spent the evening with a spirited good night tonight from new york. i'm shannon bream. we will see you back here from washington on thursday night. ♪ ♪ >> tucker: good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." abortion has never been popular in the state of alabama. since 1973, when a handful of supreme court justices imposed the most left-wing abortion regime in the world by fiat, voters in alabama have strongly disagreed with the ideology of roe v. wade. last night after 46 years, they finally enacted their views into law. lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to ban most abortions in alabama. just in alabama, nowhere else. a law like this would not pass in maryland or new jersey or massachusetts.

or pick a state. it applies only in a state where a strong majority agrees on it and reflects that community's values. that's called self-government. it's how democracy is supposed to work. the ruling class doesn't care, though. they no longer believe in democracy. so the idea that somewhere 1,000 miles from brooklyn in some little town in alabama, there might be a person who disagrees with their views on abortion or gun control or name a topic. that idea drives them completely insane. it eats at them, it keeps them up at night. it must be stopped. cnn is the network for people who feel this way. watch as one of their anchors solicited advice on how to subvert the will of alabama voters. >> my feeling is that there's things we can do for people who want to protest. first of all, we can talk to the men in our lives and figure out who are the men that are not supporting this. we can contribute to planned parenthood. we can go and say this isn't

what we want. this really, really -- it's the most restrictive law yet for abortion. why not do something on a larger scale? >> dr. peggy drexler. >> a pleasure. >> tucker: cnn thinks you should donate to planned parenthood. on "the view" joy behar, who is the single unhappiest person in the world and an important figure in democratic politics, went even further than that and called for eugenics. she demanded alabama's lawmakers be sterilized on the basis of their sex and skin color. >> can we look at the picture of the panel of men who did this. what do they have in common? they are all men. all white guys. >> weren't there four women? >> not here. >> all white guys. maybe we should make it a law that they should all be required to get a vasectomy.

>> tucker: joy behar is not elected to anything, at least for now. bernie sanders is. he is a sitting u.s. senator. this morning he tweeted "abortion is a constitutional right" which is almost as dumb as anything joy behar said. abortion is not a constitutional right. it's not mentioned in the constitution or even hinted at. the legal reasoning behind roe vs. wade is a joke. even pro-choice legal scholars will admit it if you ask them in private. but in public, nobody can say that. nobody can deviate from the party line. everyone must read from the talking points provided by the abortion clinic lobbyists, and so they do. >> what they did in alabama, georgia, it's unconstitutional. >> this is an outrage, and it's nothing short of an attack on women's basic human rights and civil rights. >> today when we saw what happened in alabama, let us all agree that women's health care

is under attack and we will not stand for it. [cheers and applause] >> tucker: so this is the modern democratic orthodoxy. if you love women, you will encourage them to kill their own offspring. if you acknowledge children are sacred and being a parent is honorable and necessary and maybe even more meaningful than a trip to ibiza this summer, then you are an oppressor. you hate women. in case you haven't noticed, it's a most perfect version of common sense and of nature itself. it's grotesque. what's the thinking behind it? we will let actress alyssa milano explain it. >> i don't think there is a human on the planet that is not pro-life. nobody wants to get an abortion. nobody. we are all pro-life. but there are circumstances that we cannot avoid. there is the mother's health. there is just not being ready, you know, and what that means financially and for someone's destiny. this is an economic issue. >> tucker: oh, it's an

economic issue. thanks for the honesty, alyssa. without roe versus wade, women might understand they have the right to be mothers rather than just dutiful worker bees toiling for a company that doesn't care about them. they may start to understand they can put their families first if they wanted before the interest of shareholders. you can't have that. it might hurt markets. our corporate case makers push the lie that abortion is liberation. only in faraway remote places like alabama do people miss that message and continue to believe that children are more important than market caps and stock prices. but for everyone else, the propaganda is working as intended. according to a new report by the cdc, america's fertility rate is the lowest it's ever been in the history of the country. it's not that americans don't want to have children. they do. according to gallup, americans want just as many kids as they wanted 20 years ago. it shows that they can't afford them anymore. our leaders tell us that's fine, totally okay. it's normal. you don't need children. here is a new iphone. we'll pay for your abortion. work harder. stop complaining.

