we'll examine why progressives are playing the race card. >> we realize this action would probably offend muslims just like i'm offended when they burn the bible or they burn the american flag. >> anti-muslim pastor in florida wants to burn a bunch of korans on the anniversary of 9/11. we'll tell you everything you need to know about this man's scheme to insult muslims and the reaction to it. and scooter libby speaks. he'll be here in a factor exclusive. caution, you are about to enter not spin zone. the factor begins right now. ♪ monday monday hi, i'm monica crowley in tonight for bill o'reilly. thank you for watching us. bill will be back tomorrow with an all-star line up. well, we are a nation of howard beels. that's the subject of this evening's talking points memo. remembered when howard behl the fed upcharacter from the movie network yelled. this i want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it and stick your head out and yell i'm as mad as hell and i'm not going to take this anymore. >> that's how most americans are feeling these days. why are we mad as hell? because since the democrats took the white house and the congress, each day we have awakened to some new horror. we're mad as hell about a trillion dollars blown on stimulus that did nothing to stimulate the private economy. we're mad as hell about a nearly 10% unemployment rate, almost a $1.5 trillion annual deficit and $13 trillion national debt. we're mad as hell about the government takeover and destruction of the best healthcare system in the world and it's $500,000,000,000.10 year price tag. we're also mad about the slimy back room dirty dealing and the party line shenanigans they used to ram it through. we're outraged about the holder justice department's lawsuit against one of our very own states, arizona. for trying to enforce illegal immigration laws. we're furious about hillary clinton's state department sending the ground zero mosque imam on a taxpayer-funded junket to the middle east. we're worried about a foreign policy that appeases our enemies, disses our friends, and is generally incoherent and dangerous mess. we're angry about monstrous 2,000 page bills that nobody has read before inflicting on us. we're incredulous about the cap and trade energy bill which would amount to the largest tax increase in the history of the world. we're ticked off that the president rails against special interests but buys off the biggest special interest of all, the unions, with tens of billions of taxpayer dollars. we're angry about far left judges cavalierly dismissing the will of the people. we're mad as hell about an arrogant leadership that refuses to listen to us even as it exponentially expands government in direct violation of what the founding fathers wanted for this country. we do not want american exceptionism being turned into unexceptionism. and we're not going to take it anymore. today marks the official start of the fall election season. was muffin reports has republicans leading democrats in the generic ballot contest by a whopping 12 points. gallup has the g.o.p. lead at an historic 10 points. now, things could change before november. but i think that's highly unlikely. i don't know if republicans will take either or both houses of congress, but i do know that there will be a major correction. like howard behl, we'll have enough. and eight weeks from today our present leadership will hear our sound and our fury. and that's the memo. now for the top story. president obama is sphrus -- frustrated with the g.o.p. and slams into them with in a labor day speech yesterday. >> when it comes to just about everything we have done to strengthen our middle class, to rebuild our economy almost every republican in congress says no. even on things we usually agree on. they say no. if i said the sky was blue, they would say no. [ laughter ] if i said fish live in the sea, they would say. no they talk about me like a dog. [ applause ] that's not in my prepared remarks but it's true. >> but if you believe the latest polling, americans are directing their anger at the president and his policies way more than the republican party. joining us now from washington penny lee, a former advisor to senate majority leader harry reid and democratic strategist alicia menendez. ladies, welcome. so, alicia, attackings republicans, especially coming from the president, seems pretty pathetic given that the democrats have controlled congress now for almost four years and the white house for over a year and a half. they have had these huge majorities in congress where they could basically get whatever they wanted. and now they are still out there trying to blame republicans for this night of the living dead economy. so, what gives? what's going on here? you want to talk about arrogant leadership what president obama is trying to get at is the fact that the republicans we see are clearly going to win some seats this november how many remains unclear are a lot of the same republicans who got us in trouble, you know, over the course of the last 10 years where we saw declining wages and household incomes where we saw our economy being driven into a ditch. a lot of them, this is my favorite, talk about the deficit. and not a single republican actually has a plan that