good evening, everybody. the entire obama administration tonight seems to be reeling from the political and media blowback against the president's release of five deadly radical islamist terrorists in exchange for one soldier. a soldier who appears to have become deeply dissociated from his comrades in arms from the army and from america. a deserter whose former fellow soldiers now say should be charged with desertion. the taliban today released this video of their handoff of sergeant bowe bergdahl to u.s. special forces in just one

example of an administration in disarray, the state department would then not even verify nor even acknowledge that the images in this video are actually sergeant bergdahl. here is state department spokesperson marie harf haplessly responding to media questions about bergdahl and the video. >> i think i probably refer to the statement by my colleague at the pentagon, admiral kirby, who said we're aware of the video allegedly released by the taliban showing the transfer. >> while his fellow platoon members have accused bergdahl of deserting, fox news has confirmed through high-level pentagon sources today that bergdahl had walked off his post more than once before his capture by the taliban. his fellow platoon members tonight remain outraged at the decision to free radical islamist terrorists who will likely re-enter the war against america.

his former platoon members claim that numerous americans lost their lives searching for bergdahl. defense secretary chuck hagel, however, played dumb when presented with those claims. the defense secretary somewhat surprisingly wasn't entirely convincing in the role. the pentagon chief relied on one of the white house's favorite defenses, and he claimed ignorance. >> i do not know of specific circumstances or details of u.s. soldiers dying as a result of efforts to find and rescue sergeant bergdahl. i am not aware of those specific details or any facts regarding that. >> have you ever heard a more halting hesitant, cautious

statement? which brings us to the white house. the president's deputy national security adviser, tony blinken, apologized to dianne feinstein for not notifying her committee of the pending terrorist prisoner swap. blinken called it, quote, oversight. no word at this hour on whether the white house apologized to the seven other congressional committees they are required by law to notify 30 days in advance of such a prisoner release. the white house openly acknowledged that these five terrorists will more than likely return to the battlefield against america. we'll be taking up the dangers of this decision with army lieutenant colonel ralph peters here in just moments. also, the brand-new book "faithless execution." andrew mccarthy lays out the legal and political base for the impeachment of president barack obama. the former prosecutor andy

mccarthy joins us tonight. the white house trying to spin comments from national security adviser susan rice that sergeant bergdahl served with honor and distinction. obama administration officials telling fox news that rice meant -- meant that bergdahl had volunteered for service and endured five years in captivity and was not trying to characterize the circumstances of his capture. here with his reaction now, fox news strategic analyst lieutenant colonel ralph peters. ralph, it is great to have you with us. this is an extraordinary, extraordinary story. what are your first thoughts about odierno, the general, saying that everyone should hold their fire on this decision on the part of the president and others saying that they just simply, like chuck hagel, the defense secretary, saying they're unaware of the facts of his capture?

>> you know, i tend to just write off chuck hagel. he's past it. but i was definitely offended today when he said, well, we don't really know 100% for sure if those soldiers were really killed looking for bergdahl. his soldiers -- no, the soldiers who were on the ground know that their patrol plans were changed. they know what their orders were. they know why soldiers died. the secretary of defense insulted our troops to protect this criminal white house. now, and it goes far beyond that. i'm very disappointed that no member of the joint chiefs has stood up for the soldiers. they're all rushing to play down the scandal, to really frankly to cover for the white house. and it's very discouraging because lou, i can tell you, with absolute certainty, that within the first 48 to 72 hours, our leaders in afghanistan and washington believe that bowe bergdahl had deserted his post

in a combat zone. and i was told that the only reason they were not going public with that back in 2009, this was in just a couple days of him walking away. they wanted to spare his parents any further pain. and then the military, to its shame, the military brass went along with the obama white house and created this false narrative where bergdahl's a p.o.w. captured by the taliban, his soldiers -- all soldiers, marines, everyone who knew what really happened, and soldiers have built-in b.s. detectors. they know. they were appalled and disgusts. and so lou, this weekend, the final straw for the men and women in uniform was when they saw that rose garden pageant of craziness with pops taliban in his beard and his remarks . and then susan rice going on a talk show and claiming that bowe bergdahl served with honor and distinction. sorry, no excuses. words have specific meanings.

