Brian Terry's cousin on Border Patrol agent's death

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Brian Terry's cousin on Border Patrol agent's death

Robert Heyer shares his story on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," November 20, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Welcome to Washington. This is "The Ingraham Angle." We start with breaking news tonight, a federal judge in California has permanently blocked President Trump's executive order defunding sanctuary cities. The judge, you may remember him, William Orrick III, is an Obama appointee. We are going to have more on this story throughout the hour.

Remember, he's the same judge who blocked the release of those Planned Parenthood videos. He also gave $200,000 to President Obama's campaign in the day. There you have it. We'll get to the other stories as the night goes on.

First, our top story tonight, a border patrol agent is dead and another suffered traumatic head injuries after a vicious attack that took place near the border in West Texas over the weekend.

According to the Border Patrol Union's president, 36-year-old Rogelio Martinez and another agent were likely ambushed by illegal immigrants, who beat them with rocks. It's just another heartbreaking story from the national emergency that is the U.S.-Mexican border. And President Trump has long explained the need at the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I said to him so I think we need the wall. How important is the wall to the border patrol people? They said Mr. Trump, it's absolutely vital.

A Trump administration will also secure and defend the borders of the United States. And yes, we will build a great wall. We are building a wall on the southern border, which is absolutely necessary.

We talk about the wall. We'll have the wall. It's part of what we're doing. We need it. It's rough territory. That's where the drugs are coming in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now let's compare that to how the Obama administration deal with the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The past six years, illegal border crossings have been cut by more than half.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are cooperating on a variety of matters that has enhanced border security for both of our countries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The numbers have been driven to 40-year lows if you look at things like apprehensions. So, we know we're achieving success there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Yes. Lots of success at the border. No human trafficking, no drug trafficking, no tunnels. No, no, no problem whatsoever. It's amazing.

For reaction from San Diego, let's bring in Robert Heyer. He is the cousin of Brian Terry, who is another border agent killed and the chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation. You remember Mr. Terry was the border patrol agent killed in the line of duty back in 2010 in the infamous fast and furious scandal.

Robert and the foundation have been assisting the family of the slain border agent during this tough time. We're delighted he's with us. This is another sickening example of the violence at the border, and people think it's just at the border itself.

As we know, these cartels and other thugs and criminals are operating within 18 miles inside the United States with assault weapons and in this case presumably they pelted the victim with rocks and other things. Your reaction.

ROBERT HEYER, CHAIRMAN, THE BRIAN TERRY FOUNDATION: That's right, Laura. You know, it's a violent, violent environment. Very kinetic. Just as we saw with Brian Terry. Those armed rip crews were professional criminals that came in, went back across the border time and time again to do one thing.

That was create violence on the American side of the border. In this case, we believe that Border Patrol Agent Rogelio Martinez was ambushed by individuals. He was then violently beaten. Thank God, his partner survived, who is also gravely -- badly injured.

But it's a very, very violent environment on the border. I think Americans have had enough. They elected a president to secure the border. Look, we exist to do one thing. That is to speak out on issues that affect the safety and well-being of border patrol agents. This was the 39th border patrol agent killed in the line of duty since 2003. Enough is enough. We have to secure the borders.

INGRAHAM: I want to know exactly what these animals did to Agent Martinez. I don't want it whitewashed. I want to know exactly what they did to him. I want to know who the people are. They better be apprehended. If they're coming across the Mexican border, maybe they're Central Americans, we don't know.

But all I know is President Trump was ridiculed and laughed at when he was said build the wall. They're pouring into this country with criminals and thugs and drugs and guns and all sorts of human trafficking going on. It's dangerous for the migrants that are crossing the border that want a better life.

It's dangerous for them and unfortunately, for American citizens, it's dangerous for us. It's not just the people of Texas and the border patrol. The border patrol is on the front line. These people end up in Northern Virginia, Minneapolis, Boston, Hartford, L.A., Oakland and everywhere in between.

This is what a failed government system does to the people of its own country. This is another wake-up call. I know President Trump watches this show. This better be the final straw for these members of Congress. Build this wall! Get this done.

HEYER: Well, I think you're exactly right. Look, Americans are gravely concerned. The wake-up call is when Brian Terry was killed almost seven years ago next month.