don't listen to those people in alabama. we will make them be quiet. get back to work. you are liberated. the legislator considering its own bill to ban abortions. elijah haahr is the speaker of the missouri state house and he joins us. speaker, thanks for coming on. before we get to the bigger question, tell us the state of the bill in missouri. >> the legislature passed a bill in february, late february of this year. we passed it with 117 votes. every single republican and three democrats voted for it. the bill is in the senate right now and they are considering using the previous question to add debate and actually moved to a vote in the senate. >> tucker: huh. so is the point of this, critics say the point of the bill that you are behind and the bill that was passed and signed in alabama is to undermine roe vs. wade. is that true? >> that's not true, at least not in our case. we are not trying to attract a

legal challenge but to withstand one and save lives in missouri. what we have built today in this legislation, we believe to be the most comprehensive, boldest pro-life legislation in the nation. >> tucker: as i understand that, the bill essentially says if the heartbeat can be detected, you can't kill the child. >> the underlying bill begins with a heartbeat, a ban on abortion after a heartbeat is detected. also a ban if a fetal brain wave is detected. if that portion were struck down, we have the second and third options of banning abortions at 14 and 18 weeks under a ban. we have a trigger that would go into place if roe v. wade was overturned that would ban abortion back to conception. along with that, we have a variety of portions of the bill designed to mirror a lot of what the other states in the country are doing. really what we have the opportunity to do is look at a lot of other states and how they were attempting to tackle this issue. put them together into one sound, comprehensive piece of

legislation. >> tucker: there are people who are sincerely opposed to what you're doing and that's fair and fine. there's also massive effort funded by the abortion lobby, naral for example, is an abortion lobby funded by clinic owners. how organized are those forces in missouri and what's their spending like? >> there are very organized. we are fortunate that missouri has always been on the forefront of being a fairly pro-life state. when i began this legislative session, i said in missouri we stand for the innocent and the infirm, the born and unborn. over the past few years, we have managed to whittle down the number of abortion clinics from as high as six down to one that is still practicing. one of the interesting things about the legislation, we have a requirement of increased insurance for abortion doctors. in the negotiations to try to end the filibuster in the senate, that was the first thing they asked us to remove was the increased insurance requirement

for these abortion doctors. it always comes back to the money. >> tucker: [laughs] yes, it does. that is so telling. that's because the lobbying against it is funded by the clinic owners. this is a very lucrative business. did the requirement stay in the legislation? >> even before i came on with you tonight, we were having those discussions, and that was the first thing that members we were dealing with asked us to remove. we said no. we were drawing a bright line on that. it was a core part of the bill. >> tucker: fascinating. again, revealing. elijah, thanks very much. >> thank you for having me. >> tucker: we are joined tonight by fox senior political analyst brit hume. thanks for coming on. this is one of the topics you've seen debated for 46 years. >> it is the most enduring moral and political issue of our time. >> tucker: i think a lot of republicans in washington suspect that if we ever had a real debate on it, they would lose, which is why we don't have a real debate on it ever really. now we're starting to have a real debate on it.

do you think the republican side, the pro-life side will lose? >> no, i think in the long run, the pro-life side will win. you can remember that bill clinton had a formulation that he used to use when he was discussing abortion rights guaranteed by roe vs. wade. he wanted abortion to be safe, legal, rare. it is, by and large, safe, i think. it is certainly legal. it is certainly not rare. we are talking now estimates are as many as 60 million human lives, millions of those with beating hearts, snuffed out by abortion since roe vs. wade was decided in 1973. that's a staggering total of loss of human life. i don't think -- i think the proponents of abortion rights know that it doesn't sit well with people. that's why naral -- planned parenthood calls itself something it's not which is about parenthood. it's not about parenthood.

you have all these other euphemisms. women's choice. women's health. my favorite of all is reproductive rights. because if abortions are about one thing, it's not reproduction. it's anti-reproductive rights. you can kind of sense that it is understood on the part of those who adopt such terms that they are skating on moral thin ice and they better not call that really what it is, which is the taking of innocent human life. >> tucker: do you think the hysteria that you see on the subject really from one side, the pro-choice side, comes from the fact that deep down they know it's an atrocity. >> yes, i think it does. and they also know that it's a legal matter and you touched on it in your comments. as a legal matter the decision is an abomination. and you're correct that even pro-choice lawyers and legal scholars will admit that. the supreme court 1968 in a strange case kind of created out of thin air an all-purpose right to privacy which is nowhere set

