we'll have more coverage on that tomorrow and a little bit more on jerome corsi. his wife worries they might actually be trying, the feds, to come in between mother, son and you are father.kennedy, right n. ♪ ♪ kennedy: thank you, trish. president trump will, quote, never, ever back down on his government shutdown fight with democrats. this according to the president himself who today told a farmers convention that his border wall is critical for national security. and earlier in the day he accused democrats offing being ridiculously hypocritical. mr. president? >> we have drugs, criminals and gangs, and the democrats don't want to do negative about it. they say, oh, it's immoral. but it wasn't immoral three years ago, five years ago, six years ago and ten years ago when they all raised their hands the approve a wall. it's immoral because, one reason, because they know they're going to lose in the 2020 election. that's the only reason to them it's immoral.

kennedy: really seems like we're getting somewhere. when will this all end? it's hard to say, but yesterday south carolina republican senator lindsey graham said he pitched the president a new idea how to deal with the shutdown. watch. >> i would urge him to open up the government for a short period of time if, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug, see if we can get a deal. if we can't at the end of three weeks, all bets are off, see if he can do it by himself through the emergency powers. that's my recommendation. kennedy: that's no way to govern. unfortunately for senator graham, the president did not bite. >> well, that was a suggestion that lindsey made, but i did reject it, yes. i'm not interested -- i want to get it solved. i don't want to just delay it, i want to get it solved. kennedy: that's right, don't tease it, get right in there. and then this afternoon house democrats introduced new spending bills to reopen the government, but as we all know, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell will almost certainly kill them, and that is

clearly frustrating house members. in fact, new york democrat nita lowey said in a statement, quote: the house has done its job and passed six pieces of legislation to reopen the government, but senate republicans refuse to take yes for an answer and end the shutdown. so now that we are 24 days into the longest shutdown inst history -- in u.s. history, is there any reason to be optimistic? join me now, kentucky republican congressman thomas massie is back. thank you for joining me. >> good evening, kennedy. kennedy: how does this end? >> i think we just keep going on until either side realizes they're losing political points. kennedy: who's losing points faster, democrats or republicans? >> well, the democrats have chosen a position that walls don't work, and that doesn't pass common sense muster. and, you know, president trump owns the shutdown. he decided that it would be his

in the meeting that they had, the public meeting with pelosi and schumer. so it's hard to say right now who's winning or gaining or losing, and that's why we're going into this. now, pretty soon the federal workers are going to miss another paycheck. they've missed one, and i think there's a pressure if point when that comes to pass. kennedy: i think you're absolutely right, and i think that is going to be -- and you can help me with other examples here -- but i think it's going to be the tsa. >> right. kennedy: if there is a massive, blanket sick-out with the tsa and people are actually feeling the effects, i'm talking about a majority of americans or at least a large swath of them who travel by air, then there will, we will reach critical mass in frustration with people like you who are elected members of congress. >> well, look, i went through tsa today to get here in washington d.c. and two of the tsa agents came up to me and thanked me for what i'm doing. now, you're right, if tsa didn't show up for work, if the prison guards didn't show up for work,

if the air traffic controllers didn't show up for work, this shutdown would be over in five minutes. and so the problem -- kennedy: is that going to happen? >> i don't think so. i mean, the problem -- you know, you've got politicians abusing the goodwill of these workers who want to serve the people, and so that's why this thing's continuing. if we had a real shutdown, kennedy, in other words, where people didn't come to work because they weren't getting paid, this would be over in five minutes. and by the way, i think it's immoral to make the tsa workers come to work without pay. i'm a conservative. i don't believe the government should be able to force you to do anything, yet that's what's happening right now. so it's an odd situation. kennedy: well, and here's the thing, most people, regardless of how much they make, most people if they're going to be honest live paycheck to paycheck. and federal workers, even though they've got more holidays and, you know, arguably a better retirement package and better health care than people who are self-employed, people who run their own businesses or those who work part-time jobs, they

