thanks for all the remedies, the whiskey, the bourbon and the lime and lemon juice helped. i'm halfway home. appreciate you viewing. if you can't view, dvr it. now you've got two hours of lou dobbs and donald trump, next. lou: good evening, everybody. president trump and republicans tonight are celebrating two more big wins in special congressional elections, georgia's 6th and south carolina's 5th. republicans left the dems and the left-wing national media just seething and sucking air in their anger and disappointment after the left insisted on making those races a referendum on the presidency of donald j. trump, and as it turns out, trump voters were more than thrilled with the outcome. we saw that last night after republican karen handel defeated democratic rival jon

ossoff in georgia. watch as the crowds gives a somewhat polite reaction to handel's mention of among others speaker paul ryan. >> i need to also thank speaker ryan and the house leadership, and so many of the members across this country who also united to help us hold the 6th. >> yeah! [cheers and applause] . lou: took a while, didn't it? now listen to the sonic book when handel mentioned president donald j. trump. >> and a special thanks to the president of the united states of america -- [cheers and applause] >> trump! trump! trump! trump! >> it's interesting to see all

the people who decided that donald trump was something of a burden for some of the candidates running and various elections. it turns out as you heard and saw there, she animating these elections and he is showing the republicans how to win. president trump taking a victory lap himself on twitter. he wrote this -- that includes 50 million bucks, by the way. it's really 4-0, georgia was so nice, the president may be counting it twice and that's fine with us. the president will continue celebrations with us holding a make america great again rally, we'll take it as soon as he takes the stage at cedar

rapids, iowa. john roberts has the report on the growing momentum for republicans, john? >> reporter: lou, good evening to you. the president touching down in cedar rapids a short time ago with terry branstad, the former governor at his side. in part tonight's rally is a sendoff for terry branstad who will leave to take up the post as u.s. ambassador to china. tonight is a big campaign rally to celebrate congressional wins for the republican party and the president. >> reporter: president trump taking off for iowa this afternoon with more lift under his political wings after republican karen handel's big win in georgia's 6th congressional district. >> and a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: president trump tweeted back his thanks to handel writing --

. >> reporter: democrats tried to hope the win could be the first ripple in a 2018 congressional wave. white house officials say what the democrats are lacking is a compelling message. >> i don't think they have one, americans have seen, that that's one of the reasons republicans and the president continue to win time and time again. >> reporter: the president is hoping that running the table in special elections will give new momentum to his legislative agenda tweeting -- the president's trip to iowa today is in part to reassure nervous voters, independents in particular that despite distractions like the russia investigation, the travel ban and others, the president is focused on jobs, the economy and health care. >> i'm signing this rsvp card so i can get into the republican secret meeting. >> reporter: democrats today doubled down in their opposition to obamacare repeal

and replacement, sharply criticizing the secrecy of the senate process to draft a plan. >> never seen a more radical or reckless legislative process in my time in politics, write the bill in secret, discuss it in secret, send it to cbo in secret and rush it to the floor with no committee hearings, no amendments and ten hours of debate for the minority. >> reporter: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to release a discussion draft tomorrow, republicans worried about the secrecy. new york congressman peter king voicing concerns on the radio. >> looks like they're trying to hide something. too secretive, going to put a cloud over the final product. >> reporter: health secretary tom price held another health care listening session at the white house with people from rural america at risk of losing coverage. it was clear there are still a lot of blanks left to fill in. >> they didn't offer any plans. didn't offer inside advice about what's going to happen in

the future. i did feel like we had people who were listening, and that goes a long way with me. >> reporter: couple of sources told me, lou, one reason for all of the secrecy is that the senate republican plan is expected to be substantially different than the plan that was passed by the house, a plan that the president, by the way, recently referred to as mean, and that senate republicans don't want to get into a shouting match with house conservatives before they get the structure of a bill in place. and that may not be tomorrow, lou, that may be a few days from now. they are trying to hold a vote by the end of next week. lou: impressive by itself, a week or two ago, they would be unable to do that despite all of the counsel from the white house, that that's what the president wanted. it's interesting they're trying to avoid the conflict that's sure to come between the house and the senate because the senate bill is going to be far more generous than the house bill. where does that lead us? >> well, if the president gets

his wish, the senate bill will be much more generous than the house, and when the house freedom caucus and republican study committee hear about the actual plans, we'll hear criticism from them, but the house will do what the house will do, and the senate will do what the senate will do, and fix it all in conference. it's that process that may be the most difficult. lou: and one over which the president this time might have an unusual amount of, well, influence. john, thank you so much, as always. john roberts, reporting from the white house. joining me to discuss how the dems and the national left-wing media are dealing with four straight special election losses and what it does mean, for the trump presidency and his legislative agenda, rnc national committeeman and former chairman of the lawyers association, randy evans and ed rollins, the chief republican

adviser to the house leadership, dean ed rollins. >> thank you. lou: this is quite a remarkable run. four elections, four wins, as the president says five wins. >> great victory. the georgia race was like a national campaign. a $50 million campaign, which normally congressional races are four, five million at the top. this was a $50 million race, she was outspend badly in the end. she was a good candidate. stuck to the guns and gathered momentum and had a big victory. everyone tonight is saying democrats don't have agenda. they do have agenda. the agenda of fdr, the agenda of lyndon johnson, the obama agenda, he's going create jobs and make america great again. that has great appeal. >> the dems are on the wrong side of history, randy. history has moved by them it appears to most voters at least in all of these special elections. your thoughts. >> well, i'll add one more to

the list, opening at number one today on the "new york times" best-seller list, understanding trump, about former speaker newt gingrich, bumps out of place, you know, books that are completely behind the curve. lou: has newt got you on commission or something? >> i think in fairness, and all the nice that you are newt's lawyer and have been for a long time. i hope you negotiated a deal and getting a slight piece for the book. [laughter] >> know this. donald trump is the hottest thing in america because he has ideas, he has energy and direction. it's been shown in the special election, shown in book purchases, but more importantly, it's being shown in terms of the leadership in the congress. lou, you're right. there's no way anybody thought before july 4th we would be talking about a vote on the affordable care act, and here we are, it will be released tomorrow, discussion draft, the vote will come before the floor. lou: and one thing about it, the majority leader, mitch

