>> we were told you are are staring blankly at us. >> i thank the president and white house staff due the morning show interview with "fox & friends." >> bill: good morning, everybody. 9:00 here in washington the sun rising on a big day in washington, d.c. president donald trump set to deliver his first address to a joint session of congress. promises a bold agenda for the american people. a speech that may set the tone for the coming months and maybe the coming years in our nation's capital. we'll debate whether we get much further than that. i'm live in washington for a special edition of america's newsroom. bill hemmer. >> shannon: welcome to my town. hopefully we've been very

hospitable. the president will take his case to lawmakers and the american people tonight. the white house calls his message optimistic and focus on the renewal of the american spirit. this morning on "fox & friends" the president explained in part what that means to him. >> president trump: we'll spend a lot more money on military. we have to. we have no choice. a lot of people think it's a tremendous amount of money. it could be $30 billion more than that. we'll get involved in negotiating and we'll be able to get, i think, a lot more product for our buck. the money will come from a revved up economy. you look at the kind of numbers we're doing, we were probably gdp of a little more than 1% and if i can get that up to 3, maybe more, we have a whole different ballgame. a whole different ballgame. that's what we're looking to do. >> bill: kristin fisher leads us off live at the white house. good morning to you. final preps are underway. what more can you tell us and

what will be in the speech tonight? >> bill, the white house says this speech can be divided into two parts. the first part promises made and promises kept. the things he has already accomplished. things like repealing and withdrawing from the tpp, reviving those two oil pipelines. immigration order. even though it ran into problem in the courts it's popular with his supporters and the second part is laying out what he plans to do on things like tax reform, infrastructure spending and healthcare. >> all i can do is speak from the heart and say what i want to do. we have a really terrific, i believe, healthcare plan coming out. obamacare has been a disaster. it's way out of control. doesn't work. doesn't cover very many people. does not cover very many people relative to what our population is. >> now, the white house says the same group of writers who wrote the inaugural address are writing this speech.

this one is expected to be a bit more hopeful and a bit more optimistic than what we heard on january 20th. >> bill: who are the special guests for the president for the joint address? >> if you want to know what this speech is going to focus on, look at all of the special guests that president trump has invited to be in the house chamber with him when he delivers this address tonight. those people include the widows of two california police officers who were killed in the line of duty by an illegal immigrant. the father of a high school football star shot and killed by an illegal immigrant and the widow of the late supreme court justice antonin scalia. one more thing. we're so used to seeing president trump speaking to a crowd full of supporters. in this room tonight half of there oppose him. half the people there will be democrats. so, bill, i think it will be interesting to see how

president trump handles it. >> bill: we'll be watching. thank you, kristin. setting the table on the north lawn. >> shannon: let's bring in digital politics editor chris stirewalt and charlie hurt. welcome to you, gentlemen. >> bill: you did a great job with this, by the way. shannon tried to take credit. i'm giving it to the -- what do you expect tonight, charlie? >> one of those things where donald trump usually shines pretty well. the stakes are pretty high. he will be talking as he often does over the heads of the media directly to the american people and he does a very good job of that. the big thing will be how he is working the crowd, the audience of congress. because he does have not only a divided congress but he has even people in his own party who aren't completely on board with him. they may like the additional defense spending but want to get into entitlement stuff and it will be the beginnings of a negotiation. and i think a very healthy and

open one that could wind up producing some good results. >> bill: there is a column in that answer somewhere, the beginning of a negotiation. >> shannon: chris, the president gave him some grades with our folks on "fox & friends" about how he is doing. he doesn't think he is doing well on messaging. a bit of what he said and we'll get your reaction. >> president trump: in terms of messaging i would give myself a c or c plus. i think i've done great things but i don't think i and my people, i don't think we've explained it well enough to the american public. i think i get an a in terms of what i've actually done but in terms of messaging i would give myself a c or c plus. >> how will you change it? >> president trump: maybe i change it during the speech. >> shannon: obama administration said they hadn't communicated it well. >> there was truth in it for president obama and more truth for trump because things have

been so chaotic. if i was kellyanne conway i thought i better show up early tomorrow morning. >> bill: because of the i and my people. >> he is not satisfied with his people. no, i'm pretty good, those people, though, that work for me aren't doing so hot. they haven't been. we should remember. i was talking to joe manchin about this in the lobby here, which was he ran a bare bones absolutely skeletal crew for his campaign and they've staggered a little bit trying to get on their feet for the administration. now they're crossing over and this speech marks the pivot moment where either he learns to be president and can lay the stuff out or it stays a soap opera. >> bill: i don't know if tonight is a barn burner like the inauguration speech or inauguration 2.0 or more inclusive. >> i think it will be like the

inaugural. for people that support him they'll really like it. it will be -- i imagine knowing him it is going to be a little shocking at times where he levels a pretty scorching indictment of congress and the failures of congress and the voters of washington the people in the room won't want to hear that. in that respect i think it will be something of a barn burner but i've always said throughout the campaign the guy -- he is not a partisan guy. he really is a pragmatic guy who wants to get things done. it's why conservatives -- i myself, i want obamacare to be done away with. he wants it to work. that's frightening for the conservative. >> shannon: does it turn into audience participation tonight? are we getting parliament here? >> totally different experience. i would imagine liberals in the house who have the incentive in their districts to be as awful as they possibly can will out

do even the awfulness of republicans who somebody screamed you lied to president obama. there will be demonstrations. there will be -- this is the moment for trump where he needs to show you know what? i got the long game in mind, i have policies. in 1981 ronald reagan had a similar moment. he came before a joint session of congress in february and these are the four things i want to you do. he stayed on them to pass them an get an economic recovery plan that gave us silicon valley, the internet and all things out of those changes. trump has to have a clear agenda, say what it is. when people holler and get upset this can't be theater in that way. it can't be audience pafrt -- participation. i've got this and come with me to the better place. >> bill: steve bannon has a to do list on his wall in the oval office. when president trump speaks

about his agenda, when steve -- >> there is -- i find it enormously entertaining when he gets into skirmishes but what matters most is accomplishing growth. it solves all problems. >> we'll see you gentlemen downstairs somewhere. >> we have a powerful prime timeline-up tonight. bret baier special report has you covered at 6:00 eastern. at 7:00 martha maccallum will have analysis on the first 100

days and -- it will take you right up to the president's address and a special edition of hannity airs at 11:00 p.m. eastern. >> bill: we have a big show on tap in "america's newsroom" including thoughts on the speech from two powerful republican lawmakers, trey gowdy in a few moments and jason chaffetz. we'll also talk to more. we have a big couple hours coming up for you to let you know. >> shannon: we talked about this before. the members in congress like to go and reserve seats along the aisles so they can shake the president's hand and getting on camera. it is forbidden. we'll see if there is as much of a demand this year. the white house is firing back against calls for an independent investigation into alleged ties between russia and the trump campaign.

