the politics and optics of terrorism. president obama says he's hitting isis harder than ever. his critics asked, is he really? and if so, what took so long? this is "special report." good evening, welcome to washington. i'm bret baier. president obama has a message for isis terror leaders: you're next. president obama talked about the terror issues. his terrorist campaign comes after several attempts to calm fears in the country after isis-linked attacks from paris

to san bernardino to mali to the skies over egypt in just the last few weeks. kevin corke has our top story tonight from the white house. >> reporter: progress needs to come faster. that was the message from the pentagon today where president obama doubled down on his strategy to kill isis. >> our fighters, bombers and grown the. the commander in chief huddled with his military leaders and an effort on the mandy terror leader. >> since his last visit back in july, isis attack have robbed the city of pass dino adding to fears that the president simply isn't doing enough to battle

terror at homes. wa they think is happening at home, which is a security threat, a terrorism tlot on the the homeland. ment football but it still is missing -- the president stopped short of announcing sweeping changes, instead saying the u.s. would continue to hunt down isis leaders, train, equip and support local fighters, disrupt isis propaganda and pursue diplomacy in syria. >> the problem is we can't sit down on your patients. >> his problem is strategic patience. we have to take strategic

patience and thrown it down the door. >> america is now taking role in the a ron p hasn't been something we confirmed at this point remember. we are aware of those reports and taking a look at the veracity of those reports. >> also joining the meeting at the pentagon by way of secure video conference was secretary of state john kerry who, of course, is on his way to moscow where he will want to engage the russians in the ongoing prices. they are part of a 34-nation islamic military. that from state-owned tv. >> thank you. we'll see what that means over

the long term. of desertion. that deal was made laid in the day. jennifer has deals from the pentagon tonight. >> this was a sprising move from bergdaul alley. . the maximum punishment would have been one year if convicted. instead bergdahl faces a general trial charged with, quote, desertion and misbehavior by endangering the safety of a command unit or place. the maximum punishment he now cases could be life in prison. and marks. susan rice, who said opinion his

relief that bergdahl had played with extinction. he remains controversial in that trade. but the president is still vigorously defending the release of gitmo prisons. >> that was posted today by yahoo. the president shrugged off returns of returns of terrorism. we did a fact check of his remarks. when a well-known former aide to bin laden appeared in a propaganda video last week, it became clear this guantanamo bay detainee released from sudan in 2012 had returned to the fight. the president asked if he still planned to release more gitmo detainees in the wake of this interrogati interrogation. >> i am persuaded by my top military advisers that guantanamo is used for a recruitment tool for objections like isis. if we want to fight them, we

can't gi them these kinds of excuses. >> that may not be true. guantanamo bay is playing less incorporate of a rule. he has argued that very few of those released anticipate the fight. >> we assume they're going to be out of four, five, 600 people that get released that a handful of them are going to be embittered and still engaging in anti-u.s. activities. >> the director of national intelligence, james clapper, concluded something different in october saying, quote, "we assess that some detainees currently at gtmo will seek to re-engage. at least 17.9% confirmed returned to the battlefield since july of 2015. another 12% are suspended of returning to the fight, meaning

a total of 30%. third, the president indicated only low-level fighters had been released from the facility. that's not true, according to the joint force task. only 40% were considered high risk. only 14% were deemed low risk. >> all the low-level fighters were let go early on. now of the 137 that remain, only hard core are left. could the san bernardino terror attack be prevented by going on facebook. they are aggressively investigating social media. he's under half sh criticism tonight. >> reporter: last year a san bernardino shooter, and her future american husband and conspirator, syed farook,

returned and it erupted into immediate wra. they did not routinely go over what they did. he was a current adviser to republican presidential candidate ted cruz. >> we have to get rid of political correctness which has damaged american lives. it came to a head when had. fox news johnson's spokeswoman said the cleaning strategy would initiate three pilot programs to specifically incorporate associate media review into its bed of applicants. it also hinted at new investigative powers. we are not admitting individuals who will come here to do us

