he said wait a minute. isn't there another way? we have a 4.4 a $4.4 trillion annual budget, $1 trillion is discretionary, congress doesn't authorize every penny. surely the president can grab $5 billion of that and use it without specific authorization to start construction. >> he can, sorry to jump in, he can, but i know all your viewers

know that he gets sued over everything, and he is going to get sued, some liberal judge in california to say it won't work. and and and. >> government workers won't work saturday, sunday, monday. what can be done. >> we have to make the argument. >> at one deck -- $1.6 billion won't cut it. it has to be more money than that to get this done for the american people. the big things democrats have to be less focused on stopping the president and more focused on helping the country. they are concerned about stopping trump from accounting

things, let's focus on what is good for the country, we will have less human trafficking if we secure the border and build a border security wall. we have to keep making the case, keep pushing because we know when it comes down to it the american people are with us, this is why they put donald trump in the white house, we have to deliver that message will get to them and we will get something. >> two important members of congress, thank you for taking time to speak to this. prominent democrats from all over the country have vowed to fight donald trump tooth and nail over any plan to secure the southern border. >> if you build a 10 foot wall somebody is going to have an 11 foot ladder to go over it. that is not securing the border and we ought to stop that foolishness. >> it is true he will bring on the shutdown and take responsibility for it. any effort on his part to blame

the democrats -- [bleep] >> donald trump is throwing a temper tantrum and creating the trump shutdown of the government. >> the president's campaign promise was for mexico to pay for the wall. if he is really going to stick to his promise he should make mexico pay. >> jesus christ had to flee for his life with mary and joseph. thank god there wasn't a wall that stopped him from seeking refuge in egypt, thank god that wall wasn't there and thank god there wasn't an administration like this or he would have perished. >> how times have changed. remember it wasn't that long ago these same people were in agreement with donald trump? look at this. >> i voted numerous times when i was a senator to spend money to

build a barrier to try to prevent illegal immigrants from coming in. and i do think you have to control your borders. >> people who enter the united states without permission are illegal aliens, and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who entered the us legal. the american people will never accept immigration reform unless they truly believe their government is committed to ending future illegal immigration. >> those who enter the country illegally, those who employ them disrespect the rule of law. and because we live where terrorists are challenging our borders, we cannot allow this to happen and detected, undocumented and unchecked. >> joining us is author of hold texas, all the nation victory, lieutenant colonel allen west. fox news contributor tammy bruce joins us, and attorney danielle

mclaughlin. let me begin with you. 5 years ago the entire democratic senate congress voted for a barrier back in 2006, they voted for the secure fence act that included barack obama, hillary clinton, chuck schumer, the whole gang and all of a sudden they are against it. only because trump is for it, right? >> without a doubt. when you hear senator schumer say donald trump is not going to get his wall this is not about donald trump or his personality but the constitutional duty and responsibility of elected officials in the house and senate and that constitutional responsibility is to protect the sovereignty of the united states of america and make sure american citizens are secure. article 4 section 4 talked about this, the telling fathers put it in. talk about a border security wall, no one is talking 1700 miles of continuous wall, we are

talking a place where you can have an obstacle, and obstruction along these routinely used core doors that drug cartels and others are using to include islamic jihad us to come into the united states. >> it is all about trump. they just -- he could say christmas presents for all and the democrats would oppose it because it is donald trump. >> in this particular instance it is worth opposing because people actually get it done. we have congress voting for these things all the time and it never happens. was promised to president reagan. they said they would have a wall back in the 80s and this is a president who actually can't be controlled in that he can't be stopped from getting things done and this is his primary threat. what we do know is what we have seen in the last 2 years is democrats became the party of belize, harassing people in public and now we are seeing this approach that you will be

seeing an office as well with representative gutierrez attacking secretary nielsen for 6 minutes in a hearing and when she's about to respond he walks out. this is what the american people, i want them to see the next two years, we also know this can't be a game. it has been a game too long for washington, this in some ways is what the founders wanted. a man of action or person of action in the white house to move congress into getting things done. at this point i think congress should remember what their job is, why the president was elected. the harvard harris poll saying 80% of americans want a secure border and a barrier is going to be part of it. >> i think most americans frankly care about the wall, many do but i don't think they care for government shuts down because it doesn't affect them. there have been 18 government