even some congressional republicans are divided on calls for a special prosecutor. what should lawmakers do? >> bill: how will congress handle repealing and replacing obamacare? the white house is working on its own plan now. we'll have more on what could be in the details. and there are many. >> shannon: a plane plunges from the skies over southern california right into a packed suburban neighborhood. >> the plane was going when they took the body out and then they -- i saw the body get dragged out. it was pretty dramatic scene. to lose weight? contrave is an fda-approved weight-loss medicine that may help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity lose weight and keep it off. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain: your hunger center... (woman) i'm so hungry. (avo) to reduce hunger. and your reward system... (woman) ice cream. french fries. (avo) to help control cravings. across three long-term studies, contrave patients lost

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>> my question a special prosecutor for what? you had the intelligence community look at russia's involvement in the election. you had the house and senate both do the same. at some point you do have to ask yourself what are you actually looking for? how many times do you have to come to the same conclusion before you take the answer? >> bill: that from the white house pushing back on calls for a special prosecutor to invest igate between the trump campaign and russia. you're a lawyer first and prosecutor. where are we based on what you know about russia? >> well, you proved the scoping.

they've been investigating russia before it became fashionable to talk about russia. intromentioned special prosecutor. there is no independent counsel statute. a regulation allows for the appointment of special counsel if the department of justice has a conflict and if all 92 u.s. attorneys have a conflict. until that evidentiary burden has been satisfied i don't know why republicans or democrats are talking about special counsel. >> bill: that sounds like a lot based on your interpretation of the law. >> it's too early, special counsel only applies to a criminal investigation. congress has a constitutional role, of course we should look into russia and all of its manifestations, but bill, i think it's important to note russia didn't target the dnc. it is not republicans' fault that john podesta picked a

password that a guy from sling blade could figure out. russia targeted america and we should look at them and their efforts to influence in france and germany. if their only access -- that's a myopic view. >> bill: if they swayed votes here or there. that's a big deal. if they tried to intervene, to what degree? >> it's separate from influence. what i want is those who have jurisdiction to do their jobs. the f.b.i. investigates crime. congress does not. congress does investigate constitutional injuries and there would be a role for us to look at russia's efforts to not just attack the dnc, but how do we know they also didn't attempt to attack the rnc and they don't have rnc documents but they'll wait until a later point to release them?

russia is not our friend. russia is a global power desperately seeking to become a worldwide power or a regional power trying to become a global power. i'm fine to investigate russia but to have a hearing where you're discussing confidential information isn't in the country's interests. >> i would take more comfort in knowing there was an independent body doing its work as we're doing our work in the intelligence committee. the single most important step we could do to give the public confidence this will be done in a completely nonpartisan fashion. >> bill: we'll see if he gets his wish. he talked about the leaks as well. do you want to know who is leaking? at the white house or administration? >> i do. i don't like leaks regardless of who is doing it and who is impacted by it. you never heard me praise wikileaks or praise julie assange.

i don't like leaks particularly when they're criminal in nature. >> bill: are these leaks criminal? >> yes. the content is classified with general flynn. that leak is criminal in nature. i wonder if that's the same adam schiff i worked with on the benghazi committee. he had a very different view before president trump became president. >> bill: i don't know if you ever find a source of a leak in washington, d.c. >> when you're dealing with classified information, there is a very small universe. you didn't have the transcript. shannon didn't have the transcript. if you can find the universe of people who would have had access to the transcript and use polygraphs and other forensic tools i guarantee you won't find the source of the leak if you don't look for it. >> bill: what do you want to hear tonight? >> what i want to hear is a roadmap for economic recovery and a conversation about

national security including russia and the threat they are to the united states and we're in a hyper divided nation right now, bill. i would love to hear a message of unity. finding those things that all of us as americans agree on. maybe just because i'm getting old and been here six years. what unites us surpasses what divides us. i with like to hear a message of unity. >> bill: we call the leaders down together and have them shake hands on camera. that would be a start. thank you, shannon, what's next? >> shannon: dramatic new video showing a truck and another vehicle brazenly crossing into the u.s. from mexico through a hole in a border fence. will vulnerabilities like that be addressed? >> bill: president trump saying he will introduce his own replacement to obamacare. senator john thune is next on that live here in washington >> we have a really terrific, i believe, healthcare plan coming out.

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>> bill: newly released video showing a truck crossing into the u.s. from mexico. happened in douglas, arizona, happened last november. the video is out just now. you can see a pickup truck and another vehicle driving through a hole cut out by smugglers in the border fence. some patrol agents say security problems like these have been allowed to fester for a long time and they hope for a new sense of urgency under president trump. >> president trump: obamacare has been a disaster. way out of control. doesn't work. we're coming out with a healthcare plan that i think will be terrific. it will be very inclusive and i

think it is going to do really what people are wanting it to do. >> shannon: president trump undaunted by disarray in congress over healthcare policy saying he intends to craft his own replacement for obamacare. governors terry mcauliffe and brian sandoval are giving us more insight into the plan that tom price will be involved and that the administration's healthcare proposal could be done in just a few weeks. south dakota senator john thune talks about that and more today. what do you make of this, the characterization that the gop are not united in the plan moving forward. they have multiple different plans within the house. the white house may send down its own plan. what's the best course of action? >> there are a lot of good ideas out there. we welcome the input from the administration. if the president wants to lay out a plan, we would look forward to working with him on that. all we know we have to do this. this is a failed system. it is an example of the failure

of liberal economics and central plan trying to define what healthcare coverage is for all of america. and we need a system that's more flexible that creates a more patient-centered personalized healthcare that is affordable for every american. what we hear most people talk about is cost. they want to see the costs come down. >> shannon: if you try to keep the things, a lot of things important for people. pre-existing conditions and keeping people on until they're 26. that has a cost as well. where do you make up that money by dismantling parts of the program and giving people more autonomy about what they do but keeping the good things that people love about the plan? >> there is a better way to do. the obamacare tried to dictate it from a one size fits all solution from washington, d.c. these are discrete problems that can be involved in different ways. preexisting conditions there is an approach with high risk pools that states can come up with plans and the same thing

is true with respect to making sure people 26 and under have access. i think that all these issues can be solved and we'll come together behind a plan. in the process it takes time. we have lots of different ideas and good ideas. what we know is what we have now is a failure. and whether hillary clinton had won this election or donald trump winning the election we knew we would have this conversation. it has to be fixed. >> shannon: congressman mark walker with one of the more conservatives groups in the house says the bill contains what increasingly appears to be a new health insurance entitlement with a republican stamp on it referring to a plan that were leaked. can you understand why the most conservative over there are thinking and opposing what they understand to be the plan right now and they don't want to sign off on something that is more money good after bad? >> if you look at how it would work, advance refundable tax credit is a different approach than having the government

