and we are grateful for every one of them that we do. recently for example we spoke to archbishop charles who grew up surrounded by death. we asked him about that, and he said that it made him grateful for the things he has. watch. ♪ ♪♪ >> so you have seen a lot of death in your life, of course. >> i grew up seeing death. >> tucker: you're the son of a mortician? >> yes, i lived in a funeral home, and my friends were afraid to visit me when i was a kid because they had to go to the funeral home to associate with death, but i grew up very comfortable with death, because i thought around me all the time. my father was a wonderful man and a wonderful mortician. he knew how to comfort people and their sorrow and lead them to that important moment. they can change their too. we have allowed people's bodies to be cremated now prior to their funerals which has led to a shoulder period of paying attention to the dead. wakes used to be long periods at first they were in homes and then in the funeral home, now in philadelphia some of them are two hours before the funeral mass in the parish church. and the body is not present there is much less reference to death. the young people today often don't see a dead body at all because of cremation. so i think one of the big mistakes our church made was to allow cremation. we used to forbid it because it was a sign of not believing in the resurrection of the body. now it's the reason for cremation is much more practical and less expensive than a regular funeral. and predates space and those type of things. there's much less reflection on death, the meaning of life, and the dignity of the human body. all of those things have huge significance in the funeral culture as part of human life. >> tucker: that's fascinating. i never thought ofha that. >> they are only a part that has funerals, the berries the dead. the animal part of creation does not do that. of course the vegetation part doesn't.ar human beings are the only -- the only part of creation that has any -- and the only part of creation the buries the dead. >> tucker: why do we do that? why do we bury the dead? >> i think it's because we love the dead, and we think that life has more meaning than the 30 or 40 or 80 years that we have. there is something after this. you know, some great memorials of history, the pyramids are tombs. and the way that the egyptians carry for bodies has always been something we have seen, mummies have been around with things. and the transition between this life and what we see in the eternal life.en it's a very interestingfe transition. and this is much more significant. >> tucker: when you think of death, does it make you anxious? >> no, but i think when i am dying, i will be more anxious. i'm actually looking forward to it, because i really do believe that -- in the eternal life. for me the great excitement of dying is it means the new level of life where i may be able to explore the universe. we live in a tiny little grain of sand in this vast universe that god has created. and i want to know the rest of it. i want to know the adventure of the rest of it. and to know god's plan, his marvelous creativity in the w abundance of variety in the world of creation. i think that that is what is going to happen when i die. i'm going to enter into a new level of life. that's very exciting. so i am looking forward to that. i'm scared, because it is an act of faith. you know, faith is an act of trust. it is something that you do not know for sure. you don't have any proof of, so it requires faith, but i hope that iwh am able to have faith when i am dying and take that step into eternity with joy. >> tucker: why do you think that death is so often accompanied by suffering? >> well, because the human body when it begins to fall apart suffers. certainly i am suffering more than i was when i was 55 ator te age of 76.he >> tucker: i don't i want to know the details. as someone in his 50s. >> you will find out yourself in your own way. so i think that the diminishment is a part of living this life. and having said that, i can't imagine going out of existence. i know that i have not existed always, because i haven't. but i can't imagine going out of existence. when i die, that's all there is. there's too much more of me than just to the biological functions of this body. >> tucker: we also see an amazing unexpected interview with john that we are still thinking about. life. things were falling apart for him, and then out of nowhere he did not expect it, that's for sure, god stepped in with the message. here's part of that conversation. ♪ ♪ >> i was in a lot of trouble at one point. i had a divorce. i had some problems. and i was in this little house that i had, and i was really suffering -- for many reasons. my career was a little influx at that time, and lots of things were going on.so my relationship to my kids andnd wife and m such. and i was on the floor. i found myself on the floor saying, it's so difficult. it's so difficult. i said it out loud. and i heard in my ear, it's supposed to be difficult. can you imagine? >> tucker: like a separate voice telling you that? >> yes, it's supposed to be difficult.t. a voice of wisdom, kindness, you know? clarity. i mean, it had so much resonance, this voice. >> tucker: what a message. it's supposed to be difficult. >> can you imagine? and boom, what? and i got up and i can tell you tucker, at that time i knew, i said what it meant was i am not alone. >> tucker: yes. >> everything is known. everything is known. i am known. that's what it meant to me. this is sick. >> tucker: did you expect it? were you calling out for god? >> did i expect it? d no, it knocked me out. now i have to proceed with my life, right? but i felt this tremendous energy. somebody is rooting for me. it's like don't give up. it's