INGRAHAM: Apparently not. Apparently not. If it was a wake-up call, we would have Congress not going home for long recesses. We'd have Congress in town saying we're going to allocate real money, hire more agents. We won't have drones flying over and reporting back.

We'll have people on the ground, turn back into the border. If you protest the border patrol agents, we'll arrest you too. You're interfering with the actions of a law enforcement officer. I'm sorry. His family deserves justice here just like you helped Brian Terry's family get their own justice. You can close it out. I'm so infuriated with this. This should never be happening in the United States of America.

HEYER: And I think the American public spoke out when they elected President Trump as president. Now Congress, maybe they still need a wake- up. I can tell you when elected officials either on the local, county, state or federal level speak out and fan the flames of protesters looking to protest against border patrol and -- that is completely unacceptable. We're Americans together through bad and good times.

INGRAHAM: No, they don't want bad or good times. Robert, you're being too charitable. The people protesting these agents from carrying out their duty are part of the problem. They're acting criminally in what they're doing. That's all they are, criminals. They're acting in a criminal attitude.

Some people want the laws violated, other people want the rule of law. Robert, I really appreciate you are joining us. Thank you so much for what you're doing for these border patrol families. We need more people like you.

Officers discovered the two injured border agents late Saturday night near Interstate 10 in West Texas, an area known for drug trafficking. Further bolstering the argument that America needs this wall.

Joining us now for reaction from Tucson, Arizona is Art Del Cueto. He is the vice president with the National Border Patrol Counsel and from San Diego, Enrique Morones, the director and founder of Border Angels.

Let's go to you, Enrique. I'm enraged by this. This is precisely what happens when you do not have a secure border. We have dead Americans, we have human trafficking, we have dead migrants who tried to cross. Some of them want work or want to see their family. I understand that, but it's not compassionate. Now we have another border agent dead. Your reaction.

ENRIQUE MORONES, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, "BORDER ANGELS": Well, I want to give my condolences to the Martinez family. It's terrible what happened to him and his partner. I have attended the funerals of border patrol agents. It's horrible when these types of situations take place.

Eleven thousand migrants have died since 1994 when the wall was built that covers a third of the border. And Laura, as you know that in the last five years, there's been 40 percent drop of people crossing without papers.

So, less people are crossing going North, actually more people are going south, returning to Mexico or other parts. Mexico is no longer the largest group of people coming without papers. It's actually people from Central America. We should have humane borders. We Border Angels --

INGRAHAM: Hold on, Enrique. When you say, "we should have humane borders," what exactly does that mean? You see 11,000 migrants have died. That's horrific and heart breaking. They're breaking the law. Adults that bring young children across or send them by themselves are acting in a highly irresponsible fashion and endangering children's lives. That's a fact.

MORONES: That is a fact.

INGRAHAM: People should not be dying. The U.S. should have a border that you can't cross unless you do so legally.

MORONES: Right. They can't do it legally. There's no line. There's 250 million undocumented people in the world. Most have no interest to come to the U.S. and go to other countries. Last year 6,000 people died crossing from Africa and Middle East into Europe. A lot of is U.S. intervention in those countries forcing --

INGRAHAM: OK, we're talking -- we're not talking about U.S. intervention.

MORONES: You want facts or --

INGRAHAM: We're talking, Enrique, about a country that has a sovereign right to protect her borders.

MORONES: All countries have that.

INGRAHAM: You do not have a universal right to cross into someone else's border.

MORONES: I agree.

INGRAHAM: Nobody has a right to come in here and kill a border patrol agent. Art, I'm so done with Congress not doing their job here. I don't want to take up your time. You go ahead, sir.

ART DEL CUETO, VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL UNION: Well, we're very concerned, very angry, very frustrated. You said it best. There have been a lot of migrants that have entered this country and died crossing into United States, but the big thing is let's remember, they died breaking our laws.

These agents that have died have died protecting our country and enforcing the laws. It's very, very unfortunate what happened to our fellow agent. We're heartbroken over this whole situation. We don't want to make it political. It's hard not to. It just breaks all of our hearts.

I've been talking to a lot of the people out there in that area of Texas. They are heartbroken. We'll hear a lot of stories, I know, coming forward. We're going to wait to see what the investigation brings.

