again. is our new time slot will be fridays on fbn at 8 p.m. see you then. ♪ ♪ media feelings. guys, thank you very much. appreciate it. lou dobbs is here. he's next. . lou: president trump today take his message straight to the american people. the president touring a boeing aircraft facility in south carolina where, he touted his work and success on moving the economy ahead. >> just like you built this incredible airplane behind me, both of them, when you think about it, we are going to rebuild this country and ensure that every forgotten community has the bright future. lou: tonight, we take up the president's strategy to deal with the left-wing national media and their campaign of disinformation and outright propaganda. among my guests, the "weekly

standard"'s fred barnes. also tonight, the trump white house, promising a crackdown on damaging leaks. >> there may be some bad actors within the intelligence community or some holdovers, nobody knows. lou: one of our guests tonight says the nsa may be behind the michael flynn leak. former nsa official william benny argues monitoring the white house. and the trump rally rolls on, on wall street. investors loving the president's economic policies, markets adding $2.8 trillion since he was elected our 45th president. and no one seems to be tired of winning at all. good evening, everybody. just moments ago, president trump blasted the national left-wing media targeting specific news outlets this time in a tweet. he stated this --

earlier today, the president returned to the themes that got him elected, delivering a rousing speech on jobs before a crowd gathered at the boeing facility in north charleston, south carolina. >> we want products made by our workers, in our factories, stamped with those four magnificent words. made in the usa. since november, jobs have already begun to surge. we're seeing companies open up factories in america. we're seeing them keep jobs at home. lou: the president flew to mar-a-lago after the boeing speech. he'll hold a rally tomorrow afternoon in melbourne, florida. the president naming one

candidate to replace michael flynn as national security adser. president trump tweeted this -- mr. trump, the target of criticism and conservative circles for choosing mike dubke to be the white house communications director. crossroads media created super pac and it's associated nonprofit crossroads gps. on capitol hill, democrats, they're failing to delay the vote any further on scott pruitt. the senate confirmed prewitt as

environmental protection agency administrator in a 52-46 vote. the fifth cabinet appointee to be confirmed. and the senate looking to break the filibuster on wilbur ross, the nominee for commerce, but democrats would not allow republicans to accelerate the schedule to confirm ross today. the vote is likely to take place after congressional recess, monday february 27th. here to talk about the fake news media's attack on mr. trump and take his message directly to the american people. the executive editor of the weekly standard, fred barnes, and always good to see you. fred -- >> thank you. lou: this is fascinating to watch. the president steps forward with the extraordinary press conference which he dismantled the practitioners of this craft who had gathered to attack him ain, i guess. and now he's take his message directly to the american

people, still with twitter, but still in campaign mode and taking it on the road. >> and it's working on the road it. worked well at the press conference as well. i mean, you know the press should have liked it. when you compare -- trump's press conference with those of obama, obama's were almost as long as trump's was yesterday, but he would always filibuster. so trump, they got in more than twice as many questions as they usually did at an obama press conference, and then they still complain. lou: they still complain, they whine, and they attack him and this government. i mean, this is really something to behold. you know, whether it be, whatever news organization. their corporate chieftains have decided to unleash and direct these journalists, if you can

call them that, into an attack against this president. >> well, they're certainly doing it, that's for sure. one of the ones that came out this week was the "new york times" story which they'd run before last fall that says that american intelligence had uncovered that trump people who work for the trump campaign and trump associates who could be any of thousands of people, of course, they have had contacts with russians, even russian intelligence. well, then you read that story and you found out, well, these talks, there was no indication they were dealing with -- lou: explain this to me, because we've gone through this, and i am actually, i am absolutely appalled to think what the "new york times" has become. it's reporters, its editors, they're just attacking with absolutely false information. they are making things up whole cloth and then attacking this president, and no one in the national media has the guts to say what their colleagues are doing because most of them are

doing exactly the same damn thing. >> i think some of us have been highly critical, and the times story, which they led the paper with, making it sound like the horrible connections. lou: the first two paragraphs are something, aren't they? >> yeah, and turned out these calls, they didn't know whether -- there was no indication they were about trump at all, and there was no indication there was collusion or trying to influence the election. lou: but again, why aren't the outlets whether it's abc, nbc, cbs, "new york times," "washington post," the "los angeles times," not one of them has the courage and the principle to stand up and say, this is garbage, this is an affront to the very tenets of the fourth estate. >> they're deluded into inking donald trump is a monster. lou: no, no, no. i don't buy that, fred. i really don't buy that.