mcconnell, also had to include this expression as he was talking about that, the better way forward agenda. harkening back to the nonsense that has been blathered by speaker paul ryan for the better part of two years. it was an unnecessary barb against the white house. isn't it about time somebody tweek's mcconnell's nose? >> not really. lou: yeah, it, is let's be honest, randy! >> no, no, i'm not. lou: when you start the nonsense of the president of the united states, he didn't learn a lesson from anyone of the special elections. this president is animating the republican party, and mitch mcconnell is low energy, brother. >> well, i judge it by results. if they pass the repeal and replace of the affordable care act by july 4th, mitch mcconnell will have done his job. but i will give you this, the reason he will have done it because he saw what the reaction was when paul ryan in the house dillydallied around,

opened the process up, did all kind of things that were focused on getting it through. we're down to reconciliation, i think we'll have the votes. >> anyone is low energy compared to donald trump. he's one of the highest energy presidents i've seen. he's going to have to get on country and sell this bill, and he doll that. lou: i don't get why anybody thinks mitch mcconnell is going to do much outside of a closed-door room in which a bunch of folks are trying to pull it together. i'll give him his due for that, but this is a time for leadership, and you have two people running each of the houses that is not a leader, is a matter of fact. obstructionists in and of themselves and take this president on the hustings pushing this message to support obamacare, tax reform, all of his agenda that will make the ultimate difference. don't you agree, randy?

>> the push will come on reconciliation, that is an up-or-down vote. lou: did you hear that sound, by the way? did you hear the sound when you said reconciliation, all across the country people are yawning. they don't care about reconciliation, they care about results, and reconciliation are the guts to push this through with a majority vote. what's the difference? >> the difference is it's an up-or-down vote. no filibuster, no cloture, you have to have the 50 votes and mike pence to cast the deciding vote. i think they'll have it in the house and the senate, it will take the president selling it to the american people. lou: randy evans, you and i are getting along so well. are you getting along well with randy now? >> a brilliant lawyer, fascinating book. lou: who wrote the book? >> newt gingrich. lou: newt gingrich? what was it about? >> mr. trump. [ laughter ] >> randy evans and ed rollins, thank you. >> thank you. lou: breaking news out of

flint, michigan where a police officer for bishop international airport was stabbed in what the fbi is investigating as act of terrorism. the incident occurred just before 10:00 this morning. the attacker allegedly shouted "allahu akbar" before stabbing the officer with a knife. the officer is in stabile condition. the fbi took a page from the british on this incident, however, they didn't hold a news conference disclosing the attacker's name until more than six hours after it happened and did so with a surly little attitude by the way. bless their hearts. the suspect was eventually named as amir fat ooh i, a 50-year-old canadian who entered the united states. we're awaiting the president's rally set to commence in just about an hour. coming right back with much,

much more and it was a day chock-full of news. stay with us, we'll be right back. good news from washington, majority whip steve scalise is make remarkable progress in his recovery. >> i know steve's improving because he's beginning to question what do we have on the floor this week as well. we'll have a full update on scalise's condition here next. and the united states and china holding high-level talks trying to stop a nuclear north korea. >> the most acute threat in the region is posed by the dprk. lou: we'll take up the threat with senator luther strange, much more straight ahead. stay with us. ♪

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soon we will finally have the chance to turn the page on this failing law. lou: i like that, and soon, soon. about 9:30 tomorrow morning, we're told. joining me to talk about the senate's push to speed up passage of the republican, well, the republican bill from the senate is senator luther strange, a member of the senate budget and armed services committee, also the former alabama attorney general. great to have you with us, senator. this is big news. 9:30 tomorrow morning, going to find out what republicans in the senate have been doing for weeks here. is it ready for primetime in your judgment? >> can't come soon enough in my judgment. people in my state in the country want action, they believe in president trump and his promise. that's what i am committed to doing, and you know, there's been a lot of discussion. i know it's not been revealed publicly in the final form. i've only been here four months, and republicans have been talking about this for

years, time to get something out there we can review and vote on, and i'm very optimistic, i think we can debate this forever, we've got to vote. people are hurting in alabama, around the country. they want action and can't wait to see the draft in the morning. lou: when you see the draft, does it feel, if you will excuse the expression, a little strange to you to not have hearings, to not have drafts of the bill and elements of it for your analysis and judgment before going into the voting process? >> well, i'm obviously a newcom newcomer to the ways of washington and find a lot of things very unusual. lou: you did that very well for a fellow that's only been there four months. >> i could say strange, it has to do with reconciliation of the process and the fact that the democrats have said they are not going to cooperate. as a matter of fact, i was shocked, i wasn't shocked, i expected elizabeth warren's tweet saying this was a mean,

vicious, horrible, cruel, on and on, bill, and hasn't been released yet. lou: nobody surprised by that, now. those folks are -- i got a kick out of al franken talking about 13 white males controlling the legislation. that would have been so much better if he had not been a white male himself, holding forth about it all. the left doesn't have a sense of their own absurdity anymore? >> no, they don't. the truth is people are hurting right now. my state of alabama has been most affected by the failed obamacare law, our individual premiums have gone up three times. we have to take action and move quickly. lou: the president himself laid out something that was a smart piece of political strategy, that if going after the replace and repeal. republicans don't do their very best, they're going to end up being held responsible by the voters for what has been the

failure of the dems and the left and obamacare. that's got to be, i would think, that would be the greatest political concern of the republicans whether in the senate, the house or the white house, as we move now toward votes. >> it is. it would be easy to let the obamacare law play out and fail and be catastrophic which is where it's headed and not do anything and sit around and play the blame game. we want to help the american people. we need results and i have great confidence in the president, and as you mentioned earlier in the show, program, he's going to sell this because it's going to gets out road of fixing, repealing and replacing. i can't wait until the morning. lou: nor can the american people. give us your judgment about what seems to be an attorney general, your good friend. jeff sessions, attorney general, former senator from

the great state of alabama, he has been so reluctant to act. so reluctant to charge after a former attorney general and investigate her despite this testimony that is so accusatory whether it be james comey, whomever it may be, this is an attorney general who could be -- who could be, in my judgment, should be, be far more aggressive in bringing and holding accountable the previous luminaries of the obama administration whether it be hillary clinton, her e-mail scandal, her foundation scandal, or the exchange on the tarmac in her plane between the attorney general and the former president, bill clinton. >> i totally agree with you. i love jeff sessions, he's a great mentor, great attorney general. the democrats have gone after

him specifically to undermine his credibility and ultimately undermine the president's credibility. part of that is keeping him from getting a staff confirmed, he has aides on the ground to do the things you and i would like to see him do. i have confidence he will get there. ira commissioners, long list of things that were swept under the rug that the american people deserve answers to and somebody should be held accountable. lou: and now this president is in charge of the government and the republicans in charge of both the house and the senate. senator, always good to talk with you, thank you so much for being with us. >> same here. lou: senator luther strange. thank you. be sure to vote in our poll tonight, the question is do you believe the republican party is beginning to understand that president donald trump is their greatest asset in the 2018 elections? cast your vote on twitter. we'd like to hear from you. follow me on twitter, "like" me on facebook and follow me on instagram at "lou dobbs tonight."

