is it the people that listen to rush limbaugh on the radio? is it rush limbaugh, himself, or the president who is leaning the line? >> well the president is the president. >> is he leaning? . >> he is listening. >> is he calling the shots or his listeners? this week with the shutdown, i say rush limbaugh is calling the shots. >> you factor in the mueller investigation, which is hanging in the background there. he knows if he will protect himself in 2019. >> thank you. >> he needs the conservative base. >> he needs a third of the u.s. senate plus one or he will be kicked out of office. he needs 34 senators. trump's power, that was nixon, by the way, trump's power play over wall funding may have been largely for show. the washington post reports trump's adviser acknowledges the funding may not be sure on the end, the spectacle will be remembered as proof of his met am. in fact, today, shoo radio show rush limbaugh, he should, let's watch. >> here we have somebody to shake it all up and shake it all up is exactly what's going -- this is exactly w

the somebody who decided to explain it to rush limbaugh happened to be brump who called rush limbaugh today. limbaugh went back on the radio and told them about this call from the president and said -- and then we see the president marching in lockstep with limbaugh and ann coulter and the most strident voices that claim to speak for his base. and now you see we're on the brink of a shutdown because a lot of members of the house and senate have gone home. some members of the senate may have to come back for a vote, possibly tomorrow. but there doesn't seem to be any backup plan here. so either the president and his republican allies have decided we're going to put up a good fight, stand here, make a stand, at least look like we're fighting for this and not take the short-term cr and maybe they'll sign it once this fails tomorrow right up against the deadline. but if they don't, we are looking at a shutdown, and the president has already rolled himself on this because last week in that meet with pelosi and schumer he said with all the cameras in the room, i will proudly take -- what di

that's rush limbaugh.n he's got the executive vice president in charge of retail operations and that's vladmir putin. they all want different things. he's like what do i do. i don't know what to do. that's what you're seeing here. fox news is instigators. it's not about -- they're not conservative. it's about them putting forward their power and agenda. >> if that's your analogy, i'll roll with you. i'll say that the guests on fox work down the hall at the orange julius at the mall and have even crazier ideas. on the 15-minute break, they're like wait. what about this? have you tried this? let's look at a recent clip of an alternative proposal from a fox guest to fund the wall. >> is there a private way to do this? >> you can create a go fund me operation. a lot of people are willing to chip in. one reader writes to me and says if the 63 million people contributed $80, that would get you near the 5 billion mark. the public could fund the wall. >> minor league baseball. buy some ads on it. >> exactly. let's

>> if ann coulter and rush limbaugh are any indication no.hey are saying you need to build this wall. it is what you promised, what you have said all along. even though experts always said it would make no sense to build a wall, it was much better enforced through a variety of different measures. that's the compromise democrats and republicans are talking about, redirecting the money to go into other border security efforts that make much more common cents. but is that something the base is going to accept and still say this is a victory for the president. >> jay, and bob, and abigail, thank you very much for this conversation. i appreciate it. >>> right now on deck we have democratic congressman ted lieu of california. he of course a emin of both the foreign affairs and judiciary committees. with a welcome to you, give me a sense of where things stand right now, the conversation among your colleagues today. are democrats ready to compromise on a wall, the wall? >> thank you alex for your question. let me remind american people what donald tr

is rush limbaugh the chicken or the egg here? is he telling his constituency where to go or is he listening to them? i get the sense that the hard right media are telling a president who represents 45 to 50% of the country what to do. the media can't tell 50% what to do. the media even on the hard right successful, big audience, right wing audiences at rush limbaugh's radio show, fox, the big shows, they don't represent more than 5% of the country or 10%. why is he thinking they represent the country? >> this is a president who doesn't come out of congress, has never governed until he was elected to the presidency. chris, at the capitol all last night lawmakers were telling me they thought the leadership had backed the president away from a shutdown, that it could have some kind of short-term compromise and live to fight another day next year over a border wall but the president listening to limbaugh, watching fox news both at night and in the morning, he's trying to tweet to signal to his base, don't break with me. it was not on

and world markets you and i tend to typecast a topic like this is more of a c n b c story than a rush limbaugh story how did this cross over. oh it crosses over because donald trump who is the epicenter of all conversation has made the successes that the stock market has enjoyed during his first two years his own so every movement of the stock market has become politically charged and is used as a weapon for or against trump depending upon which side you happen to be so it's been playing out on talk radio is a major topic every time the stock market hiccups it's all about donald trump of similar appeal twenty eight teams number eight story of the usa china trade war and number seven is no surprise the stormy daniels case michael true or false this story is now closer to the end than the beginning. well i think it is but who knows the the michael cohen connection to that story. ties into the mole or investigation and therefore it has a whole political aspect to it that takes it beyond just scandal it now involves the law and legality we're talking with talkers magazine publisher and w.-o. r.-k.

