Transcripts For WTXF Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace 20161225

Evangelical christians. Well speak with the president of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell jr. , one of mr. Trumps top spiritual advisers, about the president elects appeal to evangelical voters. Plus, well ask our sunday panel to look back on a tumultuous 2016. And ahead to what we can expect from President Trump in 2017. And our power player of the week a mission to honor our nations veterans. Its the quarter century mark. I think its really, its america. Its what America Needs to be. All right now on fox news sunday. Hello again, and Merry Christmas from fox news in washington. Well, with terror attacks across europe, donald trump was talking this week about how he intends to keep our country safe, including plans to limit who is allowed into the u. S. Joining me now to discuss what the president elect will do is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, Merry Christmas. Merry christmas. Before we get to the war on terror, president elect trump seems to have in some sense vet our Nuclear Policy this week after Vladimir Putin talked about building up russias nuclear arsenal. Mr. Trump tweeted, the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its Nuclear Capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. When asked to clarify, mr. Trump told a reporter, let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all. Question are we back in an arms race with russia . Well, let me point out, this is the same donald trump that liberals were terrified was going to sell out to putin, whos now pivoted and said, look to quote general mattis, we can be your best friend, or we can be your worst enemy. You want to make threatening speeches, let me show what a threatening speech looks like. And he does it in 140 characters. Weve allowed our Nuclear Capability to weaken. The chinese have strengthened their nuclear continental capability. The iranians are trying to build a nuclear weapon. I think for the next president to say, you know, we have to rebuild our Nuclear Capability is exactly right. And if that hes also serving notice. If he succeeds economically in making America Great again and we get back to 5 or 6 real growth, we can outproduce everybody. And i think what hes telling both the chinese and the russians is, you really want to be in this competition, its going to be a competition, we have the potential to win it. A couple of questions there. First of all, the manner in which he did it. You say in 140 characters. Is this really any way to conduct Foreign Policy . And second, its one thing to talk about modernizing our nuclear arsenal, he had said that during the campaign. But expanding the arsenal, it flies in the face of a half century of arms control limiting, reducing our number of weapons. Which has failed. Weve had arms control, the chinese have had an arms buildup. Weve had arms control, the North Koreans have developed Nuclear Weapons. The russians in the last few years have increased the capability of their systems dramatically. Theyve introduced new missiles, theyve introduced new kinds of missiles that are designed to avoid our antiballistic missile systems. There are a number of steps theyre taking to be a warfighting capability. We have to candidly overmatch that. Its not something we want to do. But if you want to be in the real world on the tweeting thing, let me suggest if i might, we might as well get used to it. Its who he is. Its how hes going to operate, when its brilliant or stupid. He beat 16 rivals and beat Hillary Clinton and beat the elite media. He aint giving it up. Do you think its brilliant or stupid . I think its brilliant. First of all, hes able very quickly over and over to set the agenda. At almost no cost. During the campaign, mr. Trump talked about working with putin in the war on terror. Heres a clip we could found Common Ground with russian in the fight against isis. Wouldnt that be a good thing . Wouldnt that be a good thing . [ applause ] so after you heard things like that and what he said during the campaign, does mr. Trump view putin as an ally or adversary, and what happens when he see thats russias core strategic objectives, when in the Nuclear Weapons and the middle east, are very different to from our own . Now he sees putin as potentially either or both. There are places you compete. There are places you cooperate. This has been true, by the way, all through the tension with putin. Weve been using russian rockets to put americans up to the space station because nasa was so screwed up and mismanaged, we dont have an american rocket right now. The russians allowed us to use their rockets to get into space at the same time were yelling at each other. You can have a lot of things going on simultaneously. I think he also recognizes the total failure of the Obama Kerry Clinton strategy in this region. Youve had a meeting in moscow of turkey, our nato ally for over a half century, iran, and russia to decide to talk about swear zero american input america with zero american input. That should trouble us. We have to rethink what were doing. We began this program talking about the wave of terror attacks this week in europe, switzerland, turkey, obviously berlin. Do you have any idea what President Trumps strategy is to fight isis overseas and in the homeland . Hes been very vague about his plans. I dont think they have a strategy yet. I think what they know which is pr important is that they need a strategy. In