Lt. Col. Michael Waltz on tensions between Iran, Israel
Israel launches strike against Iranian targets in Syria in response to the launch of Iranian missiles; former Green Beret commander Michael Waltz shares insight on 'The Story.'
This is a rush transcript from "The Story," May 10, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Thank you, Bret. We are certainly looking forward to that tonight. Nice to see you tonight. Let's start with a Fox News Alert right now. This is a live look at Elkhart, Indiana. In moments, we expect President Trump and the Vice President Mike Pence who is back home in Indiana to address a crowd of thousands in Northern Indiana. We're told to expect a campaign rally where the focus will be on the economy and Trump's America first agenda. He's got a lot to talk about tonight. As we say good evening from New York City, I'm Bill Hemmer in for my colleague Martha MacCallum tonight and welcome to 'The Story' here in New York City. The stage is set for what should be a raucous night in the Hoosier State. That's a state President Trump won by nearly 20 points in 2016. But it will be a battleground for the midterms come November.
President Trump hoping to rally voters tonight to get behind the Republican Senate Candidate Mike Braun. He won his primary on Tuesday and hopes to unseat the Democratic Incumbent Senator Joe Donnelly in November. A lot of Republicans see Joe Donnelly as being vulnerable. That's the seat Republicans need to keep control of the Senate. But tonight, no doubt it will be about Trump's victory, especially when you think about the last three days or even the last 24 hours. Three American hostages now back home from North Korea, and the Singapore summit is now set. President Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet on Tuesday, June 12, 2018. Let's start tonight with Mike Tobin. He is live inside the Northside Middle School in Elkhart, Indiana with the story from inside the gymnasium. Good evening there, Mike.
MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL REPORTER: Bill, people waited hours to get inside this gymnasium. The last of campaign rally of the president did was in Washington Township, Michigan. A much bigger venue and still then, a lot of people got turned away. They drive from hours away to try to be in the same room as the president. For them it's (INAUDIBLE), for them it's about being in the same room as their hero. One of them told me today that this is a two for one deal because they get to be in the same room with the Vice President Mike Pence as well. Now, the president and vice president, of course, have a different agenda. What they want to do is rally and unify the base, particularly around Mike Braun, who you just mentioned the other night got the Republican nomination for the Senate but it was a particularly bruising primary. And you've got a lot of hurt feelings, and you've got a lot of division within the Indiana GOP.
So, the idea is to unify the base, get them to rally behind Mike Braun because as you mentioned, Joe Donnelly is vulnerable. Because, even though he's a moderate, he's a pro-life Democrat. Still, he's got that 'D' in front of his name, and he's in the heart of Trump country and that makes him vulnerable. So, in addition to seeing a lot of support behind Mike Braun, anticipate some support from behind a guy named Greg Pence. You recognize that name because he's the brother of the vice president, and he just won the nomination for Indiana's sixth congressional district. So, there's going to be a lot of rallying to that effect and, of course, a lot of cheering for what just happened with the release of the prisoners from North Korea. And one thing we know when the president does one of these campaign-style rallies, he covers a lot of ground and the discussion goes where the president wants it to go. Bill?
HEMMER: We've seen that Mike. I've got a note here that says some people were in line yesterday at 4:00 in the afternoon. Is that the case, and how many are there tonight?
TOBIN: I can't confirm that part. But they certainly -- the line was stretching through the blocks around this little township. So, hundreds and hundreds of people are here. And I can only anticipate because we had to come in with the security sweep -- I can't go outside and get a look. I can only anticipate hundreds of people are turned away tonight, Bill.
HEMMER: Yes. OK. Mike, thanks so much. Mike Tobin, we will be back with you live in Elkhart, Indiana. I want to bring in Marc Thiessen right now, American Enterprise Institute Scholar and a Fox News Contributor; and Juan Williams with me here in New York, Co-Host of the "THE FIVE" and a Fox News Political Analyst. Gentlemen, good to have you both tonight here with me. You know, Marc, I think if I'm in the West Wing, I feel pretty good about the last three days. You know, the elections break their way on Tuesday. You rip up the Iran deal on Tuesday, which I think really plays to the base of the Trump supporters. And then, you have this 3:00 a.m. return for these three Americans out of North Korea. It's a pretty good 48 hours to brag about tonight, Marc.
MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE SCHOLAR: It's a very good 48 hours for him to brag about. He's coming to Indiana with the tail winds behind him, and he's got a lot of strength, and he's got his target set on Joe Donnelly. This is a guy who he, he gave a - - last time he was in Indiana for a rally, he gave Joe Donnelly a lift on Air Force One and had a rally with him. And he said, hey, Joe, you know, if you don't vote for my tax bill, I'm coming after you hard. And Joe Donnelly voted against that tax bill and he's coming after him hard tonight.
