kelly: we are awaiting results from the cpac straw poll as the annual conference comes to a close. the poll going in a different direction this year since there is a republican president in office, the focus shifting to president trump's job performance and policy questions instead. hello, everyone, welcome to a brand new hour inside "america's news headquarters," i'm kelly wright. julie: and i'm julie banderas, one day after president trump received a rousing reception at the conference, president trump's team also helping to push his agenda at cpac, his epa administrator, scott pruitt,

taking the main stage this past hour to discuss the future of his department. and lauren blanchard is live at cpacing in national harbor, jan, with a wrap-up of today's events. hey there, lauren. >> reporter: hi, julie. we are just moments from getting those straw poll results, and over the last few hours the polling group that has been in charge of that has been tallying some nearly 1500 responses to see what exactly is important to these conservatives and how they think the president is doing. >> he has had a lot of support here from really most everyone that i've been talking with and sitting next to and in line with this week. i think it'll be a mixed bag, but i expect it to be a positive result. >> he's keeping his promises, and i'm hoping that the results of the polls reflect that so far. >> the most important question was it asked whether we think trump is changing the republican party, and i agreed with this, because i think we've seen a big

change in platform as far as trump versus traditional republicans. >> reporter: here's an idea of what participants weighed in on. which of president trump's campaign promises they want to see and follow through with, if they feel the president is realigning the the conservative movement, how they feel about cutting off funding for sanctuary cities, what they think of the president's executive order temporarily halting people from seven majority-miss him countries, and one -- muslim countries, and do they approve or disapprove of the job donald trump is doing as president. one of the final headliners, the new epa administrator scott pruitt speaking just a minute ago, promising more power to the states. >> rule of law matters, but let me tell you this, what really matters a lot is federalism. we're going to once again -- [applause] we're going to once again pay attention to the states across this country. >> reporter: now, julie, although cpac is nearly over, people have been slowly filing

back into this area likely for those highly anticipated straw poll results. julie: all right, lauren, thank you very much. kelly? kelly: all right, julie, thank you. we have a fox news alert as we await the results of the straw poll at cpac, we look ahead to tuesday night when president trump will speak before a joint session of congress for the first time. mr. trump giving a possible preview of his address during his speech at cpac yesterday. >> we're translating these meetings into action. one by one, we're checking off the promises we made to the people of the united states. one by one. a lot of promises. [applause] kelly: kristin fisher is live at the white house with more details on this. kristin, what are you hearing about what the president will say in his fist address to -- first address to congress in. >> reporter: well, the white house has said it will likely be more optimistic than what we heard during his inaugural address, and n., a tweet that

president trump posted this morning may give us a preview of what we can expect to hear on tuesday night. he said that, quote, great optimism for future of u.s. business and jobs with the dow having an 11th straight record close. big tax and regulation cuts coming. now, president trump will also likely stress the early achievements of his administration just like he did yesterday at cpac where he talked about the nomination of judge gorsuch to the supreme court, the executive orders that he's signed on regulatory reform and the next version of his immigration order which he's expected to sign possibly on wednesday. and, of course, he could continue to rail on the media. listen to what he said about them just yesterday. >> and i want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. it's fake, phony, fake. [cheers and applause] a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. they are the enemy of the people. [cheers and applause]

because they have no sources, they just make 'em up when there are none. >> reporter: so it'll be very interesting to see if president trump continues to attack the media in his first speech to congress or if he decides to keep it a bit more positive and focusedded on policy, kelly. kelly: kristin, speaking of pushing back on the press, the white house is now disputing a new report that appeared in "the washington post". can you tell us about it? >> yeah. this report claimed that the trump administration had reached out to members of the intelligence community and members of congress to try to encourage them to speak out in the press and counter all of these reports about members of the trump campaign's alleged ties to russian intelligence officials. but a senior administration official says not true, that it was actually the other way around, that these members of congress were the ones that had reached out to the white house to say, hey, we're already speaking to the press to set the record straight, so the white house then pointed them in the