general flynn, mattis, and kelly, they have three remarkably experienced war fighters. I think theyll be able to produce a very aggressive strategy. They have a much better grip on reality than the Obama Administration did. This this is going to be a hard problem, and my suggestion is people should go back and look at how lincoln dealt with southern sympathizers during the civil war which controlled our ability to control people advocating trees an. We have to treason. We have to think about what are the rules of the game and how do we succeed. In the last few days, we found the europeans are actually looking at this tunisian before he attacked the Christmas Market in berlin. Again and again we find people that we were sort of looking at, and then they go kill a bunch of folks. Lets turn to the domestic side. What do you think of the president elect intervening with individual companies that are talking to moving . And this year intervening with federal contractors on planes, budget overruns and things like that . I want to ask you about this heres the exchange i had with mr. Trump recently what about the free markets sir . That is before free market when they go out and move and sell back into our country. Thats a free market. They made a decision that makes you know, thats the dumb market, okay . Thats the dumb market. Should the president of the United States be telling private businesses what to do . The president of the United States should do everything he can to Keep Companies in the u. S. , and the president of the United States should be very tough on large incumbencompanie have been rigging the system to their advantage and to the disadvantage of American People. Trump is going to be more like our governor than our traditional sense of president. Governors intervene, theyre aggressive, in your face. I think the f35 program has been a disgrace. I think the program at the pentagon has to be totally redone. Serving notice that we are not trapped by large contractors with big armies of lobbyists is going to shake up washington about as much as any single thing you it could do. Lets talk about president obama. This week he banned Oil Exploration in millions of acres in the arctic and atlantic. Theres talk that hes about to transfer as many as 18 detainees from guantanamo to other countries. This president , who has made heavy use of executive action, had this advice to donald trump my suggestion to the president elect is, you know, going through the legislative process is always better because in part its harder to undo. Whats going on . I think president obama is figuring out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that is as the air comes out of it, it shrinks and shrinks and shrinks. And at 60 or 7 0 of his executive orders almost all of which will be repudiated by trump, the things hes done this week can be turned around. It takes a little bit of legalized smart lawyers, but theyll turn it around. Hes in this desperate frenzy. What hes actually doing is setting up a series of things to distract trump which will make his liberal allies feel good about democrats and hate republicans when trump rolls them all back. I think hes right, the movie lincoln has an extraordinary moment where lincoln says, look, we have to have a constitutional amendment ending slavery because we have to lock it into the constitution or it could be repealed. I think had obama understood the centrality of that to the american system he would have passed a very different obamacare in a bipartisan basis. He would have done many other things. He would have been a more limited president , but his legacy would have lasted far longer. Speaking of president s and legacies, how transformative a president do you think donald trump will be, and how quickly will we see when thats the case or not . Hes recruited a Westminster Abbey net of of a cabinet of very powerful people who like winning and are prepared to work very hard to win. They will face a crisis probably around march when they realize how big the swamp is and how many alligators there are. And they will then reach a crisis i have to ask because you said, well, im not sure i was wrong. I was totally wrong. I blew it. I talked to him the other day. He said newt, come on. I had to go on and do a Facebook Live and say i made a booboo, which i then got attacked for people saying i made a booboo, but i did. He clearly he said flatly and tweeted again, he likes the term, hes happy to use the term. My points this, everybody who comes into the city underestimates how really hard to change the city is. I say this as a former speaker of the house who did a fair amount of change. Right. Boy, it was all uphill. All hard. In the end, it wore us out. Theyll reach a crisis point where they look in a room, theyre all learners, and say weve got to be more reasonable and get along with the city or become more unreasonable and break the power structure thats opposing us. My Space Shuttle launhunch is h latter. That will be the decisive moment of his presidency, which way they will go. They can the resources to change the existing power structure, and it will be the presidency you love covering then. I have to say i feel like a cub reporter already. Ive never seen in before. Finally, a minute left. I want to talk about you. You say you will be the senior strategic planner for the administration. When reporters have followed up, transition Officials Say theres no such formal or informal role. What will you be doing . Ill be planning and trying to focus on the