Are the critics missing the point about Sweden?
President Trump faces criticism for quip at rally; Panel breaks down the reaction on 'The First 100 Days'
This is a rush transcript from "The First 100," February 20, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SANDRA SMITH, GUEST HOST: Breaking tonight, a new executive order on immigration could come down at any moment.
Plus, President Trump's search for a new national security adviser is over.
It is day 32 of "The First 100." I'm Sandra Smith in for Martha MacCallum.
Just a short time ago, from his Mar-a-Lago resort, President Trump announcing Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster will take over as national security adviser. The announcement coming exactly one week after Michael Flynn resigned from the position.
Plus, today, we learned that President Trump is expected to double down on his immigration ban and sign a new executive order within days. That order will still target the same seven countries -- Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Libya.
As the president molds that new order, he is taking some heat for defending a ban on refugees by citing a non-existent attack in Sweden. But some say the president was not entirely wrong.
Matt Bennett, Dana Loesch and Guy Benson are all here on that in just moments.
But first, let's go to chief White House correspondent John Roberts on the looming immigration rewrite.
John?
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sandra, good evening to you. I'm told by White House officials that it will probably be toward the end of the week, maybe Thursday or Friday, that we see this new executive order on what's called extreme vetting. But it also includes that immigration ban.
You ran over the seven countries there just a second ago so no reason to do it again. But the White House hopes that this one is going to pass legal muster, unlike the last one, which has gotten mired up in the courts because it's going to create special carve outs for certain individuals. People like legal, permanent resident who got trap in the first one.
Also people already here on certain visas like work visas or student visas and foreign nationals who have been helping the United States in the fight against terror.
And the White House Council's office, at the same time, is poised to hand new powers to the Department of Homeland Security to crack down on illegal immigration, particularly across their southern border. They are in the process of approving implementation memos from Secretary John Kelly. It was signed on Friday.
Those would include provisions like hiring 10,000 additional ICE agents, hiring 5,000 more border patrol agents. These are things that the president talked about at length during the election campaign. And it would also prioritize the removal of criminal illegal aliens, people who have been convicted of any type of criminal offense. People who have been charged with a criminal offense that has not been resolved. People who have abused public benefit programs. That's an interesting little twist here that may end up getting a lot of opposition. And people who are subject to a removal order, but are still in the country.
It would also expand to some degree what's known as the 287G program. And that allows the federal government to sort of work in partnership, almost deputized local law enforcement to aid in immigration enforcement and deportations.
Now, this does not include, though, National Guard troops. That was an erroneous story that was out there on Friday. This has nothing to do with the National Guard at all. Just local law enforcement.
And the president starting off this week on a strong footing announcing that after having a weekend of job interviews, he has a new national security adviser. Here he is. H.R. McMaster, lieutenant general in the U.S. army. And he is going to maintain that rank, by the way, when he serves as a national security adviser. He is highly respected; decorated career officer.
And what's really interesting, too, Sandra, about all of this is he is the head of the army capabilities immigration center, which means that basically he's a futurist. He looks ahead to the threats that will be facing the United States and our ability to respond to them, which I think would really give him a good background to be a national security adviser.
Sandra?
SMITH: All right. John Roberts, thank you for that report. Good to see you.
As we await a new executive order on immigration, it is a comment about some of those very refugees the president made this weekend that has stirred some new outrage.
On Friday, "Tucker Carlson Tonight" ran an interview with filmmaker Ami Horowitz about the alleged crime spike in Sweden after the nation took in hundreds of thousands of refugees over just the past few years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMI HOROWITZ, FILMMAKER: They know that this crime is happening. They can feel it. The statistics are clear. But they would refer to what is the cause behind it and say, oh, it's just happening more violence. It's men who are raping people, not the refugees. They make excuses for it.
The majority of the population in Sweden still want to have an open-door policy. It's really -- it's confounding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: On Saturday, at his rally in Melbourne, Florida, President Trump referenced the reporting. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They are having problems like they never thought possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Then on Sunday, the president clarified the meaning behind his statement, tweeting this. "My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on @FoxNews concerning immigrants & Sweden."
Well, this morning on "Fox & Friends," Tucker spoke about the interview and the president's comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": The president is ought to be precise in what they say. There should be no question about what their meaning is and that applies to this president, too, for sure.
