[♪] lou: good evening, there are many winners as a result of the democratic party's sedition and outrageous effort to overthrow the president. those winners are all republicans led by president trump. the losers are the venal and ludicrous house democrats led by adam schiff who are now responsible for 56 straight days of presidential impeachment theater. and it has become theater of the absurd. the dimms' play is not the thing. it's farce. the curtain went up in public for the first time last week, and it's not back by popular

demand. but rather the result of self-destructive impulses that the radical dimms simply can't stop. here we are, now officially in the second hell week declining television audiences, increasingly smug self-important bureaucrats who seem even ghairnlgd a competition to be the smuggest and dullest members of the administrative state. adam schiff and the dimms have promises bombshell after bombshell. instead their star witnesses delivering dud after dud and deadly dull duds after that. today's testimony no exception kicked off by lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, a jennifer williams a foreign service aide to vice president mike pence.

they were a bore. and they success need reminding us all no matter what their complaints against this president, they didn't rise to much more than bureaucratic pettiness and policy differences while they reminded us how fortunate we are to have an historic president who is a great achiever and never dull. adam schiff and speaker pelosi should be loudly applauding this president's performance instead of parading mediocre blarnd characters across the capital stage with a dreary dialogue that will surely be a bust at the box office. no mattered how long this play runs, it will be too long. catch hill filled with more -- capitol hill filled with more emotions and feeling as four more witnesses were dragged into the shoddy impeachment

proceedings that has yet to provide any wrongdoing of wrongdoing by president trump. the tv viewership of their impeachment hearings dropping by a million viewers from day one to day two. 65% of all americans say they can't imagine any information or circumstance during the dimms' impeachment inquiry that would change their minds about impeachment. but the radical dimms' second round of hearings is dragging on. there are still five more witnesses to come over the next few days. earlier lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. jennifer williams tested allegation of bribery by president trump not playing well

with them either. >> you have never used the word bribery or bribe to explain president trump's conduct, correct? >> no, sir. >> colonel vindman you haven't either. >> that's correct. lou: oops, more star witnesses. vindman then furthered stunned the dimms testifying it was unprecedented to put the transcript of president trump's july 25 call in a secure server. nothing unusual by the at all. and any mention of burisma was not quote significant. where is the impeachable offense? 56 days of this nonsense. the president, the principle winner through it all. one of the key moments, however, happening earlier as republican

ranking member devin nunes caught vindman holding back information from the intelligence community and indeed the country. >> lieutenant colonel vindman did you discuss the july 25 phone call with anyone outside the white house of july 25 or 26? >> yes, i did. >> what agencies were these officials with in. >> department of state, department of state assistant secretary george can't who is responsible for the portfolio of eastern europe including ukraine. and an individual from the office of -- individual in the intelligence community. >> as you know, the intelligence community has 17 different agencies. what agency was this individual from? >> if i could interject here. >> it's our time. >> we need to protect the

whistleblower. i want to make sure that there is no effort to out the whistleblower in these proceedings. lou: unbelievable. so close. so close. the chairman got there just in time. so close to learn hog the whistleblower was by deduction. adam schiff insisting on protecting the whistleblower. raising questions about whether colonel vindman and adam schiff are being truthful about the so-called whistleblower. president trump at the white house, he's the only one seemingly work -- not seemingly. he's the only one work. the radical dimms and their hearings he slammed as a waste of time. president trump what's going on is a disgrace and embarrassment

to our nation. in the meantime we can't get usmca approved because nancy pelosi is grossly incompetent. lou: the president pushing for the usmca trade deal that the radical left slow walked to avoid giving the president another win while they push forward their impeachment agenda that has produced nothing more than terrible polling results for the radical dimms. vice president chief of staff -- the vice president's chief of staff saying nancy pelosi is holding up the usmca in order to obtain votes for impeachment. aquid pro quo, if you will. >> basically it's being held out because there are 31 democrats residing in trump districts. if you go along with impeachment i will give you the usmca vote.

