encourage our troops and to share a special holiday message. he went on to say "god bless the united states of america." most-watched, most grateful you spent the evening with us. good night from washington. i am shannon bream. ♪ >> tucker: good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." this evening we have brand new numbers, striking numbers that have never been seen before and they may reshape how you think about illegal immigration. so you have heard the same line a million times. it's repeated like a mantra by the left during every debate on the subject. all immigrants are hard-working and law abiding. they do jobs you wouldn't consider doing and they do them cheerfully. they sacrifice for theirco families in ways you probably don't. in fact, and this is always the last point, it's always delivered with the confident satisfaction of someone shutting down a debate withit superior data. undocumented immigrants actually commit fewer crimes on average than native bornn americans.

not only are immigrants more virtuous than you are, they are safer to be around. in other words, stope complaining, they are your superiors. but, wait, are we sure that that is true? are people who are in this country precisely because they were willing to break our immigration laws really less likely to break other r kinds of laws? it doesn't make a lot of sense. yet, until today, strangely enough, no one could say for sure whether it was true. because rival statistics didn't seem to exist. our government tracks pretty much every trend and every phenomenon you can think of, from how many pounds of pistachio nuts are recalled every year to how many fifth graders are injured on swing sets and how many people die bathtubs. this is a nation of record keepers. we are overseen by bureaucrat numbers control our lives except on this subject. somehow the government went for years without honestlyly trying to track the volume

of crime committed by illegal immigrants in this country.tt maybe they were too incompetent to do it. more likely, they didn't want you to know the answer or to think about it, even. in any case, we now for the first time have the actual numbers, and here they are. according to statistics from the u.s. sentencing commission, noncitizens are actually far more likely to commit serious crimes than americans are. noncitizens account for 22%, more than a fifth of all federal murder convictions. 18% of fraud convictions. 33% of money laundering convictions. 29% of drug trafficking convictions and 72% of convictions for drug possession. meanwhile, the noncitizen percentage of the american population? about 7%. so that is a massively disproportionate amount of time. not even close. no, immigrants are not more law abiding and less dangerous than americans. that's totally untrue. indeed, it's the opposite of the truth. noncitizens are more likely to be arrested, convicted

and imprisoned for serious than people who were born here. much more likely. why didn't we know this until now? why have so many people been lying to us about this for so long? that's a question we plan to ask a whole bunch of people. well, we will start tonight with the executive director of the national immigration forum and he joins us in the studio. thanks a lot for coming on. >> thanks for having me. >> tucker: this is a conversation i have had, i don't know, a dozen times in the past month on this show where people say, well, actually, noncitizens are less likely to commit crimes. and they cite some kato study. now we have definitive numbers on this, that shows noncitizens are not less -- they are far more likely to commit those crimes. why are we just learning this now? >> the bigger question i i

think, tucker, is how do we make sure that we are keeping the nation secure in a way that's using ourat valuable law enforcement resource in the best way. i will be the first to tell you that we are a nation of laws. and we are a nation that should be keeping americans safe. >> tucker: right.we >> let's make sure that law enforcement are in a position to do their job and get those violent threats. those public safety threats off the streets.eca particularly if they are immigrants.of the way do you that is that you make sure that the immigrant community can trust local law enforcement. so that's why i'm concerned about the direction of the administration. when it comes to immigration enforcement, because they are actually undermining the ability of law enforcement.em >> tucker: this is like this weird alchemy where enforcing border laws makes us less safe. let me ask you if 22% of murder convictions , noncitizens but only 7% of the population noncitizen. that suggests we are letting in the wrong people. >> it suggests we should be doing a much better job in terms of local law enforcement. the way to do that is to make sure that the immigrant community is in a position to report crimes. at the end of the day, those individuals who are immigrants who are committing those crimes, do you know who the most likely

victim is, the immigrant. >> tucker: that's irrelevant. hold on, so you are saying, wait, hold on, let's just pause and let these numbers kind of settle. these are not been public until today. 22% of all federal murder convictions, noncitizens. 33% of money laundering convictions, noncitizen. 29% drug trafficking. 72% of all convictions for drug possession, noncitizen. noncitizens are far more likely to commit serious crimes than native born. citizens. and foreign born citizens for that matter. why shouldn't this make us radically curtail immigration into the country? >> it makes me want to radically make sure that law enforcement are able to do their job because again, those crimes are being committed within the immigrant community. >> tucker: no. some are, some aren't. hold on, we got these numbers today so we actually don't really know where these crimes are being committed. we don't know anything about it other than this. this this is the first hard data we have on this.

