consistent. he was authentic. he was honest. that resonated with a lot of people across the country. he had a great sense of humor. he considered entertainment to be probably the most important part of the success of his radio show. he connected with people. not with everyone. he had his critics to be sure. but he shocked a lot of people in establishment politics in the late 80s and early 90s. when they came to realize that there were legions of listeners to rush limbaugh who he called the ditto heads. there were folks out there that got him, who spoke his language and who felt that he was able to boil down how they felt and express it in a way that unified an i enormous part of america. so like a lot of people and a lot of people in this business, i had an opportunity to get to know rush over the years. he was very kind to me, very supportive of my career. we kept in touch over the years. i will miss him. i send my deepest condolences to his wife, katherine and his brothers. there was a lot of love around rush limbaugh. you could hear that in the radio moments that we just shared with you and will continue to share with you throughout this hour. this is rush limbaugh speaking in december about the gravity of his disease and about his thoughts on life. >> i expected to be alive today. i wasn't expected to make it to october and then to november and then to december. and yet here i am. and today got some problems. i'm feeling good today. god's with me today. so many people have put me first in all of this. i understand now what lou gehrigment. i feel like that. i feel fortunate and lucky. and because i have outlived the diagnosis, i've been able to receive and hear and process some of the most wonderful, nice things about me that i might not have ever heard had i not gotten sick. >> martha: laura ingraham, mark levin, newt gingrich, all standing by to share their stories and their thoughts as everybody absorbs the news of the loss of rush limbaugh today. we begin with trace gallagher. a wonderful look back at the life and legacy of rush limbaugh for us today. hi, trace. >> hi, martha. it was almost a year ago that rush limbaugh broke the news of his cancer diagnosis and days later president trump awarded him the medal honor of freedom. this is the state of the union ceremony. watch, this. >> a great honor to do so when we gave the medal of freedom. it was special. it was an incredible night. we gave it during the state of the union address. it was especially half the room, half the room went crazy. the other half of the room knew he should get it. it was special and he was special. >> of course, the common denominator in the coverage and tributes is how much impact he had on media and politician. clearly among the most influential conservative voices the past 33 years. the social media comments reflect that. senator marsha blackburn tweeted "important voice for the conservative movement. he will be missed dearly. my condolences to the family." senator rand paul said rest in peace. not many revolutionized the industry and stayed atop like he did. larry kudlow said without rush limbaugh, it's unlikely that republicans would have retaken control of the house in 1994 meaning that newt gingrich wouldn't have been speaker of the house. his radio show had between 15 and 20 million listeners a week. his wife katherine said this on that show. >> from today on, there will be a tremendous void in our lives and of course on the radio. rush loved our miraculous country beyond measure. an unwaivering patriot. >> even though that were not rush limbaugh fans like david axelrod, he's a force of historic proportions. yes, we knew a lot about rush limbaugh but did you know as a kid, hi shined shoes at a barber shop? a fan of rare sports cars and owned some. he was the head of sales for the royals where he became great friends with george brett and sang at george brett's wedding. rush limbaugh said the reason is there's a second amendment in case the government fails to follow the first. a big void, martha. >> martha: thanks, trace. very glad to be joined by laura ingraham, host of "the ingraham angle." laura, thanks for being with us today. your thoughts and what went through your mind when you heard this news this afternoon. >> yeah, like so many, i don't think i'd be doing what i'm doing today were it not for rush and a few people like him in my life. i know sean and mark and so many of us have that spent time in talk radio without rush, without his advise and without his constant advice and experience and kindness, i would not -- not only done radio but probably wouldn't be at fox. i won't have any of the opportunities i have right now. he was that kind of person. the media is filled with people who are acquaintances and may call you friends when things are going good. but it's a rarity when you find someone who is your friend and who is there for you when things aren't going well. when there's a controversy swirling or a major health crisis or some other type of personal issue. that certainly happened to me over the years. he was just a person that i could call whether it was a problem with my iphone because he was always buying the latest iphone -- he would like go in the back of his car and pull out a bag of iphones. i was like rush, this is like a drug deal. this is getting weird. he just loved technology. he was like a kid around technology. so he was that kind of person. people say larger than life. people say iconic. usually used in circumstances where it's not all that warranted. in this case, it truly is warranted from someone who rescued