american people want the heroin to stop, the cartels, the gang members to stop and those who wish us ill. we will always be fair and balanced. we are not the hate-trump mediaw let not your heart be troubled. laura ingraham has an exclusivet interview with the president. she is at the rally. >> laura: thanks so much. this is a wild scene here tonight. the president has a massive crowd inside. we will be bringing you our exclusive interview in just a few moments. thousands of people outside waiting as well. we are a mile from the mexican border where president trump ofx course is currently holding this gargantuan rally. in moments, we will be back with my conversation with the president but first let's get back to the rally. >> president trump: they said progress is being made with this committee. just so you know. we are building the wall anyway. they say progress is being made.

[ applause ] just now, just now. i say wait a minute. i have got to take care of my people from texas. i've got to go. i don't even want to hear about it. i don't want to hear about it. so i don't know what they mean progress is being made. significant. now what did happen is thesi democrats were being hit really hard on the concept of releasing criminals into our society. that has not been playing well. so maybe progress has been made maybe not. but i had a choice. i could've stayed out there and listened and i could've come out to the people of el paso in texas. i chose texas. [cheering] i chose you. [crowd chanting] >> "we chose you, we chose you."

>> president trump: we probably have some good news but who knows. we are setting the stage.d you know what it's called right? it's called we are setting the stage. we are setting the table. we are doing whatever we have to do. the wall is being built. it will continue. it's going at a rapid pace. the rio grande. happening. go check it out. we proudly welcome those who come lawfully and support our values in the united states and that want to strengthen our society and help us with all of the companies moving into the united states, moving back. they left us. now they are moving back, many

of them. in some cases may be all of them. but they all want to come backes because the united states is where the action is, very simple.be [cheers and applause] >> [chanting "usa, usa, usa"] >> president trump: where the action is. we are most proud of the fact. you look at the car companies. they are moving back. they are going into michigan. they are going to pennsylvania. they are going back to ohio. so many companies are coming back. by the way, that's why i want people to come into our country. but they have to come in legally and they have to come in through merit, through merit so they can help us build our country.

make america great again. pretty soon we're going to be seeing "keep america great. keep america great." pretty soon, congressman. keep america great. we'll have to -- the campaign is sort of starting. you have all these people no one's ever heard of. who is that? that person was a mayor of a city that was defeated. how about beto? beto was defeated too. but he suffered a great defeat. watch what the news does tomorrow, though. they won't mention the disparity. they won't mention the disparity tomorrow. they will say beto o'rourke. that's his last name, right? beto o'rourke had a wonderful rally of about 15 people.

no. when they get honest, when the media starts becoming honest and may be they will because we've done something that's never been done before. av we have suffered a totally dishonest media, and we've wont and it's driving them crazy. driving them crazy. it's driving them crazy, but look at them. they still come. i've never seen anything. but illegal immigration hurts all americans, including millions of legal immigrants, by driving down wages, draining public resources, and claiming countless innocent lives. you see what's going on, folks. you see what's going on. they give you these phony stats. it's the same.

it's the same. not the same. it's a bad situation going on and we stopped it. we are taking out thousands and thousands of people from ms-13. we are bringing them the hell out of our country. thousands. but if we had proper border security, including a very powerful wall, we wouldn't have to work so hard. and it would be a lot safer and a lot better. my administration is committed to ending illegal immigration while modernizing our legal immigration system which has been in terrible shape for many many decades, to prioritize the admission of those who can support themselves financially and contribute to our economy. people that come in on merit merit, merit. [ applause ]

instead of random lotteries and chain migration, chain migration. that's another beauty. we want a merit-based system for entry. this will improve living conditions for all americans living here today both immigrant and u.s.-born. everybody's going to be happy and we need the people to take care of the companies that are moving. our unemployment rate unemployment 3.6, 3.7. and going down. had a little blip because of a thing called the shutdown but remember this. it went up to 4. i said boy, do you know how low 4 is? any other president would have said please give me 4. we had a blip. it went up quickly. you know what? if we didn't do that shutdown we would not have been able to

show this country, these politicians, the world what the hell is happening with the border. t that was a very important thing. [ applause ] and the fact is illegal immigration is a heartbreaking human tragedy. one in three women is sexually assaulted on the very long and dangerous journey north up to our country. sex traffickers. these are the worst human beings on earth. they exploit our porous border to sell young girls and women into modern day slavery. you wouldn't even know that. nobody knows that. by the way, do you think they come into the ports of entry? i listened to the democrats. let me be nice. just say the democrats. i won't be specific. they say everything comes to the port.

