Krauthammer: Sessions is a dead man walking

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Krauthammer: Sessions is a dead man walking

The attorney general's future remains unclear; Fox News contributor gives his take on 'The Story'

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," July 25, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, "THE STORY" HOST: Breaking tonight, the president is about to take the stage at a make America great rally in Youngstown, Ohio. I'm Martha MacCallum. Good evening, everybody, this is "The Story." It is his fourth trip to Youngstown; he's at the Covelli Arena, which is a hockey arena. Holds about 7,000 people; the word is they got about 20,000 people who have requested tickets and it is filling up quickly, as you can tell.

Kevin Corke is our man in Youngstown this evening. Ed Henry here in the studio with me, with all of the back scoops at the White House tonight. And Charles Krauthammer, standing by with his thoughts on the president's handling of the attorney general. So, all of that coming up moments away as we watch them file in, we have been hearing that they're on time. The president, you know, tends to run a little bit behind time on these things, but the crowd is filing in. Melania, his wife, the first lady is there with him as well. We saw Eric Trump and Lara Trump on the stage moments ago.

White House Correspondent, Kevin Corke, joins us now. He's there on the scene in Ohio tonight waiting for the president to come out. Hey, Kevin!

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are; great to be with you. They're calling this the rally in the valley. I've been to Youngstown many times on a campaign trail, it never gets old. When you get out here and see what the people in the Midwest really feel and what they're talking about. And as we get into this packed arena once again -- in fact, let me have Bryan, I'll just show you -- show me what's happening around here. You can see the crowd is excited, very loud. And this is an interesting time for the president to be here, Martha. Keep this in mind, I guess, if you can look at it one way, you're saying, look, let's build up the momentum, let's build on the energy in West Virginia.

On the other hand, you might say to yourself, well, he's coming here amidst the turmoil, especially given everything that's happening back home in Washington. But no matter how you shape it, no matter how you look at it, the crowd here is obviously very interested, and excited to see the First Lady and the president come here tonight. He's been here before. They said earlier -- you even heard Lara said, they'll be back here, and they feel like this really is a true test of the American electorate. We'll bring you the coverage as he steps to the podium, but for now, back to you.

MACCALLUM: Kev, no doubt. The president loves a good rally and Ohio was good to him over the course of the election 2016, something he likes to hearken back to, especially during some difficult time, as Kevin Corke points out back in Washington. It was really an extraordinary day on Capitol Hill as the Senate did it over the threshold to begin the debate now in the process of repealing, and perhaps, replacing, if those bills go together, ObamaCare.

And they did so, following a speech by Senator John McCain, who was back today from his surges of very dramatic and emotional moment. As Senator John McCain walked in, a large scar over his left eye, and he spoke eloquently, as he often does. He took the time to upbraid the Senate for their divisiveness, their lack of serious deliberation. He also embraced the mission of what he sees as the great legislative body, the deliberative body, as it's often referred to. He reminded his fellow Senators that they share equal power with the executive branch.

All of that as the president continues to put pressure on his attorney general, a former member of that chamber, putting him essentially in a box.
He's under pressure in terms of the questions the president has about the deep state and the leaks. He would like to see that pursuit with more vigor from his attorney general. He also has mentioned reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's actions, the secretary of state. These are all things that the president feels are important and he would like to see more focus on them from his attorney general. So, this was the president, just a short time ago, in the rose garden. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am disappointed in the attorney general. He should not have recused himself almost immediately after he took office. And if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me prior to taking office, and I would have, quite simply, pick somebody else. So, I think that's a bad thing, not for the president, but for the presidency. I think it's unfair to the presidency, and that is the way I feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, chief national correspondent Ed Henry, live with me in New York tonight to take us through the latest on this fascinating to watch discourse of comments. And we know that president Trump does not say these things lightly. He says them deliberately. He has a strategy. He's trying to provoke an outcome here.