things i think are strategically the most important for the administration. And has president elect trump given you that charter weve talked about it several times. I suspect ill get a letter from him once hes president. I think my access is fairly overwhelming. My ability to reach across the house and senate and governors and state legislators i mean, we have a whole system here. Thats the nature of the american system. And you know, my first big step toward this will be a series of speeches at heritage on trumpism and what is trumpism and probably a book in the late spring. But thats because there are 4,000 federal employees, new, eager people, they have to understand how different trump is and its not just a personality quirk. It is a way of thinking and way of doing business. Its learnable, but it is very different from what weve seen in the past. Speaker gingrich, thank you for your time and thank you for joining us on Christmas Day. Have a happy new year. Happy new year to you, as well. Up next, well bring in our sunday group to discuss president elect trumps plans and the team he is putting together to implement them. Plus, what would you like to ask the panel about president obamas push to protect some key legacy items during his final days in office . Go to facebook or twitter twitter, foxnewssunday. We may use your question on the air. You have known my plan all along. Its 100 correct. Whats happening is disgraceful. President elect trump saying hell stand by his plan for extreme vetting of people trying to come into the u. S. From countries with a history of terrorism. That after a series of attacks this week in europe. Time now for our sunday group. Syndicated columnist george will, gerald seib, the wall street journals Washington Bureau chief. Julie pace, who covers the white house and the transition for the associated press. And the cofounder of the web magazine the federalist, ben domenech. Ben, lets start with the president elects comments late this week about lets have a new arms race with russia flying in the face of a half century of arms control and doing it as Newt Gingrich said in 140 characters. Your thoughts about the policy and the way of conducting it. Well, i think that certainly this is one of the early days of experiencing what Foreign Policy discuss u discussions are going to be discussions are going to be like under the Trump Presidency which i think are going to be very different than they have in the past under a lot of other president s. I think one of the things well have to get used to is that the idea when donald trump tweets, its going to be followed up with explanations of what he meant with 140 characters by supporters. I think in this case when it comes to modernizing our nuclear our Nuclear Program and understanding our position visavis russia, this does send a message that things are not going to be necessarily all fine and danced weather it comes to our and dandy when it comes to our relationship with putin or other world leaders. It i think the more important and interesting part of the discussion is another thing that you brought up in your conversation with the former speaker which is what is our policy going to be as it relates to these continued terror attacks that weve seen play out over the past week. We have a situation now in europe where you had an individual who was on all of the necessary watch lists, who was tagged as being someone who is dangerous, who had dealt with, you know, a car robbery in tunisia, a deportation issue when it came to italy, a terror probe when it came to germany. These are all situations that should have had this individual much higher on the appreciation of our european allies, as someone who resembled a threat. I think the more interesting and will challenging question Going Forward is what trumps policy is going to be toward situations like that. Not just in europe but here, as well. Jerry on both nuclear arms and the war on terror, when you see who trump has been saying, the team hes putting together on National Security, do you see the outlines of a strategy, of a Foreign Policy . First of all, i think you have to view what president elect trump as signal sending, not policy making. Signal sending and positioning, not litter policy. On the nuclear issue, totally lost is the fact theres already undera a trillion dollar 30year Modernization Program that the republicans in congress and president obama agreed to a couple of years ago. This is happening. What hes saying is not im creating some new policy on nuclear arms but im sending a signal to the chinese, the russians, the iranians, that were not going to fall behind in a Nuclear Arms Race if theres going to be one. I think people tend inner loop there was a rap in the campaign, dont take him too literally. I not theres still an admonition, dont take him too literalli. Do you agree, george, dont take him too literally . Its hard to know what hes said. He set hes going to expand and improve. We know that Nuclear Weapons decay. They have to be brought up again. Jerry said, this is baked in the policy. 108 billion not the expansion part. Ed modernization is. When he talks about expansion and says were ready for an arms race, that is different that is very different. In fact, thats alarming. It could be things change. 