president trump using the power of his office. he says i'm going talk to companies and encourage them to keep your jobs in the united states. lou: donald trump taking the stage now. just to show yo you the power of the presidency before he even takes the oath of office. they have been waiting 45 minutes for him, and here he is. >> thank you, everybody. thank you. wow, thank you. [cheers and applause] thank you. [crow chants trump trump trump]. >> the weather was really bad and they said, you know, these

are great people in north carolina. they won't mind. but they said they won't mind, sir, if you canceled and made it another time. and i said, what? and they said, we have a big crowd but they won't smienld just because the weather was so terrible. sow i said you have got to be kidding. so we have been driving for two hours. we lands a long ways -- but there was no way we weren't showing up tonight, that i can tell you. that i can tell you. we couldn't lands at your local airport. we landed a long ways away. the drive was about three times longer than the flight. but we made it. that's all that matters, right? we made it. and i'm here today for one main reason.

to thank you, the people of north carolina for being so incredible. we want to thank you. you went out and pounded the pavement. you organized your fellow citizens and propelled to victory a grass roots movement the likes of which nobody, nobody has ever seen before. and that's beyond our country. and i want to give a special thank you to the incredible military family service members and veterans of north carolina. and they were great. you saw what happened with the military. i got such numbers. those numbers are good. i won't talk about it. we won't talk about numbers. we bring people together. but, boy, were those numbers good. our veterans. do we love our veterans?

we love our veterans. your service is an inspiration to us all. north carolina produced many of the fineest soldiers, airmen, soldiers and marines the world has ever seen. so true. our men and women in uniform represent the absolute best of us. we must follow their example working in unison toward a shared goal. every social, racial and economic line. they understand to accomplish the mission we must all be pulling in the same direction. we have to get together. they know that we must leave no man or woman behind.

these patriots shed their blood to defend our country in disstand fields of -- in distant fields of battle across the earth. our debt to them is eternal and everlasting. amazing people. and you know we have a very special person here tonight who we are going to introduce. very soon. boy, it's been such a popular choice. we salute their today kri nice and we salute the flag they fought -- we salute their sacrifice and we salute the flag they love to protect. we love our flag. we love four flag. and we don't like it when we see people ripping up our flag and burning our flag. we don't like the. we don't like it. we'll see what we are going to do about that. okay?

we are going to see. tomorrow is the 75th anniversary of pearl harbor. it's a milestone that marks the ultimate sacrifice of those who wear the great uniform. it's a reminder, too, of the valiant efforts of america's fighting men and women who liberated millions from tyranny and oppression. now today our brave men and women are the first in line defense against radical islamic terrorism. words some people don't like to say. an ideology of death that slaughters innocent men, women and children. we are going to protect our people, we are going to protect our country, believe me. in every generation, a new threat to freedom arises. just as we defeated these

threats we faced generations in the past, and you understand that. so, too, will we defeat the forces of terrorism. it's unseen in many cases. but we'll defeat that force and we'll defeat it strongly and quickly, believe me. we'll prevail. we stand here today just miles from fort bragg, the home of heroes. our special forces at fort bragg have been the tip of the spear in fighting terrorism. the motto of our army special forces is to free the oh pressed, and that is -- free the oh pressed and that is what they have been doing and will continue to do.

soldiers from fort bragg are deployed in 90 countries around the world. can you believe that? based in fort bragg is the 82nd airborne division. also known as the all-american division. we stand in awe of their achievements. we really do. not far from here sits 45% of the entire united states marine corps at ca camp lejeune. 12,000 citizen soldiers fill the ranks of the north carolina army and air national guard. the national guard rushed to the scene to help the victims of hurricane matthew and so many other catastrophes. and we continue to send our thoughts and prayers to those recovering in its wake.

