rankled a lot of politicians as they are going to have to do more than just fund-raising a fund-raiser and go along to get along. we have to actually do things now and get the policies. charles: account accountability guys. no one outhustled donald trump except for his sons. lou: good evening everybody president-elect trump today into more secretaries to his prospective cabinet exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson for secretary of state former texas governor rick perry for energy secretary. tillerson controversial choice that he was reportedly propelled to the top of the exxon in part by negotiating a deal with vladimir putin almost two decades ago with the oil project in russians be and while tillerson may have helped him land the secretary of state nomination it may also harm his chances of a smooth

confirmation. establishment republicans including marco rubio, john mccain, lindsey graham are hinting they are ready -- the president-elect and mr. tillerson and sources tell "fox news" republican congressman ryan zinke has been chosen for secretary of the interior. he has reportedly not yet accepted that offer that the congressman was on this broadcast just last night and we asked him about it. are you going to work for the president-elect? >> he has not asked. if the president asked you to go to work for him it's awfully hard to refuse through my first love is montana. to make sure what i do is in the best interest of our country in montana but he has not asked. i'll tell you it's hard to say no to the president. lou: i think that gives us some indication and i will take that up with trump's expanding cabinet, take out a bunch of senior advisor kellyanne conway

later on in this broadcast. also with us tonight from national security advisor ambassador james woolsey for mr. trump. he is set to hold its fifth think you rally tonight in wisconsin in a suburb of milwaukee. trump landed moments ago in milwaukee, 11 degrees there. mr. trump will be at the expo center in just under an hour we are told and we will be bringing that to you as soon as he takes the stage. we have the very best political analyst with us tonight to cover it all. fred barnes republican strategist, tony sayegh and the federalist brief patent. top story tonight the president-elect meeting with william there microsoft co-founder bill gates today. their discussion commute day before mr. trump is set to host a technology summit with industry leaders at trump tower. the two recently praised donald

trump likened him to john f. kennedy discussing what was on today's agenda. >> it's a good conversation about innovation and how it can help in health, education, the impact of foreign aid and a wide-ranging conversation about the power of innovation. thank you. lou: mr. trump is addresses plans to stop running his business empire. trial delayed an announcement that is then originally set for this week. he treated this, even though i am not mandated by law to do so i will be leaving my businesses before january 20 so that i can focus full-time on the presidency pre-two of my children don and eric both executives will manage them. no new deals will be done during my term or terms in office. trump today also meeting with pastor darrell scott and joined by football legend jim brown and

ray lewis to discuss a nonprofit dedicated to improving the plight of troubled inner-city youth. pastor scott and jim brown will join us here shortly to talk about that meeting and the prospects for improving the lives of all americans. trump today took time to sit down with former 2016 g.o.p. presidential rival rick santorum and then somewhat, something of a spectacle, trump escorting the recently hospitalized rapper kanye west to the trump tower lobby. trump tower reporters long time friends quote discusses life" might be joining me me to talk about trump's new nomination just to preview tonight's rally in milwaukee executive editor of "the weekly standard"'s fred lawrence. fred there is a surreal quality to it all sometimes if you watch that lobby of the trump tower. it may take on some connotation

like the tower of london. it is now part of, becoming part of our mindset today. >> is just amazing and we haven't even gotten to the rally tonight. he meets with certainly a wide variety of people. trump towers an amazing place and one of the things i like about it is the camera there. we know who goes and who comes out. lou: a lot of people anecdotally, a lot of people are watching and it's become a significant part of their media fair. i want to turn to rex tillerson and your reaction to the establishment conservative. how overjoyed are you to see the ceo of exxonmobil nominated to secretary of state? >> well you know i have some qualms about him. lou: oh no, tell me it's not so. >> and tillerson's case i think

the hearings are going to matter you mentioned earlier john mccain and lindsey graham and marco rubio have all raised doubts about him and that's fine tillerson is going to have to respond to them. i think you probably can at the hearings. look, how often is somebody in a position block from getting that when a president has nominated him? lou: i have a question here. i'm sorry, i'm just boiling over with this question. what is everyone's problem here? the man has a good relationship with russia, a positive business relationship. he apparently gets along with vladimir putin. i mean he is going to be in charge of diplomacy. do you want him to go in there with this raise? i don't quite get the objection. is there just a certain group of people in the u.s. senate in