40 years ago we had this policy. Maybe now with new nuclear actors it ought to be changed. Wh whats disconcerting is what mr. Gingrich considers a virtue its done in 140 characters. If were going to change National Policy on the most awesome and frightening aspect of national essence, these weapons, it would be these weapons, it would be good to see something rather than what was said a few hours earlier by mr. Putin. I want to continue with you about president obama and his moves this week to Ban Oil Drilling on millions of acres in the arctic and the atlantic and very serious talk about transferring as many as 18 prisoners out of guantanamo. We asked you for questions for the panel of the heres what we got from monica nees on facebook what is obamas thinking obamas thinking after the American People clearly rejected his failed policies by continuing with his agenda in his last days in office . George, how do you answer monica . First about gitmo, that must be one of his principal frustrati frustrations. This is a limit of president ial power where president ial power is president elect truu. S. Tive. Its reduced to 42 flaeg not close, but close enough for government work. Drilling the likes and party likes to remove fossil fuels from the hand of consumers, and theyd like to expand governments control over things such as the outer continental shelf. So to all fits. Monicas question is why is he still doing this. Short answer, hes still president even though mr. Trump seems to think that at this point. Hes i think hes exercising power, not just signaling. But first of all, the progressive view of the presidency is that what is not explicitly forbidden by the constitution is permitted. Thats from betty roosevelt to Woodrow Wilson on. They believed that. And monica says, well, what about the consent that was sort of withdrawn by the election. Good progressives dont take consent that seriously because progressivism is ruled by experts who are needed because the people consenting to the Political Class dont quite know what theyre doing without the guidance of experts. I got to say, monica, you got a heck of an answer that from george will. That was an extended answer. Julie, what is the mood in the Obama Administration at this point . How worried are they that, to use a phrase i used with donald trump a couple of weeks ago, hes going to take a wrecking ball to the obama legacy, and to what degree do they think with these steps at the last minute they can lock in some of the legally . Theyre incredibly worry some of these steps now. And with most of the things that youre seeing the president do over the last few weeks, he cant lock things in permanently. But he can make them harder for President Trump to remove. Create enough obstacles that it becomes too difficult to focus on overturning the drilling ordinances and push him in a different direction. On some of these things, gitmo i think is an interesting example. Basically what hes trying to do is say, there are so few people that are going to be left, that the costs will be so high that republicans and President Trump whos talked about waste and Government Spending may decide to close it. Hes hes looking for ways to make his legacy stand up even if President Trump isnt going to say, yeah, im keeping obamas policies. I want to pick up on the question of the mood. Is the sense,whether its the president , that the barbarians are at the gate and about to take over . There may be an opinion of obama himself and senior advisers, at the staff level theyre still coming to grips with the idea that there was such a rejection of the president s legacy and that so many things theyve been working on are probably going to be at stake. The president himself is taking a bit of a more measured view of this. Hes in conversation with president elect trump a lot trying to explain the theories behind some of his actions. I think he hopes we dont know this will hold but he hopes when President Trump gets into office keeps saying transformation. I dont know if transformation is the right word, but imagine in the oval office and the decisions are on your desk that theres more of a sense of responsibility. 30 seconds . John adams said that you would never congratulate a friend on winning the office of the presidency. I think that could be playing into this a bit. Really i think that whats going on the left now is an archetype of what happened to ivanka trump this past week. Someone yelling at her on a plane that your father is ruining the country. He hasnt even taken office yet. He hasnt done anything yet. I think the left is still dealing with whiplash from this election. And a lot of the people who are under president obama havent woken up yet. Let me incidentally say, that was the height of the bad manners and inner loop im glad those guys got kicked off the plane. You know, somebodys traveling on a plane, leave them alone. Well take a break. See you later, panel. Next, 80 of white evangelicals voted for donald trump in this election. Well talk with the president of the Largest Christian University in the world, Jerry Falwell jr. , about why he thinks mr. Trump will be better for social conservatives than Ronald Reagan. Im just a guy who wants to buy that truck. And im just a guy who wants to sell him that truck. So i used truecar. It told me what other people in the area paid for the truck i want. And because were a truecar certified dealership, i already know the truck he wants. So were on the same page before he even gets here. Its fair. And its fast. Look good . Looks great. This is how car buying was always meant to be. This is truecar. A look outside the beltway at Donald Trumps Maralago Club in palm beach, florida, where the president elect is spending the holidays with his