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is. And Sarah Huckabee Sanders, when I talked with her this morning on "Fox & Friends," said this is a president who doesn't send mixed signals. Meaning, he is sending a signal to his attorney general, but conservatives are pushing back. We saw Newt Gingrich kick this off on your show last night when he told you loyalty is a two-way street, and President Trump should appreciate Jeff Sessions carrying his agenda on big issues like illegal immigration. This defense of Sessions got more intriguing today.

At a time when Steve Bannon is again said to be on the outs at the White House, the conservative news outlet he once ran took sides against the president. Breitbart went after the president by declaring, "Trump's attack on Sessions over Clinton prosecution highlights his own weak stance." Meaning, the president is now slamming Sessions for not going after Bill and Hillary Clinton, even though during the transition, President-elect Trump said he did not want to hurt the couple.

Another key conservative news site drags report blared, "Sessions in dog; Republicans on brink of civil war." Maybe that's a stretch, but after early morning tweets by the president, it a got interesting. He goaded Sessions by writing: "Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump campaign -- 'quietly working to boost Clinton.' So, where is the investigation attorney general?" He tagged, by the way, our own Sean Hannity, the president.

The president added, "Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has taken a very weak position on Hillary Clinton crimes (where are e-mails and DNC server) and Intel leakers!" New Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as I mentioned, jacked it up. When I asked her about whether the president wants Sessions to go, she declared the president's frustration and disappointment are not going away, and the president himself did nothing to close the door in a potential finer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want the attorney general to be much tougher on the leaks from intelligence agencies which are leaking like rarely have they ever leaked before. I told you before, I'm very disappointed with the attorney general, but we'll see what happen. Time will tell. Time will tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Time will tell there, but no waiting on Anthony Scaramucci's efforts to take out people close to Sean Spicer in the White House communications shop. Michael Short, a former RNC official like Spicer, and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, resigned today. Meanwhile, some intrigue at the State Department tonight, Martha. We'd heard the speculation, we talked about it last night -- will Rex Tillerson step down or not? There have been stories suggesting, maybe he'll be gone by the end of the year. That he wants to walk away. He's frustrated.

State Department, last night, told us, no way, this is not true. Well, now we heard over from the State Department, says tonight the secretary has taken a couple of days off, which seems odd, but they're insisting he is working at home in Texas. But this is a busy time, obviously, all around the world. Very rare, Martha, to see the secretary of state just takes a couple days off. They say, he's still doing 20-hour work days, but doing it home from Texas. This is only going to get the speculation swirling a bit.

MACCALLUM: Yes. You know you look at the people who the president got the most credit for in terms of filling this cabinet. I mean, even people who were detractors of the president said, you know, one of the really great things that he has done is assemble this really terrific team, and Rex Tillerson has gotten a lot of very positive reviews in terms of the way that he's approaching, dealing with other countries. He's clearly trying to drain the swamp at the State Department. It makes him a little unpopular there, and that maybe some of the heat that he's feeling. But he wants it to be more efficient.

HENRY: And he's clashed with the White House about how much power he really has. I think Tillerson has been frustrated that Jared Kushner has such a big portfolio, that among other things he's in charge or many his piece. That's something, obviously, the secretary of state only wants to have.

MACCALLUM: Ed, thank you very much. Stick around. We're going to watch the president. As we said, the crowd is building in the arena there in Youngstown, Ohio, tonight. And I want to bring in Charles Krauthammer now and get his thoughts, syndicated columnist and Fox News contributor. Charles, good evening to you!

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good evening.

MACCALLUM: You know, we thought it couldn't get any worse after the president went after Jeff Sessions, calling him his beleaguered A.G. Today, he outlined quite clearly that he wants him to be tougher on the deep states, wants him to go after Hillary Clinton, which during the transition period, the president said was something he didn't want to do.

KRAUTHAMMER: Look, I think the bottom line is he wants him to resign.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

KRAUTHAMMER: On Friday, I said that Sessions was a wounded man walking.
Last night on "Special Report," I said he was a dangerously wounded man walking. Tonight, he's a dead man walking. There is no way that a president can humiliate a cabinet member, a strong supporter from the beginning, in the way that Trump has done, just piling it on and expect that this relationship is going to last. He'll either be fired or -- I mean, it could be that he's decided that he's going to dig in his heels and some kind of resistance who'll stay in office no matter what, but this cannot last.