they don't do that. they drive out where there is no barrier, no wall, they make a left. congratulations, you are in the united states. that's all. if you have three women tied up in the backseat of a car, you'r. not going through, folks, a port of entry. where they do look in the backseat at least, right? drugs pouring through the border kills tens of thousands of innocent americans a year including heroin, meth, cocaine fentanyl. they come through the southern border. we have a drug problem over the last six, seven, ten years like we have never had before. p we can have such a big cut in the numbers, the percentages, if we get the wall built, if we have a strong wall with other things. but we need the wall and it has to be built and we want to build it fast. the number of illegal immigrants

crossing our borders is so large that we have nowhere to hold them. we have to build -- they want buildings. they want jails. these people, how about the word caravan? caravan. i think that was one of mine. looked like a caravan. you have thousands and thousands of people coming from guatemala from honduras, and el salvador. they march up through mexico and by the way, if we didn't have walls in those areas, in some cases that we put up, in many cases where we reinforced, in many cases where our great military helped us with barbed wire.h you would have people pouring in. they don't pour in. the problem is our laws are so bad that there is no way we can quickly remove them. other countries say get out of here. we have to bring them through a court system. we sign their names. they touch our land.

we sign them up. we explained to them please come back in six years for court. and only the dumbest people show back up. nobody ever shows. nobody comes back in. like 2%. they go into our country. the good news is we have great law enforcement and many of these people, we know where they are and we're going to get them the hell out but we have to change our laws. [ applause ] so right now we have a backlog. you won't even believe this. other countries don't do this.hi somebody walks into our countrys we bring them to court. we need perry mason. we have a legal case. nobody else does that. other countries say you can't come in. you are not a citizen. we bring them in. right now we have almost 900,000 cases.

900,000. how many judges are going to take care? we are going to have to hire tens of thousands of judges to do that. 900,000 cases. how stupid is this? this was a system put in place by really dumb people or people that did not have the best interests of our country at p heart. and there's no place better to talk about border security whether they like it or not. i've been hearing a lot of things. oh, the wall didn't make that much of a difference. do you know where it made a big difference? right here in el paso. [cheers and applause] and i've been watching where they've been trying to say oh the wall didn't make that much. well, you take a look at what they did with their past crimes and how they made them from very serious to much less serious. you take a look at what the real

system is. i spoke to people that have been here a long time. they said when that wall went up, it's a whole different ball game. is that a correct statement?am whole different ball game. i will give you another example. and i don't care whether a mayor is a republican or democrat they are full of crap when they say it hasn't made a big difference. [ applause ] i heard the same thing from the fake news. they said oh, crime actually stayed the same. didn't stay the same. went way down. looked at what they did to their past crimes and look at how they recorded those past crimes. went way, way down. these people, you know you'd think they'd want to get to the bottom of a problem and solve a problem.pr not trying to pull the wool over everybody's eyes. so for those few people that are out there on television, saying oh, it didn't make too much of a difference.

they made a tremendous -- people from el paso, am i right? [cheers and applause] it's fake news. i'm telling you. it's just fake news. and you know what? you wouldn't even have to know. you can say that automatically without even knowing. it's obvious. it's common sense. just a few thousand feet, as an example, from where we stand right now on the other side of the border, it's one of the most dangerous cities in the world juarez, mexico. the people in juarez agree. yet thanks to a powerful border wall in el paso, texas, it's one of america's safest cities now. now listen to this. [ applause ] so you are talking a few feet away, right? a few feet. you've got a wall just a few feet away.

last year, juarez had 1,200 murders. el paso, right next door, a few feet away, had 23 murders. that's not good either but 23 compared to 1,200. walls work. actually there is nothing like them for what we are talking about. we want to stop drugs. we want to stop traffickers. we want to stop criminals fromo coming in. walls save lives. walls save tremendous numbers of lives. the biggest proponents of open borders are rich liberals and wealthy donors. these are hypocrites who oppose security for you while living their entire lives -- i do too to be honest with you -- i'm guilty. i'm guilty. i also live behind walls, okay?

