Trump rallies evangelical base during Faith and Freedom Coalition conference

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Trump rallies evangelical base during Faith and Freedom Coalition conference

Faith and Freedom Coalition chairman Ralph Reed reacts to Trump's speech during the conference.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," June 26, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham, and we are full up here on "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington tonight. A lot to get to. Keep it right here because in moments, the best of President Trump's unbelievable speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition that I know you missed. You were working or doing something else, but guess what? We watched it, the best moments. I think it was one of the best speeches he has ever given. I said this as I was watching it live late this morning. Unbelievable. Ralph Reed will be here and he is going to tell us why it's this speech is setting the stage for evangelicals ahead of 2020.

And also tonight, Joe di is here, as in diGenova, and Congressman Jim Jordan. Does Obama's former Ambassador to the U.N., Samantha-unmasked- Power, have a new issue of anti-Trump bias?

Plus, the administration was mocked for claiming Middle Eastern terrorists might try to exploit our poor Southern border. Tonight, those critics will be exposed as wrong again. And we have the details that prove that we were right.

And Raymond Arroyo is here on the pathetic attempt by Hollywood actors to, well, dramatize the Mueller report, and how a pair of A-listers are defining those same Tinseltown partisans.

But first, President Trump's rousing speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition today shows us what we'll likely see from the President on the campaign trail. Now, I want to give you a little background first. Born- again or evangelical Christians made up about a fourth of the 2016 electorate, a little bit more. And of those, nearly 80 percent cast their vote for President Trump. So he just reveled in this show today.

And Ralph Reed, who runs Faith and Freedom, is committed to driving the number of evangelical voters in 2020 way up. So President Trump's mission today was to remind folks why they voted for him in the first place and why they should be proud to do so again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are fighting for all Americans and we're embracing the faith community. When I asked for your support in 2016, Americans of faith were under assault. But the shameful attempt to suppress religious believers ended the day I took the oath of office.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: All of our religious leads, every other that were allowed to speak again, were allowed to talk without having to lose your tax exemption, your tax status, and being punished for speaking.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, religious leaders, they want to feel emboldened and feel like they can speak out without fear of retribution in the workplace or anywhere in this country. But there's something else also emerging here. This is a President at such ease. He seemed just - he seems like, people say, in the zone or - but I think he just felt really authentic and that he is saying what he believes on this issue, the Hollywood elites be damned.

Now, let me show you what I mean. The President reminded voters that no opponent can match his pro-life positions or advocacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're preserving our country's wild tradition of faith-based adaption. And we're proudly defending the sanctity of life. Unfortunately, Democrat politicians have become increasingly hostile to pro-life Americans who want to help more children find a loving home and share their dreams with the world. Every child, born and unborn, is made in the holy image of God, and that is why I have asked Congress to prohibit the late-term abortion of babies.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And they'll do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: And while the Democrats are endlessly flipping in the winds of liberalism, adjusting their positions when they have to, Trump is just unwavering, particularly on that issue of life. But how do you actually protect religious liberty in the constitutional rights of all Americans? Well, the President offered this answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Democrats are determined to pack the courts with radical left judges who will impose their own far left abuse on the American people. That is why I will soon appoint my 145th judge. And we have two new Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: By the way, we cut the applause there, but it went on and on. The courts and the judges, huge, huge plus for Trump coming up in 2020. And given this current news cycle, it's important to draw policy distinctions with the other party as well. While some large religious groups are actively subverting immigration law, many faith-based voters want illegal immigrants to play by the rules.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Democrats are solely responsible for the humanitarian crisis because they refused every single effort to shut off the magnets of child smuggling. Hard to believe. As long as coyotes believe they can use children to evade our laws, children will continue to be endangered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: You bet that's right. They are the ones endangering the families and the children. And finally, the President reminded voters that the fight isn't over and that he is staying in the struggle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Every day of my Presidency, we fight on behalf of hardworking citizens who pay their taxes, follow our laws, raise our children, protect our communities, and make this the greatest nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. And today, I honestly believe it's greater than it's ever been before. And America will forever remain one proud nation under God, together with the love, the prayers and devotion of everyone in this room and the millions and millions of patriots all across our land. God bless you and God bless America. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joining me now, Ralph Reed, Chairman of the Faith and Freedom Coalition.

Ralph, I caught the end and I had to go back and watch the beginning because I was doing my podcast. But this seemed like a President to me - and I've watched pretty much every speech - who's so, again, as I said, at ease with who he is now and where he is now in his Presidency, knowing he has a lot of work to do. Was that the way the crowd there took it?