So, he's going to be gone. And I think it's really -- the danger to Trump is that Sessions represents sort of the policy side, the philosophical side, the conservative side of what Trump represented, and he held a lot of that coalition brought back to Trump. And by getting rid Sessions, he's alienating many conservatives, as you indicated before. There are some who are already complaining. And that could be dangerous for Trump because what sustains him is the power and the loyalty of his base.

MACCALLUM: I think the president is about to come out. You know, let me squeeze in one more. There he is. There's the president. Charles, thank you. We are going to watch him as he comes out. I mean, you know, Charles, just keep this open for one second. You know, when you look at President Trump, it appears that he really wants to get rid of this Robert Mueller. And you know, sort of the chain of people that lead to Mueller, and he blames Sessions for stepping aside and provoking that in the first place, and certainly Comey as well.

KRAUTHAMMER: If that's the grand strategy, this is about as clumsy a way and self-destructive a way of executing that strategy as is imaginable. And I think we will see that play out.

MACCALLUM: Do you think that Jeff Sessions, as you say, he can either dig in his heels or he can say, you know, uncle, I've had enough of being publicly humiliated on a daily basis, but we know he loves the job. He said I never dreamed that I would be in this position, you know, the kid growing up. This is an emotional thing for him, and you've got a lot of the president's closest confidantes really saying that this could be a big mistake for him.

KRAUTHAMMER: It's a terrible mistake. And for Sessions, remember this, it isn't just that he loves the A.G. job; he lost the Senate seat. And at his age, really, his career is over. So, instead of ascending to the dream job that he thought he would get by throwing in his lot with Trump at a point where nobody was with Trump, and this is a disaster for him personally, which is why I think he'll dig in his heels. But in the end and it's not going to take that long -- in the end, you cannot sustain a position in the cabinet when the president is humiliating you daily. That's got to end in and around soon.

MACCALLUM: Charles, thank you. Here's the First Lady, Melania Trump, introducing her husband. Let's listen in.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING "USA")

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Good evening. It is truly great to be back in Ohio.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

This state means so much to us. We have been here many times, and my husband and I are always so overwhelmed by the incredible people.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

It was just a year ago that we came to this state where my husband accepted the Republican Party's nomination and as candidate for president of the United States.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

What a year it has been. Because of your support and the support of millions of hard-working Americans around the country, last fall we defied the odds and reclaimed this country. You voted for a man who has pledged to renew the American Dream. As president, my husband will continue to fight each and every day to ensure our security, defend our livelihood, and to rebuild the foundation of fortune that has made the United States the land of opportunity.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Washington has taught him every step of the way, but I know my husband and he will never give up. When it comes to the country and the people he loves, you can always count on him, and I know you will always support him and always stand with him. So, please stand with me now and welcome my husband, President Donald Trump.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you, Melania. America loves our first lady. Thank you. I am thrilled to be back in the great state of Ohio right here with the incredible men and women of Youngstown.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

What an amazing few days it's been. On Saturday, I was in Virginia with thousands of brave men and women of the United States military. Do we love the United States military?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

We commissioned the newest, largest, and most advanced aircraft carrier in the history of our nation, the USS Gerald R. Ford, into the great American fleet. Then, yesterday, I was in West Virginia with almost 50,000 of our most impressive young Americans. They are young men who learned to cherish words like duty, honor, God, and country -- the Boy Scouts.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Then only a few hours ago, the Senate approved a vote to begin debating the repealing and replacing the ObamaCare disaster.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Finally, you think that's easy? That's not easy. We're now one step closer to liberating our citizens from this ObamaCare nightmare.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And delivering great health care for the American people -- we're going to that too. And now tonight, I'm back in the center of the American heartland far away from the Washington swamp to spend time with thousands of true American Patriots.

(CROWD CHANTING "DRAIN THE SWAMP")

We have spent the entire week celebrating with the hardworking men and women who are helping us make America great again.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I am here this evening to cut through the fake news filter and to speak straight to the American people. Fake news. Fake, fake, fake news.