direction of other reporters who had been asking similar questions. so just to be very clear here, the white house says that it did ask fbi officials to speak to the press to try to clarify these reports, but that it did not instigate asking members of congress to do the same. so an important distinction. that's what the white house is saying today to try to counter this report in "the washington post" which it claims is false and inaccurate, kelly. kelly: all right. kristin fisher from the white house, thank you. julie. julie: a fox news alert now, the democratic national committee just wrapping up one round of voting in atlanta as party leaders try to elect a new national party chairman who will help rebuild the party after a bruising loss in the november presidential election. jonathan serrie joins us live from atlanta with more, and, jonathan, how close is the dnc to picking a chairman? >> reporter: in theory, very close. we're now in the process of counting ballots from round two,

and just before the balloting began, all of the trailing candidates dropped out of the race. so now the field has narrowed down just to the two front-runners, only two candidates. they include tom perez, he served as labor secretary under president obama and enjoys the support of the democratic party establishment. listen. >> a united democratic party is not only our best hope, it is donald trump's worst nightmare! >> reporter: but perez faces stiff competition from minnesota congressman keith ellison. he was an early bernie sanders supporter ands has strong support among the party's liberal base. >> we got to win elections. we're in this mess because we've lost not one election, but a thousand elections. and we're going to get out of it when we win elections, and that's what we're going to do, you guys. >> reporter: and as we speak, they're counting ballots in

round two which we expect unless, in theory there could be a tie, we expect will be the final round of balloting, and it does take a while. julie? julie: what are the biggest hurdles democrats face moving forward? >> reporter: yeah. they're really trying to strike a balancer. on the one hand, they really want to seize on a strong anti-trump sentiment among many of their members, especially some of their younger members. but strategists say they need to do this in a way that gets people not just to turn out on the streets in protest, but also show up at the polls and not just during presidential elections, but the midterms as well as state and local elections. >> we've got to do what the republicans did in 2010. let's give 'em credit. that was the birth of the tea party, and the tea party came out of opposition for then-president barack obama. and what we've got to do is we've got to channel that energy and that resistance that we're seeing across the country, and then we've got to recruit candidates. >> reporter: and while appealing to their younger and

more liberal base, democrats are also trying to win back the support of working americans, a more moderate, sometimes even conservative group that largely went in support of donald trump in the last election. julie? julie: jonathan serrie, thank you so much. kelly. kelly: all right. so the federal government plans to start awarding contracts for a border wall by mid april. companies are now preparing to submit offers with their designs and costs, this as president trump has said the cost of the wall would be about $12 billion. will carr is live in our west coast bureau with more details on this. will? >> reporter: hey there, kelly. one of president trump's biggest campaign promises is a step closer to construction this weekend. fox news has confirmed the administration is so liciting ideas for the border wall from contractors with initial design due in the coming weeks. there's just over 650 miles of fencing on the border which runs almost 2,000 miles, and at cpac on friday president trump

emphasized that's about to change. >> we're going to build a wall, don't worry about it. we're building the wall. we're building the wall. in fact, it's going to start soon, way ahead of schedule. [cheers and applause] way ahead of schedule. >> reporter: the administration does have some political hurdles though, a tribe in arizona which has 75 miles of its reservation on the border has said it's adamantly against the wall and prefers using technology for security. >> a wall built on the border, we believe, is not the answer to securing america. >> reporter: in new mexico 22 miles of state-owned land on the border have become a political battle line. democratic state lawmakers there are pushing legislation that would prohibit the federal government from acquiring that land. and in california liberal politicians have said they may use state and federal environmental laws to prevent construction.

then there's the price tag. president trump has said it'll cost about $12 billion, there are some estimates it could be more than $20 billion. he continues to say that mexico will pay for the wall, although the mexican government, kelly, says that's not going to happen. kelly. ing. kelly: and that part of the debate goes on, but we'll see what happens. will carr, thank you very much. >> reporter: report that's righ. julie: lawmakers want the president's ties to russia and vladimir putin thoroughly investigated, and one republican in particular is making a special demand when it comes to the probe. find out what that's all about next. plus, president trump giving a fiery speech at cpac just days ahead of his very first address to a joint session of congress. so what issues will he address in that upcoming speech? here's vice president pence with a possible clue. >> president donald trump is leading the fight to repeal and replace obamacare! [cheers and applause] let me assure you.

