>> alternates a great organization. >> andy, we are making apple sauce, this weekend? >> say it again? >> making apple sauce? >> apple-solutely. >> thanks a lot. appreciate it. very special thanks to diane macedo, john devore and mike baker. see you next time. >> president obama arrives at the nato summit to talk about global economics and the fight in afghanistan. >> next year we will begin the transition to afghan responsibility for security. >> a new day on capitol hill. freshmen hit the hallways, scrambling for offices. leadership works out their agenda and tries to come up with a plan for extending bush era tax cuts. how to balance security and privacy. we'll look at the controversy over tsa pat-downs and full-body scanners.

the unintended consequences of u.s. aid to mexico. special forces trained by americans have gone rogue. and we conclude our 12 in 2012 series with new jersey governor chris christie and other possible candidates. "special report" starts right now. >> good evening. i'm bret baier reporting from fox news headquarters in new york. president obama is in portugal tonight at the conclusion of a busy day with nato partners inlies done. while afghanistan is the main focus, the president already has an agreement on another sticky issue. >> in lizton for the nato summit president obama announced a deal on developing a missile defense system which he says will be capable of protecting europe and the united states. >> it's an important step forward builds on the new phase adaptive approach to missile defense that i announced for the united states last year.

it offers a role for all of our allies. >> the president also pushed republicans in the senate to stop blocking ratification of the start nuclear treaty with russia. tomorrow's main topic here is afghanistan. earlier it was clear president obama's focus is on the alliance's eventual next chantner the war. >> i look forward to working with our nato partners as we move toward a new phase, a transition to afghan responsibility that begins in 2011, with afghan forces taking the lead for security across afghanistan by 2014. >> but with the afghan war now in its tenth year there's war fatigue among nato nations egg tear wind down their involvement. back in washington, vice president biden explained the exit strategy from his perspective. >> 2014 is a date everyone has agreed upon, nato as well as the afghanis, the drop-dead date. that doesn't mean we'll have anywhere near 100,000 troops in 2013. >> the u.s. is sending in more

firepower short-term, though. fox has confirmed a company of 17 tanks used in iraq is being sent to helmand province to provide rapid and pry cries power to expedite the fight there. part of completing the eventual transition involves a greater nato commitment to providing trainers to help prepare the afghan military and police to secure their country. on that front the portuguese prime minister made a welcomed announcement. >> i was able to guarantee to president obama that portugal will be stepping up its presence in afghanistan by providing military training to troops there. >> stand alongside portugal's foreign minister, secretary of state clinton said the mission in afghanistan is vital to the security interests of both the american and portuguese people and -- >> we believe that it's important for us to listen closely to the government and people of afghanistan about their concerns and to try to address them. >> president obama will meet with the afghan president here tomorrow, and handle hamid karzl

address leaders from coalition countries, trying to convince them that his government can do a better job and afghans will be capable of protecting their country. bret? >> mike, thank you. back in washington, it was moving day on capitol hill as newcomers move into their new offices, and that everyone moves quickly to the airport for the thanksgiving recess. but correspondent james rosen reports lawmakers are leaving behind a lot of unfinished business. >> whether or finally willing, house freshmen put aside partisan differences for a chummy class photo friday. and in the cruel exhilarating lottery for office space, colorado republican corey gardner was the big winner, drawing number one and first crack at new digs. hanson clark drew number 60, ensuring a terrible view of the capitol. >> that's the last thing i want to do, be able to look out at the capitol. you know, i'm trying to put people back to work in michigan. so i want to a lot the

unemployment, not lines and see them reduced. >> in lame duck action, clark's fellow democrats failed to pass a three-month extension of unemployment benefits for 2 million jobless people whose aid expires november 30th. it was a top agenda item for democrats, but they failed even to whip their o caucus, which suffered defections. >> democrats have seen the impact of the tea party and other people who are upset with what's going on in government now, and so even a thing like extending unemployment benefits, which costs money, is going to be very difficult for democrats to support. >> the list of bills passed in this first week of this lame duck congress is scant, and scarcely impressive, including as it does such pressing matters as recognizing joe paterno's 400th win for penn state's nittany lions and honoring nasa's role in the rescue of the chilean miners. left undone was keeping the