talk radio when it was an am dial when it was written off as a lost medium to really someone who helped save the republican party if you mention, martha, in 1994 with a people people that saw the possibility of gingrich and retaking the house. rush was a happy, happy warrior. so many times people wanted to give up on conservatism, whether in 2012 when romney lost or 2008 when mccain was nominated and lost. rush was the kind of person that you could turn on the radio and realize, you know something? we're america. it's going to be okay. he used to say to me, suck it up, buttercup. it's going to be all right. it's going to be all right. more than anything else for the people out there who had the chance to really get to know him on the radio, that sense of eternal optimism about the american experience is going to be sorely missed. so that part of his spirit i think -- i got very choked up. i couldn't leave my car. i sat in my car for 45 minutes working on what was going to write about him for tonight on "the ingraham angle." so it's a cataclysmic loss. >> martha: it is. i'm so happy that you touched on that big optimism. he was great at taking the long view. you know, sounds cliche' but looking beyond that very difficult moment, whether it be election losses or tragedies in the country and seeing what was good in america, the through line of what keeps us going across these generations. i would love, laura, if i could, if you would indulge us with what your remember and first meeting with him, talking with him, when you were getting started and how did you meet him and -- >> yeah, really it was in the early 1990s. i was just -- going to talk about it more tonight. the early 90s, i was still a lawyer working in a big washington office of a new york law firm. i was starting to write columns and appear on various tv shows. it was before fox. i had a chance to meet him in his wabc offices. i was with a number of other conservative women, young women at the time at the independent women's forum. i don't know how we got a chance to meet him. i was so nervous. the only time i was more nervous when i worked with. reagan. i didn't say anything. i just sat quietly, which is unusual for me. i sat quietly in the corner of the room. about 15 minutes in, he looked at me and he said don't you have anything to add? i don't know -- it's the only thing that came out of my mouth. well, if you are really serious about radio, i think you have some talent. he was a huge radio star already. all of these awards. he just looked at me and burst out laughing. from then on, we became good friends. i was so nervous. i couldn't say anything. ever since then, you know, whether it was a last-minute diner in washington or, you know, getting together in palm beach because i stay not far from where he lived in palm beach. it was always -- it's always fun. my kids got to know him a little bit, which was great. i'm already dreading telling my daughter, maria, because she loved rush. she remembers listening to him when he first came to the united states. that was probably the first thing she heard on the radio was rush limbaugh. >> martha: she was like are all americans like this? >> yeah. exactly. so as a person, as a talent, as a patriot, i can't say it better than anybody else. newt gingrich has so much to add to that. as a friend, i will say, someone who has gone through cancer and lived through that, he was one of the first people i called and he was one of the people that just got me through it. i wish that i could have done for more him. he was very private in the last year. he didn't want any pity, he didn't want anyone to feel sorry for him. he just wanted to do his job every day, martha. so many people -- so many people during the course of their lives that go through hardships, oh, i don't want to think about work. his work was his salvation. his work was his vocation. he had to dedicate himself to it every day. when he couldn't do it, i know he missed it greatly and he felt bad when he couldn't do it, when he was getting chemo. it's like i have to get back to the microphone. i have to get back to the microphone. he did it as long as he could and as joyfully as any human being i know. i feel blessed today to get to get to know him and so blessed in a country where we have freedom of speech where people can say things on the radio that offend half the country and half the country really likes. so i think we have to count our blessings. >> martha: we sure do. especially in this moment when so many voices are being shut down. it's something that we have to remember and make part of his legacy. you know, you talk about the fact he didn't want to -- people to pity him. it's not the way to look at it but i can't help but feeling that i wanted to let everybody down. i marvelled at the you that he had on the days when he would say, i feel good today. i'm at work. i'm excited. he sees those days when he felt good and was able to continue to live out that dream and have that opportunity to speak to all of us. so laura, thank you. >> can i say one more thing that he said that will make people laugh? during the beginning of the pandemic, you know, we were e-mailing back and forth. i said i'll be done in florida. i want to stop and see you. he said ingraham, you know this well but i have a ph.d. long before the coronavirus. i had a ph.d. in social distancing. he's like now with lung cancer. so anyway, i'll miss the laughter. he would be very happy to hear your tributes that you're thing today. i know he liked it very much as well. >> martha: and we look forward to