However, what we have heard from the agents that were there, you have two agents that are familiar with the area that are looking in different areas there, in an area that is well-known for drug trafficking.

Now we have one dead agent. We have another agent that had severe head trauma. There's no other explanation. Is there a lot of possibilities what could have happened? I'm not going to say there isn't. What is most likely to have happened? You have two agents in an area that is notorious for drugs --

INGRAHAM: What the -- I don't mean to interrupt. The cartels, wouldn't they take them down with automatic weapons or semiautomatic weapons? I don't see cartel members from one of the most dangerous cartels throwing rocks at someone. We'll learn more about how he actually died.

But was there gun fire? We're going to learn this. My larger point here is President Obama relaxed -- Enrique, you can chime in on this -- relaxed the way that agents could treat illegal immigrants.

In other words, made it more difficult for them to defend themselves. Did they not? Did he not, Art? As far as your -- the way you engage someone? If someone is coming at you in a car, you can't shoot at the car? That changed.

DEL CUETO: It made it easier to facilitate the criminal to commit a crime. To this day, there's still many agents that get attacked and assaulted and we're not seeing enough prosecutions of these individuals. I've been on the phone since the incident happened talking with agents all over the country and we hear the same story. The problem is, there's no consequences for these individuals. When you --

MORONES: That's your decision.

DEL CUETO: You should always have true consequences. I'm not talking of a consequence of sending him back or deporting him or saying well, we're going to send you back in lieu of entering the country. No, you have to have true consequences for people that attack the border patrol agents.

MORONES: The law goes both ways. When (inaudible) shoot a man that's fleeing back into Mexico, they should be put in prison as they were. When Anastacio Hernandez --

INGRAHAM: That's just --

MORONES: The thing is that the law goes both ways. Nobody supports this criminal activity. The organized crime is on both sides of the border. The U.S. needs to stop the drug demand. This is a worldwide issue.

INGRAHAM: Let's legalize drugs and everything will be a nirvana.

MORONES: I don't agree with you.

(CROSSTALK)

MORONES: I support the majority of the people and not supporting the wall.

INGRAHAM: We appreciate it.

MORONES: I'm against the wall as most of the country is.

INGRAHAM: No law and order and it will work out well. All right. Stop talking. Cut your mic.

Directly ahead, The New York Times Glenn Thrush now in the afternoon. More news coming out. CBS' Charlie Rose in the evening. Power players in the media world facing sexual misconduct allegations. Has it gone too far? More when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Thanks for staying with us. Another day, another allegation of sexual harassment. Media titans embroiled in scandal over sexual misconduct allegations. Pick your poison. Broadcaster Charlie Rose and "New York Times" White House correspondent, Glenn Thrush.

Mr. Rose, he's a legendary interviewer. He interviewed me a couple of weeks ago. He's been suspended by CBS News, PBS and Bloomberg after "The Washington Post" reported that eight women claimed Rose sexually harassed them.

And as for Mr. Thrush, "The Times" suspended him today after the website, "Vax" published a story in which four women say he made unwanted advances. Both Mr. Rose and Mr. Thrush released statements offering apologies, but both also disputed the details of the allegation. So, is this just the beginning of justice for the harassers or has this whole thing already gone too far?

Joining us from Chicago is my friend, Jim Warren, chief media writer for the "Poynter" Institute and in New York, my other friend, conservative commentator, Monica Crowley. I'll start with you, Monica.

I have two minds of this. Number one, it's great that people are aware of bad behavior and stopping bad behavior in the workplace or anywhere else. That's a good thing. On the other hand, it seems like it's almost like the pile-on.

Like one person is trying to one-up the other saying he put his hand near my thigh. I'm not trying to minimize it. Does it ever end? If it does, when? Doesn't show any signs of letting up.

MONICA CROWLEY, SENIOR FELLOW AT THE LONDON CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH: That's true, Laura. Look, I think we are in this moment right now as a society and culture because for decades this kind of horrid behavior was accepted and excused and covered up.

So, the moment you got the Harvey Weinstein story, this story of this incredibly famous and powerful Hollywood heavyweight reported in "The New York Times," that story -- he was a particularly egregious example of this behavior.