breaking news now, troms cindy is threatening 17 million americans along the nation's gulf coast. the storm is packing sustained winds right now of 50 miles an hour, projected to make landfall sometime tomorrow morning over southeastern texas or perhaps southwestern louisiana. forecasters say the system could drop 6-12" of rain across louisiana, mississippi, alabama and parts of the florida panhandle. and folks in the southwest dealing with the opposite problem, the worst heat wave to hit that region in decades. las vegas temperatures hitting 117 degrees. phoenix 119. palm springs, 121. it's gotten so bad american airlines had to cancel 45 flights yesterday because small regional jets can't take off in the hot, thin air, particularly in phoenix, arizona. on wall street, stocks closing mixed today.

dow fell 57 points, the s&p lost two. the nasdaq up 46. volume on the big board, 3.6 billion shares, and crude oil plunging for a third straight session settling below $43 a barrel. existing home sales, however, unexpectedly climbing last month. median home prices have hit a record high just under $253,000. and a reminder to listen to my reports three times a day, coast-to-coast on the salem radio network. up next, awaiting the president's rally in cedar rapids, iowa, and the president and the gop riding high after their special election victories in georgia and south carolina yesterday. >> since the elections last night, we're going to be a referendum for the president. and he proved never underestimate him and the american people put him and other republicans in place for a reason.

lou: congressman louie gohmert joins me, he weighs in on how republicans can capitalize on it all here next. stay with us.

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. lou: want to update out health of congressman steve scalise and his recovery. his condition has been upgraded from serious to fair one week after he was shot at that republican congressional baseball practice. we asked dr. marc siegel about scalise's amazing recovery going from the fear of imminent death to now being in fair condition. dr. siegel says it's nothing short of a medical miracle, really, especially considering a bullet to the pelvis did significant damage to some of scalise's major organs but we are pleased to tell you his progress is, if not a miracle, remarkable, and we extend our hopes, our prayers and all our

best to him and his family. joining me now to talk about the republican agenda in the house where there will soon be two new republican members, congressman louie gohmert, a member of the house judiciary committee, former judge, and great american. congressman gohmert: thanks, lou. lou: still, after all these years in washington. congressman gohmert: thanks for bringing up steve. it is a miracle, and he was on death's door and prayers have made all the difference, the doctors say. so the prayers have made a difference and the staff. lou: he has to be a pretty stuff fellow. congressman gohmert: are you kidding? it's steve scalise from south louisiana. he knows how to fight. a good guy. lou: and we're delighted that so much good news for him and his family and for everybody. let's turn to the special elections last night. the idea that this president is animating the republican party,

that he is a gift to the republican party. it's starting to dawn. i saw it dawn on karen handel. i'm not sure she was thrilled with that idea, but i tell you what, it's occurring to people that they've got the secret sauce, the magic weapon, whatever you want to call it, his name is president donald j. trump. congressman gohmert: yeah, a lot of people were thinking, i think she was giving advice you need to run as far away from the president as you can, and democrats were saying we're going to make mince meat, hang trump around her neck, and i think they figured out that wasn't a good strategy for the democrats. lou: she had time to turn. she changed it. congressman gohmert: yeah, she did. she was following the nonsense and decided to follow her intellect and the facts. lou: today former jeh johnson, the department of homeland

security saying the dnc turned down the department of homeland security and the fbi their help when the dnc was informed by the fbi they had been hacked by the russians. congressman gohmert: isn't that interesting? i know in my days as a prosecutor and as a judge and chief justice, normally when someone had a crime -- were the victim of a crime, they wanted law enforcement to come in and help them with few exceptions. lou: especially over a national security issue. congressman gohmert: and especially when we're talking about, you know, their whole essence through the internet, and especially when we know as we do now, that the head of the ccc or the dnc hired one of the arwan brothers from pakistan and apparently they're under investigation had, been working for her, with her, and the last

episode not that long ago -- lou: congressman, i got to ask you, why is anybody taking any one of these lying son of a guns at the dnc seriously? and why would the fbi and the department of homeland security not insist they get into the servers and start acting in the national interest and protecting the country? congressman gohmert: i don't know, the question is why would they not invite them? i'm interested in the excuse, usually the reason somebody didn't want to invite law enforcement into investigate is because they knew they would find that they had committed crimes if they came in and started investigating. i don't know why the dnc didn't want them in, but that's the only reason they found in the past, so i'd be interested to know why they didn't. lou: you would have thought that bernie sanders was a little upset with the crimes of the dnc. congressman gohmert: you would have thought. lou: since they colluded, you

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. lou: the house intelligence committee today finally got around to asking a few questions of former dhs secretary jeh johnson

specifically asking him why the democratic national committee rejected help from his department after they were hacked supposedly by the russians last year? >> i was not pleased that we were not in there helping them patch this vulnerability. what are we doing? are we in there? helping them discover the vulnerabilities? because this is fresh off the opm experience, and the response i got was fbi had spoken to them, they don't want our help, they have crowd strike, the cybersecurity firm. lou: if that makes a lick of sense to anybody. good lord. joining me to discuss the dnc reaction to jeh johnson's offer to help after the russian cyberattacks, purportedly, and johnson's assertion there's no evidence russia changed votes in our election. chris farrell, director of

investigations and research at judicial watch. good to have you here. >> hi, lou. lou: does that sound to you like the man running the department of homeland security speaking to the united states congress about a national security issue, a critical one and incursion into the democratic party servers and just accepting the rejection by of all people, debbie wasserman schultz? >> you have to remember that jeh johnson is the guy who ran around for a number of years saying that the islamic state was not islamic. so he pulls that off with a straight face and people applaud when he says, it so the fact he turns around and says, hey, look, we know we have hostile foreign actors, foreign intelligence services, attempting to penetrate political party's operations through information technology and doesn't do anything or