hearing more of what you have to reflect on today, tonight on "the ingraham angle." very appreciative for you stopping by and talking to us. >> no problem. >> martha: thank you. so let's bring in the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. a fox news contributor. i know you've been listening in to all of this coverage today. your initial thoughts on the passing of rush limbaugh. >> first of all, he was and will remain an iconic figure. he rescued a.m. radio when it was dying and turning in to the central vehicle for talk radio, created huge new audiences. he modern conservatism and is the bridge from reagan to where we are today. he started his show in 1988 nationally. he grew very rapidly. as you pointed out earlier, without rush, i doubt if we would have won control in the house in 1994. he clarified the issues, he gave our candidates arguments to run on. he created a huge number of people. his impact is more than the go 0 million listener as week. it was all the people that they would talk to. my guess is the ripple effect of rush was 80 or 90 million people every week. people would say, did you hear what rush said today? he was also, i want to point out, a wonderful human being. woe got to know him very closely. for his family, this is a very sad day. so we would -- when rush lived in new york, we would go down for weekends at their place in palm beach. we said this is nice place to live and the taxes are better. he uprooted from new york to palm beach. we would get with him. bill bennett would join us and my two daughters and their husbands would join us. amazing. the thing i remember about rush is, his heart never left missouri. he was a middle american from very traditional sense of being grateful that god had allowed him to find a career that he could do well. he spent years not doing things he didn't do particularly well and finally went back to radio. my wife and i had lunch with rush one time. turned out both of them had work for radio stations when they were teenagers in high school. they were comparing notes on that. she went on to be ambassador to the vatican. he went on to be a wealthy and famous radio commentator. to listen to him talk about that, the humility, the down to earthness, the practicality was just amazing. this is not a man that in any sense thought of himself as special. he thought of himself as smart, hard-working. that he was doing something which was a mission. he had a mission to help save america and he was doing it in the medium that he understood. >> martha: go back and talk about the election in 1994 when you became speaker of the house. what message did he have at that moment and how those stars aligned and put you in the speaker's seat. >> well, it's interesting. we were watching the third play of the same story. clinton who ran as the centrist had gone to the left andries of sense to most americans. rush was there every day educating people. did you know he did this, did you know he did that. he was building a momentum of unwillingness to accept left wing ideas. and he was also willing to talk about house republicans. we had been out of power for 40 years. nobody talked about house republicans. he was willing to talk about them and hold public meetings and he went around the country. people that could not have cared less about the republican candidate had a chance to hear rush limbaugh. a pre-trump effect, the ability to mobilize thousands and thousands of people. he helped us clarify what the election was about and what the choice was. we picked up 54 seats that year and gained control for the first time in 40 years. i believe it wouldn't have happened without rush. >> yeah, you know, you make an interesting connection there between president trump and rush limbaugh. the republican party becoming the party that sort of understood the forgotten man and woman which is a phrase that we heard a lot in the trump campaign and the trump years. when you look back, rush limbaugh was really the person who sort of connected republican values to sort of every man in the middle of america. i think a lot of people, it resonated with obviously millions of people. >> it did. it important to remember that both rush and i stood on the shoulders of ronald reagan. the contract of america is pure reaganism. rush and i learned about how to explain conservative from reagan. so when reagan left office, rush was the one that was standing there because the truth was that the bushes were not particularly active conservatives. they didn't see that as their mission in life. so rush filled the vacuum that reagan had left and rush continued to do that during the last 20 years. frankly, just as clinton went to the left and they lost 54 seats, obama went to the left. rush explained what he was doing and they lost 53 seats in the first election afterwards, which is why i think kevin mccarthy will become speaker next year. rush would have loved to have been part of that. he was remarkable. i will say one brief thing. my son-in-law, paul everett won a chance to do off with rush and stanley gains. he hit a hole and one. he has the crowd displayed by rush limbaugh. >> martha: i hope your son-in-law bought a round of drinks for everybody. >> but he was that kind of a guy. he was very much a normal american with a huge voice and a brilliant mind. >> martha: not afraid to speak his mind obviously. sometimes it was popular and sometimes it wasn't. but he was always true to his convictions and what he thought and he was willing to take the backlash for it when that was there. newt gingrich, thanks very much. good to have