forth in the constitution. they said that the right emanated from some section of the constitution. it's a joke. five years later, the supreme court invented out of that the right to an abortion, out of a right to privacy it's pretty weak stuff. if it were ever really decided on the merits, i don't think it would stand. i also don't think this alabama gambit is going to work, and the reason i think that is you will get to trial court soon and the judge bound by roe vs. wade will strike it down. it will get to an appellate court, and i don't think it will be reversed there. the supreme court will, in my judgment, decline to hear it, and that will be that. i think missouri might be onto something. they might -- they have some fallback positions that may hold. i don't think these all-out challenges, head-on challenges to roe vs. wade will work right

now. >> tucker: huh. do you think as a political matter, having the conversation, describing what it is that we are debating -- abortion -- not choice, not reproductive rights -- but abortion is that an effective strategy for people -- >> i think increasingly it is, because science is telling us more and more all the time about just how much of a person these fetuses are. we now know earlier than we thought, we detect a heartbeat. there is no -- there are studies that indicate, as the legislator was telling you, the sensation of pain. if it becomes universally accepted that abortion is painful to the fetus, i think it changes the question. >> tucker: thank you. >> you bet. >> tucker: the left demanded a 2-year russia investigation. we got one. now they are outraged that transparency could extend to the investigation itself.

fun to watch. details ahead. joe biden is dominating the presidential field, but are there warning signs that he will not be the nominee? dana perino on that after the break. ♪ i have a vision correction number,

but i'm more than a number. when i'm not teaching, i'm taking steep grades and tight corners. my essilor lenses offer more than vision correction with three innovative technologies for my ultimate in vision clarity and protection together in a single lens: the essilor ultimate lens package. so, i can do more of what i love! buy two pairs of essilor's best lenses and get a $100 back instantly. see more. do more. essilor

♪ >> tucker: for more than two years, virtually everyone in washington decided to ignore america's real problem so that congress and the press could live in a fantasy world. in that fantasy world, russian spies were lurking in every restaurant booth, and every

party, under every bed. problemsis country's were due to russia. any abuse. spying on americans, pretending a democratic election never happened. the russian hoax has been exposed as fraudulent because it is. there is ample evidence to believe the fbi launched a politically motivated i investigation on the flimsiest of pretexts. the attorney general's launching an investigation to find out how this happened. suddenly the left is in a full-blown panic. investigations are bad. on nbc, there's a party line that investigating a political party is fair and spying on a presidential campaign, no problem, but looking at the fbi, that's what the mafia does. >> it's an embarrassment to have an attorney general who looks like he will do anything to defend the president and has become his hit man. not only will you play defense, he is out to destroy the government, the fbi, everything, in order to cover the tracks of the president. >> tucker: so that is the

level of hysteria. it's not the extent of the hysteria, it's everywhere all of a sudden. trace gallagher has been on the story and explains. >> democrats have subpoenaed attorney general bill barr, held him in contempt, asked him to resign and suggested criminal sanctions, none of which stopped the ag from assigning a federal prosecutor to investigate the origins of the trump-russia c probe. john h. durham, u.s. attorney in connecticut, has reportedly been on the case for a while. durham also has a history of investigating potentialnn wrongdoing among national security officials, including the fbi's ties to a crime boss in boston and cia abuses of detainees. there are now three investigations aimed at what some of the g.o.p. call "getting to the bottom of things." here's reaction on cnn.f >> think about the chilling message it sends to career nonpolitical people in the fbi, in the justice department.

this is a completely unnecessary investigation by the connecticut u.s. attorney. >> to counter three investigations, msnbc apparently needed three fall guys, and naturally that's the president, attorney general barr and fox news. watch. >> who uses the word spying to discuss authorized, lawful surveillance on a counterintelligence probe other than sean hannity? >> william barr clearly, and i think donald trump as well. >> why? >> they are trying to imply and indicate that there was misuse of authority. that was not the case.as >> today at a national peace officers memorial service, ag bill barr spotted nancy pelosi, shook her hand and said loudly, madam speaker, did you bring your handcuffs? pelosi smiled and indicated the house sergeant at arms was present should an arrest be necessary.