reduces the deficit in the course of the next ten years. so i think he is absolutely right to go after them. they are definitely going to gain some power. let's see what they are going to do. >> penny alicia mentioned obama's stock line and a lot of other democrats are using this too that republicans drove the car into a ditch. however, i think based on what we are seeing in the polling and based on what we are seeing with very weak, high unemployment economy is that the american is saying wait a minute. let's even stipulate that the republicans took the car in the ditch, that doesn't give the democrats an excuse to take it off the cliff thelma and luis like and that's what the american people are seeing, penny. >> it is a toxic atmosphere out there right now. people are just angry and they are angry at both parties. they are angry at institutions. they are angry at government. they are angry. underlying that anger is also feared. they want to be told what the vision is for the future. that, i think is what is at stake over the next 53 days is the candidate not only able to address the fears that speak to the hope and aspirations that the americans have and the candidate going to win and challenge to both of them. in individual races and we are seeing this pop up here and there, especially on the house side. you have jason altmire for example in pennsylvania. he is an n. a tough district, democrat, reelected. he has seven times more money than his opponent. he is out there speaking to the people and saying, look, you know who i am. and you have seen what i have had to say. i have voted against certain things but i have a vision for the future. so he is actually leading. so there is still some bright spots out there for the democratic party. and i think if we can continue to articulate that message of the differentials we have a really winning shot. >> alicia, it does seem that this particular election is about the democrats. this is a referendum on president obama's leadership as well as the democratic congressional leadership's tenure for the last almost two years now. so when democrats go out there and try to make this about the republicans, that mess sack is falling flat. because, in most of the american people are saying look, we're glad that the republican party has been the party of no. party of no to bigger government, no to obama care, no to this out-of-control spending and exploding deficits. they are glad that the g.o.p. has been bull work to what the democrats have wanted. >> i haven't seen numbers bear out what you are saying that americans being happy that republicans are the party of no. that is frustrating. there was something interesting in that "the washington post" poll that i want to pull out for you though is that a majority of americans still identify as democrats and feel that democrats are more aligned with their values, which is interesting because it is not mutually exclusive from what you are saying, which is they still want to vote them out of office. so what i think we are seeing here for democrats is more than a political challenge. more than a leadership challenge. a real messaging challenge, which is they know -- people know that their views are more aligned with democrats views. and at the same time they're angry with them over what has happened over the course of the last few months. so somewhere along the line, the democratic message is not breaking through. i think in the course of the next three months, it's really important that they evaluate. >> penny, isn't that part of the problem? that the american people don't see a communications problem coming out of the democrats. they see a real content and ideology problem. that this is still a center right country and they feel that the country has been hijacked by a very tiny far left minority. >> what you are also seeing in that poll when you say to those that are registered voters you are seeing actual unevenness. they are actually tied democrats and republicans. there is still some movement there over the next 53 days, you know it, will be the challenge for the democrats to speak to the independents and to say, what is at stake because so far the republicans have offered no vision. they have offered nothing on how we're going to get out of this mess. so democrats have a challenges to explain exactly how it is they are doing. look, when we came into office 750,000 jobs were being lost a month. and now we are starting to see some gains come forward. is it enough? is it fast enough? no. people are frustrated. but we're on the right path. and i think that's the message we need to continue to get out there. >> penny and alicia, i think that's a very tough sell but good luck with that ladies, thank you. directly ahead, far left column ists tucker throws down the race card and blames anti-obama sentiment in america on whites fear ago loss of power. it's on tape and we have got it for you. then the dnc chairman says democratic candidates have to stop distancing themselves from obama, pelosi, and reid this november. and be proud of their party. but is this a good strategy? 