i'm with him. some days off. >> you and me both. kennedy? >> he knows how to party. [laughter] absolutely. get used to being with your family. doesn't have to be a 24-hour service cycle. let's do some things for a few days. >> absolutely. lauren? >> got through some hurricanes, time off, state is doing great, bring it on. >> he has a way of doing this, with police officers, coming to florida amid the crime wave, by giving them extra incentives, rewarding teachers before, so desantaclause, it is, florida is a great state. everyone should check it out. thanks, everyone. don't forget to dvr the show. it has been a big week. christmas coming up soon and the new year. we look forward to celebrating in here on "outnumbered." again, dvr the show, but for n now, "america reports." >> sandra: breaking just now, doj inspector general michael horowitz releasing a brand-new report detailing the fbi's handling of the events

leading up to end on january 6th. and that's where we are at the top of the new our. i'm sandra smith in new york. john, great to be with you. >> john: pygmy piece of news to kick up the show. john roberts in washington. there were a total 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day. >> sandra: david spunt is live from the justice department and has the news for us. david? >> sandra, three of those were authorized and tasked by the fbi to be there on january 6th, 2021. we are coming up on four years since that day of the capitol riots. this ig report specifically focuses on the fbi's handling of confidential human sources, or as we know them, fbi informants. for years, the outgoing fbi director chris wray has been pressed on reports of undercover agents. according to this new report, there were no undercover fbi agents. however, there were three confidential human sources tasked by the bureau to be in the crowd on january 6th to specifically watch what the report states is concerns over domestic terrorism.

out of those three, sandra and john, one entered the capital. two others entered a restricted area. the report says the fbi did not encourage or authorize any sources to go into the building or a restricted area. in addition to the three confidential human sources, the fbi told there were 23 that were there on their own. now they had worked with the fbi in the past on other cases, but not specifically january 6th rally. some of them entered a restricted area, as well. and what stands out in this report, john and sandra, none of the confidential human sources that entered the u.s. capitol or a restricted area were prosecuted by the d.c. u.s. attorneys office. remember, this is an office that is still arresting nearly four years later and prosecuting people with this case. now in a response to the inspector general, the d.c. u.s. attorney's office says the following, the d.c. u.s. attorney's office generally has not charged those individuals whose only crime on january 6th, 2021, was to enter the

restricted grounds surrounding the capitol which has resulted in the office declining to charge hundreds of individuals, and we have treated the confidential human sources consistent with this approach. outgoing fbi director christopher wray, announced that he would be stepping down in the next few weeks yesterday, has been pressed on the fbi's roll on january 6th. here is just one clip from last year. >> if you are asking whether the violence at the capitol on january 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by fbi sources and/or agents, the answer is emphatic -- >> you are saying no? >> no. violence orchestrated by fbi sources or -- >> confidential human sources tasked by the fbi are not undercover agents. these are people that belong to groups like, for instance, the proud boys, the oath keepers, and then the paid fbi informants at certain points in time while being part of the group.

others were not part of the group but showed up at the capitol is still worked with the fbi on the side and provided information. and we are of course waiting for more information from capitol hill to see if the white house has anything, the department of justice, the fbi as this report just breaking now with the inspector general. >> sandra: got it. appreciate it. david spunt on that, thank you. >> john: let's bring in fox news legal editor kerri urbahn. i guess the big questions are what does all of this mean in the grand scheme of things? also, of the three informants that entered the restricted area and the one that entered the capital, were they just there as observers or did they actually participate, encourage, or foment some sort of rebellious activity? >> so a confidential human source is a fancy word, phrase, for a spy. so we know there were 26 paid spies by the fbi present on the capitol grounds that day, according to this ig's report, pair and the only three of them

