and i think is he okay. rob: i didn't know he got run over by the truck. gee that's scary. the ugly. george foreman still has that hook. 68-year-old delivering a knockout punch to clutch, the bear on the court. we will see you later. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> the special counsel's office responds to accusations that it unlawfully private emails by the trump transition team. >> by people are very upset about it. i can't imagine there is anything on them because as we said, there is no collusion. [inaudible] >> no, i'm not. no. >> confident they will pass tax reform this week. >> historic moment we are excited to be here. >> president trump said mccain is returning home to arizona as he battles side effects treatment. he will come back to d.c. if they need it. >> he is going through a tough time, no question about it he will come back if we need his vote. >> electricity restored just

after midnight after a massive power outage brought hartville jackson airport in atlanta to a complete stand still. officials blaming a fire. they say it broke out in underground electrical facility. >> the daily average for the week the last seven days is about 1300. >> 100. >> 1300 people across the southwest border? ♪ sleigh bells ring ♪ are you listening ♪ in the lane ♪ snow is glistening ♪ a beautiful sight ♪ we're happy tonight ♪ walking in the winter wonder land. brian: he is a modern day crooner. he could be a 1930s crooner. he is a bing crosby who could actually sing. steve: if our set doesn't remind you have you one week to finish your christmas shopping, i don't know what

is. brian: could put a news alert. steve: that's called a calendar. ainsley: my bet is, we were talking on the show with some of my friends downstairs. they don't like you. brian: i know. ainsley: we were doing christmas cards all weekend long, wrapping presents. my family is in south carolina. i have to ship all my gifts. that's what i was doing. when you put the kids to bed, then have you time by yourself and the house is quiet. i stayed up until 5:00 a.m. on saturday night doing all that stuff and was i so happy. i loved every second of it. steve: here is the good news, ainsley, we packed up all ours, too. i had my daughter sally do it. ainsley: did you really? steve: i watched. ainsley: hadley is too i don'young. steve: n. a addition to that one week before christmas and everybody is going home and going places you're going places. listen to this. we have a fox news alert. it's all about travel and power is finally back on at

the world's busiest airport after thousands of flights were cancelled. ainsley: todd piro joins us now on the latest what is happening at atlanta's hartville jackson airport. >> this is bad, guys. leaving passengers stranded in dark terminals forcing multiple airlines to cancel thousands of outgoing and incoming flights. planes sitting on the tarmac with people waiting on board for hours. >> the lights flickered of once that was really scary. hopefully nothing happens and they flickered again and they didn't come back. >> i literal liver spent a whole seven hours on an airplane without food or water. we had to go through the tunnels, they were pitch black. it was scary. >> it started around 1:00 yesterday afternoon. atlanta's mayor saying an electrical fire caused the outage. >> todd: the lights did not come back on until midnight. that's more than 11 hours later. get, this the airport's

chick fay lay typically closed on sunday for religious reasons came to the rescue handing out 2,000 meals to stranded passengers. how often is that. georgia power sending a statement saying electrical fire may have caused the outage. although it's still under investigation. thousands of people remain stranded at the airport. still unclear when they will be able to catch their flights. like steve said at the top. not a good thick to have happen one week before christmas. thank you. brian: you sleep on the floor. you grab your carry on bag badge and make a bed. ainsley: so frustrating. steve: no kidding. thank you very much, todd. they couldn't prepare any food. when the lights finally went on they took in 5,000 meals because people were starving. that airport is so big you have to take the train. people were stuck there. they had to be lifted off by the fire department. and people were actually locked in the doors. you know, those doors that go around, electric. couldn't get out. ainsley: stuck in there i called delta last night to work on some flights for christmas. >> they said if you are not

stranded, we are trying to deal with atlanta. if you are not stranded, call back tomorrow. i hung up. let the people deal with that. that is so frustrating. has that ever happened to you all? brian: not like that. meanwhile, four minutes after the hour. what a week it will be on capitol hill. think about it. historic tax cuts and tax reform. that's one thing. the other thing we are looking at, too. what's happening with the investigation into this russian probe on the mueller probe. and who is involved with what? and what are they up to? today, we're going to see about bruce ohr and his wife. and what their relationship is with fusion gps. and then tuesday it's andy. yeah. andy mccabe, the former acting now deputy fbi director and his role in the possible investigation or lack thereof of prump. ainsley: today the senators want to know this. they wants to know about his wife. his wife was working for fusion gps. his wife is ohr. he was having private undisclosed meetings with fusion gps.

working for doj investigating the president. he sat down with christopher steele and had a conversation with him. steve: bruce ohr whose wife worked for fusion g.p.s. a number of republican members of congress who feel that -- there is mr. ohr right there. the guy the who had the girlfriend peter strzok feel he used the dossier to get a fisa warrant to spy on carter page who was one of the assistants during the trump transition. they will asking him questions about that. andrew mccabe, keep in mind, he is still so high ranking at the fbi he was on the short list to be the new director. there he is right there. he is also the guy whose wife ran for state senate down in the commonwealth of virginia. wound up with 600 or $700,000 from a clinton aligned supporters and stuff like that. there are a lot of questions he has got, just like bruce ohr but we are not going to hear the answers on camera

because they will both be behind closed doors. brian: i hope we get an indication. last week was the nonanswer week. when asked, do you know the answer? was the fusion gps dossier used to unmask or use as evidence for the fisa court in order to unmask? i know the answer, but i'm not telling you. steve: same with the ig. brian: rod rosenstein. legislatively there is nothing stopping him to answer the question. the ig is there for congress. you could answer the question. ainsley: that is what is frustrating, brian. people at home watching saying oh, it's another hearing. they are going to say i plead the fifth or say i'm not allowed to answer that or they will say i know the answer. i can't answer it it's like we are returning around in circles. steve: if they can't answer those questions, they should not be at the fbi. think about it, if they ask bruce ohr a question about what he did regarding the dossier, meeting with chris steele and he doesn't answer it's like what do you have to hide? maybe you shouldn't stillable at the fbi, buddy. ainsley: why is he still?

he was just demoted. brian: text messages refer to andy. steve: peter strzok and lisa page. >> august 5th, 2016. they talk about what happens essentially to paraphrase if trump wins. insurance policy like you have an insurance policy die before 40. they refer to andy. i believe it's him. let's see if he answers that question. ainsley: the house wants to know does he have a connection with this guy, this strzok guy. and did he know that he was -- that ohr was inclusion. had these meetings with fusion gps. what did he know? what did andrew mccabe know? brian: will we ever know? ainsley: probably not. steve: also yesterday, eric holder, he tweeted this out, absolute red line. the firing of bob mueller or crippling the special counsel's office if removed or tampered with there must

be mass, popular peaceful support of both. the american people must be seen and heard. they will ultimately be determinative. and then walton shaw, former obama ethics czar said this. ainsley: this weekend i'm stocking up on portable phone charger, warm clothes and gear feed needed for when we take the streets. i'm concerned the rule of slaw coming over the holidays when we are distracted. it will be a defining moment for the republic. brian: this is based on a nonstory. congresswoman spicer says they got word that before christmas the christmas is going to make a special speech. fire robert mueller and declare the investigation somplet never happened. nothing verified. nothing coming from the white house. not even rumor or anything on the street. this is a congresswoman who says. this then every sunday show except for chris wallace's leads with what happens if they fire robert mueller? it turns out if they pick up the phone and call the white house it, has not even been discussed. they never brought it up. a nonstory started by a

woman who is not tapped into the white house. and everyone feeds on it as if they were reading from the same script. ainsley: the president says it's nor fake news. i'm not firing robert mueller. listen. >> sad to see that. so, my people were very upset about it. i can't imagine there's anything on him frankly because as we said there is no collusion. there is no collusion whatsoever. a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad. [[inaudible] question] >> no, i'm not. steve: meanwhile a bunch of people working on the president's transition team they are upset they said robert mueller illegally got a bunch of email. he said he followed the law. nonetheless, the sooner they get the investigation over the better for the people inside the white house, he is not going to fire robert mueller. brian: just so you know, the transition, given the computers during the transition, thank you very much. now all of a sudden to this point if robert mueller

needed somebody's email. he would say i need somebody's email and they would give it to them. now they go to the gsa. do me a favor give me everybody. does without checking with the trump administration. you can't grab all the transitions. in ivanka emailed and said don't forget to pick up such and such milk before soccer practice that's all robert mueller's. steve: government data base. they are all government emails. the government is entitled to it he has an investigation, the gsa said okay. brian: trump people said no. steve: they don't like it. brian: don't have assurances that wasn't the case. ainsley: let us know what you think about that. we were talking about it this weekend with the friends. the strung guy not very smart. is he going to have an affair doing it on government emails. steve: he is an fbi guy. he should know. ainsley: more headlines this morning, a fallen hoe is remembered as loved ones line the street to say goodbye. san diego firefighter corey iverson died battling the

wildfire. procession of first responders covering nearly 200 miles. he leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter. you see her there. and a pregnant wife. there is a go fund me page, been started for his family. raised more than $400,000. that's wonderful. well, we now know a u.s. soldier killed and ambushed by isis affiliated fighters in niger fought until the very end. two senior defense officials tell fox news sergeant la david johnson was not executed or captured during the october attack as previous reports suggested. the 25-year-old was shot nearly 18 times. three other american soldiers, including two green berets died also in that attack. vladimir putin praising president trump for providing the intel that prevented a terror attack in st. peters birg. the russian president calling our chief of staff after the cia tipped russian officials off. the white house says president trump was pleased

to help adding quote: both leaders agreed this served as an example of the positive things that can occur when our countries work together. it is the second time the two leaders have spoken by phone since thursday. and those are your headlines. brian: nice job, ainsley. 13 minutes after the hour. jane fonda spending thousands to make sure republican congressman darrell issa is out of a job. his response? >> when hanoi jane puts $100,000 in to defeat you, i have so little respect for her after she betrayed our country. brian: most of america feels the same way. he wasn't done. we will give you more. steve: if you can't keep track of what we were just talking about in the russia probe. stick around. former cia guy buck sexton here to break it down. good morning, bob. you are next on "fox & friends." ♪ ♪