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[ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums >> in the impact segment tonight, some folks on the far left are blaming white people for the angst in america. here is what columnist cynthia tucker said on nbc this weekend. >> we haven't talked about the elephant in the room, and i don't mean the republicans. race. changing demographics. feerp of a white minority. obama's election has suddenly made many white americans aware of the loss of a white majority. that's what this crazy summer has been all about. anti-mosque construction, anti-immigrant ravings. >> jing us now from los angeles to discuss why ms. tucker is playing the race card dr. mark sawyer a political science professor at ucla and from washington, dr. chris metzler, who is a georgetown university professor and who also writes about race. gentlemen, welcome. chris, let me begin with you. this is completely outrageous. americans voted in a black man as president with 53% of the vote. and now all of a sudden we're hearing from the far left that now we're a nation of bigots and racists? what's really going on here? >> yeah, well, i mean, you know, cynthia tucker's analysis is, i don't know, two apples short of a picnic. i mean, in this particular case, it is as if she is suggesting all of a sudden americans woke up and said white americans woke up and said e oh, you know what? is he a black guy. i didn't know that that analysis makes absolutely no sense. the fact is in order for the president to be elected, whites had to vote him in. so, since whites voted him in, all of a sudden they are upset about it? they think there is going to be a white nirnt? this is about buyer's remorse. at the end of the day this is about buyer's remorse. that's what it's all about. it's about ballooning deficits. it is about the health care bill. it is about the clinton secretary clinton putting in the u.n. report, this thing about arizona as if this is a human rights issue comparing it to terrorism and all these other human rights abuses in the world. that is what this is about. so, let's not play games here. >> mark, you know, on every single big issue from the economy to obama care to the arizona illegal immigration law to the ground zero mosque, you are seeing some pretty staggering numbers in terms of majorities here. 60 to 70% of the american people opposing obama's policies and his stands on these issues. so are we to somehow believe that between 60 and 70% of the american people are racist? >> no. no one would ever suggest that i mean. >> cynthia tucker seemed to. >> no. she wasn't. what she was saying is that we have had exactly what we did have. we had a summer where the republicans and to a certain degree you at fox news realize the racist resentment works in bad economic times. you play the racial resentment card. >> mark, it wasn't us playing the race card it was the far left playing the race card against the tea party, against republicans in a grossly unfair way and with no evidence whatsoever. >> you guys have the new black panther party. >> which was a legitimate story that the holder justice department threw out, yeah. >> you tried to run with the shirley sherrod. >> this was not a smart -- nice try but this was all the far left fanning the flames of these stories trying to accuse racism where it didn't exist. >> look, the far left looks at the same polls that the republicans do, that whenever the president is talking about race, it fans the flames of white racial resentment and his numbers go down. you learned that last summer when you saw him step out henry lewis gates issue. that's how they learned how to play the racial resentment card. that's what's been going on. numbers of people think the president is a muslim have been going up. simply stick to say all white people are opposing him because of race. >> chris, go ahead. >> this is ridiculous. okay, so then i guess if i follow that logic then all of the black people who don't support bush, they are racist? i mean, that makes no sense. >> no. >> hold on, hold on. >> as it relates to. so things that you said relative to shirley sherrod. shirley sherrod was fired by the department of agriculture. she was not fired by anyone but them. the naacp picked a fight with the tea party that it found that it couldn't win. so, by bringing all of these things that you are bringing in here, it makes no sense. the argument makes no sense. and as it relates to henry lewis gates, please. >> mark, let me ask you a broader question here. it seems that the old webry of playing the race card isn't working anymore. americans elected a black president. we have moved on. and so on as a nation in terms of civil rights. and it seems that there is so much desperation. that old weaponry of the race card is no longer working. and that's why you are getting these irrational and irresponsible uses of the race card where it doesn't exist and frankly it dilutes real racism where it does exist. >> i mean, okay, that would be a great al i didn't if there was a race card that ever worked. if there was some race trump card. talking about race is always a difficult and tough subject to talk about. politicians have always been trying to distance themselves from talking about race. especially black politicians. there has never been some sort of race card where you call white people racist and they dual anything you want them to do. it's never existed, never has