talking about ann koucoulter an rush limbaugh. >> and laura ingram. no doubt that's their shutdown and makes it more difficult to resolve. wouldn't be having it without this pressure from the right. but i want to say the human cost, 800,000 federal employees and contractors involved who over christmas holiday won't get paid. lot going paycheck to paycheck. >> we did a fact check, there's a delay in processing, still get paychecks over holiday but not down the line if there is a shutdown. >> get the paychecks for the previous period but not for this time. for a lot of them already made commitments based on what they expect will happen. contractor for the federal government, may not get the money back down the road. almost guaranteed for federal employees. one other point i would make here. lot of people are going to be disrupted by this. tsa is one of the agencies that probably not going to have people furloughed but won't be in very good mood over the holidays and irs which will be pretty much shut down f this goes into january, cause enormous disrupt

is whistling, rush limbaugh host of the rush limbaugh so show.ood to have you with this tonight. >> pleasure to be with you, thanks for having me. >> last time we talked about a couple headlines including one from the ap that had to be reworked and others with an immediate negative reaction, president bush 41, and in coming days we see a lot of finding and talking about bipartisanship, a different kind of republican. what is that all about? >> it is phony. they never treated him this way when he was president, they were vicious to him like they are vicious and partisan to every republican. it is just a vehicle to be able to contrast what they think trump is versus the way they are telling us bush was. they never treated george w. bush this way or george hw bush this way. they had just as much animus for bush 41 and bush 43 as they do trump for different reasons but since the current objective is to get rid of donald trump however they can do it, driving down public opinion or mueller's report and impeachment, anything they can do to contrast trum

i mean, we have an am has been like rush limbaugh dictating the federal government.bad times. and so the question is, right. this is real world. but it's really for the republican party. they are marching -- trump and fox are marching the republican party into a dead end. this wall is never going to be built, period. the entire republican party knows that. there aren't two republican senators who care about this wall and yet here we are. a, we have to remember trump got beat up a little bit last week over syria. fox news hit him kind of hard for that withdrawal. there was no way he was going to suffer two backlashes of fox news. the big question is why is the right wing media so influential over trump? a, he's a massive consumer. he's up in his residency, he doesn't come down, he has no friends, he has no close adviso advisors. b, he is a hollow, vacuous man. this is why we're in such a dead end. the republican party, this is a suicide pact. the wall, the government shutdown and all of it, but fox news runs it all. >> e.j., in your book, you talk about barry goldwate

a sudden change of heart on friday after withering criticism from the likes of ann culture and rush limbaugh who were excoriating him for backing down. we saw that dramatic footage in the driveway. quickly backtracking back to square one. that's where we are this morning with no sign of a breakthrough in sight, alex. >> all right. let's take a listen to outgoing house majority leader kevin mccarthy. here's what he had to say about this. >> we talked to the president. we needed more criminal justice bill signing. he was hopeful we could find common ground. schumer has changed his position for a weeking a. he's trying to make it critical, and i don't believe the american people should have to be put through that. he shut the government down before. he knew that didn't play out well. >> pointing a finger there at senator schumer, but isn't it really the president that's the wild-card in these negotiations. >> yeah, alex. this is sort of the dog and pony show. we can pretty much map out how this is going to go until one side blinks. the fact of the matter is the democrats much earlier this year,

is it because of the ann coulter and rush limbaughs calling him out? >> some of the democrats want the fight too. you can say the ann coulters of the world are controlling the republican party, but the democrats are controlled by many far left interests, alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> does she hold office yet? >> she's clearly a leader of a committee. >> wait a minute. >> she's outspoken. she's not a leader. she ee's outspoken. >> she's on their all the time. >> no. is that a problem? >> yes. medicare for all is a problem because it's socialism. >> i don't have time for that right now. how does this play out? >> the wall will not be funded. it will go to the house in january and go to another c.r. which will allow for another year or two your. how about you, brian? how do you see this playing out? >> unfortunately, yes. >> they could negotiate and get this done possibly as early as the next few days. i bet they cut a deal. >> what kind of deal? something closer to $5 billion funding -- come to some sort of agreement and everybody will be able to go home