subsidize these plans. it allows people to make choices and creates competition. those things drive down cost. most americans want to see reduction in cost. premiums on the exchanges on average went up 25%. seven states they went up 50% and 1/3 of all countries today only have one option. this is not working. it is a failed system and the refundable tax credit is being talked about as a feature in the house plan really is a much different approach than what is in place right now and it involves individuals giving them the choices, allowing insurance companies to compete for their business and that will have a profound impact on cost. >> shannon: we've had the governors in town over the weekend. many of them have taken medicaid expansion which covered millions of additional people with some type of healthcare option. they're worried about anything that would strip that away. a lot of talk that some plans will pull the federal funding back. it is something that has a price tag to it. those governors very concerned. some of them didn't take the

option and they think it isn't the best way to use this money to have the federal funds pouring in and telling them how to spend it. >> there are 33 republican governors. in half the states they did expand and about half they didn't. and then you have 17 democrat governors. you have to get these people involved in the discussion. that's why i think the conversation that occurred yesterday was a good one. and it's important in the end that we get a plan the governors can get behind. in soliciting their input, figuring out how to make this medicaid program equitable and the things done. if we distribute power and resources back to the states and allow them to run it and give them more flexibility how do we make it equitable. it is key to have the governors involved in the conversation. in the end that will save billions over a long period of time trillions of dollars if you do it that way instead of washington >> shannon: thanks for coming in today. i know you'll be tuned in

tonight. >> bill: real money in the end if you can make it happen. republican lawmakers facing fired up crowds at recent town halls in different parts of the country. president trump says politics are at play here. who he says may be behind the raucous crowds. that answer may surprise you. that and more is our special coverage of the address to a joint session of congress rolls on live on a beautiful day in our nation's capital.

>> bill: fox news alert 9:33 here in washington we're counting down to the first address by president donald trump to a joint session of congress. 9:00 eastern time, prime time tonight. president set to make his case for more military spending. repealing obamacare and long-awaited tax reform. meanwhile president trump saying politics are to blame

for the leaks plaguing the first month of his administration. that president obama may be behind it. >> i think president obama is behind it. his people are certainly behind it and some of the leaks possibly come from that group. some of the leaks which are really very serious leaks. they're very bad in terms of national security. but i also understand that's politics and in terms of him being behind things, that's politics. and it will probably continue. >> shannon: juan williams and guy benson. good to see you both, gentlemen. >> bill: beautiful day. interesting about donald trump is that he says yeah, president obama is behind it, no big deal. it's politics. isn't that a curious answer on its face? >> i don't know what to do with it talking to you. i think to myself you always have to give the president of

the united states the benefit of the doubt. he is often better informed than we are. there is no evidence that president obama is involved, complicit in such a thing as to purposely, intentionally provoke leaks to damage donald trump. there is not even evidence that there are -- this has been around town, there may be some leftover obama people in national security, maybe over at state who have been reporting like the phone calls and the like. but when you actually start to push in on these sources you find out there is a lot of daggers among trump people, even trump people very close to trump. >> bill: you are dismissing it. >> i don't dismiss it. there is no evidence of such and therefore it would be offensive to president obama to make a claim like that against the former president. i want to give current president much respect. >> shannon: we know there are thousands of people who stay

plugged into the infrastructure. the administration is worried about leaks from within. inside this administration who don't have the nicest thing to say about the president. sean spicer taking the phones and looking for leaks. they're trying to cover every front on this. >> i think that's right. i wonder if in this case. we have to dig in and take guesses. one of my guesses is maybe what the president is saying as obama his people, his holdovers. there has been reporting that some of his loyalists in the state department, in the intelligence community and elsewhere may be responsible for some of these leaks that are designed to damage and undermine trump. i don't think he completely pulls it out of nowhere. he was attributing to obama some of the town hall protests over obamacare. i haven't seen any actual hard evidence of that. but if you think about it, the president -- the former president did come out and encourage people to protest trump policies on immigration. he has said almost openly that

he plans to have a post presidency that is explicitly political and in his heart he is an organizer, a political animal. it wouldn't surprise me. >> bill: he could do it from this town, too, right. organizing for america is his grassroots organization. who is reporting on that? what are they doing and up to? >> so far it has been less organizing for america than some of these new groups popping up. remember, a lot of the effort went into the dnc, democratic national committee selection of a new chair. clearly the obama faction there was behind tom perez the former labor secretary in obama's cabinet. they put pressure there. you had biden as well as jarret and others calling members. there is activity. but in terms of the real organizing that we're talking about. organizing for america, i haven't seen that profile recently. >> shannon: they said they'd have 400 rallies aimed at

pushing back on the president and gop with respect to obamacare and directed people with other groups and partnering with each other. it seems like there is plenty -- >> the obama people were good at organizing. here is my broader question. take a step back. does it really matter? to quote hillary clinton at this point what difference does it make whether president obama and his top orbit are explicitly behind the organization or rooting it on, why does it matter? we're in a new era i feel. all of this is a former president shouldn't say things about his successor. aren't we in a trump era and past comportment complaints? >> bill: what difference does it make? >> because things are so polarized and so intensely political at the moment if you were able to say president obama is doing this, i think it

is much in line with president trump saying the press is my enemy. or these people are out to get me. and then you have a sense of him being embattled and rallying people who are his supporters saying if you guys will play like that we'll even be tougher. >> bill: my feeling, though, if you're the democratic party and you don't have power in this town, the only power you have is that of resistance. >> that's true. i think that's why you see -- that's the slogan. they hang that off some of the building cranes around town resist, that's right. the thing is, if you do it in such a way that is antagonistic or offensive to the office of the president i think you hurt yourself. >> watching the clip from trump i don't think he views it as beyond the pale if obama is involved. he said it's politics. he thinks it's fair game and almost like he said if the roles were reversed i would be doing it. he doesn't seem bothered by it. he is a savvy political actor

in that way. >> it is beyond what we've seen in the past in terms of presidents talking about each other. even george w. bush on hannity. he says he has some issues but very, very courteous and respectful. >> shannon: he took an eight-year high hiatus on doing that as well. details coming out on the budget plan. more money coming the pentagon's way but more than 100 retired general warning against the cuts planned elsewhere to make up for that money. we'll explain why. >> bill: republican lawmakers warning against a witch hunt amid calls for a special prosecutor to look for ties between president trump's campaign team and russia. jason chaffetz is live in a morning and getting his morning steps in. first here is chairman devan nunez from yesterday. >> we've always been interested in what the russians are up to.