tucker. >> tucker: unbelievable. trace gallagher, thanks. msnbc should be ashamed runningg a segment like that. meanwhile, back in the realld world, more than 20 people are running for president on the democratic side. the field may soon grow by more. billionaire mark cuban says he might get in the race as an independent because the entire democratic field is so lame nobody can beat t donald trump. >> i've said it many times. it would take the perfect storm for me to do it. there are some things that could open the door, but i'm not projecting or predicting it right now. >> who do you think on the democratic side right now has the best chance against president trump? p >> nobody right now. >> tucker: as of this moment, nobody is planning to vote for mark cuban. a lot of people those seem to be backing joe biden. he's leading the democratic field, and it's not even close. will biden's candidacy survive a year-long campaign?

already he's not making much sense. yesterday he answered a pretty simple question about china with the verbal equivalent of abstract art. it was just bizarre. today biden endorsed a supporter who called the president an illegitimate putin puppet. watch this. >> he is an illegitimate president in my mind. illegitimate. my biggest fear is that he's going to do it again with the help of vlad, his best pal, and we're going to be stuck for six more years of this guy and that's terrifying. it's terrifying. >> would you be my vice presidential candidate? [laughter] folks, i absolutely agree. >> tucker: dana perino, host of "the daily briefing with dana perino," one of our favorite people, joins usol tonight. dana, everybody assumes two things. one, that biden is kind of the adult in the field. he's the most moderate, sensible, instinctively centrist candidate. i'm not sure that's true. and they also assume thatod he's at the top of his game and hee. can persist for a full year.

what do you think? >> a couple things. he does have something, right? name i.d. name i.d. counts for a lot especially at this stage. it's not just name i.d., because bernie and those guys, they tried to attack him early on on all of his problems of touching women inappropriately. didn't put a dent in his poll numbers. biden's numbers with women have gone up since he has entered tha race. the other thing that he maybe has is that electability question. democrats, their main concern, as you heard the woman say to biden, she can't take anotherr six years of trump. it's actually only going to be four, if you know how those things work. but i see your point. she is counting today. the president is not going to be impeached before the election. with biden, for example, the gallup poll today shows his favorability way ahead against other democrats, but the quinnipiac poll just came out p

right before i came up here, and it shows him against trump in pennsylvania, 58-38. so there is something there. i think if you trust thean president, president trump, and his political instincts, who has he been going after the most recently? it's been biden. i think he has an instinct. he knows people think that. it doesn't mean there aren't vulnerabilities for biden, and we can talk about those. but i think the president's instincts are correct. >> tucker: interesting. unless my math is off, i'm doing it in my head now, i think biden, if he were to win, would be older on inauguration day than reagan was when he left after eight years. >> right. again, the general population, when they vote in the general election, if it does end up being biden versus trump, will they calculate it in? probably. biden might say i'm six years older than this guy that he's running against. as an energy level it's'm

different and it's obvious. some people on the democratic side might say we like biden's energy. we like the calm. other people would say wait, we want the energy. you and i work with a lot of people who are in their 70s and are kicking rear end and doing well. >> tucker: we just had one on the set, smarter than i am. >> exactly. so i do think though that he is vulnerable in a couple of things. one, he started reacting to congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. she was needling him. i would ignore her if i were the biden camp, but he's going back at her. i think it doesn't look right. i also think that the opponents are playing nice right now. everyone is nice. they are going to start attacking him. he hasn't faced one negative ad but you have started to see today, kamala harris, what did she do? she went after him about theed crime bill. she has vulnerable on crime issues herself but the warfare amongst them, we'll see if he

can keep the obama glow and thee numbers as high as they have been. >> tucker: i am skeptical. >> i know. i talked to somebody who thinks there's no way you can be the front runner for 16 months and pull it off. we all know something is going to happen. we don't know what it is, but something will happen. >> tucker: 21 other people in the race. dana perino. >> can i say one last thing? happy birthday. eve. from ingrid and me. have a good one. >> tucker: seattle is home to jeff bezos and bill gates, two of the richest men on the planet. it's also home to countless people living on the streets, a massive homeless population. how did that happen? we are going to take a closeat look as our next installment of "homeless in america" continues after the break. ♪