On the other hand, it seems like we may be missing the point of the story, which is there has been a massive social cost associated with the refugee policies and immigration policies of Western Europe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Here now is Matt Bennett, former deputy assistant to President Clinton. Dana Loesch, host of "Dana" on "The Blaze TV" and Guy Benson, political editor at TownHall.com and a Fox News contributor.
I'm sure there is a very spirited discussion about to happen here because there are so many ways to look at this and what has happened.
But, Guy, one thing is for sure. The White House immediately came out and clarified the president was not referencing an attack that had happened the night before in Sweden. He was referencing crime in general in Sweden. He has not calmed his critics, however. Your response?
GUY BENSON, TOWNHALL.COM: All right. So there's a couple moving parts here, Sandra. And I think we just heard that explanation from Tucker on "Fox & Friends" this morning. That was a really good one.
Yes, President Trump was quite imprecise with his words. And when you are the president, words matter, facts matter, phrasing matters. And that's something that may be the president can improve upon. Let's put it that way.
But what was the reaction amongst so many in the press? It was to invent a story that Trump's words were in reference to some sort of fake nonexistent terrorist attack, which is something that he never said. They inferred it, perhaps. But it seems like there is a problem here on both sides, where Trump doesn't quite get it right, to put it mildly on the details. And then, the press read something into it that he never said, and they run with it. And that's not accurate, either.
So I can imagine a lot of voter sitting back and saying, I don't know who to trust because it seems like a lot of people are behaving irresponsibly.
SMITH: I mean, Matt, it does seem like they are not giving him any room here. Everything he said, it seems the press wants to ignore the point that he is making.
Tucker Carlson made the very point. We are not getting to the real issue here. He is actually raising a very important point, one that is Sweden. It's open borders. And is there anything that we can learn from the immigration policy that we have seen in other parts of Europe?
MATT BENNETT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, that point was not at all clear from what the president said at that rally. But, look, the bigger problem, Sandra, is that he says things that are obviously and provably false all the time, so, you have the press chasing him around.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Stick with the statement, though. What did he say that was false here?
BENNETT: Well, look, nothing in this exact sentence was false and I'm not suggesting that it was. But one thing that is kind of disturbing. The president apparently is not a big fan of his intelligence briefings. He was tweeting about Nordstrom 20 minutes into one of the briefings last week. He should not be getting news about Europe from "Fox News."
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Hold on. We're getting off subject here.
BENNETT: No, I'm not.
SMITH: Because there's obviously a problem that he's trying to bring up. Guy, I see you nodding your head. Let's talk about Sweden and the problems that' there. Dana, jump in here, as well.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers in just the last few years. Top three countries of origin -- Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Even one of their own people in Sweden, one of their own researchers, I found this in a Swedish newspaper, warning that segregation and long-term unemployment of refugees could have a negative effect on crime rates in Sweden in the future.
Why is nobody willing to discuss what is happening and what very quickly could be happening in some of these parts of the world?
DANA LOESCH, HOST, "DANA": You are absolutely right, Sandra. There has been an increase in no-go zone. I mean, Horwitz was discussing this. There's also we've heard from a number of individuals who work with police in Sweden. They say that they are at a breaking point where it concerns crime.
Look, it's irrelevant whether or not Trump's words were imprecise. I do agree with Guy that words matter. However, this is what the left does. They say, well, because Trump was imprecise with his argument, with his statement, and there was no incident in Sweden last night, I guess there is no problem in Sweden. Guess they are not having an epidemic of rapes. Guess they are not having an epidemic in all of Europe with terror attacks right now because there is an influx of unvetted refugees. That is the problem.
You can simultaneously and I feel like I have to draw a picture for our brethren across the aisle to fully understand this, Sandra. There -- you can simultaneously say, maybe he didn't say it perfectly the way that they would like, but also, there is a serious problem going on in Sweden with refugee and crime and that's the reason the whole phrase "rapugee" came to exist. You can do both.
SMITH: Yes. And, Matt, I want to get your reaction to that. But, Guy, first, I want to talk about this EO, this new executive order that could be coming down any moment. We know some of the details that have been reported. It's that this targets the same seven predominantly Muslim countries. It's the first order, but there are some changes to it.
Is this draft going to see the same sort of resistance as the last one?