That story then opened up the flood gates and because this kind of behavior has been excused for so long, now we have a tsunami of these stories and women that feel empowered to step up and tell their stories, whether it's recent or say 40, 50 years ago.

They feel now emboldened and empowered to come forward. When you ask if it's going to end, I don't think so. I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg and we're going to start to see it spread to other industries and areas.

INGRAHAM: Jim?

JAMES WARREN, CHIEF MEDIA WRITER, "POYNTER": Monica, when was the last time we ever agreed? I might have to destroy the tape. I totally agree with you. There's different levels of inappropriate behavior as folks at your network know very well over what has happened the last couple years. None of it is inexcusable.

There's a difference between what we're reading about Glenn Thrush and Charlie Rose and Harvey Weinstein, but I think it's the tip of the iceberg. I think it has to do with people feeling empowered to come forward and as much as power as it is about gender. It's also interestingly about marketplace ruling for the moment and saying have to throw these bums out.

INGRAHAM: Here's an interesting factoid that we just dug up from Ugov economist poll. Over one-third of American young adults thinks it's always or usually sexual harassment if a man that is not a woman's romantic partner compliments her looks.

One in four young women say it's usually sexual harassment if he asks her out for a drink. Do you see my point here? My point is, how do you have a normal office relationship if now complimenting someone on -- you look great today, like young people that that is a form of sexual harassment. It's one in four women.

There has to be a middle ground here. You can't have any conversation other than numbers or whatever your business is. That's also crazy. What I'm saying, not every woman is the same and not every man is a predator. We have to say that.

CROWLEY: I think you are 100 percent, Laura, right and I think it needs to be said. Here's the problem. We're in this moment where we have this frenzy. We don't know how far it's going to go. I think we have to start the conversation now that to Jim's point.

There's different classes of predators and victims, and we need to have an honest conversation about that. On college campuses for a long time, they've been talking about what you're laying out. For every move, somebody might want to make on somebody else, they have to ask for permission at every stage because the sense of appropriateness has been lost and moreover the sense of common sense, Laura.

So, I think there's a danger of the pendulum swinging in the opposite direction. Again, this is not to excuse bad behavior in any form. I think we have to have a conversation now where we talk about degrees and introduce some common sense and rationality into the conversation.

INGRAHAM: Jim, quickly, is Charlie Rose going to come back from this, do you think?

WARREN: Maybe on channel 793 on your dial. No, I don't think to PBS, CBS or Bloomberg. The behavior outlined here. Interestingly enough, you see who his attorney has been all of these years? None other than, David Boys. Now there is an interesting story.

INGRAHAM: From Uranium One.

WARREN: Harvey Weinstein.

INGRAHAM: Yes.

WARREN: And I would say to Monica and Laura, I have no sense of shock and awe here. We've known about this sense of behavior. At Amherst College in the 1970s, we did a story, wrote an article about the disgusting behavior of men towards women.

INGRAHAM: We hope people are learning. I'll never think of a terry cloth robe quite the same after both the Rose and the Weinstein. I can't look at the hotel robes any longer. Guys, thank you. Great seeing both of you.

New sexual misconduct allegations against Democrat Al Franken. Should he resign? We'll have a debate. Two Democrats debating when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Democrat Senator Al Franken was front page news last week for all the wrong reasons after a California radio host charged him with making unwanted sexual advances toward her and shared photographic evidence to back it up.

Well, it seems Mr. Franken's problems are just getting started after a second woman has come forward with a claim of her own. Thirty-three-year- old Lindsay Menz tweeted out, quote, "In August 2010 Al Franken grabbed me while taking a photo together at the Minnesota State Fair. I felt violated and embarrassed."

The year 2010 is important because it means Mr. Franken was serving in the Senate at the time of the alleged incident, which begs the question, should he resign? Joining us now for a debate are two Democrats. From Washington, former Hillary Clinton Richard Goodstein, and from Atlanta, Robin Biro, a Democratic strategist who worked on President Obama 2008 campaign.

All right, Richard, let's start with you. Second woman, I guess squeezed her tush or something. We were just joking we've gone from Minnesota state far corndogs to horn dogs, such an easy joke. But what do you think at this point?