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of both the hillary clinton email investigation. steve: right. >> and then also the russia collusion probe. a lot of democrat voters, democrat tied individuals here. steve: oh, yeah, andrew mccabe. let's start with him. in fact, his wife ran for state congress in virginia as a democrat. >> that's right. close relationship with terry mcauliff, whom we all know from his political career and then you also have him appearing in the texts that have been released from strzok. and it's believed now, we haven't confirmed this yet, which is why his testimony will be so interesting. he is the andy referred to by a couple other fbi folks as the office that they were discussing, the insurance policy and the anti-trump insurance policy, which no one know what is that means yet. but people have some ideas. steve: here is peter strzok. he is the one that had the girlfriend lisa page. this is the guy who had those text messages, talking about andy's office. >> right. he said that president trump is loathe some. there has been a lot of distracting tactics over

distraction tactics over this one because what you see is that he is allowed to say bad things about the president. no one denies that should he say it ton government property? no, that's a dumb thing to do. i used to work for the government. i would not have done that. that's not smart. when you talks about the anti-trump insurance policy and involving other people in the fbi given that he was involved in hillary's emails. that he was involved in the russia probe, that's concerning stuff. steve: so the insurance policy could have been the dossier, which some people feel that peter strzok might have used before a fisa court to let them start spying on the trump administration. okay. so, nellie ohr is married to bruce ohr. he was a high ranking official at the doj until he was demoted. >> at what point do we start to see here that the coincidence is just too great? here you have a senior doj person. >> this is andrew weissmann right here. >> i'm sorry. senior doj person who is praising sally yates. this is politicization that

we're concerned about at this point. he doesn't have as direct a tie to fusion gps. but have you bruce ohr over here and ohr is a guy who met with the fusion -- someone from fusion gps on more than one occasion, i believe. and met with christopher steele who put together the dossier. why would someone from doj be holding those meetings and by the way his wife worked for them. coincidences are piling up high. steve: there are a lot of them. if these fbi and doj people go in front of congress and say i can't answer that that looks bad, right? >> it looks bad. steve: i got a feeling they have an answer for everything, though. >> they have a lot of information that people want. the question is where do they draw the line between what is classified that they are going to say they can't share in a certain forum versus what is pleading the fifth? we'll have to see. steve: we will indeed. buck, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. steve: there are hundreds of arrests at the southern border every day. brian actually went down there last week to talk firsthand with the agents keeping us safe. he's going to tell us what he found out coming up next. it's the airport dance you

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injured when one detonated inside. a security guard shooting one of the gunmen before he could get inside where about 400 people were worshiping. worldwide effort to nullify president trump's historic jerusalem decision is intensifying today. the united nations security council is expected to vote on a measurable from egypt that would void the declaration of an answer jent city as israel's

capital. but the united states is expected to veto that. if it does happen the proposal might go to the u.n. general assembly. steve: also, last week, we showed you brian's exclusive interview with the department of homeland security, brand new chief kirsten nielsen. ainsley: guy she choose to go to that area of the border within days of her confirmation, we asked brian. brian: brian kilmeade reporting to for duty. i asked the border patrol agent what is it like there day in to day out from when it started -- from when president trump started to today. >> 400 aday here across the southwest border. the daily average for the week the last seven days is about 1300. brian: 1300? those astonishing numbers are why newly confirmed department of homeland secretary kirsten nielsen met with agents in the rio grand valley sector. >> we heard from the front line operators that this is where we need the wall. i wanted to come and see for

myself in terms of prioritization why it's important to build here. >> this is the most active sector in the border patrol across the nine in the southwest border. more apprehensions and arrests are done here. more seizures are done here. the problem with unaccompanied children and family units is more acute here than it is anywhere else on the border. brian: part of the issue the border wall in this area is not a straight wall there are gaps in it sometimes it's due to the terrain or natural barriers. sometimes it's other factors. >> this is the santa ana wild wife refugee. we cannot build roads. >> it has limitation tolls law enforcement it does not have limitation to the criminal organizations. brian: frustrating, right? >> very frustrating. >> we tend to have the discussion about the wall with respect to illegal immigration problems. you can't forget it's criminals, it's traffickers, it's snuck lers, potentially terrorists with all the same pathways. brian: a half mile through this ballard fence something mexico. currently over 400 people are trying to get through any given day.

some successfully. how does that number come down again? congress has to act. >> they watch what's happening in congress. they watch what's happening as part of our national conversation. they are watching everything we do and learning from it and finding out how to exploit it. brian: the numbers don't lie. chief, let's take a look at this. in january 25th, a new administration takes over of the rhetoric is strong and what is the result in terms of crossings? >> so this is the number of individual family units. and unaccompanied children that are arrested here in the rio grande valley during those time frames. steve: look at the drop, right? >> it's amazing. it's 45-year low in may. brian: and then what happens? >> the calculation starts to change. since may, these loopholes that exist in current law are now being reexploited. brian: and numbers go up again? >> consequences matter. that's a demonstration of it. brian: not just fax and figures. it's what the actual border agents are experiencing as well. brian: talk about trends. what did you see in january of this year and what are you seeing now?

>> >> trends, they were starting in january, things kind of calmed down, but they have signed of reescalated and starting seeing an increase of more people coming in and just continuing to enter. >> we are seeing an upscale in the narcotics, hard narcotics. that's gone up a lot. brian: we know how the white house wants to fix that. >> why are building a wall on the southern border which is absolutely necessary. >> what did the president tell you when he got the job? >> build the wall. protect our country. brian: what do the women and men think. >> if somebody could build a barrier would that help. >> somebody could build a barrier. easier said than done. of course, would help out. >> we put fences and walls around things that we want to protect in this country, our homes, our communities, parks. individual factories. we put fences around them because they work. >> for those who work the border, this is not just a job. it's a mission. >> definitely we know for

the majority of the folks here, they want to be safe. the more impact that we can have on illegal immigration, the better for them because they feel safe. >> we're not discriminating or being prejudiced towards any particular race or ethnicity. we're just doing our job. steve: that's really interesting. so, brian, right after he was inaugurated, the number of people who did the illegal crossings went way down. now it's coming back. is that because the wall hasn't been built yet? brian: it is. right now, when you get captured, they are still putting you into the system. okay, three weeks, here's your ticket. come back. they don't come back. steve: ever. brian: it's almost as if all these gangs and these criminals and these people sometimes families want to get caught. it's almost as if they have c-span. in mexico. in central america. they can know exactly what the rhetoric is. when it's rhetoric they will look out because they don't want to be caught. when you tell people from there are no ramifications

if you are caught here let alone if you get here. they don't worry about it come in. you have to get more courts and biggser detainment centers and let them know you are going right back immediately. most of them are not mexicans. it goes central and south. mexico is not the issue. they go through mexico but it's not mexicans. ainsley: what surprised you the most? >> the biggest surprise is the way that they don't want to get caught. if you tell them, if you turn off the magnet, people won't take the risk. steve: the jobs. brian: they don't take the jobs. this they do get caught and know they are going back, they are not going to be able to execute and say i'm going to get this family over here safely. i'm not going to be able to get these drugs over here safely. also, fentanyl. if you want to stop fentanyl. synthetic drug destroying our country and youth, you have got to stop it at the border. that's real. if you think this is president trump or president obama, it's not. you have got to go talk to the borders agents. they are desperate for some backup. they feel the support but

they haven't seen it in legislation. that's why it's got to happen this week. they have got to get that 1.8 billion to begin the rio grande sector. 54 miles of fence, it needs 110, they need more border guys and border women. steve: great you went down down there to show it first hand what it's like. brian: show it again a little bit later. they want americans to speak up and sound off. it's not anti-hispanic any group. it's about american security. ainsley: keeping americans safe. you know, what, brian, that same story. the same sentiments we have been reporting in our profession the last 10, 15 years. nothing is being done. it has to change. brian: at one point we all agreed they needed more border security. suddenly now we don't agree on that. ainsley: good job by the way. in a few hours president trump will unveil his new national security strategy. win of the men who helped write it he is live with the america first message. steve: plus, how far did the obama administration go to save the iran nuke deal? a stunning and i mean

stunning new report is next. brian: it is devastating. first, happy birthday to christine aguliara she is 37 years old today and a good dancer. the best simple salad ever?

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♪ i gave you my heart ♪ since the very. steve: if you look screen left there, that is steve doocy in kindergarten. i played santa claus. banker who was also in kindergarten. >> do you keep in touch? >> you remember her name. >> i do remember her name. brian: who is next? >> can you barely see us there my sister is there. i'm standing behind my brother. my brother is the one in the jacket. that was in my parent's den in front of the fireplace. and they always -- >> there you go. >> look at my sister.

she is not happy about it. brian: all about ainsley. if ainsley looks good it makes show. ainsley: one of the few i have here in new york. >> we have all week. i have got to get mom on this for me. brian: i couldn't find my kid pictures. so this is last year. >> that's me and my brothers. their fault. i gave them two hours to find kid pictures. brian: they called kevin mccarthy. whose are great. janice: me and stella. i think i was three years old back then. remember tinsel? >> of course. >> look at those yellow pants. look at that smile. brian: very happy kids. janice: i was a happy kid. i wish i still had those yellow pants. brian: really?

i don't. yil low was in strong. it isn't a strong color. janice: all right. brian. i'm wearing them tomorrow. ainsley: i'm sure on google. janice: velvet pants, too. brian: change colors when you brush them one of the things i did when the children were small i stood at the top of the stairs with my video camera. we played it before. ainsley: i had that nightgown. steve: these are the doocy kids running down with santa. ainsley: look at the barbie. janice: i want to be a relative at your place. >> i would, too. if i got a barbie car. look at them. oh that is so. janice: do that every year? steve: we did. one year a couple years ago we went down to washington to visit peter and we were staying at a hotel. we actually had him run down an escalator. janice: can you recreate that moment this year for us? ainsley: yes. janice: with your kids? steve: stay tuned. janice: with a barbie car,

too. ainsley: we have stairs right there if the four of us want to recreate it that was the best time no. one wakes up at the right time. the same time. steve: they had to wait at the top of the stairs. ainsley: mom, come on. hold on, i just need to brush my teeth. dad, come on. hold on, i need to set up the video camera. you would wait forever. steve he was here. ainsley: elise, get out of bed. janice: most exciting time of year. steve: best week on the calendar. we would love to see your pictures. email them to us. ainsley: best part of being annual adult and children. we get to watch our you will parents see the grand kids bring to them. brian: i just love to run down the stairs and make sure there are receipts. janice: brian, i can't wait to see more pictures of you this week. brian: we will in search. janes janes that's great you have the video. we got to pull out the beta max. we had the beta before the

vhs. send in your pictures at friends@foxnews.com. a brand new bombshell report reveals how far the obama administration was willing to go to keep the iran nuclear deal from imploding. according to politico, the iranian backed militants group hezbollah was given a free pass on drug trafficking operations even in the united states. officials secretly throwing road blocks at the dea, derailing its efforts to track the group. former obama officials insist it was all an effort to help stall iran's nuclear program. brian: yeah, right. ains ages republican congressman darrell issa firing back at jane fonda after she donated $100,000 to help unseat him. >> i have so little respect for her after she betrayed our country in hand know all those years ago and literally caused prisoners of war to be further punished. so, if that's the best they can do is come out with somebody who should have been jailed instead of

notarized and celebrity i'm okay. ainsley: she earned the nickname hanoi jane after she visited vietnam to protest. others seat blue including bill maher, and leonardo decaprio. a 4-year-old girl hailed a hero this morning, isabella nugent waking up to find new york city apartment in flames. the child yelling fire to alitter her sister and other relatives getting them out of the building in time. the family losing everything in their charred home except the clothes on their back. there is a go fund me page set up already. nearly $1,000 of its $15,000 goal has already been reached. so if you want to give to them. please do so. they need it. it is the perfect dance that is now going viral. two little girls making the most of their airport wait in dallas. starting a dance off with ground crew members through

a terminal window. >> waiting on a plane. >> that is so cute. the guys on the ground -- that's so cute. >> girls and crew member, of course, doing the airplane during their improject do imimpu routine. steve: they were probably doing a lot of that in atlanta yesterday no electricity not going anywhere. ainsley: fishing rod. cathy reels her in. steve: giving away our secrets on the dance floor. ainsley: really cute. brian: president trump will unveil his new national security strategy. one of the men who helped write it is it live here next with an america first message. steve: plus a world war ii vet brought to tears by the kindness of its stranger that is going to make your day. and his mission to pay it forward coming up. >> i wanted to know this is the best christmas present i ever had.

