lou: good evening, everybody. president trump today delivering on a campaign promise, replacing and a half of that with a better, stronger trade policy with both canada and mexico. his promise fulfilled today when he signed the usmca trade deal. president trump telling the american working man and woman how this new deal will be another boom to what is already the hottest economy in the world. >> the usmca is estimated another 1.2% to owrkscreate coun jobs.

it will make our blue collar boom, which is beyond anybody's expectation, even bigger, stronger and more extraordinary, delivering massive gains to the loyal citizens of our nation. for the first time this american history -- in american history, we have replaced a disastrous trade deal that rewarded outsourcing with a truly fair and reciprocal trade deal that will keep jobs, wealth and growth right here in america. [applause] lou: but even with all the historic success of his administration, president trump remains the target of the radical dems who want to overthrow his presidency. and in the senate, the democratic house managers are doing their worst trying to pick off romney rinos long resistant to the president and his policies. president trump today called out those republican senators who would side with the radical dems in their sham impeachment

proceedings. >> i want to just, if you could, mention -- because we do have some incredible people that work is so hard and, senators, maybe i'm just being nice to them because i want their vote. does that make sense? [laughter] i don't want to leave anybody out. hey, congressman, i already got your vote. 196-0. the hell with you. lou: president trump's rally in wildwood, new jersey, brought democrats, independents and people who didn't vote in 2016 is, and it was over 100,000 people who wanted to attend that event. and the president's campaign manager, brad parscale, said that 1 is 70,000 -- 170,000 people had requested tickets for the 7500-seat wildwood convention center. of more than 26% -- now, these numbers are impressive -- 26% of those attending were registered

democrats. more than 10% didn't vote in the last presidential election. and new gallup surveys also with impressive revelations, showing americans have become far more satisfied in a number of areas since the president took office. the largest gains are the economy, national security, military strength and race relations all improving dramatically over that time. there have also been major satisfaction gains in government in crime reduction policies, the position of minorities, income and wealth distribution and the number of opportunities to get ahead. the president's support among voters, by the way, is rising as the radical dems fade everywhere but on capitol hill. if last night is any early indicator, president trump's supporters are growing in number, and they're enthusiastically behind the

president who's been the left's target from the moment he entered the presidential campaign. president trump held a raucous rally before a massive crowd of his supporters in the blue state of new jersey. the president saying that in addition to creating millions of jobs, his administration is rudding the world of -- ridding the world of its most dangerous terrorists as well. >> weeks ago, at my direction, the u.s. military launched a flawless precision strike that killed the world's number one terrorist, qassem soleimani. [cheers and applause] and soleimani was responsible for murdering if wounding thousands of -- murdering and wounding thousands of americans and actively planning new attacks. but we stopped him cold. [cheers and applause] yet washington democrats, like crazy bernie sanders and nervous

nancy pelosi, they opposed our action to save american lives. they opposed it. they oppose it. you know the roadside bombs that you see hurting our people and lots of other people so badly, the legs, the arms wiped out. no legs, no arms. soleimani loved that. that was his weapon of choice. we didn't like him. he's not around anymore. [cheers and applause] while we are creating jobs and culling terrorists, the congressional democrats are obsessed with demented hoaxes, crazy witch hunts and deranged partisan crusades. lou: and our first guest tonight playing a key ole in crafting president trump's -- role in crafting president trump's mideast peace plan unveiled this

week. joining us now, u.s. special envoy for iran, brian hook. great to have you with us -- >> thanks, lou. lou: first of all, congratulations on the proposal for middle east peace. your thoughts about the resense and immediate -- reception and immediate rejection by the palestinians which i suspect was not unexpected and your thoughts on the, first, the palestinian response. >> well, there is a stereotype that's emerging around the palestinian leadership is that they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. the president has put forward a bold vision for peace. it is a big diplomatic accomplishment because he is the first president in history to produce the most detailed plan ever to achieve peace between the palestinians expect israelis. this creates a path for the palestinian people to have a state of their own, and it doesn't jeopardize any of

