now here is lou dobbs. lou: good evening, the trump administration is confronting global threats with a diplomatic offensive. vice president making a surprise visit to the dmz after warning north korea not to test u.s. military or commander in chief by pursuing its nuclear weapon program. >> or the strength of the armed forces of the united states inhis this region. lou: military parade saturday, sunday, testing of medium

range ballistic missile that blew up 4 seconds after it was ignited. mcmaster, spending the day in islamabad, pakistan, he met with the pakistani prime minister, head of military, and according to u.s. embassy there, mcmaster stressed need to quote -- confront terrorism in all its forms. radical islamist terror on the agenda for defense secretary james mattis on his way to riyadh, saudi arabia, his first stop on what will be a 6 day trip, includes egypt, i israel, qatar, djibouti. joining me now. veteran of 10 presidential campaigns, republican

strategist ed rollins, michael goodwin am we start with vice president pence, saying don't test the resolve of the united states military and president trump. >> look, around the globe, in particular north korea it is front forward. this administration is determined trerse the obama pattern of either leading from behind or not leading at all. i think this is an aggressive posture. we've seen it in syria and in afghanistan with that moab bomb,. i think that north korea say different problem. >> it is. >> and also a there more dangerous, we know he is not a rational character. we are not sure what incentives or threats he would respond to. so far nobody has figured him out. lou: president trump saying that the north must behave, kim jong-un must behave.

how do you think that message will be received. >> the same way received since 1953. when the sort of drove us out of the. they have misbehaved forever. bill clinton basically allowed them to go forward, tried to buy them out in 19 93, they took our money and said screw you. at the end of the day, they saw the weakness of obama. critical thing, we have to understand not just a question of tomahawk missiles and what have you, you have to show strength, strength is not putting troops near there. the problem is south korea, problem is you have i seoul, 30 millioneople. and so, anything that you trigger any war, is other than using the nuclear capacity, which is not willing to do that, i don't think that there

is real options. lou: i don't believe i have heard as much discuss on cable television, broadcast television, read so many articles of opinion pieces in newspapers about north korea and what a president should do as in this instance, at this moment in this time with north korea and president trump. very, very few of those articles contain a scintilla of solution. what do you make of it? >> i think that the president is being aggressive. frankly. and if something goes wrong. that -- that can't be what he has in mind. i think he is assuming. lou: that being? >> assuming that this will -- putting pressure through china on north korea, plus the american military, moving in. lou: he has been clear about. >> right, they will box north korea in. and that it will stand down. and it will stop. but we have not seen any evidence of that yet.

and so, it could go the other way, and then we're in a position where we have to respond. lou: you know, i think, michael and ed, i think this is a clarifying strategy, theronly country on -- either, the only country on planet that has control over no north korea will act in interest of civilling a and developing nations in the world, that is china, if they fail to do so, then we're looking at a alliance of evil. that is china, we will see for what it is. north korea we know what it is. and this will create then a way in which a path forward to respond. because china, if that is the case, can not be allowed to dictate, trade, manufacturing, globally, it cannot be given a say the at table -- a seat at the table. >> i am sorry.

>> your turn. >> china has a choice, but, by the same token, we had to to something, the missile program. lou: let me be clear, i am supportive of what president trump is doing, it is a clarifying strategy. we will know who china is. who leads it, and what their purpose is without any ambiguity. if they align with north korea and fail to constraint. >> again since 1953, options have been on the table, we've looked at them many times. lou: we have not looked at them many times, we watched clinton pay them off, and we watch bush rollover, and we watched obama rollover, this is 30 years, of irresponsibility in part of united states, vis-a-vis north korea. >> we're not seeing anything different, we looked at option, and took lesser of all