>> tucker: may be more than any other city, seattle, washington, seems to represent america is becoming. amazon, microsoft, starbucks are all based in the city or its suburbs. jeff bezos, the richest man in the world, lives there. but along with unfathomable wealth, there is also desperatef poverty and widespread degradation. the homeless population is surging in the city is suffocating under garbage produced by hundreds of homeless camps. rather than take action, thes city council has enabled a problem and even recently suggested the garbage is left by middle-class residents who are trying to frame the homeless. local news broadcasters grabbed national headlines by warning that seattle is dying.o the city becomes unlivable for regular families. day three of our "homeless in america" series, our producer visited seattle to get an up close look at what's happening there. seattle's homelessness crisis is deeply connected to the city's

drug crisis. that's what we learned when we visited this sprawling encampment off interstate 5. >> it's really sad. >> washington native eric nelson is homeless. he lives in a nearby shelter where he is undergoing methadone treatment. he came to this encampment to visit friends. >> do you think drugs are one of the primary drivers of homelessness? >> i think mental health is. mental health is the foundation of a lot of addiction and other things. >> tucker: mental health and addiction are clearly problems. when we arrived on wednesday afternoon, the residents were cleaning up their camp.ar it was littered with syringes. >> how many people, percentage living here, are doing drugs? >> i would say a good 60%. that's maybe a little short, but the benefit of the doubt. >> how easy is it to get heroin? >> really. it's really easy. >> even outside the camp, there

was evidence of a drug epidemic throughout seattle. near a shelter downtown we found this poster morning drug users about the dangers of fentanyl. seattle is a mecca for drug addicts. washington state legalized marijuana and seattle's police force has a program that refers some low-level drug criminals to social services instead of jail. like san francisco, seattle's city government has essentially decriminalized quality-of-life crimes. misdemeanor citations haveve plummeted since 2009. the consequence? see it for yourself. here is a video of a man passed out in a popular park. this picture shows urine in a public staircase. this picture shows human waste a few steps above that. homelessness became more visible as the leaders became more lenient on petty crime. because of their liberal attitudes in the mild climate, the city is a magnet for c vagrants. nelson thinks most of the people at the camp didn't grow up in c the area. >> probably more than half probably not from seattle.

>> tucker: homelessness is complicated. drugs aren't the only cause. take a look at this picture of people living in broken down rvs. in the background, the world headquarters of starbucks. like most of the west coast, seattle's economic boom has not been distributed evenly. not close. when wages at the low end of the economic spectrum failed to keet up with rising cost of living, you wind up with a place where people living in their cars are flanked by billionaires like jeff bezos and bill gates. so what causes homelessness? many things. drug addiction, economic hardship, illness. one thing everyone living on the street seems to have in common: broken families.et in the case of eric nelson, he hasn't seen his family since he was 16 years old. >> we kind of split. we didn't really have too much in common, so i just parted ways when i was 16. and then i ran out of money. i ran out of everything so i was homeless.n

>> tucker: it isn't just big cities suffering from a homelessness epidemic. tomorrow night as our series continues, we will take a look at homelessness in the collegec. town of eugene, oregon.il amazing what's happening. bernie sanders and alexandria ocasio-cortez are pushing a cap on credit card interest rates and also a cap on payday loan rates. why are conservatives letting left-wing demagogues beat them at protecting consumers? something that virtually all voters are for.gu that's just ahead. beto o'rourke has a new tactic for turning around his presidential campaign. we'll tell you what it is. ♪ ♪ it's us. millennials. everyone's favorite. there's just one thing hurting us more than student loans:

credit card debt. sure, dad, call us irresponsible. we're only dealing with insane living costs and housing costs. it's just not right. but with a personal loan from sofi, you can consolidate your credit card debt into one monthly payment. and get your future right. get your money right with sofi.

billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart.

♪ >> tucker: tuesday was a tough day for beto o'rourke. he had to go on "the view" and apologize for his white privilege and then he groveled

for the crime of appearing on a magazine cover. oh. it wasn't fun. running for president isn't very fun most of the time, certainly less fun than writing blog posts about your road trip across america and eating in diners,, riding your skateboard. beto needs to get the fun back in his life, so today he decided there's only one way to do that: give the world more beto. take a swim in lake me. narcissism on parade. he got a haircut and decided to live stream it on facebook, as you do. he talked about putting his ear trhair. watch. >> cutting out some of this ear hair that you get when you get older. it grows out of your ears. you don't get it cut, it can be nasty. >> tucker: you have to think you're pretty interesting to want to show people that. does america agree? we'll find out. good luck, beto. well, senator bernie sanders and congresswoman ocasio-cortez have introduced a bill that would cap credit card and payday loan interest at 50% a year.