(CROWD CHANTING)

Boy, oh, boy, what people. Is there any place that is more fun, more exciting, and safer than a Trump rally? True, true.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING)

Where the hell did he come from?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

This has been a difficult week for the media because I force them to travel with us all around the country and spend time with tens of thousands of proud Americans who believe in defending our values, our culture, our borders, our civilization, and our great American way of life. Everyone in this arena is united with their love, and we know that. Do we know that? Everyone, united by their love for this country and their loyalty to one another, their loyalty to its people. And we want people to come into our country who can love us and cherish us, and be proud of America, and the American flag. We believe that schools should teach our children to have pride in our history and respect for that great American flag.

We all believe in the rule of law, and we support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. Thank you, thank you for being here. We celebrate our military and believe the American armed forces are the greatest force for peace and justice in the history of the world. And, by the way, they are getting a lot of greater, fast, a lot greater. You saw our budget; we're ordering billions and billions of dollars of new ships, and new planes, and equipment for our soldiers. We are building it up. There's rarely been a time where we have needed the protection of our incredible military more than right now, right here, and that is what we are going to do. We believe in freedom, self-government, and individual rights. We cherish and defend. Thank you. It looks like it's in very good shape, our second amendment. Congratulations!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Yes, our second amendment is very, very sound again. That would've been gone. It would have been gone. But I never had it out. We support the Constitution of the United States and believe that judges should interpret the Constitution as written and not make up new meanings for what they read.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And finally, we believe that family and faith, not government and bureaucracy, are the foundation of our society. You've heard me say it before on the campaign trail, and I'll say it again tonight. In America, we don't worship government. We worship God.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Tonight, we are going to set aside the cynics and the critics because we know exactly why they are so angry and so bitter. Day by day, week by week, we are restoring our government's allegiance to its people, to its citizens, to the people that we all love. We are keeping our promises to the people and, yes, we are putting finally, finally, finally, we are putting America first.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING "USA")

After years and years of sending our jobs and our wealth to other countries, we are finally standing up for our workers and for our companies. After spending billions of dollars defending other nation's borders, we are finally defending our borders.

(CROWD CHANTING "BUILD THE WALL")

Don't even think about it. We will build the wall. Don't even think about it. I watch the media, as they say, well, he has just had some fun during the campaign on the wall. That wasn't fun, folks. We're building that wall, and walls do work, and we're going to have great people come into our country, but we're not going to put ourselves through the problems that we've had for so many years.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

After decades of rebuilding foreign nations, we are finally going to rebuild our nation. They are pointing to a protester. Honestly, if you don't point, nobody's even going to know he's here. Weak voice. Weak voice. Don't worry.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING "USA")

Boy, he is a young one. He is going back home to mommy. Boy is he in trouble? He's in trouble. He's in trouble. And I'll bet his mommy voted for us, right? By the way, so, this morning, I'm watching Fox News.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And they had some people on, and these were Democrats that voted for Trump, and they had this on. And so far, if anything, they've gotten even more committed. But, they had a man on this morning -- they had a man on this morning who was a Democrat his whole life. He voted as a Democrat. But he voted for -- I say, us, I don't say, me. He voted for us in the last election, 2016.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And they said to him, so if the election were held now again, what would you do? And he effectively said, man, would I vote for Trump again even faster.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So his name is Gino DiFabio. Where is Gino? Gino, get over here, Gino. Gino DiFabio.

(APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING GINO)

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: You know, anybody knows me, friends of mine, people who love me it's worse for them, but they know how it has been since President Trump started running with the election. How much I supported this guy, how much I love this guy. This guy has got something. He's the real deal. Everybody else came, and they say, oh, we're going to fight for you, we're fighting for you. Well, this is Youngstown, Mr. President, but this is also the steel valley. Every one of these people loves you, sir. And I don't want to sound silly or anything, but I thought, what would I say to the president if I ever got to meet him, which this is -- honest to God, over the top moment for me. I've thought, you know, I'm just going to tell him something. And sir, like I said thank you for Justice Gorsuch on the Supreme Court.