especially in the military. honor and distinction does not include deserting your post in wartime, which it is exactly what it appears bergdahl did. and it's still an open question. i will redeserserve judgment on part, whether he sought out and collaborated with our enemies. it's astonishing to me that this white house, even this craven, craven, wicked white house could be so stupid. >> this is -- right now as we look at what is swirling around this white house, all the weight of these cumulative scandals and then this farce that has been engineered by this president, this white house, this administration, to go on without really the national media saying, wait a minute. "the washington post" has reported that this sergeant, bergdahl --

>> i prefer private bergdahl. >> -- it's an open question, it's a statement of fact being reported by media outlet after media outlet. and at the same time for this administration to project at least with the rose garden ceremony, i'm almost inclined to believe that they thought they would get a slap on the back from the american people for this colossal disaster. >> well, lou, i really think a fundamental problem is nobody in the obama administration served in the military or understands its values. and they don't really understand the american people anymore. and i truly believe that obama and team obama thought that that ceremony in the rose garden and the news of bergdahl's release, trade for five of the world's worst terrorists, was going to lead to more celebrations in the streets of washington after you saw osama bin laden's death. and they got it just as wrong as they possibly could have. and now they're battening down the hatches. you heard yesterday how

spokeswoman harf at the state department, astonishingly, she claimed that she, in washington, d.c., had a better idea of what bergdahl did in afghanistan than his platoon mates and company mates in afghanistan who lived with him and fought with him. the arrogance is astonishing. and at some point, if the obama administration, if it can't stop telling lies, please, please, at least stop insulting our military so gravely. and lou, this is also politicized including at the top level of the pentagon that i really fear a whitewash. the administration does not even now want to accept the evidence that bowe bergdahl was a deserter. or worse. >> to your disquiet, the white house is apparently trying to discredit the claims of the soldiers who served with bergdahl. nbc's chuck todd reporting, quote, a few white house aides described it to me as we didn't know that they were going to

swiftboat bergdahl, end quote. >> yeah. and that's sort of shameful. these were infantrymen. the bravest and best we've got. and relatively elite unit on the front lines in afghanistan, taking casualties. and the white house pukes, in their ill-fitting suits, they actually are accusing these guys of lying instead of bergdahl. it's astonishing. the defense of bergdahl, on the part of these craven cowards in the white house is -- it's enough to make the person with the strongest stomach nauseous. >> well, we may have one further entry, if you will, in the analysis of truth, and that will be defense secretary chuck hagel who will be testifying on the 11th of this month before congress. so perhaps we'll get some better idea why he didn't know anything about anything on an issue so

important to the country as this. colonel, always great to see you. thanks so much, ralph. >> thank you, lou. the white house calling for strict new epa regulations saying it will create new industries, new jobs. critics say it will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. erica payne, steve malloy debate the issue next. unlimited cash back. let that phrase sit with you for a second. unlimited. as in, no limits on your hard-earned cash back. as in no more dealing with those rotating categories. the quicksilver card from capital one. unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase, every day. don't settle for anything less. i'll keep asking. what's in your wallet?

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the obama administration today took aim at the coal industry again. mandating a 30% cut in carbon emissions and fossil fuel-burning power plants by 2030. epa administrator gina mccarthy said the centerpiece to the climate change agenda was moral obligation.

>> now climate change is calling our number. and right on cue, these same critics will once again flaunt manufactured facts and scare tactics, standing in the way of our right to breen clean air, to keep our communities safe and to meet our moral obligation as stewards of our natural resources. >> joining us now to discuss the scare tactics, the moral obligations, the facts, even, steve malloy, director of external policy and strategy with murray energy corporation. good to have you with us. erica payne, former deputy dnc finance director and founder of the agenda project. good to have you with us. let's start with gina mccarthy, my gosh, she just jumped into that floebl changlobal change t. didn't she mean global warming? >> i think she obviously meant that our climate is in peril and coal plants put out 30% of the