that may be an excuse. >> okay. lou: but that's not what they believe. because they're not entirely stupid people. they can see the facts for themselves. they know what they're saying unsubstantiated and unsubstantiatable. they are lying when they put together -- that's a lie to create those top three paragraphs of that story in the "new york times," is it not? >> well, it certainly wasn't true, if you read further in the story. lou: no, no, wait a minute, fred, come on. it's either true or it isn't. it was put forward as absolute truth by one of the most well-known journalistic brands in the world. >> i would say it was highly misleading. and, look, we see a lot of that. "washington post" had a piece today saying there were 15 dubious claims by trump and his press conference. i read through them, it turns out seven of them were true!

they weren't dubious at all. and four of them were mere quibbles. lou: arguable. right. >> and so fred, while the american people are watching, this american people right now in survey after survey after survey, they believe donald trump. he has more credibility with the american public than the people continuing this war. the extension of this is that he refers to "new york times" as a failing "new york times." you've got news organizations that are never going to recover from this. >> uh-huh. i agree. i think they've gone off on a wild, crazy tangent that is beginning to backfire on them. certainly trump is going to continue to pound them the way he did at that press conference, and -- look, i talked to people who were there, and they thought it didn't go well for trump. lou:o, for crying out loud. that was one of the most incredible performances by any

president in the history of news conferences and he shellacked and shamed every one of those characters who played farcical foil to the president. >> it always works when the president is up there answering questions and the reporters are out there jumping up and down and screaming and waving hands and so on. the contrast is dramatic, and look, i mean -- lou: what's your opinion? what was his performance? >> i thought -- i didn't think it did him a whole lot of good, but i think trump thinks it did. lou: didn't do him a lot of good? that was your reaction to that news conference is it didn't do him a lot of good, really? >> i think he's already established himself. lou: well, did it do the reporters who were -- >> that's different. lou: any good? >> certainly didn't. lou: fred, you have ecnimity of nature i can only dream about for myself. fred, thanks for being with us.

>> i'll get more excited next week. lou: no, i'm excited about what it is that will get you so excited. appreciate it, see you next week. we're going to test you on this. we're coming back with much more. stay with us. president trump holding the national left-wing media accountable for its assault on his administration. >> you can talk all you want about russia, you know, fake news fabricated deal to make up for the loss of the democrats. press plays right into it. lou: we'll discuss what the trump administration should do about the lying left-wing national media. ambassador j j j j j [ alarm clock beeping ]

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. lou: secretary of state rex tillerson today met with his chinese counterpart. tillerson urged beijing to rein in north korea after a number of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. the conversation taking place on the sidelines of the g20 foreign minister's meeting in bon. common interests between china and the united states far outweigh their differences, the chinese foreign ministry statement amounts to its meaningless and not a response

to whathey'll do about north korea, obviously. secretary tillerson while in germany is cleaning house back at home at the state department. aides purged some two dozen state department senior staffers in a shake-up that has many now suspecting a major restructuring is absolutely imminent. and we have breaking news for you. fox news tonight confirming former ambassador john bolton is also being considered for national security adviser. white house sources uncertain whether he'll be traveling to florida this weekend to meet with the president and to find out what he will be doing. i shouldn't do this to him. good friend. absolutely. former u.s. ambassador to the united nations and american enterprise institute senior fellow, john bolton. and john, we're still friends after i break that news. >> you're timing is amazing, lou, i have to say. [ laughter ] >> congratulations and good luck, are you going to florida