you weigh-in. >> thank you. >> martha: we bring in mercedes schlapp, active in conservative circles for many years. mercedes, nice to have you with us this afternoon. your thoughts on rush limbaugh and his passing today. >> well, first, we here at american conservative union want to send our condolences to the limbaugh family, to katherine. it's so heart breaking to learn the news of his passing, but knowing rush, he would want us to stand strong and stand bold and continue the fight. you know, he was not only the god father of conservative talk radio, but he was also the heart of the conservative grass roots activists. he gave us our direction. what we needed to do to be able to effectively communicate conservative principles, talk about the importance of defending the constitution and the declaration of independence and our freedoms. so knowing that, there is this void now in the conservative movement. it's really heart breaking. i have to tell you, i have the great honor of meeting rush at the white house. we got to spend some time together. he was thanking the white house staff, thanking us for the work that we did for president trump. i remember telling him, rush, we have to thank you because he inspired so many young people to go into politics and to continue to serve our country. so i have to tell you, martha, it's a sad day not only for the conservative movement but for america. >> martha: mercedes, this is from april 23, 2019. you talked about young people and difference between liberalism and conservatism. two different philosophies. both sides want the best outcome for the country but the conservative way is that you're not looking for a hand out, a hand up. here's what he had to say on that in april of 2019. listen. >> we're doing a great disservice to our kid by short charging their humanities, their opportunitying to excel. they're nothing more than pawns that can be bought with votes. i don't think there's a majority of our population that up against donald trump is a key element here. i don't think there's a majority population that is serious of thinking this is the way the country ought to be run. >> martha: interesting especially after this election to look back at that. we heard from president trump a little while ago. he talked about that. he talked about rush wanting to be with us until after the election. that he was trying his best to continue to get that message out to his viewers. your thoughts on that sound bite and where we stand today in terms of the republican party and that dream. first of all, talked about how rush would fill the vacuum. when the party was in a bad place, we had experienced election losses. he was the one that would come in and show us the way. it was actually in 2009 when he gave what i would call the conservative state of the union at cpac and he really spoke clearly to the movement. this is right when president obama won. we were disspirited. we didn't know where we were headed as a party. a lot of chaos. yet it was rush that talked about the importance of protecting our founding principles. when we talk about people, that is the love of this nation, the love of the american people and what we see in the american people, its potential. without the government hand-out, without the government control. so now more than ever, the call is clear of what rush would want us to do as we continue to rebuild this party, as we try to bring this party together to understand the real threats that we're facing in terms of socialism creeping into america, in terms of the far left agenda that many of these democrat politicians are pushing. for rush, we'll look back and see that for the decades of work that he's done, we can look back, read, understand what he was saying and take his words and put them in to action. >> martha: there's enormous legacy and library of all of his words over 33 years of speaking on this. reremember that -- the cpac speech that you referred to. mercedes, thanks very much. good to have you with us. >> thanks very much. >> martha: moments ago, the former first lady, melania trump treated her condolences writing this. >> martha: with that, i want to bring in mark levin, host of "life, liberty and levin" and a fox news contributor. he joins us by phone. good to have you with us. i heard you speaking when the news was fresh. your thoughts as you continue to reflect on the loss of your dear friend. >> well, martha, first time i met you was at his wedding. >> that's right. >> he was one of my best friends. pardon me. >> martha: it's okay. >> i would say this. rush would be very happy of the outpouring of support for him. in many ways, he would be shocked by it. people said he was a regular guy. but he was a regular guy, inquisitive, curious. he had a huge library. he had the great philosophies. he never went to college and didn't need to go to college. we exchanged over the years, many e-mails, discussions about various issues. he became an expert on the constitution, the history of the nation. all self-taught. he was as kind as kind could be. early on -- he was very funny. kit carson passed away and that upset him. i would tell him early on issues about the constitution, the clinton years. finally he tells cookie, kathleen gleason, a wonderful lady, i want to talk to him directly. then he talked to me, gave me his e-mail and appointed me director of his legal division, f.e. levin. he didn't have a legal division but that's the way he was. he wanted to know about my kids, wanted to learn about the grandkids. he had us to his house. a tremendous gentleman and host. he smiled, he