[captioning made possible by fox news channel] captioned by the national captioning institute ---www.ncicap.org--- bret: next on special report, senate democrats are taking names and names an counting vots as they prepare for the healthcare reform measure, and paying the price to higher than expected un'em bloiment in the unobama administration. does the attorney general's logic hold up? and the lieutenant governor tries to hang on in the primary race against an outspoken conservative. all that, plus the friday lightning round, right here, right now. welcome to washington, i'm bret baier. senate democrats are walking a tightrope trying to ball lance their political jen das for healthcare reform with the cold political reality of needing 60 votes to keep their bill alive in its current form. carl cameron on the day before the first big vote. >> the next vote will occur tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. >> he doesn't have them yet, but democratic senate majority leader harry reid is inching closer to the 60 votes needed to begin debate on his healthcare reform bill, despite the hammer that the non-partisan congressional budget office analysis handed to his opponents. >> this monstrous 2,074-page bill, according to the congressional budget office, will not lower healthcare costs. >> what we need to do is kill this bill, and then pivot to a common sense bipartisan bill. >> not likely. the c.b.o. says reid's bill would raise insurance premiums over all costs and taxes, and one of the three key democratic holdouts, nebraska senator ben nelson, videoed a message to constituents announcing his decision to let debate commence. >> i will vote for the motion to proceed. >> even though he opposes a government-run insurance option is about to help block final passage without major changes ensuring no federal tax dollars go towards abortion. pro-life lawmakers complain that reid's bill abandons an agreement that is held for decades. >> democratic bill for the first time in his twri, the the first time in history would allow federal programs to pay for elective abortions. >> i think we ought to get back to the uneasy truce where everybody had agreed that this issue will be resolved in a simple way, no federal money will be used for the funding of abortions. >> two other crucial democratic centrists reluctant to back ootd reid's bill are plar ry landrieu of arizona and blanche lincoln from arkansas. lincoln is under immense pressure from ler leaders to fall in line. >> it is not good for america. it isn't good for any of us in congress or those standing for re-election. >> by late this afternoon, landrieu, who demanded 72 hours to study the bill before casting procedural votes was still undecided. >> i haven't made a final decision, because i literally have been, except for this one and a half hours i have been here, literally reading the bill, and that's going to continue until about 6:00 or 7:00 tonight. >> most believe lincoln and landrieu will both move to vote forward. reid has 58 committed yes votes, but if he falls just one vote of -- one vote short of 60, it likely means senate democrats will not be able to produce a bill this year. bret: it is interesting. this saturday night voting seems popular up there. >> 8:00 p.m., makes them look like they're working. bret: carl, thanks. the latest fox news poll shows most people still oppose healthcare legislation currently being considered by congress. 51% are against it right now, down a bit from october. only 35% favor it. just one in six feel their family will be better off under healthcare reform. 37% say worse off and a similar number feel there will be no difference. conservative christians are invoking the memory of civil rights icon dr. martin luther king, jr. and vowing civil disobedience over some hot-button political and religious issues. brian wilson reports on this moral manifest so. >> at a time when the healthcare debate in congress is tide up in knots over the issue of abortion, and at a time when the nation's leaders are considering the sanctioning of same-sex marriage, 150 prominent orthodox, catholic and protestant evangelical leaders have come together to draft a declaration of christian conscience. it calls on christians to adhere to their convictions on issues of life, religious liberty and marriage. >> we're dealing with a foundational human institution that if tampered with, begins to, i believe, compromise our society, the structure of our life and the welfare of our children. >> the 4,700-word document, which they call the manhattan declaration, goes a step farther, warning civil institutions that the signers, quote, will not comply with any edict that comports to compel our insphiewtions to participate in abortions, embryo assisted research, assisted suicide, euthanasia or any other anti-life act nor will we bend about to a rule to force us to blend immoral sexual partnerships an treat them as marriage or the equivalent." is this a call for christian civil disobedience? >> we hope and pray it does not come to this, that the impositions on conscience will not require anybody to practice civil disobedience, but if it comes to it, as it came to it for dr. king on the great issue of racial justice, then we have to be prepared to make sacrifices. >> the signers of the manhattan declaration insist they are only standing firm on