Lewandowski and Scaramucci talk North Korea, 'spygate'
On 'Watters' World,' former Trump campaign manager and former White House communications director discuss Trump's decision to pull out of the Kim Jong Un summit and the latest allegations against the FBI.
This is a rush transcript from "Watters' World," May 26, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JESSE WATTERS, HOST, WATTERS' WORLD: Welcome to "Watters' World." I am Jesse Watters. Getting played for a chump by Donald Trump, that is the subject of tonight's Watters' Words.
After little rocket man bad mouthed Mike Pence and failed to prep for the Singapore summit. Trump did what John Kerry should have done. He walked away from the table.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Based on the statement of North Korea, I have decided to terminate the planned summit in Singapore on June 12th. While many things can happen and a great opportunity lies ahead potentially, I believe that this is a tremendous setback for North Korea, and indeed a setback for the world. If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: POTUS also sent the North Korean leader a letter which read in part, "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used. I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me. And ultimately it's only that dialogue that matters. Someday, I look have much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of those hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated. If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write."
Incredible letter and classic art of the deal. Trump never locked in.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
TRUMP: Well, see what happens, if the meeting happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, we go on to the next step.
We are moving along and we will see what happens. There are certain conditions that we want, and I think we'll get those conditions, and if we don't, we don't have the meeting.
But we're going to see what happens on Singapore, we're going to see.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: We're going to see. So, the president gave up nothing while the North Koreans destroyed their nuclear testing facility, froze ballistic missile tests, committed to end the Korean War and released American hostages.
Trump pulls out on principle and Kim gets put in his place and lose a face. Now, America's negotiating form an even stronger position, but leave it to the left, all they see is a win for Kim.
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NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE MINORITY LEADER, DEMOCRAT: I think it's a good thing for Kim Jong-un. When he got this letter from the president saying, "Okay, never mind," he must be having a giggle fit.
SENATOR ROBERT MENENDEZ, D-NEW JERSEY: The art of diplomacy is a lot harder than the art of the deal.
REP. ERIC SWALWELL, D-CALIFORNIA: The president was rehearsing his end zone dance and we weren't even at the 50-yard line yet on the summit.
JOY BEHAR, HOST, "THE VIEW": There goes that Nobel Peace Prize.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: So, let me get this straight, when Trump announced the summit, the Dems said Kim had won, and when Trump cancelled the summit, the Dems said Kim had won. It's a perfect example of the left's duplicity.
A leveling narrative on North Korea has always favored the North Koreans at the expense of Trump. Fire and Fury was too tough, our allies weren't behind us, China wouldn't help us, remember the meeting got suckered into North Korean Olympic propaganda and they said, Kim Jong-un's sister was a better diplomat than Ivanka.
Democrats side with America's opponents just score political points against Trump. For example, in the course of this President, Democrats have defended Hamas, MS-13, Iranian mullahs, waterboarded terrorists, risky Syrian refugees and Antifa.
Trump's success has boxed Democrats into such radical positions they are becoming politically irrational. Now the North Koreans signaling they want the meeting back on. President Trump's reaction.
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TRUMP: We're going to see what happens. We are talking to them now, it was a nice statement they put out. We'll see what happens. We will see what happens, it could even be the 12th. We are talking to them now. They very much want to do it, we'd like to do it, we are going see what happens.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Clearly, the North Koreans want this more than the United States. Trump has the upper hand and the Democrats have no hand. Here to react, former White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci and former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, now part of the VP's political action committee, the Great America Committee.
Do you guys get along, you two? There is no turf war here and everything is going to be okay?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We both got fired. We get along great.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: You got fired, and then they bring in Manafort, how about that?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Not a good idea.
WATTERS: I know, do you ever hold that against him?
LEWANDOWSKI: We are the FBL's, fired by loyal.
(CROSSTALK)
SCARAMUCCI: And a few other people.
WATTERS: A very small group, hopefully getting smaller. So, what do you think about my brilliant commentary, Corey?
LEWANDOWSKI: Look, here is what I think, the left will never give this president the credit that deserves. First, he wasn't going to be prepared for the meeting. Now, he has had personally negotiated the release much three American hostages there, he gets no credit for that.
He is moving towards the denuclearization of the North Korean peninsula, he gets no credit for that, and all they say -- remember, even when the meeting was potentially going to be on, he will never be ready for this meeting. He is not prepared. He never gets a credit he deserves and it's shameful.
WATTERS: It is shameful and why do you think that is, Anthony? Why do you think the Democrats throwing political caution to the wind, side with people like Kim Jong-un? Don't they see that that is not smart politics?
SCARAMUCCI: They are so scared of the president. Let's just face it, okay, he is not a politician in the classic sense, and so when you look at all of those sound bites that you just played, they are all of the same playbook.
