launching internal investigation into her financial management team to get answers. lindsey is going to find the real killer. it's going to happen. jillian: thank you for joining us on this wednesday morning. we appreciate it. todd: "fox & friends" begins right now. have a great one, everybody. >> president trump hard at work making america great again. tweeting yesterday business looking really good for next year. it will be a great year for companies. >> this president is not waiting around. it's a good position to be in heading into 2018. >> president launching a scathing new attack on twitter this morning. he called that infamous russian dossier bogus and a pile of garbage. >> if the fbi used this dossier in an affidavit in support of a search warrant to spy on the trump associate, it's a crime. >> the united states is sanctioning two, it describes as key leaders, of north korea's unlawful

weapons programs. >> u.s. military says isis has lost half the it had won. >> vanity fair has a few new years resolution. >> take up a new hobby, volunteer work, knitting, impriewment do you comedy. anything that will keep you from running again. >> here's to you, hillary. ♪ >> i guess on your first day here you get what you want. that's how you welcome to the couch. lisa: official leland vittert. pete: thanks for being here.

leland: thanks for being here. lisa: i was surprised i was allowed through security. pete: you are on a list not the worst list. it's a watch list. leland: not the no fly list yet. lisa: they didn't recognize me in the morning. pete: we are glad you are here. brian, steve, and ainsley get al well-deserved vacation this week. the jv team. we're the self-declared jv team. we are here to inform you, entertain you and we are glad are here on "fox & friends." lisa: i guess there is other stuff going on. pete: a little bit of news this morning. leland: big news. pete: bob mueller looking into so-called russian connections. it's actually not new at all. it's been going on an entire year that probably hasn't caught your eye but it caught ours this morning because of a headline in "u.s.a. today." take a look at this, this is a headline in "u.s.a. today." it says the quiet probe into clinton email investigation could be a land mine for bob

mueller. this is an investigation that's been going on since january. it was actually started during the transition before president trump was national guard unitegnawinginaugurated. they are looking into the investigation. they talked to loretta lynch and james comey and very exhaustive over the course of a year. the relate is, there is a lot of folks, especially within the fbi and doj who are concerned about what this report will reveal it looks at whether or not hillary clinton got special treatment during the campaign into how he handled her email and private server. lisa: what's important about this article he was the one to unearthed the text messages between peter strzok and page. he isn't afraid to mix it up. he is the one that recommended big changes with the atf after the bosmed

fast and furious operation. he also is the one who went after the dea caught up in the prostitution scandal in colombia prostitutes paid for by drug cartels there. he has not been afraid to go after the federal government. he has not been afraid to shine that light and get some clarity there. so it's going to be really interesting to see what he does here and what he unearths. leland: dare we say we have finally found perhaps, even, an honest man in washington. that's where representative francis rouhani one of the very few i would say one of the finest and honest men in washington. here is what he had to say. >> i would like to see the directors of those agencies purge it. look we have a lot of great agents and lawyers here. those are the people that i want the american people to see and know the good works being done. not the people who are the deep state. >> language like that, congressman, purge? purge the department of justice? >> well, i think that

mr. strzok could be purged. >> referring to the fbi agent with all of his text messages insurance policy against hillary clinton. you noticed that nbc anchor when she came back, the best she could do is take issue with his language. not with his facts. lisa: isn't that the broader problem here is the fact that the media is not concerned. can you imagine going back to august, 2016? if we had found out and media had found out that these fbi agents had text messages about insurance policy against hillary clinton as opposed to donald trump we would not live this down. remember how big deal they they made. a drop in the bucket. acting like that swayed the election is insane. they ran that story as if that was a game changer for the election. can you imagine how they would cover this if it was over hillary clinton instead of president trump? pete: you talk about stories game changer russia story you turn on any other

channel on this island you would be russia, russia, russia, almost all morning long. led some to believe maybe that overinflates the influence russia has had. samantha, a national security analyst over at which the president calls very fake news, had a different take on how you take russia. take a listen. >> a key part of the fair and transparent legal process that defines our democracy. so every time the president tweets against the fbi or tweets against the department of justice, he is making the russians' job much easier. pete: tweets is he helping russia. everything influences our democracy they are not overinflating russia. leland: who could probably be upset about helping russia? wasn't it hillary clinton who had the reset button for russia back in 2004. her boss said i will have a lot more flexibility after

the 2012 election? pete: they are also the folks that wasn't it barack obama that said to mitt romney the 1980s called they want their foreign policy back? they have a very conflicted view of russia. now that they think russia, they believe they conspire that russia colluded with the president to win the election, now russia is involved with everything. lisa: moving on with hillary clinton. so there is this vanity fair or video that shows staffer staffers. pete: please, will the book tour continue. lisa: sham page smugly suggesting to new year's resolutions she should perhaps invest in. so take a look. >> time to start working on your sequel to your book what happened. what the hell happened. >> get someone on your tech staff to disable auto fill on your iphone so typing an f doesn't become form exploratory committee in 2020. take up a new hobby in the new year.

volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy. anything that would keep from you running again. >> finally put away your james comey voodoo doll. we know you think james comey caused you to lose the a election. move on. >> cheers to you, hillary clinton. >> cheers to you, hillary. pete: so it's clear these are former hillary clinton for president staffers, giving a toast to their former candidate. not as friendly you might expect. >> i think it was mark twain who said that humor is the good natured side of truth. it wouldn't be funny if anybody wasn't sort of thinking gee, maybe we want to keep her from thinking about doing this again. lisa: how about we ask you to send you guys at home to send us what your new yearens resolutions are for hillary clinton. keep them coming. pete: email friends@foxnews.com. let us know. what would your resolution be? if you were to held a flute of champagne and toast hillary clinton what would you be talking about:

another item that caught our attention this morning a tree at the white house. lisa: big beautiful tree. leland: you see it when president trump walks out from the southport sout from the portica. park service ordered the removal of that 200-year-old tree because it was dying. ordered the grounds keeper to remove it to keep the lawn immaculate. "newsweek" order melania trump ordering the removal: iconic white house tree to be cut down. this there is another way to look at this. imagine if melania trump saves tree that then falls over and wipes out white

house press corps. pete: that's where the white house press corps stands so she is actually doing them a favor. lisa: if you read those headlines they are making it seem like melania trump was walking around cut that one down, that one. this is as ridiculous as it gets with -- she was going to hurricane harvey to go meet with the victims and check out the damage and she had a change of shoes. she was wearing shoes simply to the plane and then changed shoes when she got there. there is this uproar but b. how it was distasteful to be in high heels. news flash, ask any woman in america and jillian as well who we will talk to in a second, ask anyone across the country we all bring a change of shoes. these are props. i wear flats every day of my life. i don't wear heels. the coverage is insane and biased and unfair. pete: removing a tree. it was planted by andrew jackson. 200 years old. a lot of history.

the upkeep has been terrible on it they poured cement into it they did terrible things over the years. it's going to die, have to take it down. leland: seedlings something from this tree. and actually try to replant it. pete: they will do something thoughtful, leland? so they are cutting it down and adding to our carbon footprint. leland: melania doesn't get credit. national park service. lisa: now, to jillian mele for today's news. jillian: i don't know. i wear heels every second of every day. leland: even on the golf course. jillian: i am with you with that 100 percent. get you caught up on headlines wednesday morning. a plane well on its way across the world forced to turn around when a passenger gets on the wrong plane. pilots flying back to los angeles four hours into the 11 hour journey to tokyo. model christie teague and her husband john wil john legenn

board writing they keep saying the person had a united ticket. we are on ana. basically the boarding pass scanner something just a beadoop machine that makes bedoop noises. >> panic as shoppers run for their lives gunshots ring out right inside of a memphis mall. [screams] jillian: at least three people were shot after some sort of fight. they should all be okay. four people were taken into custody. final preparations now underway for a new york city's iconic new year's celebration. today nearly 3,000 waterford crystals will be placed on the famous times square ball. new york police preparing with unprecedented security to keep 1 million spectators safe. officers will patrol hotels,

monthly tore truck rentals and monitor hotel garages. two attacks since halloween. those are your headlines. i will send it back to you guys. leland: a lot of evidence coming out of north korea that they could be prepping for biological warfare. remember that escaped soldier from the rogue regime? now we are hearing he may be immune to anthrax. what that could mean. pete: i'm not immune to anthrax. that's for sure. something going on there. a woman claims airlines gave her seat away to sheila jackson lee. she says racism is to blame. playing that card. it's your last chance of the year to get our best offer of the year: zero percent financing for seventy-two months, plus an extra one-thousand cash back

across a full lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs. so hurry and save big on america's best-selling brand. it's the final days of the ford year end sales event with zero percent financing for seventy-two months plus an extra one-thousand cash back! see your ford dealer before jan 2nd and save. (barry murrey) when you have a really traumatic injury,g) we have a short amount of time to get our patient to the hospital with good results. we call that the golden hour. evaluating patients remotely is where i think we have a potential to make a difference. (barry murrey) we would save a lot of lives if we could bring the doctor to the patient. verizon is racing to build the first and most powerful 5g network that will enable things like precision robotic surgery from thousands of miles away. as we get faster wireless connections, it'll be possible to be able to operate on a patient

in a way that was just not possible before. when i move my hand, the robot on the other side will mimic the movement, with almost no delay. who knew a scalpel could work thousands of miles away? ♪ that's why feeling safe is priceless. with adt, you can feel safe with an adt starter kit professionally installed for only $49.00. call today, and install an adt starter kit that includes security panel, keypad, key fob, entry and motion sensors and for a limited time, get a camera included and installed at no additional cost. that's a $449.00 value, installed, for just $49.00. adt has over 140 years of security experience, with our commitment to customer service, and round-the- clock professional monitoring, you have the comfort of knowing that adt is helping to protect what matters most. call today, or visit adt.com

to get your adt starter kit installed for just $49.00. adt. we help keep you safe, so you can feel secure. call 1-888-337-safe or visit adt.com and get your adt starter kit for just $49.00. antibodies to anthrax, spurring concerns that the deadly bacteria has been weaponized. leland: here to explain director of defense studies at the center for national interest harry. good to see you. what do you make of this? probably nothing good. >> well, i guess when it comes to north korea i'm pretty much out of shock these days. there is nothing that the hermit kingdom does that

surprises me anymore. the interesting thing about this, there is only a few ways that this soldier could have gotten anthrax antibodies in his system. one possibility if he worked on a farm it would be rare but if he came in contact with an animal that had anthrax that's possible how he might have got the antibodies. he could had been immunized against anthrax. that doesn't make sense because the united states or south korea doesn't have anthrax weapons. those have been banned since the 1970s. the other possibility which i think is much more intrigue something that he was maybe somehow part of the north korean biological weapons program. could have become accidently infected. there is just a lot of mystery in this that we just don't know. pete: harry, the south korean military has yet. they don't have anthrax vac senile. i mean, if you look at it at its face, could they not be involved in biological warfare, you know, making sure their folks are not infected by it and they could use it potentially in a conflict. >> this is the real scary thing. we have spent really months

and years talking about north korea's nuclear weapons. we don't talk that much about north korea's other weapons of mass destruction. we have to remember the north koreans have potentially as much as 5,000 tons of chemical weapons. we are pretty sure they have a biological weapons program. actually on monday the national security strategy came out. pretty much said that north korea had a best of my biologicl weapons program it sort of took the facade off that as if it hadn't existed. it seems like a very real thing at this point. in a war, when you put all these of those things together, millions of people could die. it's very scary. leland: they already have the delivery systems for certainly for the chemical weapons. the saharan gas. all those artillery shells just on the other side the north side of the dmz to rain down on seoul. what about the u.s. troops in south korea? there are families there as well. millions of american expats there. any protection they have either against the chemical threat or the biological threat? >> you know, not much to be

honest with you. we have different suits that our military can put on to protect themselves. they get very hot, very sticky. you can't have them on for a long period of time. this is really a challenge that, you know, i think we keep forgetting about. even if one of these warheads armed with anthrax land in seoul. that's 25 million people head for the exits. it would be a terrifying problem. really scary. pete: we're going to talk later on in the program about this threat from north korea. is this part of the reason why dealing with rogue regime and nuclear capability is so difficult that the multitude of scenarios are terrible. you look at the nuclear threat. you look at the biological and chemical. what that could do to populations. if you are factoring that in to whether or not you are taking on the regime. makes it very complicated. >> this is why when this comes to military options, north korea is the land of lousy options. i really feel bad for president trump because he has inherited a problem where there is no quick and easy solution. back in 013 i did a war game

where we assumed in 2020 that north korea had icbms that could hit the west coast of the united states. that war game 8 million people died. this is how bad this problem can get. and i think it's great to see that the president has really embraced a containment strategy. our best option is to use what i call the python strategy. strangulate the north korean economy. this way they can't keep building more of these weapons. pete: no good options. harry, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you. pete: pop quiz what do gandhi and new york city super liberal mayor bill de blasio have in common? everything. just ask bill. leland: and he put a new twist on a garth brooks hit with friends in safe spaces. but evidently not everybody is laughing. pete thought it was funny. not everybody else. the comic behind the video joins us live with a new backlash that even he says he never saw coming ♪ come on in ♪ and let's be cozy