and never will. and so no one is playing that card. >> well, somethin' tells me that. >> tucker is playing that card. >> we have exhausted this topic. gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. up nenks. the chairman of the dnc says his party's candidates should be proud to be democrats. is that smart politics or a suicide mention for dems running in november? we'll talk to two pollsters about that when we return. [ male announcer ] there's complete. and then there's most complete. like what you get from centrum ultra men's. the most completeultivitamin for men. it has antioxidants to help support your immunity and nutrients like vitamin d for your colon. centrum ultra men's. >> in the factor follow up segment tonight what is the martest strategy for democrats was we head into the fall campaign, is there a smart strategy for them? here is what dnc chairman tim kaine suggested on "fox news sunday" over the weekend. >> i think if you run away from who you are, that you are a democrat, you are proud to be a democrat, it's foolish. and the reason it's foolish is you have got a lot to be proud of. people ought to be proud to be democrats right now. we are a happy warrior party. and this congress has every reason to be very, very proud of the heavy lifting that they have done. >> with but the "the washington" just asked people who they would vote for in their con grcial district if the election were held now. 53 percent said republicans. only 40% want the democrats. that is a whopping 13 point margin. it's also worth noting a report by politico showing not a single democrat is running any ads boasting they voted for health care reform. not even nancy pelosi. joining us now from as bury park, new jersey scott was muffin an independent pollster and here with us democratic pollster and fox news contributor doug schoen. gentlemen, welcome. doug, let me begin with you. we are seeing these grim pool numbers across the board for the democrats. if you were a democrat running for re-election in the congress this year, would you be taking tim kaine's advice and be running as a proud democrat running into that buzz saw? >> i would absolutely reject tim kaine's advice. run away from the administration. runaway from nancy pelosi. run away from harry reid. and say that i'm a fiscally conservative, independent democrat who wants to cut spending, balance the budget, reduce the debt and eliminate the deficit. >> do you see any democrats out on the scene that valley have that message of sort of reform and fiscal responsibility? >> a number of congressman in trouble are following mark fritz's example from pennsylvania 12 the special election for john murtha's seat and are doing just that the party as a whole is wetted as tim kaine suggested to obama orthodoxy and that, unfortunately, is not a winning hand. >> scott, have you had some stunning poll numbers recently showing that close to 60% of the american people would like to see a full repeal of obama care. we're looking in fact, it's the number one, two, and three most important issues in this election season. most americans say the best thing the government can do to help the economy is to reduce taxes, reduce spending, reduce deficits and they believe that the congressional democrats want to do the opposite. most americans think congressional democrats want to increase spending and taxes. so if you are running for office on that, i think the best advice would be to localize the election, try to avoid any discussion of those national issues. because even if you convince somebody that you are not really sold on the pelosi obama agenda, well, you are part of the team and it's going to hurt you at re-election time. >> doug, what was stunning to me today when i picked up my "new york times" which i have to read, i don't necessarily want to read it but i have to read it i see this op. ed from peter or zag budget director for the obama administration, he literally made his first statement today in the "times" after leaving the obama administration arguing for an beings tension of arrested of the -- extension of the bush tax cuts including americans and small businesses. here is obama's budget guy and first statement out of the administration is hey, bush was right and we need to extend all of these tax cuts. i cannot believe after all of these democrats, including obama, who have thrown president bush under the bus for years now, you have got one of them now and granted is he a former guy but peterror zag reaching to president bush for a lifeline here. >> well, i guess the way i see it, monica, is christine roamer said something similar. she said you needed more stimulus or to cut tax. she has gone town, too. as americans. to solve the problems that we're facing. particularly. >> nehemiah mick economic recovery. good politics, good recovery and what the democrats and republicans should agree on. scott, is it stunning to you that a major now former obama administration official like peter or zag would invoke a major bush policy in a good way after they had spent all of this time and continued to even now heading into november running against president bush? >> well, it's stunning to me that it's taken this long, i wrote a column in the "wall street journal" in november of 2008 and