and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. laura: hello, i'm laura ingle in for arthel neville. welcome to a brand new hour of "america's news headquarters." eric: and i'm eric shawn. topping the news this morn, centrist emmanuel macron will be the next president of france. he defeated marine le pen in that hard-fought campaign. his victory giving the european union a major sense of relief. laura: and in washington, round one in the battle over health care reform is in the books, now it's on to the senate as president trump and the republicans gear up for a new push. eric: and sadly, the death toll is reportedly climbing as mass

protests intensify and continue in venezuela. the socialist government finding itself increasingly under siege. "america's news headquarters" starts right now. ♪ ♪ laura: and we begin with the election day in france where the people have spoken. centrist emmanuel macron will be the country's next president. defeating nationalist candidate marine le pen by a decisive margin. voters flooding to the polls in one of france's most unpredictable and consequential elections in its history. eric: it's been a very bruising and divisive campaign right until the very end with protests against le pen and her nationalistic views on immigration and the european union. macron's victory marking a setback for those populist forces that earlier led to brexit in great britain and some say to the election of president trump here in the united states. senior foreign affairs correspondent greg talcott live

in paris where the eiffel tower certainly seems to be celebrating as well as those on the street as we await the president-elect, macron, to come to the louvre. hi, greg. >> reporter: absolutely,ing eric. a lot of people excited here, just two hours since the polls have closed. we're hearing honking on the streets and the motorcade of emmanuel macron, the president to be, just passing not too far from where we are heading to a big made for tv rally right in the front of the louvre museum. but, again, macron defeating -- according to the exit polls which are pretty solid -- the populist rival, marine le pen. the figures seem to be very straightforward. they're giving macron about a 65% of the vote and le pen getting 35%. voters going for a 39-year-old moderate. he is pro-nato, pro-european union, and he's promising a program of reform.

in the modern political history of france, just to put this in perspective, he is the youngest president, and he is the first president in this postwar period that comes from not a major party. he is independent. le pen, well, she's a nationalist, a protectionist, and her message played very well in parts of the country that were hard hit by an economy that has been stagnant for years and years. she was a critic of the european union at the euro, and she still is, as we heard tonight. her tough talk about immigration and terror i'm also plays -- played in parts of this country. she claims she got 11 million votes, and she claims she's going to be fighting on. let's hear a little bit from emmanuel macron and marine le pen. emmanuel macron giving a broad message, an inclusive message about the future of france and about his program.

marine le pen talking about reaching out to the president but also, president to be, but also talking about concerns about the macron presidency as well. when we were out at the polling stations, we also saw another concerning trend, a lower-than-average turnout and also a lot of abstentions, people putting in blank papers into the voting boxes. a lot of people unhappy with both of these candidates and, remember, they turned out both of the candidates from the major parties in the first round of voting here and went for a lot of outsiders as well. finally, we are expecting macron shortly, we're expecting him once again to reach out for unity. he's got a tough job ahead of him to try to come through with some of the reforms that he is promising as well as bringing together a fractured country. this, of course, eric, is watching -- being watched very closely by washington.

france is an absolutely key ally to the united states, important in the fight on terror, an important member of nato, also an important seat taken at the u.n. security council, an important economic partner as well. a member of the european union probably, a although president trump spoke favorably from time to time about marine le pen, some reassuring feelings also not just from washington, but probably from wall street too. we're looking at the stock market going for this more moderate choice, something they know rather than something unknown which marine le pen would have been. but, again, we heard from her tonight. she's not gone yet, she is going to be in the opposition. it's going to be an interesting future here, eric. eric: we just saw a glimpse of we believe it's macron's motorcade as they head toward the louvre. there it is there. the french do so many things well -- [laughter]

