jon karl is in washington tonight, as well. jon, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, david. a senior u.s. official tells me today that this upcoming release of classified state department documents by wikileaks is, quote, outrageous and dangerous. u.s. embassies around the world have been put on alert. ininstructed to wash foreign governments that hundreds of thousands of supposedly confidential diplomatic communications are about to be made public. it's the latest from wikileaks, the website run by jewel yabuli. he released some 400,000 classified documents last month related to the iraq war. he's had trouble with the law, as well. there's a warrant out for his arrest on sexual assault charges in sweden. charges asang say are politically motivated. most of the documents are classified diplomatic cables that describe conversations with u.s. officials and foreign leaders, intelligence sources and opposition figures. >> the only real bad stuff here is the names of the individuals. now, that is very worrisome. we don't want to see people taken out and shot on the streets of kab

jon karl joins us now, he is here in d.c. with the first new moves right up the road here on capitol hill. jon? >> reporter: and they are starting right away, diane. republicans have already set up a transition team as they prepare to take power in the house, and with it, newfound responsibility. incoming speaker john boehner, an olive branch of sorts to president obama. >> the president and i had a very pleasant conversation. we agreed that we needed to listen to the american people. we needed to work together on behalf of the american people. >> reporter: but the message many republicans heard last night is stop obama. not exactly a formula for working together. >> we're determined to stop the agenda americans have rejected and to turn the ship around. we'll work with the administration when they agree with the people and confront them when they do. >> reporter: the new republican congress has real power. control over funding the government and the ability to subpoena officials in the obama administration. come january, john

jon karl starts us off tonight in washington. jon, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, dan. it's important to point out that only about 15,000 of the 250,000 documents are actually classified, and of those, none of them are classified at the top secret level. but dan, there is enough in there to cause some real embarrassment and potentially, much worse. some of the most fascinating documents are about iran. depicting arab leaders practically begging the u.s. to prevent the iranian government from getting nuclear weapons. "that program must be stopped." bahrain's king items general david petraeus that in november 2009. "the danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it." foreign minister of the united arab emirates says ahmadinejad is hitler, and tells a top state department official, quote, "the threat from al qaeda would be minor if iran has nukes." in these private dispatches posted online by "the new york times" and other papers, several arab governments take a line virtually identical to israel's. in another meeting with general petraeus, the saudi

he now says he plans to fight his conviction, and here's our seen your political correspondent jon karl now. >> reporter: tom delay was once one of the most feared political figures in america. now, he stands convicted of money laundering, a crime that could mean real prison time. defiant as ever, delay says it was the prosecutors, and not he, who abused power. >> it's a miscarriage of justice. and i still maintain that i am innocent. the criminalization of politics undermines our very system. >> reporter: delay was found guilty of illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate money to the campaigns of seven republican candidates for the texas legislature in 2002. >> swaps, end runs, circles around corporate contributions are prohibited. that's all there is to it. >> reporter: on a political level, the scheme worked. six of the candidates won, allowing republicans to take control of the texas legislature for the first time ever. hard ball tactics earned him the nickname the hammer. a hero to republicans, a villain to democrats, he whipped up the votes to impeach president bill clinton. but

so, we want to bring in jon karl who first reported she was leaning in this direction last night. but jon, this decision was relatively quick. and we wanted to show what nancy pelosi said to diane the morning after and get your reaction here. >> do you feel you would have the support to be minority leader? >> we'll have our conversation, i'll have a conversation with my caucus, have a conversation with my family and pray over it and decide how to go forward. >> so, jon, how did she come to this so quickly? why is she doing this? >> reporter: well, she had the conversations, and remember, the democrats that are left in the house, david, are the liberals and the progressives that are her core supporters. they said, this is going to be a political knife fight in the next two years as republicans try to roll back all they have acocome accomplished, s especially health care, and they said they want nancy pelosi here, because there is no tougher fighter. but david, i've got to tell you, talked to a lot of other democrats in this town and they are mystified by this. they expected her to l

