you see? there is no reason -- i don't know why -- >> bret: that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced, and unafraid. "special report" online starts journalists here. see you tomorrow. >> laura: "the o'reilly factor" is on. tonight: >> as far as these accusations causing me to back off and maybe withdraw from this presidential primary race? ain't gonna happen. >> herman cain under fire but fighting back. how long can he hang on? dick morris on whether or not cain can continue to move forward and who gains if he falls? >> two presidents, two visions. >> a scathing new ad pits president obama against former president clinton over taxes. >> taxes. >> taxes. >> i personally don't believe we ought to be raising taxes. >> will this tactic work?

[shouting] >> the whole world is watching. >> and chaos continues at the occupy wall street protests. new reports suggest the criminal element is out of control. and victims are being discouraged from going to the police. we'll have the latest. >> laura: caution. you are about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. captions by closed captioning services >> laura: hi, everyone. i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly who is off tonight. thanks for watching us. lessons learned from election day 2011. that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. while the media were obsessing about herman cain yesterday, voters in key states were going to the polls. first, the good news for the g.o.p. in virginia, a state obama won by six points in 2008, republicans alcoholic chalked up historic victories in the

state legislature under bob mcdonald's sober leadership and aggressive ground game. meanwhile in ohio, 66% of ohioans approved of anti-obama care, a constitutional amendment there. but now the bad news. a bold republic attempt to curb union power in ohio went down in flames. this is a teachable moment for conservatives. governor john kasich made a no nonsense premarket case for curbing union's collective bargaining rights. he failed to win over independents, the working class and even many republicans. by election day, kasich and his allies were branded as anti-teacher, anti-firefighter and anti-middle class. in the end his pro-growth message was swamped by $30 million in union money. outspent by more than two to one. if you are one of those republicans who think president obama is bound toless next year because he has done a really bad job on the economy.

think again. he has an enormous amount of money, he has a huge get out the vote machine. and he has the support of the media and he has the backing up of the white house behind him. this is why the g.o.p. must not be distracted by media fueled side shows or by candidates who aren't fully prepared to discuss the breath and complexity of the problems we faces a a nation. conservatives won the p.r. war on obama care because they are unified behind one clear message, one that resonated in ohio yesterday. it's going to take more than highlighting obama's failings for republicans to win next november. they will need to unify behind a compelling, pro-growth agenda that the voters cannot resist and obama's war chest cannot defeat. that's the memo. we'll have more on this later with dr. larry sabato. but, first, the top story. how does a g.o.p. presidential field stand right now? joining us now from stanford, connecticut is fox news contributor and the purveyor of dick morris.com,

mr. morris, who is also the author of the new children's book "dubbs goes to washington." here we go, we have this cain controversy yesterday that bubbled over. we had the big press conference. don't have to dwell on the details. a lot of other folks are doing that nevertheless, how big a distraction from the conservative pro-growth message and highlighting of obama's failings has this been so far? >> oh, i think it's been huge. i think it's dominated the presidential race in the last two weeks. i think it's cost the republic party momentum, which is what i think the purveyors, to use your phrase of this scandal, wanted it to do. we have to understand that this is is largely a democratic setup. the woman who is on television the other night lives in the same building with dave axelrod, obama's media person. shepard around the press conference by gloria allred a democratic operative. one of the women who came to

the so-called settlement works in the obama administration communications job. one of the patronage plumbs one gets. i think that the whole collection of charges are really absurd. but i do think it's been a distraction. i feel that cain has handled it well by his denials. i think something more is needed. i think he should take two steps. one, he should take a lie detector test and challenge his accusers who do it. >> laura: whoa. you lose me on the lie detector test. first of all the democratic machine point, we can't get too far afield. i think you laid out a lot of circumstantial evidence that raises questions. but i do not think we have clear evidence that the democrats have orchestrated the takedown of herman cain. i wouldn't put it past them but i think all the stuff you laid out is a lot of speculation. i don't think that necessarily points to a democrat operative or group of democrat operatives with the sole purpose of bringing down cain. >> well, you certainly have no

