Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Special Report With Bret Baier 20170413

A crime, a war crime. The american leader put squarely at the feet of syrian president , bashar alassad. Young children dying, babies dying. Fathers Holding Children in their arms, that were dead, dead children. They tl cant be a worst sight. It shouldnt be allowed. Thats a butcher. Thats a butcher. So i feel we had to do something about it. I have absolutely no doubt we did the right thing. Bret President Trumps comments came at a News Conference with plate tnatos sy general. Kevin corke is here to tell us more. But we begin with rich he hedso traveling with Rex Tillerson. Good evening, rich. Reporter good evening, brett. The u. S. And russia have been condemning one another from afar all week. Now, they have finally met. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson prepares to leave moscow, it is clear that proximity has done very little to bring these two countries closer. Following hours of discussions in moscow with Russian Foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov and Vladimir Putin, secretary of state, Rex Tillerson said what was about to become profoundly obvious over the course of a joint press conference. The current state of russia u. S. Relations at is a low point. There is a low level of trust between the two countries. The worlds two foremost Nuclear Powers cannot have this kind of relationship. Reporter however, they do. Disagreeing on how to disagree silence in syria and ukraine. They cant agreed on fundamental facts, like who was responsible for the chemical attack in syria. It was directed and executed by Syrian Regime forces, were quite confident in that. Translator were not convinced thats the case. Reporter he wants an international investigation, fox news asked lavrov what russia would do if they found assad responsible. He says he refuses to speculate. The disagreements on syria continue. Secretary tillerson, again stressed the assad region gemme coming to an end. It is important that assads departure is done in an orderly way. Translator in syria, were acting at the legitimate request, a member of the united nations. Reporter on russian interference in the u. S. Election thats fairly well established, in the United States, that has been spoken to on the hill as well with congress. It is a serious issue. It is one that we know is serious enough to attract additional sanctions. Translator the state secretary has not threatened with new sanctions and has not threatened us at all. As for allegations that the United States government has irrefutable proof that we interfered with the election campaign, i have to say once again, we have not seen any facts. Reporter the u. S. And russia did agree on a few items to continue fighting isis, and also to keep an open dialogue with one another. Lavrov also said putin agreed to establish a communication line between the two militaries, so they can avoid one another in the airspace over syria. Bret. Bret rich, traveling with the secretary of state in moscow, just after 1 00 in the morning. Thank you. Russia vetoed a security resolution, condemning last weeks chemical attack in syria, and using an investigation. That move, that vote, was not unexpected. China, though, abstained, which drew praise from President Trump. Lets get more on the press conference with the nato secretary general. Kevin corke is live on the north line. Reporter hey, bret, he once called it obsolete, you know says nato is important, calling them an essential part of the Security Work in eastern europe, in particular against enemy forces. The president talking about that in that wide ranging News Conference today with the nato secretary general, jens stoltenberg. He also talked about russia specifically, saying relations are at a low point and he suggested it was possible but unlikely the russians new about the syrian gas attack by the Assad Government before it happened. Now, all those comments coming with International Unrest abroad, and believe it or not, quite a few rumblings at the white house. On a day when secretary of state, Rex Tillerson met with his russian counterpart over syria, chemical weapons and election meddling, the Trump Administration was facing a different type of friction back at home. Disruptive, high level staff bickering, threatening to undermine the direction of the trump agenda. The kind that could cost chief strategist his role. Asked by the New York Post if he had confidence in bannon, the president didnt offer a ringing endorsement, saying i like steve, but you have to remember, he wasnt involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors, and i didnt know steve. Im my own strategist. It wasnt like i was going to change strategies, because i was facing crooked hillary. I can run a little hot on occasion. Reporter thought to have the president s ear during policy discussions, bannon seems to have increasingly become marginalized, thanks in part to his high profile set backs, including the immigrant ban, tied up in the courts, and the health care overhaul, which is yet to take flight. It was bannon who ruffled the feather the Freedom Caucus during negotiations. Forceful disagreements with jared kushner, the president said he had it with infighting, adding steve is a good guy, but i told them to straighten it out or i will. White house officials are pushing back, saying healthy debate among policymakers is not only normal, it is good. He understands that we have some pretty smart talented individuals who are opinionated on a lot of subjects. But that are battles and policy differences need to be behind closed doors. Reporter bret, the