they live behind walls and gates and they have guards all over the place. me too because i want to be safe and i want to make america safe if you don't mind. [ applause ] >> [chanting "usa, usa, usa"] >> president trump: security should not belong only to the rich and to the powerful. safety is the birthright of every american, which is why we must finish the wall. because walls are not immoral as it was said. human trafficking is immoral. drug peddling is immoral.

child smuggling is immoral. sanctuary cities that get americans killed, they are immoral. open borders are dangerous and immoral. my administration has put forward a compromise that reallr is a compromise and i hate to even compromise on things liked this, but it's showing common sense. it's compassionate, and it'ss going to solve our problem. and the cost is a fraction. when you look at the drugs that are pouring across from mexico if it's stopped a small percentage -- and it won't. it will stop a large percentage. it will pay for itself in a matter of weeks.on that's the kind of numbers you're talking about. a matter of weeks. and by the way, i hate to sayks this because we have a very good relationship. but mexico had the highest number of killings that they've ever had.. almost 40,000 people were

murdered in mexico. mexico is not too far away. and we need to take care of our people and we are going to do that, and it's happening and it's happening a lot faster than anybody thought and i love that sign. thank you. [ applause ]u what we are proposing includes humanitarian assistance, drug detection, at our ports and everywhere else. closing legal loopholes which is a big problem and plans for a smart, strategic, see-through steel barrier or wall. let's call it a wall. this wall will be built in the areas identified by border agents as having the greatest need while safely directing people in commerce to our many lawful ports of entry which we are beefing up in every way. structurally we are beefing up the ports of entry and mechanically.ur

we have equipment now that can spot drugs. it's incredible stuff. it's expensive.y it's incredible. by the way, there is nothing better than a good old-fashioned german shepherd. w it's hard to believe. [ applause ] it's true. you know, i was with the people and they are showing me this incredible computerized stuff and where it goes. i said could i, because secret service took me out there to places and they were showing me these german shepherds. they are unbelievable. they will run past all these empty boxes and one of the boxes has drugs in it, deep down in a box and it comes to a screechins halt barking at it every time. i asked the people that sell thb machinery, and a lot of money. i say let me ask you a question. the stuff is incredible. i'm really impressed. how does it compare to a german shepherd? the guy looks at me and says sir, honestly, it's not as good. can you believe it? german shepherds. certain types of dogs.

you do love your dogs, don't you? [ applause ] i wouldn't mind having one honestly but i don't have any time. how would i look walking a dog on the white house lawn? would that be... right? i don't know. i don't feel. feels a little phony, phony to me. a lot of people say oh, you should get a dog. why? it's good politically. i said look, that's not the relationship i have. obama had a dog. you are right. both parties should come together to finally create a safe and lawful system of immigration. the american people have waited long enough. we must secure the border, pass

kate's law, end catch and release, shutdown sanctuary cities. you know, we need democrat votes. deport criminal aliens and keep the coyotes and traffickers and drug dealers the hell out of our country please. and the democrats also need to confirm the more than 300 highly qualified nominees who are sitting in the senate waiting for confirmation, people that have given up their lives to work in the trump administration, and the democrats aren't approving them. it's a record. it's total obstruction. it's a record in the history of our country. some people left their job a year and half ago, two years ago to become an ambassador or work in one of our many great

agencies and we can't get schumer and his friends to approve them. it's total obstruction. there's never been anything like it. very, very unfair. very unfair to these people. in many cases, seriously, they have left jobs and they are waiting and waiting and waiting. they are slow walking every single one of them. it's a disgrace. as we fight to protect our borders, we must also protect our newfound prosperity. my administration has taken the toughest ever action to crack down on years of china's abuse. i have a lot of respect for president xi but he is representing china and i'm representing the united states. [ applause ] we are also replacing one of the worst deals ever made, probably the worst trade deal ever done although i happen to think that

the wto is not so good either. we are replacing nafta with a brand-new u.s. mexico canada agreement that everybody is loving. got to get congress to approve it. we've got to get congress to approve it. we will get it i think done. i mean, there is such obstruction in congress. they won't even do things that are good for our country. they would rather have trump have a loss than get something that is so good for our country. our farmers are happy. everybody's happy. and it's going to be jobs. you know what it does? it stops companies from moving out. it makes a very hard economically for companies to say hey, thanks a lot, we are firing everybody. we are moving to mexico. makes it very, very hard. you know that's been a bone of contention for me for many years. i've seen 25% and more of ours automobile business move to mexico. it's not going to happen anymore. it's not going to happen.