israel's security. israel has agreed to a map for the first time that defines the borders that they need to defend themselves against any attack, and it also creates borders for a palestinian state. this is the best opportunity that president abbas and the palestinian people are going to have, and it's important that they take advantage of this opportunity. it's a vision for peace, but it can only be realized if the palestinians come to the table with the israelis under the leadership of the united states. lou: and at this point, have we had much response from our principal allies? >> well, this is what's been different about other peace efforts in the past. you had saudi arabia saying that this proposal should be the basis for talks between the israelis and the palestinians. at yesterday's announcement with the president, you had in the same room president trump, the prime minister of israel and

ambassadors from oman, united arab emirates and bahrain. we have had supportive statements from countries around the world saying that this is the right vision, that the parties need to come together on and start negotiating. lou: and next steps? >> well, the next steps are, we hope the palestinians will take a close look at this. this has a political plan with a lot of good benefits for the palestinians including a capital in eastern jerusalem where we would have a u.s. embassy and a future state of palestine. it safeguards the biblical sites under -- so that muslims and christians and j with ews --jews can come and worship freely. there's an economic plan of $50 billion for the palestinians to that we can break their dependency on aid and get them out of this poverty cycle that they're trapped in. a lot of good things, but it's important for the palestinians to study this 80-page plan and then accept the offer from the israelis. lou: and iran, turning to iran,

we have an update now from the pentagon that 50 of our troops suffered some form of concussion, injury in the iranian attack in iraq. give us your best understanding of what their condition is and how serious the injuries. >> well, as people may remember, this was the attack that the iranians launched in retaliation for killing general soleimani. thank god no americans were killed in that. but as you just said, lou, there were about 50 people who had concussions. 31 of them have returned to service, and then there are about 18 or 19 of them who are undergoing just basic medical evaluation at ramstipe. they're receiving -- ramstein. they're receiving the best

medical care possible, and we hope that they'll be able to recover from the concussions and then get back to work. lou: all right. i want to turn to iran, the efforts of the, of both the house expect senate to -- house and the senate to rein back presidential authority, particularly the capacity to raise, to wage war against iran. the president saying to the house members, vote your con item science. conscience. give us the reasoning here and what you expect to be the result. >> well, these are two very dangerous bills that are being considered tomorrow, and as you said, they would restrict the president's ability to protect americans in the region, and it would also restrict the president's ability to combat terrorism whether it's from isis or whether it's from attacks from iran or attacks that are orchestrated by iran. so this is an important

presidential authority. he's used it very wisely. he's shown restraint at the right time, and he's shown strength at the right time as we saw killing qassem soleimani. and so it's important that the congress support our troops and vote against these two bills tomorrow. lou: all right. brian hook, thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks. lou: always good to talk with you, thanks. we'll be right back with trump campaign manager brad parscale here next. stay with us.

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lou: gary cohn, a member to have financial orthodoxy that stood idly by as china stole america's future and as he worked for a time for president trump now says president trump's tariffs, quote, hurt the u.s. economy. cohn, who should know better, ignoring the fact that those tariffs against china brought in more than $60 billion, resulted in last week's historic signing of a phase one trade deal, and it's a deal that will see the chinese buy an additional $200 billion in goods and services as well as $40-50 billion in u.s. agricultural products every year for the next two years.

joining us tonight, 2020 re-election campaign manager, brad parscale. good to have you with us. >> it's great to be on the set. lou: well, it is. you may wish we were on remote, i don't know. >> no, it's good to be here. it's cold. lou: it's great to see you, and the fact of the matter is this president right now, it is to me fascinating for a man who's up for election in less than a year, who is being attempted, the impeachment of this president, every market is high, the confidence in the country is soaring as are the markets. it's just a remarkable time. he's going to be in davos telling the globalist elites what the, how wrong they've been for three years. >> yeah. in every metric he's winning, and i continue to say this. they went too far on this impeachment thing. they don't have anything to run on, so this was their one with little last -- lou: well, this sure as hell is not a good choice --