particular who just want to have something to cluck about because it's donald trump nomine? >> i think there are couple of reasons why there's a little bit of apprehension. one is look, making deals for an oil company and pursuing america first around the world are two different things. so that's why i want a hearing on those things are and then there are the optics of it. lou you have complained before about this. lou: rarely do i complain, rarely. >> will you have commented. here you have this cabinet of very talented people but look who they are. they are investors, they are businessmen, they are billionaires and it's not what you would call a working man's cabinet. lou: it is not a working man's cabinet and less donald trump creates the jobs he has promised. it isn't a working man's cabinet

unless he creates the opportunity and the educational system that will allow working men and women in this country to be assured their children are going to rise up and are going to be in front of an upwardly mobile middle class. those then will be working people at the height. >> i agree but something that i worry about as i remember back what happened in the reagan administration when reagan came to office with that great cabinet that he had in mind. there was a lot of opposition among the people working for him lou: you know this from the era of reagan until now when you are talking about a disruptive force and donald trump's back, challenging all of the orthodoxy that makes up washington d.c.,

the comfort levels are zero so fast. it's time for people to be a little anxious about the future and the people who haven't had a future at this point awaiting the new opportunity. that's what he promised and i think that's a future worth having, don't you? >> i do but i actually have a high comfort level with president-elect trump. i do worry about this particularly about his economic plan and tax cuts. lou: why wasn't everybody worrying about obama, eight years of this. we watched george w. bush with two big tax cuts that led to damp and job creation. >> this is a bigger deal and what i want is to have trump stick with this deal the way he has outlined it, the plan that he is endorsed and not let it get chipped away at by aids.

lou: to your point people are policy and we have seen at work legislatively. i think this fellow that we have elected to the presidency is a different sort. i don't think it will be quite so axiomatic. i think he's going to be the boss throughout. >> i hope so. i think so too but this will be a test. lou: a test come is going to be a huge test. the test token to new and various forms test after test. fred barnes thank you for being with us. it's good to have you here. where a wedding be president-elect thank you tour rally that will be beginning tonight in wisconsin a suburb of milwaukee. i want to be quick to point out in case you were wondering where it is we are coming right back. there's so much to cover tonight. we are going to take an extra hour or two to just do that. you don't want to miss a moment of it though and we are going to

take a brief break, just a brief one. please stay with us. we will be right back. the president-elect declares he doesn't need all of those daily intelligence briefings during his presidency. >> i don't have to be told by a smart person the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. lou: are lame-duck president suddenly seems to think those briefings are absolutely essential. what's going on here? ambassador james bolton will tell you when he joins us here next. and by the look, folks. the polar vortex with us again bringing more excruciating cold and lots more snow. we will bring you the latest on the worsening weather here next. we will be right back. stay with us.

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lie president-elect trump is skipping daily intelligence briefings he's less informed about the world. some said he gets briefings when he needs them. here is the president on "the daily show" last night. he sounded off on the topic. >> it does matter how smart you are, if you are not getting their perspective, their

detailed perspective, then you were flying blind. lou: flying blind. a little history and if he will just a little well, a little contradictory evidence. a report by the government accountability institute reveals that the lame-duck president himself attended just about half of his intelligence briefings so he was fine -- flying blind about half the time from the moment he was sworn in. my next guest says president clinton also missed intelligence briefings while in office and joining us is ambassador former director of central intelligence adviser to president-elect trump. great to have you here. >> good to be with you. lou: i get that he is a duck but does president obama have any sense of his own absurdity and doing things like back? he's been doing a lot of it. >> i can't get inside of his head. it's much easier for me with

terrorists and dictators. lou: the daily brief, let's go to that very quickly because we have a lot of ground to cover here. why would there be such an issue over making a decision you don't want to have repetition -- you want rethink that update you on changes. spare president clinton was a speed reader and he wanted to read his briefings instead of half may talk them to him. most of us can read faster than we listen and as a matter fact that got to be so well-known when the airplane crashed into the south lawn of the white house and 94 the white house staff joked woolsey is trying to get an appointment with clinton. but in spite of the fact they kitted me about if we got the information to him and he got it the way he wanted it. lou: bears this attitude and it's an attitude that resonates with them the left-wing national media.