moral issues, but others disagree. >> i think the folks who have signed the manhattan declaration really are representing an old style of thinking, of politicized pulpit, which is not what people want anymore. >> the supporters of the declaration insist that while the timing of the press conference today may appear to be political, this document has actually been in development for eight months n washington, brian wilson, fox news. >> there is also plenty of public objection to the administration's decision to bring terror suspects to america for trial. national correspondent catherine herridge looks at some of the reasons given for the moves an some of the arguments against them. >> the attorney general's decision making and logic in taking the 9/11 trials to new york city are under the microscope. >> isn't it true that on 9/11, the united states pentagon, the center of our defense establishment, was directly attacked by the people who declared war upon us? >> there is no question that is true. one of the factors -- one of the factors that i considered in making this determination. the number of people who were killed on 9/11 were largely civilians. >> on the suspect in the uss cole attack which killed 17 sailors in october 2000, holder appeared to follow the same logic. >> an attack on an american warship it seems to me is uniquely situated for a military commission. >> the top senate republican pounced. "is the administration now telling terrorists if they target defenseless u.s. civilians on their own soil, they will get the rights an privileges of american citizens? " senator mitch mcconnell asked? others said the administration is creating a two-tiered system. >> if you are a sailor and attacked in the gulf defending your country, you go to a military commission, but if they happen to execute an attack in the united states, though none of those five men ever set foot in the united states to bring about that attack, they end up in federal court. >> according to defense department documents, detainee mohammed is accused of running a training camp in afghanistan. among its graduates, shoe bomber richard reid and zacharius moussaoui and two 9/11 high jearkz and the head of the world trade center attack. although they targeted civilians, their alleged trainer nor is one that holder will try in military court, which begs the question does his statement about civilian targets stand up to scrutiny? >> you don't know how it really stands up. there is a rub r >> and are the suspects being tried to a state that rarely uses the death penalty? >> there is no doubt one of the reasons they are going the federal court route. >> as for the distinction between a civilian and military target made by the attorney general, this official emphasized there was not a single determining factor when those decisions were made. bret. bret: interesting, catherine r thank you. >> you're welcome. bret: in three minutes is, one cabinet official becoming a scape bret: the labor department 789 says the number of mass layoffs went down, the number in a single company fell by about 400 in september to 2127. stockssished on a down note, losing 14, and s&p gave back 3 and nasdaq dropped 10. there appears to be a possible fall guy emerging for some of the administration's shortcomings. wendell goler talks about one top administration official feeling the heat. the gloves came off on secretary geithner at an economic hearing. >> for the sake of our jobs, will y you step down from your post? >> i don't think that you should be fired. i thought you should have never have been hired. this is your budget. this is your bailout. this is your stimulus. >>. >> as republican congressman tom brady spoke for lawmakers who are angry at the climbing unemployment rate despite billions in spending, and michael burgess was mad about jobless claims. >> there won't be a ninth district after redistricting. they only have 8. tim timer in found them unfair. >> i agree with almost nothing you have said. you gave this president an economy falling off the cliff, american savings cut almost in half, millions of americans out of work. >> things would be worse, geithner said, without the stimulus package, but geithner's vulnerable, not just because he's the president's point man for managing the economy, but as head of the federal reserve bank of new york, he guided wall street bailout in the final months of the bush administration. oregon democrat defazio wants geithner's head for what he called the lack of results on main street. he told "the wall street journal," quote, all the gambling on wall street is doing nothing to put people back to work and rebuild our economy n a statement, the white house said "secretary geithner has helped steer the american economy back from the brink, and is now leading the effort on financial reform." insurance giant a.i.g. and other institutions, geithner says, got too big to be allowed to fail for lask those reforms. >> at a.i.g., we had duct tape and string. >> the black caucus has held up a vote on those reforms over what it feels is a lack of stimulus money creating johnjobs in minority communities. barney frank was sympathetic about delaying the vote. >> you talk about people whose constituents have been badly hammered by this is our concern. >> pollsters say by any measure, the economy is in a better place than it was when the