>> the research shows that the immigrant community is the victim -- is the disproportionate -- >> tucker: it doesn't. matter. why are we letting in people who are many times a more likely to commit murder, fraud, drug trafficking, than people who are born here? why don't we think through who we let in? doesn't it suggest that to you? >> it suggests to me that our immigration system is fundamentally broken. we need to make sure that those individuals who are here who are undocumented are registering for legal status, passing a criminal background check, learning english and coming -- >> tucker: i get you have your preexisting priorities. you do it for a living. i respect that. p these are brand new numbers. we didn't know them when we woke up this morning. now we do. the debate is over. noncitizens are far more likely to commit crime than citizens. with that in mind, does that shock you? >> it shocks me we haven't been addressing the problem the correct way. >> tucker: why have we been saying the opposite? with such great authorities, all these years. "actually, you know, according

to cato or some think tank" can we pause and say we were totally wrong about what we have been saying? >> the problem here is we want to get violentin criminals off the street, correct? >> tucker: we don't want them in here in the first place. why are we making law enforcement deal with these people? why don't we stop it at the border and then we don't have to put our police and citizens at risk? >> i think that's a great idea. the way do you that is that you make sure you have a functioning legal immigration system and a process for people to go through. ale only people who aree hiding from law enforcement -- >> tucker: don't we bring in more than a million people legally every year? >> it's clearly out of whack. we are also a much bigger country. >> tucker: more than every other country in the world? no, we are not a bigger country. >> our workforce is actually much more dynamic. >> tucker: maybe. leaving the economics aside. that's another show, another debate. i just want to acknowledge that one of the core operating assumptions that we have had for years, and i have been at the center of this, was wrong. not just wrong but totally wrong. it was a lie.

does that make you reassess what you thought a little bit? >> what i want to assess is how do we solve the problem? if you want to quibble about statistics you should bring somebody from kato.ut >> tucker: it's not quibbling. what we have been claiming is the very opposite of the truth. >> i want to focus on solving problems. that problem is criminals here public safety threats. i want them off the streets, tucker. only way you can do that is to make sure that the crimes they commit is being reported by the victims. if the victim is anay immigrant, we need to make sure -- >> tucker: clearly someone is reporting these crimes. we don't have a problem with that because, again, the -- i mean, we have disproportionately bigi numbers here. my question is why do you think noncitizens are committing crimes at far greater rate than americans are?on >> i think we have got to make sure that individuals coming to the country are properly vetted. they are going through the process they need to. >> tucker: you admit they haven't been properly vetted. >> the folks here undocumented we need to require they pass a criminal background check. that is our biggest problem right now. undocumented immigrant

violent threat to our public. safety, they are the ones hiding. >> tucker: why wouldn't we t just build a wall, like the public kind of wants that, what's your argument against thatat exactly? >> if you want to solve a problem of the border, you want to focus where the problem is. the majority of drugs, money, they are smuggled at the ports of entry. >> tucker: these are not drugs and guns though. rest people committing crimes. >> those individuals committing those crimes. >> tucker: you think a wall wouldn't help at all because why? >> i want to put money where the risk is on the border.r. where the majority -- >> tucker: we didn't know there was this risk until about two hours ago. maybe we should pause and think about these numbers because they are shocking. you will concede that? thank you. >> thank you. >> tucker: mark steyn is an author and columnist, he joins us. mark, are you surprised by these numbers?ey yot >> no, i'm not. i think it accords with most people's experience of the transformative effect of immigration and it's logical, too. that when a first world country imports continuously

a large, unskilled population into its country illegally, that is -- that is an act of law breaking at the conception. and there is no reason why they would then have any other respect for other laws. and, to be honest, i found that last five minutes surreal where, you know, your guest's main concern is certain illegal immigrants are getting crimes committed against them by other illegal immigrants and they are scared to go to the police. that's not what these statistics show. these statistics, which for political correctness reasons, we were prevented from knowing in recent years, show that this country is in effect importing a criminal class. and it does not check any aspect of the criminal class it imports. now, the few of us who have the misfortune to go through the legal immigration

