thanks so much for watching. and remember, you can't take it with you. ♪ news, we leave you in the hands of lou dobbs on fox business. lou: good evening, everybody. i'm lou dobbs. the republican establishment appears ready to risk turning the gop presidential primary process upside down, and upset millions and millions of republican voters while the unholy alliance attacks donald trump's candidacy and his campaign. in the doing, will also frustrate the will of the american people, it appears, those who support trump for president. the gop elites appeared to have lost their minds, if the "washington post" reporting is accurate, the post reports more than 20 top republican officials and leading figures in the gop this week met to

discuss the possibility of coalescea around a trump alternative and forcing a brokered convention, and in new york state some establishment republicans, so-called, want to have trump banished from the party altogether. this as republican consultant e. o'brien murray, you can tell he's establishment, considering filing a complaint with the party. >> the message about keeping americans out of our country if they're muslim and out of the country when he did that on monday shows, i believe, his lack of being genuine in running for president. lou: whatever. the establishment resistance to trump will be met by a candidate that loves a good fight, who has as well overwhelming voter support as we are now less than two months from the iowa caucuses. trump is still dominating in the polling, all polling.

a new cbs "new york times" survey shows trump dominating the republican field with 35% of the vote. trump's showing is improved by 16 points since october. i'll be talking about the republican race with one of trump's challengers, senator rand paul joins us tonight. also tonight, growing outrage on capitol hill over how the federal government's visa screening process failed to stop one of the san bernardino shooters from entering our country. authorities are now certain that tashfeen malik was radicalized years ago. so how was she able to obtain a k-1 fiancee visa? and why should any citizen believe that our immigration system is effective? that this administration can assure public safety and our national security? we'll have a full report for you tonight, and i'll take all of that up with conservative commentator michelle malkin tonight. she says the government needs

to take ethnicity, nationality and government into account when battling radical islamist throat slitters, and liberal northeast state couldn't take a run at taking away citizens's guns, who and what state tonight? our top story, the increasingly contentious battle between the republican establishment and donald trump. new reports if trump storms through the primaries which it appears he might pull off, he could face a fight on the republican convention floor next july. apparently the republican establishment doesn't care they could well destroy the party, and that now more than ever, donald j. trump has huge support and is in the minds and hearts of millions the man to make america great again. fox news chief political correspondent carl cameron with our report. >> reporter: running second now in national polls and leading in iowa caucus surveys, ted

cruz picked up a key organizing endorsement from the head of the influential evangelical group the family leader which has a history of picking winners. >> we will be going all in for senator ted cruz. >> reporter: cruz has refused to criticize trump for months. donors present say he questioned trump's judgment. this morning cruz didn't deny it. >> i'm not going to comment what i may or may not have said at a private fund-raiser. >> reporter: cruz is waiting for trump to attack so he can counterpunch. >> once he hits me, i promise you, i promise you. >> reporter: trump abruptly canceled plan to meet and greet with bb netanyahu at the end of the month, his office issued a statement saying israel respects all religions, and strictly guarantees the rights of all citizens. >> i didn't want to put him under pressure, number one, and i did it because i'm in the midst of a powerful campaign that's going very well.

>> reporter: a new "wall street journal/nbc news poll" shows 38% support trump's moratorium on muslim immigrants and visitors. 43% of republicans have a favorable view of muslims while 48% say view is unfavorable. trump insisted on the o'reilly factor he's not smearing islam. >> this is about security, not about religion. this is about security. >> reporter: in the latest cbs "new york times" poll, trump hits a new high, 35%. cruz has 16, ben carson 13. marco rubio at 9. cruz slapped rubio yesterday for backing amnesty for illegal immigrants. rubio in iowa fired back on defense spending. >> ted voted for a budget that rand paul offered that paul offered as a containment budget that reduced defense spending by more than barack obama proposed reducing it. >> reporter: cruz and rubio have been battling for a month. the cruz camp knows probably