HEMMER: Juan, what do you think they are feeling in the west wing given the events I just lined up?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST AND HOST: Oh, I think it's been a good -- not only three days, you said 24 hours. I'd say it's been a good week. In terms of the appeal to the base and what we'll hearing about tonight in Elkhart. You know, the key here is, I think, that for the viewers at home, you should view this as the game starter for the mid-term elections of 2018.
HEMMER: Interesting.
WILLIAMS: Because you see Indiana as a state that, you know, in terms of Joe Donnelly, really pretty conservative Democrat. What you see here is Indiana potentially becoming slightly purple. President Trump coming in tonight -- he wants it back in the red column. And I think that's why he's going to stand up for Mike Braun, who is one of three pro-Trump Republicans running for this nomination. Now, you're going to see this, I think, extended into certain states. Not all states in the mid-terms because President Trump is not going be welcomed in every state where a Republican is trying to hold on. Because the mid-terms are going to be a referendum on Trump. But in Indiana, he thinks that he can help -- he won there handily, and he thinks he can help Mike Braun oust Joe Donnelly.
HEMMER: Few observations from the other night on that election. Mike Braun is a business man. He used to serve in the state in Indiana, but he's been a businessman, that's how he's build his career. He embraced Donald Trump, Marc. He said after his victory on Tuesday night, he said, I look to this guy came in and wiped the field in 2016. And I figure, we need a few more people like him in the U.S. Senate. So, he has aligned himself. And in West Virginia, too, the Patrick Morrisey victory. He steps to the microphone. He says, Mr. President, if you're watching tonight, thank you for the tweet. It made a huge difference here in West Virginia. And when you think about the members of congress and the House side who were trying to capture these primaries, defeat in the West Virginia, and two of them defeated in Indiana, that's -- it's a very interesting development as to how people are feeling, perhaps, about the lawmakers in Washington?
THIESSEN: Very much so. And look, this is Trump country right now. You know, Juan is absolutely right. But there are a lot of states that Donald Trump might not be welcome in the same way he is. But here's the problem, like, Republicans are going to have an uphill battle in the house. But in the Senate, Democrats are defending 10 states that Donald Trump won, including five states that he won by double digits. Republicans are defending one state that Hillary Clinton won. And in those five states that he won by double digits, Indiana is one of them, he's got 51 percent approval; West Virginia, 62 percent approval; North Dakota, 49 percent approval; Montana, 50; Missouri, 50. So. Donald Trump is extremely popular in these states where these red-state Democrats, who have not been voting with him in the Senate on big issues. All of them voted against the tax bill. You know, Elkhart County where he's going to be speaking today, that's the R.V. capitol of the world. Winnebago gave out $1,000 checks to all of their employees because of the tax bill that Joe Donnelly voted against. And I'm sure he's going to point that out.
HEMMER: What's interesting about this location, Juan. This is what President Obama chose. In the early days of 2009, talking about the stimulus and the jobs ready program. He went to Elkhart, Indiana to sell the idea about American jobs and American manufacturing, which you know is the principle concern in Elkhart.
WILLIAMS: Right. So, the economy, if you're looking at the economy, it's very interesting because, again, Obama went there pretty much for the same reason that Trump is going there. They see this as a state where they can have some influence by saying we're putting jobs, we're money on the table. So, when you look at this, you think, oh, gee, has Trump helped in the recent past elections? You look at Pennsylvania where there's a special house election. His guy lost even though he was plus 20, I think, in that Pennsylvania 18. You look at what happened in something like Alabama. Again, he took a side. It didn't help. The Democrats won. I think Trump feels he's gone past that point now (INAUDIBLE), to pick up on what you're saying, focusing on the economy. His people at the White House want him to talk economic issues. And that's what we've heard he's going to do tonight. He's going to focus on the economy, on jobs, low unemployment. I'm interested to see how he deals with the tax cuts because the tax cut has not proven to be as strong for Republicans as they had hoped.
HEMMER: I think also, too, gentlemen, you have to look for this red, white, and blue patriotic angle here. I don't know how many people got up at 3:00 in the morning, but I heard from a lot of people who did to watch the homecoming for these three Americans, and the president and the first lady out there. It was a bit of a throwback, Marc, I though, when you watched that. You think about the pride we have for our country and leaving no one behind. These people are now back. Enjoying the freedom of the United States of America. It struck me as a time that recalls one of patriotism. The president said, hey, I'll be there at 3:00 a.m. I think he initially said he would be there at 2:00 a.m., maybe the plane was 60 minutes late, but there they were and this was quite an image, Marc.
