>> deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the white house. he was not just joking, he was absolutely serious. heather: good morning to you, it's february 18th, monday morning, this is "fox & friends first", happening right now, fears of a bureaucratic coup to out president trump triggering calls for deep-state investigation. bombshell revelations and andrew mccabe's testimony. democrats buffle down for battle, legal beatle over the

border. bombshell concession, "fox & friends first" starts right now. ♪ ♪ you're watching "fox & friends first" on monday morning, i'm heather childers, thank you so much for starting your day was. plans for today or being called for are protests against protecting the southern border. they're expected to cross the

country today, activists calling for demonstrations in response to president trump's national emergency declaration. griff jenkins live for us in washington on what to expect, good morning, griff? >> good morning, heather, it's going to be busy. coalition of activist groups led by moveon.org. coast to coast, goal to fight the president's national emergency declaration and address campaign director says this false crisis is and i legal unconstitutional power grab to advance racist agent. this has democrats with brand-new resolution with declaration and adam schiff saying this is unprecedented. >> this is the first time the president has tried to declare emergency when congress

explicitly reswrected -- rejected funding. >> lawsuits are under way ranging from the aclu to at least 5 states starting with california, the white house senior adviser steven miller says the president is fully prepare to defend declaration and issued first term if congress votes to disapprove. >> he will protect national emergency guarantied. this is a threat in our country, not in zimbabwe. griff: rest assured streets will be full of protestors, heather? heather: looks that way, thank

you very much, griff. lindsey graham can't understand the outage from the left. >> i think that every member of congress pushed obama, not one of us have complained about the forces of the border to secure the bored, it's hard for me to understand the legal difference sending troops and having them build a barrier, what disappoints me on president obama's watch as republican i voted for 44 billion-dollar border security package, 9 billion which included barrier, 2006 all of us voted for the fence act, we are talking about steel barriers, not concrete wall, when it comes to president trump, congress will lock down and not give him what we have given past presidents and unfortunately he

has to do it on his own. heather: california, by the way also plans to sue the administration accusing the president of just trying to fulfill his campaign promise. so much more on all of this to come. 5 people injured after a suspected armed robber opened fire in new orleans, one witness telling local media, quote, it was like wild, wild west going on and suspect was shot dead, famous french corridor, innocent bystanders one of them in critical condition. more than a thousand people came together in prayer vigil, 5 people were killed after coworker opened fire, he was called in to be fired. he was shot and killed by police. chicago police investigate into

reported hate crime under empire actor jesse smulett. >> the arrest and criminal prosecution of empire star and actor jesse smulett. >> activists claiming justice and drives national headlines, empire director who was black and guy was out getting food at subway restaurant when two men shouting antigay slurs attacked him. perpetrators had rope around neck and poured chemical on him before run get away. after arrested two nigerian

brothers, allegations that smulett paid the brothers for the attack. >> they are being cooperative. >> detectives were requesting follow-up saying in part, quote, we are not in a position to confirm, deny or comment on validity of what's unofficially released, there's developments in the investigation. >> we believe he's victim of hate crime. >> actor is devastated adding in a statement in part, quote, he is now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that jesse played a role in own attack, in los angeles, fox news. >> shortly after allegations claim went viral, 2020 hopeful, democratic cory booker, mob

lynch on twitter. political spokes correspondent says that democrats rushed to judgment was a mistake. >> amplified the story, you don't have to react to every single thing. once the actual truth is established, how do they react, if they did if that's true, undermined the claims of every person that was assaulted. all of the time at npr we get cautionary emails from editors, whoa, we are not going with this. it's fine to show, to report on the latest, the chicago police are looking into it, it's not clear what happened but even the president weighed in on that unless you want to say, look, based on what we know now it's horrible. >> smolett's attorneys deny accusations that he had involvement in his own attack.

we will see what develops with that one. races into the history books winning daytona 500 for second time of his career, as he led the race, nearly half the field was taken out, what's this? the fiery crash, they almost made it, didn't seem to rattle him. heather: yeah dead at a at a --g to j.d.gibbs. >> legacy lives a long time being here. heather: swept the podium, kyle busch and jones finished second to end. what a fiery crash, that was really something. time now is 9 minutes after the top of the hour, senator lindsey

graham demanding after andrew mccabe's interview on 60 minutes. >> the only way to find out is calling people in under oath and find out through questioning who is telling the truth. heather: why our next guest says talk to remove president trump is nothing short of a coup. colin kaepernick back in the game? days after settling grievance with the nfl.