to meet with the president or can you say? >> as my policy has been consistently, i say nothing, not even under duress, i hope. lou: by the way, the ambassador has been absolutely consistent in that policy throughout. doggone it. good to have you here. tillerson, start with tillerson, making a move on the state department, which is generally regarded as the ultimate snake pit in washington, d.c. politics. the far east desk on the senior officialdom, of the state department, absolutely legendary in their politics and just a terrible environment that's been created over >> well, you're right. it's a culture, a separate culture and has developed over generations and no secretary of state has really tried to effect the culture before. whether these personnel moves are a first step in that direction, i don't think we know, the media reporting didn't give you enough detail

to know what he's done. but it's more than what will require more than simply changing the boxes and lines on the state department organizational chart, and not something that will be affixed in the tenure of one secretary of state or one president, but to begin the job is very important. lou: i would say, it's interesting, this is the president who campaigned on draining the swamp. there aren't many elements of the swamp more in need of draining than the state department. >> or harder. let's be clear. this is the smartest, best educated bureaucracy in washington, and it believes it sets foreign policy. especially republican administrations come and go, but they continue. so this is no small task. lou: let's turn to tillerson and meeting with the chinese at the g20, urging beijing to help. this is a president who is now extending his hand to the

che to say, as he has by phone to xi, to say let's work gether and get this done. no president has succeeded in that. >> well, one reason is for more than 25 years, we have allowed china to host negotiation sessions and nice dinner parties which have accomplished nothing, out of 25 years of negotiation, the north koreans have simply gotten closer and closer to a capacity to deliver nuclear weapons to the west coast of the united states. what china can do is put unbelievable pressure on north korea and that's what we ought to be urging them to do. lou: there's no question about the capacity of china to turn north korea. what is questionable is whether or not that state department, as you say, filled with bright bureaucrats, is being seriously overestimated by most of us when we look at that department. they've been outwitted on every

front, and what they have done is secure their jobs and preserve their jobs for the status quo, but they have not advanced u.s. foreign policy whatsoever, particularly under president obama. it's been a disaster no matter what corner you turn. >> yeah, look, one of the reasons hillary clinton and john kerry felt comfortable traveling the world as much as they did. they knew the department left entirely to its own devices would come out with policy outcomes they would be entirely comfortable with. that's not a luxury this administration has. i would say specifically with respect to china and north korea, the argument here is not urging china do us a favor. we're trying to explain to china why it's in their interest to put sufficient pressure on north korea that this regime collapses and the two koreas are reunited. that's the long-term solution. lou: it's a long-term solution, two koreas has been the policy of the united states government for more than a half century. the thinking is not exacy

effervescent in the state department nor in the foreign policy apparatus. because of his freshness of thought, because of his statements and his policies that he ran on as a candidate. >> yeah, that's what elections are for. the bureaucracies, whether it's state or anywhere else, have no constitutional legitimacy. lou: but they have tenure and all but impossible to fire. >> you're absolutely right. lou: john bolton, great to see you. >> glad to be with you, lou. lou: let's have a discussion about all the things you wouldn't tell us here on the air. [ laughter ] >> fruitless suggestion. thank you so much, ambassador john bolton. be sure to vote in our poll tonight. the question is -- i didn't want to sugar coat it tonight. cast your vote on twitter. follow me --

on wall street today, another record breaking session for stocks. dow, the sarngs they only moved up four points, the nasdaq gained a whopping 24. despite the relatively modest gains, all indexes at new record highs as, yes, this must drive the left nuts when i do. this volume on the big board, 3. billion shares as the trump rally rolls on! for the week, the dow, s&p and nasdaq posting gains of 1.5%. the trump rally does roll on. markets posting $2.8 trillion in, well, market cap since, well, president trump was elected on november 8th. that is a pretty good vote of confidence, don't you think? the s&p up nearly 10% since he won the election. the fourth biggest postelection gain in american history. and facebook founder mark

