the fort hood massacre, botched times square bombing and the recent mail plot. jon: he's the democrat who pulled out a big win on election day but that's not stopping the gop from trying to lure him to their side, the battle for west virginia's joe manchin. >> we are awaiting a life or death decision in connecticut. a jury, now deliberating whether stephen hayes should get the death penalty for the brutal murders of a mother and her two daughters. that decision could come any minute. jon: closing argument necessary the first civilian trial of a guantanamo detainee. thirty-six-year-old ahmed ghailani is accused of helping build the bomb used in the 1998 attacks on two u.s. embassy attacks in after cash ghailani's lawyers called no witnesses. what can we expect from closing argument? david lee miller outside the federal courthouse in new york city, i r i know you're just out of the courtroom. what's the latest david? recovery reporter the closing arguments for the prosecutor was still taking place, jon, but before the prosecutor spoke, the judge asked the department, ahmed ghailani if he wanted to testify on his own behalf and he replied, quoting him now, no, sir. and then the prosecutor got on with t. making his closing arguments, the prosecutor told the jury sitting among us is a mass murderer, he has the blood of hundreds on his hands, he went on to say that ghailani and the rest of al-qaeda were all implementors of the attacks in kenya and tanzania and just moments ago, the prosecutor specifically mentioned osama bin laden, and uvl'so thee the followers were to kill not just u.s. servicemen but all americans, those in and out of uniform were targets, jon. jon: if they didn't call any witnesses, what's the argument that the defense team is likely to use here? >> reporter: i think the defense pretty much outlined its case when they moved to opening statements. they are going to try to convince the jury that the defendant here associated with members of al-qaeda, associated with individuals with evil intent, but that he was, this is the word they used, a dupe, they described him as someone who was child-like, someone who liked to watch cartoons on television, and didn't fully understand the consequences of what he was doing. but it's going to be difficult case to make, considering that 24 hours before the twin embassy attacks took place ghailani boarded a plane to pakistan, jon. jon: so if he's convicted, what does he face? >> reporter: the prosecution has made a decision here that they are not going to seek execution, but rather, simply life behind bars. a life sentence. but there is one thing with this and it's worth noting here, this is a very expensive trial, although it's gone much more quickly than many had thought, if he is acquitted, if ghailani is aacquitted, the government, jon, can still detain him as an enemy combatant. so the bottom line here, no matter what the outcome of this trial, it is all but uncertain, unlikely, that gal an -- ghailani will ever walk out of this building behind me a free man. jon: david lee miller at the federal courthouse in lower manhattan, thanks. patti ann: right now u.s. officials are scrutinizing a new message from the only american on the cia's capture or kill list, anwar awlaki is calling for the murders of americans in a video posted on radical websites today, the radical cleric is believed to be hiding in yair men, he is linked to terror plots, including the attempted times square bombing, fort hood massacre and most recently the air cargo bombing square. just days ago, yemeni security forces got the order to find him dead or alive. peter brooks is former deputy assistant secretary of defense and senior fellow at the heritage foundation. thank you for joining us. >> in this video awlaki says americans are the party of devils and don't require special religious permission to kill. it's either them or us. what do you make of this? >> this is a very chilling video and his track record, awlaki's track record is very disturbing, very dangerous and very deadly when you consider fort hood was just a year ago, 13 american, brave american soldiers and others perished, we had the christmas day bombing that he was involved in and that almost came off, and of course this air cargo caper just last week. so we have to take this guy very seriously, taking him down as soon as possible is critical to our national security, and i would say that, you know, al-qaeda in the arabian peninsula may be the most dangerous element of al-qaeda, of the al-qaeda franchise today in the world. patti ann: al-qaeda of the arabian peninsula having claimed responsibility for this latest bomb threat, and several of the others as well. meanwhile a senior u.s. administration official is telling the associated press anonymously the white house is now pressing yemen hard for better cooperation, better intelligence sharing, and also, more access to al-qaeda prisoners that they hold. well, in response, yemen's own foreign minister today is coming out and saying that he needs more help from countries like the united states. the problem is, he says, abu bakar al kirby that help has to be subtle or else it will eliminate the moderates, those that want to help the yemeni government should help yemen build its own antiterror forces, providing logistical support, et cetera. what about all that? >> it's all very important. intelligence is our first line of defense, especially in the war on terror or any other conflict that we're involved with, international cooperation is critical, working together here. the problem here is that i agree we would like to increase the capabilities and capacity of the yemeni forces, the security forces for getting guys like al-awlaki and al-asiri but the problem is we have a front in -- a problem in front of us right now and we're going to need to make as much ground up as possible before another plot is hatched or is underway. so there's some real challenges there. we want to work with the yemenis, critically important, he's right about not want to go alien late individuals but we have a major national security threat in front of us that needs attention now. so there's going to have to be some sort of compromise there as we go forward because i'm not sure that the yemenis have the capacity right now to get al-awlaki. he's been on the run, been there for a couple of years and this isn't the first plot he's been involved in since the , this one last week. patti ann: al-awlaki, the only american-born but obviously a radical cleric on the u.s. capture or kill list. the civil liberties union and other groups are suing the federal government saying they don't have grounds to order the assassination of american citizens. what do you say about that? >> patti an, i'm not a lawyer, but the fact of the matter is from a security perspective this person is a major threat to the security of american citizens and of the united states. and if we don't deal with him as soon as possible, we could pay a very high price. patti ann: peter brooks of the heritage foundation, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you patti ann. jon: president obama addressing india's parliament on the last day of his visit there. he describes u.s.