But im president and theyre not. [ applause ] [cheers and applause ] we won and they lost. The fact is, the press has destroyed themselves because they went too far. Instead of being subtle and smart, they use the hatchett and the people saw it right from the beginning. The Dishonest Media will never keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our Great American people. It will never happen. Their agenda is not your agenda. Youve been saying it. I will never stop fighting for you. I am delivering on tray, on the economy, on the supreme court, on the second amendment, on our military, for our veterans and on our borders where we are doing record, record stoppage. Thank you. And we are supporting our Incredible Police and law enforcement. [ applause ] we will save american lives, protect american sovereignty and we will ensure the forgotten men and women of our country are never forgotten again. For too long, politicians have tried. Oh, have they tried to centralize authority morning am hands of a small few in our nations capital. I see them all the time. They think they can run over your lives, overrule your values, meddle in your faith and tell you how to live, what to say and where to pray. But we know as parents, not bureaucrats, know best how to raise their children and create a thriving society. And we know that families and churches, not government officials, know best how to create a strong and loving community. And above all else, we know this. In america, we dont worship government. We worship god. [ applause ] usa usa usa usa our religious liberty is enshrined in the very First Amendment in the bill of rights, the american founders invoked our creator four times in the declaration of independence at the National Institute of the constitution by bowing their heads in prayer. I remind you that were going to start saying Merry Christmas again. [cheers and applause ] inscribed on our currency are the words in god we trust. But not only his god bestowed on us the gift of freedom, hes also given us the gift of heroes willing to give their lives to defend that freedom you just stood. In every struggle against evil throughout our history, as they huddled around camp fires and sought refuge in foxholes, they called on their creators for support. In world war ii when general patton that was a real general. We have some real pattons. I found him. Mad dog mattis. Huh . And he doesnt like doing a lot of talking, but i want to tell you, isis, its a whole different ball game, folks. They are going fast. But when patton ran into a problem, he knew what to do. He prayed. Frustrated by europe in early december 1944, horrible weather. Asked patton to come up for a good prayer for the weather. Patton then had 250,000 copies of that prayer printed out for the soldiers of the third army just before the battle of the bulge. That was a big one. Did very well there. 500,000 american soldiers formed that pivotal battle of the second world war. One of those soldiers is here with us tonight. And his name is harry f. Miller. Where is harry . Where is harry . Harry stand up, harry. [ applause ] like many of the heroes of his generation, harry wasnt exactly straightforward about his age when he enlisted in the army reserve. Shame on you, harry. He was just 15 but he told them he was old enough to join. Then he immediately asked for a transfer to active duty. Six months after he enlisted, private miller was on his way to europe to fight for hour country. A couple of months after that, he was in the freezing cold. How cold was it . Cold. He said really cold. And driving range of belgium with a 740th tank battalion attached to the 82nd airborne as the battle of the bulge began, harry got his orders to go find tanks at a weapons storage facility. When he arrived, he says he and his friends found nothing but tanks. They were all over the place, right . Nothing but tanks. But they didnt let the tarngs stop them. Out of what spare parts they could find and through grit and resolve, they somehow managed to repair three of those tanks and get them all set for action and ready to fight. And before long, those three tanks were nose to nose with the lead elements of a german s. S. Division and that was tough stuff. In a short time, those tanks had knocked out the first three tanks of the enemy and the entire German Division retreated. They left. Thats good, harry. Thats good, harry. Harry harry harry [cheers and applause ] stand up. Harry fought through the battle and the rest of the war and he went on to serve our armed forces for 22 years, retiring as a Senior Master sergeant. A lot of guts. Tomorrow harry will be 89. 89 so on behalf of this very large group and this beautiful building, Senior Master sergeant happy birthday. Thank you for your lifetime of service and thank you for helping out. Thank you very much, harry. To every veteran with us tonight and every branch of the military, army, marines, coast guard, air force, i want you to always know that well always keep our promises to those who have kept us free. Since my very first day in office, weve taken one action after another to make sure that our veterans get the care that theyve so richly deserved. Weve published wait times. They were bad, werent they . But boy are they Getting Better and fast. And weve published them at every v. A. Facility, delivered sameday Mental Health services at every v. A. Medical Center Nearly doubled. The number of veterans given approvals to see the doctor of their choice. And as i said, just signed brandnew legislation, went through the house, went through the senate and i signed it so fast we didnt want to take any chances, right, harry . To ensure every va worker is held accountable for the