were authorized to be there, so my question, john, what were the other 23 doing? they weren't according to this report encouraged or directed to be there. but were they told they couldn't be there? what exactly were they doing? in fact, some of them, as we learn from this report, entered the restricted area, went into the capitol, were they inciting anything? or the enticing anyone to go with them? i really would love to know what exactly they were saying to the people in the groups that they were part of. i also think it's interesting that this report comes out the day after chris wray resigns. seems to me that he may not have wanted to contend with the questions that of course are going to emerge from everything that we are learning today. the other point i would like to make is something that david spunt just raised where he said matthew graves was the u.s. attorney here in washington, d.c., did not prosecute any of those confidential human sources, spies, that did enter the capital that day and his office

put out a statement and said they did not generally prosecute anyone who just went into the capitol, didn't commit other crimes. my question is what is generally mean? how did they make those decisions? why weren't those particular paid spies part of that group? >> sandra: the 23 confidential human sources, just reading through this, kerri, three of them entered the capitol during the riot and an additional entered during. the details of this report, how would you characterize the findings? >> well, it's very interesting. i think it's especially interesting given that people who, some of the more i think internet sleuths and the like, have been talking about this for years, and it was only i think a couple of years ago at a doj attorney in court made the admission that some of these people were present that day but if you remember anyone who even raised the possibility that there were paid fbi spies, part

of what -- who were part of what happened on january 6th, they were deemed crazy, conspiracy theorists, and the like. now look, confidential human sources are a law enforcement tool that are used in all kinds of situations and we know that some of these people were proud part of the proud boys and oath keepers, but again why so many? what were they doing? what were the conversations they were having? and if they were in fact according to the ig and the fbi not authorized to be there, then why weren't they prosecuted like everybody else who were prosecuted for similar issues? >> john: on that point, you and diver talking about this off-camera, so far, as of august, 1,480 people on january the 6th work charge was some sort of offense, 894 pled guilty to various offenses, 288 pled guilty to felonies, 606 pled guilty to misdemeanors, yet none of these confidential informants were charged with anything. >> so you have to wonder what were the conversations happenin, and something else came out in

this report was accompanied to human sources come apparently the information they were provided to the fbi was no diffn everyone else was providing. hey, january 6th, there might be some violence, there might be a thing, so it sounds like there wasn't anything special that they were revealing, and, you know, again, the questions are what were those confidential human sources who were "not encouraged or directed" to be there by the fbi, what were they saying to the other people in their groups? and the reason i keep raising that is because if, in fact, there were conversations of occurring, like hey, let's go in there, let's see that, let's see this, entrapment is a defense, if a government agent induces you to commit a crime, a defendant can raise that in the court of law and say look, i was trapped into doing something, i was enticed into doing something by the government i otherwise wouldn't have done. now the government's response based on this report would

probably be, well, they weren't authorized by the government to be there at the time but of course a question for a judge would be, well, could they have been perceived still as an agent of the government given that this confidential human source, what did the defendant know about them and their roll at the time? i just think this report raises more questions, but certainly at a minimum gives some credibility to people who have been saying this for so many years. >> john: i assume we are never going to learn the names of the identities of the confidential informants. leave open the question as to who it was. we've got to jump, there is so much more to talk about. >> sandra: thank you, kerri. >> john: now this. ♪ ♪ >> this is america. are you telling me that somebody can be flying drones over my town, and nobody has any idea what is going on? >> they are over our water supply, power lines, natural gas pipelines, over our 911

communication centers. >> we need to get our hands on one of these and determine it might not be a foreign adversary testing or defense capabilities and doing surveillance on us. >> they have been incredibly stupid and incredibly weak with this. we are a full decade behind where china is with drones. they say it is not them periods who was it? >> sandra: growing more puzzling by the hour, the large and mysterious drones are buzzing over the northeast and the federal government is providing little as far as answers. leaving lawmakers frustrated and residents concerned. in a few moments we are expecting john kirby at the white house press briefing, will he get questions about this and really have any answers? jacqui heinrich is at the white house. >> sandra, we were told on tuesday the president had been briefed but what that means we still don't know because the public hasn't gotten any answers. neither have the lawmakers. it might just be at this point that biden was made aware of this situation.