evils, military realizes this a difficult entanglement, you can't put grounds on the troop, a substantial military there a lot of weapons. it can create a lot of chaos. >> also, as my point, is we have to do something. they are clearly, keep testing nuclear, and keep testing missiles, we'll soon be within range of their nuclear armament. lou: they are hell bound to attach a nuclear warhead to a ballistic missile to have sway over the united states as we heard so off confident war against radical islamist terrorism, this is a question of whether we fight them there or fight them here. >> also not a battle -- this is a battle for, you put nuclear submarines with poe laye-- pole airs missiles

they can take out anything that they have. >> you have the south koreans that are hil held hostage to the standoff. >> a president at race on may 9. lou: without question, one of the most difficult, complex, potentially deadly challenges of the country. thank you very much. >> thank you. lou: ed rollin, michael goodwin, we'll be right back there is much more to consider, stay with us. we'll be right back. >> more evidence reveals that deep state's effort to corrupt and politicize our intelligence agencies. >> biggest question here, is was intelligence littl little politicized and how was it. lou: exposing more of the deep state with circa news, sarah carter. >> and the trump administration cracking down on illegal immigration,

homeland security secretary john kelly say, congress has a lot to do to fix immigration laws. that and much more straight ahead. looking sharp len. who's the lucky lady? i'm going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit, you go crawling to the bank. this is how i dress to get a mortgage. i just go to lendingtree. i calculate how much home i can afford. i get multiple offers to compare side by side. and the best part is... the banks come crawling to me. everything you need to get a better mortgage. clothing optional. lendingtree, when banks compete, you win. okay! ...awkward.

did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's over 6 times faster

than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. lou: homeland security secretary john kelly, defende

trundetrump administration plans to hire agents, kelly argued that hiring does not amount to a so-called deportation force. >> there are a huge number as you know of illegal aliens or undocumented individuals that have to be dealt with, the laws in the books are pretty straight forward, if you are here illegally you should leave, be deported or put through the system, the law is the law. lou: the law is the law, music to the ears of millions of americans. >> according to breitbart recording a clinton appointed judge will decide next month, whether sheriff joe arpaio will serve jail time on allegations he ignored a 2011

court order to stop his immigration patrol, the sheriff insists his disobedience was not intentional. joining me now. the deep state's effort is sarah carter, for circa news, welcome, good to have you with us. your reporting has led the way on the unmasking scandal of susan rice scandal. tell me where you think we're headed now? >> i certainly think that next step here is the house intelligence committee, senate intelligence committee is reviews all of the documents they have en asking fofrom the nsa, those are all of those fisa warrants, the records that will unmasks, either with or without faisa faisal shahzanice -- fisa, if

susan rice had a national security concern, she did not need to explain herself. to get those documents and then request the unmasking, they want to know, what was she looking at. were there others looking at the same documents and why. did they have anything to do with russia or go beyond russia. charles: >> one thing i heard, i have been talking to quite a few folks, is that they are not getting all document aigd the ing a they have been requesting. they are not getting off the a group, it is redacted, they either don't have the names of people that requested the unmasking or they don't know who they unmasked. this is potential problem within the house intelligence committee, and so, i am certain that they will try to resolve this. with the nsa, and with others. but that is something that we need to be looking at as we move forward. lou: there are sufficient if

you will leftovers from the obama administration still highly placed withins agencies, that this is following a pattern that marked the obama administration that is the era of ir immense redaction on. and questions about where is the rest of it that we've asked for, and committees whether it was benghazi or "fast and furious" or whatever the investigation, congressional investigation, the fire left their bellies and they wrapped it up. the history of congressional investigions, over the obama presidency, is not a good one. >> that true. there is frustration within the intelligence community, you could imagine, we broke those stories we worked diligently, intelligence

community personnel were wanting to share information they don't want to look like they are spying on americans, they have a concern that is how they are being portrayed, that is what happened to them. we were able to obtain a number of documents that much declassified. where it showed that obama administration actually fisa court signed off with the obama administration as early as 2011 to allow them to redact the names with more frequency, and director brennan with the cia, and james clapper, you would think because they are part of the intelligence community that would be their pushy. -- there is a lot of concern that these expansion of powers allowed them great act access