♪ show them all participation trophyys ♪ watching cnn ♪ i know when i hand them the keys to their first car it's gonna be scary. but i also know that we're gonna have usaa insurance for both my boys. it's something that they're not even gonna have to think of. it's just gonna be in the family. we're the tenneys and we're usaa members for life.

they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. appearing next to me in plain sight. hallucinations and delusions. these are the unknown parts of living with parkinson's disease. what stories they tell. but for my ears only. what plots they unfold. but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. and these can worsen over time, making things even more challenging. but there are advances that have led to treatment options that can help. if someone you love has parkinson's and is experiencing hallucinations or delusions, talk to your parkinson's specialist. because there's more to parkinson's. my visitors should be the ones

i want to see. learn more at moretoparkinsons.com

pete: welcome back. a couple of quick headlines for you. today's ran done drawing to determine the winner in a crucial virginia house seat is postponed. democrat shellie simons asking the court to reconsider ruling after last week's recount where it was determined she and republican incumbent tied. simmons briefly had the lead by one vote. judges ruled one ballot was invalid. wow. from drawing names to dropping them. new york city mayor bill de blasio now comparing himself modestly to gandhi. >> someone tries something that doesn't work, it invalidates anything else

they might do going forward. tell thomas edison that and ford and mahatma gandhi. i mean there's no leader who hasn't had set backs. pete: also taking a stab saying hillary clinton would just be president if she had just followed hi his advice, of course. lisa: a parody songs called friends in safe spaces went viral earlier this year. and then one of the comics behind it came on "fox & friends" to talk about it remember this? ♪ i got friends in safe spaces ♪ if you don't go with us then you must be racist ♪ that's our catchphrase ♪ee ha ♪ >> you know you are going to offend a lot of liberals, right, steve? >> oh, thank you. [laughter] leland: but then came the bark lash.

comedy clubs have turned him and other conservative comedians away from performing. pete: steve joins us now what happened to him. steve mudflap mcgrew. you released this song. you are a comedian. you observe things and make people laugh about them. you observe our culture and what happened with safe spaces and others under a said it's had a backlash against you. explain. i think we may have lost him. leland: what's what happens when you are skype on a cruise ship. he is jamaica port of call performing his comedy gig. lisa: meanwhile we are in new york and it is freezing outside. i think he got a good gig there. pete: way better gig it's true. ultimately comedy is about observing things in life and then kind of making fun of them because what did you say, comedy is a real --

leland: it's funny because it's true think with a about here we have bill de blasio on the cover of the "new york post." there you go, bill de blasio or gandhi. >> think should have gone bigger. lisa: during the first 100 days of president trump. subject of 1060 jokes. we have season people like stephen colbert and jimmy kimmel ratings increased significantly when they made politics the centerpiece of their schtick. so i think it's very difficult for conservatives both in the comedy industry as well as in hollywood to try to survive when it's so slanted against you. pete: think about the humor you could have with nancy pelosi or bernie sanders or hillary clinton. good natured stuff. lisa: even saw the vanity fair thing that was funny. pete: there is a lot that

could be done there of course the president is always going to be a target of humor. rightfully so. every president has been. when you beat that horse every single day pretty soon you get to unfunny. lisa: or if it's mean. a lot of times with the trump administration, some of the attacks against kellyanne conway have really crossed over into sexist territory and crossed over into mean and no longer funny. sure some of the comedic sketches of sean spicer ohio, you know, have a great amount of respect for, it was funny, right? a lot of times it is funny. sometimes it gets into mean territory and loses that comedy value. comedic valley. leland: this is what happens whether you have three tv host that was supposed to be four minutes of comedy, who are not funny. we will try to get mudflap back to actually be funny coming up later in the show. meantime, remember this guy on friday he got the support of president trump via twitter. so will florida congressman ron desantis make it official and run for governor? he has that opportunity

next. lisa: let's try to get to the above of that. and these two men have been best friends for 60 years. it turns out they have a lot more in common than they thought. incredible surprise is coming up next. don't miss it. ♪ i will try not to sing out of key ♪ oh, baby ♪ i get by with a little help from my friends ♪ all i need is my brother ♪ with a little help from my friends

♪ keeping on rocking in the free world. leland: that's a little bit more like my opening theme song. pete: if my twitter feed is not the first one going through on the banner i'm angry. part of my contract. has to be first. lisa: i thought you didn't get angry. leland: there is a lot of reasons. pete: part of what makes me happy is having this guy on the program is ron desantis member of the house oversight and governor reform committee and house

judiciary committee. good morning. >> good morning. pete: we have a new report from the "washington times" reveals according to sources close to the house and senate investigations that there is still right now the fbi admits that it cannot verify the dossier claims. that famous russian dossier that there is no ability to confirm that which, of course is, troubling to a lot of folks who feel that could have been the basis upon which entire investigations are launched. what do you know and what can you share with us. >> well, look, i'm hearing the exact same things. think about where this dossier came from. it was not something that was generated by an intelligence agency. it was funded by the democrats and hillary clinton through perkins kohl law firm to fusion gps. and fusion gps created this. i think christopher steele, he had been a spy in russia 25 years ago. he didn't really have any sources. i think he was really window dressing for this thing. they put a lot of b.s. in this thing. fake news. and they tried to dress it up as an intelligence product.

and if the fbi used that. that was unverified. even james comey admits that to launch a counter intelligence investigation, i think there is something that's very, very troubling. we are digging for the answers on this and we are going to get the answers ton this. lisa: congressman, to that fact, if this unverified dossier, opposition research piece, honestly, if this was used to obtain a fisa warrant, what does that mean for the credibility of this investigation? >> well, i think it would undermine the legitimacy of the genesis of the investigation and all the way to the present. the russia collusion was always more of a narrative than anything based on any type of factual basis. but if this was the basis to get surveillance on an american citizen, remember, if you are doing a fisa surveillance on an american citizen, it's not just that they may have foreign contacts. you have to actually say there is a basis they display committed a criminal offense. if a dossier, an opposition

research political hit piece is what you are using, i think that's going to call into question how they conducted themselves in this investigation. there is no doubt about it. leland: congressman, we often say in washington it's rarely the crime but often the coverup. we are hearing now about this inspector general report that may be coming thought 2018. michael horowitz, the ig there at the department of justifiable has been doing some pretty incredible and pretty even handed work. are you starting to get push back yet from the fbi and from others inside doj about, perhaps, trying to cover up their tracks of what really happened in 2016 and stonewalling your committees yet? >> well, look, i think it's been pulling teeth for us for now a couple of months. if you look at guys like me on the judiciary oversight committee. you look at devon nunes on the intelligence committee. we have tried to get simple answers about the genesis of the dossier, about whether the government paid for the dossier, whether they used the dossier. and it's always no, we can't

give that to you. we are negotiating all. this and the question is, those are very simple questions to answer and unless the answers are bad, whawouldn't you just want to answer the question so we can move on? pete: sure. what if we find out part of this investigation the real investigation on this for the inspector general is did hillary clinton get preferential treatment when she was investigated for her email server and her emails? what if we find out indeed she did? which we are seeing, in fact, the peter strzok, lisa page text messages which we now know about were revealed because of this inspector general investigation, what if we find out there was preferential treatment? >> well, look, everything i know, i don't see how you could come to any conclusion other than that there was preferential treatment. i mean, they wrote a letter exonerating her two months before they even interviewed her. if you look at how they conducted her interview, it was a softball interview. you had other witnesses in the room. you remember when they bleach bit all the emails. there was never any follow-up for obstruction of

justice. look at somebody like cheryl mills who said oh, i had no idea she had her own server. look at the emails asking about hillary's server did. they pursue her for false statements of course not. this was treated differently. the ig is going to substantiate that and going to be a big blow for the obama-loretta lynch justifiable department how they conducted themselves. lisa: your colleague has called for a purge at the fbi. do you agree with him? do we need to see a purge at the fbi. >> look, i don't want to view -- the average fbi agent works hard. when i served in iraq in the navy, you had fbi agents thought fallujah ramadi. these guys are patriotic, they do a great job. i think there has been problems with the leadership. obviously comey, i think the president was right to fire comey. then you look at a guy like peter strzok. if he is going to say it's his job as an fbi agent to prevent a certain candidate from getting elected and creating an insurance policy, that is somebody that you do not want to have

power and so anybody who turns up in that situation, you know, i think they should get another line of work. leland: you make a great point. peter strzok was not just an fbi agent. he was very senior in the bureau. part of the counter intelligence operation there that runs a lot of the big-time investigations in washington. if there is bias there, what are you going to do about it? are you going to demand a special counsel? are you going to demand some type of cleanout of the fbi? what's the options? >> i think potentially all of the above. if there was an abuse of power that's criminal in nature, you know, that would obviously cry out for a special counselor. there needs to be a major overhaul, i think, of some of the senior leadership. because, remember, peter strzok, set lead agent on the hillary case. is he in there for cheryl mills. in there for hillary's interview. he is the lead agent on the russia probe that then starts later and that's where he is texting lisa page saying they need insurance policy to stop trump. so who else was he dealing with? i think we did get some good

news that andrew mccabe, the deputy director is going to move on. i think that needs to happen. i think we need a new deputy in there. so this stuff, sometimes it's slow to happen. i do think you are seeing some change and i think this report can really help us, you know, fix these agencies. pete: we will find out. congressman, a tweet went out on friday. i'm not sure if you saw it. it will said congressman ron desantis from president trump is a brill cents young leader. yale and harvard law who would make a great governor of florida. he loves our country and true fighter. previous to that you had spent time with the president. a lot of reports that you want to run for governor of florida. why don't you break some news for us here. lisa: help us out. >> stay tuned on that. can i tell you the amount of buzzing on my phone from calls and texts. i thought the phone was malfunctioning or there was something going on. when he tweets and he has 100 million people that are seeing that. it's a really really big

deal. so i really appreciate the kind words from the president. he loves florida. he has been good for florida. and i anticipate he will continue to do that so we will definitely come back on your show in the new year and we'll be happy to break some new he then. lisa: guess have to wait then. leland: you got to think about this, because if you are promising to break news that's almost like actually breaking it. lisa: lee land is on to something here. leland: this the non-denial denial actually acceptance acceptance. >> you can use your deduckive reasoning skills. nothing wrong with doing that. pete: well done. thanks, congressman. >> you got it. pete: do you know who is good at deduckive reasoning. lisa: oreasoning his. jillian: illegal imgrant with a violent past arrested again bile border patrol agents this time for trying to illegally reentr reenter the