credibility by. >> laura: that's a different question. >> two of the women. one of the women works for obama. the other of the women has this long, long history of bankruptcies and paternity litigation and complaints against employers. >> laura: let's move on to the lie detector test? how does he take the lie detector test? let the women take lie detector tests. >> is he running for president. they are not. he has to put this behind him. lie detector test would be an important part of that asking the restaurant association which he has done but really insisting on it that they release the report which proves his innocence. i think that those steps would completely end this discussion. and that's what he needs to do. end it. >> laura: i think when we start hearing lie detector tests in the same sentence as g.o.p., primary candidate, i just -- i mean, if i were his lawyer, i would have put the big hook out on the stage when

he said i would take a lie detector tests. there is all sorts of things that can be done with lie detector tests. it opens up a huge can of worms and gives these women more credibility perhaps now than they deserve. let's move on now to how this is effecting the field. who looks goodbye comparison whether you like cain or don't like cain? who looks good today, dick, in your analysis, everything have you done on your site today. >> i want to stay for a second with cain. i think that the point that we can't ignore about herman is that he has put out the most bold and impressive program for fundamental change in our economy and he has moved the national debate to a fundamental discussion about tax reform. voters like that. they appreciate it. they value it. and i don't think they can lightly be dissuaded from supporting him. so, i think the intro to this segment said how long can he hold on, like the suicide watch. i think he has a very good chance of staying in this race and i think he has a very good chance of winning the race. >> laura: do you think there is a good chance that herman

cain will be the republic nominee? dick morris is saying that tonight. >> i would say he is one of three possibilities that at this point possibly could really win it. either romney or him or gingrich. and at this point i think that probably you would have to say romney has the best shot. cain next and gingrich least. but all three are in contention and bachmann could come back into contention. i just do not take this scandal as a life threatening issue for herman cain. >> laura: i think that when we see how mitt romney has handled this, it is interesting, is it not? a lot of people, including folks on this network, i think, are annoyed and i would be too if he wouldn't come on their shows, right? maybe that's a good strategy for him, right? he has gone up in the polls a little bit? i know you say he is not. i would like to hear why. i think he is actually doing pretty well in the wake of all of this? >> no. it's not a good strategy. he is stuck in a rut. he is 25% of the vote. he has been there ever since he started. he has been there against everybody who is not running

and everybody who is running. and millions of different polls an configurations and fields. and the glass is not just a quarter full it's three quarters empty. you have a group of republic primary voters who basically saying i support huckabee or trump or damages. >> laura: none of them are running that's the problem. >> or palin or christie or bachmann or perry or cain before i would support romney. because they had those chances and they passed up romney to go to those. >> laura: you never hear mitt romney talk about lie detector tests though, that's the difference. >> can i finish, laura? >> go ahead. >> i think romney is ghetto wising himself with the republic establishment and big business and wall street and all of that. i notice, for example, he turned down an invitation by tea party patriots by far the biggest tea party group to participate in the debate on c-span on november 28th. he needs to start accepting that stuff. he needs to start showing up, not just at debates but it really reach out to the

evangelical and tea party base of the party. when you have three quarters of the voters who so ostentatiously and repeatedly pass up chances to vote for a guy, he has got problems. they are not unsolvable. he can win that sport but he better get busy. >> laura: i don't think it's a bad strategy. it might be in the end a smart strategy. still, we want him on all these shows. dick, we appreciate it thanks as always. we have a new, brand new bill o'reilly.com poll question. we are asking will the herman cain controversy hurt his campaign? yes or no. please vote on bill o'reilly.com. new ad pits president obama against president clinton over what to do about taxes. we will show it to you. later, new info about what's really going on inside the occupy wall street protests and it is not prettú(h cúcqhpb

>> laura: in the impact segment tonight a new blistering ad campaign is pitting president obama against bill clinton on the issue of taxes. >> two presidents, two visions. >> should you raise taxes on anybody right today? rich or poor or middle class? no. >> this morning obama scheduled to unveil a new tax on americans. >> a higher taxes, taxes, taxes. >> i personally don't believe we ought to be raising taxes. it won't solve the problem. >> a political stunt not a solution. a bill full of tax increases.

