"strange inheritance." and remember -- you can't take it with you. here is lou dobbs, keep it right here on fox business. lou: president trump in louisville, holding a rally, pr promoting health care legislation. we from louisville of the trump rally. among our guests tonight, newt gingrich, congressman jim jordan. also tonight, fbi director james comey, once again, center stage in a controversial moment of history. comey taking the highly unusual step of confirming an alleged collusion.

comey refused to say whether or not fbi is investigating all of the leaks to led to resignation of michael flynn. >> i'm asking you to assure the american people. can you assure them it going to be investigated? >> i can't, i hope people watching now how seriously we take leaks of classified information. i have to draw that line, that is the right way to be. lou: we take that up and more with former attorney general michael mukasey. and tom dupree. >> it day one of confirmation hearing of supreme court nominee, judge gorsuch, white house confirms that gorsuch will be confirmed. but de democrats are doing their level best.

>> good evening, a remar remarkable day on capitol hill, james comey testified before the house intelligence committee in a extraordinary departure, comey confirming an ongoing investigation into an alleged russian interference in our presidential election. and whether trump campaign associate were in contact with moscow. >> i have been authorized by department of the justice to confirm that fbi, is investigating, the russian government's effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, that includes investigating nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign, and the russian government, and whether there was request coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts.

lou: comey also said that fbi had no information to support president trump's allegation that president obama surveilled him. but republican lawmakers, including congressman trey goudie suggested that obama administration official may have been sources of leaked classified information. >> do you know whether director clapper knew the name of u.s. citizen this appeared in washington post. >> i can not say. i do not want to confirm that there was classified information. >> would he have access? >> in some circumstances sure. i am not talking about that particular. >> would director brennan have access to an unmasked u.s. citizen's name. >> in some circumstances yes. >> susan rice? >> i think any -- yes, in general, and into other national security adviser

would, i think, as a matter of ordinary course of their business. lou: our first guest said that there is a deep state of entrenched federal employees who set up deliberate leaks to attack president trump and his dang. joining m administration. joining me tonight, newt gingrich, let's start with, james comey and his peculiar if you will, discreet judgment about what he can talk about and what he cannot amongst seemed to be a number of investigationses ongoing. well, comey whole behavior starting last summer about hillary clinton has been bizarre. what you saw today was equally bizarre. on one hand he is happy to confirm they have an investigation that might involve some people in the trump campaign, but not willing to confirm they have

an investigation of people who are leaking. now what is the difference? why can he confirm one, not the other? he has a bland technique of showing up, getting media almost like the wizards of oz and he is behind a curtain being a magician. give us a break. what are principles here? it is caree clear that felonies were committed to. several people have admitted there has been a huge increase in the number of people leaking since donald trump pre came president -- became president, they are all illegal, my question to comey, is if you are not investigating them, why are you not? they are felonies and they are a risk to national security. i would have thought it is the job of the fbi to figure out

who did it. lou: you would think, and almost an eagerness on his part to assure american people that the fbi is working to preserve national security and state secrets, then we have a situation he knocked down any suggested that president's that president obama could have surveil surveilled him, did not explain why there were so many public accounts, published accounts, of conversations amongst a number of individuals and at least 9 sources according to one account that were leaking information. >> well you have to wonder since the obama administration changed the rules of the game, made it possible to distribute information that was not verified.

the rule changes after the election, allowed various intelligence anxious to release information they had no idea whether they were true or not, and they did it in a way it was very likely they would be leaked. i believe this was part of a di deliberate sab -- sabotage of the presiden trump administration. i think that this do you have a deep state, that deep state is long-term, career bureaucrats, and they will do almost anything, including breaking law to try to undermine the trump administration. lou: it is possible, if not probable that the fbi director, is high on this particular totem. as he discussed the number of

people who are authorized to unmask within the fbi, including himself, and some 20, he ignored the number to do same thing in various or agencies, and frankly the, the projection from that is something like, we would look at a number, somewhere around 340 if it were the same as in the fbi. this decomes, you talk about a large pool of potential leakers, my god, they have created that. that does not include the nsa expansion of raw data. and where it may direct that raw data. across the intelligence community. >> one question for trump administration have they changed rules back to what they were before the election, to at least cut off the flow