they cook well, they make great wine, and look at french television news. you would not see that in america. a live, continued broadcast riding along in the motorcade as it happens of the president. i mean, we just don't do that, and we'll see if he gets out of that, one of those vehicles. he's behind. but you mentioned le pen. she may have lost, yes, but she certainly hit a nerve considering the terrorist activities and the attacks that france has gone under, and she got about 35% of the vote. that's more than double than the national front previously. so as you said, she is vowing to come back in five years? what's her future? >> reporter: well, her future is strong. we're even hearing that she might refashion her national front party, even give it a different name. she clearly -- and she stated this tonight -- she sees herself now as the main opposition party and figure to macron and his newly-fashioned party. so she has a future. her message played well in the rust belt of france which will sound familiar to our american

viewers, the steel mill towns with the mills closed, the coal mining towns that don't dig any coal anymore and also on the front lines of the immigration battle in the southern part of this country and all across this country, terror is a major concern, and she hits at all of those. her rhetoric, though, just a bit too polarizing in this campaign. it got to be a very nasty battle, especially in the last couple of days, and she lost quite a bit of support in a very tough debate that she was involved in with macron to couple -- a couple of days ago. but macron will have the job now, and he will have quite a task on his hands, eric. eric: greg, thank you. we're now looking live right outside of the louvre for those who know that pyramid. that crowd eagerly awaiting the president-elect of france, emmanuel macron. and, of course, when he steps up to address his supporters, we'll bring that to you live. greg talcott, we with will also continue with you. thank you for the very latest as

we await president-elect macron to speak. laura: and you made a good point, eric, with those reporters in that motorcade. i saw one with a microphone on back of a motorcycle. we'll have to do that in our next field reporting. [laughter] washington also watching the outcome of this french election as voters show overwhelming support for emmanuel macron, solidifying france's place in the european union, but what will that mean for the country's relationship with the u.s.? our friend kristin fisher is live from the white house today. kristin, all right, how's the white house responding so far? >> reporter: well, we with just got our very first response from the white house, about 30 minutes ago it came from president trump himself on twitter, of course. he said, quote: congratulations to emmanuel macron on his big win today as the next president president of france. i look very much forward to working with him. ideologically, trump and le pen were closely inclined, strong on borders, very different from

former president barack obama who enforced the more moderate candidate, emmanuel macron. in fact, he went so far as to declare his support in a video released just three days ago. watch this. >> he has stood up for liberal values. he put forward a vision for the importance role that france plays in europe and around the world, and he is committed to a better future for the french people. he appeals to people's hopes and not their fears. >> reporter: so this election in france really became kind of a proxy war between former president barack obama and president trump. laura? laura: yeah, kristin, when we look back at history, how unusual is it for a former u.s. president to weigh in on a foreign election, especially like that? >> reporter: it's very unusual. but, you know, it really does just show you how high the stakes were here. if le pen had won, she had promised to pull france out of the european union, pull france out of nato. after brexit, that would have been devastating if not a fatal

blow to the e.u. but as kellyanne conway pointed out this morning, that was a vote that the former president got wrong. >> president obama hasn't had a very good recent track record electorally, and he really dismissed brexit which, of course, was a huge success. i think they're missing what's going on all across europe which is, and the world frankly, where people are just telling the establishment, stop telling me who to be, what to think, how to worship, how to raise my children, where my hard-earned money should go. people are really asking for sovereignty and security. >> reporter: but in the end with macron's victory and le pen's defeat, this turned out to be one vote that former president obama got right. laura? laura: kristin fisher at the white house today. thank you so much. eric? eric: meanwhile, president trump is urging today senate republicans to, quote, not let the american people down, he says, when it comes the overhauling the u.s. health care system. the president saying the current

system, in his view, is failing as insurers pull out of markets forcing costs up. this as that health bill heads to the senate next after it cleared the house last thursday. and in the senate, there are major changes expects. bryan llenas has been following the president at his weekend retreat, his new jersey golf club, and he joins us now with the latest. hi, bryan. >> reporter: hi, eric. well, look, the president, the president trump administration say that they have confidence and they are expressing optimism that they believe this health care bill will survive and go through congress. the bottom line is the president's chief of staff, reince priebus, spoke to our chris wallace and even down played this notion that this house bill will harm republicans in the 2018 midterms. in fact, he says already we've seen negative backlash at town halls for republicans who passed this bill by the slimmest of margins.

