thanks for watching us. thanks for joining us. if you can't see the show, dvr it. you won't want to miss a money of "making money." i've been hot this week making money. i'll tell you who has been hot. he was on the set earlier. lou dobbs. lou: good evening, everybody. breaking news tonight. we are now less than five hours away from another government shutdown. house speaker john boehner's year long omnibus combined with a funding extension of the department of homeland security is officially going nowhere, at least right now. the house earlier in the day barely passed a rules procedural hurdle to even bring the spending bill to the floor. house leadership then resorted to a last minute round of arm twisting to procure the last vote needed to move forward, and they won the vote by one vote. shortly thereafter,

president obama announced his support for the boehner plan. here is josh earnest trying to explain why the president sided with republicans in the house. >> there is a significant benefit associated with congress acting responsibly to pass a budget without the threat of a shutdown. and to do so over an extended period of time. over a full year. it provides the kind of certainty that's important to our economy. and that is among the reasons why the president supports the passage of this proposal and would sign it if it arrives on his desk. lou: it may have been the president would have been better off and the bill more likely to succeed if he had not endorsed the legislation. his support coming so quickly, and the support then fading in the house. speaker boehner was

forced to recess the house and postpone the vote a vote they thought they would one. not before nancy pelosi, one of the president's staunchest allies at least in times past, took to the floor to blast president obama for siding with republicans. fox news chief correspondent michael on capitol hill tonight with our report. >> lou, white house chief of staff came to capitol hill to try to rally democratic support after president obama and vice president biden were personally working the phones. house democrat leaders are telling the rank-and-file members they should not be intim dated. they're not fighting with republicans. they're battling each other. the biggest obstacle to the house, passing a $1.1 trillion extension at the deadline of the current deal was freshman massachusetts senator elizabeth warren. the liberal favorite took to the senate floor encouraging her allies

to stand and up fight. >> when the next bailout comes, a lot of people will look back to this vote to see who was responsible for putting the government back on the hook to bail out wall street. warren's objection stirred democrats in the house. although one said, it isn't all about warren. >> you know, i wouldn't call this an elizabeth warren factor. i don't think she is a factor. this is a middle class factor. >> some democrats criticized a provision that would allow individuals to contribute more money to their party. house john boehner mentioned both sides were at the table. >> it was agreed to in a bipartisan agreement. some people may disagree with this issue or that issue. nobody did this unilaterally. >> ahead in the final vote in the house, nancy

pelosi expressed her outrage. >> i was so heartbroken. i don't think i've ever said that word on the floor of the house, heartbroken to see the taint that was placed on this valuable appropriations bill from on high. >> meanwhile, sources say the white house has been telling democrats it supports the 1600. three pfn page package that funds the government through september. over a 60 day continuing resolution. josh earnest was asked about the president being on the opposite side of warren's protest. >> she's referring to a specific decision in this omnibus that would be related to watering down one provision of the wall street reform law. the president does not support that provision, but on balance, the president does believe that this comprise proposal is worthy of the support. >> yet the democrat congressional committee remained opposed on social media and

appealed to stop what it called the boehner bailout. >> there are members who want to fight president obama's executive action on immigration now, democratic votes are needed. plan b, appears to be a short-term resolution to fund the government. lou: it sounds like it's plan a. mike. thank you very much. at cia headquarters today, a unique scene unfolded as the head of the central intelligence agency broke his silence today in a rare news conference at the cia. john brennan commenting for the first time on the politically driven document released by senator dianne feinstein and the democrats on the senate intelligence committee, focusing on the cia's enhanced interrogation program. today, brennan defended his agency's tactics and he questioned the integrity of the report.