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♪ ♪ kelly: welcome back. time now for a quick check of the the headlines. a republican congressman calling for a special prosecutor to

investigate russia's alleged involvement in the u.s. presidential election. california congressman darrell issa says it would be improper for attorney general jeff sessions to heed that investigation. to lead that investigation. jcpenney planning to close up to 140 stores and offer 6,000 workers voluntary early retirement, that's 15% of its current locations. officials say the move would allow the company to effectively compete against online retailers. police in malaysia conducting a sweep of a terminal at the kuala lumpur be airport for possible traces for a toxic chemical after investigators found that kim jong-nam was killed by a nerve agent known as bx. he's the half-brother of north korean leader kim jong un. julie: well, president trump making his very first major speech to a joint session of congress next week after firing up conservative supporters at cpac. trump delivering a wide-ranging

speech hitting on cam page promises like fighting -- campaign promises like fighting illegal immigration and repealing and replacing obamacare. he then launched into an attack on a familiar foe, the media. >> it's not your agenda and the country's agenda, it's their own agenda. they have a professional obligation as members of the press to report honestly. but as you saw throughout the entire campaign and even now, the fake news doesn't tell the truth. doesn't tell the truth. the core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that put and will put its own citizens first. [cheers and applause] julie: so what exactly can we expect to hear on tuesday? joining me now is james homan, national political correspondence for "the washington post" and also author of "the daily 202."

thank you very much for talking to us. so, you know, a lot has changed. i mean, donald trump wasn't necessarily always welcome at cpac. but yesterday he kind of struck a different tone, a lot of cheers in the crowd. what changed? >> he got a very, very good response. a lot has changed. donald trump's president now. a year ago he skipped cpac at the last minute, deciding to campaign instead. ted cruz went when it was just the two of them fighting for the republican nomination. cruz attacked him, said the fact he didn't show up meant he wasn't a real conservative. he got booed the year before last for saying send in ground troops -- julie: we've got to interrupt you real quick because we have breaking news. the dnc chair, that vote coming in. let's await those results, go to this live. >> so that everyone can see them. [inaudible conversations]

>> you would -- i would like to invite the candidates for the office of chair to return to the room as well. and as soon as i've been informed that they are here, i will announce the results. [inaudible conversations] julie: okay. so donna brazile's waiting for the candidates to resomewhere the room -- reenter the room, and then they announce the results. by the way, as far as nominating a dnc chair, i don't remember the last time we paid so close attention to a dnc chair election, first of all.

seven candidates are on the ballot to be the next dnc chair. to qualify, the candidates actually only need 20 signatures from the dnc. and right now donna brazile is waiting for those candidates to reenter the room. going through the candidates now. let's listen. >> ms. green, major -- [inaudible] ms. green and please reenter the room. [cheers and applause] thank you. thank you. mayor pete. [applause] where's mayor pete?

[cheers and applause] >> hello, pete. you know, for good measure, i want jamie and ray buckley, please also come up if you're in the house. jamie and ray. [applause] make a little room. thank you. [applause] everyone's here. sam, sam. where is sam? sam and i have been facebook back there. well, ladies and gentlemen, is sam, sam was in the staff room.

well, sam is in the house somewhere. let me give you the final results. the threshold for victory was 218 votes, 435 members were total in voting including proxies. the results are 235 for mr. perez and 200 for mr. ellison. [cheers and applause] order. it is my great honor -- [applause] it is, it is now my honor, it is my honor now to present the gavel to the next chair of the democratic national committee to

mr. tom perez. mr. perez, congratulations. [cheers and applause] [inaudible conversations] >> i hear a motion, a motion by mr. saunders, mr. saunders -- >> no, no. >> mr. applebaum? there's a motion now by mr. buckley. mr. buckley, we'll hear from mr. buckley. order, please. go ahead. >> thank you, madam chair. more all those who ran for this office, for all those who were involved in this campaign, now is the time for us to unite. so i move that we suspend the rules and cast one ballot for secretary tom perez as the next chair of the democratic national committee. [cheers and applause]