the military families of north carolina are a national treasure and it will be the duty of my administration to insure that we protect those who protect us. and i just want to tell you that we are going to be taking care of our veterans. and i'm right now working. these are great, great people. and they haven't been treated fairly. and i'm work on pick can the people that will be helping our veterans, and they are outstanding. x have some of the great people. and a lot of people are make great sacrifices to do this. they will be unbelievable. you will see such a change, you will see such a change like you have never seen before. we'll protect and help our veterans, believe me. that brings me to the second

reason that i'm here. to discuss our action plan to make america great again beginning with the rebuilding of our military. and we'll. you will see it. i'm so look forward, probably next week, you will see what we are going to do to take care of our vets. it will be announced. a lot of things will be announced. stay tuned. here are the priorities that will guide our military and veterans policy. all men and women in uniform will have the supplies, support, equipment, training, services, medical care, and resources they need to get the job done incredibly well and perfectly. you watch. the best care in the world for our veterans, both at public and va facilities as well as the right to see a private doctor

when the lines are long. i have been saying this for the last year and a half. people are waiting in line for 7 days, 8 days, 9 days. longer. longer. he just said longer than that. and when that happens you go out to see a private doctor, a private hospital, a public hospital. somebody that can take care of you and we are going to pick up the bill and it will be not only will it be great for you and life saving in many cases, but it will be less expensive. i'm saying why didn't they do this in the past? why didn't somebody do this? there won't be any more waiting for our great people in line for weeks to see a doctor. finally a commitment to only engage the use of military forces when it's in the vital national security interests of the united states.

we don't want a depleted military because we are all over the place fighting in areas that just we shouldn't be fighting in. we'll have such a strong powerful military. it won't be depleted any longer. i mentioned equipment previously, and i said equipment. we'll have the finest equipment in the world. it will be new, it will be modern, it will be clean. it will be the best. that's what we are going to have. we are not going to be a depleted military anymore. from now on, it's going to be america first, america first. we'll stop racing to topple -- you understand this -- foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with. instead our focus must be on

defeating terrorism and destroying isis. [cheers and applause] and we'll. any facing. any nation that shares these goals will be our partner in this mission. we want to strengthen all friendships and seek out new friendships. rather than a rigid dogma we are guide by the lessons of history and a desire to promote stability all over and strength in our land. this destructive cycle of intervention and chaos must finally, folks, come to an end. come to an end. we have spent at last count $trillion in the middle east -- $6 trillion in the middle east. and our road have potholes.

our highways are falling apart. our bridges are falling. our tunnels are no good. our airports are horrible like third world countries. we have to start spending on ourselves. but we have to be so strong militarily like we have never ever been before. remember that. like we have never been before. we seek harmony and goodwill among the nations of the world, and we believe respect for mutual sovereignty helps form the basis of trust and understanding. but we don't want people taking advantage of us anymore. we don't want countries taking advantage of us anymore. we don't want that. we don't want that. we want to be the smart people. we don't want to be what we have been over the last long period of time. we build up our military, not as an act of aggression, but as an

act of prevention. we pursue and build up arms not in order to seek conflict, but in order to avoid conflict. we want to be strong. in short we seek peace through strength. [cheers and applause] that is why in my first budget report to congress i'm going to ask for the elimination of the defense sequester. enough. depletion. i call it depletion. it gets worse and worse every year. not for our military. we'll show the world that america is going to be strong again, stronger than ever before. we are going to be stronger militarily than ever before. and hopefully we don't have to use our military. but we'll be stronger than ever before. there rarely has been a time when we needed this strength more than we have right now.

but in order to succeed with our defense policy, we must find the right person to lead our defense department. is that right? [cheers and applause] this is why i'm proud to formally announce today my intention to nominate general james "mad dog" mattis as the next secretary of defense for the united states of america. jim is a marine corps-star general. the former command irv u.s. central command and nato supreme allied commander. transformation.