country. he previously served 15 years in jail for assaulting a police officer. he was detained in the same area of texas where border agents martinez was killed from traumatic head injuries last month. a texas congresswoman says racism may be to blame for the latest united airlines scandal. sheila jackson lee took the first class seat after they thought the woman cancelled the flight. on the list for upgrade. the angry passenger thinks her job got her special treatment. jackson lee fighting back against those claims says the passenger got upset because lee was fraternal woman, seemingly an easy target. two best friends have a lot more in common than they thought. 60 years alix robertson and mcfarland just found out their brothers, a d.n.a. test revealing the hawaiian men share the same mother. >> we thought about it,

compared forearms and everything. hairy arms, that did it. [laughter] >> robinson was adopted and mcfarland never knew his dad. they call the news the best christmas present ever. pretty cool story, guys. >> very cool. very cool, indeed. >> best friends learn they are brothers. pete: that's like a rom com. christmas move: lisa: pete hasn't seen a lot of romcom. >> lisa: could see up to 6 feet of snow after record 34 inches on christmas day. leland: adam klotz live in the studio tracking the weather system with many, many reasons to stay in all morning and watch us. adam: mostly cold out there. wind chill readings from maine stretching back into the plain states at this point. the cold air. these are the current feels like temperature across the

country, negative one in boston. gets colder. feels like negative 20 in chicago. feels like negative 30 in fargo, north dakota. down below negative 10 to negative 20. absolutely area wide. the warmest it's going to get today, these are your daytime highs, 6 degrees in minneapolis. pete, you're from minnesota, that's -- you guys are used to that right, in minnesota? pete: it's warm for now. lisa: called freezing to me. pete: tampa by your elbow 80. 6 to 80. lisa: we could take class outside to tampa. pete: that's true. kids, dress up before you go outside. leland: don't go outside but coming up, the president's fight against fake news is one of the biggest battles of the political year. what will it look like in 2018? tammy bruce looks into the

future. pete: plus a key veteran's healthcare program is about to run out of money. retired marine joins us next. he is fighting to keep it he has a powerful message you are not going to want to miss ♪

if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed

and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. this condition has not been reported with entyvio. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's treatment isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach. politicpolitics is partially to

blame. in new op-ed in the "wall street journal" caught our eye. veterans have become a political football in the national debate over healthcare. tackle healthcare effectively lawmakers and advocates ought to uncouple reform from that debate and focus on what makes the most sense for veterans today. one of the co-authors of that op-ed joins us now. retired marine corps patrol and veterans advocate jeff klee land. thanks a lot for your service and advocacy and what you wrote. it's true, there can be a lot of politics inside the v.a. because of course, people believe different things about how healthcare should be delivered. this president ran on giving veterans choice. you can go to the v.a. or the private sector. what's happening in congress right now, how close are we to getting to that true choice? >> well, there is a great piece of legislation right now, and thank you for having me on here and talking about this important issue and thank you for your service as well. but, you know, there is a great piece of legislation out there right now and it

has brought support from the vso. from the top vso and veteran advocates in the country and from the v.a., from secretary shulkin. it's getting kicked around right now for issues on what it is going to cost and some other political issues. just a couple weeks ago the hvac hearing got tied up in a tax debate during a veteran healthcare segment. it was a bit frustrating to see this happening. i could see that this is probably going to get passed within the next few months if we get the politics out of the way here. pete: that's the challenge. one of the democrats involved in the committee. his name is mark tacano a representative from california had this to say. we have either sound or a full screen. do we have it? roll it. >> this legislation is a referendum on the mistaken belief that the private sector is better equipped to care for our nation's veterans than specialized v.a. doctors. pete: he has long been an opponent of what others call reform. the idea vets shouldn't be

stuck in the v.a. system. they should have the ability to go outside if the v.a. doesn't serve them. how do we put the veteran at the center as opposed to the system at the center. >when the choice act was initially implemented and then it was realized this wasn't a way to privatize. this was a way to put the veteran at the center of the problem. you have secretary shulkin looking at this saying how can we best take this system and work it for the individual instead of looking at how can we jam this individual into the system. they have taken great steps and congressman tha tacano's comments are it almost separates veterans from the population saying they need specialized care and v.a. does specialized care they do. i'm not a v.a. hater. it's been good to he movement the fact that i have to go to doctor for my knee and said i have never seen a veteran knee before and i don't know how to treat that almost laughable.

laughable makes the civilian military divide even worse by making comments like that. pete: one question, two bills, jerry more ran bill and john j isaac son bill as well. do you have a preference of the two that are in the house? in the senate? >> honestly there needs to be a good mix the two of. fiscal issues that aren't being pushed back against. i think it's got to be a mix of the two. i don't have a specific preference right now. pete: as far as what the president ran on and what veterans are looking for. true choice is the barometer and that's exactly what you wrote about. thanks for raising these issues in the "wall street journal" and thanks for coming on this morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you. pete: it was a key campaign promise. >> we will find you, we will destroy you, and we will win. we will knock out isis so violently and so fast. pete: this morning, the numbers that prove that president trump is delivering on the crushing of the isis caliphate. plus, the biggest political crisis of 2017 from the

fight against fake news media to president obama giving hezbollah a free pass. how will they shape 2018? we are looking into our crystal ball of the future next. ♪ 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.

hello there friend! hi! hey there. i'm an imaginary friend of a kid just like you.

you're going through a lot right now and i know you're scared. but you're stronger than you know. but look, we'll get through this together. and remember... we at the imaginary friends society always have your back!

♪ ♪ lisa: good morning. welcome back. 2017 saw its share of political conflicts. some were continuations from years' past like the fight against isis and radical islam. leland: some, like the growing distrust in the media came to a head this year, due in large part, really, to the president's fight against fake news. here to break down the the biggest political crisis of 2017 how they will shape 2018. here is tammy bruce. you have been on the

forefront on a lot of these. where do we go from here? what's the big story lines to follow through. >> one has been a big story lines for years. that's isis, of course. that story has changed. donald trump, his strategy wipes out isis, right? but we had about 40 to 45,000 foreign fighters there who were, we believe, returning to their home countries. right now in england they have assessed about 5600. have returned to about 33 countries. this, of course, effects us as well. the story for next year as you see with donald trump executive orders regarding travel is keeping this nation safe from individuals who come back in this country, want to return, might blend back in. lisa: second one? >> the second one involves something a little bit more here at home. jeff sessions and new investigations not into russian collusion if you will. but things that are surprising the democrats. a new investigation into the politico report and barack obama and whether or not he gave a pass to hezbollah.

drug laundering, terrorism, et cetera, because of the iran deal. and then, of course, the uranium one deal with hillary clinton. that one is ultimately to be looked at especially by the doj. both of them, one of them could come up with a special counsel. both of those will be factors next year. lisa: the sexual harassment allegation on capitol hill and slush fund has gotten a lot of news. lisa: sure. lisa: what do you foresee for 2016. >> a lot of people want to know the names of people involved in individual cases that could have impact on the mid terms. who gets reelected. who does not. the nature of power in congress which, of course, would effect the president's agenda. that is a very much at home. cultural along with political. that's not going away next year. people want to know those names. leland: real quickly, tammy, how much does the media have to do with how much these story lines and these crises get played out? you think about well, you brought up jeff sessions, doj, and the hezbollah investigation that obama shut down not much coverage

of that. >> there is coverage but then there is also the facts on the ground about what's really happening. some of these things the american people, of course, have a right to know. but when it comes to how they actually play out with the facts of the matter, investigations, that doesn't rely on media coverage. but when it comes to polling and whether or not congress would act on the shureble fund, the media does effect that we will see what happens. lisa: we will revisit in 2018. >> oh, yeah. lisa: thank you, tammy. president trump has changed the presidency with his use of twitter. carley shimkus looks back at the year in trump tweets. stay tuned. e? so i made a point to talk to my doctor. he told me about eliquis. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots

and reduces the risk of them happening again. not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots. eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis had both... ...and that turned around my thinking. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. plus had less major bleeding. both made eliquis right for me. ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you.

justice and whether or not hillary clinton got special treatment. >> everything i know, i don't see how you could come to any conclusion other than there was preferential treatment. they wrote a letter exonerating her two months before they ever interviewed her. >> this president is not waiting around. it's a good position to be in heading into 2018. >> the tree is dying and president trump agreed with the national park service and ordered the removal of that near 200-year-old tree. lisa: if you read those headlines they are making it seem like presiden mump was wals walking around saying cut that one. this is as ridiculous as it

gets. >> the united states is sanctioning two it describes as key leaders as north korea's unlawful weapons programs. >> the u.s. military says isis has lost 90% of the territory it once held. half those losses coming since president trump took office. >> hillary clinton's new year's resolution. >> take um new hobby in the new year. volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy, literally anything that will keep you from one running again. >> here's to you, hillary clinton. ♪ freedom ♪ freedom ♪ you got to give for what you take. pete: lee land has been on dj all morning long good pick. lives lives i could see him in the back with head phones. leland: just be happy that i'm not singing. lisa: we are. leland: just be happy i'm

not. lisa: thank goodness you are not. pete: we are in for steve, brian and ainsley on a well deserves vacation this week. lisa: you are stuck with us. pete piatt you are stuck with us all morning long. leland: you will be stuck for a while. pete: brian says get dressed i say don't get dressed. stay in bed under the covers. we have been covered for a long time on this program bob mueller. of course if you turn to any other channel it's russia, russia, russia. bob mueller is going to save the republic all day long. who is actually looking into the investigators and the investigations that have gone on for multiple years, frankly. there was an investigation that went into hillary clinton's server during the election. a lot of people felt like it was not anywhere near as throw row as it could have been. a headline in "u.s.a. today" caught our eye this morning. it is this. it says the quiet probe into clinton email investigation could be, there it is right there. the quiet probe into clinton email investigation could be a land mine for robert mueller. turns out the inspector general, since mid january.

it's been behind the scenes and really it's been no leaks. there has been no big conversation about it his name is michael horowitz. he has been investigating whether or not the doj and fbi did a thorough investigation of hillary clinton's email and how it was treated. they interviewed loretta lynch and james comey and what "u.s.a. today" is insinuating is that there is some stuff that they found that shows there was a lot of bias inside that investigation. lisa: this is how we found out about the text messages between fbi agent peter strzok and lisa page. and the insurance policy. that's where that information came from. and michael horowitz has not been afraid to take on these government bureaucracies. he is the one that, you know, called out the atf and recommended, i think, 15 different individuals there. recommended some action for them with fast and furious and that botched operation. back in 2012. and, again, he is the one with the dea that uncovered and went after the dea regarding the colombia

scandal with the dea agents and process that were paid for by drug cartels. he has not been afraid to go after government. leland: by the book, doesn't leak, doesn't talk. behind the scenes. not interested in seeing his name really except where he testifies there in that picture in front of congress. ron desantis, congressman from florida saying what he thought the ig will find. >> everything i know i don't see how you could come to any conclusion other than that there was preferential treatment. they wrote a letter exonerating her two months before they even interviewed her. if you look at how they conducted her interview, it was a softball interview. had you other witnesses in the room. you remember when they bleach bit all the emails. there was never any follow-up for obstruction of juivel. you look at somebody like cheryl mills who said oh, i have no idea she had her own server. and then you look at the emails where she is asking about hillary's server.

