The Factor began with President Trump's lengthy and often-combative Thursday press conference, during which he lashed out at some media outlets. He also excoriated leaks and vowed to unearth the malefactors in the intelligence agencies. Fox News correspondent John Roberts, who questioned the president about the firing of General Michael Flynn as national security adviser, elaborated on that story. "President Trump did not answer me directly about General Flynn," he reported, "so I did a little digging this afternoon. I found out that President Trump was fully briefed on the conversations Michael Flynn had with the Russian ambassador. Obviously, a lot of what the president did today was deflect by talking about who leaked the information, and he has reached out to the Department of Justice to investigate who was behind the leaks." Roberts added that President Trump seemed to be in total command. "He has a level of confidence in that setting that he never had before. He talked for an hour and twenty minutes and knocked down a lot of the things that were thrown against him."

"Donald Trump was elected president largely because he promised to reform Washington. Mr. Trump portrayed the nation's capital as a swamp, and the law of unintended consequences is now hitting back. The swamp is inhabited by many different creatures, some of whom want to destroy the president. Right now the national media despises Mr. Trump and some folks working for the federal government want to damage the president. That's why you are seeing leaks from intelligence agencies and other bureaucracies. All presidents have to deal with leaks, but in this political climate the press gleefully accepts information from anonymous sources. As we pointed out last night, the public and press does not know what General Michael Flynn said to the Russian ambassador or whether there is any truth to allegations that people working on the Trump campaign had meaningful contact with the Russian government. Yet the press has run wild with these stories, and the Trump haters are relishing a witch hunt. But it is not against the law for anyone to talk with any Russian. In order for Flynn to have committed a crime, he would have had to formally attempt to undermine the Obama administration's Russian policy. There is a report today that says General Flynn may have lied to the FBI. If that is true, that is a crime, so we'll see. There are two goals here. First, to link the Trump campaign to Russian hackers who disrupted the Clinton campaign. Second, to somehow try to prove that President-elect Trump was undermining President Obama on Russian policy. If there is truth to those allegations, it should be taken very seriously when facts are presented. When President Trump first mentioned draining the swamp in Washington, I do not believe he understood how extensive the problem was. After eight years of President Obama, there are many people working in the federal government who like the former president and despise Mr. Trump. Eliminating all of them and stopping leaks will be pretty much impossible. Also, trying to get fairness out of an anti-Trump press will be impossible as well. So the Trump administration has its hands full."

For more on Thursday's astounding presser, The Factor spoke with former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer. "Donald Trump is the only person I know," Fleischer said, "who has the moxie to take on the press like this. He is doing in public what a lot of Republicans talk about in private, he is delivering the smacks to the press that he thinks they deserve, and he does it with 'friendly hostility.' The press has brought much of this on themselves, trust in them is at an all-time low. I am open-minded about what Donald Trump can accomplish, and he is far more popular than the 'swamp.'" The Factor reminded Fleischer, "They can do things like leaks that can really damage the president."

Media observer Bernie Goldberg weighed in on President Trump's bitter feud with CNN. "Let's acknowledge that a lot of reporters in that room," he said, "didn't like Donald Trump when he was running for president and they don't like him now. If he suddenly acted 'more presidential,' they still wouldn't like him. But he came across to me today as needlessly thin-skinned and defensive. He's the most powerful man on the planet and he can't take a shot! Champions don't respond to every slight." But The Factor suggested that President Trump has a case against CNN: "From sign-on to sign-off there isn't one show host or anchor who is favorable to President Trump! He is a president who will fight back and his base loves that."

For still another take on the press conference, The Factor turned to Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. "There were some moments that made me uncomfortable," Wallace began, "but he was not unhinged. This was a determined effort by this president to seize the narrative. There has been growing talk about chaos and disarray in the White House, and this was a president saying he's in charge. He's saying he's not going to bend to Washington, Washington will have to bend to him. But in the end, he will rise or fall on his accomplishments, not whether he gets good press."

Democratic leaders Elijah Cummings and Nancy Pelosi fell hard for a fake tweet in which ousted General Mike Flynn supposedly described himself as a 'scapegoat.' Judge Jeanine Pirro mocked the outrageous fakery and the politicians who fell for it. "We don't know who put out the phony tweet," she said, "but we know it was not from the real General Flynn. You had Nancy Pelosi and Elijah Cummings, who are quick to trash Donald Trump for anything, running to the microphones and calling for congressional hearings. But they never even checked out whether the tweet came from the real General Flynn, which they could have verified very easily."

Jesse Watters, who claims to be fully documented, headed north to The Bronx, where he sought out and spoke with some immigrants who are in the country illegally. Here's what some of them told him: "I think everybody's coming for work" ... "I crossed the river 40 years ago" ... "I crossed the border into Arizona, it was easy" ... "We should legalize everyone" ... "We're all human" ... "We should give an opportunity to everyone!"

Edward Borys, Milton, DE: "O'Reilly, your debate with Geraldo and Bolling over the Flynn controversy is why I watch The Factor. You kept the focus on the facts."

David Connell, Mt. Pleasant, SC: "Mr. O'Reilly, thank you for the Talking Points on General Flynn. I am sick of hearing all the speculation and hysteria."

Dr. Matthew Schwed, New York, NY: "Mr. O'Reilly, you must understand that the vast majority of American Jews are secular. Their religion is leftism, not Judaism. Those of us who are traditional are far more likely to vote Republican."

Sandy Wright, Roseburg, OR: "Bill, Miller wants to wall off Oregon. But we have 36 counties and Hillary won only eight."

For a fun read, check out 'The Delporables' Guide to Making America Great Again' by Fox News Radio host Todd Starnes. And if you're in the market for something a tad more serious, former NYPD bigwig Charles Campisi has written a book called 'Blue on Blue: An Insider's Story of Good Cops Catching Bad Cops.'