fox news chief intelligence correspondent katherine with our report. >> lou, the cia director said the interrogation program must be seen in the context of the 9/11 attacks that robbed us of nearly 3,000 lives and an enemy determined to strike again. >> it would plunge us into a seemingly never ending war against a collection of terrorists with the murderous agenda. >> he disputed a key finding in the intelligence report that the enhanced interrogation program, also known as eits did not provide substantive leads in the hunt for the al-qaeda leader and his compound in pakistan. >> there was information contained subsequent to the eits that was useful. >> brennan offered a nuanced assessment. including 9/11 architect colleague mohammed in the information they

provided. >> the cause and effect relationship between the use of eits and useful information subsequently provided by the detainee is in my view unnoticeable. >> he echoed the sentiment of cia officers that the report had a fundamental flaw because they were never questioned. >> you lose the opportunity to really understand what was taking place at the time. >> the live news conference at cia headquarters is unprecedented. and it represents the impact. >> this is a feature, i think, of our past. and one that we have to come to terms with and deal with. this agency is determined to move forward. >> while not offering specifics, brennan said the revelations were damaging and reinforced the view that we cannot be trusted among america's allies. >> there are things we do with our partner services under our authorities that we have covert action

authorities and covert is something they were hoping that was going to remain such. >> there are lingering questions about bra brannon who said he privately declined -- why he didn't do more to stop the program. >> i was not in the chain of command. i did not have authority over the implementation of that program or the management oversight of it. >> when weapons of mass destruction were not found in iraq, democrats and republicans worked together. in this case, the investigation was lopsided. lou: thank you. obama's effort to degrade and destroy the islamic state certainly not energetic or seemingly urgent. president obama three months ago announced that the pentagon would train moderate syrian rebels to fight the radical terrorists of the islamic state. but defense officials say the process has not

even begun. >> you can't tell me politically whether we had -- vetted armed and trained anybody yet and sent they can back to syria? >> the answer right now is no. it was designed to be a long-term program, and we hope -- >> i understand, ambassador. no. you wait a minute. i'm asking the questions. you give the answers. lou: congressman ted poe reminding the gentleman of who he is and where he is. the congressman could be forgiven for being stunned at that point. the fact is, the training of those rebels will only begin in march. until then, administration officials say they're trying to anger the islamic state by changing what they call them. listen to general john allen, the top advisor

overseeing the coalition fighting the islamic state. >> six months ago yesterday is when we wondered if this was the beginning of the end of iraq. from that moment to this, much has happened. many things have occurred. we believe that the strategic and the operational momentum has been halted. lou: dash. he is broken out the word dash. dash, if you are interested is an arabic acronym which means to crush something under one's foot. islamic state leaders have threatened to cut the tongue out of anyone who uses the name. we'll see if it reverses the president's approval numbers. which according to the latest fox news poll, the president is under water. 57% disapprove of the job he's doing in

foreign policy. we're coming right back. stay with us. >> the obama feinstein report on the cia. we talk with the former acting general counsel of the cia john next.

lou: john served as a cia lawyer for 30 years. he was the top lawyer when the cia interrogation techniques were authorized. he's the author of the book company man. thank you for being here. let's begin with this router. the insistence on democrats on the intelligence committee and senator feinstein that the report be put out obviously what has always been before as a bipartisan effort. what was your reaction? >> well, as to the timing of the release, i must say, i was surprised. i was surprised especially when i learned that secretary of state john kerry, a liberal democrat from my home state, massachusetts, as secretary of state felt

obliged to call feinstein personally to apparently urge her not to release the report at this time because of the ensuing threats that it would engender. a secretary of state doesn't do that unless there's serious intelligence evidence to that effect. i found that quite telling. lou: you would agree, i presume, that the -- the head, the chair of the intelligence community wouldn't be releasing this without the approval of secretary kerry's boss president obama. >> oh, yeah. absolutely not. i don't understand it. lou: well, we're all trying to put this thing together and square it up with the national interest. when we have to put thousands of marines on high alert because of this, it's more troubling. your judgment, let me first share with our viewers, a memo from you from doj office counsel.