did they pursue her for false statements? of course not. this was treated differently than other cases. i think the ig is going to substantiate that. pete: speaking of being treated differently it will be very interesting in the weeks to come how the so-called left wing media treats this story. they have been all over bob mueller wall-to-wall. he is going to expose collusion to the trump administration. what if the inspector general doing his job quietly, the name michael horowitz, will that become a household name if he reveals a presidential candidate had a private server in her house, tried to bleach bit and delete emails, it was extremely reckless is what they said in reality it was grossly negligent. cover up to allow her to run for the white house. remember, hillary clinton was supposed to be president of the united states and not the loser. if that had happened we would have heard none of this. very interesting. i love it when an ig at the v.a. we have had problems with igs not actually doing their job. when the ig does their job you find stuff.

leland: it's incredibly powerful. lisa: interesting article. i recommend people reading it for the media who clearly favors hillary clinton and demonstrated that during the general election they have been critical of james comey previously and the way he handled the clinton investigation. everyone on both political sides as well as the mainstream media should all be looping at this inspector general probe. and should be welcoming it. the entire job there is to make sure there is not bias, that these investigations were handled appropriately. everybody should be welcoming this and should be looking to that probe to see what recommendations are made. pete: of course. you want to turn the page and get to a place where politics has nothing to do with why we investigate. another campaign promise that this president has made was crushing isis. take a listen to what the president said on the campaign trail. >> we will find you. we will destroy you. and we will win. >> i would bomb [bleep] out of them. we are going to knock out isis so violently and so

fast. lisa: pete, i want to ask you about this because have you served this country and we all appreciate your service. we have seen 98% of the territory lost, i think it's something like 50% in the last 11 months alone, under president trump, and he commended for allowing the commanders on the ground to give them more latitude the decisions they are making, to put that power back with their commanders on the ground. i want to go to you on this. how impactful has that been in allowing our military men and women to do their job? pete: extremely impactful. let's say you are a captain on the ground leading a special operations group. you might have to pick up the phone ask national security perms to call in air strike on the enemy. that's not how you fight and win wars. you know what captain, you know what major? you know what, general? you get to make the call on the ground. you are the professional. you understanding the enemy. your job is to defeat them. you cannot under estimate what untying these guys hands does.

he just empowered the military to do what they are do. leland: also backed them up. when there was the mother of all bombs dropped in afghanistan. you didn't hear the president as part of his national security staff say oh well we need to look at this and investigate the decision-making. came out full throated support. to your point when the captain on the ground knows he has the full support of the white house, these are the numbers that come out of that. 30,000 air strikes in total to crucial isis. that is a lot of fire power raining down. 70,000 jihaddists killed. and the numbers also speak for themselves in terms of the number of isis soldiers remaining in iraq and syria today. less than 1,000. back in 2015, there were 45,000. so different now that general millie of the army when he went to go do his christmas greetings to the troops he did it from mosul, iraq which at the time, a year ago, christmas was

under isis control. pete: imagine if we h again, i don't want to go too far forward president hillary clinton would litigate this very, very differently. instead, have you got the caliphate feeted. i think they understanding what happens next is incredibly important. but you don't get the next chapter until you deal with the caliphate first. leland: you deal with afghanistan. pete: we have all stared at these maps for a couple of years where there is a huge swath of isis control. tiny portion there now. i am sure they will zero in on it as well. lisa: by no means fight of radical. we continue to see terrorist groups pop up and spread so by no means is this fight over. but it is significant in the trump administration should get credit for their work on the ground and most importantly our military men and women should get credit for the work that they have done in serving our country and taking the fight to isis. pete: god bless you guys. you are doing it on our

behalf. leland: what would have happened under president clinton? vanity fair has some thoughts about why that should never be a possibility in the future. >> working on your sequel to your book what happened. what the hell happened? >> get someone on your tech staff to disable auto fill iphone so typing an f doesn't come form exploratory committee for 2020. >> take up a new hobby in the new year. volunteer work. knitting. improv comedy. literally anything that will keep you from running again. >> to finally put away your james comey have do doll. we all know you think james comey cost you the election. so do a handful of other things. it's a year later and time to move on. >> cheers to you, hillary clinton. >> cheers to you, hillary. pete: these are vanity fair staffers or writers. but they are new year's resolution to hillary clinton. so, we asked all of you and you are a creative bunch out there on "fox & friends" land. what would your new years

resolution be for hillary clinton? kyle on facebook says i want her to try to run again so trump can have an easy victory yet again. lisa: one more from avril. she says hillary clinton needs to take pointers from us women who didn't vote for her in 2007 or 2016. pete: listen to them because she didn't address what they were looking for. lisa: she really made it the center point point. women care about issues outside of just playing that gender card. pete: also helped if she went to wisconsin one time. voters live there, too. lisa: we are being told we need to move on. jillian. pete: keep emailing us friends@foxnews.com. lisa: jillian, what else is going on out there? jillian: there is a lot going on. panicked somers sent running for their lives after gunshots ring out right outside a memphis mall. [screams]

that video was intense. three people shot after some sort of fight. they should be all okay. four people were taken into custody. three major u.s. cities are now suing the pentagon. new york, san francisco, and philadelphia claim the department of defense failed to report service member crimes to the fbi and federal gun background check data base. this comes weeks after a former airmen was able to purchase weapons and launch a deadly massacre at texas church. despite a domestic violence conviction. the suit wants the defense department to fix security gaps and comply with existing laws. this is great. a police officer pulls a family over for speeding on christmas day. that's not the good part. this is instead of a ticket, the two little boys in the backseat got a special message from santa claus. >> you are going to pull over a black toyota today for their speed. and they are going to have two younger boys in the car. i want you to give them this.

jillian: wouldn't you guys have a heart attack. tennessee officer gave the two boys a toy car and an action figure. he let the driver off with a warning. todd: was that staged or really happen? jillian: it seems like prestaged it's hard to tell. the car was speeding. pete: the car was speeding. maybe not presustained. jillian: you know that feeling when you get pulled over feeling in your gut. lisa: two kids in the car. leland: better experience when my mom got pulled over i told the police officer to throw her quote in the clin clink: mom, that's for you. it seemed like no one saw president trump coming except for perhaps some here. larry sabato peers into crystal ball predictions. line up to support the president. pete: that's all right, leland you can call moo by

name. message for house speaker paul ryan go to hell. this morning franklin graham is getting involved and i would say probably has a different. look, my name is first. there you go. ♪ whoooo.

looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. what is this? when we love someone, we want to do right by them. but some things we can't control like snoring. (snoring) introducing theravent anti-snore strips. clinically shown to reduce snoring. theravent. the answer is right under your nose.

leland: look like in 018. here with his predictions for the new year, the director of the center of politics at the university of virginia and the super glued back together crystal ball larry sabato. good to see you my friend. truism always in the mid terms after a new party his party loses seats. does that hold true in 2018. >> yes, it does. you can take this one to the bank or in your case to your bookie. i think there is no question that democrats will gain seats in the governorships, state legislatures and u.s. house. why? as you said, midterm election but the second reason is they lost so much ground during the 8 years of president obama. they have a lot of ground to make up. i think they will make some of it up next november. leland: roy moore's loss makes it 51-49 republicans

in the senate. do they keep the majority? >> i think the senate leans republican in november. simply because of this. you have 26 democratic seats coming up, including 10 of them in states president trump carried. you have only 8 republican seats. only 8 seats for the republicans to defend. that gives the republicans a big edge there. am i saying they can't blow it? of course they can blow it. but starting out, starting out they have got a big edge. james james john james in michigan taking on one of those democrats in trump states a little bit later. the senate is so important, larry, because of a possible supreme court opening in 2018, who would be the names to look to? >> well, this is a perennial, i will keep protecting it until it happens. i think in 2018 you will finally have another vacancy either anthony kennedy or

justice ginsburg. could be somebody else. it's time for another vacancy. and, of course, armageddon will ensue. leland: battle rye royale in the senate. even people rumored to be democrat 2020 in the white house, they are already talking about how important the supreme court is. >> absolutely 1457 democrats running in 2020 are all talking about the supreme court and they are forcing the airlines to add flights to des moines. they are already flying to des moines. all their staffs are flying to des moines. it's great for the economy of iowa. leland: great for the economy of iowa and all those friday pork chops they have there. you have so many democrats running and then you look at a place like russia where shockingly there is at least one person now taking on vladimir putin. i know your specialty is american politics. any predictions though of if putin has a chance at re-election? >> look, in my field, you have to stick your neck out.

and i'm going to stick it out. i am predicting that the russian election leans to president putin. i believe he is likely to win in march. but i'm putting it leans. we can pull it back but it leans putin. leland: we are marking the tape on that one, larry. thank you, sir. always good to see you. >> happy new year. leland: to you as well. coming up, prince harry and former president obama may be close friends. but the prince could be inviting trouble if he invites the obamas to his wedding. we are going to explain that and president trump spent 40 hours tweeting this year getting his message straight to the american people. carlecarley shimkus looked back at the year in trump tweets coming up next. ♪ baby i'm sorry ♪ i'm not sorry ♪ baby, i'm sorry ♪ i'm not sorry ♪ it's your last chance of the year

to get our best offer of the year: zero percent financing for seventy-two months, plus an extra one-thousand cash back across a full lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs. so hurry and save big on america's best-selling brand. it's the final days of the ford year end sales event with zero percent financing for seventy-two months plus an extra one-thousand cash back! see your ford dealer before jan 2nd and save. you can switch and save time. it pays to switch things up. [cars honking]

[car accelerating] you can switch and save worry. ♪ you can switch and save hassle. [vacuuming sound] and when you switch to esurance, you can save time, worry, hassle and yup, money. in fact, drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved hundreds. so you might want to think about pulling the ol' switcheroo. that's auto and home insurance for the modern world. esurance. an allstate company. click or call. you feel better. introducing tommie copper's all new shoulder centric posture shirt. they're biggest breakthrough yet. advanced engineering promotes healthy posture and relief for achy shoulders and back. visit tommiecopper.com to see the entire line of wearable wellness compression. they have you covered from head to toe. go to tommiecopper.com right now and find out how you can save 25% on your first purchase, plus first shipping. life hurts, feel better.

you won's first shipping. swho live within five miles of custyour business?-54, like these two... and that guy. or maybe you want to reach women, ages 18 to 34, who are interested in fitness... namaste. whichever audience you're looking for, we'll find them we're the finders. we work here at comcast spotlight, and we have the best tools for getting your advertising message out there. anywhere, any way your audience watches. consider them found.