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♪ ♪ ainsley: today president trump is set to unveil his national security strategy, the america first focus, expected to address terrorism, tough economic stance on china and strengthening our military. steve: here with more on what we can expect is michael anton, the deputy assistant to the president for strategic communications on the u.s. national security counsel. and he joins us from the north lawn. michael, good morning to you. ainsley: good morning. >> good morning. steve: what are we going to hear from the president later today? >> you can hear a speech that explains the strategy. this is a document that's required by law every administration puts it out. i just want to say it's interesting this time -- this is the first time as far as we can tell, even though this is required. this is the first time an administration has gotten it out in its first year. it shows the emphasis we have placed on it also the first time a president has personally given a speech to the american people. usually the document is either just delivered on

paper or the national security advisor maybe introduces it but the president really feels strongly he wanted to do this himself. the speech will explain the strategy. it will also demonstrate that the strategy, you know, now that it's finished it's not being operationallized tomorrow. all year since taking office he has been implementing this strategy in the foreign policy realm. he goal through some of the highlights of 2017 and look forward and explain how what his goals are and what his plans are, how they also fit into the strategy. brian: america first is not just a slogan to win an election or to spread the word or to just license, it is actually a strategy. and here's an example. we'll go over some of the principles. you say first off he is going to call for greater border security. he has been doing that since day one. he also says he wants to go tore a principled realism. what do you mean by that? >> well, yes. let me back up for just one second. the basis of the strategy is first and fundamentally it's the campaign speeches. the great foreign policy

campaign speeches that the president gave in april of 2016 was the first major one. and it's also the major speeches that he gave this year in riyadh in warsaw in south korea at the united nations and so on. so, principled realism it's a way of saying that, you know, we stick to american principles, the strategy is fundamentally consistent with american principles. also realistic about what american power can achieve in the world. and there's a thank recognition that the president's critique that he gave during the campaign of the past couple decades of american foreign policy that it tried to do too much. it overly defined what america's national interests were and american foreign policy, also tried to do things that frankly we have learned through hard experience were perhaps not achievable with american power. so this is a kind of necessary reassessment of what our interests really are and what we really can and need to accomplish in the foreign policy realm. ainsley: is there anything new here? anything different? we have heard all of these

themes on the campaign trail. we have heard them over the last year. that's great. another reemphasis of these things that americans want. is there anything different here, michael? >> i don't think there is anything different from the president's campaign speeches and themes and his speeches in 2017. but there certainly is a lot different from past practice in foreign policy. i will give three very quick but important examples. one is the strategy puts more emphasis, more focus, more detail on homeland security and border security than any national security strategy ever has. and it's obvious why. because that's such an enormous challenge. one of the great themes the president ran and won on in 2016. second is greater emphasis on economic competition. national security strategies also talk about economics, but this one does so in greater detail. keeping with the america's themes of fair and reciprocal trade that american foreign policy had gotten away from. the third is a recognition that the world is much more competitive than past

national security strategies have admitted. they had taken one way to put it is a more hopeful view. another way to put it unrealistic view all the problems were over all the great powers would get together and cooperate and solve problems. the fact there stale realm of great power competition that the united states had not been competing in partly because it refused to recognize competition and this strategy does recognize that. steve: will this be the trump doctrine? >> i fully expect a lot of people will call it that i don't think any of us are going to object. brian: right, a couple of things, too. climate change, no longer a security threat as labeled by the administration. something environmental stewardship you call it the other thing is, identify china as a strategic competitor. how does he identify russia? >> he identifies russia the same way he has been talking about russia all year. i don't know if any of you saw that he had -- the president had a phone call with president putin yesterday.

ainsley: we reported on it. >> it was a great example of cooperation in an area that, you know, that cooperation almost certainly saved lives. we were able to help the russians, inform the russians of a possible terrorist attack in st. petersburg. we still have areas of cooperation possible with russia in syria in fighting isis, what's left of isis because one of the great accomplishments in 2017 in this administration is that isis will physical caliphate is almost completely gone. steve: right. >> there are areas where we are still competing with russia. this is a strategy that sees that clearly. prioritizes our interest and will continue the president's policy of looking for areas of cooperation while being very clear-eyed about what our interests in r. in protecting them. steve: the president is going to be giving the speech this afternoon. folks will be able to see it lyon this channel. michael anton, thank you. ainsley: thank you. coming up from high heels to christmas decorations the media loves to target that lady right there our first lady melania trump.

why are her approval ratings soaring? the man who literally wrote the book on it next. brian: plus anthony scaramucci, and kevin mccarthy live. yeah, we are bragging ♪ hey buddy, how's the fishin' up north? sleighin' 'em, ho ho ho! shop like a pro at bass pro shops for great last minute gift ideas. like bass pro fleece throws for under $9. redhead men's thermal henleys for under $20. like this redhead food dehydrator for under $50.

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♪ ♪ ainsley: first lady melania trump's popularity has skyrocketed since the beginning of her husband's administration. brian: a new gallup poll shows she is liked by the majority of americans. frarvelt rating climbing double digits. 54% since january. why is she becoming so popular? ainsley: andy oak is the author of unusual for their time on the road with america's first ladies volume one and volume two. and he joins us now. hey, andy, thanks for being with us. >> great to be here with you. ainsley: why do you think

this is? her farvelgt numbers have jumped 17% since the begin of guilty year. >> the more we see of her, the more we like her. i'm not surprised. i said back on the campaign trail, even before her husband did, that melania trump are the potential to be the next jacqueline kennedy and we are seeing that come through in a lot of areas. brian: you have a person who wants to be a mom first who also happens to be a supermodel. and holds herself extremely well. very worldly. very cosmopolitan. very bright. speaks multiple languages. yet she does not get a pass as many first ladies do from the media. the daily beast says step inside melania's nightmare before christmas mocking the fact that they didn't like the way she decorated the white house. "newsweek," why can't melania trump wear a coat properly? really? first lady troll for signature draping look. for one thing, i don't see.

this why do american people get off doing this? why is it okay? >> the funny thing here is she is against bullying. cyber bullying of all kind time. she is the one of the most bull idea first ladies of all time. she is taking the high road. when they came after her for her christmas decorations. she invited more people. in decorated more christmas decorations came out on top. the christmas decorations were the last straw. people are fed up with attacking a woman for no good reason. ainsley: all right, andy, thank you. good to see you. >> thank you. brian: compared to mrs. bush or mrs. obama much harder time. she will be much better for it thanks, andy. straight ahead, the truth is out -- is out there. this brand new video proves it the pentagon admitting they secretly spent millions of our tax dollars to find ufos and guess who was behind it. thabatman.

ainsley: kevin mccarter and anthony scaramucci and ivanka trump all join us live.

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relationship with fusion g.p.s. >> or is the guy who met with someone from fusion gps on more than one occasion, why would someone from doj be holding those neeghts and by the way the wife worked for them. coincidence piling up way high. >> can you say flatly that congress will pass this tax plan this week? >> i can't, it's a historic moment. and we are excited to be here. from i believe that the president want to fire special counsel mueller. >> no, i'm not. >> a massive power outage brought hartfield, jackson international airport in florida to a complete stand still 11 hours.

>> little girls making the most of their airport wait through a danceoff through the window. the crew members doing the airplane. ♪ the most beautiful time of the year ♪ the streets red and so much cheer ♪ i shouldable playing in the winter snow ♪ but i'm going to be under the mistletoe. ainsley: i like that. that's the beiber. lauren has been out for a long time like you know? steve: through my sources right up here. ainsley: lauren says it's been out for a while. been out for a long time. steve: that's transitioning the producer in our ear to make it seem like we know what we are talking about. brian: justin bieber is not even 20, is he? ainsley: i like him. i know he has had a lot of trouble. i like him because he is in a bible study in california

with hill song church and i'm pulling for him. brian: does he have a shirt on? ainsley: i don't know. i don't care. brian: he doesn't wear a shirt much. steve: do you know what today is? it's a week before christmas. thank you for spending this the happiest two weeks on the calendar. ainsley: get the cards out. presents wrapped. lots to do. try not to get too stressed. remember the reason for the season. don't get too stressed. try to enjoy every second of it. steve: we will start this hour with some news. this hour is back on at the world's busiest airport. how many of those folks were actually traveling somewhere for christmas? thousands, 1100 flights were cancelled, leaving thousands of passengers stranded in the dark for a very long time. ainsley: jonathan serrie joins us live at the airport with the latest. i was just going to say don't be too stressed unless you are in the airport. that is a stressful situation. glad the lights are back on. >> exactly steve, ainsley and brian.

the lights are back onment and lines beginning to form as people return to the airport to get on newly rebooked flight. add that to the normally busy holiday travel season already underway. the lighting was repowered nearly 11 hours after it went out. during the outage jetways could not be we would out to planes to allow passengers to disembark. people had to wait long periods of time to be reunited with heir luggage. airport train systems were down and so were the escalators. travelers describe the scene. >> >> flickered again and then they didn't come back. >> i literally spent a whole seven hours on the airplane without food or water. >> we have to go through the tunnels. they were pitch black. it's scary. >> the faa issued a nationwide ground stop for flights headed to atl. meaning pleansz were ordered to stay on the ground

departure airport. many of them were diverted. the power outage affected all airlines at the airport including atlanta based delta which canceled nearly 1,000 flights on sunday. today the airline has scaled that back. canceling only 300 flies. mos300 flights.most of them inbd flights. the airport is rapidly returning to normal. again, passengers can expect long lines at ticket counters and baggage claims. get here with plenty of time to spare. and then as far as what caused this outage, georgia power says it was an electrical fire in an underground station. it didn't injure anyone. firefighters got the flames under control, but not before they spread to other substations affecting redundant backup systems servicing this airport. back to you guys. brian: all right. thanks, jonathan. great. hopefully things will get better and people will be back on flights. four minutes after the top of the hour. it's going to be a big week.

not only for tax reform. big week in terms of the investigation. who is actually doing the investigating of the trump team and possible collusion. steve: um-huh. brian: first off bruce ohr today. tomorrow is going to be andy mccabe. bruce ohr is going to be in front of the senate intelligence committee when it was exposed that bruce ohr's wife works with fusion gps and he met with fusion gps in 2016. that was discovered by devin nunes on the house side. ainsley: he was investigating president trump -- this was after he was investigating the president after he was nationanational guard greated to find out if there was any russia collusion. turns out when you look at his industries tri, married to a woman who works for fusion gps. he also met with christopher steele who was responsible for pinning the dirty dossier. steve: sure. so then, okay. so he is at the department of justice. he is going to be behind closed doors today. that's his wife nellie. she was a russian expert at fusion gps. doesn't that sound convenient.