(APPLAUSE)

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Right? That started it all. And then, I apologize, I said, Mr. President, thank you for Melania. Could we have a better -- could we have a more outstanding first lady? I'm probably going to be in trouble with my wife, but God bless that woman. And then the last thing I said, and I don't think he thought I was going to take this much time, but anybody that knows me, this is going to happen. I said, thank you, sir, for keeping the promises that you made to these 12,000 people and to the country. And my recommendation, sir, look what you can do in the bastion of the Democratic Party. I don't think there is anybody except -- county that has more Democratic voters than us. Look what you can draw. I go back to Washington, I would tell the Republicans and the Democrats, sir, look, I'm going to go do my rallies. You've got the agenda. Those people are voting for me and mine. Do what you want, pass my agenda, or we're going on the road. Thank you, sir.

(INAUDIBLE)

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you, Gino.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you, Gino. What a man. I watched him this morning, I said, we've got to find this guy. He's just a great person. Always a Democrat, now it's gone. And I'll tell you what, I rode through your beautiful roads coming up from the airport, and I was looking at some of those big, once- incredible job producing factories, and my wife, Melania, said, what happened? I said those jobs have left Ohio. They're all coming back. They're all coming back. Coming back.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Don't move, don't sell your house. Don't sell your house. Remember, I got a lot of credit, it's hard to believe, but the press gave me a lot of credit because a number of years ago I said, this is the time to buy a house, during one of my speeches. I said, go out and buy. And they did this big story of Trump predicted. Let me tell you folks in Ohio, and this area, don't sell your house. Don't sell your house. Do not sell it. We're going to get those values up, we're going to get those jobs coming back, and we're going to fill up those factories or ripped them down and built brand new ones. That's what's going to happen.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We're going to have it so that Americans can once again speak the magnificent words of Alexander Hamilton, here the people govern.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Political correctness, for me, is easy. Sometimes they say he doesn't act presidential. And I say, hey, look, great schools, smart guy, it's so easy to act presidential, but that's not going to get it done. In fact, I said -- it's much easier, by the way, to act presidential than what we're doing here tonight, believe me. And I said.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And I said, with the exception of the late great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that's ever held this office that I can tell you. It's really easy.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But sadly, we have to move a little faster than that. We will never be beholden to the lobbyists or the special interests. We will never be silenced by the media. I want to protect America, and I want to protect the citizens of America. Your hopes are my hopes. Your dreams are my dreams. I have had a great, successful career. I've built a great, great business. This is the only thing that matters. This is the only thing that matters. There is nothing.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Your future is what I'm fighting for each and every day. Here is just a small sample of what we have accomplished in just our first six months in office. And I'll say this and, you know, they always like to say, well, I don't know. But I think that with few exceptions, no president has done anywhere near what we've done in his first six months. Not even close.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But they don't let you know. They don't want to write about it. That unemployment last month, in a 16-year low, since my election, we've added much more than 1 million jobs. Think of that. And remember, I came in and some people said, don't say that. I'd say what do you have to lose? I talk about the inner city. And I talk about the crime and the problems and the lack of education, and I'd talk to my African-American friends, and I said, vote for me. What the hell do you have to lose? Do you remember that?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: The Hispanic, the African-American, the inner cities. So now, it just came out, African-Americans and teenagers are enjoying their lowest unemployment since just after the turn of the millennium. That's pretty good, right?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We've eliminated burdensome regulations at record speed, and many, many more are coming off. And, boy, have we put those coal miners and coal back on the map. You see that, huh? And all other forms of energy. We've achieved a historic increase in defense spending to get our troops the support they so richly deserve. We have signed new legislation to hold federal workers accountable for the care they provide to our great, great veterans.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Veterans Accountability Act. They've been trying to get that done for many, many, many years, even decades. And you understand why it was tough, but we got it done. In fact, our secretary is with us tonight, David Shulkin, and we have some just incredible people here tonight, some of whom you've already met. But the job they're doing for the vets, having to do with choice, having to do with doctors, having to do with not having to wait on line for days and days and days, and getting sicker and sicker and sicker, when you could be taken care of immediately? Now you go out and you see a doctor.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: To protect American jobs and workers, I withdrew the United States from both the Trans-Pacific Partnership potential disaster and the job- killing Paris Climate Accord. Believe me. And if we don't negotiate a great deal with Mexico and Canada, we will terminate NAFTA, and we'll start all over again.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You remember when I was in Youngstown, I said, we will either renegotiate NAFTA or will terminate it. So let's see what happens. But we're right now negotiating with the heads of Mexico -- good men, the president, and the prime minister of Canada. Good man. Let's see what happens. But we will no longer be the foolish people. We will no longer be the stupid people that get taken care of so badly by our politicians because they don't know what they're doing.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We will always work with our friends and partners, but we will never again sacrifice Ohio jobs or jobs from any state in our union to enrich other countries, which has been what is happening to this country.