okay, jon karl, thanks very much. robin? >>> let's talk three more races right now. the high-proe fight battle out in california. david wright is in los angeles for us this morning. >> reporter: in the u.s. senate race, you have carolly fiorina caking on senator barbara boxer. in the governor's race, the former ceo of ebay, meg whitman, trying to beat jerry brown. both of them have spent a large chunk of their own money. the important initiative, pop zigs 19, a marijuana initiative. this would essentially legalize marijuana for recreational use. anyone's guess on how that will go. >>> and maybe the wildest race, and that's saying something in alaska. neal karlinsky is in anchorage this morning. good morning, neal. >> reporter: you have a tight, three-way race with a big potential for chaos. the democrats could pull off a surprise. you have a tea party candidate, joe miller, who has been fading. and you have lisa murkowski surging. that's matter of people writing her name in and spelling it right. they think when the dust settles, the democrat, scott mcadams, might pu

here's jon karl. >> reporter: the draft proposal was unveiled with a dire warning. >> this debt is like a cancer that will truly destroy this country from within if we don't fix it. >> reporter: the solution from erskine bowles and simpson, lots of bitter medicine, including a 15-cent a gallon hike in the gas tax, cutting social security payments for high income seniors, raising the retirement age, cutting defense spending by $100 billion, including closing one-third of u.s. military bases abroad, eliminating the tax deduction for home mortgages over $500,000, slashing farm subsidies and eliminating 10% of the federal work force. and that's just for starters. would it fly? don't count on it. even members of the debt commission attacked it. >> i am virulently against that proposal. >> reporter: off camera, another said, there are things in there that i hate like the devil hates holy water. outgoing speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, called the plan simply unacceptable. the debt commission was created by president obama. but boels and simpson made it clear, this is not his proposal. in a

congress face the facts said nearly $14 trillion of debt means a painful look in the mirror and jon karl has been studying it. jon, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, diane. this is the first sere beyond bi-partisan attempt to seriously deal with the deficit, but it is also a plan that has something for virtually everybody to hate. the draft proposal was unveiled with a dire warning. >> this debt is like a cancer that will truly destroy this country from within if we don't fix it. >> reporter: the solution? lots of bitter medicine, including a 15-cent a gallon hike in the gas tax, cutting social security payments for high income seniors, raising the retirement age, cutting defense spending by $100 billion, including closing one-third of u.s. military bases abroad, eliminating the tax deduction for home mortgages over $500,000, slashing farm subsidies and eliminating 10% of the federal work force. and that's just for starters. would it fly? don't count on it. even members of the debt commission attacked it. >> i am very virulently against that proposal. >> reporter: offcamera, anoth

jon karl was there. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. a stunning victory for harry reid here in nevada. the top democrat in the senate. somebody who had been seen as, perhaps, the most vulnerable democrat in congress, has won here in nevada. defying the republican wave that has swept so much of the rest o. the country. he defeated sharron angle. and he defeated her pretty soundly. did it, in part, by just rolling a relentlessly negative campaign. a campaign at times quite ugly. portraying sharron angle, who is a real tea party hero, as somebody who was way outside the mainstream. and now, harry reid wakes up to another reality, which is he is the majority leader. but he goes back to a senate majority that is a much smaller majority. a majority, nonetheless. and it is a victory that he will certainly take. back to you, vinita and rob. >> jon thanks. >>> in the 37 races for governor across the nation, republicans won at least 10 statehouses held by democrats. >> and one democrat who bucked the trend was 72-year-old jerry brown in californi

jon karl tried to get the answers. >> reporter: today, the president made it clear.y one way for the debt commission's plan to fly. >> the only way to make those tough choices historically has been if both parties are willing to move forward together. >> reporter: his biggest obstacle seems to be his own party. the plan was immediately denounced by democrats from nancy pelosi on down. the head of the afl-cio said, quote, the chairman of the deficit commission just told working americans to drop dead. the liberals say no way to all the spending cuts, especially to social security. what about the republicans? they campaigned endlessly on cutting the deficit. >> a debt of $14 trillion. now congress wants to pile on more spending. >> reporter: a few key republicans praised the commission for making a good start. but so far, the overwhelming reaction from republicans has been silence. there may be a good reason for the republican silence. afterall, 234 of the republicans just elected to the house, that's all be five of them, signed a pledge promising not to raise taxes. t

