American community a short time ago in miami. The speech comes as the president hangs tough against critics of his decision to declare a National Emergency over southern border immigration. Chief White House Correspondent john roberts starts us off from the north lawn. Good evening, john. John bolton told a crowd of miami that he would not use the u. S. Military to move her humanitarian supplies from neighboring columbia into venezuela. But President Trump today used the bully pulpit of the presidency to put more pressure on venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro to step down. President trump was focused on Foreign Policy and his speech at miami this afternoon, throwing his full support behind venezuelas interim president , juan guaido. To speak of the people of venezuela are standing for freem and democracy, and the United States of america is standing right by their side. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro continues to hang onto power. President trump now upping the pressure on military leaders to back guaido and allow humanitarian aid into the country. The president threatening to strip military leaders of their wealth. If you must not follow madur maduros orders to block humanitarian aid, and you must not threaten any form of violence against peaceful protests, opposition leaders, members of the National Assembl assembly, or president guaido and his family. President trump is also preparing to defend his Emergency Declaration to build a border wall. Today democratic groups organized protests against the president s move, including this one across the street from the white house. Already, the Group Public Citizen has filed a lawsuit against the Emergency Declaration in d. C. District court. California attorney general Javier Becerra also taking President Trump to court today. Well be joined by at least a dozen states. The separation of powers being violated, we will go out there and make sure that donald trump cannot steal money from the states and the people who need them since we pay the taxpayer dollars to washington, d. C. , to get those services. More than half of the 8 billion the white house identified to build the border wall does not depend on the Emergency Declaration. The 1. 37 billion from congress can be used immediately, as can the 601 million from a Treasury Forfeiture Fund and money already in dods Counter Drug Fund. Reprogramming 2. 2 billion in the dod budget into that Counter Drug Fund will take a little longer. The only thing that requires the Emergency Declaration is shifting 3. 6 billion in the military construction budget to build the wall. White house Officials SayPresident Trump is on solid legal ground to do that. We have the president ial authority to do so. Congress has the statutes. We feel like we are on solid legal ground to do this. Democrats in congress say they will introduce legislation next week after their return from this weeks recess to block the president s Emergency Declaration. White house officials this week suggested if congress would have passed such a measure, President Trump may, for the first time, use the power of his veto pen to kill it. Bret . Bret more on this with the panel. Thank you. Chicago police have more questions for an actor who says he was targeted for assault by men who yelled anti, antiblack, and protrumper comments to hims growing disbelief Jussie Smollett actually arranged the whole thing. He denies that. We have fox team coverage, senior political analyst brit hume on how politicians of the media are running for cover after championing smolletts claims before the investigation. First avenue, Senior Correspondent mike tobin with the latest in chicago. Good evening, mike. Good evening, bret. Tmz reported that the smollett case is headed to a grand jury but Chicago Police say you can talk about a grand jury until they have one more talk with the actor. Chicago police say they no longer consider Jussie Smollett, an actor from the drama empire, a victim, and how they are pushing for a followup interview. Smollett, however, is holed up with his prn legal team, releasing a statement that there are no plans to meet with Chicago Police today. Smolletts attorneys will keep an active dialogue going with the Chicago Police on his behalf. Their request for the meeting came after Police Detained any interrogated the brothers, aspiring actors, at least one of whom worked on empire, one must be sevens personal trainer. Police raided their chicago apartment where they stayed. Anonymous sources say that cops have physical evidence, like a receipt for a rope allegedly put around the actors neck. Statements are evidenced to show the attack was rehearsed on the brothers were paid. Official sources said only that police have developed new evidence from interviews and the brothers were released. Innocence prevailed, my guys are walking home. They are not charged. They are not suspects in this case. Smollett story is that on january 29th, was attacked in chicagos neighborhood, that despite attackers shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him. One attacker told him versus maga country. Dr. Zachary quinto tweeted that he had the pleasure of reading with Jussie Smollett in the play take me out, about a gay baseball player. The list of those who took out their rage about the attack, included this is what all the hateful and are hatefully dumb akayed ullah wrong mongering wrought. To actor ellen page, who blames mike pence. You spend your career creating hate. What you think is going to happen . People are going to be beaten on the street. Now anger is directed at smollett. If it is found that smollett and these gentlemen get in some way perpetrated something that