still don't have an easy time of it. and it really is going to reach a point where they stop showing up. now, there were a bunch of lawmakers who went to puerto rico this weekend with. were you among them? [laughter] >> i was not among them, kennedy, no. kennedy: what? >> and i haven't seen "hamilton" yet either. kennedy: nor have i. who do you think is a bigger fan of musicals, you or me? >> you, probably. [laughter] i'm not going to compete with that. kennedy: still, i haven't seen "hamilton" and, gosh, it's been years since aye been to puerto rico, a lovely part of the world, a lovely part of these united states. but i will ask you that democrats seem to be, you know, nancy pelosi's been in hawaii, that's fine. i don't begrudge anyone their vacation, but it seems as though they're tackling this with a little less seriousness. does that hurt them? >> i think it does. when you go into negotiations

saying you're not going to negotiate, again, i think they lose credibility there. so this is going to go on for a while, i think, until they come to the table and decide to negotiate. and their position is untenable, that walls don't work. i mean, they can say they like illegal immigration, but that's -- kennedy: well, chris bare et made a really good point on the show the other night, and he said why doesn't someone press democrats on that, and if walls don't work, w450eu7b89 take the the -- take down the existing physical borders we have? >> that's right. there's one between san diego and tijuana that does work, walls around all of our embassies. and half of the money that president trump wants to spend is actually to upgrade existing walls and fences already on the border. kennedy: what do you think of lindsey graham's proposal, opening up things for three weeks, and if they can't get something figured out, using the emergency strategy? >> i think the emergency strategy is a bad strategy --

kennedy: agreed. >> i think congress needs to appropriate the money -- kennedy: indeed. >> it's not an emergency because the president december agrees with congress, that doesn't make an emergency -- disagrees with congress. but i disagree with lindsey graham as well. i think trump needs to dig in here. look, ironically, kennedy, he's scoring more points against nancy pelosi in terms of advancing his agenda than he did when he had paul ryan undermining him secretly in the back. kennedy: paul ryan was the worst. [laughter] having said that, who do you like better, paul ryan or nancy pelosi? >> uh -- well, john boehner probably. but, again, i voted against him three times. [laughter] kennedy: good for you. your job, in many ways your job is great, there's a lot of pomp and circumstance. there are, you know, secret perks. you guys have your own gym and recording studio, that's really fun. other than that, kind of sucks, doesn't it? >> kennedy, i've never been to the gym, can you tell?

[laughter] >> they must be using the muscular lens, because you look quite fit from here. chad pergram says it gets worse before it gets better, do you agree? >> oh, i agree. look, if you wanted to do something now, you could vote to fund the essential employees -- the air traffic controllers, tsa employees and the prison guards -- and then the non-essential, for instance, who aren't working but are going without pay, then you could negotiate over that. but i think it's wrong really to have them coming to work without pay. kennedy: the white supremacy lobby didn't quite get the talking points to steve king and, boy, he's really stepped in it. what do you think of that situation? >> you know what? i know steve king personally, i've known him for six years. in my presence he's never said anything racist, so i'm not ready to censure a man based on a new york times article. i know that they've printed enough fake news not to take them completely seriously. on the other hand, he probably should have recorded that interview -- kennedy: yeah, i think that's

the best way to go. >> yeah. this is one of the reasons i do live tv and live radio and record my interviews with "the new york times" and washington post. kennedy: don't worry, we'll put some filthy words into your mouth -- [laughter] congressman thomas massie, thank you. >> thanks, kennedy. kennedy: the government shutdown seems to be most apparent at our nation's airports. for instance, security lines at hartfield jackson airport in atlanta said to be more than an hour long. that's a waste of time. and if a passenger there managed to get a gun onto a plane. going to japan. so clearly, some things aren't working quite as well as we'd like. according to a washington post/abc news poll, 53% of americans blame the president and congressional republicans for the ongoing partial government shutdown. 29% blame democrats, 13% say there's blame to be had on both sides, so how can the president get the public back on his side? joining me tonight on the panel from townhall.com where she serves as editor, katie pavlich