noted that barack obama won the white house by campaigning like ronald reagan. a lot of similarities to the reagan campaign and the most repeated claim we heard from the president down the stretch was he was going to cut taxes for 95% of americans. right now hardly anybody believes their taxes will go down nearly half believe their taxes will go up. and with the economy the way that it is, the american people, the only remedy they can find comfort in right now is tax cutting. >> doug, the democrats seems to be a hot mess of a party right now. a lot of them throwing each other under the bus, running against pelosi, keeping their distance from president obama. very bad economic record to run on. taking a bad comoo, and making it worse and so on. what can democrats run on if you were advising them? what would you tell them? >> the greatest asset the democrats have now is the republicans. so they have to do two things. they have to run against republican extremism and demonstrate that their independent fiscal conservatives and make the case the republicans really are the party of no. >> is that going to wash? >> it's not a great strategy but it's better than anything else i can think of. >> desperation. >> yeah. >> scott, doug, guys thank you very much. >> monica, thank you. >> thank you, monday canchts more ahead as the factor moves along this evening. directly ahead, we will break down president obama's new economic plan. it involves hundreds of billions more in spending, tax cuts, and credits. i don't think they are listening to doug and scott. we'll have the details. and then, a factor exclusive. scooter libby, former white house advisor during the bush administration will be here for his first interview since his legal case ended. we hope you stay tuned for those reports. [ tires screech ] [ engine revving ] [ drums playing ] [ male announcer ] 306 horsepower. race-inspired paddle shifters. and f-sport-tuned suspension. all available on the new 2011 lexus is. it isn't real performance unless it's wielded with precision. it isn't real performance desperate for nighttime heartburn relief? for many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms caused by acid reflux disease. and for the majority of patients with prescription coverage for nexium, it can cost $30 or less per month. headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain are possible side effects of nexium. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. ask your doctor if nexium can help relieve your heartburn symptoms. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> in the unresolved problem segment tonight, are you ready for washington to try another stimulus package? after last week's dismal economic news, the president has come up with a brand new proposal. this time, he wants to spend $50 billion on new infrastructure. he wanted to give $200 billion in tax breaks to corporations for new equipment. as swell as another 100 billion in tax credits for research and development. but, our r. taxpayers going to end up paying for all of this? it sure sounds like another stimulus package. but according to the latest fox news poll, 70% of registered voters do not want one. with us now to explain it all, "wall street journal" reporter kelly evans. hi kelly. >> hello. >> first of all, each a lot of the democrats do not want to go down the road of more spending it looks likely unlikely that this package is going to get passed. even the requested that the president would go out and suggest another $50 billion in stimulus when the original stimulus, $862 billion has been a complete failure and over 250 billion of it hasn't each been spent yet. what on earth has possessed them to go out and suggest another 50 billion? >> i think what on earth is happening is that the economy is much weaker right now than anyone expected a couple of months ago, than anyone hoped. the "wall street journal" poll came out today had a telling stat in there. a quarter of the people think the economy is going to be worse in the year going forward. half the people thought so last year. basically the administration had kind of auto wave of positive feeling that it was riding there. coming out of the recession, coming out of recovery. look, stimulus didn't quote, unquote work in terms of getting us some terrific recovery it did probably bring down the unemployment rate by one or two percentage points. >> it's still 10%. they have promised it would stay below%. >> huge error and it would l. haunt christina romer for the rest of her life coming out and give that statistic. what is interesting here is precisely the fact that unemployment is still high and spent so much money. voters sensed this even before the obama administration did. to say this amount of money being spent what's happening in the economy is isn't enough to give us the kind of recovery we are looking for. unemployment is stillize and rising. finally when you talk to a lot of economists say this is more of the kind of targeted method that wield like to see from the first -- >> why didn't they pass it the first time around. >> now that they are ready to acknowledge recovery summer isn't what they hoped one is despite the big figures we are throwing around, a lot of folks say this isn't big enough given the