system, i went to see neil at homeland security in manchester, new hampshire, a couple years ago and he asked me whether i committed any crimes and i said i had been pulled over by a traffic cop in vermont for passing a little old lady at 17 miles per hour but i got the case dismissed. neil from homeland security in manchester, new hampshire, wanted to see proof that the state of vermont had actually dismissed that complaint againstrm me. so, we have a bifurcated system here in which law abiding people have to dot every i and cross every t and every single day we import drug gangs, moneyru launderers, drunk drivers, the lobbyist group your previous guest represented somehow thinks this is in the interest of the united states. it's not at all. >> tucker: the rector of my

church spent the better part of a year waiting for a visa. he spent 20 years in the british army. they didn't want any more scottish anglicans in this vt country. [laughter] all of congress is arguing how a we can keep people who snuck in here illegally. you are a bigot if you are not for people coming illegally. the key argument has always been immigrants are better than we are. isn't that the argument you hear every day? they commit fewer crimes and work harder.n'um they are just better people. how dare you complain about them. now that we know these crime rates are way higher thann they are for american native born, what's their argument now? >> well, nancy pelosi has said that we ought to thank the parents of the dreamers for bringing them here because as you say, they are better than us.he if you listen to people like your previous guest, everyry single dreamer is a valedictorian wrapping up third tour of afghanistan. they are way better than us.s. the only way to get

depravity down in the united states is to import more and more low skilled immigrants illegally across the rio grande. that's the argument that they are saying. oh, no, you are much safer being in a town of illegalal immigrants than you are in a town whose population got off the mayflower. and the fact of the matter is this is absolutely the inverse of the truth. the statistics you cited. even taking as a whole, 94% of these noncitizen criminals in federal custody and by the way, this is just the tip of the iceberg. c 90% of incarceration is at the state and local level. but the proportion show that about 94% of these noncitizen criminals in u.s. federal prison are illegal immigrants. why does any country need to import a criminal class? if that is one of the jobs that americans will do? americans are happy to

murder and rape and sell drugs to each other, you don't need to import other people to do that. >> tucker: one job that americans are less interested in is voting democrat. these are people who will do that. that's kind of the point of the whole thing. mark steyn, thank you. >> that's right.yn thanks a lot, tucker. merry christmas to you. >> tucker: merry christmas. thank you. it's a scandal that won't die, joined by another that is brand new. new information tonight on the investigation into uranium one and obama administration's soft treatment of the terror group hezbollah. stay tuned. ♪ i saw the change in rich when we moved into the new house.

but having his parents over was enlightening. ♪ you don't like my lasagna? no, it's good. -hmm. -oh. huh. [ both laugh ] here, blow. blow on it. you see it, right? is there a draft in here? i'm telling you, it's so easy to get home insurance on progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto. we're on a mission to show the new keurig k select brewer is the strong way to start your day. pop that in there. hit strong. press brew. that's it. strong. bold. rich. i feel like you're toying with me. show me how strong you are. (screams) lift me up! dan! lift me up!

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♪ >> tucker: the obama owministration has been out of power for almost a year, but we are still finding little easter eggs of scandal scattered around the front lawn of washington.ie at the request of jeff sessions, doj officials are interviewing fbi agents about the the rainy and one deal in an attempt to determine if another special counsel is warranted to keep investigating that. meanwhile, congress isis asking the department of justice to turn over all documents and communications related to an alleged multi-year effort under the last administration to basically give some space to hezbollah to sell drugs internationally including in this country, in order to make sure the iran deal went through. a former deputy secretary of hillary clinton. fleet, both of these stories, i think it's possible to overstate their significance. at the core both have important elements. let's start with uranium one. i'll concede you're a former

hilly hillary spokesperson. i don't think she is necessarily the villain of the story. >> thank you for the concession.. >> tucker: she iss the villain of the story. but the obama administration allowed russia, a russian controlled company, control over some large percentage of our uranium reserves. that's beyond dispute. why was that ever a good idea and why is no one in the press asking a really simple question like why did p you allow that to happen? >> i think they did.id there is a process for that it's called cfius. t >> tucker: iy know. >> any time any asset of the united states that has a national securityit implication is to be sold to a foreign element, it has to go through a very rigorous review. the secretary of state and the state department are a part of that, but there are nine departments and ultimately the president. now, in this case we can get into the real nitty gritty of it but we were not turning over the keys to the uranium kingdom.ut it passed muster and we were -- >> tucker: responsibility was diffuse. i will concede. >> not diffuse. always in the same administration.