relies on the fbi to say, well, crowd strike has got it, and, of course, crowd strike is manned at the most senior levels by retired fbi guys who are computer or information technology guys, and that's supposed to be good enough and, of course, if you have all this fore knowledge, right? how is it that you allow the so-called russian hack which is nonsense, to occur on the walkup or the lead-up to the election. you can't have it both ways. you can't. lou: well, they did, and continue to because not a single soul on that committee, the house and senate intelligence committee today said wait a minute, how in the hell can a private organization tell the fbi and the department of homeland security to go hell? >> obviously, in a case where both agencies could have gone to the dnc and said, well, that's lovely and we respect your privacy, but this is a

national security issue, so we have to look at it, and you know, jeh johnson ended up laughing at trump -- >> how about this, they have to. they have a responsibility to do so and anyone who would be at the dnc telling them not to would be obstructing justice. how about that? >> absolutely, and johnson himself said that this came on the heels of the chinese going into opm and grabbing every security clearance file since harry truman and the chinese have all this information. knowing that's occurred, they let this pass? it doesn't pass the sniff test. lou: so what does it is a about the intelligence committees of the united states and the senate and the house that they're not demanding answers and they're not going after jeh johnson, not going after james comey, they're simply take a pass and letting these, i mean,

they look like abject fools here. >> they lie under oath or at a minimum make certain misstatements. they have sudden amnesia. the real problem is all the congressional hearing stuff is lovely, but we need grand juries and we need indictments, and i don't know where the attorney general is. i don't know where he is. lou: i was talking to luther strange, senator strange earlier about his friend, and by the way, i consider myself to be a friend to a.g. sessions. jeff sessions has been one of the most terrific public servants. he's gone silent and passive. and it makes no sense because this is a time when somebody has got to be finding out the truth of all these incredible moments of the political history of this country over the past year. >> in the army we called it a target-rich environment. let me tell you. there are so many things to go after, so much criminality from

the clinton foundation, a lot of stuff frankly that judicial watch uncovered through our civil litigation, i would love to pursue criminally, and there needs to be action out of the justice department and not six months from now, it needs to be now. lou: and the state department opened a formal inquiry finally into whether hillary clinton should lose security clearance. >> i don't know why she has one to begin with. lou: why would a former secretary of state have one? >> i can't explain it. when she left government service, it should have been suspended at that point. she has no plausible reason to continue to access information, classified information, especially given her documented conduct. lou: this administration has -- this president has talked about drain the swamp. well, it is time to drain this damn swamp, and i cannot for the life of me figure out why that is not a full 24/7,

365-day effort on the part of everyone in this administration, can you? >> there needs to be round the clock firings and that's my position and starting point for draining the swamp. lou: chris farrell, judicial watch, thanks for being with us. >> thank you, lou. lou: meet with chinese officials as president trump says beijing's efforts on north korea have, quote, not worked out. >> what you're seeing is the american people's frustration with the regime that provokes, provokes and basically plays outside the rules. lou: former army vice chief of staff general jack keane joins me to take up the north korean threat and the lack of cooperation by the chinese. stay with us, we're coming right back with that and much, much more.

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. lou: secretary of state tillerson and defense secretary mattis hosting chinese leaders at the state department today. their discussions focused primarily, we're told on the threat posed by north korea. >> china understands that the united states regards north

korea as our top security threat. we reiterated to china they have a diplomatic responsibility to exert much greater economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime if they want to prevent further escalation in the region. lou: joining me now to discuss china, the threat from north korea and more, retired four-star general, fox news military analyst, general jack keane. good to have you with us. general keane: good to be here, lou. lou: i heard in secretary tillerson a statement that is hard to support in logic, that the chinese have a diplomatic responsibility to take up what we judge to be our primary military threat. i don't think that quite holds up logically because it seems to me if we believe north korea is the principal threat to the security of the united states, we have an obligation to take care of it.

>> there's no doubt about that. the chinese did affirm and tillerson and mattis both made statements to the same effect that the china has the same goal we have which is to denuclearize north korea. i think this was actually our last effort with the chinese, lou, because the administration, the president certainly is expressing the frustration that he feels and his national security team feels that china has been playing and gaming us, as they have done in the past, and listen, they went into it with healthy dose of skepticism, so they're not surprised here but they're just disappointed. i think what this is about today, though they discussed the south china sea today also, this was the last effort to gift chinese one more opportunity here to do what they said they were going to do and step up and get after the north koreans, it's doubtful they will do that. they'll give more rope to do that. i think they will put on the

table for the first time ever some sanctions against the chinese, particularly those companies, those north korean companies and banks that are doing business with north korea, north korean companies are doing business with china. also i think we're going to go to a full-court press with every ally that's doing business with north korea, and up the pressure so to speak. >> the european union, as you know, general, made it very clear, they want to be part of any strategy toward denuclearizing north korea, stymieing their nuclear ambitions from this point forward but at the same time ones ha the feeling the european unions are directly aligned with president trump and the assessment of his national security team about north korea, plainly said. it's not entirely clear that the europeans are trustworthy

in aligning with us on the issue of north korea? general keane: well, the track record is not good. had problems with them on iran in the past and problems with them on russia, but i think the administration's going to make a valiant effort here to reach out to everybody doing business with them to include those in asia, to include even a country like burma and we'll see. this is a test, i think, for the trump administration to move this ball in a way that the two previous administrations have not been able to do, it's certainly their determination and resolve is there to do it. lou: and with that, general, we're out of time. look forward to talking to you soon, as always. thank you for your thoughts. general keane: good talking to you, lou. lou: up next, moments away from president trump take the stage at raily in cedar rapids, iowa. we'll also be talking with

congressman ron desantis about the state of president trump's legislative agenda now following yet another republican special election victory right after the break. stay with us. we'll be right back. think again.