scope. that's one view. if you are a democrat right now and you know it's not going to pass, come out with some huge measure to grab headlines and say look we know how bad the economy is, we are going to do it all right away. that's one strategy. the other is obviously when you are not going to get a lot of bang for the buck immediately, a lot of job creation from this, even though it's addressing some areas that need help. infrastructure in this country is a huge problem. need $2 trillion worth of infrastructure spending in order to upgrade our systems the way they need to be done. when you are talking about 50 billion it's a drop in the bucket. again, the problem is it's hard to draw a line between these measures, especially something like corporate tax breaks immediately to job creation. >> when it comes to stimulus spending, the democrats have blown through a trillion dollars at various stimuli and the american people see that it hasn't worked. i think they have blown their credibility on the whole hey additional spending question. let me ask you about the tax credits in this bill because tax cuts and tax credits are two completely different things. i do know that republicans have been arguing for both. and it seems to me that given obama's crashing poll numbers. and the economy in a shambles. it looks like obama by suggesting this is actually trying to steal some republican ideas. >> this, i think is, a bit of a strange maneuver and i will come back to what i said earlier if i obama and get democrats turned out for the vote again this is a campaign election for the mid terms why not something huge big planned that he can wave around and get people excited about. this doesn't quite get there on the other hand, if he wants to placate republicans and try to act like it's not going to add to the deficit or do something that could bring both parties on board, you know, again, it's not going to happen. republicans aren't going to get on board with anything he is coming out with, especially before the midterm elections. i'm not sure why it is worth the effort. >> too little too late to too desperate. >> too little some people say too late as well. i don't think there is a lot of here that a lot of working class americans are going to look at sand say this seems to me like something i have been waiting to hear about. >> you want real stimulus, make the bush tax cuts permanent and cut the corporate tax rate. >> you have to pay for that later. >> and cut spending. stop spending. that's what the american people are saying. kelly, thank you so much. >> sure. >> just a reminder if you go to bill o'reilly.com, premium members get to see bill's exclusive interview with lis wiehl. don't forget, you can preorder bill's new book, "pinheads and patriots." where you stand in the age of obama. which comes out on september 14th. up next, a factor exclusive with former bush white house advisor scooter libby, who is nasa not spoken out since his legal case ended. he will be here. then, why are some radical christians in florida planning on brntion the koran on the anniversary of 9/11? we'll get you all of the disturbing details. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] giving up cigarettes can take more than willpower alone. but today's a new day. for many, smoking is a treatable medical condition. so talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options and support. and this time, make it your time. that were a promise to himself and to the world. a promise to 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[ male announcer ] in these changing times, the name on your medicare health plan may be more important than ever. choose a company you can depend on. call now. >> thank you for staying with us. i'm monica crowley in tonight for bill o'reilly who will be back tomorrow. in the personal story segment tonight, a factor exclusive with scooter libby. who was chief of staff for former vice president dick cheney. mr. libby joins us now. hi, scooter. >> hi, monica, good to be here. >> let's talk about the obama foreign policy and i want to gipp with iran because it's certainly the biggest threat in the persian gulf and i dare say the entire world. yesterday, the u.n. nuclear watchdog groupment iaea came out a w. a scathing report on the iranian nuclear program saying hey, look, they are stockpiling enriched uranium. we can't get to it they won't tell us how much they have where it is. they are not disclosing anything. no big surprise. and also, they are not letting in inspectors. and, in fact, they just evicted two inspectors from the country. we have now had two years of obama's policy of engagement with the iranians. what has it gotten us? >> i think it's useful to go back to where candidate obama was or actually president elect obama in his very first press camps said that nuclear weapon in iranian hands would be unacceptable and then he launched on the policy that you mentioned of engagement and sanctions as a fall back. in june, of this year, the cia director leon panetta and i think on one of these shows said that two things. run the iranians are about a year away from the bomb. >> right. >> and secondly he was asked would substantials work? and he said, probably not. >> right. so here you have obama's own cia