harm. >> but a community is slow to embrace screening even though it's routinely used for college and job applications. >> many have scoffed at the value of social media as an intelligence tool. they're not con sealicealing in cases their intentions, and when they come to the united states, that ought to be part of the screening process, by all means. >> homeland security official has argued that it may not have been an issue in malik's case because she blocked her information and used fake names to hide her identity. there is an advisory system that affects the areas that are not specific. republican ted cruz emerges as the new big threat to donald trump. this is what fox affiliates are covering tonight. the trial of the first police

officer charged in the death of freddie gray has gone to the jury. he nss he did nothing wrong. the mayor is calling on citizens of baltimore to respect the judge's decision. in connecticut covering the big story on newtown where flags are half staff on the third anniversary of the shooting of students at newtown elementary school. he began with an attack by killing his mother at their home and ended it by turning the gun on himself. obama used lack of congress as a reason. baseball's new commissioner refuses to lift the lifetime ban for pete rose. he has not protected credible evidence. she was banned in 2005 from gambling on facebook.

we'll be right back.

ahead of the next republican debate tomorrow night, the texas senator is making his move in iowa. but the new york billionaire is still calling the shots on the national level. speaking of shots, trump is taking some new ones at his top challenger. chief correspondent has the report tonight. >> ted cruz is surging in the majority of the iowa polls. it shows cruz at 28%, donald trump at 26, marco rubio at 13, ben carson at 10% and rubio at 5. ted began his assault on cruz over the weekend. >> i don't think he has the right temperament. i don't think he has the right judgment. look at the way he's dealt with

the senate where he goes in there like -- frankly, like a little bit of a maniac. you're never going to get things done that way. >> reporter: cruz responded on twitter, calling trump a friend. ♪ she's a maniac, she's a maniac ♪ and posted the theme song for the movie "flashdance." trump immediately trashed iowa's largest newspaper. >> you have one of the most dishonest right here in your backyard. the des moines register is the worst. they're the worst. the worst. [ cheers and applause ] >> you know, they're very dishonest. >> reporter: krus notwithstanding, trump hit an all-time high with the universal poll nationally. because trump has filed for the presidential ballot in ohio, by state law he's prohibited running as an independent. all this while rubio stood on

foreign policy. >> it wasn't just the intelligence vote. he talks tough on some of these issues. for example, he's going to carpet bomb isis, but the only budget he's ever voted for in his time in the senate is a budget that cut defense spending, by more than barack obama poses we cut it. some of the isolationist policies, he seems to side with the isolationists. >> reporter: and chris christie will be back on the prime time debate stage tomorrow night having been relegated to the second tier in the last one. rand paul was in danger of that fate, but the organizers changed the rules to count local polls in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina and let him in as having raised over 3.5% of the vote here. for ted cruz not only is it the last debate of the year, it's the last debate of the holidays and now a sprint 5 days from now. in depth tonight on ted

cruz. we analyze whether the recent surge of cruz is happening at a good time to propel him into iowa. >> ted cruz, as many suspended he would, is having az national moment. he leads who may be the smartest in the field and possibly the fastest on his feet. particularly how he's handled the donald trump phenomenonment when his fellow candidates were silent on trump and highly critical, cruz has preyed on trump and trump is attacking him. surely he knows he can't hold a candle on his own, but he's not about to make any comparisons. despite substantial credentials,

princeton fry, he's well positioned as an outsider. but his rise in the polls will put him in the spotlight. iowa voters will have all of january to wonder why cruz is to in response to his cligz. will they still feel the same way about him when they find out? that's a subject for another day. bret? cruz came out and talked about the big climate change deal in paris. your thoughts on all that? >> i saw that, and i've been reading about all this, and i thought, did i miss something? i read through what i thought about it, and i came to two things. one, it's not binding, and the second is there are no reinforcement mechanisms. i can't for the life of me figure out why this is so significant because i think

these countries whose economies are kbroeg in china will have to come down to a choice. i think i know what they're going to choose and i don't think they're going to be deterred. still ahead, the rush is on to get those christmas gifts to your loved ones. we'll look at what's happening at the post office today. did you know it was the busiest day on the books? gas prices approaching gas prices approaching six-year lows just

you won't see these folks at the post office. gas prices approaching six-year lows just they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv

and never go to the post office again.

we begin our new series tonight on the upside of cheap oil. today's national average for a gallon of gasoline is $2.01.