is not true, they ought to face accountability to the maximum. Bret in illinois, falsifying a Police Report is a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in a 25,000 fine legal experts say maga criminal criminal background, nonviolent, if charged, convicted, would probably be looking at probation. Bret . Bret mike tobin in chicago. Thank you. Here are some of the comments made by democrats after smolletts initial claims. House speaker nancy pelosi, the racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett as an affront to our humanity. No one should be attacked for who they are or who may love. A juicy senator and president ial candidate cory booker, the vicious attack on actor jussie t attempted modernday lynching. Some of these tweets have been taken down. Lets talk about the rush to judgment with senior political brit hume. Good evening. Your thoughts on this case and what it says broadly . I think it says a couple of things, bret. People jump too quickly to conclusions and incidences of this kind. Weve seen a whole series of examples. The Covington Catholic school boys at the lincoln memorial, people bought into the first version of that, which turned out not to be correct. Now it appears this smollett attack may not turn out to be what he claimed it was. The people, like the politicians you cited and the people mike cited in his report, certainly deserve a big share of the blame. But our media colleagues, bret, and a lot of them the chicago media, i think, did pretty well. They treated it as an alleged attack. Too many in the National Press treated the attack as something that obviously had happened. They refer to or not is the alleged attack but the attack. The homophobic or racist attacks, headlines are filled with that. Its a lesson that some of our colleagues seem to have had a hard time learning. Maybe this will teach them. Bret to be fair, the president was asked about it, too, he said, i can tell you that is horrible. I saw it last night, its horrible, it doesnt get any worse. In the initial times, people are looking for reaction, and but, you are right about the media. There was a lot of raising two a conclusion. There was one columnist in the Washington Post he was talking about how she didnt like to feel this way but she hoped the story turned out to be true. That is a bizarre way to look at this. You know, bret, you have to wonder at the time like this, what would motivate this young actor with a very promising career who was on a successful series on fox, in which the producers are now saying that he was a valued member of the cast, that this wasnt done, as was one speculative, to try to save his job, hes in good shape there. He goes and does this. The risk he took in doing it is so great that you have to wonder why anyone would take it. I dont know. I dont know that anybody what he knows. But there is this in america today, victims studies can be a valuable thing. Use of women during the kavanaugh hearings, some of them who were not telling the truth, rushing out to dry must the me too parade and accusing him. I think that is because, in this country today, victims are often lionized as heroes. Perhaps this young man thought that if he could achieve victim status by virtue of this, he would not only be a successful, young, promising actor with a big career ahead of him, but would also be a lionized, victim, a hero. That is a possibility. Bret last thing. What is it also say about what we are getting ready to go into, which is a president ial election where democrats are going to be running against the president on a number of fronts, but also just broadly because he is who he is, and make America Great again, and its perception gets a visceral response, especially from the left. It does. And it connotes to a lot of people racism and homophobia and bigotry of all kinds that they associate with this president. The word is long around, as you have heard, the word racist, is long around with a banded today i dont think donald trump will go down in the history as a civil rights leader but i dont think the case that he is a racist, which we are going to hear going forward, and weve been hearing it for a couple years, is bound to continue, im not sure that is well established. And i think there is an attempt in this country i think a lot of journalists kind of like this view that its 1963 still, and bull connor and the age of George Wallace are still where we are. And i think that is part of the message here and part of what people believe. I dont think most americans believe that but there it is. Bret we dont know what the story is going to be and we will cover it as it unfolds. Brit, as always, thank you. Thank you. Bret many other democrats who want to remove the president from office after the 2020 election are in New Hampshire is president s day. Correspondence peter doocy is here tonight and reports tonight. Over the long weekend, it was house party after house party for the senator from new jersey. The central theme of the Cory Booker Campaign is love. People tell me, if you want to be drunk, you have to bring it. I believe in bringing it but not bringing more than what trump is bringing. In many ways, that is what he wants. He also talked a lot about Climate Change but insists transforming society with a Green New Deal, which he cosponsors, isnt too expensive to do. This is the lie that is going on right now. A guy who was a former mayor, who shows who you can revive your economy and create a bold green future. We environmentally retrofitted our buildings, saves taxpayers money, create the jobs for our community, and lowered our carbon footprint. Nearby booker had competition from kamala harris. [applause] i just want to