of raw data, raw data means that anyone is make up anything about anyone, it gets written down on a official government document, sunnily it ha -- suddenly we have a life of its own. we saw idiocy last summer of a british spy that wrote people went t prague, they had never been, and no idea what they were talking about, that went on for 6 weeks. lou: i am pressed for time. but, health care legislation, thursday, a big vote, president is in louisville, tonight to push the legislation forward. what do you see as the likely fate of the repeal and replace? >> well, i hop they can get it past thursday, this is the beginning of a long process. they will pass a different bill in the senate then conference, that is part one,

this is going to be a long process of repealing, and rin organizing our he'l health system, this very important it hases, highway patrol that republicanhope that people who are waivering, realize that. he is getting a lot of work done. lou: speaker ryan, right now, house working through the legislation, adding additional changes to the legislation. the speaker finally deciding to make a subsha substantial commitment to changes in the legislation to lower premiums into move aside all of the mandates in it. your thoughts on the restructuring of the bill, do you think it appropriate that most of the amendments take

place in the house or the senate? >> well, first of all. i hope that he will recognize he has to have the number of amendments he needs to get to 216 to get the bailout. the bill in the senate will be very different, with a different environment, they have to go to conference. this will be a substantial process, lasting at least i think to early summer. lou: newt gingrich thank you. >> thank you. lou: we're awaiting the president's rally no louisville, kentucky. we're told that the president is on his way to kentucky expo center, we'll bring him to you when we takes the stage, we're coming right back. this has been, an extraordinary day in washington d.c. and the world, we'll have it all for you, stay with us, we'll be right back. >> speaker ryan and the white house confident that health

care legislation will pass the house. >> not unusual to have this give and take, i am confident we'll be able to move all portions of the plan. lou: congressman jim jordan is joining us next. >> north korea conducting a new powerful rocket engine test on the same day that secretary of state tillerson concluded his asia trip. we take up the rogue natatatatat

lou: confirmation hearing for supreme court nominee judge neil gorsuch, finally here. and started off with democrats quick to attack him, blumenthal, vowing to use every tool available to block the nominee if he is out of mainstream. though the senator would not know if he was or not. president last month slamming blumenthal for lying about being in vietnam. michael mukasey, former attorney general, u.s. district court judge, it great to have you here. >> great to be here. lou: our judicial system is

front and center again in the days evens. this is dominating, gorsuch, a man who has been so -- he has received so much applaud, i don't think that bloomenthal or sure. schumer become up with a the reason to destruction. >> they define -- i think that part of the problem that it has become, over the last several decades, highly relevant to the judges are because of the increasing tendency of supreme court to take cases that used to be settled politically, and the willingness of the politicians to let them do it. lou: gorsuch saying that judiciary must be independent. we have little who know about

supreme court, it is locked up 4 to 4, and the -- we're about to see whic which way the balance will be tilted. he is supposed to be a conservative, but other nominees are supposedly conservative. >> i think that you can't judge him by what happened with the other nominees. he has a strong, and long record. he has written a book on actually against the right to die. so-called right to die. and assisted suicide. he is a thoughtful, princ principled person. lou: he seems so, it is stunning that the left, really wants to try out their tools in blocking him. using all tools at their

disposal. this is such tawdry, base politics. >> this is also self-defeating from their stand point. if he is confirmed. the court will be back in balance it had before justice scalia's death. the real battle will come with the next vacancy, and the next vacancy could occur next summer. with many rumors that justice kennedy is going to retirement if he does that will put in play a seat that will be a matter of great controversy. and for people to threaten fil filibuster over the current nominee, risks that republican will do away with remaining rule to do away with filibuster so next time they just need majority. lou: as we watch the supreme court, its evolution,

whichever way it goes from here presuming into gorsuch wins confirmation. we're backdrop, watching district court judges behaving abysmaly, to those who believe in a rational and appropriate. >> yo judicial process with the constitution and a law that is foundation. >> the behavior of the district judges in connection with the travel ban? lou: but other cases as well. >> i think that particularly that travel ban, what they have done is something really odd, that is to take away the president's or failed to take account of president's legitimacy as president. instead treat him as just another person. he is a person who said this and that, therefore, an

executive order that recites a basis, factual basis for its result, that recites all manner of jus justification and legal authority, is not to be believed because the person who campaigned is the same, notwithstanding the fact he has changed from being a candidate to a president, they do not recognize the legitimaci walegitimacy of that in the opinions they have written. lou: there in lies the conflict ahead. >> thank you michael mukasey. >> my pleasure. lou: vet in our poll, after today's hearing do you have more or less confidence in fbi director comey, and nsa's admiral mike rodgers? cast your vote on twitter, we would like to hear your reaction. >> rising outrage in sanctuary city the rockville, maryland. two illegal immigrant high school freshman from el