RICHARD GOODSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, when the horrible allegations about Roy Moore came out, childhood predation, the response from most Republicans was, if true. But how are you going to prove whether what this woman is saying is true? And the difference is, even as to Leeann Tweeden, Al Franken was apologetic. She accepted it. When it was Roy Moore he said he's going to sue these people. Donald Trump is accused of putting his hands and fingers in places we can't talk about, he said he's going to sue them.

So I don't think until we come up with some sense of proportion, the notion of Al Franken resigning over this frankly seems silly.

INGRAHAM: Robin, your take?

ROBIN BIRO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I honestly do think that he needs to resign. Last week, I was very proud of him for how he handled it when he asked for the investigation and he apologized, and the young lady accepted the apology. But what I heard today was very gross to me because he said that if she felt disrespected that he felt bad about that. To me that sounds like the language of somebody who may have actually done this so many times that it's normalized, like he almost can't remember doing it or not.

And I think that he himself knows. And if he did to this in fact, he really does need to resign because we should have a zero tolerance policy for this just like we do in the military for sexual assault. I will say that I'm a veteran, so I come from that community where there is no tolerance for this type of behavior.

INGRAHAM: You're being very modest. You're being very modest, Robin, because not only are you a veteran, you're a former Army Ranger.

BIRO: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: Thank you so much for your service. We hold our military in high esteem. And every organization has had this problem. And Richard, I think about this, and I might actually agree with you that I don't think he should resign. And here's why. I think the voters are the ones who should decide this in the next election cycle. They elected him. He came from the entertainment world, he came from "Saturday Night Live." I've known and had good friends who worked on "Saturday Night Live." That's a wild deal over there. That's a wild arena. There's a lot of stuff that happened backstage, offstage, people hooking up. That's just the way it is. It's the entertainment world.

But they kind of knew what they were getting with Al Franken. Not saying they knew he was doing the groping pictures. But they elected him. Let them un-elect him.

And he apologized, I don't personally like Al Franken. He's never been particularly nice to me. We don't agree. But I find him personally when I've debated him in past, very, very nasty. At the same token, I actually don't think he should resign. And I think the voters should decide Alabama. I think the voters should decide Minnesota. The voters ultimately reelected -- they elected Bill Clinton in 1996 and they seemed to forgive Bill Clinton.

GOODSTEIN: And they elected Donald Trump. I'm sorry, if you had to rank order all the abuses --

INGRAHAM: He denies them.

GOODSTEIN: OK. How many people even in this audience you think --

INGRAHAM: He denies them.

GOODSTEIN: He bragged about doing the exact same thing. He bragged --

INGRAHAM: The Billy Bush thing.

GOODSTEIN: On the "Access Hollywood" tape.

The fact of the matter is that there needs to be some reckoning about objectifying women. I guarantee you if you and everybody that you know in your field and in the military and in businesses and in the churches and so forth were asked whether they experienced anything like this, it would be almost universal, which is not to excuse it, but it's simply to say what is the right penalty? I don't think we really know yet.

INGRAHAM: Robin, when we talk about objectifying men and women, we talked about this before on the show, but we as a society and the culture the way it's developed, we objectify ourselves. I think everybody is guilty of that. Whether you're in Times Square, you look up at the billboards. You see models who are maybe 15, 14-years-old, they're dressed in a very provocative way. I'm not saying that that brings on sexual harassment, but objectification is everywhere, everywhere. It's in film, it's in music. The lyrics that are the most disgusting, profane that we can't show on screen. So if objectifying and stopping the objectification or the pornification, as I call it, is our goal, then we have a long way to go across every medium, not just regarding sexual harassment but regarding the content we're actually producing in the entertainment industry especially. I'll let you have the last word.

BIRO: You better believe it. And I'm glad that we're having the discussion. Like I said, we flushed this out in the military. But Ms. Menz described a situation was described where Franken pulled her close to him and firmly cupped her butt in front of her husband. There's just no excuse for that if that happened. So I'm sorry.

INGRAHAM: I don't know if it's a diminutive complex of Al Franken. I don't know what it is, but the whole thing is so gross. What a -- did her husband actually see this?

BIRO: I've not read that he saw it or not.

INGRAHAM: Why didn't he deck him?

BIRO: When she went back to him she said oh, my God, he totally just grabbed my butt.