meanwhile, tomorrow, the deputy director of the fbi andrew mccabe is going to be testifying before the house intel committee. keep in mind, he was supposed to talk to them last week, but at the last minute, after the news about the ohr family popped out, he cancelled. said it was a scheduling problem. but there are a number of republicans who believe he wanted to avoid any questions about the ohrs. well, apparently by now they have figured out some answers and he will appear today to answer some tough questions because to a lot of republicans, it does appear that going back over a year the fbi and the doj went soft on hillary clinton and her private email server and hard on president trump now regarding russian collusion. ains. brian: when it comes to ohr they believe they met -- devon nunez says believe met with christopher steele during the 2016 campaign. before the election was actually won. and just go back the word andy's name was brought up with these linda page and

with this peter strzok, when they are having these text messages back and forth. they talk about a meeting with andy. at which time an insurance policy just in case donald trump wins, they evidently have a plan. what are they talking about? that will be brought up. my concern is that andy, if it is indeed him. ainsley: andrew mccabe. brian: has a lot of time to come up with a story that might seem plausible and as an fbi agent might be lining up people to back it up. ainsley: if this guy ohr, if he is meeting with christopher steele during the campaign, and his wife is working for fusion gps. when they ask him at the doj to be a part of this russian collusion investigation he should have said i can't. i need to recuse myself my wife works for fusion gps. he didn't do that people have questions why didn't do you that mr. ohr. we want to know. steve: keep in mind. brian: he wanted that information from fusion gps in order to do something because he clearly does not like president trump.

ainsley: right. he didn't want to recuse himself. he had information to further this investigation to man delegitimize this presidency. that's my hunch. steve: people have said at some point donald trump is going to pull the trigger and fire robert mueller as he gets closer and closer to something. we are getting closer and closer to the end. he hasn't found anything. yesterday on the south lawn of the white house the president was asked what are you going to do about mueller? he made it very clear. he is not canning him. watch. >> quite sad to see that my people were very upset about it. i can't imagine there is anything on him frankly because, as we said, there is no collusion. there's no collusion whatsoever. but, a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad. [[inaudible] >> no i'm not. brian: used this on all the sunday shows on all the networks is he going to be fired and cast him in the

street. it's unstory, unsourced, brought up by unconnected woman spires who brings this up on public access c-span show people are running this it's a nonstory. are they concerned about talking about tax reform? are they concerned about the story changing all of a sudden the trump direction because there are conflicting people doing the investigating. what i also think is note worthy, unlike six months ago, three months ago two, months ago, for the first time republicans are actually fighting for the president. the president does not have to do all the fighting himself. they are seeing the injustices and iniquities and they are going to bat. when jim jordan hops out on jeanine. i think they are slowly buying in to their party leader. ainsley: they want to get to the bottom of it it's about justice. you are right. steve: you will see the president of the united states he is going to be

speaking from the ronald reagan building and he's going to be talking about a brand new america first national security strategy. usually it is just a document that is submitted; however, this time the president of the united states who has made these promises when he was out on the campaign trail, he is going to be going to the american public and explaining what will be called the trump doctrine. ainsley: protecting the homeland. promoting american prosperity. preserving peace through strength and advancing american influence abroad. brian: broken up into much more detail into that and michael anton is maybe the author of this and the brains. listen to the president on the stump and put it into policy. he will joined us a short time ago. >> this strategy puts more emphasis, more focus, more detail on homeland security and border security than any national security strategy has. it's obvious why because that's such an enormous challenge the united states faces. one of the great themes that the president ran and won on in 2016. there still is a realm of

great power competition that the united states has not been comp beating in effectively and this strategy does recognize that. brian: they also bring up certain things about climate change. yep, that's us again. threw me. climate change is no longer a security threat according to this president. it will be environmental stewardship. talk about revisionist nations. russia and china. revisionist into china making islands. russia taking over georgia and ukraine. we will be attacking regions and actions rather than countries. ainsley: the president has made it clear when he travels to other countries. when he was in china the chinese president is looking out for his country. we need to start looking out for america. he was appalled that hadn't happened in the past with the iran nuclear deal and what is happening in north korea. the past presidents have dropped the ball. he wants to focus in putting

america first and what our interests are. steve: he will give that speech today and tomorrow it looks like the house is going to start to vote on the big tax bill. it looks like the president could have a win in his column by friday. brian: first time in 30 years we have tax reform. straight ahead, the number is stung. keeping dreamers in the country will cost taxpayers $26 billion. but our next guest says the final tab could be even higher. steve: plus, white house press secretary sarah sanders wants to know what the most underreported story of the year in the defeat of isis or the booming economy you? don't see that on a lot of other channels. anthony scaramucci is back. he says there is something else. he's coming up ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ the boys are back in town ♪ another day at the office. why do you put up with it? believe it or not you actually like what you do. even love it.

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♪ brian: all right, the numbers are staggering, acorresponding to the cbo legalizing 2 million illegal immigrant dreamers, that means their parents came here and they just came along because they were really young, will cost the government $26 billion over the next decade. and while activists argue legalizing them would be an economic boost, our next guest claims that's not really accurate. here to back up those

numbers, policy director for the center for immigration studies jessica vaughan. where does this number come from. >> this comes from the congressional budget office, which are like accountants to congress. and they run the numbers on the population that would be cord by thicovered by this amne. and the legislation, they look at the fiscal costs. they balance out any increased revenue that the u.s. government would receive based on taxes paid versus the public assistance and other public expenses associated with legalizing this population. and when you do the math, it doesn't come out well for amnesty, talking about $26 billion. brian: you are not talking about the millions that are here illegally. you are talking about the ones, the so-called daca, right, the dreamers come here, brought here as young children and they can't get legal status, correct? you are not talking about

all illegal immigrants, are you? >> no. but this particular piece of legislation that they analyzed, which was introduced by senator lindsey graham over the summer would legalize not only the people with daca but anyone who got here under the age of 18 up to four years ago. so that also includes a large number of the unaccompanied minors who came from central america as well as the people who got daca under president obama. it's a much bigger population and younger population. it also doesn't have an upward age cap on it lots of older illegal aliens who didn't get daca would qualify as well. that's part of the reason behind this big cost. but the main problem is that this is a group of illegal aliens who are lightly educated and working mostly in unskilled jobs. we have got then impression that they are mostly college kids from the activists but the truth is that many of

them lack a high school education and going to acquire access to welfare benefits like healthcare. brian: you also talk about chain migration, too. you could have 80,000 more people with them if you give them legal status. however, the legislation, the kids can't get their parents legal status. they also say medicaid, food stamps, educational funding and other programs will lead to paying out a lot for them to be members of our society. what right now is the cost? what about if they aren't legalized? what kind of burden are they on the system? >> if he this aren't legalized, they aren't getting access to food stamps usually. in some states they may be. but, they a -- and they are subject to deportation. so, you know, or they may leave if enforcement is increased they may decide to go home on their own. so amnesties are always costly because they

encourage more illegal immigration and displace americans from jobs. so, if congress is considering an amnesty for this population, we need to be real and understand it's going to be costly but also take steps to reduce the chain migration and the future illegal immigration that could come about as a result. brian: yeah. very interesting. because i hear that immigration reform is on the launch pad for early in 2018. we will have you back, jessica, to look at what is at stake. thanks so much. >> thank you. brian: 10 minutes before the bottom of the hour. republicans on the verge of passing historic tax reform without any democrats on board. but why? isn't this a good thing for all americans? some say no. we will debate it next. plus, the truth is out there and brand new video proves it. the pentagon admitting they secretly spent millions of your tax dollars to find ufos. guess who is behind it? if you are listening on the radio his name is harry reid. if not you can see him and

recognize him. never being satisfied and always working to be better.

steve: it is 7:24 now in new york city. we have headlines for you. first to russia. vladimir putin praising president trump for providing the intel that prevented a terror attack in st. petersburg, russia. the president calling our commander-in-chief after the cia tipped russian officials off. the white house says president trump was pleased to help. adding, quote: both leaders agreed that this series -- this serves as an example of what positive things that can occur when our countries work together. worldwide effort to nolle president trump's historic jerusalem decision is intensifying today. united nations security council is expected to vote on a measure from egypt that

would void the declaration of the ancient city as israel wants capital. the united states is expected to veto. if that happens, the proposal may go to the u.n. general assembly. we'll keep you posted. all right, ainsley. ainsley: okay. great. thank you, steve. christmas present the president promised set for delivery as republicans prepare to end the year united on tax reform without one democrat on board. >> tax reform bill is a disaster. it helps the wealthiest, most powerful corporations and individuals and it hurts the middle class. >> it's daylight robbery at every iteration the g.o.p. tax scam becomes more cowardly outrageous, dishonest, brazen throat middle class families. ainsley: here to weigh in is michael star hopkins along with mattie senior fellow at the taxpayers union. thanks for being with us. matt, i will start with you as the democrat on the

panel, we heard from chuck and nancy how it's terrible for the middle class. if you look at the tax brackets, you see a benefit. everyone's tax brackets going down. how do you have that narrative. that's the talking points bull it doesn't seem to be accurate, right? >> the middle class receives minuscule tax deduction at the beginning. the overall tax deductions that are received go towards the top 1%. we have seen that the state tax, the amount, the exemptions raised. we have seen the business deduction or rather the business tax rate is cut down to 21%. stock market is at all-time high. the people who need help are the middle class and lower class, the working people. they need help to put food in their fridges not people earning millions of dollars. ainsley: i'm still not convinced. made, what do you say? >> listen, democrats are opposing this bill for the same reason republicans are supporting it, that's because it's going to work. the tax foundation sought with a new analysis just this morning that saying just next year the average american is going to see after tax income rise by 1.8%. the assertion this doesn't

affect middle income families is simply not true. you look at the fact that only 30% of the country right now itemizes. that means the vast majority of americans are just taking the standard deduction. in this plan the standard deduction is doubled. that's in addition to the tax rates coming down for people in those middle income brackets. so it's simply nonsensical to say they won't see a tax increase. the math doesn't bear that out. ainsley: michael, if you look at the numbers, the average family going to see anywhere from 1400 to $2,200 tax break. that's more money, that's $2,000 on average back in middle class families' wallets. that's a lot of money. that can help send a kid to school for a semester. if you came on, michael and said i live in new york or live in new jersey where taxes are really high. my taxes might not be affected. they might actually go up. i would give you that path. when you have come on and say middle class families are going to see an increase or not be affected. i don't buy it when you look at the numbers and look at the literature. >> it's fun i couldn't say

that ainsly. i'm exploring a run in new jersey for that reason. as a millennial we are watching the deficit explode. we are watching republicans talk about reducing the state and local tax deductions. and we are looking at a president who ran on populism now basically run on corporate particular backs. this is not the america, this is not the republican party that republicans like reagan used to stand for. democrats may not be perfect, but at least we are actively trying to make life better for the middle class. i'm not really sure what republicans are doing. ainsley: interesting you are runny. made, maybe it's up to these local officials to lower the taxes state by salt the salt brackets. if you live in some of these highest taxed states, it gets very expensive. >> i absolutely hope that that will be the effect of passing federal tax reform. these states where the tax burden is extraordinarily high and politicians are inoculated from their decisions to keep taxes high by the local and state tax

deduction should certainly feel pressured to be better stewards you have their taxpayer dollars. the people who take the state and local tax deduction like a lot of other credits and deductions are high income earners. people not living as much money in a high state like new jersey they will benefit from tax reform that allows them to increase the standard deduction. we will go from 70% of people taking the standard deduction to probably 9 and 10. both simplicity and relief offered in the plan are good for americans. ainsley: michael, if you win you have to lower taxes in the state. merry christmas both of you. >> thank you very much. ainsley: he beat out roy moore in the alabama special election. doug jones is already breaking with democrats. what he just said. that you might actually like. that's coming up next. plus, did the media give the president a fair shake this week or this year? anthony scaramucci said says there is one thing that no one is talking about but everyone should be talking about it there he is. he is on our set live next. ♪