[ applause ] unless they want to pay nice big fat tariffs to send their cars back into this country. we have achieved and by the way tariffs had an incredible effect. just ask the folks in china how are we doing with tariffs. you ask them and you ask how are we doing in our negotiations. the fact is, and i say it openly, either they treat us fairly or they have to pay for the privilege of coming in and taking our wealth and taking our jobs. it's very simple. very simple. [ applause ] and if you look back at our country when we were very rich when we had no debt, when we had no problems economically, you take back -- you take a look. 1888, the great tariff debate. you know what the debate was about? our country had so much money they had to debate what the hell to do with all the money because tariffs were bringing in a

fortune into the united states. so at a minimum, countries are negotiating with us very seriously because of the fact that they don't want to have to pay to come in and take advantage of our country. that's at a minimum. check it out. 1888. have the press check it out. they will say donald trump said 1888. we have achieved the largest decline in drug prices in 46 years, prescription drugs. i am asking congress to work with me to make prescription drugs affordable for every american family. we just got the largest decrease in drug prices. think of that. it's not easy.e it's not easy. because we have middlemen that take care of a lot of people for a lot of years, these middlemen. and the drug companies.

but even worse, the middlemen. we are cutting the middlemen out. they're not going to like me very much. they made a lot of money. think of that. first time in 46 years and now we are going to phase three. we did one statutorily. we did two statutorily, now we go to phase three. we are getting your drug prices down.. we are embarking on bold initiatives to defeat aids. who knew that? we have medicines now that work wonders on aids. we are looking to be aids-free in not many years as a country. maybe help also the world, the world. we want to defeat aids and we want to defeat childhood cancer. we have made tremendous strides tremendous strides. in the middle east, our brave warriors have liberated virtually 100% of isis in iraq

and syria. you don't hear that from these people. now, we have taken back -- soon it will be announced, soon maybe over the next week, maybe less, but it will be announced we have 100%. when i took over this country it was a mess and if i wouldn't have been elected, and i have so many people -- i was just walking up and every time it happens. sir, thank you. thank you very much. this guy, he's like a monster. no, no, it's true. these people. this guy, he's like a monster. he's like this monster football player -- big strong guy. he says to me, he says thank you very much.gu i don't know what they're saying but that's okay. no, he's a big strong guy and he's crying. he said -- i'm walking up. and it happens all the time. thank you very much mr. president. i said for what? he said you've saved our country.an our country was going in the wrong direction. you saved our country.

thank you. i've had so many people say that. [ applause ] so many people. you know, the truth is though, i didn't save our country. we are now heading in the rightt direction. it's very tough because we have so many things we're fightingca including these people but so many people that we're fighting so many people that are either foolish or ill intentioned. but i didn't save our country. you know who saved our country? you saved our country. you saved our country. god. [ applause ] because it's never -- nothing like this has ever happened before and do you know what? the world is watching and when prime ministers and when presidents and kings and queens they talk to me. they say congratulations on what's happened with your economy, mr. president. it's incredible.

they are emulating what we are doing. they can't believe it. so we continue to decimate theg. remnants because they're alwaysi going to be remnants, we can take the area, the land. we will soon have 100%. but there's always remnants. they get out. they wrap themselves in bombs. they are crazy. they are lunatics, but you're always going to have that but we want to bring now, get 100%. it was so bad when i took over. it was going the opposite direction. syria. we want to bring our troops back home. it's time. it's time. it's time. and thanks to the extraordinary service of our military in afghanistan, 19 years we are in afghanistan. we may now be able to seek a political resolution thatta frankly they wanted to talk about for a long time.

we've hit them very hard. but it's been 19 years. think of that. 19 years. we spend more on military in afghanistan, $50 billion a yearl than most countries spend their entire country. health care, education everything. we spend more than they do. it's time to start thinking smart for our country what we want to build our country. we want to spend money in our country. w we want to build our roads and highways and bridges and dams. [ applause ] and last month the united states recognized the legitimate government of venezuela and condemned the socialist brutality of the maduro regime. everywhere socialism has been everywhere it's been implemented, it has produced

poverty, misery, repression, and despair. you take a look. no matter where. yet there are those trying to implement socialism right here in the united states. so i again say to you... and i say it for the world to hear. america will never be a socialist country. never. >> [chanting "usa, usa, usa"] >> president trump: we are born free. we will live free. and we will die free. we will always be free.. each of us here tonight is united by the same timeless values.