>> pass this bill. >> pass this bill. >> pass this bill. >> president obama, it's time to attack problems, not people. >> laura: the multimillion dollars ad campaign is the work of the republic group crossroads g.p.s. running for two weeks in florida ohio pennsylvania and north carolina. joining us is a democratic national committee member and alexis miguel johnson executive director of values initiative liberal think tank. great to see both of you. >> thank you for having me. >> laura: robert, your take on this ad effective or no. >> great spot for political pundits with too much time on their hands. it's a great topic for political insiders. it has no relevance in moving the agenda forward for the republics or for conservatives. like you said at the beginning of the show republics have got to start articulating their own ideas. that's why today in the "wall

street journal" poll when asked who do you hold accountable for not putting new ideas out there, for not solving problems. the republic congress in the mid 50s. the democratic congress was in the mid 40s. and president obama was in the mid 30's. the country is smarter than these ads show. >> laura: alexis, we don't have to dwell on the ad, but i think bill clinton is a beloved former democrat president. well respected. even with the issues in his own personal background regarded as one of the most successful democrat presidents i think in the last 100 years by most of my democrat friends. he has this idea that raising taxes at this point in time is not going to solve our problems. he made that clear in his new book and he has made that clear in various television appearances. so, that might be a smart thing for republics to do. say, look, it's not extreme to believe this about taxes bill clinton believes it it's substantive yet pretty craivel ad for crossroads. >> look, i think it can be an effective ad if you believe that deception is an effective

tactic. >> laura: bill clinton didn't say that. >> he actually disavowed today. he put out a statement today not only does he support the buffet rule and the american jobs act but all of these clips that are being seen today are completely taken out of context. >> in fact, laura, politic fact, the independent fact checking organization referred the first ad under the same theme they said that ad was factually incorrect. they edited clips and cherry picked certain quotes. >> laura: nobody edits clips in political advertising. come on, you know you are smart. >> fact checking organization better source go with it. >> laura: i agree. politic fact did a lot of stuff on obama care when it was rammed through congress. we can go back and talk about that let's talk about what the democrats are banking on here. president obama's argument, it looks like is going to be in the coming election not so much a referendum on my record than it is a referendum on the do nothing congress. blocking my policies, if i

only had a congress that would work with me then things would be better. that's essentially it, i think. robert, how do you square the fact that he had two years of a democrat majority in both houses working with him yet, the focus was not on jobs. it was on a bunch of other stuff, bailouts and also on the health care bill and meanwhile we kept continued to slide in decline as a country? how could you get around that point. >> i don't accept the premise that during the obama administration we have been sliding in decline compared to what he inherited? >> laura: really? the country doesn't agree with you. >> actually, we can look at the polling to determine that the more important point though, laura, your point is well-taken. my party has has got to take dramamine to stop spinning itself. they lost control of the agenda during the debt ceiling debate. during the whole discussion about the government shutdown. now the american jobs act has really reframed the discussion. not only is getting very strong support bipartisan support according to the "wall street journal," but it really, according to mark zandi, john mccain top economic advisor would lower

unemployment by 1%. produce 1.5 million jobs. so i think the obama administration is getting back on not just an important message but an important agenda with the american jobs act. >> laura: except the democrats don't even push his jobs bill. we have a problem when his own party did not want to put this up for a vote in the u.s. senate when we had eric cantor saying, hold on. we had eric cantor saying let's vote on this in piecemeal. we can work with you on some of this. to me it seems like the burden can't always be on the republicans. right? bill clinton worked for the republicans. he worked for gingrich. welfare reform. four balanced budgets. things aren't that different. obama can certainly find someone to work in congress. yet, he is not doing that alexis? >> laura, we have to do a better job of telling our story. obama. >> laura: what's the story? >> we have preside over the largest middle class tax cut in this nation's history. and i mean, think about it. the report came out yesterday, wall street actually has done better under obama than they did under bush. so, what this really -- this