RALPH REED, CHAIRMAN, FAITH & FREEDOM COALITION: Very much so. I mean, this was his sixth appearance at Faith and Freedom's Road to Majority Policy Conference. And he's been there twice as a private citizen, twice as a Presidential candidate. This was his second appearance as President. And I have to tell you, Laura, this will be my 11th Presidential campaign. I've seen a lot of candidates--

INGRAHAM: Oh, my gosh.

REED: --come in. I know it's scary. But he was so at ease. He felt - well, it was a friendly audience, obviously.

INGRAHAM: Yes, of course.

REED: But the thing that I - just as a political actor that I was impressed by is he didn't try to be something he wasn't. He spoke for an hour and 20 minutes. He never gave a scripture verse. He talked about his heart, shared their values. He didn't try to be somebody he wasn't. He talked about shared values, policies, and most importantly, Laura, he said I will fight for you. I have your back. When it comes to the people who want to marginalize you, silence you, drive you out of the civic square and back into the stained glass ghetto where they kept you before, I will fight for you. And that is music to the ears, not only of tens of millions of evangelical voters, but frankly many pro-life voters who after Joe Biden's flip-flop on the Hyde amendment last week--

INGRAHAM: That's so depressing.

REED: --very depressing for them. So I think it was a great speech, and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for being laser-focused on this vote.

INGRAHAM: One moment that I loved is when he said Hillary called you the deplorables, but she also said - and she - this (inaudible). I don't - we don't have the sound bite, but he said - she also said you were irredeemable.

REED: Yes.

INGRAHAM: I thought that was kind of worse. I mean, it was like those moments--

REED: Yes.

INGRAHAM: He reads a speech, it's good, but it's those moments of humor - I was watching it with my producer--

REED: Yes.

INGRAHAM: -- my broadcaster, we heard they were screaming. It was so funny. That is the Trump on the campaign trail that none of those Democrats, all 20 of them, not one can match that. That's - that is Trump. That's who he is.

REED: It is. And--

INGRAHAM: I love that.

REED: One of the things I--

INGRAHAM: Irredeemable, Ralph.

REED: He's a performer. It reminds me of - remember when Reagan gave the exit interview to David Brinkley, and Brinkley said, have you ever sat behind the resolute desk and thought, how can I do this, I'm an actor?

INGRAHAM: Right.

REED: And Reagan said, David, there were days when I thought only an actor could do this job. He's a performer, but he is also authentic. It's not an act in the sense that it's not who he is, because the other thing he said, Laura, when he talked about that, he goes, you know, this is a pretty tough business. He goes, think about it, in politics, you say one wrong word, your career is destroyed.

INGRAHAM: And that's a natural. We do the same thing on TV. One thing taken out of context--

REED: Yes.

INGRAHAM: --clip it, throw it, send it.

REED: Yes.

INGRAHAM: But I love that - those little moments, I've got to say, of all the things, I love those moments because that humanizes him in a way that sometimes with just the regular scripted speeches, we kind of lose that. But unbelievable event. But not all are happy about this, Ralph.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Some of the left-wing commentators are just deriding Trump. How can this guy be appealing to evangelicals! Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything they grew up reading in the gospels now does not apply to their life since a guy named Donald Trump got into politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot believe that evangelicals - that evangelical leaders are calling Donald Trump the most biblical and best President ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hypocrisy is unbelievable. Here he has somebody who not only acts in a way that is not consistent with anything that I hear in scripture in church, but also personally how you're supposed to conduct yourself--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REED: You know, look, I think the reality is that when Donald Trump ran for President, I think a lot of evangelicals weren't sure they could be for him. But when he released a list of Supreme Court justices and said he'd pick from it, when he said he would be a pro-life president, when he said he'd stand with Israel, and you know what he said today, Laura? He said, for 25 years, presidents of both parties came in front of you and said they'd move the embassy to Jerusalem and all of them didn't do it. He goes - now, some of them had good reasons not to do it. He goes, I did it. I take my campaign promises seriously--

INGRAHAM: But they're saying his personal foibles should I guess discount him that he can never be Appealing to - but that's not what the gospel teaches. I mean, not to get all biblical here, but - so Pete Wehner and all those guys (inaudible) and how dare you like Donald Trump? You're a fraud - Ralph and everybody else.

REED: Yes. And I guess the argument goes that because at previous points in your life you've come up short, you've had a moral failing, or you came short of the mark that you set for yourself, you are what? Disqualified from every serving for the rest of your life? I don't remember that in the- -

INGRAHAM: What Christianity is that?

REED: Right.

INGRAHAM: Isn't redemption the whole part of the Bible?

REED: I mean, you want--

INGRAHAM: Isn't that the whole point of the Bible, not part of--?