we believe in the american constitution and our great rule of law. we believe in the dignity of work and the sanctity of life. we believe that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are the center of the american way. we believe in religious liberty the right to free speech, and the right to keep and bear arms. [cheering] we believe that children should be taught to love our countrye honor our incredible history and always respect our great american flag.ap [cheers and applause] we believe that the first duty

of government is to be loyal toe its citizens and we live by the words of our national motto that we are going to keep. we will never change this. "in god we trust." [cheering] these are the beliefs traditions, and principles that bind us together as citizens, as neighbors, as great patriots. these are the values that uniter people all across the great state of texas. from houston to austin, from dallas to el paso, from the red river to the rio grande. the lone star state embodies the

spirit of independence like maybe no other place anywhere in the world. [ applause ] and you have always embraced the cause of american freedom like no one else. this is the state where william travis, james bowie, and davy crockett made their last stand at the alamo. this is the state where a small band of patriots at the battle of gonzales, armed with a single canon, stared down a foreign powerful army and declared, come and take it. come and take it. come on. take it.co and texas is the state where

generations of farmers ranchers, oil workers, and pioneers, helped build up the most extraordinary nation in all of human history. that's where we are. we were losing track. we didn't lose track anymore. we are straight on that track. now, just like generations of texas patriots who came before you are going to make your stand. that's what we've done. we've made our stand, and we've made it together. this is a big group of millions and millions of people that have come together like never before in our history. this has never happened before. and we've come for safety, for sovereignty, and for the sacred rights given to us by the hand

of almighty god. we are one united movement, one united people, and one united states of america. and together with the proud and incredible and great people of the state of texas, we will make america wealthy again. we will make america strong again. we will make america safe again. and we will make america great again. thank you, texas. thank you.

>> laura: the president wrapping up his speech that ran about an hour and more than 15 minutes. 20 minutes almost. some protesters along the way but not really many. we had an incredibly interesting crowd, exuberant reactions. i want to bring you my exclusivu interview with the president conducted just before he went on stage for this rally. let's watch. mr. president, word broke late today, early this evening that there might be some tentative deal struck to avert a government shutdown. what can you tell us? >> president trump: i can tell you a lot of things have changed we will see what happened. i can't go into the exact deal. i just heard it very quickly coming over to see you. it's between the deal and you and i had to choose you. i had no choice and i'm very happy i did.

we were are talking and we will see what happens. >> laura: there is an opposing rally kind of going on the samew time as this rally. beto o'rourke, young kind of up-and-comer they say in the democratic party. he says that wall is really about hate and racism. to that, you say what? >> president trump: very few people showed up to his rally. this place is packed with thousands and thousands outside. i guess he challenged us to an event, so maybe this means he's going to have to drop out of the race because this was not a good situation for him. i don't know why he didn't. it has nothing to do with anything other than safety for the americans, safety for our people, safety for our country. and a wall is a very good thing not a bad thing. it's a moral thing, to put it in the opposite terms. we don't even say build the wall anymore. we say finish the wall because we built a lot and we are renovating a tremendous amount

of stuff that was really in bad shape but it had good structure. so we are saying finish the wall.ff walls are very important. if you don't have it, all the i technology, laura, all the drones they have flying around so nicely up in the air, they don't mean a thing. >> laura: what about the border sheriffs, border mayors they say no, we don't need a wall. we are safe. they were challenging some of your statistics on el paso even though juarez had a terrible year last year for murders. >> president trump: the murders are tremendous in juarez. crime was very high and then the wall got built. you should talk about the sheriffs that agree, like 90% of the sheriffs in the country maybe all of them. >> laura: we're going to reduce the number of detention beds. what was that about? >> president trump: it means you don't detain people who are very dangerous. you have to put them out into our society because our laws are

so bad. if you look at what happened and what's been passed over the years in congress, it's a shame. it's a disgrace. that means we can't just put them back into mexico or where they came. we have to put them back in our society and in some cases they are stone cold criminals. we can't do that. >> laura: another good piece of economic news came out today. personal confidence in the economy is at a 16 year high. why are so many millennials gravitating in some polls toward socialism over capitalism? what can you do to reinvigorate their understanding of the free market?r >> president trump: number one, they are young. they are idealistic if you call it idealistic. i think capitalism is more of an ideal. but if you look at the poll numbers, you look at the kind of numbers that we have, it's been great. i hit my all-time high today. 52%. that's with only bad stories because the press only gives me bad stories. you treat me fairly.th >> laura: when you -- were you surprised when some democrats didn't stand up when you asked at the state of the union about socialism.