INGRAHAM: Sorry, I'm old school. It wouldn't have taken much to take Franken down there.

GOODSTEIN: The problem is any single woman could basically get a senator kicked out of office. That's the problem if the standard of this case is - -

INGRAHAM: I agree.

GOODSTEIN: -- you allege it and they're out.

INGRAHAM: And this will -- I think this isn't going to end any time soon. That's all I can say. We have North Korea, we have all these really important issues to cover. This is important, so don't write in and say it's not. But at some point we have to say the voters have to decide this stuff. Guys, great to see both of you, thank you so much.

And straight ahead, what's up with white people? That's the absurd topic of an upcoming event at my alma mater, Dartmouth College. Details and a debate after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Welcome back. We just found out another breaking news sexual harassment claim now against Congressman John Conyers. He's apparently accused of using government resources to fly women and with whom he was having affairs. These stories are actually coming out during the show they're coming out so fast and furious, so I had to update you on that.

And another absolutely crazy story coming out of a university or college, and this one out of Dartmouth College, and I graduated Dartmouth just a few years ago. On February 2nd the college is Christian to hold a forum called "What's up with white people?" The event will feature Temple University sociologist Matt Ray. And he plans to provide a, quote, "field guide" for, quote, "the different types of white people and how you can learn to spot them in their natural habitats." It sounds like the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.

Dartmouth released a statement saying it's committed to robust debate and told FOX News that Professor Ray does not represent the views of the college.

Joining us now for reaction from L.A. is Tariq Nasheed, a film producer who also bills himself as an anti-racism strategist. All right, take it away, Tariq. How is this -- we don't know what exactly is going to happen in this, but you got kind of a summary. How is this not going to foment more racial division since it's based on, quote, "whiteness?"

TARIQ NASHEED, ANTI-RACISM STRATEGIST: I think that the professor should have worded it differently. I do disagree with "What's up with white people" as the title, because white people are not the problem, and I don't like to paint everybody with one broad brush. You have white people and you have white supremacists. And I think that it should have been titled "What's up with while supremacy" or how we can dismantle and understand white supremacy. So the whole thing of painting all white people with a broad brush, I definitely disagree with that. But it's a very interesting topic if we want to talk about the ins and outs and how systematic white supremacy dominates all areas of activity.

INGRAHAM: So it's your contention that white supremacy dominates all areas of activity?

NASHEED: Yes, ma'am, every area of activity between human beings -- labor law, entertainment, sex, war, politics, religion --

INGRAHAM: Sports? How about sports?

NASHEED: Yes, sports, absolutely.

INGRAHAM: The NFL and the NBA is dominated by while supremacists? Explain that.

NASHEED: Yes because you have white team owners who say that their team players are inmates and slaves. Donald Sterling even referred to his players as slaves. And look how they're being treated now. They're protesting non-justice and they're getting blacklisted from teams. So that just shows and proves that sports is dominated ultimately by systematic white supremacy.

INGRAHAM: So what would your solution be to that? Would you think that there should be a mandatory distribution of ownership assets based on percentage ethnicity or race in the country and do it in a fanned panoply of proportionality?

NASHEED: Well, the thing is how white supremacy works, it's all about mal- distributing the resources and it's all about passing those mal-distributed resources down through linages. So we have to talk about re-distributing those resources that are deserving to the people who are supposed to get it. Systematic white supremacy, it works back on deception, it works through propaganda, and that's something we have to talk about and we have to flesh. I want to replace the system of white supremacy with justice because not only do we get when it comes to resources in the criminal justice system, it's a racially biased system. So all across the board it's a conversation that we should have naturally on how we remedy and replace the system of white supremacy with justice.

INGRAHAM: OK, yes, I get your point. So my answer is a solution. So you believe -- should it be a monetary payout? Should it be monetary plus land or plus business ownership? I'm just trying to get the solution straight.

NASHEED: I've been on solutions for a long time. We've been trying to figure out, how do we remedy systematic white supremacy?

INGRAHAM: How about hard work. I have an idea. It's called hard work. Content of your character --

NASHEED: Ma'am, are you saying that black people don't do hard work? Are you saying that black people don't do hard work?

INGRAHAM: Nice try. Nice trick. I'm saying everybody has to work hard.