BENSON: This is the draft, if the reporting is accurate, this is the order that should have been put out initially. It cleaned up a lot of the PR in policy messes that the first one created. Those were unforced errors.
And I know a lot of people want to focus on those seven countries. Those were pre-existing from a list that predated President Trump based on existing legislation.
So, I actually have read a fair amount of legal analysis that convinces me that the lower courts throwing out the initial order, even though I had problems with it, was bad luck as the president has a lot of power under the constitution and under statute on these matters.
But now that they are honing this and fine-tuning it, more carefully, which they should have done before they roll it out, initially, I think that it absolutely should pass constitutional muster and I think is overall just better policy.
SMITH: So, Matt, let me bring this all full circle here and let's look at what is happening over there.
In your view, is there anything that we can learn from the immigration policy we have seen in Europe, in the fallout there? Is there anything that we can learn from that and apply here?
BENNETT: Well, of course, there is. And we've learned that lesson. Europe is physically attached to these war zones, where the refugees are coming from. And they are coming either by boat or on foot. And they have hundreds of thousands of refugees flowing in without any sort of vetting or checking.
By contrast, and this is contrary to what the president keep saying, we have intense vetting of refugees say from Syria. It takes almost most two years for refugees to get into the country. This is totally unlike what's going on in Europe. And anyone who wants to draw comparisons between the two has to explain that this is an utterly different situation.
SMITH: All right. Dana, last word to you.
LOESCH: Well, I think that as what Guy said, those seven countries, those were drawn up in a list by former President Barack Obama. And I think it's smart to be able to slow down the process and be able to adequately vet who is coming into the country.
An additional 90 days on top of 120 days does not a huge difference make. And I'm glad to see that something is finally being done and that people are starting to take this issue seriously. We don't want to end up like Europe. And this is a good first step.
SMITH: All right. Guy, Dana, Matt, thanks to all three of you for being here.
LOESCH: Thank you, Sandra.
BENSON: Thank you.
BENNETT: Thank you, Sandra.
SMITH: All right. Well, still ahead, an outspoken critic of President Trump's immigration policy is now facing some heat over a crime wave in his city.
We will debate when David Wohl and Richard Fowler are here with us next.
Plus, controversial provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos disinvited from CPAC today. We'll talk to the man who first invited and then kicked out the Breitbart editor.
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the conference, explains.
And then a powerful message from Trump's supporters to the press. Is the media finally taking note?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The dishonest media, they just don't want to report the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: Developing tonight, recent raids against undocumented immigrants resulting in some unexpected consequences for the U.S. agricultural industry.
Steve Harrigan has the details from Jacksonville, Florida, where "The First 100 Days" will be holding an immigration town hall tomorrow evening.
Hi.
STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sandra, food growers here say it is the worst feeling imaginable when you see your crops out in the field rotting, because you don't have the labor to bring them in. It could happen to many here this season.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: We will have strong borders again.
HARRIGAN: President Trump's immigration policy has divided Florida, hitting supporters in the north and central part of the state who back his call for tough border control.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do respect the people that are here. But my answer is that they came over here legally. And they came over and they did -- they went to the right procedures to be in this great country. And we welcome everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a capital of immigrants in Miami Dade County.
HARRIGAN: Against parts of Southern Florida, where the immigrant population is among the highest in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This executive order that came down represents exactly the contrary. It presents fear, it presents prosecution, it presents hate and it's anti-immigrant.
HARRIGAN: But any crackdown against illegal migrants could have unintended consequences for key segments of the state's economy.
One quarter of Paul Demar's (ph) tomato crop could be left to rot in the field this season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't got any labor which is really bad so we can't pick the crops. There is nothing worst to grow a crop and not be able to pick it.
HARRIGAN: Real crops like tomatoes and peppers require pickers to stoop all day in the heat, backbreaking labor traditionally performed by seasonal Mexican farm workers, more than half undocumented. It is piecework for a bucket. A skilled picker can earn $150 a day. Any increase in deportations could shrink that labor force even further forcing some like Demar (ph) whose family has grown tomatoes for 90 years out of business entirely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIGAN: And preparations here are underway for a big town hall on immigration, 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night, hosted by Martha MacCallum.
Sandra, back to you.
SMITH: All right, Steve Harrigan, thank you.
