>> glenn: tomorrow, yes, i am a ratings slut. the history of ancient rome. man, what a ratings getter that one is. are we reliving it today? find out tomorrow. from new york, good night, from new york, good night, america. captioned by closed captioning services, inc ♪ ♪ >> bret: the president and congressm leaders search for -- congressional leaders search for common ground to extend the tax cuts and other issues. pentagon says changing the don't don't will not turn the -- "don't ask, don't tell" will not turn the military. and live from studio in washington, this is "special report." good evening. i'm bret baier. the fight over how much of your money you get to keep next year shifted to the white house today. president obama hosted eight top congressional leaders from

both parties. the first such summit since democrats suffered major losses in the mid-term election. we have fox chief coverage. chief political correspondent carl come -- carl cameron has perspective from capitol hill but we begin with mike emanuel. >> reporter: a roughly two-hour meeting with congressional leaders including 35 minutes with staffers out of the room. president obama and key lawmakers laid out priorities for the lame duck session. >> i thought it was a productive meeting. i thought that people came to it with a spirit of trying to work together. and i think it's a good start as we move forward. >> republicans also sounded upbeat and back on capitol hill, the epresumptive speaker reiterated his goals. >> i think the republicans made the point that stopping all the looming tax hikes, and cutting spend, would, in fact, ecreate jobs. >> reporter: mr. obama proposed a negotiating team

would work to hammer out a deal with treasury secretary tim geithner and budget director jack lu representing the white house. republican jon kyl and democrat max baucus were chosen to represent the senate. republic dave ramp and vis van hollen represent -- chris van hollen represent the house. after reiterating the position only tax cut for middle class should be extended the president suggested a deal could be struck. >> having said that, we agree there must be some sensible common ground. >> part of trying to find common ground included the revelation of expression of regret from mr. obama to the republicans. >> i was encouraged by the president remarks regarding his perhaps not having reached out enough. in the last session. >> one confirmed by president obama's spokesman. >> the president acknowledged he needed to do better and acknowledged rightly he would do his part.

>> considering the polarization, the white house acknowledged the moment of working together may not last long. >> this is a highly politicized town and in some ways every day is election day in washington. there is sense we have to put some of those things aside for a while and get the work done that people expect to get done. >> white house officials acknowledge liberals and conservatives may not be happy with the deals cut in the lame duck session, preferring their leaders stick to their guns. but there is a belief in the end, nobody wants to risk taxes going up in this weak economic recovery. bret? >> bret: mike emanuel live on the north lawn. thank you. so far, republicans seem to be holding some of the cars in the tug of war over what gets done in the final day of the democratic controlled lame duck session. chief political correspondent carl cameron has that part of the story. >> clearly pleased after meeting the president, the g.o.p.'s top two priorities remain unchanged.

>> let's take care of the tax issue and take care of how we'll fund the government for the next ten months. if there time left, it will be up senator reid. >> but with very few days remaining, reid and pelosi threatened to keep congress working until christmas to tackle repeal of the military don't ask, don't tell policy on gays. the dream act, and other items aimed to placate the democratic liberals. republicans plan to all but ignore the democrat other lame duck goals. >> the president i think put his best foot forward and said we realize we have to produce results. >> and senate ratification with the start nuclear treaty with russia. >> there was some discussion

of it. the. would like to go forward as soon as possible. >> they won't consider it until bush tax cut are extented and 12 complex questions sent to president are answered in detail about the nato missile defense program. and russia's role with it. they will vote this week to extend tax cuts buttal up to $2k50,000 and republicans want all of them extended it felt senate, chuck schumer upped the ante with a poll-tested alternative to conduct tax cuts to $1 million. but analysts say it's non-starter and they believe some republicans do that a deal is possible that would include averting a government shutdown, extending unemployment benefits. extending all the bush tax cuts for two years and if the republican questions can get answered, ratifying the start

treaty. the problem with this and members on both side of the aisle know it, getting it done in the next three-and-a-half weeks would be equivalent of a christmas miracle. >> the clock is ticking. thank you. senators rejected a republican bid to ban earmarks in a vote #9-35. democrats voting in favor of the band included feingold. republicans who opposed it, included lisa murkowski from alaska who retained her job in successful write-in campaign against g.o.p. nominee joe miller. senators passed a safety bill to give government new powers to express processing facilities and force companies to erecall tainted products. some critics said the version could have bankrupt small businesses and the changes were made. not clear if there is enough