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>> we're going through all the evidence and, you know, the idea of a special prosecutor to go on a witch hunt against the american people we ought to be concerned about that. >> bill: that interview getting a lot of play for good reason. devin nunez warning against a witch hunt into a "new york times" report with ties between the trump team and russia and calls for a special prosecutor. jason chaffetz is with me here. high above the buildings in washington, d.c. nice to see you, sir. can you find the answer? can you get to the bottom of it? >> i think so. there is a reason why the house of representatives set up a

select committee on intelligence. the whole idea was who is going to oversee the intelligence community? the c.i.a. and those types of folks. devin nunez, i have great confidence in him. adam chiffon the democratic side that's what they'll do and they should get to the bottom of it. >> bill: is it an easy thing to do? >> it's not. if you're looking at sources and methods you're looking at human intelligence, signals intelligence. satellite. there is a select committee set up uniquely to do that and provide that oversight. in this case i think it's best that the intel committee lead out on it. >> bill: i talked to trey gowdy, he said bill, at the moment there is no there there. is there? >> they should look at it. we're going to be looking at general flynn and his going to russia or being paid to interact with the russians even though he was not in the military, wasn't in the trump administration. that's something we're curious about. of course they should look at

it and the intel committee is doing that and leading it out. >> bill: you mentioned adam schiff. he said this about the leaks and where it goes from here. >> the fact that the intelligence agencies were -- or officials there were trying to push back on their times story acting as a pr arm of the white house is inappropriate. >> bill: who is doing the leaking? the suggestion on behalf of the white house is we had information suggesting that what we were telling you was indeed true and we wanted to get more of that word out there. do you believe that's inappropriate in any way? >> i don't see any evidence that anything was inappropriate. i think if there was an investigation going on, the f.b.i., others, should not respond to that but you want the president of the united states to know what is or isn't happening if there is an imminent threat. i don't see any wrongdoing at

this point. >> bill: why is this so much the talk of the story in this town? >> democrats are still flailing. they haven't figured out why they lost and can't believe that donald trump is the president of the united states. there are some legitimate questions. we're asking and others are asking but to suggest a special prosecutor and all these extreme things seems very premature. >> bill: you met with the president two weeks ago. i don't know what the content of the conversation was but you stated it to several reporters. what is your sense about how he is doing? >> it's amazing. it's such a sea change in washington in a good way. you have a president that's wholly engaged. he has his shirts sleeves rolled up. pushing the agenda faster than congress, house and senate can go, which is a good thing. he is a disruptive president, which is what the country wanted and what i welcome. the idea we'll get after tax reform and obamacare and regulations and that's exactly

what the country signed up for and that's what they're getting so far. >> bill: what will they get tonight in this speech? >> who knows? >> bill: this is a twitter feed for an hour, hour and a half straight. can you use twitter? >> it would be bad form to pull out your phone and do twitter. >> bill: are you allowed to or is it against the rules? >> i don't know who would come in and turn it off. you aren't supposed to. there is a decorum this country has. people should not be pulling out phones. >> bill: do you believe this is inauguration 2.0 where you get a barn burner of an address or is it different? >> i think you get a bit of a barn burner of an address. when you have the room full of democrats and republicans it is sort of a mellow drama, right? people are standing up. other people sitting on their hands. some are clapping. i hope we do come united, though, when we talk about foreign policy. when we talk about our military. we have to show a united front.

we have to show the united states of america means business and that we've got each other's back no matter which party we're on. for our military that's very important. >> bill: the reaction on behalf of lawmakers will be half the story tonight. >> more than half the story. thanks, bill. >> bill: jason chaffetz. thank you, good to see you in person. shannon, what's next? >> shannon: the big speech tonight for president trump. what does the republican base want to hear? brand-new rnc chair woman will join us live. >> bill: a deadly plane crash in southern california. how a trip to disneyland turned into such tragedy. >> when we got here we saw a lot of people panicking. we saw the back house of the neighbors exiting. firefighters were taking people to safety. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

>> shannon: a trip to disneyland turning into tragedy. a small plane crashing into houses in suburban southern california. there were five people on board the plane heading home from a cheerleading competition. three were killed. we're live in los angeles. what do we know about what happened? >> shannon, the plane was a cessna 310. it took off from riverside municipal airport about 60 miles directly east of downtown los angeles around 4:30 yesterday afternoon. within minutes it was plummeting to the ground seemingly taking a straight downward path that could indicate an engine stall but we're not sure at this point. we saw some dramatic and disturbing aerial pictures of one victim badly burned being pulled from what was a very intense fire as that jet fuel

burned destroying, as you can see, quite plainly there, two homes in the process. witnesses who were very near to the scene said it was extremely frightening. listen here. >> it was scary, the second time it happened in riverside. it happened over on adams street a plane fell down. another plane fell down, a little risky living around the airport community. >> it was raining at the time of the crash, shannon. it was also overcast. visibility we're told was around three miles. the national transportation safety board now investigating exactly what happened, shannon. >> shannon: jonathan, do we know anything about the victims, those on board? >> you mentioned at the top that three people were killed, two were injured. all of those we're told were on board the plane. no one on the ground was hurt. we don't have any names yet

from officials but we're told that on board the plane were a husband and wife and three teenagers. we're also told they were flying to san jose after taking part in a cheerleading competition at disney over the weekend where the junior usa nationals for girls 15 and under were being held. but that is about all we know about the victims right now. we should get more details, shannon, at 2:00 p.m. eastern. that's 11:00 a.m. out here in the west when officials are due to hold a news conference and tell us a little more about this terrible tragedy, shannon. >> shannon: we'll check back with you then. thank you. >> bill: we're minutes away now from a news conference here in washington house republican leadership on the day of the big speech from the president. certainly topics likely to come up. when that begins in the capitol building we'll bring it to you. i don't know if they could have painted a better day than what

we have. last week in february? to have a day like this in washington, d.c.? you never know what you get. >> shannon: last time we had heated blankets, hand warmers, umbrellas, the whole thing for the inauguration. this is our gift to us after that. >> bill: much appreciated. thank you to mother nature there. shannon takes the train to new york on sunday, takes the train back to washington on monday, takes the train back to new york today, and then back to d.c. on friday. >> shannon: who was it that senator thune said i'm getting a lot of hemmer time. i like that. >> bill: you better, there is a lot of it. break right here. back in a moment with paul ryan and much more at the top of the hour. y282uy ywty

it's league night!? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. bowl without me. frank.' i'm going to get nachos. snack bar's closed. gah! ah, ah ah. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. >> shannon: right now house republican leaders are about to hold their weekly news conference. this is coming just hours before the president's first major speech to congress laying out his plans for the coming

year. we'll keep an eye on that. they are certain to talk about obamacare and more important things. when they happen we'll take you there live. president trump offering a bold agenda. saying tonight's speech to congress will focus on early accomplishments and plans to make good on campaign promises to the american people. welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm shannon bream. >> bill: i'm bill hemmer. welcome to washington a stunning day. prime time address will call for the renewal of the american spirit. the phrase that sean spicer has told us will wrap the them up in tonight's address focusing on how to solve the problems of everyday americans. the speech to a republican-controlled congress is expected to focus on the priorities facing a difficult path through congress. that will be healthcare, infrastructure, rebuilding the military. the president touched on all this a bit earlier today on "fox & friends" when he said this about tonight. >> president trump: i'll try to