THIESSEN: It was quite an image. But it's also -- I'll tell you what's fascinating about this, is that these are the kind of images that used to unite us as a country. When -- whether -- no matter who it was, whether it was, you know, Republicans or Democratic president, when you're brining hostages home, that we come together like that. And Donald Trump, today, you're going to see people celebrating their return. Today, Chuck Schumer was on the Senate floor blasting Donald Trump for the way he welcomed those people. I mean, how do you take something that is so positive, the return of three Americans that were held by one of the worst, most tyrannical regimes in the world, and return that into a negative. The Trump derangement syndrome is so intense that they can't even say good job, Mr. President, you brought back three Americans.
WILLIAMS: Wait a second, Marc. I'm all for saying thank you, Mr. President. That's it. But you know that what Chuck Schumer was saying was, there's no way that Kim Jong-un should've been holding those people in the first place.
HEMMER: It was a back-handed compliment.
WILLIAMS: You shouldn't be, you know. somehow praising a bad guy for releasing Americans --
THIESSEN: He was praising him for releasing them, Juan. It's just -- come on, you can't take something so positive and find the negative in it. It's just amazing.
WILLIAMS: I'm not trying to find the negative and I'm not being antsy.
THIESSEN: No, Chuck Schumer is.
WILLIAMS: No, I don't think Chuck Schumer is. I think that we as Americans in a patriotic spirit, should celebrate anytime we get our folks back. But we shouldn't be somehow saying quite excellent Kim Jong-un. No, it wasn't.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: It was a back-handed compliment, I think. Anybody who listened to it, I think, that's the way it comes up here. Marc thank you. Juan, thank you. Gentlemen, don't go far because there's one thing we're watching overseas that could be a bit of a headwind, too, and that's the situation of Israel and Iran, and that's something we're keeping a very close eye on. 7:00 here in New York, 2:00 Jerusalem time, so we're waiting for more news as to see whether or not that escalates more.
As for President Trump, he will be on the stage in Elkhart, Indiana any moment now, part of a very busy week as we mentioned. The three Americans home from North Korea, securing that day for the Singapore summit, and now stepping away from the Iran deal. It was a packed 72 hours. On the heels of that big announcement, meaning Iran, we're seeing tensions rise between Israel and Iran. Their force exchanging fire in Syria, which has many asking whether or not we're heading for war. Benjamin Hall joins us live, as I mentioned 2:00 a.m. Jerusalem time for the latest on what has happened there in the past 24 hours. Ben, good evening.
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good evening, Bill. What a 24 hours. I mean, A major event here in the region. And those shockwaves are still being felt. This was the first time that Iran has directly attacked Israel from across the border, and it was also the largest ever or since 73, it was the largest Israeli air operation, since the young people war. There is a peace settling over Israel at the moment --it's an uneasy peace, however. Military reinforcements have moved up to the north of the country. The iron dome missile system is ready in case, but President Rouhani did reach out to Angela Merkel earlier and he said that he doesn't want escalation either. Not right now. This all started when Iranian forces fired about 20 rockets at the Israeli military at the Golan Heights. The rockets were or either intercepted only fell short, but nevertheless this was a major escalation by Iran. Hours later, Israel responded and in a big way. By Thursday morning, the country's air force had destroyed nearly all of Iran's military infrastructure in Syria, taking out all 50 sides that they their hit list. 28 people were reportedly killed, 18 of them were non-Syrians. Now, among the targets were Iranian intelligence site and a logistic headquarters, military compounds, munitions storage warehouses. This was a clear warning to Iran that Israel will respond to any aggression. Israel has always said that it would never allow Iran to set up permanent military bases in Syria but Iran have done just that, taking advantage of the chaos of the Syrian civil war. The Syrian defense ministry came out and he said that whenever they were attacked, they would retaliate with much greater force. He said, if rains in our country, it will pour in yours. Another interesting point here is that the Syrian government has distanced themselves from the Iranian attack. Although Syrian military facilities were used, they say that Iran did this without their knowledge. And of course, the Syrian government, the Assad regime is terrified that Israel now gets involved in that conflict, goes after Assad. So, Iran, seemingly doing this without telling their Syrian hosts. Very Interesting.
HEMMER: A proxy war that we've been watching, this shadowboxing back and forth, it came front and center overnight. Benjamin Hall, thank you in Jerusalem there. I'm watching Mike Pence on the stage now in Indiana. We'll take you there live in just a moment when the president comes out. But, Colonel Michael Waltz with me now, Lieutenant Colonel, former Green Beret Commander, former Counterterrorism Advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney. How are you doing, Michael? Good evening to you.