>> what happens here and the only way to find out is to call people in under oath and find out with a few questioning who is telling the truth. heather: beyond stunning.

new calls for investigation into what he's calling a bureaucratic coupe after fired fbi director andrew mccabe of alleged plan to secretly record president trump in hopes of removing him from office. joining me attorney general in doj criminal division, john malcolm, thank you very much for joining us this morning, we appreciate it. >> good to be with you, heather. heather: let's begin conversation with a little more what andy mccabe had to say on rosenstein and the 25th amendment on 60 minutes, listen. >> discussion of the 25th amendment was simply rod raised the issue and discussed with me in the context of thinking about how many cabinet officials might support such an effort, the deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the white house. he was not joking, he was

absolutely serious. heather: not joking, absolutely serious. definitely different than what we heard from rosenstein and also trying to take a poll as to what other cabinet members may support the move, what do you think about? >> the thought that deputy attorney general wearing a wire to record conversation with the president is outrageous and have a hard time rod rosenstein would ever seriously contemplate doing such a thing, 25th amendment, that's absurd, the 25th amendment is designed to remove a president usually on a temporary basis if he or she is mentally incapacitated. think what happened after woodrow wilson had major stroke or if john f kennedy had survived assassination attempt. donald trump you may like him or dislike him is not physically or mentally incapacitated. the public believe he has done

something illegal or abusive we have another process, but the thought that rod rosenstein or andy mccabe was somehow going to get the vice president an 8 cabinet members to sign a declaration that the president of their own party is physically and mentally incapacitated is a fantasy. heather: it really is unbelievable. we have statement as well for moment as this is melissa schwartz, interviews have been taken out of context, at no time did mr. mccabe participate in extended discussions about the use of 25th amendment nor aware of such discussions so what do you make of that comment following the interviews that he's given so far? >> certainly appear to be contradictory on what i heard on 60 minutes. let's be clear, andy mccabe is somewhat of a dubious source.

he was fired for lying to fbi agents in connection with the leak investigation, he's now hawking a book, criminal referral, he's suspect source, but, you know, if rod rosenstein engaged in the joke about wearing a wire or invoking 25th amendment it was surely a joke that was in very bad taste, that could not have been seriously discussion. heather: at the same time if you combine this with james baker, two of president trump's cabinet officials were ready to support the 25th amendment but at the same time, you know, what we were discussing, rod rosenstein said all of this was a big joke. let's look at the statement, though, from james baker. he says i was being told by some combination of andy mccabe, lisa page that in a conversation with deputy attorney general he had at least two members of the

president's cabinet who were ready to support, i guess you would call it an action under the 25th amendment. so would that to you seem to be in support of what we are hearing? >> well, i read in other reports that the two names that were being mentioned is jeff sessions and john kelly. i find that very hard to believe. i find that question that there was a lot of tension going between jeff sessions and president trump but still to find that the president has been physically and mentally incapacitated and incapable of doing the job is quite a reach, john kelly, he had that many concerns about the president, would not have agree to transfer over from department of homeland security to become chief of staff. this is all a fantasy land, now there may have been a conversation that took place about this, but i -- it can't had been serious and if it was it was certainly bad case.

heather: that's exactly what i was going to ask you if this actually did transpire and happen, americans looking at this and hearing the information coming out would this be considered a coup or attempted coup? >> if a bunch of cabinet members got together and said, we don't like this president but we are now going to finally file declaration that he's mentally unhinged and incapable of doing the job, that would be nothing short of overturning the results of an election. it was never going to happen which is why i have a hard time believing that the conversation actually took place, but if it did take place and if it was serious, it was an attempted coup to overturn results of an election. heather: at the same time all of this coming as a book is coming out. andy mccabe's book, perhaps no coincidence there. john million come, appreciate it, great stuff. >> good to be with you. heather: fund to help 911

victims and first responders is about to dry up. new push to get more funding and how can you help our heros and as the smolett case crumbles, claim making comeback. >> connect the dots, if you're in position of power, and you hate people and you want to cause suffer to go them, what do you think is going to happen? heather: carley shimkus with the call to apologize which are growing this morning. this isn't just any moving day.