sooner than later trump will be coming at him. carl cameron, fox news. lou: fbi divers searching a san bernardino lake looking for evidence tied to last week's terrorist attack as outrage is spreading through capitol hill over the intel failures, the failures of immigration, customs and border patrol that led to the deaths of 14 innocent people and the wounding of 22 others. fox news senior correspondent adam housley with the latest on the investigation and the controversy over the obama administration's so-called vetting process. >> reporter: the vetting system is not adequate. members of congress expressing frustration after receiving a closed-door briefing after last week's deadly massacre by fbi director james comey. >> you have to say it was an intelligence failure. you have to. this woman was obviously radicalized years ago, and she got through the system. so it is a failure. >> reporter: tashfeen malik entered the united states on a

k-1 fiancee visa, though it's believed she had ties to radical islam before she came to the u.s. the visa screening process a hot topic on capitol hill today. >> i ask you the number of americans who traveled to syria, you don't know. the number of syrian refugees who entered the country in the last year. you don't know. the number of visa overstays, you don't know. the number of visa overstays who may have been to syria before they came here, you don't know. the number of americans on the no-fly list, you don't know, you are the deputy of screening coordination in front of the oversight committee and you can't give us one single number toy think pretty basic questions? >> some of those statistics aren't held by dhs. >> reporter: the white house says it's likely reform is needed and ask congress for help. >> if there are changes that are necessary, that can strengthen the program and greater ensure our security, then the president will

certainly direct those agencies to implement them. >> reporter: the investigation is zeroing in on syed farook's friend and former neighbor, 24-year-old enrique marquez could soon face federal charges. marquez who bought the two ar-15's also reportedly told investigators about a terror plot he and farook conceived in 2012 but did not carry out, after hearing of other terror arrests in california. one member of congress is calling for surveillance in muslim communities. >> the only way you find that out in the future is if you have constant surveillance on the ground. >> reporter: the fbi dive team said they may be here a couple of days looking for evidence directly relates to the terror investigation. both syed and his wife tashfeen were here at some point around the attack. lou? lou: democrats going after guns in connecticut. governor daniel moloy to sign

the first executive order in the nation to ban the sale of those on the government's no-fly list. >> i don't think there's, with the exception of nra-type spokesman, i don't think there is anybody in america who says it makes sense to buy guns in any state or in theiation. lou: he did not mention the thousands of innocent americans have been mistakenly placed on the terrorist watch list including u.s. marines. congressmen, journalists, federal air marshals, of course governor malloy is not a reasonable fellow, he sits comfortably on the left. we assume comfortably. we're coming right back. lou: donald trump wasn't the first to propose a temporary halt to muslims to other countries, senator rand paul joins us with what happens next. and this biker decided he could do some stunts in the

christmas spirit. up on the rooftop. we'll show you what he doe ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet? some of these experimentse're notmay not work.il. but a few might shape the future. like turning algae into biofuel...

...new technology for capturing co2 emissions... ...and cars twice as efficient as the average car today. ideas exxonmobil scientists are working on to make energy go further... ...no matter how many tries it takes. energy lives here. it's a highly thercontagious disease.here. it can be especially serious- even fatal to infants. unfortunately, many people who spread it may not know they have it. it's called whooping cough.

and the cdc recommends everyone, including those around babies, make sure their whooping cough vaccination is up to date. understand the danger your new grandchild faces. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about you and your family getting a whooping cough vaccination today. you owned your car you named it brad.s, you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together. two boyfriends, three jobs... you're like nothing can replace brad. then liberty mutual calls, and you break into your happy dance. if you sign up for better car replacement™, we'll pay for a car that's a model year newer with 15,000 fewer miles than your old one. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.