shutdown since 1976. tsa continues on, the post office, social security checks, medicare, medicaid, all unaffected, you will still get frisked at the airport and the va hospital won't pulled the plug so it doesn't affect most americans when the government shuts down at midnight tonight. >> it doesn't affect the federal employees. >> nonessential employees which invites the question why does the government employ nonessential -- >> it is about of justice, you take the civil people up i would argue that enforcing civil laws and making sure penalties are paid is an important function of government. >> at the same time most americans if not all won't notice it is shutdown but what strikes me is this obsession by the government about itself. that is the scariest thing, that people will have a few days off during the holidays, they will still get paid, a few days late, not like they won't get paid because americans know what it

is like to be furloughed for years and never get a paycheck because of what washington dc has done with policies, what the obama administration to do the economy of this country but when it comes down to this, the scary monster of a government shutdown it isn't scary at all. the markets respond well when the government shuts down. >> what about that? but for the hair on fire media hysteria, the earth. spinning on its axis of the government shuts down, most americans would yawn. >> there really is no affect on the every day average american. why does the federal government higher people in nonessential positions? when this, quote, shutdown is over they will be given back pay. this is an important thing to look at the effectiveness and efficiency of the federal government. another thing that is very

disingenuous is people talk about medicare for all which has a $32 trillion price tag, $4.4 trillion budget, we can't find $570 billion to ensure security on the southern border, to me that is truly disingenuous. >> it really is absurd. in a competitive marketplace, no small business would higher somebody who is not essential. they hire only vital workers because their goal is to increase profits and yet the government, the most inefficient, disorganization in the world, hires a load of nonessential workers. >> you are not suggesting the federal division of the department of justice is nonessential? >> the department of justice, i would disassemble. the department of justice. >> i think there are many important things the doj does, not least of which is consumer

protection, making sure student loan people don't get ripped off and things we have lawyers and other people doing for the american people. >> they seize assets and levy penalties, one of the things they do. why not use the $14 billion they seized from elchapo and use a portion of that to pay for the wall. >> who we are hiring and what we are paying for, remember the billions lost in the state department when hillary clinton was secretary of state. the $700 million, maybe it is billion, in the pentagon that can't be found, the amount of money because the government is so large it becomes like water, you just lose it. >> toilet seats. >> we could do this with drones, personnel, create employment on

the southern border, democrats are not about open borders, they care about sovereignty, they care about using money wisely so if we are concerned about 800,000 people, why aren't we thinking of the white and where those walls exist, at least 95% of illegal traffic ended and that includes illegal aliens and drug traffic. we have the proof and history on our own border where segments of walls exist and starting in the 90s so it is inconsistent historically. >> back to my original question, democrats have long argued for a barrier on the southern border and yet now they are flip-flopping, would you agree the only reason is they don't want to give donald trump a political victory because he promised the wall? >> absolutely right. this is not about donald trump although senator schumer says that. as to israelis who built the wall is what that did about

terrorism, when you look at that there are direct results from having a border obstacle down there on the southern border and daniel talked about that and other things, you can use drones and people on the ground for the purpose of the wall is to channel people into areas where you have additional resources. we just found out this past week that we had an infiltration tunnel that was being built and almost completed on the southern border. we have a serious problem and we have to rectify it. >> always great to see you, thanks for being here and happy holidays, up next, members of the mainstream media continue to repeat the same old talking point on the trump administration. we will show you the tape, you don't want to miss that and

james comey is continuing to downplay deep state corruption in efforts to undermine donald trump. stick around for that. we will be right back. - [voiceover] this is an urgent message from the international fellowship of christians and jews. there is an emergency food crisis for elderly holocaust survivors in the former soviet union. - this is a fight against time. what we're dealing with is coming out, meeting someone who's 85, 90 years old, can't get around, has no food, has no water,