this will be so great for us. he led an assault battalion in operation desert storm, and you saw what -- that was the way you are supposed to lead it. there was no games. mawd do -- "mad dog" plays no g. led the forces that went after the taliban and commanded the first marine division in iraq. he's one of the most effective generals that we have had in many, many decade. an extraordinary leaders of our time who committed his life to his love for our country. general mattis is the living embodiment of the marine corps motto, semper fi del accept sem, always faithful. he will be the civilian leader

atop the department of defense. under his leadership, right? under his leadership. we'll rebuild our military and alliances, destroy terrorists, face our enemies head-on and make america safe again. it's now my honor and privilege to welcome to the stage your next secretary of defense, general "mad dog" mattis. thank you. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. thank you president-elect for

the confidence you have shown in me. thank you for the opportunity. i'm grateful for the opportunity to return to our troops, their families, the civilians in the department of defense. because tino how committed they are -- because i know how committed they are to the defense our country, the distles our constitution. with our allies strengthened, our country strengthened, i look forward ting about the civilian leader as long as the conscious gives me the waiver and the senate votes to confirm. thank you very much. >> what a great guy. he's going to be incredible. he will get that waiver, right? if he didn't get that waiver, there would and lot of angry people.

such a popular choice. i believe we are in the process of putting together one of the all-time great cabinets that has ever been aaccept tbheld our nation's history. d ever been assembled in our nation's history. we have great people who will be named in the next couple days. but to accomplish our goals we must reject the failed approaches of the past. we must move past the tired conventional thinking of washington, d.c. as abraham lincoln said, we must think anew and act anew. my plan begins with bold structural reform to create millions of good-paying jobs and great-paying jobs. you can see what's been happening the last couple weeks, and we haven't gotten there yet. we were very proud of saving

1,100 jobs in indiana with the help of mike pence. vice president-elect. who's incredible. we are very proud of mike pence, by the way. whether it's producing steel, building cars or curing disease, we want the next generation of innovation and production to happen right here in america and right here in north carolina. [cheers and applause] and don't forget, when we started, even four weeks before, they said we'll have an awfully hard time winning florida, an awfully hard time winning north carolina. we are not going to win pennsylvania. we are not going to win michigan. we are not going to win wisconsin. we are not going to win iowa. and ohio will be tough. sow it started out, we won ohio by more than 8 points.

we won iowa by a massive number. 10 points. then we went down and won florida. remember that fantastic evening? we have breaking news, donald trump wins florida. donald trump wins north carolina. we won so many states. we won 30 states, 32 states. we won so much, and we just kept winning. then we topped out off by winning pennsylvania, winning michigan. winning, right? winning wisconsin. states that hadn't been won in 38 years. a lot of states. it was a fantastic evening. that's why we are here tonight. we want to thank you. especially. first on tax. we'll under take one of the

great tax reforms and simplifications in american history including lowering the tax rarity on business from -- the tax rate on business from 35% to 15%. and massive tax cuts, by the way, for middle class workers. massive. the biggest. biggest since reagan. actually bigger than reagan. on regulations we are going to eliminate every single wasteful regulation that undermines the abuilt of our workers and companies to to compete. the regulation business is a disaster in our country. we are going to get rid of all the unnecessary regulations. on energy, we'll cancel the job-killing restrictions on the production of american energy and pursue american energy independence. we'll be able to do it. [cheers and applause]

honoring the legacy of theater roosevelt, one of our great environmentalists, we'll preserve and protect one of our grade natural resources for the next generation including protecting lands and ager d and anglers, and all americans who enjoy the outdoors like my sons. they love it. on infrastructure. i will ask congress to pass legislation that's produces $1 trillion of new investments in america's crumbling infrastructure, including major projects in our inner cities. we are going to take care of our inner cities. we are going to get the inner cities going again. remember i used the expression, "what the he do you have to lose?" we did so well, so much better

with african-american community, with hispanic community than anybody ever anticipated. so much better. better than has taken place in years back. sow i want to that the african-american communities, i want to thank the hispanic community, and we are starting to work already. we are working already. and the appointment today of ben carson has been very popular and well-received. dr. ben carson. good guy, great guy. we'll have two simple rules when it comes t to rebuilding countr. buy american and hire american. buy american. on trade deficits, now nearly $800 billion a year. we have a deficit. think of it, of almost $800 billion a year. you say who is negotiating these

deals? it's a chronic drag on growth and destroyer of jobs. our nation racked up $40 billion in trade deficits in october alone. $40 billion. including a $30 billion with china alone. all right? think we are doing a good job of negotiating? i don't think so. how many business people do we have in this audience that could have done a slightly better job of negotiating. you can. north carolina last nearly half of its manufacturing jobs since nafta. america has lost 70,000 factories. think it. 70,000 factories. since joining the world trade organization. think of it. so china joins the world trade organization and since that time we lost so much. 70,000 factories.