The president is operating off of a different playbook -- it's a business executive's playbook. It's a negotiating style that isn't typical in Washington, and so they are so fearful, Jesse, that he is going to win with his negotiating style and it is going to cause the American people to do what they are already starting to do and saying, "Why do we need these guys when we can bring in people like the President to handle these matters for the American people?"
WATTERS: But it is a threat to the political pass...
SCARAMUCCI: That's why they are going so crazy.
WATTERS: So, if good things happen for America and Donald Trump, bad things happen for the Democratic Party, that's how they see it, so they can't allow the President to have a foreign policy success.
LEWANDOWSKI: Jess, these Democrats -- Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, they hate this president.
WATTERS: Crying Chuck.
LEWANDOWSKI: More -- they hate this president more than they love their country, and it's a sad commentary, but it's so true. Look, 30 years of failed foreign policy under crooked H, under live shot John Kerry, all right, it failed and it failed and it failed with John, and what happened was John Kerry failed, Hillary Clinton failed, Donald Trump came in and said, "I am going do it differently," and now we are seeing success in North Korea for the first time.
WATTERS: Yes, John Kerry is not going to be riding his bicycle over in Singapore.
LEWANDOWSKI: He didn't do that so well.
WATTERS: No, not so well. Let me get your reaction to James Comey, so the spy gate thing has blown into the atmosphere, and Comey was asked about, you know, did they have a spy in the campaign and here is what the former FBI Director said,
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JAME COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: As best I can tell, it's made up. I don't know where he's getting that from. Honestly.
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "CONAN": Do you find that to be at all possible or probable? I am just play devil's advocate that there was a spy inserted into his campaign by an intelligence agency?
COMEY: I don't find it possible and I know it not to be true.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Maybe James Clapper had a different take on this. Let's hear what he had to say.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
BEHAR: Was the FBI spying on Trump's campaign.
JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: No, they were not. They were spying on a term I don't particularly like, but on what the Russians were doing. Trying to understand were the Russians infiltrating and trying to gain access, trying to gain leverage and influence. This is what they do.
BEHAR: So, why he doesn't he like that? He should be happy.
CLAPPER: Well, he should be.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: So, who do you believe, the liar or the leaker?
LEWANDOWSKI: They are both liars. It's hard to differentiate between these two liars. I mean, what it really comes down to is Jim Comey has lied in front of Congress on so many occasions. His deputy, Andrew McCabe lied to the FBI under oath on three different occasions.
Clapper and Brennan -- these guys have probably perpetuated the worst crime on American government political system history, and now they are scurrying rats. They are all pointing the finger at each other. What the bottom line is, these guys have got many, many bad days in front of them because they continue -- every time they go on television to lie and they can't even get their stories straight.
WATTERS: The stories are going to get worse, because you have to keep your stories together if investigators are going to start asking you questions.
SCARAMUCCI: Yes, so I mean, they are obviously going to have to get that story straight, but they could have gone to the President, I know, Corey would agree with me on this, they could have gone in when he was a candidate and said, "Listen, we are worried about the following things and we are going to put some people in place to pick up Russian intelligence."
The president is a total patriot, he would have been totally fine with it, but what they did was they've completely underestimated the president. They were fearful that he was going to win, and they certainly wanted Hillary Clinton to win, and so they did it in this very surreptitious way, and now, they are not going to come clean on it, not under any circumstances...
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Well, they are saying, they want to protect the president. They put a spy in the campaign to protect him.
SCARAMUCCI: I understand that. Because they could have disclosed it to him, he would have been fine with that, I really believe that.
LEWANDOWSKI: Jesse, there is only one campaign of the two nominees that took $5 million out of their campaign war chest, paid a former MI6 special agent to go to Russia to create a false dossier and it wasn't the Trump campaign, it was the Clinton campaign.
The question is, if they put a spy into the Trump campaign, did they also do that with a campaign that gave $5 million to go to Russia to create a false dossier? And we know the answer is no. This was their insurance policy against a Trump success.
WATTERS: So, you have Hillary Clinton who is out there gallivanting with foreign leaders, foreigners from various suspicious countries donating millions to dollars to her foundation and there is no interest in the FBI of foreign influence under the Clinton campaign? I would say that there is more foreign influence into the Clinton campaign from China, from Middle Eastern countries, from the Russians than there was into the Trump campaign.
SCARAMUCCI: They are part of that system now and they are part of that artifice, and so that the next move will be to completely protect them, because God forbid if anything happens to them, they are two big dominoes that knock everybody out, Jesse.
WATTERS: Yes, well, the FBI is looking like the KGB and they are going to have to start answering some questions.
Also, answering questions, the NFL finally has a policy about kneeling. I guess, they have bent to the president's will and to the will of the fans who didn't like the disrespect. Trump was asked about that, change in policy. I think they are going to be kneeling, if they do kneel, not on the field, in the locker room.
Brian Kilmeade caught up with the president.