they needed 216 votes and got 217. priebus says, look, republicans are not in danger. >> sometimes in life you have to do what's right, not what's politically expedient. we believe this is going to be a better product, and by the time that people see that the premiums are lower, it's a better service, there are more options and more choices, they're going to reward the republicans that stood up and said we're not going to see the obamacare system -- which is failing and collapsing -- to continue any longer. >> reporter: priebus went on to say that he expects senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to work with senate republicans to come up with improvements to the original house bill. the question is, what kind of changes are we going to see to the bill? we've already seen a number of senate republicans speak out against the bill. one of the concerns are the medicaid cuts. we're talking about $880 million over the course of ten years which means you have millions of americans who received insurance through medicaid expansion under obamacare who will be left

without insurance policy. well, the health secretary, tom price, saying on another network earlier today that's not true. these same americans will be able to purchase their health care at the state level. >> absolutely not. and we believe strongly that the medicaid population that will be cared for in a better way under our program, because it'll be more responsive to them. these decisions will be made closer to them. right now you've got washington, d.c. dictating to the states and dictating to patients exactly what must occur. >> reporter: meanwhile, sally yates, the former u.s. attorney in obama's justice department who was the acting attorney general before being fired by president trump ten days into his term, will testify to congress tomorrow about russia. yates says she warned the white house back in january that she feared national security add visor michael flynn was compromised and vulnerable to blackmail after he had private conversations with russian ambassador sergei kiss hi yak. flynn was later fired.

well, the president earlier today tweeting his frustration that six months after the election we are still talking about russia. in a tweet, quote, the president saying: when will the fake media ask about the dems' dealings with russia and why the dnc would not allow the fbi to check their server or investigate? the president will be back in washington, d.c. tonight. eric? eric: all right, bryan, we'll be talking to judy miller later on in the newscast about those results. thank you. laura? laura: and a raging wildfire shuts down a nature preserve. and forces people from their homes. it's a big mess. an update on the fight to contain the fire. eric: and we'll have more on the victory for emmanuel macron in the french presidential election. you're looking live at the louvre where people right now, his supporters and others, are waiting for their president-elect to speak. when he steps up to the podium and the stage there, we will bring it to you. and we will later ask how his election will affect the rest of

europe and our country. we will break all of this down straight ahead here on the folk news channel. ♪ ♪ beyond is a natural pet food that goes beyond assuming ingredients are safe... to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food.

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at the lou, and when he does -- at the louver, and when he does, we'll bring that to you. one person was killed on the las vegas strip last night. police reportedly indicate there may have been two shooters outside the hilton grand vacations hotel, and they think it may have been gang-related. the -- [inaudible] park nature preserve near tampa, florida, has been evacuated because of wildfires that are still blading inside the preserve -- blazing inside the preserve. the police had to temporarily evacuate surrounding residential areas before crews were able to detain the fire within that area. there's been a gruesome, deadly murder in boston last night. two doctors who were engaged to be married were found dead in their luxury apartment, their throats slashed. a suspect has been arrested after he was wounded in a shootout with police. no known motive as of now. laura: and france's presidential runoff resulting in a victory for centrist emmanuel macron, a

political novice who has no ties to any of france's major political parties. how will that pan out when work begins with the french parliament, and what does the election result mean for france's relationship with the rest of the world, especially the u.s.? joining me now, joe twyman, head of political and social research for europe at u-gov, welcome. we have got a lot to talk about, a substantial win for macron with just over 65 president of the vote. -- 65% of the vote. a nonpolitician, as i mentioned, so first i want to get your reaction. >> well, no, just a nonpolitician, a former investment banker. and this really characterizes the unusual nature of the entire contest. the two main parties in france unable to get through to the second round, and it's often said that in the first round you choose and in the second round you eliminate in the french elections, and that's what happened.