say that right here, right now. Its because she doesnt say whether she regrets reacting to the Jussie Smollett case, by reacting, this is a modernday lynching. What to eat . Saying it is a modernday lynching, sorry. Jussie smollett. Okay, so i will say this about that case, i think that the facts are still unfolding. And i am very concerned. Dont look for harris to adjust her beliefs to match bernie sanders, who won New Hampshire easily in 2016. I will tell you, im not a democratic socialist. Because of senator harris is signaling she will be different than the democratic socialist sanders, who lives right next door in vermont, because that shell be closer to the center, which is counter to what democratic primary candidates generally try to do, get as far to the left as possible. Bret . Bret peter doocy. Thank you. We have no information tonight about the effort by some of the Justice Department to possibly remove President Trump from office of, or at least talk about it. It comes amid the uproar over comments from former fbi director Andrew Mccabe, who says he was fired because he opened an investigation into the president not for lying to investigators about media leaks. Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge tells us what she is learning. Counting votes or possible votes. The former acting fbi director told 60 minutes the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein openly discussed how many cabinet members would support invoking the 25th amendment to remove the president. But the fbis former general counsel james baker, him and contemporaneously with mccabe and fbi lawyer lisa page about their conversations with rosenstein, testified the effort went further, i had the impression that the Deputy Attorney general had already discussed this with two members and the president s cabinet, and that they were on board with this concept already. On twitter, the president responded to mccabe on 60 minutes, wow, so many lies by now disgraced to acting fbi director Andrew Mccabe. He and Rod Rosenstein look like they were planning a very illegal act. Mccabe and others say the president s may 27 the firing of director james comey left the fbi and Justice Department in turmoil, amid concern that the firing was designed to sink the russia probe and obstruct justice. The Deputy Attorney general offered to wear a wire into the white house. He said, i never get search when i go into the white house, i think the general counsel had a heart attack when he got up off the floor, he said, that is a bridge too far. But baker, who could facebook criminal pollen pleas for lying to congressional investigators testified, my recollection is that there were discussions about it than a longer period over the course of one meeting a couple of days. Mccabe says rosenstein initially resisted the special counsel because he worried he might lose his job. A Senior Department official told fox the special counsel was appointed, to ensure that the russia investigation was truly independent and without bias. Something the officials at that mccabe could not have accomplished. Bret . Bret thank you. Up next, why british law makers say facebook is acting like a gangster with information about you. First, heres what some of our fox affiliates are on the coventry are covering. Box 50, North Carolina elections directors say that investigators found a coordinated, unlawful absentee ballot scheme in the last years ninth Congressional District voting. The comment came at the opening of a state elections board hearing. Republican mark harris holds a slim lead over democrat dan mccready and unofficial results. But the election was not certified. The board is expected to certify a winner or order a new election. Fox 11 and green bay has was not the democratic Governor Tony Evers says his budget will include proposals to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use and legalize medical marijuana. He says it is time wisconsin joins more than 30 other states and the district of columbia in legalizing medical marijuana. And this is a live look at your call go from our affiliate, fox 32. One of the big story tonight, investigation into fridays workplace shooting in suburban aurora. Police a man who killed five coworkers had his data gun license in 2014. The wife of one victim says hisr husband texted, i love you, ive been shot at work. That is tonights live look outside the beltway from special report. Well be right back. Thats why i switched to Liberty Mutual. They customized my insurance, so i only pay for what i need. I insured my car, and my bike. My calves are custom too, but i cant insure those. Which is a crying shame. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. You might or joints. Hing for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Bret an alabama woman who reportedly posted a tweet encouraging americans to kill themselves after joining isis years ago is now begging for officials to let her back into the u. S. The plea comes following her recent escape from ices and captured by kurdish forces. Shes being held in a refugee camp in northeast syria. State Department SpokeswomanHeather Nauert is expected to leave the Trump Administration soon. That is according to a source familiar with the situation. She had been dominated by the president to serve as u. N. Ambassador. But an investigation revealed she had hired a nanny without an appropriate work visa and did not pay taxes on the employee at the time. Shes withdrawn that nomination. She is a former anchor on this channel. British lawmakers are going after facebook again. They are calling for tougher rules on the social media giant and others who say they say act like criminals with information