conversation really is about. >> laura: how is that good? >> how is that good? >> bill: how is that good for liberals? liberals are blaming wall street for all these problems? how is it that wall street is doing better against obama. obama rails against wall street. >> the conversation is really about this 1% that obama is now actually those who benefited from the policies that the administration has put forth and asking that 1% to do their share. >> you know something, laura? the reality is we are not going to succeed as a country if wall street fails that impacts main street and the rest of our economic reality. i don't think it's really a matter of trying to target wall street or trying to target the middle class in terms of that kind of rhetoric. >> laura: robert, do you think obama is the best person to lead the country right now if you can pick any democrat to lead the country in this time of economic distress and american declining influence abroad? is obama the right person to do it? >> right person to do it and doing it and compare him to the republic candidates. >> laura: how is he doing it? we are being laughed at overseas. they are laughing at us.

china is running the show overseas. you say it's working. it's not working. tapped out of cash. $15 trillion debt under our belts. come on, guys. it's working. >> politics not about absolutes. it's abouts. >> working in a parallel universe. how do you make this case. >> watch the republic candidates on the stage they are like the candidates in the bar scene star wars. where is their agenda. >> we love you guys. thanks for being with us. robert and alexis, a great conversation. up next, what did last night's election results say about obama's re-election hopes? we'll break it down. and the occupy movement, they are making the march from new york to d.c. what will that accomplish? right back with that.

>> laura: in the unresolved problem segment tonight, as we mentioned in the talking points memo, yesterday's

election delivered mixed results for republicans in ohio and in virginia. in ohio, voters repealed union reform laws which would have stripped public employees of most of their collective bargaining rights. however, voters in that state passed an amendment that says ohio residents not be forced to buy health insurance which, of course, is the corner stone of obama care. in virginia, republics faired well in state elections, expanding their power in that 2012 swing state. so how do these results effect president obama's re-election chances? joining us now from my alma malt ter the university of virginia. charlesville, virginia, the director center for politics at the university of virginia dr. larry sabato. >> wahowa. >> laura: back at you. talk about virginia first the great commonwealth first you are broadcasting from. northern virginia is more liberal than the rest of the state. nevertheless, obama wins this 6 points in 2008.

democrats have to fight for every state seat there. tell us about it. >> well, look, you have to put it in con texas, laura. this is the third bad election year in a row. they had a great one when obama won in 2008. then in 2009, the republics swept statewide offices when won. 2010 republicans gained three u.s. house seats in a single election. 2011, yesterday, this is really remarkable. the republics gained some seats in the house of delegates, they are at an all-time high. they didn't have 68 of 100 seats during reconstruction. they have so many seats that i think they literally have a chance to be in power for decades. virginia, in virginia the tradition is that we don't have nonpartisan redistricting. the houses get to redistrict themselves every 10 years. so it's self-perpetuating. the republicans are in great shape in the house of delegates in the state senate they have at least a 20/20 split. i say at least because the

lt. governor who breaks the tie is bill boeing. is he a republic, so he will break the tie at least for floor votes in favor of the republic choice. >> laura: let's talk about how this effects barack obama. he really does need to win virginia, does he not? if he wants to win all those states won last time and make sure he has a comfortable chance of being reelected. that state is critical. with bob mcdonald in as a strong, sober, consistent conservative. it seems like this is uphill battle perhaps for obama next year. >> he is going to have a tough time. remember, he did better in virginia. far better than he did in ohio, in north carolina, in florida. other states that obama won in 2008. that's why they are putting so much emphasis and money and organization into virginia because if you are losing virginia, how is it that you are carrying those other states where you did less well under ideal circumstances? >> laura: wait a second, dr. sabato. >> don't forget, laura.