MICHAEL WALTZ, FORMER GREEN BERET COMMANDER: Hey Bill, good evening.
HEMMER: My sense is if you go back 12 years in the Middle East, you think about Southern Lebanon and the build-up of Hezbollah and the amount of rockets they have in Southern Lebanon. All it takes is one or two rockets fired into Israel to ramp this thing up. And I think that's the point that we have reached at the moment. Does it go there? Or does it cool down?
WALTZ: Well, I think what we're seeing is the culmination of a couple things. One, you know, Iran and Hezbollah have made more gains in the last eight years under both as a result of the billions that flowed into Tehran as part of the Iran deal, and then essentially the Obama administration turning its back on the region. And that's all coming to a head now. I think a lot of President Trump's critics are trying to blame the timing of this on him backing out of the Iran deal. But as you noted, this has been building for some time. And listen, Bill, the Iranian regime has not been building roads and bridges with the billions that flowed in as part of the Iran deal. They've been on a shopping spree with Moscow -- and with Russian weaponry, number one. And number two, they've been pumping that money into its proxies into Syria. And that's why you're seeing so many protests in Tehran because the Iranian people had an expectation that the billions coming in would help the economy. And instead, they've seen the regime up it into military infrastructure, and that's all coming to ahead now with the Israeli.
HEMMER: It's quite clear that the Israelis had their eyes on these targets a long time, in an around Damascus, armed by Iranian forces, and they went after them. They waited for their moment, and they're reporting this mission was a complete success. I don't know how you characterize that just yet, Michael.
WALTZ: Well, I would call it a butt whipping to use the term that we use in the south. You know, the Israelis really smacked the Iranians hard here. But I would call it two things: one, you know, I think there's a misconception that the Iranians are only helping Hezbollah and its proxies in Syria. Iranian's ground forces, it's military, it's uniformed forces are on the ground in Syria helping the Assad regime and propping it up and building up its infrastructure on the Israeli border to be able to hit our greatest ally. And I think what President Trump knew and knows is that we have to stand with our ally, and the Israelis essentially took that infrastructure out. This is a real shift on the Israeli part, and that they have been kind of holding back and letting ISIS and the Sunni extremist kind of fight it out with Assad and Hezbollah and the Shia extremists. It got to the point now where they had to step into a big way and they did so, and they did so incredibly effectively.
HEMMER: My feeling now is what does Iran do in kind? And we can't answer that right now. But on Monday, the U.S. Embassy moves from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. And there will be a U.S. delegation in Jerusalem for that moment. And you know the unrest its caused along the Gaza strip over the past month, and what is next then? As we are fully engaged with Benjamin Natanyahu, and clearly against the Iranians out of Tehran.
WALTZ: Well, the Trump administration is fully engaged with our Israeli ally and rightly so. And we're standing with them not only militarily but we're standing with them diplomatically and essentially realizing a promise of the last three to four presidents, since the mid-90s in terms of recognizing a capitol that is really always existed and the Israelis have a right to exist. So, I think on the diplomatic front, that's just realizing something that has been entrained for some time. But importantly, we have to stand with the Israelis militarily, and they cannot and we should not allow the Iranians in a very strong way to build up on their border. And they've essentially taken them out.
HEMMER: Yes, one more question on this. These people in Elkhart inside that gym, how do they feel about ripping up the nuclear deal with Iran? My guess is they like it when you're sticking to the (INAUDIBLE).
WALTZ: Well, I think they realize and they see this president as standing with our allies and showing strength to our adversaries, whether that's North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran. And what we all instinctively know is that those regimes respect and respond to strength, and that's what you're seeing in North Korea, I think that's what you're going to see with the Iranian regime eventually.
