Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Americas Newsroom With Bill Hemmer And Sandra Smith 20180412

His options. The president has not laid out a timetable and still leaving a number of other options on the table. And were still considering a number of those and a final decision on that front hasnt been made. We stand ready to provide military options if theyre appropriate as the president determines. Sandra pompeo will be pressed by lawmakers for his position on syria and he is expected to make it clear that times of passive u. S. Policy are over. Meanwhile were learning an american ally is saying it will not participate in possible military action in syria. Bill we have team fox coverage this morning on all that. David lee miller live in jerusalem. Congressman ed royce from the house. We begin with john roberts there on the north lawn. John, good morning. Good morning. The president pushing back hard today against criticism that he was telegraphing his military intentions with that tweet yesterday in which he warned russia that missiles were about to fly. The president tweeting this morning never said when an attack on syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all. In any event the United States under my administration have done a great job of ridding the region of isis. Where is our thank you, america . Yesterday Sarah Huckabee sanders insisting the president is not tipping his hand. He is talking about what but not where and when plus an attack is not the only option. Listen here. He certainly hasnt laid out the timetable, which would be broadcasting his intentions. The former secretary of defense in the obama administration, leon panetta critical of the president s statement a couple weeks ago he wants to get troops out of syria. He came close to linking that statement with last saturdays suspected chemical attack in syria. It is important for the United States to have a presence there and to indicate that we have a role to play. By saying what he said i think he may have sent a signal that somehow the United States would not care whatever happened in syria. I think that was dangerous. The pentagon is still working with its allies to confirm whether, in fact, it was a chemical weapons attack. Russia insists the whole thing was staged by the rebel Emergency Response group, the white helmets. The white house not putting a lot of stake in the russian denials. Also happening today confirmation hearings for mike pompeo to be secretary of state to begin at 10 15. A couple of highlights from his prepared testimony. Indicating that u. S. Policy is going to change. Pompeo will say russia continues to act aggressively enabled by years of soft policy toward that aggression. Thats now over. The actions of this Administration Made clear that president Trumps National Security Strategy rightfully has identified russia as a danger to our country. After the president de certified the Iran Nuclear Deal he said he and the president will work to get a better deal and not just ripped it up. He said President Trump is prepared to work with our partners to revise the joint comprehensive plan of action to fix its biggest flaws. In confirmed it will be an immediate personal priority to work with those partners to see if such a fix is achievable. He wants to get directly to work on this saying if he is confirmed he plans to consult with americas allies in a g7 meeting on april 22 to get the ball rolling. A number of issues will likely come up at the hearing. What the u. S. Policy will be in syria and also, bill, whether pompeo is willing to stand up to President Trump if he disagrees with him. Bill a lot for us today as we await that. John roberts at the white house. Thank you. Sandra new reaction from russia, iran, syria and our western allies this morning as the u. N. Security council set to hold an emergency meeting on the issue less than one hour from now. David lee miller is live in jerusalem with more on this. The region is holding its breath awaiting military action by the United States and possibly its allies in response to that reported chemical weapons attack in the town of duma in syria. The Russian Military says the Syrian Regime is now in full control of the previously held rebel town where the alleged attack took place. The latest video shows cheering civilians entering duma. A War Monitoring Group says the syrian flag is flying in the town under a deal negligent yailted by russia. The army of islam has been evacuated. In his latest tweet President Trump said an attack in syria could take place very soon or not so soon at all. Now were getting word from france that they have proof according to french officials that the Syrian Regime did use chlorine gas weapons. This now as word is coming from germany that they will not participate in any military retaliation. Although german officials are saying that the use of chemical weapons is unacceptable. And syrian president Bashar Alassad says today that any military action in retaliation to the reported chemical attack would be based on lies and would further destabilize the region. The u. S. Defense secretary jim mattis when asked if there was enough evidence to blame the assad regime for the Chemical Attacks said the matter is still being studied. Is there evidence [inaudible] were still assessing the intelligence ourselves and our allies. Were still working on this. We stand ready to provide military options if theyre appropriate as the president determines. As the world waits to see how the crisis will play out israeli fighter jets rehearsing for the countrys Independence Day terrified some residents of tel aviv. Israeli officials tried to reassure the public saying it was all just a drill. Although the u. N. Security council has been deadlocked when it comes to resolutions about investigating what happened in syria, bolivia is calling for a session today at the Security Council to raise the issue of what happened there once again. The bolliveians believe any military action would in some way violate the u. N. Charter. Back to you. Sandra david lee miller. Bill one of the major headlines this morning mike pompeo front and center next hour. This hour republican ed royce with me now. Welcome back to our program here. You just heard it. Germany will not participate if there is a raid an assad. France says they have the evidence assad used chemical weapons again. It is not easy. There are bad players all over that country. What should we do . The british cabinet right now are discussing this but on the last occasion what we found was that assads forces, his air force, had delivered chemical weapons and had dropped those on civilians. And the action President Trump took was to order a missile strike on the planes, took out a dozen plus of those planes, and some of the members of the battalion who had delivered the weaponry, the chlorine gas onto the planes. So i think that you do not allow an attack on civilians, especially when you have u. S. Troops in uniform still carrying out the fight against isis in this theater. You dont allow that to transpire without deterrents. Since the First World War weve had broad agreement here that there will not be use of chemical weapons. And we have our people in the theater right now engaged in the fight against isis. If he has done it again and the research will show whether he has or has not, then we need to take action. Second we have my legislation over in the Senate Passed unanimously through the house in order to put additional pressure and sanctions on those who have enabled assad to commit atrocities. That would be iran and russia. We need to get that bill out of the senate and onto the president s desk. Bill thats on syria. This on russia. Mike pompeo is about to say the following on screen part of his statement. The actions of this administration make clear that president Trumps National Security Strategy has identified russia as a danger to our country. That will fly in the face of a lot of people that think he has been passive on putin. Whats changing . Well, i think one of the things thats changing is that putins aggression has been amped up. His attempts to involve himself in elections across all of europe as he has done this worldwide, here as well, is still increasing rather than decreasing. The aid and comfort he is giving assad, including with the use of chemical weapons, is an additional concern. And you take the totality of that and its clear we need to ramp up saention. The sanctions we just ramped up the president just deployed actually dropped the value of the ruble by 4 . This is putting real pressure on the russia as a danger to our country. Last point. May 12 deadline on the Iran Nuclear Deal. Should we end it, yes or no . We should do what the president has indicated to the europeans. They need to get on board on the three changes that were pushing. The one has to do with the sunset. Extend that sunset out at the end of the agreement. The other has to do with the Ballistic Missiles that theyre developing. We have to have compliance. We cant have a mass production of intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and lastly we have to be able to actually verify on the basis where theyve been doing their research. We have to have verification on this agreement. Bill a lot of people are saying good luck with that given the iranian position. I hope you come back. Thank you for coming here. The relationship between mike pompeo and donald trump is very interesting. They grew close when he was the cia director. Oftentimes the president would invite him to stick around and go to other meetings. Theyve grown close. Sandra his pick to lead the state department in that hearing he will be with senators. The Justice Department handed over the document what sparked the russia probe. What nunes and gowdy are now saying about the move. Bill comey pushing a new book comparing President Trump to a mob boss. Reaction to all this former governor of arkansas Mike Huckabee is on deck live. Im proud of what this congress has achieved and i believe its future is bright and every confidence ill be handing it on to a republican next year. Sandra he stunned washington by his announcement yesterday that he will be retiring. Kevin mccarthy and Steve Scalise are emerging as the frontrunners to take on the leadership role. Well talk live with scalise later this hour. People recognize that nancy pelosi being speaker will take us in the wrong direction. I dont think the country wants to go that way. 