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LOU DOBBS, HOST: Good evening, everybody.
What will be the Trump administration is now taking shape with a historic number of appointments, the president-elect announcing three more top-level positions, filling his administration today with primarily national security and law enforcement advisers, Trump tapping Senator Jeff Sessions to be the country's attorney general, one of the earliest and most enthusiastic of all elected officials to endorse Donald Trump, Congressman and House Intelligence Committee member Mike Pompeo selected to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, and retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn to serve as the national security adviser to the president.
The left-wing national media, of course, that has been criticizing the Trump transition team for days now silent as the team moves with great speed in these appointments. Donald Trump has now made five appointments in under two weeks, Vice President-elect Governor Mike Pence touting Trump's decisive action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: It's great working with the president-elect. He is a man of action. We've got a great number of men and women, great qualifications, come forward to serve this new administration. And I'm just humbled to be part of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: And we'll be discussing the cabinet selection process and Trump's potential future choices. Among my guests tonight, former Trump campaign manager, now a senior adviser on the transition team, Kellyanne Conway. Also with us, executive editor of The Weekly Standard Fred Barnes, former Clinton adviser Doug Schoen.
And we're following Mr. Trump today as he moves the transition meetings from the Trump Tower in Manhattan to Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, Trump scheduled to meet tomorrow afternoon with one of his biggest critics through the campaign, Mitt Romney. They'll be talking about, apparently, a potential secretary of state position, and I'm sure much else, Trump also said to have a strong interest in having a former general run the Pentagon. meeting with retired Marine general James Mattis tomorrow, as well.
One general also under consideration will join me here tonight. We'll be talking with retired Army general Jack Keane. He met with Trump yesterday.
And Trump already affecting change on the economic front. We'll be talking about Ford Motor's decision not to move one of their Kentucky plants and the jobs therein to Mexico.
Our top story tonight, President-elect Trump making three critical appointments today, as I said, Senator Jeff Sessions selected by the president-elect to become attorney general. Sessions has a distinguished legal career. He served as both U.S. attorney and state attorney general, but some in the left-wing national media recycling 30-year-old negative charges.
Let's take a look at Sessions's record. As U.S. attorney, Sessions filed a number of desegregation lawsuits in Alabama. He voted in favor of the 30- year extension of the Civil Rights Act. Sessions also voted to confirm Attorney General Eric Holder, even spearheaded the efforts to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Rosa Parks.
The president-elect chose Congressman Mike Pompeo to be his director of CIA. He is a former active duty cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He graduated first in his class at West Point, a Harvard law school graduate. Pompeo currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee, is a fierce critic of the Iran nuclear deal.
Lieutenant General Michael Flynn selected to serve as the assistant to the president for national security affairs, national security adviser. Flynn has served in many military intelligence posts throughout his 33-year military career, including as director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and intelligence adviser to General Stanley McChrystal in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2012, he was appointed to run to the Defense Intelligence Agency.
And today, we've just learned that Donald Trump is considering retired general David Petraeus for a senior post in the administration, including, we're told, possibly as defense secretary.
Joining me now, the first woman to run a winning presidential campaign in the history of this country, senior adviser on the Trump transition team, Kellyanne Conway. And I get to say first things first. Congratulations...
KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP TRANSITION SENIOR ADVISER: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: ... on a wonderful, wonderful campaign and result.
CONWAY: Well, thank you. Winning certainly finishes a lot of sentences (ph). It solves a lot of problems. And I just want to say that Donald Trump and Mike Pence were phenomenal candidates. And candidates matter.
And I'm -- particularly -- people always say -- they stop me in the street constantly. They want to take pictures. They want to talk about the election. And they say, I'm so happy for you, and I immediately tell them all the same thing, I'm so happy for the country. And I truly am.
DOBBS: Yes, I get to say amen. It's quite a wondrous moment. As I was kidding with some of my colleagues, but to me the grass is a little greener, the air a little fresher, the water a little...
CONWAY: Well, Mother Nature stepped (ph) the election result because it's 65 degrees outside in New York City a week before Thanksgiving.
DOBBS: Well, and these appointments are -- I have to say, I think they're -- they're --
CONWAY: Solid.
DOBBS: ... brilliant, absolutely brilliant, and starting, if I may, with Jeff Sessions, who I've got a long-term friendship with, who I think is a magnificent historical figure in his own right, to come in and to be able to be attorney general for this president is a great thing for the country.