even rush limbaugh, one of the biggest supporters of the president, said it was a trump shutdown, that he caused it. he said said, quote -- this is limbaugh speaking -- the president wants you to know it's money for the wall or nothing. and if it's nothing, he shuts it down. just two days ago the senate unanimously agreed to a proposal by leader mcconnell to keep the government open through february. it wasn't exactly what democrats wanted. we thought it should be longer but we agreed because we wanted to keep the government open. and all indications were that the president would sign the bill. but president trump, beholden to the far, far right, unwilling to shoulder even the slightest critique from rush limbaugh or laura ingraham changed his mind on the bipartisan senate bill passed unanimously by all republicans and all democrats in this chamber, and he sent his house allies off to tilt at windmills. everyone knew yesterday long before the house vote that the president's wall lacked 60 votes in the senate. it has proven to lack even 50 votes. it will never pass the senate, not today

rush limbaugh and ann coulter speak to those folks.ing in which he will never seem to realize is that he is president of the united states, and there are 70% of the rest of the country that is not in agreement with him that border funding should be a priority, enough to close the border. that was just in a poll released, and 79% of the american people say this is not a priority, not enough to shut down the government. the president has never really represented himself as the president of everyone, and it always has been about his base. and this is now, i think, going to be even more amplified as we go into the 2020 election season, and the president is facing a divided government in congress. he's never been interested in legislating things to get done or governing like a normal president, and it's always been about him and what "fox & friends" say every day, and it's never really been about actual good policy and governing, really. >> as you set that up and we move into next week this new congress, and what i noticed, the president is

rush limbaugh, anne coulter for one thing. a look at their influence on the president ahead in the cnn newsrooa look at their influence newsroonewsroom. be a wall christmas calm christmas. calm by this white house indications. he compromised a resolution to keep the government funded. then bob corker believes trump reportedly turned his ear to these people, conservative anne coulter and rush limburg, warning trump caving in on his wall, essentially saying backing down would ruin his presidency. >> they're about to have a country where no republican will ever be elected president again. trump will just have been a joke presidency that scammed the american people, engaged the, you know, accused the populous for a while. he will have no legacy whatsoever. >> textbook example of what the drive by media calls compromise, trump gets nothing the democrats get everything, including control of the house in a few short weeks. >> senator corker telling reporters after trump's flip-flopper, quote, we have two talk radio hosts who influenc

the author of the best-selling book "has risen," rush limbaugh and emily compagno.e, i will go to you first. you notice how he had to get the pc a talking point in there? christmas, it's the holiday season for them to but isn't this just another disingenuous argument? they cite religion when it is convenient but when it comes to social issues, they attacked disingenuously? >> the interesting thing about this is none of these people are advocating for life from conception. while these abortions that take place, they completely decimated my community. in the story of, he died for our sins. he was born for our sins, and to -- speak out the congressman missed a few details. >> he obviously doesn't read the bible, he is using it for his political agenda. >> dan: david no better person to have on because of your book but, what's disingenuous is the use of religion convenient conr democrats and also the compassion angle he thinks he's trying to take and he ignores the fact that the united states has been the most generous country on earth, we just ask that you come legally

rush limbaugh. we have two radio show hosts who influence the president.ut sized amount of control and influence here. >> right. the president chose to listen to them. it's ludicrous. the president's base would not have deserted him if he kept quiet and signed the cr the senate passed by a vote 36 hours ago. this is entirely trump. we can say i think he did react to ann coulter and those people. they can say what they want but i blame trump. i'm against this -- it's nice that bob corker to say that, the tyranny of the talk show. it's the irresponsibility of the president of the united states. >> merry christmas, guys. >> merry christmas. >> i hope it's a good one. see you next year. hopefully something else in 2019. >> calm before the storm. > >> exactly. we'll see what happens. >>> up next, robert mueller probably has them. democrats want them and the public might see donald trump's tax returns. stay with us. see donald trump' tax returns. stay with us breathe freely fast, with vicks sinex. my congestion's gone. i can breathe again! ahhhh i can breathe ag

shots, like we -- it's not an overstatement to say we are in a government shutdown now because rush limbaugh, ann coulter and fox news were upset the president didn't get his wall. >> we had a deal, and as soon as the ann coulters and rush limb balks went enplektic over it, donald trump changed. if he loses any part of his coalition he has left, it's over for him. >> betsy, that's the way he's thinking about it. but i also think it's a broader phenomena, republicans are just much more scared of their base than democrats. partly that's the media environment. there was reporting about the last shutdown, and republicans weren't worried because their base doesn't believe any of it any way. but what they are scared of is their base and the media environment that their base listens to. >> i think that's accurate. another piece of this that's important is the way the shutdown played out points to the ascent of very conservative house republicans having the president's ear. i remember representatives mark meadows and jim jordan were out front loud and clear saying the president would be, you know, b