time to reconcile the senate member with the counterpart but they are urging them to act quickly. black farmers said they were being discriminated against in effort to getting ary cultural loans. native americans said they were swindled out of the national resources. pentagon survey says overturning the "don't ask, don't tell" law will do no widespread or long term damage to the u.s. military. jennifer grich tells us what it means -- jennifer griffin tells us what it means. >> reporter: the report was 370 pages long, took ten months to compile and involved input of a quarter million service members, canvass in town hall and online polling. of the 115,000 active troops and more than 44,000 military spouses who returned the survey. 70% believe lifting the ban on

gays openly serving in the military would bring positive mixed or no results. >> the finding suggest for large section of the military, repealing "don't ask, don't tell," though potentially disruptive in the short term would not bringhe change that many feared and predicted. >> when asked whether the repeal would have negative impact on combat operations or the ability of the military to function, 69% said they worked in the past with a coworker who was homosexual. 92% described the you want's ability to work together as very good, good, or neither good nor poor. concerns were high among chaplain and those in combat roles. between 40 and 60% of combat troops surveyed said gays openly serving in combat would be a bad idea. 58% of those with that opinion were marines. if the congress and the united states repeals this law, this is the will of the american

people. you are the american military. we lo do this and do it right. >> concern is high among service chiefs, the current and the outgoing marine comandants have been outspoken saying they oppose a repeal. >> there may be time to make these changes but start with the fact now is probably not the time. >> the defense secretary urged congress to vote to appeal and force court taking action. but the arms services committee were divided what they could or do it now. >> this is not the time in a lame duck congress with dozens of people who have been defeated. >> i talk to a lot of military service members in the field and most of them said to me, look, we probably know -- and we'd rather be honest with each or and be open and get the jobs done. >> late today, president obama issued a statement to call on

congress to end the discriminatory policy. but when they met at the white house, we're told, "don't ask, don't tell" didn't come up as a legislative priority. bret? >> bret: jennifer griffin live at the pentagon. thank you. exhibit of gay and lesbian artwork has some lawmakers fighting mad. we'll tell you about it and show you some of it in the grapevine. up next, what china really thinks of north korea. /ñh]ñ/ççw?vñuóy[óñwlk ♪ for he's a jolly good fellow ♪ the meeting's tomorro in dals ♪

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>> bret: checking international headlines now, british students take a day in protest. there were several hundred demonstrators to parliament. they say they have made 153 arrests so far and they accused police of a heavy handed response to isolated violence. student protest in italy turned violent today. this is a clash with police as well in the historic center.

they threw egg, tomatoes and smoke bomb to police who responded with tear gas. new reforms give the private sector too much influence. iran agreed to talk next week over its nuclear program. but iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad says the country will not make one iota of concession. the top negotiator means it will meet with leaders in geneva. the u.s. is slapping sanctions on iranian individuals and businesses funding the weapons program. north korea may be feeling more isolated tonight. the documents released by the wikileaks website indicate the north relationship with china is not as cozy as previously believed. and that beijing could live without the north completely. correspondent greg palkot is in south korea tonight.

>> north korean defectors gather between the border of north and south korea tuesday, carrying political messages and american dollars to those on the other side. it led pyongyang ten years ago. >> we are here to let the people of north korea know, he said, the truth behind kim jong il's brutality and killing of civilians. on south korea's yeonpyeong island, a week ago, the security was beefed up. in the yellow sea, joint u.n. and south korean naval exercises continue. today's drill, intercepting ships. though intercepted and released by wikileaks, there are tables offering new insight between north korea and the main ally china. one chinese official is said to call north korea's behavior that of a spoiled child and south korean official said china would be comfortable

with united korea. friendly to the u.s. and not hostile to beijing. it's unlikely china would accept unification in the near-term but shift in beijing's attitude was acknowledged. >> it's becoming more of a liability to beijing. the younger generation of the chinese leaders are beginning to recognize that. >> reporter: in beijing, the top envoy made the rounds. china is calling for talks to cover the issues. south korea, japan, u.s. are not accepting this. but officials will meet next week in washington. for now, seoul and washington are letting the militaries do the talking and nudging. >> part of the reason of the exercise, we are showing great restraint, but it is a show of force. north korea lies a few miles beyond the barbed wire behind me. in these days of heightened tensions, the idea of korean unification for those launching hopeful balloons seem like wishful thinking.