REED: You know what's stunning, Laura? They've become everything that they've accused us of being for decades. They're the ones who are condemning and judgmental. We're the ones who are forgiving and believing in redemption.

INGRAHAM: Great point. Ralph, fantastic event. Thanks for coming here. You had a long day.

REED: Yes. You bet.

INGRAHAM: Thank you so much.

REED: You bet.

INGRAHAM: And we've repeatedly highlighted on a "The Ingraham Angle" the 2020 Democrat fanatics upping the ante, as we know they would, on radical abortion stances. Now, the March for Life action is an arm of the organization that hosts that annual pro-life March for Life here in Washington, placed a six-figure ad and they bought it to air on our competitor's network to highlight just how out of touch these candidates are. Here's a sneak-peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America has consensus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Consensus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eight in 10 Americans agree.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abortion should have real legal limits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Real legal limits.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even six out of 10 pro-choice Americans agree--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: --that abortion should happen only during the first three months of pregnancy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At most.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's not the law. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pro-choice politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Politicians.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of them want abortion legal right up until birth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right up until birth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only about one out of 10 Americans support this extreme position.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for this extremism to end.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for our voices to be heard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for politicians to stop working for the pro- abortion lobby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And join the national consensus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joining me now, Jeanne Mancini, President of the March for Life.

All right, Jeanne. How is the public reaction to that ad? I mean, Republicans are notoriously bad storytellers. You just told - I'd say you're doing as a Republican but a pro-life person. That's an amazing story.

JEANNE MANCINI, PRESIDENT, MARCH FOR LIFE: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Visually very appealing story too.

MANCINI: It is. And why? Because it's reflective of the hearts and minds of the large majority of Americans. It's just telling the truth. And so it resonates with people. People love that ad.

INGRAHAM: So the women who took part in that ad, were they paid? Were they doing it because they were paid a lot of money or--?

MANCINI: My mom, a woman who works in our office with me, me - no, a young woman who was a recipient of Mary's Shelter down in Fredericksburg? No. No - no actors. Just friends.

INGRAHAM: The Democrats' positions on abortion are shocking. It's no longer about safe, legal and rare. This is about abortion on demand and you have to pay for it. Here are some of the greatest hits here. Bernie Sanders has endorsed unrestricted abortion up until birth. Cory Booker wants to create a federal office of expansion of abortion access. Elizabeth Warren celebrated her birthday at Planned Parenthood - oh, wouldn't you love that cake? Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in favor of protecting abortion rights, including reducing limits on and expanding access to abortion.

This is all too long, but this goes on and on. Even former Vice President Joe Biden, as you said, flip-flopped on abortion. So that's just a thumbnail sketch of where these people are on abortion. Did you ever think in your lifetime that the party of JFK and RFK would become the party of infanticide and abortion on demand?

MANCINI: No. It's such a good point. The "social justice party," social justice begins in the womb. I mean, abortion is the human rights issue of today. So, no. It's really, really sad how they've basically reconciled this with their consciences. It doesn't make any sense.

INGRAHAM: Women today get a lot of messages from Hollywood that it's a choice, men want to control you, this is the patriarchy, don't give in to the patriarchy. And the pro-life movement is stereotyped, especially among the elites in academia, in Hollywood, global elites, global institutions, as backward troglodyte, the stupid girls with the red robes, the show I never see, what is that? The sisters - what is that dumb--

(CROSSTALK)

MANCINI: I know what you're talking about. I can't think of it right now either.

INGRAHAM: Yes. Yes.

MANCINI: (Inaudible).

INGRAHAM: Yes, thank you. That's it. So they use that image to put you in a box.

MANCINI: And they're wrong. So we are talking about 10 years strong of polling here. The large majority of Americans have a consensus. So Americans would limit abortion at most to the first three months of pregnancy, which by the way is not the law of our land, and it's certainly not what any single Democratic candidate is standing for on their platform.

INGRAHAM: Do you think there is any hope for the Democrat Party on this issue?

MANCINI: I think if they want to win the election, they're going to have to become a little more centrist on this. I think we all thought there was little hope with Joe Biden, who by the way came to the March for Life many years ago, and it was a very sad moment when he flip-flopped a few weeks ago. So where does he stand on this? Where is his heart? Nobody knows.

INGRAHAM: What year was that when he came to the March for Life?

MANCINI: I think in the early '80s.

INGRAHAM: Oh, my God! I didn't even know that. That's a fact that I didn't know.

MANCINI: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Jeanne, thank you so much.

MANCINI: Thanks for having me.

INGRAHAM: And fantastic ad.