. lou: senator rand paul blasted the white house after the white house said donald trump's muslim ban disqualifies him for

the presidency. paul used twitter to list several reasons why it's president obama who is unqualified for the oval office, and among those reasons, according to senator paul, obama thinks an executive order is legislation and how you make law. his copy of the bill of rights obviously only goes from one to three, skipping the second amendment and more and obama appointed an attorney general who says speech against muslims is a bigger threat than terrorism. joining us tonight, republican presidential candidate, senator rand paul, a member of several key committees, including foreign relations and homeland security. senator, great to have you with us. >> thanks, lou. lou: i want to turn first to the vote last thursday on the secure act. your act which you proposed a temporary ban, i guess, is the way to put it on 30 some odd countries that you've identified or would be identified as bases for

extremism, is that correct? >> yeah, i think we're crazy not to look at immigration. even starting with 9/11, all 19 highjackers came here using the legal immigration system. they all had visas but weren't obeying our laws. a couple came as students but weren't attending school. a couple came as visitors and weren't visiting us, and a couple were on the cia watch list and we let them in anyway. two lived with fbi informant for a year. we have to look at our legal immigration system and say do we want to have more scrutiny on the people who come and visit us? this most recent example in san bernardino. i think there should have been more scrutiny of the woman's visa who came in. apparently she wasn't honest on the visa application and no one scrutinized it. lou: and the fact of the matter is the interviews that are supposed to be so rigorous were not conducted as far as we know right now.

there is clearly a statement from the state department this is a rigorous process for the so-called fiancee k-1 visas. this is a small number of folks who travel in the country. the reality is not even the least, the minimum was done to protect american citizens and to follow the law. >> and this isn't just the first time. two iraqi refugees came to my hometown, bowling green, kentucky and came under the refugee program and turns out they tried to buy stinger missiles and we caught them. one of them's fingerprints were in a database on a bomb fragment from iraq. they said we have great scrutiny for the refugees. two who came to my hometown weren't sufficiently scrutinized. we have to have rules who comes into the country and we are fools if we don't invoke stricter rules. you get a background check, once you've had it, if you're a

businessman or woman who comes here frequently. by all means keep coming. go through the frequent flier program, the global entry to background check people so we don't have random people. all of the attackers in paris were french citizens. people from getting on a plane right now. we have to do something about this if we care anything at all about terrorism. the first thing we've got to do is defend our border. lou: for whatever reason, senator, as you well know, the integral agency in all of this is the citizenship and immigration service, one of the most screwed up agencies among many screwed up agencies but critical to administering immigration law and the process by which people enter this country lawfully. it is an outright mess. >> see, we've been talking about for decades fixing the immigration system. what i said is why don't we stop immigrating people from the countries that are high

risk for terrorism and force people to fix it now rather than promising to us we're getting around to fixing it, it's a few more years and we'll fix it. stop immigration until it's fixed now. how big is the problem? there are 11 million people in the country illegally. 40% of them are said to have overstayed their visas. but we don't seem to care, we don't know who they are, we don't know where they're, and don't enforce our rules at all. there's 150,000 students here from the middle east. many are probably good people who like america. if 40% of them are overstaying visas and we don't know where they are, that's a huge mistake and a huge risk to us. lou: it is just -- it is breathtaking to think that ten years ago in the united states senate we were talking about comprehensive immigration reform and taking votes. ten years ago talking about border security and incremental dollars were added to the budget and border patrol doubled and tripled from levels

of two decades ago, and at this moment, as we speak, a surge of illegal immigrants on our border particularly in the state of texas. it is, and this administration has told the american people go to hechlt we're going to do this my way, doesn't matter what your silly congress and senate have done in terms of enacting law, this is going to be done my way. >> the problem with border security is not money, a lack of agents it's a lack of willpower. we have not had a republican or democrat president who had the willpower or inclination to defend the border. all you have to do is enforce the laws. it is illegal to come across illegally, and yet don't do anything about it other than to say we're not going to do anything it. you get more of something that you don't enforce the laws against. i think we need to enforce our laws. that takes a president with the will power to enforce the law. lou: senator, great to have you with us. congratulations for being in

