i'm trying to figure out what job and what career field will be best for me and just want to see exactly what exactly sits right with me and what will be the best possible outcome. whichever one i go to will be a great journey. >> dana: i just got this comes in from lucas tomlinson. if you want a social life go to annapolis. i don't know. there is some advice if that's what you are looking for. you are a very impressive young man and honored to have you on fox and make sure secretary hegseth gets a heads up he has a great young man coming to join. thank you so much. >> dana: thank you. i really appreciate this. >> bill: we'll hear from him again. i always thought as a young person they put so much pressure to pick a career. just pick a path and you'll find yourself far ahead of your peers and colleagues in life.

brock is on the right path. >> dana: he certainly is. >> bill: how about lucas, come party at annapolis? >> dana: let's get you to this. >> it's been an ongoing effort to push back against far right extremism and not a single thing they've done is a matter of law right now. not a single thing. >> dana: house minority leader hakeem jeffries from congress to the courts resistance against president trump and his administration is trying to ramp up. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm dana perino. >> bill: good morning. i'm bill hemmer. good morning at home. president trump pushing forward to enact the agenda the american people voted for working to streamline washington. facing stark opposition as political opponents rush to the courts, to the judges and those judges lay down legal roadblocks for now. >> dana: democrats are taking to the streets to denounce the cost cutting efforts by doge. senator john kennedy was with us and reacted earlier.

>> some people, mostly my democratic colleagues have chosen to support the bureaucracy and the spending porn over the american taxpayer. now, they think they are winning. and they may be in the bubble of washington, but not among the taxpayers. >> bill: trey gowdy has reaction on wide ranging court battles ongoing today. chad pergram is on the hill with the action from there. there is a lot to cover. chad, let's start with you for a brand-new hour. good morning. >> bill, good morning. a daily deluge of democrats demonizing doge. they are oaf punching back with protests at the i.r.s. and other areas. >> a rally a day keeps the fascists away. [cheers and applause] so we have to keep meeting like this, right?

>> democrats engineered several snarky acronyms for doge. one is dangerous oligarchs grab at everything. maryland democrat has his own mon i caner for doge. >> every time you hear doge, the department of government efficiency, you just remember it is the department of government evil. leave federal employees alone. >> during his first term president trump was the target of democratic attacks. but democrats believe they have found a better foil, they are hammering elon musk. >> elon, come here and face us. come on over here and face us so you can hear from us and see us and look us in the eye. we're not afraid. >> so this is a great fraud. this is the great betrayal we're seeing in the first 21 days and we're here to blow the whistle and say hell no, we will shut down the elon musk operation.

>> democrats will continue to fire verbal broadsides at doge. sometimes with inflammatory rhetoric. the gop believes the public is on their side as they try to pair back the scope and cost of government. >> bill: follow that bouncing ball as she goes. nice to see you, dana. >> dana: beyond the halls of congress we're seeing pushback in the courts as well as judges temporarily blocking parts of the administration's agenda. here is president trump on that. >> president trump: you have some very bad rulings and it's a shame to see it frankly. they want to the tell everybody how to run the country when they say that certain people in charge of massive agencies or people doing very, very important people, smart people doing investigations of fraud, and they don't talk about what you are looking at. they say it is unconstitutional. but judges should be ruling, they shouldn't be dictating what you are supposed to be doing. >> dana: trey gowdy is the the host of sunday night in america.

former federal prosecute are and congressman. what about the tensions between the judicial and executive branch. >> this is exactly what madison envisioned. what he never envisioned is the the legislative branch would be the weakest of the three branches. hamilton would be the judicial branch. they don't have the purse or sword. i can't think of an executive, maybe beyond madison, who did not test the outer limits of executive authority. remember, dana, it was barack obama who said i will do it with or without you. those same democrats you just showed at those rallies stood up and cheered on the house floor. when an executive said i don't need you, they cheered. so executives do this and then it is up to the other branches to push back. i hate that this is being litigated in the courts. it really ought to be debated on the floor of the house and the senate. but the courts are going to have

to -- the president will win on some and probably won't win on some of them and some will be mixed results. but by no means is donald trump the first president to try to test the boundaries of executive power. >> bill: here we are executive order signing in the oval on monday. rattle through a couple of things here and get your reaction on the legal side. first monday. >> your reaction to a judge having a pause on the buy-out program for federal workers. >> president trump: i don't know how you can lose a case like that. talking about people -- i got elected on making government better, more efficient, and smaller. i think it was a very generous buy-out, actually. also if people don't show up to work we have a right to fire them. you will find many of those people in my opinion even though they are collecting money from the federal government. >> bill: we're tracking the coverage of this. "politico", washington courts flex power to show trump down.