the only obvious question is why didn't republicans introduce this bill? it's not that voters are against it. they are for it. a new poll finds 70% of both parties support this proposal. is there any reason not to pass% it right now? thomas vartanian is a professor at george mason university's antonin scalia law school. executive director of the school's program of financial regulation technology right in the middle of this issue all the time so we are grateful he can join us tonight. professor, thanks for coming on. why do you think 70% of republicans would support this?? >> i don't know, because history is replete with problems that have occurred from rate controls and tinkering with pieces of the market. because it forces certain things to happen in other parts of the market. for example, we put a 15% rate control on, there's no doubt tho consumers deserve the best services they can get at the fairest price. but when you put a rate control on, what you are effectively

doing is shrinking the credit pool, and guess who gets kicked out of that credit pool when it gets smaller? the people who need credit the most. so that's the problem. >> tucker: i agree, i certainly agree there's alwayss unintended consequences to these things and you can't tamper in markets without changing outcomes you didn't intend to change. no question about that. t credit card debt in the united states is a trillion dollars. the average family with credit card debt owes $15,000 and they are paying an average of 21% interest on that. that's a disaster. why would it make us sad to stop that? >> well, the problem is that no. everyone is paying 21%. 21% is the median and that's a little bit deceptive. if you go online today, you can find credit cards at 8.5%.li you can find credit cards being offered by hundreds of different credit card companies. you can't argue -- >> tucker: you can also find them aten 36%. the median is still 21, which is

many multiples of what you could borrow money from a bank for. for whatever reason, this is working for the banks. that's why theyor made $170 billion in interest and fees last year. why would it be bad to reduce the outstanding credit card debt in the country? >> the reason it would be bad is because it would take away t credit from the people who need it the most. it's not the way to go after that problem. i think there are other, better ways of dealing with that problem. when you shrink the credit base, the people with the lowest credit ratings and the worst credit history are going to lose their access to credit. bobby kennedy wrote a letter in 1964 to the new york state legislature after he had done all that work investigating organized crime, and he asked them to eliminate usury rates in new york because it was the one thing that was forcing people to go to loan sharks because they couldn't get legitimate credit. >> tucker: i think that's probably right, but in 1960 or whatever, there's no doubt that

americans were less in debt, less enslaved by debt then they are now.an and so why is it bad to say maybe we should all try, rich and poor amongt us, to live within our own means a little bit. t going into debt is not freedom. it's the opposite of freedom.o why wouldn't we say that? >> that is absolutely correct. americans are in too much debt, no doubte about it. the way to go about dealing with the debt is through financial literacy. the financial literacy rate in this country is abominably -- abysmal. >> tucker: if you are paying 391% interest, that's the average on payday loans, you don't need to be financially literate to know you're getting totally shafted and yet millions of people do that anyway. so why wouldn't you stop that? people are really being abused and taken advantage of. >> yeah, well, look. the abuses need to be taken care of but we're not talking about abuses here in terms of this 15% limitation. you're talking about changing the markets in the country

dramatically. >> tucker: yeah, i am. >> so the abuses need to be dealt with but you don't deal with an abuse by capping everybody's interest rates and saying to everybody who is following the law, who is dealing with their customers fairly, we're going to put you in a bind because when you put them in a bind, they're going ti put their customers in a bind. >> tucker: yeah, i would do it anyway. just like i wouldn't let people. sell their children into slavery. >> last time we did that it caused the savings-and-loan crisis. when you tinker with the market, you have to be ready for the consequences. >> tucker: yeah, right. this would be one good consequence. thank you. i appreciate it. u.s. government pulling nonemergency staff out of the embassy in iraq and our consulate. they are getting evacuateded and it's in response to a possible attack that we are being told is being plotted by iranian backed forces of some kind in the region. in any case, it delays it's the latest escalation of tension there. the u.s. has already deployed a carrier battle group to the

persian gulf. new york times says the president is presented with a plan to deploy up to 120,000 american troops for potential military action against iran. iran is also being blamed for a sabotage attack on several ships docked in the uae. so far that link has not been proven. as the onion sent today, an attack on the saudi tanker is an attackck on america. it's basically the case they are making in washington. every day we seem to get closer to a conflict with iran. before that happens, we would like one question answered. what critical american interests would going to war with iran serve? no one has bothered to address that question. hopefully somebody will. we will keep on it. ed henry, our friend, has a new book coming out and he's here to reveal what it's about. he's doing and exclusively on the show. not to brag. one hint: it's about baseball. ♪ rs only at bass pro shops and cabela's.