to what we thought of private conversation. lou: they were both caught lying about extend of their activities of the intelligence community and their own whether it be the cia spying on the senate intelligence committee. let me quote, which we don't often do, senator lindsey graham talking about issue of privacy. he said, this is really scary to me. speaking about the obama spying scandal. i understand incident nal collect is part of the process but you have government official like myself, the trump team, you shouut the machine off. there is every impress here, that machine went much farther than trump transition teaming farther than senator graham

almost in every direction. >> i think you are right it went further, we know that there served of congress, congressional members and ead aides unmasked, at least once a month if not more, and concern that journalists and others in fields that were once very protected are also being unmasked, this is something that house intelligence committee will look at, this is a concern. and it should be a concern, for every american. >> absolutely. >> how far did this go and why. lou: sarah carter, we'll watch you carefully and be sure we're up-to-date on how far it does go, thank you. >> vote in our poll tonight, do you believe china wil will eckert sufficient pressure on north korea to drops it nuclear program?

>> on wall street, stocks closing at session highs, dow jones rallying 184, and s&p up 20, nasdaq up 52. volume on the big board, light trading 2.8 billion shares. lou: shares of netflix higher in extended trading after the company beat earnings target ons despite slowing subscriber growth, united up after hours following an earnings beat 3 month period before that passenger was dragged off a flight. and listen to my reports these times a day, coast-to-coast on the salem radio network. >> up next, speaker paul ryan, it turns out he has basically been trying to undermine president trump every step of the way fighting against the health care reform, fighting against tax reform, fighting against the president's wall. and by the way, white house is upset with the freedom caucus.

why not ryan? that is the subject of myself commentary. >> growing concerns that a spike in violent crime in california is due to early release of hundreds of prison inmates in the state. we'll have full report for you stay with us, we'll be right back.

lou: more than a dozen states are trying to reduce their inmate populations in prison, but california's massive release of prisoners is blamed for a spike in crime in california, fox news correspondent william with our report. reporter: enough is enough. passing these propositions you are creating these laws that are raising crime. reporter: like a dozen other states california is truein is trying what it calls prison reform. >> vote for proposition 57, it saves money and reduces crime. reporter: last year governor brown soal sold voter on prop

57. >> most recent statistic from u.s. department of justice show violent crime rates in some california cities has increased by over 50%. reporter: releasing nonviolent offenders early and making felony misdemeanor has backfired, chief blamed one of the reform laws for death of officer keith boyer, in the past his killer would have been returned to prison after violating parol pa parole 4 times instead of just 10 days in jail. >> advocate says that reforms work when constituents invest in programs like drug treatment and job place am. >> new york and new jersey reduced their prison

population 25 percent in last decade, and they have seen crime rates decline. >> hop california hoped to duplicate that by passing prop 47. saved $100 million dollars. >> if it is not ab109, why are crime rates going up? they are. reporter: police arrested a suspect 13 times in 3 months, for theft. each time he received a ticket, suggesting that prison reform may keep people out of jail but not out of trouble. lou: thank you william. >> a few thoughts on the role of speaker paul ryan in derailing president trump's agenda. at least to this point. president trump set to travel to ryan's home district in wisconsin tomorrow, visit headquarters of small ca -- toolmaker snap on.

the president focusing on hire american, buy american, america first ajeffe aagenda. speaker ryan will be in europe. who worked against the him every step of the way, as mr. trump debecame president, ryan not only has his own foreign policy, but an important domestic policy too, it has collided with the president's agenda, a dreadful mess that ryan calls the better way, better way. no one at white house can explain why president trump and his advisers have put up with ryan. ryan right now is the leader of the opposition just as surely as chuck schumer is the leader of the dems. and just how unpopular is speaker ryan?