it reads this. although the water board constitutes a threat of immanent death, it must nonetheless violate the statutory infliction of severe mental pain and suffering. in the absence, no severe mental pain would have been inflicked. the use of these procures wouldn't constitute torture. that seems straightforward at least to a layman to me, that the justice department lawyers were clear in authorizing water boarding. >> well, yeah. i certainly thought so at the time. i mean, solicited their binding, legal view one way or the other. if they had come back and said these proposed techniques were torture, that would have been the end of it. but i read the memos at the time. a time of national crisis, i should add. lou: absolutely. >> and i was persuaded

by them and i was reassured that the highest branch -- legal branch in the executive branch had given us, what i thought was authoritative, definitive conclusions. lou: number of cia directors said the white house was fully informed of what was going on or at least as vice president dick cheney put it, the president knew what he wanted to know and had been informed of what he needed to know. do you concur with that? >> yeah, of all the claims made by this senate democratic report, the charge of the cia never informed the white house is particularly preposterous to me. i was there at the beginning briefing in the situation room the national security counsel. dick cheney. condoleezza rice. the notion that we

somehow misled or kept things from the bush white house, i mean, that's just -- it would be comical if it weren't so astonishing. lou: there's a lot about this report that's astonishing. first that it exists at all and secondly we're talking about our covert services in the clear and talking about their treatment of people who were trying to destroy americans and this nation. it's astounding. and what is your judgment of the impact on the central intelligence agency and those who were defending the nation who worked there? >> well, i mean, you know, it is a scathing indictment of a -- of a large chunk of people in the agency who are still there. now, i'm five years retired and so are my senior colleagues, we can take care of ourselves says. i will tell you, at least 100, probably more cia people who are

working hard against isis in langley to protect the american people were also working hard in those years -- those seven years when the interrogation program was in effect. what are they to think when they read a report by politicians that basically concludes that their tireless work for seven years was all worth nothing, and that they could be subject to investigation and -- i mean, how are they -- what kind of effect could that have on the morale of the current people. that's what i worry about. lou: as do we all. thank you for being with us. former health and human head of human services kathleen says she knows how to fix obamacare. >> obamacare, no question has a very bad brand that has been driven intentionally by a lot of misinformation and a lot of paid

advertising. and i think we may need to call it something in the future different. but it's working. lou: we've heard that before, haven't we? earlier this week, senate majority leader harry reid blamed obamacare for the democrat's midterm losses. senator reid said, quote, we never recovered from the obamacare rollout. the secretary didn't mention that, did she? odd. escalating their assault on our nation's law enforcement officers and agencies doing their best it seems to destroy race relations in this country. we take it up here next.

lou: well, coming up, 25 states file suit against the president's unconstitutional illegal immigration fiat. florida's attorney general pam will join us on the broadcast in moments. first, if i may, a few comments about the woe be gone obama administration. president obama and his attorney general have become rather reliable sad sacks of late while

calling us racist. the week began with mr. obama expressing in an interview his hopes that his grandchildren wouldn't be subjected to what he called to the constant bias that makes them feel as if this is not their home, end quote. and his attorney general traveled to memphis the next day to try out more race-baiting let rock rather than giving inspiration. >> memphis has undergone a remarkable series of transformation, from a hub in the immoral slave trade, helping to fuel a 19 century economy founded by oppression and built on the backs of those held in chains. lou: if he wants to talk about the civil war, he should realize we know how it ended, and a suggestion, mr. attorney

general, why not act like the good guys won it. if you'll talk race, offer some context for crying out loud and tell a proud story. a history, a post civil war history of which we should all be proud. everybody has heard about the civil war, mr. holder. but did you know that memphis was the city of only 23,000 folks in 1860, 3,000 of which were black. memphis has grown to six 150,000 folks, and two-thirds of them in memphis, mr. attorney general, are black. so why are you so morose, so full of mel amelancholy. we've never been a perfect country. we never will be. but americans have been trying awful hard to get better from our very founding. no country on earth has

sacrificed more to get better or to right wrongs. you talked about oppression in memphis, but you forgot to take note that the blood of more than 600,000 americans was spilled in the civil war to end slavery, to preserve the union, and some further context you might include, mr. attorney general, our losses in the civil war were about the same as the number of americans who died in world war i, world war ii, the korean war, vietnam, the persian gulf war, iraq, and afghanistan combined. and, yes, more americans died freeing the slaves than our losses in any other conflict. they didn't die in support of a popular uprising. no. they died fighting, trying to right a national wrong. i wish you could find just a little intellectual integrity, mr. holder, sufficient to acknowledge at least