Also developing tonight, an outspoken critic of President Trump's immigration policies, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti facing criticism of his own for ignoring crime data ahead of his run for re-election. L.A. Daily News drawing attention under the headline "L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti accused of being silent on city's rising crime."
Joining me now is David Wohl. He's an attorney and Trump supporter and Richard Fowler is a nationally-syndicated radio show host and "Fox News" contributor.
David, when you consider what is going on in the state of California and now you have the mayor of Los Angeles basically hiding the rising crime rate there, this doesn't do the citizens any favors.
DAVID WOHL, ATTORNEY: No. I mean, you know, last year, 2016, crime was up -- violent crime was up 10 percent over 2015. Today, in the neighboring city where a cop was killed by a violent felon yesterday. Sources tell me that the sister of an L.A.P.D. officer was killed by an illegal alien who had been deported numerous times. It's bad news. I mean, Garcetti doesn't want to talk about it. The election is two weeks from tomorrow. Surprise.
Look, he and Chief Charlie Beck have turned the city into a full- service sanctuary city, including setting up a $10 million fund for illegal immigrants to access if they get deported to fight the deportation. That, despite the fact that many say this city needs an additional 2500 cops to make the streets safe. I mean, you know what his priorities are, Garcetti, you know that he doesn't want to talk about it. So voters have to send a message in a couple weeks or they are really in big trouble.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Well, clearly, those that are running up against him, because he is up for re-election in March, Richard.
Are those running against him, Mitchell Schwartz, a political strategist, he is trying to un-sit the mayor. He's saying he's hiding and suppressing the police reports from last year. Another candidate Paul Amori says crime is up massively and it has gotten terribly worse over the past four years, since Garcetti has been mayor.
Is it a good move for someone who is considering a rising star in the Democratic Party to hide something like that?
RICHARD FOWLER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think there's -- we are talking about two different things. We're talking about just in general rise in the crime rate and this, you know, L.A. saying to -- their citizens saying that they will not abide by Donald Trump's mass deportation order.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: No, no, no. We're just talking about a mayor that's hiding his rising crime rates.
FOWLER: Right. And I think that the crime -- the reason why the crime rate is rising in L.A. just like what's happening across the country, it has less to do with undocumented workers, less to do with all the things that Donald Trump says, it has more to do with hopelessness and joblessness. So let's have a conversation about putting jobs -- creating jobs, rebuilding public schools, and that's how you solve poverty and poverty (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Garcetti has made it very public what has been happening with the crime rates in Los Angeles. Let's deal in fact here, David, you point out that 10 percent number.
WOHL: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: This is according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Total violent crime in Los Angeles. The number last year was over 28,000 incidents. The year prior, 2015, just over 25,000. That's -- that's very clearly, it's a 10 percent rise in the rate of crime. This mayor is hiding from this. And this is a city that's going to continue to face a big problem.
What's going to happen politically here if he keeps hiding it?
WOHL: Well, there is no question about it. He doesn't want to talk about it. And when you have a mayor, listen to this, Sandra. On one hand, you are saying, yes, crime has spiked out of control. I don't want to talk about it. In the other hand, I want my city to be a sanctuary city, so, lawbreakers can get out of jail and stay here without fear of being deported.
Do you see the problem and having those type of positions? That's why he doesn't want to talk. That's why he needs to be held accountable. And Chief Charlie Beck, who like I said, apparently, one of his officers had their sister killed by a fleeing felon, illegal immigrant, who had been deported numerous times yesterday. He doesn't want to talk about it either. They both need to be held accountable. And this just isn't good for America. It just isn't.
SMITH: All right. There's the last word.
(CROSSTALK)
FOWLER: There's no correlation. Correlation doesn't lead to causation in this particular case. Labeling yourself as a sanctuary city and having an increase in crime, there is no statistic that says those are related.
(CROSSTALK)
WOHL: What? You're harboring law breakers, Richard.
FOWLER: No, but wait a minute, wait a minute. Violent crime and somebody committing property fraud --
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: All right. So, Richard, the mayor has made it very clear in his statement that he has put out, very similar to what we heard from Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago. He said, you will be safe here, telling those illegal immigrants.
FOWLER: But those two things aren't mutually exclusive.
(CROSSTALK)
WOHL: (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: All right. We hope the citizens will be safe, but a mayor hiding his own crime rate is something we have to shed light on.
All right. Thanks to both of you for being here.