climate pollution, so let's do something about it. >> all right. and what percent of the total global pollution do those coal plants account for? >> a much smaller fraction, but let's be clear, somebody's got to lead, lou. >> yes. i would say that that's true. steve, wouldn't you agree, somebody's got to lead? >> no, sir. epa admitted in today's proposal that there is no global warming going on. as a matter of fact, it may take hundreds of years to see anything. and that's just hypothesis. >> wait, what are you talking about, steve? >> they're going to do nothing but raise electricity rates. it's going to hurt electricity reliability. it has nothing to do with the environment, the climate or public health. this is pure political hardball by the obama administration. >> listen, i think steve has a reputation for saying about anything for a buck, so we'll just take that one with a grain of salt. >> i can show you the document. you can read the proposal for yourself. >> all right. >> they don't talk about rising temperatures at all. >> you work for one of the worst violating coal companies in the

world, steve. happy to have you here. 3500 violations in one mine, nine deaths. >> -- trashed reputation. >> wait a minute. wait a minute. erica, come on. >> not much credibility. >> are you attacking the epa or attacking me? >> can i say that the audience nor i have the patience to have you talk over each other in an ill-mannered way. both of you are here with a political ideological view and an agenda. everyone watching and listening to you understands that. so this is a waste of our time. so let's be more productive and turn to how in the world will the epa uphold a rule like this that's a rule which even democrats are saying they're going to stop, erica? >> actually, it's not a tough rule. they've got 16 years to comply with it. they went back and said you've got to reduce emissions from 2005. it's now 2014.

they have until 2030 to make it happen. most coal plants are already halfway there. years to do it. you know, the coal industry rolls out these arguments about oh, the sky is falling. every other minute somebody tries to say, you know what? take ahold of yourselves. you know, you're polluting the planet. you're causing health problems. let's face it like grown-ups. >> and like grown-ups, what will the coal industry do, steve? >> well, epa is going to force us to sue. and the rule is blatantly illegal. the clean air act says that if you regulate epa -- if you regulate an industry under 112, you can't regulate it under 111d. there's going to be that battle. there's going to be a battle this fall. and then in 2016 at the voting booth. and the question for voters is going to be, look, do you want your electricity prices to skyrocket like president obama promised? do you want to have -- do you want to turn on your air conditioning in the summer and have to cross your fingers as to

whether or not it's going to be there. if you work in manufacturing, do you want to see your job exported to china? this rule has nothing to do with global climate or public health. there's not one premature death. there's not one case of asthma. there's not one cough or wheeze that's going to be prevented by this. this is just hardball from the obama administration. >> erica, if i may -- >> sure. >> -- turn to this static. $118 billion spent by the coal industry itself over three decades that has resulted in a 90% reduction in emissions. are those still emissions that are unacceptable? i think most people would agree it should be far better, but it's still a significant and in some ways an amazing reduction in emissions. why aren't we hearing the epa talk about this industry, investing in technology, creating new jobs and taking down another 90% through innovation? why isn't that there kind of

tone and positive leadership from this extension of the obama administration? >> i think what they found from the industry repeatedly is that it just pushed back and pushed back and misinformation. and so they know that they're -- >> well, wait a minute. if i may -- >> steve just said, they're going to be forced to sue. how about being forced to innovate and take 16 years and get your plants in order with something that will work for the environment? why should they be forced to sue? >> can i get in here? >> sure, you get the last word. >> we don't need these kind of rules. they're not producing any benefits. they're just going to put high costs on the american consumers and businesses. >> just like -- that's right. >> thank you very much. you f let me finish my thought. there's going to be no benefits. epa has been telling the public it's been getting worse and more dangerous. who should the public believe? >> all right. that's going to be one of the questions. the other is who will the public put in office beginning with the

midterms in 2016. steve malloy, erica payne, thank you both. up next, the money this fellow is spending on failed policies and how no one is doing anything about it. we'll take that up for discussion here next. we'll do almost anything. out for drinks, eats. i have very well fitting dentures. i like to eat a lot of fruits. love them all. the seal i get with the super poligrip free keeps the seeds from getting up underneath. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. a lot of things going on in my life and the last thing i want to be thinking about is my dentures. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip.