HEMMER: Nice to see you, Michael. Michael Waltz here in Washington, D.C., greatly appreciated that. Keeping a close eye on the picture from Elkhart, Indiana: the vice president is on state right now, about to introduce the president. So, we will bring that to you as soon as it begins. There is a lot to talk about in Northern Indiana tonight, and we shall. President Trump, coming up next right here on THE STORY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Fox News Alert back live in Elkhart, Indiana. Vice President Mike Pence doing the introduction. The honors there for President Donald Trump who will be in that room in a matter of moments there, we heard during the commercial break. Finally, one last note from Mike Pence who is back home in Indiana, his home state, and clearly getting a bit of welcome there tonight. So, back to Elkhart in a moment. First, there are new questions about Stormy Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti, and what his real motivation for taking down Michael Cohen and Team Trump might be. Trace Gallagher tracking that tonight from our newsroom on West Coast. Trace, what happened today on that? Good evening.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good evening, Bill. Stormy Daniels attorney, Michael Avenatti continues to go after President Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Mark Penn has few questions; Penn, you might know is a former advisor to President Clinton and a current pollster who wrote an op-ed on the Hill that reads in part: "Cohen is being put under the microscope and we can rest assured that every payment in or our will be fully scrutinized by law enforcement, but Avenatti can't be given a pass on these issues. Americans are entitled to know just who this guy is, who is writing his checks, and whether he legally obtained his information." Avenatti quickly responded with a tweet and a statement saying, "Too bad, Mark Penn didn't do any basic research for his ridiculous piece in the Hill. Once again, for at least the 20th, all fees and expenses of this case have either been by our client, Ms. Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels, or by donations from our crowdjustice.com page." But Avenatti has refused to say how he was able to get Michael Cohen's banking records. Although the inspector general for the Department of Treasury is investigating because some of the records were spot on. For example, both AT&T and the drug company Novartis have acknowledged giving Michael Cohen hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn more about the Trump administration, and how it would operate. In fact, The Washington Post is now reporting: AT&T also paid Michael Cohen to consult on the merger with Time Warner. The American company, Columbus Nova, also paid Cohen, except Michael Avenatti believes that money from Columbus Nova actually came from Russian billionaires, Viktor Vekselverg, and the money was used to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 of hush money he paid to Stormy Daniel. Columbus Nova flatly denies the allegation and Avenatti has offered no proof to support the claim. Avenatti also reportedly got caught in a few cases of mistaken identity -- going public with banking records of man named Michael Cohen, except those Michael Cohens do not represent the president and on it goes, Bill.
HEMMER: That it goes. Thank you, Trace. Good to see you tonight from the West Coast. Back with us in Elkhart, Indiana, Marc Thiessen and Juan Williams as we wait the president to take the stage. And Ed Henry now joins us live from the White House, he's got new information now in this North Korean release for the three Americans back home. Ed, good evening to you. What are they saying about that tonight, that's new?
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying that they think this is going to tee things up very nicely for the summit that's coming up likely in early June. They have not confirmed whether or not it's going to be in Singapore, but that really seems to be where it's leaning -- as sort of a neutral sight. There's a major Asian security conference there about two weeks ahead of when President Trump would meet with Kim Jong-un. And so, you're going to have a bunch of Asian powers and others from around the world there, and people here at the White House believe that would be a good place to have this. But I think the other key piece of this is that that release last night, I've heard you talking about sort of the burst of patriotism, the feeling that the president didn't leave these Americans behind. And the fact that just about, you know, eight, 10 months ago, you had the president's critics saying that his hot rhetoric, little rocket man, fire and fury, and all that was bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. I can tell you the senior White House aides I've talked to feel at least some sense of vindication that the president actually did have a strategy and a lot of people like Ben Rhodes from the last administration have been out on social media in the last year saying that the president was bringing us to the brink of nuclear war, and this was going to blow up in America's face. And instead, you have this release of three Americans and now happening on the eve of a summit where there's a lot of hart work to be done. There's a lot of diplomacy that needs to be done. Nobody here is spiking the football. But people in the building behind me are saying that compared to where we were eight, 10 months ago, the critics saying that the president was bringing the nation to the brink of nuclear war, we're in a much different place tonight, and you can bet the president is about to talk about that at the rally as well.
HEMMER: Interesting point in all of that. Are you saying Singapore is not a solid location? Is that what you're hearing?
HENRY: They just have not officially nailed that down. They're also hedging on whether or not, how long it's going to be. They're say it'll last at least one day at the summit, but it may go on longer.
HEMMER: Thank you, Ed. Standby at the White House there. And to Marc and Juan, hang on here because the president is making his way to the gymnasium there at the middle school in Elkhart, Indiana. As we mentioned he's got a lot to talk about this week alone. On Tuesday, the Iran deal was ripped up. On Tuesday night, you some of these primary elections that went this man's way frankly, and went to Republican way in Ohio, in Indiana, and in West Virginia. And then the news from overnight last night, in dead of night, three American hostages come home from North Korea. So, we expect to hear a lot about all of that to Juan, quickly, when you think about a campaign in November, how much do we see the president do exactly this tonight across the country?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know, part of this, Bill, is I think the president enjoys this. I think it feeds him and gives him energy. I think, you know how angry he can get at reporters in Washington. Here he goes out and he is celebrated. Remember, during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, he was in Michigan at a rally, and he got, again, energized the crowd. I think, we're going to see a lot of that tonight.