this wasn't a surprise, a lot of the polls had predicted a figure around this, but it was still an interesting conclusion to a contest that has been characterized by anti-establishment position not just for marine le pen, a political outsider, but from emmanuel macron, a novice who has never held elected office before. laura: what does this do to foreign policy now, u.s. relations moving forward, france's relationship with nato, even the e.u. and russia as well? where does it stand? >> well, it raises interesting questions, but i don't expect to see significant change. emmanuel macron was, in fact, the only candidate to be very positive about france's membership of nato. he's extremely pro-european union, again, in opposition to his to opponent. and he's also a fan of internationalization and globalization. however, he has been, shall we say, skeptical along with many political figures in france of

president trump, but i am certain that he will want to work with the american administration and, indeed, american politics to move things forward. laura: there's been a lot of talk about his stance on immigration and also fighting terrorism in france. that's also going to be a top priority. when we look at the stats, more than 320 people have died in terror attacks in the country since 2015, so how do you think macron tackle this growing threat -- will tackle this growing threat? >> well, it's worth remembering that france has been under a state of emergency since november 2015, and security was one of the main issues of the campaign. it's difficult to know exactly how this will pan out. marine le pen talked about very hard border controls and cracking down on immigration. emmanuel macron has been certainly less effusive about that but also in his pro-e.u. stance he's promoted very much the ideals of freedom to have

movement across the e.u. including britain while it still stays a member of the e.u. so exactly how that plays out remains to be seen. but he certainly has to get hold of security and terrorism as an issue if he's to, if he's to build on the momentum from the victory that he's achieved today. laura: you know, we have been leading up to this in our coverage, talking about the hack of macron's campaign last week with a ton of real and fake information that was leaked out which looks like it didn't matter much to voters, did it? >> well, the election laws in france are quite complicated, but one of the things you can't do is any kind of coverage of political issues for two days before the polls are open. and so this news broke, but it wasn't covered in the french newspapers. now inevitably, of course, there was social media chatter and that sort of thing, but it doesn't seem to have had a massive impact. in fact, there were rumors on social media that the macron

team suspected that a hack would take place, and so flooded their servers with false information and false documents to prevent themselves from are being affected too much -- from being affected too much, expecting that as an opponent's of marine le pen who was supported by vladimir putin an attack or a hack may have come. laura: we've been looking at these live pictures out of paris, there's a how old and celebratory mood being displayed as we are seeing, but macron inherits a difficult economic situation. you look at the high youth unemployment and an aging population, so how do many believe he will handle those issues? they're big ones. >> well, the big question is public sector reform, reform of government spending and issues like that which in the past have proved extremely controversial in french politics. emmanuel macron has committed himself to public sector reform, but as you say, with an economic situation that is at best improving, but many say actually

not changing very much at all. it remains to be seen what he can do. employment is around about 10%, youth unemployment is much higher, and that helps explain why support for marine le pen was higher among young supporters in contrast to what we've seen in similar elections both across europe and in america. and so where he goes from here with the economic situation which will be front and center along with security, immigration, terrorism and the e.u. will really define his presidency. but it's worth pointing out that the french themselves have a legislative election in june. emmanuel macron's party currently holds only two seats of 500 that are up for grabs. so the degree to which he can build momentum not just for himself, but also for his party is a big question that hangs over the next few months. laura: joe, thank you so much for being here. great perspective. a lot to get to, and as always, thanks for being here.