>> i can tell you the answers that you are not getting in public are the same answers that we are not getting in private. it is just one more example how the biden administration doesn't impose accountability, doesn't point to a single official or agency and say you are in charge here. >> it seems as if this administration forgot the lessons of the 2023 spy balloon for over a week, biden faced growing calls to shoot the thing out of the sky, clear violation of international law. finally military present options and norah, took it out off the coast of south carolina but only after it. they haven't been asked to help, local law enforcement and the fbi are currently investigating and this time we have not been requested to assist with these events commit these incidents require additional dod assistance, the secretary of the military department or relevant dod component can communicate

with u.s. north, for a response. the presidents own party calling to shoot down the drones. >> they should be shut down, if necessary, because they are flying over sensitive areas, whether planes that may be jeopardized or security at military bases. if only to tell the american people who owns them, who's flying them, what they are, the lack of information is absolutely unacceptable. >> now the drones have been flying over sensitive sites in new jersey. even though the government cannot so far say who they belong to, they have said that they don't believe they belong to a foreign adversary, but how they are able to say that is still pretty unclear, sandra. >> sandra: jacqui heinrich live at the white house, thank you. brand-new reaction and analysis from former state department spokesperson morgan ortagus and new jersey state assembly whip and former military helicopter

pilot brian bergen. they will be joining us a bit later in the show. ♪ ♪ >> peel out to serve in the military? >> yes. >> he just respond to the cnn report, highlighting some of your previous comments. >> i don't feel the need to respond to cnn. >> john: pete hegseth making more comments on capitol hill. we will bring you any news that comes out of his meeting with senator john fetterman. plus this. [applause] >> sandra: incredible morning on wall street, president donald trump ringing the opening bell of the stock exchange as he is named "time"'s person of the year. jason miller reacts to all of that and where the confirmation battle stands right now.

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♪ ♪ >> sandra: fox news alert happening right now, incoming border czar tom homan's meeting with new york city mayor eric adams. the democrat mayor says he is willing to work with the trump administration to deport illegal migrants who commit crimes from the city, but stopped short of saying that he'll end sanctuary city policies altogether. brand-new internal i.c.e. data obtained by fox news showing more than 1 million illegal migrants in the u.s. have final orders of removal. and homan says mass deportation efforts will start in sanctuary cities like chicago. a democratic chicago alderman joins us now. always good to have you on the program, welcome and thanks for being here. so ground zero, chicago will be, for these deportations to begin.

how are people reacting to that? >> i met with tom homan earlier this week in a one-on-one and we discussed what we can do to work together, and there has been quite an uproar in the city of chicago, even now without on governor saying he is not willing to sit down with tom homan and president-elect donald trump and discuss how we can work together to remove some of the most dangerous, undocumented, migrants with temporary protected status from the city of chicago and the state of illinois. i think once you get past the bluster and the political posturing, you -- they have to start taking tom homan threats of obstruction seriously. but more specifically, this is why donald trump was able to widen his base and expand the republican tent within the african american and latino voters, because they want to see action on immigration, as well. they are tired of feeling as though they have been forgotten about, especially when it comes to those individuals who are here and then choose, once they are here, to commit heinous, dangerous acts in our neighborhoods. >> sandra: you know, he did

not mince words, tom homan, when he was standing there in chicago and told people the way it is for residents in that city. listen. >> chicago is in trouble because your mayor sucks and your governor sucks. [applause] and we are going to start right here in chicago, illinois. now if you're chicago mayor don't -- doesn't want to help, he can step aside. but if he impedes us, if he knowingly harbors and concm. >> sandra: your mayor sucks, your governor sucks. that was met with applause and cheers in thatd city. that's a pretty incredible thing. you mentioned the meeting with homan, you posted on x with the picture standing with the border czar, the incoming border czar, use a great meeting, incoming border czar tom homan, we must enforce the law, starting with removing those conveying dangerous violent crimes with impunity because they have a