>> tucker: but the macro question remains u unanswered, which is, the russian government wound up with control over uranium deposits in wyoming, in the united states. if you consider russia, our chief geostrategic rival, then why would you ever allow that? why is that a good idea? i don't understand. >> they were buying into a canadian company. >> tucker: correct. obama could have stopped. >> we could have and obviously the people who looked at this who have nothing at stake other than what's been in the besttke interest of our national security determined that this did not in any way impede that. >> tucker: given that we know there has never been ande adversary more terrifying or dangerous to a democracy than vladimir putin who literally haunts the dreams of 50% of the people in washington -- >> no disagreement here. >> tucker: i'm saying that sarcastically because i don't think he is the gravest threat to national security. every democrat thinks that but they allowed him control over our uranium. why haven't they apologized? >> there is nothing to apologize for. >> tucker: okay.

so how can he simultaneously -- >> the person who owes an apology at large is vladimir putin to all of us for what he has done to our democracy in the last year. >> tucker: he is evil you say.ur simultaneously, it's okay that the obama people allowed him controlling over our uranium. >> it's why we have a very rigorous process, no matter who the president's, so that we are not turning over assets that should not be in foreign hands. it was determined that this canadian company -- >> tucker: right. it was the wrong decision, obviously. why shouldn't the people who made it apologize and say, yes, i imperiled american national security by my lack of wisdom. by my foolishness and shortsightedness. i didn't understand how dangerous russia was. i am part i apologize. of the problem. i apologize. they do that in japan. why don't they do that here? >> i don't know who that would be. that's not me. secretary clinton didn't roll up her sleeves and get into -- >> tucker: her agency signed off on it, she should apologize, no? >> no. not on uranium one.

>> tucker: i kind of sensed you were going to say -- >> not on uranium one, no. >> tucker: what about the other question this evening, and that is the politico piece that pretty much demonstrates that treasury department and dea officials were stymied in their efforts to control hezbollah's international money laundering and drug dealing operations?ti these are not partisan right wingers. these are people who work for the obama administration. they are saying, our goals were sublimated because of the iran deal. s i don't see why that's not a scandal. it seems like a scandal to me. >> well, i think first up most people including the obama administration didn't know where this came from. when you look at these stories, there are two people, may not be crazy outut there right wing, whatever you want to call them. they have been vociferously against the iran deal from the beginning. >> tucker: there are dozens of people. >> the two primary sources.

>> tucker: there were dozens of t democratic obama employees. >> there are four on the record sources today in the "the washington post" for the cia, the nsc, the white house and for the state department saying this didn't happen. you would never and a million years do anything to impede -- >> tucker: okay.ay people who obviously, you know, they may be right. let's look into it? >> i'm okay with that. >> tucker: allegation is made by obama staffers, former obama staffers, that cocaine was sold in this country, narcotics because the obama people allowed it to be. >> i really doubt that. >> tucker: all right. but have you no problem withou an investigation to get to the bottom of it. >> i have no problem with investigating. i have a problem with interference and intimidation. i think what we are seeing -- it's one thing you have new sources, i have my sources. we go back at night and we have our separate corners. but we have to share -- but with something like investigations, we can't fight over the fbi. >> tucker: i agree.