>> laura: go ahead. >> the other factor, you never know who is going to be the nominee of the republic party. you certainly don't know who will be picked for v.p. but, on everybody's short list is bob mcdonald. suppose he is put on the ticket. >> laura: huge. >> very, very difficult for obama -- >> laura: bus tour went through virginia. bus tour didn't add up to a lot. move on to ohio where democrats scored a big win and republicans scored a win. talk about union measure. $30 million of outside money poured into the state. outside groups, union groups, not so much money for the opposing side which was john kasich's move to limit collective bargaining rights. what does this say about union power in 2012. >> ohio has been a big union state. look, this was a big psychological boost not just for unions and democrats and president obama. that's a state that he may have to carry given what's happening in the south. if he doesn't get the three southern states he won in 2008, he has got to carry ohio. he got a big boost yesterday,

no question about it. governor kasich is wounded and will be in no position to lead the republic charge in 2012. >> laura: larry, the difference between the leadership styles of the virginia governor and governor kasich, obviously they different states. it's hard to compare. does kasich take on any of the blame for how this went down or factors beyond his control? >> well, he has to take some of the blame. he did. he was very honest about it. look, he was forth right and direct but he also was a bowl in a china shop in organizing what he did right after he got in on a narrow 51% victory. governor mcdonnell, by contrast, got 59% of the vote. he has been very cautious and careful. very methodical about how he has gone about reorganizing virginia and trying to change its direction. i think it's obvious which method works better. so as you note, they are very different states. >> laura: kys. know your state. that's my view.

know how far you can push it. dr. sabato. great to see you. >> thanks, laura. >> laura: plenty more ahead as the factor moves along this evening. republic presidential candidate sick santorum in uphill battle. he will be here. how long will the occupiers hang on? we will have the latest and we hope you stay tuned to those reports.

>> laura: in the personal story segment tonight, with the iowa caucuses less than two months away, the hawkeye state is becoming a bigger focus for some of the republic candidates. today texas governor rick perry released this ad in iowa highlighting his values. >> as the son of farmers in the west texas town, i learned the values of hard work, faith, and family. i took those values with me when i served our country as a pilot in the air force. i returned home to farm and ranch with my father. i married my high school

sweetheart. values i learned served me well as governor of texas and will continue to guide me as president. >> laura: according to the national and latest gallup poll mitt romney and herman cain are tied now for the lead at 21%. gingrich is third with 12%. perry comes in at about 11%. rick santorum is about 2%. joining us now from detroit, rick santorum who is fighting away in iowa and beyond for the nomination. senator santorum, it's great to see you as always. >> thank you, laura. great to be on the show. >> laura: tell us now, given what you are seeing out there, your connection with the iowa voters, what you have -- everywhere you have been, how do you lay out a path for victory, given the reality of the political landscape today? >> yeah, well, as you know, the reality of the political landscape is a national poll. if you look at the national polls from four years ago they had rudy giuliani and fred thompson and 1 and 2. and everybody was deciding, you know, who was going -- how many delegates they were going to win. they ended up not winning a

delegate between the two of them. folks well back in the pack focused on where the election is. the election is a state by state election. the first one is iowa. i'm the only candidate that's really, you know, spent the kind of time and developed the relationships there and i have been to all 99 counties of iowa. i accomplished that last week. and we have several hundred county caucus chairs right now that we have developed and we have got some big endorsements from some conservative leaders just over the weekend. and we're building momentum there. we're going to come out of that pack and we are going to be very, very strong. we will do very well. we have an excellent chance of winning iowa and really getting this race turned around on its head right off the bat. >> laura: you win iowa and that is going to be an unbelievable story the next day no doubt. i know steve incorporate can, i believe, has endorsed you. that's a big win in your camp. >> well, no, not -- not steve. his campaign person has endorsed. steve hasn't endorsed anyone yet. we are certainly in

conversations with steve and other folks in the state. we certainly would welcome their endorsement. that's for sure. >> laura: i think he likes you. that's all i'm saying. >> okay. good. >> laura: you stabbed form are a the stalwart social conservative in this race. no doubt about it no one can question your conservative bone fidz on social issues. given that i'm curious about your perspective on how this cain controversy, distraction, whatever you want to call it, scandal. has affected the republic message. the overall conservative message. what's the effect? >> well, you mentioned distraction. it somebodily is that and then some. and it obviously is something that i had hoped would be cleared away by this time and, you know, the matter would be behind us. it continues to hang out there and it is a great distraction. it does take us off message. we should be focusing on barack obama and the terrible job he is doing in creating jobs in this country and getting this country feeling good about itself and moving in the right direction, defending our country from threats abroad. and that's not the -- that's not been the conversation. that's not a good thing for