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lou: president trump has returned to iowa tonight for the first type since he became president at the up s. cellular

center in cedar rapid. 6,500 people are in attendance. we are told the venue hold 8,600. so if you have ticket gets over there. their visit meant to draw i evening to the high technology agriculture programs. we'll be bringing you the president' remark as soon as he takes the stage in cedar rapid. joining me to discuss the president's electoral momentum and much more. a member of the free caucus. congressman -- the freedom caucus. congressman, good to have you with us. first assessment that china

hasn't done as much as he had hoped. high-level talk talks between te administration and high-level officials. is this the end of the road for the chinese gambit? >> what happens is china will act like they will be productive, they will do something re -- re re torically. i think he will incentivize china to he rall wait whether they want another to maintain the status quo. the meetings the administration will be having with china will be important. it's a difficult issue. but we want to see better behavior from china. i think this president will be willing to call them out unlike

other presidents in the past. lou: calling them out is one thing. but getting them to move in the direct of the president's view is another. the president and his administration consider north korea to be the primary threat again this country right now. sanctions do not work. but that sees to be what's on the table again china if north korea doesn't come to the bargaining table and you have a much more than it has before. where are we headed here? in terpt of north korea. >> i think that we can put more pressure on china and other copies that do business with north korea. and take addressive posture in the south china sea. that's part of the man made

island they are building in the south china sea. we have the strongest navy in the world. japan is concerned. and we are south korea concerned about what china is doing. i think there are a a right thing we can do to incentivize china to be productive with north korea. and if they don't, american policy and some other areas will be less to their liking. lou: the dhs secretary said he and his department were pushed around and told to go away when they started to investigate the -- nc for hacks by the allege russian hacks.

and the f.b.i. director doing the same. there he is. the president of the united states. i'll get back to you if i may in just a moment. the man of the hour. donald j. trump. it's a straight-out rally. it's no co-understand den this follows in 24 hours two big special election gop victories. we came up with four, he came up with five. five republican victories in the special elections. but let's listen in. [♪]

[crowd chants "usa"]

cheers. >> thank you, everybody. it's great to be back in the incredible, beautiful great state of iowa. almost the greatest wrestlers in the world. including our friend dan gable. some of the great wrestlers of the world. we love those wrestlers. it's always terrific to be able to leave that washington swamp and spend time with the truly hard working people we call them american patriots. amazing people. i want to also extend our congratulations this evening to karen handel of georgia.

[cheers and applause] and we can't forget ralph norman in south carolina. he called me, and i called him. he said, you know, last night i felt like the forgotten man. but he won and he won beautifully. even though a lot of people didn't show up because they thought he was going to win by so much. but he won very easily and he is a terrific guy. i'll tell you what, karen is going to be really incredible. she is going to be joining some wonderful people of and doing some wonderful work, including major tax cuts and healthcare, and lots of things. she'll be reducing crime. we are securing that second amendment. i told you about that. that looks like it's in good shape with judge gorsuch.

that looks like it's in good shape. i would like to take this moment to send our thoughts and prayers to our courageous friend, somebody i have gotten to know very well, steve scalise, and everyone recovering from the assault. [cheers and applause] it never fails. it never fails. [crowd chants "usa"]

thank you, thank you. we love our police. we love our police. so to steve we say -- and he's a great guy. he was in my office the day before, incredible. we are praying for you, we are pulling for you, you have our absolute support and deepest admiration.

and our gratitude goes out tonight as well to the capital police officers who saved so many lives. you know they ran from the outfield in. they were being hit by rifle fire. they only had handguns, and they were able to get him. it was an amazing show talent and bravery. so we want to thank all of the police officers who so bravely serve and protect us. thank you very much. hopefully our nation emerges from this ordeal -- it was an ordeal -- terrible -- more unified and more determined than ever before. i can see it and we are indeed more unified in our own way than ever before. you just have to take a look at what's happening here. right? if we set aside the cynics and

the critics, we have a chance, and it's a great chance. it lies before us, to do extraordinary things for our country in the years ahead. history is written by the dreamers, not the doubters. so while we are here tonight to celebrate the amazing progress we already made, and we have made amazing progress, we are also here to lay out the next steps in our incredible movement to make america great again. [cheers and applause] everyone gathered in this arena

is bound together by common values. you love our country. you obey our laws, you honor our traditions, and you care for your families and you love your community. all want is a government that shows you the same respect and loyalty in return. you believe america must protect and defend its own citizens. with that conviction deep in your hearts, you showed up on election day, november 8, and voted to put america first. it's about time. it's about time. [cheers and applause] from the moment i took that solemn oath of office and every

single day since, that is exactly what i have done, put america first. after years of sending our jobs and our wealth to other countries, we are finally standing up for our country, and you see it happening. you see it happening. you see what's going on. jobs are just about the best they have ever been. we created almost $4 trillion in wealth. you look at your stock values and look at what's going on with your country, the enthusiasm and spirit on he single indeck is higher than -- he single index,

it's higher than it has ever been before for our manufacturers and companies. instead of spending billions of dollars defending other people's borders, we are finally going to defend our borders. after decade of rebuilding foreign nations all over the world, we are now rebuilding our nation. [cheers and applause] as of a few months ago, our

country as spent $6 trillion in the middle east. wasted. and the lives, the lives. thousands and thousands and thousands of lives. $6 trillion and thousands of young, beautiful lives. we started 16 years ago, and it's in far worse shape than it was 16 years ago by many times over. so we spent all of this money, all of these lives. and let me tell you, i came in and took over a very, very difficult hand. but we are going to get it fixed. that's what you put me here for. we are going to get it fixed.

[applause] then you look at north korea. then you look -- you are praying and i'm praying for you. thank you very much. but you look at north korea. look at otto. beautiful otto. a healthy, wonderful boy. and you see how he came back. you see how he came back. so we have been given a bad hand. but we'll take that bad hand and it will all be good. in addition to that, we are going to start taking care of our country. the people and the rulers of this country once again. we'll keep the promises we made

to the people of iowa and the people all over on you country. we'll not let the same failed and tired voices in washington keep us from delivering the change you voted for, and the change that you deserve. i do not answer to any donors or financial contributors. i don't care about them. i am not beholding to any consultants or any of the very powerful special interests. i don't care about them. i have to do what's right. if they are right, that's good. but we'll never be intimidated by the dishonest corporations holiday anything and do anything

to get people to watch their screens or to get people to buy their failing papers. they are failing. these entrenched forces are fighting only for themselves and in many cases for their survival. but i'm fighting for you. i'm fighting for you. fighting for your hopes. because your hopes are my hopes. i had a great time in this country, i had a great run it was time to do something. we all saw what was happening. it was time to do something. your dreams and my dreams and your future is what i'm focused

on each and every day. we are going to make america great again, believe me. we are going to make america great again. hearing some of the historic accomplishments we achieved in a short period of time, and i have to preface it by saying -- thank you, darling -- i have to preface it by saying, i have been watching and they said president trump has not produced healthcare. i have been there for five months. if you remember during the clinton period they worked for years and years and years, they never got healthcare. obama -- although after lisping to that testimony, i fully understand.