>> is there a second? mr. applebaum? >> democrats, sisters and brothers, i'm stuart applebaum, dnc member from new york and the executive vice president of the 1.3 million member united food and commercial workers union, afl-cia. this has been a great process with amazing candidates. we've listened to each other, we've learned from each other. now we must be moving forward together. we must leave this meeting united. [applause] our country, our democracy demands it! and i'm proud to second the motion to make this election by acclimation. thank you. [cheers and applause]

>> it's been moved and seconded by acclimation. all in favor say aye. >> aye. >> opposed? all right. ladies and gentlemen, it's my great honor to present the next chair of the democratic national committee, a great friend, champion of working people, progressive leader, visionary, a great american, mr. tom perez. [applause] >> thank you! thank you! [applause] thank you so much. thank you so much. you know, folks, i would like to begin by making a motion. it's a motion that i have discussed with a good friend,

and his name is keith ellison. and the motion i would like to make to the body -- [applause] is a motion suspending the rules, if i may, to appoint keith ellison deputy chair of the democratic national committee. [cheers and applause] now, i'm not, i'm not sure -- [applause] >> [inaudible] if you prefer, but -- >> tell me the phrase i'm supposed to utter? that was fine? okay. did i hear a second? [cheers and applause]

all for? [cheers and applause] opposed? [laughter] hey, wait a minute. [cheers and applause] the silence, the silence is deafening! the motion passes! [cheers and applause] congressman, the floor is yours. [cheers and applause] >> allow me, allow me to congratulate our chair -- g hisause] first motion. [laughter] [applause] but i just want to say the -- to you that i'm very, very proud of

chairman perez. in this race, he conducted himself with tremendous class, grace. [applause] i want to say that everybody you see in front of you, i tell you, it's so funny. there was a news report that our race was boring because we weren't attacking each other at some point. y'all remember that? we were all quite proud that we were not forming the circular firing squad. [applause] and i just want to say to you that if you came here supporting me, if you're wearing a keith t-shirt or any, the shirt -- t-shirt, i am asking you to give everything you've got to support chairman perez. [cheers and applause] you, you, you love this country. you love all the people in it. [cheers and applause]

you care about each and every one of them, urban, rural, suburban, all colors, all cultures, all faiths, everybody. and they are in need of your help. and if we waste even a moment going at it over who supported who, we are not going to be standing up for those people. we don't have the luxury, folks, the walk out of this room divided. [cheers and applause] we don't have that luxury. [applause] and i just want to say to you that it is my honor to serve this party under the chairmanship of tom perez. [applause] and i just want to say to you that i am, i have a list of people to thank that is far too long for me to recite this moment, but i'm going to try a little bit if you don't mind, mr. chairman. [laughter]

i want to thank all of you all who worked hard on the campaign, all of you who cooperated and helped and were friends. and i want to thank all of my friends in the labor community. i want to thank elise -- ellie saunders, i want to thank mr. rich trump ca, david cox of our federal work workers, i want to thank lily garcia, i want to thank the entire labor community. i want to thank larry cohen. i want to thank all of you. and if i have missed you, charge it to my head, not my heart, because i love ya, and i'm grateful to ya. let me also say that i want to thank my family who came from far reaches to be here with us today. [applause] if i could just say quickly, my brothers brian, tony, eric are all here, and i love you guys and thank you all for coming. my sisters, carla, my sister

melissa's here, i want to thank you. and i've got a great friend named kim who's here, and i want to thank her. and i want to thank all of you for being here today. so i'm about to give back the microphone to our chairman, and i just want to tell you that the earnest work that we must do to confront trump, yes, but even beyond that, beyond that, to establish a country in which everybody can aspire to a good life, that country, the democratic party. we've got earnest, sincere work to do. it's going to be under the leadership of chairman perez, and all of us are going to help him, and all of you are going to help him. thank you all very much. [applause]