every criticism or if you will disconnect automatically is used as an attack on the president-elect. no one in their right mind would expect him to not want to be briefed on any security threat to united states not even the left-wing national media. but where we are now is we have an entire party and the left itself that is attacking or attempting to attack the legitimacy of this president because they are in the worst shape they have ever been electorally since 1922. >> that's what seems to be happening, you are right and it sort of strange. we used to have, i'm a conservative democrat. i grew up in a soviet democrat family and we used to have liberal republicans and democrats somewhat compromise on some things and they work together and build coalitions. lou: both parties were far more moderate than andy were

describing some one that most of the audience has never heard of scoop jackson which was one of the most respected on national security in this country. so as we are watching this continue, the polarization and alien essays -- alienation this president-elect seems to me to be working as hard as he can to defuse all of the acrimony trying to bring people together. he is doing his best to seems to me and bringing tillerson and entering a diplomat in two runs and it's not a war machine, to diplomatic organization. >> i think he appointment look very good. i think we are getting people like james mattis and the defense department. lou: and james kelly and

homeland security. >> people like the new secretary of state. these are remarkable and strong individuals. this is not people getting just appointed because they have -- lou: so what do you make of the head of the armed services committee? john mccain, what is his problem? what is going on there with him? they are in some way binary now and they take it out on whatever the target of the day is. it doesn't have to be rational even. >> i can't tell. so far what they have demanded is the hearings. lou: is going to happen whether they demand it or not. >> so i would be surprised if they oppose ultimately somebody as talented as the nominee for state.

lou: so you are feeling good about it? >> well, pretty good. lou: general will see great to have you here. breaking is tonight millions right now are in the bulls-eye of what is likely to be a brutal sustained polar vortex that's moving across the country. the cold air moving eastward bringing with it temperatures in the double digits below zero. not everywhere but enough places that we need to take note another cross country mass of heavy snow strong winds an ice moving in from the west affecting a large swath of the country over the weekend. here we go, winter has arrived. he reminded to follow me on twitter @lou dobbs like an face but me an instagram @lou dobbs tonight. on wall street stock closing at record highs kicking off its

two-day meeting. the dow jones industrials closing in on 20,000. that's right, 20,000, 115.3 today the s&p 500 up 15 the nasdaq up 51. the market is up now more than 8% since donald j. trump is a superior mind you listen to my reports three times a day coast-to-coast on the salem radio network. up next vice president-elect pence says rex tillerson and general kelly are the perfect choices for trumps expanded cabinet. >> he along with general john kelly the department from insecurity represent the caliber of experienced leaders and people are coming to expect the cabinet coming around our president-elect. lou: not every republican is jim woolsey and i work discussing are in agreement with the vice vice president-elect enough that the subject of my commentary.

in just moments trump's senior advisor kellyanne conway joins us. she will tell us exactly what's going on over there in the trump tower. welcome as much as she can. stay with us. we will be right back.

>>

lou: a few thoughts on president-elect trump making it official as exxonmobil's rex tillerson being his nomination for secretary of state. senators mccain and graham calling for an investigation into cia claims russia interfered in our election to benefit trump. now the amigos are at it again saying he's concerned about

tillerson's relationship with vladimir putin. after senator kelly ayotte lost her reelection, she is forced to find new. the senator from oklahoma says he's not ready to vote for rex tillerson. i understand all that. i would have preferred john bolton be secretary of state. you may have preferences as well. but the president-elect is the president-elect and republicans have the majority in the senate and i don't understand what these senators think they are doing? there is little margin for error when it comes to confirmation for trump's senate choices. the senate has turned down a

presidential nominee's choices only 9 times. in all-american history. it is what i would say to our friend in the house, his agenda, not yours. to not allow a cabinet nomination in the senate is an insult voters would never forget and i suspect think would never forgive. martin luther king jr. said in the end we'll remember not the word of our enemy, but the silence of our friend. friend. -- friends. the president-elect chooses what he calls a world class player as secretary of state.

not everyone is thrilled with the mom nation. trump senior adviser kellyanne conway joins me next to sort it out. this fellow taking his lust for danger and adventure to world record heights. we'll show you the high-risk stunt next.

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lou: the cia claimed russian

cyber attacks were aimed at handing donald trump a victory rejected outright by the top intelligence office, the director of international intelligence taking exception with the somewhat random assessment, despite his 19 additional electors from the democratic party stepped forward. 29 including nancy pelosi's very own daughter asking for an intelligence briefing on the matter before they cast their ballots on december 19. great to have you with us, kellyanne. it's clear the left just wants to be an aggravating source working against the interest of the president-elect. is that a fair construction, do you think? >> the professional outrage machine that is the political

left is in overdrive. they have no self-reflection or self-awareness. they missed their opportunities to push out the failed leadership of nancy pelosi and her ilk that cost house and senate seats and governorships and state legislative seats. they are grasping to keep this campaign going. i went back to a time machine from one and two months ago. and i saw all these statements from hillary clinton and her supporters about will donald trump accept the election results? he keeps saying it's going to be rigged and he will keep discuss in suspense. she said on the debate stage in las vegas that it's scary to have someone like donald trump

who says he may not accept the election results. he's forming his cabinet on schedule and under budget. and a conservative cabinet. they can pound the table all they want. all they look like is a bunch of whiners. first it's jim comey's fault, then it many the alt-right. now it's russian hacking. it's hillary clinton. vladimir putin didn't tell her to stay out of milwaukee and loss wisconsin? the first time it's been won by a republican since 1984. lou: it's the worst shape they have been in since 1992 thanks to your efforts and the efforts of donald j. trump. they are a dwindling force, they are mocking themselves it seems these days. i want to turn to rex tillerson, an unusual and fascinating choice for secretary of state.