silent protections. i can't help wondering, every time i talk to you most recently, raiment, are you still a democrat? >> you know, i'm still what democrats used to be. i am the democratic people remember going back to the clinton days, and even early on in the obama years. but i am also aware sanity lies in a city like the city of chicago. i'm a reminder that we don't have to go to the extreme left and how crazy the crazy, just to get elected here. we can use common sense and think for ourselves and there is no shame in working across the aisle for those issues that go beyond politics, like public safety, like national security. and i think this is where we can show true leadership as a democratic party if we are willing to do that. we have seen with this last election has done when you try to just placate to the extremes within our political wing.. and i think nobody wants to keep losing, particularly in my party, but more specifically i am worried about those long-term dot party, the dreamers who were promised a path that never saw it under

biden or obama. trump has said he will address that, and i think homan is going to work with our mayors one way or another, but also industry, like the national restaurant association, to help people come out of the shadows and start doing things the right way as opposed to always finding and runs around the law. >> sandra: wow. pretty incredible. you've got to think those residents, so many of them that have joined us in the years leading up to election day, that said, you know, they are a democrat but they can't keep letting what is happening to the city happen. and we hear you. and you are always a strong voice for that city. thanks for joining us, raymond, good to have you on the program. >> sandra, thank you. >> what is your message to republik and senators on capitol hill? >> john: president-elect trump's cabinet picks continuing their efforts to sway over senators, even reaching across the aisle to garner support from democrats. aishah hasnie is live on capitol hill with the latest.

aishah, what big meetings are going on there today? >> well, john, i've got my head on a swivel here because any moment now we could see the defense secretary nominee pete hegseth walk right behind me and into senator john fetterman's office, a democrat, and it should be no surprise, fetterman says, that he is meeting with hegseth because as he puts it this is a very important position, defense secretary, and he should be talking to whoever is nominated for that. as you know, fetterman has already backed another republican nominee, that is elise stefanik for u.n. ambassador, so this comes as no surprise for at least the senator. here is what pete hegseth said earlier about this upcoming meeting. watch. >> the nice part is there is nothing political about the dod and we are going to make sure politics is not a part of it, so meeting with democrats just like meeting with republicans is a huge part of our approach.

>> and it's not just hegseth. outgoing democratic majority leader chuck schumer met with howard lutnick. he describes trump's commerce secretary nominee as an intelligent and capable man, and homeland security nominee -- homeland security secretary nominee kristi noem has already met with two democrat, the outgoing homeland secured he chairman peters and another key democrat senator pass end. republicans are reacting to this maga pressure campaign that has been launched against them to try to confirm every trump nominee. senator tillis today warning that could backfire. >> they may be making a long-term a mistake. if they are not careful. once you've attacked somebody and they vote no, it is very easy for them to vote no for the remainder of a congress. so that should be kept in mind. >> for now, the trump team does not have any hard nos in the senate, which they feel very, very good about, and we will let you know if we see hegseth come through and bring you any news that he makes as he does.

john? >> john: aishah, keep your head on a swivel, you're going to need it, obviously. let's bring in jason miller, senior advisor for the trump-vance transition team. january the 6th and this report from horowitz, the independent inspector general, rather, 26 confidential informants in the crowd that day, three authorized to be there. sounds to me like the sort of thing that kash patel is going to want to take a look into if and when he becomes fbi dir director. >> this report, in my opinion, raises a lot more questions and it provides answers. wait a minute, if they are only three approved in either, why were these additional 23 they are, what was their role on that day? where they leading people to whatever action? definitely not want to put words or ideas in kash patel's mouth, i think kash will sail through with his confirmation, really impressing people in his meetings, very well-qualified for the job of fbi director. but things like this are why

americans are so frustrated, whether the fbi or the doj, the politicized nation that we have seen in law enforcement and in the justice system within the last four years. actually going further back to that, back to russia, russia, russia and all that other nonsense, so this is i think a big part of the reason, though, why president trump won with such a mandate, winning the popular vote, the 312 electoral's, americans are sick and tired of this. they want to see this wiped out and gone. they don't want any funny business for law enforcement. this report today, in my opinion, is very, very concerning. >> john: it is surprising. rfk jr. leading the pack with 48% approval, marco rubio second 46%, pam bondi 37%, some like kash and scott bessent, pete hegseth, are underwater, but the idea that rfk jr. gets the highest amount of support, what does that say about all of the harping from the democrats in the mainstream media about he is not fit to be in any position in government?

