ari fleischer, welcome. >> thank you, howard. did it feel like to be working in the white house that day and what did you see as your challenge with the press? >> well, i was in sarasota with the president and instantly recognized the importance of the day. i started to take very detailed verbatim notes on everything the president did and said. that way i could properly brief the press, brief the country. but there was so little we were able to say on september 11th and that was the hardest part. reporters were asking all the right questions, who did it, how many more planes are in the sky, how much more of a threat is there to america? we didn't know any of the answers to those obvious important questions. and the worst thing you can do when you're the press secretary at a moment of vulnerability is look like you don't know anything because the government didn't -- we had suspicions but we weren't ready to say them. howie: what's even worse is to say the wrong thing, of course, and so that was wise on your part. about two weeks

ari fleischer, for white house press secretary, spent the entire day with president bush.e us through those first moments, you were there for every minute of it. >> the motorcade pulled up to the electrical i got a page saying a plane hit the world trade center. i thought accident, small plane, 30 seconds before andy card whispered in the president's right here i was leaning against the left wall of the room 20 feet from the president's left shoulder and got a second page and the second page told me a second plane hit the second tower and i knew it that moment it was terrorism. started to brace and get ready for everything i would have to unfold as the united states defend itself. laura: the president had to be whisked away for national security reasons. to the extent you can tell us what happened please do tell us what happened shortly thereafter. >> the secret service did not think we were under immediate threat otherwise they wouldn't have left to go to the gym at the school where he addressed the nation, talked about the terrorist attack on our country and we quickly g

one of the heroes from that the shares his story in former pres secretary ari fleischer recalls what it was like traveling on air force one that day with the president don't go away. so what's going on? i'm a talking dog. the other issue. oh... i'm scratching like crazy. you've got some allergic itch with skin inflammation. apoquel can work on that itch in as little as 4 hours, whether it's a new or chronic problem. and apoquel's treated over 10 million dogs. nice. and...the talking dog thing? is it bothering you? no... itching like a dog is bothering me. until dogs can speak for themselves, you have to. when allergic itch is a problem, ask for apoquel. apoquel is for the control of itch associated with allergic dermatitis and the control of atopic dermatitis in dogs. do not use apoquel in dogs less than 12 months old or those with serious infections. apoquel may increase the chances of developing serious infections and may cause existing parasitic infestations or pre-existing cancers to worsen. new neoplasias were observed in clinical studies and post-approval. most common side effe

ari fleischer, fox news contributor, president biden's presidency basically saying i am not trump butthis may go over well on the eu crowd but it is not working at home given what we are seeing in states like michigan and iowa. >> he and his advisors think donald trump's policies worked pretty well because he never criticizes them individually but he lost the election because he talked too tough, too blood, tweeted too much, they feel policy doesn't matter. afghanistan is a disaster, race relations getting worse, we are going to have this happy therapeutic talk and we can talk our way through it and i don't think that's going to work because when things are going well people at the luxury of whining about the president's tone and when things are going bad, it doesn't work and when we look at biden's rhetoric it is completely divorced from reality, he talks - left 8000 nato troops in afghanistan and the most unilateral fashion we've seen in 50 years, he talks about humanity but we have dante's inferno on the southern border. we haven't seen anything like it so there's no connection bet

joining me now, mollie hemingway, senior editor at the federalist and tammy bruce and ari fleischer, hite house secretary. let's start with you, ari. they were supposed to be the most transparent, truthful administration and american history. what happened? >> [laughs] i disagree with you, laura. i don't think they are one big communication shop. i think they are one big teleprompter shop. he can do no communicating on his own paired when he does, it's a most always watched. this is begun -- this has on every policy they've announced, hurt the united states of america. they've helped the taliban, they help people who want to come to america illegally, and now they are about to hurt all americans with their economic policies. so forget communications, it's been a policy failure along every stage of the way. >> laura: molly, i mention the bombshell from the pentagon today about that drone strike. he was the head earlier today. >> i am now convinced that as many have ten civilians including up to seven children were tragically killed in the strike. moreover, we know it says it is unlikel

hemingway, senior editor at the federalist and tammy bruce, host of the get tammy bruce show, and ari fleischerx news contributors. they were supposed to be the most transparent truthful administration in american history. what happened? >> i disagree with you. i don't think they are a big con shop. i think they are one big teleprompter shop. without a teleprompter where would president biden be? he can do no communicating on his own. so this administration on every policy they have announced hurt the united states of america, helped the taliban in afghanistan, health russia through energy policies, help people who want to come to america illegally through their border policies and heard all-americans with their economic policies. the communication is a policy failure along every stage. >> the bombshell from the pentagon about the drone strike. here's the centcom head earlier today. >> i'm now convinced as many as 10 civilians including 7 children were tragically killed in that strike. moreover we assess it is unlikely those who died were associated with isis k or were a direct threat to us for