now that he is derailed a repeal and replacement of obamacare and frustrated the trump agenda? how unpopular is working against the president's tax reform initiative, against the president's border wall, refusing to fund it. how ow unpopular is ryan here, is revealed, 29% of voter approve the job, speaker ryan is doing according to the latest pew poll. ryan's approval rating is lower than 3 speakers who preceded him, regardless of party. even lower rated than boehner, nancy pelosi and newt gingrich. despite repeated warnings ryan continues to be himself.l self,a lot smarter in politics than

anyone could imagine, a lot smarter than he would lead anyone to believe, what other lawmaker as incompetent as he have people insist that ryan accept the speaker ship when he claimed to not want it, and now won't give it up with the big old jetliner that takes him home over weekend to spend time with his family. admirable, but not particularly hard working. republicans have a lot to answer for, and far more if they don't 3 all ryan out -- don't throw paul ryan out of the speaker's office. >> to make no mistake. is not in the power of man. but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future. as is oft said, the future is now. we're coming right back. trump administration

delivering a strong, clear warning to north korea. >> i don't think that you will see the president drawing red lines in the sand, i think that action he took in syria shows when appropriate the president will take decisive action. lou: fighting for survival. we'll show you the elephants battle with a dangerous predator, that video and much more, coming up here next. we'll l l l l [vo] quickbooks introduces jeanette and her mobile wedding business. she travels far and wide to officiate i do's. and quickbooks automatically tracks those miles. she categorizes with a swipe and is ready for tax time. find more than $4000 in tax savings. visit quickbooks-dot-com.

lou: china and russia dispatching intelligence gathering ships to follow the u.s. carrier deployed to the north korean peninsula. it's scheduled to arrive around april 24. joining me to discuss the trump administration's response to north korea's provocations. senior fellow at the foundation for the defense of democrat i. good to have you with me, anthony. i have never heard so much discussion about a foreign policy issue and series of events as i have heard about north korea here over the last few weeks. and little discussion of concrete solutions to the crisis

from the intelligentsia -- your thoughts about my comments. am i right or wrong? >> i think a lot of people like to talk about how there are no good options with regard to north korea policy. certainly they are difficult choices president trump phase. the toughest choice he does face is whether to cooperate or confront china. in the end it is the chinese who have been aiding north korea's sanctions. the last 10 years we have not gone after the chinese. it will take probably significant fines against chinese banks which is what we did against european banks with regardo sanctns, and it will takes sanctioning chinese companies that lead these networks that allow north korea to avoid sanctions.

people don't want to have that conversation because it's a difficult one to have. >> i have seen economic sanctions applied against iran. i have seen economic sanctions apply against russia. tough not seen economic sanctions work. what we are trying to do, if you will, is create some buffer between us and the continues of what is the very bad behavior, not only of north korea, but awfs say, china. those consequences have got to be severe. i'm talking about issues where we are turning over vast stores of wealth and intellectual property to the chinese and the advantage it gives china in particular in any trade trip or future geopolitical adversarial relationship. >> on economic sanctions i would say, we can have a difference -- we can have a discussion of whether the deal with iran was

the right direction. but i think almost everybody agrees that it was the sanctions that were successful bringing iran to the table. perhaps we should have continued those sanctions and probably got a better deal on russia. the issue before president trump is that we placed sanctions we knew we were going to have to tighten and we'll have two additional sanctions and the obama administration did none of that. that's part of the problem. in north korea we see the same thing. the u.n. reported numerous times, several sanctions of asians. elsewhere in africa * we don't close those loopholes. it's whack-a-mole. which is what people like to call sanctions. you have to cultivate it and go after north korea. >> am i inferring correct you

are saying the iranian deal was a satisfactory culmination to years of sanctions that had been unsuccessful in isolating iran even as half of europe was doing business with iran? >> no, what i'm saying is iran sanctions got iran to the negotiating table. the question that, i think people have a difference of opinion on, is whether it's a deal that was sealed the was the fright one. i don't think it was the right one. and whether tightening sanctions even more. but i wouldn't say that iran sanctions was a failure by any stretch. lou: as you say, people can disagree on that issue. be sure to vote in our poll tonight. do you believe china will exert sufficient pressure on north