salvador and guatemala, face charges of raping a 14-year-old girl. one of two men, 18-year-old henry sanchez was slated for deportation. average sentence for rape in maryland is 11 years. >> on wall street, a flat day for stocks, dow off 9, s&p down 5, nasdaq up a fraction, volume, lightest trading day of the year over 3 billion shares. and chief executives at nation's largest companies seeing a pays raise 7%. hitting $11.5 million last year, and listen to my report 3 times a day, coast-to-coast on the salem radio network, up next, president trump's set to pinch ryan care? momentarily at a rya rally in kentucky. jim jordan will join us here next, a lot more ahead, stay with us. dear predictable,

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lou: my next guest wants changes to the ryan care legislation. congressman jim jordan, great to have you with us. no progress tonight, huh? >> no. the speaker's billn't repeople

obamacare. even krauthammer said it was obamacare light. it doesn't bring back affordable insurance. and it doesn't unite republicans. finally, phase two and phase three are never going to happen. when you have those key factors how can you support this legislation. right now we can't be for this legislation in its current form. lou: speaker ryan sense we have it right where we want it. even though conservatives in the senate say it's not what they want. >> every conservative organization in the country is oppose to it. every conservative policy expert i know of is opposed to the bill. we are supposed to take it or

leave it in that's not how the process works. let's do something consistent with what we campaigned on and then we'll be able to vote for something, but not this bill. lou: the test of thursday, tom price, let me ask you, as congressman well respected on healthcare, he appears to be caught on ryancare rather than the bill you want and other conservatives want. >> why don't we do what we did before. why don't we repeal it with the legislation x put on obama's desk. and if we get 60 votes, let's get with our replacement bill. that's what we told the american people we were going to do. so three elections about this issue, repeal it, replace it.

that's what our legislation would accomplish. that's the simple and direct plan consistent with what the american people sent us here to accomplish. let's do that. lou: with that i know you have got to get to another meeting. thank you so much. lou: the president is in louisville, kentucky, trying to push the legislation congressman jordan says he opposes because of the deficiencies he arctic late, including the fact that every conservative organization in the country is in opposition to the house speaker's bill. also premiums still rise as a result of the legislation. we'll be take that up and the president will step to that podium pushing that legislation and telling us how he's going to get to where he wants it.

we'll be coming right back. hopefully the president will be at that podium in a matter of moments. f.b.i. director comey won't say whether his agency is still investigating the michael flynn leaks. but this is what he does say. >> leaks of classified information are serious federal crimes for a reason. they should be investigated and where possible, prosecuted. lou: president trump wants leakers investigated and prosecuted. ed rollins joins me here next. and this skier in for the ride of a lifetime. we'll show you the terrifying 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 five. ooohh!! aaaahh!! uh! hooooly mackerel. wow. nice. strength and style.

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lou: lawmakers grill grilling the nsa on f.b.i. on leaks, and leaksers. admiral mike rogers the nsa director testifying 20 individuals within the nsa have such authority, to pun mask u.s. citizens caught up in that. >> how many people within the f.b.i. are part of the unmasking process. >> i don't know for sure. surely more given the nature of

the f.b.i.'s work. pptd cia and nsa does. >> does the white house have the authority to unmask a citizen's name? >> consumers of pour product can ask the collectors to unmask. lou: joining us, ed rollins. great to have you here. can you believe that conversation? >> no, i can't. the reality is, whoever did this obviously committed a crime. and you need to get to the bottom of it. if it's someone who left the administration then you chase them down. if you are half as good as you are supposed to be, go find out who did it. >> you can't put too much weight on demeanor in the way the

director respond to that question. but not knowing the number of people specifically in the f.b.i. who have the authority to unmask suggests maybe the investigation of those leaks and those who have unmasked u.s. citizens hasn't progressed very far. would that be a fair inference? >> that's a fair inference. if they can't tell who has had them, lower the number. there is too much stuff out there today that has been leaked. the president just entered the venue. 19,000 people. a full house. that is the capacity. and of course the standard lee green word anthem as the president walks in as you can see as he always is, when he is talking with the folks, he is have much at ease and always

seems to enjoy himself no matter where it is in the country. and this is a remarkable president we have because of what he's showing everyone here, the connection with the american people. ed: it reinforces him. but unfortunately at this time he's selling something that's not complete. ryan bill is not a bill i think can be sold at this time. if anybody can sell it, it's president trump. he has done a good job of bringing congressmen in asking them to support it. lou: ladies and gentlemen, the president opresident of the uni.