the top five in the "new york times"-cbs poll and good to talk with you. >> thanks, lou. lou: and a reminder to vote in our poll tonight. the question is -- cast your vote at loudobbs.com. follow me on twitter at -- links to everything, loudobbs.com. a video now you have to see to believe. stunt rider took to the rooftops. look at this. of homes in spain's canary islands for his latest mind-boggling fetes. can you imagine this? the video shows the scottish daredevil hopping from rooftop to rooftop. that's a mountain bike, not a

roof bike. there he is, works well on the rooftops. can you imagine his coordination, his god given talent to be able to do that. a gopro attached to the biker's helmet giving us this vertigo-inducing perhaps video. definitely video, perhaps it will be vertigo inducing. amazing stunt. up next, a few thoughts about the republican establishment's efforts to destroy donald j. trump and why it's failing miserably. and an american professional surfer has a lot to be thankful for tonight. videotape of his amazing rescue after a nearly fatal wipeout in the pipe. stay with us. we're coming right back.

. lou: what are the people who run the republican party thinking? a few thoughts now on the

republican party and the american dream. there's a collision. a new survey from harvard's institute of politics contains terrible news for the american dream and those trying to live it. and good news for the anti-establishmentarian theme of this republican campaign so far. the poll shows half of millennials say the american dream is dead for them, but millennials are evenly split on the dream. 48 split of 18-29-year-olds say it's dead. 49% say it's alive. the new pew analysis finds about 121 million adults living in middle income households early this year compared to half a million more in lower and upper income households combined. this is historic because the pew survey results mark the

first time that our middle class has been in the minority in more than four decades of surveying. in my opinion there is a reason outsiders and the anti-establishment and anti-system candidates are surging in this election. working americans, small business folks and what's left of our middle class have had a bellyful of the elites who no longer act in the national interest. look what happens when the foolish members of the republican establishment go after donald trump. they just boost his support and expand his lead in state and national polls, and guess who's the favorite among republican millennials? that's right. donald j. trump followed by dr. ben carson. senator bernie sanders, the leading democratic candidate among millennial dems. the gop establishmentarians are schemeingly looking to overturn the choice of rank-and-file

republicans accusing trump of conservativism and what the country stands for. every time the establishment attacks him his numbers go higher. let me say it clearly for the dim witted in washington in particular. the average american understands clearly you've screwed up this country. you've messed up this economy. you have screwed up their lives and very likely the lives of their children. they quite reasonably see you the establishment as the problem in this country, not trump. not cruz. not carson. and the more you attack trump, the better it is for him, and yes, the better it is for this country. now the quotation of the evening, this one from h.l. minkin who said --

we're coming right back. stay with us. the vast liberal outrage machine in full tilt against donald trump and his call to temporarily ban muslims, immigrants and refugees, and voter reaction? well trump by a landslide, conservative author and activist michelle malkin with us next. and a cyclist decides to face off with a train doing 90 miles an hour. that doesn't sound like a good idea does it? the video of what happened is next. stay with us. "lou dobbs tonight" coming no matter how fast the markets change, at t. rowe price, our disciplined investment approach remains. we ask questions here. look for risks there. and search for opportunity everywhere. global markets may be uncertain. but you can feel confident in our investment experience... ... around the world.

call a t. rowe price investment specialist, or your advisor... ...and see how we can help you find global opportunity. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

every auto insurance policy has a number. but not every insurance company understands the life behind it. ♪ those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. ♪ usaa. we know what it means to serve.

get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma

does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com. . lou: joining us tonight, syndicated columnist, fox news contributor michelle malkin, also the author of the new book, there it is, sold out. how high-tech billionaires and bipartisan beltway crap weasels are screwing america's best and brightest workers. i would like to read the subtitle again, but i don't want to spend too much time on it. congratulations on the book, it's terrific. we recommend it to all of our viewers. a terrific book by a terrific, terrific columnist and commentator. let's start with your column, though. you go right at it. you say calm down, america, and think, which is a novel approach these days.