like redhead trail head cargo shorts starting at under $20. and world wide sportsman angler shirts starting at under $20. your adventure starts here.

jushis local miracle ear t at helped andrew hear more of the joy in her voice. just one hearing test is all it took for him to hear more of her laugh... and less of the background noise around him. for helen, just one visit to her local miracle-ear is all it took to learn how she can share more moments with her daughter.

just one free hearing test could help you hear more... laughter...music...life... call now for your free hearing test from an industry leader: miracle-ear.

but i'm more than a number. when i'm not teaching, i'm taking steep grades and tight corners. my essilor lenses offer more than vision correction with three innovative technologies for my ultimate in vision clarity and protection together in a single lens: the essilor ultimate lens package. so, i can do more of what i love! buy two pairs of essilor's best lenses and get a $100 back instantly. see more. do more. essilor

♪ ♪ >> tucker: time for an intermittent segment we call "the friend zone."te we invite one of our actual friends from fox on the show.e when he's not serving as fox's national chief correspondent, ed henry writes and reads books. he's written one about jackie robinson and he's here tonight exclusively to reveal the theme of his next book. >> i'm so excited about this. i've been waiting -- hang on.. okay. actually we have a fox news alert. hold on. breaking news. it is tucker's birthday, and this was an elaborate hoax! i'm not writing a new book, but i am bringing in a couple of our good friends to help celebrate. >> tucker: i was not aware of this at all. [laughter] thank you. i'm glad we're live. laura, what are you doing here? >> they wanted to tell stories about you. it's kind of a roast. >> tucker: this is so nice. >> your cake is covered in wax. it's been lit. >> tucker: if i'd known this was going to happen -- thank you! that's amazing. you actually have the right

number on there. emily. >> blow it out. >> look. >> tucker: i am trying to take this in good humor. i can't believe you did this. >> 50 is good for a fine bordeaux. you're just getting into your prime. >> tucker: [laughs] >> i can say at the age of 50ay you've got everything you need for your career going forward because you have all your hair, and as far as i can tell, most of your teeth. >> tucker: it's mostly real. >> half of your wit. >> tucker: my wits are in great decline. not as fast as i used to be. i had no idea this was happening, and i said to our b beloved emily, whatever you do, i don't want you to acknowledge my birthday in any way. it's actually tomorrow. it is so depressing, and i have spent all day brooding about mortality. until i talked to brit who said 50 is not a big deal. wait till you get to be 75. all right, i'm whining. >> can i talk about the impact you have had all around the world?

>> tucker: all around the world, yes, you may. >> i was in scottsdale yesterday. we had a great time. over 1,000 of our viewers came out there and they were waiting, so i went out there with john finley and we were handing out water and taking pictures, shaking hands. erik wemple ofut "the washington post" was there and he wanted to do a story, and you made him famous with his mug. i don't know -- this is the best part. people in the crowd, let me hold it up. they recognized erik wemple from the mug. they were like, you are that guy on tucker's mug.g. >> that's all he's accomplished. [laughter] >> here's the thing, they were like, you look better in person. he wrote a story about it. >> tucker: it was not his best moment. i'm glad we commemorated it. making erik wemple famous, maybe that's not much of a legacy. you made me feel a little sad. >> you still have time. >> tucker, i've known you for 20-something years. >> tucker: yes, many years. >> doing events with you. tucker is literally one of the

people who never ages. he looks the same! you never age. you don't have to worry. the red tie, you've had that since -- >> tucker: i used to have red bow ties. >> we got you a birthday cake flavored vape pen. >> tucker: i had totally given that up. >> shocks. >> tucker: i got off the nicorette. >> how long ago did you do that? >> how long ago did you do that? >> tucker: one month and three days ago. >> no tobacco of any kind? >> tucker: no chewing tobacco of any kind. >> how long has this been going on? >> tucker: for 36 years. >> i'm talking about abstinence. >> tucker: accidents has gone on for one month and three days. >> how do you feel? >> tucker: i feel like the contents of my head have been emptied. >> you don't feel noticeably -- >> tucker: i feel like an untethered balloon floating above, looking down. >> your remember the time not too many months and years ago