CONWAY: It's a great thing for the country. And Jeff Sessions, of course, will be vilified and criticized by the left. But they won't like anybody as a nominee who's not one of their folks. They're still trying to relitigate the election and not accept the results.
But Jeff Sessions spent, what, 15 years as a federal prosecutor, U.S. attorney, prosecuted bad guys in Alabama, certainly. And people should go look up the record. And then as a United States senator, reelected by enormous margins, not even opposed, the only person not opposed in a primary or a general election in 2014, which means if the Democrats had had a problem with him before, they would have run someone against him.
All of a sudden, it's a problem because he's -- he's Donald Trump's nominee for the AG. I know Jeff Sessions very well. I worked with him when he was a legislator in the Senate on things like immigration reform and others, and I've worked with him very closely during this campaign. He's A-plus, and he's there because he's qualified for the job and he's capable of doing it on day one.
DOBBS: And General Flynn, national security adviser, Mike -- Congressman Mike Pompeo for CIA director. I mean, these are just, as you say, solid -- I think they are just terrific choices for the president.
CONWAY: They're fabulous choices, Lou, and our landing teams on transition also went into -- has -- has arrived at those particular departments also. So we feel like everything's going very well with respect to national security.
Also, I know the left is upset because the national security and counter- terrorism measures in the Obama doctrine, as it were, is about to be challenged significantly by these three leaders if they're confirmed and by President-elect Donald Trump. I mean, people don't feel as safe. They feel that we're not as tough abroad.
DOBBS: You know, I know the left has had, it seemed at times, some great fun in attacking Donald Trump and attacking nearly every Republican or conservative...
CONWAY: And personal.
DOBBS: ... and very personal...
CONWAY: Yes, personal.
DOBBS: ... and ugly, very nasty. And yet it continues with him as president-elect, the people's choice, the man who will be leading this nation. And it's clear they're not backing off one whit. And there's got to be a response! I mean, the national liberal media has been arrayed and aligned against the president-elect from the very beginning. There has to be a solution here!
CONWAY: Well, I think the solution was winning because part of the victory was a pushback on the sort of lemming-like pounce on Donald Trump. The arguments against him were -- the attacks were vicious, they were personal, they were hyper-partisan.
And I think some people used words that are actually not your garden variety punditry on a TV show, but really had legal meaning attached to them, really had, I believe, a way of characterizing him that's not only inaccurate but was truly beyond the pale. And if anybody had said that about Hillary Clinton, you would have heard about it. But look...
DOBBS: Yes, the...
CONWAY: ... this whole political correctness lost big league, as Donald Trump would say, on election day. And I think that had a lot to do with his overall messaging.
DOBBS: You know, I'm partially kidding when I say the grass is greener, the sky is bluer.
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: ... I'm walking on sunshine.
DOBBS: There is a -- as you well should. There is a different feel already...
CONWAY: Yes.
DOBBS: ... in this country, which by the way, is 7-1 registered Democrat over Republican. So this is quite a test for the city of New York. There is a positive feeling. There is an optimism. We're talking 10 days since his election!
CONWAY: No, it's true.
DOBBS: And it's palpable!
CONWAY: I see lots of people seem to already be here in the city for Thanksgiving break (INAUDIBLE) And I ask them when they stop me, Where are you from? What's your name? And to a person, they talk about how they -- their faith is restored in this country. They feel like the Supreme Court or the country has been saved, in large part.
But you're absolutely right. They felt like they were staring into four to eight years of sameness, of the status quo, of just managing our decline, of not having a legitimate chance to shake up Washington.
DOBBS: (INAUDIBLE) managing decline.
CONWAY: And that's the way that they feel, and this is why it's the people's victory. I would just tell folks who like to listen to each other in the donor or political and media class, start listening to the people. The keys and the clues of this election were hiding in plain sight the entire time.
You went to a Donald Trump rally, and you saw 20,000 people outside and 5 or 6 -- 20 -- (INAUDIBLE) 20,000 inside. If you listened to his change message, if you saw how Hillary Clinton's trustworthiness and honesty numbers never budged -- in fact, they worsened -- those clues were right in front of us.
