>> rocco's new book is called "healthy and delicious." it's out today. as he puts the veggies in the blender. >> 140 calories per portion. >> thank you, sir. >> bill: good morning, everybody. fox news alert on what might be a major victory. reports that u.s.-backed forces have driven isis from its headquarters in syria. the town of raqqa near the iraq border in eastern syria. the terror group's capital going back to 2014. breaking news this morning on a tuesday. i'm bill hemmer. good morning. welcome to "america's newsroom." sandra, hello. >> sandra: good morning, bill. i'm sandra smith, a commander with the troops says isis has been defeated and they're sweeping the city for any final threats. this after reclaiming the city's hospital which was doubling as an isis command center. >> bill: senior foreign affairs correspondent greg palkot in london with more details. what are we learning, greg? confirmed or not?

>> it is looking like we're at a major turning point, a story that we and the whole world have been watching for the past three years plus now. we're talking about the syrian city of raqqa, the capital of the caliphate of the so-called islamic state, or isis, that has fallen to the combined forces of kurdish and arabic fighters. according to the forces a u.s. official telling fox news a few minutes ago circumspect, 90% of the city has been recaptured. u.s. backing this effort in a big way. especially with its air power and intense battles going on in the city for the past four months. some isis fighters have fled. some are surrendered, many killed. the last few hundred holding out against the forces. raqqa hugely important, symbolic to the terror group. it was its headquarters and where the foreign fighters from outside would be processed and dispatched and foreign prisoners, americans, hostages would be put on display and tortured and killed.

where attacks against the u.s., europe, the whole world were plotted. now again an official telling fox news that some fighting still remains in the city. the city still has to be cleared of booby-traps and land mines. destroyed homes and buildings that need to be repaired before the residents can come back in. most of them have fled and it must be said, bill, there are other towns and areas in that region still held by the jihadis. after the fall of mosul and the other defeats again a big blow against the terror group. >> bill: thank you, greg palkot working the story from london. more from the pentagon coming up. >> sandra: president trump says he and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell are united on their agenda. the two men trying to cast doubts about their relationship aside at a news conference in the rose garden. >> president trump: we are probably now, despite what we read. we're closer than ever before as far as i'm concerned and the

relationship is very good. >> we have the same agenda. we have been friends and acquaintances for a long time. >> president trump: fighting for the biggest tax cuts in the history of our nation. we're fighting for tax reform as part of that. we are getting close to healthcare. it will come up in the early to mid part of next year. >> sandra: john roberts is live on the north lawn. we start with some breaking news. >> yeah, good morning, sandra. this is something the president was asked about yesterday. the president will now be looking for a new nominee to become the new drug czar of the united states. the president tweeting a short time ago quote congressman tom moreno is withdrawing his name from consideration at drug czar. moreno sponsored a bill that makes it more difficult for drug enforcement to take action against opioid drugs. he was asked about the nomination yesterday and in a

60 minutes report that said this law that he sponsored had a lot to do with the opioid epidemic. the president said he would look into it and this morning marino took himself out. back to yesterday and that press conference. yesterday the president and mitch mcconnell at the rose garden had a feeling of a sweet to it. we had rex tillerson coming out to say his relationship to the president was great. then john kelly the chief of staff coming out last week saying his relationship with the president was great. the senate majority leader who president trump said he was disappointed in was standing next to the president. both of them came out to say there was no problem with their relationship. the two leaders profess to be on the same page. when it came to the timetable for tax reform both said they would like to get it done by tend of this year but listen to this. >> would you be okay if tax reform were not passed until

next year? >> i would like to see it be done this year. >> the goal is to get it done this calendar year. obama signed obamacare in march of year two. he signed dodd-frank in july of year two. >> the subtle suggestion from the senate majority leader it may not happen until next year. i'm told the white house is okay with a slightly delayed timetable as long as it gets the whole thing done and sandra, the president will be going to the heritage foundation tonight to delve into the policy surrounding tax reform. we'll hear from him later on today. >> sandra: the president also facing some criticism this morning over his comments yesterday about speaking with the family members of soldiers killed in action. >> one of the questions in the 45 minutes of question and answer that came out yesterday is why the president had not said anything publicly about the four soldiers killed a couple of weeks ago in niger. the president responded he had

written some letters to the families over the weekend and planned to call them later on this week. then he added this. listen. >> president trump: the toughest calls i have to make are the calls where this happens. soldiers are killed. it is a very difficult thing. if you look at president obama and other presidents, most of them didn't make calls. a lot of them didn't make calls. i like to call when it's appropriate and when i think i'm able to do it. they have made the ultimate sacrifice. >> that statement brought an immediate response from supporters of president obama who said, quote, president trump's claim is wrong. president obama engaged families of the fallen and wounded warriors throughout his presidency through calls, letters, visits to section 60 at arlington and visits walter read. the former attorney general

went further writing top the damn lying. you're the president. i went to dover air force base with 44 and saw him comfort the families of fallen military and dea. near the end of that impromptu press conference yesterday he clarified the earlier comments about president obama never calling families of the fallen. listen here. >> president trump: president obama, i think probably did sometimes. maybe sometimes he didn't. i don't know. that's what i was told. all i can do is ask my generals. other presidents did not call. did write letters. some presidents didn't do anything. >> he has a joint press availability with the president of greece. i expect this one will be a little shorter and less free wheeling than yesterday. >> sandra: this one a little more planned as well. john roberts, thank you. >> bill: let's bring in byron york, good day to you and good morning in washington, d.c.

i thought this was, in terms of politics, an elections with the donald trump, mitch mcconnell. steve bannon back-to-back. it was a telling comment from the senate majority leader when he said the following about elections. >> the goal here is to win elections in november. back in 2010 and 2012, we nominated several candidates, christine o'donnell, sharon engel, richard murdoch, they aren't in the senate. and the reason for that was that they were not able to appeal to a broader electorate in the general election. >> bill: winners make policy, losers go home. pick winners. what did you think of that? >> translation also steve bannon is all wrong about this. that's pretty clear. mitch mcconnell warned the president at the private lunch not to get behind this bannon effort too much and we're

seeing other republicans do the same thing. because it appears that bannon has targeted some republicans in the senate like john barrasso and deb fisher who vote with the president 90 to 95% of the time and are popular and safe in their seats in their home states. and a lot of republicans are saying why in the world would we republicans try to defeat them? and yesterday actually in his remarks the president specifically said that he might try to talk bannon out of going after some senators because the president said those senators were terrific people. >> bill: you described this as a love fest primarily because each was saying what the other wanted to hear. and that they're fighting for the same thing. lindsey graham went to the point a bit more the day before. if you don't get tax reform done you'll lose the majority

in congress. >> he said if we don't do it, we're dead. it was very, very clear. and actually president trump said something similar. if we get taxes done i think we'll do spectacularly well next year. the most important thing said in the entire news conference from mitch mcconnell's point of view is when the president came out and opened by saying we're fighting for the same thing. our agenda is the same, we have to get this budget done, which for procedural reasons has to come before taxes and then we have to do taxes. you heard john ask whether taxes had to be done this calendar year or early next year. the point is, they know they've got to get taxes done. >> bill: amen to that. good luck. byron, thank you. instant analysis in washington, d.c. >> sandra: our friends at fox news radio have an exclusive interview later this morning.