director saying the obama tragedy probably won't work. and now we're seeing and the u.n. of all people, are now saying look, sanctions aren't diswading the iranians from their pursuit of a nuclear weapon sanction, i do know that the european union upgrade graded their own set of sanctions behind the 8 ball on this, sanctions are not working here so. where are we right now in terms of a policy. >> listening to the debate on what to do next. because if there team saying what is not working -- we have a problem. >> do you think, scooter, that the bush administration made a mistake by not dealing more ayeively with iran when it had the chance? >> i would say that back in 2003 or so, there was more that might have been done with the iranian opposition, for example. at that point they were seven years away from a nuclear weapon and as we know there is a lot going on inside iran. there is a crisis of legitimacy of two fold. a crisis of legitimacy going on inside iran. the 2009 election had to be stolen in most people's minds. by -- there might be something to be done on that score. >> we now know that the iranians are working 247 to get an anuclear weapon. i don't think anybody is under the allusion that they are not doing that. isn't it advisable to deal with an enemy while you still have an advantage, okay get the bomb, we have lost our strategic advantage? >> it will be quite a problem once they have a weapon. that's why he called it unacceptable. it is interesting to think about what the region will be like if they have a weapon. you think about the soviet invasion of afghanistan, for example there is a reason that the world reaction was so mild to that invasion. you think about the north koreans sinking a south korean ship. everything becomes more difficult when the bad guys have that type of -- >> scooter, you mentioned afghanistan. i know you had been working on the iraq surge before this ridiculous politically motivated case against you derailed your effort and set back the iraq surge program for years and probably cost us a lot of lives and time in iraq. since you were one of the leading early authors of the iraq surge, give us your read about the surge in afghanistan and do you think it will work, especially under the guidance of general david petraeus? >> well, of course the surge came after i left. the notion of the counter insurgency strategy i think is a legitimate one for iraq. proved that way. and is also legitimate one for afghanistan. they have general petraeus in command. he is about as good as you could get for that he is a smart guy. he is already reporting back some problems with the implementation so far. but it's clearly too early. >> general petraeus also just asked for 2,000 additional troops in afghanistan. he just did that in the last 24 hours. what does that tell you about how the military leadership is perceiving this surge and whether or not weather they are going to stick to president obama's timetable about starting to withdraw august of next year. >> it's their job to win. i believe that general petraeus will do what he can to win. it's interesting what president obama said when he started the afghan surge back in april of 2009. he said there were two reasons to do it. one was to get the al qaeda leadership that's along the border. but the second reason he mentioned was because pakistan has nuclear weapons. and what he was saying is that if they have nuclear weapons, there is a danger if pakistan is destabilized that those weapons will find their way into the hands of terrorists. translation, we would wake up one day or we could wake up one day with a nuclear weapon going off in new york or washington or chicago or -- >> that's the strategic value of afghanistan, right? >> that is why he is among the two top reasons he said we had to have forces in afghanistan. and so when you think about iran having nuclear weapons, you know, if you liked halloween one, wait until the sequel reaches stheerts near you. >> do you think that president obama has a clear coherent foreign policy? >> i think it's hard to say from my point of view because i haven't had a chance to sit down with those guys and talk through with them. they put out a national security strategy but like most of these documents, they are not really a strategy. that's the art form for democrats and republicans alike. he has a world view. i think that's clear. and whether that world view matches the reality of the world is a question to me scooter final question for me. that absurd political witch-hunt that you were subjected to during the valerie plame case. your sentence was commuted but you never did, in fact, get a pardon. are you still hopeful that eventually you might get a pardon? >> well, monica, i worked 13 years, maybe 12, something like that for the federal government on national security. in that time i met czechs who had their lives -- communism. i medicine kurds who had suffered under the atrocities of saddam hussein. i met american families who had lost kids overseas. i learned two things from this. one is the world is not just. and the second is it doesn't do a lot of good to whine. >> you are a class act, scooty libby and had monica crowley been president of the united states, you would have gotten that pardon. >> i look