>> yeah. look, i call it the impeach mint for the campaign a little bit because they filled up the coffers so well with fundraising dollars we're going to use to help beat them. i think on top of that over the last three month as they've started this in every metric that we we track the president's success, chance to get reelected through very sophisticated systems we use through the republican party and the campaign, he's gone up. they're bringing independents that see this as a hoax. lou: so what is the difference 2016 and 2020 -- between 2016 and 2020 right now? in the numbers you're looking at. >> oh, yeah. lou: let's talk approval ratings as sport levels. >> yeah. well, approval's always invalid, right? approval -- lou: that's why i'm interested. >> all of the candidates on the democrat side are under 50% for approval. it's very rare we' these candidates have these high approval ratingsings. things have become so partisan. but the president, when you take any direct ballot against any one of these candidates when

they have to run on their policies, the president is winning in a land slide. turn to 2016 from a approval, you know, like as rasmussen over 50, 51%. even our internal stuff, we have him 7, 8, 9, 10 points above where he was in 2016. so when you look at a direct ballot, we have more states on the map than ever. who are we running against. lou: and who do you think you're running against right now. if the election were today, biden is in front. >> here's one of the things that hasn't happened yet. the president has not put his target on that candidate yet. who is it going to be? right now they all get to run around and kind of act like they're all great -- lou: and as the president himself has said about a couple of candidates, he certainly wouldn't want to get rid of one too soon to. >> look, right now the best thing for us is to let them all beat up on each other, separate their delegates out x they're going to go way into the summer, by the way, spending a lot of money they're not going to have

for the general. lou: you're watching bloomberg, north of $200 million already on media. expect fact of the matter is he's looking at, what, 6%? >> mayor bloomberg needs to beat mayor pete first, right? he's behind pocahontas, mayor pete -- lou: what do you see happening though? you're a numbers guy. so far a hell of an experiment. >> so far for every 100 million, he's got one point. i would say that's not a very good move. lou: what can he buy? >> yeah, you can't turn a ford into a ferrari with a tv commercial. lou: yeah. okay, you're the campaign manager, tell me why it is his campaign manager won't let him talk in those commercials? >> well, my guess is he doesn't resonate with the american people. look, i have the best candidate in probably american history. i mean, this guy, he resonates with people. people get visceral when he walks into the crowd. do you think mike bloomberg's going to have 20, 30,000 people

literally waiting all night -- lou: i saw in his last commercial he had three people in t-shirts -- [laughter] that impressive, frankly. >> yeah. lou: a context. >> i think the real right now is bernie's rise. you know, i think they're work out there in force. i think he's got a good operation -- lou: the best issues for this president that you're going to be driving. >> first of all, i mean, the economy. chinese trade deal, usmca, what he's done for this economy. look, people think right track, wrong track, the economy great. i also think what the president's done on national security, what he's done to make the country safer, those things are going to be significant. and i think, lastly, what he's done to shore up health care prices, protect pre-existing conditions and continue to do to make this country have more affordable health care and lower the cost of prescription drugs and protect medicare. those are going to be the important issues. lou: you didn't mention border security, you didn't mention immigration. >> i think immigration he's already in the winning column are. i think these other issues we've

got to get the other voters to come across to make this a landslide victory. lou: come back soon. more fun talking to you soon. thanks so much. up next, the corruption of the radical dems, well, there's joe biden, there's a list laid out in a brand new blockbuster book. the book profiles in corruption. it's best selling author, peter bitesser, he's -- schweitzer, he's our gueststststst

lou: a new book we want to talk about tonight covering the corruption of, yes, the biden family, sharing new insight into a one-and-a-half billion dollar government-funded payday for a company employing one of the biden brothers. james biden joining the construction film hilt international back in 2010. executive vice president, he was, despite having no previous experience at construction -- [laughter] but that's not necessary if your name is biden, it turns out. and by the way, that one and a

half billion, that looks like a familiar number. seems to be a favorite number of the widens. bidens. here's schweitzer's book, proving like live enough to earn hill international enough to build 100,000 homes in, guess where? iraq. our guest, i am pleased to tell you, the author of the new book entitled profiles in corruption: abuse of power by america's progressive elite. joining us tonight is peter. >> weitzer, president of the government accountability institute, great american, and you've done it again, a blockbuster. congratulations. >> thank you, lou. lou: that number, one and a half million -- bidens love that number. [laughter] i guess, why would you not? particularly if you can just stick it in your pocket at taxpayer expense? >> it's remarkable. you've got five family members involved, i call them the biden five. they're like the jackson five, but they don't sing, it's