we are living through the greatest jobs theft in the history of the world. there has never been a jobs theft like what has happened to this country. we stopped some of it a little bit because we just started. it won't really start until january 20. but we'll stop it. one of the wealthiest then the world, you saw it today. masa, great gave japan. he pledged to put $50 billion stone it united states because of our victory. he is investing in our country. $50 billion. 50,000 jobs. 50,000 jobs he will be investing in. he's a great guy. a trump administration will renegotiate our terrible trade deals, stand up to foreign cheating, and defeat every blast american -- we'll defeat the

enemy on jobs and defend american jobs. we'll defend american jobs. and we have to look at it almost as a war. because that's what's happened to us. that's what happened to our workers. these are great people. and boy did they come out to vote. remember they said they don't exist. they existed. believe me. in millions and millions of people poured out to the voting booths. and they voted big league. we had states where we would win by 30 points, 35 points, 40 points. if a company wants to fire their workers, leave our country, then ship their products back into our country, there will be consequences, i'm sorry, there will be big consequences. on healthcare reform, every day the law known as obamacare is destablizing our healthcare,

really destablizing it. surging premiums and forcing providers out of the market. if we don't act, the damage will be irreversible. we are going to act. that's why we are going to repeal and replace obamacare. we have no choice. we have no choice. we have absolutely no choice. so we are going to repeal and replace obamacare. and you are going to get healthcare at a much lower price with a much lower deductible. it's so high now, you really can't from the most part, you can't use it. but we are going to have great healthcare, and a much lower price. on childcare i'm asking congress to pass legislation to make safe and affordable childcare accessible to all. and people like that. that's something that ivanka

trump -- did anybody hear of ivanka trump? ivanka trump has been fighting for for a long time, and i agree with her. on crime the murder rate experienced it -- its largest increase in 45 years. we'll support the incredible men and women of law enforcement and bring this terrible crime wave to an end. highest in 45 years. on immigration, we'll be the administration that ended illegal immigration. we'll construct a great border wall, dismantle the criminal cartels, liberate our community from the epidemic of gang violence and drugs. we'll get rid of the drugs that are pouring into our country. [cheers and applause] we'll ask congress to reform our visa and immigration programs to

protect jobs and wages for american workers. and we'll be appointing very shortly somebody to head up our program and i will tell you, this person like general mattis will do a phenomenal job. we are going to stop people from coming into our country illegally. but we'll have people come into our country and they will come in by the thousands and the hundreds of thousands. but they are going to come in legally. right? but by the hundreds of thousands. we want people to come in. but they have to come in legally. to protect 0 you are country from terrorism and extremism. we'll suspend immigration from regions where it cannot be safely processed. right now thousands and thousands and thousands of people are pouring into our country.

we have no idea who they are, where they come from. do they love us. a lot of cases, no. they don't love us. a trump administration will always put the safety and security of the american people first. and remember that. safety of the american people. ethics reform will be a crucial part of our 100-day plan as well. we are going to drain the swamp of corruption in washington, d.c. we are going to. i will oppose a -- i will impose a five-year ban on white house officials becoming lobbyists and a lifetime ban on officials becoming lobbyists for a foreign government. this is an exciting time to be

alive in our country and hopefully to be alive in many other locations. because we are representative to a large extent of what's happening in the world. the world is look up to us, but they haven't been looking up to us much. they are going to start look up again. we are going to be good to the world, not just good for our country. the script to what we are doing is not yet written. remember, this has been a great, great movement. the likes of which they have never seen before. the likes of which those folks back there that write the stories -- no, no, no, i'll tell you, and they are saying it, they have never seen anything like this before. it's one of the great political phenomenons of all time. we'll going to show them. we are going to create a safe country, a prosperous country, we'll have great jobs again,

real jobs, and it will be something special. hopefully they are going to write the truth. [cheers and applause] >> we do not know what the page tomorrow will read. but for the first time in a long time, what we do know is that the pages will be authored by each and every one * in this room man our country, by you. together we'll raise incomes and create millions and millions of new jobs. it's going to happen. it's already happening. you see what happened today. we'll reestablish the rule of law and defend the constitution of the united states. by the way, we'll be appointing great, great supreme court justices. you will see.

