reform is needed and should have been asap. that is it for tonight's "the willis report." have a great night. lou: it was a good day on wall street and a good day in washington as well if you are a fan of political rhetoric and awkward presidential tickets. president obama said more government programs are the answer to job creation. and house speaker john boehner said the republican party is no longer simply the opposition party. former arkansas governor and huckabee host mike huckabee joins us in just moments. he will have his thoughts and reactions to all of that. and tonight, the economy close up with one of its best a decade. wall street celebrating with a triple digit rally today. "lou dobbs tonight" starts right now.

♪ lou: good evening, everybody. president obama back on the campaign trail to push his state of the union message, his so-called year of action. today beginning with the signing of an executive order to expand federal job training programs. president obama himself admitted his proposal lacks anything that could be described as a new idea. president obama: so what we're going to do is review all of the federal job training programs and we're going to be supporting local ones. let's find what programs are working best and let stickel due them and expand them. lou: it would worry some of the presidents doesn't already know which programs are working and which do not. the president's remarks included somewhat of a bizarre shot at higher education. mr. obama telling his audience

that college is just not necessary for success. >> a lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career, but i promise you folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trade than they might in our history. i am just saying you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education. lou: a lot of parents will be talking with their sons and daughters about their art history choices as a major. and with the president back on the never-ending campaign trail, house republicans are at their annual retreat discussing the next moves on both immigration and obamacare. speaker john boehner trying to rebrand the republican party as an alternative to the president

instead of merely opposition. fox news chief congressional correspondent with our report. >> house republican leaders are taking on major issues such as finding alternative for obamacare, and more free market system and immigration reform including a legal status for those already here, laying out printable trying to show the g.o.p. has big ideas. >> doing immigration reform and a commonsense step-by-step manner helps our members understand the bite-size pieces and helps our constituents build more confidence that what we're doing makes sense. >> the bill as amended is passed. speek up has a comprehensive immigration reform bill. while this event provides a path to citizenship of the estimated 11 million illegals in this country, the houses they did to offer them legal status. house republican pretzels was

obtained by fox include border security and interior enforcement must come first. implementation of a tracking system, employment verification and workplace enforcement. and reform of illegal immigration so the best and brightest educated here can stay. says children of illegals brought here should be provided an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship. >> it is important we show we are not just the opposition party, but we are actually the alternative party. >> president obama's old reform as critical for economic growth. president obama: is time to heed the call for business leaders, law enforcement and fix our broken immigration system. >> some conservatives worry it could split the g.o.p. replacing obama could house g.o.p. guiding principles included ensuring the availability of health care options that all household budgets can afford. providing access to and choice

of care options for doctors they want and enable more doctors to practice medicine. resultthere's also the issue ofe government's borrowing authority, the debt ceiling which mr. obama wants extended in february without exception. president obama: threaten the full faith and credit of the united states, than we are not doing right by the american people. >> some noted mr. obama said having a plan for dealing with our long-term debt is a failure of leadership. >> i've been so surprised the president has advocated leadership, and he always asks congress to be the leaders of the american people. >> they would like mr. obama to put pressure on his fellow democrats to get this done. >> this has always been placed on the house to lead. the president is required to lead, he wants a clear debt ceiling. his party controls one half of congress. >> republicans would like to control the other half, the sites, and part of laying out an alternative vision is designed to show the public what republicans could do with

majorities in both chambers. lou: thank you very much, mike emanuel. defense officials confirmed the obama administration will nominate vice admiral to serve as the next director of the national security agency. president obama's choice of the military member is another sign the white house does not intend to make large changes in the nsa surveillance programs. if confirmed by the senate, rogers would replace keith alexander who is scheduled to retire in march. they will see the death penalty against the 20-year-old accused of killing three people and injuring more than 260 others at the boston marathon last year. the decision sets in motion the highest profile federal death penalty case since timothy mcveigh was prosecuted and executed for the 1995 oklahoma city bombing.