republicans right now. >> laura: and do you think he took a big step in putting this all behind him yesterday or did he raise more questions than he answered? >> you know, i have been on the road and i have only seen bits and pieces. i can't answer that question other than the fact that it's obvious that this continues to be a distraction and i'm hopeful that at some point he can do what's necessary in laying out the information to make sure that people know his side of the story completely. >> laura: do you believe him, rick? what's your gut check on this? >> i don't know. i mean, i have seen lots of these situations of he said, she said. it's hard to tell. and, you know, it's one of those things that everybody is going to have to make a decision. i have already made a decision who i'm for for president. i'm for me. [ laughter ] >> that's what i'm hopeful everyone will look at that and look who has got the best, most consistent conservative record not just on cultural issues but on economic issues. on national security, and i think once people start taking a close look, we're going to do very, very well.

>> laura: when you think about these debates and there are so many of them and come one after the other after the other. do you think so far these debates have really been a platform for the discussion of the really serious issues facing the country? america in decline. the rise of china. the burgeoning threat in the middle east posed by nuclear iran. have these issues really been discussed in a substantive manner, senator or is this a nitpicky. hpv or something you said to the heritage foundation to. me a lot of the big discussed has not been discussed. >> i would agree a lot of the big stuff hasn't been discussed. some of it has. important issues. extensive discussions about health care. have had discussions about economic plans. but it's been pretty narrow. that's one of the things i have been concerned about. i was one of the ones advocating for national security debates. we will have two of those this month and i'm really looking forward to digging down on that. i'm hopeful this economic debate will not be about, you

know, just economic plans but talking about what we're going to do on entitlement reform. what we are going to do to get this country going on in the litigation regulatory environment. there is a lot of things that we need to talk about. one of them is how we are going to talk about getting folks who are not college-educated jobs and good paying jobs. they are the ones really suffering in this economy. i'm talking about it but not too many other folks are. >> laura: we need a substantive serious discussion of complicated issues. i certainly hope that happens. senator, best of luck to you. thanks so much. >> thanks so much. >> laura: straight ahead, stories of drug use, violence, and anarchy emerging every day from the occupy wall street protests. so as the protesters take their show on the road, we're going to have a report. plus, alarming new evidence about iran and nuclear weapons. but, what, if anything, should the u.s. do about it? we will debate that when the we will debate that when the factor conti

>> laura: thanks for staying with us. i'm laura ingraham in for bill o'reilly. in the factor follow-up segment tonight, some occupy wall street people are taking their show on the road today. about two dozen of them are marching to washington from lower manhattan. that's 240 miles. get a new pair of shoes. they are going to want to get here by november 23rd. that's the deadline for the congressional committee decision on whether to keep the bush era tax cuts. in the meantime the tent city in the park has become so dangerous to women that they have had to set up a separate area for them. joining us now from new york is david callahan. he is the co-founder of a progressive think tank. okay. now, i'm trying to make sense of all of this. okay? because i'm reading these accounts and, to me, the accounts as a woman, especially they sound disturbing. sexual assaults. rapes going unreported. rapes of men apparently going unreported with other people of the occupy movement saying look, we need to get you down and get a rape kit and we have

to separate women now because we are worried about their security. candace of the "new york post" i guess spent a whole day there and she said look there is a transgender splintering off because they are worried about the situation down there. how is this good for the progressive cause for this thing to keep going on? >> i have got to say i'm pretty impressed with these young protesters being willing to camp out for weeks in the cold and, yes, dangerous city to draw attention to our unfair economy. these are committed folks. they really change the debate. they put inequality on the agenda. unfortunately, some have paid the price. let's put this in perspective here. >> laura: paid the price by whom. rapes, assaults, robberies, unsanitary conditions. these are occupiers. they are some of the occupiers doing this. >> no, the violence has been from hanger oners who are from outside the movement. i mean, these people are camping out in new york city sleeping there for weeks. and there have been a couple ints in almost two months that