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>> welcome back to this special edition of "hannity." i'm greg filling in for sean. trump versus the swamp. with all the news this week on the trump administration, news busters pointed out the mainstream media had only one rather ridiculous conclusion, all in unison now, the walls are closing in on president trump. take a look at this. >> with every organization he's ever run, the washington post, said seemingly under investigation now, that this is a president who really does feel the walls closing in on him very quickly. >> while donald trump is no

stranger to legal trouble, the walls may be closing in now. >> clearly, the investigative walls are closing in on trump. >> the walls are closing in. it seems every day now a new facet of president trump's life, both personal and public, is being scrutinized. >> it's like an echo chamber. they only hear themselves. joining us now is joe and charlie, fox news contributor doug. so, joe, let me start with you. you've pointed out that trump's ratings are fairly static. does that mean that the media has lost its mojo or americans are just wise to their act? >> that's quite a montage you just played, greg. it's as if a memo went out and everybody got the same talking point. it's like the boy who cried

wolf, but now it's the boys and girls who cried trump. it's not just the walls are closing in. his poll numbers are stubbornly in the 40s. the negative coverage isn't really having an effect. it's the noose is tightening. we hear about all the moments. then we hear about the beginning of the end, the bombshell revelation, the bombshell report, constitutional crisis. this is the turning point in the trump presidency. trump weaponizes. the point is, you keep saying these things over and over again and it gets a bit tedious. >> i spent a chapter in my book going through the outrageous media statements in which they said this is a bombshell, this is the end of trump. and of course most of those stories had to be retracted and

corrected. they were wrong. they have written his political obituary as far back as two years ago and it hasn't happened yep. >> it's not that the walls are coming in, but the wall's not getting built. you have to do what bill clinton did when he had a republican congress. compromise. the president cannot govern only to build the wall and get his agenda. compromise requires conciliation. and if he doesn't seek consensus, he'll be the losers. >> that was 1994, and you're the guy who told him to compromise. >> but the political arithmetic is the same. >> charlie, let me go to you because the eminent demise of

donald trump has been written out for two years, as i pointed out before. and yet it hasn't happened. is it simply because the media has such unabashed scorn and viscer viscer visceral hatred, the man, and his politics that they cannot tain themselves? >> you're exactly right. they fought endlessly. and there was a government shutdown over christmas during one of those negotiations. and on the front page of the magazine, it was the newt who stole christmas. the republicans fought in the '90s. and donald trump right now is doing the correct thing, taking a hard line to fulfill a campaign promise that will make our country stronger and safer. and finally republicans are like, oh wait, we can fight again? we don't have to just pass these

endless continuing resolutions about progress. this is a core campaign promise and i'm so glad to see the president fulfilling it the best that he can. >> when he actually does compromise and achieves something, and he did most recently, the criminal justice reform act that was passed into law once he signs it, it's sort of buried in most newspapers. the new york times grudgingly said, okay, he actually did something good. i know it broke their heart to have to print that. >> it steps on the narrative that we've been hearing about if we've been hearing this president is a racist, how could he possibly work with democrats to put criminal justice reform bill. that's one of the least racist things you can do. so that got buried this week

certainly. but we go back to all these sayings being said over and over again and the impact that it has. and the bottom line is that all these pundits -- and a lot of them are anchors too, at least disguised as anchors. the goal isn't to win an emmy or to get a pulitzer. i know you said you've got to get to 50. the president won with 46.1% of the votes. >> to govern with less than a majority, to govern with a narrow constituency is a recipe for failure. sure, joe, sometimes you can draw into an inside strait, but that's now how i would advise a president who's got to represent all the people and wants to represent everyone in a way of producing consensus and

conciliation should govern, especially when the democrats control the house. >> do you think, charlie, most americans when they tune in and tune out because they hear the same thing, the echo chamber that we played, all of them saying 50 times saying the wall is closing in. do you think americans are just wise to that? >> without a doubt. the only reference to the wall that should be talked about is donald trump will do everything he can to build the wall. if you want evidence of collusion, that's collusion. but to the previous point that i really want to mention is that you can't govern or you don't have a mandate to govern unless you have 50% or more approval rating. i never heard that when obama was president. we have become such a bifurcated country where you have manhattan, malibu, and middle

america. essentially those are the two buckets. and the approval rating for donald trump in middle america is still very, very strong. you saw that with the strong senate performances. >> they weren't so good. >> there were some losses. >> a lot of losses. >> look, we gained in the senate and trump did a lot better than people thought. there was no blue wave whatsoever despite being outspent. outperformed obama in his first midterm. i reject the premise that he somehow doesn't have a mandate to governing because people in manhattan and malibu don't like him. >> the guy from harvard had to get in the last word. >> they do and i'm happy and proud of that. >> your basketball team ain't so great. >> that is sadly true. >> all right, joe. thank you very much.