there is nothing quite like saying i am not going to give you a vote owrntion smca until i get your vote on impeachment. lou: the radical dimms with their sham impeachment inquiry. the president making it clear it's up to the chinese to make a deal. about they decide not to do that, it's more than okay with him. president trump: china will have to make a deal i like. if they don't, the tariffs are in. their supply chains are being killed. they had the worst year in 57 years. with that being said, i have a good relationship with chairman xi. if we don't make a deal with china we'll raise the tariffs even higher. lou: joining us tonight,

commerce secretary wilbur ross. the president making it clear to the chinese that he frankly doesn't care one whit what they do. it will cost them dearly if they refuse to honor the commitments they have made in so-called phase one, i take it. you tell us, is there a deal in prospect here or are the chinese so objec -- dothey not realize t he says? >> they know he means what he says and says what he means. the question is getting into details and the fine-tuning. that's the only way you really find out whether you have a deal or you don't. that's what's been going on here. lou: it's been going on for a long time as you well know. we have come from the october

disappointment, from the may disappointment, and each instance the' inference that the chinese side has reneged. this doesn't seem to have been going well in terms of creating a deal. the chinese insist they will not make a structural change. i haven't seen anything on paper. you may have. the president may have. but no one is sharing it. without paper, without papering this deal, how do we know if we are close or far or have a deal or will have a deal or we are just simply waving at the wind. >> the paper is the important part because what we need is the real detail, for example, the president has often repeated the promise they made $40 billion to

$50 billion of agriculture products. lou: they already reneged on that and said they won't do that. they will maintain only a purchasing level commensurate to market conditions as they put it which means their typical demand levels. >> let's see where we end up. i think it's hard to prejudge while it's still a work in progress. if our negotiators felt there was no hope, they would have stopped. clearly we think there is some hope. we are optimistic we can get something done. but as the president has repeatedly made very, very clear, he's okay either way. he likes the tariffs we are collecting. it hasn't hurt import prices. they are actually down from a year ago. it hasn't hurt consumer spending. so it doesn't bother him. lou: you know what i heard

today? i won't name the person who said that we should have greater market stability if we could come to a deal with the chinese. ignoring, ignoring a record run in every index in the market, almost every index in the market, but the three major indexes. how can we have policy makers who are so frankly ignorant of facts and the extraordinary ebullient markets, the extraordinary economy created under this president, his administration. and to talk about -- these are the same fools who were saying a year and a half ago if you put on tariffs you will destroy the market and destroy the economy. they are completely you can orthodoxed and completely wrong.

>> seeking stability in the markets is siltly. a typical stock has a range again low and high maybe 30-35 percent in a given year. so stability is what stocks are about. lou: you are going to have wall street crying if you talk about stability without volatility. that's where they make their money, right? >> little danger of stability. everybody would be as bored to death as they are with the impeachment hearing. why would you buy them if they never changed in price? you buy them because you hope the combination of appreciation and dividend will make it worth while. lou: folks should look at their 401ks and balances since the president was elected, and this year to date, it's been an

extraordinary developments. the extensions you granted zte and huawei. >> let me correct you. these are not extensions that make life pleasant for them. these are general license extensions that give them a very limited ability to service you existing activities that were in place before may 13 when we put the -- them on the list. lou: i didn't say the was pleasant for them. but i just used the word extension. >> let me tell you -- lou: if you would, mr. secretary so the audience knows what we are equitabling about and you are correcting me on. let's put up the huawei ban timeline.

may 20 a temporary reprieve until august. in august the u.s. granted another 90-day reprieve, november 18 the united states granted huawei another 90-day license extension. it isn't pleasant nor did i mean to imply that. why are we doing this? >> the beneficiaries of the general license are mostly our rural telecoms here in the u.s. who are unfortunately over the years loaded up with 3g and 4g equipment. nothing in what we are doing helps them with 5g. in fact more specifically, we have had 290-something requests for specific licenses.

we now have been starting to send out the 20-day intent to deny letters and some approvals. lou: i'm not applying for a license. i just want to understand it. and what we don't understand bedrock is the attorney general of the united states says both zte and huawei are national security threats and the conduct of china makes it clear the prc is a threat to u.s. national security. why not take the template the president put in place with tariffs and subsidize rural companies that need equipment and upgrade them on more expensive u.s. products rather than continue their relationship with two companies that are threats against u.s. national security?