brian kilmeade will sit down with president trump at the white house at 9:40 a.m. eastern. listen live on fox news radio or stream it live at fox news.com and we'll have more on this show from that interview coming up. maybe it's more like a stand-up with the president. kilmeade for his radio show is never sitting, always standing. >> bill: he talks for three hours. i bet you andrew jackson comes up in the conversation just a little plug? kilmeade will make news. when that happens we'll bring it to you. another headline we're watching now, north korea reigniting the war of words with the united states after the president made it clear all options are on the table when he said this in september. >> we're totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option, but if we take that option it will be devastating, i can tell you that. devastating for north korea. >> bill: why pyongyang is saying nuclear war could come

at any moment. consider that. ambassador john bolton tells us what our next steps should be live in a moment. >> sandra: new details about the american/canadian family rescued from terrorists in pakistan. what we're now learning about the timing of the mission to save them. and families in northern california heading home to see the devastation for themselves. entire communities burned to the ground. a live report from california wine country coming up. >> disbelief, you know? just feeling like the luckiest guy on earth. i can't believe -- total destruction 50 feet away, you know, and to have our house still standing there. my digestive system used to make me feel sluggish

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vice president they say the u.s. is looking for a peaceful resolution. >> the united states will bring american power to bear on the regime in pyongyang as we hope to achieve through diplomatic and economic means a peaceable solution and the achievement of the long-sought goal of a nuclear free korean peninsula. >> bill: john bolton, former u.s. ambassador to the united states. good morning to you. so the rhetoric is hot. does it match the facts? >> this is propaganda from the north koreans trying to intimidate those americans who are capable of being intimidated and unfortunately there are a large number of them. the threat in the region is

north korea's nuclear weapons program. that's what we've been grappling with unsuccessfully for 25 years. and the idea that somehow we're responsible for it really is ludicrous except for those who buy that kind of north korea propaganda >> bill: apparently the remarks nuclear war may break out at any moment but it was not read out loud. what do you make of that? >> you know, they are very good at getting what they want out without actually having it on the record that way. so this is a very fact we're talking about shows they're successful. i think what it means for american policy, though, we have to keep our eye on the ball. they're definitely getting close to the capacity to hit targets all over the continental united states. they said the other day they wouldn't negotiate until they already had that capability. so time is running out. it has been running out. and it's landed in the trump

administration's lap. nobody should be under any illusions that after 25 and getting this close to the finish line north korea is going to be talked out of its nuclear weapons program. that's not going to happen. >> bill: not going to happen. >> right. i think the only diplomatic possibility here is with china to put either enough pressure on the raoej ohm -- regime in north korea that it collapsed or reunite the two koreas. there is an easy answer here. we can stop all this and let north korea get nuclear weapons and live with it. that's what susan rice, the national security in the obama administration wants to do. >> bill: they said it's a pretty good nuclear reentry vehicle. the program continues to advance as you point out there. they think we want to take their leader out. our leader goes there in november. president trump will visit south korea. he may go to the dmz. how significant should we view

that trip, sir? >> this trip to asia is very significant in a number of respects. he will be in japan, south korea, southeast asia. it is important for the president to go to south korea. i know he has been there before. i don't know if he has been to the demilitarized zone. it is something i wish every american could see. and confront the north koreans. but i think this is very important to show them that we are determined as the president said in his speech to the united nations a few weeks ago, as far as north korea goes, denuclearization is the only way forward meaning they aren't left with nuclear weapons period. >> bill: thank you, sir. we'll talk again about this. john bolton in washington, thanks. >> sandra: stunning new revelations into jim comey's email investigations. the f.b.i. just releasing documents that officially prove the former f.b.i. director started drafting his exoneration of hillary clinton before finishing his investigation. those details coming up.

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>> bill: remember that las vegas security gord shot at the mandalay bay hotel two weeks ago? he has vanished now. jesus campos has not been heard from since checking himself into an urgent care facility. a spokesperson at that facility

telling fox news they know nothing of his visit there. campos was getting ready to speak with the media last week. after meeting with mgm officials prior to the interviews campos disappeared. he has been honored for his bravery in the line of duties. he saved a lot of lives. when you read between the lines and why you schedule five national interviews and disappear moments before they begin your mind starts to wonder. i don't know what the answer is here. there is a reason why he is not talking. >> sandra: a lot of questions there. many residents in northern california are returning home after a week of fleeing wildfires. some seeing damage for the first time. some describing it as a war zone. >> wow. it's even worse than i thought. i have a lot of vietnam veteran friends and i never knew what they went through but now i went through it. so i got some defraging to do myself. >> sandra: an emotional return

for some. it laid waste to 6,000 homes. 41 people lost their lives. we're live in kenwood, california now. you can see the wildfire flames over her shoulder there. that is her live shot, claudia. >> we're live in the wine country town of kenwood. roads are still blocked because there is still active fire burning on the ridge over my left shoulder and this fire continues to threat en thousands of homes. take a look at these live pictures. this is the oakmont fire that started over the weekend and last report had burned more than 1,000 acres and 16% contained. we should get new numbers in a couple of hours. thanks to better weather, crews are making headway on the area's biggest fires and hope to have them all contained by the end of the week. yesterday evacuations were lifted in parts of napa, sonoma counties. more than a week after they fled for their lives tens of thousands of people are going back to their neighborhoods,

bracing for lasting emotional damage. among the 41 killed, a cal fire contractor who died when his truck flipped over and crashed. officials say fatigue may have played a role. >> there has been no break for these firefighters since the fires erupted last sunday evening. and so yes, people are getting tired and that is a factor that we're aware of. >> the number of those listed as missing has fluctuated wildly. now about 100 people are missing but as each day passes and we're now at day nine officials grow increasingly concerned that some of the missing may be found dead. and as the fire fight continues, so does the search for a cause. hurricane-force winds the night these fires broke out did bring down a lot of power lines, trees, even electrical transformers and now, sandra, much of that debris is evidence

in the ongoing investigation as there is speculation downed power lines may be to blame. back to you. >> sandra: thank you. later on in our show we look back at the brave men who battled one of the most deadly wildfires in u.s. history. the firefighters known as the granite mountain hot shots who faced the raging fires in arizona in 2013. 19 of the 20 members of the unit died battling those flames. now a new movie is about to hit theaters. only the brave pays tribute to those brave men who gave their lives to save countless others. here is the film's star talking about their heroic courage. >> the families have been very supportive of us. they felt that we weren't trying to necessarily send a message or anything like that. but it was really reliving the spirit of who these guys were. if we didn't have these people that we're honoring and praising, especially in this movie but outside of this movie also, you would have a world of