not everybody stood up. >> president trump: that's where they're coming from. when i see some of the responses, when i see some of the statements made by congressmen and women, i say art we living in the united states of america? we have a country that's doing the best it's ever done. we are just lapping the world. it used to be like we were a second sister to china. now china is looking up to us. we are doing so well. and other countries are not doing well. it makes it tougher for us in a certain way because we do business with other countries. but we are setting records in so many ways, including records record unemployment, in a positive way. >> laura: they say obama started it and then they say there's economic inequality. that's the new buzzword. you're going to hear it a lot. the young freshman congressman. some of the candidates are really gravitating toward it. >> president trump: president obama, you look at his last months and what happened the first month coming into my term, they were very low, the numbers, gdp numbers and everything else. if i would've stayed with those numbers, we would've had an

economy that would be going in reverse. we opened it up. we got rid of unnecessary regulations, the biggest tax cut we've ever done. we opened up the oil. we're the largest oil exporter. we are the largest oil and gas in the world right now. nobody thought that was possible this quickly.ow we opened up our country. we are letting people work again. we have more people working today, almost 160 million people. we have more people working today than have ever worked in the united states. it's great. >> laura: we didn't have some people stand for that at the state of the union. what does that tell you? i got lots of texts. they are trying to paralyze our economy with investigationsry oversight, you're getting hammered with requests for documents and so forth which is part of the oversight. what's going on there? >> president trump: what happened to me should never be allowed to happen to another president with investigations on things that never took place like russia. the russia collusion delusion we call it.

i call it a hoax. in fact, it was very nice. richard burr the other day came out after almost two years of investigation, they found absolutely no collusion between trump and the russia, which i could've told a lot of people and which i have been saying to a lot of people. this is never happened. the democrats know it's a hoax. it's a political game. now the russia thing is dead and they say well, we are going to look at every company that donald trump was ever -- they don't have any information.ve we're going to look at every company that donald trump wasoo ever involved in. i did great. i made a lot of money. now they want to go back and investigate every company. we have and i think 79 different letters from different committees. >> laura: how are you going to respond to these letters? >> president trump: for the most part, they are conflicted. i got one from pocahontas today where it said that donald trumpo we want to investigate some company, it's so disgraceful.id i said just write her back and say she's got a conflict of interest, okay?

she should focus more on her heritage and not being ashamed of what she is. she should really focus on ourselves. we've gotten letters, laura from so many committees. i didn't know we had so many committees. i think it's up to 79 letters. this is based on no information of any wrongdoing because i'm a very straight person. so we went through this whole russian hoax. nobody has ever done what i did where i was hit with this. think of this. hit with it and we probably have the greatest first two years of any president in our history in terms of what we've accomplished with employment, with gdp, with everything. companies are moving back into our country which is one of the great stats.s >> laura: african-americans in this country, what would you say to the young african-american today in virginia who is seeing the turmoil in that state and wants to understand what the race issue is pummeling us on all sides.mo >> president trump: terrible situations. i think the republicans, they do well in virginia, a lot of things are happening in

virginia. i didn't campaign in virginia because i was told that a republican -- >> laura: not much, a few stops. >> president trump: virtually not. look at the numbers, why aren'tr i there? they sort of assumed it's a democrat state and as you know i did very well there without having gone. i think virginia is ready to flip over to something and i will tell you african-americans are coming to the republican party like nobody can believe. a lot of things are happening. a lot of very positive things. >> laura: should northam resign? >> president trump: i watched his news conference. it was pretty sad. let them figure out what to do but i felt actually -- i felt sorry for his wife and his wife saved him from doing, as you know, michael jackson. he was going to try to imitate michael jackson with the moonwalk. nobody can imitate michael with the moonwalk.ry this would not have been pretty. you add that couple seconds of h footage onto what he did. it was a pretty bad situation.