about you. Here are a Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent greg palkot in london tonight. Facebook under fire again. Branded as digital gangsters in the online world. A u. K. Parliament committee ramping up an 18 month probe into fake news and disinformation. The study determined facebook considers itself to be ahead of and beyond the law. There have been serious failings over the content, the failure to protect users privacy, and also, failure from a part in the way they gather data, and make it available to other organizations without users informed consents. At issue, the use of facebook by foreign governments to influence elections. Possible russian involvement in the u. K. s brexit vote, for example, at the u. K. Based Cambridge Analytica firms used to facebook data to target potential trump voters in 2016. What this does is at least make the facebook itself realize it has a responsibility ies not just as a platform, but as a publisher. Singled out, facebook ceo mark zuckerberg, when he testified on capitol hill, refused to come to london. He accused of showing contemporary to facebook u. K. Executive says the Company Shares the committees concerns about false news and election integrity. It is open to a meaningful regulation. More regulation could be on the way. The report recommending a series of laws be put in place along with already strong digital guidelines. The u. S. Congress is conducting its own digital probe. Republican senator marco rubio last month proposed a new law to reign in the likes of facebook. The explosive findings from the u. K. Report could provide more support. Bret . Bret greg palkot in london. Thanks. Up next, we begin a weeklong analysis of congresswoman alexandria ocasiocortezs controversial Green New Deal. First, beyond our borders tonight. The International RescueCommittee Says at least 62 people have died in recent weeks mainly from exhaustion and malnutrition after making their way out of militant held territory in syria. Says twothirds were children under the age of 1. spy minister has canceled plans for his country to send a delegation to a meeting in jerusalem after the acting is Israeli Foreign military said polls collaborated with the nazis and sucked antisemitism from their mothers milk. As a better conflict as to how to remember and characterize about polish oxen toward jewish people during world war ii. Dozens of firsttime female candidates who are victory nigerias election are urging each other to stay strong. Voting has been delayed at the last minute until february 23rd. About 50 females running for state and local seats are using social media to tell each other to remain focused. The percentage of women in nigerias parliament is one of the lowest in the world. Just some of the other stories beyond our borders tonight. Well be right back. And saying, really . So capital one is building something completely new. Capital one cafes. Inviting places with people here to help you, not sell you. And savings and checking accounts with no fees or minimums. Because thats how it should be. You can open one from right here or anywhere in 5 minutes. Seriously, 5 minutes. This is banking reimagined. Whats in your wallet . I never count trthe wrinkles. S. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on, is staying happy and healthy. So, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. Boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. All with guaranteed great taste. The upside im just getting started. Boost® high protein be up for life. The company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100 online. 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Lets be honest but with esurance, just snap some pics and you could get back on the road fast well, not that fast. This editor made this commercial fit in 15 seconds. When insurance is simple, its surprisingly painless. Bret two to begin a weeklong analysis of one of the most controversials political manifesto to emerge in quite some time. Freshman year congresswoman, selfdescribed socialist alexandria ocasiocortez has come up with something called the Green New Deal. We should note, massachusetts democrat senator ed markey also made the original Green New Deal pitch. But the only thing turning green right now seems to be other democrats forced to defend the strategy that even some of the Mainstream Media are mocking. Correspondent Doug Mckelway begins our reporting. Never, and our history, have the interests of all americans been so united. If unity about Climate Change ever existed, within moments of the Green New Deal roll out, it tore apart. Two days before this press conference, congresswoman Alexander Acosta alexandria ocasiocortez posted a Green New Deal faq segment on her website, referencing the alleged ten years that mankind has to save the earth. The post said, we are to rebe able to of farting cows and airplanes that fast. It also promised Economic Security for all. A normative ridicule followed. If the Green New Deal took hold, i think our grid would stop. It sounds like a high school term paper that got a little mark prior to speak it within hours, ocasiocortezs office deleted the faq for my website. The following saturday, her chief of staff tweeted it was an early draft posted by mistake. The night before, an advisor to the ocasiocortez offered a different explanation. No, no. Shes tweeted it out to laugh at it. If you look at her latest tweet, it seems like it apparently several republicans have put it out. Speak of the cornell professor was mistakenly referring to a parity of the faq tweeted by rightwing commentator. Inserted into the real document a guarantee for massage chairs and for men to recycle urine. Mitch mcconnell announced a showboat. We will see about how they feel about the Green New Deal. This cheap, cynical ploy evidently represents the sum total of Senate Republicans leadership on the final issue of Climate Change. 