♪ leland: good morning, 7:23 after the hour on the east coast here. time now for news by the numbers. first, 20%. that's how much nba ratings jumped this christmas compared to last year. but the nfl saw a ratings slump. the prime time eagles vs. radars game was down 9% compared to an average monday night football game this year. next. $643 million that's the combined jackpot for both mega millions and power ball. power ball's next drawing tonight mega millions on friday. and, number one amazon echo dot was the best selling product on amazon this season. they sold tens of millions worldwide. the voice controlled device cost $30. shocking that the number one item on amazon was an amazon

product. pete: they didn't put their finger on the scale. leland: no, no. lisa: for president trump 2017 has been the year of tweets. this as he promised to tone down the tweeting during the 2016 i tweeted today. don't worry, i will give it up after i'm president. we won't tweet anymore. not presidential some of us say more tweets, please. turns out he hasn't slowed down a bit. in fact president trump spent an estimated 40 hours tweeting from the oval office in 2017, taking his message straight to the american people. here to break it down is fox news headline 24/7 reporter carley shimkus. it's been a busy year on social media thanks to the president. >> secret is out. he likes to tweet. there were a lot of questions at the start of this year. the president, he was the first president to actively use twitter before coming to office. was he going to use the at

potus account or at real donald trump account. we tweet less? turns out he did not slow down whatsoever. he sent out an estimated 2,400 tweets this year. actively using the old numbs there. pete: have you broken down. you penalty a lot of time looking at these. number one, all three, his top three most retweeted tweets are a bit more controversial than they are policy driven. number one goes to the video that shows him body slamming the cnn logo right there. some people thought that was not very presidential. others thought it was funny. i think pete you fall into the category funny. pete: i thought it was both. that received about 360,000 retweets. making it his most popular tweet of the year. number two, mocking kim jong un saying why would kim jong un insult me by calling him old when i would never call him short and fat. i tried so hard to be his

friend and maybe some day that will happen. number three the infamous lisa: sounds like a band. what our other popular tweets? >> usually his tweets fall into three different categories. one of them is personal attacks against political adversaries or people in holiday or members of the media like this one attacking arnold schwarzenegger saying yes, arnold schwarzenegger did a really bad job as governor of california. even worse on the apprentice at least he tried hard. another style of tweet, of course, slamming the fake news media. he used that phrase fake news 1860 times this year on twitter. so that was a very popular

style of tweet for him to send. number three though, of course, policy tweets. this is, of course, why one of the reasons why he was elected into office because he was able to get his message straight out to the people. an example of that is on the travel ban. he said that's right. we need a travel ban for certain dangerous countries not some politically correct term that won't help us protect our people. of course, his base would love that tweet. you know, talking about politically correctness and also the travel ban. pete: to the tweet previous though fake news is his most used phrase on social media. >> that's right. unbelievable. lisa: stump speeches and interviews as well. we have heard him use that phrase quite often. >> some people say he should not tweet as much as he does. in july he sent out a tweet saying my use of social media is not presidential. it's modern day presidential. he is right. leland: he gets so much criticism for this what a

powerful political tool. ron desantis we had on earlier the president tweeted about on friday, the response he got from the president's tweet about him was unlike anything he had ever seen. that was actual a very positive tweet. lisa: not only that when you look at a lot of the media karageorge, 80%, 0% is negative. this is how he got his message out. he tweeted about the show we are on right now "fox & friends." what about that? >> more so than any other show, he has he tweeted about a hundred or so times he has mentioned "fox & friends" on twitter. i want to know what he is going to say on new year's eve because last year on new year's eve he sent out my favorite tweet of all time happy new year to all including my many enemies those who fought me and lost me so badly they just don't know what to do love exclamation point. a little positivity. lisa: put a bow on that. interesting stuff there. thanks, carley. leland: thanks, carley.

pete: rosie o'donnell had this message for house speaker paul ryan. she said go to hell. this morning franklin graham is getting involved and he has another take. lisa: not very nice. we know batman can save gotham city. ♪ but would the world be better off without him and every super hero? i can't believe that. one scientist says yes. seriously, i can't believe that though. stay tuned. pete: carbon footprint is too big ♪ can't forget ♪ we only get what we give ♪ you wouldn't believe what's in this kiester. a farmer's market. a fire truck. even a marching band. and if i can get comfortable talking about this kiester, then you can get comfortable using preparation h. for any sort of discomfort in yours. preparation h. get comfortable with it. ♪ let out your inner child

at the lexus december to remember sales event. lease the 2018 es 350 for $319 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

♪ watch them as they go ♪ pete: i would have picked picked this song. lisa: this is pete's play list. pete: look at a couple of these super heroes, you recognize them batman, flash, superman, spiderman. we think of them as folks here to save the day. some academics, specifically at stanford feel like they are actually a threat to us. lisa: this is crazy. pete: a stanford university journalist, higeology gist. he has done a study to figure out, to determine that super heroes.

pete: i bet he got a grant to do this. pete: probably a federal grant. lisa: aren't there other things to study. pete: super heroes use too many fossil fuels and earth would be better off without them. lisa: we need them. gotham city feel about that. pete: dig into research. really riveting. to run the speed of light the flarn would nee flash wouldo consume 59 billion cal calories a second. a 59-foot hamburger. 900 pounds of carbon dioxide a year and flying alone. leland: i like. he would burn the fossil equivalent 349 plane rights from new york to san francisco. this is what the researcher misses the good parts of super heroes. lisa: saving lives? fighting bad guys? leland: send superman over to north korea and take off kim jong un. that's not worth 344 plane

rides? pete: think about b-52s we would save. lisa: give rocket man a taste of superman or batman even. pete: this is unbelievable display of why academia is not relevant at all. leland: yeah. and we had some thoughts on this obviously, but we would love to know your thoughts. friends@foxnews.com. do super heroes have a place that is either better or worse for humanity and the earn environment? and by the way we think your feelings are probably about as relevant on this as a stanford professor, perhaps each more. pete: bill buckley said he would rather be governed by the first 100 people in the phone book than harvard faculty. the bat mobile is definitely not a hybrid. that's a problem. leland: what if you could make it electric? then this guy would love it. pete: he would be all about saving the day. let us know

friends@foxnews.com, should superman stop saving the world and spiderman stop -- lisa: shooting out the spider web. pete: we have a super hero. lisa: how do you make that more carbon fixture. pete: recycled web. leland: there is another super hero, i'm pretty sure that you do not consume 12-foot hamburger every day, jillian, as evidently batman. lisa: we would judge you if you did. hamburg err is delicious. jillian: ladies never tell their secrets. something i'm never going to admit to. prince harry may actually be banned from inviting the obamas to his royal wedding. british government officials reportedly fear an invitation may cause tension in the white house since it's unlikely president trump will be invited. this as the new excerpt is released from prince harry's about. bc radio interview with obama. the former president slamming president trump's use of social media but without actually naming him. >> one of the dangers of the

internet is that people can have entirely different realities. they can be just cacooned in information that reinforces their current bias cease. jillian: prince harries says his final guest list has not been finalized yet. responding to a video posted online rosie wrote quote paul ryan don't talk about jesus after what you just did to our nation. you goal straight to hell you screwed up altar boy judas much? referenced graham says you don't have the keys to hell but i know the one who does. disney hotels are doing away with the do not disturb sign and said guests at the pal neetion will get room occupied signs. employee is required to enter every room once a day. disney is expected to rule out new security measure at all hotels in the coming

week. many people expect it's in response to the las vegas massacre where a gunman launched his deadly attacking from a hotel room. all right. this is what true love looks like in the 21st century. check it out. taylor burkhalter patients dad rearranging the living room furniture so mom could make fake snow angel and share it with 29. dad doesn't seem to be thrilled with happy. mom orngd was happy with her finished product. that's great. i think her 29 followers probably love it, guys. lisa: i absolutely love the husband's face. as he is taking the video of this happening just being like, serious? like really? this is what my life is right now? pete: exactly. this is my life. lisa: i love the wife for doing that that's cute. pete: she had 29 followers before this? lisa: we are all following her now. pete: little bit of creativity and hard work that's what you get.

jillian, appreciate it toss out to adam klotz who has the weather for us this morning. adam: good morning, guys. guess what? i'm not the only maniac standing outside at this point. leland: we don't see you. lisa: there you are. adam: i'm not the only maniac standing out here on the plaza this morning. it's cold but i got two, only two other people brave enough to come out here with me from atlanta, georgia. what's you guy's name. >> my name is rose, jill schmidt. adam: you know someone at home much warmer than you do you want to give shoutout. >> our dad on this trip for christmas. adam: atlanta, georgia, obviously feeling a lot nicer there when you are indoors. here is what it looks like on our maps, wind chill all the way from the northern plains, stretching into maine. it is brigitte out there. these are your current feels like temperatures. 20 degrees below in chicago. 30 degrees below in fargo. 13 degrees below in kansas city. it's a balmy, i don't know, 3 here in new york city. so, we have got it. we have got it nice.

here is what it looks like. those are. so actual temperatures out there down into the negative 15 to the negative 25. it is really cold out there, guys. so maybe we shouldn't be complaining too much. back to you i guess. i'm going to run inside here any second. leland: adam, what your friends have behind you adam is a hat as well that you don't have. oh, adam is gone. he got too cold. lisa: go dad who sent his daughters here. leland: still ahead. just a couple days away from the new year. it may bring a new bombshell. big head line that could have major implications for hillary clinton. pete: that's right. plus, this army vet is looking to do something that hasn't been done in decades. unseat a democratic senator in the state of michigan. he joins us live next. lisa: first, the trivia question of the day. born on this day in 1966, this wrestler had a short stint in the nfl before joining the wcw.

who is he? be the first to email us at friends@foxnews.com with the correct answer. pete: i think i know ♪ good old american way ♪ ♪ as soon as i became a parent i changed as a person, drastically. ♪ 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.

leland: it is the midwest state that hadn't voted republican in nearly 30 years until donald trump. the car there is a clue. now insiders claim the

michigan senate race may be one of the toughest ones for 2018. pete: our next guest, this conservative outsider is looking at the race and he is in the race. he is an iraq war army veteran running to replace democrat debbie stabenow and says his message is what america needs to hear. here now is john james. thanks for being here. tell us why president trump wins michigan. it has not been a friendly place for republicans. tell us why it will be in 2018 in your estimation. >> well, i will tell you what, in my estimation, people in the state of michigan are sick ever the democratic brand of gepgd den is i being pedaled by the powers that be in washington, d.c. right now the message is really say resonating. a conservative outsider who understands national security from a strategic to a tactical standpoint. understands what it takes to keep americans safe because he has actually done it before and somebody who

actually understands what it takes to create economic opportunity because he has actually created businesses. he has actually created jobs and understands the nuances thereof. and, having somebody with these disciplines, this real world, real life experiences fighting for michiganders from east side to west side. black and white, left and right these are the skill sets we need. i need your support to take the fight to washington please go to john james for senate.com to learn more. more.legion interesting as you run. donald trump won the state of michigan. what things that he has done they are happy about or upset about that they want you to bring to washington and to deal with in washington if you get elected to the senate? >> i will stay very clearly. results. not rhetoric. that is what the people of state of michigan want. and that is what they are doing with grassroots support. leland: results on what. give me specific policy things that you are talking to folks that really

resonate in michigan. >> of course, the biggest thing is tax reform. tax reform got done. our president has kept his promises to the american people and delivered tax reform and signed into law before christmas. it's a massive christmas present not just for the middle class, who will experience more choice. for example, the 529 plan now applies to k through 12 not just in college. when you the give parents choice, you give children a chance in the state of michigan. repatriating trillions of dollars overseas and manufacturing jobs back. great jobs here in the state of michigan. that really effects and chuck schumer and nancy pelosi and debbie stabenow have been fighting that every step of the way. and michiganders are stird of partisan politics not more rhetoric. pete: tired of partisan politics they will get a whole lot more of it after 2018 the balance of the house and balance of the senate are at issue. resist democrats have said potentially impeachment is on the table based on what we are not quite sure.

your opponent debbie stabenow has been a reliable vote for democrats. what is she running on and telling the people of michigan? >> right now all i can tell is the entire democratic party is not a party for. they are a party against. and they really don't have an identity as far as i can see other than impeach trump. it's the one thing that unifies them. what unifies us are conservative values is bringing people together, moving everybody up. allowing everybody to have access to the american dream. these are the same people who refuse to accept the results of the 2016. these are the same people who are trying to revise the duly elected president and who will allow michiganders in mississippians to be dictated to from new york and california. we, the people, haven't delegated certain authority to the federal government and i aim to protect the liberties of americans and michiganders in the full u.s. senate just like did i

when i was deployed through operation iraq freedom. leland: new make it to the senate of the united states it is fair to say the republicans won't have a 60 pet majority. they have to compromise with democrats on things like getting defense spending, like immigration reform and getting funding for the wall give us what happened to you in your business career and perhaps what you learned from your time in the service that you are going to bring to washington to be able to negotiate to be able to make deals with? i will tell you what, people who believe that ceos and army combat veterans, officers rules with an iron fist watch too many movies. i have been working from the battle field to the board room to get buy in, to get people from different skill sets, different coasts, different genders, different ideological processes to work together toward one goal, toward one mission. and making sure that we are staying true to our conservative values but making sure we can execute on the issues.

i truly believe that more unites us than divides us. there is plenty of confusion and i believe having a -- somebody who can unite and execute and get results, somebody like me is right for the u.s. senate. real skill set. pete: i hope you are right. i don't know all that much what unites, at least politically and ideologically right now. there ain't a whole lot of common ground. if someone can walk in and do that, that would be significant. otherwise, a lot of conservatives saying hey, we need another conservative vote which i would say you are as well. >> absolutely. i -- as can you tell exactly how conservative i am. go for john james for senate.com and learn about the values and take the fight to washington. leland: learn about your pilot your time as a helicopter pilot and west point. john james from the great state of michigan. thank you for being here sir. >> thank you for having me. leland: safe spaces are dominating college campuses. pete: this is not a safe space in case you didn't know. next guest looking to change that by creating a school of

his own. leland: talking about going out on a limb, the media claiming first lady melania trump is chopping down a 200-year-old tree at the white house. pete: she will do it with an ax herself. leland: that would be news. another side of the story shockingly they are not telling you. we will ♪ ♪ ♪harry's meeting clients...♪ ♪...from far away. but they only see his wrinkles.♪

♪he's gotta play it cool to seal the deal.♪ ♪better find a way to smooth things over.♪ ♪if only harry used some... ♪...bounce, to dry. ♪yeah! ♪he would be a less wrinkly, and winning at life.♪

hello there friend! hi! hey there. i'm an imaginary friend of a kid just like you. you're going through a lot right now and i know you're scared. but you're stronger than you know. but look, we'll get through this together. and remember... we at the imaginary friends society always have your back!