is here, along with reason.com managing editor peter suderman, and cliff maloney back in new york city. welcome, everyone. >> hello. kennedy: whoo! so this is really interesting. what have we learned from the shutdown so far? >> well, in terms of the airports, which you just talked about, not a lot. like an hour waiting at the airport is pretty typical day at the airport. and to be quite honest, tsa, maybe this will give them the overhaul they need, because based on inspector general's reports, they miss if 95% of bombs -- kennedy: that was long before -- >> and if you look at the details of what the tsa at the airport in atlanta have said, they say this has nothing to do with the shutdown, people are calling out sick at the normal rate they normally do except for politically people are trying to use that as an example of why the government cannot function without congress funding it. so there is a problem, i would say in the next week and a half if people don't get a second paycheck. kennedy: yes. >> it's one thing to miss the

first one. when you get the second one missed, that's a whole month's worth of expenses -- kennedy: people gotta take care of their families. >> correct. the sympathy card here, look, in the private sector and your company goes under, you no longer have a job, and you're not going to get back pay. i wonder outside of washington, d.c. this talking point of, look, people have expenses -- well, yeah. but there's a difference between getting back pay and working for free. kennedy: i think you're right, theoretical for people because for those who work outside of the federal government, they see that as a pretty stable work force and, you know, if you've lost your job in the real world, you know that you don't get back pay. so i was thinking about this today, a lot of people have talked about privatizing tsa. tsa precheck is great, but there's a new system called clear -- >> the best. kennedy: that's a private organization. this shutdown has to be the best thing in the world for clear, because you put your figures on a scanner and someone in a black and white checkered shirt who's

excitedded to see you ushers you past the hordes of people. >> look, tsa can search themselves, i hope that's what they're doing during the shutdown. kennedy: you mean with the blue gloves or -- [laughter] >> i'm sure they're getting a lot of practice. i have a huge amount of sympathy for the individual workers who are working without pay. that's a horrible situation to be in even if you can reasonably expect to get back pay in a couple of weeks or months. that's awful. and thomas massie is right, the government shouldn't be putting them in that position. however, the tsa is security theater. that agency should not exist. kennedy: yes. >> the airlines should be funding with government supervision their own security, this is how it's done in europe. and, like -- and the fact that guns are getting through the tsa and they're not even bothering to come up with a cover story that this is because of the shutdown. they've like, yeah, you know -- kennedy: even the tsa said it, it would be so easy for them to say we don't have enough agents, people are calling in sick,

people are so frustrated, no, we pretty much -- >> that tells you. >> standing around is the big joke about tsa. too many people just looking on. >> you mentioned what else we've learned, i think the american people are starting to wake up, and they're saying some of these things like the tsa, maybe there are better options. so i think politicians might want to be a little more careful because, eventually, people are going to say, yeah, maybe we should be privatizing these things. maybe there are private companies that can handle them better. you have got to lead with the sympathy. people doing work, they should be paid for the work they're doing, but at the end of the day, the government can't always do things better than people can. kennedy: no, they prove that over and over again. we talk a lot on this show about the power of the free market. north face and other companies are going through with volunteer armies and picking up trash in national parks because they want the parks to remain beautiful, and they also want people to get outside. those are private individuals doing good that -- work that we don't necessarily have to rely on the government for.

>> look, libertarians would love to see private sector replace a lot of government services. kennedy: sure. >> i do think sometimes there's a mistake made cheering on shutdowns like this where they basically say, hey, great, this is limited government. in fact, like, when the government reopens -- and it's gonna reopen -- it's not going to be any smaller. we're not going to have made real reforms, real progress. and, in fact, social security and medicare -- kennedy: well, it's like telling someone who's using oculus, an oculus device to engage with or pornography that it's not a real woman, but in the moment, like, they don't care. let us have this moment, peter. [laughter] >> i will let you have all of the virtual reality porn that you would like -- kennedy: thank you very much. >> it's your show. [laughter] kennedy: the panel is coming back in just a little bit. first up, president trump is calling it the most insulting thing he has ever read. oh, this is going to be good. "the new york times" report that the fbi looked into whether or not he was secretly working for

vladimir putin as a stooge! is this new probe legitimate or a big, fat hoax? i'll ask bill mcgurn, and we can learn together. next. ♪ ♪ ♪ we can go down this what do you think? ♪ woo! yeah! it's good! it's refreshing. ♪ at northwestern mutual, this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but she's only seven once. spend your life living. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com.