67 democrats signed onto the Green New Deal, including many president ial candidates. Yet strong by the ridicule, many tempered their support. Why not have an aspirational goal . Aspirational is a vague term for a vague, nonbinding resolution. The rest of this week, well try to pin down the real costs and consequences of the Green New Deal. Bret . Bret thank you. Tomorrow Doug Mckelway tells us what the hidden costs potentially are inside the Green New Deal and what that could do to americas infrastructure needs. The u. S. Military is dealing with a big problem tonight. Not enough ablebodied volunteers. The recruiting shortfall has hit the army especially hard. Now some of the army are hitting back. Very creative fashion. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin takes a look tonight for the pentagon. 70 of americans age 18 to 24, the target age for recruiters, are not fit to serve in the military. For the first time in over a dozen years, the army missed its recruiting goal. Most recruits come from the south and midwest, not coastal cities. Now two young sergeants are to wow changing the approach, using social media and hiphop. Sergeant first class jason locke and sutton both served in iraq. Where he first began making rap videos, like enlisted, which is 1. 2 million views. Now we have social media, we have instagram, facebook, to pass out the armys message. A little bit of our story, and say, hey, if you give something that you got. It has 150 jobs, dog handlers, chefs, mechanics, military police, not just snipers and paratroopers. Recruiting is hard when the economy is good. So they began meeting young people where they hang out, online. I think weve used uncle sam for 104 years. I want you. That type of deal is played out. We still get the oldschool type of way but we are trying to regain traction. With videos like this, the army is targeting video game conventions through esports, not just using cold calls and coaches. The army is targeting 22 cities, recruiting numbers are already up by double digits in los angeles, boston, and to minneapolis. Bret . Bret Jennifer Griffin of the pentagon. Thank you. The american sailor believed to be the one shown kissing a woman in times square celebrating the end of world war ii has died. The daughter of George Mendoza said he has a seizure sunday at the assisted living facility in rhode island where he lived with his wife of 70 years. He was shown kissing a dental assistant and in a nurses uniform on august 14th, 1945. That is known as vj day, when japan surrendered to the u. S. The photo, by alfred eizenstat, made the cover of life magazine, became one of the most famous photographs of the 20th 20th century. George mendoza was 95. We here at fox are mourning the loss tonight of former Fox News Contributor pat caddell. Colleague of the political pollster tells the New York Times , he died saturday as a result of complications from a stroke. Among the credits throughout his career in politics, his contributions to former president jimmy carters campaign. Pat caddell was 68. To make you everybody else. Means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. Does this sound dismal . It isnt. Its the most wonderful life on earth. Your insurance rates skyrocket you could fix it with a pen. Its the most wonderful life on earth. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. The venezuelan people have spoken and the world has heard their beautiful voice. They are turning the page on socialism, turning the page on dictatorship, and there will be no going back. The twilight hour of socialism has arrived in our hemisphere and frankly, and many, many places around the world. The days of socialism and communism are numbered. I ask every member of the maduro regime, and this nightmare of poverty, hunger, and death for your people. Let your people go. Bret President Trump in miami talking to the Venezuelan American Community down there. Two fronts on this message. One being to change the regime in venezuela and the disputed president maduro, also get humanitarian aid flowing in there. But second, the message on socialism and how that also transfers to the 2020 election to come. Lets begin our panel. Chris stirewalts politics editor here at fox news. Mollie hemingway, Senior Editor at the federalist and charles lane, opinion writer for the Washington Post. Okay, chris, obviously the direct Foreign Policy effort on venezuela, but there is a broader theme here. Thats right. At the moment where democrats and a lot of Younger Voters are reconsidering how they feel about socialism and his socialism okay, that at the very moment where some prominent democrats, including the second place furniture in 2016 for the democrats, bernie sanders, embraces a label, this is very good for the president to be able to say, this is what socialism looks like. This is if you go to another country and see it in practice, what is being described, this is what it is. Its very much on brand and very useful and a good thing to talk about. Bret chuck . A lot of democrats actually support President Trump on policy toward venezuela. It is true theres been a lot of attention on the usual alexanda because the art cortez because she doesnt but the local delegation from florida, donna shalala, Debbie Wasserman schultz, and a number of others in the senate and house, for a rare occasion have actually seen eye to eye with the president on a matter of Foreign Policy. Lets not forget, this venezuelan community, which interacts