zuckerberg making a pitch for globalism. he feels it's threatened and cod he be right? zuckerberg in a 5,000 word post saying humanity must come together, quote, not just as cities or nations, but also as a global community. obviously, he never read hillary clinton's "it takes a village." despite, that zuckerberg believes facebook can provide the social infrastructure to build that global community. see, he's wrong about that. i think "lou dobbs tonight" is the infrastructure for that. we'll take that up and much more throughout the broadcast. stay with us, and listen to my reports three times a day on the salem radio network. up next, president trump on the offensive against the left-wing national media. >> and i'll tell you something, i'll be honest, because i sort of enjoy this back and forth that i guess i have all my life, but never seen more dishonest media than the

political media. i thought the financial media was better, much more honest, but i will say that i never get phone calls from the media. how do they write a story like that in the "wall street journal" without asking me? lou: that's the subject of my commentary here tonight. and california officials closely watching the oroville dam tonight. that's right, more weather. what could cause a nightmare this weekend. stay with us, we're coming right back with the very latest.

lou: a few thoughts on the national left-wing media and president trump. he tweeted that fake left-wing media is in the happy after edcorrectedded them and called them out. >> the press has become so dishonest.

e s is out of ntrol. the tone is such hatred. you have a lower approval rating than congress. they will say donald trump rants and raise at the present. i'm not ranting and raving. i'm just telling you, you are dishonest people. lou: the national left-wing media respond with his tear is, hyperbole and outright nasty fiction. listen to this sampling of a crazed few. >> it was unhinged, it was wild, it was sprawling, it wall as you over the place pivot was a roadmap of his mind it's a disturbing roadmap in many regards. >> if you watch the whole thing you go what's going on with this guy. it was like a guy on a couch explaining his problems to a shrink. >> when presidents take office they are in power and get bigger

but you have a president in that press conference who looked smaller. lou: that'sed the inverse of what he said. the national left-wing media is the one getting smaller and smaller by the day. less trusted than ever before it's a disastrous ideological propaganda and disinformation machine. chuck todd also joining in the nonsense. he tweeted, this not a laughing matter. i'm somewhere ir, delegitimizing the press is pun american it's also not. >> laughing matter when the midwest-wing media delegitimizes the president of the united states only serving the collective ideology and their owners who unleashed them. we knew this fight undertake bin

this president would be a tough fight. i'm not sure the republican party and the trump movement expected an outright war this intense, this violent, this vile, this early in a trump presidency. but it's clear it's here. now our quotation of the evening. this from cicero who said this of the seditious forces araid against a nation and it's elected leader. quote, a nation can survive it fools and even the ambitious. but it cannot survive treason from within. president trump calling on the justice department to investigate the criminal leaks within his administration. >> i called the justice department to look into the leaks. they are criminal leaks. they were put out by people, i

think in agencies. i think you will see it stopping now that we have our people in. lou: the semi truck moving at full speed, no sign of slowing down. we'll show you the incredible ending to that drama. this is the silverado special edition. this is one gorgeous truck. oh, did i say there's only one special edition? because, actually there's 5. aaaahh!! ooohh!! uh! holy mackerel. wow. nice. strength and style. which one's your favorite? come home with me! it's truck month! find your tag for an average total value over $11,000 on chevy silverado all star editions when you finance through gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

lou:he white house and the administration's leaks and whether the intelligence

community could be the ones surveilling and monitoring president trump's telephone calls is the architect of the nsa surveillance program. he's also an nsa whistleblower. we are joined by william bening. it's been a few years and it's great to have you here with us tonight. let me start with your assessment as to the likelihood that this president is being monitored and surveilled by more than one agency from perhaps more than one quarter be it the white house, state department, f.b.i., cia, or nsa. >> these conversations are coming out are the times of things that are selected under the programs for the upstream collection programs from nsa. but the biggest program that's doing it is the fairview program