and the justice department dramatically expanding its use of clemency for low-level drug offenders. the agency is now asking attorneys across the country to identify what they call nonviolent drug offenders whose sentences president obama may commute. another obamacare architect retiring rather than seek reelection in the fall. henry waxman is retiring after serving 20 terms in congress. two other democrats involved in crafting the affordable care a act, commerce and george miller, max baucus who warned obamacare was a train wreck have also announced their retirements. a new poll shows uninsured americans increasingly themselves dislike the law. according to the kaiser

foundation, 30% of the uninsured now say they have an unfavorable view of obamacare. just 24% of those uninsured say they like it. and as you know, the list is long, leaders in major labor unions who wrote a letter to senate majority leader harry reid and house minority leader nancy pelosi to say revelatory changes to obamacare do nothing to help their workers suffering under obamacare. letter reads in part it would be a sad irony if the signature legislative accomplishment of administration committed to income inequality cut living standards to middle income and low-wage workers. georgia governor today i apologize for states lack of preparedness after a rare ice storm paralyzed traffic in atlanta.

resulting in it may commute for thousands and thousands of drivers. >> we will be much more cautious and much more aggressive in terms of taking action in advance. lou: atlanta only two and half inches of snow, but it led to an epic traffic jam forcing drivers to abandon their cars, thousands of children were forced to sleep at their schools, the sun was out across much of the south today, officials still dealing with a cleanup from two days after the storm helping people reunite with their cars. the nasdaq rose 71 points on the day. the economy grew 3.2% in the fourth quarter, and the second half of 2013. the economy expanded at the strongest pace in a decade. shares of amazon vomiting after

hours after the company's earnings miss. google shares moving higher in trading after a better than 17% increase in profits. shares of exxonmobil closing after a 16% decline in its earnings. weekly jobless claims rose 19,000 t19,000. pending home sales and is quickly dropping down nearly 9% in december 2 of those level since 2011. we are coming right back with much more of the day's news and some fascinating guests here tonight. stay with us. >> the g.o.p. looking for messages resonate with voters. john boehner tried out the alternative party. we will do a quick poll here next about the alternative party. they with us, we are coming right back. [ male announcer ] e new new york is open.

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lou: score one for the republican party. msnbc president today apologized republican national committee chairman for what he called an outrageous and unacceptable tweet by nbc accusing hostility toward biracial families. the tweet read "may be the right wing will hate it, but everybody else will go aww." griffin's apology and the firing of the staffer who tweeted that message came only hours after the chairman vowed to keep republicans off the cable

channel unless they did apologize. a new poll out shows hillary clinton continues to crush other potential 2015 provincial candidates. the "washington post," abc survey finds clinton was 73% among democrats followed by vice president joe biden a distant second as you see and senator elizabeth warren in third place. clinton's lead is the largest ever recorded in that poll. how has been paul ryan% republican support followed by bush and chris christie. but there is another new poll that shows our first guest here tonight in front. the survey has former arkansas governor mike huckabee leading the way with 16%, jed bush at 16, chris christie 13%. joining us now, mike huckabee, former governor and host of

"huckabee." it is great to have you here. you feel good about these polls that show you consistently at the forefront among the leaders who are leading for potential 2016 candidates. >> it is always better to be at the top of those things than the bottom. i'm glad your name was not on the list, or i would be way back on the list. >> i think all the talk about who is going to run and who is leading little premature. the most important thing republicans have to focus on, getting control of the senate, pushing harry reid to the back of the room so doesn't bottle up and keep any legislation from ever getting through. he has become the great hen sitting on the egg of every piece that comes out of the house. things go in, they never come out. lou: the senate, senator cruz

said if the john boehner plan goes forward, that is apparently his preference for a pathway to citizenship in any reform legislation rather than full support for the judiciary committee incremental report on a pathway to legal status instead of citizenship. >> i think senator cruz is right on this one, i really do. what's the hurry, with the urgency to take a democratic plan and to rush it into legislation? the last time we rush something into legislation the democrats dreamed of, we got obamacare. unless there is some serious, thoughtful discussion of how any reform would be implemented, i think republicans ought to throttle back, wait until they take the house and senate, then they can manage the legislation far more effectively and keep it from going blanket amnesty which