white house says were over blowing it, infighting happens all the time. I should also point out tonight, were learning from an interview with the wall street journal that he offered xi jinping a trade deal in addition to a few more deals for were told if beijing would help out the u. S. Real in the North Koreans. Well see what that means. Bret not calling china a currency manipulator, a big shift as well. Kevin, thank you. President trump says he is optimistic china can help rein in north korea. He is developing a Good Relationship with the chinese president , but he says he is not putting all his political eggs in beijings basket. I really think china will try very lahard and have already started. You saw that yesterday and today, theyve been turned back, the vast amount of coal that comes out of north korea going to china, they turned back the boats. Thats a big step, and many other steps that i know about. Well see what happens. It may be effective. It may not be effective. It is not effective, we will be effective. I can promise you that. Bret meantime, south korea and the u. S. Are getting ready for any possible military move on the korean peninsula. Greg palcott reports from seoul. Reporter a lot of trucks and ships staging a mock landing. Were told it would be crucial in the event of any fullscale war with north korea. These combined capabilities are essential for our alliance to ensure stability, and for the security of the republic of korea. Reporter this and other exercises drive north korea up the wall, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. The north had equally tough words for the uss carl vinson, saying pyongyang was ready for war. We will hold the u. S. Accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by these actions. Reporter it is a big week, and saturday is the anniversary of the birth date of the countrys founder, kim ill song. Along with a massive rollout of the latest regimes military might, they may launch another ballistic missile. Neighbors in south korea is on alert. Translator the army should based on the Strong Military alliance between the u. S. And south korea. Reporter officials here in south korea have also been trying to tamp down talk about military strikes against north korea by the United States. They know better than most the devastating effect of an allout war on the korean peninsula. Bret. Bret greg, in seoul, thank you. Surprising a lot of people in his country by announcing another run at the top job. Supreme leader, e ayatollah. Were learning more about the obama surveillance on a former advisor to the donald Trump Campaign. Captain herrige talks with carter page. I have nothing i want to hide, and the more that the truth comes out, the better. Reporter former Trump Campaign, carter page, responded to allegations first reported by the Washington Post that he was the subject of u. S. Government surveillance last summer as part of the fbi russia probe. To get a surveillance warrant, the fbi has to have solid evidence. So how do you explain it . Well, we shall see. Again, there is a tremendous amount of false evidence. Reporter page blamed the trump dossier. There is various evidence where it could have come from. Reporter but in a recent speech, the fbi director, james comey says it is a highly bar to monitor an american citizen. Those applications are often as thicker than my wrist, it is a huge pain in the neck to get permission to bug somebody in the United States, and thats the way it should be. Reporter the Senate Intelligence Committee Senior democratic is fully briefed. I cant comment on thefifisa warrant, but it is a serious matter. Reporter from 2013, the fbi investigated efforts by Vladimir Putins government to recruit americans. Pages name surfaced, identified as male dash 1. According to these documents, u pass energy documents to a russian intelligence operative. Is that what happened. It was the same energy, quoteunquote energy documents that i gave to my students at nyu. Did the russians try to recruit you . I was never asked by anyone to do anything untoward or otherwise. Page said he had no contact with Trump Campaign chairman, paul manafort, whose spokesman said allegedly that manafort received money, and quote it is misleading and incorrect. A decision by plmanafort as ages of a Foreign Government for their russian work was described as routine following lengthy discussions with federal authorities. Bret thank you. Now to domestic politics. President trump tells the wall street journal he may consider withholding millions of dollars to Health Insurers to force democrats back to the negotiating table on the issue of health care. That comes as the president s budget director says he is cautiously optimistic a package can be worked out between the white us who and congressional republicans. Subsidies is a sticking point, paid for you by you. Correspondent, peter doocy takes a look tonight. Still the law of the land, so Insurance Companies are still getting subsidies from the federal government to help the poor get covered. Some House Republicans sued to stop these subsidies years ago, so the payments go on. What happens next . Health and Human Services spokesperson says the administration is deciding its position on this matter. We have not been contacted by democrats to help save obama care, perhaps because they consider obama care to be a losing cause. One of obama cares architects insists losing these subsidies could sink the insurance marketplace. It would be seriously destabilize anything two ways, first, saying were not going to pay them would make Insurance Companies leave. The second element is that the insurance premiums would