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for best screenplay is certainly heating up. "the new york times" reporting that the fbi launched an investigation into the president's behavior after he fired james comey out of concern he was knowingly working for russia or had unnopingly -- unknowingly fallen under the influence of vladimir putin. earlier today the president said the report is just as ridiculous as it sounds. watch. >> i never worked for russia. not only did i never work for russia, i think it's a disgrace that you even asked that question, because it's a whole big, fat hoax. it's just a hoax. kennedy: big, fat hoax. the president -- sorry, "the washington post" penned their own spy drama on saturday in a report that quoted anonymous officials, go figure, who claim the president went out of his way to conceal his encounters with vladimir putin and even took possession of his translator's notes after the two leaders met in 2017. the white house pushed back, of course, against the report and some critics are wondering if the fbi was just trying to

justify their own spying on the trump campaign during the 2016 election. so did the fbi really believe the president was a russian agent? joining me now, former chief speech writer for george w. bush and "wall street journal" columnist bill mcgurn! let's learn with mcgurn. hi, bill. >> how are you? kennedy: very well, thank you. >> happy new year. kennedy: and to you as well. >> thank you. kennedy: so part of this, i think, is the discomfort in the new protocol that comes with this administration, meaning that the old protocol -- whatever the old rules are and, well, this is the way we've always done it, by gum, this president has turned that on its head. and i think that was also the time when rod rosenstein was talking about wearing a wire -- >> right. kennedy: because everyone had the vapors at what the president said and did. and it was such a monumental shift. now, if -- i believe there was this kind of investigation, but if there were more to it, don't you think we would have heard something? >> yeah, i think that times

story somewhere in there says there's no evidence of this. kennedy: yes. >> they had the vapors, but these are very unconstitutional vapors. the idea that it's the unelected part of the government to keep track of the elected part of the government. these powers wrong to a president -- belong to a president. what do we know? the fbi launched this investigation after their boss was fired, so they're angry and they just -- kennedy: in order to protect the investigation. >> yeah. kennedy: yes. >> i mean, it's a big deal. people used to think it was a big deal if there was an fbi investigation into you, especially alleging that you're a foreign eight. . -- a foreign agent. kennedy: and if they were using questionable information to get warrants to spy on people in your campaign who remain unindicted. >> right. it looks like a lot of the top leadership -- i think donald trump's very blunt about this, sometimes tweets in a way that i wouldn't say it, but people say he might have been upset -- key ken i think he's his own worst

enemy when it comes to impulsivity -- >> but if you're worried about the state of the nation, we should be worried about what the fbi did. kennedy: here's something that you pointed out, why would the president be a russian spy? >> right. kennedy: what does he get out of it? >> did he need money? i don't know. later they say maybe an unwitting spy. kennedy: what does that mean? does it mean mind control? he was injected with a substance? >> i think it means he's doing what vladimir putin would like. look, jack goldsmith, formerly of the justice department -- not a trump fan -- has a pretty good article talking about how worrying this is, what they're doing, because presidents make all kinds of controversial statements about foreign policy. some people didn't like barack obama normalizing relations with cuba. i mean -- kennedy: or iran, for that matter. you could argue that -- >> it was a threat to national security. kennedy: -- president obama's stance on iran made that part of

the world less safe and less stable. >> who gets to make these decisions? the constitution's pretty clear. it's president. and i think it's just outrageous that we just accept this -- kennedy: do you think robert mueller is looking into the other aspect of the russian opposition research grab? >> i don't know. i mean, i think -- kennedy: would it surprise you if he was looking -- >> it wouldn't surprise me. i mean, this is the problem with special counsels, they're unaccountable largely, and we don't know what the heck they're doing, and they take, you know, two years before they come out with anything. kennedy: at least. we're coming up on the second anniversary in may. >> it's a terrible way to do it. say we have a president who is a spy, right? in that case, what's the path? i think it would be congress. i mean, we have impeachment as a tool, and instead we're relying on independent counsels and fbi directors taking this authority onto themselves. if you read rod rosenstein's memo or to why comey should have been -- on why comey should have