>> in fact, very two bills pending in the congress trite now to do that -- right now to replace the 3g and 4g equipment. one calls for $700 million, one calls for a billion. i hope the bills go through quickly. the local people in the rural communities, you county have them out of telephone. lou: i get that. i just think the president put together a great plan, a great template with the use of tariff money. when it comes to the farmers. why not extend it to the rural telecom companies. >> we need an act of congress to do that. lou: he can do that on his own as you well know because he has done it with the farmers. >> with the farmers he used the

existing authority through the ask credit administration. lou: we are way over time and i appreciate it. thanks so much. i look forward to talking to you soon. thank you for being with us. you knew i was critical and you nonetheless showed up. the national left-wing media gets called out for their coverage of the dimms' sham impeachment hearings. it's an honor to tell you that [ applause ] thank you. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. i love you! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

>> there was no objectivity in the media's rush to impeach the media. the media are puppets of the democratic party. lou: congressman devin nunes has it right as he slammed the left-wing media as going puppets of the democratic party. lieutenant colonel vindman admitted that president trump ultimately sets foreign policy drug ukraine, in case there was

any confusion on the part of the lieutenant colonel. earlier in his testimony he claimed he was responsible for creating a cohesive and coherent ukraine policy. as you watch this, and i assume you watched much of it, this colonel vindman who persists in wanting to be called lieutenant colonel, i have never heard anyone referred to as lieutenant colonel when addressed verbally, but he looks like a pop injay. your reaction to what he had to say today which toomentd very, very little that would even be an annoyance to the president. >> you had two officials, williams and vindman testify

about complaints they had about the president's policies as if their views matter more than the voters or your lying eyes. you can read the transcript as to what took place. schiff intervened to try to prevent information about the leaker are's identity coming out. you know what was remarkable about today's hearings? you had two people testify this afternoon who took the role of the president seriously and had no problem with his concerns with ukraine and whether u.s. aid should be going there. lou: do you suppose that's why schiff made them so late in the day to make sure no one saw it? >> vindman did them no favors. williams never did them any

favors. these hearings are in response to concerns about the lack of due process. they were forced to do these hearings because i don't think they have the votes for impeachment. they are probably losing votes even among the democratic caucus. lou: the president, the republicans are coming up -- the republicans on that committee, they have shown while -- the democrats have just been atrocious. absolutely atrocious, specious and venal. it's just ignorance collected in one hearing room under adam schiff. it's terrible. the justice department apparently responsible for jeffrey epstein's death. i want to change subjects here very quickly. now two employees of the facility, they are in real

trouble because they falsified records and were not at their stations when he died. what do you make of it? >> the question is, is it going to lay to rest concerns that epstein didn't kill himself? and it hasn't been addressed in a significant way. i wish they would release all the documents. we still haven't gone the all the document at judicial watch. lou: what are they hiding, do you think? >> i don't know, but they are acting like there is something to hide by refusing to turn over basic information about the circumstances of his death and video and source of documents you would ordinarily see in a death investigation. now you have this plea deal that will get all the documents out there. lou: a plea deal -- >> we are trying to clean up

ukraine and our justice department can't even keep epstein alive. lou: thank you very much, tom. continuing coverage of the impeachment inquiry. we'll have that next.

>> so you interpreted the word favor, but the two people speaking to each other did not interpret that as a demand. it was your interpretation, is that fair? >> the context of this call consistent with the july 10 meeting with reporting going on including with the president's personal attorney made it clear this was not simply a request. >> you say it's clear. it's not clear at all. the two individuals talking to each other didn't interpret it that way.

lou: the congressman reminding the lieutenant colonel there is a real world where word matter. vindman's argument having a struggle. his interpretation of the president's phone call with the leader of ukraine not going over well with almost anyone, certainly in the republican party. our guest, former reagan political director, the savant, ed rollins. lou: the republicans are skiering big here. >> we'll all be bored to death. after 8 to 9 hours watching this, i am not sure i will be able to sleep tonight because i dozed off watching it. these are people who think they are important and they are not. in this particular case, this is a man who never met the president, never talked to the

president, he probably should not have been on the call -- there are way too many people on the calls. lou: do you feel left out not being on the call? >> i was top level assistant to the president at the top level and i can't remember being on a call. too many lawyers, too many phone listeners. lou: robert o'brien making it clear he's going to cut that security council down almost by half. i can't figure out what all these people do. you do have a state department, the national security has a role. and i have to tell you, i have got some work to do. this interagency consensus they keep talking about these bureaucrats. i am starting to believe this is like something out of 2001. there is a monolith somewhere