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Jim jordan reacting to two lawmakers given access. Nunes and gowdy viewed the document one day after nunes threatened to take legal action against officials. Governor Mike Huckabee, a big believer in the sunlight law, the sunshine law. Governor, how are you . Good morning to you. What has taken so long and what do you think that access is going the afford them now, do you believe . Well, 14 months is a ridiculous amount of time for congress to get what it has a constitutional right to see. And every member on that committee has the highest level of security clearance. This nonsense we cant let you see it and have to redact it is utter nonsense. Maybe they should have gotten the Capital Police to go to the f. B. I. And conduct the same kind of raid on the f. B. I. That the f. B. I. Went and conducted on michael cohen. The president s private attorney. This is absurd. It really does point to a constitutional crisis. I keep hearing that term. When you have a federal agency that will not respond to the duly elected members of congress and cough up documents theyre en titleed to see thats a constitutional crisis. Bill it appears some has loosened up this last week. Well gauge the progress. Now sunday night apparently if you listen to the abc promos, james comey is about to drop all over President Trump. What sort of damage do you expect this interview to do . Very little and the reason is because abc is trying to promote ratings and revenue and james comey is hawking a book. It is the same james comey said hillary did terrible things and this is awful but we wont do anything about it. I says later well reopen the investigation. This is a guy who leaked government information to a source who gave it to the New York Times. It wasnt his information. It belonged to the government. He had no right to give it. He leaked it. I still think he should be investigated for that. So there will be people im sure that will tune in. People who cant stand this president. But the truth is his credibility is shot and the fact that he is doing it mostly to sell books not because he is interested in getting to the heart of the truth. He is like the old saying there is no anger like a woman scorned. Here is an f. B. I. Director who got public afired and humiliated. He is out for a little revenge. Bill would he have more credibility if he went to Congress First and said what he knows opposed and selling book a doing a book tour . Your supposition he is out to make money. Maybe he looks at it that way, too. I dont begrudge him for wanting to make money. Everybody does. When you start selling out things that are the property of the government, not your own personal property, then youve lost your credibility. If he was really this concerned about the things that apparently he will blow up with sunday night, how come he didnt go to the members of congress . Why didnt he Say Something sooner . Why didnt he resign . If he was this offended by the president as he claims now to be, then he should have said in a very public way, i cannot serve in this administration. But thats not what happened. He continued to serve and he showed up. So for him to pretend like now the whole time he just was very uncomfortable im sorry, that has no real credibility at all, bill. None. Bill thank you for your time. Enjoy the sunrise in florida. Well gauge the reaction on monday. Interesting the gauge the fallout with the comey appearance. Thank you, governor. See you again soon. Mike huckabee in florida. Sandra. Sandra new reaction to the white house this morning after california governor jerry brown decides to send in the National Guard down to the border but the move is coming with some strings attached. The details straight ahead on that plus there is this. Dramatic video of massive fire, how people got their neighbors out and away from that. Es and es hybrid. Lease the 2018 es 350 for 399 month for 36 months. 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So why didnt we do this earlier . Life line screening. The power of preventvention. Call now to learn more. You know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Bill striking video showing neighbors pounding on doors trying to evacuate people during a raging fire. Check it out from hollywood. Wake up, wake up. Bill that camera capturing massive flames going through the building. This was north hollywood. No movie set. Three people injured, four apartments destroyed. Fire officials think it started at a nearby homeless encampment. Something you dont hear about. Sandra unbelievable images there. Thank goodness knocking on the doors. It was spreading fast. A texas county is trying to find a new way to screen for illegal immigrants. It takes the verifying process a step further with training how to spot fake documents. Casey stiegel is live in dallas this morning explaining how this works, casey. Good to see you. Businesses and Government Agencies basically just sign up for it. It is absolutely free. The program is run through immigration and Customs Enforcement or ice. Special Homeland Security investigations unit. The feds say this all helps crack down on illegal immigration in america by teaching and Training Program participants like employers on how to spot phony documents, for instance. Things like Social Security cards and birth certificates often used by illegals to gain employment. Image members then use everify, an Electronic System used to check whether someone is legal to have a job in the u. S. Its better to have an authorized workforce from the start and hire people who are authorized to begin with than deal with a problem later on when you are perhaps under audit and find out ive hired 50 of my workforce is illegal. This program currently has hundreds of enrollees around the country hoping to get a whole lot more. Sandra are many local governments participating in this . Its mostly businesses and corporations enrolled now. Only a handful of local municipalities that have become certified. One happens to be right here in texas. One of our neighbors to the east of us here in dallas by only about 30 miles or so rock wall received its certificate this week. The only county in the state of texas. County employees and new hires will be screened for immigration status. Peace of mind, says the countys top judge. I can look the taxpayers in the eye and say this entity is doing its part to ensure that were making sure that all of the employees that we hire are legal and able to work here. I think thats extremely important. Even more cities and counties, other Government Agencies have reached out to judge sweet there just this week asking for more information on how to get possibly certified themselves. Back to you. Sandra thank you. Bill who is going the make a move . We watched this yesterday. Who makes a move to take paul ryans place as republican leader in the house . I really do not believe, whether i stay or go in 2019 is going to affect a persons individual race for congress. I really dont think a persons race for congress is going to hinge on whether paul ryan is speaker or not. Bill what does this move mean and how does the gop hold the house in the fall . Well talk to Steve Scalise, one of the contenders. Sandra plus did you see this baseball game . Turning ugly. It wasnt the only big league brawl we saw yesterday, either. Well show you that coming up. Its on. People would stare. Psoriasis does that. It was tough getting out there on stage. I wanted to be clear. I wanted it to last. So i kept on fighting. I found something that worked. And keeps on working. Now . They see me. See me. See if cosentyx could make a difference for you cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. If you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Never give up. See me. See me. Clear skin can last. Dont hold back. Ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. Was a success for lastchoicehotels. Comign badda book. Badda boom. This year, were taking it up a notch. So in this commercial we see two travelers at a comfort inn with a glow around them, so people watching will be like, wow, maybe ill glow too if i book direct at choicehotels. Com. Who glows . Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Nobody glows. He gets it. Always the lowest price, guaranteed. Book now at choicehotels. Com were on the move. Hey rick, all good . Oh yeah, were good. Were good. Terminix. Defenders of home. Sandra lets take a look at the markets two minutes into trading. Stocks are on the rise after yesterdays more than 200 point sell off in the dow. The president changed things this morning with the tweet signaling u. S. Military action may not be imminent. Sort of walking back when he said earlier about the 24 to 48 hour time period in which we were going to respond. He said this morning he never set a deadline. Anyway, seems like there is calm setting in on the markets at least for now. The way theyve been behaving lately. Bill also in a new segment that sandra and i christened this week called im going to say. At the beginning of the facebook hearings i told you im going to say facebooks market cap is less at the end of two days than it is now and i was wrong. Sandra thank you. Bill it went up. Im going to say i was wrong. Sandra it did climb steadily. Bill 33 past the hour now. California governor jerry brown will deploy 400 National Guard troops at the request of President Trump but browns cooperation is coming with conditions he outlined in a letter to the administration. Lets be Crystal Clear on the scope of this mission. This will not be a mission to build a new wall, it will not be a mission to round up women and children and detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life and the california National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws. Whats that like . Doug schoen, former advisor to president clinton and steve hilton, with a special episode the trial of comey on sunday night. Welcome to both of you. Doug, this is kind of like decalf in california. What its about . I think he is trying to, you know, split the baby here. The metaphorical baby but you cant do it. Im a trained lawyer, bill. I researched this. The governor of a state cant set conditions on how a National Guardsman is deployed by the federal government. Were a nation of federalism and he cant say what the guardsmen will or wont do. I understand why he feels that way politically but legally its a nonstarter. Bill here is what President Trump sent out. The tweet from earlier. Governor jerry brown is doing the right thing in sending the National Guard to the border. Thank you, jerry, good move for the safety of our country. Doesnt seem like thats what he is doing, steve. He is only doing it because the federal government is paying for it. Thats right. I think whats really amazing is when you look at the rest of his letter, he actually completely reveals the reason for the action that the president is taking and shows how ridiculous is lack of cooperation really is. In his own letter jerry brown talks about drug smuggling, human trafficking, all the things that actually are part of the justification for reinforcing our borders and shows that he is contradicting himself. The thing is, jerry brown will actually get a lot of grief in california for even doing what he did. Exactly as doug said he is trying to play indicate his base in california by saying we arent really cooperating but trying to get the money as well. It really shows the democrats are more interested in making political points than doing the right thing and bill im told you can secure the border without the help of california after all. Im told by the head of the border union were okay without jerry browns help. Wouldnt it be good if everyone could get behind the mission and stopping the drug smuggling and people trafficking, securing this country. It shouldnt be a controversial issue. It shows how far left the democrats in california and elsewhere have gone that this is even something thats argued about that we should protect our own borders. Bill my sense is, doug, they want to stick that administration in the eye every chance california gets. Well, i think thats right. I have to agree with steve. Look, i am a democrat and i worked for bill clinton. But enforcing our borders, something that bill clinton and barack obama both as president s did is something that should be nonpartisan and i dont really understand why jerry brown did what he did in his letter. And i really hope that there is the degree of cooperation that steve speaks of and the president s tweet hopes occurs. It is legally required, as i read the statutes. Bill steve, looking forward to your show on sunday night. Trial of comey. Well check it out on prime time on fox. Doug, youve been in the news throughout the week here and specifically youve been in the news with regard to your involvement in a speech that was done with President Trump, then candidate trump or private citizen trump by way of skype in new york city. You were working with a ukrainian oligarch in kiev and that appearance paid the president 150,000 to which he tweeted this week the failing New York Times wrote another phony story. It was political pundit doug schoen not a ukrainian businessman hosted by doug in ukraine. I was positive about ukraine. Another negative to the fake russia c. Would you like to explain what we need to understand about that and the context . This is pretty simple. I did extend an invitation to then candidate donald trump and something the New York Times and the president agree on. I extended the invitation. It was a big deal for ukraine because this was the president s first foreign speech. He spoke to the territorial integrity of ukraine. He spoke to the need for closer ties to the west for ukraine. And it was a great event. People like it was bipartisan international. A big deal for ukraine, a good event and something for which the president bill is there controversy here or not . I dont see it, bill. It was a speech. He received, as many do, an honor aium for speaking one time. Payment onetime fee and a good deal for the country of ukraine where the president on a onetime basis spoke out in a way that none of us can anticipate he would be elected president but it brought a candidate closer to ukraine. Bill thanks. Well see if it goes anywhere from here. Doug schoen live here in new york. Sandra were moments away from a key hearing with major implications for our nation. For secretary of state nominee mike pompeo will be facing senators for his confirmation hearing just a few minutes from now. Syria, iran, russia, north korea all on the agenda. House majority whip Steve Scalise on that and much, much more next. It only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. Tide pods childguard pac. Helps keep your laundry pacs safe, and your child safer. To close, twist until it clicks. Tide pods childguard packaging. I dont think anybodys election will hinge on whether or not paul ryan is speaker of the house. I think well have a strong record to run on and the resources to communicate our story. I feel very good about things. Sandra paul ryan making a stunning announcement that he will not be seeking reelection in the fall raising Big Questions now over who will replace him and the direction of the Republican Party moving forward. Steve scalise, House Majority whip joints us now. Congressman, thank you for your time this morning. Good to be with you. A busy couple days for you. Your name is out there a lot as a possible replacement. Youve had a night to sleep on this. Is this a job you want . Well, what ive always said first of all i have a job right now as the House Majority whip and a lot more we need to do. I met with President Trump last night at the white house with the rest of our Leadership Team talking about all the things we want to get done the rest of this year. Building on the tax cut bill we passed thats having a positive impact on the economy. If were worried what we might want to be in eight months from now, first of all, we need to stay focused on getting our job done and keeping the majority. If we lose focus of that nancy pelosi will be speaker. We know how devastating that would be for our country. We cant let them happen. Sandra mark meadows suggested yesterday the jockeying for this position wont wait nine months. It will start immediately. You mentioned that meeting at the white house last night. We have a picture of it. You are standing there in the room next to your colleague kevin mccarthy. You two are seen as the frontrunners for this role. Would you run up against him . No, ive said that before. Ive never run against kevin and wouldnt run against kevin. Were good friends. The meeting last night we are talking about the things we want to see move off the house floor and move through the senate. We passed good bills in the house to address many of the problems facing our country domestically and in Foreign Policy. We want to see the agenda move to President Trumps desk and talking about how to get that done last night. Sandra i know yesterday you said house members were still digesting this news and in response to what this means for your party come midterm elections, what can you tell us about that . How does this affect things . I dont really think it changes the landscape. Weve known the liberal base has been incredibly motivated in a negative way. They dont like President Trump and his agenda because he is doing what he said he promised he would do, which is very refreshing to people like me. If youre a liberal Bernie Sanders supporter you might not agree with it but the rest of the country likes it but seeing more money in their paychecks. The regulatory state to get regulations off the backs of our Small Businesses has helped create jobs. I think people know whats at stake in terms of what direction our country would go. Do we want to keep moving forward with a positive agenda or do they want to go back to higher taxes which nancy pelosi said she would reinstate. Paul ryan has broken records of fundraising. It will take a lot of money to push back and make sure we hold the house but were doing the work and raising the money. Candidates are out there and incumbents in the swing districts are doing the things they need to do back home to continue to move in a positive agenda getting the economy on track. I think economic growth, people seeing more money in their paychecks and more jobs being created will be the driving factor in the november election, which works well for us as house republicans. Sandra when it comes to conservatives and your party in the wake of this announcement and the discussion about you and mccarthy being the frontrunners as far as possible candidates to replace him, you have been described as the more conservative of the two. Is that a Fair Assessment . I dont make up titles and ive got a long record as a conservative who has fought to advance a more conservative agenda. Kevin is a conservative, too. The people that want to try to rate all of that. Well be judged on what we get done and we have gotten big things done. The