then there was a lot of pushback from the members of the conservative community, rush limbaugh, anne coulter and others. democrats see that and they say no, we're not going to end up appeasing this base or trying to at least reach a compromise on this because, in their view, there doesn't need to be a wall. there's border security at the border already. the bipartisan point of this is that border security needs to be improved, but they don't want to appropriate a huge amount of money for a wall when they say that there's already enough structure down there. it isn't semantics. i would say on principal, democrats aren't backing down on this. once pelosi and the house democrats take the majority next month, we'll see them attempt to turn this around quickly. >> just briefly, something else you said, you mentioned ann coulter, rush limbaugh, do we now have the conservative pundits driving policy? >> absolutely. >> i would say. you saw conservatives really lobby for this. it's no secret that when conservatives want to get a message across to president trump, they go on fox news. we saw t

the one and only rush limbaugh joined us to discuss his memories of george h.w. bush, the media's schizophrenic coverage of it and why president obama might be offended. good evening, we became tonight with the breaking developments as special counsel robert mueller's probe with chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge. good evening. >> according to the sentencing memo, the special counsel is recommending no jail time for us for flynn based on his substantial cooperation including 19 interviews and documents and communications that he provided. the special counsel says flynn has cooperated on multiple investigations concerning any links or coordinations between the russian government and trim campaign as well as the trump transition team although they offer no specifics. also, starting sensitive information about ongoing investigations, sections of the documents are heavily blacked out or redacted, but here's one of the key quotes. it reads, the defendant began providing information to the government not long after the government first saw his cooperat

, from the flushal organization -- rush, from the national organization of women talking about rush limbaugh. we have a very large gathering from the black panthers, where mission, about their with the issues were, what they were trying to create, and we also have other materials relating to civil rights. this small pamphlet here that was produced by the student nonviolent coordinating committee. 1960's, and the black panthers are from the 1960's as well and they go to the early 1970's. this is a manuscript collection that we acquired from a woman named phyllis johnson. she was a very conservative person who lived in california. the minuteember of women of the united states. they call themselves a nonpartisan organization. they united to combat communism, socialism, fascism, or collectivism in america. this is one of the newer parts of the wilcox collection that we have acquired. do-it-yourself publications that people creates around an issue or a part of their lives. they might even talk about their feelings about different issues like bullying or things like that. the advantages are that y

then you heard about fox news and rush limbaugh saying the president wasaving. there's a tyranny of the white wing driving this president. he's listening to the conservative voices me than voices that are associated with him in congress. ann coulter has more of an impact. mitch mcconnell has gotten through what he could do on legs. and yet, when annri coulter as tough column saying the president has failed in his most signature campaign promise. and this his most signature campaign promise, he getsorked about it. he unfollows her. but is following her in terms of his policy priorities at the moment. he getshery sensitive w this. you hear former aides and currayt aides talk about the to shape his thinking is to make sure you get your people out on fox news to describe what is going on. and they didn't do they didn't get their side out on fox news for them toear. >> but i wonder is that the story with president trump? tantly evel he's cons listening to the right-wing? but they passedrinal justice reform bill. what's the rl story in the divided government? >> those

> frank, i want you to see a video clip about a very interesting message that was left for one rush limbaugh it. >> i get this direct message, you tell rush that if there's no money in this, it's getting vetoed. if there's no money, if there's no money for a wall, i'm vetoing this, plain and simple. this was the message that i just got. >> frank, i don't think we would be in a partial government shutdown at this particular moment without those voices like rush's on the right. am i wrong? >> no, i don't think you're wrong at all. look, donald trump is a media president, a media creation. this is his background, this is how he got his microphone and his camera. he never met either of which he didn't like as a candidate. that's how he rose to prominence. he has had this kind of relationship with the conservative media, breitbart, limbaugh, fox for a very long time. when and if they turn on him, it's cataclysmic. it's who he listens to. that's the whisper in his ear, not a whisper a lot of times but a shout. and it's who his base listens to and follows. if anything, as we've seen through the tru

even rush limbaugh, one of the biggest supporters of the president, said it was a trump shutdown, thatd, quote, this is limbaugh speaking, the president wants you to know it's money for the wall or nothing, and if it's nothing, he shuts it down. just two days ago the senate unanimously agreed to a proposal by leader mcconnell to keep the government open through february. it wasn't exactly what democrats wanted. we thought it should be longer, but we agreed because we wanted to keep the government open, and all indications were that the president would sign the bill, but president trump beholden to the far, far right unwilling to shoulder even the slightest critique from rush limbaugh or laura ingraham changed his mind on the bipartisan senate bill passed unanimously by all republicans and all democrats in this chamber, and he sent his house allies off to tilt at windmills. everyone knew yesterday long before the house vote that the president's wall lacked 60 votes in the senate. it is proven to lack even 50 votes. it will never pass the senate, not today, not next week, not next year.

