speak with the former secretary of state mike pompeo and the former senior advisor to president trump along with steven miller and congressman jim jordan and kevin kramer as well. going back no encoding president trump. super optimistic message for thanksgiving. i'm going to substitute and edit as i sometimes do with him, christmas for thanksgiving. here it is. a very interesting time in our country, but do not worry. we will be great again and we will all do it together. and america will never fail, we will never be allowed to go on the wrong direction and know that wonderful future lies ahead that is his terrific message, and he goes on, by the way, to talk about america first. an america first and its resiliency against all odds or any adverse effects or events. this is exactly the kind of optimistic leadership that this country is going to need right now at this time. the winter of severe illness and death, we need an optimistic link to the people of america to have strength throughout the country, men included, those that are middle-class blue-collar families in this great country. always by the media elite with their notice in the air and the snarky responses that don't agree with the left wing. but not me. count me as a christmas optimist. the traditional conservative values are in the end going to triumph. the freedom of capitalism, the freedom of capitalism and the freedom to choose and religion. president biden has gone in a different extremist direction. but he won't listen. afghanistan was a catastrophe that we could be on the edge of war with russia and the ukraine from an open borders policy, inflation rate including the massive government spending finances, the huge money creation from the facts. for government socialism is not the america that we love. over regulations, banking, health care and education is not the american way. government replacing parents and families is not the american way. a radical left agenda is not the america way. across-the-board mandates are not the american way. the fact that we killed the bill should give joe biden some guidance that is on the wrong track, but he won't listen. he and the crowd are leftists. frankly, president trump left this country in very good shape. deregulation, energy dominance, securing the southern border, telephone russia, near zero inflation, record low unemployment for minority groups, reducing inequality and boosting middle-class families incomes. as i have said before, if it's not broke, do not fix it. joe biden has made the tragic mistake to reverse all of the successful trump policy. sometimes i think that he acted on his own derangement syndrome without any thoughtful analysis of what he's actually doing. while nothing is terrific, donald trump handed joe biden a silver platter. sadly, joe biden has taken that silver platter and tarnished it and twisted and contorted it. and it is now almost beyond recognition. let me return to president trump and his optimistic message. we will be ready again and we will all do it together. america will never never fail. too many generations are counting upon us. on that note we save our country and we say merry christmas to you. ♪ ♪ ♪ larry: all right, joining me now is our distinguished secretary of state, mike pompeo. also a fox news contributor. merry christmas, here. vladimir putin was on today, sunday, and russia. he was saying that he was going to ponder a slew of options if the west fails to meet the push for a security guarantee precluding the nato expansion to the ukraine. then, secretary, he said what are the options it will depend upon what proposals and that includes our military experts. so how do you read this story. >> good morning and thank you for having me. thank you to everyone. he is clearly and that includes significant advantage. the reason is a serious threat and that includes the backdrop that you described, before the russians close down the pipeline. you know, that was this year a long time ago and then they watched us, they allowed us to continue with the pipeline and as far as we can be pushed, he is going to try to push us. he is not, not for one minute, what proposals they say for a moment and then concludes the lithuanians were estonians of invading their country, this is about power of vladimir putin. a program that is truly capable and we have seen their options here in the united states already. and that includes to protect their borders as well. >> they always say that if russia takes military action, then will usa do this and for example lindsey graham said that we should have and right now, i will ask you, in fact. ted cruz has an amendment, which will restore this pipeline operation and we can still do great harm there. and then why didn't we do that and then use it as a negotiating tool? >> well, you were in the room as well. eighteen or 19 months where we made clear that we know that he didn't have soldiers on the border, his determination and the points are exactly right. i have not seen the details of the senator ted cruz amendment. i know we have seen a lot, denying the russians the ability and the capacity that he has in places like nuremberg and germany. i hope that the biden administration will do it on their own as they should have. and also and that includes the things that the american people care about and then it comes time and there are places where we can work together and you can't do it from a place of deference and appeasement, larry. larry kudlow: thank you for that. how can the united states ever agree to allowing russia's argument that no more nato countries and no more eu countries and georgia, belarus, any of those countries, if they want to comment stream capitalism, we cannot let vladimir putin dictate no. so what is your take on that? >> this has been part of the american process. we want to expand those countries that will trade with us on a fair trading system, growing the number of human beings that practice their faith across the world. we