but president obama, his whole administration pushing for obamacare which is now failed. in fact i was just told by your great governor and ex-governor that wow insurance companies have all fled the state of iowa. they are leaving all the state. obamacare is a disaster. it's over. there is nothing to compare what we are doing. i think, i hope the republican senate -- if we went and got the single greatest healthcare plan in the history of the world we would not get one democrat vote because they are obstructionists. we wouldn't get one democrat. if we came to you and said, here is your plan, you are going to have the greatest plan in

history, and you are going to pay nothing, then vote against it, folks. he single vote. so we have a very slim 52-48. that means we basically can't lose anybody. and i think and i hope they can't guarantee anything. i said a plan with heart, but add some moppy to it. obamacare is dead. it's interesting how they say donald trump is not producing healthcare. so we produced so much -- i don't think any president -- could be somebody, i have to be a little careful because they will say he lied. so few presidents, few, just have to be a little careful because they will say headline, donald trump lies to the people

of iowa. but very few have done what we have done when you look at the regulations. when you look at all -- they were saying, but he didn't pass legislative bills. i think it's 38. if you listen to them. 38. but, but, but, and some of them are really big having to do with regulation. having to do with lots of different things. but we are working really hard on massive tax cuts. it would be if i get it the way i want it, the largest tax cut in the history of the united states of america. [cheers and applause] because right now we are one of the highest taxed nations in the world. really on a large-scale basis, we are one of the highest taxed

nations in the world. and we'll get it really low. i don't say the lowest. because there are a couple that are really down there. but that doesn't mean you want to be there. but we'll have one of the lowest taxes from the highest tax. and we are working hard on it. and i think it's going to happen. and i think healthcare is going to happen and infrastructure is going to happen. you will have a lot of exciting thing the next few months. i look forward to being able to produce it. let's see what happens. and by the way, if we had even a little democrat support, just a little like a couple of votes, you would have everything. and you could give us a lot of votes and we would really be able to change it and make it even better. but even bert.

but again they just want to stop. they just want to obstruct. a few votes from the democrats it could be so easy and so beautiful, and you would have cooperation. and their plan isn't working. they thought they were going to win last night in atlanta. they thought they were going to win. and they have been unbelievably nasty, really nasty. and they thought, they spent close to $30 million on this kid who forgot to live in the community he was in. you know. i will tell you about the democrats. i'm making it hard to get their support. they raids a fortune for him, they fought like hell, they said they were going to win. all the television networks

other than fox which has treated us fairly, they have. [cheers and applause] but they build these studios, cn cnn, the cameras just went off. i can't imagine. it's covered live. the camera just went off. this phoney nbc television network. [crowd booing] >> they had one of the people saying you know, it was a little rainy, maybe that was the difference. can you believe that? but they had beautiful studios. and if karen handel had lost they would have blamed it on me. but they would have been there for weeks talking about this. this would have been the greatest defeat in the history.

american politics. when she won, they said projected winner is karen handel. then they said we switch to another program. it was so short. they couldn't get out of there fast enough. and don't forget, this happened in montana, right? in kansas. last night south carolina. with ralph who is expected to win and he won. california. so. but it's been incredible. we are 5-0. we are 5-0. and they thought they were going to win at least like 3. right? at least 3. and it would and devastating defeat. the truth is, people love us, all of us. they love us.

they don't get it. they haven't figured it out yet. they are still trying to figure where all of those voters came from. they came out of the hills, these are hard working -- we have the hardest working, the smartest people, the toughest people of, they are very lucky that our people don't protest, believe me. believe me. we have them. we have the smart ones, we have the toughest ones. great, great americans, and hillary says the deplorables. these are just the opposite,

believe me, these are just the opposite. we have a group, bikers for trump. they come by the thousands. oh, oh. my man. how are you? we have the bikers. i didn't know you were here. they are here. now we know we are protected. these are great people. when i see them, i say now we are safe. and they like trump and i guess we are well into the 90s. the 90s. 95. but we love our people and they love us. and more importantly, they love our policy, they love what we are doing. you see what we are doing. home builders are starting to build again. we are not confiscating their land with ridiculous rules and regulations that don't make sense. farmers are able to plow their

fields. if they have a puddle in the middle of their field, a little puddle the size of this, it's considered a lake and you can't touch it. if you touch it, bad, bad things happen to you and your family. we got rid of that one, too, okay? [cheers and applause] unemployment. it's at a 1-year low, and manufacturing is doing phenomenal -- at a 16-year low, and moving is doing phenomenal and manufacturing is coming back. they are coming back, back, back. in the state of michigan which has been like an exit pool where car companies have left. i told them, you want to start leaving, you want to fire all these people.

you watch what we are going to be doing. we have the legendary wall street genius wilbur ross here, our secretary of commerce. we have gary cohn, the president of goldman sachs. he's the president of goldman sack, he had to pay over $00 million in taxes to take the job. people say why did you appoint the rich person to be in charge of the economy? i said, it's true. wilbur is a very rich person in charge of commerce. i said because that's the kind of thinking we want. really. because they are representing the country. they don't want the money. they are representing the country. and they had to give up a lot to take these jobs. they gave up a lot. you get the president, this is the president of goldman sachs. smart. having him represent us. he went from massive paydays to

peanuts. i'm waiting for them to accuse him of wanting that little amount of money. but these are people that are great brill yapt business mind, and that's what we need, that's what we have to have so the world doesn't take advantage of us. we can't have the world taking advantage of us anymore. and they love all people. rich, poor, but in those particular positions i don't want a poor person. does that make sense? if you insist, i'll do it. but i like it better this way, right? so we have achieved an historic increase in defense spending. and we created a new office of accountability at the va. our veterans to insure that our veterans get the care that they so richly deserve.