coming up, the mueller witch-hunt could be wrapping up very soon. we'll have analysis coming upnd

and her coverup. absolutely appalling. >> and, madison, that's not only appalling, but he lied to the fisa court using exclusively the dossier, which he admits he hadn't verified. he deceived the fisa judges by concealing the fact that it was paid for by hillary clinton and the democrats. i'm willing to bet that the fisa judges would have wanted to know that vital tidbit of information that comey concealed. >> it's disingenious at the very least. of course he knows better than that. we know better than that. when we look at this dossier being used to obtain court permission to spy on american citizens, he's absolutely appalling. he's an embarrassment to the fbi, the american people, and

quite frankly, people are sick of him. he loves to hear himself talk. he didn't do a good job at the fbi, he's doing a terrible job right now, and i don't think he's very credible or trustworthy in the hearing. >> comey's the guy who launched the trump russia investigation, so on monday he says -- and he said this in his previous testimony -- he can't recall who drafted the document that launched the investigation, never knew that clinton paid for it. how could he not know? bruce ohr's role -- i don't know anything about that. christopher steele -- i don't know anything about his involvement, the guy who wrote the dossier that comey used. he is either the most clueless and incompetent fbi director in modern history or he's lying. which do you think? >> i think it's actually both,

greg. he made material false statements to the fisa court when he signed that affidavit saying it was a verified application to the fisa court when he didn't do anything to verify any of it. why he has not yet been prosecuted i don't know other than the entire department of justice and fbi are corrupt. i mean, somebody needs to be opening a grand jury investigation into mr. comey and all of the fisa abuses right now. it's got to be done. >> and, madison, he still is dodgey about whether or not -- he's still not really giving genuine straight answers as to whether any of those seven documents was classified and therefore leaking illegally classified information.

it's really pretty astonishing. >> definitely. he claims to care about truth. he claims to want to share this truth with the american people. he's a leaker, he's a liar, and when when he look at the fisa court abuse, this isn't something that just started with him. as we look back all the way to the early 2000's, there was over 70 fisa court judges that say they were misled by the fbi. this has needed to be addressed for almost two decades now and this is just a prime example of why. >> the first time he testified, december 7th, 245 times he said, i don't remember, i don't recall. now in the most recent 173-page document, in addition to those, i don't recall, i don't remember, it's, i don't know, i can't tell you, i won't tell you, that's classified. and beyond all of that, what struck me was he was so snarky

or sarcastic towards members of congress who were asking legitimate questions. what do you make of that? >> that's his absolute hubris. he, like mr. mueller, holds himself above all else and above the rule of law. they alone deem themselves fit to decide who is guilty, who is innocent, who is benefitting from a coverup, who is entitled to their protection. >> he's a guy, madison, it's almost nauseous his inflated sense of rectitude and self-righteousness. he pretends to be this noble and heroic figure. the truth is he's anything but. would you agree? >> i 100% agree with you on that. he's extremely he feel righteous. and when we look at equal

justice under law, this is something him, hillary clinton, and several others don't want to respect anymore. it's a pivotal part of our country. and they should not be held above the law. it shows that many of these people have been in corrupt d.c. for way too long. and that's another thing that needs to be changed that our president has been degreesing. >> he cleared hillary clinton by contorting the facts. then he steals government documents and conveys them to somebody unauthorized to trigger the special council. he continually gives false and leading and evasive statements. do you think he'll ever be held accountable? >> he must be, greg, if americans can ever have any faith of the department of justice or fbi again. >> and don't forget, he agreed to destroy the evidence on the

laptop and mr. mueller has destroyed evidence. all of that is obstruction of justice and affects the flynn and manafort prosecutions. they destroyed evidence of those cell phones and laptops. that has got to be held to account for that. >> yeah, and he gave immunity to five of clinton aides in exchange for nothing. i've never heard of that before. >> exactly. >> exchange for zip. unbelievable. all right. madison, sydney, thank you both. coming up, kristen fisher gives us the latest out of washington, d.c. and a miraculous story about our vets. you're not going to want to miss this one.