tax cut bill is the biggest but rolling back regulations, working with President Trump to get our economy moving again. There is more we want to get done. We want to reform some of these broken programs. You look at the welfare state right now. There are a lot of people that just gave up looking for work because the economy was so bad for eight years under barack obama. We want to get millions of people who gave up looking for work to get back into the workforce. People that are ready to work, they just lost confidence in the economy. The economy is doing better. Lets help get those people off the welfare roles rolls and become part of the American Dream again. Sandra weve been watching the markets react mostly to what happens next in syria. This is huge. And the president this morning sort of i guess you could say walking back his initial deadline of responding to syria within 24 to 48 hours saying he never put a deadline on our response. How do you want to see our president respond . Well, i think whats been great about President Trumps leadership. He made it clear we arent going to sit back and be passive when you have bullies and bad actors like russia and assad and north korea standing up to bad people trying to do bad things. President trump made clear were looking at all options to make sure we can stand up for people around the world in terms of especially as these dictators that are killing their own people. Using chemical weapons. Trying to create a Nuclear Arsenal like in north korea and iran. President trump has provided great world leadership and put the United States on the world stage as the leader of the free world and it is important. Sandra we expect to see mike pompeo shortly talking in front of answering questions to senators in the Senate Hearing awaiting confirmation as the next secretary of state. Iran, north korea, syria, russia all on the table. He is expected to talk about russia and the era of soft policy being over. What are your expectations as we await pompeos hearing this morning . First i think we can all be proud of what mike pompeo is going to bring to our Foreign Policy. President trump made a great pick in mike pompeo. I served with him in the house on the emergency and Commerce Committee with me and also did a lot of work on the Intelligence Committee and other places. If you look at mikes background what he has done as cia director he understands all the threats around the world but also is respected by world leaders. I was meeting with some of our allies around the world last week. They know and trust him. They look forward to seeing him installed at secretary of state and i think he will serve President Trump very well in the role making sure our Foreign Policy is being implemented properly in other places of the world. Sandra i know you feel passionately about what has been happening with facebook the past couple of days. Mark zuckerberg has answered a lot of questions on capitol hill. What is as we have a few seconds left the take away from those hearings the last couple days . Well, i think Mark Zuckerberg handled himself well and answered a lot of questions. There were still some answers he said he will get back to us. I have some questions that still havent been answered in terms of how facebook has implemented new algorithms to change the news feed to filter and put a personal slant on it. I dont want to see them discriminate against conservatives. There have been concerns about that. He said he would give me answers on that and i look forward to hearing those. Sandra hopefully youll bring them back to the program when you get them. Steve scalise, a busy guy. Hope to hear from you soon. Bill breaking news now from one of the more popular tourist destinations for americans. Violence south of the border is on the rise and so is the amount of money mexico spending the try to counter that violence. Thats next. With expedia you could book a flight, hotel, car and activity all in one place. Bill long time rivalry yanks and red sox wrote a new chapter. Check it out from yesterday afternoon. There it is. And austin does not like it. Now he will head toward the mound. Now this is a brawl. Bill tyler austin hit by the pitch charges the pitcher. Fights breaking out twice in that game. Sandra come on. Bill bam. Not the only game getting physical. Denver, rockies batter hit with a fastball. There we go. That was an afternoon game. They were at it. Five people ejected from that game. You have boxing mixed up with baseball. A great time of year, by the way. Sandra do you cover the eyes of the kids sitting next to you . Bill i think the weather is bothering these guys. Sandra an uptick in violence is costing mexico billions of dollars. They had nearly 249 billion in losses. That is nearly 21 of the countrys gross domestic product. Jonathan hunt live to break it down. That dollar cost is staggering. The human cost perhaps more so with more than 29,000 people murdered in mexico in 2017. The most violent year in the countrys history. Drug gangs are a large part of the problem with many of them now fighting for turf and supremacy in the wake of the 2016 arrest and 2017 extradition of Cartel Leader El Chapo Guzman now awaiting trial in new york. One of the reports the university of san diego professor, its clear the places where were seeing the biggest surge of violence are the same places where other rival organizations are moving in to contest the territory previously controlled by chapo guzman. But the study says tackling the violence means tackling corruption and the weak rule of law. Institutional weaknesses that allow crime to thrive. Sandra, back to you. Sandra jonathan hunt, thank you. Bill were minutes away from the start of the Senate Confirmation hearing for the secretary of state nominee mike pompeo. It is about russia, iran, and north korea. And Newt Gingrich is on deck live. Sandra this is a fox news alert. Secretary of state nominee mike pompeos confirmation starting just moments from now as President Trump flips the script on the timing of military action against syria. Welcome to a brandnew hour of americas newsroom, im sandra smith. Bill im bill hemmer. Good morning. A big hour. Nations top spy mike pompeo looking to become the nations top diplomat. President trump dialing back the threat of imminent strikes against syria after another suspected chemical attack. Never said when an attack on syria would take place. Could be very soon or not at all. In any event the United States has done a great job of ridding the region of isis, where is our thank you america . Newt gingrich standing by live. Rich edson from the hearing room on capitol hill. Mike pompeo is set to address the administrations critics on a number of things including russia. Lets start there. Especially from democrats that the administration hasnt done enough to counter russian influence. Mike pompeo, the cia director according to his remarks or some excerpts of them, russia continues to act aggressively enabled by years of soft policy toward that aggression. That is now over. Our diplomatic efforts with russia will prove challenging but as in previous confrontations with moscow must continue and answers charges he is a warhawk. He says there are few who dread more than those of us who have served in uniform. I would like to use diplomacy rather than sending young men and women to war and an assumption in washington that the selection of mike pompeo to the secretary of states role means the end of the Iran Nuclear Deal. He says he is willing to work with European Partners to change iran policy enough to keep President Trump in the deal. We also expect a large conversation today on syria as the United States now continuing to coordinate about a potential response to the suspected use of chemical weapons there. The french president macron says the french have the proof that syria used chemical weapons and now the russian government is saying that the Syrian Government has full control of that area where that suspected chemical weapons use was, bill. Bill can democrats block his nomination . The way the math works on this committee right now is that you have senator rand paul, a republican. He is saying he is not going to vote for mike pompeo. So there are enough votes if democrats can stick together to hold up his nomination or at least not get it through this committee. However, there are 15 democrats in the entire senate that voted for mike pompeo as cia director. Two are sitting on this committee now. There is a hope among a number of republicans that they can get the two senators, tim kaine of virginia and another senator. That effort will continue. Democrats say theyll continue asking and pushing on trump Foreign Policy in the series of hearings or in todays hearings and try to get at whether according to one senate aide whether mike pompeo will be a check on President Trump or feed into his worst instincts as president. Youll get a full conversation on trump Foreign Policy and what mike pompeo has in his past in congress and cia director. Bill rich edson inside the hearing room in d. C. Sandra for more on this lets bring in Newt Gingrich and hosting an online course called defending america focusing on Critical Issues facing our nation. Mr. Speaker, thank you for coming on with us this morning. So much going on and as we await these the hearing, a big decision looms for this president on syria. What will he do next . How do we respond . He is walking back that deadline he sort of put on this days ago. Now saying there is no deadline. Well, i think the french and british have joined with us and i suspect in the near future he will hit syria. I also think that they are probably massing forces in the region to make sure that the russians dont do anything. Because the russians had made some threatening noises. They also have an International Group in syria i think yesterday and today