president took office and geithner gets much of the credit. some easdzs think the recession may be technically over but no one is celebrating because job growth always lags in recovery, often by a year or more. 9 big question is whether geithner can take the leet that long. bret: on another question, there is a talk about a reset in the relationship with president karzai and the president making the decision on sending more troops to afghanistan. what you can tell us about that? >> reset may be overstating it. white house officials say it may have come from the positive tone of secretary of state clinton's visit for karzai's inauguration. that wasn't an occasion for scolding him, but there does seem to be and focus on afghan 's weaknesses is not the best way to make a successful counterinsurgency. a number of republicans sent the president a letter complaining that the 2 1/2 months he has spent deciding on the request for more troops to afghanistan has emboldened our enemies, made our allies uneasy and a decision should be coming on that within days. bret: wendell, thank you n western afghanistan, a suicide bomber killed at least 17 people today near the capital of kabul an assassination attempt against a former warlord failed but five of his bodyguards were killed ax suspected missile strike in northwest pakistan has killed at least eight militants. scott heidler is with the pakistani military as it continues its offensive against the taliban. >> the pakistani military has trumpeted its-month-old operations to be ahead of sceltd as the winter months draw near. they have gained control of key pakistani taliban positions o.t. get a ground's eye view, we traveled with the military to travel to some of the former strongholds. if all the villages for them to capture, this is the most important. that's because just up until two weeks ago, this was the operational nerve center for the pakistani taliban. the military displayed a variety of devices, remote toy car fitted with explosives and the taliban even planted an anti-personnel mine in a computer. also found was a propaganda booklet and fighting manual titled "the c.i.a. and pakistan intelligence clandestine war." deep near pakistan, there is a popular resistance near a former militant training base. >> this is a where a master trainer for pakistan taliban, where he trained most of his students. >> the soldiers captured a huge cache of ammunition and weapons and family photos, showing the root of the taliban and the rhine the army is here now. before the operation started, it was estimated at over 10,000 taliban and al qaeda fighters were here, and only 500 have been killed with a few hundred captured. the operation was publicly talked about months before it began, providing the opportunity for flight. >> most of them left before the operation started because they can protect them selves and can continue the operation from other locations. >> for the military, are the operation is about eliminating taliban strongholds an any militants who are still there. >> to get the leadership is mostly the intelligence part of the operation and we continue to chase the leadership. >> with the vast terrain of this remote area, there are plenty of places to hide and it's nearly impossible to seal off all the exits. scott heidler, fox news. >> bret: well, first it was mammograms. now new guidelines for screening for cervical cancer and florida's governor wants a new job and now he's going to fight for >> in america's election headquarters tonight, adding heat to the senate race in the sunshine state. phil keitting reports the republican front runner after losing grownts has decided to go on the offensive. florida republican governor charlie crist simply cannot ride his once unbeatable wave of popularity anymore. his 29-point lead in the polls to become the republican nominee for the u.s. senate in 2010 is gone. conservative challenger marco rubio has cut it in half after a series of missteps and unwanted publicity, the self described peoples governor is confronting rubio head on. >> why now? >> no reason, no reason. i peoplemean, people deserve to know the facts. >> rubio, a former speaker of the florida house, has won 15 straight county strongholds among republicans, often beating crist by an 8-1 margin. rubio has beenthe aggressor so far, constantly hammering crist's support of the stimulus package. last month, he said he didn't know obama was in the state when e-mailed show he did and now his fund raiser is under investigation for stealing up to a billion dollars in a ponzi scheme, putting crist further on the defensive. >> i think he has a serious credibility crisis that he is trying to address. he is a desperate candidate. desperate people do desperate things. for us, it's not a problem. >> the governor is endorsed by the national republican senatorial committee but because of rubio's recent momentum, crist added a new campaign manager and communications director and is finally counterattacking, targeting rubio's record as house speaker, charging he is not the conservative purist he proclaims to be. the bigger war chest belongs to the governor with $6 million, so far, rubio has raised $1 million. rube yo has made the cover of the national review just when the endorsement for the conservative club for growth and also has the support of the tea party movement. for months, the