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TRUMP: You have to stand proudly for the national anthem or you shouldn't be playing, you shouldn't be there, maybe you shouldn't be in the country.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: That freaked everybody out, "Maybe you shouldn't be in the country." Well, maybe, where the left thinks he is going to deport like some strong safeties or something like that.
LEWANDOWSKI: Yes, you know, Jesse, there are rules for every organization that people work for. One of the rules are very simple: Stand up and acknowledge the national anthem. I don't understand why this is even a controversial question, right? Look, if you don't...
WATTERS: It's not. Seventy percent of the country agrees with it.
LEWANDOWSKI: Jesse, if you don't want to respect the flag that men and women have died for the right to have it there, then don't play a silly game where you make millions of dollars, and I know you're a talented NFL player, but guess what? It is a privilege to play that game and if you don't want to do it, there's a lot of other people who would go out and be happy to take your spot.
WATTERS: That's right.
SCARAMUCCI: I love the integration of the free market capitalist system with the patriotism, because at the end of the day, the viewer walked away from the NFL.
WATTERS: And the ratings went down.
SCARAMUCCI: The ratings went down...
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: And the ratings went down, attendance went down...
SCARAMUCCI: Attendance went down, and so that scared all of them, but they are up against it now with the players union, and we have to see how that resolves itself, so to me, I think they made the right decision. I think there are other ways to progress peace and social justice, if that's your agenda, I am all for the First Amendment, but that is a game of entertainment and the American people don't like what they are doing and I am glad that they made that decision.
WATTERS: Someone who disagrees with you, one of the coaches, Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors had this to say on the new policy.
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STEVE KERR, COACH, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: Basically trying to use the anthem (inaudible) nationalism, scaring people, it's idiotic. I am proud to be in the league, but understand patriotism in America is about free speech and about (inaudible) protesting. Our president decided to make it about that. The NFL followed suit, pandered to their fan base.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: He's wrong, Anthony because it's not about the First Amendment. You have the First Amendment, fine, kneel or do what you need to do at a softball game, in your backyard, but like you said, when you're at your employer's place of work, in a stadium that he owns, and you're wearing a jersey that he owns, and he's paying you to work, he's not paying you to kneel, he's paying you to play football, you have to do what the company wants you to do.
SCARAMUCCI: He is also leaving out of that that the NBA has signed into their collective bargaining agreement that everybody has to stand for the anthem. Because they recognize, there is a level of entertainment and they want to be respectful to all citizens of America.
WATTERS: So, the NBA has a different policy...
SCARAMUCCI: The NBA has a different policy...
WATTERS: And they all stand there.
SCARAMUCCI: They all have to stand.
WATTERS: So what is he talking about? He's a hypocrite.
SCARAMUCCI: It's signed contractually into the collective bargaining agreement.
LEWANDOWSKI: Of course, he is a hypocrite, but this is -- Jesse, it's so simple, right? It's so simple, you play a game, you make a lot of money. It's an entertainment thing. You stand up, you show respect for the greatest country in the world which is where we live and gives you the privilege of playing, if you don't want to stand for the national anthem, you're welcome to go play overseas somewhere else. Good luck if you are making the same amount of money you know, coaching in Romania. I don't think it's going to happen.
SCARAMUCCI: I do get the grievance though, I do think that there is a format for the grievances other than that.
WATTERS: I agree.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: I mean, listen, though, the police brutality and racism is a serious issue in this country.
SCARAMUCCI: No question.
WATTERS: At the same time, there are other avenues where you can pontificate about that.
SCARAMUCCI: Just remember, the greatest of all time, who was protesting the Vietnam War said it was a white man's war, he left boxing. He didn't stand in the ring and kneel on the ring, he left boxing to make that protest.
And so, I am not saying people should be doing that today, because I think they need the power and the courage of being able saying do that 50 years ago.
WATTERS: That's right. You look like you played football, take a few hits to the head, Corey?
LEWANDOWSKI: I take more -- I'd grown up in little Massachusetts, couple hits to the head, yes.
WATTERS: All right, you guys.
SCARAMUCCI: Not in the campaign though...
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: He steered clear of that.
LEWANDOWSKI: That's right.
WATTERS: All right, Anthony, Corey, thank you guys very much.
LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.
A 30-year-old living with his parents, he won't leave, his parents took him to court. Next.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
OWEN WILSON, AMERICAN ACTOR: Hi, is Chaz here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chaz, there's someone here to see you. Pickup your (inaudible) skateboard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I live with my mom.
WILSON: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you hungry? Hey mom, could we get some meatloaf?
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Classic scene from "Wedding Crashers," but in upstate New York, it seems art is imitating life. A couple has been trying to kick their 30-year-old son out of their house after living there rent-free for eight years.
They asked him to leave five times and even offered him money to get out, but he refused, so they took him to court.