want more people to have more human rights as well as to be sovereign in their own country like georgia, let them make decisions for them own selves. we have been working on this for a long time, larry, you and i, the reagan agenda was very clear about how this would move forward. the destruction that follows the soviet union now, 30 years on is very clearly what is on his mind. he wants to build it back cannot give the kinds of guarantees that vladimir putin is asking for. i don't think he expects that we will, but i think he believes that he can coerce the administration and cause them to give them things just by showing force and power and resolve in a way that this administration has not demonstrated its willingness to do. larry kudlow: secretary, when it comes to the proposed iranian situation. they have thrown a dozen missiles over at israel in some kind of warning. i don't understand why we were even thinking about renegotiating with iran, which has violated every treaty and has been building nuclear weapons during this time and they are still going out at despite president trump cutting that treaty off. why are we negotiating and where is that going to lead us? >> larry, it is incomprehensible to me and the rest of americans that understand that ayatolla wants to make america go away, we are the second ones to deal with satan in that way. demonstrably it is indicating that they are not going agree with any agreement that they signed. the only way to deal with them is maximum pressure. deny ayatollah the missiles and what they need every single day. dozens of drones and rockets crossing the border. we would never tolerate that on our border. and yet, they get away with that in the world, including the russians and the chinese were part of the negotiations that will take place in vienna where the united states will be this week trying to negotiate with these individuals that have no more idea of making peace and resolve in the middle east. so we should not be negotiating with that we should be applying pressure, increase the sanction, deny them money and resources, bring the regime to a place where we will have to make impossible decisions, it will have to behave in a way with consistency that we know all across the world each country would do as well. larry, we need to put israel in a terribly difficult spot. larry kudlow: just last one, maria bartiromo spoke to the president last sunday. and this goes to china and i hope we can play that soundbite for you. >> would you have boycotted the 2022 china olympics? >> no, because i watched jimmy carter do it. it hurts the athletes. there are much more powerful things that we can do than that. much more powerful things. that is not a powerful thing, and it makes us look unsavory. our country is no longer respected. no, i would not do that. i would like to see the great athletes go over and win every single olympic medal. larry kudlow: some people are going to say that they are going to invade taiwan. but president trump says no boycott for the athletes. do you agree with that? >> i would've recommended to the president as secretary of state today that we not send our athletes into this difficult place where they are forced to be silent, where they will be on the global stage and lauded as a great leader and a million americans in concentration camps, i don't think that the committee should permit that. it is a tragedy that these genocide olympics appear to be moving forward now 45 days or so from this time. it is putting her athletes in an incredibly difficult position. larry kudlow: we thank you, former secretary of state, mike pompeo. merry christmas and happy new year, sir. thank you for your great work. coming up next, senator joe mansion. he saved america. it is chuck schumer ready to throw in the towel? we have more on social spending joe biden in 2022. plus, are senator weizen on all of that when we return after these messages. ♪ ♪ ♪ r financial plan. we can check in on it anytime. it changes when our goals change. planning can't be that easy. actually, it can be, carl. look forward to planning with schwab. schwab! ♪♪ >> coming back home, the battle is going to continue over the so-called build back better bill, which is the big government socialist monstrosity. joining me not to talk about it is senator kevin kramer. good morning and i am sorry that i booked you o error on the show. you came back for it. >> anything for you, sir. larry kudlow: i think that chuck schumer wants to vote on the rule. you know, the legislative process rule which allows you to go into the amendments and then they want to make a final vote. and so i don't understand the logic, can you help us regarding joe manchin? >> i don't understand it either because it's much disfavor in the joe biden administration, i don't know why they would want to continue it. and except that chuck schumer has people pulling and pushing and tugging from every possible direction and i am sure that he is wondering what direction to go. but i do know this, he may have seen the reelection of democratic senators who have had to vote yes and would rather not, they would've avoided this opportunity to pass for a year. and yet they just seem held in town. and so maybe a bunch of democratic members would have wanted to be a part of that with socialism, if that is the case, maybe they will find a way to vote on it yet and it could lead to their political demise here in the country. larry kudlow: you know, senator, it occurs to me in terms of chuck schumer and his legislative and his political strategy, that he may not be calling the shots. aoc may be calling the shots. the house member in the primaries of new york. to her and her group, that is what it sounds like. >> i don't think there's any question, larry, every move that is made, every vote that he calls, he is thinking about aoc and the possibility that she will run against him in new york and the primary. i think that is one of the pressure points that i talked