MANCINI: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: I saw it actually played in a lot of different platforms today for the first time.

MANCINI: Thanks.

INGRAHAM: So, thumbs up on that.

MANCINI: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: Now, it's been called the hearing of the century by some reporters on the Hill, but are Democrats wasting their time? Joe diGenova and Congressman Jim Jordan are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now the Democrats want a do-over. We spent a long time working with Mueller. I gave him all the witnesses he wanted. I gave him lawyers. I gave him people. I guess he interviewed 500 people. 2,500 subpoenas. They had everything they could possibly have. And now it continues further? This is just a hoax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: President Trump sounding off before heading on to Japan today on the news that broke here last night. Robert Mueller will testify in open session before two Congressional committees on July 17th.

Now, while the former special counsel says he'll only stick to what's in the report, the Democrats have other ideas. Here is Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is he going to go beyond the four corners of his report?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF.: Well, that is certainly what we are going to ask of him. We're going to be asking questions, yes, that go to what's in the report, but we're going to be asking questions that are outside the report.

There's no law or prescription against Bob Mueller talking about other avenues of the investigation that they pursued or didn't pursue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Joining me now, former U.S. attorney, Joe diGenova, and House Judiciary Committee Chair - member, Jim Jordan. I still think you're the chair.

REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO: I would love that.

INGRAHAM: All right. Congressman, what's really going on here with these--?

JORDAN: This is part of their impeachment procedure. They just won't call it that. So, look, Bob Mueller is coming. We all got questions for him. I think the one question all Americans have is, when did you first learn there was no collusion, no coordination, no conspiracy? And if you learned that early, why didn't you tell us that? That was your essential charge as a special counsel.

We do know one thing. When we deposed Jim Comey, we ask him about any collusion or coordination, and he said after 10 months - we deposed Jim Comey before - after he got fired. But the time they started this in the summer of '16 until the day he was fired, May 9th, 2017, he said the FBI had found zero evidence of any collusion, coordination, conspiracy.

So how long did it take Bob Mueller and his team of 19 Democrat lawyers to figure this out? And when they did, why didn't they tell us? Why they would talk (ph) in the mid-term? So that's one question I think everybody in this country has and we'll ask him I'm sure.

INGRAHAM: Sure. The Washington Post today, House Democrats expressing fear that the Mueller testimony would disappoint. Privately, some House Dems said they're fearful that it wouldn't live up to the hype, worried that if he didn't meet expectations, they might look inept and lose momentum toward impeachment hearings.

JOE DIGENOVA, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, Nadler, the mumbler, will be questioning Mueller, the cadaver. And what we have--

(LAUGHTER)  DIGENOVA: What we have here is the only - the first question that should be asked by the Republicans is, when you fired Page and Strzok, why did you not preserve their phones and text messages? Why did you allow their phones to be erased? Why did you allow an obstruction of justice? And the next question would be, how much of the report did Mr. Weissmann write?

INGRAHAM: Well, President Trump brought this up this morning, and it was called a conspiracy theory. I mean, they were deriding him for that, Congressman.

JORDAN: Yes. Well, I think Joe is right. Remember, Peter Strzok was the key guy, the lead agent on the Clinton investigation, the lead agent on the Trump-Russia investigation, gets put on the Mueller team. When he gets kicked off, it's kind of like Bob Mueller, oh, then just go away. What actually happened when they found these text messages? I think that's an important line of questioning that we are going to have when--

INGRAHAM: Yes.

JORDAN: --when Mr. Mueller comes.

INGRAHAM: Well, Mueller said though, Joe, that that was it. His report would stand on its own after his nine minutes meaningless goofiness in that press statement that he gave a few months ago. But that was it. It was just going to be his report. That was his testimony. What happened?

DIGENOVA: Well, when the cadaver starts to answer questions, he's going to actually answer things that he shouldn't answer. He will be unable to--

INGRAHAM: Why? Because he's out to get Trump.

DIGENOVA: Because this has, from the beginning, Rosenstein and Mueller put this together as an impeachment inquiry. It was never intended to be a criminal investigation. That's why when Rosenstein appointed Mueller, there was no crime mentioned in the original appointment. This was a get-Trump thing. Rosenstein succeeded. He got what he wanted. He got a crippling report to attack the President. By the way, the report is sophomoric, it's adolescent. The legal analysis is juvenile.

INGRAHAM: What legal analysis? What any legal analysis?

DIGENOVA: Oh, it's pathetic. It's pathetic. But the cadaver is going to answer more questions than he should.

JORDAN: Another line of question that has to happen, I believe, is you've got to talk about the dossier and why he didn't look into that.

DIGENOVA: Yes.