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what are we citizens of this great nation supposed to do as all of this unfolds? it seems at every turn and with greater frequency, this president and his administration demonstrate they're incapable of doing anything correctly. unable to do anything right, utterly lacking in the ability to succeed at anything. president obama and his team are now in the center of a media and political hell storm because he chose to release five senior taliban terrorists who hate our nation for one american soldier who apparently deserted his post and hates our nation. the president expected adulation and applause, apparently, for his mad decision-making instead of this hellstorm that has resulted.

some left-wing apologist journalist said obama was cleverly using this exchange outrage to divert attention from the veterans affairs scandal. there's now the specter of the justice department's surveillance of juournalists, fast and furious, solyndra, obamacare and the v.a. scandal. and hundreds of billions of dollars spent and the white house can't honestly claim they've succeeded in any department of our government. how is it that we got to the point where our president swaps five radical islamist terrorists who want to fight us for a soldier who refused to fight for us? how can that president ignore statutory obligations to inform eight congressional committees? a president who ignored and

avoided the entire national intelligence structure in order to make such a deal? what can this administration possibly be thinking? i wish there were some other explanation for our president's conduct other than the explanation that is so obvious and so painful for all of us to accept. we're coming right back. president obama's prisoner swap is an impeachable offense. so says former federal prosecutor and author andrew mccarthy. he joins us tonight to discuss his new book, "faithless exclusion: building the political case for obama's impeachment."

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biotene -- for people who suffer from dry mouth. we are thinkers. the job jugglers. the up all-nhts. and the ones who turn ideas into action. we've made our passions our life's work. we strive for the moments where we can s, "i did it!" ♪ we are entrepreneurs who started it all... with a signature. legalzoom has helped start over 1 million businesses, turning dreamers into business owners. and we're here to help start yours. let's begin with our word of the evening. the word is -- are you ready -- contumacious. stubbornly resistant to authority or willfully

obstinate. president obama's contumaciousness could one day lead to impeachment. andrew mccarthy with the book out just yesterday, "faithless execution." great to have you here. >> great to be here. >> and congratulations on the book. >> thank you. >> the political case, you say there's seven foundations at least for impeachment. which is the most compelling to you? >> well, as an old prosecutor, i always want to have a count in the indictment that is almost incontestable. and i think what i start with, number one, is obama's refusal to faithfully execute the laws and usurpation of congress's le legislative and constitutional powers. i think if you look at all of the times that the president has either unilaterally amended, selectively enforced, ignored or

otherwise rewritten statutes, even his most ardent admirers have to admit that he doesn't follow federal law. and that's really the president's -- one of the president's main jobs in the constitution is to faithfully execute the laws. >> to take care of laws, define that responsibility, although there is considerable debate now, the left wants to support, if you will, the invalidation of the take care clause. but we are left with a president who is doing exactly what the hell he wants. >> right. >> contumacious. it is a disregard for authority. it is psychologically -- and i'm no psychiatrist or psychologist, but there is something here about this man who says i will not seek permission from a founding document, and i will not beg forgiveness from those who rely on that document for their freedoms. >> right. >> this is chilling. >> after he looks the country in the eye twice and promises to

preserve, protect and defend the very system that he's undermining, which i think at this point, an oath of office, and if you like your health care, you can keep your health care because it doesn't seem like anything that he says on monday he can be held on on tuesday. >> a striking quality to the man is that he is, as i said earlier in the broadcast, frankly doing almost nothing correctly. his proposals, his initiatives have been unsuccessful. his governance is not effective. he doesn't solve problems, yet he persists in violating the law through primarily simply ignoring the law. can this continue, really? >> well, it could continue, but it can't continue with the united states being the united states as it was designed to be under the constitution as we've had it. the main thing that the framers attempted to do -- and this is

really -- is the separation of powers. the awareness that if too much power accumulated in any act of government, we're on the road to tyranny. and that's what i think he's undermined here. >> this exchange, five senior taliban terrorists, for one soldier who apparently is a deserter, eight committee chairmen were to have been notified. the president has done none of those notifications and has ignored his intelligence community. we've got just a few seconds. your thoughts about its impact. >> i think the most important part of it is the dereliction of duty on the part of the commander in chief. apart from the 30-day notice requirements, the taliban and haqqani network are still conducting offensive jihadist operations against our people in the field. and the president has repleni replenished their forces with their most effective commander. inexplicable. >> andrew mccarthy, great to see you. thanks for being here.