prices are expected to fall below the $2.00 threshold for the first time since 2009. while all of that is good news for the american consumer, others around the world are paying a heavier price. >> reporter: in his annual address to the federal assembly, russian president vladimir putin acknowledged plunging oil prices along with western sanctions and the ukraine crisis are taking a toll on the kremlin, which relies on oil for 60% of its exports. >> we must expect external restrictions to change much longer. it will linger around zero. >> reporter: but america denies taking any steps to protect themselves. >> i'm not aware of any specific policies geared in that

direction. >> reporter: to revere away from the prices, analysts say washington and the european union would need to intensify sanctions on russia's oil and gas sector. >> russia relies very held on kbortd gas from russia. >> the u.s. is actually helping the islamic regime return to the oil markets even as tehran has sought to expand refinery capacity and major gas development. >> if you come out of the idealation, it will not be dependent on it like it was before. >> other countries clue iraq, nigeria and saudi arabia whose own family is looking to slash more resilient to these oil

price shocks and fluctuations. >> reporter: even if today's oil prices aren't translating to a better position, u.s. policymakers will surely prefer to be exposed in this climate. they finished ahead 10 and the nasdaq was up 19. there are new calls tonight for the resignation of the the. inspector general says a $20 million contract to provide credit wander iing was awarded without following policies and procedures. jim chavets is at least for the fifth time. planned parenthood is suing a director for dumping fetus

into landfills. they kwibl asking for an alleged violation. . "star wars" gets political.

and now some fresh speaking on the political grapevine. the countdown is on for the seventh installment of "star wars" and pundits are getting involved, even if they should probably stay away. this isn't the topic you're looking for. one pundit has a problem with darth vader, and it has nothing to do with his effort to destroy an entire planet in the original movie. it's his race. >> he was bad and terrible and used to cut off white man's hands, and he never claimed the son, but when he claims the son he took off his wig and i had many nightmares. >> not only is vader a white guy in a black suit but the storm

troopers are wearing white and are bad guys, too. there was never a point where he didn't claim his son. as soon as he discovered luke was alive, he took steps toie re unite the family and rule the galaxy as father and son. a school has banned christmas. not just the word, but other things, too. no santa. they call him a religious figure despite the fact a former assemblyman used to visit that school dressed as the jolly old efl. one school calls it a. holiday symbols are allowed.

religious figures and texts are prohibited citywide. finally, good things come to those who wait. a 15-year-old swiss boy has been given the equivalent of $100 just before christmas. five years ago, he found the money, turned it in. enough time has passed, so he was given the money back. if you spent time at or near a post office to built one. alicia kunya is on. >> today alone, 612 million pieces of mail will be sent. the entire season, 15.5 billion

packages, cards and letters to be delivered. according to the postmaster general, revenue is on the rise, but not enough to boycott high dollars that continue to decline with letter mailing. post office officials hope a planned switch md. >> we have some brand new machines right here in this fa sill. they'll up the partial volume is at 10 faers f% for the last yea. the post office is also in the process of buying bigger vehicles to take care of all the packages. >> we've been through the rain, and throw in some locusts and we'll take care of that, too. >> let's talk christmas mailing deadlines. sending bystander post, tomorrow is the cutoff.

first-class cards and letters, december 19 is the dead lean to get it as a. if you're one of those. >> no way. >> way. >> the postal service has one big tip, and it's kind of a request. that is to please not put gift wrap on the susd of your packages. inste instead. but this one is for free. sfwlet. >> i got. it is in response to more than 100 reports it receives a month about drones. a group of drone enthusiasts call registration an unnecessary burden. president obama talks tough on isis. we'll talk about that with the panel when w

we are hitting isil harder than ever. our fighters and drones have been increasing the air strikes, up to 9,000 as of today. in november we dropped more bombs on isil targets more than any other month since this campaign started. we also have taken out isil leaders one by one. our message is simple: you are next. >> the president traveling to the pentagon today to meet with his national security team, a visual, sending out the message that he is tough on isis, as you heard with some of the stats there. but other polls showing a difference of opinion with americans on how this is being