JORDAN: This forms so much of taking one party's opposition research document to a secret court to get the warrant to go spy on the other party's campaign, and you didn't look into that? So, to me, those are the big three. When did you find out there was no collusion, and why didn't you tell us when you did? What happened with Peter Strzok and Lisa Page who were on your team, particularly Peter Strzok who was a lead agent on both of the biggest cases, probably the biggest cases in our time. And then, finally, the third line of question I think you have to get into is the dossier.

INGRAHAM: Now, I'm just trying to imagine him sitting across the table from you. First of all, he's very boring. I'm sorry. He's just a boring - his delivery is deadly boring. But I - what is he going to say? He's going to say--

JORDAN: I don't know.

INGRAHAM: --well, it's-

JORDAN: You're right there, Laura. What you said--

INGRAHAM: The prosecutorial deliberation process is just not appropriate to get. I mean, I have a feeling that's what he's going to say. Don't you, Joe? I mean, he's not going to get into this, I don't think.

DIGENOVA: Well, I mean, he certainly shouldn't. But he's no longer a departmental employee, just like Weissmann. Remember, Weissmann is no longer a departmental employee. Weissmann did not go back because he was told you're going to be the subject of major--

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: He's going up to Harvard.

DIGENOVA: --ethical investigations--

INGRAHAM: Isn't he going up to Harvard? I can't remember one of them--

(CROSSTALK)

DIGENOVA: --of your conduct. I think he's Columbia somewhere (ph)--

INGRAHAM: Yes, yes, yes.

DIGENOVA: --one of the screwball--

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: The IG report, by the way, came out also in The Post tonight, will not be out before the testimony of Mueller. So we know for a fact--

DIGENOVA: That's right.

INGRAHAM: --it's not going to be out. How is that--

DIGENOVA: Thank you, Chris Wray, that's why that happened. Because Chris Wray was withholding information from Horowitz.

INGRAHAM: All right. Former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power might have gotten herself in a similar situation that Strzok found himself in. a report showing that she was using her government email to trash Trump. "I'm discouraged and I'm frightened. Electing a right-wing President is something, but such a morally repugnant bully?" read November 14th, I guess, 2016, email to Power from a sender whose name the State Department redacted for privacy reasons.

Well, does that have any relevance here?

JORDAN: It sure does. I think probably the expert on this is Devin Nunes. He knows more about this than probably anyone else in Congress. So we'll see and Devin will get a chance to question Mr. Mueller.

I think the irony is, though, the same day we learn about this is the same day that there's a hearing going after Kellyanne Conway for allegedly violating the Hatch Act. The left comes after her--

INGRAHAM: That's a great point.

JORDAN: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Great point.

JORDAN: The left comes after her when you've got these kind of statements from the Obama administration, but the left goes after Kellyanne Conway, not because she is conservative, they go after her because she's affected, because she does her job well. And why they--

INGRAHAM: Nice cross-grid comparison--

JORDAN: But - I mean, that--

DIGENOVA: Yes.

JORDAN: --that's what I saw when I--

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: Real quick--

(CROSSTALK)

DIGENOVA: Samantha Power is about animus. It's all about animus. Strzok and Page, animus. McCabe, animus. Comey, animus toward the President. When this is deconstructed, it's all about animus. And then for Horowitz to say in his first report that there was no bias--

INGRAHAM: That was an outrage.

DIGENOVA: --in any of the decision-making in the--

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: Total outrage.

DIGENOVA: --is crap. Utter total crap.

INGRAHAM: This is why people tune into this show, by the way, every night.

Gentleman, thank you very much.

JORDAN: Thank you, Laura.

DIGENOVA: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: And we will always unmask the truth.

All right. Speaking of the Mueller report, how pathetic was the star- studded dramatic read of the Mueller report in New York the other night? Raymond Arroyo is here to break it all down in moments in seen and unseen. And he's going to tell us about a pair of A-listers who are ignoring Hollywood's Georgia Boycott.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we expose the big cultural stories of the day.

The Mueller dramatization 2.0, a pair of A-listers defy Hollywood, and schools are desperate to change their names. Joining us with all the details, Raymond Arroyo, FOX News contributor. Raymond, what is going on here? We have this star-studded dramatic reading of, I'm thinking Shakespeare, some beautiful Wordsworth or Keats? No. What?

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Laura, this is not a first. They were reading the Mueller Report. House Democrats tried to do this several weeks ago. You remember they first wanted the Mueller Report. They got it. Then fearing that no one would read it, they tried to raise the profile by doing their own amateur reading. This went on for 12 hours, you'll remember.