on the border between north and south korea, greg palkot, fox news. >> defense secretary robert gates said the wikileaks release was embarrassing and awkward but said the consequences for the u.s. foreign policy would be modest. another thing we learned from the documents was the high level wheeling and dealing over guantanamo bay detainees. national correspondent catherine herridge has details. >> eight months after president obama signed the executive order to close the detention camp at guantanamo bay, the state department cable show it was mission impossible. despite efforts to enter the prison to coax money to access of the administration. in september of 2009, with half of the remaining detainees from yemen, john brennan met with the yemeni president saleh who suggested putting all the detained countrymen in yemen prisons. but later a diplomate said saleh in our judgment would be unable to hold returning detainees in jail for any more

than a matter of weeks before public pressure or courts forced their release. >> i'm not going to comment on what is in the paper. we are committed to closing guantanamo. >> proposal to send yemenis to rehab center in their native country fell flat because of the yemeni demand of $11 million to fund it. after this video was released, showing a former detainee and saudi rehab grad leading al-qaeda in yemen there were questions about whether detainees could be reformed. the cables also show a major diplomatic push to find way for those cleared for release. in june of 2009, four of the men were transferred to bermuda where they told fox through a translator that life in china was worse than life in guantanamo. >> of course, it's chinese. >> there is no guarantee for human life there. >> to clear guantanamo, remaining at the camp iguana and others, belgium was told

the detainee would be low-cost way to detain prominence in europe. in another cable, one who now lobbies the government for the detainee is saying, "doing our work for us." the bush administration did some horse trading as well, as fox is first to report five leaders were transferred from guantanamo to albania in 2006 after the albanian government were offered incentive including cash to take them. less than a week of transfer of vice president cheney endorsed membership of three nations including albania. >> bret: thank you. another revelation from wikileaks is the interest in argentina's president via secretary of state hillary clinton. newspapers report that clinton asked the embassy in buenos aires for assessment of christina fernandez nerves and emotions, whether she is on medication and how she deals

with stress. the t.s.a. says all 197 airlines that fly in the u.s. are collecting names, genders and birth dates from passengers. so the u.s. government can check them against their terror watch lists. that was a key recommendation from the 9/11 commission. compliance has been phased in over the last year. still ahead, evidence of voter fraud in a congressional election that is still up for grabs. when we come back, some extreme measures for an extreme situation. i can't believe i used to swing ov those rocks...

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>> bret: congressional investigation concluded that fema improperly awarded money to new orleans affiliate of the activist group acorn in

2007. the probe says the money was supposed to go toward fire safety and prevention and was awarded against the recommendation of an evaluation panel. the report says much of that money cannot be accounted for. home prices continue to drop in many major cities. the case-shiller 20-city index fell. the consumer confidence level rose to the highest in six months. stocks were down. dow rose. s&p 500 gave back seven. nasdaq dropped 27. dramatic proposals to cut the deficit are in front of the president debt commission, but we won't find out if they pass as quickly as we thought. chief washington correspondent jim angle is here to tell us why. good evening. >> hello, break. erskine bowles and former senator alan simpson, the co-chair of the commission said they revised the original plan and will delay a final vote from tomorrow to friday to give people a chance to review it.