this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. heather: welcome back, actress ellen page going viral, new developments in jesse smolett

claim. >> in terms of connecting the dots, in terms of what happened the other day, if you were in a position of power and you hate people, what do you think it's going to happen and people are going to be beaten on the streets. heather: carley shimkus fox news headlines 24/7, siriusxm 115 more with shocking new suspect. >> so good morning, heather, just keep in mind that ellen page did make claims 3 weeks ago when allegations first came out but the video has gone viral. 17 million views and according to new report, two brothers questioned by police say that smolett paid them. attackers supposed to be trump supporters, we saw a couple of weeks the left rush today defend and now we are seeing the right to criticize the situation. carolyn on twitter says easier to blame than seek the truth.

gabi chiming in, quick to judge, america deserves an apology and another twitter user at ellen page saying, looks like the joke is on you for falling for jesse hoax, who do you blame now? we do not know, jesse smolett is sticking to his story and police want to question him again in light of new tweets, he still believes smollet. heather: brothers went to supply store and that's where they bought hats which they were wearing at the time. whether or not he was behind that giving them money in order to do it, that's the big question. >> bingo. heather: president trump calling for retribution from alec baldwin. carley: here we go again.

president trump taking aim at alec baldwin, latest erm -- impersonation, take a look. >> i have to fake national emergency. i have to to because i want to. >> in response the president tweeted nothing funny about tired saturday night live on fake news nbc, the question is how did the networks get away with the total republican hit jobs without retribution like many other shows, very unfair and should be looked into, this is the real collusion, one twitter user saying it's not even funny anymore. what they qualcomm dye is definitely a hit job and bashing and jessica says they do it to every president so sort of saying that saturday night live is a comedy and they criticized a lot. heather: i don't know, some are crossing the line and become

mean-spirited. but colin kaepernick maybe signing with a new nfl team? >> big news here, fresh off his, you know, settling -- that's right, settling collusion case with the nfl, kaepernick's lawyer says that the time with the nfl may not be over and suggested maybe the panthers would sign him or even bob kraft of the patriots, surprising because they are all squared away in quarterback position, tom brady. heather: cam newton might be sidelined. carley: that's right, a lot of people on social media are calling colin kaepernick. i don't like that he kneels but it is his right. he's a distraction and debbie on twitter says, he should seek another career path, i enjoy football now without his movement trying to divide us. this past football season didn't

have big conversation surrounding. heather: eric reed supported colin kaepernick and kneeled with him, he's still kneeling. we will see, you have a settlement with the nfl and you will still get paid by the nfl. let us know what you think about that, thank you so much, carley. time now about 28 minutes after the top of the hour, democrats vowing to build a legal wall to stop president trump's emergency declaration, should congress be to blame for ignoring the issue for so long, we will debate it? [inaudible] heather: another tarmac tirade, the woman who lost her mind because she had to sit next to a child on a plane. but first, look at weather across the country today.

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heather: welcome back, you're watching "fox & friends first", a look at top headlines for you, a wave of protests against protecting the southern border happening across the country today. president trump's national emergency declaration prompting over 200 demonstrations, organizers are urging to terminate declaration. president trump in miami today to give speech of crisis of venezuela and dangers of socialism, neighboring trip to colombia. and two brothers telling chicago police empire actor jesse smolett paid him to stage widely

disputed attack and they were released without charges and now police want to talk with the star again, the attorney denies the allegation. democrats are gearing up with legal battle with the trump administration claiming there's no national emergency at southern border despite former president from both sides of the aisle acknowledging serious issue of illegal immigration. >> americans not only states most affected are largely discern by illegal aliens entering the country. >> strong immigration enforcement. >> i believe as strongly as ever that we should take on illegal immigration. heather: you heard it right there, why are democrats trying to stop the president from acting on an issue that they failed to address for decades. liberal political analyst rashad

richie, appreciate it. >> good morning, heather. heather: you heard what former presidents had to do to protecting borders in illegal immigration, now we have democrats, speaking out against what president trump want to do which isn't all that different, listen. >> you have enough votes in the senate to put a joint resolution of termination on the president's desk. >> i think we do. >> pretty much daring the court to strike this down. >> we will have a vote on this likely on the next 2 or 3 weeks, see if they show the backbone that they generally haven't shown in the past. >> so rashad, i will begin with you, what's the difference? you heard at the end to have sound bite, president obama protect our borders, what's different with president trump? >> because we live in a

democracy, that's the difference. understand that presidents have said in the past that this is a serious issue. the conflict here is if the serious issue rises to the level of a national emergency or national crisis. please understand that president trump is well within his legal rights, there's no constitutional mandate here but there is a legal mandate codified by congress in 1976 that legal statute that gives the president the authority to declare a national emergency, also provides provision within the same statute that says congress can check the authority of the president to make an emergency proclamation, so, yes, the president is within his legal authority but congress is within legal authority as well to check the power of the declaration. heather: rashad my question was and i will let kimberly answer it, what's the difference in terms of congress not supporting this president where they supported past presidents in doing similar types of things?