-indian relations as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. he's also backing india for a permanent seat on the u.n. security council. the president also faced protests in new delhi over the 1984 toxic gas leak at a union carbide plant. at least 15 people died as a result of the world's worst industrial disaster. humans rights groups say it's causing genetic effects and chemicals contaminate soils and water there. a massive volcanic eruption complicating the president's next trip, ash from indonesha's mount melapi threatening to halt flights in and out of jakarta, the volcano shooting clouds of gas and debris up to 5000 feet in the air, the white house says the president plans to stay on schedule for the arrival in indonesia tomorrow. patti ann: right now, the u.s. and israel are at odds over iran's nuclear ambitions. earlier today, secretary of defense robert gates insisted the threat of force is not the only way to stop iran from building the world's most dangerous weapons. gates' comments followed a meeting yesterday in new orleans between vice president joe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. according to reports netanyahu told rt the president the only real possibility of military action will deter iran. the u.s. made it clear that option is a last resort. coming up john bolton, former ambassador to the united nations joins us with his take on this latest tension between the u.s. and one of its most crucial allies concerning iran. jon. jon: this just in, what could be some political trouble for nancy pelosi. a letter, just in to fox news, urging the speaker to step aside from the house leadership. james rosen is live in washington for us. james, so fa, nancy pelosi is running unopposed for a minority leader, right, but i guess outgoing members of the house are venting their frustrations? >> reporter: good morning, jon. fox news has obtained a draft of a letter now being circulated amongst vanquished democrats in house in which these departing democrats urge pelosi to relinquish her leadership post. madam speaker, the draft reads, fairly on republicans made you the face of resentment and disagreement in our races. we fear that republicans will further demonize you in 2012 and in so doing they will scare potential candidates out. the prospect of having to run against their own party leadership, in addition to republican opponents, is simply too daunting. one mark of a strong leader, the letter concludes, is the ability to discern when it is time to pass the baton. however, pelosi has shown no inclination to withdraw, to the contrary, she has announced her intention to stand for election as minority leader and is presently unopposed, however, steny hoyer and jim clyburn are vying to serve as the democratic whip in the next k. the number two leadership official, jon. jon: on the gop side, they've got their own battle brewing, right, the position of conference chair, the number four spot in the house? >> that's right. this battle is occasioned by the abdication of indiana congressman mike pence who is mull ago bid for the governor of the hoosier state, in the dproans chair oversees a staff of 25-30 and runs the leadership's messaging arm. jeb hensarling of texas and michelle bachmamn -- bachmann are swearing off for the job. hensarling, bachmann. , a tea party dar ling, she is framing the candidacy as for the tea partiers, and hensarling says that's a rock solid conserve tivment hensarling has the support of eric captor, paul ryan of wisconsin. the outgoing conferenceman, pence and marsha blackburn of tennessee. >> i think the focus is going to be how do we get our work done, having a long, drawn-out and bitter leadership battle probably won't be something that the republicans are looking forward to, so i think because it's an extra seat at the table, they should be able to find ways to get everyone a job. >> and one route to that resolution would be see the presumptive speaker, john boehner, creating a post specifically for bachmann. jon: james rosen, thank you. we've received such a huge response to our america's asking town hall u.s.a. segment that we are going to keep it rolling. our panel today is going to be taking your questions on the fallout from the midterm elections. what do you want to know about the new congress and what kinds of legislation might come out of it? the effect on the 2012 election. that kind of thing. get your questions into us by logging on to foxnews.com, you can join the live chat right there on our home page, send us an e-mail, a tweet, or post on our blog. you can get there by going to foxnews.com/happening now patti ann: any moment, breaking developments could come on the fate of a man convicted of horrendous crimes. we are awaiting the jury's decision on whether a murderer behind the killing of a mother and her two daughters will receive the death penalty. we are live outside the courthouse in connecticut. >> he's a popular democratic governor whose state just elected him to the senate. so why are there signs republicans think they can entice senator-elect joe manchin to join their party? could it really happen? jon: some early indications right now suggesting republicans have big plans for a senator-elect who pulled out a big win at the polls. the only thing is, he's a democrat. we're hearing the gop maying trying -- may be trying to lure senator-elect joe manchin to come across the aisle, apparently some republicans think manchin, currently the state's governor, right be receptive to switching sides once he arrives in washington. why? chris stierwalt is our fox news digital politics editor. so why would he chris? >> reporter: well, two words, jon: barack obama. manchin is unlike other senators elected this year, many other senators elected this year, he's got to run for election in two years and in two years, barack obama who i would say is -- i would say is direly unpopular in west virginia is the top of the ticket, so republicans think they have an