skyrocket between 10 and 20 it is estimated. If the market is destabilized, experts warn of a domino effect. If the subsidies go away, consumers will have a much more difficult time getting to the doctor. If this he have to go to the doctor, the doctor will is a harder time getter paid. It hurts the consumers who need to go to the doctor and need the care, and it can be harmful to the doctors and hospitals and their communities. But that doesnt mean President Trump isnt still constantly confronting unpleasant surprises. Even now as i came in here, theyre saying payments have to be made that werent scheduled to be made on obama care, if you dont make them it fails. I mean, it is just a mess. Obama care is a total mess. Looking ahead, round two of republican deliberations about repealing and replacing is apparently going much better than round one. When the gops moderate and conservative wings didnt agree on much. I talked to members of the Freedom Caucus, and those who are not in the caucus and those discussions are continuing. It is a lot more organic and good ideas filtering up. Is earlier this week, the leader, mark meadows, hinted congress could come back from recess early to vote on an obama care replacement. This afternoon, a Freedom Caucus spokesperson poured cold water on that idea. In the last five minutes, i got this with speaker ryans office. She says if it becomes clear we have a pass to vote, the speaker will bring members back. Bret. Bret well be watching that. Thank you. The head of United Airlines said he felt ashamed when he saw video of a passenger being dragged off a flight earlier this week. He may feel worst ones that passengers lawyers get through with him. Correspondent, rob schmidt has the latest from Newark Airport in new jersey. Oh, my god. Everyone is talking about the video Aviation Police dragging a passenger off a united plight, his face bloody. A paying customer, so united could make room for its own employees. Oh, my god. Look what you did to him. Reporter other passengers watched in horror, and millions have watched online. On Good Morning America a complete flip flop by the ceo, who originally blamed the passenger. Do you think he is at fault in any way . No. He cant be. He was a paying passenger, sitting on our seat in our aircraft. And no one should be treated that way. Period. Reporter a mess for united has become an opportunity for new Jersey Governor Chris Christie to take action. Christie asking transportation secretary, elaine chao to suspend federal regulations that allow airlines to overbook flights. The move they use to ensure maximum profitability by keeping planes packed full. They kick the guy off the plane and the other three to make money. Yes. Thats it. Theyre doing it with the permission of the federal government. Reportell airlines overbook, banking on customers missing flights, and when more travelers show up than there are seats, airlines pay some to take a later flight or just remove them. We talked to travelers where united handles about 70 of the flights. Despicable. I hope they dont try to yank me out of my seat. I understand their position, because it is a business. I think what happened the oh other day with united went beyond the pail. Reporter united ceo may have gotten the message. Were not going to get a Law Enforcement official to remove a booked, paid, seated passenger. We cant do that. Reporter in an attempt to make things right, united has refunded the tickets of everybody that was on last sundays flight. We can tell you, the investigation into what happened continues. Two more aviation officers have been placed on leave. The doctor of all of this, david dow, has hired an attorney. United, a Healthy Company in the last two years, theyve made almost 10 billion in profit. Bret, back to you. Bret live at newark, rob, thanks. Up next, the staggering Economic Cost of the opioid epidemic. First, this is what were covering across the evening. In austin, texas, widespread flooding, in hayes county, they conducted about 50 water rescues there, some were rescued from their homes, others from cars. A creek in belton rose belton, rather, rose up by 13 feet. Fox 6 in milwaukee, as the manhunt continues for a man stealing guns. Joseph jakabowski is considered armed and dangerous, and he wrote an apology to the gun shop owner before stealing the weapons. This a live look in new york. One of the big stories there tonight, the sculpture of wall streets charging bull is saying the city is violating his rights by allowing the fearless girl statue facing his work without permission. Critical of the mayors artwo artworks permit for nearly a year. Thats a live look, from special report well [ engine revs ] [ screams ] [ shouting ] brace yourself this is crazy [ tires screeching ] whoo boom baby rated pg13. [ screams ] an 80 billion drain on the u. S. Economy. On the opioid epidemic, Kristin Fisher looks at the bottom line. Good evening. When you hear the words state of emergency, you typically think some kind of natural disaster, tornados, hurricanes, but maryland became the first state in the nation to declaire a state of emergency for the opioid epidemic. We had flooding, we have natural disasters. This is much worse. There is like five people everyday in our state who are dying. So it is a real emergency crisis. Governor larry hogan calls the Emergency Declaration and the 50 million stit funds that came with it a drop in the bucket. How much is the crisis costing your state. It is almost no limit. You could almost not even put a number on it. Right outside his office, three people died and 16 overdosed in one day. In the week following his Emergency Declaration. It is