crist campaign avoided talking about rubio in the primary, employing the strategy that if it didn't address the race or acknowledge there was a race then no race existed. well, now that strategy is abandoned and for florida republicans, they now have a race that's fast becoming a battle. >> in miami, phil keating, fox news. >> fox news con firms conservative congressional candidate doug hoffman cannot catch bill owens in the disputed 23rd congressional district race in new york through the of absentee ballot count. owens leads by just over 3,100 votes with fewer than 3,100 be a sen see ballots remaining to be counted. the senate senate ethics committee has released a letter of admonition to roland burris, saying burris should have known he was giving incorrect statements to the senate and others as he was ap poifnghtsed appointed to take the seat vacated by president obama. burris was cleared, however, of any legal wrongdoing. global warming enthusiasts want to know, where did the global warming go, and just how much is one vote worth in the hair in your home can be?xe two to five times more polluted than the air outside. smoke, germs, viruses, allergens, pet dander, even smelly and potentially harmful voc compounds can actually be floating in the air you're breathing! but now you can clean that air with the incredible oreck xl professional air purifier, and bring fresher, cleaner air into your home. call now for no interest and no payments for one-year! the secret to oreck's effectiveness is its patented truman cell filter. only oreck has it. the oreck air purifier constantly moves the air in the room through its powerful six-stage filtration system. its electrostatic plates capture many impurities such as dust, allergens, bacteria - even viruses -- then puts clean air back in the room. with hepa filters, you could easily spend hundreds of dollars on replacement filters in just five years. but the permanent oreck truman cell is guaranteed for life and should never need replacing. just rinse and reuse! how clean is the air in your home? try my oreck professional air purifier in your choice of black or silver for a full 30 days risk free, with free shipping! if you don't breathe easier, sleep better, wake up more refreshed, dust your home less and simply enjoy the benefits of fresh, crisp, clean air, just send it back. it won't cost you a dime to try it. i'll ship it to your home at no charge, and you decide to return it, i'll even pay to take it back. you've got nothing to lose. you'll also receive my amazing refrigerator purifier! it destroys bacteria so food stays fresher longer. plus i'll send you my 2-in-1 cordless electrikbroom, a $100 value, yours to keep even if you decide to return the air purifier. call now to clean the air in your home for 30-days risk-free with the oreck xl professional air purifier.! pick up the phone right now and give me a call! you'll be glad you did. call the number on your screen or visit oreckcleanair.com. order now! bret: is majority leader harry reid trying to buy a senator's vote for healthcare reform? reid's bill includes a section increasing federal medicaid subsidies for what it calls certain states recovering from a major disaster. on page 434 of the bill, the language specifies and specifically states that quote, during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the president has declared a major disaster under a certain law. " it turns out the complicated language actually applies to just one state, louisiana. as we mentioned earlier in the broadcast, democratic senator mary landrieu of louisiana has yet to say whether she will support the bill, and reid needs landrieu's vote for passage. the congressional budget office said the cost of the louisiana subsidies in the bill bill toted $100 million, and landrieu's spokesman says of the aid "it's something she has been working on for a long time. " global warming has stalled. that's the conclusion of a german magazine article quoting climb toll gists who are brafled by global warming time-out. not much is happening at the moment. the earth's average temperatures have stopped climbing since the beginning of the mill len yum, and even looks as though global warming could come to a standstill this year. the article says that could complicate next month's summit in copenhagen, one of the germany's best gnome climb ma toll gists says temperatures have reached a plateau, quoting "there is no argument about that. we have to face that fact. " wisconsin national guard troops working at a detainee camp in in rack are getting teased by inmates about former green bay packers quarterback brett favre a wisconsin radio station say that detainees ask questions about all the packers' themed decorations on that base and learned that the once beloved favre's defection to the minnesota vikings. one first lieutenant says they know favre by name and one of the big words they know now is shenanigans and constantly about favre's shenanigans. he's so good for the vikings and the parkers have got to really feel bad about that one." favre's vikings won both games against green bay this fall. our top story at the bottom of the hour, senate democrats are trying to line up 60 commitments for saturday night's first vote for the healthcare reform bill an meanwhile, there has been another break from conventional wisdom regarding cancer screening