looking at the evidence and i think the story was that that slowed it down a little bit so that the International Group get in and out before anything happened. I would be surprised if you dont in the next few days have a substantial allied assault. Sandra everything is on the table whether its iran, north korea, syria, iran mike pompeo is expected the say has been on the march and paid too low a price for its dangerous behavior and on russia he is expected to say theyve been enabled by years of soft policy toward that aggression and thats now over. What are your expectations for mike pompeo as he steps before these senators in a few minutes . Well, he was first in his class at west point and harvard law. He is generally considered brilliant. He is a very deeply dedicated patriot. If we can get the europeans to agree to toughen up the iran agreement there is a general belief in the region from israel to saudi arabia the agreement is better to keep if we can get it tougher. If they refuse to toughen it up President Trump has a different decision. In north korea weve seen remarkable progress and all the way through this it is mike pompeo director of the cia who every morning has been briefing the president. In each of these very serious Foreign Policy issues pompeo has already had a pretty deep relationship with the president and theyve been very successful. If you look at just the speech this week by president xi in china. He backed down on tariffs on autos and the right of American Companies to be in china without a partner of the chinese and backed down on protecting intellectual property rights. Didnt get much coverage because of the gossipy nature of our news media but trump is being very successful and pompeo is a part of that success. Sandra the Mueller Probe continues and the latest with those f. B. I. Raids on his personal Attorneys Office among other places. Lawmakers are trying to protect Robert Mueller from a possible firing, speaker. The president said thats not what he is considering at this point. I know youve said it is within his Constitutional Authority to do so but it would be a huge mistake. Is this something do you believe its still on the table for the president and still a consideration . Well, he always has that option. He always could legally do it. I think it would be a terrible thing to do and have bad consequences. Every american forget about the soap opera. Every american should worry about muellers precedent. You could be at your bedroom at 3 00 in the morning and have armed f. B. I. Agents at your door. Paul manafort is not a terrorist but at 3 00 in the morning he and his wife are there in pajamas and the room is filled with armed f. B. I. Agents. Your lawyer can see their office dershowitz, one of the most famous law professors has said its a dangerous precedent. Mueller, it was going to be about russia and collusion. Now he is over here looking at stuff that has nothing to do with it. If we set up the precedent that a prosecutor can dig into your life until they find a crime, this goes back to an old stalin phrase where they said show me the man and ill find you the crime. Thats the opposite of the rule of law. We need a bigger National Discussion than treating this as though its gossip. Do we really feel comfortable with the kind of precedents were seeing set . With comey, leaking secrets to a professor to set up a New York Times article to get mueller appointed. With rosenstein stepping in and giving mueller Carte Blanche to do anything he wants to. I think there is a lot more at the Justice Department that we ought to be looking at and realize it is a threat to every american to have this kind of power in a prosecutor. Sandra you mention james comey. He has given his first sitdown interview since being fired by the president with abc and he reportedly calls the president a mob boss, at least compares him to one. Sure. James comey is a bitter, fired employee who has a long record of aggrandizement. I just learned yesterday he colluded with Chuck Schumers staff in 2007 to embarrass president bush when he was an appointee of president bush. He did so to make himself look good. So i think we have to put anything comey says in a box and realize this is a bitter guy who was fired publicly, who deeply resents President Trump. You have to balance whatever he says against that. Sandra were waiting for the hearings to begin. The president s next pick to head the statement mike pompeo. Newt gingrich, thank you for joining us this morning. Bill very interesting stuff. Allen dershowitz comes up later this hour to talk about all the legal matters now. He had dinner with the president the other night. He is coming up in a matter of moments here on americas newsroom. Meanwhile we have this breaking from overnight last night. The key document that shows why the russia matter was launched in the first place has now been shared with two members of congress. Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge live in d. C. On that. It could tell us a lot. Good morning. With only hours left before the deadline the republican chairman of the house Intelligence Committee nunes and trey gowdy and Committee Staffers went to the Justice Department met with the Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein and viewed a copy of the two page f. B. I. Memo that kick started the russia probe. Not a clean copy, a government source said the redactions were minimal and justified. Based on fox news reporting the twopage memo known in Law Enforcement circles as an electronic communication had significant input from f. B. I. Agent peter strzok who was removed from the special counsel russia investigation after the discovery of the antitrump text messages. Reaction has split along party lines. A step in the right directions. There are still redactions. I go to the fundamentals. Why is it that folks in the department of justice get to see unredacted things but members of congress elected by the people of this great country cant see them . What theyre doing is what they do generally. Protect their investigative equities. Nothing theyve done is unusual. What congress is doing is whats unusual. Yesterdays resolution is told investigators remain concerned about the credibility of its sources that will require further investigation. Bill watching all that from d. C. Sandra that Senate Confirmation hearing set to get underway for President Trumps secretary of state pick mike pompeo. We are expecting his arrival any moment now plus this. We have a very strong Leadership Team. Thats one of the reasons why i took comfort in making this decision because i know there is capable Leadership Team i can hand the gavel too. The looming departure of House Speaker paul ryan. What does it mean to the Republican Party . We have a closer look coming up. You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. Flonase. 4 out of 5 people who have a stroke, their first symptom. Is a stroke. 80 percent of all strokes and Heart Disease . Preventable. And 149 dollars is all it takes to get screened and help take control of your health. Were life line screening. And if youre over 50. Call this number, to schedule an appointment. For five painless screenings that go beyond bill Mark Zuckerberg the last two days and nothing could be more different than Mark Zuckerberg the head of facebook when you have mike pompeo walking into a room of congressmen and women. Mike pompeo head of the cia, now the nominee to be the next secretary of state and there will be strong statements made by this administration and this man in a moment including this regarding russia. Mike pompeo expected to tell the Senate Committee that years of soft policy toward russian aggression are now over. That will be a major headline and a significant line of questioning. On being labeled a hawk, he will say the following. I know firsthand the painful sacrifice our men and women in uniform are forced to make. So when journalists, most of whom have never met me, label me or any of you as hawks or war hard liners or worse, i shake my head. There are few who dread war more than those of us who have served in uniform. He graduated number one from his class at west point. Mike pompeo now in that room. Meeting with President Trump last night at the white house with the rest of our Leadership Team and frankly we were talking about all the things that we want to get done the rest of this year. We need to stay focused getting our job done and keeping the majority. If we lose focus of that nancy pelosi will be speaker. We know how devastating that would be for our country. Sandra Steve Scalise moments ago saying republicans should keep their eyes on the prize as they look to a future without speaker paul ryan. Lets bring in Chris Stirewalt and charlie hurt. Chris, whats the mood in washington this morning after the stunning announcement by paul ryan yesterday morning . A lot of pollen here because of all the blossoms but other than that i would say people are anxious. They are anxious because we have potential conflict brewing with our number one foe on the planet. There is the Mueller Investigation and all this other stuff. At the same time watching congress not fail watching them going through with mike pompeo here and the Trump Administration with a good foot forward and nominee i think there is some calm at least in washington for a change. Sandra as you said that he walked into the room. We were following his movements there as you mentioned. As you can see there are protests going on ahead of him taking a seat. Well keep an eye on that. Charlie hurt. There has been a night to digest it and what it means for the party. How do they proceed . Well, i think that its kind of funny talking about the environment around her. Republicans are very concerned. Conservatives are concerned around here. Its insane. The last time we had predictions of a big blue