>> thank you. >> and the book is "faithless execution." go to amazon.com. "faithless execution: building the political case for obama's impeachment." on sale online and bookstores everywhere. racked by scandal. but the biggest problem affe affecting the health of our veterans affects us all. dr. mark siegle is next. you knso i get invitedpeople have saved with progressive, to quite a fewfamily g. heck, i saved dith here a fortune you make a mighty finesus, m'l. i'm nosaying mark's thrifty. let's just say, i savehim $519, and it certainly didn't go toward that ng.

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lawmakers turning their focus on improving care in the v.a. system following the resignation of v.a. secretary eric shinseki friday. sat veter bernie sanders unveiled legislation to revamp the v.a. including easier access to private health care. for mao on how we can better provide medical care to our veterans, i'm joined by dr. mark siegle, professor of medicine at

nyu langone medical center. great to see you. let's start with the system. overall there are some systems that are terrific, some v.a. hospitals, but across the country, this looks like just a disaster. >> let's start with what it is. the v.a. system is a form of socialized medicine. why? because the government hires the doctors. it builds the hospital. and it hires the nurses. it sets the standard of care. now, if you're on a salary, lou, it might not surprise you to know that the amount of care is variable. there's no incentives. there's no one saying you see more patients, faster, you do a better job, we pay you more, that's not so. i've worked in v.a. hospitals and i am here to tell you that the care is variable. there are some heroes there and there's plenty of slackers there. it's variable. and no matter what is being said right now, this system cannot be fixed easily. most veterans -- >> i have to tell you the only places i've been, they have worked like heroes to me and the

people taking care of our veterans have been doing an amazing job, particularly in burn units and amputee units across the country, trauma, head trauma, just extraordinary job. the fact that we have spent so much money and apparently moved so little of that in the form of care to our veterans is inexcusable. yet we've known there's a problem in this since the transition certainly from bush to obama. why isn't anybody standing up and saying it's got to get fixed now? we're hearing the usual platitudes and nonsense. it doesn't sound like real reform. >> you already hit on one of the points which it's variable. there's some great dock are tos there and great care. in other areas there isn't. i have found it works well when they're affiliated with university hospitals so at the same time those same doctors

providing care at a university hospital also are doing it at a v.a. and researchers. some of our top medical centers have research going on at the vrchg v.a. it can't be fixed overnight. it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to totally revamp the system. the other thing is, i have been looking into this, and i don't think that the v.a. has enough focus on what we call emergency care. and the v.a. has system has admitted that. they say waiting times for emergency care at least twice as long as what they are at other hospitals in the united states. and you know where else that's true? in great britain. the other form of socialized medicine i would compare this to is in great britain, very long waiting times for emergency care. >> what about the number of doctors, period, at v.a. systems? i know that we're looking at the peculi prospect, because of obamacare, about 130,000 doctors over the next, i believe, the next decade

and a half. your thoughts about the number of doctors. >> well, the american board of physician specialties says that the v.a. is 1400 doctors short, most of them primary care specialists. there's another government survey that says that most of the doctors that are there -- and again, this is to your point earlier, the heroes part, primary care doctors are seeing over 2,000. the v.a. wants them to see 1200 patients. in other words, 1200 patients report to one specific doctor. that's a lot of work. so this physician shortage, which is very, very important problem in the v.a., at a time when we're getting more and more veterans coming in. also, there's no distinction made between veterans that served in the iraq and afghanistan campaigns and those from korea and those from world war ii, those from vietnam, i was thinking maybe if you have a war ruined when you come back to the united states from iraq or afghanistan and have a war wound or posttraumatic stress or

traumatic brain injury -- >> should be a priority. >> a top priority. if not even to remain in the military hospitals for a year, even after discharge. >> how about anywhere? when we have a veteran -- >> absolutely. absolutely. absolutely. should be able to be seen in private hospitals. should be given vouchers for private hospitals. should be able to get medicare or medicaid. anything. our government has to make it a priority. >> dr. mark siegle, always good to see you. >> good to see you, lou. nasa can't get one of our astronauts to the space station without the help the russians. the last man to walk on the moon joins us here tonight. you used to sleep like a champ - then boom...