but you say we should be looking at ethnicity, we should be looking at religion when serving those and surveilling those who come into our country. >> seems to me that national security profiling is a no-brainer and should have been in the wake of the september 11th terrorist attacks. lou, you know as well as i do that the snooze button has been hit time and time again on capitol hill, and it has so much to do not only with the political culture of political correctness and apathy, but also with all of the crony special interests in washington that have bought up the leadership, the so-called leadership in both parties to undermine strict and commonsense immigration and entrance enforcement of all the rules that should protect not only american sovereignty and security but, of course, american jobs as well, and that's what we're getting at with the sold-out.

and my co-author john miano had been in the trenches. we see the stories again and again and again of american workers replaced by cheaper foreign labor, and it's been happening for decades now. and fortunately on both the national security and the economic security front people are waking up and as many problems as i might have with donald trump, the one thing he is doing is discomforting both the big business and the government interests in washington on this very fundamental issue. lou: like you, i think that trump is fundamentally, he is the disruptor at this point. it's early days. he may well be the party's nominee. he's providing an immense national service as a disruptor in the political process. galvanizing attentions, forcing issues, illegal immigration, border security. taking a look at what we're

doing with free trade, also what our responsibilities are in governing who does enter the country and who is in this country and why we don't know about it. he's performing an important national service. >> no doubt he is shaking things up, and i, of course, have been outspoken about some of the issues where i vehemently disagree with him. i don't have a horse in this race yet, but i'll tell you what, there is something really horrible that happened in the senate this afternoon. you had bipartisan majority in the senate subcommittee on immigration and the public interests, so-called public interests, and there is so much more interested in taking a stand against trump than upholding the national interest that they passed an amendment sponsored by pat leahy which would bar consideration at all of religion in immigration and entrance decisions, it is

suicidal. lou: it is suicidal. and you point out often what this government is doing that is suicidal but it is also homicidal because it is taking down republicans who in good faith really want to win the 2016 election. when you have a speaker like paul ryan, who is attacking one of the candidates and stepping out of what should be a neutral role. he tried to walk it back but it was too late. have you mitch mcconnell playing political games. the rnc. the meeting that the "washington post" reported that we have reported on now of the elites trying to kill the trump candidacy. they're talking about subverting the will of millions of republicans who in good faith select aid candidate. these people are about to destroy the republican party's chances of winning the election in 2016, and i think if they're successful in that, they very well -- they could cripple this country for years, decades to

come. >> i can't disagree with you, lou, and a lot of what we do in sold out in our book is trace the money trail and connect the dots for people. and paul ryan is at the center of the open borders left and the big business right. that's who he answers to. this is why so much of the grassroots, the rank and file of the republican party is fed up. you've got the establishment people and all of these naval gazers and chin pullers so worried about the climate. they helped create it. they're reaping what they've sewn. lou: we can read what you've written, the book is "sold out" michelle, thank you very much. >> thanks for all you do, lou. lou: back at you. a surfer met his match against a huge wave. the 22-year-old riding this 20-foot wave off the north

shore in hawaii when he was knocked unconscious, thankfully a body boarder saved his life, he was in critical condition but since been released from the hospital. up next, the mainstream liberal media going wild when a muslim man seeking to approve the public perception of islam, asked strangers for hugs. that's among the questions i'll ask activist pamela geller here next. stay with us. we'l ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count.

that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... that's huge for my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

hgoogle voice response:t inachim sigsa. how long does milk last? google voice; one week after the sell-by date. how much vitamin c is... is in an orange? set timer for twelve minutes.

google voice: ok, twelve minutes. where can we find donuts around here? coffee? what about crepes? how about a bagel? what is the most important meal of the day? google voice: breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