i want to bring it back to ari fleischer. it with our own eyes, cameras here and throughout kabul. he has chosen not to speak live today. what do you think of that? >> i'm not sure it was his choice not to speak. now, first of all, to be fair about it, i think you have to go back to the previous american presidents on the 5th, the 10th, the sawth anniversaries -- 15th anniversaries, especially here in new york. new york takes this very seriously as a moment of remembrance just for the families. they don't like politicians of any type speaking at an event which should only be focused on those lost, for their children, their parents. so to be charitable, i don't read anything into the fact that joe biden's not speaking in new york. i do believe previous presidents spoke at shanksville and at the pentagon. but it's appropriate for all presidents, i will not create are size the president of the united states for paying -- criticize the president of the united states for paying his respects. s the appropriate, right thing to do fo

fallout vining for david hanson, author of the new book the dying citizen out october 5th and ary fleischer former white house press secretary. biden's speech today basically saying i'm not trump. but this may go over well on the eu crowd without considering france but it's not working at home given what we are he seeing in states like michigan and iowa, for goodness' sake. >> yeah, i think he and his advisors laura think donald trump's policies worked really well because he never criticizes them individually because they poll well but he lost the election they feel because he talked too tough. he was too blunt. he tweeted too much. so they feel policy doesn't matter. afghanistan's a disaster, the border's a disaster, race relations getting worse, inflation on the rise but we'll have this happy therapeutic talk and we can talk our way through it and i don't think that's going to work. because when things are going well people have the luxury of wining about the president's but when things are going bad and they are, all the jerry ford wind button, remember from the 70s, doesn't work. we loo

here with reaction, fox news contributor ari fleischer and mike huckabee. you did this before. a whopping four questions at that big press conference. four. then they lashed out at boris johnson. now they are telling the indian prime minister, don't answered questions. and then he keeps saying over and over, i'm going to get in trouble. i get yelled at. they get mad at me and any -- everything. very bad for me. bad. >> this follows a year-long campaign. strategy to hide in the basement and take no questions from everybody. the last time he took questions. he told the black journalist, are you, junkie? when he speaks his mind and his mouth, it gets him into a lot of trouble. i understand that wrangling. there will always be a difference between the white house and depressed core of what the top. should be. but the white house -- not get to the control in the press' questions. and when the president right before the holiday is asked about afghanistan and the taliban taking over the country, he said, i only want, i only want to talk about happy things. the president field to prepa

-here with reaction, former white house press secretary himself fox news contributor ari fleischer. you're smiling. i'm listening to these answers. the reason we're not covid testing illegal immigrants is they're not going to be here very long. we're giving them request forms to show up. there are not mandatory dates to show up in court. we request you to show up on this date. but we're not going to force you to show up. now, ari, i have a funny feeling nobody is going to show up. >> a funny feeling. even accurate feeling. sean, today is one of the most distressing lowest moments i have seen in the united states government. everything joe biden said today that this is not the american way, this is a tragedy. this is not how people should act, everything he said today should have been said about those who are trying to enter america illegally and not about the people who who are doing their job and enforcing america's laws. this is a perfect illustration of how the democrats led by joe biden are anti-police. anywhere and everywhere. le that's his message today. don't enforce america'

here with more, the former e,white house chief of staff mark meadows, t ari fleischer.t to believe, mark meadows, that you might have a thing or two to say about, this time last year we had a high number of covid cases and today, daily covid cases are up 300% from labor day last year. d i would say after being handed three vaccines, regeneron, antibodies, that is a failure. >> it's not only a failure but what we saw was joe biden continuing to try to place blame on the very president and administration that actually did something to reduce covid deaths. listen, joe biden today was more hostile towards the unvaccinated in his speech of dan he has been towards the taliban in afghanistan. when we see this leader, when we see what he's doing he is not leading, he is lost, why didn't he spend billions of dollars looking at additional therapies to treat those who come down with covid that have act absolutely nothing and putting zero points on the board in terms of making americans safer. >> sean: a month and a half of it they said they wouldn't do it. cdc director changing go

this is bush's press secretary, ari fleischer, responding to a question in october, 2001. >> would youliban might say at this point --? are you ignoring whatever they may say? >> the president could not have made it clear when he said there would be no negotiations. so what they say is not as important as what they do. it is time for them to act. it has been time for them to act. amy: in december of 2001, just a month or two later, the taliban offered to surrender control of kandahar, if its leader, mullah mohammed omar, would be allowed to, quote, "live in dignity" in opposition custody. u.s. defense secretary donald rumsfeld rejected the offer. >> if you are asking wooden arrangement with omar, where he could "live in dignity" in someplace in afghanistan be consistent with what i have said, the answer is no, it would not have been consistent with what i have said. amy: that's donald rumsfeld speaking december 6, 2001. the u.s. war in afghanistan would continue for almost 20 more years. according to the costs of war project, the u.s. has spent over $2.2 trillion in afghanistan and pak