quality of care they provide to our veterans. Tonight we are deeply honored to be joined by a number of Wounded Warriors from walter reed. I was over there recently. These are incredible people. The enthusiasm and the spirit and some of them were hurt really badly. Theyve got so much spirit and they love this country so much. These american heroes risked everything so that you and i can live in freedom. They gave all they had. Everything. For their comrades and for victory. We like winning again, dont we . You know, the old days, we used to win. Were going to win again, folks. We applaud their strength, their courage and we really support that incredible win they have. The will is so strong and thats what they want to do, is they want to win and they want to win for you. So thank you all very much for being here. That was great. One such hero is captain lu luis avilla. Where is he . Luis . Luis. We love you, luis. Luis, wow. [ applause ] luis is here tonight along with his wife claudia. Thank you, claudia. Thank you, darling. Thank you. Luis served in the army for 16 years. He held many different positions on five combat tours and he was always a leader and everybody always said, i did some checking on you, luis, that you did a great job no matter where you were, no matter where you went. On his fifth deployment, luis bravely led his company on a Successful Mission to recover vital intelligence. During this critical mission, his vehicle was struck by explosives. Luis was gravely wounded and lost his leg. He received a purple heart for his service and sacrifice. To luis and claudia, we will never forget the courageous sacrifice that you made for all of us in this room tonight and for everyone in our country. Thank you. Thank you, luis. [ applause ] i want you all and all of our incredible Wounded Warriors to know, you have an entire nation of more than approximate 00 Million People behind you and our nations getting strong again. Do you notice . Its getting strong again. Our hearts and our prayers are joined with yours. Your legacy, like our gratitude, will live forever and i want to thank you. Thank you very much. Claudia, thank you very much. Thank you. [ applause ] i also want to speak to all of the people see, you thought i forgot. To all of the people in our faith community, veterans and nonveterans alike. Youre never going to be forgotten. Youll never be forgotten. My administration will always support and defend your religious liberty. We dont want to see god forced out of the public square, driven out of our schools or pushed out of our civic life. We want to see prayers before Football Games if they want to give prayers. Maus plaus [ applause ] we want all children to have the opportunity to know the blessings of god. We will not allow the government to censure sermons, to restrict the free speech of our pastors and our preachers and the people that we most respect. Like robert. That is why, just as i promised, pastor jeffers and other faith leaders, i just signed an executive order following and this is something that makes me very happy and very proud. Following through on my Campaign Pledge to stop the Johnson Amendment from interfering with your First Amendment rights. [ applause ] as long as i am president , no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart. We want to hear him. One of the most grave and dire threats to religious freedom in the world today is the threat of terrorism and, specifically, it just seems its called radical islamic terrorism. And we cannot allow this terrorism and extremism to spread in our country or to find sanctuary on our shores or on our cities. We want to make sure that anyone who seeks to join our country shares our values and has the capacity to love our people. [ applause ] thank you. Together, we will protect our people and our nation and our borders. And by the way, for those that are curious, we will build the wall. Okay . Because we understand that a country is more than just its geography. A nation is the sum of its citizens. Their hopes. Their dreams. Their aspirations. America is a land rich with history, traditions and values. And as we have seen tonight, what a group this is tonight. America is also a land rich with heroes. And though we have many stories, we all share one home and one glorious destiny. A destiny thats Getting Better and better every single day. And whether we are black or brown or white and youve heard me say this before we all bleed the same red blood. We all salute the same Great American flag. And we are all made by the same almighty god. [ applause ] we face many challenges. There are many hills and mountains to climb but with the strength and courage of the patriots assembled in this room tonight, we will scare and you see it and you see it all the time and were doing it all the time because were scaling those summits and we will get the job done we will all prove worthy of this very important moment in history and we will prove worthy of the sacrifice that our brave veterans have made. As long as we have pride and courage in our convictions and faith in our god, we will not fail. As long as our country remains true to its values, loyal to its heroes and doe voted to its creator, then our best days are yet to come because we will make America Great again. To my friend, pastor jeffers, and to paula and to louie and to harry and to luis and to everybody in this room and everybody in this country, thank you for your great support. I appreciate it. I will not let you down. To all of our incredible veterans, to the people in the military and to evangelical christians who came out in record numbers, thank you. Have a wonderful Independence Day. God bless you god bless our nations veterans