we are getting blowback not from the democrats so many but from the old faithful, lyndsey graham, john mccain. james langford joining in on that. how much trouble do you think they will be and what can you do about it? >> rex tillerson is an inspired and amazing pick and much like the boss he will be working for, he's unconventional in terms of secretary of state. don't you want somebody who already has a relationship, who has already been in these countries, over 50 of these countries, russia, china, yemen and the middle east, the developing nations? don't you want somebody who already has been out there fighting for u.s. interests? and frankly as secretary of state we have a great relationship and faith and confidence of the president of the united states which is important. can you think of anywhere that's more swamp like than foggy bottom where the state

department is? long before hillary clinton got there and used the state department as a concerning for foreign nations to bring their money, it' it's full of controv. people are going the push back. they are trying to conflate many different things. but this is a strong inspired pick. this is somebody whose experienced across the globe it's an asset, not a liability. politicians think the best candidate is a politician. they think that d.c. resume qualifies you for the position in the cabinet. americans rejected the 30-year d.c. resume of hillary clinton and gave the oval to the man who has no political experience. that's what they wanted.

lou: rex tillerson matches all that you just described. he's a tremendous negotiator. i like the idea of the diplomatic corps that makes up the state department having a diplomat in place and has strong and positive relationships rather than those in conflict. i want to ask about john bolton, rumored to be the number two for tillerson. what can you tell us about that? >> john bolton is an incredibly experienced man on the world stage. he held high positions in governments before for another president and he's anyone as an expert on many of the issues roiling our nation and the globe. he had a very good meeting with the president-elect. as you see, the vast number, and diverse backgrounds of the state department potential nominees

-- more hawkish. what will that mean? i think people are able to hear what he believes and see what he has done. anybody who wants to try to embarrass us at the confirmation hearings better have substantive arguments with respect to these people. 8 years ago at this time or basically a month or two from now, the first cabinet nominees put forward by president obama were confirmed. the republicans confirmed them. that's what they did and they gave a voice vote to hillary clinton as secretary of state. we hope to get more fairness

than we are getting now in the press quarters. lou: attraction of the unfortunately some of the longest serving and those holding leadership positions in the republican party seeming hell bent on providing some conflict for the president-elect. i want to turn to one last issue. the news conference that was to be held on the 15th, the president deferred until i think the earliest january 3, about how he's going to remove himself from his company's business interests. can you give us any indication about what's being considered? >> many differentstructures, lou.r

protocols and the law. he has a collection of iconic buildings in the united states and across the globe. usually this is not an issue. our presidents tend to be politicians moving from political job to political job. but i just want to say something that maybe goes under appreciated in all of this, which is the amount of money and the deal that the trump family is going to lose over donald trump being president of the united states it's an enormous sacrifice because he will be president instead of focusing 100% of the times. lou: i cannot even begin to fathom the structure that would be the basis for a resolution, but i know much better and bright minds than mine are on the case.

and we'll wait and see. kellyanne conway, great to have you with us. thanks so much. all the best. roll the video. one adventurer putting his life on the line in mexico city. here he is. a 700-foot-long slack line 800 feet in the air. the stuntmen set a record for the longest slack line performance in america. speaking of donald trump, we'll be going to west allis, wisconsin. you see the podium in festive christmas decor ready to carry out his next thank you stop. we'll be going there as soon as he takes the stage. up next here, some of the

biggest names in technology to pay the president-elect. >> visit tomorrow. how will those ce orkss from am, is co, tells la, facebook, amazon and many more show the president-elect they are willing to work with him? technology executives.