in the virtual seats today, ari fleischer, former white house press secretary and fox news contributor. first, our top story. president biden announcing sweeping vaccine mandates that could impact the private center in unprecedented ways. republicans were furious over it, calling it unconstitutional. some g.o.p. governors are threatening legal action against it. here is what the president said last night. >> president biden: this is not about freedom or personal choice. it is about protecting yourself and those around you. the people you work with, the people you care about, the people you love, the department of labor is developing an emergency rule to require all employers with 100 or more employees that together employ over 80 million workers to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated. or, show a negative test at least once a week. we have been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and a refusal has caused all of us. please do the right thing. get vaccinated. >> stop whispering. [laughter] this marks a stunning reversal for president biden. take a look at how he used to fe

joining me now on set as you could hear are tammy bruce and ari fleischer.news contributors. love having both. >> tammy: nice being on set. >> pete: nice having you both on set the way it should be. i will let you both tee off. what are your thoughts. >> none of us have any of those pros or cons that's really good. pros list but not those things. look, this tells you and i like the "wall street journal's" approach appropriate. this is being passed in a way about hunter biden. this is the hunter biden scandal. no, it's not. it's about joe biden. it's about the democratic party. this is about the nature of what was going on hunter biden felt that he could ask for that and almost like a natural thing to do. you have got a $2 million fee and then success fees which is, you know, a bonus once you get when you expect somehow being all of those cons, that you expect somehow to be able to do this remarkable thing because your daddy is the vice president. so this is the end carat here about the problem of 50 years in washington i would also argue we have tollize is a

bring in ari fleischer to talk about this. it is really interesting piece.ewers i will read the first line. august changed things. it wasn't just a bad month, it left a lingering head shaking sense of, quote, this isn't how we do things, end quote. she goes on for three pages. tell us how you viewed her view of that. >> i think it raises the fundamental issue that has been on the mind of many people in the election, was joe biden really ready for this job. he was a 40-year senator from the state of delaware and ran twice for president and failed. when he ran against this time he ran a strategy of not being seen and heard. he kept all the focus on donald trump, not himself. now that the spotlight is on him what the american people have seen his judgment and character is flawed. empathy is overrated. he is half the man we thought he was and he is probably not prepared for that big job. that's why he was a senator for so long. >> bill: one line. the damage to the president is different and deeper than his people think. it hit at his reputational core of how peo

let's bring in former white house press secretary ari fleischer.s. a number of top democrats, senator scott elizabeth warren and a become a short have out to west coast to campaign for newsom. now we have the president and vice president of the way. i wanted to bring up some poll numbers, first. let's take a look at that latest approval numbers on president biden. so he has a 52% approval rating. now let's compare them with approval ratings for gavin newsom. this is very similar. he has a 53% approval rating. public self how -- this really help the government with the recall? >> recalls are all -- always about the intensity of those who can't stand the person being recalled. they want to try to get rid of him. how many people love the person? the middleground typically does not show up. so you try to reverberate, get your base going in that sort presidential is all about the i consider this the normal stuff of politics. this is what president and vice president's do. and if they lose in california, pick it there's going to be a major environment --

i saw the press pool, they were arguing around ari fleischer. that was difficult. walked into the holding room. i was standing at the door with the president and the principal of the school, baby louder, navy captain in charge of the situation room and acting national security adviser of the trip came town the president and said it appears a small twij of a plane crash into the world trade center in new york city. that's what he knew when the principal opened the door to the classroom and they walked into the classroom. then the doors shurkts captain louder came up and said it looks like a twin engine flight and my mind went to the fear of the passengers must have known they weren't gaining altitude, that was a nanosecond. then captain louder came up and said, oh my god, another plane. i said i have to tell the president. i assume there was a full microphone that can pick up everything. i knew he was in front of second graders and the press pool. so i chose my words carefully, passed on two facts and made one editorial comment. the two facts were a second plane hit

well, one of the people that was with him was ari fleischer, his press secretary on 9/11.into that room and whispered in the president's right ear, i was leaning against the left wall of that room about 20 feet over from the president's left shoulder and i got a second page and the second page told me second plane has hit the second tower. and i just knew at that moment, laura, that it was terrorism. and it just started to brace and get ready for everything that i knew would have to unfold as united states defended itself. rachel: yeah. will: you said we have experienced this through the eyes and experiences of president george w. bush. i was proud of how he stood up and represented this country in that moment. some different times throwing out that first pitch at yankee stadium. and then when he stood atop the pile here at ground zero. pete: nothing like it. will: and he said this. >> i can hear you. the rest of the world hears you. and the people. [cheers and applause] -- and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. pete: just a few days late

ari fleischer was on the laura ingraham show last night the ingraham angle and he says what we have beenis using his teleprompter. he has no communication skills because i don't think -- i think he is checked out. listen. >> i don't think they're one big comm shop, communication shop. i think they are one big teleprompter shop. without a teleprompter, where would joe biden be? he can do no communicating on his own. when he does it's almost botched and his policies backfire. i mean, this administration has just on every policy they have announced hurt the united states of america. they have helped the taliban in afghanistan. they helped russia through their energy policies. they helped people who want to come to america illegally through their border policies and now b. to hurt all americans with economic policies. forget communication, it's been a policy failure along every stage of the way. will: hard to say success beyond policy and communications. it would be really hard, i think, to lay out anything over the past -- they came in saying covid would be their major focus, right? that th