our veterans. [cheers and applause] we eliminated restrictions on the production of american energy. they wanted to take away our wealth. the world wanted to take away our wealth. we happen to be lucky. under our feet we have great wealth. not only your kind of wealth which its beautiful within fertile soil. but also other locations in the form of energy. they wanted to take that power and wealth away from us. and we ended the war on clean, beautiful coal. and we are putting our miners back to work. [cheers and applause]

in fact, you read about it, last week a brand-new coal mine just opened in the state of pennsylvania, first type in decade, decade. we reversed it. 33,000 mining jobs have been added since my inauguration. we are going to have all forms of energy. but coal is something we have a tremendous advantage on. but we'll have it all, whether it's natural gas or alternative sources. but it's a power for our electric different plant and furnaces. it's a power. we use electric, wind, solar, coal, natural gas. we will use nuclear if the right opportunity presents itself.

we are going to be strong for the future. we are going to be strong for the future. i don't want to just hope the wind blows to light up your hopes and factories. as the birds fall to the ground. but i like all of them. and that's what we need. by the way, we are saving your ethanol tries in the state of iowa just like i promised i would do in my campaign. believe me they are under siege, folks. i don't know if you know it. but they are under siege. we approved for sale the keystone xl pipe high pressure and the dakota access pipeline.

38,000 jobs. and better for the environment, by the way. better, underground. bert and safer. can you manage the executive for keystone who a year and a half ago was told it was dead, and they have billions invest. they poured half of the pipe. somebody walks into his office, probably a consultant who charged him tens of millions of dollars. sir, the pipeline was just approved. i did a great job, i'm entitled to millions in consulting fees it was just trump approving it. we approved it. it's good for the country. my man. by the way, when i'm signing for the xl pipeline and the dakota. i said who made the pipe.

i said who made the pipe? now, in all fairness to them they bought a lot of their pipe already so it's hard to say throw it away. i put in a clause that says anybody builds a pipeline in the youth, they will use american steel and fabricate in america. no more taking it over on boats. we signed 39 pieces of legislation. that means going through congress, folks. they tell you, these guys, the fake news, they tell you different many fake news -- not all of it. some of it's good, and some of the people are great. but some are real bad and they are really fake. but if you listen to them we passed -- i'm not talking about executive orders which we signed a lot.

we have signed a lot. and we got rid of a lot of bad pieces that were signed by president obama. believe me. if you listen to the fake news, they say like he didn't pass any legislation. everything is executive orders it's wrong. 39 pieces as of today. some of them very important. my biggest pieces are yet to come. hopefully taxes, hopefully healthcare, hopefully infrastructure, and when they come it wouldn't be good enough. but we have also done a record number of resolutions to eliminate the job-killing regulations on our workers, companies and farmers. they are gone. , they are gone. we are ending the federal intrusion into your family farms and your ranches.

and we are also working very, very hard to get rid of the death tax so that you can pass your farms on to your children and on to your grandchildren. i don't know if we'll pull that one off. but we are working hard to do it. right, chris? this is so you can pass your motorcycle on. forget about the farm. that's not so bad either. i have seen what you ride. not so bad. but i don't know if that one is going to get pulled off. but it should. you should have a right to pass your farm on to your children and grandchildren. you should have that right. without having them going out

and borrowing a fortune, not being able to make payments, losing it to the banks. it's not fair. so we are working hard. let's see if we pull it off. we'll try hard. i'll tell you. i don't know, but we are going to try. no longer will the eps be telling you how to run your business or do your job or live your life. instead it will focus on its true mission. clean air and clean beautiful crystal water, nice, beautiful, clean water. that's what we want, right? we are also ending the last administration's federal land grab. we believe states, communities and private land owners know best how to manage their own land resources. we made a lot of progress on

that. ryan zinke. we want to see local control. that means we are not going to let foreign bureaucrats plan our economy or tell americans how to run their country. [cheers and applause] when i campaigned for president, i promised to renegotiate or to leave any deal which fails to serve america's interests. and i'm not going to allow other countries to take advantage of the united states any longer. and for that reason, i totally cut off negotiations and will not do a great what is it, p -- do you know what it is?

ppp? you guys weren't listening, huh? but for that reason, and that, too. i formally announced the united states will withdraw from the disastrous paris climate accord. [cheers and applause] disaster. by the way, transmake partnership, we don't even talk about it anymore because the was done early. bye-bye. that was another nafta catastrophe that we are going to renegotiate. i announced i am going to get rid of nafta. i always told you i would renegotiate or terminate nafta.

i announced essentially i was going to terminate. but i got a very, very nice call from prime minister trudeau of canada, from the president, a good guy of mexico asking me not to terminate it. could we negotiate. and i'm always willing to negotiate. i'm always willing. so we'll see how it goes. but it's been very unfair to the united states. all you have to do is looking at the empty building and plants and factories all over the country. nafta has been a disaster. so we'll renegotiate it successfully which would be my first choice or terminate it, and that's going to be that. now, the paris agreement -- and it's amazing how the people of this country get it because the press coulds it so unfairly. the paris agreement would have

cost americans millions of lost jobs and millions and billions of lost dollars, and put us at a permanent economic disadvantage. china doesn't kick in until 2030. i could tell you stories and give you stat, i could go on all day. it's a catastrophe if we agreed. they all say the many non-binding. when we get sued by everybody because we thought it was none binding. then you can tell me it was non-binding. i was elected to serve the citizens of iowa, ohio, wisconsin, florida all 50 states and all 320 million american citizens. [cheers and applause]

by the way, this is a big place. this is a big place. i used to say during the campaign. we are not even campaigning and look at this crowd it's easier during the campaign the place is packed with thousands of people trying to get in. look at the sides of this place. they will never show the crowd. they will never show the crowd. they will never show the crowd. b that's the only good thing about the protesters which we don't have have much of them. this guy was blowing a whistle. he's a bernie sanders guy. but we don't have him.

but when we do have one, the on thing is the cameras have to go. they have to go way up in that arena. every seat is packed. look at that. every seat. every corner is packed in this big, big arena. so it's an honor. wouldn't it be great -- it's funny, i go home and my wife would say, melania, who by the way, has become very popular. they are liking her. they are liking her. but she would say, i never saw the crowd. but it sounded like a lot of people. you can't imitate the sound of this many people. this is not like 500 people, this is big stuff. you can't imitate that. [cheers and applause]

you know what they don't understand? all those television cameras and live ones, and i hate to do this, but they get even better rating if they showed that. i try to convince them, but that they can't do. they can't mentally handle that one. but it's such a great crowd. so to all of those watching, it's a big beautiful arena, and it is packed.