>> laura: mr. president thank you very much. >> president trump: thank you very much. appreciate it.re >> laura: reaction to my exclusive interview with president trump live from el paso.ra it's chilly here. next. it's chilly here.

>> laura: all right, who knew it was so cold in texas? it's warm out here >> laura: all right, who knew it was so cold in texas? it's warm out here with all of our friends. here in el paso, my first trip to el paso. i'm so happy. we had an exclusive interview with president trump before the rally.he my dear friend, texas lieutenant governor dan patrick. also monica crowley. and chris hahn, former aide to t senator chuck schumer. a lot of ground to cover, not much time to do it. breaking news on the border deal, potential border deal

between congressional negotiators. 1.375 billion for barriers but not walls. what is going on here? >> the president is going to build a wall of the end of the day no matter what they do so they need to quit messing around and either give them what he wants or understand he's going to move forward. tonight this was a bold move. for him to come to beto o'rourke's hometown, outdraw him tonight, i think beto o'rourke's presidential campaign came to an end. he may run but it's over. when you can't carry your own town, when he turns out a crowd. like this, it's over for beto o'rourke, and all the democrats are going to seize on this tomorrow morning and say look what beto did. he was an embarrassment. trump knocked him out of the race tonight. >> laura: chris hahn. >> i would say be careful what you wish for, lieutenant governor. beto o'rourke is an exciting candidate. i don't know if he's the democratic nominee but if he is be careful. the question i have to ask is

does the president, does he think he was elected in 2008? he did not inherit a mess. obama inherited a mess. he inherited a roaring economy that was producing more energy than any country in the world when he took office. things were going well and they continue to go well and thank god. i give him some credit for that. he didn't inherit a mess. he inherited great things. >> laura: what was going on with wages? chris, what was going on with wages? i'll ask monica. monica, wages for middle-class workers. tell us. what was happening with manufacturing that everybody wa laughing about. tell us. >> if everything were going so great in 2016 thanks to barackg obama, hillary clinton would have won the presidential election. the american people voted in donald trump in large part to reverse most of what barack obama did and to, in donald trump's words, make america great again.ac that's what he's done in two short years. he delivered a thriving economy.

he's turned the country around in manufacturing and other economic areas, and he's also delivering a stronger u.s. military and u.s. international position. that's why what you saw tonight was the kick off to 2020. laura, nobody does it better than donald trump. >> laura: let's go to dan. it's about -- >> if he feels he's got to worry. >> laura: this is el paso. i've got it. nice talking point. chris, chris.oi this is el paso. this is beto country. that arena, i ducked in. >> thousands outside. beto. the president came here and beat him in his own city, his own backyard. >> laura: what about the mayor of el paso? the mayor of el paso was throwing a lot of shade on the president. >> let me give you the real story about the fence because it's important. that's what we are here to talk about.

on the other side of the fence which is not far from here, 1100 people were murdered last year laura. 23 in el paso. in the last three years -- >> laura: wait a second. i want everyone to understand this. i want everyone to understand. 1100 people were murdered in juarez. 23 here. >> just on the other side of the fence. in the last three years, 59t people have been murdered in el paso and 2,416 in juarez. if this fence were not here that violence of decapitating people, hanging people from bridges, cutting off their heads and rolling them down the street. that violence would be here in el paso. that fence -- chris, you are wrong. you are a denier or a deceiver. >> governor, you know crime wass going down in el paso long before the wall. you know it. >> i am not talking about that. i'm talking about today. >> you shouldn't be governor. a >> today, today.ou get in today's time.

>> we know that the law enforcement, the hardworking men and women in law enforcement is why the crime is down. >> laura: they were all for trump. they are all for trump. nice try. nice try, chris. i've got 30 seconds. okay. if we tried to do this show just a few, 500 yards from here, it would be a different deal. don't tell me the fence doesn't work. >> we would be in danger. >> laura: we are going to hit a hard break. we will be right back. stay right there. we have a great crowd on a cold night here in el paso.o >> tech: at safelite autoglass we know that when you're spending time with the grandkids every minute counts. and you don't have time for a cracked windshield. that's why we show you exactly when we'll be there. saving you time, so you can keep saving the world. >> kids: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪

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minute. a sheriff who was with the president at the white house claims there is danger in conceding on a specific demand by the democrats. a firestorm ignited by a progressive fr