been fired, it's an indictment. kennedy: yes, it is. and even loretta lynch said the same thing -- >> right. it was convenient for her, because it let her off the hook. kennedy: absolutely. and there are so many aspects about that relationship that i still find troubling. >> right. kennedy: more questions than answers, but that's why you're here, so we can learn with mcgurn. [laughter] thank you, bill, good to see you. coming up, the president's pick for a.g. tomorrow headed to capitol hill for his confirmation hearings. i have some libertarian suggestions for what the senate judiciary committee should ask

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at least two of those blowhards will preen with presidential desperation, senators cory booker and kamala harris will try and drown the once and future a.g. in a sea of look at me word vomit. sickening. democrats will spend so much time on the mueller memo, they will not only forget to coordinate their queries, they will also miss critical red flags in barr's background that can only now be publicly investigated. trust me, he has no desire to go after robert mueller. the guy was his subordinate in the early '90s, and they were the co-authors of the metadata surveillance blueprint. in 1992 mueller and barr helped the dna force some -- dea -- force some records -- and speaking of drugs, there has obviously been a vast cultural and legal shift in prosecuting nonviolent crime since barr was last a.g., so hopefully instead

of tossing him softballs and atta boys, republican senators will press him on civil liberties, rescheduling and prosecuting cannabis and civil asset forfeiture. like his predecessor, william barr is a big fan of the law enforcement cash grab that lines coffers without due process. but most problemmatically, barr feels the president has a constitutionally protected, regal and practically unilateral ability to start wars even with congressional disapproval. given the global landscape and the uncertainty from syria the north korea, one would hope the nation's lead lawyer wouldn't interpret the constitution with a naive and heavy hand that concentratessen even more power -- concentrates even more power in an already bloated executive branch. can camera-happy senators limbo under this low bar? not without falling all over themselves proving all the wrong points as another sneaky statist

slithers back to run the d to oj, and that's the memo. ♪ ♪ kennedy: the confirmation hearings for brett kavanaugh made for some of the most dramatic tv in recent memory, so will senators grandstand again? [laughter] of course they will! and, no, they're not going to ask critical questions. tonight's panel is back, katie, peter and cliff. peter, i will start with you because there's a lot more to william barr than meets the eye. and i truly believe the democrats won't coordinate. they're going to be so hyperobsessed with the special counsel probe that they will forget all of these other critical issues in barr's past. >> yeah, look, barr is an unreconstructed, kind of a tough on crime republican, basically, the last 25 years of criminal

justice policy and ideology never happened. kennedy: yes. >> he, basically, is sort of -- assumes it's still 1995 or 1989 and that, like, american cities are just covered in, you know, you can't walk through one without getting mugged, which is just not true anymore. and that, i think, is a real problem. frankly, i'm really glad that president trump signed criminal justice reform before barr got into office because i am not sure if barr is influential if president trump would have signed that at all. i think that is the sort of thing that senators should be asking about. kennedy: yeah. >> they should also be asking about executive power. look, if you are a democrat, with this administration in place you should be worried about executive power. barr has basically his whole career is figuring out ways to justify whatever the president does is legal. kennedy: and working with people whose career goal became concentrating more power in the executive branch so they could continue to get jobs throughout administrations, and now, you

know, democrats chain about the power that -- complain about the power president trump has, but they helped create this beast. >> i just think, unfortunately, it's going to be a 2020 race to the bottom again in these hearings before we get to the point of democrats officially running. cory booker, kamala harris are still on the committee, they're going to do everything they possibly can to get their sound bites, get on late night tv the next day and talk about what they think is important with the russia probe. and as you were saying, there are so many other things to talk about. now, to your point about him being unreconstructed attorney general, that may be true in some sense. he's experienced, he will have an easier time than other candidates will in front of the senate judiciary committee. but based on the president's mandate and the view coming from the white house from jared kushner and others, i'm sure they've had that conversation about where they want to go with their agenda despite his law and order background. >> yeah. and with the current political landscape, what interests me is all the issues that there could