and on the looming government shutdown you have radio talk show host rush limbaugh bragging today thatthe president to shut the government down. now, whether he's just bragging -- he's a bit of a blowhard. whether he was just bragging or that's true, that's the kind of person who -- that's the kind of clown who has influence on this president. and i think the question tonight is the same as it always is when we're in these chaotic situations. it's not so much about trump. it's what do other republicans do and say about this? people who can actually have some influence. trump will never change. but you know, the grownups in the republican party if there are any left really, really need to step up because things can always get worse tomorrow. >> well, let's talk to a republican now. and a grownup. so scott, you're pretty straight with me on this show. are you concerned about the direction that this president is -- where he is at this point? >> yeah, i am. i think it's been a pretty rough period since the midterm. he's got a lot of balls in the air right now, and not just from a policy pe

as you will find out in second he had to listen to rush limbaugh's radio show to get information. . reporter: new info on rush. you say it is changing second to second. it pretty much is. the president is following through on a threat he first mentioned last week meeting with nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. the president says if he doesn't get $5 billion for border wall, border security he would shut down the government. the president right now appears to be heading down that line. that was last week. last night up on capitol hill, the senate passed a stopgap spending measure at that would keep the government fully funded through february 8th, seven weeks from tomorrow. that was then. headed into the house. it seemed to be on a glide path to the president's desk. however, earlier today many republicans within the house said they simply could not stomach the possibility of yet again signing something that didn't include border wall funding. there was meeting at the white house. a dozen or so republicans with president trump, including republican leadership and paul ryan and kevin mc

>> shannon: in the midst of the shutdown showdown, rush limbaugh had a message for likely soon to be pelosi. >> donald trump blindsided the swamp yesterday, he put the democrats in the position here. their only retort to this is, i can't believe 400,000 federal workers are going to miss their paychecks at christmas. >> shannon: let's do it tonight's power panel think about. fox news contributor doug schoen. chairman of the american conservative union matt schlapp, daily caller white house correspondent saagar enjeti. matt, i will start with you, your reaction to where we are. at less than 20 minutes away from us another >> it is a very simple thing, we have chaos of n border, the democrats believe having basically an open border at the southern border is good politics for them. people can come there illegally, count to ten mississippi, and the next thing you know, they are asking for amnesty for those who came illegally. they think that pays off at the ballot box. most americans with common sense on this issue and to support legal immigration, over a million green cards a year, belie

heard something from rush limbaugh.nd he changed his mind and sadly, really sadly, the entire republican congressional caucus in the house and the senate kind of caved in to him. and it is a heck of a way to run a government when you have a president who sees something on television, tweets out his view and you have both the republican bodies and the house and the senate cave in to. >> so the figure in that measure that was passed, the senate was $1.6 billion. from the democrats' perspective, are you or others willing to go any higher? >> look, i think the wall is an absurd idea. i think it is a waste of money. i think it fans trump's illusions. no, i will not support $5 billion or money for a wall. everybody and i think he lies on this as well as everything else. highs when he suggests that democrats or progressives are not determined about border security. of course we are. everybody is concerned about border security. if you want to do it intelligently and cost effectively, you don't get to a wall. there are much bet

and maybe ann coulter and rush limbaugh is doing that job.ds to be propped up, to be told what to do. by people he admires. >> we have entered a very uncertain period. thanks to all of you. one potential 2020 candidate is so confident in his possible campaign platform that he says he does not need to consult can strategists and pollsters. take a guess. s: 74% italian. ...and i found out that i'm from the big toe of that sexy italian boot! so this holiday season it's ancestrydna per tutti! order your kit now at ancestry.com for each job exxonmobil creates, many more are created in the community. because energy touches so many industries, it supports 10 million u.s. jobs. the biggest streaming collection of british telly ever. enjoy loved classics from the bbc & itv, and discover exclusive new shows fresh from the uk. and with a britbox annual gift subscription, a year of joy comes with two months free-it's the brits that keep on giving! this holiday, indulge in some great british telly. give the gift of britbox today, at britbox.com >>> forget