time says democrats need judges to rein in trump. trump pushes ahead as democrats try to block him. first circuit u.s. court of appeals out of boston. the judges, you like that? you want to find a judge that could be friendly to your cause and andy mccarthy and dana perino and i are beholding to the book of andy. i don't know if you know that existed but it does. it seems like every time mccarthy talks he is right. he gave us the impression that trump stands a good chance winning on all of this. your thought. >> while you were talking to andy mccarthy i talked to jonathan turley for an hour last night and both agree this judge is wrong but district court judges, whether they are right or wrong, they have bosses called appellate courts and those appellate courts have

bosses called the supreme court. so i think a lot of this is headed towards those non-men and women in black robes. don't confuse a temporary loss with a long-term loss. sometimes judges say i will pause this while i look at it longer. called a temporary injunction. so just because you lose there does not mean you will lose on the merits. i think this judge on the freeze, the federal employee freeze is wrong. the executive can control executive employees but that judge has three bosses and so it has to work its way through our judicial system. i just -- i smile because hamilton worried they would have no power and here they are making all the major decisions. >> bill: funny how that works. >> dana: i do wonder is there anything that democrats in congress could do right now to turn the tables and not just leave it all up to the courts?

i know they are in the minority but in your experience, trey, could they try to figure out a way to have congress get back in the game? >> sure, they could have not been hypocritical. when their president barack obama, everyone's president, but their party said i'll do it with or without you, dana, i watched them stand and applaud. essentially he was saying your branch is insignificant. now we have this fourth branch, the only branch of government democrats control. administrative branch is the only one they control. they don't have the white house or congress or the supreme court. all they have are these unelected bureaucrats. so of course they will cling to that like i used to cling to the hem of my mom's dress. they're clinging to the only power that they have left. >> dana: we'll see what will happen. it's my favorite game, the we'll see game. >> bill: nice to see you.

thank you for coming on. defense secretary pete hegseth on the worth stage now as we speak. a live look in stuttgart, germany, first overseas trip since taking the reins of the pentagon holding a q and a with 500 service members and civilians about his priorities and looks like now it is wrapping up. it has been going on for a while. we've been watching that and so has lucas tomlinson live in stuttgart, germany. >> good afternoon, bill. defense secretary pete hegseth has come with a message to nato allies. he wants them to spend much more on their defense. >> the president has said directly that our nato allies need to step up even more. we're appreciative of what they've done. the alliance is rock solid but we will talk a lot more about

that. >> bill, before that town hall with the troops defense secretary peat hegseth was behind me home of the u.s. africa command. the recent air strike of isis in somalia. earlier he visited the headquarters of the u.s. europey own command. 78,000 american troops deployed on the european continent. before touching down last night he signed a new memorandum bringing back the name fort bragg with a twist. it is not being renamed after the former confederate general but being named after a world war ii silver star recipient roland bragg. >> pursuant to the authority of the secretary defense title ten u.s. code section 113, i direct the army to change the name of fort liberty, north carolina, to fort bragg, north carolina. that's right, bragg is back.

>> how does hegseth, the 44-year-old former officer start his day? with p.t. with the soldiers and navy seals here. early this morning after getting in late last night. in a few hours the defense secretary heads to brussels for a nato ministerial meeting where no doubt ukraine is at the top of the list, the third anniversary of the war approaches. many questions how this war ends. we've heard from president trump he wants to see the war end. what's the model, bill? is it korea, germany, ireland? what's the model for ending this war? a lot of questions. if peacekeepers are involved, from where? >> bill: complicated at a minimum. nice to sigh. >> we refuse to the view a.i. as a purely disruptive technology that will automate away our labor force. we believe and fight for policies that insure that a.i.

will make our workers more productive. >> dana: jd vance attending an a.i. summit in paris as president trump gives a surprising effort whether vance could succeed him in 2028. >> bill: another deadly plane collision, this time in arizona. so what caused this? we'll take you there coming up. >> dana: an action-packed first three weeks of the new administration. are trump voters satisfied with what they're seeing? we get to ask a couple of them next.