they say one thing has not changed. >> it had $3.8 trillion of deficit reduction in the next nine years. it cut the deficit in half by 2015. and by three-quarters by 2020. >> hope to get 14 out of 18 votes in which case, senator harry reid pledges to bring the plan before the new senate for a vote. whatever happens, they say, they succeeded in starting an adult conversation in washington. >> about the dangers of this debt. and the deficits we are running. it is the exact same conversation that every single family, every single business, every state and every municipality has been having for the last several years. >> america, you have a serious problem. time is short to address it. the two men didn't get the new numbers for savings in the revised plan until nearly 3:00

a.m. this morning. they want to give the other members of the commission until friday to consider it. the original plan included a multi-year freeze on domestic and defense spending and an end to all tax deductions. affecting wealthier taxpayers the most but ending the whole mortgage deduction. they were welcome to add deductions back in, as long as they identify how to pay for them. there were also changes for social security to make it solvent and in medicare to reduce the cost. the always colorful simpson is expecting an onslaught from interest groups. >> the far left and the far right have hired auditoriums to terrorize the minions. they're going to rip this thing to shreds. and do it with zeal. to define a zealot, one who had forgotten his purpose redoubles his efforts. >> simpson flatly rejected the criticisms already raised by some on the left.

>> we are not balancing the books of america on the backs of poor social security recipients. i mean that is babble. we have put together something that protects the lower income, 125% of poverty. >> the debate, of course, is just beginning. both men say that even just that means the era of deficit denial in washington is over. bret? >> bret: the simpson sound bites are classic. >> it's a dandy. >> bret: jim, thanks. speaking of money, you may be shocked to see what yours is spent on, at one washington art gallery. one blog asks and answers why nothing gets done in congress. hey boss! do we have aflac?

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stella: hmmm. we're getting new medicare benefits from the new healthcare law. jane: yea. most people will get free cancer screenings. and 50 percent off of brand name prescription drugs if you're in the donut hole. stella: you read my paper. jane: i went to medicare.gov. it's open enrollment, you know. so i checked out all the options and found a

better plan to fit my budget. stella: well, you know what they say...knowledge... jane: knowledge is power. >> bret: now fresh pickings from the political grapevine. the federally funded national portrait gallery is dispraying impages of ant covering jesus and men kissing, sparking outrage from top republicans. cantor is calling for the exhibit to be pulled, "this -- saying -- >> boehner asked for them to acknowledge the mistake and correct it. there are photos of ellen

degeneres grabbing her breasts. among other photos. they say the mission is to show diversity but this afternoon, the museum announced it's removed the four-minute video that included the ant crucifix images, saying it did not mean to offend. new road signs could be coming to a street near you. abc news reports federal highway administration is ordering all local governments to buy new signs. id will increase the letters by two letters and changing the text to mixed, upper and lower case. it will cost a city like milwaukee $2 million, double their entire allotment for traffic control. a study used to justify changes is provided by 3m that makes reflective material now required on the sign. finally, harry reid opened monday's senate session with

what he thought was an important message. >> when you talk about the tough team, you have to talk about the boise state university. >> i really felt that nevada was going to win that game, because the confidence of the coach had. and the confidence that great young quarterback had. >> bret: media hype noted the six plus minute floor speech with a headline that read, "why nothing gets done? senator harry reid tells a five-minute college football story on senate floor." going on, "that's one way to spend a lame duck session. please note they are starting morning business around 2:00 p.m. that may be the best part." ♪ ♪ >> bret: just getting to capitol hill is the subject of the next story.

eric shawn reports on a congressional tactic surrounding a race still too close to call. >> reporter: the closest congressional election in the nation could be decided by those who don't live there. tim bishop is fighting off republican randy altschuler who were 15 votes off last week. bishop now leads by 220 votes. the fox news investigation found evidence of numerous voter registration illegalities. including one voter who apparently voted twice. >> in his case he could vote for congressman here and then vote for one in new york. >> 2,000 absentee blalts challenged, our investigation found 438 belong to voters with a new york city mailing address. 50 voted by absentee ballot on long island but registered as active voters in new york city.

double registering is a felony. the voter in question is a registered democrat. the new york city board of election records show he voted in person, in manhattan, on election day. that would also be a felony. >> this is the liberal elite that try to have it both ways. >> the communications director says some are abusing the voting law. >> they come out here and they're trying to steal the election from the hardworking voters of suffolk county. >> i honestly think they should be locked up. it's not, it's a no-brainer. you're violating the most basic principle of democracy if you are double voting. that is obscene. >> the voter who allegedly voted twice has not responded

to the request for comment. election officials are now investigating. >> bret: watch "special report" on wednesday, we'll have a feature on world aids day. and interview with george w. bush and bono. the president says today's meeting with congressional leaders was very productive. we find out what the fox all-stars think after the break. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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the end of the year. there are differences how to get there. >> it is the view of 100% of senate republicans and a number of senate democrats as well that the tax rate should not be bifurcated. that we ought to treat all taxpayer the same. >> bret: the president met with the congressional leaders, 35 minutes even withouttaffers in the room. he called it productive and about extending the tax cuts, he agreed there must be something sensible. he proposed negotiating team to work to hammer out a deal. that includes treasury secretary tim geithner and budget director jack liu, representing the white house. republican jon kyl and democrat max baucus for the senate and the republican dave camp and chris van hollen to represent the house.