And just this week, a judge evicted the unemployed millennial.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
MICHAEL ROTONDO, EVICTED FROM PARENTS' HOUSE: It's not that I won't leave, it's not that I don't want to leave, it's that I just need enough time. I don't need very much.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, ANCHOR, FOX NEWS: You keep saying that, but you've had eight years, and they have asked you five different times, but...
ROTONDO: Well, I expect to be out in about three months or so, I am going to try and make it so that the -- there's a court support, that's reasonable...
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Is this the right thing to do? Political commentator Danielle McLaughlin and Fox News contributor, Tomi Lahren joining me now. So, Tomi, gosh, can you imagine, this guy doesn't have a girlfriend, he doesn't have a job. His parents just want him to get on with his life. What would you do if you were the parents? Would you take him to court to kick him out?
TOMI LAHREN, CONTRIBUTOR FOX NEWS: You would really hope it wouldn't have to come to that, but it's just sad for me as someone who is 25 years old to look at someone in this position and think that generations past, we were storming beaches, and fighting for our freedom, and now we have millennials that have to be forcibly kicked out of their parents home. How far have we fallen in 2018?
WATTERS: He's storming the fridge for a late-night snack. Danielle, I disagree though a little bit with Tomi. I think this kid is showing a lot of tenacity. He has dug in. He is working really hard at staying where he is and he's even showing a little legal spunk by representing himself in court, maybe he has got a legal career ahead of him.
DANIELLE MCLAUGHLIN, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FOX NEWS: Maybe he doesn't -- I think, probably his parents would prefer that you know -- the first question I asked when I saw this was, "Which lawyer would take this case on?" It seems that he is looking out for himself, which I actually -- this is probably the most motivated he has been seen in eight years. I feel back for him of course, he is one of the millennials...
WATTERS: Yes, he's working really hard to stay where he is.
MCLAUGHLIN: He is, I can't believe that his parents had to write him five letters. As a parent myself, I have got a 3-year-old. I can't imagine in 27 years having to go to court to kick my daughter out of my home.
WATTERS: Oh, God. We are going to be following this guy. We have him on to "Watters' World." I think he may actually do the show, so everybody needs to stick around and watch next week. Let's play some sound from this guy, Laurence Tribe, constitutional scholar, Harvard guy. He was talking about impeachment vis a vis President Trump, this is what he said.
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LAURENCE TRIBE, CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLAR: You can't be the boy who cried wolf and expect to have a viable impeachment power. You can't use it over and over again against the same President. If are going to shoot him, you have got to shoot to kill.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Shoot to kill, now Tomi, I don't want to be the PC police here, you are going to say whatever you want, I am not going to get that sensitive, but if a Republican had talked about impeachment and said you have got to shoot to kill with Barack Obama, can you imagine the outrage?
LAHREN: Well, the double standard is the only standard that the left likes to uphold, but because we are conservatives, we understand it's not the best phrasing. I am sure he didn't mean it that way, I am willing to give the guy a break, but you know, I actually agree with him...
WATTERS: It's an analogy, right.
LAHREN: Yes, I agree with him on the impeachment stuff though, I mean, as much as they continue to talk about impeachment, it just makes them look worse and worse and worse. They are not helping their case, so, hey, I don't agree with his choice of words, but the guy is right.
WATTERS: It is true. But, I love when the Democrats talk about impeachment. Danielle, I mean, just, why don't you talk about impeachment? Why don't you talk about Russia? Why don't you talk about MS-13 being good people? I'd say that should be the roadmap for the midterms.
MCLAUGHLIN: I agree that Democrats have probably made some mistakes here, but I actually love that I agree with Tomi on this one. I think, I agree with you what Professor Tribe was saying was that -- Democrats talk about this far too much as they try and utilize its power too much, it's lost. The power of impeachment is lost.
He stated very clearly that this needs to be a bipartisan thing, if it is to happen, and for the country to accept that it is absolutely what needs to happen. The only other thing I will say is words matter, but so do actions, and we have seen even from our own president in rallies where our press was spit on or protesters are punched, there's been a little bit of this stuff going on, and a lot of rhetoric and so, I think that all sides needs to just take it down...
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: I think we've found out the Democrats paid for guys to go into these Trump rallies and swing at Trump supporters. That was proven, I think, some undercover video showed that. Tomi, now, speaking of getting a little nasty and dirty, you had a problem out there somewhere in the country. I guess you had water thrown on you. Let's play some of that video so everybody can see.
All right, so someone threw water on you. Why did they do that?
LAHREN: Well, I would like to just say that thank you for playing that especially on "Watters' World." You know, it's still a little traumatic, I am kidding.
WATTERS: I know, I don't want to give you PTSD.
(CROSSTALK)
LAHREN: Yes, I mean, I was out with just my family -- again, it was water, it's not the end of the world, but it shows the unloving and intolerant left and their true colors. And I experienced that first hand. I experience it on a weekly basis, but this was above and beyond, but the fact that they are proud of it, they wanted to post it online, yes, that's a new low, hey, but that's the left.