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♪ >> rumor on the hill, when i left yesterday, was that the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week and on december 22nd, when we are out of d.c. he was going to fire robert mueller. i believe that the president wants all of this shut down. he wants to shut down these investigations and he wants to fire special counsel mueller. steve: there she is, the rumor on the hill, probably she heard that. ainsley: through "the grapevine." steve: democratic cloak rooms. anthony scaramucci is joining us now white house communications director. what do you make of that rumor. we heard from months that president trump was going to fire robert muller. >> i think he is probably frustrated by the process.

he knows in his heart he didn't do anything wrong as it relates to russia or that sort of stuff. he probably doesn't like the nonsense as it relates to a distraction. but he certainly is not going to fire mueller. i just think he is too smart to do something like that. he doesn't need another distraction on top of that distraction. brian: you know what this is, anthony. >> this is nothing to do about anything. i was there for 18 months. and i was also, you know, i was in the white house for 11 days. some people say 10 days. that hurts my feelings. let's just go with 11. at the end of the day, i know the president didn't do anything wrong. i was there with him. brian: you know what happened, the investigation is turning on its head with text messages. fusion gps. the lack of answers with the fbi director. the lack of answers with the others over the last week. all of a sudden things are about to change. unless you throw out a story that says the president is about to fire mueller that becomes the number one story. everything else gets pushed aside on all the national shows. they successfully change the conversation. >> brian: for one story.

>> is he usually one step ahead of them. back in the summer they put out that russian sanctions bill. the president decided to sign that. even though he probably had some objections to it because he knew that it would be much ado about nothing in the congress again on russian sanctions. so, here's what we need to talk about though. booming economy. rises wages. real job growth. real wage growth for lower and middle class families. and you're going to get tax relief here shortly. and that's going to be very meaningful to a lot of these families. think about more disposable income for lower and middle income families next year. that's a phenomenal thing. brian: you will feel it in february. >> that's what the president ran on. and the american people feel that and the american people know that so there is a big media distraction going on right now. but i predict by the middle of next year people are going to say wait a minute, this guy is doing an amazing job. the economy is booming. i think he is going to surprise in the 2018 congressional election. ainsley: what do you say to democrats nay sayers, chuck and nancy.

none of them is going to vote for it we had a guest on saying it's going to hurt the middle class. heard chuck and nancy say it's going to hurt the middle class is that true? >> no. it's obviously not going to hurt the middle class. if you go through line by line, there is slight unevenness here and there nothing there is nothing you can do about that. the president unfortunately can't wave a magic wand and dictate the perfect fax plan. he has to deal with recalcitrant congress. if you look at the thing by and large, it's very meaningful to a disposable income increase for middle class families. by and large. that's going to mean the economy is going to grow more next year, ainsley, than even this year. that's going to be phenomenal for the stock market. and in general for everybody. we have nay sayers sitting here on this couch, remind them that just disposable income increase which leads to greater consumption is going to lead to more growth for the economy and lift everybody's that's the most important thing to say to them. steve: as soon as there is a tax cut the federal

government is going to withholding less so people will start feeling it in february. >> exactly. steve: the democrats have been very effective during ainsley's conversation talking about how the middle class is going to get -- not getting a good deal here. when you look at how the american public felt just before the reagan tax cut, this is really interesting. back in 1986, american overall assessment of the tax bill, 39% approved of it a third disapproved. and 28% no opinion. and then. brian: keep going, yeah. steve: then americans on tax bill effect on taxes. only 18 percent said it's going to go down. 30 percent said it's going to go -- stay the same. 41 percent said it will go up. brian: that was a tax plan that went from 50% tax rate to 28%. yet the american people were still dubious on accepting this massive transformation. >> history will judge that that unleashed tremendous growth in the united states, literally helped to create silicon valley. unleashed all of the

technology and social media. and that's this kind of president. okay being this is a transformative president. and my prediction is that shortly before the 2018 election, congressional elections, this stuff will start to really impact families, and it will have a positive benefit at the polls. steve: all right. meanwhile, you were the communications director for 11 days. >> thank you for saying 11. why say 10 when you can say 11? steve: exactly. sarah huckabee sanders was tweeting over the weekend. ainsley: she said which is the more under reported story of the president's year one? defeat of isis? booming trump economy? and anthony you say what? >> i actually think that it's national security in general. i think he's going to get something together with the chinese and the north koreans. but he has also been very strategic in the middle east. i spent three or four days in israel prior to the thanksgiving holiday. and i think he's got a plan in place where he finally unfolds that plan, you'll

see an opportunity there to have lasting peace. i really believe that we will see. it's underreported. he has got great street smarts. he has great common sense. and he has strengthed our alliances around the world and he has made americans safer that's going to start to unfold as well. brian: president has pledged to personally go out there and campaign. what's at stake if they lose either chamber? >> listen. he's up against it because we know historically congressional elections in the first term it's usually rough on a president. go back to president obama, he said in 2010 he got she lacked. you know you are always up against it. the 1982 ronald reagan, he got hit pretty hard. so, typically what happens in america, they try to balance things out by shifting things, if you have got a republican president you may get more democrats in the congress and the senate. but this is a unique situation where because of the president's economic agenda, if he goes out there

and he uses his great salesmanship and his communication disils, i think he is going to win more and keep more congressional members than people predict. brian: they got to right for impeachment if they lose the house. >> they will go right for impeachment. what are they going to impeach him on? brian: that doesn't stop them. they vote on it on a daily basis. steve: impeachment is political. >> at some point through good communication and through awareness, we got to get out to the american people what are you going to impeach the guy on? he hasn't done anything, i say this to my liberal friends. tell me the policy that the president has put in place in the last 10, 11 months that has been so objectionable to you? steve: right. >> canned find one. steve: anthony? >> great seeing you guys. brian: it's good to be back guys, merry christmas, i'm allowed to say that happy hanukkah, happy kwanzaa, whatever you are celebrating i hope it's a good one. ainsley: now more to headlines this morning doug jones is not in washington

yesterday. the democratic senator elect says he is ready to reach across the aisle. >> i'm going to be a doug jones democrat for sure. i'm going to be looking at issues on both sides. i'm going to do what i believe is in the best interest of both the country and my state. everything thinks because you are a member of one party or the other you will vote a certain way. don't expect me to vote solidly for the republicans or democrats. ainsley: jones says the country needs to move on from sexual harassment allegations against president trump and he was declared the winner of last week's race against rubbing roy moore who still has not conceded. we are getting our first look at just one of the strange encounters investigated by the pentagon's formerly secret ufo program. the eerie footage captured by a navy pilot near san diego in 2004. >> there is a whole fleet of them. >> my gosh. >> the pilot reported the craft hovered about 50 feet

above the ocean. the ufo program is part of a 22-million-dollar initiative that officially ended in 2012. but backers say it still exists. it was started by former democratic senate leader harry reid. and a world war ii veteran is searching for a woman that he says gave him the best christmas gift ever. george seeny jr. says that he was waiting in line at a florida grocery store when a woman approached him thanking him for his service. she then slipped $50 into his hand wishing him a merry christmas. >> i went back to the lady and said lady, you made a mistake that's too much money. i wanted her to know this is the best christmas present i ever had. ainsley: the family of the 93-year-old wants to find and personally thank the woman. he donated the cash. how sweet is that? steve: that is excellent. ainsley: i was a waitress in college and i remember a lady gave me a $100 tip. i burst in tears. i was so grateful. everything -- i was living

penny to penny. it makes a difference. sea veteran. he deserved. this he's a veteran. he deserved it i didn't. brian: janice dean. steve: crazy hat. what is that hat? janice: this is a crazy christmas hat. this is a rudolph hat. janice got run over by a reindeer. weather where from you? >> morrow head, massachusetts. >> what's your name? >> iggy. >> put the maps up and we will do weather here with rudolph and iggy. take a look at it radar -- a little bit of rain across the southeast? >> um. >> say it. >> janice: a little bit of rain across the southeast. >> a little bit of rain. janice: going to rain across no. wave everybody. merry christmas inside the studio. ainsley: merry christmas. steve: ho, ho, ho. thank you very much janice and rudolph. meanwhile, it's america first. that's president trump's new national security strategy that's going to be unveiled later today. what does it mean?

dr. sebastian gorka was by the president's side as he drafted the plan. he will take us inside it next. ainsley: airport danceoff you don't want to miss. little girls going viral. dancing with the two guys below ♪ dance, dance, dance, dance ke is up to four times greater. but there are steps you can take to lower your cardiovascular risk. talk to your health care provider today about diabetic heart disease. and find out more at heartoftype2.com. your heart and type 2 diabetes. make the connection. hi dad. no. edon't try to get up.