>> that's what's happening now. >> tucker: they shouldn't be partisan. do you know what i mean? >> what's happening and i think the common ground here is that comey definitely did a number on the fbi. but they are caught in some kind of divorced parents tug-of-war. >> tucker: i am being told we have to go. i agree with that you on that. fleet, thank you. activist? could she be a russian spy? congress wants to investigate jill stein of the green party for possible collusion with the democratic party. -- vladimir putin, believe it r not. she joins us next. ♪ in the eighteenth century. you can have almost a spiritual experience with the beauty of nature or with a connection with the past. there's no better place to find that than a national park, which preserves that beauty and the history. (vo) the subaru share the love event has donated over six-point-five million dollars to help the national parks. get zero percent financing for 63 months on select models, plus we'll donate two hundred and fifty dollars to charity.

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>> tucker: deputy fbi director the newly famous andy mccabe testified before >> tucker: deputy fbi director, the newly famous andrew mccabe, testified before the congress more than seven hours tuesday.hils his testimony was hidden behind closed doors. fox can reported that he appeared to contradict himself at least once during his testimony. he also failed to offer support for the infamous trump dossier. fox chief news correspondent ed henry has details in that story. >> he just wrapped up another seven or eight hours of testimony before another evmmittee tonight. bottom line question is simple. you got into it a moment ago. the fbi, which is supposed to be nonpartisan, was there a pro-clinton bias that led people like andrew mccabe to let hillary clinton off the hook not just on the email server but uranium one as well? and what's interesting is when you look at those two investigations, they were overseen by three key fbi figures, james comey, who has been tweeting a lot lately about truth and justice, mccabe as his deputy, a job he still holds today, and the agent who led the clinton server investigation, peter strzok, who sent all those pro-clinton text messages.

most important texts refer to a meeting in andrew mccabe's office where fbi agents discussed an insurance policy in case donald trump was elected. hinting at a plan to investigate him. yet, after all that questioning by the house intel panel, we still have little clarity on what they meant. mccabe testified he could not recall when he learned the clinton camp and the dnc paid for that unverified anti-trump dossier that wasti funneled to the fbi in the t summer of 2016 and may have been the basis for the obama administration's t surveillance of general michael flynn and possibly others. that has led republicans to charge material from wiretaps was used to weaponize the investigation of president-elect trump that morphed into the special counsel probe. and what, you ask, could possibly be affecting andrew mccabe's memory about all of this? it turns out his wife ran for state senate in virginia in 2015. she received several hundred thousand dollars of campaign cash from an organization controlled by virginia's democratic governor terry mcauliffe, who is obviously very, very close to the clintons. doesn't prove there was

corruption. but this is one of theto things that really infuriates people about these investigations, suite three. you have someone at the center of all this, at the center of investigating hillary clinton around 2015, 2016. his wife was receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. >> tucker: did he not recuse himself. >> not at all. he is the deputy director. >> tucker: running the d.c. office. shocking.nt ed, thank you for that. >> thank you. >> tucker: last year, jill stein was carrying the banner of the left in the election. she was green party candidate. now she has been exposed. apparently, despite being in the green party, she was a russian spy all along. that's the claim, believe it or not. two senate committees are investigating her as a possible crony of the kremlin. her sins include appearing on rt, that's the russian television channel, russia today, and attend a dinner in 2015 where she sat at the same table as vladimir putin. all of which makes her a

modern matahari. what does she say in her defense? she joins us tonight. dr. stein, thanks for coming on. >> great to be with you. thank you so much. >> tucker: are you now or have you ever been a agent of russia? do you speak russian? are you a friends of vladimir putin? >> not at all.l. even when briefly he sat at the head table at a conference, i was in moscow for a conference, attended actually by the bbc, by the canadian broadcast system. by the state tv network for china, india, et cetera. this was an actual legitimate conference. it's all up on the web. there is nothing secret about it. we were posting information, putting out press releases. no backroom deals. no secret meetings in oligarchy towers or anythingee like that. all very transparent andch public. the dinner at the end of the conference was really a nonevent. at one point putin came in

with a couple of guys that i assumed were his bodyguards. turns out, they were actually his inner circle, but you would have never known it, nobody was introduced to anybody.no there was no translator. actually, no -- not a word exchanged. at one point, putin made a very rapid turn around the table and shook everybody's hand but without any exchange of names. so that's about as significant as this was. >> tucker: sounds likehi collusion to me. so, wait, can we get to your real crime, which was running for president as the third party candidate?? in the view of a lot of people in washington you got donald trump elected. do you see this as punishment for the crime of running for president?ct >> yes. in many ways. many of the articles like the "new york times" three days ago in announcing this investigation began with a quote from a spokesperson of the clinton campaign, saying