they have been there. so this is not like an epidemic of violence. i know that y'all like to focus on this sort of bad stuff in order to distract attention from the important issue. >> laura: i actually interviewed the oakland police union representative on this on my radio show. and this guy is not a political guy at all. is he a police guy. he said this is really, really difficult for the police and they are concerned that people who really need help in other parts of the city aren't able to get it out in oakland because the police force has to be trained on these protesters. so we have small businesses complaining. we have enormous amount of damage done to these cities. we have $5 million in overtime charges in new york alone for the police. and somehow you think this is like all great and oh, the progressive movement looks so, you know, crebledz at this credt this point. not according to the polls. 43% think you guys are unfavorably rated now. >> it's changing the national debate. we are having this conversation right now.

these protesters have put inequality on the agenda. put the unfair economy on the agenda. they have changed the debate. by the way, this is a movement that has far transcended what has gone on in the park. there have now been 400 protests in 400 different cities where this stuff is going on. let's not just focus on the antics of the park. >> laura: i live in d.c. so i drive by the d.c. protests every day. i never see people there i see a lot of tents. i never literally see anyone at the protests. i see tons of tents. go down and have a conversation. we have the market -- stock market dropped 38 points today. does that make you and the protesters that you support, do you think that makes them happy because that means people are losing money on wall street? >> no. i don't think that makes anybody happy. i think that what these protesters are asking for is not drops in the market. what they're asking for is reigning in wall street. creating a more fair economy. trying to get the wealth to

lead who has taken over our democracy to pull back and share power and wealth with the rest of us. this economy is not working for ordinary americans. that's what these protests are all about. look, yes yeah, protests are expensive. lots of police costs. no question about it but if we don't address the fact that our economy is so unfair, we're going to see more of this. this is the face of what may be to come. >> laura: 44% of americans in the latest rasmussen poll say these protesters do not represent the mainstream. i think about 33% say they do. i think they are hurting their case at this point. maybe not in the beginning. at this point it's time to wrap it up and turn it into a political -- >> two thirds of americans say they're concerned about inequality. i think they have helped put this on the agenda. >> they want to be able to drive through their cities without a huge traffic jam and have their police force not abused. i think they want that as well. >> democracy can be messy. >> laura: so go vote. that's what democracy is mr. callahan thanks so much. straight ahead, two words that take on ominous meaning when

paired together, iran and nukes. and now the u.n. says there may be a real reason to worry. we're going to explain in just a moment.

>> laura: in the back of the book segment tonight, the president of iran is blasting a new u.n. report that says that tehran is on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon. mahmoud ahmadinejad says his country will not give an inch on its nuclear program but he claims he is not seeking atomic weapons. that's believable. so now what do we do? joining us now is justin logan the director of foreign policy studies at the cato institute. okay, justin, back in i think it was 2008 when obama was running for president, he made off hand comment that iran, cuba, venezuela way la tiny

countries in comparison to the soviet union. kind of true. minimize the threat even though he said it is a serious threat to the region. seemtion to be unserious approach to serious problem. sanctions. multiple deadlines that he gave to iran to comply to show good faith. all of those dead lines passed where are we today. >> we didn't move the ball very far. that was continuation of the obama administration's of the bush administration policy which you pointed out was to try to bring tension around the iranian government. to bring allies together. to sax the iranian government to cause it enough pain to change its behavior on its nuclear program and as you rightly indicate that has not changed very much at all. >> laura: the china factor is something that needs to be discussed because every time we go to china and we say we really need your help on the sanctions stuff. we really need tough sanctions, china basically says it's good in theory but we'll get back to you and then china has thwarted the serious sanctions all along because they make an enormous amount