let's bring in the panel. steve hayes. juan williams. fox news contributor. syndicated columnist, charles krauthammer. charles? >> the interesting part to come out of the meeting was as you said, the appointment of the negotiators. think of tax rate. it's not complicated or you're trying to reconcile two huge healthcare reforms, where you'd want a committee on one side and a committee on the other to negotiate a deal. compromise in the middle. tax rate, the only issue is are all people going to be treated in the same way? how long is the extension going to be? two questions. he ought to make in a minute-and-a-half to distance himself and set up a compromise where he accepts

the fact that the rates are extended. he can say they worked on this and hammered out a compromise. >> bret: juan, there was a build-up to the big meeting. then the negotiating team. we talked about at this table many times handing the keys over to congress. they work out the details. this is an example of that? >> it is. we have covered healthcare reform, tarp -- all the rest of it. it was a mistake early on for the administration to say to democrats in congress you are the majority. we will trust you to negotiate a deal and include republican ideas. given the polarized cycle they've been in, they froze us out and we'll freeze them out. it exacerbated polarization on capitol hill and washington.

injured president obama in terms of independence who said he would liver up to bipartisan approach to american policy. >> bret: but doesn't it injure him further to say it pushes them to the end of the year. the looming deadline, january first. now we have negotiating team? >> something big happened in the interval, election, where the republicans triumphed. so the leverage is on president obama to come back of delivering to promise of bipartisan washington and get something done. i think that the deadline is tight that there is pressure for pressure on both sides to walk away with achievement. >> bret: steve? >> i make a distinction that is important in the delegation. what he did the stimulus and healthcare, he delicated to people in congress. this gives him space and distance from pelosi and harry reid who can't enter the

negotiations and say we're open to this compromise. nancy pelosi won't do it. >> bret: because liu is at the white house -- >> they are at the table and say we can look at this. the other happened we look at this. it this gives him space that charles riveted to. >> bret: listen to jake tapper, white house correspondent in exchange with robert gibbs, white house press secretary today. >> the president thinks that funding the government and passing unemployment insurance extensions, "don't ask, don't tell" repeal, the dream act, tax cuts, and start, all can be done in the next 18 days? >> yes. >> good luck. >> thank you. you'll have a lot to cover. >> bret: "you'll have a lot to cover." 18 days. >> i don't think it's only a matter of how impossible for timing. question of the ill le jate massey that republicans

raised. of course lame duck congress has legal authority to do anything it wants but it's illegitimate. the people spoke on election day. lame duck session run by the democrats. they could have extenting resolution to allow the government to continue to next week and beyond. they ought to argue on principle. that is an argument they ought to make. not just that the time is running out. >> bret: that list, funding the government has to happen soon. passing the unemployment extension, debate about that. "don't ask, don't tell" repeal. a big issue.

dream act and the start treaty being ratified. >> i think it can be done. there is incentive for reaction of the american people to say let's get something done. stop wasting done. >> bret: something or all the things? >> all the things. they can get most of it done. sincere and genuine effort. not just standing and posturing. by the way, my sense is charles says wait until the new congress comes in because they've been elected. this congress was elected. if you waste time, people will say why -- >> but then the votes won't there to get it through when the congress comes in. >> not from the democratic perspective. that is not the issue. what about the kids unfairly pem -- penalized by the -- >> look, i'd like to have what

you and robert gibbs are drinking. there is no chance this gets done. tax cut and continuing resolution and minor things if the republicans get what they want on tax cuts. president had two years. he didn't make the priority and that is fine, his decision. now he pays for it. >> he has a list of -- >> fair enough. said don't don't was priority. all of a sudden, the things that he wants and that harry reid wants for political reasons are priorities. >> he spends a year-and-a-half on healthcare and then the dream act is an emergency. it's not. congress that was tossed out on its ear ought not make a judgment on it. >> bret: which side do you think will have to make most compromises? vote in the online poll. up next, the obama administration does horse trading over guantanamo bay