ashes. >> sandra: later in our next hour the lone survivor of that fire who served as an inspiration for the film will join us here on "america's newsroom." >> bill: what a story he has, too. 19 of your buddies die and you are the one who walks out alive and you ask yourself how did that happen? he will help us -- >> sandra: amazing acts of courage. >> bill: in the meantime what do you think, america? dow 23,000 opening bell on wall street in 45 seconds. we're on the verge of yet another record today. >> sandra: it takes 43 points to get to that 23,000 mark. >> bill: check it out. >> president trump: i hope hillary runs? i hope, hillary, please run again. >> sandra: president trump doubling down on his joke that hillary clinton needs to run for president again but says her defense of nfl players protesting the national anthem shows why she didn't win the

last time. former arkansas governor mark huckabee will join us live next. . don't let these young guys see you fold. ♪ i'm only human ♪ i make mistakes get down! ♪ i'm only human ♪ it's all it takes ♪ don't put the blame on me thank you for looking after my son. we're brothers. we look after each other. thank you for your service. rated r. ♪ don't put the blame on me

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>> sandra: it's 9:30 on the east coast. you know what that means. wall street opened for business a few seconds ago. the dow approaches history yet again. the average now approaching 23,000. look at that. about 15 points away as we speak. they've been on a tear if you haven't noticed since election day. up close to 20%. you heard the president tout those gains. topping the winners during the rally manufacturers like caterpillar and dow-dupont. boeing contributing. traders are banking on congress getting that overhaul of the tax system done to keep fueling this growth. i don't know. we'll see. all it takes is a 43-point gain to top 23,000. >> bill: earnings came out for big companies. >> sandra: johnson and johnson given a boost again this morning. >> bill: mother's milk as they

say, earnings. making these markets move. >> sandra: it makes the moves real. >> bill: imagine if washington doesn't get done the things the stock market is expecting. it could be a dark day. 9:33 now. we'll watch the dow. watch this. nfl owners and players meeting in new york city for the annual meeting and the national anthem will play a central role after kaepernick is claiming owners are teaming up to keep him off the field. rick leventhal is in the meeting room in lower manhattan. a lot of interest in this meeting this year. what will happen? >> nfl meetings don't generate this kind of attention. the league is in the spotlight because of the player protests during the national anthem and the president of the united states keeps talking about it. >> president trump: it is very disrespectful to our country when they take a knee during our national anthem.

>> the two days of meetings in new york city will address this controversy with players and union reps and owners and executives from all 32 teams and league headquarters offering suggestions and solutions to a situation that is now driving a wedge between many fans and america's game. in fact, during monday night football last night the colts stood during the anthem with arms locked. one of the titans players stayed in the locker room for the third straight week during the anthem. a couple teammates raised right fists afterwards. we've seen similar protests at virtually every game this season. >> bill: what can the league do about it? what's the resolution do you think? >> nfl guidelines say every player should stand with their hand over the heart during the national anthem. that's a policy, not a rule. the commissioner of the nfl

roger goodell says they should stand. protect the game and preserve our relationship with fans throughout the country. in fact, the protests have drawn boos from many fans and tv ratings are down again this season. the league says it hopes it can find common ground with the players, possibly by focusing on social justice issues and causes during the season. something they could come up with to try to get these players to stand during the anthem. >> bill: rick levanthal watching it from lower manhattan. >> sandra: president trump wading back into the nfl anthem controversy saying hillary clinton's defense of kneeling players shows why she isn't president. >> president trump: i think she is -- look, when you take a knee, there is plenty of time to do knees and plenty of time to do lots of other things but when you take a knee -- that's why she lost the election. i mean, honestly. it's that thinking is the reason she lost the election. >> sandra: for more let's bring

in mike huckabee former arkansas governor. thank you for being here this morning. so you heard hillary clinton over the weekend defending the kneeling by the nfl players saying kneeling is a reverent position. that's not a protest against the anthem or the flag. >> that's how the fans see it and after all, these guys work for the fans. it's simple. right now, sandra, there is no way you could wear a t-shirt on air as you delivered the news with a political message on it. you would have somebody calling you and saying sandra, either that shirt comes off and you put something else on or you're fired. that's how it is. you could wear it after work but not while you're on the air. why? because you are working for someone who is paying you to do a job. these players are being paid and paid well on an average over $2 million a year, some of them make $100 million. they aren't being paid to make political statements. they're being paid to play football and they ought to show their fans some respect even if they don't want to show their

country some respect or they can continue to lose ratings, which means ultimately they lose money. i'll tell you who is worried about it, retired nfl players because their retirement funds are also tied to the profits of the nfl and some of them who did stand for their entire careers, never made the kind of money these guys are making, aren't real happy about the political overtones of what's taking place. >> sandra: you heard the president say in that impromptu news conference this is why she lost the election. it shows she is out of touch. he made the point saying it's that thinking, that's why she lost and then he urged nfl players and the nfl in general to suspend those players that continue to kneel. >> well, you know, he gets to make any suggestion he wants. he is president. he has the right of free speech, too. i don't know that they'll suspend the players but he is right about hillary losing. she lost because she

disrespected coal miners in kentucky and west virginia and called people across america a basket of deplorables and disparageed religious people. you can't expect people to say i would like to vote for that person who thinks i'm a total zero. she lost because she is out of touch with the majority of the people in this country. it's unfortunate but she needs to get over herself and realize that she and the people wanting to take a knee are not in tune with a lot of people in the country who want the work hard and enjoy a little football on the weekend. >> sandra: he used that as an example why he is saying i would love if hillary clinton would run again. he doubled down on saying please run in 2020, hillary >> i think he would be delighted. i would be delighted. i can't think of anything better for donald trump's reelection than for hillary to throw her hat in the ring. democrats are asking her to get

off the stage. if they could find a hook big enough to get her off the stage they would. she is providing an extraordinary distraction to them trying to find a message, which by the way, they haven't found yet. >> sandra: real quick newt gingrich says steve bannon is picking the wrong fight. go after democrats, not republicans. listen to this real quick. >> my whole career is focused how do i elect more republicans. bannon will spend an enormous amount of money on the wrong targets in the wrong way. we need to focus on let's beat the democrats who vote no. let's not go out and pick fights with republicans. >> i mostly agree with my friend newt gingrich but disagree on this point. when you have republicans who vote against their own party and grandstand so they can be the toast of the town on liberal talk shows they aren't really republicans and not helping the cause. we do need to get rid of some of them and bring people who