♪ pete: welcome back. now, time for the answer to the trivia question we brought you earliery. the answer to today's question, bill goldberg, the former wwc champion turns 51 today. the winner eddy mark from

las vegas. i pretended like i knew it. you will be getting a copy of andrew's newest book andrew jackson and the miracle of new orleans. it's a two for. and ainsley earhardt's book "through your eyes." lisa: when you think of college campuses today snowflakes. liberals screaming at the sky. a brand new college in massachusetts is looking to change that. pete: sat ler college three ds. joining us is finney. thank you for joining us this morning. a lot of us look out at the waste land of higher education these days and say where do i send my kid and where do i donate my money you? instead stepped up and said i am going to create my own school that reinforces the things we are missing in our culture today. >> that's right, pete. thanks, lisa for having me on your show. in a sentence the modern higher educational system is too expensive.

it's academically weak. and it's hostile to face. and these institutions are very resistant to change and so we decided to create our own college here in boston, massachusetts. lisa: finney, you focus on character, which isn't often something we see in recruiting tools as a reason to attend that school. why is that so important to you. >> when you look across the country, across a wide is a right of ethics. pornography addiction or drug use or cheating, sexual promise execute, you name it, the average student is worse off after four years than when they began. that's a terrible tragedy. most people are focusing in on the gpa and on their transcripts rather than the whole person. the original vision of college and university was about developing the whole person. we feel like it's time for a revolution to get college

back on track to think about character as much as it thinks about developing the mind. we are a christian institution. and we feel like that provides us a solid world view around how we can ground students and properly develop them as a whole person and as a follower of christ. pete: finney, i are going to be making sure tuition is affordable. 9 grand a year for a private school. five majors to start human biology, computer science. biblical and religious studies, history and business. you say you will eventually expand into journalism. can we ramp that up a little bit? get good folks into journalism help us at out at satler college. >> we would love to do that. pete: put the mission of the campus up on the screen if we would. satler college seeks to prepare college to serve christ, the church and the world. our mission something to provide classical education that instructs the mind, disciple that shapes the soul and inspiration inflames the heart. talking about classical

information. my three boys go to a classic cat school. it prepares people to be good citizens. >> yeah, that's right. one of the things that we would actually say we are simply going back to how education once was. for example, to graduate from harvard and yale and princeton and those kind of schools a couple hundred years ago, you would have had to show appreciate? i hebrew and greek and latin and understanding church history. understand how to read the bible. understand theology. understand apologetics. a lot of those tools. and today that's basically lost. lisa: right. thank you. pete: we unfortunately have to cut you off. lisa: we are running out of time. >> no problem. m not really "the" m not really "the" talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424.

finding the best hotel price is whoooo. now a safe bet. because tripadvisor searches... ...over 200 booking sites - so you save up to 30% on the... ...hotelock it in. tripadvisor.

>> a new investigation looking at the fbi and the department of justice and whether or not hillary clinton got special treatment. >> everything i know, i don't see how you could come to any conclusion other than that there was penciler treatment. i mean, they wrote a letter exonerating her two months before they ever even interviewed her. >> melania trump agreed with the national park service and ordered the removal of that near 200-year-old tree. >> if you read the headlines, they're making it seem like melania trump was, like, cut that down. that, that one. >> a police officer pulls a family over for speeding on christmas day. instead of a ticket, the

officer gave the two boys a toy, car, and action figure and left the driver off with a warning. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the best day of your life because it starts off with us here together. a little bit of hyperbole. best day of your life? just coming off with a song. >> i know. >> likes hanging out with us. >> wedding day or birth of your child. >> i haven't had any of those yet. >> best day of your life. >> rub it in, why don't you. yeah, why don't you rub it in, pete because we haven't experienced these highlights in life. >> i've had too many

highlights. highlights, low-lifes, they're there. we're happy to be here. it's great to have you. 8:00 hour of fox and friends. we've already done two hours of news, but a lot of a lot of you are probably still waking up. a lot of stuff going on. in fact, if you've been watching this channel or other channels that the president likes to call fake news. >> don't do that. stay tuned right here. pete: stay tuned right here. wall-to-wall of mueller's council. russia, russia, russia, the investigation that seems to be ongoing and never ending. a headline in usa today reveals something that not a lot of people knew about but are has ongoing for a long time. it says the quiet probe in the clinton e-mail investigation could be a land mile for robert mueller. we've known about this. but it hasn't been publicized. in the middle of january, the inspector general at the department of justice started and opened an investigation that has been now going on for almost a year until how the fbi and doj handled the

investigation during the campaign into hillary clinton's private server. the one where a lot of people wonder why she was exonerated by james comey two months before she was actually interviewed. the man in charge of this investigation, his name is michael. he's not a household name because what they've revealed through this through james comey and loretta lynch and others, because of this investigation. >> and we also learned what you pointed out, which was the exoneration letter was written two months before the interview with hillary clinton possibly that hillary clinton was specified as being getting preferential treatment during. >> special treatment. right. they even used that word. >> and michael horowitz is also the individual. he looked into "fast and furious" with the atf back in 2012. he also looked into the columbia scandal regarding dea agents and their ties to prostitution there paid for by the drug cartels. so this is a guy who is no

stranger looking into these agencies, shining a light on them, and calling out some of this correction. so it will be quite interesting to see what he does with this probe. and as you pointed out, he's already unearthed information particularly the text messages between lisa trough and lisa paige and the insurance policy that they mention in that text message. >> that's right. i wonder if philosophy james comey will come out with his instagram account and the tweets. it feels like a lot of our institutions have been affected bipartisan or the deep state. >> or even self gain. you could perhaps even read about it in james comey's new book that he has coming out. pete: it's true. >> and i think the important thing right now as he mentioned, so many have lost faith. it's important that we have these checks and balances to ensure there's not overbiases at places like the fbi.

we asked congressman about that this morning, take a listen. >> i don't see how you could come to any conclusion other than that there was preferential treatment. i mean, they wrote a letter exonerating her two months before they even interviewed her. if you look at how they conducted her interview, it was a 1:00 interview, you had other witnesses in the room. you remember when they bleach bit all the e-mails. there was never any follow-up of obstruction of justice. you look at cheryl mills who said i had no idea she had her own server and then you look at the e-mails where asking about hillary's server. did they pursue for false statements? of course not. i think the ig is going to substantiate that. pete: this is not a political probe. that's very different. this is not president trump saying go after my opponents. this is inspector general. it started when the transition was happening. >> i think it has been a year. pete: almost been a year and this report will come in 2018. keep an eye on this.

michael horowitz and inspector general. mueller's all the rage right now. but this may be the investigation that supposes what's happened. >> also exonerated running for governor. but he's not. >> tried to get it out of him. >> would not admit. >> but something the congressman we just heard from talked about a lot is the issue of north korea. new sanctions on north korea by the u.s. treasury in the past couple of days, the big un vote with nikki haley which for new sanctions as well. but despite all of that, the washington post they're doing their winners and losers at the end of 2017, they say this. for north korean leader kim jong-un, 2017 has been a very good year. >> it all depends how you look at it; right? i mean, 2017 was the year where he find 25 years of runway in that rogue country to develop missiles, develop nuclear capability, to hold tests that were never accountable for. previous administrations held talks that led nowhere while

they went toward a nuclear weapon. well, here they are in 2017. this administration taking it very, very seriously. but the options with what to do with that regime are all tough. >> and we've also seen reports that kim jong-un doesn't quite to know what to think of president trump. he doesn't know what he will do. he doesn't know what he is capable of, so he is clearly on his heels, at least in the sense of, you know, not knowing what potentially could happen or what the president is capable of. >> the piece point's out that he has consolidated power, killed anyone that would challenge him. if he could get a delivery mechanism that reenters with the nuclear warhead that they have, he's in a more stable place. but that he would be far more -- this is not hyperbole -- far more stable place if hillary clinton were president because she would take a more conventional approach which has not recollected. didn't work for her husband, didn't work for george w. bush, barack obama across party lines. this president saying we have

a try a new approach. if he think so he's going to sit there kindly in 2017 with his cushion year, we'll see what happens. >> well, and onto some other ridiculous headlines. so melania trump is taking heat right now for cutting down a tree that was 200 years old. the removal of this dying tree. but the reason why she removed it is because it was dying and recommended to her to cut down. you had talked about this earlier with some insight onto it. why don't you listen to this. >> there is the tree. now look at the headlines about it. melania trump orders removal of knee 200-year-old tree from white house. cnn exclusive iconic white house christmas tree to be cut down, and we will provide the sound for it. the tree is just next to the south where president trump walks out to marine one. the tree is also where all of the news media stands when the

president sometimes comes over and talks to us as he heads over to marine one. so think about this dying tree that clearly the national park service that takes care of the grounds at the white house hadn't been cut down because melania trump saved the tree and then it wiped out the entire white house press core when it fell over. calamity ensues. >> and then i had mentioned earlier in the show. if you read some of these headlines and you didn't know the back story, you would think melania trump was just walking around the white house grounds washington has chainsaw. >> yeah. just chopping it them down. you know, that one, that one. if you just read the headlines, and you didn't the back story. you didn't have him on the couch explaining it. you had no idea the back story there. >> it's important to know that everybody who wrote this story, cnn, their reporters stand in the same place i did when i just talked about this tree. time magazine, newsweek. their reporters were all there. none of the context to this was given. you didn't need me. you just needed them to have

provided the context. >> who was president in 1971? was it lbj. so in 1971, a limb fell off, and they poured cement inside of the tree. and it didn't take very well. funny so president trump and melania, they get the blame for all the poor maintenance of this tree, which, by the way, was planted by andrew jackson. so it's historic in why it's there and people want to protect it. but if it's dead, it's dead. >> well, it may not be totally dead, though. we'll take seedlings out of this tree for the next couple hundred years. >> and, again, planted by president trump, so they get to cover that for years to come. >> the trump tree. >> #trump tree. >> i love it. >> all right. jillian. follow that. >> did you guys wake up this

morning and think we're going to talk about a tree for ten minutes? because that's how much time has been spent on a tree. >> i hoped for it. >> you hoped for it. good one. let's get you guys caught up on this bizarre story. i'll tell you what happened. a plane was well on its way across the world and forced to turn around when a passenger actually gets on the wrong plane. this wasn't discovered right away, though. pilots flying back to los angeles four hours into the 11-hour journey to tokyo. model chrissy tegan and her husband were onboard documenting the trip on twitter. writing they keep saying the person had a united ticket, we are on a& a. basically the scanner and a machine that makes noises. everything has been straightened out and an investigation is underway. shopper sent running for their lives after gunshots rang out right outside of the memphis mall. [gunshots]