corruption. i've never seen this before. we've talked many times about corruption involving democrats, republicans, maybe there's one family member, maybe there's two -- lou: a couple of independents. >> oh, absolutely. never ran across one that had five. and on top of the fact that there are five involved, it's like a corrupt united nations. you've got hunter biden doing deals in ukraine, doing deals in china with state actors, you've got the brother james who's with this construction firm -- lou: right. >> that's set up by a family friend. they get the contracts to build 100,000 homes in iraq, they get contracts to do work for the state department. then you've got his other brother frank meeting with the costa rican president for these energy deals, and, of course, he has no background in energy. it goes on and on and on. lou: it's interesting the bidens don't have that requisite expeer tease, knowledge, they just have a great last name. >> they do, and they seem to have a mid-career change when

joe was vice president. that's the point that people have to recognize. this all happened when joe was vice president. it was not enough, apparently, when he was a u.s. senator. when you're vice president, you have a lot of pull. you're in charge of u.s. policy appointed by barack obama to be in charge of policy in ukraine and china. so there are deals there for the son. you've not the situation in costa rica where he goes down and meets with the costa rican president, that's when these things happened. lou: you had to be asking yourself how is it that president obama decided that his vice president would have a portfolio that included ukraine, china, costa rica -- i mean, talk about a varied portfolio. that's it. >> well, and it's remarkable. obama's participation in some of this. i mean, one of the stories in this, the biden chapter is 70 pages long, so there's a lot of material on bind. but you have these two company executives with a company called start-up health, this investment company. joe biden brings him in the oval

office to meet with barack obama. they don't really have a web site or a business plan. the next day they're featured in this federal government conference, and then joe biden goes and briefs their investors privately over the course of his vice presidency on health care policy. barack obama never asked him, and it probably would have been good for him to know that one of the three principals in the firm was married to joe biden's daughter. lou: you know, it's a close family, and that's something you have to admire -- >> family values. lou: and speaking of family values, i mean, bernie sanders, you point out -- >> yeah. lou: -- again, committed to family values. >> right. lou: old town media with, i believe it was. >> yes, old town media. i mean, bernie sanders has been in public office since the 1980s, mayor of burlington -- lou: when he wasn't in the soviet union. >> exactly. when he takes the job of mayor of burlington, he hires his girlfriend, later wife jane, puts her on the payroll. the city council says, wait a minute, there's no job there.

we haven't authorized this. bernie says, too bad, i want to do it. then he gets jane involved in doing media buying for his congressional campaign, makes probably about $150,000 doing that. the big mystery e is 2016 he runs for president, bernie sanders, he takes $83 million in a media buy, puts it into a company called old town media that is registered to a residential property in virginia. it has no web site, no company background. it's run by two of jane's friends. so the question is $83 million in media buys, the media fee for that is about $12 million. where did that $12 million go and who got it? lou: and how much of it did they have to report again? >> they had to report zero -- [laughter] and, you know, lou, jane was asked about this. to their credit, a progressive reporter in vermont asked jane sanders about old town media. you know what her answer was? she hung up the phone. lou: well, it sounds like -- [laughter]

a cus marijuana reflex on the part of -- customary reflex on the part of these people who are profiles in corruption. by the way, just so you get the proper sense of corruption in the country, peter goes through a few familiar names like kamala harris, cory booker, elizabeth warren, sherrod brown. and amy klobuchar and eric garcetti just to keep the left of coast involved and on alert. we recommend the book to you highly. it's another blockbuster from peter weitzer who only does blockbusters. congratulations, sir. great to see you. >> great to see you. lou: a caravan of 3,000 migrants making its way north. that's right, north. thousands more trying to join up. who's behind the care san? what is the mexican government doing about it, and where are the cartels in all of this in we take that up after the break with a man who knows the answers. former texas ranger jason jones. stay with us, we'll be right

back.