wave coming were in 2016 when donald trump won and republicans kept the house and kept the senate. So i think its a little bit people around here get a little worked up. The bottom line is things are going very well for republicans. The economy is going very well. And the biggest problem that they face is kind of they are psyching themselves out and falling into believing all of the liberal media, liberal press trying to sort of stir up all these soap operas around here. If thats all you listen to you would think you were in deep trouble. They need to calm down. Focus on the economy. Do their jobs and run on the agenda that trump that donald trump ran on and won the presidency on. They will be fine. Sandra Steve Scalise told us thats exactly what they did last night when they met with the president. How does the Freedom Caucus come into play, chris . I should only point out for brother hurt that Hillary Clinton couldnt make a blue wave at a sams club book signing. The republicans have to pay attention. Im not saying that mr. Hurt is wrong as it relates to what they ought to do but they have to be cognizant of the fact there is big trouble in the waters and theyre choppy. Having your speaker quit at this point in an election cycle is hardly an expression of optimism and probably duly so. Sandra well have to leave it there. Were watching mike pompeo. He has arrived to face the Senate Hearing for his confirmation hearing to be become the next secretary of state. The president s pick mike pompeo to add to your thoughts earlier, bill, talking on irans dangerous behavior and fixing the egregious flaws in the iran deal. He said they have had too low a price to pay for their dangerous behavior and expected to announce the strategy to counter iran that will raise that cost. Bill as we wait for this, our apologies to anyone at sams club. It was a cute line. Mike pompeo will be there in a moment. He has a close relationship with President Trump. Its a relationship that has grown as the two men have spent more time together. Mike pompeo is the one who would brief the president every morning and it was in these meetings that their relationship start evidence to blossom and it has led from a position at the cia and being nominated to secretary of state which gets us ready for the potential and possibility of this grand summit between the north Korean Leader kim jongun and President Trump. Mike pompeo is critical to making that happen. He is critical to the state department in filling vacancies that have yet to be filled. So that is the reason why, in part, President Trump picked him. Were about to hear from him and see what the senators volley back momentarily. Sandra another excerpt from his Opening Statement is talking about china and he says china has exploited the weak u. S. Trade policy for too long. This administration is determined to work diplomatically with the Chinese Government in an effort to develop a more productive bilateral partnership. All is on the table as we await mike pompeo. Bill bob corker will be questioning in a moment. Back after this break on americas newsroom. Your brain changes as you get older. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Keep your most valuable insights hidden from your competitors. The ibm cloud. The cloud for smarter business. You know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Sandra mike pompeo is in the hearing room now on capitol hill. He is set to make his case to become the next secretary of state. Picked by President Trump. He wants to become americas top diplomat at a critical time for u. S. Foreign policy. Syria, iran, russia, north korea, china, all on the table for this confirmation hearing. His confirmation hearing is now underway as you can see. We await his Opening Statements and well continue to monitor this for you. Bill want to get to the latest on the mueller matter. Allen dershowitz says the government has no right to material taken from the president s private Attorneys Office and hotel room earlier this week. Harvard law professor Allen Dershowitz back with me today. Good day to you and good morning. We may get interrupted. You were at the white house the other night for dinner and you went back yesterday if my sources are accurate. Two visits to the white house in one week. You say the president will not fire anyone connected to the mueller matter. Why do you say that . First my meetings at the white house were about the middle east. Ive been meeting with people from his staff on the middle east now over time and previous president s the same. And so it was just a complete coincidence it occurred on the day after the raid. I dont think he is going to fire anybody. It is possible that his lawyers may do what any lawyer would do, move for the recusal of rosenstein. He is the major witness at this point for the defense. You cant be both a witness for the defense and a part the head of the prosecution team. It is an obvious recusal. Thats different from firing. It is something the person does himself or the Court Imposes on them. Not something that the president of the United States would do. The raid itself to everything i can see now unjustified. What they were looking for were not the most serious crimes. Not terrorism, drug lords or organized crime but technical election violations or tax violations. To raid a Lawyers Office and to seize potentially privileged information. Imagine if they had raided your Doctors Office and gotten your doctor information. Bill i would be ticked off. I sensed through the camera the other night the amount of anger the president had. I agree with you. However, you believe mueller is trying to have it both ways. Carrying out one investigation here and he doesnt have purview of the matter in new york and he farms it out to new york. Thats your position. A caseinlaw called crime fraud exception where you cannot legally use your lawyer to pursue something that is illegal. If thats what mueller is looking at, that could be a big problem. What is your view on that part of the law . First of all, of course its true but you have to in the search warrant allege it and show it. And show there is probable cause for believing that there were illegal fraudulent conversations between a lawyer and a client. Even if the lawyer engaged in flawed it doesnt justify seeing the clients information. Let me take a hypothetical. The president is on tape talking about access hollywood. The tape itself may have been unlawfully obtained under California Law because it seems clear trump did not know he was being taped and California Law you need the permission of the person being taped to be taped. I can imagine him calling his lawyer and saying by the way, mr. Cohen, i was taped illegally. Do everything you can in your power legally to stop this thing from coming out. If that happened it would be a perfectly lawful lawyer Client Communication and the government would put it through a tag team. Other f. B. I. And prosecutors listening to confidential material saying we wont leak it. Oh yeah, ill trust that. Hearing the president talk and not leaking it . Come on. Bill i know you have a big problem with the Attorney Client relationship. You compare it to a priest and penitent. Husband and wife and on and on. I read the piece you wrote yesterday. If you circle back and if you believe mueller has found evidence of a violation, maybe thats what this is all about. If it is you can pay that fine and then we just thats not good enough. If you think there is evidence of that go after bank records and tax records and records of the people he communicated with, you can subpoena those. You use a raid on a Lawyers Office as a last resort. Even if you do that, what you do is you should bring a judge with you. This should be a process and before anything you seize they look through it and says this is lawyer client privilege or priest privilege. You dont get that. This way they seize everything and a government agent reads every one of the material that is also privileged. There is something very wrong with that. I dont think any american would really like that. The aclu has come out in support of this raid, the aclu. They are supposed to be the organization that stands up for Civil Liberties. Now they are mueller fans and f. B. I. Fans, now they are supporting the Justice Department. Now they are are saying there is nothing wrong. They dont know the facts and out there supporting it. Shame on the aclu. I used to be on its National Board when it was a Civil Liberties organization, not a political get trump organization. Bill come on back, sir. My list is long. Allen dershowitz with us today by way of skype. Sandra moments from now secretary of state nominee mike pompeo is about to deliver his opening remarks at his confirmation hearing. Senator richard burr has been introducing him. He should be up next. Well bring you pompeo when he begins. When trying to save for the big things in life, we tend to start small. Less of this. Cut back on that. But if it feels like a lot of effort for a little gain, change that. Start with something that makes a big difference. Your student loans. Refinancing with sofi could save you 30,000. Its an easier way to reach your life goal sooner. Weve helped over 195,000 people. We want to help you too. Find out how much you can save in just two minutes at sofi. Com save. Mother. Nature tes nothing smells greater than the great outdoors. Especially when youre in accounts receivable. Only one detergent can give you a sniff like this. Try gain botanicals laundry detergent. One of the many irresistible scents from gain. Sandra we are awaiting mike pompeos confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of state. Open statements are being read right now. Were waiting for him to begin speaking. When he does well go to him live. Meanwhile joining me now is the navy seal who killed bin laden and the