Defense Secretary James Mattis makes his first unannounced trip to Iraq, where he is distancing himself from President Trump's favorite campaign promises, to take the oil. We will bring you the details.
Plus, President Trump's feud with the media continues. But as his critics speak out, his base sees things quite differently. Chris Stirewalt, Mo Elleithee and Mercedes Schlapp will be here on the growing disconnect -- next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No previous White House has called the press the enemy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I think in our case, we have a total feeding frenzy, and something that's gotten so out of control.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: New reaction tonight as President Trump openly continues his fight against the media. He's now running up against thinly-veiled warnings from members of his own party.
Here's President Trump at his Florida rally this weekend calling the press part of a corrupt system.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They are part of the corrupt system. Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, and many of our greatest presidents, fought with the media, and called them out, often times on their lies. They have their own agenda and their agenda is not your agenda.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Republican Senator John McCain now vocally pushing back on President Trump's message to reporters calling rhetoric like that a slippery slope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I'm afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: But it's his base sticking with President Trump. One major media outlet is acknowledging the disconnect. Here is The Washington Post with the headline "Trump supporters see a successful president and are frustrated with critics who don't."
Joining me now to break this all down, Chris Stirewalt, our Fox News political editor; Mo Elleithee is a Fox News contributor and the founding executive director of Georgetown's Institute of Politics and Public Service, and Mercedes Schlapp is also a "Fox News" contributor and Republican strategists.
Chris Stirewalt, I will start with you first. This feud, it continues and it captivates all of us. Your thoughts?
CHRIS STIREWALT, EDITOR, FOX NEWS DIGITAL: Well, it certainly works for Donald Trump. This is the -- this is the best thing for him. He had a little bit of a bumpy, bumpy lift off, not the bumpiest ever, but a rough first month in some ways by bashing the press in the forehead with a shillelagh and saying that they are just a bunch of rotten, dirty slime. His base loves it right? Because they hate the press more than they hate Democrats. They hate us more than they hate liberalism, and so far that they see that there is a difference. So, he gives double coupons here, because not only does he get to change the subject, because reporters can't resist talking about themselves. They would just run right down the path to become instant media critics. They would try to put Howie Kurtz out of a job. They are running away after that. They change the topic for Trump and he also get to fire up his base.
SMITH: I'm sure how he loves the shout out. Mercedes, I see you nodding your head. Are you in agreement? Is this part of his strategy? Is it a working?
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, WASHINGTON TIMES: I don't agree with Chris Stirewalt all the time, but I do agree with him on this. The reason being --
SMITH: How dare you.
(LAUGHTER)
SCHLAPP: When you are listening to the mainstream media this morning, it was like you were watching them try to psychoanalyze Donald Trump's statement. They couldn't believe that president Trump would go so far as to call them the enemy. But what was so fascinating was the fact that liberal media elites to obviously who did not follow the Trump supporters, the social media, where I even remotely mentioned, why not call it an opponent rather than an enemy. They came out full force saying, "they are the enemy, it is very clear that they are pushing a leftist agenda, they have been against Donald Trump in the beginning, and guess what, they like the combative style."
SMITH: Let see how they are reacting and some of these latest Fox News polls that are showing up. Some of the numbers are very telling, those that trust a Donald Trump, the president versus reporters, 45 percent to 42 percent. That is a very telling figure, compared to Obama. The treatment that this president is receiving, 68 percent believe that the media is tougher on Trump, 18 percent, easier on President Trump, Mo, to you.
MOE ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: Look, I have never met a president or presidential candidate who didn't feel like they were under fire by the press. That is normal. Let's talk about what is happening. I actually agree with both Chris and with Mercedes. This is fantastic for the base. Donald Trump got about 46 percent of the vote. From the day he entered the race through today, he has got about 38 to 41 percent just hard supports. These are people who are never, ever, ever going to leave him. That means he has got about five, six, 7 percent of people out there who are kid of soft supporters. People who voted for him may be because they didn't like Hillary Clinton more or the establishment more. Those of the people who are attracted to him in part because he said things like "I am going to do things differently, I am going to drain the swamp, debt," those people, now, the press is asking hard questions about ties to Russia, about conflicts of interest.