when you are at cnn and there was the embarrassment about the phone number and you came over to the bureau to try to get -- >> tucker: you are the only person who remembers that. 2001 or 2002, i was hosting a show at cnn. as a joke, i gave out the fox news bureau number on air. on the air. fox news, which always hits harder back, gave out my home phone number on its air. i stormed to the fox news bureau. i've worked at fox news for ten years today. it's amazing. t >> congratulations. >> tucker: 17 years ago, i stormed over there and i ran into james rosen and i said i want to get in there and tell them what i think. i saw brit, who i lived across the street from in georgetown as a kid and really respected, and brit hume says, tucker, i don't think you can win this one. give it a rest. i walked back to the cnn bureau with my tail between my legs. >> you said at the time that you were afraid of roger ailes.

>> tucker: i was. >> he ended up hiring you. >> tucker: who i wound up loving. really a great and wise man. >> tucker is one of the -- we have a lot of great people at fox who support what women are trying to do in the advancement of young careers. tucker is actually one of thece people. brit, you are another. ed, you are fine. tucker and i do the prime time thing and we hit hard and we are also targets. there are few people i'd rather be in a foxhole with taking thee shots than tucker carlson, i because it's like "incoming." bing, bing, bing. we deal with it every day. you've been a great help to mein and a great inspiration. and i want to say thanks. even though we don't hang out. we don't hang out. tucker in the hallway is like "laura ingraham!" and then he walks by. hey, that's tucker. laura ingraham! raymond arroyo! he just yells your name. >> he acts like he's delighted that he recognized you. >> right. [laughter]

>> and then he lets out that laugh. >> tucker: i am deep in space. we spend a lot of time texting. >> we do. we talk a lot off-line. you've been a great help and it's such a great addition to this network. >> tucker: thank you. i have to ask in closing, brit hume, would you have any advice for a man entering this c stage of life? i'm asking you this question cold. if you have no good advice, that's okay. >> all i can say is longevity is tough in this business. hair and teeth are important. go to the dentist. brush and comb. keep your health. don't get fat. >> tucker: that's a tough one. >> it is. go to the gym and do those things. >> tucker: off nicotine. getting birthday cake. y >> there you go. keep on doing what you're doing. >> tucker: climb back on the stairmaster tomorrow. i'm not going to ask you any age-related questions. >> thank you. >> tucker: how long do you have to go until 50? >> two more after this july. >> tucker: would you offer any

advice? a man on the lower end of it? looking up? >> i like the teeth idea. i didn't think about that. you think about the hair, but the teeth. brit is right. donate that cake. >> don't become one of those old people who just talks about their ailments, because if you sit around the table and start getting into the conversation -- >> tucker: i would never.ou i would never. >> we don't need to hear. >> tucker: i am a happy person. if i had a goiter, i would never mention it. i would pretend it wasn't even there. >> we're going to be smug and pomposity tonight. p we didn't have time to print t-shirts. >> happy birthday. >> tucker: thank you. i appreciate it. we are out of time. that was weird and great. we'll be back tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m., the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and especially groupthink, which is in oversupply in washington, as it is probably everywhere.

thanks for joining us tonight. good night from washington. we have a special surprise on tap for the 9:00 p.m. hour and the whole duration. all 60 minutes of it. sean hannity! >> sean: how come i wasn't invited to the party? all had you to say, hannity, swamp, tucker's show. i would be there. happy birthday, tucker. >> tucker: thanks, sean. >> sean: enjoy the cake and we will celebrate the next time you are up in this swamp. >> tucker: i will be there.eb >> sean: wish everybody the best from me. welcome to "hannity." we start tonight with a fox news alert. tonight just documents just obtained by judicial watch show,y guess what, the pit bull of robert mueller, andrew weissmann, he was topped by mueller to lead the entire hiring effort for the special counsel's witch-hunt. that's right, the andrew weissman, of all people. now we know why mueller's team was filled with, oh, far left clinton allies, zero republican donors.

after all, the same