WATTERS: It is, I was at a bar on election night 2016 watching Trump win and obviously getting a little excited when he started picking up some Democrat states, and had my fist in the air, and having a good time, and all of a sudden this young lady threw a drink at me right over here at Midtown Manhattan, soaked me -- I think it was water, I couldn't that well, and she ran out of the bar like a total animal.
And it happens to people. There is nothing you can do about it when water gets thrown at you, but it's happened to Ann Coulter. I think they threw pies at her during a speech. People get glitter bombed. It doesn't really happen on the right, Danielle, you don't see a lot of conservatives throwing things like water or fruit at Democrats. Why do you think it's the left that likes to hurl things through the air.
MCLAUGHLIN: I am not convinced that this is just the leftists being bad.
WATTERS: Well, I have just convinced you by my numerous examples.
MCLAUGLIN: I will say this, but throwing water, throwing fruit, throwing a pie, none of this stuff is okay.
WATTERS: Well, it depends what kind of pie.
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I suppose if it's a really yummy pie and you get to eat a little bit, I think probably, it's okay.
WATTERS: Yes, that's fine.
MCLAUGHLIN: And Tomi, I feel for you and I wish that we weren't in a place where this is happening, and so I think about what we need to do is like, think a little bit about what we say and what we do and let's try forward to turn to decency. Like you and I can sit here, I didn't bring a pie, I might not agree with you, but can have a conversation. So, that's something that matters.
WATTERS: Tomi, do you get heat when you go out? I mean, you are becoming such a lightning rod, I don't know why, but people have visceral reactions to you. They either love or they throw water on you? When you walk around, do you take security?
LAHREN: Well, I have to tell you, even though I have some encounters like that one, most of the encounters that I have are positive, and usually in California, it's people coming up to me and saying "Oh, my goodness, I am a conservative. Thank you for being a conservative in California." So, yes, there are some like this that are you know, animalistic and they have to act like this to get attention, but by and large, there are a lot of good Americans out there on the left and right that appreciate free speech. So, I am just happy for that.
WATTERS: I mean, it's like, 0.001% of the people that do this. This is not regular occurrence, but when they do, do it, they try to blow it up because they are proud of it. They think they are heroes for doing things like this, when in fact, they are just a bunch of cowards.
All right, Tomi and Danielle, have a great weekend, and enjoy, try not get any water on you if you don't want it.
And speaking of water, I get a lesson in waterboarding. That's next.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS: And live from "America's News Headquarters," I am Ed Henry. The American prisoner held in a Venezuelan prison returning to the US tonight. Joshua Holt reuniting with his family a short time ago. The Utah native went to the country in 2016 to marry a Venezuelan woman. He was arrested shortly thereafter on weapons charges and held for two years without a trial.
He is expected to be welcomed by President Trump at the White House any minute. We will bring you there live once it happens.
Meanwhile, the leaders of North and South Korea holding a surprise meeting today, just two days after the President abruptly cancelled the summit with Kim Jong-un. Kim, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in discussing several topics including their opinions on how to carry out a successful US and North Korea summit in the future. The president says he is still open to meeting with Kim.
I am Ed Henry, now back to "Watters' World" stick with foxnews.com for all your headlines throughout the weekend.
WATTERS: Despite objections from the left, President Trump swore in the first female CIA Director this week, Gina Haspel.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
TRUMP: Gina, congratulations. There is no one in this country better qualified for this extraordinary office than you. Our enemies will take note. Gina is tough. She is strong, and when it comes to defending America, Gina will never ever back down. I know her.
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: The beef against Haspel is based on her involvement with enhanced interrogation practices like waterboarding. Green Beret and former UFC fighter, Tim Kennedy says waterboarding is not torture and even recorded himself being water boarded for 42 minutes just to prove his critics wrong.
(VIDEO CLIP STARTS)
TIM KENNEDY, FORMER UFC FIGHTER: I also didn't orchestrate the murdering of thousands of Americans on planes and buildings that burnt to death, some of them had the choice of jumping to their death or being burnt alive.
So, here is my sympathy for those guys that have been waterboarded.
But this is the whole -- because it was like a tech (ph) "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
KENNEDY: Just to hold the geeks to win...
(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)
WATTERS: Tim Kennedy joins me now. I would never do that, Tim, I'm too soft. But I am glad that you did it because you can tell what it feels like. So, in your own words, describe what it's like to be water boarded for that long.
KENNEDY: I mean, it's not comfortable. I won't mince words, it's not a pleasant experience. You know, as you are at that angle, slightly inverted, the water pools in the back of your sinus, and it's bad. It feels like you are drowning, but you are not drowning because drowning is when water goes into your lungs.
So, you're just laying there, and the water -- even though you're trying to hold your breath, maybe you're trying to force positive pressure to keep all of that water out, it doesn't stop it from going down your eyes and going through your nose and running down the back of your throat and then pulling in the back of your sinus, and it is uncomfortable, but that's all it is. It's not permanent. It's not damaging, it's just uncomfortable.