>> we have been joined by two -- three members of congress, stalwarts from the house of representatives, fighters, barbara lee, maxine waters, greg meeks. ing anybody else? [applause] thank you so much for joining us on stage. these folks i had the privilege of working with at the labor department and the justice department before that, and they have been such remarkable, remarkably successful people. be so you know what, folks? i'd like to have you give one more round of applause for an incredible group of folks, and that is the other candidates on this stage. ms. because you know what, folks? [applause] i, frankly, found myself when i

first got in this race going to their web site because i was learning a lot. sally and i have had lunch a number of times talking about our shared interests in building 57 state parties that work, jehmu and i have had many, we had a drink last night at about 11:00 talking about our shared interest in making sure that this party works in every zip code. we have a wisconsin tie, peter and i. mayor pete is going to be the example of how democrats win statewide in red states. [applause] there is no doubt this my mind about that. ray buckley with his distinguished history -- [applause] finish of leading parties in new hampshire and his distinguished leadership on the aspc. sam ronin who brought an

important perspective and passion to this campaign. thank you, mayor pete, and thank you, sam, for your remarkable service. and my good friend jamie harrison. jamie harrison -- [applause] the pride of south carolina. [applause] you know, jamie's got game, as we say. [laughter] we all have game up here, and we were all in this together, and i really want to apologize to the media, because we did talk about issues. [laughter] you know? we didn't, we didn't do any of the other stuff. and that's what the democratic party is about. and people kept wondering, i can't help but a little amused when keith and i had dinner one night and folks were snapping photos. because, you know, keith, we -- the congressional district that i visited the most when i was the labor secretary was keith's

district. why? because of our shared values. because of what we work on together. we work to lift wages together. we work to make sure that collective bargaining remained part of the american fabric. because keith and i understand that when unions succeed, america succeeds. [applause] we understand that when unions succeed, the middle class succeeds. and that's why we spent so much time together. and that's why when i was looking in the audience here, there was someone holding up a sign that says unite. and i could not agree more. and for the two of us, that is easy, because we were always united in our values. and we will always continue to be united in our values. and we are united in our love for the democratic party. our love for the diversity of the democratic party. [applause] our love for the robust

discussions that occur in the democratic party. it kind of reminds me of thanksgiving dinner at my house when we have the extended family and we have spirited discussions and we have viewpoint diversity, and then we all lock hands and celebrate our shared interests. my mother was the second youngest of nine growing up in washington heights. they had viewpoint diversity. there were three of them who were yankees' fans. there were three of them who were giants' fans, and there were three of them who were dodgers' fans. that's real viewpoint diversity for you new yorkers. [laughter] and so that's why they could come together and so we can come together. i need to tell you, folks, at the outset i know that i have more questions than answers. i told you before this morning that team tom means team. and as a team, we will work together. i will be calling you with regularity, and my first question will be what should we be doing.

and i will not simply be calling the voting members of the dnc, i will be placing house calls with so many others. this past monday, for instance, i was in seattle, and we had a remarkably spirited discussion not only with voting members, but with other spirited democrats across the spectrum of the democratic party. that's what we need to continue to do. we need to make house calls. we need to listen to people. we need to get back to basics, and we need to move forward. because i am confident, my friends, i am confident that when we lead with our values and lead with our actions, we succeed! that is what the democratic party has always been about, and that is what we will continue to be about. [applause] when we communicate our message of inclusion and opportunity for everyone, the big tent that we are, that is our strength, my friends. and when we have these

conversations, sometimes spirited, sometimes difficult, that's not a sign of weakness, that's a sign of strength as a party. and that's what we will continue to do. [applause] because as i've said and as keith has said, we're at this where were you moment in our nation's history. someday they're going to study this era in american history, and they're going to study it alongside the know-nothing movement. and they're going to ask the question of all of us, where were you in 2017 when we had the worst president in the history of the united states? and we will all be able to say, whether you're sitting here, whether you're sitting outside or whether you're looking on across america, we will all be able to say the united democratic party led the resistance, insured that this president was a one-term president and elected democrats across this country from the

school board to the senate to the state treasurers to the state attorneys general to state, secretaries of states, to senators and governors, to district six in georgia in april! to new jersey and virginia in november and next year we're going to have a market correction, and all of these states like maryland and elsewhere where there's no business having a democrat, having a republican in the governor's race. that's what we're going to do. [applause] when we lead with our values, when we unite as you say, that is what we do, and that is how we succeed. dr. king said, you know, the road ahead will not always be smooth. there will still be inevitable setbacks and rocky places of frustration. and at times our feet may grow weary, but we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious

faith in the future. i come to you, my friends, with an unrelenting optimism in our capacity to move forward because i have had the privilege and keith has had the privilege and all of us have had the privilege of getting to know you. i know we can win the battles ahead. i know we will win the ballots ahead when we put our -- the battles ahead when we put our values forward, when we lead together, when we mobilize this grassroots energy. because january 20th was an undeniably important day, but january 21st and beyond was far more important for america. millions of people stood up and said, donald trump, you do not stand for america. donald trump, we will not allow those values to divide america. and that is what we will do as a party, leading with our values, moving forward. that's how we will win. it is an unmitigated pleasure

and privilege to take this gavel. and i recognize i have a lot of work to do. i recognize i have a lot of learning to do. and i would simply ask everyone across america whether you're a democrat or republican, unaffiliated, another party to simply listen to our message. come with an open mind. because you know what, folks? our values of inclusion and opportunity, we have those shared values. and when we lead together, that is how we succeed. and i will be out there listening and learning a lot in the weeks ahead. and i want to say thank you to everybody in this room regardless of who you supported, because you were supporting the values of the democratic party. that is our strength. [applause] thank you very much, and i want to relinquish the chair back to someone that i want to end by asking you to give donna brazile

a remarkable hand, because donna brazile came in during a very challenging period and helped lead the party. [applause] and i want to say thank you so much, madam chair. you will always be madam chair to me. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. >> thank you. thank you, sir. it is now my honor, thank you, mr. chair, i've agreed to serve for a few more hours -- [laughter] okay. the chair will now begin to hear nominating and second for the positions of office of the treasurer. it is my honor to bring up mr. william daroe, we will now

move to nominate statements. julie: so there you have it, tom perez officially elected to lead the democratic national committee. stepping in there for donna brazile. he won 235 of the votes. perez, by the way, just to give you a little background on this gentleman, he was considered the most liberal member of pram what's cabinet -- president obama's cabinet. remember that as he speaks there to the enthusiastic crowd at the dnc saying that he has a lot of work to do. he served as labor department secretary. he has ties to both obama and hillary clinton, so he made the short list for vice president. interesting to note there because, obviously, moving forward this weighs very haley moving into the next -- heavily moving into the next presidential election in 2020. appointing the deputy chair to his runner-up, keith ellison. but disappointment for the dnc, it's a critical one. why? it not only comes after a huge loss in november's presidential

election, but democrats have actually as little actual power around the country as they have had in 90 years, meaning virtually no american voter has ever seen democrats so removed from controlling the nation's policies. so that is the very latest. we're waiting for cpac results, those are next. p. i wore lederh. so i just started poking around on ancestry. then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. it turns out i'm scottish. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. i have age-related maculare degeneration, amd, he told me to look at this grid every day. and we came up with a plan to help reduce my risk of progression, including preservision areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula the national eye institute recommends to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd after 15 years of clinical studies. preservision areds 2. because my eyes are everything.

here you go.picking up for kyle. you wouldn't put up with part of a pizza. um. something wrong? so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? you want the whole thing? yes, yes! live whole. not part. aleve. kelly: welcome back. fox news alert right now, we are awaiting the results of the straw poll at the conservative political action conference. attendees at cpac rating president trump on his first month in the white house. as the conference comes to an end in national harbor, maryland, we're just watching everything right there. you can see national harbor, maryland, of course, just outside of washington d.c. let's listen in for a few minutes to what they're talking about at cpac. >> no question about it. when you see a president with an 86% job approval -- and, again, 86%, you don't see those kinds of numbers. and then his issue agenda is

even more supported, they love his cabinet picks, and we're seeing it. and they want those senators to support his cabinet picks. [applause] the president's proposing cutting off funds the sanctuary cities, 91% favor it. [cheers and applause] and there's a lot of intensity there. 79% strongly support that. >> and universities. >> yep. [laughter] you know, sometimes i think they're beyond help. [laughter] and on the president's executive order temporary hi halting citizens from seven middle eastern countries from having the united states, 81% approve. [applause] 18% disapprove. you know, it's interesting because i think, again, you see the out of touch nature of the elites in the establishment versus the grassroots. and it's like i always say, cpac is the ultimate when it comes to