be success with, especially from a civil libertarian perspective, of war, of civil asset forfeiture, of the first step act and criminal justice reform, all the things where we could make some really good strides barr is dead the wrong on -- kennedy: well, it's interesting, because you talk about that, but many of those strides have taken praise during this administration, which is still pretty young. and obama, who ran as a civil libertarian, he was the one who was supporting people, he extended the drug war, he wasn't good in terms of really putting forth a federal policy on cannabis legalization, and the federal government and state governments were still very much butting heads in terms of drug policy. >> yeah. and the warning that i give to so many vims is, look, if you didn't want obama reading your e-mails and text messages and spying on you, then you should have that same standard for trump. let's restore the fourth amendment. kennedy: he not only invented the program with the help of the dea and helped the nsa create a

program that gathered all of that information warrantlessly. he also said at the time that the patriot act didn't go far enough! >> this is an opportunity for democrats to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to minority communities and crime. kamala harris has already said that she wants marijuana legalized across the country. here's her chance to talk about that. and we'll see if democrats willing -- kennedy: they won't, they won't, and republicans are going to fall all over themselves congratulating him and throwing him softballs instead of pressing him where they really should, because the republican party in some ways is making great strides on civil liberties. and we'll see if the members like ted cruz and mike lee show up and give it to him a little bit. >> it'd be a shame if democrats missed the opportunity to work on something that impacts -- kennedy: last word. >> they're going to treat this like a campaign ad for -- kennedy: of course they are. absolutely. and klobuchar, she's going to do the same thing. >> right. she's there too. kennedy: she's the dark horse.

booker and harris, she is, and i think she tends to come off as a little bit more thoughtful with her questions, but she and kavanaugh, they mixed it up a little bit. >> and cory booker has a new girlfriend, apparently. kennedy: it's not lady liberty. good to see you. president trump's issuing a remarkably stern warning to turkey, if you mess with our kurdish allies, there will be hell to pay. in a tweet yesterday the president said, quote: starting the long overdue pullout from syria while hitting the little remaining isis territorial cally face hard. we'll attack hard again from nearby base if it reforms. we'll devastate turkey economically if they hit the kurds. the turks also consider the kurds to be their sworn enemy, so will the president's threat of economic sanctions get everybody to play nice?

with me now, university of maryland professor and former chief economist at the u.s. international trade commission, peter morici is here. welcome, sir. >> nice to be with you. kennedy: let's talk about this a little bit, because turkey is talking tough right back, and they're saying don't you dare mess with us economically. who has the upper hand here in terms of goods and services? >> well, we sure do have a strong hand. i mean, we're able to pressure them with some trade sanctions to release andrew whereuponson, but this is a whole order of magnitude bigger. my feeling is that turkey is a very export-dependent economy, it's virtually not growing anymore, you know? it's a dictatorship -- and that's what we've got there -- has basically strangled the economy. kennedy: yes. >> i think we could get a lot of sympathy from our allies in europe, and if we did, we could basically strangle turkey economically. for one thing, it's export dependent, so if it can't access

the banking system, hey, call up iran. you can't get paid. kennedy: and turkey, they're not our allies. i understand they're part of an alliance nominally, but they're not friends. and also, they tend to lump all kurdish factions into one terroristic organization, and they have said in no uncertain terms that they would like to eradicate the kurds who have been some of our most loyal allies particularly in syria. >> well,ered won is basically -- erdogan is basically a failing dictator. he needs an enemy, and the kurds are there standing up. he hasn't got the kind of leverage, say, that the saudi prince has. you know, if we don't sell him arms, he can get them from china, and someone will always buy his oil, and he'll managed to get paid. turkey exports machinery, metals, vehicles, things like that. the chinese aren't going to buy