about earlier. in addition to that we have a white house tugging at him, speaker nancy pelosi. they are all responding to those very same pressure points. but in my mind what is such a great tragedy is that a once great democratic party has become this bizarre socialist agenda where they seem to be putting all the chips on the table this year as they have control of the house in the senate and the white house and thank god for joe and others, joe manchin. he may very well save the democratic party. larry kudlow: well, i don't know about the democratic party, but i think that all of us will help to save america. i mean, the country hates this bill. okay? the country just hates this bill. let's take a quick break, senator kevin cramer, we have a couple of other items to talk about. senator kevin cramer, we will have more with you coming up after the break and i am sitting in today for maria bartiromo. we will be right back ♪ christmas music ♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, what?! no! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating the eyes and may provide temporary relief. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you are allergic to xiidra. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ one drop in each eye every single day wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. ♪♪♪ this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! larry kudlow: okay, we are back with senator kevin cramer. again, merry christmas to everyone. senator, can i please have, we were talking about joe manchin and other matters, whether or not manchin may switch parties, mitch mcconnell and others have suggested he's open to it. i don't know about that with joe manchin or not. he may have trouble or not. but putting that aside for a moment. mr. manchin will play a big role in whatever comes up. but asking about ted cruz. senator ted cruz, your colleague. he was adding that he would consider another bed for the presidency. and he quoted, and i will quote directly absolutely in a heartbeat. and then he said later that historically get the runner up in one convention becomes the nominee and the other convention. the reason i ask you about that as i think that is the clearest and most aggressive statement that anybody who could answer the primary would say. what do you think about that? >> yes, the tradition over the decades of the republican party is the presidential nominees options are to be the heir apparent. bob dole, george bush or whatnot. but donald trump sort of blew up that whole system when he became the nominee and then our president of the united states. i'm not so sure that that tradition won't be restored. that being said, i would be shocked if ted cruz did not run again, as well as your first guess, every time i think to mike pompeo, i think gosh, maybe he would be a great president someday. so we have the richness in our party of having a bench of modern talented people with all the right credentials that can lead this country and a great way. let's not forget that donald trump could make another run and if he does, i suspect there would be a pretty good chance he would be the nominee. good for ted cruz, i think he ought to be in the game, but there ought to be a lot of others as well, i am sure. larry kudlow: the war on fossil fuels. the joe biden war on fossil fuels, as mike pompeo said, joe biden gave vladimir putin a gift by handing the sanctions. but now ted cruz and others want to restore those sections and i wish they had done it already. reading your article with general mcmaster in foreign policy magazine. let me understand, you want carbon see on imports, would not hurt russia because they had dirty oil and gas? >> well, there are pieces suggesting, not necessarily advocating, the european union has already done that very thing. although they have this poll, dirty russian natural gas. but what about the european and nato allies had the cleanest energy production in the world and that we had that cleanest production. some sort of situation much like a tariff. and tariffs used to be uncomfortable for us, but donald trump taught us things about america first. it's not just a slogan but a good policy priority. so we are suggesting that we consider an alliance with trading allies, particularly at the european union, that would give and provide that leverage that we already ought to have as clean producers of all things and put them at this economically and i just think that this is a way to be leaders globally on climate change without harming the united states economy and the america first policy that donald trump started as our president. >> is one of the.people for europe along with bob, i wish you luck along with kevin cramer in negotiating any trade deal. also if you are going to pop in the idea of a carbon tax that could spread domestically, is that what we really want? why don't we put sanctions on dirty russian oil and gas? it's just a sanction. >> the only reason that we are suggesting is just to do it in alliance with the european partners. let's bring them on board. oftentimes we talk about energy security and energy policy and dominance. remembering the geopolitical opportunities, 20% of the world's economy in the united states and our partners in europe, the kind of leverage that we can bring to the table like that, and also vladimir putin, putting him in a serious defensive posture. it is just one more idea and one more america first idea that could take shape either as sanctions or as a border fee. but i think we need to do in an alliance with the nato partners. larry kudlow: when i get down there back to washington, i'm going to buy you dinner and we are going to talk about carbon tax and all the rest and negotiating with the european union. which is very interesting. merry christmas and happy new year, senator kevin cramer, thank you for being with us so much. okay, folks. coming up on the maria bartiromo show, what it would take for the democrats to realize that their progressive policy is destroying america and our culture. we will be right back after this. larry kudlow: welcome back, everyone. we just celebrated the most extensive christmas. u.s. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year. and this is not good. we have jim jordan, ranking member of the house and congressman, and the author of his new book, "do what you say you would do." i love the name of that book. hopefully it's going to stop this massive spending that is going to make america a welfare entitlement state. and he says in order to stop this inflation near 6%, so it's just like three times the target. already behind the eight ball. you run the risk of a recession. and to me, a recession, it was joe biden and inflation, it may be joe biden recession. what do you think about that. >> you know, also you have to remember that elizabeth warren seems to be hinting at price control, exacerbating the problems that we see out there. the american people would like safe streets, affordable gas and freedom. and instead what biden is giving them is record crime and dr. anthony fauci. you take the policy area, they have done everything wrong in 11 months. safe streets to record crime, we went from a secure border to complete chaos, he went from that to record inflation and projecting strength around the world to the debacle in afghanistan. and i am afraid you could go the wrong direction on this economy. but let's hope that joe manchin in the so-called build back better plan, hopefully that plan never passes. larry kudlow: that's right, hopefully it never passes. the democrats going far left with their crazy woke and critical race theory. opening this issue. the actress, starr, whatever she was bette midler, she took a whack at joe manchin. can we put that up on the full screen? but joe manchin wants to move forward and not backward. he wants us all to be like the state, west virginia. poor and illiterate and strung out. now, jim jordan, let me just say west virginia has higher literacy rates then new york and west virginia is much more hospitable to business then new york. but this is the old deplorable thing. the hillary clinton deplorable thing or the obama thing as well. this is where it is today. >> no, they don't like us, this is the attitude of the so-called elite. they think that they are better than us regular folks. i think it makes the country work. number one, the guy that helped with the campaign, remember the text message about the northern virginia walmart and how he could smell the supporters of donald trump. these are the regular people that supported president trump. it is a double standard. gavin newsom got to go to a restaurant as he was telling everyone that they couldn't have thanksgiving with families. and speaker nancy pelosi was going to the salon when she told everybody else they have to close their salons and businesses and barbershops. it is of the elite attitudes that the so-called elites have and the double standards that drive us crazy. yes, that is the disdain that they have for the people in this way. larry kudlow: the people that are the backbone in this country. by the way, working hard as well. and i don't know if we have any sound, but there's another crazy left-wing radical, senator richard blumenthal. do we have some tape on that? and he speaks and he speaks as the communist party valley in connecticut and the connecticut vp. he does it and then he realizes what a gas it was and then yeah, then he denied it. you know, this is the thing, jim jordan. he denies it. and we have all of this tape that is showing this gal, there's another guy, talking about how great it was that he was helping the communist party. this is why he was sitting there watching. and at the end they had a picture of the communist party. and i think that that is part of it. this left-wing "woke" stuff, what do you think about the richard blumenthal story? >> welcome of the left controls the democratic party. they have us on this accelerated march towards communism, we can see where they want to go with our policy. so i think that they nominated a person who studied in moscow. and i think the left controls the democratic party and they are socialist as well. the hard life that controls that major policy. it doesn't supply -- it doesn't surprise me that they want it one way and then try to fool the american people. they have been doing that for such a long time. but remember joe biden said he was going to unite the country and he has done anything but that. and it is our job to tell the truth and take the truth to the american people. the good job is that the american people are figuring it out. they figure out how radical the joe biden administration is, it started with a few moms going to school board meetings and then mothers and fathers got involved and the next thing is they are going to be the governor in the state of virginia. you saw in kenosha, they said we are going to follow the tax and the truth and adhere to do process and reach a right decision there. so i think the american people are saying timeout to the craziness that is now taking over the democratic party. larry kudlow: i agree with that. not just republicans, independence also. joe biden has the worst polls. you all do very well. next year we hope for that as well. merry christmas and happy new year, jim jordan. right after this we're going to talk to steven miller. he is here with the year-end report card for joe biden and why he believes in the bait and switch is going on here in american history. right here after this and i am larry kudlow in today on the "maria bartiromo show." ♪ ♪ ♪ right, girl? 