will help this president. >> sandra: i love following you on twitter. you are hysterical. you had flight delays yesterday. we're glad to see you bright and cheery this morning. you had some travel problems. >> yeah. if you travel as much as i do, anywhere from three to five days a week it is going to happen. one of the ways to vent the frustration is to tweet about it. >> sandra: governor huckabee, thanks for coming on this morning. good to see you. >> bill: the bombers are roaring to life last night in the bronx. >> 2-2 pitch. driven in the air to left. this ball is gone. aaron judge. >> bill: that guy is huge, 6'7", baseball player. that's the rookie aaron judge blasting three-run shot to left field to put the yanks up 8-0. they trail 2 games to one in the series. today's front page "new york

post." game four at yankee stadium. we'll see how that series goes. >> sandra: i think that height gives him power. >> bill: the l.a. dodgers lead your chicago cubs two games to none. they'll play game three tomorrow night. >> sandra: you had to bring that up. >> bill: sorry. it's not over. i'm just saying they're down. >> sandra: yes. thank you very much. all right. breaking developments in the fast and furious gun running scandal that resulted in the murder of border patrol agent brian terry. what officials in mexico are reporting and what it could mean for the investigation here. plus this. >> bill: sounds like one of our morning meetings around here. president trump taking questions from a white house press corps. is this what the president was actually looking for? we'll take that on next. great panel coming up on this

topic. >> letting it be the free for all that it was instead of having a system where you raise your hand and the president calls on those he wishes to call. this was wide open.

>> the way the news conference was run. i don't know how much conscious thought went into it. it ends of leaving the journalists like a pack of jackals and the president looking like a dignified fellow up there taking the questions. that may have played to the president's add vantage. >> after president trump took questions 30 minutes in the rose garden. mitch mcconnell to his left. it seemed like organized chaos at the white house at times. this was an event that was not even on the schedule. so is he more accessible than

previous presidents? adrienne elrod, and rich lowry. is trump more media accessible than obama? that's the headline, rich. you think about marine one, up side the helicopter. the events where he lands in florida, etc., etc. what do you think? >> the hook for that piece is jonathan carl of abc, saying he has had more opportunities to ask president trump questions the last two weeks than he had to ask president obama questions over the course of two years. trump is not doing this in the formal way. not organized press conferences. outside marine one and events like this where i think brit is exactly right. we have a back of braying reporters out of a movie in the mid 20th century screaming over one another and clamoring. the president looks like the calm and cool guy under control.

>> bill: adrienne, it's like a conversation on the sidewalk in manhattan. you are crossing the street and everybody is yelling across the way and maybe you are trying to hail a cab or make plans for the next day or whatever it is. that's what comes of this. how effective is he when conducting them, adrienne? >> look, i mean, donald trump certainly has a different style of handling the press conferences. the bigger picture is it's so dangerous when he gets up there and speaks falsehoods and mistruths. getting up there yesterday and saying that president obama and some of his past predecessors didn't call the families of fallen service members. that's irresponsible. he lied. he may have a different style of handling these press conferences and take more questions perhaps than his predecessors. what matters is what he is saying in the answers and lying up there. >> bill: he came back later on that same questions. sometimes you fall in a trap. not necessarily in this one.

off the cuff. i think that's where he seems to be the most comfortable. same political article. an anonymous white house reporter. not criticizing the way people are asking the questions. everyone saw on television there were moments when everyone cringed and thought maybe we can do better. that's the point of this. does trump as president have the media back into a corner where he looks better than they do, rich? >> at events like this he does. he is not sure footed. he will create gaffes at times but he loves this. the adversarial relationship. the press has never hated a president more than they hate donald trump. a president probably has never hated the press more than donald trump hates the press but he loves it. he loves the scums. he could have stood there for an hour and a half doing that. mitch mcconnell maybe not so much.

he looked awkward. trump was enjoying himself. he enjoys the combat. i've never seen him in the last year and a half when there have been so many controversies and under so much pressure he always enjoys standing in front of the press. >> bill: my feeling he would do the white house briefings every day if he could. >> he would. exactly. but i think secretary kelly and some of his aides know that the more he does this kind of thing the more he makes these gaffes which tend to drive the news and put him in a dangerous situation as president. >> bill: he has given one formal solo press conference back in february. politico points out bill clinton gave 11, george bush gave four in the first year and president obama gave seven. we'll see whether or not the formality comes back. >> go yankees, the judge is in his chambers, all rise. >> sandra: more to come on this jam-packed "america's newsroom."

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>> sandra: the u.s. attorney for san diego announcing mexican law enforcement arrested the final outstanding suspect in the 2010 killing of border patrol agent brian taylor. two men await extradition to the u.s. we're live in los angeles. william, what can you tell us about the arrest? >> i can tell you that the u.s. attorney's office has indicted seven mexicans in total in the death of agent terry. five are serving time in the u.s. two are now in jail in mexico awaiting this. the last of whom was captured

saturday in mexico where u.s. marshalls aided mexican police in arresting the man. the 37-year-old mexican national is charged with first degree murder in the death of agent terry. you may recall terry and three other agents were in the arizona desert in december 2010 when they confronted this group from a cartel. when agents yelled police they opened fire. who guns found at the scene they were sold by the u.s. federal government with the atf along with the department of justice. the house oversight committee found then attorney general eric holder in contempt for failing to turn over documents and implicated his department in a cover-up. the sister said it won't bring brian back but it is a step in the right direction. he was arrested in mexico without incident.

the extradition could take several weeks or months. >> sandra: thanks for the update. >> bill: former f.b.i. director james comey under fire after f.b.i. documents officially show he began drafting the statement that exonerated hillary clinton months before the email investigation was over. now why would he do that? and will comey be back to testify again on capitol hill? plus president trump saying he is fighting the tax reform in the books. kentucky senator rand paul is critical in getting that passed. his take on the next steps in washington live next hour. honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine.

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>> sandra: president trump zeroing in on tax reform and he is not giving up on healthcare, either. but first he is leaning on congress to pass a budget so he can cut taxes by the end of the year. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. >> bill: good morning. missed you yesterday. you missed me yesterday.