that is the interagency. and it has a powerful impact and force that it arrays against the united states government. >> when you have so many people in these jobs, they meet all day long. the premise of the national security council is the coordinating point between the state department and defense department and make sure the president gets both points of view. note make the decisions. but get the papers. you are not supposed to make the decision. you are supposed to get the papers. the president knows the balance between the various members. this guy is clearly over his role. when the whistleblower is named, and the job right before him, schiff about had a stroke from keeping that from being mentioned today. lou: the white house must have a

good sense of it. you can triangulate this, phone logs, the white house logs itself. this will not take a great detective to figure out who it is and i can't imagine why this won't be known unless there is a decision this is a legitimate whistleblower which nearly everyone i have heard speak on the issue knowledgeably says this person is not the legal definition of a whistleblower. >> this was a spy inside the white house that was part of the deep state to take the president down. high crimes, and there is no crime. bribery, which is what the polls say is the next thing, they haven't proved that. the third thing is treason. maybe they will try to convince the president committed treason. i taught a course on the

american presidency for more than a decade. there is no bribery or high crimes. so it has to go to treason. lou: it's boring but you make it interesting. a tense standoff between police and pro-democracy demonstrators in hong kong.

>> the day after the call you met with president zelensky on july 26. >> correct. >> in that meeting he made no

mention of a quid pro quo. >> no. >> he made no mention of withholding aid. >> no. >> he made no mention of bribery. >> no. >> the fact is the ukrainians were not aware of this hold on aid. >> that's correct. lou: congresswoman elise stefanik. kurt volker reminding lawmakers that the president of the ukraine had no idea of the u.s. withholding military aid. he said i think everybody in ukraine is so tired of burisma. we have our country and we have our independence. and i vindman vindicates president trump. the lieutenant colonel confirmed the ukrainians felt no pressure to investigate bind saying he did not recall anyone

complaining they were intimidated by the administration. what are the left's talking points and why is this continuing? joining us tonight, sebastian gorka, author, former strategist to president trump. good to see you. this whole thing looks ludicrous to me. i don't see the democrats winning anything, and they look for all the world utterly inept and hapless. >> lou, this isn't an impeachment. this is a farce. this is a snowflake inquisition. the idea that we have witness after witness who are meant to be star witnesses talk about their feeling, how disturbed and perturbed they were with a certain phone call the president made. and today you have this rather unimpressive individual,

alexander i like to call him sasha vindman. he says it's not mr. vindman, it's lieutenant colonel vindman. he's obsessed with his own rank but he doesn't seem to understand who the commander in chives and who makes foreign policy in america. the democrats' side of the committee, almost all the chairs are empty until someone comes in to ask their question. they ask their question and they leave. the democrat congressmen and women are already bored, lou. lou: they are bored and throwing away votes, i think, by the bucket load here. they are objectionable and that's one thing you don't want to be in a broadcast going hours and hours through the day. you don't want to be objectionable.

they are being the most objectionable one could imagine in this. by the way, the optics of seeing a lieutenant colonel in full dress uniform talking about his commander-in-chief in deprecating tones is just about as sorry an optic as the democrats could have put forward. i think even the optics betrayed these radical dimms trying to overthrow a president. >> we have the proof that this is failing. the decision from nancy pelosi from wednesday to friday, they lost 1 million viewers nationally for this ridiculous circus. i just read the figures. abc had fewer viewers for the impeachment than donald trump, jr.'s visit to the view. this tells you everything you need to know. this is an impeachment looking

for a crime. first it was russia collusion. then obstruction of justice. then they went to quid pro quo and their focus groups told them we don't know what quid pro quo means so how about bribery or extortion. can you imagine a court of law polling what crime you should charge somebody with? this is the soviet union, this is venezuela. it's definitely not america. lou: it is all of that for at least the democratic party. sebastian gorka, thanks for being with us as always. it was a record-setting day on wall street. all of you pro-tariff people, you can cheer. the anti-tariff folks you have a lot of explaining to do. the nasdaq gaining 2 points. d gaining 21 points. and the dow losing 102 points,

the s & p down 2 points. technology stocks headed towards the best year since 2009. the s & p technology sectors up 41% for the year so far. the s & p is up 25% year to date and 46% higher since the president was elected. how do you like him now, folks? why some in hong kong are warning of a tienanmen square 2.0.