WATTERS: So, it's intensely uncomfortable, intensely irritating and agonizing, would you say, but not torture.
KENNEDY: No, I wouldn't even go so far as to say agonizing. I would go -- I think uncomfortable is the closest you can get. I could do that for hours, you know, you could stick me in there and strap my arms down, you could punch me in the stomach and it's still just me laying there and you are dumping water on my face and it doesn't feel good.
WATTERS: Well, it is effective because some people who may not have had the same training you did as a special operator did give up valuable intelligence, and we have Democrat CIA Director Panetta, Republican CIA directors say that it led -- the waterboarding to intelligence that at one point, the waterboarding of KSM, the mastermind behind 9/11 led us to Bin Laden's whereabouts in Afghanistan.
KENNEDY: Yes, there is no question that this garnered valuable information that has saved Americans' lives, the difference and this is the hard thing for people to understand, it comes down to the person that is on the board.
You know, I am resolute in my convictions. I understand morality and I believe in ethics, and the people we have water boarded, they are the most of despicable humans to walk the face of this planet.
These are the Nazis of this generation. These are the people that torture, maim and kill -- everyone they have access to and they are bullies and they are cowards. So, when you take somebody like that and you take away their authority and you take away their control and you put them on the board, and they have lost that power of being able to control everything, they freak out because they are cowards.
And that's the difference. I disagree with you when you said...
WATTERS: Go ahead, go ahead. What do you disagree with?
KENNEDY: You said that you wouldn't get on that board, I think that you'd have no problem with it. I think you would like, "Oh, this is uncomfortable and this is horrible." But you're still a man of conviction. You're still a man of morals and you would lay there and you'd be like, "You know what? This sucks, but whatever."
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Well, I'm glad you think so highly of me. I really appreciate it, and let me get your understanding of the Democratic mindset when it comes to waterboarding. Why do you think Democrats are so obsessed with prohibiting this type of procedure? Is it because they feel sorry for terrorists? Is it because they don't want to say they want to not drop to their level? What do you think motivates them to be so outraged when American CIA agents pour water on terrorists' faces?
KENNEDY: They are apologists. They have forgotten, they are so short sighted in what happened to us on 9/11. We have been at war for 17 years and these are people that will put a man on their knees in front of them, and slowly slit their throat on cameras. I am looking at a camera right now, imagine somebody in front of me and I slice his neck open. What kind of human can do that?
Those are the people that we have waterboarded. Now, I am not saying two wrongs make a right, but they have been apologizing for what we have done since 9/11. Listen, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, we dropped atom bombs, nuclear bombs to end a war and we are still at war with people that have done even more disgusting things.
So, I just don't understand -- there is no excuse for them apologizing to these people.
WATTERS: I don't understand it either because I know if the sons or daughters of any of these Democrats that are objecting to enhanced interrogation were ever in a position where they had a loved one at the hands of an Al-Qaeda terrorist and the only way to save that person was to waterboard someone to lead to those whereabouts, they 100% would say yes, do whatever it takes to find my son or daughter. Tim Kennedy, thank you very much.
(CROSSTALK)
KENNEDY: My pleasure.
WATTERS: Appreciate it.
KENNEDY: Take care.
WATTERS: Up next, Diamond and Silk.
Hollywood honcho, Harvey Weinstein turned himself in this week. He was booked in New York on rape charges and sex abuse charges. He post a million dollar bail, so he is back out o the streets, but he's considered a flight risk. He is rocking an ankle bracelet and confined in New York and Connecticut. Here with reaction, my favorite ladies, Diamond and Silk.
So, ladies, Harvey is in handcuffs. Do you think he's going to beat the rap?
DIAMOND, VIDEO BLOGGER: He shouldn't. If he did this, he needs to do his time. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time and these Hollywood elites are going to have to know, you cannot abuse...
HENRY: This is a Fox News alert, I am Ed Henry in New York, you can see the president is with the released prisoner from Venezuela. Let's go to the Oval Office live.
TRUMP: In a Venezuelan prison almost two years, Josh, and you know, amazing that you were able to take it. Your daughter, Marion is here and your parents, Jason and Laurie -- now, you went through a lot, and you were in there fighting all the way.
And I want to thank Bob Corker -- great job you did over there, great job. And I want to thank Mike Lee and Mia, you have been -- every time I see Mia, she would talk about you, Judge, and say, "What about Judge?" And I say, "What about something else? Can we talk about something else?" She was always doing it, and Orrin Hatch is a legend as you know. He is a legend in the Senate and this country, and Orrin, you were great.
So, Bob, Mike, Mia, Orrin, I want to thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
TRUMP: So, we have had 17 prisoners released during the Trump administration. Most people don't know that. You remember Aya? We called the president of Egypt and he released her. She was there for a long time, three years. The previous administration was unable to get her out -- a fantastic young woman and she was released.