♪ ♪ lou: new reports tonight suggest the trump administration moving ahead with a rule aimed at stopping so-called birth tourism. the change would deny short-term visas to those believed to be giving birth in order to gain automatic u.s. citizenship for their children. the center for immigration studies estimating 33,000 babies are born each year to foreign

visitors throughout the country. mexican police today trying to stop nearly 3,000 mostly honduran migrants from making their way north through mexico to the united states. this video showing you hundreds of those migrants crossing this river dividing guatemala and mexico. those who made it across were soon met by armed riot police. mexico's president, manuel lopez obrador, has offered as many as 4,000 jobs the migrants who are asking for asylum, but that offer has been largely ignored. it remains to be seen exactly what the government of mexico will do with those who have successfully forced their way into mexico today. and joining us now is jason jones, retired captain from the department of public safety's intelligence and counterterrorism division. jason, good to have you with us. let's start with, first, the

repeat of another caravan having been formed in guatemala, many of those migrants crossing the river and an open question is to whether or not mexico will successfully stop them from making their way to our southern border. >> yeah, lou, good to be with you again. and i'll tell you, i give the credit to the president of mexico and, of course, president trump for working to build an over the horizon approach that is layered to mitigate mass migration like what we saw in 2019. lou: right. >> i can tell you there's been a lot of great work done last year to try to work with host nations from mexico all the way down to panama in order to put multiple layers between us and them. that's absolutely the right approach to go about this. i mean, look at the work that we're seeing down there. i have to give a lot of credit to the national guard of mexico. they are in this.

they are trying to stop these folks. on saturday i know over 650 people were apprehended, and today we see those numbers continue. but they are doing great work, and you know me, eight months ago i told you here i'll believe out when i see it, and we're starting to see that. and this is a direct result of the relationships that have been built and what mexico is doing at the request of our president. so it's not just at the guatemalan border and at the mexican border where we're seeing this. there's also going to be multiple layers throughout mexico. it's not going to let these people get through their checkpoint that is the national guard has built. in addition, the humanitarian visas that normally are given out to citizens crossing from mexico, they're denying that as well. so this is a great strategy to try to prevent, you know, what we saw in 2019. lou: how do you, how to you explain the rejection of lopez obrador's generous offer of 4,000, 4,000 jobs to refugees coming up from guatemala which

were abjectly rejected? >> yeah. well, it goes to show what the real intent is, and the real intent is to come to the united states. i mean, we know that's what it is. when we debrief these folks at our southern border, i mean, at the end of the day no matter, you know, all these excuses and things that they're trying to say where they're, you know, fleeing political violence or, you know, violence from gangs, that's not the real eshoo. i mean, it's just not. lou: so let's talk about the real issue. why is it so imperative that these thousands who have been formed up here -- and this is coming after months of no caravans, no efforts, but suddenly this is imperative. what is the organizational context? what is the political context and purpose of this caravan, in your best judgment? >> sure. i had a great friend that's been down there, he's been riding with national guard for the last

week, so i can report to you that they've been doing great work here. but on the back side of this and what's driving this, this is the start of 2020, and this is the first real group to test the new foreign policy of the united states and what mexico doing working in conjunction with us and other nations. and this is, what they're doing is they're probing the defenses. they're seeing where we have strengths, and they're seeing where we have weaknesses and how they're going to go about in 2020 to get around it. so, you know with, while we may look at this as just, you know, a group of people far beyond our borders, really this is a pivotal moment to see how our foreign policy is going to play out and how we're going to be able to hold them before they get to our border. i got that tell you, lou, makes you wonder why have presidents and administrations before president trump, republican and democratic side, why have they not adopt this before? it just makes sense. and we're seeing the results now. it's a good thing to have this happening at the guatemalan/mexico border and not at the mexico/texas border.