SMITH: Let me give Chris Stirewalt's take on that, because we have gotten the opportunity to watch a lot of those White House press briefings, where the reporters are asking questions. Are they tough questions? Are they appropriate questions? What do you think is going on? They look like quite frankly they are having a good time in the room. There is a lot of laughter happening, Chris Stirewalt?
STIREWALT: I think we will get to a point of normalcy. I think Sean Spicer he also had a little bit of a minute when he was getting started. He seems to be settling into things. They have a new communications director of the White House. Thing seems to be happening in a more normal way now. I think there will be a groove and the rhythm. We forget. We want to blow everything them up into the largest proportion possible, because we believe that this moment is like nothing that has ever happened before.
SMITH: It isn't.
STIREWALT: Well of course, because it is us and that is so great, but four, eight years ago, when Barack Obama took office, the world is going to change forever to, and nothing was going to be the same, all the briefings, just everybody should just breathe and check back for that is why we collect 100 days. Just pace yourself as you go. We will probably find out that this is all quite manageable.
SMITH: Copy that. Chris Stirewalt reminds me many times a night of our noon hour today. It has only been a few weeks! We will give it a chance. Thank you very much, to all three of you for being here tonight. Good to see you.
STIREWALT: You bet.
SCHLAPP: Thank you.
SMITH: Defense Secretary Mattis makes a surprise visit to Iraq, as Iraqi forces desperately fight to reclaim eastern Mosul from ISIS. Fox's Conor Powell brings us the latest from the region. Plus, controversy raging around Milo Yiannopoulos canceled CPAC appearance. The man who did the inviting and then, the dis- inviting, there he is. He is here. CPAC chair Matt Schlapp just after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: Breaking tonight, organizers for the conservative gathering known as CPAC have disinvited the controversial Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos from their annual gathering after a disturbing interview with him resurfaced. We must warn you, the interview is extremely troubling. It deals with child sex abuse and is not appropriate for some viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILO YIANNOPOULOS, BREITBART EDITOR: In the homosexual world particularly, some of those relationships between younger boys and older men, the sort of coming-of-age relationships, the relationships in which those older men have helped those young boy to discover who they are and give them security and safety and provide them with love and a reliable rock, where they can't speak to their parents. Some of those relationships are some of the most - -
It sounds like --
It sounds like molestation to me.
And you know what, I'm grateful for her father Michael.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: All right. Just about 24 hours after that video and a similar one where on social media, CPAC rescinded its invitation, writing this. "There is no disagreement among our attendee on the sexual abuse of children." Yiannopoulos has weighed in on Facebook, writing, "I am a man and a child abuse victim. I repeatedly express discussed it. My professional record is very clear."
Joining me now, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of CPAC, Matt, you initially invited Milo. Why?
MATT SCHLAPP, CPAC CHAIRMAN: Because I think what he does on college campuses where he tries to take on administrations on these campuses that shut down the conservative point of view, it's like just happened in Berkeley, is something that is really important for our attendee's to here almost 50 percent of those who attend CPAC or in college or younger. I think that type of political correctness that is happening in our campus is un-American and I think Milo has been brave and taking these people on.
SMITH: All right Matt and you have ultimately decided to disinvite him. Why?
M. SCHLAPP: Over the weekend, after we announced that he was coming, these videos came to light, it certainly sounded to us that he was trying to mainstream something as offensive as pedophilia. Although there are a lot of political disagreements that happen on the CPAC stage, there are no disagreements on the immorality of pedophilia. It is not the appropriate venue for Milo to try to clear his name on what people have heard over the weekend.
SMITH: As you said in your statement as chairman, you realize that he has responded on Facebook. That he has apologized and tried to clear the air on that. Is there anything he can do to be re-invited at this point?
M. SCHLAPP: Not to this year's CPAC. I mean as a human being, I urge him them to get out there aggressively. If he has been taken out of context, he needs to fight to clear his name. He needs to do that himself. It's not the A.C. huge job or CPAC's job to do that for him. I wish that he would do that. He started today. Do that aggressively, because there is no place in the conservative movement for people that would mainstream something as horrible as pedophilia.
SMITH: There is also a question tonight over Simon & Schuster's canceling, canceling publication of his forthcoming book. "Dangerous." also questions about his future at Breitbart. We will see how that plays out. Is there any room for him still in the conservative stage?