korea. please roll this video. a dramatic rescue caught on camera. look at this herd of elephants as you watch a crocodile leaping from the water, latching on to the trunk of a baby elephant. an adult elephant comes over to knock the dickens out of the crocodile. i like elephants protecting their young and i don't like to crocodiles. april, the giraffe gave birth to a male calf after 16 months of pregnancy. more than 1.2 million people were on youtube live streaming the birth of calf

weighing in at 1 pounds. the zoo is holding a contest to name the baby giraffe. the sponsor i believe is toys r us. if i'm giving the wrong stop or, the producers will tell me from the control room. my wife was fix eight on this thing for months. it's terrific. justice neil gorsuch facing his first big test on religious liberties. making his supreme court debut today. pass overjeffress says he will reverse bias against faith.

♪(banjo) ♪ooooh ♪i hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow♪ ♪and each road leads you where you want to go♪ ♪and if you're faced with a choice and you have to choose♪ ♪i hope you choose the one that means the most to you♪ ♪and if one door opens to another door closed♪ ♪i hope you keep on walkin till you find the window♪ ♪if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile♪ ♪but more than anything ♪more than anything ♪my wish for you

♪is that this life becomes all that you want it to♪ ♪your dreams stay big, your worriestay small♪ ♪you never need to carry more than you can hold♪ ♪and while you're out there gettin where you're gettin to♪ ♪i hope you know somebody loves you♪ ♪and wants the same things too♪ ♪yeah, this is my wish ♪may all your dreams stay big

lou: supreme court justice neil gorsuch diving right in as he took the bench for the first time to hear arguments, this his first day on the high court. he took 11 minutes before he started grilling attorneys during employment discrimination case. joining me now, pastor first baptist church in dallas, texas, pastor robert jes jeffress. your thoughts on how the newest justice did today? >> i think he did great and i think he will do great. the reason religious conservatives turned out in record number to support president trump in the election was his commitment to appoint conservative supreme court justices who will protect religious liberty. this wednesday justice gorsuch

has the opportunity to do that by hearing oral arguments in this important case. i think he will do the right thing, because jus gorsuch is an originalist when it comes to the constitution. he interprets the constitution by wait actually says, and not what liberals think it should say. the first amendment says congress cannot establish a state church. it doesn't say anything about the ten commandments or nativity scenes or public and religious schools partnering when they have a common objective. lou: they said easter at the easter egg roll. it was a wonderful moment for a lot of folks including the first family. your thoughts about the

criticism of mainstream media and the timing in which melanial under way it was just a nice moment today. >> it was a very nice moment. i think you probably saw the president's approval rating going up. it hit 50% today. i think people are feeling very comfortable with this president. they like the first family and i think they like the decisiveness of this president who is making moves that america stay secure. lou: the president is going to italy. he has made no plans to visit the pontiff who has been extremely critical and intrusive into american politics. do you think that's playing a role in the distance it appears they won't reduce while the president is there?

>> i don't think this is a snub at catholics. he reached out to catholics be in the election. and his office continues to do so. look at some of the broad sides the president has taken from pope francis. he suggested he's not a christian and that his views promote nazism. i think the president has done a good job of turning the other cheek when you look at the insult he endured from pope francis. lou: thanks for being with us. up next, a new call for democrats to address the violent left-wing agitators attacking trump supporters during a weekend rally. we'll take that up on a quick programming note. we'll be talking about the demonstrations and violence of

the left with sean hannity. you can catch the conversation on hannity on the fox news channel tonight. looking sharp len. who's the lucky lady? i'm going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit, you go crawling to the bank. this is how i dress to get a mortgage. i just go to lendingtree. i calculate how much home i can afford. i get multiple offers to compare side by side. and the best part is... the banks come crawling to me. everything you need to get a better mortgage. clothing optional. lendingtree, when banks compete, you win. okay! ...awkward.