we'll be starting very soon with one to replace justice scalia. a great man. we'll protect the right of every american to live in safety and peace. we'll restore and respect people's rights. we'll respect constitutional rights. and for all america we'll respect our great american flag again. believe me. we'll heal our divisions and unify our country. when americans are unified there is nothing we cannot do. nothing. no task is too great, no dream too large, no goal beyond our reach. my message tonight is for all americans from all parties, all beliefs, all walks of life, it's a message for everyone. no matter your age, income or background. i'm asking you to join us in

this great, great adventurous world that we are living in. we'll make it safer than it has ever been before. i'm asking you to dream big as americans. believe in yourselves, believe in your country and believe in your future. what i have seen more than anything else is how great future of our country is going to be. if we do that, then all together, we'll make america strong again. stronger than ever before. we'll make america reach again. a lot of people don't like the sound of that. we need that to take care of our military, a toik care of our veterans and take care of all the things we have to. we have to be a rich nation again. we'll be a wealthy nation again. we are going to make america --

we are going to make america like it says in all of those caps. millions and millions of caps, that have been old all over this country, and all of those signs. we are going to make america great again. greater than ever before. thank you, north carolina. thank you. we love you. god bless you, everybody, we'll be back soon. thank you, north carolina. thank you! lou: the president-elect saying dream big, and he has been exhorting americans to do so over his cam paint last year and a half. he's doing so as president-elect. he has an audience of believe saying believe in yourself, believe in your country and believe in your future, and with each passing day, with absolute

certainty, i think he's setting the stage for everyone to do just that. we are back with tony sayegh, lee carter and ed rollins. i thought it was a terrific speech. ed, your thoughts. >> it's a campaign speech we have heard over and over again. but today we believe it. we have seen over the last couple weeks he has started to produce those things. you can't sit there and say he can't produce them because he can produce them. lou: he is producing them. >> i think this energy level and enthusiasm. you can tell he loves being there and means what he is saying. he covered all the issues that are so important to folks. jobs, economy, military, national safety and security. he hit on all of those issues that matter most. he's back from the saddle on america first. i love the line about dream big again. i want americans to dream big.

that's what this is all about. this is a message of hope. lou: we have in this country always dreamed big it's been and optimism that has been absent in my opinion for about eight years. and that's a shame. tony, there was a wonderful moment where he said we want people to come into our country. we want them to come in by the hundreds of thousands, but we want them to love us. he said it so well. we want them to love us, but some don't love us he acknowledged as if he was a little hurt that we are not loved by everyone in the world. >> the american dream has taken a nap for 8 years and it just woke up with the election of donald trump. that's overwhelmingly the message you get when you listen to his optimistic positive hopeful vision for this country. it's such a refreshing thing. even when you talk about things like protecting america.

he gets it in a way the average american does. when you think about the fact that for the last 18 months we as americans have been forced to feel guilty that we don't want to take a syrian refugees who are not vetted or not necessarily coming into this country with our best interests. and we are forced to feel bad about that instead of thinking of our own interests as a country. now to ed's told campaign theme for ronald reagan. it's morning in america again. you can feel good about your country. you have a president look out for you and putting you're interests ahead of all those big special interests. he's not saying things everybody agrees with, but he's saying things that will get a conversation started that has been desperately looking in the last 10 years. lou: we heard a lot of talk about how this country is foal aized. we have seen it, and tasted it