very closely with cubanamerican community down there, its going to influence a 2020 elections in florida. This is not just a question of making a negative statement about socialism. Its also, in terms of domestic politics, rallying the Latino Community of south florida on Donald Trumps side. Bret mollie . A good reminder that the whole world is full of has places of conflict and that we need to be making sure that we are not involved in places where we are fighting wars of the past and looking at situations that are becoming a big problem in our own hemisphere. Bret a lot of attention on 60 minutes. A former Deputy Director of the fbi speaking out about the possibility of using the 25th amendment to remove the president. The discussion of the 25th amendment was simply rod raise the issue and discussed it with me in the context of thinking about how many other cabinet officials might support such an effort. I didnt have much to contribute, to be perfectly honest, in that conversation. Rosenstein was actually openly talking about whether there was a majority of the cabinet who would vote to remove the president. That is correct. Counting votes or possible vote votes. Bret since then, theres been a walk back from a cave on that. Take a reaction from the white house, and capitol hill. Mccabe has no credibility. He was obviously fired by the fbi. We know hes lied on multiple occasions, including under oath, and hes a partisan hack. So he can he is trying to sell a book but the mere fact is, hes a liar. I promise your viewers the following, we will have a hearing about who is telling the truth, what actually happened. Bret chris . Andrew mccabe is definitely definitely he is formed in the shape of james comey. Hes like a pocket james comey. At the same idea, a guy who leaves essentially in disgrace, a guy who is not esteemed by either party. You have a guy who an inspector generals report found him to have lied to his colleagues at the fbi about leaking, then he says, comey says i could leak and comey says, i never said that. There are so many contradictions. There is so much wrong here. What is pretty obviously trying to do, as comey did before him, addition is a resistance figure. He wants to be embraced by democrats and liberals and say, i am part of this, i am with you. Its not going to wash. Bret which is the message out of the Justice Department, mollie, the statement being the special counsel is appointed to ensure that the russia investigation was truly independent and without bias, something that mccabe could not have accomplished. Because they are making a statement, though, because they understand there is a Bigger Picture here. We had two alternative stories going on for the last couple of years. Either the president is a traitor who was compromised by russia, or our doj and fbi acted horrifically, poorly played the entire special counsel was set d you see just repeated pattern of really bad behavior for people who were trusted to handle Law Enforcement and intelligence. I think, yes, Andrew Mccabe is someone who was fired for lying about his many leaks to the media. Yes, youve had 20 other people who have been fired or resigned or put under pressure because of their bad actions, too. At what point are we going to move away from his Conspiracy Theory that has no support for it, of treasonous collusion with russia to steal an election, and were never going to deal with the major problems at the fbi and doj and the fact of the special counsel was set up by these people who were behaving and absolutely reprehensible fashion . Bret one way is to get the end of the Mueller Investigation and to find out what the results are, right . We will eventually. At one time, i dont know. Chuck . Thats all in the hands of bill barr. One of the most important aspects of a new attorney generals confirmation is that for the first time we have sort of a fullfledged attorney general. Fullfledged in the sense that hes not recused from the russia investigation, fullfledged in the sense hes Senate Confirmed and hes experienced, widely regarded, even among democrats, even though many of them voted against him, and fully empowered to deal with this. He also knows bob mueller very well. I have to believe that he, too, understands that this thing, sooner or later, it has to mind up, and something has to be made public. Bret wheel cover and about how it comes out. Next up, did the actor who said he was attacked by protrump thugs actually set the whole thing up . A curious story of Jussie Smollett. But believe me. Im not your average consumer. Thats why i switched to Liberty Mutual. They customized my Car Insurance, so i only pay for what i need. And as a man. Uh. Or a woman. With very specific needs that i cant tell you about say cheese. Mr. Landry . Oh no. Hi mr. Landry Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. 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Customize each line by paying for data by the gig or get unlimited. And now get 200 back when you buy and eligible smartphone. Click, call, or visit a store today. There was a rush to judgment. Mostly the celebrity person among activists and twitter people. There was careful reporting by news organizations. Put it all gets lumped in together at the end of the day. When something happens that is controversial, everyone is coming forward. So i knew everyone would be picking apart his story. For me, that is not my concern. They are looking for two suspects who were apparently wearing make America Great again has come with her that is not yet been officially been confirmed. There has been no detailed description on the suspects. To me, this is domestic terrorism. How are you out here terrorizing we are terrorizing