lou: right. it raises, obviously, the odds of success in a very difficult issue. but as you point out going back some eight months, this administration working with the lopez obrador, it is, it is encouraging to see what looks to be and it may still be fragile, but a real partnership, a real relationship that's been created around in that right now seems to be one of mutual respect and a common objective which is to stabilize both mexico and the united states, and that means securing both borders with mexico and guatemala as well as the united states and mexico. let me ask you about fentanyl expect cartels, because the cartels have been, it seems to me -- and you give us your perspective because you are the expert -- but they've been somewhat acquiesce sent here. and yet we've seen the numbers

when it comes to fentanyl, for example, and other drugs are actually increasing over the course of the past, the past year. your thoughts on fentanyl particularly. which it comes, obviously, in origin, it's china. >> it is, lou. and what's driving a lot of this though is as good as the relationship has been between our country with our president and the president of mexico and the great work we're doing there down along the border with national guard trying to stop the mass migration along with trying to get more extradited cartel members, high ranking leadership into the u.s. which we've had some great success there. the part we're not doing really well and we've got to acknowledge it is that the president of mexico's strategy for national security in his country failing. he doesn't have one. the creation of the national guard force is what has happened, and a year into his term he still doesn't have a national strategy.

and that is a big, pivotal point as to why we see the cartels battling right now. and the reason i go into that is because the cartels will tell you when they are at war, and this is what they call it, lou, they call it war, it costs a lot of money. and they're got to recoup those losses. that's why in our cup we're seeing a large amount of fentanyl -- lou: are we reacting adequately -- >> along with methamphetamine. lou: that mix all the sense in the world, jace withingen, but are our border patrol, our dea, are we reacting vigorously enough against that situation? >> no. i'll tell you i don't believe we are, lou. you know, we've had a lot of violence just with on the other side of row ma, texas, along with move v.a. laredo. and we need to see more officers in collaboration in that front, in my opinionful major trip wires we're seeing right now that are really concerning me is what you're talking about with

methamphetamine and with these other drugs coming across right now. we need to focus on that, and tom dylan, the administrator of epa, needs to focus on that in 2020 because we've already seen the numbers go through the roof. lou: jason jones, augusts good to talk -- always good to talk with you. up next, mitt romney seems deliriously happy that john bolton can spell quid with pro quo and, oh, yes, claims he heard the president say something that just might sell a book. or two. but certainly his. but like most stories, there is far more to this story than meets the eye. we'll have those lovely connections here next. stay with us.

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lou: mitt romney, have i said that name before here tonight? yes, i have. mitt romney's call for john bolton's testimony comes as no surprise. romney has been, let's say, wobbly throughout. he's long had connections with foreign policy rinos and they with him, bolton one of them. he served as romney's foreign policy adviser during romney's failed 2012 presidential run and current national security adviser robert o'brien also served as a foreign policy adviser to romney. o'brien also worked with bolton

at the united nations when bolton was the u.s. ambassador. both bolton and o'brien led the national security council that employed the likes of the anonymous whistleblower, nerve trumper lieutenant -- never trumper lieutenant colonel alex vindman. i-jenny is also in charge of reviewing publications for current or former nsc employees to insure confidential information. that sort of thing, well, happens in the national security council, the cia and other secretive agencies. an administration source telling fox today he denies that he was part of the team that vetted bolton's manuscript. bolton's super pacs have more than $2 million in cash on hand. his major donors are romney supporters and, well if many of them never trumpers. the top toledo no, sir spent --

donors spent millions opposing trump in 2016. the united states supreme court today handing president trump another major victory, allowing the administration to enforce the rule that permits them to deny immigrants who use with public assistance or welfare or who might use it in the future to be barred from entry and status. the rule is being challenged in lower courts. in fact, the injunction was put in place. that injunction is no more. justice neil gorsuch with a very important statement, slapping down lower district court judges who try to supersede administration policies, those activists clearly defined by gorsuch. the recall problem, he -- the real problem, he wrote, is the increasingly common practice of trial courts ordering relief that transcends the cases before them where they're framed as injunctions of universe ago, cosmic scope. these orders direct how the

defendant must act toward persons who are not parties to the case. up next from crack addict to ceo, the inspiring story of my pillow founder, that's right, you've heard of him, you've seen him, you've heard him, mike lindell. he has a brand new book. it's an inspiration. and guess what? he joins me here next. stay with us.

