Interviews with newsmakers and discussions of current affairs. Question, did the u. S. Play any role and what your reaction to what maduro is calling an assassination attempt . I can say unequivocally there was no u. S. Involvement at all. I spoke with down there, he and his staff are up much of the night making sure americans in venezuela were safe. As of now, we think everybody noticed at the embassy is in a secure position. They will evaluate conditions today but they focused on that principal responsibility. As of now, feel pretty confident that americans are accounted for. With respect to what happened last afternoon, look, could be a lot of things. From a Pretext Set Up by the Maduro Regime himself. Hes made accusations regarding the outgoing president of columbia responsibility. What he calls the extreme right wing and thats a vast opposition to his authoritarian role and unnamed in theUnited States. These are things hes said before. You have to take them for what theyre worth. If the government of venezuela has hard information that they want to present that would show a potential violation of u. S. Criminal law, we will take a serious look at it. In the meantime, i think what we should really focus on is the corruption and oppression of the regime in venezuela. Chris lets turn to the apparent disconnect between what Trump Administration officials are saying about russian meddling in 2016 and 2018 and what President Trump is saying about the here is how dhs Secretary Nielsen described in the president hours later. Our democracy itself is in the crosshairs. I had a great meeting with putin and we discussed everything. Now we are being hindered by the russian hoax. Its a hoax. Chris ambassador, which is
it . Is it a threat to our democracy or is it a hoax . I know theres this narrative in the press that there is a disjunction between the president and the rest of his administration. I got to know eugene mccarthy, the late democratic senator. Used to describe the process as a group of birds sitting on a telephone wire. One would fly off and then theyd all fly off. Thats what this narrative i think is all about. The president knew exactly what was going to be said at that Press Briefing on thursday. Hes the one who directed it be held. It came as a result of a National SecurityCouncil Meeting we held the friday before were the heads of the Operating Agencies who attended on thursday and others, told the president what we were doing. He thought it was important the American People heard directly from the people responsible for Election Security at the
federal level. In a nonclassified environment. Chris they are saying, this is a clear and present danger, that russia did it in 2016 and are continuing to do it now. You have the secretary of Homeland Security with her hair on fire think democracy is in the crosshairs and you have President Trump think youre being hindered by the russian hoax. That is not the press making that up. Anybody who looks at it has got to see it a difference there. I think what hes saying about the hoax is the idea that the russians directed control of his campaign or administration, that there were some conspiracy or violation of u. S. Line 2016. Chris hes handed down an indictment of 12 military Intelligence Officers of the g are you. Theres no question thats going on. The hoax is the idea that the Trump Campaign was a
their oneonone meeting with one not stand there right alongside putin with the whole world watching and say, we will not stand Foranymore Meddling . As the president said, he misspoke, the subs subsequent point. He had a Statement Issued the next day that i think made clear where he stood on the issue. As i say, you cant read any motive into what he did other than his deep concern about Russian Election meddling then to put the four operating heads out for that Press Briefing. The whole point of that was to show what his administration was doing to counter russian meddling and other broader Influence Operations right now. Chris even kristin fishers piece about the rally, he does that meddling. He says there were a lot of people involved. No there wasnt. It was russia. That to everybodys been
focusing on. Thats who you focused on in your briefing. Rights. Theres no question that russia was the principal violator and their activity this year, puts them in the lead the activity so far at least is down from 2016. But it does not exclude for the potential for others to muddle. And i think the broader issue that i think Christopher Wray talked about in particular of influence efforts that go beyond the specifics of a particular election. I think thats very troubling too. Chris you talk about the media and the idea they all jump off the telephone line. Not everyone but a lot of them. Chris in a much more direct way, the president critiqued the media. Iwant to put up the streets. This tweets. This is one of them. The fake news hates me saying