laughed. he was also serious. he was very, very worried, particularly now, about the future of the country. and i think about all of these things. and i think what was it that attracted him to donald trump? a lot of us were eventually -- he was attracted early on. i i think it's this. trump was an outsider. trump was rejected by the elites. they said trump couldn't succeed. that all said the same thing about rush. i think rush identified with that in many respects. also, i think rush felt why should we be controlled and behindered by what the left and the mainstream media says? we're free. he didn't think it was controversy to be an old-time defender of the country. he was a absolute patriot. he gave mounds and mounds of money to different causes without making anything about it. even his later books, he and kathryn with liberty and paul revere and these folks to reach out to young people. he really felt the country -- well, he put it -- when i think of rush generally -- i worked for reagan. i campaigned for him. i worked for some great people. rush limbaugh, if he's not at the top, he's at the top of the greatest people i've ever known. he's in the category as newt said it of a reagan, bill buckley, freedman. he was not just a broadcaster. he was an activist. he had his own way of encouraging people to to certain things. he was to some people a fatherly figure. some people a brotherly figure. to some people like a son. he was also good old rush. we could rely on him. the worst things got, the more you wanted to tune in and listen to what rush has to say. what is rush's take on this? i'll tell you, he encouraged me to get into radio as hannity did. i didn't want to do it. and i remember once he said, he wanted me to -- he said just do it. you'll do great. so he will throw you in the water. that's a big audience the just do it. i said to him when i first started out in radio, what can i possibly say after you speak and hannity speaks and then it's my turn? he said mark, they've heard me, they heard hannity but they haven't heard you. this is the kind of guy he was. he didn't say only listen to me. even though he was. absolutely hands down, sean will tell you, i'll tell you, absolutely the best. he didn't even look at himself the way -- you know, people would listen to him about -- this is all tongue and cheek stuff. he was hilarious in person and a great guy. >> martha: he had a great self-deprecating sense of humor that people misinterpreted sometimes. you know, the excellence in broadcasting and talent on loan from god and all of that. it was very funny. i always thought that he had a great sense of humor and was hilarious. he was generous with people and different -- meme don't think this but he liked to here people's opinions about things. before i let you go, you said something -- i think of him as a great optimism and big picture observer of america and the future. you said he was worried right now. can -- >> an optimist. he was an optimist but not a pollyanna. he's concerned about the rising of tyranny. yes, he's an optimism. yes, we're americans. but he understood to succeed, we have to fight. we have free will. he would encourage people to vote, get involved on election day. it's very interesting. he was able to do something that i'm not able to do. which is he was able to kind of back individuals against other individuals without offending the people. like in the republican party. i offend everybody apparently. but he -- either you're born with it or not. a fantastic nature. but he was and is. so many of us are concerned about the future of the country. look, i'm not a psychologist, i'm not a mind reader but i feel certain that he would say to the young people today, defend your country, fight for your country. speak out in smart ways, learn the true history of your country. many men and woman have come before and died for this country. don't be devoured by the neo-marxistic lift. he knew the world didn't end with him. he would want us all, all to carry on to save this great country and defend this great country. i'm telling you, i know that for certain. he will be grievously missed. >> martha: i'm so glad that he encouraged you to begin your radio career and sean hannity encouraged it. you're a great voice for all of us on the constitution and history and things that really matter. so i appreciate you being here today. thank you very much. >> thank you. you can thank him. thank you. >> martha: thank you, mark. so joining me now is talk radio host, dana lush. thanks for being here today as well. your quick thoughts on rush limbaugh. >> of course, martha. it's a sad day. he was very transparent about going through all of this with his listeners. i've been in talk radio now for a little over a decade. when i started, i didn't listen to a lot of it but i listened to him. when i was younger growing up in a very left household, i thought that he was wrong. as i got older and i went to college and my world view opened, i listened to him a little bit more and realized when did hi start being correct with things? he's really making sense now and i thought it was because maybe he changed. that's how he always was. there is no one that can replay rush limbaugh. he is the gold standard of broadcasting. every single broadcaster, right, left or center from myself to everybody, they have rush limbaugh to credit for their career, for an industry. and it's not just what rush limbaugh did for what he did for talk radio and conservative punditry, but his contributions to the conservative movement even before the internet, even before the day of social media. really it can't be overstated how much he contributed to the conservative movement. how many people he turned on to conservatism because he was able to better articulate republican ideas than members of the republican party. he was able to better speak to the issues than the rnc. because of that, i think that he still has more credibility than a lot of people in the party. >> martha: a great point. everybody party needs someone that can articulate their ideals the way he did. thanks for being here today. >> our prayers are with the limbaugh family. >> martha: thank you. another story that is breaking right now that we'll get to after this quick break. stay with us on "the story." we'll be right back. s with exciting stunts. 