and smelled it for far too long. but a poll showing a vast majority, republicans are thrilled with the fact that this president-elect is picking up the phone and calling the head of carrier and saving jobs. 54% of democrats are also thrilled with this president-elect picking up the phone and going into action. we are starting to see the basis of a bipartisan response to government. >> this guy is going to do a very effective job. two things are very, very important. he said we love the flag. this is a flag people fought for, died for, and that's not always politically correct in this side ass age we live in. lou: we are going to laugh, too. but you have hit the nail straight on the head. >> and we love our soldiers. sow i think it was a great

speech again. i chuck manied this week when people saying you can't call taiwan. he can do waver wants to do. he's the president of the united states, within the constitution. my sense is he will push the constitution a bit, too, and he will pusht congress. morning in america was about getting up and going back to work. he's going to create jobs so they can go back to work. 237. lou: the left right now is lost. they have been lost for some time, evidenced the campaign. and th -- the the predictable ce they chose. they are lost without a philosophy or any sort of foundation for aspiration right now. and they don't know what to do with this man who is -- more they fight him -- liberal media

found this out. the more they fight donald trump the bigger he gets and the smaller they get. that's exactly what's happen together chuck schumers of the world it will move forward. i think fit has not already, it will impact the house republican leadership as well. >> the thing that's most important for people to understand. when they are attacking donald trump, they are attacking a movement, not just a man. if you are trying to take him down, you are trying to take a prom is for jobs. you are trying to take it american dream away from people. the message of anti-anything is not the message of for anything. that's not going to work with a democratic party. >> lou, the democrats learned their lesson. they tree nominated nancy pelosi to head their caucus. who said they can't do republicans big favors. donald trump is moving

aggressively to tackle a comprehensive number of issues facing this country. i any you see a lot of the people willing to give him a chance. events like tonight reinforce it's a different era. lou: i gave you 20 instead of 15. thank you for being with us. up next, president-elect trump striking not one, but two deals the past week to keep store create jobs in this country. steve moore joins us next. stayith us. you totaled your brand new car. nobody's hurt, but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™,

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[♪] lou: the president-elect apologizing at the thank you rally in fayetteville, north carolina at the outset of his speech tonight, he explained it was because of severe weather. this is what donald trump flew through to get to fayetteville. he landed there in raleigh-durham after taking off from new york. he did so in a heavy mix of freezing rain and sleet which is still falling. fortunately the weather in fayetteville broke just enough his motorcade -- two hours it took him to get to fayetteville,

and he was obviously intent on getting to that rally and not disappointing those folks. joining me, trump's campaign economics adviser, steve moore. >> i was at the heritage foundation at their annual dish and vice president mike pence spoke at that. he had the same problem. the weather was so bad he was a little bit late. i want to turn to the economics of it all. he's talking about cutting taxes. he's talking about getting jobs created. and he's talking about saving jobs. he is smog ahead with a populist agenda, and this comes on a day where we hear from congressman bill flores and kevin mccarthy that the speaker who has been very clear about his opposition to many of the trump ideas and agenda, that they are going to

fight the populist message here. are you kidding me? >> i think that donald trump has been sounding the right message since he has been elected. i applaud what he did in indiana. and i think this send a message to businesses around the country. this is a place you want to invest in, the united states of america. we are going to be cutting your taxes and get rid of the regulations and make america competitive again. we are not going to save the american economy one business at a time and i think donald trump knows that. but he was sending a signal and a message, this is a time you want to be in america. you don't want to be leaving the country. lou: i find it deeply troubling to see that with this man who is obviously establishing himself as a man of action. he's not a speaker of the house

who only passed three pieces of legislation in 17 years. he's not a talker like a ryan or mccarthy. he's a doer. and his own party is not showing him proper respect in my opinion. i applaud this president-elect. he could not be more presidential. he is as close as anyone will be to a president with 40 days to go before he even takes office. it's extraordinary. but don't you think there is a sense here that this president is larger than those who will oppose him and the party itself runs the risk of being severely diminished if ryan and mccarthy and those folks who have done very little if anything for this economy. >> you made a key point. donald trump is a doer, not a talker. i would make the case to you having traveled with him and been around the country around