which is attached inside the fiber networks inside the united states, from that they are taking phone calls, emails, content and meta data and storing and processing it. i don't think there is any question this came from the nsa program. the problem is it doesn't necessarily have to be nsa people that leaked the conversation. it could have been people from cia or f.b.i. or dea who also have direct access to that but also i would say these are very compartmented programs. there are very few people involved in them and they all get cleared to the programs. they all get listed as to who had access to this data. if they looked into the network logs, they could see who was accessing those files. lou: how long it would, in your judgment, how long should it

take, would it likely take, to have the f.b.i. to have whatever investigatory agency or agencies move in and determine who is responsible for these heeks from of what quarter of the government? >> i think they should analyzing the network logs from my point of view it would take no more than a day to figure out who was accessing it. so theyened up with a set of people they need to investigate more closely and have them come in and questioned. howie: this administration, have you ever seen a president, an administration, in whatever stain, so -- so besieged by leaks and a left wing media obviously trying to destroy his presidency, have you ever seen anything like this? >> i never have.

to me it's basically -- i think people are reacting in a sense of heavy fear what he might do and what he might achieve. from my perspective, i think some of the things he's doing are really starting to stimulate the economic and people are afraid he will succeed too much and too well and it might make them look really bad. lou: they look pretty bad already. >> that's true. but they will look even worse if the economy starts really going. lou: and the market as we reported are going -- not all -- nearly all the data shows an economy that is moving considerably in a positive direction from what it was in the last quarter of last year. william, let me ask you this. the surveillance that is being utilized, is there any way for this president to take control

of that and -- it's critically important that he have as we know trust in the agencies and the intelligence community have trust in him. can he win that kind of control against the permanent government, if you will, the bureaucracy of the intelligence community? >> yes, he can. and the way to do it is through the department of justice and the f.b.i. enforce them to follow the laws and the constitution. in which case then they will have to put some people in jail. that will start stopping this activity. the other point is he needs to unfund these actions done by nsa regardless of who you are. they are pulling in data on everybody. not just the president, the vice president, all the members of congress. intelligence commitr committees. the judges on the supreme court. generals on the joint chiefs.

everybody. lou: it's important to point out that the president has called upon the attorney general and the justice department to begin that investigation into the leaks. thank you as always. come back soon. we'll have i'm sure far more need of your services as this unwind. thanks so much. please roll the video. a semi truck blowing through town. watch as powerful wind knock over this tractor-trailer cruising down a wyoming highway. it fell on to an empty patrol car, narrowly missing a second car. the gusts were ranging up to 0 miles per hour. which were being record at just about the exact time of that crash. up next, president trump following through on his campaign promises to be a law

and order president. the national left-wing media is fighting him, attacking him he step of the way. we take that up with unof the top republicans in washington. we'll be right back.

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lou: randy evans. good to have you with us. this is a president who right now seems -- if he were not up on the because of his feet going after the mortal even mits of the national left-wing media, who would be doing that? would that be mitch mcconnell other head of the republican national committee? would that be paul ryan? and why the hell isn't congress and the senate talking about and defending this president against a crew ball left-wing media? >> it's a great question. president trump doesn't need anybody to defend him. lou: you are a terrific lawyer, but that isn't the question of i asked.

the question is, why aren't they? supports and allies don't need to be asked, do they? >> no, but they are doing their part by moving the process along notwithstanding the democrats' efforts to delay them. what we have is a case of this. the press hysteria led to media dysteria. in georgia we have phrase the hit dog hollers. after donald trump called them out, you heard every one of them network by network holler. as the president occupies and marginalizes the mainstream media you will see the congress steadily repeal and replace obamacare. lou: i expect him to do that as a matter of course. they repealed obamacare how many times or some part of it in some

fashn over the course of the last five years. randy, talk to me. i'm talking about why isn't this party standing as one against a national left evening national media has has chosen to attack with the purpose of simply sedition. they are trying to stymie this president and his policies and overturn and subvert the will of the american people. it's that straightforward. and i don't hear anyone in congress talking about it. not the leadership of either house, senate or house. >> i would take issue there. i think speaker ryan and majority leader mcconnell have on more than one occasion stood up for the president. lou: i am going to pretend i'm an attorney. where is your evidence,