like, there's a purpose here. you know, you have a ways to go son. you know what i'm saying? whatever you might imagine that it meant, you see? and i felt great. and the next morning -- and i am not a person who really prays with the idea that anybody is listening. up to that moment. well, now i know, we are covered. everything we think, everything. you are known. you know, they say that god knows every bird that falls? >> tucker: yes. >> us too, kids. we all are known. t we are being observed. and helped and loved. and we are to get up. and you know, do battle, do something, do what's right. whatever it is, you see? there's a purpose here. and the purpose here is to learn our lessons and grow. and that was the big deal, to give to each other. to be here and to be of help. i mean, this is what you figure out. but anyway, at that moment i was just interested in me surviving. so the next morning i get up and i said, what do you got for me today? [laughs] and turned on the radio, and here's what came on. i swear. this is what happened, but i turned the radio on, having some fun. i'm having fun. i'm not taking myself too seriously, but i'm serious. i turned on the radio and it says ♪♪ all build a stairway to paradise, with a new step every day ♪♪ >> tucker: what? >> that's another one. wait a minute, what's going on here? so i had that thing going on for several days, you know? things were happening to me. and then i started, i was kind of drawn to certain things from that point on. and i've had many, many experiences. but that was the beginning. >> tucker: rick santorum served for the united states senate, and then ran for president. on our show he told us a really moving story about personal loss within his family and how it changed his family and brought them together. that's next on this christmas eve edition of "tucker carlson tonight." ♪ ♪at switching wireless carriers is easy with xfinity. just lean on our helpful switch squad to help you save with xfinity mobile. they can help break up with your current carrier for you and transfer your info to your new phone. giving you a fast and easy experience that can save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill. visit your nearest xfinity store and see how the switch squad can help you switch and save. get $200 off a new eligible 5g phone when you switch to xfinity mobile. talk with our helpful switch squad at your local xfinity store today. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tucker: merry christmas. welcome back. normally would talk to people about politics and their ideas. we sat down with rick santorum the former senator and presidential candidate. in the middle of that conversation he told us one of the saddest things we have ever heard, the story of the loss of his own son.dl and yet somehow, probably because it is real, that tragedy became a source of joy for his family. it does not mean they are not sad about it. but it means that they are closer to god because of it. here is part of that conversation, watch. ♪ ♪ >> i see god as someone -- i have this much knowledge of what is going on in the world infinite knowledge, and so my perspective from this little point of view that i have does not take in things that i have no idea what is actually going on. so i never worry about failure. because if mother teresa, one of who -- i had the honor of meeting shortly before she died, and my favorite quote of hers is god is not calling you to be successful, he calls on you to be faithful.te and if you are faithful, god will work -- you may have impact on -- your fidelity will have impact on, you may not even see it, but it will. and luckily in my life i have had things happen that i saw it. that i failed, and i thought it was a failure, and then god gave me the blessing of seeing, no you did here. wow, look at what you accomplished over here. and i had that happen to me several times in my life including on a personal level. i mean, i -- when i was debating the partial birth abortion bill back in 1996, i got up on the floor of the senate and dianne feinstein, still there -- hillary wasn't there, but dianne was there, and she got up and started talking about how you know, we have to have this procedure legal for a late-term abortion, because sometimes late in pregnancy couples find out that their child is disabled. and they don't want their child anymore.in and it was stunning to me that she would make that admission, that we would call the ranks of the disabled. and so, that was a central part of my debate. and i got up and i said, many stories, but one, i said my wife at the time, karen was 19 and pregnant, i have a sonogram scheduled, next week at 20 weeks and i don't know whether my child is going to be healthy or not, but if my child is somehow not healthy, i'm not going to kill it. why would i kill my child just because my child has a medical problem? g i mean, you love the gift that god gives you for however long god gives it to you.go and that happens with all of our children. we don't know how long we are going to have our children or how long we are going to be alive. >> tucker: you're going to make me cry, no, that's right. >> and a week later we have a sonogram and we are sitting there going over this one spot of the sonogram, and drops the wand and says, i have to get to the doctor. the doctor comes in and as cold as i can ever remember says he has a fatal defect and is going to die. and so this was during my time where i am sort of growing in my faith in having this experience and i talk to you about finding the lord. taking on this great, what i thought was an important moral cause for the country, and then boom. i remember having this conversation with god and said here i am trying to follow your path, and you take my son? and so, it was devastating. we did everything