the country doing events with him. that's why he got elected. drain the swamp the republicans created. i couldn't agree more that the republicans should get behind the program of trump when he's right. i don't always agree with donald trump. i agree with him a lot. when he's wrong republicans should stick up to him. but they should give him a honeymoon and get this agenda passed. he isn't even president yet and he saved 1,000 jobs. who else can say that? lou: that's why i'm profoundly troubled by what the leadership of the house is doing. his own party isn't giving him that traditional honeymoon. >> i took a lot of flack because i wrote a piece that said it's

donald trump's party. i was just saying something that's obvious. lou: and traditional and true. >> it's his party. lou: you join me in speaking truth. the pyrotechnics that followed that are customary. you will get used to it, partner. thanks so much. >> i have scars and you have scars to prove it. lou: still some open wounds here. up next, president obama earlier today delivering veiled shots at trump in one of his last national security speeches. >> rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs or deploying more troops or fence ourselves off from the rest of the world. we have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained. lou: colonel ralph peters joins

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lou: joining me now, fox news strategic analyst lieutenant colonel ralph peters. great to have you with us. >> great to see you again. lou: in fort bragg, the president-elect talking to a crowd who adores him. his commitments to the military

are absolutely sincere. your judgment about how strong you think our military will be and what challenges have to be met. >> well, our military is the strongest in the world right now. i think it will get stronger. and we have to find ways to pay for it. but the real change is in morale. for all the great equipment we've got, all the great training, obama's reluctance to use our military effectively, not broadly, but effectively, has really, really hurt morale. his use of our military as primarily a tool of social engineering as as opposed to primarily purposed to defend our country really hurt. but the appointment of general jim mattis who i've known for a long time, that already started a revolution in morale because they know while he is a balanced, rational, tough-minded customer, he is not going to put up with the p.c. nonsense we've seen for the last eight years.

lou: and he's a man, he's erudite, he has a cerebral capacity and character as well that is not as well understood, certainly, as we will in the course of the coming weeks. >> yeah. lou: your sense about the challenges right now, specifically and most recently the chinese sending two of their strategic bombers along with fighter aircraft around taiwan. your sense about the challenges that china is presenting. we've got about a minute and a half here. >> yeah. well, first of all, president obama has left a world in chaos. the united states is not respected, is not valued. it's not even valued as an ally. so what we've got to do is restore faith in america as an ally, restore fear in the hearts of our enemies. and, you know, the chinese -- i was delighted that trump did the phone call with the president of taiwan. lou: yeah.

>> for 34 years since -- 44 years since nixon went to china, they've been running all over us. iran, the mullahs are angry, they're threatening us. they're not going to take our sailors hostage anymore and get away with it, they're not going to sponsor terrorism and get away with it. so i think in the middle east trump's going to be strong, with china he'll be strong. my one worry is russia. when he talked in his speech tonight about respecting sovereignty, i hope he meant the baltics and ukraine and poland, not the sovereignty of syria and president assad. so, look, nothing's perfect in this world. but if, to me, if president-elect can get over his bromance with vladimir putin, he will be 100% on foreign policy. lou: yeah, i have to tell you of all the people right now in the world, he seems -- whether we look at angela merkel, vladimir putin, president xi, donald trump, the president-elect, seems to be the most rational among them.

colonel ralph peters, god to have you with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you, lou. lou: and we thank you for being with us tonight. joining us tomorrow, congressman mark meadows among our guests. thanks for being with us tonight. good night from new york. ♪ kennedy: tonight, if you thought the election was over and in the books, think again. the new push by rogue electors to turn this whole thing over, and how does john kasich ply into all this -- play into all this? plus, a new report that the pentagon wasted $125 billion. can we trust the government with our hard-earned cash? brian brenberg here with answers. and silicon valley claims to have a plan to stop online extremism, but should tech giants be the gatekeepers of free speech? judge andrew napolitano is taking off the kid gloves, jumping anything the ring. time to bob and weave. oh, madonna, you out of touch u