i think would be a disaster. not just for the republican party, but a disaster for the country. lou: there are some who would hold a disaster for the republican party seeking to wrest control from the democrats, the senate and the white house, but that would be automatically a disaster for the country. today's g.o.p., and i have to be straightforward here, have been calling upon the republican party to develop a message and to identify itself in much stronger terms for the middle class in this country and those who aspire to it, speaker john boehner saying he does not want republican party to be simply the opposition party, he wants republicans to be known as the alternative party. is there not someone in g.o.p. leadership who understands language and how to use it? >> i would like to think so.

you don't want to just he known for what you are against, you want to be known for what you are for. not a different form of a government that less government and government from washington and a centralized government which would be of the founders and to push it back where mayors and founders are making decisions and not a bunch of people who are thousands of miles removed from the impact of those decisions sitting in washington. that is what i believe the republicans needed to do. we have to communicate our message in such a way that we we talking to the people who work in the kitchen and not just the people at the head table. there are lot more americans working in the kitchens than ever at the head table. those are the folks who feel like neither party knows who they are, cares who they are or has anything for them. lou: i love what you are saying to those of the kitchen and the head table.

i don't get a feeling the republicans are talking to the people at the head table. indeed they are listening to the people at the head table in doing their bidding too often whether it be the chamber of commerce or the roundtable or the establishment in this country. republican party is not standing up for self-reliance or independence in its messaging or its campaign connections with the middle class. working men and women. >> i think that is a very fair assessment. republicans have got to put a bigger focuu on the small business of america, not the big business. i have said so many times, it doesn't make me the most popular guy in the room, but i have said we have this washington to wall street access to power dominating both parties, but the problem is both of these sites, one is funding the politicians and the politicians are interned

granting all all sorts of favors as if they were the tooth fairy. it is high time the republican party say our job is not to empower the already empowered, it is to find a way to empower the people who don't have high-priced lobbyists in washington working for them, but they are the people sketching out their business ideas on a paper napkin, they are the ones who will grow 80% of the jobs in this country. that is where republicans need to be focused. lou: thank you for being here. governor mike huckabee. be sure to watch "huckabee." house speaker john boehner has come up with a message for the republican party and in "the chalk talk," we will discuss how to be in need of some improvement. stay with us.

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lou: you know, if only yesterday i had said to you tomorrow president obama will say he wants to find out what federal programs are working so he can duplicate them and expand them,

implying he doesn't know which, if any, are successful. i don't think you would have believed me. if i would have told you that today the third most powerful man in government, the speaker of the house, with teleconference of his party that he wants to show the american people that the republican party is not merely about opposition, but is the alternative party. not the party of the middle class, not the party of education, not the party of aspiration, but the alternative party. i don't think you would have believed me, would you? in my book "a people" i write about how it is to come up with a branding strategy in this midterm election. listen to this excerpt from the upheaval audiobook. i don't know what the republicans message will be this year. if i did, can probably tell you

whether they will win or not, if they will hold the majority in the house, if they will take the senate. forecast republican ingenuity, innovation, all this energy is a hazardous proposition. so i will refrain. i will cross my fingers and hope they come up with a message for these midterms. lou: speaker boehner has certainly granted my wish. listen to him today. >> we're not just the opposition party, we are actually alternative party. lou: the alternative party, that is what they want as a message. mr. speaker, you're making your followers heads hurt, i imagine. republican national committee has come up with a report on the failures of the 2012 election calling at the autopsy, now you want republican party to be known as the alternative party.