>> the democrats could they didn't get it on election day, didn't get it the entire election psycho and they still don't understand this coalition that president trump put together. rfk jr. and the make america healthy again movement is something that really -- it is not your traditional issue that you see the pollsters go through and talk about but when we talk about what is being put into foods, what is being fed to our children, what kind of medical attention and care our children are getting, this is something a lot of parents are very concerned about. they see all the different additives and all the things that are put into food and they look at -- look at t the back oa cereal box, you probably can't -- >> john: can't even pounce -- >> wouldn't know what they are. >> john: we are going to look at this with dr. marc siegel coming up, but i want to stick mainly with the nominees. in "the new york times," wrote the following on pete hegseth's nomination, which seem to be in jeopardy last week and then suddenly the president-elect got behind him, he said the president-elect became convinced that letting pete hegseth fail would set off a feeding frenzy

among senators. what followed was a maga swarm that helped salvage his bid, at least for now, but senator thom tillis said moments ago, i should played a little bit of that, be careful how much pressure you put on senators to get your picks through. listen to what he said. >> i think it's more important to get behind closed doors, address concerns, and had republicans come together as one, then to create controversy. it is a short-term win but a long-term loss if you are not careful with that. >> john: so what do you say in response to that? >> i think a lot of that is hyperbole. the fact of the matter is president trump is nominated people he things are going to be the best for the job. pete hegseth is going to be a great secretary of defense, full, someone who is well-qualified, two bronze stars, served in combat, he knows what it's like to be shot at, talk about decisions being made about sending our young men and women into harm's way, he is someone that can really speak to that at a personal level. i think everything will nominee that the president has put forward it's going to be very solid. when it comes to whether or not senators are going to be packing

any of the nominees or what their decision-making process is, senators take it seriously. they want to have those individual meetings. they want to have the hearings. right now there are no hard nos from republicans for any of president trump's nominees. because they are really good people. they are really good, well qualified people, and when you see those comments, you see certain senators, i saw that in the last clip that you played there, i think also they have to read the electorate and realize, when present trump won with such massive numbers, he has a mandate. he should be able to put in his own people and bring about that change that he campaigned on. >> john: people wanted to see what he could do. see if you get 51 on the republican side, might even get a democrat or two because john fetterman. jason, good to see you. thank you so much. now this. >> these drones are sophisticated systems. ones that we don't have, that we don't normally see, and we need some real substantive answers. they are dealing with the american public like we are

stupid. >> sandra: well, lawmakers continue to press the pentagon on those mystery drones flying over the east coast. why that lawmaker believes they are here from iran. >> john: plus growing fears that isis will take advantage of regime change in syria. how big is that threat? morgan ortagus joins us on all of that coming up nexta de. s bed again and again, and again. ♪far-xi-ga♪ ♪far-xi-ga♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.

♪ ♪ >> john: secretary of state antony blinken meeting with the leaders of jordan and turkey to discuss serious political transition. he is also urging syria and its neighbors to ramp up efforts against terrorism. his first visit to the middle east since the assad regimes ousting. a look at the assad regimes prison system. tens of thousands of people saw that from the inside. >> yeah, john, good afternoon. the scene here in damascus, syria, you get a sense of mixed emotions among the civilian

population. today we saw people celebrating in a central square in the capital city with israeli fighter jets overhead targeting positions on the outskirts of damascus a few miles away inside of a prison. family members are searching for their loved ones. "my son is innocent. he was just studying in college," this mother cries. her voice pierces the air as hundreds of family search for their loved ones. "god willing bashar al-assad will have the same heart ache that he has caused us," she adds. "him and every single jailer who tortured innocence." to call. >> sandra: any for on earth would call hell on earth would not do it justice. each space tells a gruesome story of its own. this prison is just a concrete labyrinth. people are looking all over, trying to find any sort of

