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LOU DOBBS, FBN HOST: Good evening, everybody.
The left in this country is having something of a fit. And so too, a large number of GOP leaders in Congress who've been trying to convince almost anyone who will listen that they're protecting America from our unorthodox and anything but conventional president-elect.
Donald Trump is making them all look like what they are. This president has in short order saved a thousand jobs, and likely more, announced a direct investment in the United States of $50 billion by a Japanese bank (sic) that will create more jobs by the tens of thousands.
Trump has also in one phone call with president of Taiwan reoriented the 40-year-old trilateral relationship among Taiwan, China and the United States, and done so without consultation with the United Nations. And only the left, the tired, tired, orthodox left, seems to strenuously if not seriously object to the president-elect's approach in the region.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has been doing something of a cattle call for prospective top officials and cabinet secretaries in his administration, and not winning favor exactly with the left, but certainly doing so with Americans irrespective of party. In the latest polling, it turns out that there is bipartisan support in this country among Americans, after all, support for this president-elect and his impressive work ethic, and his efforts to put more Americans back to work.
That's how we begin tonight, our president-elect tonight on the road. Tonight, Trump is in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for the second stop on his post-election thank you tour. Donald Trump has also not coincidentally found another effective way to bypass the left-wing national media, and in tonight's instance, talk straight to some of the nearly 2.5 million North Carolinians who propelled him to the White House.
We'll have special coverage of his speech with an A-list lineup of guests. And joining me tonight, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, and the Trump campaign's former national spokesperson, Katrina Pierson. And also with me, former Reagan White House political director Ed Rollins, Trump senior economic adviser Stephen Moore.
And we have a lot to talk about tonight, and so does -- so does Donald Trump. Trump once promised to be, quote, "the greatest jobs president that God ever created," and it's clear he intends to keep that promise without fail.
Boeing tonight responding to the president-elect's call to cancel a contract for new Air Force One aircraft. The company, which signed a single-bid contract with government for a pair of those planes released a statement which reads, in part, quote, "We're currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the president of the United States. We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program." Unspoken was the really expensive part of those later phases.
Boeing referred to the cost of the contracts awarded just so far, not the final cost by any means. More than 20 percent of Boeing's revenue come from federal contracts, an Air Force spokesman telling FOX that it has budgeted $2.7 billion for the replacement program in 2017, but it, quote, "expects this number to change -- change as the program matures."
The 747-8 series aircraft scheduled to be ready by 2024. Trump's call to cancel the order not without precedent. President Obama in 2009 canceled a contract with Lockheed Martin to replace the Marine One helicopter fleet when the projected cost more than doubled. There seems to be a pattern here, doesn't there.
Well, joining me now to talk about Donald Trump's concern for taxpayers and taxpayer dollars and his thank you tour tonight, the veteran of 10 presidential campaigns, Ed Rollins. Ed, great to have you here.
ED ROLLINS, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you very much. I think this is a wonderful thing, going after Boeing and anybody else that basically is doing these cost overruns. I mean, the -- you see the story yesterday of $125 billion...
DOBBS: Hidden.
ROLLINS: Hidden. How do you hide $125 billion? I mean, I'd get that list and I'd start by saying to my secretary of defense, You start going through this and find these items and get rid of them.
DOBBS: Well, when you've got a budget approaching $700 billion, that starts to be, you know, a calculable risk for these officials, who are afraid Congress -- I love the motivation here. These top defense officials who hid $125 billion in waste, just outright, outrageous negligence on the part of the Pentagon -- the reason they said they did so is so that they could hide it from Congress, who might take the money away from them and might -- might...
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: ... might criticize them!
ROLLINS: Gee.
DOBBS: The poor little daffodils in Defense!
(LAUGHTER)
ROLLINS: And the idea that Congress is going to take the money away from them is really what's frightening, if that's all they're worried about is Congress taking money away. But...
DOBBS: They needn't worry. Let's turn to Donald Trump opening his day, as you suggest, with going after Boeing. And all I could -- you know, all I heard was "The Art of the Deal" screaming at me from the mid-'80s. I think he wrote the book in '86 or '87. This is him negotiating, for crying out loud!
ROLLINS: Well, obviously, this is now a single source. It used to be a couple sources used to bid for this. It's single source. They've had this contract now for 25, 30 years. Obviously, there's more sophisticated equipment going on Air Force One...