bob corker said rush limbaugh is in control of the government. we have two talk radio hosts that influence the president. that's tyranny isn't it. talking about ann colter and rush limbaugh. >> don't forget laura ingram. >> yeah. >> there's little doubt this is a trump, limbaugh, colter, ingram shutdown and that makes it more difficult to resolve and we wouldn't be having it if there wasn't this pressure from the right. one thing i want to say is the human cost of this. there's 800,000 federal employees and a lot of of contractors involved here who over the christmas holiday aren't bgoing to get paid. >> there's going to be a delay in -- there's a delay in the processing of paychecks. so they'll still get their paycheck over the holiday break, we have been told, but they will get the paycheck down the line. >> they'll get their paychecks for the previous period, but not for this time. but for a lot of them, this he have already made commitments based on what they expect will happen. and if you are a contractor for the federal government you may n

we learned that donald trump is more influenced by a fool and infotainer like rush limbaugh than he isal like mattis and republicans on the hill need to decide are they going to be the party of fools like rush limbaugh or mattis and that's what they are staring at over the next few days and months. >> thank you, all. i appreciate your time. >>> we've got a lot more on today's bombshell news. fareed zakaria tells us why mattis's resignation is such a critical moment for our country. i'm going to speak with the incoming chair of the house foreign affairs committee as well. from whole blends. blended with purpose, for hair that hates humidity. with rich coconut oil, a legendary smoother, and cocoa butter known to soften. as a whole blend, it nourishes for 24-hour frizz control. blended makes us better. whole blends. for a limited time, $50 for them $10 for you. applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. ♪ can you feel it put a smile on everyone's face this holiday with great gifts from amazon. with low prices and fast, free delivery with prime. ♪ can you feel it for everythin

they're talking about rush limbaugh of course. we have almost the complete run of the black panther newspaper. we also have a very large gathering of afem ora from the black panthers where they -- they talk about their mission, what the issues were, what they were trying to create and then we also have other materials relating to civil rights. so there is this small pamphlet here produced by the student nonviolent coordinating committee, snic. and these black panthers are from the 60s and go up into the early 70s. this is a manuscript collection that we acquired from a woman named phyllis johnson. she was a very conservative person who lived in california. she was a member of the minute women of the united states. the minute women called themselves a nonpartisan organization united to combat communism, socialism, fascism or collectiveism in america. this is one of the newer parts of the wilcox collection that we've acquired. these are zenes which are do it yourself publications that people create around a issue or a part of their

then fox news, and the right wing media, rush limbaugh started criticizing. ego was bruised, he reversed course is on what he agreed to. here we are. exactly where the president wanted to be. in the middle of a trump shut down. anyone doubting where the responsibility lies, the president has publicly called for a government shutdown how many times over the past year? no fewer than 25 times. just last week he declared he would be proud to shut down the government. unless we capitulate to his demands. president -- this is one of the most reckless statements i've ever heard uttered by a president of the united states. begun.mp shut down has how long will it last? who knows. yesterday, the president promised us it would last a long time. then he promised us it would be a short shutdown. even this, his behavior is erratic. this is a legitimate crisis, precipitating a shutdown. is the president playing games with the livelihood of american citizens. in caving to the most extreme base, president trump is throwing what many have described as a childish tantrum. fulfi

but he'll have no legacy whatsoever. >> laura engram, rush limbaugh, anne colter.ongressman, what do you have to say about that? >> it sounds like a lot of bad karma washing up on the president's shore. because he told the american people he was going to get this wall built. he told his base that that was going to happen, that it was going to solve all of the immigration problems, all of the challenges with security was going to be solved by the wall. and hen he told them that mexico was going to pay for it. so he's dealing with the promises that he made, and he's not keeping now and that's the reaction that i would expect from those people that have made a career off of making sure that our country gets ground to a halt through the legislative process. >> is it not strange, though, that conservatives who probably would find it hard to find $5 billion in the budget for something, given the promise was mexico would pay for the wall and that part of the promise is not coming true, you as democrats want border security but you don't have to do it the way the president

if he's still listening to president rush limbaugh. oh, i mean, radio talk show rush limbaugh. >> 2019 starting with a presidential override to open the government would be startling. thank you for your time. >>> nick akerman, former assistant special watergate prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. i wanted to talk to you partly because -- i deleted twitter off my phone for the holidays. a little gift i give myself. but to the extent i was reading back in today the president sort of alone stewing in this kind of empty white house. when you read the inside accounts as nixon's presidency is going down the tubes and the sort of alienation, increasing isolation, he also was drinking a lot, which this president doesn't do, i felt a profound resonance. >> very much the same. nixon really kept to himself. he wound up sitting in front of the fire and kind of ruminating. to the point where his secretary of defense was so concerned that there was an alert to go out to not take any of nixon's orders if he were to ask them to basically release any o