the most deadly thing in the state. It kills more people than any other thing. Even his own family. I had a cousin several years before, it became such a big problem, who had an addiction problem with heroin and doing a great job of trying to beat it, and was clean for about two years. And got married, and had a couple of kids, and one day, went back one time, and died of an overdose, which happens quite a bit. Still, hogan was surprised by how widespread the problem had become, when he hit the campaign trail in 2014. Everywhere i went, i would ask people whats the number one issue or problem facing your area, your town. Every place i went, all across our state, they said heroin and opioids. It became a cornerstone of his campaign, and now, his administration. All in favor, say aye. On monday, the maryland General Assembly approved a package of bills, and next years budget, nearly doubles the amount of funds used to fight it. The budget includes nearly 300,000 for maryland state police, more than 3 million for the department of health. About 500,000 for the department of public safety, and 7 million for expanding treatment programs. It is a drain on almost every agency in the government. Nationwide, the latest data shows the epidemic costing more than 78 billion a year. The cost start showing up as lost tax addicts drop. Emergency room visits, price tag of 28 billion, and then the impact on the criminal justice system. Nearly 8 billion a year is spent on prosecuting and incarcerating addicts and dealers. It is a huge deal. From the d. A. s perspective, number one drug threat facing the country. The dea assistant administrator says there are 580 heroin users new a day. 80 started by using or misusing prescription painkillers. What weve had is people using prescription opioids, doctors overprescribing them. People becoming addicted. Getting on the circle of addiction. What happens, we see on the other part of dea, mexican cartels exploiting that epidemic and flooding the country with high purity, low cost heroin now, dangerously laces with fentanyl. Fentinyl. Two milligrams is potentially lethal. Last year, it jumped a staggering 284 deaths, and that doesnt include data from the last three months of the year. The final number will be even higher. It prompted the maryland General Assembly to pass a bill on monday, that will impose an additional ten years in prison for anyone convicted of supplying fentanyl. We have to get the people bringing these deadly drugs in. Weve got to take them off the streets. Governor hogan says he is satisfied what state lawmakers were able to accomplish, even though he acknowledges it isnt enough. We have to throw everything we can at it. We put money into it, and the problem continues to grow. And the problem isnt going away any time soon. According to a poll conducted just last month, nearly onethird of the States Residents say they have a Family Member or close friend addicted to either prescription opioids or heroin, a third, bret sfloo staggering numbers. Thanks, kristin. Tomorrow, in our fivepart series, doug will look at the roll of the socalled dark net in the opioid epidemic. You can see all the segments so far online at foxnews. Com special report. Republicans dodged a political bullet yesterday in kansas, the gop won the first of a handful of special elections to replace new members of the Trump Administration. National correspondent, william lasense tells us what happens from wichita. This wasnt a seat we were going to win. Reporter a defiant run, estes proved run he predicted democratic challenger would steal the congressional seat in ruby red, kansas, a district donald trump won by 27 points. Most voters at this point, donald trump is the face of the Republican Party in american politics. Reporter that cuts both ways in this election. The president s last minute robo calls helped drive republican and democratic turnout. Popularity among democrats and independents is extremely low and he is mobilizing the Democratic Base strongly. Reporter estes won by seven points, considering a democratic hasnt won here in 25 years, and has rarely exceeded 40 . It took a president of the United States, the Vice President , the speaker of the house, a senator, coming into our state and a bunch of lies. Reporter one race does not make a trend, but pundits on both side also spin the results, looking towards the midterms. Clearly democrats have a lot of reason to be happy, because there are over 100 republican held districts that are less republican than here in kansas. But on the other hand, republicans have got to be happy that theyve won, and also, it does show that they can activate their base at least partly at the last minute. Reporter the president tweeted his approval of what he called an easy victory. As for that margin, consider this analogy. Say you havent won a game all season, well, the loss is pretty close to a win. If you are that topranked team, well, it wasnt your best game, but a win a win, and youre unbeaten streak is still alive, bret. Bret the w, william. Thank you. Open seat in georgia is underway, hhs secretary, tom prices former seat. Correspondent, jonathan seary has that story from atlanta. Reporter eyeing a congressional seat up for grabs in a special election. The highly educated suburbs that make up the 6th district, lean republican. Donald trump won the district by just 1. 