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full of rich pro-v nutrients. for 100% conditioning, 0% weight new pantene foam conditioner. steve: president trump today will unveil his national security strategy the american first focus expected to address terrorism, a tough economic stance on china and strengthening america's military. ainsley: our fox news contributor and former deputy assistant to president trump dr. sebastian gorka, he is the author of the book called "defeating jihad" as you see right there. and he joins us to react. good morning, dr. gorda. good to see you. >> goorng, everybody. good to see you guys. ainsley: today is the big speech. why do you think he is doing this? because in the past most presidents have written it out and released it but he wanted to the talk publicly, why? >> why? because this is a very, very different national security strategy. i have it here and, steve, i

apologize in advance but it's a doosie. steve: how is it different than the obama doctrine? >> biggest thing about this document is that it is written by somebody -- it's written by a team. it's going to be delivered by a man that loves this country. it actually uses that phrase. it talks about protecting the nation that we love. we are not here to apologize. we are not going on an apology tours. we don't think america is the new imperial power that needs to be taken down a peg or two. it's about protecting everything we love about this country. it's got a new principle. it's called principled realism. it talks truthfully about the threats we face. there is no political correctness in this document. we even have in there the phrase jihadi, okay. you know, the political correctness of the last eight years is gone. we talk about russia. we talk about china. we talk about the threat from illegal migration. you haven't seen anything

like this for 20, 25 years. brian: not looking for preemptive war. george bush talked about that. because he didn't want to get hit by 9/11 again. can i totally understand it he feels as though it's not a policy can he subscribe to. not going to our way of life democracy. >> no. brian: going to have this revisionist nation. the revisionist nation. not saying they are enemies. he labels china and russia because they are looking to change the balance by invading other nations and building islands respectively. >> yeah. bingo. brian, here this is a president who is making clear in this document that invading other people's countries and occupying them neo conservative kind of policy is unamerican. we don't do that. that's not who we are. it's 1776 means something. it's a rejection of that kind of behavior. but, it rightly notes, there are countries out there, whether it's russia invading the ukraine, whether it's china with those fake islands you mentioned, that wants to intimidate their neighbors, wants to displace

america as a force for good in the world. and we're not going to let them, brian. steve: it's peace through strength, isn't it? >> absolutely. it's two things. it's peace through strength so returning to that golden era of the reagan attitude to the military. another thing is america first. not america alone. we will stand by nations that share our judy deo christian values, whether it's israel. whether it's poland, whoever it is. but it's not going to be an adventurist american policy. steve: gotcha. ainsley: dr. gorka, thanks for being with us this morning. >> thanks, ainsley. merry christmas. brian: what's it really like on our southern border. >> 400 a day across the southwest border. the average dale lay week is about 1300. brian: 1300 people across the southwest border? brian: that's just one sector. i just took a trip down there to maccallum, texas. what you will see are the people, the men and women doing this on a daily basis. trying to keep us safe on the border and what needs to

be done. ainsley: thank goodness the lights are back on at the world's busiest airport. what were they doing while they were waiting? carley shimkus is here with some of the best. hello, carley sensing your every move and automatically adjusting to help you stay effortlessly comfortable. i can even help with a silent night. does your bed do that? i don't actually talk but i can tell you how you slept. i'm the new sleep number 360 smart bed. let's meet at a sleep number store. does it look like i'm done? shouldn't you be at work? [ mockingly ] "shouldn't you be at work?" todd. hold on. [ engine revs ] arcade game: fist pump! your real bike's all fixed. man, you guys are good! well, we are the number-one motorcycle insurer in the country. -wait. you have a real motorcycle? and real insurance, with 24-hour customer support.

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♪ ♪ ainsley: the lights are finally back on after that plaqueout after it crippled the world's most busiest airport. >> every hour it just kept increasing and increasing why an hour delay until they finally told us that it would be six hours. steve: they had nothing to do except take to social media managing to laugh during that long, long time. here with some of their reaction headlines 24/7 reporter. she was on at 5:00 a.m. this morning. carley shimkus. carley: here i am at 7:55.

steve: did you a great job. ainsley: first time anchor ago show. you did great. carley: thank you so much. ainsley: let's talk about this. because this effected a lot of people. >> we are laughing on this couch. people are upset. rightfully so. thousands of passengers stranded for hours at the worst possible time, the holiday season. can you believe it? still some people managed to laugh it off a little bit. steve: sure. >> a surprising number of tweets were kind of funny about this whole situation. we have some of the best ones. caroline tweeted attempting to get in or out of atlanta just an fyi, i think the first episode of the walking dead started like this. so she was kind of describing as apocalyptic kind of situation there. steve: sure. carley: interestingly enough chick-fil-a is always closed on sunday. one of the things they are known for. they surprised people. they fed stranded passengers at the airport. tweeted about it all you have to do is get chick-fil-a on sunday is cut the power at the world's busiest airport.

ainsley: i think that was a good decision by if i can fillet. >> absolutely. elena say going in on hour three plane powerless airport. the discussion about feminism did not go well. next controversial topic, religion? climate change? taking suggestions. i hope she is joking about that. brian: sitting on a plane for three hours. having family nimple be a topic of conversation. ainsley: i think about the parents on there with little infants, toddlers. steve: what about this one? ainsley: terrible situation. airport in dallas a much different situation. check out adorable video two little girls dancing with an southwest airlines employee. they are like mirroring his moves. it's absolutely adorable. steve: dancing with the guy. just adorable. good way to pass the time. carley: they had fun. people in atlanta? not so much.

brian: sirius radio 115. carley: thank you. ainsley: ivanka trump is going to weigh in when she is live next. steve: house majority leader kevin mccarthy next.

>> what a week it's going to be on capitol hill. today we're going to see about bruce and his wife and what their relationship is with fusion gps. >> orr is a guy who met with fusion gps. why would someone from doj be -- by the way, his wife worked for them. >> united on tax reform without one democrat on board. >> democrats are opposing this bill for the same reason republicans are supporting it. and that's because it's going to work. >> you look at the thing buy in large, it is very meaningful for middle class families. ainsley: the america first focus. >> this is necessary reassessment of what our

interests really are and what we really can and need to accomplish in the foreign policy realm. >> a massive power outage brought heart field jackson international airport in atlanta to a complete stand still for 11 hours. >> the daily average for a week, the last seven days is about 1,300. >> 1,300 people across. ♪ ♪ steve: ho-ho-ho. hold everything it's the 8:00 hour of fox and friends live from midtown, manhattan. welcome aboard, folks. brian: we play every song on the album. steve: wither. listen, today on this monday, we are exactly one week away from christmas 2017. ainsley: so just fun. i'm so excited. brian: are you? ainsley: yeah. everyone's off next week. brian: i'm excited. but there's still a lot to

do. steve: yeah, because you were just showing us. because just a moment ago -- i'm not going to reveal what it was but brian was still shopping for his wife. brian: we're on a countdown clock. she's not easy to shop for. ainsley: getting everyone's opinion. you're going to love whatever he gets you. but everyone has a different opinion. you need to get her something good because that's the only thing you have to do this week because we know don does everything for you. that is so true. steve: and, by the way, please thank your wife for our christmas gift from you. ainsley: we got a christmas gift from don kilmeade. brian: she knows. she says i definitely signed my name to the gift. ainsley: she didn't. so we got a christmas gunfight from don. now we're waiting for one from brian. brian: steve said this back in 1973. no appliances for your wife. steve: that's right. brian: no irons. steve: nothing with a plug. brian: right. ainsley: jewelry. don't give her a vacuum. let's talk about some news today. steve: and the big news is

with christmas a week away, a lot of people are traveling. and if they were stopped or flying into or out of atlanta yesterday, it was nothing but trouble. the lights were out, no electricity, and over 1,000 flights were canceled. >> talk about frustration. power is now back on at the world's busiest airport where thousands of passengers are still stranded sashed this morning because of that power outage. brian: todd piro was not in atlanta. he's here. >> yeah. this outage absolutely messing up holiday travel for passengers. canceling more than 100 flights with hundreds more grounded today. people waiting around in terminals for hours after lights shut off around 1:00. the mayor saying an electrical fire might have caused this outage. >> the lights flickered once. it was really scary but we were, like, hopefully nothing happens and they flickered again and never came back. >> i literally spent the whole

seven hours on a a few without food or water. >> we had to go through the tunnel and black. it was scary. >> fires describing the lights going out. some terrified about what was happening. the airport's chick-fil-a typically closed on sundays came to the rescue. handing out 2,000 meals to stranded passengers. you know chick-fil-a is typically not open on sundays because of religious reasons. the lights did not come back on until midnight more than 11 hours later. airport is rapidly turning to normal operations but this disruption as you know comes as the holiday travel season is ramping up with many passengers spending the night sleeping in the airport atrium and concourses. not a great way to kick off your holiday season if you're traveling to see grandma, you know? steve: no kidding. all right. what a mess. thank you very much, todd. meanwhile, let's talk about this: on this monday, we look ahead to the week, and it looks as if the republicans in congress and the republicans

in the white house could be on the cusp of a huge victory as the house is getting set to vote on the first major tax reform in this country in decades. looks like tax cut tuesday could be just around the corner. ainsley: that is a huge victory for republicans. they really this need going into the christmas or finishing up the first year. brian: right. there will be seven brackets still. but the brackets will be different. lots different when it comes to deductions. we get into detail with kevin mccarthy. the majority leader at 8:15 a.m. and also ask the majority leader if he's going to be missing a speaker in 2018. is it true paul ryan is going to retire? steve: there's a rumor out there and then paul ryan said don't believe it. brian: he's not like absolutely not. i'm staying for 20 years. ainsley: ivanka is also going to be with us. you'll see one today that's bruce orr from doj and then tomorrow the fbi director andrew mccabe. steve: now, who is bruce or are? ainsley: his wife works for

fusion gps. he was subsidy -- his wife works for the doj. he was assigned to work on the russia collusion investigation. people started saying wait a minute. this guy, his wife works for fusion gps? wait a minute. he sat down and met with christopher steel, the guy who wrote the dirty dossier. this guy seems to be bias and now he's investigating the president? steve: right. he got fired from the mueller investigation. he's still a high-ranking official at the department of justice, but he's off the mueller case. brian: all right. now they're also going to be talking to andy mccabe tomorrow. he's the deputy director, former acting director of the fbi. worked extremely tight with james comey. many people feel he's very loyal to comey. you know now the president called james comey a bit of a whack job. so i think that there might be some agenda there, and i'm very curious about the text messages just in case president trump won the election. meanwhile, this other rumor. so it was all of these things,

these story lines, legitimate story lines very curious and with republicans saying what is going on with the mueller investigation, are there conflicted people at the top level of the mueller investigation? all of a sudden this story comes out of left field that the president is set to fire robert mueller. which, by the way, is not rooted in the white house. so with the story line that doesn't exist, everyone makes it a number one story to cover and get insight from, including the former attorney general. steve: eric holder tweeted this out. absolute red line. the firing of robert mueller. tampered with, there must be mass popular peaceful support of votes. the american people must be seen and heard. they ultimately will be determined. meanwhile, the former president, barack obama a fellow by the name of walt, he

took to twitter and made it sound pretty grim. is. ainsley: this weekend stocking up on chargers from when we are on the streets. it will be a defining moment for the republic. steve: look, the president of the united states yesterday, he had heard these rumors but then again we heard these rumors for months, you know? it's not -- the president doesn't libeling the way the investigation is going to go. he's going to get rid of mueller. jeff sessions should have recused himself. we heard that on a cycle. on a loop for months. yesterday, given the jackie spire rumor, he had to respond, and he did with this. >> quite sad to see that. so my people are very upset about it. i can't imagine there's anything on them, frankly, because as we said, there's no collusion. there's no collusion whatsoever. but a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad.

no, i'm not. brian: he's not looking to fire him. but he wants the investigation over. he wants the house and the senate to be wrapped up and they're desperate to keep this going on because it could hurt the president. maybe there's people there that sincerely want to get to the bottom of it and there's other guys like adam schiff who are making clear of it. and maybe possibly some feel leaky stories are inaccurate to members of the press. steve: look, there are has been no information. if there was something there, we would have heard it by now because it is so leaky. anthony scaramucci, who is the president's communication director for 11 days, he pointed out earlier, said from what they can tell, there's absolutely no collusion. watch this. >> listen, i think he's probably frustrated by the process. i think he knows in his heart he didn't do anything wrong as it relates to russia or that sort of stuff. he probably doesn't like the nonsense as it relates to a

distraction, but he's certainly not going to fire mueller. i think he's too smart to do something like that. he doesn't need another distraction on top of that distraction. i was there for 18 months, and i was also -- look, i was in the white house for 11 days. some people say ten days. it hurts my feelings. let's just go with 11. but at the end of the day i know the president didn't do anything wrong. there with him. steve: the president outside council jay is still calling for a second special investigation. ainsley: yeah, the president said there was no collusion with russia, but he does want to continue to have a relationship with vladimir putin. he called him over the weekend or a few days ago and said, look, there's going to be a terrorist attack, and he thwarted that because the u.s. called and warned them, and they were able to prevent it. brian: and spoke on friday and the hour-long press conference and said seems to me the president is doing a good job, the economy is going but the problem with the spy mania is stopping any progress with the russia american relations. steve: all right. so that -- you're up to date right now with what's going on.

