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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.

Today:

• Saudi Arabia vows to strike against Islamic militants with an “iron fist." But does conventional warfare work against unconventional enemies? That’s the Big Question for William Lind, director of the Center for Cultural Conservatism at the Free Congress Foundation.

• Plus, what is Al Qaeda trying to accomplish in Saudi Arabia? That’s the Big Question for Kenneth Zimmerman, author of Preachers of Hate -- Islam and the War on America.

• As the campaign heats up, the channel of political record breaks it down. He’s ahead in the polls. Now, we take an inside look at what really makes the Dean machine tick. Should President Bush be worried about Howard Dean? That’s the Big Question for Jon Margolis, author of Howard Dean: A Citizen’s Guide to the Man Who Would Be President.

• Iraq's movie industry pretty much dried up after a U.N. embargo was declared in 1991. But hope springs eternal in Baghdad, where an optimistic Iraqi is directing the first movie shot in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein. What’s his movie about? That’s the Big Question for Oday Rasheed, Iraqi film director.

All of that... and more on The Big Story With John Gibson at 5 p.m. ET.

Note: All guests and topics subject to change