Updated

Veteran newscaster John Gibson gets to the core of the most salient issues facing America today as host of FNC's hard-hitting primetime show The Big Story with John Gibson, airing Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. ET, with expert legal analysis from Judge Andrew Napolitano and in-depth field reports from correspondent Heather Nauert.

Topics and Guests for Thursday,
Dec. 19

Pentagon intelligence says Saddam Hussein is liable to do just about
anything if he's backed into a corner, that he could go as far as torching his country's infrastructure and then blaming it on the Americans to get worldwide sympathy
• Retired Army Col. David Hunt

International peacekeepers in Afghanistan have come under attack twice in just the last few days. If post-combat involves attacks on our soldiers, you have to wonder if our military strategy is working
Dan Plesch of the Institute for Defense Studies

Over five hundred Kentucky convicts are getting an early Christmas present — a get-out-of-jail-free card. Why? Because the state is so broke, it can't afford to keep them behind bars
• Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton

Be sure to tune into The Big Story with John Gibson ...
weekdays at 5 p.m. ET.