counselor? when is the last statement made byter one of them that is in support of this president and condemning the actions of the left-wing national media. >> the confirmation of epa director pruitt i think is a grand statement by the self. if nothing else -- lou: we are not talking about metaphors for statements. do we the courtesy just at least assuming you have some obligation to answer straightforwardly. >> i am answering you straightforwardly. lou: let me add the word truthfully, counselor. >> it's very, very simple. some people speak through actions, some people speak four words, some people speak through both. what you are seeing the congress do is steadily push through the president's agenda as he takes down the mainstream media d

thdemocrats. it's a lot like what we talked about before. the first 10 days of the republican ref -- the first 100 days after speaker continue grip of took over. d speaker gingrich took over. >> devi devin nunes has spoken,d the fact that you have to defend with evasion is a sad statement about how weak this leadership has been in supporting the president who showed this party how to win and who represents the will of the american voter. >> but my question to you is which would you rather have. lou: you just used up your question, i'm out of time. you can ask me a question next time. it will be soon. breaking news.

emergency officials at oroville dam are bracing for what could be a major setback in their fight to save the emergency spillway. a reef advised forecast has a huge storm looming. it could drop as many as 12 inches of rain over the weekend. tonight only voluntary evacuation orders are in effect. but everyone watching this storm system approaching oroville, california. the nation's leftist academia waging a war on the president and his administration. you will be stunned by what teachers in austin, texas have done to undermine enforcement of law and specifically immigration and customs enforcement. we'll take that up. a programming note. i had a great talk with sean hannity about the left's war

against president trump. this is a left wing offensive being carried out in the left in wing media. i'm reading these couples, what a disastrous 30 days. the wall web's building it, vetting is getting done. sank warive cities, catch and release, it's all coming to an end. lou: sean hannity, you can catch the rest our discussion tonight on "hannity" on the fox news channel. [vacuum cleaner]

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lou: in our online poll we asked do you have any hope the national left wing media almost ever treat president trump fairly? 91% of you said no. david more over winds, "big agenda" debuting on the "new york times" best seller list. my frustration with my friend randy evans was apparent. but there has got to be more to the republican party than

separate silos and they allow one to be attacked without response from the other. >> you are 100% right. they are cowards. i don't think randy understood the point you were making. how can they leave trump alone to fight this army that's destroyed one republican presidency after another? i mean, they are destroying george bush's presidency. remember all the body bags on the front pages of the "new york times" that disappeared when obama was in afghanistan? this is the problem. >> i think one of the reens they people emboldened is because they think the media will help them.

the bureaucracy itself, they feel they are going to be support publicly. and i think that's why this is president trump's approach. i ageist's pun american to december detroit american media and the media has don't to themselves. lou: it's anti-american to try to destroy a president who is untested. this pure ideology. >> this is a treasonous media leaking classified information. it violates the espionage act. they should be prosecuted for that. the media has destroyed itself. republicans can't leave one man to fight this battle. and he's doing a magnificent job. but there has got to be a chorus. if the roles were reversed and

it was the democrats -- lou: corporate america, wall street, every union in the country. and meanwhile donald trump who saved the republican party in this cycle and stood up and showed them how to win has to stand alone, not that it isn't a fair fight, i think he has some significantly outmanned. but the fact is, that they should stand up, they being speaker ryan, majority leader mitch m mcconnell and every on the are person in the republican party. >> president trump is the president because none of these people had any spine to begin with. they are going to have to come along. but this is why we are in the position we are in. >> they have got to grow it. i was thinking about about your remark what's going on in austin

where the teachers are indoctrinating their students. lou there are we are out of time. >> why aren't the republicans putting in laws to stop this? lou: exactly. lou: exactly. >> i'm very capable of changing to anything wants to change to. down* i'm sick of both these people and sick of the endless coverage of them. most of what they will do will be bad. the best comes from the private sector. but people look to government. they think it's sharing. so when people propose better, private solutions, they get