federal government funded beyond december 4th and action on the bush era texa tax cuts. harry reid is aiming for two votes on two cuts, one for the middle-class and the other designed to stepped them for everyone. >> we have to do what it takes to show the american people that we support the middle class. >> the next house speaker, republican john boehner seemed content to wait for his new. when he was asked if he sees the lame duck session producing a change on the tax cuts. >> better to the man in charge. >> they approved a payout to african american farmers and native americans suing the agriculture and interior departments respectively for close to 20 years. that settlement package now heads to the house where like many other items it awaits action in the final week of this lame duck congress set to begin november 29th.

bret? >> james, thank you. the house ethics committee has postponed its upcoming trial for california democrat maxine waters. she's accused of improperly trying to obtain federal assistance for a bank where her husband is an investor. new documents have surfaced in this case now being sent back to a subcommittee. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke today hit back at contribution of his plan to such $600 billion in treasury bonds. he says the move is needed to keep interest rates low, lift stock prices, and encourage more spending. stocks were up again today. the dow gained 22 1/3, the s&p finished ahead 3, the nasdaq up almost 4. the public and political revolt continues to build toward enhanced security methods at u.s. airports. just days before the start of a busy holiday travel season. chief washington correspondent jim engle reports the focus could soon be less on what the techniques are than who must

endure them. >> the public reaction to airport pat-downs has some lawmakers taking aim at the tsa. today republican congressman john micha and others call for a review of tsa procedures. they questioned whether the agency should be using pat-downs in primary screenings. >> i believe that the pat-down, and i believe that the advanced imaging is necessary. the question is how it's applied. >> micha seems to accept the need the use of pat-downs if someone sets off an alarm, but not randomly. >> we're sending a letter to tsa to make sure it doesn't on an random basis. >> but the pat-down is only used in two circumstances. >> if someone opts not to go through the body scan e they would be subjected to a pat-down. >> or if they go through and set off the alarms. but some passengers have privacy concerns about the scanners, which the tsa has tried to address. >> in deference to privacy the

body imagers have algorithms on them that blur the face and blur the genitalia. >> those examining the scans are in another room and never see the passenger in person. in the meantime congressman micha complains that the tsa has become a bloated bureaucracy and says private screeners might be better. >> anytime government gets ahold of anything it usually does it in a very expensive and inefficient fashion. >> under the law, any airport can use private screeners instead of government ones with onsite federal supervision, but that would not eliminate the scanners or the pat-downs. >> they are required to be the same, in fact. >> one question of course is why now? why the sudden shift of more intrusive pat-downs? one there's more terrorist chatter around the holidays and a greater threat. remember last year's christmas bomber, for example. but there are other possibilities. >> they have specific intelligence about a plot that's underway or techniques that the terrorists are intending to use. >> in a congressional hearing

this week the head of the tsa alluded to the latest intelligence on terrorist plotting to kill americans and said firmly the procedures are not going to change. bret? >> jim, thank you. more than 10,000 plaintiffs have accepted a legal settlement, paying hundreds of millions of dollars to ground zero workers, exposed to toxic dust at the world trade center. it will mean an end to most litigation over new york city's failure to provide protective equipment to construction workers, police and fire personnel who cleared the rubble after 9/11. he says he's not interested in running for president, but a lot of people still want him to do it. the final member of our 12 in 2012 series is coming up. and up next, a who's who in the mexican drug cartels.

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>> "special report" from fox news headquarters in new york tonight checking international headlines now.