>> thank you. eric: meanwhile, we wait for president-elect macron to speak, president trump is making a major push for middle east peace. you know he's preparing for his first overseas trip. he's going to israel and, we are told, the west bank. could his new approach actually break the decades-long stalemate between israel and the palestinians? the israeli government minister is here to tell us. >> what we need is a new marshall plan or, if you will, a trump plan. and it would include massive entrepreneurship. that's what we do in israel. that's our secret in israel. the start-up nation is an entrepreneurship nation. and we could do amazing stuff. ♪ ♪ 80 percent of recurrent ischemic strokes could be prevented with the right steps. and take it from me, every step counts. a bayer aspirin regimen is one of those steps in helping prevent another stroke. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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laura: and more now on our top story. emmanuel macron, the centrist and political newcomer, defeating nationalist candidate marine le pen to become france's

next president. but even with the votes counted, the mood in france is far from settled after such a bitter and divisive campaign. ashley webster live in paris for us to tell us how it's going to have. hi, ashley. >> reporter: hi there, laura. yes, i'm just about a block away from the louvre where emmanuel macron is having his party tonight. literally thousands of people swarming into the area, waving their flags, their french flags, very, very happy. the margin of victory, we knew he was the clear favorite going in, macron, but he wins 65-35, not even close. and, of course, the people as i say here very happy. but you're absolutely right, laura, a very bitter, very angry and downright ugly, you could say, campaign between these two, and it does expose some of the divisions within the country. of course, marine le pen was anti-immigration, close the borders, get out of the eurozone, dump the cure row and

so an -- euro and so on, whereas macron very pro-free trade, and i would imagine people in brussels and berlin happy tonight mr. macron has won. we did see protests throughout this week leading up to the election, but the protests have been really by people who don't like either candidate, either mr. macron or, you know, marine le pen. we understand there's a big protest scheduled for tomorrow in the center of paris. but like it or not, mr. macron, a political newcomer for the most part, the youngest president in french history ever at 39 years old, the former investment banker and, guess what in the markets, the global markets will love this. the dow futures already up 100 points, the markets across europe moving higher basically because they want stability and marine le pen and her plans would have created a lot of concern among investors. but that is not the case. people are happy here. we are waiting for mr. macron to come out and speak to the thousands of people. by the way, tomorrow is a

holiday, victory day in france from world war ii, and tomorrow mr. macron will be celebrating his victory as the new president-elect of france. back to you. laura: all right. ashley web interfor -- webster for us, thanks so much for the report. eric: for more on what the victim rye means for middle east piece, i'm joining by israel's minister of education and leader of the jewish home party. mr. minister, thank you for being here in person in new york. >> great being here. eric: look, he was for the two-state solution, he did say he would not unilaterally recognize the palestinians, and he's been critical of the settlements. what's your reaction to his win? >> first of all, i congratulate the french people for making a clear decision, and we certainly respect their decision. macron has been a friend to israel, and we certainly view him as such. he visited israel about a year and a half ago. and i think the prospect in the middle east are good.

one way or another, you know, we're on a very good track over past few years. it's been tough, you know, with isis and iran, but we've got this strong country called israel smack in the middle, and we're doing fine. eric: you mentioned his visit. that was 2015 -- >> that is correct. eric: he was the minister of -- the economic minister under hollande's administration, and when he went to israel, he talked about an entrepreneurial empowerment of bethlehem and of the west bank. and you discussed that today at the jerusalem post event where you spoke here in new york. what is that? and that is different than the diplomatic stalemate that we've had all these decades. >> that's precisely right. you know, i come from the high-tech arena. i spent a decade there. i believe the future of peace is an economic and entrepreneurial-based peace as opposed to political peace. we've been trying that route for so many decades, and it's not worked. what we need to do is focus on