NASHEED: You said black people don't do hard work? The reason you have all the resources mal-distributed to the dominant --

INGRAHAM: Yes. That's exactly what I said. My friend, that's not at all what I said.

NASHEED: That is what you said, ma'am.

INGRAHAM: You know it isn't. That's the game you play.

NASHEED: Ma'am. Ma'am.

INGRAHAM: And straight ahead, the good news you will not hear anyplace else, how the Trump administration is saving taxpayers some serious money. And no one puts words in my mouth. Tonight's Angle is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: The good news they're not telling you. That's the focus of tonight's Angle.

If you just landed here from another planet, you would think that the only news stories that matter are the alleged Trump-Russian collusion, Robert Mueller's flying subpoenas, and the growing gaggle of A-list gropers. But what you wouldn't hear much about is what is perhaps the most important story of the year -- America is back.

Yes, though the media has been loathed to report this fact, 2017 has been a banner year for the U.S. economy, an incredible comeback from President Obama's anemic non-recovery recovery.

The Economist this week notes that blue collar wages are rising. As unemployment tumbles, wage growth among factory workers, drivers, and builders now exceeds four percent. Theirs is growing faster than the wages of professionals and managers. And when you dig deeper, there's even better news. The trades are rising. Some building contractors are seeing wages grow by double digits year over year. That is great news.

So why are things working so well? First of all, he has a great team in place, President Trump, guys like Wilbur Ross at Commerce, Steve Mnuchin at Treasury, and what Axios is calling a rising star in the administration in Bob Lighthizer, the president's U.S. trade representative. What he does and does it really well is he advances President Trump's America first vision in global trade dealing. So you know what I say? With Lighthizer in charge, look out Beijing, lookout South Korea, watch it, Mexico, and any other country that is gaming the deals that we negotiated in good faith.

Lighthizer, remember this exclusive interview he gave us, said this about finally establishing an equal playing field.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT LIGHTHIZER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: We should be in a position where we defend ourselves with the same amount of vigor and I think that this president will do that. But that is a genuine threat. It's a combination of massive subsidies, closed markets, and a focus on technology transfers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, his policies and this pro-American posture is already benefitting American manufacturing and the American worker. You already know that the stock market is experiencing record growth, but did you know that U.S. housing and industrial production are also up? Things are rebounding so robustly that the Federal Reserve Bank in New York is projecting a 3.8 percent rise in the gross domestic product. That's up a week ago, just from a week ago. And if that projection holds, this will be the best quarter for the U.S. economy in three years.

Now, do you remember when people were laughing when Trump said this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to win with every single facet. We're going to win so much you may even get tired of winning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now who is laughing at him now? I don't get tired of winning, by the way. Winning is fun.

And just to show that this is a president who knows how to keep his own house in order, on Friday the Trump administration released their annual report on White House personnel. There are 110 fewer employees working for President Trump than worked for Obama. You know what that saves taxpayers? That might be a drop in a bucket in the overall budget, but it saves taxpayers $5.1 million annually. I'll take that savings.

And an Ingraham Angle fun fact -- Melania Trump has four staffers compared to Michelle Obama's meager 24. And did you know that the president has donated his entire $400,000 salary to the Department of the Interior? And that money is going to be used to pay for construction and repairs to our military cemeteries. I love that.

So while others continue to parrot these conspiracy theories and cover issues that mean not that much to the daily lives of most Americans, you should know that things are getting demonstrably better in big ways and in small. And it is shameful and it is biased that these presidential accomplishments get so little coverage. I'll tell you something, here in the Ingraham Angle, we're going to fix that. We all have a little more to be thankful for this year, which should be reported honestly and celebrated. And that's the Angle.

Do not go anywhere. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Before ago, a quick reminder. Check out my new book. "Billionaire at the Barricades," there it is, "The Populist Revolution from Reagan to Trump." We had a great book signing at the Reagan Library Friday night. The major focus of my book is how the U.S. has gotten absolutely hammered in recent decades on trade. And we are going to look at how President Trump is brushing off the Chinese charm offensive -- President Xi's pageantry didn't get him very far -- and how we are going to take a harder line against Beijing. A lot of big issues in play. Be sure to DVR us, stay tuned, tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. eastern.

Up next, Ms. Shannon Bream.

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