DOBBS: By the way, I don't think there's ever been an Air Force -- certainly since the '50s, I don't think there's been a different company manufacturing an Air Force One aircraft. I may be wrong on that, but...
ROLLINS: McDonnell Douglas tried. I know I had them as a -- as client back (INAUDIBLE) but Boeing got the contract with the 747s. And I think the reality is this is an item that basically certainly you want to be good and secure, but at the same time, you don't want it to be gold-laced everywhere. And I think...
DOBBS: Well, like he said -- and I love this, the president-elect saying, We want Boeing to make money, just not this much!
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
DOBBS: ... one of the most rational statements I've ever heard by any federal official at any level about...
ROLLINS: And it just -- and it just...
DOBBS: ... those contracts.
ROLLINS: It just goes against great sense when you're making lots of airplanes for a cost to go two or three times what the original bid is. And that's -- that's what I think's absurd and (INAUDIBLE)
DOBBS: Yes, it's a de facto...
ROLLINS: ... need to be called on it.
DOBBS: It's -- it's been a de facto monopoly, the relationship with Boeing. And by the way, Boeing makes, in my opinion, the best aircraft in the world, period. So I don't think we'd want any other for any of our presidents.
The jobs, however, showing up with Masa, SoftBank, Japan's -- this extraordinary, aggressive global bank (sic) in Japan -- $50 billion direct investment, he announces it and -- and creating, he said, 50,000 jobs. It'll be the tens of thousands of jobs that would be the result by any reasonable multiplier. But this is extraordinary stuff on the part of a president-elect!
ROLLINS: And the leader of that company basically said if Hillary Clinton would have won, I wouldn't have made this investment.
DOBBS: Right.
ROLLINS: Made this investment because it was Donald Trump. I knew the money'd be spent well. It's pretty astonishing.
DOBBS: Do you remember Mark Cuban saying, Oh, the markets are going to crash if Donald Trump's elected? Do you remember all of the so-called smart -- quote, unquote, "smart money guys" who are just -- I mean, they look ridiculous! And there isn't even an apology! That's what drives me a little -- well, it gets me revved up a little for all these people to make these proclamations and these forecasts, these idiotic statements they made, and then don't even say, you know, I'm sorry, I was wrong, I think good things are going to happen. Instead, they continue their campaign of disinformation and nonsense!
ROLLINS: Before he even gets there. I mean, he's -- he's -- he's shaken things up. But the Democrats must have thought they won on November 6 the because they're still fighting this, the idea that they're not going to give this waiver to the secretary of defense candidate or try to stop that.
DOBBS: Well, they're not going to stop it.
ROLLINS: He's got to win that thing. He's got to win every single confirmation when he puts these people up there.
DOBBS: Well, Mitch McConnell today, Ed, as you know, said point-blank, Isn't it nice that Harry Reid was the vile, venomous, nasty SOB that he's been -- those are my words, actually, folks, I'm just...
ROLLINS: I think I said the same words, too, but that's OK.
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: And -- and use the nuclear option and blew away the opportunity for closure, and here we are.
ROLLINS: Here we are.
DOBBS: There's no reason in the world why any one of these candidates chosen by this president shouldn't move forward!
ROLLINS: Absolutely not. He has -- he has a good agenda. He's going to have a great cabinet, much better cabinet than anybody anticipated. And my sense is he's got a few more appointments to make here, but I think he's going to have good people all the way down the line.
DOBBS: You know, I think he's going to have terrific people, I -- my question is...
(LAUGHTER)
DOBBS: ... how does the list keep expanding? I mean, the next thing, the CEO of Exxonmobil shows up looking for job over at the State Department!
ROLLINS: Yes, I have -- I have great admiration for Henry Kissinger, who served in two administrations, but he was there today, I hope not for an interview. I hope for a little counsel and advice.
DOBBS: Well, you know, I've known Henry for, well, many decades, and I tell you, I guarantee you he would be -- still make a terrific secretary of state.
ROLLINS: Any time I see him on TV, I pay attention to him. I started in the Nixon administration. He was -- he was a very significant player.
DOBBS: Now, we're looking at the venue now in Fayetteville, North Carolina, where Donald Trump is set to take the stage. We'll be going there live. With him tonight is General George -- James Mattis. And General Mattis will be running -- running the Defense Department for this president-elect, soon to be president, Donald Trump.