. lou: joining us is pamela gellar, the leading voice in the fight against radical islamist terrorism in this country. pam, it's great to have you with us. i want to talk with you about the fella who wanted a hug. his name is craig wallace, as you know. and the media ate up this. have we got the picture of him wanting a hug. i love the sign, if we've got that. there he is. asking folks to give him a big hug. the media loved that. isn't that a sweet moment. >> the media loved that.

iconic with one muslim a day after the paris jihad slaughter. the incident needily encapsulates the problem with muslim refugees. here we have a man who is publicly claiming he was moderate and peaceful and, you know, actually shaming us into thinking or fearing suspicions, making us question ourselves when, in fact, that he then went onto threaten an mp with bomb threats. lou: threaten an mp? >> no! >> he just needs a hug! what happened to a hug? >> he got enough love. lou: enough love, and he's facing time in jail. >> listen, the fact is he claimed to be peaceful, he is a liar and a deceiver, adherence of islam are called to violence, but again, obama tells us that the refugees are peaceful and good and, in fact,

there will be jihadis. lou: his administration looks like a bunch of damn fools tonight. when you look at what happened in san bernardino, the claims, i mean, it is so ignorant what is happening in terms of immigration, the vetting of the refugees, the vetting of -- on straight immigration, a k-1 visa, fiancee visa. she lied, she wasn't interviewed and people died. there is nothing remotely in me for giving of a administration who says to hell with our laws and who does not take every step possible to protect the american people and our national security. >> it's a catastrophic intel failure. there were so many similarities to garland. you know, garland jihadis were in touch with a jihad recruiter mohammed hasan. lou: talking about garland, texas and the muhammad artist

in texas. >> they were sending foreign encrypted message, radicalized. what was put in place after garland except for blaming pamela gellar. look after san bernardino, loretta lynch vowed to prosecute anti-islam rhetoric. lou: i tell you something i don't understand right now about the american people who i think nearly every way i understand and relate to absolutely. but i don't understand what is the apathy that grips this country right now. the nonsense that we put up with. and these are great risks that we run that are being run by this administration. this is a president who is absolutely ineffective, incompetent, he is following an agenda that is unknown and hidden for the american people. one or the other. we don't have the answer.

i want to ask you quickly, donald trump -- >> i'm going to tie in donald trump to what you just said. a, the president is dangerous, it's in my book, the post american presidency, and people are not apathetic, they're wild about donald. that's why they're wild about donald because finally somebody is saying something that no one else will say, and for the republicans to say they're going to broker a convention. for the republicans to say. lou: they're going to tell all of the people who support donald trump to go to hell. that's exactly what they're saying. >> they're going to go the way of the wig party, mr. dobbs. the way of the wig party. lou: i like it being called mr. dobbs. makes me feel -- ups my standings. >> they're exposing themselves as having an agenda different from the people. look, you got to let the people vote. if the people vote for trump. obama's jihad denial necessitates emergency measures. lou: to her credit, you said

trump was the only one. fact is that rand paul last week, his secure act which was voted down in the senate. he stepped up, 33 high-risk countries to ban immigration on refugees from those. >> his position on israel is untenable. lou: we want to point out that michelle malkin said we should be using religious as well as ethnic screening in surveilling and surveying who will be permitted into this country. pam, always great to see you. >> thanks for having me. lou: pamela geller. one cyclist learned the importance of paying attention to crossing signs. check this out! a 26-year-old cyclist ignored barriers at a railroad crossing. this is -- this is bad. he was struck by a train. i don't know if he was struck by the train or he struck the train, traveling at 90 miles an hour in poland. the train clipped the bike. that looks like more than a

clip to me. sent the cyclist and his cycle flying into the air and luckily he only suffered minor injuries. he was fined for ignoring the crossing warning. is that something? go through that and get fined for having been a fool, but a lucky fool. god looks over and fools. first "time" magazine snubbed trump for man of the year. and releasing unflattering video of him dodging a bald eagle. i don't think it's that unflattering, do you? >> i think he looks like the eagle to be honest with you. that persona. lou: when the wings start flapping. that looks like challenger. >> they'll go after anything. lou: we take up the mainstream media's attacks coming up with chris plante and brad thor, political reporter betsy

woodruff. here we go. stay with us.