secret passages or doors where they might be able to find their loved ones, but you see in here, there are just rooms full of clothes, shoes, and other items that belonged to these prisoners. they were stripped of everything they had when they arrived here at this prison on the outskirts of damascus. while authorities say that no additional rooms or cells are underneath prison, desperate families cling to hope. "my heart was burning. i didn't know where they went to," this woman says of her two sons. "i couldn't believe they disappeared. they took them to the assad gangs." unfortunately, these stories are not unique. there are thousands of syrians currently looking for loved ones that were disappeared under the assad regime. john? >> john: you can just imagine how much concern that there is going on in syria.

trey yingst with great reporting from damascus. thank you. >> sandra: more on syria just a moments but first the growing concerns on the mystery drones spotted all over the east coast. one lawmaker suggesting iran is behind them. >> iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones. that mothership -- i'm going to tell you the deal -- it's off the east coast of the united states of america. they've launched drones, everything that we can see or hear, and again, these are from high sources, i don't say this lightly. these drones should be shot down. >> sandra: let's bring in morgan ortagus, founder of polaris, former state department spokesperson. can't wait to hear what you have to say about this. but first, the pentagon was directly asked by our own gender if it at the briefing yesterday, morgan come about that statemen, and this is the response, listen. >> these are not u.s. military drones, our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from

a foreign entity or adversary. there is no iranian ship off the coast of the united states, and there is no so-called mothership launching drones towards the united states. >> sandra: okay, so if they have enough information to determine that it is not iran, why can't they provide the american public with what information they do have, mo morgan? >> that's a good question, and i think unfortunately this administration has lost credibility with the american people because of the mixed messages that they sent over the chinese spy balloon. listen, there is something important for our viewers to understand, sandra. the issue of drones, foreign drones penetrating u.s. airspace, is not new. this has actually been going on reportedly since the beginning of the biden administration, for at least four years now. we know we have spotted drones over our navy base at an awful. we know it has happened over bedminster, where the president-elect often resides. so the problem and the challenge

isn't new. i would remind everybody, unfortunately, almost one year ago, we lost three u.s. service members in jordan through sophisticated drones that were made by the iranians. when you look at drones swarms, sophisticated payloads, this is not the future of warfare, in fact, this is the warfare that is happening now in the middle east, in russia and ukraine, i have written about this extensively, russia's use of iranian drones against civilians. ukrainians are now making their own drones and basically took down the russian navy with it. so what is the difference now, sandra? the difference is the biden administration operates off this sort of analysis paralysis, and whenever you have new threats to the homeland, you can't sit around with the lawyers and worry about this legal authority, that legal authority. you have to take swift and decisive action. i think when it comes to the chinese spy balloons and these drone problems that we've seen over the past four years, you have an administration that

dithers, that operates again off of this analysis paralysis, and what you need is the trump administration, president trump coming into say we are going to take care of these drones. we are not going to allow any of our enemies to permeate our airspace, whether it be through a ballistic missile or whether it be through these new advanced sophisticated drones. this is the future of warfare now. >> sandra: just to be clear, we don't even have that information. we don't even know if these are coming from a foreign entity or adversary. we don't know who owns them, operating them. it is an absolute mystery, at least to the american public at this point, but it leads to a lot of speculation when we are just given no answers, and there was clearly a meeting yesterday that the governor didn't even attend, so you have to wonder if he knows something that he can't privy the american people. there is so much we don't know at this point, but jeff van drew, who made the suggestion that these were coming in from iran, he responded this morning and

