortion is a really difficult topic that there is a place to come together around a reasonable limit. >> republicans propose limits on abortion after 15 weeks. youngkin says many topics went into these election results. >> abortion access is the law of the land in ohio. [cheers] >> in ohio, voters changed the state's constitution to protect abortion rights. since the supreme court ended federal abortion protections last june, voters have supported abortion rights referendums in kansas, kentucky, michigan, vermont, and california. advocates are planning for more than 10 potential ballot questions next year. >> in every state, ambitious as you can possibly be. as pro-life as you can possibly be and still win. ours to win. >> in kentucky, democrat andy beshear won re-election in the deeply conservative state after beating attorney general daniel cameron. >> well, that didn't turn out exactly how it wanted to. >> beshear hammered cameron for limiting abortion. early primary endorsement for president trump. another democrats have and will continue to highlight against republicans. >> i don't think that we're in a position of having to tie anyone to president trump because president trump is the republican party. >> the former president blamed cameron's loss on his ties to senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. cameron was a mcconnell staffer. trump's republican opponents blamed the former president. chris christie said cameron made a huge mistake, quote, selling his soul to trump. bret? >> bret: rich, thanks. five republican presidential candidates will be on the stage tonight for the third debate of the election cycle. primary side on the republican side. the frontrunner, former president donald trump will not participate again. congressional correspondent aishah hasnie is in miami to tell us what that all means. good evening, aishah. issuea.>> by all accounts sent a debate for second place. we are told that knives are going to come out tonight. candidates are prepping for a variety of topics here including national security and abortion, which, as rich just mentioned is still a fugitive issue for voters and was in last night's elections. fox news has learned that nikki haley plans to tackle it head on by focusing on the majority consensus. so like banning late term abortion. the issue obviously gave her a big bump in polling after past debates. she is hoping to take that opportunity up again tonight. her camp expecting big punches from desantis who returns to his home state tonight carrying a big endorsement by popular iowa governor kim reynolds. there is also news tonight, bret, that his biggest donor is thinking about ditching him. entrepreneur robert big low tells the financial times that he is looking at the strongest and most experienced candidate here. and that is former president trump, according to him. it comes as yet another poll now shows trump beating the president by four points if the election was held today. that from cnn. trump is valley 30 minutes away from miami in the heavy hispanic community. most miami voters that we have been talking today, bret, think trump will be the nominee i prefer trump. >> i'm an old democrat turned republican i would support trump over desantis. >> what about the debate tonight. >> i don't think they have a shot. >> we did not hear a ton of enthusiasm about president biden amongst these miami voters. i can tell you that team biden surrogates are here in town. they are going to try to contrast the president's policies with what they call the extreme maga policies. and we are also expecting, bret, a mobile billboard to insurge this venue here tonight once the debate kicks off. bret? >> bret: all right, thank you, aishah. ♪ breaking tonight actually within the last few minutes the minnesota supreme court has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to bar former president donald trump from the state's 2024 primary ballot. critics sought to disqualify him under a constitutional provision that forbids those who engaged in insurrection from holding office. justices in minnesota dodged the central question of the lawsuit on whether the former president's role in the january 6th, 2021 capitol riot qualifies they instead state law allows party to put whoever they want on the primary ballot there are other state challenges to come. up next, political analysis from democratic and republican pollsters, fair and balanced.