our own people with his hatred . This is america 2019. Bret okay, some of the Media Coverage of this Jussie Smollett story and his allegations of being beat up by what he described as protrump thugs. We are back with the panel. Mollie, this story is so bizarre. We dont have all of the details from authorities as of yet. We do have sourcing in chicago and the chicago media has been head of of the story. On the one hand, its bizarre, on the other hand you see this thing happen with some frequency. People make allegations all the time. As the job of report is due not just uncritically accept those allegations but to make sure they have them nailed down, not just before they were part but before they then start to do analysis based on it. This was a story where they took the allegation and ran with it as if it were true, as if everything they heard about it were true, and as if it had larger meaning for what the country is going through. All of that seems like its not turning out to be correct. But the media do this over and over and over again. They just did it with the covington boys at that with a couple weeks ago. It happens all the times. Bret chris, for the president ial politics, it gets a bit sticky. Cory booker tweeting out right away, this was an attack on actor Jussie Smollett was in attempted modernday lynching. For those in congress you dont feel the urgency to pass the lynching bill, i urge you to pay attention. This is an attempted modernday lynching. No one should have to fear for their lives because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront the state. They were confronted by those tweets. I think the facts are still unfolding. Im very concerned about obviously the initial allegation that he made about what might have happened, that is something which all take seriously whenever anyone alleges that kind of behavior. There should be an investigation. Will withhold until all the information comes out from on the record sources. Bret withhold now. Withhold now that its not useful and know that its not helpful. We understand, confirmation bias is a real thing for all of us. If we see something that confirms the way we look at the world, we are a lot more prone to believe it. Its just part of the human condition. As journalists, we have to bear that in mind as we are acting. Its also true for president ial candidates, its also true for politicians. You know the old joke, if your mother tells you that she loves you, check it out. That is the way we are supposed to have it bret high degree of confidence. She seems pretty solid. [laughs] we are supposed to be skeptical. We dont have to be cynical but we are supposed to be skeptical and a lot of people fail that test. Bret chuck . I keep thinking about the fact that in this whole discussion, being washed away, there are a numerical real racist hate crimes. Bret 100 hundred . Dylann roof massacred people in a church. We just had antisemitic crime in pittsburgh. What is so devastating when a hold, coax, alleged hoax, possible her to my cokes emerging, it creates confusion and detracts from the real cases. I think the best lesson everyone should take out of situations like these, from whichever direction they come, is just take a couple of minutes. Just take 2 minutes to think it over and deliberate. Deliberation is the key ingredient of a democracy and thanks to twitter and a whole bunch of other things, everyone is driven by cliques and want to be first with her how to take, and they do not deliberate. Bret in other words, take a breath, listen, report what you know, not what you dont know. Its true that racism and hatred may exist and that is part of the human condition. The trend is that the media engages in the bigotry toward their political opponents and that is why they are willing to be duped by the same type of hoax over and over again. I just want to say, if you arent able to hear the facts of this case and be a little bit skeptical or be a little incredulous about it, you are not going to be able to be a good reporter who is able to stand strong against an actual Information Operation like the rush of Conspiracy Theory. Sue if you are willing to lose it over something as small as this, there is no hope for the Bigger Picture. Bret panel, thank you. Well continue to follow it and get the facts of whatever is coming out of chicago. When we come back, its beginning to look a little like christmas for the white house. [knocking] memories. What we deliver by delivering. Bret a finally tonight we are still more than ten months till christmas but to celebrate this president s day the White House Historical situation is unveiling a Christmas Ornament honoring president dwight eisenhower. It features the helicopter he used, he was the first president to use one, marine one. The ornament is made by a veteran owned Small Business and rhode island. The White House Historical situation honored harry truman last year and will honor john f. Kennedy with a special one next year, it is cool. You got in ornament every year. Thank you for inviting us into your homes tonight. That is it for special report. Fair, balanced and unafraid. Here is martha. Martha that is a nice thing. Thank you. Breaking tonight, a brandnew development in in the Jussie Smollett story. No reports of the actor received a threatening letter and was disappointed that there wasnt more outrage over it. Then he may have concocted the attack story to again attention. This is coming from a cbs reporter in chicago. It is one of many new twists unfolding tonight. Good evening, this is the story that has some drawing some comparisons to the one a broadly case back in the 1980s. More on that as we look back in a moment with waldo rivera