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>> dana: at least one person is dead and three injured after a private jet owned by rock star vince neil crashed into a parked plane as it landed at the scottsdale airport yesterday. jonathan hunt live in los angeles with this. >> good morning, dana.

the learjet that caused the crash had taken off from austin, texas and landing at the small scotts dale airport used for private planes and couple small airlines. part of its landing gear failed and it veered off the runway and into a gulf stream jet that was parked nearby. >> it appears the left main gear failed upon landing resulting in the accident. the national transportation safety board is on scene. they will be taking over the investigation at this point. the runway remains closed at this time. >> one person was killed, three others were taken to local hospitals. two of the injured were in critical condition. no names have yet been officially made public but vince neil, the owner of the learjet and lead singer of motley crue was not on board. >> on behalf of the city of scottsdale, scottsdale airport our thoughts and prayers for the individuals on the aircraft. it is certainly a tragedy that

occurred. >> the accident comes, of course, in the middle of a difficult period for u.s. aviation following the collision between a passenger jet and a military helicopter in washington, d.c. which killed 67 people. and the crash of a medevac jet that killed seven. as sean duffy said air travel remains far safer than traveling by car or train and secretary duffy says he intends to make safety paramount as he moves to modernize system across all modes of transportation. dana. >> dana: jonathan hunt, thank you for the update. >> you say you trust him. >> president trump: trust elon? he is not gaining anything. i wonder how he can devote the time to it. he is so into it. what happened i will probably get a lot from the show. people are calling up all over the country wanting to help elon. they respect him and they respect me. they love what is happening with

our country. i campaigned on this, bret. >> bill: president trump doubling down his support for the doge leader elon musk. getting a lot of headlines, all of them basically the last couple of weeks. it is still early but moving fast. the president pointing out exact will i what he campaigned on. how do voters feel? want to bring in don o'connor out of iowa, the trump voter from mason city in banking and nick schultz is outside of milwaukee in waukesha. good day to both of you and thank you for your time today. don, senior member of our panel. do you like what you are seeing? do you think it can continue? will it be successful? >> absolutely. if you are a taxpayer in the united states, i don't know how you cannot like what doge is doing. they are doing exactly what he campaigned on. we're out there transparency and what they've uncovered so far should make every single person regardless of party upset.

what's been going on in d.c. we need to know these things. >> bill: i think you use the word appalled and some people will be appalled. nick, let me bring you in here. you said you were worried about cutting usaid because you know it carries a certain measure of u.s. influence around the world to help us as a country and policies. but what you have found out, how has that gone over with you? >> yeah, i was shocked when i heard some of the things we were spending our money on. transgender plays or something like that over in south after a.m. ca? it doesn't make sense. i get usaid is used to stunt chinese influence and things like that but some of this other stuff seems like it has been a tool for the other side to be used to funnel money back into their cause. that worries me. i did not know that about usaid.

and i just hope that they be careful about it, though, so we can continue stunting the influence of china and russia and those places. >> bill: don, you said give them my social security number. you got nothing to hide. what do you mean? >> you know, the conversations being had that this is all unconstitutional, we're bringing liberal federal judges in to stop this. i have nothing to hide. let them look. i wonder where my tax dollars are going. when we're talking about protecting jobs. i get it jobs. but where were the democrats and the liberal judges when a company everybody heard john deere lays off 3,000 people in the iowa area last year? nobody out fighting for those jobs. doge needs to keep going. let's get to the bottom of this. make those agencies stronger. they can come back but they can't come back the way they are now. change must happen. >> bill: nick, you say if trump