lou: in your online poll last week we asked if you believe china's warning will prevent kim

jong-un from carrying out a nuclear test? 67% say no. so far the yeses have it. we'll see how that changes. kellyanne conway calling on democrats to denounce violence at recent protests against the trump administration. >> i would love to hear the new dnc chairman tom perez and bernie sanders who are going out on the road starting today, and i would like to hear hillary clinton come forward as leaders of the democratic party to stop. they have the right to express their first amendment beliefs. but violence is not going to get us anywhere. lou: mollie hemingway and byron york joining us. mollie, the appeal from kellyanne conway to the

democratic leaders to ends the violence which many of the democratic organizations -- left-wing organizations are paying for, seemingly falling on deaf hears. mollie: this should have been a good issue for activists opposed to trump. he hasn't released his tax returns. you should have seen big large-scale otests. the fact that it's just extreme groups who are violent shows it's not going so well for people opposed to donald trump. no matter people's politics, they should condemn violence with it's used in this way. lou: the president hasn't released his taxes and it doesn't appear he ever will. under audit is the way the administration says he hasn't.

the american people in survey after survey, not many people are ex o exorcissed about it. he changed the fact on the ground. he's not going to do it and they can't make him do it. you will see democrats on the hill try to use a russia investigation to make him do it. on the issue of protests, right after if the inauguration, there was a legitimately huge protest. we have not seen anything like that. what we saw on tax day is not very big as mollie suggested. the usual suspects involved. moveon.org, color of change, seiu, just not a big deal. lou: the george soros open

society nonsense on the left having very little effect. i was struck by general kelly, the department of homeland security secretary, mollie, saying that we have to deal with illegal immigration. one way or another it's going to be dealt with. it almost appeared as though he was on msnbc's meet the press making good for what was a tepid performance before congress where he was ambiguous about t wall, but make it clear now the administration is going to pursue criminal illegal immigrants. mollie: most what's happened with regard to immigration has been accomplished not through enforcement mechanisms as much as the bully pulpit. i saw the border crossings of people are children, illegal border crossing are down 93%. partly that's a result of a concentration of efforts by

homeland security. but a lot of what is happening is the rhetoric. i think there is a broad desire for people to see enforcement of our current immigration laws. lou: i see your reasoning. at the same time the report over the same period, we have seen a 25% increase in apprehensions so there is an enforcement element to this without question at the border in addition to interior enforcement. byron, your thought on the same subject. byron: the big thing has been an actual change of policy at bored, the end of catch and release. under president obama a person could show up at the border and say i'm here to enter if the united states illegally. they give them a piece. paper and say you can stay, but be sure to show up in court in six months and of course you never see them again.

ending that practice has had a huge effect, and word has gone the out. but there is interior enforcement going on. it is focused on people who are one, here illegally, and two, have done something else illegal, duis, other crimes that qualify. combination of those things, word gets out and they hear you cannot stay here. lou: i'll ask you both to tell us how the 6th district in georgia turns out. democrat, republican. do we have a runoff? mollie: i feel stloing we'll have a runoff. i don't think ossoff will maker it 50%. byron: i think it's a republican seat. you will have a runoff and a republican will win. lou: we'll be grading the results carefully. thank you both.

lou: that's it for us tonight. tomorrow night we are joined by general jack keane. randy evans among our guests. we hope you will join us as you tree into breaking news this morning. vice president mike pence arrested japan for the second organization torque reassuring japanese leaders the u.s. will stand up against north korea. the vice president holding a news conference at the last hour. good morning, everybody. and lauren simonetti appeared trained to good morning. i am nicole petallides. we will take a look. lauren: the dow shooting up 183 points yesterday. dow futures to a 32 points. nasdaq futures down basics. nicole: japanese stocks edge higher predictedap