>> thank you, thank you everybody. i'm thrilled to be here in the great state of kentucky and this beautiful city of louisville. and this place is packed. there are a lot of people outside aren't getting in, but indianapolis okay, we love them, too. we are the heartland of america, and there is no place i would rather be than here with you tonight. [cheers and applause] our first republican president,

abraham lincoln, was born right here in kentucky. [cheers and applause] that's not bad. the legendary pioneer, daniel boone, helped settle the kentucky frontier. and the great 19th century american statesman henry clay represented kentucky in the united states congress. henry clay believed in what he called the american system and proposed tariffs to protect american industry and finance american infrastructure. i'm honored to be here today with many of your tremendous modern-day leaders. we are joined tonight and i want

you to give them a nice hand because he's on our side. got to take good care of our people, right? and he's got a lot of power for the people of kentucky. by our senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. where is he? come here, mitch. thank you, mitch. how you doing, mitch? and, mitch, are we going to be okay in everything good? healthcare is looking good? good, thanks, mitch. we are also very lucky to have in our cabinet my secretary of transportation the wonderful elaine chao. working with secretary chao, we'll rebuild the crumbling infrastructure of the united states.

it's time. right? it's time. it is time. after spending trillions and trillions of dollars overseas, it is indeed time. we are going to start taking care of our country. comeercountry. [cheers and applause] also with us this evening is your great governor matt bevens. thanks, matt. congressman andy barr. and congressman jamie comer. the state motto of kentucky is united we and, divide we call.

we are united. somebody from the fake mediate other day asked me a question. they said, how are the republicans going to finally get together? i said wait a minute, we won the presidency, we won the house, we won the senate. i mean -- right? actually he was a nice guy that asked the question. but i was thinking that was an interesting question. because we just about have never been on a streak like this. i think 1928? a long time ago. and we'll get a lot of things done. then we'll get to one of my favorite things called reducing

taxes. [cheers and applause] standing together as americans we are going to deliver amazing things for the citizens of kentucky and the united states. most importantly, we are going to take power back from the political class in washington and return that power to you the american people. it's happening. it's happening. it's happening. it started on november 8. remember that beautiful, beautiful day? that beautiful day. that was a beautiful day. they weren't giving us a lot of chance, were they? remember, there is no path to 270. [cheers and applause]

remember the line -- for the republicans the electoral college was very, very hard. very hard to win. you remember the famous line, there is no path to 270. well, there was a path to 306. but maybe not to 270. but we had a lot of work to do. the fact is we inherited a mess. it's a mess. i met with the prime minister today of iraq. i met with others, the middle east, north korea. north korea.

i'll tell you what, what's happening there is disgraceful and not smart at all. so many different problems, and i'll tell you, you see what's happening with the economy? we picked up three tria trillion dollars in value and our companies are bringing people back to work. [cheers and applause] we have to take on every special interest that has profited from -- i don't mean like a little bit, i mean really terrible trade deals. horrible trade deals. last year our country lost almost $800 billion in trade. not going to happen anymore, folks. not going to happen. uncontrolled immigration -- you

see what's going on there. that's happening quickly. a little problem with the courts not wanting to give us the decisions that should be given. but we'll win it. and a financial system stacked against the american people. these entrenched interests will do anything they can to keep the broken system in place. but they will fail and we'll win because we are fighting on the side of our great american heritage. [cheers and applause] this place is packed! i known, i don't want to say this.

we could have been watching a good basketball game tonight. what happened? what happened? that's all right. you have done a good job, right. done a good job. great team, great coach it's all right. we are going to drain the swamp of government corruption in washington, d.c. and we are going to keep our promises all of the promises that we made. we are going to massively reduce your taxes. we are going to reduce very substantially rising crime and support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. [cheers and applause] we are going to bring accountability to the va and

take great care finally, finally, finally, of our great veterans. [cheers and applause] and our secretary, you wouldn't believe it -- i still don't have my cabinet. they won't approve my cabinet. about crowd boos] there is a lot of division and bad stuff going none this country. but we love david. david got approved 100-0. head of the va. secretary of the va. you watch what happens with the vet ands. -- with the veterans. it's time we take care of our veterans. we are going to rebuild the

united states military finally. [cheers and applause] i proposed a budget that calls for one of the largest increases in defense spending history and we need it. we need it. a lot of bad actors out there folks. that's time also. it's also jobs. because we make this equipment right near the u.s.a. and we believe in three crucial words, peace through strength. cheerl[cheers and applause] there is the great lieutenant governor there, please. thank you, darling. thank you.