And I'll be very curious to see what happens to those who got the election wrong. I think they should just say, I got it wrong. I'm going to listen closer to Americans, and I'm going to let this guy be my -- hashtagBemypersident and form his own government.
DOBBS: Well, one thing is -- that is truly, truly exciting is there's not a thing they can do about it. He is our president.
CONWAY: He's our president!
DOBBS: And -- and I cannot wait for what he accomplishes and what the nation accomplishes.
CONWAY: He's a businessman. He's accountable. He delivers. He produces. He's used to -- he's used to being tough yet building consensus when he needs to. And I think you're going to see very quick action his first 100 days. This is a guy who keeps his promises. And if he doesn't, people will say (INAUDIBLE) typical politician, so he will.
DOBBS: All right. Kellyanne Conway, congratulations again.
CONWAY: Thank you, Lou.
DOBBS: And to the point, thanks for helping save the republic.
President-elect Trump receiving an apparent olive branch from Ford Motors, the car maker announcing it will keep production of the Lincoln MKC sport utility vehicle in this country. There were plans to move it to Mexico.
Trump tweeted this. Quote, "Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky, not Mexico. I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great state of Kentucky for their confidence in me." Trump won 62 percent of Kentucky's popular vote in the presidential election.
Ford confirms its plans in a statement, saying, quote, "We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the U.S." Trump has proposed putting a 35 percent tax on vehicles that are manufactured in Mexico and then exported to the United States.
We're coming right back. Much more straight ahead. Stay with us.
President-elect Trump's transition team making history, making a record number of appointments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... beginning what we're very confident will be a smooth transition that will serve to move this country forward. We'll make America great again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: America great again! Feels like that's what's under way. I'll be talk talking with Fred Barnes and Doug Schoen about just that. They join me here next.
And Trump and his team fighting off stupid lies from the left-wing national media. What should the president-elect do about those politicized left- wing news outlets attacking him unfairly and relentlessly?
We'll take that up and much more here next. We're coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Steve Bannon, appointed by the president-elect to be his chief strategist and senior counselor, fighting back against a -- just a series of vicious personal attacks by Democrats, and of course, the left-wing national media, the chief strategist, senior adviser to the president-elect telling The Hollywood Reporter, quote, "I'm not a white nationalist. I'm a nationalist. I'm an economic nationalist."
Bannon also added, "The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get" -- well, messed -- messed over. I'm looking for substitutes there and doing a bad job of it!
Coming to us now from Tucson, Arizona, is none other than Doug Schoen, and Fred Barnes for The Weekly Standard from D.C. Doug, good to have you both...
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: You're with us from Tucson. And Fred, even thought it's Washington, we can accept your presence here tonight. Both are FOX News contributors.
Doug, I've got to just ask first you. What do you make of this unrelenting attack by the -- particularly the national left-wing media?
SCHOEN: My view is coming from the center, not the left or the right, that what America has as its highest responsibility is to come together to work on a bipartisan basis to implement those aspects of the Trump agenda that have broad public support.
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: ... administration, is that correct?
SCHOEN: The Obama administration, as I've said to you many times, failed. I don't want Donald Trump's administration to fail. So we need unity and we need congeniality...
DOBBS: Balderdash!
SCHOEN: ... not partisanship.
DOBBS: We need to save the republic! All of the damage that's been done by the Obama administration over eight years, Doug Schoen, as you well know, can't be...
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOEN: I don't think General Flynn and his best friend, Vladimir Putin, are the answer to that. And hopefully, Fred Barnes will agree with me.
DOBBS: Well, let's find out, shall we? Fred?
FRED BARNES, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: I don't. I think General Flynn is the person that Donald Trump trusts. He knows a lot. And I think maybe it's an advantage with Donald Trump to have been fired from your job as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency by Barack Obama. Flynn is a controversial figure, but I think Trump should have the person he wants in that job.
DOBBS: Absolutely!
BARNES: The person that will come in see him every morning! So...
SCHOEN: And that's what scares me.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: Well, you're scared. But you know what? You crack me up, Doug, just to be real honest with you. You know, the idea is...
SCHOEN: You should be.
DOBBS: ... that if the left -- if the left wins an election, elections have consequences. The left, however, if the Republicans win an election, it is they should be bipartisan. It's pure balderdash! How can you do it with a straight face? I've known you too long!