our jon karl is there in las vegas. jon? >> reporter: diane, i caught up with majority leader reid today as he was out working every last voter he could get his hands on to try to win this. the reid campaign and reid himself are cautiously optimistic that they can eek out a narrow win, even a win where he gets only 46%, 47% of the vote. he may or may not be correct, but a much tougher job is for speaker nancy pelosi to try to keep democratic control of the house of representatives. the speaker is in washington, she is surrounded by her friends, her grandkids, her family. they are going to be watching returns tonight there, quietly. the speaker, though, came out briefly today to talk to reporters, and is saying that she's upbeat. she thinks democrats can actually hang on. >> the early returns and the overwhelming number of democrats who are coming out, we're on pace to maintain the majority in the house of representatives. but the people have to speak. >> reporter: now, the speaker's top advisers and top democrats throughout

jon karl was listening. >> reporter: it may be an odd month for someone thinking of runs for president, but sarah palin took a shot at a popular former first lady from her own party. >> the majority of americans don't want to put up with the blue bloods, and i say it with all due respect because i love the bushes, but the blue bloods who want to pick and choose their winners instead of allowing competition to pick and choose the winners. >> reporter: she even blamed the bushes for the current state of the economy. >> they kind of do some of this with the economic policies that were in place that got us into these economic woeful times. >> reporter: all a response to what barbara bush said on "larry king live." >> i sat next to her once. thought she was beautiful. and i think she's very happy in alaska and i hope she'll stay there. >> reporter: palin also picked a fight with the current first lady and her anti- obeobesity campaign. >> she is telling us that she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, instead of a government thinking they need to take over, make de

jon karl is with us, and i understand you have news about the current speaker, nancy pelosi? >> fascinating development here. you know, in the wake of what happened, that shellacking that we saw, democrats suffer on tuesday, the expectation has been house speaker nancy pelosi, soon to be former speaker, would step down, turn over the leadership of the democrats in congress to somebody else. but i am told by people very close to the speaker that she is seriously considering running for minority leader in the new congress. she is talking to every single member that remains, all of the democrats that remain, and some of her closest supporters are telling her she should stay, she's the party's best fund-raiser, she would be the one to win them back the majority. thing is, a lot of the conservatives that are left, and there aren't many left, say no way, and they will challenge her. >> don't underestimate her determination. >> reporter: do not. would be a mistake. >> jon, good to see you. >>> and still ahead on "world news," smoke and fear in the air. a jumbo jet's engine comes apa

our jon karl is in washington this morning with the very latest. jon, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dan. this morning, south korea is saying it will send more troops to the island, attacked by north korea, as the white house is pressing china to rein in its ally. the smoldering aftermath of north korea's attack could be seen from the air. an attack we now know killed two south korean marines and two civilians. and sent hundreds fleeing their homes. a sea of fire is how one eyewitness described the attack. with south korea now on its highest level of alert, short of outright war, "the uss george washington" strike group is headed to the region, for previously-scheduled exercises with the south korean military. the message, the u.s. will defend its ally. but america has virtually no leverage over north korea. a point made by joint chiefs chairman, mike mullen, on "the view." >> we're working with allies. i think it's very important, certainly the japanese and the south koreans. but i think it's important for china. the one country that has

jon karl is on capitol hill with the latest. this is quite a fall for the former house ways and means committee. >> reporter: it really is. this is a stuern rebuke to one f the longest-serving members of congress. the ethics committee recommended censure for misconduct. it took rangel several minutes to compose himself. before wiping away his tears, he made his final plead to the ethics committee. >> i don't know how much longer i have to live. but it always was in me to help people. >> reporter: an emotional for a 40-year career in washington, for a man who just a year ago was one of the most powerful men in washington. >> i want you to decide that the sanctions that charles rangel never sought any personal gain. >> reporter: the committee found rangel of 11 counts of violating house rules. for charges ranging from improperly obtaining four rent-controlled apartments. to failure to pay taxes on rental income from a house in the caribbean. >> i have great respect for you, sir. but the failure to pay taxes for 17 years. what is t

jonathan karl is in washington with more on this growing controversy. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, robin. well, the federal government is at thing towns and cities around the country that street signs like this one are no good anymore and need to be replaced. the new rules are contained in this hefty 800-page book and it will cost local cities and towns millions of dollars. the federal government says this is easier to read than this. got that? all caps, bad. lower case, good. that's just one reason localities everywhere from the biggest city, to the tiniest towns, are being ordered to spend money they don't have to get new street signs. it's all pat of a tangle of regulations included in something called "the manual of uniform traffic control devices." it says by 2012 the letters on street signs must go from the current four inches high to six inches on all roads with speed limits over 25 miles per hour. by 2018, all signs must have new reflective letters, easier to see at night. whenever the signs are changed, they can't be in all caps. in milwaukee, a