feel a cold coming on? new zicam cold remedy nasal swabs shorten colds with a snap, and reduce symptom severity by 45%. shorten your cold with a snap, with zicam. at ally bank no branches equalsit's a fact.. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. lou: joining us, the host of the chris plante show. "new york times" best-selling author brad thor and betsy

woodruff. i'll ask christopher a question. this is a brokered convention these folks, the elites of the republican party, if i may, they are talking a disaster in the making here, are they not? >> without a doubt. how many of these people know how to run a brokered convention? in terms of the staffers, the actual fire power here, this is like giving the key to the car to a 15-year-old with a learner's permit. these guys are so concerned about how well trump is doing. worse case scenario, buckle up. lou: i can't even imagine what they are thinking. they are risking destroying the

republican party's chances of a win, are they not? >> how can you lose when you are running hillary clinton, she is a pathological liar. she is under investigation by the f.b.i. if you can't win in a landslide, you can't win. lou: i thought the same thing going into 2012. that they had a good chance and the next thing i know it's tonight romney who forgets to debate the second time around. >> donald trump is this political phenomenon, right? and the democrats have delivered disaster, the country is more polarized than it has been in my lifetime, certainly since the american civil war. even hillary clinton has got to find this hilarious. lou: i don't think donald

trumply find that elites are conspiring against him making it public through the "washington post," do you? >> this may be the first time in history we may see someone nail a coffin shut from the inside. they are going to go the way of the wig party. they lose this one it's over. as far as i'm concerned there will be is not enough lampposts in d.c. for the people to swing from. i'm not a trump guy, but i think we have good american men and women supporting trump. when he came out with his big announcement about shutting off temporarily immigration from muslim nations. i gave him a thumbs up. lou: most republicans support him in that. but this brokered convention

idea, it fascinates me. trump said clearly, i'll put it in parlance, in the vernacular. if you screw with me he will go independent, and he will tear the republican party to pieces because the people who like him mean for him to be the nominee. they are passionate. the intensity of their selection him is much more intense than anyone else. betsy, there is any way this can be avoid? the republic scan party is saying we have 15 candidate, but only one of them can get the 35% and it's the wrong one. >> trying avoid this is the million dollar question. a poll came out yesterday that showed 68% of trump's voters would vote for him if he ran as a third party candidate. that's giving the election to hillary clinton.

>> there is one big problem that trump is racing toward. the sore loser laws we have that would prohibit him from getting on the ballot. he won't be able to run. lou: the deal for the two parties, republican and democrat laws. who knows what's going to happen three weeks from now much less by the time we get to the convention. it's impossible to predict what donald trump is going to do. if he squeezed out, if the new york republican party tosses him out of the party, he certainly has the ability to blow everything up. i don't know. >> why wouldn't he? he's knee deep in hand grenades right now. that's trump.

lou: that is trump. he's a disrupter. that's revered in business and technology. i have got to say to you, i think cruz is terrific and ben carson is terrific. i could go down a list of folks i think is terrific. but he's the disrupt tore. the status quo that is so dear to the hearts and wallets of these republican establishment he -- elites, i think they need disrupting. >> the greatest disruption would be the brokered convention. riding in on his white horse would be governor rick perry to take this country to a brand-new renaissance. law * rick perry on a white horse. whatever you guys think, this man does not give up easy.

rick perry. right here on "lou dobbs tonight." thank you all. and thank you for joining us. 53% of you say the unholy alliance won't help. kennedy: hello, friend. let's talk about poll numbers. i'm watching the polls predictably rise after donald trump's call for muslim bands. the two-sided hysteria was only helped donald trump and given him a great boost. south carolina worshipers fawned over their messiah and trump has a 0-point lead over his closest rivals. he took a stroll with reince priebus to explain this success.