fox news channel to the department of defense denying that claim, listen. >> these drones very well could be launched from a ship. it could be hundreds of miles out at sea. these types of drones go much greater distances. these are something we normally don't see in the united states, so it is a real possibility. could it be china? absolutely. could it be somebody else? it sure could. >> sandra: we will see where that goes. it is an absolute mystery and everybody is talking about it, to have these massive drones up in the sky every night, and so many pictures of them. i want to talk about the secretary of state antony blinken in the middle east, was happening in syria, coming off trey yingst's live report, concerns over whether isis could be coming back in. what is your general thinking here? obviously with a new incoming administration, what the strategy would be in syria. >> i think the priority for the biden administration for the rest of their term is to try and

get our american hostages out. we still have at least three that we know of that are alive, plus unfortunately the bodies of the dead americans, which are incredibly important for us to bring home, and i think blinken and president biden senior team is going to learn what it is like to be able to negotiate with president trump's threats at your back because president trump has explicitly threatened both of his rnc convention speech and in his tweets that hamas better bring these americans home. i hope president trump's threats help blinken and his team actually get the americans home. when it comes to syria, there is a series of very bad options here. they go all the way back to president obama's second term, when he refused to enforce sanctions on iran and whatever he effectively propped up shar al-assad, again not only by not enforcing sanctions, but not making him any real cost or consequences for killing 500,000 of his own people and using chemical weapons.

i think the united states is lucky israel is taking this issue on and bombing t the and michael weapons capabilities that remember they destroyed syria's nuclear weapons about 15 years ago, so once again israel is taking on that terrorism problem that could end up affecting the united states. >> sandra: we will keep watching all of it. morgan, great to have you on today. thank you very much. john? >> john: always good to see morgan. the incoming trump administration vowing to put an end to the government's dei push. manhattan institute senior fellow chris rufo has been meeting with the trump team, he is up next on what he thinks of how they should go about it. >> sandra: plus president biden issuing a record number of commutations. will he also pardon key democratic allies? brian kilmeade will have brand-new reaction to that just ahead. >> the new rage item this season is a part in. usually around this time people are fighting to get on the inaugural ball list. but we have people come and clean bill clinton, saying how

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♪ ♪ >> sandra: all right come alive to the white house press briefing, john kirby has just taken to the microphone there. he is talking about the trip in the middle east happening right now with secretary of state antony blinken. jake sullivan there, as well. he is giving up. we would be curious if there is any update on the mysterious drones flying over the northeast. of those come up, we will certainly dip in and share that with you. john? >> john: president-elect trump's cabinet picks are promising to ditch dei initiatives. manhattan institute senior fellow chris rufo has been meeting with the trump team to outline a plan doing just that, an open letter titled the coming fight to abolish dei. chris rufo joins us now. they talk about it a lot but you are concerned they don't really

have a plan so what are you telling them to do? >> what i am recommending is the president first and foremost should issue an executive order abolishing the dei driver's seat in the entire federal government. what i've done is is provide a step two for cabinet secretaries and their teams on how to actually implement that effectively. first of all, act quickly. you have to actually terminate, abolish, and lay off the people responsible for these programs, all in one fell swoop, and then you have to win public opinion. my greatest suggestion is you should give the public a sense of the replacement values. you can either have dei or color-blind equality, so as they are slashing that dei bureaucracy, they should at every turn let people know, we want to have a single color-blind standard for everyone regardless of ancestry, and that is the principle we are going to entrench in the federal government. >> john: here is some of what you said in the open red letter,

rescind obama and biden letters, terminate employment of officials, as you say responsible for the programs, wn the fight in the press, take advantage of the inevitable frenzy that will surround the new administration's various policies and personalities. what are you hearing back from them? are the interested in what you are telling them? >> yeah, i am hearing interest from across the board. people are sick of dei and ideology getting in the way of actually doing the work of government, so in my conversations with many members of trump's team, people are committed to this, they are looking for leadership from the president, who has outlined a vision on these issues, made a case during the campaign and they are actually making detailed plans to actually execute this, should the president issue that executive order on day one. this is the right thing to do. it is going to make good government. as i have explained, the dei departments within the bureaucracy are essentially permanent left-wing activist organizations. if we want to have a great

treasury, a great health and human services, you know, and all those other agencies that are so important, they have to get rid of the ideology and focus on the job that americans elected the president to do. >> john: we will keep following this, chris, and see if you have some success in bringing them over to your ideas. thank you so much, appreciate it. we want to jump to the white house where john kirby is talking about the drone invasion of new jersey. let's listen in. >> using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. to the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that were being operated lawfully. the united states coast guard is providing support to the state of new jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement coastal vessels.

and importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace. that said, we certainly take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems, which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support new jersey and investigate the reports, even though they have uncovered no malicious activity or intent at this particular stage. while there is no known malicious activity occurring, the reported sightings there do however highlight a gap in authorities. answer we urge congress to pass important legislation that willg counter drone authorities so that we are better prepared to identify and mitigate any potential threats to airports or other critical infrastructure, and so that state and local authorities are provided all the tools that they need to respond to such threats, as well. now, tomorrow, there is a little thing called the army-navy game. we wish both sides a good game. we thank them for their service

now, of course, at the service academies, and for their service in the future. we don't officially take sides here at the national secured he counsel, but go navy, beat army. [laughter] >> reporter: thank you, admiral. good luck. what is the white house reaction to president xi being invited to president-elect trump's inauguration next month? >> that's going to be up to president-elect trump to decide who's going to sit with him there at the inauguration and who is going to be there. we have worked really hard on this most consequential bilateral relationships with president xi jinping another of times, including recently, and as you know, at apac. we believe that as we get ready to turn over things to the trump team, we are turning over a u.s.-china relationship that is in better shape than the one we found it in. does that mean we don't have disagreements? we do and we will come and i'm sure they will, too, but we are

working hard on this relationship and we will do that right to the end. >> reporter: did mr. biden invite any foreign leaders to his inauguration 2021. >> president biden: >> oh, jeez, i don't know. i have to take that question. >> was the u.s. aware that he was missing and being detained in syria before this week? >> i am not aware of any indication that we had that this gentleman was in syria. i want to remind we are just getting word of this and we are trying to confirm his identity, at this point, so the state department is working hard on that right now. i am not aware that we had any prior indication that he was in syria. it is also a good reminder for everybody, if you are traveling overseas, to enroll in the state department's programs so they have an idea of who you are and where you are. it's voluntary come of course, but we recommend that to everybody. >> reporter: thank you.

so regarding trump's -- have there been any other americans or people who have been saying they are american, uncovered in detention following the events in syria? and then regarding americans, do you have any updates on austin tice? >> first question, not that i am aware of. on your second question, we don't have any additional context or information about austin since the events of the weekend in syria but we are working very, very hard, and as we have said in the past, we hope that development in syria could lead to some opportunities and some more information but right now we don't have any anything. >> reporter: are you concerned there is more information around tice, considering the fact we are seeing these prisons, would you have expected to have more news about austin tice at this point? >> concerned about mr. tice. we are concerned about finding out more about him, where he is,

his condition. certainly, as the president said on sunday, want to do everything we can to get him back with his family where he belongs. would be like to have had more information in the last 48-72 hours? you betcha. and we are working hard. we are in touch with counterparts in and outside syria to try to get as much information as we can, but i just don't have anything additional to report to you today. >> john: so john kirby there at the white house briefing saying no additional information on the whereabouts of austin tice, who has been missing in syria for some 12 years now. nobody knows his whereabouts. but they are looking for him. and in addition, sandra, having some more information about the drone invasion of new jersey, saying that a lot of them, the reports are apparently manned aircraft that are supposed to be operating in the area. nothing coming in from the sea, no malicious activity or intent, but asking congress for more authority for a counter drone strategy. it's a mystery.

>> sandra: no foreign involvement. i'd love to know how they made that determination. may be they will share that shortly with the questions, we'll keep listening. >> john: will see. we will be right back with a whole new our. stay with us.

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