senior political correspondent jonathan karl is at the capitol with more on this. jon, is there movement on this? >> reporter: there is, robin. this will be the lame duck congress that comes back next week. i'm told the democrats and republicans, especially the senate, are working on a compromise that will extend all the bush tax cuts. the interesting thing here, though, one group expected to object to this are the house republicans. they want the extension permanent, but, remember, this is a lame duck congress. they aren't in charge yet, not until january when the new congress is sworn in. >> let's talk a little bit more about the new leadership in the house. what are their other top priorities other than the tax cuts? >> they are working right now on an agenda for the new congress as soon as they come in. their top priorities will be tax cuts, permanent extensions, beyond that, spending cuts for up to $100 billion. and finally, repeal and replace health care. repealing the health care bill. and i'm told, robin, one thing under consideration is to have that vote possi

jon: karl rove has a book with an updated chapter on president obama. >> thank you jon.. take a look at this ship. they're almost there. we're going to go back to san diego in just a moment to show you that arrival of all these passengers, all 4000 of them, on the carnival cruise ship, the splendor. >>> the bipartisan debt commission out with new plans to reign in the soaring decifit, the cuts they're proposing are going to cut, but they say the cuts are necessary. we're going to look at the measures, what they have in@çu jon: well, the splendor has been anything but for the last few days, and now that stricken ship is about to pull into port in san diego. in fact it is in port. it is about to be secured to the dock. there are happy family members on the docks, cheering, yelling, screaming, waving, welcoming their loved ones home after a three-day nightmare, really, smelly toilets, dark cabins and limited food on board that ship after an engine fire knocked out most of the propulsion and electrical generating capability. the 4500 people on board, about 3300 of them, pa

jon karl reads the latest tea leaves from washington. >> reporter: good morning. the congress here said they found a president who said he is ready to work with republicans. talking to reporters on air force one, president obama acknowledged a, quote, obsession with his own policies. >> in that obsessive focus on policy, i neglected some things that matter a lot to people and rootingly so. maintaining a bipartisan tone in washington. >> reporter: now, he facing a republican majority with a different obsession, stopping his policies. they started arrived sunday, washington's largest freshman class in a generation. 109 of them new to congress. 35 of them of them have never before held elected office. >> change the way they run. >> washington is completely lost. >> reporter: to washington, their political amateurs and proud of it. the pizza man. from illinois. >> my new stomping grounds. >> reporter: dr. paul gosar, dentist, from arizona. >> just getting back to that. >> reporter: the football player, tackle from new jersey, 6'7", 300 pounds of him. >> it's rhyme to

jon karl in washington with that. good morning, jon. >> reporter: good morning, robin. john boehner will face the first tea party test before the congress is sworn in, thanks to one person saying she wants to run far top leadership position. as the leader of the opposition, john boehner was often a firebrand. >> hell, no, you can't. >> reporter: as he prepares to take the speaker's gavel, he is striking a serious, almost somber tone. >> we have a big job ahead of us. that's why you'll see us roll up our sleeves and go to work today. >> reporter: outgoing speaker, nancy pelosi, has known boehner for two decades. she spoke exclusively about him with diane sawyer. >> it's a high school question, but do you like him? >> of course. we had a good rapport. as i did with president bush. >> reporter: number two in the republican leadership team is expected to be virginia's eric cantor. somebody with a proven ability to get under the president's skin. >> i'm going to keep on talking to eric cantor, someday, sooner or later. he's going to say, boy, obama had a good idea. >> report

we begin with jon karl in las vegas, nevada. >> reporter: from losing the president's old senate seat to big losses in the house, it was a dreadful night for the democrats. >> it's clear tonight who the winners really are. that's the american people. >> reporter: an historic victory. so sweeping, ohio republican john boehner choked up as he recounted his path to becoming the likely new speaker of the house. >> i spent my whole life chasing the american dream. and i saw how out of touch washington has become with the core values of this great nation, i put my name forward and ran for office. >> reporter: boehner is about to become leader of the house and third in line for the presidency, thanks to a republican tidal wave that swept democrats out of power from coast to coast. >> tonight, republicans will take control of the house. >> reporter: at least five senior democrats who had served over 25 years each, knocked out. and in the senate races -- >> we've come to take our government back. >> reporter: big tea party victories in kentucky for republican rand paul. and in florida, for mar