fought with isis. new associated press poll out today. the u.s. military response to isis. 56%. there you see in ap favor 42%, and the rest below. with that, let's bring in the panel. steve hayes, senior writer for "the weekly standard," and syndicated columnist charles kraft. laura, obviously the president has now a few times come out and tried to calm fears of americans, one with that sunday prime time address and now at the pentagon. >> he sounded tougher today than he did in that sunday address where he talked about what we weren't going to do. this is the problem with him. he gets very poor marks about fighting with the american people, and he needs to show something on the ground where isis is shrinking and there has

to be a point where there is not terror attacks. it sounds like he's doing more of what he said the strategy should be, hitting from the air. the problem with the white house is it needs a fighting force on the ground. the kurds can only do so much because they're not willing to get into territory that's there. >> they're still having a hard time getting weapons from the u.s. >> yeah, but the missing link is where are the sunni fighting for us on the ground, and it doesn't seem to be there. >> to me it's no mystery why it there. they tonight want to join the united states because there is a reason that george w bush came out and ssd, unequivocally, we are here and we are going to win. we're going to.

what we got from the pentagon today was moran attempt at shoring up his legs on terror. there never really had been a real plan of. . there was pho change in strategy, there is no indication that there will be a change in -- a plan to win the war. >> many have walked away with me on the subject of isis strategy. just more of the same tired rhetoric. why he just now is hitting icen a little about our commitment to the pho the president seems more

concerned about sanding tough that happen he does by only preventing types of attacks. >> his problem is he's trying to convince us that we are actually he pervading. the chir of his own, chiefs of sta staff. we had her feinstein the -- second of defense. obama, you're your own secretary of defense. last week we had not contained isis. it's obviously expanded. we have beirut, we have isis establishing a colony in the city of libya. this is sort of an. . and the other thing is when

you have to resort to stacks stic sticks. it's reminiscent of the strategy of the vietnam war where we would announce the body counts. it was always lopsided, and we lost the damn tam bar but it's. i'm just getting started but you never allowed me to go on. >> is there something that can happen that turns this around. tomorrow he's heading to the national counterterrorism international. heez lacking is, i guess, tangible major sthaez. rijahim. there has to be a sunni

awakening because this is a for obviously better intelligence and better terror attacks in half the united states. you don't see. i think more could happen and there has abi semblance of progress. >> the saudis are out there saying there is a new from. we'll vet that out and see where it stands as far as the sunnis get together. i used to over the weekend. >> i'm stop sbettle and military is used for a recouple tool in organizations like isis.

if we want to fight them he. among myself and the. the had he as i had slichl rate we anticipate. we assume they're going to be four or five, 0 por positive are going to be embittered and still engaging in anti-u.s. tifrt. >> that does not match up with the facts. steve, you wrote a piece with your colleague tom jocelyn about this. it doesn't match what you saw afrt at of a breath detainee fr, 253 of which 196 are usually confirmed or respected. that's far more than the pre

fences. unie kwi lael. we've sen yoir house. the one that indicationed senior aid to owing owing and now ahead. the al qaeda franchise that even the president said is illegal. so the president has lied about this and lied repeatedly. >> and this notion which he refuses to let go of that guantanamo is a powerful recruiting tool, a, it's not reflected in any of the propaganda. and how isis recruits by bemoaning how unfairly they're treated in guantanamo as opposed to exposing itself in the

history, cruelty, excessive losses, its own inability which is a direct result of the weekend obama policy is to miss the story of what is -- that was a bad one. -- isis' attractiveness. that obama doesn't understand this after sef. the president coping is not just going to let these people come to the united states, and i think it's going to be very, very difficult for him to close it. >> nationally, eyebrow raising in the polls.

test test

when you look at the way he has dealt with the senate, where he goes in there frankly like a little bit of a maniac, you are never going to get things done that way. you can't walk into the senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to congeal and get along with people. he will never get anything done, and that's the problem with ted. >> donald trump talking about ted cruz. he will be standing next to ted cruz in the next republican debate in las vegas. cnn has the lineup up there. and there you see just to his side carson and cruz. this, as some new iowa polls out show cruz gaining ground this is the real clear politics average of all the recent polls. you see it's essentially tied with cruz and trump. there is a des moines register poll scruz is up by 10. there you see the average of the iowa polls.