>> there are a few more headlines we need to tell our viewers about. we now know a u.s. soldier killed by ambush in niger fought until the very end. two senior defense officials tell fox news sergeant david johnson wasn't executed or captured during the october attack as previous reports suggested. a military investigation found the 25-year-old was shot nearly 18 times, three other american soldiers. you see their pictures there including two green died in that attack. san diego firefighter cory iverson, the one who died battling the massive thomas wildfire. we told you about it last week, the precession of first responders covered nearly 200 miles. iverson leaves behind that little girl right there. 2-year-old daughter and his wife who happens to be pregnant. you are so generous. you all started a gofundme page for his family. has already raised $400,000.

that will help with college expenses and what their family needs. the worldwide effort to nullify president trump's historic jerusalem decision is intensifying today. the united nations security counsel is expected to vote on a measure from egypt that would avoid the decoration of city capitol. but the soths expected to veto that. if it does happen, it's going to go to the general assembly. and we'll keep you posted, of course. and hundreds attending the funeral of a purple heart recipient who they never even met. the indiana funeral home could not find any of the 68-year-old glenn shelton family members. so they reached out on facebook inviting people to come and pay their respects to the marine. >> i know he's looking down on us and just smiling because his family's here. his family is truly here. >> that is so cool. so many people showed up for that ceremony. it had touchdown to be moved because so many people showed up to a bigger venue where it was standing room only.

god bless everyone who went to that. that is really powerful. steve: indeed. ainsley: just some headlines for you. brian: all right. 13 minutes after the hour. there are hundreds of arrests at the southern border. it happens every day. i went there to talk firsthand with one of the worst sectors in the agency. and those agents that are working hard to keep us safe. we'll talk about the rio grande valley. steve: and a huge week for the president. ivanka trump will weigh in on it all when she joins us live in about 15 minutes we're on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, it's time to wake up to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there. press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me?

>> it helps the wealthiest, most powerful corporation and individuals, and it hurts the middle class. >> it's daylight robbery and the gop tax plan becomes even more cowardly outrageous, dishonest, brazen threat, sad for middle class families. steve: so there you've got the top democrats in the congress trashing the republican tax plan, which it looks like it's going to pass tomorrow or the next day. let's bring in house majority leader congressman kevin mccarthy of california. congressman, good morning to you. >> good morning. steve: okay. i'm confused. you say it is a tax cut for

businesses and the middle class. and the democrats on the other side of the aisle said the middle class is getting hosed. >> well, remember when nancy pelosi would say those types of things, they always go on raider. and the most you could ever get when you tell you something that's not true is four pinocchios, and she's gotten four. if the median family of four makes $73,000, they're going to save more than $2,000. the tax foundation just came out and scored this. the after tax of family is going to actually increase their income by 1.8%. this is a tax cut. if you're a family of four making 55,000, you pay zero in federal tax. this is an advantage for all of america to get stronger and more competitive. steve: okay. i've got a pretty good feeling it's going to pass overwhelmingly in the house because there's a large majority there. what about in the senate? because john mccain has gone home for the christmas holiday. are republicans in the senate confident they don't need his

vote? >> i believe when you saw senator corker come out. remember, corker voted against the first version. this version is even better than the first one too because we took the best of both bills. but we need to keep john mccain and his family in our prayers. steve: we do, indeed. let's talk about something that happens one midnight after midnight on saturday morning, and that is the federal government is going to shut down, unless you extend the funding for the government. it sounds like the democrats are going to be -- the line in the sand, and that is unless there's a daca deal in there, something for the dreamers, they're going to let the government shut down. is that what you're hearing? >> not only hearing it, i watched it a week ago because we moved government funding for two weeks. no change in government. and that's when nancy pelosi said the president's the only one talking about a shutdown. she not only voted against funding government for two weeks, she went against it holding her members until

republicans passed it all the way. and normally when it comes to these continuing resolutions where it's funding government for a short time, it's usually half the republicans, half the democrats come together to do that. but really, they're playing political games because they think republicans will get blamed for shutting down the government when they're doing it. steve: but leader of the house freedom caucus very clear, they're not going to vote for it. too much spending. >> well, the one thing you see when you're just moving government for the short-term, and this is where the house is very upset because we have passed all of our appropriation bills. we want to make sure the military has the resources they need. and remember, in our bill, the pay raise starting january 1st. but the longer that the democrats delay, that doesn't happen. steve: well, you have a busy week. thank you very much for spending five minutes with us here at fox and friends. >> thank you very much. steve: kevin mccarthy of california. meanwhile, what is it really like at our american southern border and mexico? brian just took a trip there.

coming up see the men and women who keep america safe each and every day. >> 400 a day here across the southern border. the last seven days is about 1,300. brian: 1,300? 1,300 people across the southwest border. ♪ i tried hard to quit smoking. ♪ but when we brought our daughter home that was it. ♪ now i have nicoderm cq. the nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. it's the best thing that ever happened to me. can you say thanks nicoderm cq? every great why needs a great how.

steve: last week we showed you brian's exclusive interview with dhs secretary kiersten nielson. but why did she choose to go to that area on the border within days of her confirmation? brian: i asked border patrol agents before and after the new homeland secretary, and here's what they had to say about their challenge. >> we have 400 day here cross the southwest border. the daily for the last week,

the average is about 1,300. brian: 1,300? those astonishing numbers are why newly confirmed homeland secretary kiersten nielson spent her first week with the border patrol agents on the rio grande area. >> we've heard that this is where we needed the wall. so i wanted to come see for myself why it was important to build here. >> this is the most active sector in the border patrol right now amongst the nine across the southwest border. more apprehensions and arrests are done here. more seizures are done here. and the problem with unaccompanied children and family, and this is more acute here than it is anywhere else on the border. >> part of the issue, the border wall in this area is not a straight wall. there are gaps in it. sometimes it's due to the terrain or natural barriers if and sometimes it's other factors. >> this is the santa ana wildlife refugee. we cannot build roads. >> it has limitations to law enforcement. but it does not have limitations to the criminal organizations. >> frustrating; right? >> very frustrating. >> we tend to have the discussion about the law with

respect to illegal immigration problems. you can forget it's criminal, it's traffickers, it's special interest aliens, potentially terrorists. it's all the same pathway. >> a half mile through this ballard fencing is mexico and currently over 400 people are trying to get through any given day. some successfully. how does that number come down again? congress has to act. >> they watch what's happening in congress. they watch what's happening as part of our national conversation. they're watching everything we do and learning from it, finding out how to exploit it. >> the numbers don't lie. >> chief, let's take a look at this. in january 25th, the new administration takes over. the rhetoric is strong and what is the result in terms of crossings? >> so this is the number of individual family units and unaccompanied children that are arrested here in the rio grande valley during those timeframes. brian: look at the drop; right? >> yeah. it's amazing. it's 45-year low in may. brian: and then what happens? >> so the calculation starts to change. since may, these loopholes

that exist in current law are now being reexploited. brian: and the numbers go up again? >> so consequences matter, and that's a demonstration of it. brian: and it's not just facts and figures, it's what the actual border that's are experiencing as well. you talk about trends. what did you see in january of this year and what are you seeing now? >> trends, they were starting in january. things kind of calmed down. but they've kind of reescalated again, and we started seeing an increase of more people coming in and just continuing to enter. >> we are seeing an upscale in the hard narcotics. that's gone up a lot. brian: we know how the white house wants to fix that. >> we are building a wall on the southern border, which is absolutely necessary. >> what did the president tell you when you got the job? >> build the wall. protect our country. brian: what did the men and women of cpb think? if someone could build a barrier, would that help?

>> easier said than done. but of course it would help out. >> a wall works where we use it. we put fences and walls around things that we want to protect in this country. our homes, communities, parks, individual factories. we put fences around them because they work. >> and for those who work the border, this is not just a job, it's a mission. >> definitely we know for the majority of the folks here, they want to be safe. the more impact that we can have on illegal immigration, the better for them because they feel safe. >> also the law that we're not discriminating or being prejudice towards any particular race or ethnicity. we're just doing our job. steve: what a job it is. brian: yeah. and that last agent left arena football to work the border. ainsley: wow. tough guy. brian: and he says you can't have a bad day. the minute you have a bad day, guys are getting through, and he feels being it's the same team work attitude you have playing college or pro football. ainsley: you can have a bad day. what does he mean by that?

brian: you can't. ainsley: oh, i misunderstood you. steve: man, oh, man. great job going down there. brian: it was great of them to do that. i'm going to go back at night with my night vision glasses. they said it will be really ruckus. i would like to do that. meanwhile, 29 minutes after the hour. make sure republican congressman darrell is out of a job. his response? >> when jane puts $100,000 into defeat you, i have so little respect for her after she betrayed our country. brian: right. and he was not done. and got more challenges from other celebrities. steve: and from tax reform to a new national security strategy, it is a huge week for president donald trump. hey, look who's here. ivanka trump is going to join us, and we've got plenty of questions to ask her. she's next on fox and friends. - [narrator] imagine a shirt that actually makes

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trump: as a candidate, i promised we would pass a massive tax cut for the everyday working american families who are the backbone and the heartbeat of our country. we want to give you the american people a giant tax cut for christmas. steve: sounds good. brian: on the threshold of just that. ivanka trump has been getting her hands dirty through this entire process, talking to lawmakers about the deal and making sure it comes out. ivanka trump, thank you back to the couch. >> thank you i love being here. brian: do you feel as though you're across the finish

line? >> so in business until it's done, it's not done, but we feel very, very confident. the momentum is there. we're very excited when the vote is done, we'll be done that we're going to deliver historic tax reforms, and it's going to happen before christmas and the fulfillment of a enormous campaign promise, and it's going to be something that's tremendously important for the american people. we feel it. this is something that the people of this country want. they want simplification. they want a tax code that they can understand. they want lower corporate taxes and understand the benefit if the companies they work for can invest in their workforces and invest in new equipment and ultimately lead to wage growth. and i think what we've done on the individual side by doubling the standard deduction, by doubling the child tax credit and increasing the refundability to $2,000 a child. by creating dependent care tax credit for those in -- for those many americans who can be care of adult dependents

who aren't children who are above the age of 18 but who are still dependent on them. steve: there are so many people this benefits. >> uh-huh. steve: you would think that there would be some democrats that say you know what? i'm for tax cuts for the middle class. i'm for helping small businesses. why aren't there any democrats? >> one would think that and there are a lot of democrats and they're all across this country. steve: but what about the ones in the senate? >> well, you know, we've had a lot of very productive conversations with democrats who i believe are intellectually there. their hearts are there but the party's not there and the leadership's not there. brian: leadership's not letting them. >> and that's unfortunate. but i'm hopeful with this really enormous and historic win for the american people we come into 2018 with such tremendous momentum that we galvanize support and cohesion not only within the party because i think one of the amazing things with how the party has come together, worked together to accomplish with what the american people

want. ainsley: we keep hearing chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, we had some guests on this morning. they keep saying it's going to hurt the middle class. but when you look at the tax brackets, everyone's numbers go down. where are they getting that? is that just a sound byte with a narrative that they want you to believe? or is it actually true? >> well, keep in mind that the vast majority of congress and democrats signed a letter knowing what was in the tax bill saying that they wouldn't be for tax reform. >> before they read it. >> before they read it and before any of the details, even the principles had been released. so i think we are in a very partisan climate in that regard. but the core principle of tax reform, the president and all of congress has been very, very articulate of since day one the president said that he wanted to deliver middle income tax relief. targeted middle income tax relief, and he also wanted to cut corporate rates to enable our businesses to be competitive and to thrive in a global economy.