As you know, in North Korea we just had a great success. We had three wonderful people -- Americans -- that released just recently and they are now home safely with their families. You were a tough one. I have to tell you, that was a tough situation, but we have had 17 released.
And we are very proud of that record, very proud, and we have others coming. We are in the midst of some very big negotiation to the get others out. In most of cases, they are Americans. but we can try to help other countries, too, where there is injustice, so we've been working very hard on it.
But, I just want to welcome you to the Oval Office, welcome you to the White House. It's really very special to have you both. You have gone through a lot. You've gone through a lot, more than most people could endure. I want to thank your parents for being such loving parents. You are very, very special. You were fighting all the way. There was not a day that -- there wasn't an hour or minute that you weren't thinking about this man, and calling everybody and letting us know.
And we are all as a group very happy. The State Department has been fantastic. Where are my guys from the State Department? Where are they?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Sullivan...
TRUMP: We have John Sullivan, you guys were really fantastic. Look at all those people that work at the State Department. You are probably surprised to see that, but maybe, I'd like to ask the parents, your great parents if you have something to say, before -- I would like to get to the senators and I'd like to get to you, Mia and ask you also.
But could I start with the parents?
LAURIE HOLT, MOTHER OF JOSHUA HOLT: I just want to say thank you to you personally for everything that you have done, as well as the State Department, but all of you. I just can't even tell you.
I have grown to love Senator Hatch and Mia so much, not everybody gets to talk to Senator Hatch and Mia Love, and when everything happened last week, Mia was the one that answered her phone and was the one that got things rolling with Senator Hatch to save Josh, and it was...
TRUMP: I have never seen Mia cry before.
LAURIE HOLT: It was a horrifying week and she got me through it. Senator Hatch, I just -- Senator Hatch's office, I cannot tell you how much I love all of your staff. So thank you, thank you, and I also want to say thank you to President Maduro for releasing Josh and letting him come home.
TRUMP: That's very nice. Pop?
JASON HOLT, FATHER OF JOSHUA HOLT: She pretty much said everything that's why I let the pretty face take care of this kind of stuff, so...
TRUMP: Very smart. You're smart. Josh, would you like to say something?
JOSHUA HOLT, RELEASED AMERICAN PRISONER FROM VENEZUELA: I am just overwhelmed with gratitude for you guys for everything that you have done, for the support of my wife through those two years. They were a very, very, very difficult two years. Not really the great vacation that I was looking for, but we are still together, starting off our marriage rough, but now we're going to be together, and I am just so grateful for what you guys have done and for thinking about me and caring about me, just a normal person.
So, it really touches me and I thank you.
TRUMP: You have been very brave actually. You have been incredibly brave. We saw what was happening inside of that prison. So you really have been very, very brave. Bob Corker. would you like to say something? Great job.
SEN. BOB CORKER, R-TENNESSEE: Thank you. We are just glad to have you home. A lot of people had worked for a long time to make this happen, and I want to thank everyone at the State Department, and in particular, I want to thank Caleb McNary (ph) who knows this area more than probably anybody in the United States who is here with me today, but...
TRUMP: Where's Caleb?
CORKER: Caleb...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back here.
TRUMP: Come on over here. Great job (inaudible)...
CORKER: It's quite an experience that we could almost write a book about just the last 48 hours, but we are glad we're out. We were actually, Mr. President, taking off on the runway, nothing in Venezuela happens quite in the same way that it happens here and we were going down the runway and they turned the engines off and we turned around.
So, we still weren't sure we were leaving until...
TRUMP: What happened? Why did they do that?
CORKER: There was an instrument issue that occurred, but we finally -- we got out of there and obviously, Josh had a huge smile on his face. And when we landed, he did.
TRUMP: Probably the only time that anybody who was ever happy that there was a bad instrument on an airplane, that was a better alternative, I think...
CORKER: There were people that we worked with down there that I do hope at the right time, you will have a chance to thank. There are people who really want to try to affect the relationship in a good way and you know, they were very helpful to us in getting him out of there.
I know you talked to one of them last night on the phone when I was having dinner with them, and I appreciate you doing this.
TRUMP: That's great, Bob. That's really great, and you know, we have Pastor Brunson, a wonderful Christian pastor. He's right now in turkey, he's been there a long time. They say he's a spy, but he's not a spy. And we are going to all work and we have been working for his release, he's having a hard time. There is a trial going on, but the trial is not so much of a trial.
We are talking to the folks in Turkey about doing something about it, but Pastor Brunson, I hope you can hear us. We will be helping you at some point. We have been working on hit for a while. He has been there a long time, and he is a totally innocent man.
Mike Lee, would you like to say something.
SEN. MIKE LEE, R-UTAH: Sure. I want to thank all of those who have been involved in this. Senator Corker, Senator Hatch, Representative Love, to Caleb, to the State Department and everyone who has been involved.