I've never heard quite so much excitement about a man taking over the Defense Department as we have heard and watched occur with General Mattis.
ROLLINS: Both by the military and by the civilians. I think in four years or eight years, no matter how long he stays there, he's going to be one of the great significant forces in this country for good. And I think after 15 years of wars in the Middle East, he will basically shake that place up and redefine the direction of this country in the defense area. And I couldn't applaud that appointment any more than I (INAUDIBLE) today.
DOBBS: In Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg, the largest base in the country, home of the 82nd Airborne. So this speech tonight with General Mattis, with the soon to be commander-in-chief, entirely appropriate. And I imagine the crowd that you're looking at is every bit as anxious as the rest of the country to hear first from, of course, the president-elect and also his nominated secretary of defense.
Ed Rollins, as always...
ROLLINS: My pleasure.
DOBBS: ... great to see you.
ROLLINS: Thank you.
DOBBS: We'll be talking to you...
ROLLINS: Take care.
DOBBS: ... throughout the evening.
We're awaiting Trump's rally in Fayetteville. We'll be coming right back with that. And there was a lot happening today, a lot it in Trump center (ph), much of it in Washington, and the rest around the world. We'll have it all for you.
Stay with us. We're coming right back.
The president-elect today meeting with more secretary of state candidates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRES.-ELECT: I hear him say it more often than anything else. He says, We want that person who will be best for the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: When will names quit being added to the list? And who will he choose as secretary of state? We take it all up with the incomparable Michelle Malkin here next.
And president-elect today making another deal for prosperity, creating thousands more American jobs. We'll be talking about Trump's job-saving, job-creating deals like no president-elect before him.
We'll be right back with all of that and much more. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: We're awaiting Donald Trump's thank you tour, his second stop, this one in Fayetteville, North Carolina, tonight. The vice president-elect, Mike Pence, earlier today met with Senate Republicans as the Trump administration faces what is a rising number of challenged from certainly Democrat on Capitol Hill, but now it is emerging clearly that there will be resistance from the Republican leadership, as well, on important, important issues.
Senate Democrats are now vowing to give Trump's cabinet picks the, quote, unquote, "Garland treatment," referring to the delay tactics Republicans used with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. That isn't likely to happen, but that's because Republicans are in control and Harry Reid conveniently used the nuclear option to remove cloture.
Well, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy -- his wing of the House calling for tax reform, as opposed to punitive tariffs that Trump has proposed for companies that outsource jobs, offshore production and then try to send their products back into this country. And a top ally of House speaker Paul Ryan now indicating GOP brass may want to block some of Trump's more populist campaign promises.
I can't believe it's taken so long for them to actually fly their flag. Republican congressman Bill Flores of Texas recently said, quote, "We all agree that some of President Trump's proposed policies are not going to line up very well with our conservative policies."
Well, joining me now to find out how well they all line up is the host of the upcoming series, "Michelle Malkin Investigates" on CRTV.com, Michelle Malkin. Michelle, great to have you here.
MICHELLE MALKIN, CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST: Great to be here, Lou.
DOBBS: And congratulations on the new show...
MALKIN: Thank you!
DOBBS: ... on CRTV.
MALKIN: Thanks. I'm very excited.
DOBBS: Let's turn to this sudden display of -- the false flag has been cut from the yardarm, and here we go. The skull and crossbones are flying. And the -- Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Ryan are going to be obstructionists again.
MALKIN: Yes, as they always are. These people have learned nothing, in the same way that so many of the established Democrats and the establishment liberals in the media have learned nothing. And they will double down.
I believe that this current GOP so-called leadership is going to pose even more headaches and will be a bigger threat to Donald Trump and his American sovereignty agenda than the outright liberals will be. And that's always been the case! As long as I've covered politics over last 25 years, its these Republicans who pretend and pay lip service to American workers, the American economy, strong borders. Again and again and again, they've been shown to be phonies and liars! And we're going to go through it all over again.
DOBBS: And it's starting early, and that may be a suggest -- a suggestion, Michelle, that perhaps they're so weak, they feel like they need to build a little momentum before Trump takes White House. That's the positive out. The other is that they are so cocksure of themselves and brash because they have unlimited funding. They've been bought and paid for by Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and to hell with the American people!
MALKIN: That's right. And they've been entrenched for so long, they are not going to loosen their iron grip on the power that they with wielded over the American people on Capitol Hill, in particular Paul Ryan is -- and I am not going to mince words. I've said it before.