doesn't like the cuts he can just tell elon no. i wonder if that's not as easy as it is to say it that way. >> yeah, i think -- you do worry about the dynamic there just because elon is a very popular influence among my generation. we love elon. he has turned into this meme. me and my friends talk about it all the time. i wonder if trump tells him know how elon reacts. we did elect donald trump. he is our president and want him to be making the ultimate decisions on this stuff. that's what we voted for. >> bill: this is what we found in our voter analysis back on election day. substantial change do you want it? 56% complete and total upheaval 27%. impressive numbers there. trump agenda items. border emergency, national energy emergency, get out of the

paris climate deal. establish doge, etc. the e.v. mandate. protect women's sports and all that. don, you voted for trump three times. you have won twice. nick you voted for trump three times. he won twice. don, can trump do anything to disappoint you? >> i think the only thing donald trump could do right now to disappoint me was back down and not finish the job. we need to get to the bottom. we don't have to tear everything apart but when we've got federal employees who are doing exact opposite of what they've been instructed by their superiors to do that's wrong. these people need to go. they aren't in charge. they are to do their job the way they're directed. >> bill: nick, same question. a firm supporter for eight years plus. what can he do to disappoint you? >> i agree with don there. if he doesn't follow through.

the 2016 presidential administration, you know, didn't get accomplished what i thought he would. i love how he is hitting the ground running. i can't keep up with all the things he is doing and so if he continues that track, then i think that i will be a supporter. i hope he just doesn't cave to those -- that influence of those unelected bureaucrats. >> bill: we'll check in with you both in six months' time. thank you, don and nick. from the great midwest. thanks for coming on. >> dana: defense secretary pete hegseth in europe for his first trip abroad. he is expected to speak to reporters soon and we'll bring you there. president trump mulling over using every part of the government to implement his border policies including the i.r.s. texas congressman tony gonzalez here to react next. suddenly returns. but inflation never really goes away.

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>> dana: welcome back.

house republicans led by speaker johnson are at the podium doing their weekly press conference. an update on all things going on. many of them. we're monitoring it for big news and bring it to you if we get it. >> president trump: we're finally going to build up our country, defend our borders and protect our citizens. >> i will declare a national emergency at our southern border. [applause] we just set records for closure. we have the strongest border we have had in since my term, but even maybe even decades before that. >> bill: that was on sunday heading to the super bowl president trump pushing forward with his immigration agenda ramping up deportations trying to lock down the border and now might be getting help from the i.r.s. how will that work? peter doocy has details on that and more on the white house north lawn. >> dhs is saying that four

employees circumvented leadership by sending millions of dollars to new york city for hotels and other migrant needs last week. those four have been fired. >> it's long overdue, frankly. these funds have been misappropriated going back to the biden administration. and new york city, a sanctuary city, has been wasting billions of dollars of taxpayer money, billions with a b, to provide free housing, clothing, food, education and healthcare to illegal immigrants. >> dhs wants i.r.s. agents at the boarding writing it is dhs understanding that they have qualified law enforcement personnel to assist with immigration enforcement in light of recent increases to the internal revenue services workforce and budget. >> who would be better than the i.r.s. agents to track down that

money laundering an work with the dhs agents. i think it is good use of our resources as well and again i'm all behind president trump's plan here. >> there is also already news today about the leaks that have been hindering ice raids across the country. tom homan the immigration czar said a little while ago they believe the feds believe they have traced the origin of those leaks and the people responsible will be criminally prosecuted. >> bill: could be more. stand by. peter, thank you, nice to see you at the white house today. >> dana: there is a lot there. congressman tony gonzalez a member of the house homeland security committee is with us now. what are you hearing from folks back home? >> yeah, dana. i represent 2/3 of the texas/mexico border. in a few weeks president trump's policies are working. it will take more than just a few weeks to fix this problem that joe biden caused for four years. it will take us years but off to a great start.