M. SCHLAPP: I think he has got some mending to do. And he has got to dig deep and answer these tough questions. That is up to him alone to solve this problem. As far as the conservative movement is concerned, we are vague and broad. We will have disagreements and controversial characters. We are fine without being on the CPAC stage. But there are boundaries and one of those boundaries was broken by Milo.
SMITH: One person we know who will be on that stage is President Donald Trump.
M. SCHLAPP: That is exactly right. We announced him today. It is a great honor to conservatives that he is coming back to CPAC as the president for the last time we had a Republican conservative president who came to CPAC in their first month in office, it was Ronald Reagan in 1981. It sure feels good again.
SMITH: All right. As we wrap this up and we understand that this is breaking news, this has been happening today, and your organization, you just made this announcement. You have over 100 people speaking at CPAC starting on Wednesday. It is a huge week for you, any final thoughts? This is obviously something that is a very personal issue for many people out there. Any message you would like to put out?
M. SCHLAPP: I would just like to say, you know Milo is one of god's children as well. We don't wish him any harm. He has to do this himself. He has to defend himself if he feels differently than these videos portrayed. It is really, we urge him to do that --
SMITH: I was wondering, why was this the moment? Has you said, he is been a very controversial character. There has been many things arguably that could have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Why was this that moment?
M. SCHLAPP: I just feel like there is no political conversation around pedophilia. There are political conversations around what is appropriate when it comes to all types of issues. He touches all the sacred cows. This is simply not one of them.
SMITH: Matt, thank you for clearing that up and coming on. We will stay in touch. Thank you.
M. SCHLAPP: Thanks a lot, Sandra.
SMITH: Before we move on, a word about our children, the subject of child sexual abuse is a very difficult but important one. There is help and healing available for survivors. Don't hesitate to call 1-800-48 child. If you are a child you know may need help, your call can save someone's life. All right, up next, Defense Secretary General Jim Mattis makes an unannounced trip to Iraq, as he will soon present his plant for President Trump for defeating ISIS. Carl Higbie and Robert Zimmerman are here on that, plus, potential disagreement between Mattis and a president when we return.
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SMITH: U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis touchdown on Baghdad today. In an unannounced visit that appeared to reassure Iraqi allies, this is coming as Iraqi security forces are just 48 hours into an effort to retake the western side of the city of Mosul. The area is considered the last ISIS stronghold in the country. Here with the latest is Fox News Jerusalem correspondent Conor Powell.
CONOR POWELL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Secretary Mattis' visit to Baghdad comes as the fight to Mosul enters a new phase. For four months now, Iraqi forces have focused their firepower on the eastern part of the city. Now, firmly control it. This weekend, backed by U.S. air strikes and U.S. Special Forces on the ground, the Iraqi military has begun its efforts to push ISIS out of the western side of Mosul. Retaking the rest of Mosul, though, may not be the easiest task. The western part of the city is home, to a much narrower streets that will slow armored vehicles. And there are still hundreds of thousands of civilians in harm's way. ISIS is losing ground. It appears to be on its last legs Iraq. Still, U.S. commanders expect to stay in Iraq even after ISIS is pushed out of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I assure you, we are going to stand by you through this fight. He will stand by you and your army in the future, so, your sovereignty is protected by the Iraqi forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: The U.S. led coalition is expected to continue the fight against ISIS in Syria using Iraq as a base. President Trump has asked the Pentagon, though, to draw up a new U.S. battle plans to ramp up the fight against ISIS. Second Mattis is expected to deliver his new strategy to the White House sometime in the next week or so. Sandra.
SMITH: All right. Conor Powell, thank you. General Mattis also making some comments about the U.S. intentions regarding Iraqi oil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MATTIS, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: All of us in America generally paid for our gas and oil all along and I am sure that we will continue to do so in the future. We are not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: That comment come in clear contradiction to what the president has often claimed would be part of his strategy to defeat ISIS. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We should have kept the oil. Ok. Maybe we'll have another chance.
We should have taken the oil. You wouldn't have ISIS if we took the oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Here to discuss this, Carl Higbie. He is former Navy Seal and author of Enemy foreign and Domestic and Robert Zimmerman, a Democratic strategist and DNC committee member. Carl, I'll go to you first. What did you make of that, I mean we have heard some -- then candidate Trump and then President Trump shortly after his in office, we should have kept the oil, we should have taken the oil and then now Mattis over there says we are not in Iraq to seize anyone's oil? What do you make of these conflicting messages?