5 in 2016. He has 11 republicans, some running as trump loyalists, some are barely mentioning his name, including john allsap, which he calls a make trump furious campaign. A documentary filmmaker has raised more than 8 million. Conservative attack ads have tried to portray him as en experienced, digging up an old star wars parody he made during college. While democrats seem to be rallying around him, the field of 18 candidate also includes two independents, and a crowd of republicans, trying to stand out as their partys frontrunner to fill the seat vacated by health and Human Services secretary, tom price. Havent we had enough of the politicians who talk a big game and never deliver. The republicans have been feuding with each other more than theyve been attacking john austof. A big career spending politician we cant trust with our money. There has been testy moments and it will be hard for republicansing to consolidate behind one candidate. Reporter issues range from health care to tax reform. Transportation, education, infrastructure improvement, putting people back to work. I kept hearing we need to put money here, money there from both sides. I didnt hear anybody say where the money comes from. This country is so divided i think it would be great to see somebody that could work across the aisle. Reporter political analysts say it is unlikely, but not impossible for democratic austoff to get the plus one majority to win tuesdays election, out right if no candidate is able to pass the threshold, then the two leading vote getters, regardless of their political party, will face one another in a runoff on june 20, bret. Bret thank you, jonathan. Breaking news tonight. Several sources telling fox news an arrest has been made in the 2010 murder of u. S. Border patrol agent, brian terry. His death ex exposed a government run gun were waiting for more details. On the markets, stocks were down, the nasdaq fell 31. President trumps Foreign Policy getting a workout today. We will talk about russia, syria, china, north korea. The panel joins me after a. I would like to think they didnt know, but certainly, they could have. They were there. Fathers Holding Children in their arms that were dead. Dead children. It cant be a worst sight. It shouldnt be allowed. Thats a butcher. Thats a butcher. The current state of u. S. russia relations at is a low point. There is a low level of trust between our two countries. The fixation on trying to oust the dictator, authoritarian leader is wellknown to us and we know how it will end. Bret secretary of state, Rex Tillerson in moscow, meeting with as you see there, the foreign minister, was kind of an icy News Conference. An then the president , with the nato secretary general saying indeed, u. S. russia relations are at an alltime low. Lets bring in the panel. Jenna goldberg, molly hemming way, political report and syndicated krauthammer. It is fair to say at this point that the trump as putin puppet story line is officially dead. To come back, but it would take something remarkable. I think that it is, you know, i think at one point today, these are the worst relations weve ever had with russia, ever, President Trump said. But it is very clear that things are not going well. And everyone is sort of just doing a tailspin, trying to figure out what the theme of the pudding is of american Foreign Policy right now. Bret remember that debate, amy. Youre the puppet. No, youre the puppet. That was Hillary Clinton and that was a good one. Bret what about the Tillerson Lavrov conference . It was lavrov who was the most, i guess, outspoken here, much more so than tillerson. But again, this is were trying to figure out pudding is a good word. Were trying to figure out where this congeals here. The secretary of state said there is no change in policy on sunday. This is about isis. Today, now, were talking about not necessarily regime change, but definitely that assad needs to go. So that seems to me like weve seen just in the last couple of days, which also leads me to question where will we be two or three days from now. The other big news item from the president meeting with the nato secretary was saying i think nato is pretty cool now. Im okay with nato. So i think for those of us trying to figure out were going next, this, today, did not give us a whole bunch of openings. I think it was a little i have a slight she different take. I thought it was a good meeting, far from what were hearing from people, any communication with russia is dangerous. Bret we should point out he met with putin for a long time. Several hours, yes. When they had their press conference, they sounded quite a bit of hope, i thought. There are a lot of problems with russia. There is ukraine, the buildup of nato troops and russia troops on the border, syria, the fact that we bret iran. Nuclear weapons, we have to make sure treaty agreements are in order. I thought the press conference was quite good. You have lavrov saying there are a lot of problems caused by the obama administration, working to overcome those, setting up a working group, Bilateral Working Group to work on these issues together. I think this is exactly the direction things should be moving. Bret to amys point, charles, looking back at trumps tweets as a candidate, nato is obsolete and must be changed to focus on terrorism as well as some of the things currently focused on, my statement on nato, three days later, saying obsolete too expensive and unfair are now finally receiving plaudets. Here is the president today. We had a productive discussion about what more nato can do in the fight against terrorism. I complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change. And now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. It is no longer obsolete. Charles . Well, this is good. I love the fact that trump is taking the credit for dramatic changes in nato. None of which are true. They were always theyve been supporting us in afghanistan for a decade. Nonetheless, as he likes the flattery, and he changed his position, thats great. Bret hold on. They did start moving to spend more defense spending on per capita, i mean per country towards nato. I mean, each one is supposed to spend 2 of their gdp on their defense, and now the secretary general is saying these countries are starting to get there, in part, to impress donald trump, the president. With a whopping 0. 