i'm watching the big board. we're looking at dow 23,000 today. it seems like yesterday we were talking about the dow 22. it has been on a tear now. up 5,000 points since the election. >> sandra: that's a new record high. not 23,000 but the 50th record high since president trump took office. >> bill: it's unbelievable. hope you're having a great morning. top republican senators getting together later to talk about policy. a day after the president's lunch with mitch mcconnell. president trump saying they are closer than ever now on a tax bill. >> president trump: we are doing minor adjustments. we want to make sure the middle class is the biggest beneficiary of the tax cuts and tax reform. >> it's about both reduction and reform. it's been 30 years since this kind of effort was undertaken successfully and we are going to succeed this time. >> bill: mike emmanuel. what's the status of the budget

push? >> the hope is getting the budget a proved in the senate this week. mississippi republican senator cock written did not make the trip to washington this week. he is back home in mississippi recuperating from health issues. there are only 51 senate republicans this week. very little margin for error. the budget is critical in order to do tax reform and republican senators say failure is not an option. >> we have to get relief and make american businesses the most competitive in the world and give competitive hard working americans. i want to get the budget passed to move on and get the tax reform enacted prior to 2018. the economy needs that relief. >> a lot of republicans here at the capitol and the white house want to get tax reform done as soon as possible but the budget is critical. after that wildfire and hurricane relief money is up next on the agenda. >> bill: what are we hearing from democrats as the senate returns to wrestling with these

issues? >> key democrats don't sound terribly impressed with the budget or tax outline. democratic leader chuck schumer is taking aim at republican claims about their tax plan. >> president trump claims about fake news? well, this is fake math. and it is as bad as any of the so-called fake news the president has complained about. this is a deliberate manipulation of numbers and facts that quite frankly is appalling. >> schumer is hoping that activists and those who oppose the republican plans will rise up and help democrats defeat them, bill. >> bill: thanks, mike emanuel live on the hill today. let's see what reaction we get. he laid out how many things they have to deal with. >> sandra: it was quite a moment outside the white house yesterday. at least as far as appearances were concerned, bill. you know, the two leaders mcconnell and trump putting on a unified front for their party.

it was really an interesting moment. >> bill: especially for relationship that has been strained probably public -- >> sandra: politely. >> bill: public and privately. lindsey graham said it. if you don't get tax reform done and you have a republican majority you are dead meat in the election of november 2018. >> sandra: a lot of fingers crossed that tax reform gets done. healthcare still on the table. a huge agenda, though. unbelievable we're talking about the end of the year already. the president sounding off about the chances for tax reform in the near future. >> president trump: meeting right now and working on something very special. i have to tell you i really believe that we have a very good chance. i think mitch feels the same way of getting the taxes done hopefully fairly long before the end of the year. that's what we would like to see. >> sandra: with me now arizona senator jeff flake. thanks for joining us on what

i'm sure is a very busy morning. you have the president sounding optimistic it will get done. you have a stock market that keeps telling us that there are thoughts this is going to get done. what's the next step to get this done? >> well, the next step is to pass our budget resolution this week. i think we're on track to do that. that sets up reconciliation so we can go on for the tax package at the end of the year. and so this is the next step this week. >> sandra: meanwhile you are actually introducing a new bill that will take on senator special interest lobbying against tax reform. you are making that announcement now. what is that? >> this is a tax expenditure accountability act. right now when any private entity gets a grant from the federal government, it is listed in usa expenditures and people can look at that. it is cataloged to see who is

getting what government money. if you get a tax credit for something, that's not listed. and if you look at all of the tax goodies out there, the loopholes, the credit that we get and deductions, that's more than our entire discretionary budget. it's $1.25 trillion a year are given away in tax preferences, deductions and credits and if we don't get a handle on that and don't have reform, then just tax cuts aren't going to do it. we have to get tax reform and people need to know what tax preferences, credits and deductions are out there. >> sandra: got it. you are up for reelection, senator. your colleague, lindsey graham, had strong feelings and strong thoughts as to what happens to your party if tax reform does not get done. listen to this first. >> are you going to get tax reform done? >> if we don't, we're dead.

we promised to repeal and replace obamacare and we failed. if we're successful mitch mcconnell is fine. if we're not we are all in trouble. we lose our majority and i don't think president trump will get reelected. >> sandra: what are the implications for you and your reelection? >> everybody is in trouble if we don't get tax reform done. we have to show we put something about the finish line. it's been 30 years since any significant tax reform done and it's time to do it. republicans have a majority in the house and senate. we've got the white house and so we better get it done. >> sandra: senator steve bannon has made it clear he is launching a war on the gop establishment. he has put together a hit list. you are on there. there is a piece in the "new york times" this morning titled jeff flake's lesson for republicans. cross trump at your own risk. you have been very openly critical of the president.

in here it says mr. flake is perhaps the most endangered senate republican. his fate is an object lesson for other republicans who might consider voicing dire thoughts about the president's fitness. cross mr. trump and your political career could well be over. do you have any regrets? >> no, none. i spoke up when i felt that i should and when the president made statements with regard to immigrants, with regard to my colleague, john mccain, with regard to promoting a muslim ban during the campaign. those are things that aren't conservative. they shouldn't be part of the republican party. i stood up and i'm glad i did. and i think that my colleagues ought to as well. >> sandra: senator jeff flake, thank you for joining us this morning. >> sure thing, thank you. >> bill: developing now president trump's drug czar nominee taking himself out of the running for that position. this after reports that

legislation congressman tomorrow marino helped steer through congress weakened the government's ability to fight the opioid epidemic. president trump said that he is withdrawing his name as drug czar. tom is a fine man and great congressman. the justice department is announcing a major crackdown on opiates flowing into the country. 33,000 americans died from overdoses in 2015. that's the deputy a.g. right now on your camera. developments, headlines from that statement coming up momentarily here on "america's newsroom." >> sandra: fox news alert a major turning point in the fight against isis. u.s.-backed syrian forces liberating 90% of raqqa from isis control. the northern syrian city was captured by the islamic state in 2014 and became the terrorist defacto capital. now militants are hiding out.

some fighting is going on as those few areas have to be cleared. retired four-star general jack keane will join us later this hour. >> bill: interested in getting his take. three years ago how the headlines of that terror group dominated our coverage and dominated the headlines all over the world. just three years ago. now they've been vanquished? that's an awesome accomplishment. >> sandra: huge development there. >> bill: jack keane is coming up on that. bowe bergdahl waiting to hear his fate after pleading guilty to desertion and other charges in court. what the army judge will now consider when he hands down that sentence. >> sandra: new details about the controversial tarmac meeting between bill clinton and loretta lynch last year. how the f.b.i. suddenly found documents after claiming they didn't exist at all. we talk to the man who goes to the f.b.i. to turn over those documents. >> bill: movie that pays tribute to firefighters killed

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>> bill: fox news alert a u.s. soldier's fate in the hands of an army judge. bowe bergdahl pleading guilty to desertion and endangering

fellow soldiers yesterday. he left his post in afghanistan in 2009, eight years ago. captured by the taliban. held for five years before president obama brought him home in exchange for five taliban prisoners at gitmo. bergdahl could be sentenced the life in prison at a hearing set for monday. >> sandra: a story we first brought you yesterday the f.b.i. granting judicial watch access to documents about that controversial tarmac meeting between bill clinton and loretta lynch last year. documents which the f.b.i. previously claimed never existed. the meeting took place during the f.b.i. investigation of hillary clinton's email days before f.b.i. director james comey recommended against filing charges. joining us now is tom fitton, the president of judicial watch who got the f.b.i. to agree to turn those documents over. tom, documents they said never existed.