the president is certainly doing his part with policy and unleashing the american organizations to protect us. but congress has to do our job. i'm not certain we are doing that. part of that is funding. in a few weeks funding will run out. we cannot have the government shut down while president trump is just getting going. we also can't have a year-long cr. it doesn't help things. we have to pass a conservative budget that gives ice all the resources it needs to deport criminal aliens back to their country of origin ferments >> dana: a new trend. migrants going home rather than come north because of border security. i can't get over this. a look back as to how the previous administration always said the border was so secure. >> the border is secure. >> the president has done more to secure the border to deal

with this issue on immigration than anybody else. >> it is my testimony that the border is secure and we are working every day, day and night, to increase its security. >> dana: so there is that. i wanted to ask you this. do you believe there is targeted places where doge could go into dhs, the department of homeland security, former acting dhs secretary chad wolf tweeted while dhs has many critical mission, there are ways to look for waste and fraud at the department. >> i agree and appreciate everything that elon and the doge team is doing to essentially hold our government accountable. everyone should come before the carpet before congress and essentially say what do you do here? what are our hard paying tax paying dollars going towards? we have to make sure they aren't going towards these ngos helping fuel this border crisis. they aren't going towards

organizations that are going against us, if you will. we need to get the i.r.s. to stop auditing americans and audit itself for a change and figure things out. as far as things on the border people like to talk about our communities. i represent el paso and eagle pass. we're impacted by it more than ever and things are changing in a very positive way. but once again long-term congress has to do its job. we just can't be taking credit for all the things president trump is doing. we have to pass a conservative budget that gives dhs the tools it needs and gives the military the resources it needs to continues to carry out these trump-enforced border policies. >> dana: it's refreshing to hear and the white house is glad to hear it i'm sure. a quick comment about tom homan saying you could get some i.r.s. agents to come at least help on the back end perhaps to try to deal with the border. >> it is all hands on deck. come down.

we need the help and able to make a clear statement to the world that the deck has changed. under president trump we'll have a secure border and for the american people to know our taxpayer dollars are going to go to keeping us safe. i have think it is a beautiful thing and want to see more of it. >> dana: have a good day. thank you for being with us this morning. take care. >> bill: changing times down there. we'll watch it. tulsi gabbard clears a key senate hurdle. will all the nominees be approved? it is looking that way. jd vance is abroad attending a high stakes summit on the future, artificial intelligence. meeting with world leaders about that. what he is saying about the future for a.i. and america's role in it. >> the trump administration believes a.i. will have countless revolutionary amly indications and economic innovation, job creation, national security. healthcare, free expression and beyond. it is not going to replace human beings. are so much more than clients.

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>> bill: president trump dissolving paper straw initiatives. it answers the question paper versus plastic. >> president trump: we're going back to plastic straws. these things don't work. it's ridiculous. we're going back to plastic straws. i think it's okay. i don't think that plastic will affect a shark very much as they are munching their way through the ocean. >> bill: president celebrating the order online calling for a strategy to eliminate them nationwide. coke cola with a red straw in the middle. your thoughts? >> dana: i said this on "the

five." when i was at the white house if i wondered if the issue was going to hurt us or help us, i would call my sister in southeast denver and what do you think about this issue? if she knew about it i knew it with as a big deal. the only thing i heard from her last week was that she loved this move on plastic straws. i think it is a winner. >> bill: there is a straw version of the straw. it is literally made from straw. it is not terrible. i'm just saying. that was the best option we had. >> the united states of america is the leader in a.i. our administration plans to keep it that way. the trump administration will insure the most powerful a.i. systems are built in the u.s. with american designed and manufactured chips. >> dana: we want to get to jd vance now. there he is in the a.i. conference for-in paris.

we'll go back to stuttgart, germany, pete hegseth is taking questions. >> first where are you from? >> [inaudible] a newspaper in germany. >> it's my favorite now. >> you are visiting africa as one of your first places. does it mean america's strategic aims in africa are going to change? >> i think it is a reflection of the importance of that command as well as u com. it made sense to come to both in germany and a reflection that the prc intentions are pernicious not just in their part of the world but also in south america and on the african continent. america's posture there along with allies and partners is going to matter about contesting that space. so it certainly remains a priority. you saw the strike in somalia on

february 1st. that as we talk to the command that's a reflection of pushing decision authority down. untying the hands of war fighters who in the previous administration made multiple requests and were often denied for that kind of kinetic action or the decision had to be made at the white house when it should be made at the four-star or secretary of defense level more quickly based on the ability to degrade the enemy. this is a very important part of the world for us. the president feels that way as well and we are honored to be here. thank you. >> mr. secretary, are you planning to cut the number of american forces in europe and shift them to the pacific and focus on china? >> there no plans right now in the making to cut anything. there is an understanding that we are going to review force posture across the world. president trump is planning assumptions are different strategic assumptions are different than joe biden's were. we don't want to plan on the