family. Our next guest, Jerry Falwell jr. , is president of Liberty University and a member of mr. Trumps evangelical advisory board. Mr. Physical welfalwell, merry and welcome to fox news sunday. Merry christmas to you. Last january, mr. Trump spoke at Liberty University. Heres a clip were going to protect christianity, and i can say that. I dont have to be politically correct. You were one of the first prominent evangelicals to endorse him. For the rest of the campaign, other leaders of your faith as well as a lot of students or some students i should say at Liberty University criticized you, especially after the release of that access hollywood tape. But you never wavered. How come . No. I just saw in mr. Trump someone who really loved the American People, who was for the working man, the common man. I saw that early on. He spoke at liberty in 2012, as well. Ive gotten to know him over the years. I believed it was sort of a gamble because i didnt know where hed come down on all the issues. Because i believed he was a good man, i believed he would come down on the right side of the issues. Hes done that in the last year. Ive been proud of him and think, like i said, it was a risk for me, but so much was at stake, i couldnt afford to stay silent. Lets look at the exit polls from Election Night a little over a month ago, as you can see there, donald trump got a higher percentage of the white evangelical vote than mitt romney did four years ago or mccain before him or even george w. Bush in 2004. How do you explain that . Well, he made it very clear who his Supreme Court picks would be if he was elected. I think that was a big factor. Some of the social conservatives on the platform committee, the Republican National Committee Convention told me that not since 2004 has any republican candidate allowed them to set the platform with that interference, but donald trump was the first who it h done that in a long time. That was a good signal. The other factors, you know, even added to the platform the repeal of the Johnson Amendment which has been used by government to silence conservatives and pastors and conservative universities like the one nonprofit universities like the one that i had. So all those things, he just they just resounded with evangelicals and with christians. And my wifes noticed since shes done her Christmas Shopping this year that more of the retailers are saying Merry Christmas, theres a new hope, an optimism, theres a good spirit in america. And i think thats i think thats coming from his lead. I think you would agree that mr. Trump is no student of theology. I want to play a clip for you of an interview he did last year with the christian broadcasting network. Here it is god is the ultimate. I mean, god created this. You know, heres the Pacific Ocean right behind us. So nobody, no thing, theres nothing like god. Just say that mr. Trump, you think probably, your word, will be a better for social conservative as president than Ronald Reagan was. Now theres theres a contrary view, i dont have to tell you, that he doesnt really care about this, that he said it because that would help him get elected. But he cares about issues like trade and National Security more than he does about issues like abortion or gay rights which he was a late convert to. Whats your feel being that . He told us what Supreme Court justices he would appoint. Thats about all a president can do on the abortions issue is to appoint the right justices. He never pretended to be a th e theologi theologian. I said through the campaign were not electing a pastor in chief. Like when we have a sick child, you look for the best doctor for that child. You dont look for the doctor that shares your faith or theology. And thats what i think we have to do with government. We have to find the candidate and who is most likely to support all the values that we hold dear, and you know, evangelicals arent that much different than the general population. Theyre concerned about all the issues you just mentioned. Trade, immigration, terrorism, all the things that the general population was interested in, and so it its not like evangelicals only vote on one or two issues. They vote on all the issues. Just like let me just pick up on that if i may. Excuse me, mr. Falwell. Youve gotten controversy with other evangelical leaders about supporting the nomination of Rex Tillerson to be the secretary of state even though as a board member of the boy scouts he succeeded in lifting the ban on gay scouts. Why doesnt that concern you . Well, ive said that watching trump assemble his cabinet has been the most exciting thing because hes brought in the captains of industry, hes brought in the leaders from every walk of life. It reminds me of the Basketball Dream Team from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics when america was finally allowed to let professional athletes play. They beat every team by an average of 44 points. Thats what i see i think what trump is doing with his cabinet is assembling a dream team. I think scott pruitt, im especially excited about his appointment at the epa but before we run out of but but Rex Tillerson back to tillerson, his position on social issues i dont believe are relevant in the position of secretary of state. I dont think hell ever have to weigh in on any of those issues. I think hes going to be out cutting deals like he did as the ceo of a Global Enterprise with exxon. And i think thats what we need in that position. I dont think his position on social issues will ever make a