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he's captain gene cernan, former nasa astronaut, and he is the last man to have walked upon the moon. and we're going to use his words as our quote of the evening. quote, after "apollo 17," america stopped looking towards the next horizon. the united states had become a space-faring nation, but threw it away. we have sacrificed space exploration for space exploitation, which is interesting but scarcely visionary. we welcome captain gene cernan. gene, great to have you with us. >> always great to be here, lou. >> gene, those are powerful words. and it has just got -- i can only imagine, it's got to break your heart to think that our current astronauts have to hitch a ride on a soyuz to get to the space station. >> you know, we've got quite an

investment out there. yeah, it more than breaks my heart. it's a leudicrous place to be. i've said it loud and clear before. fundamentally transforming a nation started apparently with the space station because, you know, lou, i don't have to tell you, americans are walking on the moon, as one russian said recently, we'd getter get a good, strong, big trampoline. they don't just hold a trump card. they hold the whole deck. >> it seems as if there has been some agreement amongst the vast treasures of this country. and i'm talking about all of those involved in engineering and various places across the country. the universities -- i'll start with purdue, your university. these are great schools bringing out some of the best engineers in the world. great companies like boeing and lockheed. i mean, they just have been

shunted aside, and we're watching video about elon musk who's doing great things in private space travel, but as you say, it's not about the great horizon. it's not visionary work. where are we going to find it? >> you know, lou, when they said we're going to the moon, he gave us a goal, a mission. you don't lock a whole bunch of engineers in a room and go find something. do something. you know, all we got is talk. lance through an asteroid, that's something i question to start with. it's only talk. oh, we're going to go to the moon someday. okay. well, let's build a system and let's get a program. let's get a goal and let's muster the brains and the enthusiasm and the passion of people in this country. and lou, i'll tell you, i talk to young kids all the time. and the passion is there. the inspiration is there. all we've got to do is give them

the same opportunity. you and i had when we were kids growing up with a dream. i dreamed about flying airplanes off aircraft carriers. and lou, look where i ended up. i was able to call the moon my home. we've got to give it back to the and it's our responsibility to do that. >> well, gene, it's an impressive feat, what we accomplished by your standard. to think of this being 42 years ago since you were walking on the moon. if anybody had said to me that we wouldn't follow you with more heroes from the "apollo" program, new programs, i would have said you're out of your mind. this is just the beginning. it has been anything but. you get the last word. >> well, you know, i am not the last man to walk on the moon. i am the last american of

"apollo" to walk on the moon. and "apollo" was not the end. i've said this long, long ago. it was just the beginning, beginning of a longer time coming than i thought it might be. >> captain gene cernan, always good to see you. thank you. >> thank you, lou. fox news, host of "special report," brett baier, shares his family's fight against heart disease. author of the new book "special heart" straight ahead. and with the quicksilver card from capital one, you earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you purchase. not just "everything at the hardware store." not "everything, until you hit your cash back limit." quicksilver can earn you unlimited 1.5% cash back on everything you could possibly imagine. say it with me -- everything. one more time, everythin and with that in mind... what's in your wallet?