HEMMER: Likely to run about an hour. And who knows where we run with the topics? Here we go, live in Elkhart, the 45th president of the United States.
(CROWD CHANTING USA)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, I want to thank, your former governor, and your current vice president, and he, and Karen are doing an unbelievable job for our nation. Thank you, Mike.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: You're making Indiana proud, and we're all making America proud. We are rocking. We're rocking.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So, I'm thrilled to be here tonight with the incredible hard- working patriots of the Hoosier State. Hossier.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I don't know if you see what's going on outside, but you have a lot of people outside that want to get in, but they're not getting in because this place is packed. This place is packed.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: This is truly an exciting time for our country. Jobs are booming. Remember? I told you. I told you.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Confidence is soaring and optimism is at the top of every chart. This is a great time for our country, a lot of things happening every day. We are unlocking new opportunities for prosperity and for peace. All of these changes are happening because America is being respected again.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHANTS OF USA)
TRUMP: At 2 AM, early this morning -- and by the way, I got back to the White House at 4:30 AM, and somebody said, oh, that's OK. You can cancel Indiana tonight. And I said you just don't know the people of Indiana. I don't have the courage to cancel.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But at 2 o'clock in the morning, I had the incredible honor of greeting three brave Americans who had been held in North Korea, and we welcomed them back home the proper way.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And on June 12, in Singapore, I'll be meeting with Kim Jong-un to pursue a future of peace and security for the world, for the whole world.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And the relationship is good. But you remember, everybody in the fake news where they were saying, he's going to get us into a nuclear war. He's going to get us into a nuclear war. And you know what gets you into nuclear wars? And you know what gets you into other wars? Weakness. Weakness.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So the relationship is good. And hopefully, I mean, for all of us, for the world, hopefully, something very good is going to happen, and they understand that it's very important for them. It's important for everybody. So, Japan, South Korea, China, everybody, I think it's going to be a very big success. But my attitude is, and if it isn't, it isn't, OK? If it isn't, it isn't. But, you have to have that because you don't know. We're not going to be walking into an Iran deal where the negotiator, John Kerry, refused to leave the table. What a deal. What a deal. But here at home the great news keeps rolling in, 3.3 million new jobs since election.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Now, if during the election -- and by the way, how great is Coach Bobby Knight? How great.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Oh, we love our coach. Remember, he came in. He called me before I was running. I didn't know him. They said Bobby Knight is on the phone. I said what does he want with me? I never announced. I was thinking, but I guess he read and he said, Mr. Trump, I hope you're going to run. I said check and see whether or not this is Coach Knight. But, actually, when I heard that voice, I knew it was Coach Knight. You can't duplicate that. And I took his number. I said, coach, I'm thinking about it. He said you're going to win. If you run -- and does he know about winning? And if you run, you're going to win. So, anyway, I put his number down and I was coming to this area. At that time we had a big lead. But they said Indiana. A friend of mine said if you could get Coach Knight that would be a great thing. I said, you know, he called me like a year ago. Let me see if I can find his number. And on my left I had a pile of papers like this high. And I said let me see. I lifted up thousands of pages of junk, some actually pretty important. And I lifted it up and there's this little thing, Bobby Knight's cell phone number. Is that great?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I go, bum, bum, ba, ba, ba, ba, ba. And he picks up the phone, and he said I've been waiting for you to call. Can you believe that? And he came here, and we sold out -- I don't know what the hell the arena was but it was a big one. And they went crazy. And Lou Holtz and Coach Katie, all right? Coach Katie, Lou Holtz, we had them all. Coach, by the way, not from this area, but he's one of the greats of all time. Coach Belichick, right? Great guy. We got to love him. No, no, we love him. We love him. He knows how to win also. But we had a lot of coaches. They like us. They understand winning and they like us. And that's what we've been doing. And, if we would have told you during the campaign that we would create 3.3 million jobs in this short time, everybody back there, the fake news media -- look at all of them.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: They're fake news. Everybody back there would have said, can you imagine he's saying we're going to create 3.3 million -- can you believe it? We would have been -- but you know what? We understand. We understand. And today, today in the history of our country, just came out, right? We have the most jobs available in the history of our country. Just came out.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I like that. We like that. We like that a lot, because we have a truly great country, and I've been promising you those kinds of numbers. The unemployment rate is at the lowest level since the turn of the century.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: African-American unemployment has reached the lowest level in the history of our country.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Remember, I used to read stats, Hispanic, African-Americans stats, and I'd read and it said, high crime rate, lousy education, this, this. I'd read like six. And one day in front of it, massive crowd, 25 to 30,000 people, I said vote for me. What the hell do you have to lose? And you know what? They did. They did. Remember that?