difference as secretary of state. The North Carolina Legislature Just failed to repeal the law thats known as house bill 2 which would ban people from going into bathrooms unless their gender on their birth certificate matches the bathroom theyre in. Is that something you think that states should get involved in . Well, i think each state, of course, is going to make their own decision on that. But if you follow that logic to its conclusion, does that mean that men will be able to play on womens coit tea Womens Basketball teams . You have to draw a line somewhere. I think the concern of the North Carolina legislate sewer that men, women, and children sorry, that women, children, are protected from men coming into womens shower rooms. And it makes sense. I mean, i havent studied it closely exactly, what the bill says, but its it seems like common sense to me. Lets talk about your school, liberty, which as we mentioned earlier is the Largest Christian University in the world. I want to put up some numbers. Since you succeeded your father in 2007, enrollment has increased from 9,600 to 15,000 residential students and from 27,000 to 98,000 on line. Why do you think there is such a great and apparently growing demand for a Christian Education . Because its so rare in Higher Education. Mayor bloomberg in his commencement speech at harvard a couple of years ago chastised the ivy league because 96 of their faculty and staff had donated to the Obama Administration. His point was how can we have Academic Freedom and Political Correctness my paraphrase side by side. The two cannot coexist. And when you have everybody in major universities thinking the same way and conservatives are ridiculed when they speak up, i dont think thats Academic Freedom. So i think the reason liberty has prospered so much is because its an alternative. Its something where free expressions of ideas is allowed. Where where Academic Freedom is promoted. And i think its its just the fact, the chronicle of highhigh er kaegds said last year that libertys strength is in the fact that it doesnt try to be like other universities. And they said that our Business Model is probably the future of Higher Education in america. So weve weve been able to use that Business Model to make liberty one of the most prosperous universities in the country, one of the five largest universities. Were one of only about 70 thats rated aa by standard and poors and moodys. Its only because we dont try to be like everybody else. Finaly weve got less than a minute left, sir. You are not a pastor, but as the president of Liberty University, i wonder about your thoughts about christmas on this Christmas Day for your students and for our audience. We have to remember, christmas, the reason we celebrate it is to recognize that gods greatest gift to mankind through his son jesus christ that provides the hope for redemption, forgiveness, eternal life. And i think that we we can never forget jesus and the great commandment taught that were supposed to love our neighbors as ourselves. I think we live by that commandment that we would see a totally different world, and you know, he he taught personal charity. He didnt say go vote for somebody whos going to take money from your neighbor and give it to the poor. He said, you help the poor. It doesnt absolve us to vote for somebody whos going to promote welfare, you know, its our job to help the poor. I think thats what christmas is all about. I think the electors the other day gave america a great Christmas Present when they made it official that donald trump will be president in january. Theres a new spirit of the hope and optimism in the country like ive never seen, even among people who didnt support trump. I think thats encouraging. Mr. Falwell, thank you. Thanks for your time. And Merry Christmas to you and your family, sir. Thank you, chris. Merry christmas to you. Thank you. When we return, well bring back our panel to explain what happened this year and what to look for in 2017. Every single american will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential. The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. [ cheers ] president elect trump promising at his victory speech to renew the american dream. And were back now with the panel. George, i think its fair to say you made it very clear during the course of this year how you felt about donald trump. But putting that aside, how do you explain his victory . Judge did he get elected president . In part because he had a weak and untalented opponent who made tactical mistakes regarding crucial states, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania. And she promised continuity at a time when the country by the right track wrong track figures said the country was on the wrong track. We want change, not continuity. That you will said, he ran a Brilliant Campaign it was antecedent was pronoun campaign. If you said, what do you like about donald trump, he tells it like it is. And you could fill in the antecedent to the pronoun it. The transition has been a shrug since then. Oh, never mind. Not going to appoint a special prosecutor to lock her up. Were not going to deport 200,000 people a month to get 11 Million People out of the country in two years. Doesnt matter because what he brilliantly understood was the power of social media. One of the consequences of his victory will be, i think, that well hear very little about Campaign Finance regulations and the power of money in politics. He was badly outspent because he understood use could