for women. james rosen explains. >> fighting the risks of unnecessary stress, anxiety and harm to patients, the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists now advises women to start pap tests for cervical cancer at age 21. previous guidelines said the tests should begin at 18 or three years after the start of sexual activity. the new guidelines say women can get the test every other year until age 30. previous counseling advised once a year and now they say women who test negative three times in a row can be tested every three years. fizz itions are split in their reactions. if they're doing too many invasive tests, that is the problem that should be addressed, not getting rid of the screening tests. don't throw the baby out with the bath water here. >> it sounds like dr. siegel is saying more women will die as a result of these new guidelines. does that worry you? >> no, that is not the case at all. as he said himself, 80% of cervical cancers are in developing countries, not here in the united states. >> the ruling came days after a federal task force and a maje jor shift advising women to wait until 50 for routine breast cancer tests. >> this might be that first step towards that rationing of care. it's kind of a peek under the curtain, if you will, about what government-run healthcare may mean. >> health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius declined fox news' request for comments but democrats defended the bill they crafted few. women who have no health insurance today, this bill is the breakthrough of a lifetime. i want to make sure we come through with t >> but the issue of insurance is not so simple. >> does this mean if you choose to get a pap smear every year, just for peace of mind or you think you are at risk that your insurance will not pay for it any more? >> i do not think it is just based on those guide behinds. it will be a huge problem. we will see insurance denying pap tests as a result. >> today's new guidelines came with one important caveat, and that is that women who are fro whatever reason at greater risk, programs a family history, should be screened more frequently. bret: we will talk more about this on the pan until a few. the c.d.c. has new numbers on the h1n1 flu outbreak. marryian silber is -- marianne silber is live with details. >> hi, bret. c.d.c. officials say they are seeing a decline in the number of h1n1 cases but it is widespread in 43 states. four cases that are resistant to the anti-viral drug tamiflu, those cases occurred at duke university hospital and the four patients were in an isolated cancer unit. the c.d.c. has sent a team of investigators to closely monitor the situation and watch for mutations. doctors say h1n1 is un predictable and we could still see a second wave. >> nothing is typical about this year's influenza. we may have weeks and months of a lot of disease ahead of us. >> now, with the holidays approaching, people should take steps to prevent the spread. don't go to that holiday gathering if you're sick, keep your hands clean, and cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze and get the vaccine as soon as you can. the number of deaths from h1n1 in children is also down. 15 deaths were reported last week, compared with 26 the previous week. a total of 171 kids have died since h1n1 first emerged last spring, and for the first time this year, college campuses are reporting a decrease in cases, and school closures are down as well, and speaking of the cdc, they reported there are 1r 1 million new doses of h1n1 vaccine available this week bringing that total to 54 million. distribution has gotten better. 93% of available doses have been shipped out. she also went on to apologize saying that she feels for the people that feel frustrated because they can't find the vaccine. they wish that it could come available sooner but they're doing everything they can to make it available to people. >> live in atlanta. thank you. >> our fox news opinion dynamics poll indicates an even split over whether the h1n1 vaccine is safe. 45% feel it was rushed into production but still safe. 40% think it was too rushed and not sure it's safe. 37% say catching the swine flu is a bigger fear than the side effects than from the vaccine. 35% disagree. 5% fear both. 1/5 are not concerned about either. speaking of polls, president obama's approval rating has dipped below 50 in the daily tracking survey for the first time. it stands at 49%. you will remember the fox news poll out thursday had the president's approval rating at 46%. we will talk about what senate democrats fear as they begin debate on their healthcare reform bill. the fox all-stars check in after the the sixties were all about freedom. ♪ and now in my sixties, they are again. grandpa, are we there yet? 