8 in spending. It was a gesture. The germans made a gesture, increasing the size of the army by 20,000. It is not going to make a difference in the conflict, the gesture is great. But the idea there has been a radical change in policy is simply not true. I dont care. For whatever reason trump changed his view or at least changed his policy on nato, and what that encourages me together with the fact that i too was encouraged by the meeting between lavrov and our secretary of state, tillerson. But not because of what i felt were trivial side agreements, but precisely, because of the iciness. It was beautiful. I like john kerry, would go around like a puppy dog, pretending everything was okay and the russians were listening and theyre going to act right. He was going to provide an offramp for ukraine, so they could withdraw by saving face and all this idiocy. We had stone faced tillerson and said everything was wrong, and thats the realism you want. The message is simple. The message is to the russians, eight years of the free lunch is over. Youre not going to walk all over the west. Youre not going to walk all over any where you want. Youre going to meet resistance. The first strike was in syria. In general, we are ready to resist you and that encourages all the allies all over the world. Bret is this the beginning ever a new cold war . Is it getting refrigerated . The temperature began to fall six, seven years ago, with the invasion of georgia. At the time, i called it the closing ceremonies of the sochi olympic games. It went south and they had no resistance. The russians have had a free ride. You want to call it a cold war, it is the aggressiveness of the retu russians. It is not anything weve done. We have to stop the progress of putin and that i think in once they meet resistance, the russians have always reacted and stopped only when they meet resistance. I think it will lead to a warming. But not until weve established reestablished ourselves. Bret i want to talk about north korea, the president talked about that today, and tweeted about the conversation, said he had a good call last night with the president of china concerning the menace of north korea, and today, touted things that china, he says, are his already doing. Do you sense movement here, jonah. Bret i do, i think this is something he deserves corresponden credit ford. It is remarkable to me in this conversation that he had, trump admitted in a press account of it today, he said i always thought china could take care of north korea, no problem, tremendous problem. Xi talked to him for ten minutes, and convinced donald trump that it is much more complicated than that. He basically admitted he was wrong. It is interesting, but at the same time, china does seem to be leaning on north korea that it never did under obama or george w. Bush. It seems some kind of productive relationship came out of that maralago meeting, and he deserves some credit for it. And also abstained that was a big deal. The u. N. Security council vote, the chemical weapons attack was bad and they abstained on that vote. Didnt the president also make remarks today to the wall street journal saying that he does not see china as a currency manipulator, thats no longer as high of a priority on his list . Is it looks like there is negotiating here, trying to give uts us a little bit, we gave them a little bit. Thats a big bit. China sent back 12 ships with coal, thats a huge hit for north korea, if theyre going to buy coal from the u. S. Lets not forget about the stick. This is an administration that unlike obama, did something in syria. Actually attacked an air base where the russians were, that didnt hit any russians, but not afraid to do it. There a Carrier Group vinson, off the shores of north korea. That sends a message, when you combine the two, the chinese have to calculate that it is possible not likely, but possible this a president who would actually do a preemptive attack, or at the least, in a year or so well see it, shoot down a rocket that the North Koreans have launched. That will be another signal that chinese are worried about how it is a nixon effect. What is this man capable of doing, and that i think is having an effect on their being acting rather well so far on north korea. Pretty interesting. Next up. Palace intrigue at the white house. Bret interesting teams at the white house. The chief strategist, steve bannon, has been getting a lot of publicity. Maybe not the best publicity, the latest is that he may not be sticking around. Thats the speculation in washington, in part, because of a New York Post story. Hi, how are you . And it says from the president , quote, i like steve. But you have to remember, he was not involved in my campaign until very late. I had already beaten all the senators and all the governors. And i didnt know steve. Im my own strategist, and it wasnt like i was going to change strategies because i was facing crooked hillary. Steve is a good guy, but i told them to straighten it out or i will. Were back with the panel. Read between the lines, amy. You know, it is never a good idea to get on the wrong side of your boss family. Thats a fairly good rule to follow. At the same time, it is also pretty clear that the bannon