♪ 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. whether it's building the world's most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. at boeing, one thing never changes. our passion to make it real. ♪

well, joining me now is the host of "special report" on fox news, author of the brand-new book "special heart: a journey of faith, hope, courage and love," on sale today. joining us, my colleague, brett baier. great to have you. >> thanks for having me, lou. >> what an extraordinary story as i'm sitting here saying this to you, the father of a young man who's had to overcome so many medical challenges.

give us a sense of the moment that you learned that he would have to have help on his heart. >> yeah. so we had a normal pregnancy. my wife, no problems. and it was -- we were excited to welcome our first child, a boy. and i was psyched, dreaming about golf trips yet to come. we went in, and amy had a fairly normal labor. and we had this blissful time about 24 hours where we were the hospital room. and a lot of parents know that. where you're just getting to know your new addition. >> right. >> and then he started turning a little pale. a nurse noticed it first. they thought it was a bacterial infection. they did some tests. they paged a cardiologist to come in. fortunately a really great cardiologist was nearby. he came in and gave the devastating news that he had at least four, probably five,

serious congenital heart defects. and if he didn't have really complex surgery within a few days, he'd die. so you can imagine going from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in the matter of minutes. it was kind of like a nuclear bomb of emotion. and so that was the beginning of our journey. and three open heart surgeries and seven angioplasties later, he is fantastic. tallest kid in his class. a lot of energy. i joked with his surgeon recently, maybe he could have turned it down just a hair, that last surgery. but he's doing great. >> and the family. the relationship between you and your wife. you married quite a lady because you both are standing there -- you make it very clear, shoulder to shoulder. >> when she was up, i was down. when i was up, she was down. we have a moment in the book right ahead of the first surgery

where we were at our kind of lowest point, and we decided we have to turn this around. and we need to be the parents he needs. >> i love the fact that you addressed that issue, talking about what he needs in the way of a father, a mother, and some give into the idea that this is something that is -- really doesn't require much of them. it's more about the devastating emotional moment for them rather than what that child needs. and i just want to compliment you. >> thanks. >> on saying that because so many people need to hear it. >> i mean, that's why i wrote the book is to help people. everybody has something. some thing, some challenge that they have to go through. and this is how we got through our something. and at the end of every day, i gave my wife a teary high-five. and we said we're one day closer to getting paul home. and that was our mantra.

so we created this, like, bubble of positivism that we thought was going to help him in the end. we also personally relied on faith a lot. and leaned on family. but we got through. >> some great doctors. >> amazing. amazing that they can rework a heart the size of a walnut and move arteries around like angel hair pasta. paul's heart was essentially working the wrong way. it was pumping the wrong way. and there were five major things wrong with it. and this surgeon reworked it. >> and where is he today, and where is the family today? >> he is fantastic. he just had his last open-heart surgery in september. he owns this. he, in fact, gave essentially a press conference in his kindergarten class about his open-heart surgery, brought his cardiologist in, answered questions from the kids. >> wonderful. >> and showed them his scar. he's into it.

and he realizes that he gets power each time he goes. he's more powerful. he's got more challenges ahead. we have another open-heart surgery probably in five to seven years and more angioplasties. but right now he's doing great. >> thank god and what a great family you have. >> thank you. you know, the crazy part, lou, one out of 100 kids has a congenital heart defect. 1 out of 100. >> amazing. >> and in the first six months they have to get something done. it's a stat people don't know. >> brett, thanks a lot. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> all the best. >> i appreciate it. >> brett baier, the book "special heart," indeed. quite a few special hearts in that family. on sale now, online, bookstores everywhere. the proceeds go, of course, to the family's favorite concern and charity right now, and that's pediatric medicine and what are some of the groups that

you're donating to? >> there's various nonprofits. but every dollar will go to the pediatric heart disease research and treatment. and there's a ton of stuff going on. >> all right. and brett baier and his family helping and you can, too, to make sure that stuff keeps going on. thank you, brett. >> thanks, lou. time now for a few of your comments. tonight social media authors receive a copy of my new book, "border war." in response to last night's poll question asking whether president obama should have released five radical islamist senior terrorists for sergeant bergdahl, john cobra tweeted us, "obama released five terrorists for one deserter. what has he done for a good marine in mexico?" frank in new jersey asked, "would it be reasonable for americans to be offended by obama's lack of interest and action with a marine in prison in mexico being abused?" keep your comments coming.

e-mail me at lou@loudobbs.com. follow us on twitter @loudobbsnews or go to our facebook page or loudobbs.com. that's it for us tonight. thanks for being with us. good night from new york. [ dynamic music plays ]