author of the operator. Rob oneill joins us. Great to have you on set this morning and you are watching there is a live look at mike pompeo. Your thoughts on the potential next secretary of state. What i like most about mike pompeo is his military experience. He went to west point. Sandra number one in his class. He served in the army in the first gulf war and his experience in combat. The realization have been been in combat im not as eager to go to combat. When we first invaded iraq in 2003 i wanted to go in because i had been trained to fight and see how good we would be. We had been in afghanistan before that. Realization of how brutal war can be is very important and what he wants now is unrelenting diplomacy are the words he used. Thats great because he knows what we can do. He knows the use of force but he knows how to come to the table. With his experience at the cia he is privy to a lot of stuff behind the scenes and iran and the potential that iran has been en wrenching uranium. A lot of stuff to deal with russia and iran and syria. A lot of stuff. Nice as the head of the cia he knows pretty much everything that the government knows about what we need to know as diplomats. Sandra in his prepared remarks he is expected to address being labeled a hawk. He is expected to say this. I know firsthand the painful sacrifices of our men and women in uniform. When journalists, most of whom have never met me label me or any of you as hawks, war hard liners or worse, i shake my head. There are few who dread more than those of us who have served in uniform. I couldnt agree more. Being a hawk, a lot of people on the left would label him a hawk will bring up sufficient as opposed to syria and ice is and north korea the fact that he backed President Trump getting out of the paris climate agreement. They want to put a lot of people want to put that at the top of National Security threats. He said it us unbelieve we would put Climate Change ahead of other real threats. The state department is politically correct and bring up a lot of stuff. In the past social issues. Marriage equality, things like that will come up. I wouldnt be surprised to see some of our dear friends from code pink disrupting stuff. They get a lot accomplished. Sandra continued questions about this administrations toughness on russia. Mike pompeo in his prepared opening remarks is expected to address russia and how they continue to act aggressively. Enabled by years of soft policy toward that aggression, that is now over he is expected to say. Thats good to see. Weve had issues with russia during the Bush Administration and invaded georgia and backing Bashar Alassad because they like the port they have in syria. They havent really used strong words once in a while and condemned attacks weve done and tried to Say Something to israel when they are striking targets in syria that are against their national interest. But i think being soft on russia. For some reason after the cold war we believe russia went aware. Theyre being run by Vladimir Putin and kgp and russian at heart. Sandra we know right now the u. S. Is engaged in diplomatic efforts to denuclearize north korea and the meeting with donald trump and kim jongun is expectened and expected to say the efforts are underway to rid the world of nuclear north korea. The stakes are high for everyone. Stakes are very high. What happens with the chemical weapons use. How do we respond . Kim jongun will be watching this, too. I dont know what will happen. Syria might get struck maybe not by us. Theyre watching. Kim jongun wants to stay in power. Thats why he wants nuclear weapons. If he can through diplomacy realize his power might be taken out as well depending what we do. There is so much going on but a lot comes back to how we deal with stuff. If he wants to be a hard liner with the threat of force i think he is a right guy for the job. Interesting to watch. Sandra you get a sense of his patriotism and can see him smiling in response to the senators opening remarks as we await his saying make no mistake america is uniquely blessed. With those blessings comes a duty to lead. As i have done throughout my time in Public Service. If we do not lead the call for democracy, human rights around the world, who will . Were the only ones that the best ones to lead. We need alliance solidarity and brings peace through strength. Chamberlain. If we are week on the bullies theyll expand. They arent happy for what they have. Mike pompeo is a good guy. Sandra how is morale with our military under President Trump . Morale is up right now. A lot of funding came back. What my guys are telling me they had a mission to destroy isis, which the caliphate actually, not necessarily all of isis. They knew what they were doing. We knew we are getting boots on the ground in syria with air support. The same in the navy right. The Carrier Strike group on the truman will be there in a week. There is a definite mission and funding is coming back and they are happy to be training and fighting. Sandra thank you for being here as we await mike pompeo an capitol hill. Bill moments away from the hearing beginning. If confirmed mike pompeo would be one of the lead negotiators in any deal with north korea. Stay tuned. He is up next center stage. When i received the diagnosis, i knew at that exact moment, whatever it takes, wherever i have to go. Im beating this. My main focus was to find a team of doctors that Work Together. When a patient comes to ctca, theyre meeting a team of physicians that specialize in the management of cancer. Breast Cancer Treatment is continuing to evolve. And i would say that ctca is definitely on the cusp of those changes. Patients can be overwhelmed. We really focus on taking the time with each individual patient so they can choose the treatment appropriate for them. The care that ctca brings is the kind of care ive wanted for my patients. Being able to spend time with them, have a whole team to look after them is fantastic. I empower women with choices. Its not just picking a surgeon. Its picking the care team, and feeling secure where you are. Surround yourself with the team of Breast Cancer experts at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Visit cancercenter. Com breast Appointments Available now. Bill just so you know were waiting for the Opening Statements from mike pompeo. When it happens well dip in live but also hearing nikki haley is in the room in washington as a show of solidarity and support and her relationship with Rex Tillerson who was fired by way of twitter back the second week of march, her relationship with tillerson was not that great but the relationship with pompeo is very different. As we talk about relationships as we bring back Chris Stirewalt and charlie hurt, when you think about fact that President Trump and mike pompeo didnt know each other 15 months ago or much of a relationship it shows you the way this president has built relationships as a man who came out of the Business World into the west wing and had to forge these friendships to figure out who he could and wanted to work with and whether or not they would implement what he pursued. To that end its middle east peace, its north korea, iran and at the moment syria. What is your view on how that has developed . Friendships are a blessing, as is yours and mine and mine with mr. Hurt when he will have me. But the truth is credentialism is okay to a degree, right . If we took what the press said, if we took what democrats and all republicans would have said what should the secretary of states resume look like pompeo has the resume. He was a conservative congressman from kansas but his qualifications and resumes are there. The core y us friendships and credentials are great but you have to pay attention. Bill President Trump is not one to play games at the negotiating table and i wont be, either. Thats part of what mike pompeo is prepared to say. Lets drop in right now. Senator corker out of tennessee is finished. Mike pompeo has the floor. Im grateful to each of you for the attention youve given us over the past weeks. So many of you have given so much time and so many global matters before us, i appreciate that. Should i be confirmed, this regular contact will continue. You can talk to senator burr. I worked at that diligently as a former member of congress and i understand the importance of that continued relationship and advice that comes from outside of the executive branch. Want to take a moment to thank secretary tillerson for his service and sullivan serving in the gap. A personal thank you to every living former secretary of state. They each took my call and found time to spend and i talked to them multiple times. Democrats and republicans were kind enough to visit and share with me their thoughts on how if im confirmed i would be most likely to be a successful secretary of state. If you know me at all the two people sitting to my rear are my balance. Susan reminds me family issues that affect not just the pompeos but every officer at the Central Intelligence agency as well. It keeps me humble and keeps my sense of humor alive. I left the private sector and entered Public Service theyve had opportunities to tell mel to step back and step away but they havent. Theyve encouraged and promoted it and very supportive of my efforts to serve america. A moment here to the men and women of the cia to say its been an honor and privilege and joy doesnt do justice to these past 15 months. Ive demanded a lot of you. Set the expectation bar high. I pushed responsibility and authority down to each and every one of you and along with that the required accountability. You the warriors of the cia have delivered for america, for President Trump and for me. Perhaps the highest compliments of our work come from our adversaries who fear and are in awe of the institution. From our Partner Services around the world