a little more of our history. our proud history. and you the president need to do a lot better on the issue of race. you might want to pay attention to this part. a fox news poll out today finds 65% of whites, 55% of blacks, and 55% of hispanic voters all say race relations in this country have gotten worse under president obama. and yet, you and the president are ever more divisive saying the president did -- that more demonstrations are needed to trigger the consciences of america. try telling that to the families that own the 7-eleven store in california's bay area. a store looted during demonstrations during this week. surveillance video captured a dozen vandals threatening two clerks with chunks of concrete. >> i don't know if they

think this place is corporate. but it's not. me and my dad picked up glass all night. all of our views on protesters are tarnished and ruined. >> just imagine how those law enforcement officers, mr. holder, all around this country are forced to listen to the nation's top law enforcement officer and our president speak, accusing them of racism, calling for more training, and then calling for more demonstrations. when, frankly, the first cabinet officer to be charged with contempt of congress in my judgment lacks the standing to judge anyone. and, frankly, i just feel a lot better if you and your boss were contempuous of just our congress. now this is our quotation. this is from brian who said the world is not fair and often fools, cowards, liars, and the selfish hide in high

places. we're coming right back. >> half the states in the country aren't waiting for speaker john boehner, they filed suit against the president. pam joins us here next.

lou: breaking news now. we are rapidly approaching the possibility of the immanent possibility of another government shutdown. the deadline comes at

midnight. that's over four hours, as you see there, four-hour and 20 minutes away. john boehner reportedly remains still 40 votes short as the house stands in recess. we're following the story throughout the broadcast. we'll have for you the latest developments. the white house, we're told, is preparing for a shutdown of the government. joining us now, pam bondi, who is the attorney general, the great state of florida. and who has joined with 23 attorney generals and in suing the president over the issue of his illegal immigration. de facto amnesty fiat. attorney general, great to have you with us and to see you again. >> thank you, lou. you too. lou: this lawsuit goes beyond simply, does it not, the issue of illegal immigration fiat. it's about a president who is in many respects disregarding the constitution and law.

>> you know, lou, it's interesting you say that. i've tried so many cases in front of juries. you know what i tell juries at the end of closing arguments, i say no one of us have the right to violate the rules we share. i'm saying that especially about the president of the united states of america. we're a nation of laws, not political expedience. lou: now, the constitution, the take power clause, is designed, and i think somewhat ambiguous form to limit the president's authority as our chief executive. how is it that we have witnessed what was once an imperial presidency now rise to almost, it seems to me in many respects, an authoritarian office? >> well, you're absolutely right, lou. what he's doing. he's willfully turning a blind eye to the rule of law. the laws we all follow. it's not a path to a

remedy, but it's a prescription for presidential overreach. and that is exactly what he has done. this is so fraught with peril for our entire country, that one man, one president can completely disregard congress. lou: do you -- how high is the bar in your judgment that you and the other attorney generals representing 23 other states, how high is the bar for you to actually get movement here, and what kind of redress are you seeking? >> well, we have sought -- and i've asked greg abbott from the great state of texas, my dear friend and, of course, soon to be governor of texas. kim will be joining in as ag from texas. what i've joined their lawsuit. of course, there are now 24 of us. and what we're asking for is a preliminary nary injunction in

texas. we're asking for expediency. hopefully that will be granted and that will shut down the president of his illegal overreach of this country. lou: and how soon can we reasonably expect the legal system to come up with an answer? >> well, we're waiting to hear as soon as possible. if this preliminary injunction is granted, we're hopeful it will be, then this act by the president, i don't know what to call it, it's so absurd what he's doing, when he has said multiple times that he cannot do that. hopefully we will have an answer very soon. and, you know, lou, if i can just read, we've counted approximately 20 times our president saying he can't do this. he said that he could unilaterally do this, he would have done this a long time ago. i'm quoting him. the way our system works is congress has to pass

the legislation and then i get an opportunity to sign and implement it. that's law school 101. yet he is clearfully, willfully violating it. he said the people living in this country should play by the rules. mr. president, i agree with you. you need to play by the rules. that's why 24 attorney generals across this great country are fighting back because we are fighting for the constitution under which we all live. lou: we thank you for that. pam bondi. attorney general of the great state of florida. good to have you with us. >> thank you for everything you do. thank you. lou: up next, new report shows the islamic state is growing stronger than ever as its revealed that us efforts to train and equip syrian rebels doesn't begin until spring. that's next. stay with us.