theyre the enemy of the people, only becausethey know its true. Im providing a service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause Great Division and distrust. They can also cause war. They are very dangerous and sick. Ambassador, what war is it that weve started . I think the issue of press bias has been a long time. I supported Barry Goldwater in 1964, i thought the press had was biased against him. Chris absolutely. There is bias and people get things wrong and they should be called out for it. Cause war, six, this is taking it to a completely different level. That the presence of you based on the attacks the media has made on him. There have been other administrations that have been highly critical of the press as well. I remember john kennedy cutting off the white house subscription to the new york times. Chris it was the Herald Tribune but close enough. I think this adversarial relationship is typical. Talking about 25 percent on 200 billion more in chinese exports and they are threatening tariffs on 60 billion of u. S. Products. Heres larry kudlow. The president is impatient. So yes it to our team, take a look at raising the tariff on them. Last 200. Take a look. Hes impatient. Chris how far is President Trump prepare to go in his standoff with china and if chinese president xi jinping doesnt blink or back down, how long could this go on . I think as larry was in, dont underestimate President Trumps resolve. For decades, china has been the principal malefactor trying to use a free trade aspiration. Most of the rest the world has to pursue mercantilist goals. It steals intellectual property. Chris how far you prepare to take this . Far enough to get china to change its behaviorand they need to understand that. Chris if they dont . I think the pressure will continue and the president has made that very clear. Chris ambassador bolton, always good to talk with you. When we come back, senator marco rubio joins us exclusively to talk about his push to hit russia if they meddle in our midterms as well as his plans for paid family leave. Later, should blueprints to make a plastic gun in your own home be availabl Sleep Disturbances keep 1 in 3 adults up at night. Only remfresh uses ionpowered melatonin to deliver up to 7 hours of sleep support. Number 1 sleep doctor recommended remfresh your nightly sleep companion. Available in the Natural Sleep section at walmart. President trumps
offthecuff statements about russia, north korea and iran stand in contrast to the rest of his administration and much of the Republican Party. We want to discuss that with senator marco rubio, a key member of the Senate Foreign relations and intelligence committee. two fox news sunday. Thank you, thanks for having me back. Chris you are trying to get the senate to pass what you call the dieter act which would invoke automatic sanctions against russia or any country that interferes with u. S. Elections. Is what top intelligence officials at the Trump Administration send this week. Russia attempted to interfere with the last election and continue to engage in maligned Influence Operations to this day. Its pervasive, it is ongoing. With the intent to achieve their intent and that is drive a wedge and undermine our
democratic values. Chris if you can get congress to pass the legislation, given what we just heard. Should sanctions be imposed on russia right now . Theres always cause for sanctions against putins government because their ongoing violations of human rights and the like. To their credit, this administration has imposed tough sanctions already. But what we are hoping today is deter future activity. Create a situation where Vladimir Putin has to weigh the costs and benefits. We will show them what the costs are when he weighs the cost and benefit of taking similar action in 2018, hopefully he will determine the cost is too high. I cant guarantee that but i can guarantee if we dont do something, he will interfere i multiple ways. Chris one interesting aspect of your legislation is under
the bill, its the director of national intelligence, not the president who would certify that interference had taken place. Given all the president s talk about the russia hoax, dont you trust him to call out kremlin meddling . I do. Especially if it happens in 2018. Thats part of the bill we will probably have to rework because we want to pass the bill. We want to create an automatic way for sanctions to kick in. There will probably have to be an additional of a president ial waiver. The dni will play a key role. Thats the way we crafted it but the partner im working with, we are willing to make reasonable changes that allows us to pass it and thats probably one of those that weve heardpush back on. We wantto do something done and do whatever it takes to pass a law that will have real sanctions that will you can
house pass past the house and senate. Chris President Trump tweeted this. Attorney general Jeff Sessions should stop this rigged witchhunt right now for it continues to stain our country any further. Afterwords, you said special Counsel Robert Mueller should be allowed to finish his work and all of the truth should come out. In pursuit of that truth, should President Trump sit down with the special counsel to answer any questions about russian collusion, Obstruction Of Justice and what if he refuses and the special counsel get the subpoena . The Second Question is really for the president lawyers. Im not in a position to give legal advice to the president. But let me talk about the first part and that is, this is no mystery. He believes strongly, he says he knows for a fact that he did not collude with the russians and he thinks this
investigation is solely about collusion and thats how he feels strongly. My position based on thing i know about this case is the following. I believe its in the best interest of the president and the United States of america for that investigation to run the course for all the truth to come out. I think its the best thing that could happen for him in the country. I was late, he is annoyed by thatinvestigation continuing to go on because its about him h. And he hasnt frantically said he has included with the russians. If there was strong evidence of collusion, i guarantee it would have been leaked by now but lets wait for the process to play itself out and i think thats what should happen. Mueller should finish his work and the truth should come out. Chris as part of that process, you save for the best interest of the present. Should he sit down and answer all questions . Its easy to see that from a political but thats not an