we could to try to save his life. we went up to children's hospital in philadelphia, and had intrauterine surgery to try to fix the problem. and it ended up karen got an infection and delivered our little boy and he lived for two hours. and i thought, you know, what are you doing? why are you doing this? and god, why, why, why? the greatest question everybody who goes through tragedy, why why did this happen to me? and what happened, my wife -- it was not me, it was my wife who made it all come together. she, every time -- every time we got pregnant karen would have a diary to describe the pregnancye so she could share with the kids to say, oh, this is what it was like and share these notes. she was a neonatal intensive care nurse, so pregnancy was just a really joyful time. and she would keep notes good and she was keeping notes aboute her son, so she kept writing these letters to him. hoping someday he would read them. so she wrote these letters, and at the end when she died, she kept writing, because it was her way to get the stuff out.. so she wrote this, and her mother read it who had lost a child 50 years ago. from a sids death. and it just broke her up, and she said, you have to publish it. you have to publish these letters. so we eventually had a little catholic publisher published it. sold out at 25,000 copies. and it is still out. but it's called "letters to gabriel." >> tucker: johnny vance has been successful in business running for the united states senate in ohio, but at the start of his life, rough. and actually that's probably what made the rest of his life great. he explains it in detail on a special christmas eve edition of "tucker carlson tonight."es a special christmas eve ed ♪ ♪ca >> welcome to fox news live even the white house has been affected by the coronavirus this holiday season president joe biden and first lady jill biden have had to borrow place a lavish party reopen the houses with covid testing and face masks, the coronavirus hampering celebrations for the rest of the year. they say that the bidens have loved to celebrate the holidays and are devastated they cannot host as many people at the white house this year. vice president kamala harris reports that she has tested negative for covid-19. she said she was in close contact with an aide who tested positive for the virus earlier in the week. harris tested twice earlier friday and both came back negative, though she will be tested once again on monday several members of congress have tested positive in the past week. i'm ashley strohmier, back to you, for "tucker carlson tonight"'s special. ♪ ♪ 's's tonight's special. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tucker: merry christmas andnd welcome back to "tucker carlson tonight." jamie vance grew up in a very rough place, a rough town in the rust belt of ohio, he is running for the u.s. senate. but he has been to a great extent defined by his childhood in a good way. in our conversation he told us what it was like to leave a small town to make a better life for himself.rs here it is. ♪ ♪ your perception was that you were middle-class, conventional american family, but by the time you were in high school, you had slipped backward. without getting too intrusive how? how does that happen? >> i think drugs was the biggest driver for a family. and this is like really complicated, but my mom struggled with heroin addiction that started to happen around the time when i was ten or 11. my grandfather who was sort of the patriarch of the family kept everything together, he died at the age of 67. which at the time i thought was really old. and i was like i can't believe that my grandfather died at 67ho years old. >> tucker: how did he die? >> just died of an aortic aneurysm, which is a problem that we later found outfo if he had gotten adequate treatment for, probably would be alive today or at least lived another ten, 15 years pretty easily. so he died. the family kind of spiraled from there. and he was also just not the cultural and spiritual head of the family, but the material head of the family. it was him who provided for us in the most.e important ways. so you eliminate all of that and then the family started spiral pretty powerfully. >> tucker: did you recognize it was happening? >> you definitely recognized by the time i was 13 and this was not normal.. and not in the way that too -- it was normal in the sense that a lot of families in our community were struggling in the same way. but i sort of recognized that this was not good, this is not healthy. this is not how things should be. i did not understand why it was happening, but i definitely understood that something was going on. >> tucker: it's interesting to me, because the world that you wound up in and to some extent live in noww is a world where moms don't get addicted to heroin. no moms get addicted to heroin that's just another universe. did it seem strange to you at the time, or was that part of the landscape? >> did not start with heroin, it started with prescription pills. because it was prescription n you sort of think about it in a slightly different way. it did not progress to heroin until later on. and it just seems like this thing that for some reason mom couldn't kick and some families had other addictions, sometimes it was booze or something else. i never felt like this was an especially bad thing. but of course it had a pretty terrible consequence for a family. >> tucker: wow. so unlike fortunately, everyone else, you moved from this world to a completely different one. is what you just described is a story of an entire region, maybe a whole part of the country. but you somehow wound up in a completely different world. so you joined the marine corps. you enlisted in the marine corps, and then you gets. out after four years. how do you go to yale law school? >> if you reverse a little bit my grandma did not have a high school degree and was not an educated woman. but was a very smart woman and understood the writing on though wall, which was if he ise going to have a chance, he has to get out. it was drilled to me from an early age. the idea that this is not a community where you can build a long-term life for yourself. you have to get out. >> tucker: here's onee of the most amazing people you have ever met, ever. jenny burton got addicted to meth at the age of 12. she got up from her mother. she went to prison three times including twice with her mother. at the age of 40, she turned her life around so completely, not in a phony way. in a real way, that when youli talk to her you just can't believe the transformation. here is part of our conversation. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ do you think looking back that there is a spiritual dimension to drug use? >> absolutely, absolutely i think that. one way i describe my own stuff is that i had -- it's like having a relationship. and this can turn so many people off, but i think that just really sort of trying to understand having a relationshib with a power greater than ourselves is so necessary and it teaches us about values and morals. it teaches us about kindness and interacting with our communities. and i think that there is a huge component that is missing with a lot of folks that are using drugs. for me personally it is paramount that i start and end my day with, and intentional relationship with a higher power that i choose to call god. and it has been monumental, and my progression and growth. >> tucker: when you see people in the depths of addiction and they are hurting others and harming themselves almostro indiscriminately, it's like someone watching them stick a knife in their face. >> i cannot tell you believe yoi just said that. i was thinking about paralleling what we are seeing on the streets with some sort of description, and i was thinking to myself, if you are walking down the street and you saw a guy stabbing himself with andnd knife, would you just walk by? would you accommodate his space? would you write policies so that he would be okay? would you create a building so that him and other people can safely stab themselves? it's no different with addiction. however addiction i think is more insidious. and its more destructive. if the guy is sitting there stabbing himself, the r likelihd of him going out and stealing and robbing to continue to buy knives is probably pretty slim. >> tucker: [laughs] yes, it is. >> and i think about that, and it's like why are we allowing people to destroy themselves. and not only that, but to create an unsafe society for the rest of us. >> tucker: there are a lot of people that just get lit up on wine or taking benzos or hitting the weed really hard,, a lot of people know about addiction whether or not they admit it. what is your process? >> i wake up at 4:00 in the morning, sometimes that's a little late. sometimes -- >> tucker: that's too early. >> but i need personal me time and that's the best time to get it. and i feel like i miss half of my day if i don't get up before 5:00, i feel like my day is shot. not really, i mean, but i feel like i've missed a significanty portion of my day. thanks for the facial expression. >> tucker: i'm not up at 4:00. >> so i read scriptures and i pray and i meditate. i send a specific gratitude to 20 people. >> tucker: what does that mean gratitude list? >> i don't think that it gets loaded. to me say this, whatever i tell: myself is the truth, and i think that's the truth for everyone so we have to be careful what we say to ourselves. so i made some dirt don't answer and things my truth. one is that a grateful attic does not get loaded. i'm an addict. i'm always going to be an addict. i'm not an addict in active use. so i make a decision to be grateful for my life. on those are the things that are hard. the things that i don't want to face. the things that are happening and feels like to me, so that i can gain skills to be a stronger person. so i write this gratitude list and i send it out to more than 20 people. >> tucker: what does that mean, what is on it? >> i could probably pull my phone out. >> tucker: i don't want to embarrass you. >> i'm not embarrassed. i'm so transparent, i am an open book. it would take a lot to embarrass me. so like i am grateful, like today. i'm grateful that my luggage was lost at the airport last night because it gave me an opportunity to find my own patience, and to say these things to myself that it does not matter if i go on tucker with the same clothes i was wearing yesterday, because it's about the message, it's not about what i am wearing, right? so i'm grateful i wake up in the morning and get the opportunity to read. i'm grateful that i have the freedom to fly to florida. i'm grateful that my kid is pissed off at me but still text me in the morning. i'm grateful that i can stop talking when she tells me how she feels and let her be 15. so i find everything i can to be grateful for, because it changes my perspective about how i show up in the world. >> tucker: one of the many casualties of the coronavirus has been science itself, which is a kind of religion. sciencism, which is a lot crazier than actual religions that we used to practice in this country. eric is a fervent believer in christianity, he says that there is never been more scientific evidence of god's existence he has a new book on it and joins us to explain on this christmas eve edition of "tucker carlson tonight." ♪ ♪ an unthinkable genocide took the lives of six million jews and thousands of jewish survivors are still suffering in poverty today. god calls on people who believe in him to act on his word. "comfort ye, comfort