unfortunately, then rush limbaugh and ann coulter and others on fox, especially fox and friends, started criticizing the president. and then on thursday morning, president trump -- stop if you heard this before -- flipped on a dime, changed his mind, and decided he would shut down the government mostly because he didn't like the way he was being criticized on the far right. that's why we are here right now. that means 800 thousand federal employees are working and not getting paid just a couple days before christmas. it is a disgrace. >> do you have any guesstimate as to when you will be called back to have a vote, given that 24-hour notice. >> no. >> not at you will a? >> i don't. >> any hope? >> none whatsoever. anyone who says that they do know i think is exaggerating or delewding themselves. even at this moment from our report we know that the president is having lunch over at the white house. but he is only meeting with hard liners who happen to have exactly his position when it comes to the border wall. that's not what's going to get it done. >> yeah. >> i was struck by the fact --

coming up, rush limbaugh breaks down why democrats owned their shutdown. stay with us. ♪ your home improvement "to-do list" still isn't "to-done". but hey, at least you still have time to get the ford vehicle you've always wanted. just get to the final days of our holiday sales event. see you sometime between now and january 2nd. so you can end your year on a high note. ford. built for the holidays. it's time to get our best offers of the season. ♪ >> jason: welcome back to the special edition of "hannity." in spite of opposition from the white house establishment, president trump is determined to find the wall in our southern border. during today's trip to iraq he said that the government shutdown while not end without an agreement on border security that includes the wall. watch this. >> we are going to have a wall, we are going to have safety. we need safety for our country, even from the standpoint. we have terrorists coming in through the southern border. folks are saying, can we have some drones? and we have technology? technology's bells and whistle

then fox news, and the right-wing media, rush limbaugh started criticizing. out overident's ego won u his duties to the country. bruised he so reversed course and went back on what he had agreed to. here we are, exactly where the president wanted to be, in the middle of a trunk shut down. where the doubting , thensibility lies president has a booklet called for a government shutdown. how -- has publicly called for a government shutdown. how many times over the past year? no fewer than 25 times. last week he declared he would be proud to shut down the government unless we capitulate to his demands. proud? agree -- it is one of the most reckless statements i have ever heard uttered by a president of the united states. and now he has made good on his threat and the trump shutdown has begun. how long is it going to last? who knows? yesterday the president promised it would last a long time. today he promised it would be a short shutdown. even in this his behavior is erratic. is there a legitimate crises precipitating the shutdown? is the president playing games w

like rush limbaugh said, not until january 3rd, they have no incentive.y want to make a power play here. but it's the individuals that the coalition groups continue to put the pressure on the democrats, we continue to make the case, i like what congressman duffy said. if president trump gets in front of the cameras and does an address to the country, stating very important, we could see some movement and certainly some changes. >> jason: ronna and gianno, thank you s very much. i think you are right. i think sean duffy's comments were spot on and the president needs to talk specifically about what is happening and why it is so important to secure t the border.wh while president trumpmp remained steadfast on a plan for the southern border wall, the health situation there continues to be a serious issue. u.s. customs and border patrol protection will now perform medical checks on every child ih its custody after an 8-year-old boy from guatemala died in cbp custody. this tragic death came after two separate trips to the hospital for what was initially believ

news to see that cnn had tapped into the market of cable news but also to see the success and rush limbaugh big time conservative radio host in 1988 he went national almost overnight he had 20 million listeners per week late eighties early nineties was an absolute sensation in newt gingrich and him were working in tandem that newt was on capitol hill touting a message and rush was amplifying that on the radio rush was such a phenomenon now is to a tv show the producer in the early 19 nineties was roger ailes so he took this talk radio phenomenon brought it to television the syndicated rush limbaugh show for five years in the early nineties it lasted with a model of cnn that was created and roger ailes put all of those together and said there is a huge market for people who are interested in political news and current events and they are hostile to cnn abc nbc needs to the mainstream. there is a market there for the cable news channel to serve that audience and now roger ailes with the slogan fair and balanced it was telling that audience it was very into politics and current events with tha