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mobilized to guard the u.s. capitol and monuments. blocks of fencing and razor wear remains. we heard from a top pentagon official as what they see and don't see from the threat. >> we work with law enforcement to determine that threat. that is continuing to evolve obviously at this time. i'm not aware of a threat that is out there that evolves all the time. >> 3,000 national guard are from wash damage. defense officials say they originally planned to keep them in following threats by qanon supporters. >> so some of then people figured out 75 years ago the president was inaugurated march 4. maybe we should storm the capitol again march for that is circulating online. >> the trump hotel in d.c. has more than doubled its room rates to more than $1,000 a night for march 3 and 4. some lawmakers are asking could the guard be better used elsewhere. more national guard are being sought to help in texas and for covid relief to get vaccines in arms. fema has a request for 10,000 guard. national leaders say they have enough troops. but as one defense official says, the u.s. troops are expensive security guards. the mix has cost the taxpayer almost $500 million. >> martha: thanks, jennifer. also breaking right now, president biden meeting with union leaders including richard trumka talking about rescuing the economy, creating infrastructure and jobs. we hope to have that video soon. we're going to kristin fisher live at the white house with that story. hi, kristin. >> martha, one of the people expected to be in the oval office is the head of the aflcio, richard trumka. he is a supporter of president biden but very critical of cancelling the keystone pipeline day one of his presidency. trumka said he believed that cost union paying jobs. so during the briefing today, the press secretary wondered if that would come up. here's what he said. >> the president is committed to creating good union paying jobs. the president has a desire to create good clean energy union paying jobs. he leaves the two can happen. >> so these union leaders are trying to do two things. trying to security massive federal investments in infrastructure and secure better access for what they believe are good paying, clean energy, alternative energy jobs. this would be a part of this much talked about, much hyped infrastructure plan that the white house is preparing to put forward. they've been talking about it for some time. near hoping and there's a good chance that they could get some bipartisan support but today the white house press secretary reiterated that everything else, every other agenda item talks a back seat to getting the covid relief plan passed by mid march. >> infrastructure is certainly an issue. he's had a long passion for it. he believes it creates good union jobs. but we're going to focus our efforts at this point in time on the american rescue plan. >> president biden will be selling his covid relief plan to the labor leaders. martha, as you mentioned, this meeting seems to be running a few minutes later. we'll get you that tape as soon as it happens. >> martha: thanks, kristin. kristin fisher at the white house. let's talk with ari fleischer, former press secretary for george w. burke, author of "taking heat." good to have you with us today. i'd love for you to weigh-in on a couple things. let's start with the infrastructure story. seems at the beginning of every presidency, there's this idea that this is something that both sides can get together on and agree on. when they actually try to do it, they have different ideas of how you actually pull off a infrastructure nationwide plan. >> yeah, this will be very expensive meeting. he will take heat about shutting down the pipeline. how does he make it up? by spending more money. infrastructure is the easy one. that is because when you're spending money, it's always easy to keep spending and spending more, especially in in environment where there's no such thing as fiscal constraint anymore. >> martha: there isn't. i remember the shovel-ready jobs and you remember the discussion of infrastructure in a package in the beginning of the trump administration. there was a lot of thinking that should be the first place to go to try to build some across-the-aisle nonpartisanship. you look at these projects, everybody wants something that benefits their state. that's okay. you know, it's good for companies across the country to have that benefit but sometimes you get fat in those projects as well. >> you put your finger on it. there's bridges and roads that have to get built, this is in addition to the regular highway authorization bill that congress passes on roads. so there's relegitimate infrastructure needs. this is where the government says they're creating jobs. no. the private sector creates jobs. the government shouldn't be in the business of creating new green jobs. if the economy needs to move that way, let it move that way naturally. when the government tries to do it, almost always turns into a boondoggle where it doesn't work, people showed up for jobs that weren't needed and the taxpayers are left on the hook. >> martha: a great point. let the free economy drive the businesses that the country is in need of and those jobs naturally follow. ari fleischer, thanks for weighing in. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: so next up we'll have final thoughts on the passing of rush limbaugh, can will be discussed throughout the day on fox news. we're going to speak with dr. ben carson who has some insights next. stay with us. ♪ ♪ we made usaa insurance for veterans like martin. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa >> man: what's my safelite story? usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, 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and for peace of mind today. refiplus. it's huge news. it's only for veterans. and it's only from newday usa. >> martha: in his final radio show of 2020, rush limbaugh thanked his listeners and said he wasn't expecting to be alive that day. watch this. >> i wasn't expected to make it till october and then to november and then to december. yet, here i am. and today got some problems, but i'm feeling pretty good today. god is we me. god knows how important this program is to me today. i'm feeling natural in terms of energy, normal in terms of energy. and i'm feeling entirely capable of doing it today. i can't be self-absorbed about it. when that is the tendency, when you are told that you've got adieu date, you have an expiration date. a lot of people never get told that, so they don't face life this way. this is not a complaint. i'm simply -- this is way i say so much i want to say today and say well, so much i want to say exactly am i'm feeling it. because my point in all of this today is gratitude. it's never time to panic, folks. it will never be time to give up on the united states. >> martha: with that, let's bring in dr. ben carson. he served in the trump administration as secretary of housing and urban development and found of the new conservative think tank, the american cornerstone institute. thanks for being with us. your thoughts on your time in government as you listen to -- and the goals that you had as you listen to what rush limbaugh had to say there and what he spoke about throughout the body of his work. >> one thing that impressed me about rush was perspective. he was able to look at the big picture. we see so many of our political leaders get bogged down in small stuff. rush recognized that in order for america to remain a place of opportunity and freedom, that it was a persistent fight. it wasn't a fight that occurred during world war ii or during the vietnam war. it's a fight that we have to fight every day. when i say fight, i don't mean riot. recognize what ronald reagan was talking about when he said our freedom is never more than a generation away from risk. rush recognized that. he also talked so often about opportunity and taking advantage of that frequently. i'd be operating and somebody would say, did you hear what rush said about you today? he was always talking about people who perhaps didn't start out in the right side of the tracks. but took advantage of opportunities and were able to take those to a place where not only their lives were improved but they're able to improve the lives of other people around them. and then also he recognized freedom of speech is not only a problem that the government can solve. our loss of freedom of speech can come from anyplace. you have to be weary of big tech and media and people that impose the concept of shutting up, closing people down. because that is such an important part of who we are. america is not so much a place as it is an idea. an idea of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion. the ability to lead your write a the way you want to as long as it's not negatively impacting other people. that's where the government comes in. the government was never intended by our founders to be involved in every aspect of our lives. that's what rush realized so much and did yeoman's job in creating the pamphlet for others to begin to think that way and express them evidence is. opened the whole pathway for talk way radio and conservative think. he was a tremendous person and a very nice person. i looked him. some people probably don't realize that. >> martha: one of the best kept secrets of rush, he was a sweet and caring guy. dr. ben carson, thanks very much for being with us today as we remember rush limbaugh and all that he stood for. he was very controversial. he wasn't afraid to say what he thought about his own party as well. i'm very grateful for you today. thanks for joining us. a busy day. a lot of memories of mr. limbaugh this afternoon. that's "the story" for wednesday, february 17, 2021. thanks for being with us. we'll be back tomorrow at 3:00 with ben shapiro. "your world" with neil cavuto starts right now. >> when we look out over the united states of america, when we see a group of people like this or anywhere, we see americans, we see human beings. we don't see groups, we don't see victims, we don't see people we want to exploit. what we see is potential. we do not look out across the country and see the average american, the person that makes this country work, we do not see that person with contempt. we

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