SCHOEN: I do it with a straight face because I want to stand with NATO on a bipartisan basis. I want Ukraine returned to the Ukrainians. I don't want a national security adviser...
DOBBS: Well, what didn't you...
SCHOEN: ... who is in the pay of Vladimir Putin!
DOBBS: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You -- wait a minute. You disassociated yourself from Hillary Clinton, but you didn't at any time criticize the president or Hillary Clinton for not looking...
SCHOEN: I did!
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: I was in mid-rant there, and you interrupted me.
SCHOEN: I'm sorry. I apologize.
DOBBS: OK, Go ahead. I want to hear this because it's going to be a hoot!
(LAUGHTER)
SCHOEN: I said I couldn't support the Clintons. I'd had it with what was going on. Time after time, I came on your network and your program and said the Obama foreign policy was a disaster. I'm an equal opportunity criticizer.
DOBBS: All right, well, Fred...
SCHOEN: You know that.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: Well, I know this, that you seem to have more zest in your critiques when you are going after the conservative view, the Republican view.
Fred, your thought here. This is...
SCHOEN: Not true.
DOBBS: Well, so noted. Let's get to what is an amazing, to me at least, rate of appointment on the part of this administration and -- that is shaping up now by the transition team for Donald Trump. Your thoughts.
BARNES: Yes, I don't think the rate matters. I don't think speed matters. I think who you name matters, and I think so far, they've been very good. I'll be interested in seeing who he has at defense and-
DOBBS: Yes, but The New York times...
BARNES: ... and secretary of state.
DOBBS: ... by the way...
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: But to your point...
DOBBS: I'm just going to interject very quickly.
BARNES: Yes.
DOBBS: To your point, The New York Times criticizing the Trump -- the president-elect's transition team because they hadn't appointed anybody in the first week.
SCHOEN: Yes, you know, I don't think many people -- I don't think many people took that seriously. This is the problem that the mainstream media has now. They're not taken seriously by so many people.
I talk to people all over the country who have just blotted them out. They ignore them. And a lot of Trump voters are in that class. And so, you know, I still look at The New York Times. I read The Washington Post. I see what they're doing. But so many people just aren't affected by them anymore.
I think the -- I wouldn't say that what the mainstream media did during the campaign was fatal to the mainstream media, but it certainly was damaging and really ruinous to their credibility.
DOBBS: Yes, I mean, this is a problem. There was a feedback loop that was closed by the national left-wing media, Doug. I think Fred's got it exactly right. You know, to hell with them. They can't report straight. They're going -- they are basically attack dogs for the left. Why mess with them? Why let them interfere with your day? And I hear that and see it, you know, day after day. What do you think?
SCHOEN: You'll be surprised to hear that I agree with you, Lou. I think that the media, particularly The Times and Washington Post, were outrageous in their coverage. I think the Trump election is a repudiation of an effort by a liberal elite to control our politics.
And I have a different view from you and Fred and the liberal media. I think that America comes first. Our alliances come first. And if we can pull together as a country, we'll all do better.
DOBBS: Yes, I mean, that's -- that's fine. Did you say you agree with us about America first? Doug? I think we've lost Doug.
BARNES: Well, I'm for America first.
DOBBS: OK. Good. There are two of us, two out of three. We win. Sorry, Doug, that we lost you. Go ahead, Fred. You're going to get the last word.
BARNES: I was just going to say I think -- I think Trump is going to wind up being tougher on Putin than Obama and Hillary Clinton ever were. And if we can push -- some way push Russia out of Ukraine and out of Crimea, I don't know what way that would be, that would be fine.
So you know, I'm just not worried about NATO. Trump did something right, and that is put NATO on notice that they're not paying their fair share, a lot of those countries. But...
DOBBS: And by the way, their -- and their governments are beginning to acknowledge it.
BARNES: Exactly.
DOBBS: Fred, we got to run.
BARNES: Yes. OK.
DOBBS: I appreciate it, and have a great weekend.
BARNES: You, too.
DOBBS: Doug Schoen, you, too. I know you can't hear me or speak, but -- which, by the way, is not entirely bad when you get off on those points, that left-wing stuff. Kidding. Doug Schoen, terrific fellow. Fred, thanks so much.
Be sure to vote in tonight's poll. Are you, your family and friends considerably more optimistic following the election of Donald Trump? Cast your vote on Twitter @Loudobbs. And follow me on Twitter @Loudobbs, like me on Facebook, follow me on Instagram at Loudobbstonight.