bring people together. you do that through success. when i create jobs, when i create a healthcare plan that works as opposed to obamacare which does not work, when we do the kind of things and get rid of a lot of bad players, really bad players that we're doing now on the border. people are loving what general kelly is doing. i have think that will change. a lot of the people that are protesting are the people that lost the election. >> bill: rona mcdaniel runs the rnc and our guest in our nation's capital. great to see you. >> a beautiful washington day. >> bill: michigan is probably beautiful. >> it is always beautiful. >> bill: we won't beat this. your expectation based on what you heard from the white house is what? >> the president is talking to the america people as he did the whole campaign talking about how he will make their lives better. he will save them from the disaster of obamacare. he wants them to have better

jobs and creating an optimistic vision our future and wants everyamerican to take part in that. >> bill: a lot of it costs money. how will you get that through? >> he talked about lowering the tax rate and making america competitive. when you grow the economy you'll have more jobs, more growth and more money. >> bill: this is kevin mccarthy the house majority leader on camera. we're watching for news and headlines and expect the house speaker to be there as well. that's coming up. we expected it. in the meantime the president was asked by the folks at "fox & friends" how he would grade himself and if there is an area of improvement he would point to. he said the following. listen to this. >> president trump: in terms of achievement i think i would give myself an a because i think i've done great things but i don't think i've -- i and my people, i don't think we've explained it well enough to the american public. i think i get an a in terms of what i've actually done but in

terms of messaging i would give myself a c or c plus. >> bill: part of your job at the rnc is the message. how do you think he is doing? >> he is doing a great job. he has a lot of obstacles. i give him an a. he is coming to the american people to give his message to congress and the american people. the obstruction of the democrats not working with this president and not giving him time to get his cabinet or work with him, that's a problem that he has dealt with from day one. something that barack obama never had. why aren't the democrats giving this president a chance? 73% of americans have said they want to see democrats work with republicans. he will lay an optimistic vision for this country out tonight and we need democrats to work with republicans to help american families. >> bill: you mention this in your answer previous, growth. a lot of the budget expectations depend on 3% or greater. what's holding us back? >> we're not competitive. our corporate tax rates are too

high. it sounds like business is holding us back but if businesses invest in america. they aren't coming to small towns and putting jobs in small towns, we aren't growing. think about 1,000 jobs in a state like michigan. that means your schools are getting more funding. that means your local community businesses are getting more funding. already president trump has put more jobs in this country. ford is investing more, dow. he wants to make us the most competitive nation in the world and he is working to achieve that. >> bill: last question. what are you hearing from fellow republicans about how they are reacting thus far? i thought jerry had an interesting piece in the "wall street journal" yesterday and he said a lot of the feelings about president trump are baked in. the people who love him, love him a lot. and the people who do not do not like him at all. does that change? >> it does. i go back to michigan every weekend. i'm not from d.c. i'm a washington outsider. i see it every day. i go to the grocery store and

gas station and people are so pleased they finally have somebody in the white house who is championing the average american. people who have been left behind by the obama failing economy. the democratic party has become the party of the coastal elite and the republican party is the average american citizen struggling. >> bill: the message here in washington is very different. >> it's different. i go home every weekend. it is nice to go home and talk to people. i was at the nail salon the other day and she said i've been a democrat my whole life. my husband and i voted for president trump. he is giving us hope and makes us feel finally we have someone in the white house that cares about me. our voices haven't been heard by the coastal elite democrat party. >> bill: tell the ladies in michigan we said hello and we'll see how it goes later tonight. it will be prime time viewing for sure. good luck with your job running

the rnc. thank you. >> shannon: healthcare reform and infrastructure spending expected to take center stage in the speech tonight. byron york is here. we're keeping an eye on the republican press conference. we talked about whether it gets rowdy or not tonight. >> it could. there was one republican representative. joe wilson, south carolina famously yelled you lied and apologized for it ever since. this is a really grand setting for the president. almost as grand as the inauguration and you remember during the campaign we talked about pivots all the time. this is a chance for president bush -- president trump to pivot from some of the things he has done in the beginning of his administration through executive authority like getting out of trade

agreements, like strengthening border enforcement and pivot to the things he wants to do with congress that he has to have congress do. so this is a chance for him to one, build up support from the republican base. we just heard from the chairman of the rnc that's already pretty strong but do something that could appeal to democrats like infrastructure spending. >> shannon: the things we've heard from the white house it's optimism and renewal. most of the language i saw sounded populist. apparently the president will take things that he has gathered from all the listening meetings that he has had at the white house with union leaders and healthcare ceos and other business leaders about regulations and those kinds of things. it will be reflective of what he is hearing from the american people. >> he has to show he is a different kind of republican president and the democrats cannot just use the oh, he is going to cut taxes for the wealthy and cut your benefits

rhetoric against him. one thing we've always also seen is the beginnings of a conflict between him and congressional republicans about entitlements. i went to a lot of trump rallies in the campaign in which he said you paid for your social security and i am not going to cut it. and this is something that is a little different from what they call entitlement reform on capitol hill. he should highlight some differences with republicans as well as the things he wants to do. >> shannon: you talk about how the two coalitions are working together. mike pence is a good liaison for some of those things. we have a sound bite from paul ryan talking about how they're tackling some of these things and the role of the president. >> i see him as a chairman as a president like many successful presidents have been. he gets people around him who are are detail people. that's exactly the kind of commander-in-chief we need in this country.

>> shannon: acting as a chairman. people who are experts dig into the policy and wonky stuff but the speaker says it's working well. many successful presidents do it that way. >> you could view that as the speaker of the house saying leave all the stuff to us. we'll take care of it. the question is how much are their priorities exactly the same? is tax reform as republicans want to do it on capitol hill exactly what donald trump wants to do? remember, this is a night for grand rhetoric. grand statements. but the actual details come later and we saw just yesterday with the president saying who knew healthcare could be so complicated? >> shannon: it does. byron york, thank you. >> bill: let's drop in. the speaker of the house on capitol hill behind us. >> people are left with little or no choices in some instances.