building up bottom-up an economy for the palestinians, for the israelis together. industrial zones, high-tech. we can do so much. it's a good nation over there. we can do good stuff together. eric: do you think the palestinians can achieve that and that is doable with the tensions and some to have hatreds that maybe you can bypass the political aspect to help the people economically? >> absolutely, absolutely. i'm confident that at the end of the day people want good lives, they want good education for their kids, they want to have a good john, and that's -- a good job, and that's things we can achievement and. i would focus on that and i think that real deal is what we need to achieve in the middle east. eric: we're watching president macron as he takes that long walk up to the stage. we'll take his remarks in a minute, so we may have to interrupt you, minister. will this be something president trump will raise with your prime minister and maybe mr. abbas? >> i believe so, and i think that's what president trump ought to focus on, on economy, on strengthening the middle east

and fighting iran. iran and isis, those are the two big enemies in the middle east. we have to deal with them and focus on that. eric: you know, as we watch mr. macron walk the long walk, there's been the western civilization and the bulwark of international affairs since world war ii. your nation certainly a part of that after the independence of '48. what are your thoughts as you see, as you watch this transition tonight to a centrist, someone who's more of a globalist and not as isolationist as marine le pen was? >> i think we're seeing global movement and contrasting vectors here. on one hand, people want to keep their unique identity, on the other hand to, they do want good lives. and we're seeing all across the world that tension. i think this is good news for europe. eric: france has had attacks by the radical islamic terrorists. what is your advice? you served as a commando.

you are in the cabinet for security for israel. as western nations, what should we do? >> face reality is as it is. don't make up a false reality and, b, fight those terror cells where they emerge from. don't wait for them to reach. the streets. you can get them, nip them in the bud. eric: macron in his earlier speech this evening, early this evening when he won he mentioned the issue of terrorism several times. of course, le pen would seem to be much stronger on immigration and dealing with that. what is your advice for what we can do? what lessons can america take and the rest of the world from what you are doing in israel? you've had the stabbings, a mass escape today, but you've been fairly successful. >> yeah. we have a thriving economy even though we're threatened using common sense. it's not as if all the arabs are enemies, not at all. not all the muslims are our enemies. but to differentiate between the

bad guys and the good guys. i would say that would be the guiding principle. eric: so before we see him speak, your sense of what we can expect from our president's trip when he goes? he's going to go to saudi arabia. a new coalition of the sunni arab nations and israel together fighting isis but also iran? >> iran, yeah. iran is the biggest problem, make no mistake. isis is a problem, it's the smaller of the two devils. iran is the big problem. we would expect trump to reengage and fight iran not necessarily with military force, but with all the capabilities of soft power, hard power and deal with that, and then we'll have a much more stable middle east. eric: does that mean sanctions? does that mean maybe scuttling or at least reimagining a nuclear deal? >> i think we have to take a very fresh look at the deal and see what elements are good and what are not and fix it. eric: what about the iranian influence in syria and, of course, hezbollah? the israeli military took out a

cell at the airport the other day right after a cargo aircraft flew into tehran with missiles. >> iran sends arms all across the world. eric: minister bennett, i thank you. we're now listening to the president-elect of france, 39-year-old emmanuel macron who won tonight. >> translator: thank you. thank you for being here, for having fought with courage for so many months because, yes, tonight you have succeeded, france has succeeded. [cheers and applause] [speaking french] >> translator: what we've done for so many months has no

precedent, no equivalent. everyone said that it was impossible. but they didn't know france! [cheers and applause] [speaking french] >> translator: thank you for your trust, thank you for the time that you've devoted, thank you for your commitments to each and every one of you. thank you for the risks that some of you have taken. i am aware of them. this trust means that i have certain responsibilities, and i am now responsible for not disappointing you, and i have to be capable of through the five years to come to have your spirit, your power -- [cheers and applause]