god bless the United States of america thank you very much. Thank you much thank you. President donald trump speaking there for about 30 minutes at the Kennedy Center in washington, d. C. , really addressing two of his core voters, two groups. The military, which went for him 21. Also, the religious voter went for him 41. Of course, addressing all of america there in that message at the Kennedy Center, touching on the Johnson Amendment, which allows churches to donate to political efforts. Also touching on the issue of the military, taking note of harry f. Miller who joined the army at the age of 15, lying about his age so that he could be part of world war ii and then serving in the battle of the bulge. Also making note of luis avilla who was wounded and is now a wounded warrior. Addressing the media, attacking the media in terms of it being fake. His words that he used there. He also touched on other points related to government and how he was different. Donald trump speaking at the Kennedy Center this evening. His first july 4th as president of the United States and now he heads back to new jersey. We will join our programming, the 11th hour. Well take a short break, and then to brian williams. My hygienist told me to try. A mouthwash. So i tried crest. It does so much more than give me fresh breath. Crest prohealth mouthwash provides all. Of these benefits to help you get better dental checkups. Go pro with crest mouthwash. Checkup . Nailed it ahead of President Trumps meeting with Vladimir Putin at the g20 summit in germany, officials have major concerns. This is according to the daily beast. European officials believe that Vladimir Putin can extract major con investigations from President Donald Trump when the two meet for the first time. Well, with us tonight to talk about this, the editor at large for the atlantic, our friend steve clemons. Thank you for joining us on the friday night before the holiday weekend. Normal times, the normal kind of circle of behavior around a president , when would the briefings begin going into a meeting like this . These are called bilats. What kind of prep would a president get . Theres no reason why a bilateral meeting couldnt be taking place right now but it would take place with all sorts of caveats. The g8 is no longer a g8. Russia is part of the gto and there are all sorts of concerns about russia, what they are trying to get for the United States and what are the strategic objectives that the United States might have. So an extraordinary number of deputy meetings, principal meetings, working through the Decision Making through those agencies that surround the president to help guide him and give him options on what to do. None of that, to my knowledge, has happened in depth. H. R. Mcmaster is winging it in this situation. And they have all but admitted that. We go back in history to a long it was the soviet union then not russia but in the very famous first meeting between jfk and khrushchev. That had a lot to do to create track and it became complicated for the soviet union and the United States. Many people worry that donald trump is going to repeat that history and send a message of weakness about what the administration wants. Ill tell you one thing the big worry the europeans have the biggest strategic objective russia has today is to split the western alliance to put divides in and demonstrate while donald trump wants to achieve something with them at the same time he is saying to europe, no climate deal, no trade deals, and he is being very rough on allies at the same moment he is trying to achieve objectives with russia. It feels weird to say but part of the presumed psychological profile of our president thats been written publicly and talked about in the public sphere is susceptible to flattery, susceptible to attention. And perhaps for our viewers underscore just how cagey a guy Vladimir Putin is. Well, there is a wonderful book about Vladimir Putin written by feena hill is that describes the many putins putin is the case officer. He is the guy running the country. Putin has never really left the role accord to fiona hill who works the donald trump in the National Security offers. Hopefully he spent time with her that would be the best thing he could do to understand that putin will do anything he can to flatter donald trump and to you know lay Railroad Track for Donald Trumps vanity and to try to seduce him in that way. I think thats a real big problem. John kerry used to get criticized in the iran negotiations by europeans for appearing to eager for wanting a deal too much. And that the fear many people watching donald trump in this first big meeting with Vladimir Putin have. He looks too eager and thats playing in the hands, at least perceptively right now. We could be wrong he could walk out and sucker punch Vladimir Putin, really give him a tough time whats been evolving in syria particularly the chemical weapons front. Right now all indicators that probably wont happen. That has a lot of people concerned. This is not a minor relationship. Its a hugely significant strategic relationship thats been complicated and russia has been harassing the heck out of u. S. Diplomats, u. S. Planes, u. S. Allies, trying to split the western alliance and donald trump doesnt seem to care much about that. Superbly put. This is why we keep inviting you on. Steve clemons, thank you very much for this preview of what well be witnessing next week. Coming up next, george will tries to make sense of another week that was when the 11th hour continues. Mpetition big hype. Big price. Big deal. Olay regenerist hydrates skin better than creams costing over 100, 200 and even 400. For skin that looks younger than it should. Fact che