that stuff, the russians can't buy it, russia's too small economically. they really have no place to sell their stuff. they can't afford to take, say, a 10-15% hit on their economy, on their gdp -- kennedy: well, what happens if they do? we're running out of time, but would sanctions work with turkey better than they would with iran or, say, venezuela? >> much better, i believe. because there's till some semblance of a democracy there and civil institutions. my feeling, there would be an uprising. more than that, iran has got simply a stronger economic base. turkey has no one to turn to. we think of turkey as being pivotal, it's not. kennedy: it's not. we have to stop thinking of them in those terms. >> so my feeling is that we can do it but, you know, we need the support of our allies, and what concerns me most about these bellicose statements of the president is has he gotten his ducks in a row first. because he really is going to need germany, for example,

onboard with the sanctions to make them work. kennedy: yeah. he strangles the ducks, and then he gives them a little pimp love. it's tough. thank you so much, peter morici. >> take care. kennedy: very good. coming up, john bolton, he's itching for a fight with iran, and the hawkish national security adviser reportedly alarming officials at the pentagon. will bolton get his wish, and why is anyone surprised? details and reaction from steve hilton next. ♪ ♪ that rocking chair would look great in our new house. ahh, new house, eh? well, you should definitely see how geico could help you save on homeowners insurance. nice tip. i'll give you two bucks for the chair. two?! that's a victorian antique! all right, how much for the recliner, then? wait wait... how did that get out here? that is definitely not for sale! is this a yard sale? if it's in the yard then it's... for sale. oh, here we go. geico. it's easy to switch and save on homeowners and renters insurance.

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♪ ♪ kennedy: oh, mercy! welcome back. president trump's national security adviser john bolton has been pushing for a more aggressive approach to iran. huh, that's so weird. and now we know just how aggressive. according to a new report in "the wall street journal," says back in septembering bolton asked the pentagon to provide

the white house with military options for an iran strike. pentagon and state department officials were said to be shocked by the request. but why is this shocking? it's john bolton. [laughter] now, granted, i'm no interventionist, but it is customary for the military to lay out options for attacks around the globe. sadly, was this part of a run of the mill strategy session, or is it time to sell my summer home in tehran? joining me now, host of "the next revolution" on the fox news channel sunday nights at 9 p.m. eastern, 6 in the west, steve hilton is back. welcome back. >> how you doing? kennedy: i'm going great. i think john bolton is doing quite well tooment i think he's pretty happy with his position in the white house, and i think he's been a very convincing voice for the president. >> yeah -- [laughter] i mean, who would have thought it, that he would take a bellicose and aggressive posture on global affairs. amazing, isn't it? the thing is what i find fascinating about this is that

president trump, you know, he ran on a really clear platform that he wanted to end the stupid wars, bring the troops home, stop america going around the world trying to so every problem with a military response, and ever since he got this he's had a bunch of the foreign policy establishment who really believed in that neo-con approach always trying to the undermine him from day one. rex tillerson, h.r. mcmaster and general mattis, they've all gone, but he's been replaced by bolton who's actually more of a neo-con than any of them, but they still steam to get along -- still seem to get along -- kennedy: why do you think that is? >> i think that bolton is an impressive guy. he's very experienced, seriously smart, very professional. and i think there's, obviously, a good connection there. when bolton was appointed, a lot of his past statements of that kind of aggressive kind that contradict the trump doctrine, as it were, they were put to john bolton, and he said very humbly, look, those were my views when i was a free agent.

now i'm there, i'm going to be there to not express my opinions, but to implement the president's. i hope that is how it stays -- kennedy: do you buy that? >> but in the end -- well, i think so, because in the end i think he's very smart, and he knows that if he tries to kind of freelance a policy completely, that's just going to end up with a sort of rupture in the relationship. now, it's fine though to prepare options, and i think that is part of the job, is to make sure that america always has a range of responses. but the president's instincts, i think, are exactly right on iran which is, yes, they've a terrible threat, but the west way seems to me is to squeeze them economically. so you put pressure on the regime so that either the regime just collapses -- kennedy: yeah. it's interesting, you're absolutely right, it's not like a carrot and a stick, it's like a carrot ask -- carrot and a vise. it is that economic squeeze, and

hopefully the president will use the carrots for governments and regimes who want to participate in this beautiful free market system that the united states of america leads, through which the u.s. leads the world. steve hilton, we're out of time, which is sad, but i need to come see you. >> you're coming this sunday, aren't you? i'm going to see you in l.a. kennedy: there you go. >> i'm so excited about that. kennedy: we will extend the conversation: thank you so much, good to see you. >> thanks, kennedy. kennedy: topical storm is next. stay ♪ -morning. -morning. -what do we got? -keep an eye on that branch. might get windy. have a good shift. fire pit. last use -- 0600. i'd stay close. morning. ♪