29 men are missing at one of new zealand's largest coal mines after a powerful gas explosion deep underground. a rescue attempt has been held up over fear that remaining methane gas could ignite. teams may not be able to enter that mine for days. the condition of the trapped miners is still unknown. mexican government says drug cartel enforcers were killed in a battle in the northeast. tonight we detail the bro tall and the history of the major organization that operate just south of our border. a warning here, some of the images in this report are disturbing. >> their tactics rival that of al-qaeda, summery executions, torture, beheadings. mexican cartel have executed more than 10,000 people since january, five times the number killed three years ago before president felipe calderon

deployed his military against the syndicates. >> the cartels don't have to work like colombia did for a middleman in florida or in texas or anywhere. they have people they know. >> across a very porous border. it's a $40 billion business, divided among seven cartels. theti weana cartel based south of san diego. another cartel whose war with the juarez cartel south of el paso left 2300 people dead in juarez this year. la familyia near mexico city, and another cartel in eastern mexico. they broke away creating their own cartel earlier this year. the zettas are former mexican forces who went rogue. they were trained in fort benning, georgia, in the early 1990s. >> they were trained in operations, special operations, by our best of the best, and then they went back to mexico. what happened was they didn't

stay with the military. they defected because the drug cartels paid more pin. >> the head of the settas uses tigers to scare his enemy. one made last year's forbes list of the world's wealthies people, but the lifespan of a kingpin is getting shorter. one was called two weeks ago by the mexican military. and another was arrested in mexico in august. texas governor rick perry requested 1,000 national guard. he got 254. even those could be pulled out as early as next year. in mission, texas, jennifer griffin, fox news. >> this is a fox news alert just in. a federal judge calls the ballot dispute in alaska's senate race a state matter and is

conditionally halting certification in that race. there you see the incumbent republican lisa murkowski, the write-in candidate, already declaring victory. the republican nominee joe miller said he wasn't finished and would possibly challenge this race. now a judge saying there's a halt on certification in this race, and that the acted senate race is -- and that the alaska senate race is a state matter. coming up, we conclude our 12 in 2012 series with a man who is protesting a whole lot about even being mentioned as a possible candidate. and later the rest of the and later the rest of the potential field so far.ñ÷

>> we can put a ribbon around our 12 in 2012 series with a look at some of the other potential candidates who could possibly play a part in deciding who will be on the ballot 23 months from now. we've profiled 12 potential candidates, and there are still more. in no particular order, texas governor rick perry. he took over as governor in 2000 after george w. bush left to become president. perry is now the longest-serving texas chief executive in history at 10 years and counting, following his re-election two weeks ago. >> i'm not interested in being the president of the united states. as a matter of fact, i hope someone will stand up and say elect me president of the united states. >> perry is one of the country's most high-profile governors, and

because of that has been tasked to run the republican governors association. his job is to keep all 29 republican executives on message to try to pick up more seats in 2012. >> rick perry, i think, has taken himself out of the running for 2012 because he's going to be head of the republican governors association, and i don't see how he does that and at the same time run for president. >> the former pennsylvania senator who lost his re-election bid to democrat bob casey in 2006 has not done much to squash rumors that he's considering a run, including frequent trips to iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina, and cozying up to the tea party. >> this is a movement on principles of our democracy. >> santorum was number three in the republican senate minority, and considered a staunch social and fiscal conservative, but analysts say losing the 2006

election by 18 points leaves a mark. >> while party voters certainly want somebody they agree with, they also want somebody who can win. it's going to be difficult for him to convince people he can win. >> virginia governor bob mcdonald is most popular for running an economic jobs-based campaign, and crushing his democratic opponent at the polls last year, putting the gop back in power in the commonwealth, seen as a critical swing state and possible 2012 bellwether. >> i think there's a growing wave not only in virginia, but in america of people that are just very concerned about what's going on in our nation. >> mcdonald is a former army lieutenant colonel, and state attorney general. he's made headlines by restricting state funding for borrowings and challenging the constitutionality of the obama healthcare law. virginia prohibits mcconnell for running for a consecutive term in 2014, so -- >> i can see him being someone who would like to be the number two on a republican thing.