isn't this great because so many clinton democrats are furious at me. they are outraged that i dared, in so many words, you know, dared to think that we get to make up our own minds that our votes don't belong to hillary clinton or anybody else. i have got to say, it's not just democrats. this is a bipartisan commission. >> tucker: oh, i know. >> led by republicans. >> tucker: i'm aware. >> yeah. they have it in as wellre because it's very inconvenient to have an opposition political party that's not -- >> tucker: look, if they disagree with what you are saying, and for the record i disagree with almost everything you say. l but if you disagree with what you say, why not argue against it?ou why try to pretend that you are an agent of a foreign government? that seems like mccarthyism to me. >> you know, you are not the only person to suggest that. i think this is, you know, let me say i think there are legitimate aims here. in the investigation. interference in our election

is much bigger than the russians.n and we have yet to see the proof. i would like to see the evidence of russian culpability here. when john kennedy, you know, was facing the cuban missile crisis, he declassified the evidence to show the m photographs of the missiles in cuba. you know, aren't we owed that as the american public? we didn't get to really see the evidence before the run-up to the iraq war. we are still paying that price. s t $5.5 trillion and counting.we you know, fool me once, shame on you. fool me a gazillion times, shame on all of us. >> tucker: let me revise what i said i actually do agree with you on something. good luck. i hope you get that done and good luck on the hill. thank you. >> thank you so much. take care. >> tucker: it's time for more racist trees. apparently they exist out in palm springs. golf course architect tells us where trees near a golf course can engage in ethnic oppression. that segment is next. don't miss it.

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>> tucker: we are living in an era of unprecedented threats coming from directions no one could have anticipated. joel stein is now a russian agent. a new one we told you about last night. racist trees. in palm springs, california, officials are planning to clear-cut a grove of tamarisk trees because they are racist for a local say they were planted more than 50 years ago to separate a golf course from an african-americanro neighborhood. last night we spoke to a local resident about their sinister presence. here's part of the conversation. >> if you have done any research on the tree, he will know it's one of the nastiest trees around and it's been declared a disaster by the federal government. >> tucker: wait, slow down, now, hold on. because that tree is a foreign tree, you're calling it nasty? >> absolutely. >> tucker: the question is could palm springs be overreacting at all to the racist trees in its midst?

aptly named forrest richardson golf course architect. ethan bearman is a radio show host and he joins usus tonight. first of all, ethan, you have been following this. this you are from california. clearly this is the definition of structural racism. i wonder if it couldn't be worse.>> these are tamarist trees. >> the trees themselves aren't racist. the action of putting them there in the first place. also really important to note, these trees in t particular have been a fire hazard this year. fox has done a great job covering, like, the thomas fire.. the trees themselves haveav been explosive during these fires that have been happening. so not only do we have the aspect of the traditional, the origin of the planting of these trees being to separate the black and people of color community across the street, after their homes were demolished by the way, by the city of palm springs, under racist conditions, this is one of those times, let's set the record straight.

fire hazard. let's not waste the water. >> tucker: so everybody wins. the trees are just not bigoted, but they are flammable. forest, here is my concern, if we take down the racist trees, could the homes behind them be hit by racist golf balls? >> well, i don't know, i would like to think that nothing is racist. especially in today's world. >> tucker: i would, too, but my eyes are open now.ay >> the reality is i don't know why these trees were planted. i don't think that there is any clear indication of why they were planted. one reason that we plant trees on golf courses, especially a narrow corridors, which this happens to become of this is about 240 feet in width, where today we would generally get 350 to almost 400, is to project adjacent homes and property, whether it be a school or houses. in my opinion, you know, i think the win-win would be to get everybody on boardthin