Now a playwright, an all-star cast, dramatized the Mueller Report for livestream. John Lithgow was Trump. Jason Alexander was Chris Christie.  Mark Hamill and others joined the 10 act play. Here is a bit of a sampling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LITHGOW, ACTOR: What the hell is this all about? I need loyalty.  Now that we've fired Flynn, the Russian thing is over.

JASON ALEXANDER, ACTOR: No way.

(LAUGHTER)

ALEXANDER: This Russia thing is far from over. We will be here on Valentine's Day 2018 talking about this.

LITHGOW: What do you mean? Flynn met with the Russians, that was the problem. I fired Flynn. It's over!

ALEXANDER: Christie also told the president that he would never be able to get rid of Flynn like gum on the bottom of your shoe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jay Sekulow responded --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, sorry. It was not necessary to elaborate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert Mueller did his job. The question is, will we do ours?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: The question is, did Alyssa Milano do hers?

(LAUGHTER)

ARROYO: Alyssa Milano, by the way, she's not going to exactly get a Tony out of this thing. But she's never been in a cast this big. And John Lithgow --

INGRAHAM: All I can say is, who is the boss?

ARROYO: And Lithgow is chewing the scenery like he is in the third act of "King Lear." I want loyalty! Loyalty!

INGRAHAM: It's like "Network," it was like William Holden in "Network."

ARROYO: There's only one more thing left, Laura, for this routine.  They've done a dramatized reading. They've done a congressional reading.  The only thing left is a musical, My fair special counsel, Mueller on the roof, Mueller get your gun. Jason Alexander was a singer, so he could do it all, maybe.

INGRAHAM: No, this isn't good.

ARROYO: Hollywood's political activism reared its head a few weeks ago after Georgia passed a heartbeat bill that limited abortions in the state.  In response Alyssa Milano and others boycotted Georgia, which gives Hollywood millions to film in the state. But now iconic director and actor Clint Eastwood is ignoring that boycott, announcing that he will film his next movie, "The Ballad of Richard Jewell," in Atlanta, which is where it was set. And he is not the only A-lister shooting in Georgia. This is Tyler Perry at the BET awards, who has his own studio in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER PERRY, ACTOR: While everybody was fighting for a seat at the table, talking about Oscar, I said, you all go ahead and do that. But while you're fighting for a seat at the table, I will be down in Atlanta building my own.

(APPLAUSE)

PERRY: Because what I know for sure is that if I could just build this table, God would prepare it for me in the presence of my enemies.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Two mavericks, two men who go their own way, and they have something a lot of these other individuals don't have -- an audience. An audience. I like that they are going their own way and defying the group thing. Good thing.

INGRAHAM: Is a really retiring Madea?

ARROYO: We will see. Madea will be back, too big of a favorite.

INGRAHAM: Come on.

ARROYO: Schools across the country named after Robert E. Lee, Laura, are changing their names to disassociate themselves from the Confederate general. There are about 100 public schools named for the general. First of all, your thoughts on this wisdom of this, whitewashing these schools, changing the name?

INGRAHAM: Schools can do whatever they want. If they want to rename their schools Snoop Dogg middle school, that's OK. OK, let's take lessons from - -

ARROYO: I say you respect the complexity, even the failings of individuals, and teach people what these names mean, who these people are.  I'll bet 90 percent of people watching don't know Arlington Cemetery was Lee's, that was his property. That is an important thing.

But now there is a trend emerging, Laura. In an effort to save money, these schools that are changing the names, they looking for someone, anyone with the last name Lee. So Robert E. Lee High School in north Texas is now the Legacy of Educational Excellence, L-E-E. Since they're looking for Lee options, I thought we would provide them with a few options. How about the Bruce Lee high school for excelling karate kids.

INGRAHAM: I loved him.

ARROYO: Bruce Lee. Maybe Stan Lee, the great comic innovator. Or here's one everybody can agree on, Sara Lee. The great Sara Lee, sweet and lovable, and always available. Who could hate Sara?

INGRAHAM: What one person can live up to this standard?

ARROYO: Nobody, nobody. Lillian Gish, we read about the great actress Lillian Gish, 75-year career. They are stripping her name off of a theater in Bowling Green over the charges of James Earl Jones and --

INGRAHAM: Over the protests.

ARROYO: Protests of James Earl Jones and Helen Mirren and many others who thought this is so unfair. The woman appeared in one movie, "The Birth of a Nation," people didn't like it, they've taken her name off the theater.  To condemn someone --

INGRAHAM: Now the liberals are being hoisted on their own petard, and their heroes are now going down. So Harvey Weinstein went down, one of their heroes, in the Me Too, other people going down. One by one people are going to be picked off. And who lives up to this standard?