asking for more training, more intelligence, more joint operations than ever. If im confirmed it wont be goodbye. No matter how this nomination process ends ill be with you and support you and admire you. Finally i want to thank the president for his confidence and trust in me. My job is to help inform he and other senior policymakers in america through the cia. I carried out many of those same decisions as his chief diplomat. Senators, if im confirmed ill raise my hand and swear an oath to defend our constitution for the seventh time in my life. First time i was 18 years old. West point cadet. Ill swear to defend the constitution which provides for our obligation to engage in diplomacy and model the very best of america to the world. Make no mistake, america is uniquely blessed. With those blessings comes a duty to lead. As ive argued throughout my time in Public Service if we do not lead for democracy, human rights around the world, who will . No other nation is so equipped with the same blend of power and principle. Two things i want to answer for you. Who is mike pompeo and what are his thoughts and plans to lead the state department . Born in orange, california. We have didnt have a lot of money in my family but i enjoyed school. My brother, sister and i all had fun learning. I was employee of the month as bass kin robbins twice. Im a movie buff. A soft spot for my golden retrievers. I love meatballs that i make with my dads recipe and i enjoyed being a fifth Grade Sunday School teacher for kids who didnt want to sit still. I can beat my son in corn hole every day. I love revolutionary war history, country western, show tunes and college basketball. Ive seen some describe my leadership style at blue collar. Im not afraid to get my hands dirty and youll seldom find mes constitutioned on the senior level of any building. I have no discomfort with directness. I prefer facetoface as opposed to email. I dont hold grudges. I work toward a mission and youth groups. They are our future. This past monday i got a swear in a big group of officer. Always a special moment. This was unique. How i intend to work as secretary of state if im confirmed. Throughout my time in congress an c. I. A. I have met hundreds of state department employees. I know them and in the past few weeks i met dozens more in briefings. To a person they expressed to me their hope to be empowered in their roles and a clear understanding of the president s mission. That will be my first priority. Theyve also shared how demoralizing it is to have so many vac aon sees. Ill do my part. But i need your help. I provide dedicated leadership and convey my faith in their work and professionalism as ive done with the workforce at the Central Intelligence agency. I immediately after my arrival i spoke every conversation about the agencies mission. I talked about commanders in meet with mike. We gather up the first 50 to come talk to me so i have a chance to listen to them. I wanted to know them to know what the president and americas desire was for them and wanted them to understand i was depending on them. When the team needed additional resource efs i defended them and asked and demanded for them and the president , so long as he found value, never hesitated to provide them. I was able to persuade him. With your help ill do is same thing at the department of state. You have my commitment with respect to ill work with each of you to fill the vacancies at the state department. It is critical to strengthening the finest diplomatic core in the world and america and the world needs us to be that. Workforces and their culture. I will spend a lot of time on this. Its important. I will proceed on without getting that part right, if the team doesnt understand the mission and isnt working towards the same goal it is incredibly difficult to think you would achieve it. I have always done that. When i traveled i met with state Department Officials and met with my team and spoke to them about the things i would demand of them and permit them to do and how i would hold them accountable. I remember i went to location the housing for officers simply inadequate. None of you would have allowed your families to be there. I spoke with the ambassador and told him it needed to be fixed. I wanted the state Department Families and ours to know that we cared about them enough to provide living quarters that were sufficient for americans. You should know i believe deeply the state departments workforce must be diverse at the same time ive worked with that. Diverse. I will work to achieve it as ive done in my current role. Focusing on the mission and demanding every team member be treated equally with dignity and respect and ill listen. I had an old crusty Sergeant First Class as a lieutenant. If youll shut up and listen your life will be a hell of a lot better. He was right about that. He taught me a heck of a lot. How to be a good platoon leader. I intend to do that with the talented people of the state department. Let me talk a little bit about the work itself. By definition the Job Description of secretary of state is to serve as the president s chief Foreign Affairs advisor. This was driven home to me in those conversations with every former secretary of state to a person they were remarkably consistent by saying the job number one is to represent the president. For me this means building substantial relationships with our allies, relationships that President Trump and i can utilize for tough conversations and cooperation. Working with our adversaries to make clear objectives and let them know the means by which we intend to achieve them. Im fortunate to have a sizeable head start. As many as a third of the days at the agency i was engaged with foreign counterparts. I forged stronger relationship with partners in middle east, europe, africa and latin america. Ive traveled to these regions to demonstrate the commitment that america has to working as their partners. Ive also met some folks who didnt share many of our objectives and tried to find and asked my team to find levels of Common Ground to Work Together to deliver the results America Needs us to. Representing americas priorities because they determine the trajectory of geo politics and we need to do that well. You know, i will close here as im approaching the five minutes. You should know that i have been an enormous beneficiary in my life of some of the most remarkable diplomatic achievements in america history. I served on the border between east and west germany and watched diplomats over a period of time from both parties achieve an outcome against the soviet union and communist each that prevented my team from having ever to conduct a battle. It was remarkable work from Foreign Service officers over these many years. I thank them for that. It was the right approach. It was the approach that worked for america. I know some of you read the story is im a hawk, a hard liner or i read that and there is no one as you just heard in what i described, there is no one someone who served in uniform who understands the value of diplomacy and the tragedy that is war like someone who has served in uniform. It is the last resort and must always be so. I intend to work to achieve the president s policies with diplomacy rather than sending our men and women to war. I serve a president who feels the same way. While the military balance of power you all did good work to assist us in continuing to build our military to be the finest in the world it can set the stage and create leverage. The best outcomes are always won at the diplomatic table. You know, americas diplomatic Political Engagement and Foreign Policy engagement is a big topic of debate and well debate today. All through my life im reminded once the debates conclude the carrying out of Foreign Policy, the actions that america does make it real. It is a matter of duty to get it right. While we might agree to disagree today on what or how of global involvement, we rarely disagree on why. Its to defend the safety of our families, the prosperity of our nation, and the survival of freedom in the world. Diplomacy lets us achieve that. Ill withhold my time and use it for interjections. Ill turn to senator menendez. Thank you for your testimony. The Washington Post report evidence last year on march 22 of 2017 you and the director of National Intelligence coates attended a briefing at the white house with officials from several Government Agencies. The article says quote as the briefing was wrapping up trump asked everyone to leave the room except for coates and pompeo. The president then start evidence complaining about the f. B. I. Investigation and comeys handling of it saying officials familiar with the accounts coates gave to associates. Two days earlier comey had confirmed in a congressional hearing that the bureau was probing whether Trumps Campaign could order naifted with russia in the 2016 race. He discussed it with other officials and decided that intervening with comey has trump had suggested would be inappropriate with officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. This account suggests that president asked you and director coates to interfere with then f. B. I. Director comeys investigations into the trump campaigns contacts with russia. Did president what did President Trump say to you and director coates in that meeting . Senator, im not going the talk about the conversations the president and i had. I think its in this setting appropriate for a president to have an opportunity to talk with his senior leaders. I will do that throughout the day but i will tell you this, the articles suggestions that he asked me to do anything that was improper is false. Did he ask you to do anything as it relates to that investigation . I dont recall what he asked me that day precisely. But i have to tell you, im with the president an awful lot. He has ne