my people." when i come here and i sit with lilia i realize what she needs right now is food. these elderly jews are weak and they're sick. they're living on $2 a day which is impossible. this now, is how god's children are living. take this time to send a survival food box to these forgotten jews. the international fellowship of christians and jews urgently need your gift of $25 now to help provide one survival food box with all of the essentials they critically need for their diet for one month. when you call right now, your gift's impact will be doubled to help save lives. no vitamins and no protein so my legs and hands are very weak. oh, oh, oh let's make sure that we bring them just a little bit of hope. by bringing them a little bit of food. for just $25, you can help supply the essential foods they desperately need for one month. when you call right now, your gift's impact will be doubled to help save lives. i just want to encourage all of you to join with yael eckstein and the wonderful work of the international fellowship of christians and jews. god tells us to take care of them, to feed the hungry. and i pray holocaust survivors will be given the basic needs that they so desperately pray for to survive. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> tucker: merry christmas and welcome back. tonight a much less depressing lineup then usual. we are highlighting some of our favorite and most inspiring interviews on a daytime show we call "tucker carlson today." we just did one with a best-selling author and christian radio show host eric metaxas. he says there is never been more scientific evidence of god's existence than there is now. spoke to him recently for an episode of "tucker carlson today." here is part of it. ♪ ♪ episode of "tucker carlson today." here is part of it. ♪ >> is atheism dead? i would just ask the question posed by the title, is it dead? >> actually the reason that i gave the book that title, i don't want to write about atheism. but in the 1966 there was the famous "time" magazine cover article "is god dead." and that's when the ideas of the academy, darwin 1859, freud margaret mead, all of these ideas exist appear, and at some point, and i say roughly 1966ma they trickle down. and "time" magazine puts this grotesque idea "is god dead" in the middle of america's living rooms, at the center of middle ground culture okay? so in a sense the evidence of god from science reaches the high water mark in roughly 1966. so the question is asked, and my thesis is that the question was settled 1966 who pretty much god is dead, we live in a secular world and we need to get on with it and they never really continued to look at the evidence or a kind of settled that. so we live in a secular culture roughly since then, which means that -- which means that we don't really take seriously the idea of god that has been on the wane. so the reason i wrote the book, it really had to do with it -- i do not want to write about atheism or these ideas. but i met two people from completely different disciplines and some people say it was serendipitous. i truly believe it was god's but i happen to meet two people that gave me an effect evidence for god did that was so astonishing from two totally different disciplines that i thought, i've been into this whole thing of looking at science and -- for decades. that i need to write a book, because neither knows b these two figurs are heard about the stuff. and i will mix and all this other stuff that i have read about over the years, and so i f thought to the evidence from science has become insane. it is so overwhelming that there is a creator, the evidence from science that i said the real question you would have to ask at this point is atheism dead? because a rational person can be an agnostic, can say i hate the bible -- you can say whatever you want. but i don't think, given what we now know from science in the last 50 years, since we stopped asking the question, the evidence has piled up. i don't think that we can believe that there is no god and that everything, life, this glorious planet, the universe that these things emerged randomly. i think that we know too much from science now that we know in the '50 is in '60's that there is no other conclusion but that there was an infinite intelligent creator behind this. >> tucker: charlie lynn duff spent many years at the "new york times" and left to become one of the last independent journalists in this country.ge he reports from detroit now. about as independent as an american can be, a long conversation with him about his life.t an interesting story about a man who worked at changing light bulbs on the top of the empire state building. here is it. ♪ ♪ you wrote one of my favorite pieces i have ever read in any newspaper ever. it was this little place, and he were driving through the city and you look up at the top of the building and there was a radio tower that of course has a light bulb on the top so the planes don't fly into it and you ask yourself, i wonder who changes that light bulb? >> that was the empire state building. i still have the bulb. >> tucker: you found the guy who goes all the way to the top. >> that guy's name is tom sowellabid. at the top of the empire state building is a radio tower, and when the needle is on, you will fry up there. google the empire state building.y you will see that there are some stairs on the needle, and then there is a crows nest with no sides. so it is just a circular platform and a free-for-all. and then there is 150 feet of pegs to where the light bulb is, and it's actually just a gigantic light bulb. [laughs] right? so it was an honor to go with him and his people who are from kentucky, indiana, just great guys. a really interesting crew, and then not a year later, those planes hit the towers. light