>> we only caught them because we had another lawsuit against the justice department and they gave us documents showing that they were in communications with the f.b.i. as they were trying to handle the fallout from the clinton/lynch tarmac meeting scandal and they said we'll reopen it because you caught us. and now 30 pages -- they won't release to us until november 30th to me which is outrageous. it doesn't take that long to review the documents. they could give us the documents today if need be. but >> sandra: why do you think they're not? >> because the f.b.i. does not want to release information in a timely way about these issues, about the handling of mrs. clinton's emails, the investigation or the substance of what went on back then. we see today comey had pre-judged the investigation writing the memo exonerating her even before a -- a month or so before.

>> sandra: i want to get to that. i know that's not part of what you are doing, but still, outrages you knowing what you do. so start from -- you have the 30 pages of documents. you are saying you won't get these until the end of november. the timing obviously upsets you a bit there. what first do you expect will be in them? do you believe these are all new documents? >> we don't know and we don't know what they will give us. the f.b.i. has been withholding more information than they've been giving us on the clinton email investigation, of which this is a part. we expect them to be blacking out documents and this is why the justice department, the top leadership of the justice department and f.b.i. director wray need to take a pause. are we being forthcoming with the american people or protecting the last guy who was here, james comey and loretta lynch in the justice department and hillary clinton and barack obama? that's the way it looks to us.

you would think. there had been no election on november given the way this justice department and f.b.i. have been handling document requests about hillary clinton. it is really disturbing. >> sandra: clearly. and f.b.i. director began drafting this letter, the f.b.i. is now releasing documents he started drafting that letter they're saying months before conducting key interviews in that investigation. >> the president should order the justice department not to go and prosecute hillary clinton but to reopen the investigation or at least do an audit of what went on in terms of handling her investigation to make sure it was done properly and if necessary go back to square one and do it again. >> sandra: you know, people listening to all these revelations and your outrage clearly at the process involved and getting documents that you were told weren't there in the first place and they say oops, here they are. you wonder why there is so much

distress of what is happening in washington >> well, this is part of the draining the swamp and this is a part of the president's agenda that i think he needs to focus on more and certainly his appointees. i believe the white house wants this information released. i just don't believe the bureaucracies in the deep state want to follow what the white house wants in this area. >> sandra: do you expect big revelations when you get a look at these documents end of november? >> i think we'll get something and i think it will be interesting. otherwise why would they hide them from us to begin with? >> sandra: thanks for joining us. >> bill: remarkably 41 people have been killed in the fires of california, wow. why crews say they are finally making progress in containing the flames. >> sandra: plus victory is at hand in the battle to drive isis from its main stronghold in syria. an update from the front lines on the liberation of raqqa.

retired four-star general jack keane is here. >> bill: arguably the single most important republican agenda item, tax reform. senator rand paul, one of the key senators needed to get this across the finish line is our guest next right after the break. >> president trump: i really think that we have to do the most we can and the boldest we can because everybody wants --

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>> sandra: fox news alert. more people returning home in northern california where the deadliest wildfires in state history have now killed at least 41 people. that number is expected to rise as dozens of people are still missing. meanwhile calmer winds are helping crews get the upper

hand as we learn of the fires deaths from the firefighting effort. a driver delivering water to the fire lines died after his truck overturned yesterday. >> i'm very excited from the president's plan. the 15% corporate tax cuts. now -- >> bill: senator rand paul throwing his support behind the president's push for tax reform. white house and congressional republicans racing to get a major piece of legislation passed by the end of the year. rand paul is with me now. good morning. thanks for coming back. you spent a lot of time with him playing golf on sunday. eight hours i was told. you can cover a lot of ground in that time. what do you want us to understand? >> well, you know that president trump and i are on the same wavelength on taxes. the bigger the better. if we want economic growth we

have to be bold and lower the corporate tax rate as much as we can as well as individual rates. the rest of the world has corporate income tax that's a half or a third of ours. our rate is 35%. ireland is 12. ireland is now going to 8. if we want to compete and not lose american businesses overseas we have to lower our rate. my concern -- i don't want to characterize the president's position. my concern is the establishment in washington are too timid. they're so afraid of their own shadow they're afraid to do a real tax cut. when reagan cut taxes we got growth in spades. we can do it again. the president has seen a huge rally in the stock market. we can have real economic growth if we really cut taxes. >> bill: you said the middle class is not helped in the current plan. did you tell him that? >> i have repeatedly and he has looked at his people and said make it so. he says i will not put forward

a tax cut that doesn't help the middle class. there still are some specifics and i'm very glad i brought it up both with the president and the administration and with republican leadership. we don't want to make a mistake here. i think that a lot of the problems in the past with not getting things done around here is we aren't paying attention to what we're doing enough. the tax cut has to be a tax cut for everybody. the president agrees with me. his team is now working on it. and as long as the details reflect what the president is saying, i will be for it. >> bill: do you think you can get it done by the end of the year or is it more like march and april of next year is what mitch mcconnell referred to yesterday? >> the main thing is republicans have to believe that a tax cut is good and they shouldn't be sort of, you know, quibbling about oh, too much of a tax cut. we need a big, bold tax cut is what republicans have always been for and what i tell people that are worried about the debt. i'm one of them. cut spending.

don't raise somebody else's taxes to balance your tax cut. cut taxes, grow the economy and if you don't like the debt, vote to cut spending. i have bills to reform the entitlements that would help save us trillions of dollars if those so-called deficit hawks that don't like tax cuts come to sign on to my bills that would reform the entitlements and save trillions. that's what we ought to be doing. >> bill: is this corporate tax cut is it 20% or 25%? will it go to 25? >> the president tells me he is for the lower the better. so am i. i want to go as low as possible. right now the powers that be have it at 20. if they get weak-kneed and capitulate to 25 it won't be much of a tax cut. it won't do that much good. >> bill: last summer you were a thorn to the white house and the president. you helped with the executive order signed a week ago. just give me a sense for the state of your relationship.

