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 Friday,
Dec. 20

With 34 Senate seats up for election in 2004 and a slim majority, Republicans have a lot at stake as they consider a replacement for Senate majority leader
• Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wy.
Michael Barone of U.S. News & World Report
Karen Tumulty of Time magazine

President Bush tells Saddam Hussein that he must disarm, and that Iraq's weapons declaration only constituted a roadblock to peace
Marc Ginsberg, former U.S. ambassador to Morocco

The Bush administration is using the grim specter of terror in cyberspace to push a new Internet strategy for the Department
of Homeland Security
• Judge Andrew Napolitano, FNC senior judicial analyst

If we do go to war with Iraq, some military planners are expecting a blitzkrieg in Baghdad, a war that would be significantly shorter than the 1990 Gulf War
• Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney

The battle of the Beatles goes on and on.  After decades of getting second billing to John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney putting himself first
Jenny Eliscu, reporter for Rolling Stone magazine

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