forward to that campaign, monica. >> scooter, thank you very much, sir great to see you. >> coming up on the factor, a radical fringe christian group is planning to burn a bunch of korans on the anniversary of 9/11. we will tell you all about these anti-muslim bigots. general david petraeus says if they do burn islam's holiest book it could put american troops in danger. those reports next. the fiber and whole grain... ming him a great contender in thist... against mid-morning hunger. honey nut cheerios is coming in a littlehort. you've got more whole grain in your little finger! let's get ready for breakfaaaaaaaaaast! ( ding, cheering, ringing ) keeping you full and focused with more than double the fiber and whole grain... in every tasty bite -- frrrrrrosted mini-wheeeeats! didn't know i had it in me. chumple group down in florida plans on burning a bunch of korans on the anniversary of 9/11. >> >> we realized that this reaction would probably offend muslims just like i'm offended when they burn the bible or they burn the american flag but we have tried to make it very clear in america we have freedom of religion, freedom of speech. they are more than welcome to be here. more than welcome to worship. more than welcome to build mosques. what we are aiming at is that radical element that we feel is much larger than our politicians want us to believe. >> in another ugly act of provocation, last year jones distributed t-shirts that said islam is of the devil. but this latest hateful stunt has attracted the attention of general david petraeus. he says that the taliban will use this for propaganda purposes and could endanger american troops fighting islamic terrorism around the grown. with us now father jonathan morris. >> hi. >> thank god bill isn't here, right? you are in for him. >> thank god. >> he is going to kill me. go ahead, sorry. >> you have god on your side. so i wouldn't worry. i think about all of this in the context of the debate over the ground zero mosque. a lot of over pony nents are putting this particular mosque in this particular location say well, of course, they have a right to do it, but should they do it? i think the same question should applies here. they have the right to burn the koran like we have the right to burn the flag or the bible but the question is should they do it. >> that's exactly right. one thing is the legal right to do something. right? another thing is whether or not i should do it. and the pastor, i don't even want to say his name. quite honestly up until now i have avoided saying anything and fox, quite honestly has avoided the topic right? so as to not fuel the fire so to speak. but now general petraeus has had to because there are people hundreds of people in afghanistan and in indonesia who are out there protesting general petraeus, this is a new global reality, in which some little tiny pastor in a lytle tiny town with 50 members who calls himself the leader of a global community can actually change things. so another bigger responsibility and so now general petraeus is saying hey, this is endangering our troops. and now it's important for us to stand up and say this is not christianity. he s. has no right to be saying it he should be ashamed of himself. >> this is why your statement right there is so posh because we in the west have been saying where are the moderate muslim voices. >> exactly, monica, that's it. >> denouncing the radical terror acts. those voices have been silent. when radical comes up in christianity and other religions they it's up to say hey they don't stand for us. >> therefore we are going to make a big deal and say hey, listen he is standing for christianity? no. what we are saying that is not chris yant. end of story. >> father morris thank you so much. >> thank you, monica. >> god bless. pinheads and patriots next featuring angelina jolie picking a fight with an old guy over the u.s. open. [ woman ] alright, so this tylenol 8 hour lasts 8 hours. but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. finally, pinheads and patriots and. hollywood star angelina jolie who is also a goodwill ambassador for the united nations, met with victims of those horrible floods in pakistan and had this to say afterward. >> there are people displaced by the floods and they've lost their homes and the flood went as high as the ceiling and i was surprised and their needs to be addressed. not just a 1/10 -- not just a tent, it is their home and it is mud and their life. many of them lost their children during the floods. terrible damage. >> speaking up for those in need is obviously patriotic and weigh miss jolie for doing so. she not only gorgeous she has a good and giving heart. on the pinhead front, you won't believe what happens at the u.s. open in a certain match this weekend. >> announcer: oh! oh! . security! >> my money is on the old guy. i think he put the young guy away. you can make the call on who is to blame. anybody who picks fights at sporting events is a pinhead. all three brawlers were taken into custody and later released. they won't be allowed back at the u.s. open any time soon. so i guess we are all safe. of that's it for us tonight thank you for watching i'm monica crowley in for bill o'reilly. bill will be back tomorrow with an all-star line-up.