i mean first i'm on bundy now cabin on roberts what is this world coming to was rush limbaugh suddenly going to be headlining the women's march how wow keeps on like this we might no longer need to be watching the honks. that's like. it's like. at the bottom. like you that i got. which we. would. welcome aboard the watching i robot and i'm to have a listen joining us today to. discuss the political protests still happening in france and the recent unexpected decisions by justice roberts and cabinets our favorite conservative commentator stephen. good good bye i don't think those hats would fit russia that well you know dan i don't think i'm going to collar for em. so steve you know say what we will about the actions of the protestors some will say they're terrible some will say protest whatever but isn't this kind of one rest of the country like france a long time coming especially after the implementation of you know a real hardcore real liberal policy under mccrone economically i mean look he's only been a presence since twenty seventeen but let's not forget he was also the minister

but then fox news and the right-wing media, rush limbaugh started criticizing. the president's ego won out over his duties to the country. his ego is so bruised, he reversed courses. he went back on what he agreed to and here we are, exactly where the president wanted to be, in the middle of a trump shutdown. and for anyone doubting where responsibility lies, let's recall the president has publicly called for a government shutdown. how many times over the past year? no fewer than 25 times. just last week he declared he'd be proud to shut down the government unless we capitulate to his demands. proud? i've been here with every president, republican and democrat, since president gerald ford. it's one of the most reckless statements i've ever heard uttered by a president of the united states. and now he's made good on his threat. his pride has won out and the trump shutdown has begun. how long is it going to last? who knows? yesterday the president promised us it would last a long time. then he promised it could be a short shutdown. even this is behavior that is er

." >> yes, so he's paying attention to rush limbaugh andain colter and laura ingraham and the fact they could be running national policy and that he sits in his bedroom tweeting, it's really -- it's unworthy of this country. and i think jim mattis is a man of high moral character and great intelligence and with respect for tradition and his -- the contrast with trump -- you never know what the event is that will set things really spiraling out of control. but i do think his departure combined with irrational government shutdown, the tumbling of the stock market could finally begin to unmoor some of the republicans. i'm waiting for the goldwater moment with the water grate reference when the senior republican leaders went to richard nixon and said it was over. we're not there yet. but, boy, this sure feels like the wheels are coming off -- >> the wheel is coming off has been repeated because it feels like it. it feels like part of what is happening. >> right. >> you are in washington. what i have to ask you is should it have to get that bad for that to happen? >> the mechanisms that we h

will rush limbaugh be seen with him hwhen he's down there? >> yes. >> maybe he'll be mad. that's all we have tonight. remember if it's sunday it's "meet the press." i'll be speaking with dick durbin. coverage continues. "the beat" with ari melber. i got the announcement of an announcement of a deal to have a deal to create the process to create a process for the deal. maybe you can figure out another version of this. >> i don't know if i can figure it out but i think you're on the right path of the narration of it which is a lot of complication for what still looks like are you keeping it open or not? we have a lot tonight. what is your tip for how to understand what's real as the night goes on and the shutdown looms? >> i guess how does the president cave without l

>> i think you have to make a deal with rush limbaugh and laura ingram.he listens to and he won't agree to a deal unless they agree to it. the optics of hawaii aren't great, but hawaii is in a great state. she's in america and she's in one of our great 50 states. >> i want to ask you about kellyanne conway defending the position of laying the blame of the deaths of two migrant children and blaming the democrats. what do you make of that? >> that's absurd. they would have left the oppression and the lack of opportunity that they had in guatemala whether or not there was a border security or not. if they came up, they should have had healthy facilities. the child that most recently died, i read, had the flu. and a better response would have been that the flu kills tens of thousands of people every year. people don't realize how deadly the flu can be and is and that people should get vaccinated. but the problem is they bellied up to the anti-vaccers and they're afraid to tell people, get your child vaccinated, this is the reason this child died. they could h

this, we passed this, it was a unanimous vote, here you've got this, and then all of a sudden rush limbaughtarts criticizing and ann coulter calls him gutless and all of a sudden he flips and changes his mind. does that bother you? >> i hope he's not taking his advice from ann coulter. i do agree with her sometimes, not 100%. again, this is something he campaigned on and he made a promise he is going to stick to it. what i find more disturbing is the fact that you have somebody like chuck schumer who has voted for funding in the past, multiple times, and we don't seem to hear what the alternatives are, if they're just against a wall, is it because president trump wants the wall, do they just want portions of the wall? do they just want more bodies at the border? do they want to have more -- what do you call it -- drones in the sky? they're not giving us options. >> so, reena, did the president buy himself some political ka capital here by saying, i'm fighting for what i cam poindpa on, i made a fight for this and i'm not backing down. if he did not battle over this, the prospect of keeping