lou: our next guest is a self-made man, and i you know him, and you know him well. he built his company from scratch following years of addiction. he joins us now to talk about his story, is and it's one with of, certainly, inspiration and hope and immense success. the put some of this in context, in 2017 -- and believe it or not, two years ago is the latest set of numbers for the number of americans who died of drug overdoses, and that number is startling, and it's surely higher now. 70,000 people dying in 2017 from drug overdoses. joining me now is mike lindell, he is the inventor of my pillow, the author of this new book, "what are the odds?" mike, it is great to have you with us. i wanted to talk about addiction for a minute because you were an addict for a very long time. you know the pain, you know the

cost -- right. lou: -- and you employ addicts in your business. this country doesn't seem to have the ability to come to terms with addiction. this president is the first president to start talking about the opiate crisis in this cup. your thoughts -- in this country. >> your thoughts. >> absolutely. and, you know, my book that's coming out, that came out now is going to help so many addicts. i say one of the things i say in the book is every, everybody is is affected by addiction no matter how many forks we eat with. and what i mean by that is it's not just what you think of an addict in the street. i was a very functioning addict. and what's happened now with my pillow, that was just a platform i know for me that god gave me for a much bigger purpose, and that was where i'm coming out. i have the lindell recovery network coming out and, you're right, i was there when the president signed the opiate bill

and all the thing he's doing to wipe out this addiction and to help addicts across the country, it's one of the biggest things we face. but i do believe that a addiction is an opportunity for the biggest revival this country's ever had. lou: and when you talk about the biggest revival, let's start with a very large one for you and personally for you. how did you move from a functioning addict to an immensely successful entrepreneur and businessman who is no longer an addict? >> the grace of god. i mean, i owe it all to god. i did quit everything january 16, 2009, overnight where god freed me of the desire. but there were so many things, seeds were planted to where i did a full surrender to jesus in 2017. but one of the things the faith-based treatment centers that work, these are the things that work. i don't believe addiction's a disease. i think, you know, these secular

senators pray on addicts -- centers prey on addicts and their families. you get out and you don't have those wounds addressed. i believe addiction comes from childhood, comes from, you know, fatherlessness. when my parent divorced when i was 7 years old in 1970 when divorces weren't common, and our veterans that get traumatized, i mean, this is where done down we need those wounds addressed and get our hearts restored. and there's no harder worker than an addict. when an addict gets their heart restored, they're the best workers you can get because addiction's hard work. mike, you work so hard, i love what i'm doing. addiction was hard work. lou: yes. [laughter] and it is so, so destructive of the individual, the family, all of the human potential in this country that is lost. and i've got to ask you this, we're running out of time. i'd like you to come back and we can talk more about this,

because it's to important. >> yeah, right. lou: first? you know what? let's close on a happy note, can we do this? >> yeah, sure. lou: what do you think of the health of this economy, the health of your business, and how do you feel about how great america is right now in. >> i'll tell you what, i was a crack addict. when i came out of addiction, this whole country -- you had a president giving money to evil empires, all my friends were unemployed and people losing their houses. now i meet donald trump before he was president in 2016, i walked out of his office, i go, this guy's going to be the greatest president ever, and he has proved it. i went all in on faith. all my friends are employed now, everybody's getting higher wages. consumer confidence is the highest ever, and let me tell you that means entrepreneurs can take chances on businesses and on inventions, and they have a safety net to fall back to. i mean, it's the lowest unemployment, everything is great. the highest tock market. i tell my friends, see?

i toll you. it's going to be an amazing five years coming up, because there's going to be more and more and more and more done. lou: from your lips to god's ears. mike lindell, thanks so much. we thank you for being with us lauren: it is 5:00 a.m. here are your top stories at this hour. election season beginning today as iowa kicks off the caucus. will the results narrow down the number of candidates heading td cases of the coronavirus jumps to 11 in the united states. should americans be wore red about it spreading. lauren: cheryl casone is live from hard rock stadium in miami. cheryl, good morning. cheryl: good morning, guys. it was a big game and a big night for the chiefs. they haven't won anything in 50 years. it wasn't that team that actually made headlines last

night. all of that coming up this