and this bill does exactly those things. brian: from 50 to 28, that's substantially. and tax cuts for the rich. but possibly the thing that's going to be most outstanding for this and it's permanent is the corporate tax rate. so it goes from 35 to 21. now, if these ceos and these corporations decide to invest in their own dividends and buy their own stock, that would not make it an effective corporate tax cut. it would make all those naysayers say i told you so. have you reached out to any of these ceos and said what do you plan on doing with the tax break? and, you know, even though you can't make them do anything, do you let them know what is at stake if they don't? >> 100%. and we've been working very, very closely with the whole business community. businesses large and small. so from day one, their voices have been represented at the table. if you think about it, small businesses will have the lowest taxes since 1931. so think about how that gives them the latitude to be able to invest in growth.

so when you look at the developed world, the reality is the decades past and last major conference of tax reform under reagan, the rest of the world realized that cutting taxes enabled them to be competitive and their rates dropped dramatically below ours. so this puts us on par or below. it's going to enable us to be competitive, and then it's going to enable these big companies and small companies to grow. and when you grow, you create jobs, you create wage growth, and we're seeing that. and that combined with the administration's aggressive deregulatory action is really fueling tremendous growth. steve: you just mentioned president reagan. he had a strength and coming up this afternoon on fox news channel, your dad is going to be appearing at the ronald reagan building in washington, d.c. to unveil the national security strategy. how is this different than president obama's national security strategy?

>> well, it's based on the principles of america first. it's the principles that he's complained on and that he's governed based on since inception. i think what's remarkable is no president has rolled out. it's highly unusual for a president to roll out comprehensive national security strategy within the first year. so this is yet another amazing milestone for this presidency and this administration and i don't want to share with you too much about the content of the speech. but you know nothing will surprise you. he's been unbelievably consistent, and we're starting to see it really bear fruit in the war against isis and extremism around the globe in terms of our strength and our foundational relationship with those that we are competing with. from an economic perspective, if not a security perspective. so you'll hear him articulate that but it has been

unbelievable strategy, and it's going to be articulated by the president, which is also unusual. normally the president himself does not share the principles of the national security strategy but this is so important to him and so consistent with the views he has long held in which the american people voted on that he wanted to share with the american people himself. ainsley: i know you're going to hit the road today. you're going to connecticut with the female ceo of ibm. what have you all been doing? >> well, jenny is so amazing and has been engaged with the administration for a long period of time, and she shares my deep passion for the workforce development and apprenticeships. so she expanded workforce apprenticeships in america to earn while they learn and jenny has done a great job teaming up with local high schools with community colleges, and with ibm to

create a curriculum that will enable these students to graduate not only with a high school degree but with a associates degree and a job. and that's key. for us -- and this does tie into the picture of economic growth and tax reform. we want to create opportunities for all americans. some americans going to college is not the right or the best alternative for them. so ensuring that we have growth in this country and that we align the skills being taught in the classroom with the modern economy. and they've done great work on this front. it's a huge focus of ours. brian: and get rid of the stigma. working with your hands is a much-needed skill in this country. mike rowe, john talked about it. real quick before we go. >> six million unfilled jobs in large part due to the skills gap that exists that people aren't used to creating things or building things anymore, and we really want to change that, so we're investing deeply in technical education, and

apprenticeships. steve: we need welders, we need plumbers. >> and especially as we move into 2018 and focus on infrastructure and rebuilding our roads and our bridges and all of the great assets of this country. so as part of that, we're also going to be investing deeply in our workforce, which is the best in the world. brian: i know you have to run. but there's two -- you had a assignment talked with senator susan collins, make sure she was in the fray and senator bob corker, two big assignments. bob corker and the president have heeled their rit of. whoawhose role did you play with that? >> i worked with congress hoping there would be a bipartisan support giving the popularity of tax recommend reform just generally. but i was very involved in the process of meeting with legislatures generally. talking with them, hearing their concerns, addressing those concerns, traveling to their states to show that not only did we believe in this intellectually, but we weren't afraid to go before their

constituents and say this is good. this is good for your state and this is good for the country. so i spent a lot of time on the capitol on the hill on talking -- i have great respect for senator collins, great respect for senator corker. i'm so glad that he came around and gave his vote. and he cited, actually, as part of his decision not only the tax reform is critical and important to the country, but when coupled with deregulation. brian: right? >> that would create the type of growth that we need as a country not to incur a larger deficit. steve: that's what they all ran on. so it's good they're going to get a chance to vote in a couple of days, and it looks like it's going to pass. ivanka. thank you very much. >> thank you. ainsley: happy hanukkah. >> thank you. steve: still ahead, it's a great day for bitcoin. what is happening what does it mean for you, and what exactly is a bitcoin. brian: that's the other thing. and think identity politics is new? think again. turns out it all started with our founding fathers.

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steve: we have quick headlines for you on this monday morning. first of all, republican congressman darrell is firing back at jane fonda after she donated $100,000 to kick him out of his seat. >> i have so little respect for her after she betrayed our country all those years ago and literally caused prisoners of war to be further punished. so if that's the best they can do is come out with somebody who should have been jailed instead of notarized, i'm okay. steve: as you may know, fonda earned the nickname hanna jane after she visited north street

veto no, ma'am of the war to protest. others making donations to help turn california's seat blue. the nearly two dozen nfl players protested this past weekend as the hill reports viewership is down 9% overall. and check out our friend rob o'neill help rally vikings fans in minnesota. that's cool. the man who killed osama bin laden leading the viking chant before the team's 34-7 win over the cincinnati bengals. and that is -- ainsley: that's the biggest drum i've ever seen. steve: very good. ainsley: wow. brian: 12 minutes now before the top of the hour. more players getting into the bitcoin game. ainsley: td ameritrade. steve: jeff flock in fox

business inside the chicago exchange where apparently they're going to start trading that mysterious thing. >> they have been doing so, steve, since late yesterday, and i take you right to the board so you can see how much your bitcoin is worth because i'm sure everybody has bitcoin out here; right? that's the btcf8 as we've been getting more complicated than we already are. it got as high as $20,000 on early trading and then it dropped down to about 18,345. it's currently trading at 19,340. the contract opened at 195. so you've lost about $160 on bitcoin. what is bitcoin? well, it's a currency like anything else. and, you know, like this piece of currency in my hand, it used to get you maybe four cups of coffee. now it gets you a sip of coffee if you go to the right coffee store. what this does, though, bitcoin trading here. of course, bitcoin is a way to pay for something and keep your identity secret, which some people look at as a

negative. other people look at it as a rebellion against the fed for printing too much money. i mean, after all, currency is only what we agree it's worth. just to give you the numbers on this. today, so far volume 714 bitcoin contracts have traded here at the cme. that's five bit coins of contract. and if you do the math on that, that's $69 million worth of bitcoin has been traded just so far today here at the cme. get yours now while it's cheap. brian: virtually. steve: before midnight. jeff flock, thank you very much. brian: all right. do you think identity politics is new? think again. it turns out it all started with our founding fathers. we're going to explain next. steve: but first, let's check in with sandra smith for what's coming up at the top of the hour. sandra. >> hello, everybody. happy holiday week to you guys. power finally restored at the world's busiest airport after more than 1,000 flights were grounded just days before christmas. many still stuck. we'll have an update. plus, president trump set to

deliver a major speech this afternoon on national security and as he faces his first major legislative win, taxes. we'll have all of this for you. a huge show. america's newsroom coming up top of the hour. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ it all starts with a wish. the final days of wish list are here. hurry in and sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complementary first months payment.

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brian: all right. is identity politics reshaping our republic? our next guest says it's nothing new and has been around since the beginning. conflicts over race, sex, and class reflect contradictions in the idea of representation that have been present since america parted ways with king george. joining us right now, features editor for the wall street journal jason. so, jason, this is built into our system. in what way? >> yeah. so i think the american republic was formed because in part people were

worried british parliament doesn't represent people like us. ordinary americans felt people in parliament, they don't know what it's like to be in america or to be in the new world, and we want people who will represent our interests. so we fought a revolution over that. and then after the revolution once again, we had antifederalists and federalists arguing against each other for the writing of the constitution and the antifederalist said we want people represented who are germans and who are presbyterians and carpenters. and the federalists said, no, we have a common interest. we should not have specific groups arguing against one another for their own narrow interest. >> and that was alexander hamilton. so having that system, you say it used to function better than what it did right now. what went wrong? >> well, i'm not sure it ever funding that much better. i think a lot of the founders whereby the historian gordon wood who i talked about in the piece, he said a lot of the founders who lived into the

19th century, they thought we have a lot more populism and a lot more identity politics in our republic than we had intended when we wrote the constitution. but i think the federalists had hoped that we argued about ideas more and argue about tribes less and have tribes pitted against one another less. brian: right and right now when you look at what's happening in america, do you think it's important to go back and see where we started to understand where we're going? >> yeah. i mean, i'm sympathetic to the federalists and to alexander hamilton. i think they had the right idea when they said we're a republic with one single interest, one nation that's working towards one common goal. we don't want whites and blacks fighting for narrow interest. we want sort of a -- brian: maybe the next candidate will actually do that. jason, thanks so much. love the perspective you brought. meanwhile, more fox and friends. we'll wrap up three hours if we can in just a moment i had frequent heartburn, but my doctor recommended...

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>> it looks like tomorrow will be tax tuesday. we have a great lineup of guests. >> sandra: newt gingrich, david bossie, steve amerson and his performance. >> one other guest not to be named. >> bill: good morning, everybody. breaking news now. new information on the massive power outage that helped cripple the nation's busiest airport in atlanta. thousands still stuck there. more on this coming up inside "america's newsroom" this morning. that's a big story. first this is a critical week for the white house and it kicks off at this hour. president trump set to deliver a speech unveiling his vision for national security as the white house inches closer to its first major legislative victory. hope you had a great christmas, hanukkah holiday weekend. brand-new week starts right now. i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom." >> sandra: a lot going