>> translator: your momentum. >> [speaking french] >> translator: i would also like tonight to say a word to the french people who voted for me without necessarily having the same ideas. you committed yourself, and i am aware that we're not just simply talking about something that was easy. i would like to say a word to the french people who simply voted in order to be able to defend the republic. [applause] >> translator: faced with extremism, i know that we have certainties agreements, and i will respect them -- certain disagreements, and i will respect them, but i will also be loyal to that commitment that was made. i will protect the republic. [applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: and i would

finally also like to say a word to those who voted for madam le pen today. don't boo them. they expressed, today they expressed an anger that they were disappointed at time's certain convictions. i respect them, and i will do my utmost during the five years to come to make sure that there'll be absolutely no reason whatsoever to vote for extremists. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: tonight just the french women and french men, people of france gather together, and what you represent tonight here at louvre, you represent fervor, enthusiasm, energy, the energy of the french people. [cheers and applause]

>> [speaking french] >> translator: and you've placed -- this place in which we find ourselves expresses this. after all, our history of the ancient regime to the liberation of paris, to the french revolution, to the awe it is aty of this -- audacity of this pyramid is the place, it's a place for all the french, all french men and french women. this place is the place which represents france that the world is looking at. because, after all, tonight it's europe, and it's a world that's looking at us. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: europe and the world are waiting, are expecting for us to defend everywhere the spirit of light which is threatened in so many places.

they're waiting that everywhere we defend be, we defend the freedom that we protect those who are oppressed. they're expecting that we should carry new hope, give new hope, new humanism, that of a safer world; a world of defended freedom, a world of growth. there'll be more justice, more equality, and they're expecting for us to be finally ourselves. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: the task that we're faced with, my dear co-citizens, is enormous, and it will begin tomorrow, from tomorrow. it will mean that we will have to look at aspects relating to

public life, we will have to defend our democratic vitality, we will have to reinforce our economy, we will have to build new protections of this world that surrounds us, and we'll have to create a place that each and every one through school, work, culture, and we'll have to refound our europe, and we'll have to insure the safety of all the french people. and this task, which we're going to have to be dealing with, is enormous. and it will mean that we'll have to carry on being audacious. yes, tonight, tonight we have won a right, a right which obligates us, and you've chosen audacity. and this audacity, we will pursue it in every single day to come. we will carry on being audacious because that's what the french men and women are expecting because, after all, that's what europe and the world is expecting from us.

[cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: they are expecting that once again france will surprise them. and that's precisely what we will do. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: our task is enormous, my friends, and it will require the commitment of everyone; the commitment of our armies, of our forces of law and order, all our public services. your commitment, each and every one of you, those elected, associations, paid unionists, employees, civil servants, businessmen, craftsmen, farmers, students, those who are retired -- [applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: our task is enormous.

and it will mean that we'll have to make sure that we'll be truthful. courage of truth. during the campaign, we constantly defended truth, and i will carry on defending truth on your behalf. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: our task is enormous, and it will mean that we will build right from tomorrow a real majority, a strong majority. and this majority, this majority of change, if that's what the country aspires to, it's what the country deserves. this majority of change, that's precisely what i'm expecting from you in six weeks because, after all, once again i'm going to need you. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: my dear citizens,

all of you, all of you who are here at my side and who have been alongside me for so many days and so many nights, people of france gathered here together at the louvre, we have the strength, we have the energy, we have the will, the one that has already carried us, that has made us who we are. and that's precisely what will lead us in the future. we won't give in to fear, we will not give in to division, we will not give in in any way to lies, and we will not give in either to irony and to mockery, to the love of decline and defeat. i know, i know that the fervor that you have, i know what i owe you, and i know that tonight, i

know tonight what i owe to my companions, to my friends, to my family and to those near and dear to me. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] of. >> translator: it won't be easy every single day, and i know that. the task will be tough. i will tell you every time, i will tell you the truth every single time. but your fervor, your energy, your courage will always carry me. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: i will protect you. faced with threats, i will fight for you against lies,