>> you never met the president of the united states. >> that's correct. you never advised the president of the united states on ukraine. i advised the him indirectly. you said you are responsible for coordinating u.s.-ukrainian policy. >> correct. >> does the secretary of state report to you. >> he does not. >> ambassador volker? >> no he does not. >> anybody need your approval. >> according to the policies

it's done by the president coordinated bid nsc. lou: congressman mike turner putting lieutenant colonel vindman in his place. riot police continue to surround the hong kong university. demonstrators are barricaded within the campus buildings. they apprehended as many as,100 people the last -- as many as 1,100 people. the senate passed the hong kong democracy act that seeks to sanction officials who violating human rights. a lack of coherent strategy the lawmakers want quote china's leadership combined with the

united states * reliance on communication services poses a strategic risk for the country. i am sure the white house is extremely pleased with that alert that i am sure has not alerted anyone in the administration. joining us now,istian whiton. -- chris, it's great to have you with us. is this the end of the demonstrations in hong kong? >> i don't think so. they have been pushed in a more violent direction including the hong kong police. they denied a permit for a gay rights parade that had nothing to do with democracy. if you want to have marches of a significant amount of people, no permits. it opens an avenue for more

violent protests. and the police have been using brutal mainland tactics. ed legislation you you mentioned today would create a cost for beijing to use a harsh crackdown in hong kong. lou: it's pretty clear the president played an important role in preserving a civil tone here in hong kong as these demonstrations persist, and in constraining beijing. >> i think so. first of all being tough on hong kong. it's not a coincidence when reagan was tough on the soviets you had a space open for reformers within the communist party and for dissidents to push behind the iron curtain. certainly the strength of the united states and our president is an encouragement. you see american flags being

waved at protests in hong kong. president trump reminded people that china broached a lot of promises on trade. and they break promises in hong kong. all of this goes together. lou: let's turn to capitol hill and the radical dimms persistence in really tearing themselves up. we have seen declining audiences for their impeachment charade. this farce is really exacting a toll, i believe on the radical difficulties. >> not only on them, but the foreign policy bureaucracy that opposes this president. you see vindman, the bureaucrat who poured himself into an army outfit to say con tellous things against the president of the united states. if you did that as a private in the farmy you would get court hargsed.

but if you are a never trump bureaucrat deep state cry baby you get away with it. the woman from the vice president's office is not an appointee. they take detailees and stick them into the white house. it's a practice that should win. the political appointees vindman and volker aren't mistaking themselves for the president, it's the bureaucrats who do. lou: there seems to be no way for nancy pelosi to avoid the abyss. they are accelerating toward that abyss right now. >> you would think moderate democrats if there are any, one from orange county, california or upstate new york would be looking for hooks to pull these two off the stage.

pelosi could take an obvious offramp. we are having a presidential election in less than a year. let's let the voters decide. the donors and the nuts in that party say no. lou: it's clear they don't trust votes within their own conference and they don't trust the american people or they would await the election of 2020. they are scared to death of the american people and this president. thanks for being with us. christian whiton. we'll be coming back in a minute or two. ♪ limu emu & doug and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ]

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lou: president trump weighing in on how adam schiff's farcical impeachment inquiry is outright backfiring. president trump: i just got to watch. the republicans are absolutely killing it. they are doing so well because it's a big scam. they are doing something that the founders never thought possible and the founders didn't want. they are use this impeachment hoax for their own political gain to try and damage the republican party and damage the president. but it had the opposite effect. lou: join us tomorrow for secretary of the navy, roger

spencer. thanks for being with us tonight. we'll see you tomorrow evening. good night from new york. cheryl: it is 5:00 a.m. here are top stories at this hour. it could possibly be double trouble today on capitol hill. day two of the impeachment hearings picking up in the house as lawmakers focus on the usmca trade deal. how are markets going to react. lauren: are you beingy consideratelbeing see yetlyreco? cheryl: think you need to move to a big city to get a big paycheck? think again. we're going to tell you where salaries are growing the fastest. y'all are going to like this story. lauren: is that a hint? cheryl: it certainly was. it is wednesday, november 20t