(CROWD CHANTING USA)

TRUMP: And, by the way, while we're on it, the Iran deal, which may be the single worst deal I have ever seen drawn by anybody. If that deal doesn't conform to what it's supposed to conform to, there is going to be big, big problems for them, that I can tell you. You're going to see that. Believe me. You would have thought when that deal was made by Secretary Kerry -- may be the worst negotiator I've ever seen. You would have thought that Iran would have said, thank you, United States. We can't believe you gave us between a $100 and $150 billion when they were ready to fail. We can't believe you gave us $1.7 billion in cash. You know what that looks like? You would have thought they would have said, thank you, United States. We really love you very much. Instead, they've become emboldened. That won't take place much longer.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: The great president from the state of Ohio, William McKinley, and you know, William McKinley? Does anybody know who the hell he is, huh? You know who he is? William McKinley understood that when America protects our workers and industries, we open up a higher and better destiny for our people. We don't protect our people. We don't protect. Trade comes in. Goods come in. I was with Harley-Davidson, a great company from Wisconsin. Who has a Harley-Davidson? They came to the White House, and they said to me, yeah, it's tough going outside of the United States. We're doing great in the United States. But when we sell a motorcycle to certain countries, we have as much as a 100 percent tax to pay. And I said, tell me, when they sell back to us, meaning reciprocal, so when they sell back to us, what tax do we charge them? The answer is zero.

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: Those days are going to be over very soon.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Unfortunately, like everything else, there're so many restrictions on doing what's right for our country. There's so much red tape. But don't worry, we're getting through it. The red tape -- you'd think if we could just do it. Wouldn't you think you could say, hey, you charge us a 100 percent, we're going to charge you 100 percent, then you'll either get the money or you'll vote drop it, right? We can't do that. We've got to go back to congress. Who, other than health care, today, has made some very bad deals, OK. So we're going to start enriching our country, we're going to start bringing back our jobs, and we will be fools no longer, folks. We'll be fools no longer.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Every single president on Mount Rushmore -- now, here's what I do. I'd ask whether or not you think I will someday be on Mount Rushmore, but -- no.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But here's the problem. If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say, he believes he should be on Mount Rushmore. So I won't say it, OK? I won't. But every president -- they'll say it anyway, you watch tomorrow. Trump thinks he should be on Mount Rushmore, isn't that terrible? What a group. What a dishonest group of people, I'll tell you. And you know the funny thing is that you would think they'd want to see our country be great again. You would really think so. But they don't. Someday they'll explain it to me why. Every president on Mount Rushmore believed in protecting American industry. We have to protect our industry. And now we're going to start. We are reclaiming our heritage as a manufacturing nation again.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Bob Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots -- I don't know if you like New England, but they have a hell of a team. That's OK. But he came to the oval office and he brought a sheet with him that just came out. Manufacturing enthusiasm in the United States is at an all-time high. Isn't that great? To me that sounds great.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Because we're going to bring back our jobs, bring back our wealth, and we are going to bring back our dreams. And we are going to bring back, once again, our sovereignty as a nation.

(APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING USA)

TRUMP: Since I took office, we have cut illegal immigration on our southern border by record numbers, 78 percent.

(APPLAUSE)

(CROWD CHANTING BUILD THAT WALL)

TRUMP: Record, record numbers. And in fact, the ICE folks -- I'll tell you what, and the border patrol police, they are phenomenal people. They're working with General Kelly. And just so you understand, we've already started fixing much of the good ball that's already there. We've already started fixing it. But, we are breaking records. And it was actually told to me the other day by somebody in Mexico that's very high up, said it's incredible, because their southern border is getting very little traffic. Nobody is coming anymore because they know they can't get through our southern border, so they don't even come.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Never again will America's surrender the security of our people, the safety of our communities, or the sovereignty of our nations. We are cracking down hard on the foreign criminal gangs that have brought illegal drugs, violence, horrible bloodshed, to peaceful neighborhoods all across our country. We are throwing MS-13 the hell out of here so fast.

(APPLAUSE)

Tump: you know we're actually -- hard to believe that we're talking about our great country. We are actually liberating towns and cities. We are liberating people who are screaming from their windows, thank you, thank you, to the border patrol and to General Kelly's great people that come in and grab these thugs and throw them the hell out. We're liberating our towns and we are liberating our cities. Can you believe we have to do that?

(CROWD CHANTING THROW THEM OUT)

TRUMP: Earlier this year, immigration and customs enforcement conducted the largest single raid on transnational gangs in the history of our country. We are dismantling and destroying the bloodthirsty criminal gangs and, well, I will just tell you this, we're not doing it in a politically correct fashion. We're doing it rough. Our guys are rougher than their guys.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I asked one of our great generals, how tough are our people? How tough are they? He said, sir, you don't want to know about it. Then I saw one guy come out, a customs officer, he's a monster. And I said, so, general, you think I could take that guy in a fight? He says, Mr. President, sir, I don't even want to think about it. And I said, you're right, actually. We have tough people. Our people are tougher than their people. Our people are tougher and stronger and meaner and smarter than the gangs.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: One by one, we're finding the illegal gang members, drug dealers, thieves, robbers, criminals, and killers, and we're sending them the hell back home where they came from. And once they are gone, we will never let them back in, believe me. The predators and criminal aliens who poison our communities with drugs and pray on innocent young people, these beautiful, beautiful innocent young people, will find no safe haven anywhere in our country. And you've seen the stories about some of these animals. They don't want to use guns because it's too fast and it's not painful enough. So they'll take a young, beautiful girl, 16, 15, and others, and they slice them and dice them with a knife because they want them to go through excruciating pain before they die. And these are the animals that we've been protecting for so long. Well, they're not being protected any longer, folks.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And that is why the administration is launching a nationwide crackdown on sanctuary cities.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: American cities should be sanctuaries for law-abiding Americans, for people that look up to the law, for people that respect the law, not for criminals and gang members that we want the hell out of our country. Sanctuary cities legislation has passed the house, along with Kate's law, named for Kate Steinle, who was brutally killed by a 5-time deported illegal immigrant. We are asking the senate to vote on sanctuary cities and Kate's law legislation. We've got to get it passed.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: The Trump administration has the backs of our ICE officers, our border patrol agents, and, yes, our great police officers, and we have their back 100 percent. We're going to also protect them like they protect us.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This month in Chicago, there have been more than two homicide victims per day. What the hell is going on in Chicago? Better tell that mayor to get tough, because it's not working what they're doing. We are going to get criminals off our streets, and we are going to make America safe again.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We also strongly believe that our borders must always be closed to terrorism and extremism. We don't want radical Islamic terrorists in our country.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We've seen the total devastation in Europe, and we've seen the murderous attacks from New York to Boston to San Bernardino, exactly one year ago, next month, I came right here to Youngstown to deliver a major address on how my administration would protect our country from terrorism and radical Islamic terrorism. We only want to admit those into our country who share our values, who love our people, and who always will love our people. We don't want people coming into our country who have bad intentions even before they start.

END

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