i can't see him as someone who has the resources or the ability right now to mount a presidential bid. >> dr. rod hall! >> perhaps the most excitement in the second tier of candidates revolves around 2008 republican presidential candidate rand paul who first ran in 1988 as part of the libertarian party. >> personal liberty is the purpose of government. to protect liberty, not to run your personal life. >> the texas congressman's central message that has sparked a royal following revolves around limiting the scope and size of government. >> he gets a lot of support from young people. there are sern elements in the republican party that like him. many of them now are part of the tea party. >> he was kind of for the tea party before there was a tea party. now that that's happened, where does it leave rand paul? >> former new york mayor and

2008 presidential candidate rudy giuliani has in recent months brushed off questions about another run, but he's also said the door is not closed. he made the round on television after the big midterm election republican wave. >> i hope the president understands what people are saying to him. >> however the same issues he dealt with in 2007 and 2008 still exist. >> he is the pro-choice mayor, and i can't imagine that his bid for the nomination would be much different than it was last time. >> gary johnson is a name not often recognized outside libertarian and some republican circles. >> had two terms as governor of new mexico, which is a swing state, but that was a long time ago. >> johnson, like paul, would be a libertarian republican if he ran in the gop field. he refused to raise taxes, was an advocate of decriminalizing marijuana, and was not afraid to use his veto power. former new york governor george

pataki has said he's not running for vice president, but also said he's not running for senate in 2012, yet his name continues to surface for both. former united nations ambassador john bolten, a fox news contributor, refuses himself to rule out a run, saying he's flattered people think he could be mounting a challenge, which would definitely highlight national security issues. then there's donald trump, who certainly has the pockets if he wanted to throw his hat into the ring. >> it could be fun, because i'd like to see p.o positive things happen for the country. i'll make a decision probably by june. >> if they had to bet, analysts would put their chips on one of our 12 in 2012 potentials becoming the next republican nominee. let's get thoughts on the possible contenders in our 12 in 2012 field from syndicated columnist charles krauthammer. good evening, charles. >> hello, bret. there's a lot of candidates, but there's a theme.

one of the lessons of the midterm election there's charisma only gets you so far. we tried it. no one since reagan had more sheer star power than obama in 2008 and it propelled him to the highest office. two years later the results were in and they weren't pretty as the electorate clearly stated on election day. he may give a great speech, but he cannot govern, which is why in 2012 it's shaping up to be the year of the steady, the stable, the competent. now, this is not to denigrate the role of ideology. any republican candidate has to offer a coherent conservative alternative to obama's hyper liberalism, as do most of the 12 you just interviewed, but in 2012 star power may be no great asset. the way i see it, after the obama letdown this could be the year of the down-to-earth, the steadily competent, the downright dull. it was said of the political hero of my youth, senator scoop jackson, that he was so dull

that he gave a fireside chat the fire would go out. i'm looking for a fire snuffer, bret, somebody with anti-charisma. it's the romantic in me. what can i do? >> you've written a column about this, charles, many people are upset about the tsa screening methods, and you have thoughts on that. >> i heard just this afternoon that the tsa has rescinded the requirement for the full scan and the pat-down of the pilot, which i think is the first ray of rational alternatlallity in f this. think of the sheer idiotsy of imposing it in the first place. a pilot doesn't need a box cutter to bring a plane down. all he has to do it to ditch it. that's actually happened on egypt air some years agoens when the political crashed it into the sea off nantucket, killing everyone aboard, saying as he died, basically, i think he said, i trust in god, or something like that.

so i think what people are beginning to understand is it makes no sense to look for objects. you have to look for the terrorists. the idea of old people undoing their shoes, you know, families giving up their belts, or even the strip-searching of youngsters is insane. we know these people aren't a threat. this obsession with objects is the wrong way to go. the way to go is to look for terrorists, to ask people questions, and to try to see who might be actually a terrorist. >> we'll be talking more about this no doubt as we head to the holiday week. charles, we'll see you on the panel next week. >> great. >> thanks, buddy. we'll talk more about the men and women in our 12 in 2012 series with the fox all-stars here in new york when we

>> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so.