lou: we are awaiting trump's thank you tour in wisconsin, the rally. tomorrow he hosts a technology summit in new york city, and kudos to donald trump for spearheading the gathering. the silicon valley giants threw their support behind hillary clinton. among those attending, tesla's elon musk, facebook's cheryl and berg. jeff bezos and virginia ronetty. joining me now, the former chief executive officer and

entrepreneur in his own right, john skully. this summit, i happen to find exciting. it's a wonderful way for a president-elect to get a sense of what is happening in a very important quarter of the business world. your thoughts? >> i think it's a terrific idea and well timed. because we really need jobs. the president-elect has been clear it's jobs, jobs, jobs. here is a chance to talk to an industry in which we stand out in the world. it's a chance to make changes to bring some of these jobs back to the u.s. and use the innovator skills of the silicon valley. lou: the silicon valley and the obama white house never moved to

the level an initiative that was successful and observable in terms of job creation in dealing with some of the big issues that confronts us and our -- and our society. why is that? >> part of problem is the current president is not a skilled experienced business executive. the fact is that a lot of the plans that donald trump has outlined are ones that make good stones business leaders. he wants to find way to the restructure the tax code and lower the corporate tax. he wants to find way to the bring back over $2 trillion of capital offshore that could be used in very strategic ways to create more jobs. this makes sense that donald trump is reaching out to the high-tech leaders at this time. lou: repatriating all of that

capital. some say in excess of $3 trillion. that's a stimulus program in its own right and would make possible the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs. it targeted and put to work in a reasonable time frame. what do you think will be required? >> well, i think that the skills of the leadership in silicon valley are unique to the world. there are some pragmatic things that could be considered. for example, foxconn who produces all of apple's products over in china and has actually said that they are willing to come and invest in the united states, i think if apple were to reach out to them and say we want to you figure out a way to build our products competitively in the united states, maybe not all the products, because there are supply chain issues on components that are g -- are

difficult to get in the u.s. i think the president-elect ought to reach out and say what can you do to help our country become great again. lou: it's a wonderful idea, as president puts it, it isn't just all talk and leads to action. we are talking about over 700,000 jobs at its peak just for apple products. by foxconn that number has been reduced to automation, the application of technology. but we are talking about a half million jobs. that's not inconsiderable and would make a tremendous impact for the good in this economy. >> yes. one of the things i think the government could help on, you know that in mexico that mexico has 40 different trade agreements around the world to cover 60% of the world's economy. one of the reasons why you see

many foreign companies locating in mexico is because they have got trade advantages, not just lower cost labor. automation is moving into mexico. why aren't these things come together united states? why aren't we negotiating as good trade agreements as mexico is around the world? >> and there are two other considerations. mexico is not bringing all of that heavy regulation that accompanies any entrepreneurial effort in the united states because of its suffocating impulse of government, particularly the last 8 years to strangle innovation and entrepreneurialism and also at environmental considerations that are also a significant burden, but which is in our society considered necessary and personally i think most it appropriately so. we want clean air and clean water but we don't need to be suffocated by regulation either. do we? >> you have hit on all the key

points i think will be of great interest to the silicon valley leaders. what we need to recognize is while silicon valley companies aren't large employers themselves, they have huge influencen being able to build what i call the ecosystem economy, meaning that if foxconn were to locate a factory in the u.s. and build products for some of the smart phone companies, in fact you would know about the whole ecosystem of smaller companies, lower regulations would help access the capital for small business it's been a big problem in the u.s. all the money has gone the big corporations. there are a lot of things the government can do to help create a better environment. and you outlined a lot of the key ones. lou: john sculley, thank you so much. up next. trump's incoming chief of staff

defending his choice of rex tillerson for secretary of state. >> the truth is, having relationships with people is not a bad thing. we have a lot of problems in this world, and we are not going to solve those problems by making believe people don't exist. lou: i love that. tony sayegh and edgar cohen join me next as we await trump's thank you tour rally in wisconsin. we are told governor scott wearing and house speaker paul ryan will be joining him on stage tonight. stay with us. we'll be right back. ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

lou: president-elect trump taking his thank you tour to west allis, wisconsin for a rally just a day after the wisconsin election was certified and it was still in his favor and he actually picked up some votes. it looks crowd. we'll see about that and go to the venue before it takes the stage. joining me, tony sayegh and adriana cohen.

let's start with some of these appointments. ryan zinke, the congressman from montana, he has been offered the department of interior, on his show last night he said it would be hard to tell the president no. >> i was a little bit surprised because we thought congresswoman mcmorris was going to get that position it's been very competitive for all these positions. i think that's a solid choice. i'm also satisfied with the rex tillerson appointment as secretary of state. he has strong ties with russia and that can help the united states. we can cut a deal with to advance some of the united states interests. russia has leverage over the syrian president. so if we cut an oil deal with them and relieve the sanctions we c