>> at least three people were shot after some sort of fight. they should all be okay. four people were taken into custody. turning to extreme weather, a bitter actorric blast across the country. 20 states from colorado to maine under a wind chile advisory. parts of pennsylvania could see up to six feet on the ground. and there's a deep freeze in the midwest. people in wisconsin waking up to temperatures falling 16 below zero. israel could soon name a train station after president trump. the project would be part of a brand-new high speed rail line western wall. israel'stransportation minister proposing the idea after president trump recognized jerusalem as the capital. in may, the commander-in-chief became the first u.s. sitting president to visit the wall. the project would take four years to complete if it's approved. that's a look at your

headlines. i will send it back to you guys. >> small correction before the tweets come in. we note that it was actually richard nixon who was president. >> which you have already gotten a text message about it; right? >> i got a text message from my dad. so there you go. >> keeping us honest. >> ig and fox and friends keeping us honest. >> i like that. my dad would appreciate that. the liberal media already writing the script for the 2018 midterm. so scott do it democrats really have the advantage they're talking about? we're going to ask the woman who has been helping on the republican side. the rnc chairwoman coming up next. pete: and pop quiz. what do gandhi and new york city's mayor bill de blasio have in common? apparently everything. just ask bill de blasio himself. he'll share

pete: the liberal media setting their sights on democratic house victories for 2018. but are they writing off republican chances too soon? >> let's ask r nc chairwoman rona mcdaniel joining us live. nice to see you this morning. >> good morning. great to see you.

>> all right. so fair to say historically the party out of power and certainly out of the white house has the upper hand midterms 2018. you guys feel that's true this time? or are you going to buck the trend? >> well, we've been preparing for that. we know historically the party that holds the white house loses seats in the midterms and that's why the rnc has been on the ground from the beginning of this year. we're already in 21 states working our field program. we've raised unprecedented amounts of money that we're putting into these states early, building out our program so that we can win in these midterms. and then let's look at the records of republicans in this first year. unemployment at a 17-year low, consumer confidence at a record high, you look at the dow, you look at the tax cuts what it's going to mean for the middle class more money in their paychecks. we are delivering on promises we have made. we have an accomplishment column that's very large and the democrats having in to run on. they've done nothing this year, and i don't think that's going to resonate in 2018.

>> just to push on that. why do you think that's not showing up in polling? because you look at the generic ballot, democrats are up in double digits and even the tax reform law, we know that even liberal groups are saying 80% of americans will get a tax cut. but you look at polling even from the wall street journal saying that only 17% of americans think they're getting a tax cut. so why is what you just said, why is it not translating to what the polls are showing? >> so we're in the battleground states at the rnc, and we're dealing with voters that we're going to be directly looking for their votes for come november of 2018. and that's with where we see the numbers very positive for the tax cuts and for tax reform, and we take those numbers to the president. so overall across the country, maybe don't show that. you have to look at the sample size. but as we're in these battleground states, and that's the benefit of the rnc. we're in there early. we're talking to our voters early, and this is resonating across the board. you know, what's interesting joe manchin went home to west virginia to a big banner that said we'll

remember in november. and because of our field program, we're on the ground in unprecedented levels before midterm election. we'll make sure voters remember in november that democrats voted "no" across the board no middle class tax cuts. and as the economy continues to roll, and we see gdp grow and jobs come back and wages go up, we're going to make sure voters that know it's republican leadership under the leader of president trump, leadership of president trump that have done this and democrats have sat on their hands and doubled down on this resist and obstruct playbook that's not working for the american people. >> but it's not just democrats. you talk about starting early. a never trumper jeff flake has come out and said the president is inviting a challenge. so you talk to the grassroots. is there a base for the challenge to this president or is this just the republican resist movement in its last gasp? >> the base of our party is so pleased with the president right now. this year of accomplishments, this year in review. you look at the judicial

appointments, you look at what he has done for veterans. our military is getting a pay raise for the first time. our country is safer. our economy's doing better. jobs are coming back. wages are going up. i just can't imagine anyone running against a record like this. and this is just the first year. imagine where we'll be next november as we see our economy continue to grow under the great policies coming from republicans. >> and we have to leave it right there. but the fund raising numbers have shown that as well as the rnc has dramatically outraised the dnc as well. thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thanks fog for one minute having me. >> you got it. well, first he turned california into a sanctuary state. now governor jerry brown are pardoning two immigrants who are convicted felons. the son of our next guest was killed by an illegal immigrant in san francisco. he has a message for the governor. >> just heartbreaking. and then president trump's tax cuts already paying off. a new study that says 143 million americans will pay fewer taxes next year.

grover norquist is here to react and break it all down for you. stay tuned

>> thank you for waking up with us on this wednesday. border agents stuffed into cars. after being discovered during three separate incidents at arizona checkpoints this weekend. three u.s. citizens also under arrest for human smuggling. and a christmas robbery thwarted with a wooden chair and there is the picture. an air force veteran slamming the would be bandit over the head at a california wendy's after he showed a knife to a

and work demanded money. as you might imagine, the suspect got away empty handed and perhaps with a little bruise from the chair. >> well, first he turned california in a a sanctuary state. now jerry brown is pardoning 132 people, including two immigrants that were set for deportation. >> both men from cambodia are convicted felons but now petitions judges to reopen their cases. >> our next guest lost his son through an illegal immigrant in san francisco back in 2010. don rosenberg joins us now. thank you for joining us today. i have no doubt that you think of your son every day for our viewers and full context, tell us about drew and what happened. >> hi, lisa, hi, pete, thanks for having me on. pete: of course. >> my son was a law student in san francisco in 2010, and he was coming home from school late one afternoon and an

illegal alien from honduras tried to make a last second left-hand turn. they collided. my son was on a motorcycle. instead of stopping, he accelerated, drove over his body, helmet got stuck under his tire, he backed up, drove over him a second time and then trying to flee, went forward again a third time. by that time, the time had gotten out of his car, and he stopped with his rear tire in my son's abdomen. >> i'm so sorry, don. our heartbreaks for you. >> thank you. >> don, the remaining question. they were illegal but california is a sanctuary state and has become a sanctuary state under governor brown. so what would you say to him and his protection of a sanctuary state. what would your message be to him? >> well, for those in california who know about hi his -- about our bullet train, i wish you would get on the bullet train first stop to

hell, and he should get off and stay there. his concern for criminals be it legal or not is outrageous and has cost the lives of many californians. fortunately, he'll be gone, but i don't know that he'll be replaced by anybody any better. >> yeah. >> but he is terrible. >> don, you know, robert gala, you mentioned the immigrant that committed that hit-and-run, effectively. what happened to him after your son was killed. >> well, he eventually was convicted. it started off as a felony vehicular homicide. the charges got dropped down to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. he was convicted. and then uscis refused to deport him. it took me about eight months fighting with a lot of help, and we finally got him deported. but he managed to stay in the

country for another two years. he spent all of 43 days in jail for killing somebody. >> real quick. but president trump has put a focus on the victims of illegal immigrants. we don't have a lot of time here. but do you feel like you have a voice now? >> well, certainly. i mean, when obama was president, we couldn't even talk to anybody. there was no response whatsoever. i actually had a letter to obama delivered by somebody in jay johnson's office, and he never responded to it, which was pretty much everybody else. so we do. but i will tell you we are very concerned about the daca deal that's going to come down. i'm in a group called iviac, and our deal is you don't do anything with daca until you do anything else with immigration. pete: i'm just sitting here puzzled you think about the reflex to defend illegals while legal lawsuits are

defended like that. it is infuriating for a lot of us. god bless you. >> thank you for sharing drew's story. >> thank you so much for having me. >> you got it. appreciate it. all right. up next, what are hillary clinton's 2018 new year's resolutions? well, vanity fair an unlikely source has an idea. >> we all know james comey cost you the reaction. but it's a year later and time to move on. pete: well, you've had some thoughts for her new year's resolution and your e-mails are coming up next. >> i'm surprised you weren't in that. >> i won't work for vanity fair. >> and the temperatures outside are bone chilling. we can attest to that. so we've got the best gear to keep you warm. saddam testing some of it out. he's heading outside now to tell you how it goes. stay warm

when a cold calls... achoo! ...answer it. with zicam cold remedy. it shortens colds, so you get better, faster. colds are gonna call. answer them with zicam! zicam. get your better back. now in delicious fruit drops. on a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. your insurance company raises your rates. maybe you should've done more research on them.

for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise your rates due to your first accident. switch and you could save $782 on home and auto insurance. call for a free quote today. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. you feel better. introducing tommie copper's all new shoulder centric posture shirt. they're biggest breakthrough yet. advanced engineering promotes healthy posture and relief for achy shoulders and back. visit tommiecopper.com to see the entire line of wearable wellness compression. they have you covered from head to toe. go to tommiecopper.com right now and find out how you can save 25% on your first purchase, plus first shipping. life hurts, feel better.

>> you're going to be hearing that over the next couple of days a lot. you're also going to be hearing people tabe their new year's resolutions. we'll get to ours in a minute. but the folks over at vanity fair usually quite friendly to the clintons have some suggestions. or maybe so we'll get to that in a minute. but they had some of their

staffers put together a video with proposed new year's resolutions for hillary clinton. take a listen. >> it's time to start working on your sequel to your book what the hell happened. >> one of your tech staffs to disable auto fill on your iphone so that typing an s doesn't become exploratory committee in 2020. take up a new holiday in the new year. volunteer work, knitting, improv comedy, literally anything to keep you from running again. >> to finally put away your james comey voodoo doll. now, we all know that you think he cost you the election. but so did a lot of other things. >> cheers to you, hillary clinton. >> cheers to you, hillary. >> cheers to vanity fair. >> cheers to vanity fair. >> i'm going to give you a way to think about this. it was mark twain who said humor is the good natured side of truth. and there are a lot of democrats that i talk to. especially democratic fundraisers who were worried

that hillary clinton is actually thinking about this. and there are things like this and other ways to mention to the clintons. we don't wish you ill, really, but we kind of wish you gone. >> we asked you guys at home about it, and you delivered. e-mails from michelle. michelle says learn to tell the truth might drop there. that's a pretty strong statement, michelle. >> probably true. >> and e-mail from raymond said write a last book called happens. >> and i would tell hillary to just let it go. get on with life and enjoy retirement. >> we had a lot of them that are not for fitting tv, and we put a filter in there, and we shared those. >> some of them we couldn't share. >> many of them. >> but we're going to read them later and laugh. >> but thank you for sending them in. keep them coming in, friends, at foxnews.com. but, jillian, do you want to share your resolution for us? >> i don't have one.

i don't typically have a new year's resolution. >> perfect. you don't need one. >> that is definitely not the case. i don't know. i guess i stopped making -- >> mine just remained the same, and i don't have to come up with new ones. >> all right. you go. we'll get you caught up on your news this morning. for murder charges after a highway prank turns deadly. the boys are accused of throwing sandbags off an overpass in ohio killing a 22-year-old man. the victim was riding in the front passenger seat of a car when the sandbag crashed through the windshield critically injuring him. he later died at a hospital. the fourteens all between the ages of 13 and 14 are being held without bail. president trump winning on the world stage and keeping a key campaign promise to obliterate isis. >> we will find you, we will destroy you, and we will win. >> i would bomb the (bleep) out of them. i would just bomb those suckers. i would blow up every single inch. there would be nothing left.