you spend eight hours with the president on the outside it would seem like it's pretty good. is it? >> i think we're on a very good wavelength. i consider him a personal friend. i also think he is doing great things for the country. i think that on the healthcare, the thing he did last week has the potential to be bigger than even all of obamacare getting people in expensive insurance. obamacare got people insurance but it was really expensive and cost taxpayers a lot of money. what president trump did last week didn't cost a penny and allows millions of people to join associations to get insurance across state lines. it has the potential to completely transform the insurance market. >> bill: i know the example you used is lasik surgery. you've been talking about that for some time in your private practice. you know, the left, maybe the nerve trum pers let's say on the outside they think the house is on fire. what impression did you get

from him? >> you know, i was at the white house last week and spent probably an hour in the oval office both with him, the vice president, with his chief of staff, general kelly. and what i got was a very sophisticated teamworking together for the betterment of the country. and i got the feeling that it was very well organized and well run and everybody was working together as a team. i think even on taxes we're closer together than people think. i think there is a very good chance we get a good tax cut. when i complain about an individual part of the tax plan it is to make it better now. i want the tax cut more than anyone. i want it to be bigger than anyone wants it to be but i want to make sure we get it right and don't see this blip in the middle class will get an increase. >> bill: what was his mood like? >> i would say upbeat. he is always enthusiastic about the potential for the country. he has seen this enormous

increase in wealth of our country through the stock market increasing the last six months and i think what he would like to see for the country is not a country that grows at 1 or 2% but 3, 4, 5%. >> bill: it has been too long. >> we can do it. >> bill: his budget director said we look at the senate and say what is hell is going on? >> i know the budget director quite well and we have discussions all the time and i can tell him that i think in the end we'll get a good tax package out of the senate and that we'll get a real reduction in taxes for everyone. i want to make sure the details work and we get it right but i think in the end it will allow some economic growth we haven't seen in decades. >> bill: senator, thank you for coming back today. rand paul, the republican from kentucky. thank you. >> sandra: meanwhile president trump says he knows one reason why hillary clinton lost the election. >> president trump: look, when you take a knee, there are plenty of time to do knees and lots of other things but when

you take a knee -- that's why she lost the election. i mean, honestly. it's that thinking. that's the reason she lost the election. >> sandra: the president doubling down on those comments in an interview with brian kilmeade. does he have a point? we'll debate that with our panel. >> bill: one of the top stories of our day today. new evidence the f.b.i. director, former f.b.i. director exonerated hillary clinton before the email investigation was finished. why would that be? live report on that coming up next. >> sandra: north korea warning that nuclear war could break out at any moment. >> as far as north korea goes, denuclearization is the only way forward. they are not left with nuclear weapons, period. the best simple salad ever? heart-healthy california walnuts. the best simple pasta ever? california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever?

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caliphate, big news here now. general jack keane chairman for the study of war. nice to see you, sir. look. i look at you and i look at -- what did the islamic state do in iraq initially? >> baghdadi had several hundred fighters in iraq, al qaeda-based guys not making a lot of progress. moved out of iraq because it was a safe haven in syria during the war. in less than two years, quite extraordinary. never happened before. in less than two years from summer of 2012 to early 2014, he recruited 30,000 fighters largely outside of iraq and syria who came from all over the world based on his internet reach-out to them. that is what invaded iraq in january of 2014 and then mosul that year in june of 2014.

and now finally it's collapsed. i think the obama administration made a mistake strategically. the main effort should always have been raqqa and caliphate in syria, not iraq. >> bill: 2014 you pulled us into a meeting at fox and said here is what i would do. i would land a bunch of planes on an airstrip in raqqa at midnight and take the town in three days. why didn't it happen? >> because of the obama administration has always been paralyzed by fear of adverse consequence. what happens if this happens and if it goes wrong? always paralyzed. this thing should have been over a number of years ago. this new administration came in, new team around this president, new national security team saying we're going after this thing and bring it down as quickly as we can. >> bill: i'm told in the final year of the obama term he started to change his strategy with regard to raqqa and isis. >> he did. he started to change it in the sense that he knew he had to accelerate it a little bit more. he had to put more resources

into it than what he had done in the past. they had minimized it. they never expected isis to become a global organization. they never expected isis to make 39 attacks on nato countries either directed or inspired. >> bill: paris, brussels, england and on and on and on. isis is not done. they aren't a vanquished enemy. where do they go next? >> where they are right now you showed the map before. they are down southeast of raqqa right now is where their leaders are. what the plans are we'll clean out the euphrates river valley as it goes all the way to iraq where the remnants of isis are. they still have a virtual internet out there where they are conducting motivating people to join the organization, not as many as before, but people that are in europe, people that are in southeast asia, people that are in africa are still motivated

by them. in time, if we continue to work on this and undermine the ideology, eventually isis goes away. in terms of its being consequential. taking down this caliphate, pretty much almost all done, is a big story. it should have been done sooner. we have to stay on top of this thing. one of the things we don't have is a strategy to deal with syria as a whole. after isis, what do we do about the iranians who want to take control of all of syria? they have western syria and they want eastern syria where we are now. we shouldn't let that happen. >> bill: general, we'll leave that story for another day. thank you very much. jack keane in the studio. thank you. >> sandra: turning to the russia investigation as we learn the political research firm behind the controversial trump dossier is refusing to comply with a subpoena from the

house intelligence committee. catherine herridge is live from washington with more. >> thank you. as you mentioned the firm behind the unverified anti-trump dossier fusion gps is fighting subpoenas. they want to take the fifth if they're forced to appear on capitol hill. the house intelligence committee chairman is issuing subpoenas without the ranking democrat and the lawyer says the firm functions as a news organization and has first amendment rights. the leadership of the intelligence committees are seeking answers from fusion gps about the underlying sources for the trump dossier. who paid for it 57bd whether used by the f.b.i. to use surveillance warrants for members of the trump campaign team. fusion is paving the way the take the fifth and congress

wants to know if they're hiding something about the dossier. >> sandra: what do we know about the records from the f.b.i. yesterday? >> two most before the investigation was complete comey recommended against criminal charges for the mishandling of classified information by hillary clinton and her team. the new f.b.i. records show he circulated one draft in 2016 of may. the timeline really matters in this case. nine days later at an on the record briefing without cameras comey was pressed on whether the law would be applied equally. security clearance holders had told us they would be prosecuted for the fraction of what was alleged against the former secretary of state. >> can you assure people that mrs. clinton and her team are being held to the same standard and there isn't a special set of rules because they are powerful and politically connected? >> i'm not going to comment

other than to say there are no special set of rules for anybody that the f.b.i. investigates. >> we were able to reach the former director comey and he can deconflict what he said in the briefing with the email drafts that were circulated in may. we'll update you on our reporting. >> sandra: thank you for that. >> bill: new report raising alarms. shocking numbers show a big increase in deadly assaults on police officers. how the trump team plans to respond to that. >> sandra: president trump keeping up his criticism of hillary clinton. what he is saying about her support for nfl protests when our political panel weighs in. directv has been rated #1 in customer satisfaction over cable for 17 years running. but some people still like cable. just like some people like banging their head on a low ceiling. drinking spoiled milk. camping in poison ivy. getting a papercut. and having their arm trapped in a vending machine. but for everyone else, there's directv.

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>> president trump: hillary clinton said it was okay for the nfl players to kneel about the anthem. i disagree. maybe that's why she lost. we have to respect our flag, our country, our anthem.