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>> this is a huge test of the democratic majority in the senate. this is a procedural vote. this is a time a party gets to act like a parliamentary majority. in other words, there are many democrats that don't like what is in this bill and maybe they won't vote on the fineal package but this is a procedure to get it to the floor to merely have a debate. this is the kind of thing that republicans used to ask for with judicial nominations when democrats were blocking it. it is just to get the vote to the floor. of the three holdouts, mary landrieu, blanche lincoln, the hardest is plan much lincoln blanche lincoln,. i think mary landrieu will vote for it. bret: especially with the incentive. >> this kind of thing, incentives have happened. bret: what does blanche lincoln get? >> we don't know what she wants. she is the only one of the three that is up. her numbers are terrible in arkansas. it is a state that did not vote for barack obama and message the white house is sending to her among other things they might be sending to her like gifts and other things she may want, is if you think you you can run for re-election having broken with the president on this crucial vote and keep your basics cited and fend off the republican attacks, you are he deluded. bret: steve. >> it seems her base is the same as his base. i'm not sure there is overlap there. the question is can she win with the democratic base if she upsets the moderates and independents? i think at the very least that is an open question. look, i think it would be huge news if this wasn't going to pass tomorrow. i think it's relatively less interesting than it likely will. i mean, it's taken some maneuvering. you give harry reid credit. the person who really deserves cred sit mitch mcconnell, keeping all republicans onboard in opposition. he is going to at least at this stage, hang this on the democrats. this is going to be the democratic bill. he is going to make them do some maneuvering to get this forward. you knowit's sort of an interesting moment. it is the first test, the democrats look like they will pass it, but the real fighting starts on november 3o i think republicans are sort of united an geared up to have that fight. >> charles, you asked about blanche lincoln, and the mary landrieu getting $100 million, that was the amount of the louisiana purchase. blanche ought to get $200 million. obama said he would end business as usual in washington. if you look at the sections, it is 2006 in which the louisiana money looks as if it is provision for all states which have had a prok la maights of a disaster area in the last 7 years and then the fine print inside eliminates all the others except louisiana, so it's a new kind of business as usual. i think that steve is right. there is almost no way imaginable that the vote will fail tomorrow f it is, it is the ultimate ewe mill yation t is a re-- it is the ultimate humiliation, the the jeks of a debate before it starts. even lincoln who, has to be for re-election will have a second shot at killing the bill after the amendments. all of this is are we going to have the beginning of a debate? now, you've got nelson, who is against the abortion provisions. he will allow a debate, but it's not changed in the course of these amendments, he will oppose the bill at the end, which is why i think the bill at the end is going to strip out all the abortion stuff, and then on the private -- on the public option, they're going to lose lieberman in the end, not tomorrow night, but in the end, if it stays in, but they could possibly gain olympia snowe of maine if the trigger is in. it can in the end pass but it has to be amended in precisely the right way. bret: it is a balancing act, definitely. i want to turn to the second day in a row where a federal panel has come out with guidelines and recommendations that the white house is not pleased about. first, the mammograms that they said this is not administration policy to move the age up to 50. now the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists advises women to start pap tests at 18, not -- at 21, not 18. the weiss house aides said the political team to pass healthcare reform first heard about this report in the past two weeks and viewed it as one of many potential headaches that opponents could use to attack reform efforts. >> is acon a government pan? the first one was definitely a government panel. bret: it owns the door to the conversation about rationing. >> the mammogram thing was a bowling ball towards healthcare reform. it is the number one concern about women when they're asked what they worry about, and here is this governmental panel, independent, but in the senate bill it says that when it comes to writing the basic healthcare package that insurers who participate in these exchanges are going to offer, they're going to look to panels including this preventive task force as to what will be in the package. i talked to secretary sebelius who said no we want women to keep on getting their mammograms, and the final arbiter of what is in the basic insurance package of what is in healthcare is me, not the panels. i said will you pledge to make sure that mammograms for women over 40 are included? she said yes. in other words, the white house is doing everything it can to reeash sure americans that there aren't going to be a bunch of panels deciding what they can and cannot get paid for. bret: we will talk much more about this in days ahead, guaranteed. the friday lightning round is ahead with your choice of the on-line topiof bret: all this week and every week on foxes news.com, the special report page, viewers can vote on what topic we discuss first on the friday lightning round. you can find it halfway down on the right-hand side of the screen there. as of 4:00 eastern this afternoon, about 1,300 of you weighed in, and 61% wanted the first topic to be the most vulnerable