[laughter] >> look, i don't -- i'll get trouble. >> okay, okay. i don't think she could beat president obama, but, you know, she's always underestimated, so, you know, i think -- i think i shouldn't say anymore. >> they're laughing about it over there on msnbc, the vice president talking about a possible candidacy for former alaska governor sarah palin, current fox news contributor we should mention. what about this and the rest of the potential field? let's bring in our panel in new york. rich lowry, editor of the national review, kirsten powers, columnist of the "new york post" and "new york daily news" and columnist andrea tentaros. rich, let's start with you. sarah palin, thinks she's in, and what about her possibility to get the nomination? >> i think she's running.

if you're a politically ambitious person with a pretty good chance to win a major party nomination for president of the united states, you run. i think she'll have several challenges if she gets in, several tests. one, can she form a cohesive team that's well organized. two, can she demonstrate mastery of the issues. three, can she show that she kind of has a thick skin, doesn't have to respond to absolutely everything. four, the most important one in some ways, bret, is that head-to-head number against barack obama, because she's losing to him now. what you hear from republicans around the country, when you bring up sarah palin, they say they love her, admire her, but worry whether she can get elected or not. >> kirsten, we mentioned in the piece that iowa and south carolina, she looks very strong. >> right. >> obviously sucks a lot of oxygen out of any room when you talk about her as a candidate, but reaching to the middle, and independents in a general election is what has some republicans questioning it. >> well, i think she's not the -- by any means the

strongest general election candidate just because of all the things that you raised, and the fact that she -- you know, i've talked to a lot of people in alaska about what it was like to work with her, and we can see this is true. she's a "fly by the seat of your pants" person. can she put together a organization? maybe she can get through the primaries with her rock star power, but after that she'll need something more to navigate a general election. the question is, do we start seeing her put together that looks like an organization versus what still seems to be very much like the sarah show. she's making all the decisions, working well for what she's doing now, but not for running for president. >> she gave a policy speech recently, going around. she's also selling a book. >> right. the show she's doing gives her the best venue for peek speaking to the american people from the personal side, but the policy side is not enough. ronald reagan, before he won, he

would give weekly radio speeches and do the research himself on very serious, heady policy issues. she's yet to do that. while i think the next book coming out will help her connect on a personal life, but there are policy and political deficits she'll have to overcome. >> let's go down the row. somebody else in that list that interests you and why. >> well, charles krauthammer didn't name a name -- >> he's not running. >> right. [laughter] >> i would nominate him and vote for him. >> you know, he says the anti-obama basically. i think the anti-obama is mitch daniels, governor of indiana. i mean, you don't get drier than the former omb director under bush. he's a number cruncher. what he's done in indiana, bret, he privatized the interstate, and everybody held after he did it, but turns out to be a genius move. he's taken budget deficits and turned them into budget

surpluses. created thousands of jobs. the guy is dry, but very, very likely. i think he has a very good chance of challenging barack obama from a very crucial state. >> kirsten? >> i think that's sort of the johnson and mitch daniels fit into what charles is talking about if it turns out into the year of the dull as he said it would be, those are the type of people, but when you go through the list it always leads you back to sarah palin. the reason is because most of these people are kind of -- yes, they're great on paper, they're kind of like the bill frist. remember bill frist? great on paper, but when it comes to connecting with voters doesn't really work. the only one that really jumps out me as a great candidate is haley barbour. >> governor of mississippi. >> he brings a lot to the table, and obviously can raise tons of money. he's a great communicator. you know, he's a great governor. southeast tee me he's the only one that seems like somebody that could give her a run for her money. >> rich? >> i think dull is great in theory, but primary voters operate on the basis of passion,

especially the iowa caucus. you don't get people to go out there at 8:00 at night on a gold, freezing iowa night, just because you're dull and worthy. you have to motivate had people. someone who really has both the substance and the personality is chris christie. impressive first round -- >> although he's adamant that he's not running. >> he's viral on youtube, but he's probably got to run. someone like that that can have both of those aspects is the ideal candidate. >> something tells me we'll be talking about this again. >> yes, i think you're right. >> you voted at our homepage foxnews.com/specialreport for the topic for