ARROYO: Kids can look forward to going to Brenda Lee University or Brenda Lee High School.

INGRAHAM: Or Ana Me, Ana Me Lee, I don't know.

ARROYO: Christopher lee.

INGRAHAM: Raymond, thanks so much.

And this administration has been mocked for suggesting terrorists who actually try to exploit our porous southern border. Tonight, those critics are eating crow. A shocking piece of intel for what terror groups might be inside Mexico tonight. Stay there.

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MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Terrorists probably can get into our country lots of ways. One of the ways they can come in across our southern border.

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Fifteen terrorists either planning to travel or actually traveling to the United States each day, known and suspected terrorists. So that means they are coming through our legal land port.

CHRIS CABRERA, BORDER PATROL AGENT: Terrorist organizations infiltrating with migrant groups is a very real threat to our country. The easiest way to get in would be through the southern border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Despite numerous warnings from the administration and border officers, just like the ones you heard, critics were quick to dismiss those concerns as nothing but scare tactics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Baseless claims that were made by the administration on illegal immigration.

STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC ANCHOR: Conservative Americans like my mom and dad are being lied to by journalists, by the White House when they are told things like 4,000 terrorists are pouring in.

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC ANCHOR: Sort of a kind of girl talk mashup of the fear about the border and the fear about terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: So it should come as no surprise that those same media voices went silent when it was reported that four suspected ISIS members were arrested in Nicaragua and were possibly headed for the U.S. The arrests came after U.S. officials sent an alert to Mexico identifying three of the suspects, two from Egypt and another from Iraq. In a moment, we're going to take you through the route they reportedly took, but first let's bring in former acting director of ICE, FOX News contributor Tom Homan. Tom, is this just an outlier, nothing to see here?

TOM HOMAN, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: No, I've been saying for months on this network that this humanitarian crisis is national security crisis because 46 percent of Border Patrol agents are not on the line, they are taking care of these families. And the criminal cartels are taking advantage of those areas that aren't guarded to move bad people and drugs.  And I said a couple months ago, if I am a terrorist who wants to come to the country and do us harm, it is hard to get a plane ticket with all the checks after 911. It's hard to get a visa now with the visa security program. You're going to come in this country the same way 12 million to 20 million others did, especially now when half the Border Patrol agents are not on the line.

INGRAHAM: What happened to the raid, deportations were going to happen?  Where did that go? What all happened to that? It was called off.

HOMAN: It needs to happen. I did it in FY 15 under the old administration.

INGRAHAM: Just take us through that, because a lot of people don't realize that the Obama administration did nationwide sweeps of people who what?

HOMAN: In FY 15 we did Operation Border Garden. We looked for families that came to the country illegally, were ordered removed by a judge after due process. We did our job. We need to execute those final order or there's no integrity in our entire system. I did it under Jeh Johnson and almost immediately had an impact of declining illegal entries on the southern border.

INGRAHAM: Deterrence in the form of there will be consequences for you defying a court order.

HOMAN: Yes, absolutely. So right now the Central Americans keep coming because they don't see anybody coming home. We've got to enforce the rule of law. They've had the due process. They've been ordered removed by a federal judge. We need to find and remove them.

INGRAHAM: Everyone is afraid of the emotional argument, correct? They're afraid to separate moms and kids or in the schools.

HOMAN: First of all, this operation isn't going to separate anybody.  We're to arrest them together, we detain them together, and we remove them together. They came together. Look, you can't come to this country and demand due process because you don't like the decision, let it go. If that's the message you want to send, like Nancy Pelosi is saying to keep families together, if the message you want to send, go ahead and break our laws, we'll spend billions of dollars on due process, if you don't like the decision, you can stay. That's the message --

INGRAHAM: There is no rule of law. People have to understand that, there is no rule of law at all.

HOMAN: You might as well just open the border.

INGRAHAM: That's what Castro is saying. Julian Castro wants to decriminalize all border crossings. What will that do? You think the numbers are big now?

HOMAN: You've got Senator Gillibrand saying we shouldn't detain anybody.  None of these people realize that 90 percent of the removal orders and issued in absentia.

INGRAHAM: They don't show, yes.

HOMAN: The only people we guarantee see a judge are those we detain.

INGRAHAM: So they don't respect the rule of law, don't respect court orders, don't show up for their hearings, by then want to cry when the agents come to send them home. That's a nice deal.

Tom, I wanted to take you through, and the audience, the exact route that the terrorists we referenced supposedly took. The men are believed to have entered through Panama from their respective countries in May. Three of the men crossed through to Costa Rica on June 9th with the other arriving in Costa Rica on June 14th. The alert then laid out that they wanted to continue that track into Mexico and possibly toward our border. So Tom, what makes Panama the best initial landing spot for them?