I believe he's one of the biggest crap (ph) weasels (ph) in the Republican Party. He is a threat! It's why I backed his primary opponent Paul Nielen (ph). Now at least there are some Johnny-come-latelies who are awakening to the fact that he is not Donald Trump's friend!
DOBBS: Yes. And Donald Trump has been, I have to say -- I will not pretend objectivity on this at all. I think Donald Trump is going to be one of the great presidents that this country ever had. But I think that Donald Trump has been as generous, as open as he possibly could be with a man that he knows was -- first of all, not only didn't think that Donald Trump would win but also did everything he could to make sure he didn't!
MALKIN: Yes, that's absolutely right. You look at Paul Ryan's record over the many decades that he has been groomed by the donor class, groomed by K Street, groomed by open border special interests -- he was groomed to be in exactly this position to carry their water!
DOBBS: The Stepford -- the Stepford speakers...
MALKIN: Yes!
DOBBS: ... is who he is.
MALKIN: Absolutely! And this is a man who is not going to give up on those principles that he's been trained on, to do everything to obstruct a maverick who has finally stood up for American workers and American sovereignty.
DOBBS: In short order, the president-elect has saved a thousand jobs with Carrier and United Technologies, the SoftBank deal that he announced today, with Masa at his side, the Japanese bank (sic), $50 billion pledged to be invested in the United States, direct investment! I mean, these are extraordinary moments, and this is a president-elect standing up, as he promised he would, for the working man and woman in this country and their families...
MALKIN: Yes.
DOBBS: ... the middle class that has been shrinking for 20 years that has the same net worth as 20 years ago...
MALKIN: Yes.
DOBBS: And it -- there has to be such a strong feeling of optimism right now in this country as a result.
MALKIN: There certainly is among those Carrier workers who will have a job and peace of mind this holiday season. You know, I wrote about the Carrier company in a history book on entrepreneurs that I wrote last year called "Who Built That." It is an amazing company, a showcase of American innovation, engineers who dug into their own pockets and innovated in air- conditioning and ventilation around the world, improved every aspect of our lives!
Of course, this company should keep their jobs in America. I do not consider it crony capitalism, Lou, I consider it a backlash to the crony socialism of government over last 25 years!
DOBBS: And the allegiance that's been built up between corporate America in particular and the public policy of the government that has turned their backs on working men and women and simply turned their open palms to the treasuries of corporate America for financing at election time.
I have a feeling all of that is going to change rather dramatically, and I think no one will be more surprised than the folks on K Street.
(LAUGHTER)
MALKIN: That's right. They've been completely abandoned!
DOBBS: Great to have you with us, Michelle Malkin, as always. And good luck. We appreciate it. Good to see you.
Breaking news now, a shocking new report has found the Pentagon tried to bury a study that identified $125- $125 -- billion of wasteful spending at the Pentagon. The study, issued in January of last year, said the Pentagon could have saved billions by streamlining bureaucracy, slashing the use of contractors. But according to The Washington Post respecting, some Pentagon leaders were so concerned the proposal would encourage Congress or the White House to actually cut it's budget that they killed the study, they hid the results of the study that only now are surfacing.
On Wall Street, stocks edging slightly higher, the Dow gaining 36 points, but nonetheless closing at its 20th record this year, the S&P up 8 points today, the NASDAQ up 24, volume on the big board 3.6 billion shares.
A reminder to listen to my reports three times a day coast to coast on the Salem Radio Network.
And up next, President-elect Trump keeping his campaign promises, pushing to keep jobs within our boarders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: We will crack down on all foreign trade abuses that undermine your ability and your company's ability to compete! Those days are over!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Trump's former national spokesperson, Katrina Pierson, joins me here next. Mr. Trump set to take the stage in Fayetteville, North Carolina, shortly. We'll have a lot more, as well as the president-elect when we return. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: President-elect Trump, his second stop on his thank you tour tonight in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He'll be addressing folks in Fayetteville, the home of the 82nd Airborne, as I said, a city that holds the biggest military base in the country, Ft. Bragg, the perfect location for Donald Trump to introduce his soon-to-be defense secretary, General James Mattis, joining Trump on stage tonight.
Trump this afternoon tweeted this. "Departing New York with General James `mad dog' Mattis for tonight's really in Fayetteville, North Carolina. See you soon, hashtag Thankyou -- Thankyoutour2016."