lou: the threat from radical islam is stronger than ever according to a new report. more than 5,000 people killed in jihaddist attacks last month. the islamic state

responsible for half of those death. general jack chairman of the institute for the study of war. general, great to see you again. a new fox poll shows eight in ten americans say it's likely that the islaislamic state will launch an attack on this country on our ground in the near future. what do you think? >> well, i think they have a right to be concerned, and certainly after those beheadings and all the threats that have come out of the islamic state, the american people are understandably concerned about that. i think that kind of an attack would probably be started here by someone who is motivated and inspired by isis as opposed to isis being able to put a cell in place to be able to launch those kinds of attacks. nonetheless, we're dealing with thugs and killers, and it is a dangerous situation. the american people got it right. lou: and military. we learn that the syrian rebels who the

administration has decided to arm won't be trained -- won't even beginning training until march, and good luck, because they won't be ready for combat until 2016. general, at this point, is anybody in washington afraid of being taken as a laughing stock? >> yeah. i mean, this is stunning. we're at war. it's a dangerous threat. everybody understands that. everybody has made that point. but yet, we'll go about business as if we have plenty of time. isis and assad both have timetables. they're not waiting for us. they are killing the free syrian army, which are the rebels we're trying to assist. assad is barrel bombing them into stinks as we extinctis we speak. most of the leaders have been killed. the facts are, this program as you stated at best is six months away

at beginning when it should have begun months ago. lou: russia, cry mia, more threats on the balanc bakken st. the alliance with china. s the state of our military right now? are we building up a military, looking toward the future in which we'll have greater contention, potentially war with these countries, or are we just continuing to bleed our military? >> oh, you've got it right in that last comment. we are downsizing the united states military. we have cut all of our major new programs to build the capabilities that we need, and as we continue forward, sequestration is still at play. we're beyond being irresponsible in terms of what we're doing.

i think we're just down right reckless in what we're doing in downsizing the military. taking down the capabilities that meant so much to us and literally removing tens of thousands of people in the force that took us so long to acquire them, train them, get them to the level they're at, and we're dismissing them handily this last year and it's going to continue going guard. forward. lou: as we do that, russia sending its jets over the balkins. overpoland. provocative. to what purpose? it doesn't seem it's simply an ancillary result to a kind gentler

putin. >> after crimea and after destabilizing ukraine, i think putin has the collapse of nato. he's beginning to challenge it. find its weak spots. he's characterized in his own mind. will the feckless europeans stand up for the balkins. he ithey're certainly going to challenge him at a minimum. i do believe that they have the collapse of nato on the table. lou: general jack, great to see you. >> good talking to you as always. lou: a new research poll shows the support for the second amendment at its highest level in two decades. 52% of americans say now it's more important to protect gun rights than ever.

more than 46% say it's more important to control gun ownership. up next, more compelling evidence that the republican party may not be so close to finding the right candidate to challenge for the white house. we take that up. you'll love what these polls reveal here next. maybe not. but you'll find it fascinating nonetheless.

lou: quick look at our online poll results. we asked whether you're outraged that a sitting president would say your conscience requires the inconvenience of street demonstrations to take place. do you believe we should petition both political parties to expedited eric holder as attorney general for the country's good as well as his? it's a humanitarian consideration. cast your vote at loudobbs.com. joining us now "the a-team." former reagan white house political director. republican strategist ed rollins. campaign strategist kelly conway. let's start with the -- is boehner is still a leader if he can't get formalfollowers in the house? >> he's a leader. and he'll make sure the

republicans don't get blamed for shutting down the government. lou: he told everybody he had the votes fort spendin for the . >> they actually want the government to shutdown. it's part of the white house plan. the first thing boehner needs to do is recognize what the results of the election is good. number two, do not be blamed for shutting down the government. >> he's got to do whatever he has to do. he's going to get blamed whether we like it or not. whether it's the democrats faults. people think republicans are in charge. you have to make it happen. we can't shut the government down. lou: look what's happening with the big names, some of them were considered inevitable for the republican nomination. jeb bush. got a mitt romney problem. he's now chairman and manager of a new offshore private equity fund. for crying out loud. who is advising these people?