HOMAN: First of all, we have a really good operation in Panama. HSI has an operation down there. We've identifying many suspected terrorists, and Panama is working very closely with us and we have stopped a lot of people from coming north of Panama. So Panama is a natural chokepoint. So it's a perfect place to HSI down there and do their special operations.

But a lot of terrorists enter through Brazil and other countries down there because the immigration laws are so lax. So I applaud ICE, HSI for having such a big footprint in Panama. What people don't know, let's not talk about this. Let's talk about the hundreds they've encountered in Panama, and Panama has helped return them and deport them from Panama, so they never made it north. So it's a great program. I applaud ICE for that.

INGRAHAM: I can also say Mexico has never cooperated with us, I don't think, to the extent they are now. It took the threat of tariffs that everyone mocked Trump for, suddenly they are like, what can we do to help?  What can we do to help?

HOMAN: When that first happened a lot of people came out against the president for the tariffs. Like I said, I've worked for eight president, I respected every one of them, but this president has not only talked the talk. He's walked the walk. He's done more to try to secure this border than any other president has, and he has been successful.

INGRAHAM: Tom, thanks so much. When we come back, a Trump 2020 pollster gives us an exclusive look at the latest numbers that might be bad news for the Democrats. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: "Ingraham Angle" exclusive tonight, Trump 2020 pollster John McLaughlin joins us with brand-new numbers that show the Democrats have some work to do. So John, let's start with the president's job approval, which is at 47 percent this month, consistent with last month. And President Obama had about 46 percent approval at the same time. So what does this mean for Trump?

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, TRUMP 2020 POLLSTER: What it means is, first of all, this is a poll of likely voters. None of this adults or registered voters, this media bias. Likely voters 2020. And what it is, is George W. Bush got reelected with 51 percent when he had a 51 percent job approval. Same for Obama. So Donald Trump is only four-point where he needs to go. He needs to get over 50 percent and hold it. That is why the Democrats are going nuts and won't give him a single victory on everything, because they're just trying to block him.

INGRAHAM: What about your polling this month that said 43 percent of voters see the country heading in the right direction. The wrong track, right track was flipped badly against the Democrats back in 2016.  Remember?

MCLAUGHLIN: So Donald Trump ran to get the country back in the right direction. Now it's up to 43 percent. And also, they say the economy is getting better, 53 percent to 37 percent. So it's the economic optimism that is driving this.

INGRAHAM: The thing about this, Ohio, you and I talked about this during the break, their unemployment numbers are the best they have been in 18 years. Ohio, Ohio, Ohio.

MCLAUGHLIN: Donald Trump is doing what he promised when he ran for election in the first place in 2016. We did the tracking in Ohio, and the president went there and told them that his policies on immigration and trade were going to work. Now it has produced jobs and brought manufacturing jobs back to Ohio. So the voters see there, see that it's working. The president is doing exactly what he promised.

INGRAHAM: Women voters, I keep hearing this from Republicans, people are floating Nikki Haley as the vice -- I was like, no. I love Nikki Haley, but jettisoning your vice president, people are getting desperate on the female vote. And Trump laughed at that at the Faith and Freedom event today. He was like I always hear this thing with the women voters. I'm going to get a great percentage. He was really good on that. But is that optimism well-founded?

MCLAUGHLIN: They are moving up. What it is, he is doing better with men than women right now. But the women voters are moving up because they understand the success. They see that people in their family can get jobs, they are getting pay raises for the first times in years. So that's coming. By the way, Republican women are solid for him. And what is moving is independent women.

INGRAHAM: College-educated women.

MCLAUGHLIN: Right.

INGRAHAM: College-educated women.

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, but the other part is it's really bad if you are not a Republican. If you are an independent, we can get you. Democrat women are still opposing us.

INGRAHAM: Any more leaked polling information? That wasn't helpful.

MCLAUGHLIN: No. This is a poll that we published on our website on McLaughlin online, we publish it every month, and you can see the president is doing well, much better than these media polls.

INGRAHAM: With this economy his numbers should be 55 percent.

MCLAUGHLIN: They will be better.

INGRAHAM: They've got to get up. Come on. This is the best economy in my lifetime.

MCLAUGHLIN: By the way.

INGRAHAM: Out of time, but hold that thought. We will be right back with the Last Bite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Wow. Who knew that Attorney General Bill Barr played the bagpipes? That is wild.

That's all the time we have tonight. My podcast, Check it out PodcastOne.

Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team take it from here.

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