bulb goes out again. so september 11th, the towers go out. and the light bulb goes out in november, and he has to fix it. it's the pride, plus the children of greater new york that's rudolph's nose up there. so i am up there on that crows nest with our feet hanging off of it, and he turned to me and said, why do they hate us? and i said, i don't know. it was just a profound moment in my life, two men's lives. that's what's so great about that city. every little corner, as high up as you have seen.o you would never imagine people had been there having human regular talks with each other. and i just want to document like i love this country, and nobody -- nobody shall be removed from the earth. we all got it right. to think how we think, to love how we love, to express ourselves and our politics right? so let's work it out, we all want the same end. it's how to get there. it's a good life is what we want to. and we are arguing about how to get there. and i come here as the guy in the middle. you got to clear me. you have to clear me in. i don't know how tom thinks. i won't speak for him. but you have to clear the guy up on the ladder and that guy in the sewer. because we all make it go together. >> tucker: one of the best people we have meant in a long time is james golden, rush limbaugh's longtime producer. we asked him what was it like to work with rush limbaugh particularly in his final years? and the stories you told us were genuinely moving. it was not the regular stuff. they were really moving. we will bring it to you next. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ ing. we will b will you ♪ ♪ >> tucker: for decades, james golden was a producer on the rush limbaugh show. you might have known him, he was very close to rush limbaugh until he passed earlier this year. we spoke to him about what his life has been like and what he learned from rush limbaugh. james golden, one of the most sincere people we have ever talked to ever. here's part of the conversation. ♪ ♪ >> i forgot what they were trying to take back. >> tucker: personal creditors? >> like your car, couch whatever. anyway, i guess i'm talking a little bit too loud and rush over here and a few minutes later i get done with the call. hey, james, can you come back in my office? i come back in the office and rush, close that door. rush says, listen, i don't mean to pry and i don't want to get inside your business but i heard you on the phone. is everything okay? oh, yeah, yeah -- and he said seriously is everything okay? how much do you owe? i owed about $5,000. he says oh, man, well, don't sweat it everything's going to be cool and it'll work out. i go to work the next day and i want you to keep in mind this is before rush limbaugh signed any big syndicate deals, before he wanted to track the blazing success. before any of that. this is before -- this is james golden, a kid he used to take rush's stories. next am sitting in the newsroom and over the intercom it's rush. hey, james, can you come to the office for a second. sure, close the door, close the door. he pushes the envelope to me and says, here. inside it's a check for $5,000. >> tucker: whoa. >> $5,000 is still a lot of money, unheard of. what rush said to me said i don't want you to tell anybody about this, this is between you and me. this is not alone, this is a gift. because good things need to happen to good people once in a while. >> tucker: that makes me emotional. >> that's who this man was. there were tens of thousands of those stories, he was generous to so many people that he had never even met. and he did it all without wanting to be known. he had a deep spiritual faith and he did talk about that toward the end of his life. i think one of the tributes that to me that stands most about rush is what happened after you got the diagnosis, and his bucket list. if you know,ou tucker, as much s i love radio and i loved radio since i was a kid, if i get the death sentence tomorrow, i'm done. sorry, guys, there are some things i want to see around this planet before i get outs of her. rush had a bucket list, too. his bucket list was his audience. every single day he wasn't in treatment that he could, he came to work. and he delivered a show and the shows were excellent and you couldn't tell when the shows were on that anything was wrong with him because the energy level was sky-high. he was funny, he was witty, but after the show, the three of us that where there, we'd see what it took out of him. >> tucker: i can't imagine. >> some days you couldn't even move, he was in such pain. he had to come -- wouldn't pick his attache bag. it took everything that he had to do the shows. rush limbaugh was the best of men. and he stood tall through all of those slanderous, evil, hateful attacks on his character, and he remained who he was. a good, decent, generous, god loving, god-fearing man who loved his family, who loved his country, and who loved what he did.d. >> tucker: we are out of time tonight on this christmas eve. we've got an awful lot of interviews in the catalog and the most interesting people in the world were proud to say. shows called it "tucker carlson today," three episodes come out every week on fox nation. the most important only to you and to us, merry christmas. we hope you're spending it with the people you love and we will see you soon. ♪ ♪ see you soon. ♪ >> welcome to this special edition of "hannity," merry christmas eve do you and your family out tonight for the hour we will highlight some of our best interviews from the past year. first up my interview with president donald j. trump. take a look. mr. president, great to have you back and think you're being with us. >> thank, sean. >> sean: have a lot of questions to ask and i know we don't have a lot of time. i want to go over some of the pictures.