back on the withdrawal from afghanistan and the war unleashed in ukraine and october 7th. you have to manage and mitigate those things by coming alongside your friends in israel and peacefully resolving the conflict in ukraine. those shouldn't define how we orient and with a rapid peace deal in ukraine the president is committed to delivering. we can review force posture and encourage as you will see tomorrow in ukraine contact group and the nato ministerial we'll have straight talk with our friends. this urgency of this moment requires friends talking to friends about capabilities, leadership, stepping up, about burden sharing and the incentives to say the european continent deserves to be free from any aggression but it ought be those in the neighborhood investing the most in that collective individual defense. it's common sense as the president talks a lot about. common sense is you defend your neighborhood and the americans

will come alongside you in helping in that defense if and when that happens, i believe it will, because of president trump, most nato countries are already close to 2%. we believe that needs to be higher. the president has said 5%. i think he is right. that's a reflection of a need to invest on the continent. if and when that happens through investments in defense industrial base as well then yes, america as the leader of the free world defending american interests is going to need to make sure we're focused properly on the communist chinese and their ambitions in the indo-pacific and around the world. so we would be remiss in not reviewing force posture everywhere. the wrong planning assumption to say america is leaving or abandoning something. america is smart to observe, plan, prioritize and project power where we need to deter conflict. we don't want conflict with china. the president has ran on being a peace president. he delivered that.

being strong peace through strength is how you deter that and we want to posture for that and the europeans need to on the continent as well. >> [inaudible] >> the biggest threat was securing our own border that we are addressing rapidly. i'm proud of what the defense department. you don't have a country if you don't have borders. we've been defending other people's borders for a long time. time to defend ours. we are oh he sealing that border and continuing to do that. as far as external threats no doubt the communist chinese ambitions are robust. their view of the world is different than ours. whoever carries that mantle will set the tone for the 21st century. >> you made a point this morning on little sleep. why was it so important -- [inaudible]? >> i did do p.t. with the troops this morning. it's not that long ago i was right there with them. i probably no offense, general,

probably connect more with those guys than four star generals. i get the chance of working with four stars and those committed to the troops. when i do push-ups and dead lifts with the troops and just hear from them what's working, what isn't, how do you see your mission set? i love that. so there was never a doubt even though we got in at two in the morning that we would get up a couple hours later to do p.t. reminder, the press in washington might think i'm young but in military terms i'm old. that showed this morning with these young guys who ran circles around me in the parking lot. >> you mentioned earlier that president trump wants nato countries to spend 5% of their gdp on defense. do you think the u.s. should also spend 5% of its gdp on defense? >> more than the biden administration was willing to

who under invested in our military. the president is committed as he with as in the first term to rebuilding america's military by investing. you will see that in the conversations on capitol hill. we've been intimately involved with the folks on appropriations and others talking about the capabilities we'll need not just next year and the year after that or the next four years but power projection going forward and reforms needed to make sure every dollar goes further. at a minimum we should not go below 3%. that's a view i know the president shares. as far as going forward in that, those are decisions he will make based on my consultations with him. any defense secretary would be lying if they said though didn't want more. you always want more but we life in fiscally restrained times and be responsible with taxpayer dollars with 36 trillion in debt that's a national security liability as well. we'll work with capitol hill. president will lead the way making sure the troops have the

resources they need and rebuild the military. >> president biden vowed against sending u.s. troops into ukraine. would you be open to sending u.s. troops to ukraine. >> we aren't sending u.s. troops to ukraine. >> [inaudible question] do you expect to start cutting programs and contracts the way he has done 57bd any restrains you want to place on his team? >> we've been in touch -- i've been in touch with elon musk, a great patriot. interested in advancing the america first agenda. knows that president trump got 77 million votes and a mandate from the american people. part is bringing business-like efficiency to government and what doge is doing. we're talking to them in partnership with them. we welcome doge to the pentagon. i hope to welcome elon to the pentagon very soon and his teamworking in collaboration with us.