go around that on the new platforms and make 30second Television Spots marginally important. Julie, why did donald trump win how do you explain it . A and less so, how did Hillary Clinton lose . I think a couple of reasons. One, he did see that there was anxiety in the country on a bunch of fronts. Economic anxiety, anxiety over immigration, anxiety over terror threats that feel different than what we maybe have become accustomed to. And i think that he was authentic. You never felt with donald trump like he was speaking based on what he saw in internal polling or based on what he saw in focus groups. And he understood that for a lot of americans, democrats and republicans, they look at washington and dont believe anything that they hear. And he was an antidote to that. And i think that that resonated with a lot of people regardless of the actual words that were coming out of his mouth. The mere fact that he was willing to challenge democrats and his own party i think was appealing. Lets turn weve been talking about 2016, lets turn to 2017. Jerry, you and i are old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan came to this town, and Clark Clifford, a big democratic lawyer and insider, dismissed him as an amiable dunce. I have to tell you that ive been to some Christmas Parties the last couple of weeks talking to politicians of both parties, talking to some of our colleagues in the media who are dismissing trump the same way and talking about what a disaster hes going to be as president. Im sure youve had that same experience. What do you think are the chances that they are going to be as wrong as Clark Clifford was about Ronald Reagan . You know, i lived through the reagan experience with jordan george, we all did. I think there was an evolution in reagan the presidency and in reagan the president. I think the cue was that Ronald Reagan was smart enough to surround himself with people who made up for whatever deficiencies he had. And he had a vision, an ideology, donald trump doesnt have an ideology or a vision. Hes transactional. It will be different. Is it going to be more or less effective, i dont know. I think the parallel to reaganism and the reagan presidency falls down there. Theres not some ideological north star for the Trump Presidency. Theres going to be getting business done, making transactions there was an underestimating of Ronald Reagan as a person and a leader, and i wonder if there isnt the same about donald trump. Well, i mean, weve been through a year of underestimating donald trump, right . Theres ample reason to think that will continue. You know what, donald trump really understood that all the other campaigns did not really understand wasnt that there was an idea a desire for change or that there was a desire to bring in an outsider. Other campaigns, other candidates got that. What he understood was the anger in the country. And he tapped into that. And then he stoked it. Can you than as president , is that safe . Thats a big question well confront in 2017, 2018, and beyond. Chris, the biggest loser in 2016 was washington, d. C. , and its not even close. The norms and assumptions about politics, about the way its supposed to work were entire rejected by a jacksonian roe n of people who were frustrated with people who thought they would play to them in Campaign Years and ignore once they got in office. What we had saw was donald trump tap into the anxieties of an American People who are very much aware that we are at a period in time where Labor Force Participation is at near 40year lows. You have 95 million adult americans out of the work force. You have a rise in racial tension, you have a rise in economic anxiety. You have a rise in disgust and distrust for our institutions. They wanted someone who represented a dramatic change. Theyve sent their message to washington. Were now going to see when donald trump is actually able to deliver on that without thats a good way to campaign, but how do you transform that into accomplishments as president . I think that were going to see his approach as it plays out over the coming months and will have to assess it as it is. I think weve made the mistake over the year of judging decisions that he made too early. Where we should have been more humble i think in looking at the Bigger Picture thats in short supply in washington right now. The humility, i think we should have humility. Hes naming people who achieved great things in terms of industry or who have experience within the military or elsewhere. Were going to have to assess when these kind of change agents just as we saw with new people coming, Andrew Jacksons revolt in the past into washington, when theyre able to come into these institutions and change them, or when they are changed by them. I think theres going to be disappointment among people who took some of the things george referred to, said in the campaign, literally. Theyre not necessarily going to happen. There will be some point where theres disappointment, oh, that didnt happen, you said it was going to happen. Its unrealistic. George is probably the only person here other than myself who covered andrew jackson. Your thoughts about that parallel . I think its fair. That theres a jacksonian streak born fight figure, the title of the book borne fighting, the title of the book. I think ten years from now people may say the big loser was not washington, it was brussels. That the most important vote take then year was not november 8th but june 23rd when the british left the European Union and