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♪ ♪ kennedy: hi! former white house communications director and frequent show guest anthony scaramucci has joined the cast of big brother. we wish him the very best of luck, because it won't be easy transitioning between big brother and the white house. one is a reality show circus, and the other is big brother! and this is the topical storm. topic number one, let's start tonight in minnesota where one commuter is on thin ice right now. oh, this fella used an umbrella to wind surf across lake min tonk ca so he could make it to work in minneapolis. it's a far cry how people normally get to minneapolis, which is through a series of bad decisions.

[laughter] just kidding. you have a beautiful city. please don't get mad and disinvite me to your wildest party of the year, you know, the church bake sale! a witness told reporters that our hero came up short after the winds died down, but a review of the video showed that he did, in fact, make it. and in the end, the only people who came up short last night were the philadelphia eagles. fly, eagles! topic number two. let's go to noblesville, indiana, where the police department is going downhill. these cops received a call of children sledding in a dangerous area, so so they decided to make a test run and make sure it was safe, and that's exactly what i would say if i got caught sledding on the job. the kids loved it, but the cops couldn't stay long because they got a call, someone drinking in a dangerous strip club -- [laughter] they had to go there and make another test run to make sure that was safe. the department says they posted the video on facebook as proof that you can still enjoy old man

winter. and as you imagine, now they're being screamed at online for assuming winter's gender. never mind how ageist it is to call 'em old man winter. it's enough to put on your hand maiden's costume, guy benson. topic number three -- [laughter] say what you want about the milwaukee bucks, but their ticket sales are through the roof. oh, this is the bradley center. oh, wait, that's an implosion. yeah, it used to be the bradley center. they imploded it to make room for their new arena. the internet is blown away by the video, but locals weren't impressed because if you watch the bucks long enough, you get used to collapses! although we shouldn't talk here in new york, because the last time the knicks won a home game the government was still open. that's a true story. the only thing their defense shuts down is the bar with. the bucks have since begun playing in their $524 million

forum. it sounds expensive, but let's not forget that hillary clinton once spent $1.2 billion on a house in washington, d.c., and she didn't even get to move in, what happened? [laughter] never gets old. i hope she run again, i really do. i'm writing her a big, fat check. topic number four, let's head to las vegas where dave grohl and the foo fighters, ticket sales are not slipping. the lead singer, ah, that's another story. it doesn't get any more rock and roll than this, oh, he falls off the stage! but he doesn't feel a thing. beer. look at him get right back in the saddle without missing a beat. there goes my hero! the show continued without incident but, unfortunately, dave had too much beer to drive, so he was forced to find antive way home.

here i am on lake mead or the hoover dam or something. it's times like these you learn to live again. no, i will stop it. i could do this ever long, but -- [laughter] i'll be right back. anna, do you have those plans? yes! i just wanted to show you something i've been wor... ♪ james r. and associates. anna speaking... ♪ james r. and associates. anna. ♪ [phone ringing] baker architects. this is anna baker. at northwestern mutual, this is what our version of financial planning looks like. tomorrow is important, but you're ready to bet on yourself today. find an advisor at northwesternmutual.com.

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fbn@foxbusiness.com. that hate mail don't write itself. tomorrow night, arizona congressman andy bi or ggs and the legal marijuana billionaire known as big mike. i don't know if he's a the following program is a paid commercial presentation for total gym fitness. [music] everybody work out. feel the energy. build a better body. the best you can be. another body easy as 123. oh. ahh. better body as easy as 123 with total gym. i feel fabulous and when you feel good about yourself, you feel good about your work, and your marriage, and your family and your kids. in a month from