grass roots. and last but not least, maybe my favorite question, do you approve or disapprove of president trump using twitter to communicate -- [laughter] [applause] 70% approve, 28 disapprove. why? that's how he gets around the dishonest media. everybody but the washington times. [laughter] thank you, and as always, it's been a pleasure. and, by the way, we had a ton of respondents in the survey. thank you for your participation. >> thank you, that was great. [applause] thanks, guys. so when you see charlie hurt on television, which i know you see him all the time, and you notice they never show pants on television, so he gets away with it a lot more. but when you -- >> i'm usually not wearing pants on television. [laughter] kelly: we're looking at cpac and they're wrapping up their straw poll. what we got out of the discussion where they were kind of ad libbing was that 86%

within the cpac administration approved of actions of donald trump. we're going to come back with a lot more right here on "america's news headquarters" on fox news. r your retirement plan? start here. or here. even here. and definitely here. at fidelity, we're available 24/7 to make retirement planning simpler. we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. ♪ time to think of your future it's your retirement. know where you stand.

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kelly: so a lot going on today. julie: yeah. we've got both sides, conservatives and democrats, they are both, obviously, making some big changes -- kelly: on the democrat side, we saw tom perez, former labor secretary, be elected to the new dnc chair, and he is talking about trying to unify the party. certainly, that party trying to move ahead, will have to get over what happened to it politically this past presidential election. julie: yeah. and remember in the past presidential election cpacing straw poll, obviously, back then and when -- kelly: real quickly, let's break in and watch sheriff charkh at cpac -- clark at cpac. >> you know, they asked me to be the closer of this great event, so standing here right now i feel a little bit like mariano rivera, the great new york yankee closer. [cheers and applause] you know mariano, he was going to throw strikes, and it was going to be hard to get on base. you also know the next words

that are going to come out of my mouth just as soon as you see me standing here. blue lives matter in america. [cheers and applause] in 1964 the great communicator offered us stern add advice. it's time, ronald reagan observed, we ask ourselves for if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the founding fathers. the question is, do we really? our nation was formed with a debt paid in blood, from the blood of christmas addicts and the boston five in 1770 through the surrender of the british at yorktown in 1781. those that would spend their

energies, those that risked and in so many cases lost all in establishing a nation for the ages knew the likely price of their efforts and undertook their sacred work, nonetheless. in their great founding declaration, thomas jefferson spoke for those patriots and the price that might be levied in writing. and for the support of this declaration with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor. [applause] and to what purpose did our founding fathers and the soldiers of our great continental army strive? did they work to form the horrible mistake of what progressive democrats call the great society, a place of cradle-to-grave reliance on the benevolent providence of

government as the father be, the mother, the bread january winner and the teacher -- or breadwinner and the teacher? i think not. [applause] you see, general washington was rightly and firstly proud of a nation that he believed lay within the grasp of the colonists as they struggled to tear it away from the corpulent arms of an overbearing king of england. george washington wrote to benjamin frank-in that no country upon earth had more in its power to obtain these blessings than united america. [applause] he went on the write that wondrously strange then and much to be regretted, indeed, would it be that we, to neglect the means and to depart from the road which providence has pointed us to so plainly. but despite what washington

believed lay before towning patriots, they never -- the founding patriots, they never intended to build a nation to be ruled from a throne room or a centralized government. >> that's right! [applause] >> and they weren't building a land where boston or philadelphia or new york city or evened today's capital city that bears his name would dictate terms and conditions to the american people. no, their efforts to secure the basic human rights endowed by the creator in formation of a most limited government instituted justly by men and deriving its limited powers from the consent of the governed. they embraced the concept of self-rule. [applause] they fought the tyranny of the throne. it's true. they fought to end the abuse of

the colonies at the hand of an uncaring and unsympathetic master. but seemingly forgotten yet chief among the complaints outlined by jefferson in his great declaration was the refusal of the monarchy to craft and enforce needed laws. wholesome and necessary, jefferson said, to the public good and of immediate and pressing importance they told the king of england. the law, they said, a law that works, a respect and reverence to the rule of law. these goals were as key at the founding of our great republic as the need to satisfy our thirst for freedom and religion and assembly and a free and unfettered media that we keep hearing so much about today. and so it was through the challenging first century leading to the great upheaval of the civil war when the very sur siefl of this -- survival of th