of money on the energy sector in iran. is the china factor not an important factor at this point. >> i think it's a terrifically important factor. i also think in this case it's likely that the russians are on the chinese side of this question. you obviously have the permanent five members of the u.n. security council. and if you have two of those members that aren't willing to budge, that really gums up the works there. >> laura: what do we do now? we have a president who within a ran on the idea of bringing the world today charge bringing the together. my way or the highway. nuclear weapon in the middle east that went through an arab spring but could be more islamists than ever before. and americas interests are better off or worse off? >> well, we haven't moved very far one way or the other, i would argue. i don't think it's exactly correct to say iran is on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon. it's hard to take a bright side of the iaea report. one thing that i would point out is that the iaea has not detected any i do version of low enriched uranium oar other

fissile material out of the facilities it's monitoring. iran would need to have fissile material in order to develop a nuclear weapon. what's new in the iaea report is that they have detected work on particular weapon technologies on detective ton nation devices, on war head design, et cetera, that have very little use other than for a nuclear program. >> laura: let's put 2 and 2 together. not everything has to be in the same place at the same time for the iaea which apparently is coming to a conclusion is far more serious than the obama administration had come to with the knowledge it had. obama today, his people are saying look, we take this report seriously, but, it really doesn't change the calculus. what county united states do today with our decreased leverage in the world, with our -- the fact that america is currently in economic decline, how do we do anything about this? is there anything we can do? if so, what? >> there is no silver bullet. i think people left, right, center, devil issue will,

devilish. people talk about detaining nuclear iran. the net take away if you read the iaea report carefully particularly paragraphs 52 and 53. they indicate i think this business of being on the brink of developing a nuclear weapon is overstated. not much constellation to say that we are talking about a few years rather than a few months. i don't think that we have a very good card to play today. >> laura: hundreds of billions of dollars spent in iraq. enormous amount of money. human blood has been spilled in iraq and in afghanistan. engagement, reaching out to the arab world, reaching out to muslims and today it seems to me that we are no better off and i would submit that we are in a more precarious position vis-a-vis iran because they can basically get away with it. there is nothing that anyone is doing and russia and china as have you pointed out doesn't really care that obama ha had rock star status two years ago. they don't care. they are doing what's good for their country. >> that's exactly right. we tend to pay too much

attention to the individual personalities who is president. whereas countries in the rest of the world countries like iran tend to look at the construction -- >> laura: that's what the -- obama was that vision. he was poster, change, hope. it was historic. the bottom line is we live in a world that is what it is with nations acting in their own interests. and america has to have leverage, does america not have to have leverage in order to change this dynamic? what's our leverage? >> absolutely. the idea you are going to personalize it and say it's bush or obama or a different president can change things is not correct. the word -- world is what it is. >> laura: pinheads and patriots on deck tonight starring congressman joe walsh

>> the government stets the rules. don't blame banks and don't blame the marketplace the federal mess we are in right now! i am tired of hearing that crap! i am tired of hearing that crap. >> taking it -- [overlapping dialogue] >> they are all making a mess of it. you know what? this pisses me off. too many people don't listen. there are already mechanisms in place to do that. are they doing their job? no! you want to bombard them with

more regulations, more government! government screwed this problem up. i need more coffee. >> at least, you can't call him a flatliner. he has a pulse. is he a pinheads & patriots? you decide. we are going to remind you, if you buy a copy of "killing lincoln," bill's publisher will donate a corresponding copy to the troops overseas. that's a good deal. bill's been doing that for years. it's been very successful. operation shoebox out of florida makes it possible. also, check out bolder fresher dot-com for details about the tour to see bill and dennis miller live on november 25. and in atlantic city, new jersey onovember 26. of course, be sure to check out my web site. and remember, you will get a free copy of my hilarious best seller. again, thanks for watching us

tonight. i'm laura ingraham. remember, the spin stops here. because we are always looking out for you. >> top of the morning to you. it's thursday, it's the morning after the debate. it's november 10th. i'm gretchen carlson. speaking of that debate, rick perry left speechless at last night's presidential debate. >> you can't name the third one? >> the third agency of government, i would do away with the education -- i can't, the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. >> will the flub end the texas governor's presidential campaign? >> he'll be joining us live. >> penn state's campus erupting in violence overnight as the school tells joe paterno he's fired and the university president is being shown the door as well. details straight ahead. >> that's amazing. if there's already a national emergency, do we really need to