there is -- are the waste, that need to be addressed. climate programs pursued at the defense department. we are not in the business of climate change, solving the global thermostat. we're in the business of deterring and winning wars. we want to find ways to to find efficiencies. we want the keen eye of doge. we'll do it in coordination. we won't do things to the detriment of american operational and tactical capabilities. president trump is committed to delivering the best possible military. defense department is not usaid. usaid has a lot of problems that i talked about with the troops pursuing globalist agenda with no connection to america first. that's not the defense department. we aren't perfect, either. where we can find billions of dollars -- he is right to say billions inside the defense department.

every dollar we save there is a dollar that goes to war fighters and good for the american people. >> [inaudible question] a lot of jihadists in africa, how do you plan to handle that? i'm not saying put troops on the ground in africa. are you concerned there could be some sort of plotting attacks against other parts of the world trying to recruit soldiers, africa with a growing population. how concerned are you about the jihad threat in africa today? >> definitely concerned. anybody of my generation that served in iraq, afghanistan and post 9/11 understands the threat of global jihad especially the desire to export that against europe, israel or the united states of america. the counter terrorism threat focused on those who would seek to do us harm is the the highest priority.

you saw what we did so well in the strike in somalia. where we see those growing, plotting or planning with increased capabilities, we will strike and that pertains to islamist organizations across the continent. but it also -- we have to work with partners and allies. foreign internal defense and security force assistance. i was with green berets this morning. we think of them in the context of post 9/11 kicking down doors. they are good at that but they do foreign internal defense working with local security force evers to build up their capabilities so it is indigenous forces fighting islamists. they want to secure their country as well. afterry com is committed to doing that. a mission worth resourcing. africa is very much the front lines of a fight from islamists, christian populations under siege in africa and have been

ignored for far too long. american interests there. it matters a great deal and islamists, we won't allow them to maintain a foothold especially to strike america. >> one more here and here. >> also related to somalia and africa. president trump's first term he had a force out of somalia -- president biden sent them on a full-time basis. what is your vision going forward to somalia? do you want to maintain troops there continuously or are you looking more towards pulling them back? >> i listen to commanders on the ground first and foremost as does the president. he has charged me with give me your best advice but keep your ear to the ground what's most effective but also been very clear that we aren't trying to have american boots all over the globe. where we can do counter terrorism effectively over the horizon that's the preference. but we'll review the force

posture there with the generals doing the heavy lifting and take it into consideration no doubt. thankfully we have the intelligence capabilities to do the kind of strike we saw and we believe we can do more of that. >> so you renamed the name of fort liberty to fort bragg and private first class who lost his life liberating germany. what does it mean for the u.s. forces? >> well, first it means bragg is back. it means the legacy of an institution that generations of americans have mobilized through and served at is back. it's a shame that was done vets and families and lived there. airborne troops here some that spent 25 years at fort liberty,

it was fort bragg. the president set the tone on this and said i want fort bragg back and honored to support a private first class would received a purple heart and the silver star at the battle of the bulge. we're honoring a private first class and proud we have a marine corporal as the vice president of the united states. junior enlisted have never seen better days. it is about that legacy. the connection to the community, to those who served and we're not as the president has said and i've said as well. we aren't done there. there are other bases that have been renamed that erodes the legacy. bragg and benning. it is not just them. there are service members that have connections and we'll do our best to restore it and an honor to do so. >> bill: coming up on the 11:00 hour there is pete hegseth taking a lot of questions.

we are not sending troops to ukraine. no current cuts at the pentagon. looking at everything. p.t. with the troops this morning at age 44. >> dana: he would listen to the commanders on the ground for the need to do what we need to do in order to fight back against terrorists that are growing in africa across the continent. >> part of the reason some of these questions came up in africa is what the conference is about. one of the first acts as president donald trump ordered a hit in somalia that the phrase was blew the caves out of there. that's the story we'll watch over the next couple of weeks. >> dana: there is waste to be dealt with at the defense department and that all of those savings should go to the war fighters. he made a lot of news there. i thought he did an excellent job and there were some good questions. harris faulkner is next. >> harris: we begin with the fox news alert. the president is