then you have this monmouth poll national poll came out today. look at this trump at 41%. 27 points above cruz. nationally. and then here is the rcp average nationally. these are all the polls. and there is trump at 31%, cruz, and rubio. that's the poll wrap-up. we're back with the panel. what about this, steve? >> trump has a very large lead nationally. some very good analysis. look, i think this is actually maybe an interesting moment yesterday over the past couple days when you had trump taking on tread cruz ostensibly for comments that cruz made at a private fundraiser that were later made public where cruz criticized trump he wouldn't be comfortable with trump with his finger on the nuclear weapon. if trump persists in attacking ted cruz tomorrow night, it will be a fascinating night. because ted cruz will have an obvious choice to make. he can either as he has try to stay above the fray and

not go after donald trump or he can engage. i think he would prefer it to stay above the fray, but it will look a little odd if cruz is being attacked by trump and doesn't counter and also attacks marco rubio and other candidates. i think it makes it a very interesting evening tomorrow night. >> it will be interesting to see how that interaction happens. i will note that all the trump folks are saying why are you not focusing more on the monmouth poll that shows him at 41%. recently trump said quote what the hell is monmouth. i only like the polls that treat me well. >> maybe he thought it was woolly monmouth. >> i'm sure he will find a place for the monmouth poll. >> now. >> i do think donald trump is the frontrunner. national polls in a primary don't mean that much. we should be looking at the state-by-state races. it is eyebrow raising. in a take in a week where the republican establishment for the first time last week turned against trump for his proposal to ban temporarily

muslims from entering the united states, his support went up. that's the moral of the story. i do think it's more important to look at the state-by-state polls. that's why iowa is interesting because cruz has momentum. in terms of what is going to happen tomorrow night, there is no one who has thought about these debates more strategically than ted cruz. he knows what he is doing. and he is has used them very well. his response to the comment that trump made on fox was to put a little clip of maniac from dance so he has responded with humor. he has tried not to attack donald trump frontally because, guess what, it doesn't work. it will be really interesting to see what he does tomorrow night. >> charles? >> when you are putting up a clip from flash dance, i think you have written off the millennial vote. on the monday mouth poll, i think marah is exactly right. if this is not an outlier and it probably is, but let's assume it's not. this is entirely a result of the muslim exclusion remark. and it shows that the more

outrageous he gets, the more he alienates. this isn't only the republican establishment. was attacked in about 2 olanguages from around the world. he had to cancel -- a lot of which nobody speaks. he had to cancel a visit with the prime minister of israel, which is sort of the gold standard for any candidate in having a visit, having a photo op. as a result of that, this is -- i mean, this was the entire world. you had paul ryan sort of the head of the republicans in the head of the congress who came out and very unusually spoke out against a candidate. if his numbers are rising as a result of that then the republican electorate is in a place where i don't think any of us have managed -- imagined and it will be divisive. >> it will be decisive tomorrow night. we will have complete coverage both before and after. that is it for the panel. stay tuned for one surprise that may get you in to the christmas spi

finally tonight, christmas came early for one family in tennessee. after 10 month deployment in afghanistan, lieutenant colonel basterville returned home to with a surprise from santa. >> this wases my wife's idea she surprising my girls. it couldn't be a better feeling.

[cheers and applause]ha >> how great is that. that's that sab that has a lot of power. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. greta goes " >> a brand new twist in the san bernardino terror vf gaegs. screening social media.

why it could be the reason officials missed clue. >> republicans get ready to rumble in the final debate of 2015 as donald trump jumps to his largest lead yet. >> they should be thankful because i am giving them chance to make total fools of themselves. >> we are live in vegas the bro man's between ted krudz and donald trump could be coming to an end. >> an american classic being banned in high school? is it a good thing tore is it exclusive. >> you are watching "fox and friend first. i am heather childers. >> i am lea gabrielle in for

ainsley earhardt. a secret visa policy could be the reason authorities missed clues. >> this as president obama tries again to tame fears with the same old strategy. kristin fisher is live with more this morning. good morning. >> this is the president's 5th pitch to the pentagon during his 7 years as president. he continued his week long post to ensure american fears about isis especially after paris and san bernardino. yesterday the president offered no new strategies instead doubled down on the plan that is already in place and outlined recent successes against the terror group. >> tz wias we squeeze its heart make it harder. we are hitting them harder than ever fighters bombers and drones have been increasing the p