FOX News senior national correspondent John Roberts is awaiting them both. He's in Fayetteville, anxious, I'm sure, like everybody else in that big old room to see them take the stage. What's up, John?
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX CORRESPONDENT: There you go, Lou. Good evening to you. Donald Trump should be up there with "mad dog" Mattis in about 15 or 20 minutes time. A lot of military veterans in the audience here, a lot of people obviously in this town very happy to see Trump prevail as the 45th president of the United States.
But when it comes to confirming Mattis, don't forget, because he's only been out of the military for three years, under U.S. law, he needs to seek a waiver from Congress in order to do that. The statute stipulates you've got to be retired for seven years before you can take over as the chief of the Pentagon, which is a civilian position.
The last time this happened was back in 1950, when General George Marshall, who had been secretary of state for which you don't need a waiver, was appointed to head up the Pentagon. Back then, the statute was 10 years. It's been reduced somewhat.
But Democrats on Capitol Hill sense that Republicans are trying to streamline the process. There is a move by some Republicans in the House and Senate, Lou, to attach a rider to this week's continuing resolution, the budget bill, that would streamline, expedite the process for General Mattis to get that waiver when it comes time to it -- to do it.
The House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said today that she is firmly against any such measure to take. There needs to be a full vetting of General Mattis since -- particularly since this is the first time in 66 years that a flag officer has been appointed to be the head of the Pentagon.
So she'll play that over the next couple of days we'll see whether or not republicans would continue on because process of getting that and the continuing resolution or maybe they will accede to the democrats' demands and wait until it's time to confirm it.
So Donald Trump is getting kudos from the military tonight for appointing General Mattis as the secretary of defense. But at the same time raising some concerns in the Pentagon by tweeting out this morning that he might cancel the Air Force's programs to replace the 747s now almost 30 years old that bury the president around. Look at that price tag, Lou, $4 billion. He said there's no way we can afford that.
DOBBS: John, we reported that at the outside of the broadcast. What I'm interested in is Nancy Pelosi. Mitch McConnell thumbed his nose at her and every other democrats there, because what really is terrific about all of this from the republican point of view and that of the president-elect and of course General Mattis, is Harry Reid being the nasty SOB that he is went to the nuclear option, blew away a closure, and now the republicans have a 51-seat majority in the U.S. senate.
And it's going to be -- it could get choppy seas but it's not going to be rough and it's going to smooth out in a hurry. So he's assured of being the next secretary of defense, God willing, and the creeks don't rise. Right?
ROBERTS: I would say that it's probably 99 percent that he's going to be the next secretary of defense. He's got to leave a little bit of room for something to happen. But the Trump transition is worried, Lou, that the democrats may find this as their best opportunity to sort of delay the process a little bit which is why there's been talk about putting this measure in the continuing resolution because it's very complicated. You can get (INAUDIBLE) roles of closure and how many times you can take a closer vote.
But it would basically expedite the process, bring it down to a simple majority to get that waivers. So we'll see of the republicans continue to pursue that and just how much the democrats opposing.
DOBBS: Well, Mitch McConnell is a pretty wildly dog and he's got a pretty fair parliamentarians. So my heart is at ease on the issue. John Roberts, it's going to be quite an evening. It looks like you've got a full house, about 10,000 people. We understand there. Is that correct?
ROBERTS: There are a lot of people here, Lou. I have to look up again what the capacity of this arena is. It's probably two-thirds full. At this point, there's still some time before Trump takes the stage. There's still people coming inside. He's got to have a -- not a packed -- or sold- out crowd tonight. He's going to have a healthy audience here to hear him. And they always make lots of noise.
DOBBS: There's no question about that. You got it, John. Thanks so much. John Roberts.
Up next, Trump's former national spokesperson, Katrina Pierson will join me. We're awaiting Donald Trump in Fayetteville, North Carolina. We're told that he is on his way now into the coliseum. We'll have a lot more for you. We're coming right back after these messages. We're going to do all the housekeeping and take a quick break. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DOBBS: Joining us tonight is Donald Trump's former national campaign spokesperson, Katrina Pierson. And Katrina, it's great to have you with us. I want to ask you first of all.
KATRINA PIERSON, FORMER NATIONAL CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON, DONALD TRUMP 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Great to be here.