lawmakers in 2010. so here we are. back with the panel. steve. >> the most interesting race possibly in the entire cycle is going to be charlie crist versus marco rubio in florida. rubio is a young, fresh-faced conservative. i have somebody not prone to hysteria or enthusiasm at political events go and watch him speak and come back and say this is the republican barack obama. bret: the latest poll at eel clear politics has crist up by 13 roughly, but obviously, rubio has made a charge as of late. >> that gap is veally narrowing. i would be actually at this point, despite the fact that rubio is down, i would be shocked if he doesn't win the primary in august. >> i think chris d.o.d., kiss dodd the democratic -- chris dodd, the democratic senator, and rob simmons leads him in the polls and so does the former world wrestling executive, linda mcmann and he has been struggling. for a while his numbers were coming up and then they slid back down again. he made a momentous decision to chair the banking committee instead of the health committee when he had that choice and of course, being sorted with banking in any way shape or form right now is not so great. bret: charles. >> the one that interests me is in delaware where nepotism is the issue on the ballot. it was a seat held for 100 years by the vice president. his son is now the heir-apparent, but he is being opposed by mica mike: castel, and it will be a really interesting race. bret: timothy geithner under fire on capitol hill and in the hot seat and even democrats saying some of them that he should test down. what about this, mara? >> i think it shows how unpopular the bailouts have been, and what a thankless job it is to repair the economic crisis. i don't think that his job is in jeopardy. i think he still has the confidence of the only person that matters, barack obama, and he is getting words from the left and right, but he is just a poster boy, the face of the bailout right now and the administration. bret: charles. >> i would agree. there were three people who saved us last year and geithner was one of them. bernanke was the other and paulson, and they staggered around and made mistakes and a lot of their steps were contradictory but in the end, they saved the american economy. i would not in any way let him go, and actually, i would toast him for what he did. he and his two compatriots. bret: it is interesting to point out that the fresh treasury department is vacant in top spots. there are a lot of openings over there. >> i would not join charles in that toast. i would not clink glasses with the group toasting timothy geithner, but i think what politicians, what elected officials want to doite now is have some focus for the anger out there, and to be able to say, i'm doing something, and there's very little that a member of congress can actually do, so this is one way they can affect it. >> something they can do in the middle of a recession. bret: quickly, sarah palin. we have seen the sarah palin derangement syndrome and ridiculous ratings every time she talks about the book. oprah had the highest rating in 2 years for her show. charles. >> she's a ok star. she is this year's barack obama, incredible charisma and staunch constituency. she will not be the nominee. she shouldn't be, but she will be decisive in deciding who is. >> i agree. >> in 2012. >> i agree. she hasn't shown any signs of either wanting to or planning for a real presidential run. bret: really? >> that's what i think. i can't find anybody who thinks she's going to do it. now, she has plenty of time because she has 100% name i.d. so she can start later than most other candidates but i think she is not going to run. i think she will just be a power broker and king maker. bret: steve. >> i think she will run and assumes she doesn't need to be doing the kind of things precisely because she is so popular. look, her book sold 300,000 copies on the first day that. is absolutely extraordinary. she strikes a chord with huge numbers of conservatives out in the country who cheer her when they hear her name. >> in my remarks, i want to say she may have to run to preserve her viability as a force in the party but i don't see her as a serious candidate bret: amended remarks on the friday lightning round. i like that. finally, oprah announcing she will end her show in 2011. any comments? >> she is making a cable net work, own, the oprah winfrey network. >> i'm not sure i can take it. my afternoons will be empty. i wept. bret: that's it for this panel. stay tuned for one job that clearly takes it toll. . bret: finally, everyone knows that being the president is a stressful job that never goes away until the term is finished. this week, president obama seemed to be strolling -- showing signs of stress. >> barack obama talked about the pressure of his job, the incredible pressure of the job at the white house, and he says is taking its toll. taking a look -- >> that is usually a scheduling issue, meals, but i am eating fine and sleeping fine. my hair is getting gray, and it is the butt of a lot of jokes from my wife and friends. you have converging factors -- [laughter] bret: thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. make a great weekend. we had our biggest audience yet wednesday night on line. wednesday night on line. thank you

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