>> yeah, this is game of politics but -- that they love the play, if they don't have a group of people, they have nothing going for them, this is not a party that is driven by results, you don't see them actually getting anything done nowadays so they supported president obama but they changed tune because it's president trump, they know 2020 is coming and if they put border up, another feather in his hat, that's why they are pushing back so hard. this is all they have left. >> rashad, earlier in the show. heather: president obama sent troops. president trump in terms of the wall, he's putting up steel slap, not even a concrete

barrier as previously discussed. >> the wall cannot be immoral when democrats have voted for the wall and also funded the wall and also extended the wall under democratic presidents, so that entire debate is political. heather: to the tune of $4 billion. >> there's a methodology question, how do you go about developing a comprehensive border security plan, so i get that debate, i think they disagree fundamentally on the methodology on how he's going about. heather: kimberly, you get the final word? >> i agree, we all have the same goal at the end of the day and that is hopefully to protect our borders, i hope they care about national security and this is his method, this is the president, why not let him go with it. if president obama and president bush get it done, let president trump go with it.

heather: protests across the country today as we said earlier, thank you for your insight, appreciate it. >> thank you. heather: covered by images of migrant children, the despicable act of vandalism that has many asking how low would they go. our next guest is with new push to get more funding and how you can help our heros, stay tune for this

heather: welcome back, nearly 50 activists stormed the national border patrol museum to protest agents. >> border patrol agents are murderers, that's what they are.

heather: look at what they did here? protestors covering photos honoring fallen agents with photos of children. protestors were kicked out, they were kicked out by military police. it's not clear if anyone was arrested. joe biden telling europeans that america is an embarrassment. >> the america i see values decency and not snatching children from their parents or turning back at refugees from the border, americans know that not right. [cheers and applause] >> the american people understand because it makes us an embarrassment. heather: former vice president and potential 2020 presidential candidate speaking at crowd at security conference in munich. he says he will make decision on 2020 soon.

please let us know what you think about that. well, as the health crisis for 911 first responders continues, victim funds announced today they won't have enough money to pay out current and projected claims. here to discuss what this means and what congress can do to help as chairman of the foundation, thank you so much for joining us. we always appreciate having you with us. funds are running short. >> so many people realize it's running out by 2020, so there are so many people that are sick, most of the funds paid out almost 5 billion, the people who are getting sick now aren't going to be taken care of the same way as the first ones that applied. heather: fund was established back in 2011 and it goes towards

funding and help for death and illnesses associated with 9/11? >> yes. after 9/11 everybody remembers the images of firefighters and police officers down there, the search and recovery efforts that were being made, people from all over the united states were coming, it was a great effort made, so many people living down there, they were told the air was okay, don't worry about it, you can go back to work, you can go to school and these people are getting sick, they are dying almost 355 firefighters and cops have died since 9/11, with 9/11-related illnesses, these families have to be taken care of. we have to go to congress, we have to say you have to take care of families that are left mind. still paying the sacrifice of 9/11. heather: what can happen now because funds are running out at 2020 what the congress needs to do in order to enact something to change this so quickly.

>> they have to go and, you know, congresswoman down in washington have to step up to the plate and take care of those who are still suffering from 9/11-related illnesses. a long time for illnesses to manifest, people are dying, they have to take care of families afterwards, always first responders for sure but a lot of other people who are suffering. >> we do have a statement that came out from the person who was in charge of funds, basically what they are doing right now cutting the amount of money that people are receiving in order to make it last longer. >> yes, 50 to 70% cut back. let's be fair about this, those who died sooner should -- those families should be taken care of along those who die later should be taken care also. i think as americans, let's not forget what happened on 9/11 and the sacrifice that was made that day and have been made ever since not just military but those who.