so as you may know, there is another absolutely terrible deal from the previous administration. see how nice i am? i say the previous administration as opposed to the obama administration. that i have recently rescinded -- last week i announced that we are canceling the prior administration's completely one-sided deal with the castro regime in cuba. [cheers and applause] isn't it amazing? obama can deal with cuba, killed thousands of people, people in prison, horrible to women.

can deal with iran. you talk about bad. the gayed, the women, bad to everybody. brutal. they say donald trump is a terrible human being. it's unbelievable. it's unbelievable. but america will stand strong against communist oppression. we'll make a much better deal. the fact is the deal with cuba is a bad deal. we'll probably make a deal, but maybe we won't. if we make a deal it will be a fair deal and good deal for us. it won't be a one-sided giveaway. he single day we'll work to achieve those fair trade deals for american factories and farmers and ranches. heading up your evident to

represent america's interests. and china will be a man you know very well, i just left an event write honored him, introduced him to a crowd of people that adore him. to discuss how to create -- he's been doing this for years in iowa -- he's the longest serving governor in american history, and now he carries the title of ambassador to china, terry branstad. [cheers and applause] fantastic guy. i told the story today. i said i come here to make a speech, we have a big crowd in iowa. terry would come and say, he didn't call me mr. president, he called me donald. he said that's okay, i didn't

think about it. now if he called me donald, i would be angry with him. but he said could you do me a favor? don't say anything bad about china. we do a lot of business with china. i like china a lot. i have known president xi for a long time. i really like him. and he also by the way likes terry a lot. and just please don't say anything bad about china which is hard for me to do. and i wouldn't. but then when i won and we are looking for someone to represent us with china, which is a very, very powerful country and we had a good relationship with china. and i do like president exirks. i wish we would have more help with respect from north korea with china, but that doesn't seem to be working out. but i do like the president a lot. when i was thinking who am i

going to make the ambassador to china after, you know, having a good retentive mind, i said, i remember about a year ago when terry branstad was saying all these great things, your governor. sow i called him up. i said listen you have been doing this for 24 years. i said do you want to be ambassador to china? i didn't think he would do it. it's a long trip. 21 hours. but he wants to do what's right for the country. i said i wasn't sure you are going to do it. he said when my president calls me to help him with our great country, i do it. that's what he said to me.

so central to that economic agenda is a plan to restore america's crumbling infrastructure. we'll rebuild not only america, but we'll rebuild rural america. in this great national rebuilding, we'll follow two central rules, we'll buy american and hire american. we want to get our people off of welfare and back to work. we also want to preserve our safety net for struggling americans who truly need help. right, chris?

we want to help those people. but on the efforts don't treat us fairly. that's why i believe the time has come for new immigration rules which say that those seeking admission into our country must be able to support themselves financially and should not use welfare for a period of at least 5 years. [cheers and applause] we'll be putting in legislation to that effect very shortly. another core principle is those coming to our country must embrace our values and love our people.

and yes, we'll build the wall. we already started planning. it will be built. cheer * [crowd chants "build that wall"] >> we night. we have to stop the drugs from flowing in. people don't realized we are already spending a lot of money on design. i'll give an idea nobody has heard about yet. i'm a builder, that's what i love to do. that's probably what i do best. i'm a builder. we are talking about the southern border. lots of sun, lots of heat. we are thinking about building

the wall as a solar also we create energy and it pays for itself. [cheers and applause] and this way mexico will have to pay much less money. and that's good, right? is that good? you are the first gripe told that to. solar wall. makes sense. we are work it out. we'll see. solar wall panels. beautiful. the higher it goes, the more valuable it is. pretty good imagination, right? my idea. we have a good shot. that's one of the places solar really does work. the tremendous sun and heat. we'll see what happens with that. i think we could make it look

beautiful, too. so that would be nice. we are also working night and day to restore law and order to our country. law and order. we are reversing the last administration's soft on crime policies that helped enable a tragic rise in violent crime. you see what's happening. look at chicago. what the hell is going on in chicago. what's that all about? we also issued new directives to protect our police officers and sheriffs. and we'll always stand with the incredible men and women of law

enforcement. all-american children no matter where they live have the right to grow up in a safe community. no issue is more central to public safety than the issue of immigration and border security. after years of lawlessness, the united states is now enforce our laws, the first time in a long time, and protect our workers, schools and families. since i was elected, illegal border crossing -- and this is without the wall, before the wall, have decreased by more than 75%. an historic and unprecedented achievement. [cheers and applause] so we are building the wall on

the southern border. we have got the greatest security people in the world. i.c.e. and the border patrol folk. these are incredible people. they endorsed me when i ran for president, knowing if i win they will have to work much, much harder. but they love this country, and they want the job done and they want the job done right. they have to work harder and it's much more dangerous. the other thing i have to tell you. you have a gang called ms-13. a friend of mine who is a very, very high-level police officer said to me in describing them, they are the equivalent or worse than al qaeda. i would say that's a bad thing. they don't like to shoot people, they like to cut people, they do thing that nobody can believe.

these are true animals. we are moving them out of the country by the thousands. by the thousands. [cheers and applause] and the people moving them out are guess what? a hell of a lot tougher and meaner than they are. but they are on our side. during my campaign for president, i mess with the families of americans killed by illegal immigrants. many, many families. including the parents of sarah route, a 21-year-old iowa girl who was killed the day after she graduated from college with a 4.0 gpa. you know what that means for those of you who don't know?

solid a's, number one student. thousands of beautiful lives like sarahs have been stolen for the simple reason that our government has refused to enforce already existing laws. the media, these people, like to talk about separating families, but the families they never talk about are the american families separated forever from the ones they love because we don't protect our borders and uphold the immigration laws of the united states. [cheers and applause] these families, and the victims, have been ignored totally by the media.

they were ignored by the consultants. they've been ignored by washington, but these americans were not ignored by me or by you, and we know who they are, and they rise now to the highest level. they rise to the highest level. [applause] >> i promise those families the deaths of their loved ones will not have been in vain, and that we will take strong and forceful action to fulfill our sacred duty to save and protect american lives. [applause] >> every single day, we're finding these gang members, these drug dealers, thieves, robbers, predators, criminals, killers, horrible killers, a