>> so in less than a year, he has nearly wiped out isis. u.s. military reporting the terror group has lost 98% of its territory. half of those losses coming since president trump took office. at one point, isis controlled an area the size of ohio. today, it controls a small area along the syria and iraq border. not stopping bill de blasio from comparing himself to gandhi. >> every time someone tries something that doesn't work, it invalidates anything they will do going forward. well, tell thomas edison that and gandhi. there's no leader that hasn't had setbacks. >> the new york city mayor also taking a stab at hillary clinton saying she would be president if she followed his advice. how about this? takes a whole new meaning to the term falling in love. brian popping the question to his girlfriend amanda at rockefeller ice skating rink

in new york city. now, of course, she said "yes." but here's the thing. when she leans in for a kiss, the bride to be slips and falls on the ice. people are saying ouch in the studio. hundreds of people watching the proposal. but she was a good sport raising her arms and standing back up. oh, man, that's something they will never forget. >> that would be me if i were going to get engaged. >> that's fantastic. well, deep freeze december is here. >> it's finally here. warm here in the studio. and there's winter gear and engagements to help you stay warm this season. lifestyle expert lee joins us. now, what have you got for us? >> okay. so the first thing are heated soles. you want to keep your feet and your hands cold. >> i never heard of these. >> yeah. so what you want to do is you actually power it in a plug, and then you have a remote control right here. and then as you touch it, you can actually for five hours,

you can increase the heat on your feet. >> how much do these bad boys cost? >> so they're about $130. >> but you can move them from shoe to shoe; right? >> you have one in each shoe. and then i'm actually increasing. is it getting warmer? and then all you do for five hours, you can just increase it. if you're at a football game, that's something that can be. >> what about these socks? >> these are $130. if you want something a little more inexpensive, we have these 35 below socks. you have these as seen on tv. they're 14.99. i got them at bed, bath & beyond. >> can i borrow these? >> yeah. >> you've been wearing these. >> they're quite warm. >> very warm. this is wonderful. >> yeah. i tried some of this stuff out. the insole is warm. but you need a bigger shoe. i'm wearing dress shoes, obviously, it felt snug in there. >> most people are smart

enough not to be outside in dress shoes when it's cold. >> well, you would think so. >> i wasn't wearing a hat but with hair like that you would understand. >> you put a hat on it, no problem. >> what are these? >> so those are the gloves -- you can actually put handwarmers that you can buy for 99 cents over -- they have little slots for them. and then you can put them inside. >> and you can -- when you're buying gloves, they actually have gauges right here. so it says cool, cold, very cold. so depending on where you're going, the gloves that you're wearing in september should not be the same gloves you're wearing in december. >> absolutely. >> thermals. my dad always wears, like, longjohns and thermals. these are from under armour. and they have degrees also.

1.0, 2.0, 3.0. >> it's very similar to what we had in the military. >> a couple of layers like that. >> very warm but you're not super, super bulky, which is nice about that. >> you can still move around in them. >> exactly. >> so now this is something for your homes. this is a smart thermostat. honeywell makes this. a lot of other brands makes this as well. and what is cool about it is let's say you're in bed, and it's cold, and you want to increase temperatures wi-fi enabled, so it's on your phone increase the temperature or decrease the temperature. >> what about this fine garment i'm wearing now? >> this is a really nice warm fleece. but what you want to do is the whole point of this is make sure you're layering up so a lot of jackets have double layers. so you want to make sure that you are putting this under your other coat. and then last but not least, this is one of my favorites. it feels like a nice warm.

>> okay. so this is a pocket wrap. so we just powered it up and you're just going to put it on, and it feels like a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate. and you can get that at bed, bath & beyond as well. >> thank you very much. i'm going to use some of these i think. >> yeah. make sure you take an inventory before leaving. >> all right. we should move on. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> a new year may bring a new bombshell for the fbi. let's just say you haven't heard the last about hillary clinton's e-mails. >> then president trump's tax cuts already paying off millions of americans are set to cash in. we'll tell you how you can. next. with advil's fast relief,

you'll ask, "what pulled muscle?" "what headache?" nothing works faster to make pain a distant memory. advil liqui-gels and advil liqui-gels minis. what pain?

>> welcome back. some quick headlines for you. today, crews will place nearly 3,000 crystals on the famous new year's eve ball in time square. police also setting up unprecedented security days before the mass of sell abrasion here in new york city. thousands of officers will monitor hotels, truck rentals, and close garages. one million people are expected in time square that

evening. and you could plan your own new year's trip to new york if you hit the powerball tonight. more than a trip to new york. you couldn't own a building here. the jackpot is nearly 370 million bucks. if you don't win, try megamillions with a slightly slimmer 306 million-dollar jackpot. next chance to gnash is on friday. >> yeah. and, well, if you win this year, you'll still have to pay taxes this year. president trump proposed huge tax cuts for christmas and, boy, did he deliver. as a new tax policy center report shows, more than 145 million americans will pay less taxes in 2018. >> well, good thing we have a guest here to break it all down. the founder of president of american for tax reform grover norquist. grover, i mentioned earlier on this show. there's this wall street journal poll that shows only 17% of americans think they're getting tax cuts. but obviously just pointed out, a lot of americans are going to see more take-home pay. they're going to see a tax cut. so what is your message to viewers and the middle class

of how this law is going to benefit them. >> okay. here's the good news. for several months, the press basically lied about what was in the bill, misstated what was in the bill. even the think tank that now almost everybody gets a tax cut used to put out studies suggesting that wasn't true. disingenuously. they didn't want too bad. but as they got closer, they gave a more accurate read. now they got to live the bill. take a look at your paycheck and how it's affected. and before that, you can go to tax plan calculator.com, which has a calculator which will actually tell you what you pay under the new rules. tax plan calculator.com. but then also go and take a look at your 401(k), your ira, your health savings account. these are all increasing as the stock market goes up as we make these tax changes for companies internationally make us more competitive. you benefit by more cash flow

on your own personal taxes. you also benefit because your lifesavings increases with the values of stocks inside them. and then lastly, people with jobs are the biggest winners of all. so look for all three of those areas. the the challenge for the other team is they overplay their bill. they told lies about it, which made them look bad. and now when at&t and boeing and other companies are giving out bonuses, the left spent months telling us that wouldn't happen. >> of course. they characterized this bill as armageddon. you run an organization, the name is americans for tax reform. this is the biggest tax cut in three decades or more. how would you -- how are you explaining this? how are you selling this? what is the bumper sticker? >> the bumper sticker is that it is tax reduction for almost

everybody. it raises -- reduces everyone's marginal tax rates. and it sets up a competition among the states and cities by eliminating most of the state and local tax deductibility for higher income people. california's going to have to cut its 13 plus income tax rate at the state level. new jersey's already announced they're not going to do a higher tax that they had planned. new york is going to have to make changes. and corrupt and incompetent cities that keep raising their property taxes rather than reforming government. this is going to lead to government reform at the city and state level. >> good point. >> you make a good point when you say americans for tax reform. is this tax reduction at the federal level or true tax reform? there are other things that you would like to see republican senate, republican house, republican white house take on in the next couple of years that would perhaps be things they couldn't have done in this bill. >> yeah. this is both tax

reform and tax reduction. back during the reagan years tax reduction in 81 and tax reform without any reduction in '86. this is both reducing rates and reduce the overall tax burden and having reforms, which lead to more growth. going forward, one thing left out is that 5 million americans who work overseas. they're double taxed. just like american companies who operate abroad were double taxed. we fixed that, but we left the american. and american who lives in france or britain or thailand and works, that's an american job. i think we should treat americans as well as we treat american companies and fix that. that was on the list of things to do, but it didn't fit in the box. we haven't cut the capital gains tax. we should at least eliminate the inflation part of capital gains. why should you pay taxes on the inflation of your gain and capital gains whether it's a house or a stock or a land or anything else? and then, of course, the

reagan rate that the democrats agreed to back in 1986 was 28%. we're at 37%. we're nine points higher than a rate that the democrats had agreed to. we need to take the rates down. >> all right. well, good summary there. the bumper sticker we'll see who wins out. will be very important. grover norquist, thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> next up, some say the president trump is wrong for criticizing the fbi. but is that true? the agency's former assistant director says "no" and he's going to join us to explain. why. hurry, it's the final days of the ford year end sales event. ♪ i'm on top of the world, hey. ♪ it's your last chance of the year to get our best offer of the year: zero percent financing for seventy-two months,

plus an extra one-thousand cash back across a full lineup of ford cars, trucks and suvs. so hurry and save big on america's best-selling brand. it's the final days of the ford year end sales event with zero percent financing for seventy-two months plus an extra one-thousand cash back! see your ford dealer before jan 2nd and save. looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. what is this? when we love someone, we want to do right by them. but some things we can't control like snoring. (snoring) introducing theravent anti-snore strips. clinically shown to reduce snoring. theravent. the answer is right under your nose.

>> a new year may bring a new bombshell for the fbi. inspector general expected to say what it found in how the hillary clinton probe was handled. >> a lot of different things in this one. former assistant director of the fbi division served under robert mueller joins us now to weigh in. good to see you as always, ron. if you think about this, these are two different men. robert mueller as the special council and then horowitz who is the inspector general. we've been talking about what could come out of his report in the coming weeks and months. what makes these two so different? >> well, first, the inspector general is very independent of the fbi. i know when mr. horowitz's predecessor was in that role, he was no fan of the fbi.

the fbi was no fan of him. and i think it's because of the independence. because of the differences in viewpoint, and i think that's valuable here because we need an independent, trusted voice to tell us what had happened during the clinton investigation and perhaps what had gone on in the early stages of the russia collusion investigation to clear the air and to make sure that the american people can trust in these investigations. >> rob, you say that the current ig of the doj, michael horowitz who's doing this investigation into the clinton e-mail probe was no fan of the fbi. i'm sure that wasn't because he didn't like the fbi. what was his view of what may have been going on there. >> yeah. i think it's just independence. it is fulfilling the role, and it is not letting the fbi lead him to conclusions. it is his own fact-finding and his own conclusions, and i think that's critically important. look, if you're part of an organization, the

one i was part of, you didn't appreciate the criticism. however, you have to appreciate the independence. and it's what -- it's what the organizations that have the power that the fbi does have, which is immense. need to have some meaningful oversight authority and somebody who is looking in from the outside saying this is the way to do it, this is the way congress allows or it's not. >> ron, i want to get you to your op-ed because as so many people have said, president trump criticizes sorts of parts of the fbi or some of the top folks at the fbi, it is in some way undermining fbi agents themselves. you have an opo you the. trump's law enforcement policies are an improvement from president obama's. that's on foxnews.com. give us the brief overview. >> well, look, since the days of his campaign that the president went out of his way to thank the men and women in law enforcement for their sacrifice and say that effectively i stand with you. that is 180 degrees away from

the last few years. really, going back to 2009 of the obama administration where the presumption was that the police were races, the police did something wrong until proven innocent. and i think that tone maybe we're sensing or feeling a trump effect now because we're seeing violent crime start to eke back down and police attacks seem to be going down. so maybe there's a trump effect going on. >> what happens at the top really matters. ron, appreciate your service and time this morning. >> sure. >> we have more fox and friends on the other side. stick around ♪when you've got...♪

♪...nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪ ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪ here's pepto bismol! ah. ♪nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea!♪

>> president trump leaving the white house and cold behind for the holidays calling this a working vacation as he looks ahead to the new year. hello, i'm rick leventhal in for bill hemmer this morning. pleasure to be here. >> julie: it was cold outside this morning. thank goodness we're in this air conditioned studio. i'm julie banderas. the president is looking to -- >> the president and white