interview. Its an interview with a lot enforcement official. There are plenty of people that are innocent whose lawyer would tell them to not sit down and answer questions from a prosecutor. Thats a decision for the president to make alongside his attorneys. Its my understanding that he wants to do it. Its his attorneys that have questions about them. There are plenty of innocent people whose lawyers tell them to not answer questions. I dont want to prejudge or somehow imply that by not sitting down, he is guilty of something. Chris lets turn to north korea. Do you think the tim regime is playing President Trump . I do not believe he is ever going to give uphis nuclear ars. What i believe he will do is a series of unilateral concessions to that do not undermine his capabilities in the longterm. I think hes more than willing to tear apart the facilities, as hes got newer ones that work better. I believe, he believes, even if he gets rid of some of the new enrichment capability, he already has existing weapons and existing enriched capabilities that he can hide from the world. Every time he does one of these productions, he is engendering goodwill internationally which is ultimately his goal. To undermine National Support for sanctions by underlining all of these things im doing. Thats his goal in my opinion and i hope hes wrong. Chris it appears to be working. We understand north korea is violating the sanctions by doing ship to ship transfers. We hear that russia is doing business with north korea. They are bringing thousands of more workers into the country who are ineffective slaves to send money back to the regime. Isnt tim succeeding in lowering the temperature. Breaking apart the alliance of sanctions and President Trump is being played . Neither one of those two things are new. The laborers to russia has been going on in the ship to ship transfer is the only way to evade. I think we need to be becareful about [indiscernible]. The chinese would love for this to be a stepbystep process that drags out. I dont know if the president is being played. I think hes hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. The sanctions remain in place. I think they need to be more cautious about continuing to engage our partners around the world that they are fully aware of whats happening and what Isnt Happening in north korea point whats real and what isnt real. I will have concerns about anything theyve done so far. Chris i want to ask you
about one of your other big issues and that is you have introduced legislation to create paid family leave. You take the money that would go to the parents of newborn children from Social Security payments they would get later on. Democrats say the benefit is too small and it shouldnt come out of Retirement Payments and third, most people take family leave for illnesses. Either their own or family members. They dont take it for childbirth. Ivanka trump was a big supporter said theres no chance this is going to happen in this congress. Nothing is going to happen other than the bills that are stacked up and ready to goal. If this is a big issue, its a revolutionary idea and it will take time to pass. Heres what it does, its an option. You dont have to. The benefit is comparable to
what you get in the private sector in terms of paid family leave for the birth of a child. Number three, the concept is this. If you choose to dictate families, at least six weeks, up to 12 weeks. You can decide some of your Retirement Benefits from your money and Social Security, you can advance and take now instead of later. A portion of it. Its a choice, an option you have. For the 85 percent of americans that today have no options at all other than to skip paychecks. How many people can afford to skip one paycheck not to mention 46 after the birth of a child . Chris senator marco rubio, thank you point please come back. Up next, we bring in our sunday group to discuss President Trumps escalating attacks on the media. The faceup with reporters gets even more heated. Would you like to ask the panel about the president s threat to shut down the government before the midterm elections over funding for hi it would be bad politics for the Republican Party to shut the government down. Wed get blamed. Chris senator Lindsey Graham warning President Trump not to shut the government down over immigration issues ahead of the midterms. Its time now for oursunday group. Karl rove , philippe reines, susan page and jason riley. Which heading down the government over the wall and immigration issues help or hurt republicans in the midterms . Her to the republicans. Theyve they are seen of having control of the government. Regardless of how the president describes the culprits as being the democrats, it will hurt the republicans. The president s approval is 4651 and the latest fox poll. 4355 on immigration. So dont push immigration . Dont shut down the government. If you want to shut down the government, shut it down over the economy but people dont believe particularly when it comes to the wall that its the right thing. The wall is