>> and welcome back to this special edition of "hannity: trump versus the swamp." let's turn now to our nation's capitol where the swamp resides but also kristen fisher is there, standing by with the latest on the looming government shutdown and the health scare with ruth bader ginsburg. >> the shutdown is going to happen. both the house and senate have adjourned for the night with no deal in sight. the sticking point is funding for the border wall. he wants $5 billion. democrats won't come close to that number. vice president has been the point man for the administration tonight on capitol hill. in fact, he only left an hour ago after spending most of the afternoon and evening trying to cut a deal with democrats.

but so far those efforts have been unsuccessful. so now funding for about 25% of the federal government will run out in just about two hours. the health of ginsburg. she has two cancerous nodules removed from her lungs. tonight president trump is wishing her a full and speedy recovery, greg. >> and we do as well. thanks very much. more to come on our hannity special, trump versus the swamp, but first we want to tell you about a touching story that embodies the christmas spirit. an army veteran donating his kidney to a fellow vet. and it all begins with a conversation at a washington state starbucks. here to share their incredible story, justin mcneil and vince.

vince, it begins with you. you walk into your usual starbucks. you see your barista who prepares your coffee. she noticed you were down. what happened then? >> well, she kind of actually observed me from an angle, dealing with another cashier and could just see that i wasn't having it that morning. i'm not really a morning person to begin with and was having some pain that was consistent with my condition. and she just asked me what was going on, said, hey, you look like something's up. and i told her, long story. and when she had more time, let's talk about it. and she said, well, i'm off in five minutes.

let's talk. i told her that i was going to need to have a transplant eventually. and it just kind of snowballed from there. she suggested that i meet with justin. and we did. and it -- here we are. >> justin, your wonderful, thoughtful, caring wife nicole comes home and tells you this story. what happened? >> she came home that night. we were laying in bed and getting ready to go to sleep. at that point, she relayed vince's story to me. it sounded like a pretty rough time he was having. so my response was, i have a kidney. let's do this. so she connected us and we went from there. >> did you say, hey, i have a kidney. let's look into helping him, because he's a vet, a fellow vet, or just because he's a fellow human being? >> she mentioned that he was a vet, but i think regardless of who he was, it would have been the same reaction.

it makes it a little bit easier for us to get along as friends and the fact that we're both vets. we've got a baseline of understanding. we come from a similar background. so that helps us today to kind of remain friends. >> right. >> but i think i would have the same reaction regardless of who it was. >> and i think the surgery's coming up pretty shortly. but have you guys become friends and kind of close with the families? >> yes, yes. vince is kind of part of the family now. he's around quite often. christmas, thanksgiving, any holidays, or just any random day of the week where we're having dinner. vince is always welcome in our home, and i know i'm always welcome in his. he's a good friend to have. >> how do you feel about that guy sitting next to you? how do you feel about him is this >> as close as you can feel

about somebody without them being your biological relative or sibling. it's really amazing for me. i didn't know exactly how i was going to get through this, and when they arrived, it was -- there was no question. >> yeah. it's a gift from heaven. >> divine intervention or whatever it may be. >> the perfect time around christmas. guys, thank you very much. vince, justin, good l

>> back with a special edition. trump versus the swamp. president trump is seeing that he is hopeful that the looming government shutdown will last a short time. that's all the time we have for this evening. before we go, christmas is a fe days away. if you looking for the perfect last-minute gift, check out my book. as always, thank you for stayin

with us. have a great holiday weekend ♪ >> shannon: this is fox news coverage of the partial government shutdown, i'm shannon bream in washington, d.c. it is now midnight on the east coast and it is official, about 25% of the government is shutting down. several federal agencies are effected including the department of homeland security, transportation, interior, agriculture, state, and justice as well as national parks and forests. many agencies including the pentagon and veterans affairs are funded for the year, they will continue to operate as usual. your christmas packages should continue to get delivered too, the postal service is unaffected by the partial government shutdown.