tony perkins is president of the family research council, and amy sullivan is author of the party faithful of the podcast "imply company." welcome to you both. tony, i'd love to start with you. we saw just before president trump relishing how he gets to say merry christmas and that's the way the country is going to be joining him. how important is that to you and fellow evangelicals? >> i think it's important, but from a standpoint it's emblematic of a bigger debate that's within raging in this country an that is the ability to express one's faith openly without concern, and i think the president, when he made that a campaign issue, tapped into something a lot of people just didn't understand that there were a large number of evangelicals, christians, in this country that felt increasingly uncomfortable about expressing their faith, especially at christmastime when we celebrate the birth of jesus christ, to whom, as christians, that is our lord and savior and it is a very, very important and special time of the year. >> brangham: amy, what is your take on this? >> i would think jesus would

tony perkins has been in touch with the white house about that and some of their other decorations as next. >> and give us the wisdom to be able to guide this great nation. in the future we ask in the name of the father, the son and holy spirit. amen. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful time of the year ♪ ♪ ding dong, ding dong $50 gift card for them, $10 bonus card for you. only at applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. but he hasoke up wwork to do.in. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. r mom, the nation's largest senior living referral service. for the past five years, i've spoken with hundreds of families and visited senior care communities around the country and i've got to tell you, today's senior livingnd communities are better than tever.ou, today's senior living communities are better than ever. these days, there are amazing amenities like movie theaters, texercise rooms and swimmingg pools, public cafes, bars an

tony perkins. going to tell you bited after the break. up tomorrow morning on fox 5, dr. mike is breaking down a new study about the effects of rainy weather on your joints, sh, a nte moore will perform christmas music live in the loft and a sit-down with patty labelle? that's a big show. that's a big show. >>> i'm from virginia and i wish everyone a happy my wish was a clubhouse, but we call it "the wish house." people visit national parks from all over the world. food tastes better when you don't have to cook it. he was just supposed to be my dog. i don't know why. (vo) we're proud that, on behalf of our owners, the subaru share the love event will have donated over one hundred fifteen million dollars in just ten years. on select models. plus we'll donate $250 to charity. this time of year is all about family. and we'd like you to be part of ours. so our chevy employee discount is now available to everyone. you pay what we pay. and not a cent more. we're so happy to share this with you. it's our way of saying happy holidays. and welcome

tree into jeff flock, thank you very much but i want to bring tony perkins into this.here is the back and forth, the tug-of-war within the republican party, is it better that way more win or lose with the establishment backed away until the president came out and said he is my guy and they backed away from that sentiment could play this out for me. what do you think happened? >> i don't know. a lot of things are reminiscent of the presidential election last year. a lot of people attacking the president when he was a candidate. last-minute revelations with the turnout. what happened in the presidential election was less about personality and more about policy on election day and i think that maybe what is happening in alabama where he sees stark contrast between the two candidates on issues. what has been interesting is how the life issue has come to the forefront in alabama. alabama very pro-life state. mr. jones very pro-abortion in that campaign were a more been on the pro-life side and even the president this morning tweedy now, living with pro-life issues. it's goi