>> sandra: president trump doubling down on his criticism of hillary clinton after urging her to run for president again in 2020 at his news conference the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday. let's bring in our political panel. guy benson from town hall.com and richard fowler, talk show host. he is doubling down. this nfl story with the president is not going away. >> every minute we spend talking about president trump/hillary clinton, colin kaepernick is a win for donald trump. these are very effective foils for him. hillary clinton is not a popular figure. she has gotten less popular since she lost the election and most americans disapprove of kneeling during the national anthem. so whatever you think of donald trump, he has some very strong intuitive, instincttive political gut feelings about things and he knows talking about hillary and talking about the nfl issue are good areas

for him to have a sweet spot for him. >> sandra: richard, while hillary clinton has been out making the rounds on her book tour for her book what happened, it seems the president is using this as an opportunity to tell her what happened. you didn't get it. he is saying with the nfl you just don't understand. he is sort of doubling down on that. >> well, here is the thing. i think to some extent guy is right. he is winning with his small base of supporters. if you look at his approval rating it stays within the 30% range. now 37%. this is a very unconventional thing for a president of the united states to do in his first couple years as president. what you normally see a president do is expand his base. he tries to go after groups he didn't win in the general election to try to bring them over. you would see this president try to go after infrastructure, very popular, to get most americans to agree with him. what this president seems to be doing is doubling down on an issue that only sort of riles

up his base while sort of keeping other americans on the sidelines and i think to some extent it's popular but problematic. >> sandra: do you agree with hillary clinton then that the kneeling by these nfl players is not protesting the anthem? they're kneeling during the anthem. are they protesting the flag? >> i think the players have been clear. colin kaepernick in an interview last year said i'm not protesting the flag, i'm not protesting our troops. i'm actually protesting racial injustice. a lot of these nfl players their parents are veterans so i think the nfl players are clear we're using this anthem, using this moment to protest. we aren't actually protesting the anthem in itself. once again i think there are americans who disagree with their protest but there is a small majority. >> sandra: the president concluded the news conference yesterday he uses as another opportunity to say run, hillary clinton, i want you to run in

2020. please, he said. >> every republican should be rooting for hillary clinton. third time is a charm. let's go again. this is an historically disliked distrusted person who lost to donald trump. richard, you were talking about trump's small base and looking at his approval rating in the high 30s. that's all well and good. there is some value to looking at those numbers. i would point out on election day in 2016 his disapproval rating among the electorate was 61% and he won. i'm not really necessarily convinced that tracking his approval rating closely as we often do with presidents necessarily translates into his electoral potential success the way it would for a traditional president. he is anything but. >> sandra: we have to leave it there. thank you to both of you. we have a busy show this morning. a big nfl meeting in new york city today. we'll keep watching it. >> bill: jon scott is coming up next on "happening now."

good morning. >> good morning, mr. hemmer. president trump's pick to lead the drug enforcement agency has withdrawn his name for consideration and analysis of president trump's news conference during which he made headlines on his relationship with mitch mcconnell, healthcare and this week's action on the budget and tax cuts and north korea making new threats as tensions further escalate. all ahead "happening now." >> bill: see you in 12 minutes. as crews battle historic fires in california, there is a new film that honors another group of heroes. >> no sup could be prouder of his boys than i am of you guys. >> bill: nearly every member of the granite fighter hot shots was killed four years ago fighting a ferocious wildfire there. we'll talk to the group's lone survivor live next.

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>> got all our hours, all our qualifications, sooner or later a fire will come knocking in our hometown. until we're certified my crew won't be able to set foot on the line. >> doing something that's never been done before takes time. >> not easy. >> once you are hot shots you'll never be able to look and see that pure beauty again. >> bill: it's intense, a new movie paying tribute to a heroic group of firefighters known as the granite mountain hot shots. only the brave. telling the tragic story of

this tight knit crew of experts. four years ago that 19 of the teams 20 members were killed battling the hill fire in arizona. the worse loss of american firefighters since 9/11. the movie's release coming as firefighters in california keep battling the deadliest fires that state has ever seen. brendon mcdonagh was the only survivor from that. welcome to you both. >> thanks for having us. >> bill: it's intense. we saw a little bit of that. hot shots fight fire with fire. you set fires to try to water . what happened in this to track you guys? >> what happened that day is a series of unfortunate events that led to the passing of my brothers and what this film does it really depicts who they

were and the lives they lived and it just gave such great depth into the stories that need to be told, you know? >> bill: why do you think you survived? >> that's a question i stopped asking quite a while ago and i've continued to live on and push on and try to live for my brothers and honor them. we can get into the what ifs of what happened and why and you just -- you know, in such a great time of need of showing heroism we have this film that really gets great depth into that. >> bill: i imagine you've had some deep conversations with god above as to why you made it and i just -- what sort of answer have you been able to resolve in your own heart? >> you know, being a man of faith i have full trust in faith and my god that everything happens for a reason, you know. with such great community and

such great purpose and having my little girls and my daughters and my family is just an overwhelming sense of responsibility to carry on and just keep pushing and to give so many insight into who our brothers were and what they sacrificed. >> bill: you have an amazing legacy on the big screen. pat, you did a what do you want away from this movie? >> really what i'm looking forward to the film doing and sharing with the audience is something they've never seen before. no one has ever really understood what hot shots do until they're in their backyard trying to save their house from a fire. they get a look and glimpse at a world that they've never seen before and something they'll learn a lot about but i want them to know for each one of these guys that is depibted in the film there are thousands of firefighters, hot shots, first responders doing this job every day with family at home. >> bill: what draws you to it?

>> brotherhood. it's like nothing you've ever seen before unless you're in the job. it is a sense of pride that you put in a long day's work and no one would ever know about it. it's kind of ironic we're talking about it here but these are a group of people that don't want the spotlight but they deserve it. >> bill: i how those fires seem they were created out of thin air at 10:00 or 11:00 at night and trapped many people in their own homes. brendon, were you happy with the way the film came out? is it accurate? >> yes. just to touch on california, our thoughts and prayers are with those affected. as far as the film goes, you know, just really thrilled with how authentic it is and how they've brought our brothers' stories back to life and now we get to share in such an amazing way and tell people about the job that is just kind of unsung heroes. >> bill: great to meet you.

my best to you and your family, okay? the charity work you are doing today and you are still a firefighter, pat, nice to meet you. back in a moment on "america's newsroom." watch me. wa♪ch me. i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ♪ think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it... they're moving forward with cosentyx®. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. it's proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. don't use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. with less joint pain, watch me.

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>> looks like a hell of a movie, huh? >> i'll watch. >> we have to run. see you at noon. big secret. >> herman cain. >> jon: we have a fox news alert for you. president trump will an hour from now welcome the president of greece to the white house. good morning to you. i'm jon scott. >> melissa: i'm melissa francis. one day since president trump took to the rose garden to tout his outstanding relationship with mitch mcconnell saying they're on the same page. they had lunch together and then held a news briefing yesterday at the white house that was spirited. the president dispelling any talk of tension between the two of them. >> president trump: i just want to