opportunity to cull manchin out of the democratic caucus, if not right away, but in time for him to run as a republican come 2012. jon: this is a guy who comes to washington are leverage with committee assignments, right? if you were joe manchin and republicans were trying to lure you, first of all, they can't give committee assignments until they're in the majority, right? >> >> they can decide who among the caucus gets which committee and certainly what they're trying to do with manchin and ben nelson from nebraska, joe lieber many of kentucky who caucuses are the democrats is induced to entice and say this are -- there are things we can do and if all three come over that puts republicans at a 50-50 tie in the senate and gives them more control and more authority and with manchin, specifically, everything has to relate to the energy industry, because his state is so heavily compendento dependent on coal and so many dislike the democratic polices as it relates to coal. jon: what does he say back to republicans as they offer these car -- carrots? >> i talked to be a adviser to governor manchin and basically he says the governor got elected as a democrat, he needs to go to washington as a democrat, he's going to talk to democrats and try to change their points of view on a lot of issues, whether it's taxes or energy or coal or all of these things, that he's going to try to change their way, and that for the beginning, he's got to go as a democrat, but certainly this person was leaving the door open to, as you said, let the listen have as much leverage as possible by having both parties courting him. jon: that is going to be an interesting time when mr. manchin comes to washington. and he sits right away in the senate, right? >> that's right because he's replacing robert byrd, as soon as he gets to town next week, he's a u.s. senator. jon: chris stierwalt, thank you. >> you bet. paul paul iran as defied the world time and again over its nuclear ambitions and now a key american ally says it's time to send a powerful message before iran obtains the most destructive weapons on earth. could this latest pressure help or hurt u.s. relations with israel? ambassador john bolton will weigh in. patti ann: right now we are awaiting a life or death decision in that terrifying home invasion that left two familiar -- three family members brutally murdered in connecticut and we hear the jury might be ready at any moment to give us that news, jennifer hawk petit and her daughters were killed in their own home, william petit of the lone survivor after being beant and left for head. the jury found stephen hayes showed no mercy, they convicted him of murder. now the same jurors are deciding whether he will pay for the crimes with his life. gregg jarrett has the latest. >> reporter: we did get word the jury has knocked on the door, and that signals to the court officer something. now, in the past, there have been some knocks over the last four days. could be a note for the judge, could be a verdict, some cooing something as insignificant as lunch being brought in. now we understand, however, this is a verdict, and clearly, this has been a very agonizing decision that jurors are ever faced with, life or death. the crime was heinous, cruel and atrocious, which is one of the legal grounds for imposing the death penalty, and prosecutors say stephen hayes and his co-defendant will be tried -- who will be tried next year were on a power trip when they robbed, tortured the petit family in connecticut. hayes was convicted of sexually assaulting and strangling jennifer hawk petit, the two men tied up the daughters to the beds, poured gasoline on them and set the house ablaze. the defense claims that hayes should receive life in prison, citing a difficult childhood that included severe physical beatings that later triggered the life of adult violence. but the jury which has been deliberating this punishment now for four days asked to hear readback of the testimony of the psychiatrist who said that hayes suffered what's called diminished capacity at the time of the crimes, an extreme emotional state that diminished his ability to control himself. in arguing for mercy, the defense told jurors that hayes would be so absolutely isolated, so ang quish dollars by the -- ang wished by the time -- anguished by the life behind bars, but the jurors have to weigh the aggravating, mitigating circumstances and in mitigating the decision it has to be unanimous -- unanimous. the judge has the ability to reduce death to life but the judge cannot elevate life to death. so we understand a knock on the door, the jury has reached a verdict, and we're waiting to hear that life or death decision. patti an. patti ann: gregg, as you know it can typically take a few minutes to gather everyone in the courtroom and start the proceedings but of course, stay with us here on fox news, we will have that verdict for you, as soon as we get it. gregg jarrett, thanks. jon: a judge in italy orders american amanda knox to stand trial for slander, this is pratt from knox's conviction in the 2007 conviction of the killing of her room aivment it could add more time to the 26-year jail sentence she is currently serving. this all stems from knox's claims that italian police beat her during the murder investigation. the new trial is set to start in may, but a judge is expected to hear an appeal of her murder conviction later this month. >> well, there was no shortage of predictions ahead of the big medical term vote but some candidates defied expectations. so how accurate were the prominent pollsters this year? scott rasmussen is here to talk about his biggest hits and misses. and we've seen him hunting whales, showing off his marshal arts skills, even riding a horse bare chested. vladimir putin likes to have a camera around on his adventures and we have the latest of the adrenaline seeking adventure. jon: a fox news alert, and there is a verdict in one of the most heinous crimes that we have covered in recent memory, this the murders of jennifer hawk petit and her daughters haley and maykayla, steve hayes, he was convicted but the jury has been considering whether or not to sentence him to death or give him life in prison. laura ipgel is at the courthouse in connecticut. laura, what's the latest? >> reporter: jon, just moments ago, we did hear the knock that we had been waiting for, for the last several days, in the jury deliberation process of the penalty phase. several times throughout the weekend a knock has meant the jurors have questions about either the verdict forms or some of the instructions or the bi