we need to replace it with a better system. our whole purpose is to improve access to affordable healthcare coverage regardless of whether you have a pre-existing condition or not. that's what we ran on last year. that's what we're working on this year and that's our objective is to give people more choices, to give people access to more affordable healthcare choices, not less affordable healthcare choices or no choices at all which is the case with obamacare. allen. [inaudible question] >> look, you'll have a lot of churning -- this is plan we're working on together, the house, senate and white house so there aren't rival plans. we're working on this together with the administration. i would tell you, allen, we started this process not a few months ago. we started this process over a year ago. house republicans assembled a

healthcare task force with all the committees of jurisdiction and any house republican who wanted to get in on that. it looked like a lot like the price plan. it was considered the conservative gold standard at the time last year. many conservatives co-sponsored that plan. that plan looks a lot like what we're working on right now. you have to remember when it comes to tax credits, people who do not get health insurance from their job are discriminated against right now in the tax code. let me say that again. the current tax code discriminates against people who don't get healthcare at work. we want to end the discrimination in the tax code against people who don't get healthcare through work and equalize healthcare so everybody regardless whether you get healthcare at work or don't has an opportunity to get a healthcare plan affordable for you. that's what we've always been looking at and what we're working on with the administration. at the end of the day when we

get everything done and right we'll be unified on this. >> are you 100% confident there were no contacts at all between the trump campaign and russian officials? >> we have an ongoing investigation. we have seen no evidence so far based upon the investigations that have been conducted. there was an intelligence department investigation. the house republicans have been doing investigation on russia itself and we have a bipartisan investigation through the house intelligence committee. they finished their oversight plan last night to go forward. i won't get ahead of the investigation that's occurring now. just so you know, this has been investigated, we've been investigating it and continue to investigating to make sure no stone is unturned. casey. >> entitlement reform -- >> i never give up a dream. i'm a green bay packer fan.

so never give up a dream. by the way, two entitlements are being reformed with repealing and replacing obamacare right now. two entitlements we're reforming this spring. we're repealing and replacing obamacare. i think that's a good start. thank you very much. >> bill: there is your headline right there. no evidence, ongoing investigation with regard to this russia matter on the election, but it will continue and speaker ryan also making a point of saying that they've been on this obamacare thing for some time and what he topped his remarks off with were trying to figure out how to improve access and affordability. all that is happening now on the house side in the capitol behind us. russia story is a headline. on going investigation, no evidence. >> shannon: the white house is promise to boost military spending and major cuts in

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>> shannon: here moments ago paul ryan talking about the future of obamacare. joining me now governor rick scott of florida. rebuilding america now super pac. we're not in trouble. you hear the sirens.

not coming for us. there have been people sounding the alarm for obamacare a long time. you have had specific issues with florida and resisting the medicaid expansion. that's something a lot of governors are talking about now including your counterpart in ohio, governor kasich. you spent a lot of time with him. how tuned into to the details the president is. >> spent two hours talking about an issue. i focused on healthcare. we spent two hours. he asked a lot of questions. he really cares. he wants to get into the details. he knows that -- i think he said something that's complicated. the truth is politics are complicated. fixing it is a pretty easy if you do the right things you can fix healthcare in the country but politics are hard. >> shannon: i think we have the sound bite he talks about how complex it is.

>> we have come up with a solution that's really, really i think very good. now, i have to tell you, some unbelievably complex subject. nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated. >> shannon: you know because you've been dealing with this. kevin brady, the congressman of the house ways and means committee it's like a rubik's cube. everything you tweak triggers other things. it's tough to get it done. the president got a lot of input from governors. a lot of work on capitol hill. how do they get on the same page? >> president trump inherited a terrible mess with obamacare. a lot of expectations that will be difficult to make happen. i know the president cares about people getting healthcare. i grew up in a family that didn't have healthcare. he cares about healthcare. what he said on saturday. he has to make sure states are treated fairly. some expanded, some didn't. you have to treat everybody fairly. he has taken the time to get information. tom price is a great hhs

secretary. i think together they'll come up with a great plan. i think they'll give me a lot of flexibility. what i want. i know what people need in my state. the other governors know what their needs are in their states. they'll give me a lot of inflexibility and i can improve healthcare in my state. >> shannon: you've been hanging out with democratic counterparts. it could get raucous tonight. >> this will be fun. i've never been on a speech in congress. i'm sure donald trump will be excited about tonight and talk about healthcare, how to improve the economy. we've added 1.2 million jobs. follow our blueprint. lower taxes, less regulation. >> shannon: you spent a lot of time with him and see if he takes your suggestion. thank you for coming, governor. >> great florida weather. >> bill: what's the truth behind russia and our election? we just heard from paul ryan, the white house saying the

issue has settled. why is it still the talk of washington we'll find out next. >> i think that russia's involvement and activity has been investigated up and down so the question becomes at some point if there is nothing to further investigate, what are you asking people to investigate?

>> bill: now the white house firing back against calls for a special prosecutor on this investigation to alleged ties between russia and the trump team from last election. we'll bring in julian turner who served on the white house national security staff under president's obama and bush and a fox news contributor. a hot topic in washington seems like it will continue for a little bit. just so you know jason chaffetz and trey gowdy on last hour.

gowdy's point as a former prosecutor there is no there there and may not be anything there there. chaffetz said we'll do the investigation and figure out what's behind it. >> two issues need to be investigated. one is the trump's administration campaign era communications with the russian government and the matter of who leaked this information during what -- during their time in office? so both are, i think, important national security issues. both warrant investigations. i think you muddy the waters when you pursue them together, though. that's where they become politicized. i don't think that either are really political issues. >> bill: can you find leakers in this town? name one. >> part of the problem here is the obama administration came down really hard on leakers. they looked for these people, they would then prosecute them. i think the trump administration is reluctant,

came in reluctant to do that but they are now starting to see what the real problem it is and feeling the burn. >> bill: 10 minutes ago paul ryan said this about the investigation. >> house republicans have been doing an investigation on russia itself through the intelligence committee and a bipartisan investigation with the house intelligence committee. i won't get ahead of the investigation occurring now. just so you know, this has been investigated, we've been investigating it and continue to investigate to make sure no stone is unturned. >> bill: if memory serves he also said there is no evidence in that same comment. >> a little contradictory. with the house permanent select committee on intelligence investigation. do i get a gold star? the intelligence committee looking into this now, i think what we're going to find is based on the statements from representative schiff and nunez

on this already, they will come at it along ideological political lines. i don't like that. i feel it does a disservice to these really important issues. investigate. find a way to work together. not make it about whether or not you like the trump administration and their style of governance. make it about what has actually gone on. >> bill: you have to emphasize in all the analysis here and the fine point to be made, did they throw any votes or did they just try to influence? >> right. >> bill: if it's b and not a, russia is doing that in how many countries around the world? >> exactly. it's still important information for the united states government to have. we can decide if we want to take retaliatory action. that's what i'm interested in. i'm not as interested in did they change american voter's minds and sway people. it's unlikely they did. what i want to know is how

concerted was their effort and what levels of kremlin were involved? >> bill: that many people in this town talking about this? >> maybe a few weeks ago. more people should probably key into it. not as a political issue. forget who is the president, forget who ran in the election. this is about did the russian government on its own decide they were going to in a concerted manner try and interfere? that's to me a very important question. >> bill: thanks for coming up today. how about that? you have given o'rielly a hard time last night. >> i can't help he was a little sensitive. >> bill: you held your ground. his point was at what point do the town hall hecklers cross the line? >> bill, if he was up there he would last longer than the congressman. >> bill: he would have booted all of them. thank you. >> shannon: we're just getting in a little video. mike pence is doing a swearing