their focus, of course, on the seat of democratic leader harry reid out in nevada, and that's where jon karl joins us from this morning. >> reporter: good morning, george. just a few hours from now, first lady michelle obama will be here in las vegas to try to give senator reid one final boost if what looks to be the closest and hardest fought senate race in the country. >> this is harry reid. >> reporter: the most powerful man in the senate is in danger of losing to tea party activist sharron angle, somebody for whom he can't disguise his contempt. >> in terms of various opponents you've had over the years, how does sharron angle stand out? >> well, really, honestly, way at the bottom. but for the economy there wouldn't be a contest here. >> reporter: as sharron angle keeps reminding voters, the nevada economy is in terrible shape. highest unemployment rate in the country. in addition to angle, tea party senate candidates in at least four other states are closing out the campaign with good chances of winning. but prospects for the tea party movement are looking bleak in alaska where in the

jon karl reading the latest tea leaves from washington. hey, jon. >> reporter: good morning. the new republican congress is here saying they are ready to work. talking to reporters on air force one, president obama acknowledged a, quote, obsession with his own policies. >> in that obsessive focus on policy, i neglected some things that matter a lot to people and rightly so. you know maintaining a bipartisan tone in washington. >> reporter: now, he faces a republican majority with a different obsession, stopping his policies. they started arrived sunday, washington's largest freshmen class in a generation. 109 of them new to congress. 35 of them of them have never before held elected office. >> let's change the people who run it. >> washington has lost complete touch with us, the little guy. >> because i'll bring the axe to washington. >> reporter: they're political amateurs and proud of it. the pizza man. bobby shilling from illinois. >> my new stomping grounds. >> reporter: the dentist, dr. paul gosar from arizona. >> we don't have a plan yet but getting back to personal acc

jon: but didn't karl rove say he felt that she was overexposing herself in doing the tv show and all of these appearances? >> well, one of the things that really comes through with governor palin, again and again, is she likes doing the opposite of what people like karl rove have to say, is that when it comes to the perceived conventional wisdom of how you run a political campaign and run for president, she is fixed on doing the opposite, and that's why it's so hard for everybody in washington to figure out what she's all about, will she or won't she. it's become this parlor game where people are obsessed -- obsessed with every work she makes. wen they are daughter's performances on "dancing with the stars" is a matter of political intrigue. right now the situation for sarah palin is she can be happy that she has everybody guessing. jon: she certainly has great name recognition and that's half the battle if you want to win the presidency, right? >> that's right, and if what she's trying to do now is test the waters with independent and moderate voters and say can i make a new approac

jon: the fear among the karl roves or some of the others, karl rove was not happy to see christine o'donnellnated with tea party support in delaware, eventually she had enough support to win the nomination but not enough to win the general election. the fear among some of those party leaders is that the same thing could happen as you point out with sarah palin. >> it is all about winning. republicans, they want to win back the white house. they want a candidate, congressional candidates running in 2012. remember, republicans have a good shot to win back control of the senate. nominees in delaware, christine o'donnell, and ken buck in colorado, they came up short. some people say endorsements of sarah palin of o'donnell of other republicans who fell short in primaries cost the republicans control of senate. there is major friction going on in the republican party, if sarah palin gets in that whiffle only escalate. jon: those who love her love her a lot. that is for sure. >> no doubt about it. thanks, jon. jenna: fox news alert for you. now the teenager known as the barefoot bandit pleading no

jon and kate" and is the new record-holder for tlc. this is the new future, what will it do for her political future? no one's saying anything yet. >> karlmade controversial comments about this not being presidential for sarah to be doing this. numbers are numbers. >>> another interesting story out of hollywood apparently the whole michael douglas divorce case bass back in court in manhattan this week. basically the judge said, you know ex-wife diandra, ex-wife is not entitled to all that money she was going for from his big paycheck for "wall street 2." after they divorced in 2000 she was entitled to 50% of whatever movies he made. obviously this year the "wall street" sequel came out. obviously made millions from that movie. the judge said, there's no way that you're entitled to that money and his lawyer spoke on his behalf, said michael "sounded great" when he called him. battling throat cancer, so that's good news. michael was thrilled but it may not be over yet. the ex-wife who's going for all this cash could relaunch the case out in california. not a done deal. >>> tmz thinks they know the back story of mel gibson and oksana. keep