>> down in search and recovery, it was okay to be there. heather: yeah, something that your family certainly hasn't forgotten with the foundation and all the work that you do, steven, was off that day and took it upon himself to run through the tunnels to try to get the scene. >> that's why we have the tower foundation, 343 firefighters and so many first responders, we are so proud of. we have a 9/11 exhibit that goes all around the country and we have the names of all the first responders who died but the names who died ever since, 350 more that died since 9/11 with illnesses because it's a price that we paid back then and continue to be paid. heather: we appreciate the work that you are doing and your brother steven.

>> thank you. heather: time now 15 million until the top of the hour, iran, let's talk about them, unveiling newest weapon, submarine armed with cruise missiles, what does this signal about the rogue regime nuclear motive. former cia chief don hoffman says country will always find money for military even when faced with sanctions, he joins us up next. want more from your entertainment experience?

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heather: iran launching newest weapon, semiheavy submarine called the conqueror, does this signal that iran has bigger ambitions for nuclear capabilities, here to talk about it former cia chief and fox news

contributor don hoffman, he's been nominate today join president trump's intelligence advisory board. thank you so much for joining us, dan, always great to have you with us. >> always a pleasure. heather: in what reference to what iran is doing and with submarine, what does it say to you in terms of nuclear program? >> yeah, well, this is a submarine with missiles as you refer today that have capability of about a thousand miles which would allow iran to target u.s. military bases in israel and the region, hearly iran is pushing full speed ahead of developing indigenous capability that's threat to the region and beyond. heather: in the past year this isn't the only development that we heard about in terms of iran and nuclear capability? >> right, iran has been open about displaying developments with cruise missiles which again were not part of the jcpoa

nuclear agreement, it's clear that iran wants to diversify military capabilities so that they can sustain strike from enemies, they want to demonstrate that they could deter a strike as well from the united states or from israel, remember, israel has been outfront targeting iran and military in syria and i think that's something that the iranians are concerned about but most importantly of all, i think, to us it demonstrate that is iran will find money to push ahead in spite of crippling sanctions. heather: so why would they publicize all of this and why the uptick or what seems to have been uptick in publicizing developments on their part lately in terms of timing is there something significant in that? >> yeah, state-sponsored of terrorism and they're supporting militants in iran and yemen and obviously in syria and iraq and

there's no question at least in my view that they really want to demonstrate that they are going to be able to counter any attacks on their interest and they have been so aggressive in the region that they are incurring the wrath rightly so and sunni allies. heather: you mentioned syria, president trump with message to take back and lock up 800 isis fighters in syria. >> there may be issues in europe with the court system and the concerned that they maybe overly leaneant. prosecute them and put away as they should be in jail. heather: pentagon on our part is reporting that isis fighters from 60 countries and the

timeline, the u.s. plans to withdraw from syria likely to happen by the end of april, dan, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it. >> thank you. heather: all right, have a good day, the time now 8 minutes until the top of the hour, imagine this, a party game for young kids called shoot the president, we are not joking about this. the venue that's sparking outrage for thinking that was a good idea, who you would think that? tarmac tirade now going viral, another one, you won't believe what triggered this meltdown. stay with us.

heather: welcome back, ohio department center apologizing for shoot the president game, one president with body guards and everyone else tries to eliminate or shoot the president. well, local art school recently acquired the performing arts center, spokesperson says that this does not reflect values and there's a -- 11-year-old arrested for refuse to go stand for the pledge of allegiance. police say the arrest wasn't about the flag, the student was asked to leave the class more

than 20 times. time the good for the bad and the ugly. we begin with the good, 3 children saved them trapped inside submerged truck, the cam video showing carrying kids after first responders used the jaws to open up the truck. all expected to be okay. well, now the bad, a man comes home to find a complete stranger in his house and wearing his clothes. >> what are you doing at my house and i said, excuse me, i live here, what are you doing here? heather: savannah insisted that she lived tat south carolina home with her two children. she's taking several charges. finally the ugly, jetblue passenger kicked off flight and arrested after yelling about sitting next to a child.

[inaudible] heather: all right, even spitted at a customer, she admitted to drink all day. this wraps up first hour of "fox & friends first", "fox & friends first" continues right now. rob: monday february 18th and president trump's national emergency. jillian: demonstrators across the country today as democrats prepare for fight. rob: brand-new legal battle over the border. >> the deputy attorney general offered to wear a wire into the white house. he was not joking, he was absolutely serious. rob: bureaucratic coup to oust president trump and calls for a