in ceremony for the secretary of commerce, wilbur ross. he finally made it in with the formal vote in the senate. it has become an official position now there so we watch the video of the vice president swearing him in and another member of the trump cabinet takes his place in the cabinet. there are others still waiting in the wings. we're going to learn more about them. rick perry, former texas governor is still waiting as energy secretary and the secretary of interior nominee congressman ryan zinke waiting as well. they're expected in short order that they will be teed up and get their votes in the senate as well. the senate's advise and consent has been very busy. >> bill: we'll hear something about this tonight. i think there will be a nudge on the floor of the house tonight during this address before congress. you know, what's the hold-up? get it done. here comes the vice president pence. let's go ahead and drop in and

see if we can hear something. >> thank you for joining us on behalf of the president of the united states it's my great privilege to administer the oath of office to a man who will become the 39th secretary of commerce for the united states of america, wilbur ross. [applause] since this department was founded in 1903, the position of secretary of commerce has been filled by many distinguished americans and wilbur ross's addition will continue. >> bill: wilbur ross is the next cabinet member now to be sworn in, shannon. >> shannon: military leaders are welcoming the president's call to boost their budget but why are they warning against cutting other departments to make that happen and saying it could make the world more dangerous?

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>> bill: 10:33 here in washington, d.c. more than 100 retired generals now pushing back against white house proposals that make major cuts in non-defense spending. they would offset a hike in the military budget which will be the proposal that you will hear in part later tonight. >> president trump: we'll spend a lot more money on military. we have to. we have no choice. a lot of people think it's a tremendous amount of money. it could be actually $30 billion more than that. we're going to upgrade our military substantially. >> bill: jake keane is a fox news military analyst and with us on the roof. let me come back to the generals in a moment. i think the more important point is you as a military

man for several years has been saying we can beat isis, we just need to commit to the fight. and now there is an idea where president trump wants to see a plan to beat isis within a year. is that going to work? >> the pentagon is coming in with something like that. the operation in iraq we're committed to in the fifth month of that offensive in mosul. once that is cleaned up most of the territory will be retaken. not much change to that. the challenge in iraq will remain two-fold. one political unity to help stabilize that country politically. that's a huge challenge in front of us. we can play a role in that. number two, let's face it, our forces will stay in iraq for probably years to come and this president will have to make that decision. syria is really the issue in terms of reclaiming territory and they are coming in with plan to do that. from what i understand they are strengthening the current plan of having special operation

forces there and using the kurds to take down isis at raqqa. that will probably take some months to be able to do that. they'll put artillery in there and apache to enable that ground force to be more effective. i actually prefer that the turks plan to be frank about it. which is arab coalition on the ground. turk coalition on the ground. u.s. coalition small on the ground. take it down quickly more decisively. leave the arab coalition in place. pull out the turks and u.s. quickly. >> bill: that can be done in a year you believe? >> that would be done considerably less. >> bill: you are talking months? >> yes. >> bill: that isolates isis in iraq and isolates isis in syria. >> there is more to the plan. >> bill: what the dozen other countries? >> this is the comprehensive nature of the plan that the president has called for that the pentagon will bring forward, a whole of government

approach. we have to destroy their virtual caliphate. take away their finances. the comprehensive nature of the plan. agree with it. as you suggested, this movement has expanded into 30 plus other countries. we need to work with our allies in actually defeating isis in those countries. >> bill: that will take more than a year. >> that will take more than a year but it won't take u.s. troops on the ground in those countries. that's not the plan. the plan is to insist with intelligence and training possibly if they need that with some capabilities they may not have. but what we don't have now is a strategy to deal with all that. this is the first time we're going to see a comprehensive strategy to defeat isis. >> bill: james mattis will lead that. is he getting input from david petraeus. >> he will lead a whole of

government effort. u.s. treasury to help work on finances. the state department to assist with allies in terms of undermining the ideology. the allies themselves obviously closely align with them. this is putting together a strategy and a bit of an unofficial alliance to defeat isis. >> bill: raqqa is a town in eastern syria. it was or imagine still is at the centerpiece of this movement. >> it is. it's their headquarters. >> bill: to years ago you said i'd land them on that airstrip at nighttime and they would be gone in three days. >> not necessarily three days. >> bill: is that how you characterized it was to suggest you can do this easily. still today, general, do you believe whether it's that simple of a mission or has it changed? >> what i was talking about is raids in those days to bring down isis much more quickly than what we have been doing. conduct large-scale raids that bring the capability down.

don't give them their headquarters and the sanctuary they have there. we've been doing air campaigns but haven't been contesting them on the ground. right now we're encircling raqqa. this plan i think -- we don't have resolution of the plan and i don't think we should. that's one thing i totally agree with the president about here is that let's not talk about the details of what this plan is going to be and tell our enemy everything that we're going to do with it. i suspect he will be somewhat circumspect about what we're actually going to do. >> bill: want to squeeze in one last question. $54 billion in defense spending will be the request. will congress give it to him? >> they'll find the $54 billion someplace else. congress will probably vote that. i do believe -- i think it has to be greater than that, frankly. i sort of agree with senator mccain, the chairman of the senate armed services committee and his white paper he prepared. it's a pretty authoritative paper.

they call for a $91 billion spending in the first year. the president mentioned this morning that he may have to add more money to the $54 billion. i think that's absolutely necessary. i mean, our view has got to understand how seriously depleted the military is these last number of years and how much we'll have to invest to get us back to a position that is absolutely where we have a credible deterrent. we don't have the credible deterrent we used to have. some of the money i'm convinced can be found inside the defense department if we take a tough look at the business-like functions we have there and truly improve these functions, which occupy hundreds of billions of dollars over the course of a five-year plan. >> bill: i'm well out of time. thank you for yours. general jack keane here. thank you. >> shannon: tonight is the big night. president trump's highly anticipated speech before a joint session of congress. will we see the same president trump tonight we saw on the campaign trail? a look at that next. >> in addition to laying out

the concrete steps the president has already taken to make the american dream possible for all of our people, he will talk about the bold agenda he wants to work with congress. with 9 lobster dishes. try succulent new lobster mix & match or see how sweet a lobster lover's dream can be. there's something for everyone and everyone's invited. so come in soon.

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use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. >> bill: president trump setting the tone for his highly anticipated address to congress later tonight. you'll be watching. >> shannon: you'll be watching, too. >> bill: 60 million will be watching. >> shannon: the theme of the speech is the renewal of the american spirits. if we're likely to see a toned down policy president or the outspoken guy on the campaign trail. >> bill: campaign director action fund and the former assistant to president george w. bush. it is may in february. >> shannon: it's beautiful. >> bill: good stuff. >> shannon: it is gorgeous. it could get hot tonight, too. we'll have to wait and see what happens on the hill. we have the president talking about how much he likes the back and forth with his press and opponents. here is what he had to say.