wing, in terms of his ideology, the America First, the president s address at his inaugural, which was essentially written with Steve Bannons hand is nothing what were seeing now on the international stage. In that sense, if youre going to talk about the intrigue in terms of is he going to be there, but in terms of his overall influence, i would argue that the America First influence is strongest right now, with jeff sessions, and what is happening over in the attorney generals office. Not so much on the national front. Bret there a sense, jonah, that the president didnt like the attention that steve bannon was getting, all the articles saying he was behind this or behind that. The Time Magazine cover, the focus on steve bannon. Yeah i mean, who could have predicted it would be a bad idea, right after donald trump has this historic victory, and steve bannon is on the cover of Time Magazine, instead of donald trump, that it would it might bother donald trump. I mean, this a guy who keeps stacks of his Time Magazine covers in his office. I think amy puts her finger on it. There is, what were seeing now, the disappointment of Donald Trumps biggest fans. Because the reality is that donald trump was willing to ride an he brags about he doesnt have a doctrine, he is flexible. Jared kushner, his soninlaw, is exploiting that, and saying, hey look, weve got to get some order around here. Bannon has been clear. He says he wants to tear everything down and replace it later. Thats reflected in thats palace scquabbles. Im not sure if it is all that important. Considering the things that people dont like about bannon, donald trump has been doing for decades, the nationalism, the willingness to blow up the left right paradigm. It is significant that he represents a key constituents, and he needs to stay in touch with the establishment types that are represented well by jared kushner, the so in law. I dont think that donald trump voters were looking for a more liberal version of a mccain presidency. What that would have been. He needs to stay in teach with people in the white house that re of his face. Bret donald trump says he is connected with the base, but lets play this out. Lets say steve bannon does leave the administration. Now, which is worst for President Donald Trump . You have steve bannon, who eventually would get funded by the billionnairse, he this list of white board that candidate donald trump promised, would you rather that have in the tent, or from the outside, hammering from the right, this is what youre not doing, President Trump . I think thats exactly why he is likely to stay on. Because if you calculate, as you just did, infinitely safer to keep him inside the tent, to keep him on the periphery perhaps, but keeping an eye on him. Keep your enemies closer. He isnt an enemy, but he could be if he gets kicked out, particularly if it is portrayed in the press as a clash between him and newcomer, jared kusher. The interesting part is you can have the bannon in the white house, but bannon is an eclipse. It is clear that the Foreign Policy is not that of the inaugural address, which was radically noninterventionist. It was antianything he said, America First, were going to stay home. The Foreign Policy is now being run by or at least guided by the Old Boy Network of the generals that he has appointed, and in defense of national security, theyre the ones who gave him or who gave him the backing, and the outlines of syria strike and if i were trump, i would keep bannon around on a leash and having as little influence at least on these issues as you can. This idea of everything that support for trump was this new thing called trumpism, laury la ingraham, people like him stirring these things up, there is no trumpism. Steve bannon, stay or go . Goes. Stays. I do too. I think he stays. Stays, hanging by a thread. Bret were hanging by a im only in my 60s. Ive got a nice long life ahead. Big plans. So when i found out medicare doesnt pay all my medical expenses, i got a Medicare Supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if youre eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. Be abl stick with him. [ male announcer ] youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. See why millions of people have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. Dont wait. Call now. Bill join us for the online show. My casual, he can post comments and questions. Were going to hang around here for half an hour. Thanks for joining abby it is thursday, april 13th. Alltime low, donald trump has a cold meeting between Vladimir Putin and rex to listen. We are not getting along with russia at all, may be an alltime low. The current state of Us Russian Relations is at a low point. There is a low level of trust between our countries. The change of heart that could rub Vladimir Putin the wrong way. No sanctuary for illegal immigrants. The mayor who tried to make his city a safe space put on the spot. That is a good question i dont have the answer to. I dont think on a second offense, i am honestly not sure. Heather will he have a change of heart . A holy war, parents fuming that their kids have school on good friday. Should they be forced to go . Fox and friends first arts now. Do what you want you are never going to take me take me away heather you are watching fox and friends first thursday morning. A live shot in new york city, thank you for joining us. Abby thanks for starting your thursday with us. Donald trump taking a sharper tone on russias role in syria warning relations with the us are at an alltime low. Rex tillerson leaving moscow after a facetoface meeting with Vladimir Putin. Brandnew details on the tense