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ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. larry kudlow: welcome back, everyone. we have record breaking wide open borders. all of that is just a snapshot and we've got three more years of this, at least until we get to the next election. my next guest believes the administration would like to achieve all of these left-wing results. it is going to be up to the gop to stop him. let's bring in steve miller, senior of policy advisers to president trump. and he is the founder of america first legal. thank you, stephen, it's great to see you. >> thank you. larry kudlow: in less than one year, and just less than one year, joe biden lost the confidence, a terrible catastrophe over in afghanistan, along the borders, crazy spending and tax bills, inflation that results from all of that. less than one year. it's like his presidency is falling apart in less than one year. >> no president has lost the faith and confidence more quickly and more totally than joe biden has. and obviously there's an enormous amount of incompetence as we have seen with the cobra 19 testing, but the heart of it is this issue. the campaign, both in the primary and general election, he was even selected as the nominee by democratic voters. because democrats receded -- perceived him as unrelentingly, now appearing as a marxist for a year now. everything that we are seeing, record crime, record inflation, record spending and gas prices, all of these things together are because of specific policy choices that are made. so your.is that this is the bait and switch? >> yes, the bait was alma mater. so why do you think that he went to the far left? himself does not have a great ideological history. but this is really radical, hard left stuff, progressive stuff and the senior staff that is moving in so how do you read that? >> here is my theory and i believe that joe biden is controlled by the staff and not just the senior staff. in the recent incident is they made a great deal of fun about it where they said let's go brandon during christmas, they were building something much more insidious. so he doesn't know what let's go brandon means because he hasn't consumed any of his own information. he has sheltered and controlled unlike president trump, where he would say i read this report, this report and that report as well. i would like a reaction and analysis. the opposite is joe biden. he has no input. so they see him, his own staff sees him as a vessel to implement these aoc kind of soft on crime, massive taxation and welfare, no american energy policies. he is their vessel and we are suffering as a result. >> and i think just before we close down we are going to come back. you know, i think his behavior and the public and the integrity and respect for him our way down. i think he lies a lot. this bill is going to be contemplated, nobody believes that. we did great in afghanistan. we got out beautifully in afghanistan. you know, that kind of stuff. and the credibility crisis as well. >> there you go, well said. larry kudlow: hang on, folks, we are going to come back and talk more about 2022 and the elections. what the gop should be doing and i am larry kudlow in today for maria bartiromo, have a merry christmas. we will be right back. it lowers blood sugar from the first dose. and you could lose up to ten pounds. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. look, serena williams... matrix... serena... matrix... serena... matrix... ♪ get your tv together with the best of live and on demand. introducing directv stream. larry kudlow: we are back with steven miller, senior advisor of american first law, and obviously joe biden and the collapse of his presidency has been part of a terrific opportunity for the gop to take back the senate and the house. >> need to be communicating a crystal-clear plan. and that includes exactly what they are going to do when they retake the majority and we need to have a plan to seal the southern border. and i would make sure that that is one of the first if not the first right out of the gate. and that includes bringing back energy jobs, put us into power and we are going to push these bills through the house and the major way the policy gets made during the government through the appropriations process. typically they are put on judiciary committee, the oversight committee, the ways and means committee, that includes those on the appropriations committee. it becomes law and good conservative policy needs to be in the base text coming out of the house. larry kudlow: that is an interesting i hear, we have just a couple of minutes but we can do a whole policy plan. we have done this before and just a couple of seconds. i would just add to your excellent list. let's make the trump tax cuts permanent. let's not let them raise taxes and the other one is the regulatory message. in public and private partnerships as well, all they know is government should run everything. and that includes using regulations to control all the sectors. and for everyone new regulation, to regulations have to go out the door. and at the end of the day we need to bring this up as a choice for the american people. and that includes socialism or do they want strong border sovereignty like we had under donald trump? run on it and legislated as well. >> you know i like that. we are running out of time, you are either for america first or you are not. there is no in between. so thank you so much, happy new year and we will be up after the break. that's it for now, i am larry kudlow in today for maria bartiromo. we hope you had a wonderful christmas and a happy new year is on the way. thank you. >> so, what are you waiting for? >> apply now... >> ...and make a difference. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ >> man, i love that song! fine, no one leaves the table until your finished. fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. larry: stomach it was a revealing moment, donald trump and bill o'reilly the former fox house speaking to a crowd in dallas when this happened. >> both the president and i are backs. did you get the booster? >> yes. >> so-- >> no, no, a very tiny group of them. >> why on earth would anyone even if the person didn't want the shot boo trump and these are trump fans that