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And my people all said, oh, that was not nice. I said, it's true because the Democrats, who are just obstructionists, that's all they can do.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: The Democrats have had a lock on the Hispanic vote, and they've had a lock on the African-American vote. No longer. No longer.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So, the Hispanic unemployment, like-wise, is the lowest -- think of it, in the history, in the history of our country it's the lowest. So you have African-American, Hispanic, women -- women. We love women. Women.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The lowest unemployment rate in 18 years. I'm sorry we didn't make it in history, but we're catching it. It will soon happen. I'm disappointed with that, can you imagine? My most disappointing stat is women. It's the lowest unemployment rate in 18 years, because all of the others are history. But I have a feeling the women will soon be history too because that's what's happening.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And all of the great momentum that we're having as a country on jobs, on safety, on security, on our military, it's all at stake in November. You know, I don't think we've ever done better as a country, certainly, the economy and lots of other things. Look at all of those beautiful red hats. Those beautiful red hats.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Boy, oh, boy. And I like the white ones, too. Make America great again. Lift those whites up there. But it can disappear quickly. You know what we did was unprecedented in the history of our country, really, in the history of the world what we did with this election. And the strides that we're making have never ever been made like this before. But it can also disappear if you put fools and if you put the wrong people in. It can disappear. I mean, Nancy Pelosi said yesterday.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she wants to end the tax cuts and raise your taxes. I said, tell me, is that like good politics? You know, it's not about politics, but think of that from a political standpoint. I don't think her party was too happy. But you know what? That's her thought. That's what they want to do. They want to raise your taxes, ends your tax cuts. They want to have open borders where everybody flies into our country. That's not happening.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: So, this week you nominated an incredible slate of Republican candidates, many of whom I know.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And you have to work every day between now and November to elect more Republicans so that we can continue making America great again.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And by the way, this is the first for Indiana. Our new slogan for 2020, you know what it is? Keep America great.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Keep America great. Because we're doing so well that in another two years when we start the heavy campaign, make America great again wouldn't work out too well, right? It's going to be keep America great because that's exactly where we're headed.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But don't tell anybody. I don't want anybody to know. We want to save that for a surprise. But I do like that. And you know what I paid for that slogan? You know a lot of these people, the politicians they run. They pay millions of dollars for ideas like that. How much did I pay for that? Zippo. Zippo.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I have great respect for the process. But in all fairness, Obama, President Obama.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: . paid $1.8 billion for hostages. You, not me, you, last night you saw it. And, again, it's leading to some very big things. And I think that Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-un did a great service to himself, to his country by doing this. But those hostages came out with respect. We didn't pay for them. We're going to set the table. We're going to make a great deal for the world, for North Korea, for South Korea, for Japan, for China.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So what he did was the right thing. But they came out for nothing. And the others came out for $1.8 billion in cash. Can you believe that? We're honored to be joined by a friend of mine and somebody who's done a really, really good job. Somebody that's respected, very, very highly, Senator Todd Young. Todd.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Where's Todd? Where is he? See, that's a great politician. He doesn't even want a good location. He is of the people. Thank you, Todd.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We also welcome the largest vote winner in Indiana history, except for Trump, Attorney General Curtis Hill. Where's Curtis?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Good man. He's done a great job. A woman who has been of tremendous help on the tax cuts, on getting rid of regulation, which may be just as important, right, Jackie? What do you think?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Jackie Walorski. Jackie. Done a great job. And some congressmen who have been incredible. Larry Buckshon. Where's Larry? Larry, great job. Congressman Jim Banks. By the way, somebody that just fought an incredible campaign, a really good guy, and I'm not sure I would have been here. You know, we're talking two days ago. Very effective, a terrific man, Congressman Todd Rokita.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you, Todd. Great job, too. He fought tough. They all fought tough. That was a tough race. But we have somebody here that won that race, but we'll talk about him in a second. Let me also congratulate two of our news Republican nominees for congress. First, a proud army veteran who've earned two purple hearts, Jim Baird. Jim is going to really do well. Jim. Great, Jim. And second, a man that I know Mike has been rooting for, for a long time. I'll tell you, Mike loves his brother who won by a very big margin. I don't know. Was that a bigger margin than Mike Pence won by? I don't know, Mike. That was big margin. Greg Pence. Greg?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Finally, a big congratulation for Indiana's new Republican nominee for the United States senate, Mike Braun. That was a good race.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Get up here. How about we let Mike for a second interrupt my speech? Is that OK? Come on, Mike. Great job.