On Wall Street today, stocks lower, the Dow-Jones industrials fell 36 points, the S&P down 5, the NASDAQ down 12. Volume on the big board, 3.5 billion shares, stocks up for a second straight week, however, for the week, the Dow posting fractional gains, the S&P up 1 percent, NASDAQ with weekly gains of more than 1.5 percent, the dollar gaining again against the euro for a tenth straight session, the longest winning streak since the introduction of the euro.
A reminder to listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the Salem Radio Network.
Up next, the left-wing national media not the only ones grappling with the prospect of a Trump presidency. We'll tell you how the sporting world has suffered, as well. That's the subject of my commentary next.
Much more straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: A few thoughts now on a president-elect who's already made five appointments to his administration so far, this after the left-wing national news media has for days been claiming disarray and strain and turmoil in the Trump transition, which makes the, well, left-wing national media look simultaneously untrustworthy, not credible, out of touch, irrelevant and absurdly on the wrong side of history.
And amazingly, it's not just the national news media, but sports media as well. ESPN's public editor, Jim Brady, recently wrote this quote, there is a feeling among many staffers at ESPN both liberal and conservative that the company's perceived move leftward has had a stifling effect on discourse inside the company. Consumers have sensed that same leftward movement, alienating some. Alienating a lot.
In fact, Nielsen reported ESPN lost more than 620,000 subscribers over the course of a month, and the network proving a drag on parent company's Disney's earnings. In other words, ESPN's leftward lean on the air is turning off their viewers. That leftist, hard lean isn't limited to the sports network's announcers, but also the players on the field. Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans became just the latest NFL player to protest during the national anthem, joining 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick in disrespecting our flag and the nation.
Evans refused to stand during the anthem last Sunday in protest of president-elect Trump. I mean, figure that one out. He has since reconsidered his protest. Evans, his employers and the NFL didn't stop this nonsense, didn't have the decency to demand players respect the fans and our nation from the outset. But fans and economics are demonstrating to even the dummies who run the NFL that politics has no place in the game. The players are entertainers, for crying out loud. Those are benches, seats, bleachers and suites your customers are sitting on, those aren't pews, and, well, you guys sure aren't preachers. So just play ball, don't insult the customers. Just a little counsel. And in case the NFL is still confused, just remember this the customer is always right.
Now, our quotation of the evening. This one from Abraham Lincoln. A nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure. Even the NFL executives should understand the implications of that statement. We're coming right back.
DOBBS: The president-elect holding true to his campaign promise to put the best and the strongest on his winning team.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will call upon the best and brightest to leverage their tremendous talent for the benefit of all.
DOBBS: General Jack Keane met with the president-elect just yesterday. The general is my guest here next.
And this fellow going to extreme lengths for a tasty treat. We'll bring you his record-breaking stunt in the video that's coming up here next. It's extraordinary. That and a lot more straight-ahead after these messages. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Well, the president-elect said that he wouldn't be, as president, taking any long vacations. He's working this weekend as president-elect. Donald Trump set to meet with retired marine general James Mattis, reportedly considering for defense secretary. The former CENTCOM chief retired in 2013 amid disagreements with the Obama White House over Iran. The "Wall Street Journal" also reporting tonight that Trump is considering General David Petraeus for a senior position as well.
My next guest withdrew his name from consideration as defense secretary. He met with Donald Trump yesterday and joins us here tonight, General Jack Keane, retired four-star general, chairman of the Institute for the Study Of War, Fox News military analyst. General, great to have you with us.
I will tell you candidly, I'm disappointed that you withdrew your name. Obviously, I value highly both your judgment and your service to this country, but I also know better than to question anything you do, so I'll just leave it with my regret and hope they do very well to find someone who could be somewhere in your neighborhood of talent.
JACK KEANE, FOX NEWS MILITARY ANALYST: Thanks, Lou, I appreciate that.
DOBBS: Let's turn to, for example, General Mattis. Your regard for him.
KEANE: Well, General Mattis, absolutely qualified for the position. He's got vast experience, really a straight shooter. Everybody that works with him that has tremendous regard and respect for him. I'm very confident that Mr. Trump, when he meets with him, will just connect with him and really feel good about General Mattis.