>> president trump: i won with news conference and speeches. i love this. i'm having a good time doing it. >> shannon: he is having a good time. >> he does seem to be having a good time when he is sparring. that's what he likes best. tonight should be very interesting and on the one major speech he gave so far it was a campaign rally again. so this is the time he goes before congress and what they want to hear and i think what the public wants to hear is how he is actually going to tackle the things that he wants to tackle. the specifics of obamacare, how is he actually going to keep people on their plan while still wholesale repealing it? how is he actually going to stimulate the economy and not just benefit from the lag over from obama? i think people want to hear specifics and tone is a lot. tone does matter. >> bill: we were talking about this in the commercial. there may be democrats tonight sitting on their hands. you would grant me that? we'll see how that goes. is there a chance that some republicans will do the same if they don't like what they are

hearing? >> i think they do it at their peril. donald trump has a long memory. he will see who is sitting on their hands and there may be some calls going out tonight or the next morning. how come you didn't clap? >> bill: is there that possibility? you don't know how the lawmakers will react and they're half the story. >> this is a challenge to america. this is fixing that which is broken and donald trump will be serious tonight and lay out his plan for renewal of america. time for tough love and making deals and fix stuff. he will talk about immigration, healthcare, taxes, strong military. rebuilding our cities so there is a little something for everybody. what i would warn democrats is, it's the art of the deal. he is going to challenge democrats to come and work with him and if they are smart, if you sit at the table with donald trump you are more likely to get something. if you aren't there, you're not. i think democrats need to understand that he is going to be speaking to them tonight as

well. >> shannon: he has talked about that. he wants -- there are certain things like infrastructure bill and other things they want to work on together but i would imagine tonight there will be -- i don't know if we get to booing and hissing. some of that happens in all the big speeches. what do you think the atmosphere will be like tonight? >> it will be tense. what he has come through with the executive orders and promised to put forward has been making a lot of the issues he talked about worse. he promised the make them better and they are making issues worse. >> shannon: which issues? a lot of people feel for business they're excited. the markets are excited. they like rolling the regulatory framework. which ones are getting worse? >> i would look specifically to the workers. congress is supposed to pass a bill tomorrow that -- expected to sign into law that will roll back protections for workers, manufacturing workers and safety and making it worse on security and immigration by deporting families and people not looking to work with law

enforcement in a way they had before. he is making healthcare worse because the markets are unsure what is going to come. there is no clear deal in place. all he says the hard line at repeal of obamacare but it is not clear what the specifics. >> bill: what about the art of the deal, brad's point? he is essentially saying i'll give you something on the table here, democrats going the take it or not? >> it's still yet to be seen. i think he will put a high priority trying to work with democrats because he can't consolidate the republican party. >> i don't think that's the reason. this is what i think his philosophy is. in order to get a good deal, you have to get a good deal, i have to get to good deal otherwise if you think you got a better deal than me you're trying to get out of the deal. one thing is for sure. a lot of washington is broken. we've seen that. the electorate doesn't want the dysfunction that has ruled this town for decades. he will be a fixer. that's what he did in business and what he'll do in government. if democrats were smart.

come to the table. listen to him. maybe you get something on healthcare you'll get something. you'll get pre-existing conditions. you'll get kids to stay on their parents' healthcare. you'll have lifetime caps. but healthcare is broken, we know that. why not try and meet the president halfway and fix it? because the republicans and the democrats have to understand healthcare is gone as we know it. obamacare is gone. why not try to rebuild something that works? >> that would be great. i think it would be great if there are pieces. the try and parse out pieces of the law that are working as only democrat ideas i think would be a mistake. i think we can see that in republican town halls all over the country right now. people who voted for trump who have been life long republicans didn't take the president literally and didn't take congress literally when they said they would wholesale repeal the law and they're worried what it means for them. they won't be able to stay -- all of the pieces that you just ran through. so i think it is yet to be determined to see what people

can work with him on. but i think it's worth democrats holding a line in the sand saying we're willing to work on infrastructure, healthcare and all those issues as long as it's a real deal. >> bill: what is your level of confidence repealing and replacing obamacare that republicans can satisfy the concerns at the town halls? can they do both? >> absolutely. that's the art of compromise. donald trump, if you read his book, everything is about the deal, everything is about compromise. you have to give something to get something. >> shannon: we'll see what it's like tonight. we're all tuning in. >> i think it will be -- everything he does is unconventional. he pops in, gives a campaign speech and out in 10 minutes. everything is unconventional. >> shannon: he comes in from the ceiling. he has dropped in. [laughter] >> i don't know. >> bill: thank you emily and brad. more on tonight's big speech in a moment. first another big story. a string of bomb threats targeting jewish community

centers leading to some frightening moments like this in different parts of the country. >> i just came to pick up my daughter and it was very scary. this is uncalled for. >> it was frightening. very frightening and it's not just your life. it is small children. no, i picked the wrong insurance company. with new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. liberty mutual insurance. put under a microscope, we can see all the bacteria that still exists.

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>> it's a big night. mr. trump delivers an address to the joint session of congress. in depth analysis including bret baier at the top of the hour. expecting the news to replace obamacare, immigration, defense planning and plans on infrastructure and the latest on a possible investigation into the russian's alleged meddling in the u.s. election. see you at the top of the hour. >> shannon: the feds are investigating after threats were reported on jewish centers. a dozen states just yesterday

alone. what do we know? >> no word on who is making the calls or where they're coming from. no bombs were found. but local, state and federal law enforcement trying to get to the bottom of this. yesterday there were a total of 31 bomb threats called into 23 jewish community centers and eight jewish day schools across the u.s. and parts of canada. some are robocalls. others a live person phoning in specific threats. the calls forced evacuations keeping adults and children outside for hours until getting the all clear. in total around 100 threats have been made in several waves since january. jewish community members are encouraging swift action from the feds to identify and capture those creating so much anxiety and fear. all this on top of the vandalism at jewish cemeteries. st. louis and philadelphia targets where tombstones were

overturned. ramped up coverage nationwide in front of jewish centers. >> bill: we await the president's first speech to congress. what can we expect to hear tonight? we'll tell you when we're back in the nation's capital in just a moment here right after this.

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>> leadership wrapping up a conference saying they don't plan to disrupt tonight, but each member is on his or her own. so we'll see what happens, it should be fun. >> have a great day everybody. "happening now" starts right no now. >> jon: president trump preparing to address conference for congress for the first time tonight. >> jenna: mr. trump is a site to sign off on more executive orders before he gets ready for one of the biggest political speech is due date, and address to a session of congress where he is expected to unveil an agenda. kristin fisher is live at the white house with more for us. >> the word we keep hearing over and over from the white house is optimistic.