>> the republican party -- lou: were you going to -- >> there are some good consultants out there. many of them were right in 2014. this is why we want a full-blown competition. it's so foolish to say let's narrow the field to three, two, one. lou: 70% of ceos said they want jeb bush. the business roundtable. come on. we can't have a full -- >> four years ago he probably could have walked to nomination. i think the end of the day, the kinds of decisions he's made, he won't run. if he does run, he'll live with the consequences. better candidates. we don't need somebody who will have to explain how they made billions and billions. >> what the democratic party stands for. lou: you're praying for hillary clinton. >> she's incredibly beatable. she's not relatable. she makes more in a

speech than the average woman makes in five years. lou: let's talk about rick perry. what's the deal? i like rick perry. one of the most likable people in politics. not an iq contest running for president. >> he needs a little sense of humor. [laughter] he has a great story to tell. great candidate. i don't think he'll make it at the end of the day. people will take a second look at him. raise money. tell the story of texas, the most important story in the country. lou: let's talk about chris christie. for crying out loud, new jersey voters saying 53 to 40 that christie wouldn't make a good president. >> he won't beat hillary in new jersey. what's the use of having him? >> you have to prove that you can carry your state in a general election and two contiguous states. i want electorate states. the idea that -- mitt romney had three home

states. massachusetts, michigan -- he didn't carry any of them. >> how about president gore? lou: that's true. i think you laughed as soon as you said that. i want everybody to hear. gore carried -- >> the most important state, tell me who can win nevada. nevada has voted correctly so many times. the only time was 1976. lou: why do i see senator harry reid strut down the hallway. >> we want someone who can beat harry reid next time. lou: the cia, the feinstein, obama, democratic party cia report. what do the republicans do? why aren't we hearing more from them. >> the republicans came out immediately and said this is a partisan diatribe and to embarrass bush.

put the report down. close your eyes. remember how they felt after 9/11. thousands of americans murdered. billions of dollars in immediate damage. lou: i don't have to close my eyes. i carry that anger with me for the rest of my life. that really doesn't get to what the republicans will do. >> they have to do something. obviously, we watched the cia get dismantled by jimmy carter and the church commissions. long time to rebuild it. cia was cutting edge. i wasn't for the torture before. but now we've done it. we don't need the gory details. move on. lou: let the clandestine services -- >> why hasn't obama shut down guantanamo bay yet? lou: we'll put that forward to those folks. ed rollins. lisa said: all of a sudden the grand jury system doesn't work? sounds like a convenient

excuse to hide the real agenda, doesn't it now? bill in texas: the republicans have a history of caving at the last minute and giving democrats victory. the next election is two years away, do the right thing now for the american people. sound political advice fort republicans. maria wrote: lou, it is beyond comprehension how people are not seeing and understanding what is really happening with the garner/ferguson response. we love hearing from you. email us at lou@loudobbs.com. follow us on twitter @loudobbsnews. go to our facebook page at loudobbs.com. the wrap now, pretty straightforward. lame duck president who think too much of themselves, far too little for the rest of us. the speaker of the house who can't muster sufficient followers and the republican conference to call himself a leader. the g.o.p. leadership still taking too many

defectives from the chamber of commerce. mr. speaker, get the continuing resolution done. let's hope for the arrival of far better times in the near years. thanks for being with us. good night. "cavuto." i am neil cavuto. first comes the meeting and then comes the rally and then comes the really big check to make it all a memory because they are going to pay up to make jesse jackson go away and quit arranging protest for not hiring enough minorities. and so jackson is saying not diverse enough. and spoiler alert, nigel says this one is the same way. they cut the check and i suspect you're right. >> i