and say, what's good for the homeowners and what's good for the golf course and the other homeowners. >> tucker: sure. it's 2017. we don't do compromise. it's the modern area. just to clarify, as a landscape guy, are there other reasons, other than simply bigotry, that these trees might have been planted? >> you know, i did as much research as i could. when i worked briefly on a study for this golf course, we got a lot of historical data. i was able to find what we think is an early 1960s image that actually showss that this hedge of tamaris trees was probably there before many of the houses were built. not all of them. the hedge was probably predated many of the homes being built there. >> tucker: oh. but obviously that doesn't mean they are not racist trees. i mean, because, you know, sometimes it's not obvious if a tree is racist or not. ethan, let me get and i sort of buy your point that they

are both bigoted and a fire hazard. i wonder if this isn't a teaching moment, right? a time where we can all learn. instead of cutting them down, maybe we could make them better trees somehow. prune them. is that not a possibility? >> no. let's just get them out of there.e. let's get back to some native trees that we have in california. pure desert. >> tucker: slow down. what do you mean native? for a guy who lives in california -- i'm serious. palm trees are not native. eucalyptus are not native. should you expel everything from california that's not native? >> it's a big problem, too. >> tucker: are you a nativist now? >> when it comes to vegetation, absolutely. eucalyptus trees are a problem tipping over in the storms. >> tucker: oh oh, you areef calling other people bigoted, all right. "they weren't originally from california, therefore we have to kill them." >> come on, tucker. we have a severe water problem in california. we have a lack of leadership in sacramento. we have a lack of leadership in d.c. when it comes to the water issue in california. we're diverting water to water trees. why are we doing this? >> tucker: i agree. >> so many layers here.

>> tucker: forest, let me close out. is it possible, that if we cut these down, you don't always know what you have got until it's gone. if you were to pave it and put in a parking lot, dout you think you might regret that? >> well, the trees are serving a purpose. i can tell you that. they could maybe be replaced by better trees. >> tucker: yeah. >> i think your guest last night mentioned eucalyptus.. interesting your guestgh tonight is saying no eucalyptus. >> tucker: i have got to go. they are foreign trees. we are against foreigners now. forest and ethan, thank you for that.es >> merry christmas, tucker.. >> tucker: merry christmas. it's finals week. who will triumph in the final final exam before christmas? can shannon bream be knocked from her perch of victory? that's next. ♪

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♪ >> tucker: it's thursday, time f >> tucker: it's thursday, time for "final exam." which fox employees and contributor have been paying attention to their jobs covering the news? this week's contestants, griff jenkins and fox news at night host shannon bream. shannon has been a buzz saw as you know in this competition defeating all six opponents she has faced. here are her opponents from weeks' past. wow, that is just a murderous row. she's crushed them all. perhaps griff is up to the challenge. to switch things up and to give you a fighting chance, we have put shannon in a different seat, thinking maybe it's the seat that's been doing it. >> i have been put in the thunderdome. >> i know, all of my good mojo is on that chair and that buzzer. >> tucker: our producer who wrote these questions said

these questions are tough. the first one to buzz in has to answer. wait until i finish asking the question to do that. each correct answer worth one point. if you get it wrong you lose a point. best of five wins. winner will be awarded prize i will keep secret for the moment. okay, first up. one of donald trump's celebrity arch enemies possibly facing jail time tonight for bribery, that is because she offered millions of dollars to republican senators to reject the tax bill. [buzzer] >> you have to wait until i'm finished. which celebrity was it? shannon bream? >> rosie o'donnell. >> tucker: rosie o'donnell. all right. tricked by the rules. we will see if she is right to the tape. is it rosie o'donnell? >> rosie o'donnell going off the rails trying to stop the tax bill on a twitter tirade tweeting in part, quote: how about this? i promise to give $2 million to senator susan collins and 2 million to senator jeff flake if they vote no. many on twitter kick to point out those bribes wouldo. be illegal. she also told her followers

to call 911. >> tucker: it's like the hague. we have to follow the rules here. >> all right. well done. >> the other six go up. >> yeah, they do. >> tucker: marist college is out with the poll of the most annoying words and phrases of 2017. there are lot in competition. almost the most annoying in human history.y. second place with the phrase fake news which annoying word won? griff jenkins? >> whatever. >> tucker: no, which annoying word won? >> whatever. >> tucker: to the tape is, whatever correct? >> the most annoying words. fake news, that's second. it got 23% of the vote. look at that number one, whatever. >> look at you. high five. >> whatever. >> it's the most annoying word for nine years in a row. >> yeah, whatever. >> she is good. don't be fooled by the