>> welcome back to new york

tonight. "special report" here at the fox news headquarters. every week we ask viewers to vote in our online poll, what the first topic in this the friday lightning round should be. you can vote on our homepage every week. and the winner is the fallout from the verdict, the first guantanamo bay detainee, who was tried. he was acquitted of more than 280 counts. he was convicted of one count. what does this mean going forward? we're back with the panel. andrea? >> i think it's an embarrassment to the administration. i think that obama's going to have to back off some of the promises that he made during the campaign. i think, bret, he's essentially already done that. the only thing he hasn't done is acknowledged that he's backed off them. i think he needs to led holder go. it would give him an opportunity to shift gears without accepting any responsibility or wrongdoing, which we know a lot of presidents, including obama, aren't very good at doing. >> kirsten? >> we'll get 20 years to life, so it's misleading the way it's

being reported. makes you think he got off on everything. the reason he wasn't found guilty has nothing to with obama, but the bush administration, enhanced interrogations, having evidence thrown out. conservatives saying if it was a military commission, it wouldn't have been thrown out. that actually is not true. the judge has said that the evidence would have been handled the exactly the same way in a military commission, would have been thrown out, which brings us to the next point. there's no reason for it to be held in a military commission, because, you know, for precisely that reason. then you have the obama administration saying, oh, by the way, wink-wink, even if he was found not guilty, we would still hold him. i mean, what is this? are we a banana republic or the united states of america? >> so you don't think it changes their wish to do civilian trials? >> i think they're politically wimpy, so i think they will be swayed on this, swayed by guantanamo bay, because they've shown no ability to stand up to

anybody on that. the bottom line is the obama administration has acted just as badly, in my view, as the people who are claiming that this guy should have been put in front of a military commission where he was already basically tried and found guilty in everybody's minds. >> rich? >> the reason why this is the showcase case they thought it was going to be so easy. they came within a hair's breath of a mistrial. they got a compromised verdict just barely that makes no sense. i mean, does anyone thinks it makes sense to find him guilty of conspiring to blow up an embassy, but not to kill the people within the embassy? >> all the terrorism charges were dropped essentially. >> right. everyone knows this is a debacle. they're going to bring ksm here and gitmo will stay open for a long time. the reason the bush administration interrogated this guy because we're in a war, and you want to get information quickly. if that means not honoring every single nicety of our criminal justice system, go get the information.

even the obama administration realizes these guys are different, and that's why they said, as kirsten points out, that they would detain him even if he got acquitted. >> this is a media lightning round in new york. we'll go to tsa, really quickly, down the road, what about this? where does it go? what about the controversy? >> if you're going to roll out a policy that requires groping people's genitals, you have to be careful how you do it. the tsa has fumbled this. they're going to back off a little bit. they're already showing that. the fundamental problem, bret, we need a more intelligence-based system where actually get information about travelers and make judgments about who makes more of a threat than the 79-year-old grandma from topeka. that requires our political system shaping up here. >> kirsten? >> 89% of americans support the scanners in the cbs poll, so the screaming and yelling about naked pictures, blah, blah, blah, does not represent the way most americans see this, which means they would rather do this

than be blown up midair. some of this is his sti hysterit i agree with rich we need a better system. >> most people haven't had their junk fondled yet. let's see what happens when they do. i doubt have a full endorsement of this. look, i think the public is awake now. before, we talked about profiling, but now it's raised the issue of what else can we do besides this, because now it's on a personal level. >> they're awake now. >> they're awake now. >> the word "junk" has arrived. >> it has arrived. thank you, pam, a panel, as alw. stay tuned

>> bret: finally tonight the screenings and patdowns have been big ahead of the heavy travel season. we never understood how extensive. >> what's all t