MIKE BRAUN, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: One of the neatest experiences of my life was spending 30 minutes riding with the president. And you wouldn't believe the advice you get and it's great advice. I'm going to incorporate it. Yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
BRAUN: You know, when I started this journey almost a year ago, I traveled the states, spent a lot of time in the north, and I wanted to make sure this was going to end up with a good result. Would not have done it if I wasn't inspired by what this man did in 2016.
(APPLAUSE)
BRAUN: He cleared the field systematically, and really that was the inspiration for doing it. And I can guarantee you, when I get there, I'm doing it for the right reasons. I'm a business man and an outsider, just like our president.
(APPLAUSE)
BRAUN: And you can count on me to be a true reinforcement and the guy that is going to retire Joe Donnelly. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you, Mike. And we need Mike Braun in the senate. And that's going to happen. It's going to happen. He's an incredible guy, and ran a really incredible race. Now, if Joe Donnelly -- sleeping Joe, and the Democrats get back into power, remember what I said, they will raise your taxes. They want to raise your taxes. They will destroy your jobs, and they are going to knock the hell out of your borders and that's already -- we have the worst immigration laws in the history of mankind. We're slowly getting them changed. We want to make it quick. So give me some reinforcements, please, OK?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Last week, as an example, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, Congressman Keith Ellison, you know him?
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: Marched in a parade wearing a t-shirt that read, he's very proud of it, I do not believe in borders.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: But I have a lot of respect for Keith Ellison. You know why? Does anyone know why? So when I announced on June 16th, he was being interviewed by George Stephanopoulos on ABC. And in the interview -- this was a couple days after I announced, and Keith Ellison said, you know he's going to win, don't you? True. Right, Mike? This is true. He said, you know he's going to win. And George and somebody else there, I won't mention the name -- go ahead. They smiled a little bit. Respectfully. But, Keith Ellison, he said he is going to win. Essentially, he was sort of indicating and there's nothing you're going to be able to do and that's what we did. So, in one sense, I have to respect him. He said he's going to win. So you can never dislike a guy like that, can we? But they've got a big problem. A vote for a Democrat in November is a vote for those borders, and we have to do something stronger. We're going to build the wall. We are already starting the wall.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We're going to build the wall. You know, we have already started. We got $1.6 billion. We're fixing a lot of it. We're in San Diego. So here's a case study. San Diego wants the wall. And I said to my people, here's the bad news. If we give them the wall, we don't have an advocate. If we don't give them the wall, they're going to be putting a lot of pressure on Governor Moonbeam in California, right? But you know what I did? Something I would normally not do, which means in life I'm getting nicer as I get older. I said, let's build the wall for San Diego. So we're billing them the wall. I shouldn't have done it.
Actually, I sort of changed my mind after we started. I called my people. I said how much would it cost to stop building the wall in San Diego, so they go out and advocate for us because they're desperate for their wall because they don't like people running over their front yards and all of the problems, right? Including, by the way, massive amounts of crime. I said how much would it cost to stop? I'm in the construction business. This is what I do best. They got back to me. They said, sir, it will cost approximately $7 million to stop. That is not big numbers when you hear about the numbers we talk about. $7 million to stop and restart it at a later date. I said I can't do that to the American people. Keep building the wall, right?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So, we're building the wall. But we're getting it all done. We're going to get rid of catch and release. We're going to get rid of the lottery system. We're going to go eventually -- when I get the votes, I need Republicans, we're going to go eventually to a merit-based system of immigration. Merit. You come in on merit.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Your senator, Joe Donnelly, voted against enhanced vetting. Think of that. What in the world would anybody be doing voting against enhanced vetting? Why? And he opposed a measure to block illegal immigrants from getting welfare. And now you have places where they want to give college tuition to illegal immigrants and your own kids can't get it. Your own kids can't get it.
(PEOPLE BOOING)
TRUMP: Joe Donnelly voted no on tax cuts, no on better healthcare, and he voted no on cancelling job-killing regulations, which may be even more important than those incredible tax cuts. But he voted yes on something that we are systematically taking down. We got rid of the individual mandate. We have great plans coming out. He voted yes for failed Obamacare. And we're doing everything to keep those premiums down. But it's a failed experiment, Obamacare. But wait till you see the plans we have coming out literally over the next four weeks. We have great healthcare plans coming out. But we got rid of the individual mandate.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Joe Donnelly will do whatever Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi tell him what to do. They don't ask them. They don't ask them. They tell him. They don't say will you? They say, Joe, this is the way you're going to vote. Mike Braun will be a great, great representative.
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