such a name might make people think alternative to what which gives primacy to the word democrat or liberal. how about all words that are latin derivatives for just a holiday that extends through this election years. helping you get concrete and specific and inspiring in your messaging. how about alternative to the current g.o.p. establishment, is that to alternative for you? one that focuses on people and less on taxation and less on regulation. how about the republican party being the party of the middle class and all those who aspire to be in it? locally controlled education. that is not federally mandated. barnes & noble, walmart, and the

book is good to read. here are a few of the lucky winners tonight. keep it up an and maybe the republican party will understand they are our last hope to fix this disaster. my message to the republican party, stop fussing like old ladies and join forces and let's win this election. the country is depending on you. failure keeps rising in america keeps falling. that is just the obama way. and larry writes things the time and effort you put into preparing a people. it will assist all to understand the issues at stake. i can't think of a higher compliment. thank you.

we wants to hear from you. on twitter, facebook page, links to everything at loudobbs.com. stay with us, we are coming back at it gets much, much better from here. it's going to be amazing. stay with us. lou: the obama foreign policy, syria, afghanistan, iraq, israel, egypt and libya. investor john bolton and judy miller on how all of that is going. next.

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lou: the obama administration preparing sanctions that could be imposed against the ukrainian government officials and protests leaders if the violence in the ukraine escalates. this includes the current government and the intent of

closer relations with russia, wrapping more than two months ago. the president is non sequitur. and the prime minister has resigned. so the political crisis is a fact that is worsening. a watchdog report out today finds the afghan government cannot properly account for $1 billion in aid that the united states since to each and every year. auditors are looking for that billion dollars and they looked into 16 afghan government ministries. in the obama white house, however, will not discuss the matter or accuse russia of violating the treaty.

including what also might be breached by the russians. and joining us is the u.s. ambassador to the and united nations, and john bolton. and since we are in such a remote location, let's talk about this discussion. and this includes sanctions of a popular uprising. and the european union and 10 unions are all over them, thing

that you must join with us especially the ukraine is going to join on the russians. and people just had. and this is really a lack of priority. and the obama administration. and you are one of the first people to report that here. lou: at some point, the american people, as we discussed this, most people are not paying attention. this is so low on their list especially on a geopolitical maelstrom that is surrounding this these days.

>> they spend all of 10 minutes on foreign policy and this is a struggle for the future of ukraine. >> just about 4.1% from i love how they measure these things. and everyone is aghast that syria is not living up to the agreement. what are your thoughts? >> well, they were just so worn out by the exhausting talks were

supposed to be gotten out of the country. i know there are about six to eight weeks that they are behind schedule and i'm not as worried about the progress. and the absolute analysis and ending the war front. lou: he is contentious of the deal and what our allies received in return and so your thoughts? >> it made trivial concessions on the nuclear program in

exchange they got major breaches in the international sanctions regime. it was a big victory for tehran and there is more to come. lou: a new man to take over for general alexander at the nsa to maintain control. i'm going to be very clear about this and i want the ambassador to respond because i am so tired of the harping and the crow noises i hear out of washington. i trust the military leaders who are running the nsa and the people of our intelligence agents a far more than i trust those who are doing this and the elected officials that we have and i trust those who are in oversight as well. and so where does this end up?

>> i think that this is a natural extension of the act that the president gave a speech and he doesn't want to change very much and so you may be happy and this includes the program and i'm not happy with google and yahoo having this more than the u.s. government. lou: i think that judy is right. i don't trust ceos of google and microsoft or face look one single bit represent our national interest and i prefer to see this on the shoulders of the people running this. >> dougal knows far more about us in the nsa does and this has been badly skewed in the opponents have made wild and frivolous allegations. in the days and asymmetric to me

because the nsa can't explain what it's doing. because our adversaries would take advantage of and this is one of the president worst performances where he basically says no real abuses have existed, but i'm going to make changes anyway. it's just inexcusable. lou: salon is this president and i will have applauded an offense. >> thank you it's beyond think of her being with us. coming up next, a triple digit rally on wall street. we are coming right back. stay with us. i had to do something. i saw mdoctor. a blood test showed it was low testosterone, not age. we talked about axiron the onlyndarm low t treaent that can restore t vels to normal in about two weeks in most men. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18