but we will spend our money wisely with just one negotiation on one sets of airplanes. i saved the taxpayers of our country over $700 million. [cheers and applause] that's just one of many. one of many. we have also kept our promise to appoint a supreme court justice who will uphold and defense the constitution of the united states. judge neil gorsuch's hearing is under way in if the senate. and i surge members of both parties to swiftly approve his nomination. he's sphean outstanding imagine from an outstanding family with

an unbelievably wonderful wife. they should approve. this another promise that is deeply important to me, and i know it is deeply important to you. we are going to put our coal miners back to work. they have not been treated well, but they are going to be treated well now. clean coal. right? clean coal. i have already eliminated a devastating anti-coal regulation. that's just the beginning. you saw that. got a lot of thank yous from a lot of great people who worked very hard. a lot of people will be put back to work. a lot of coal miners are going back to work. as we speak we are preparing new

executive actions to save our coal industry and to save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. the miners are coming back. our new epa administrator, scott price, a kentucky native, will turn the epa, will turn the epa from a job killer into a job creator. you watch. [cheers and applause] since my inauguration we have already added nearly half a million new jobs. and that's just the beginning. just the beginning. and i don't know -- did you see

those consumer confidence levels? they are through the roof. i think you are doing as well as kentucky. but i know you don't like obamacare. i know. great guy. we are working to remove regulations on our auto industry so we can make more cars right here in america, including more cars in kentucky. we wiped out many, many unnecessary regulations, and that's just beginning. it's continuing on a weekly basis. we are getting rid of unnecessary regulations. we are going to be good for business and we'll be good for the workers of america. we a also cleared the way for the keystone and dakota access

pipeline. and as i was signing it wicked where are they getting the steel? where? i said if people want to build pipe flients united states, they should use american steel. and they should build it and create it right here. that pipe is going to be manufactured right here. i'm saying, where are they buying their stuff? like henry clay, we want to put our own people to work. we believe in two simple rules. buy american, and hire american. as you folks all know, henry clay was the legendary kentucky politician who payment 8th

speaker of the house in 1811. you know, they compared my campaign to jackson, president jackson, right? of 1828. can you imagine having to go back that far? they said this was even more severe. but we did a great jock together. [cheers and applause] 1828. that's a long time ago. oh, boy, and he was a good president, right? he was a good president. president was a fierce advocate for american manufacturing. he want it badly. he felt very strongly. free trade which would throw wide open our ports to foreign

production without duties while theirs remained closed to us. that was his quote. he knew all the way back early 1800s. clay said that trade must be fair, equal, and reciprocal. fair, equal and reciprocal. i'm talk about reciprocal trade. reciprocal. i mentioned that the other day to a group in my office. we'll be doing some trade deals as soon as we getted the healthcare finished. i'm look forward to these trade deals. there is going to be no ambiguity. but i used the word reciprocal. harley davidson makes great motorcycles. they were in my office. and they came in, i said how doing? great? how is business? great.

how do you do overseas? it's tough. we have some countries that chawrnlings a $100 import import tax. 100%. 100%. i said how do you do? they said not so well. it's tough. they have other countries that charge a lot. so if they are going to charge us 100 per, we'll charge them 100%. you know what will happen? they will bring their 100% down to nothing like we charge. we can't allow that to happen. in explaining the american system, clay argued the sole object of the tariff is to tax the produce of foreign industry

with the view of promoting american industry. for too long our government has abandoned the american system. since nafta was approved in 1994, the worst trade deal ever made by any country i think in the world, america has lost nearly 1/3 of it manufacturing jobs. do not worry, we are starting on nafta very soon. i have only been there for what, 52 days, right? somebody said to me when are you starting on nafta? i said i did this, this, this, i knocked out unbelievable numbers of regulations. we are negotiating better deals. i have been here 51 days. give me a chance. i look forward. we are going to do something with nafta that you will be very, very impressed with. that will be an easy one, folks.

since chinajoined -- that's another beauty -- the world trade organization in 2001, the united states has lost many more than 60,000 factories. we sacrificed our own middle class to finance the growth of foreign countries. but those days,ladies and yes of kentucky, are over. is that okay? those days are over. it's crazy. you know what that is? much more than 60,000 factories. it's like -- if you have a map, how do you put that's dots on the map? more than 60,000 track tries.