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september of last yore there were still no solution for the guantanamo detainee problem and the deadline was off the table. can you comment on that? >> i am not going to comment on what is in the paper. we're committed to closing guantanamo. we continue to engage yemen and other countries about detainees who are still at guantanamo, who we believe qualify return or resettlement. >> bret: well, despite all the efforts to clear guantanamo bay, as we look at gitmo there. the state department cable from the wikileaks document dump show it was really tough to empty the prison was coaxing all the countries with

either money or access to the obama administration get rid of the detainees and put them some place else. some interesting tidbits in the documents. we're back with the panel. steve, what struck you most? >> there has been a lot of focus on the horse trading that goes on. some people find it unseemly. of all the things i read in the cables, that troubles me the least. that's what you expect the government to be doing. >> bret: the bush administration did it too. >> it's what the government does. you probably better to have these things be done in private than in public. i think there are serious substantive issues that emerged out of this. one catherine herridge referred to in the piece earlier with the u.s. ambassador to luxembourg sending out a cable under her name and making an argument -- >> mosambague. >> former guantanamo detainee who went back to london and is admitted jihadist. he's an agitator, to be kind

to him and argues that the detainees are not that dangerous and can be repatriated. the cable under the name of the u.s. ambassador to luxembourg says travelling to europe and making the case is making the case that the u.s. government wants made on his behalf. this is a loathsome, dangerous bad man. and she is saying he is the de facto spokesman for the u.s. government. one other cable i think hasn't gotten much attention that i think is very serious. it concerns detainees that have been repatriated to afghanistan. 29 of the 41 detainees sent back to afghanistan have been released without even trial in afghanistan. the cable suggests that we had obtained that kind of a promise from the karzai government. they have been released outright. which is outrageous and should i think, cause the obama administration to declare a moratorium on sending

detainees back to afghanistan from gitmo. >> bret: juan, another cable says yemen was going to offer to take all the detainees and then the administration perhaps wisely said they would not make it a week or two in yemen without being released they thought there. what do you think this says about gitmo and where we're going with the detention facility? >> it's very hard to resolve the issue. obviously, the president has again, we were in the previous panel talking about unfulfilled promises. this is one where he promised he would somehow close guantanamo bay. it has been difficult. you know, pick up on what steve was saying, the negotiations have been forth right. they've been admirable to get countries to accept the detainees, but in the case of yemen to say you have to stop some point of limit on what happens with the people, you have to have the ability to track them. one absurd suggestion that you even put chips in detainees. >> bret: by the saudi king. >> which is rejected by

u.s. officials. but this to me is all rational and all good. the problem is that there had been this idea you could somehow get rid of guantanamo bay and, of course, the united states itself is part of the issue because there has been resistance, notably among republicans to having some of the edetainees tried in u.s. courts. >> bret: charles? >> the saudis suggested the chip implanted in the prisoner they explain it by saying that you do it with horses. so the american answer was well, horses don't have good lawyers. it reveals how utterly absurd this entire adventure, enterprise is of guantanamo. we are in a war. we capture prisoners of war. in other wars you keep them until the war is over. you don't apologize. who apologized for the prisoners we held in the second world war or the civil war? the counterargument is the war

is never going to end. who declared the war in the first place? the jihad against us. who was keeping it alive? if you pledge your allegiance to the emir osama bin laden and you are a soldier of his and we capture you, you stay in our custody until the war is declared over. we don't have to apologize for it. >> bret: that is it for the panel. but stay tuned for a part of a big interview we apparently missed last week. ♪

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finally tonight when president obama sat down for an interview with barbara walters. most white house believed extending the benefits would come up but apparently we missed this exchange. >> you have consistently said that you want to end the bush tax cuts for people who earn over $250,000 a year. why? >> well, what i have said is the first two years were all about saving the economy from a crisis. and we have done