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lou: stocks are surging followig up the report on economic growth and also some pretty big earnings. we have josh steinman for

deutsche bank asset management. it's good to have you here. driving these markets right now, we are watching triple digit losses and it's starting to look like the amplitude will be a lot more pronounced. and we are starting to see some bounces in the market here. >> i think a lot of it is coming from overseas. we've got turkey and south africa and brazil and china. and i think that that is a real situation. lou: when we lose sightuation. lou: when we lose sight of the relative magnitude of these markets and the sizes, we are talking just over $23 billion in u.s. equities. we are down to just about half of that in europe and another more than half in asia.

we are the big dogs and some days i swear that we are acting like i can't even imagine the reason for some of these moves based upon foreign events. can you give us a sense of what you think is going to drive us? will there continue to be concerns about emerging market currencies. >> the emerging markets are not completely behind us. and over the longer haul fundamentals in the u.s. lou: we have mixed news on housing and some relatively strong news on the gdp growth as well to match of the numbers for the fourth quarter. what do you think? >> i think on the whole the fundamental suggestion is we have the best chance since the

recovery began of shifting into bubble headwinds and i think a lot of that stuff is diminished and the fiscal drag is largely behind us. i think it's probably missing its best chance in quite a wild. lou: it is not always as strong as what had been hoped for. there is a lot of question of what we can expect during the forecast.

>> business has been hesitant. lou: u.s. multinationals are having estimates. we're talking about something like $3 trillion to get that money back in here and i want to see these corporations start investing in this country. the rest. >> absolutely.

i think one of the things that hold people back is this country has trouble sustaining itself. and that could kick in. >> i think the fundamentals are looking better. lou: thank you for being here. we appreciate it. coming up next, the inspiration to jerry maguire. we will have the story in this book and the agent himself coming up next this is the quicksilr cash back card from capital one.

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lou: my next guest has represented more than 150 professional athletes, including the number one pick in the nfl draft, a record eight times. he has just signed his first decline after reopening his business last year. joining us now is fair to say a legendary if not the legendary individual, we steinberg. a terrific read and story in the

most interesting, what prompted you to write about? >> what i try to do is get players to be role models and we trace their roots. back to the collegiate and professional community. 131 single moms by making a down payment. >> those are wonderful stories,@ and i think that you are exactly right about the kind of reciprocity between people who

make this amount of money. and the story too often because of the vast sums of money, as the model for show me the money. >> and you are part of the story. lou: how is that? >> because cameron crowe was following you around in 1993 and we went to new york and the number of teams and so we are in palm springs and i had a big free agent, tim mcdonald, and he was asked to come up to the hotel room, quizzing what he was looking for in the process. lou dobbs is on the television

then cnn in the room. so he gestures towards even say that we are looking for someone to show respect and show me security and someone to show me winnings. and then depending on who you believe he said he did show me the money order otherwise. >> that is a great ssory and it's a great story and now you have been recertified by the nfl and you have one client and his name is gary gilbert. he had a drifter 2013, outstanding numbers and he was in the top 20, i should say in yardage and percentage in such a

degree aptly. will he play in the nfl? >> i think so. i think that he might be a high draft pick. because it is the most critical position in football that is a franchise quarterback. it didn't take me long to discover that. and some weekends that is the position. we are now sitting in the biggest marketing event of the year. the super bowl and players that perform dramatically this week. a stand to be a household name for years to come. lou: we wish you all luck in the world. and we know that you're going to be immensely successful and godspeed. the book is the agent, it's on sale online and we recommend it to you highly. thank you for being here.

lou: all right, we will have a choice by tomorrow. think you for being with us, and don't forget to pick up my new book as well. goodnight.

♪ ♪ ♪ neil: this movie is so out of control. the folks that were supposed to watch out for consumers are spying on consumers. welcome, i am melissa francis and four neil cavuto. the consumer financial protection bureau was setup to do exactly what the name says that it should. protect consumers. but today we find out that it is turning into a mini nsa. a new report showing personal information from millions of consumers that include things like credit scores and payment history and salary information and even personal id numbers are the