nicety. >> it's on. >> tucker: it's 1 to 1. apple, the company, is in trouble with its customers after admitting it deliberately does what to its older iphones? shannonn bream? >> slows them down. >> tucker: i don't believe that. let's see if the tape confirms it. >> apple confirming long-time conspiracy theory a admitting it purposely slows down the performance of older iphones after some of the newer models are released.ed it does this not to push people to buy the newer models that are more expensive, but instead to keep the older phones from crashing. >> i have an old iphone i feel like it's slowing me down. >> i know it's slowing me down. i speak from experience. >> tucker: your answer was correct. i don't believe their explanation. it's really for your benefit that we're making the phone's so bad you need to buy a new one. >> people mock me how slow this phone is. >> tucker: apple is here to help you, shannon. m >> right, yes. >> tucker: this week a

former navy pilot revealed on this show, actually, that an object in the sky, he saw, was, quote, not from earth. he described this unidentified flying object as being in the shape of candy. which candy was it shaped like? was it a, a tic-tacs? b, a candy corn? c, a skittle, and i will throw in d, butter finger. tic-tacs, candy corn, skittle, or butter finger. >> this is throwing it out there because i have no idea. but i like tic-tacss. >> tucker: you like tic-tacs. griff likes tic-tacs >> he came across an aircraft that he says quote was not something from earth. it was shaped like a tic-tac. it had no wings. >> shannon: look at you. you got to go all in against a very, very astute -- >> tucker: we have actually been here before.o people have been to the precipice of victory over shannon bream. in fact they are littered on v the valley floor, their

bodies. so it's 2-2, this is the decisive question. are you ready? are you feeling good. >> no, i'm not. i'm like an old iphone, you froze me. >> tucker: good, hands on the buzzer. are you ready? >> no. >> tucker: disney unveiled new robot version of the president of the united states president trump. it's in the hall of the president's exhibit in the magic kingdom there is a problem though, many say the robot looks nothing like the president but like which actor instead? shannon bream. w >> jon voight. >> tucker: that's a weird guest. if you get this right, you win. to the tape. >> some on the internet say it looks like a bloated john voight. john voight is never going to speak to me again. >> tucker: look at that! shannon bream, ladies and. gentlemen. okay, so you win, this week we run out of prizes. this week very a small bottle of nonalcoholic champagne. i like it. do i get to spray it?

>> tucker: it tastes like bubbly water but it's delicious. it's from france. >> i do get to go to the super bowl?o >> tucker: stage manager saying no. >> tucker: thank you very much. >> thank you for walking me to the precipice of being slaughtered by shannon bream. >> tucker: pay attention to the news every week, you can play along. another edition of "final exam" on thursday right here. do you need the most trusted battery this holiday? maybe not. maybe, you could trust the world would be just as happy without them. (screaming) or, you could just trust duracell.

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>> tucker: big tax bill heads to the president for signing. several companies have reacted by announcing big bonuses for their employees. they are giving a thousand bucks to a allow their employees, joy did not buy at&t and comcast. all great news. the president might consider campaigning for more of these. the tax cuts are big for corporate america. might be worth making it clear that employees of corporate america should also get a boost, not just ceos and shareholders, everyone would be happy about that. we bet. that's it for us tonight.

tune in every night at 8:00 to the show that is the sworn s enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and group think. good night from the nation's capital, where there is full employment, thanks to your tax dollars. we appreciate it that. kimberly guilfoyle in for sean hannity tonight. >> kimberly: well done, tucker. welcome to "hannity" ." i'm kimberly guilfoyle inin for sean tonight. several breaking news stories. nbc is reporting jeff sessions has ordered review of the highly controversial uranium one deal. according to nbc, department of justice prosecutors are interviewing fbi agents about a russian bribery case that took place while uranium one was being approved. this is said to be part of an effort to determine if a special counsel is needed. plus, key officials face questioning on capitol hill. deputy fbi director andrew mccabe goes before lawmakers for nearly nine hours while g controversy builds over anti-trump text messages peter strzok. and demoted doj official bruce ohr appears before