inefficiency in order to be able to improve the lives of each and every one of you. and i will respect each of you with regard to what you think and what you defend. i will gather together, and i will try to reconcile because i want the unity of our people and of our country. and finally, friends, i will serve you. i will serve you with humility, with strength. i will serve you in the name of freedom, equality, fraternity. [cheers and applause] >> [speaking french] >> translator: and i will serve you with faith and in order to

respect the trust that you've shown to me. and i will serve you with love. long live the republic and long live france! [cheers and applause] eric: that, of course, emmanuel macron and his wife. they met when she was his schoolteacher. that's right. she's 64 years old, he's 39. they're french. he's taking the reins of a divided nation. he's a young, dynamic leader who, as you heard, admitted his task is enormous. he won on a platform of economic reform, the former finance minister under french president hollande, he quit in protest before he founded his own party, his own movement. france has been hampered by slow

growth, a 10% unemployment rate. he wants to cut corporate taxes and trim what's seen as a lavish social system. judy miller joins us, adjunct professor at the manhattan institute, fox news contributor, and, judy, as we see, the new first couple of france, your thoughts. >> well, i think that if you listened to the speech in french or in english, you understand how this 39-year-old ingenue, in a way, even though he was the finance minister under the socialist government has managed in the space of one year to capture the imagination of the french people. everything, he is so -- eric, he is so charismatic, and he speaks so beautifully, and he specifically told people not to boo those who voted for le pen. he said he was going to bring the country together and unite france. it was a unifying speech, and it was also a speech that reflected

the audacity -- a word he used -- of a man who has upended french politics. i mean, he was neither a socialist, nor a republican. he is the new man. and what the french have done today is reject euro phobia, and they rejected islamophobia, and he gave a message of hope and reminded the french that they stand for liberty, equality, fraternity, human rights which is kind of the opposite message that rex tillerson gave when he talked about american foreign policy. he said we were going to pursue interest. macron has managed to talk about the hope that this election means for france. it's going to be really tough, because this guy does not have a party, and in june, by june he has to put together enough candidates to be able to govern in the national assembly. and that's going to be very, very tough. as he said, his task is

enormous. eric: well, you know, they also have this enormous social welfare-type system. some say immigrants, especially from north africa, have not been treated as well, kind of a caste system in france. so how does he deal with those two tasks? how can he turn around the economy? and how can he deal with some op of the ingrained social aspects of his nation? >> it's going to be very tough because french unions are are enormously powerful, and the french interests are very powerful. and as somebody who worked in france, i know it's virtually impossible to fire someone who works in a french office, so he's got to change all that to get the economy moving again. he's shown that he's willing to do that. that's why he quit president hollande's government. he couldn't serve in a government that was so resistant to economic change. this guy is really very different. he breaks the mold from french politics. and he has to do all this while he's protecting the nation. you know, eric, he referred

several times to the fact that i will protect you, i will defend you. that's going to be very hard with a lot of very disenchanted people who are living in the suburbs, many of whom happen to be muslim with a strong current of islamophobia in the country. this is an enormous balancing act for him. laura: and, judy, immigration was a very big point during this run-up to today's election. talk to us about where he stands on that and moving forward what we may see from him. >> well, he is totally different to marine le pen. i mean, she, she said that her election was about patriotism versus globalism, portraying herself as the patriot. what he has said, what macron has said is that all french citizens are patriots and that he is not going to discriminate against people of the muslim faith. this is a very powerful and important message right now.

but he's got to make good on it. french security is extremely good, but look at what's happened in the past couple of years. so i think what he must show is that he's tough on security but still dedicated to the ideals of the immigration culture that france represents. laura: all right. eric: judy, thank you. laura: thank you so much for your perspective. always appreciated. that does it for us. eric: an historic night to report to you, and it's not over yet. we'll be back here in one hour with the very latest on the french election and what we can expect next in the e.u. and nato. stay with us, and thank you for spending time with us here on the fox news channel. hey, you bought gas-x®! unlike antacids, gas-x ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. huh, crisis averted.

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