began the unraveling of that project which. And with the terrible attack in berlin and what that says about migrants and migrant policy and the open door, thats going to only continue, isnt it . It is. I hasten to add that i hardly supported brexit. It just was not a total loss of a year. Thank you, panel. See you next sunday. Next, our power player of the week. Honoring americas veterans this christmas season. Plus, a holiday visit from the wallace grandkids you wont want to miss. Its a christmas tradition here to share the story about one family has found a way to express the meaning of the holiday season. Its a moving example of love for our country and personal generosity. Once again, heres our power player of the week. We wouldnt have the opportunities if it wasnt for the people that fought for us. And gave their lives for us. Its that plainspoken wisdom thats driven Morrell Wooster for years on a mission thats touched americas heart. Each december, wooster places wreaths at Arlington National cemetery. And thousands of volunteers are there to help him. I think a lot of people think like i do. They just want to, you know, they appreciate the veterans, and they want to show it. This story begins in 1962 when worcester, then a 12yearold paper boy from maine, won a trip to washington. What impressed him most was arlington, his beauty, dignity, and rows and rows of graves. Every one represents a life, and a family and a story. Theyre not just tombstones. Those are all people. 30 years later in 1992, wooster was running his own Wreath Company in harrington, maine. As christmas approached, he had a bunch left over. These wreaths are real fresh. Great, just made. I just didnt want to throw them away. He thought of arlington and all those graves. When the cemetery approved, he and a dozen volunteers drove the wreaths down and laid them on the headstones. So it continued for years until a few christmases back when an air force sergeant took this picture which ended up on the internet. Kind of struck a nerve, and people emailed it to each other. It really went around the world. There you go, sir we were there the next year as he and his workers at the wooster Wreath Company loaded up 5,265 wreaths. Then they embarked on what wooster called the worlds longest veterans parade. A 750mile journey that at some points attracted more than 100 vehicles. And when they got to arlington, so many people wanted to participate. This ceremony you are about to witness is an army wreathlaying ceremony to be conducted for the wooster Wreath Company for years, wooster paid for all of this out of his own pocket. He started wreaths across america, sending hundreds to cemeteries and War Memorial Service memorials around the country. He will need help to reach his new goal. Around 2. 7 million graves. Thats a tall order to decorate 2. 7 million graves. So youd like to do it, wouldnt you . I really would, yeah. Sometime i dont know how, but hey, you know how long are you going to keep doing this . Im going to keep doing it for as long as i work. And then i know my familys going to continue. It will be here for a long time. This is the 25th year morrow wooster has take own his christmas wreath project. This month more than 800,000 volunteers helped place more than 1. 2 million wreaths on veterans graves in all 50 states and overseas. And after going to arlington last he stopped by to discuss why this is growing after more than a quarter century. Its america. Its what America Needs to be. You know, theres a lot of people that have roots in the military, that have veterans that have served and so on. And they just want to, you know, spend a little time remembering those people and being at the cemeteries all over the country and just saying their names out loud and keeping them alive. When i first asked you this, we were both a bit younger how long are you going to keep at it . Well, as long as the good lord will let me. Ill do it for as long as i possibly can. And then my familys behind me, and theyre going to keep right on going. This will never stop. Its what the countrys all about. I mean, we have to know where weve been and what weve been given in order to go forward in a meaningful way. And whats been given to us so that we can have what we have. And all down through the history of the country. And now another christmas tradition. Heres a look from the last two years at all five of the wallace grandkids. And now here they are again. And they keep growing. Livy and caroline and sabine and james and william. From our family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas, and well see you next fox news sunday. It very well done. All right, guys. Three, two, one Merry Christmas i was on my way to work, the next thing you know, i was on the ground. The trash truck ran over both my legs. I had sixteen surgeries. I dont sleep through the night unless i have my medicine. My medical bills was piling up. My employer stopped paying me. Pond lehocky has put me back together. What to do when a winter wonderland. Gonna be pretty loud. Turns into a frozen darkness . Join us on the sheets of ice, and the harsh wilderness of the rocky mountains, on xploration awesome planet. Welcome to awesome planet, im philippe cousteau. A few places show off the beauty of winter like Banff National park. Close to a Million People travel here each winter to enjoy this stunning landscape, immersing themselves in a world of snow an ice. Located about two hours north of calgary, alberta, canada, youll find a wilderness lovers dream