CARL HIGBIE, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Well, I think it is clear divergence for the two, but also I think that Mattis is doing this to potentially kind of calm down the Iraqi people, the Iraqi government to say, look if we come in here and give you any aide, don't worry about us stealing your oil. On the other side I think that President Trump is going to go out there and say look, if you want us to come in and help you in your fight in a large scale like we did back 2002 - 2014, then you are going to have to compensate us and I think one of that compensation is maybe the oil. I think that they can draw a line between that but ultimately this is President Trump decisions and not Mattis.
SMITH: So Robert, I mean, by Carl's words, he would be suggesting that this is part of the overall strategy?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look there are some people that will believe that the strategy and those same people who will believe Duck Dynasty. Let's understand it is not just the fact that General Mattis is now dismissing the Presidents rhetoric statement.
SMITH: I don't know that he is dismissing the rhetoric.
ZIMMERMAN: In fact he made it very clear that we are not stealing Iraq's oil. It is not just Secretary of Defense. Vice President Pence today dismiss the president's statement. He made it obsolete. And the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations also dismissed President Trump rhetoric --
SMITH: Carl, I want to get you in here --
ZIMMERMAN: Let me finish my point. The point simply is, when our president, President Trump behaves like an unstable uncle on a family barbeque --
SMITH: Ok. That is the point that you wanted to make. All right Carl, moving on let keep on (inaudible). But address on those two points, the oil and NATO, you are saying this is a strategy?
HIGBIE: Well, I think it is a stretch, look you already had seen a recent gathering with Vice President Pence comments recently, where people are starting to (inaudible) more money from their (inaudible) to support NATO, because of what President Trump has said. And also, we are not stealing the oil, I think this would be a part of status, or a partial agreement or type of negotiations to say that look, if we are going to come in there and help your armies with our resources, you should compensate, this is way sharing performance, it is a fair play.
ZIMMERMAN: Carl, let's understand that Donald Trump strategy in Iraq was announced by Charles Krauthammer as a possible war crime and our military leaders almost universally had said this is a dangerous strategy that we can go all in.
SMITH: The president said his goal to break the back of ISIS. You say Carl that ISIS is geographically shrinking in Middle East, but its influence is not. Where are we at this fight today?
HIGBIE: I think it is very clear that ISIS is happy to lose geographical locations in Iraq and Syria and things like that, because it metastasizes to Northern Africa, and even now through Europe. You see what has been going on in Sweden Germany and all throughout the European area and they are influencing this lone wolf attack here in America. I think there geographic presence in Iraq is almost irrelevant to their overall goal to caliphate.
ZIMMERMAN: Ironically what President Obama was in office, and then it was considered a major upfront. A major war in terror, now of course, we see that Iraq military succeed, now of course we are saying it doesn't matter anymore.
SMITH: Let me ask you this. Was it a good move for the president to send Defense Secretary Mattis in to Iraq?
ZIMMERMAN: Absolutely it was. It was very important to reassure the Iraqi army and also to congratulate our military for performing so well there, to reassure the Iraqi government that we are not going to steal their oil. That they are allies that we value in the war against ISIS and frankly that is a critical mission.
SMITH: You have something, Carl?
HIGBIE: Yes I all agree on that. I think it was a great move, I think it really sense a clear unity here, but the fact is this forces, they are not organize enough, they are not funded enough, they are going to require some assistance from foreign aid including United States of America and we should be compensated for that, I think.
ZIMMERMAN: And threatening to steal their oil is not the answer Carl.
HIGBIE: How about just agreeing to stray the oil for our services.
SMITH: All right the reason that we are talking about that oil is it assumes that funds a lot of ISIS that keeps them going, thanks to both of you for being here tonight.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
SMITH: All right we will be right back. Thanks for being here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SMITH: We want you to know -- we want to know what you think of "The First 100 Days" of President Trump's administration. Go to Facebook.com/marthamaccallum to leave a message or you can tweet is using the hashtag #first100. You can also reach me at SandraSmithFox on Twitter. #TheFirst100 hashtag, it is alive and well. You are letting us know what you think of tonight. We thank you for that. By the way, catch me on "Outnumbered" every day at noon. I am Sandra Smith. By the way, Martha will be back here tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern for the immigration town hall.
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