Josh, I want to wish you a warm welcome home. We've missed you. We've prayed for you.
And Marion and Tammy, welcome to our country which is now your country. [Speaking Spanish].
TRUMP: Good, good. Well, understood that beautifully. That's very good. Good job. Good job. Orrin Hatch, Senator, spectacular man, please.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH, R-UTAH: Mr. President, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you. As you know, I was the one guy who really supported you 100%, and I do now, I think you are doing a terrific job, and this shows why we support you.
You actually -- this was -- and I have some say, these folks did a great job. I was really thrilled with the way Bob handled himself; Caleb and others, did such a good job. We have good people working with us, and the folks in this delegation all very sincerely wanted to get Josh out of there.
And the parents are just as good a people as I ever met in my life, and you better really live a good life, that's all I can say, but this wouldn't have happened without you. We just want you to know that when you look back over your tenure in the presidency, this is just one of the many great things you are doing, but it's really a great thing, and to know that we can rely on you and count on you and talk to you and meet with you, these are all very important things.
We love you, boy, and we just want to support you everywhere we can.
TRUMP: I appreciate it. You have all been very supportive, but I really appreciate that. That's very nice. I thank you very much. Thank you. Mia?
REP. MIA LOVE, R-UTAH: I had been thinking about what I was going to say today. It's been an emotional day, but so many Utah families send their families out, send their sons and daughters out for maybe a year and a half to two years, and they want to know that if something happens to their children, that they have got someone or the United States will have their back.
And I don't think there is a person in the United States right now that doesn't realize that you have their back, and so I wanted to personally thank you for keeping a promise that you made to me. Every time would go and see you, I would bring up Joshua's name and you would say, "I am going to do everything I can." And obviously, I believed it.
I also wanted to say to Josh that your mom never let us forget about you. That is what is -- she is one of the strongest women I know. And we have started a friendship that has been -- that started through maybe some heartache and some pain, but we are going to be friends forever because of the bond that we have had.
And so, you know, I just wanted to say sincerely that we are with you, Utah has been praying for you, and so happy that you are coming home, and Utah wants to thank you, Mr. President, for making this happen. We wouldn't have been able to do this without you.
Everybody here, Senator Hatch, Mike Lee, Bob Corker, I mean, the State Department -- we all worked together to make this happen, and you don't know us, but we know you very well, Joshua and we welcome you home.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, Mia, and it is true though. Every time I would see Mia, I said, "Look, don't mention the name Joshua Holt, we are working, we are doing it." But she didn't forget. She was out there pitching as was Bob, as was Mike, as was Orrin.
I mean, we really had a great team, that's a strong nucleus right there, but we had a great team. Great job. I just want to mention, we are doing very well in terms of the summit with North Korea.
It looks like it's going along very well. As you know, there are meetings going on as we speak in a certain location which I won't name. But I like the location. It's not so far away from here. I think there is a lot of goodwill. I think people want to see if we can get the meeting and get something done. If we got that done, and if we can be successful in the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, it would be a great thing for North Korea, it would be a great thing for South Korea. It will be great for Japan and great for the world, great for the United States. Great for china.
A lot of people are working on it. It's moving along nicely, so we are look at June 12th in Singapore. That hasn't changed. It's moving along pretty well. So, we'll see what happens. Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Congratulations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, everybody.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, everyone.
TRUMP: They have gotten very well. Those talks have gone very, very well.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Thank you very much, everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much, we are leaving now.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. We are leaving.
HENRY: Well, to say the least, not a usual Saturday night at the White House, especially not on a Memorial Day weekend. I'm Ed Henry in New York. You have been seeing the President of the United States, Donald Trump with Joshua Holt. He was Mormon missionary who travelled to Venezuela from Utah to marry a woman that he had met online. You saw her there as well in the Oval Office. His parents were there, and apparently, her daughter as well, and it grew very emotional.
Senator Mike Lee, one of many members of the Utah Congressional delegation there, he grew emotional as he said our country is now your country, both in English and Spanish. This caps a remarkable two-year journey for Joshua Holt and his wife and daughter as you saw there.
He had been in a prison in Venezuela because of the Maduro administration, the dictatorship there that the Trump administration has been battling with. There are US sanctions that are hammering their economy right now. This move seen potentially as a goodwill gesture obviously.
The Maduro government hoping, they may be wrong, but hoping that this opens the door to a broader conversation with President Trump about easing some of those sanctions.
Senator Marco Rubio and others though, very active on social media, today saying this is not enough. This is a good step, a goodwill gesture, if you will, but what really needs to happen is that Maduro needs to step down, democracy needs to be restored in Venezuela before those US sanctions, those punishing sanctions should be relieved.
As I mentioned, a remarkable two-year journey for Joshua and his family while he was in prison, but it also caps a remarkable day. You saw Senator Bob Corker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee along with Senator Orrin Hatch. Senator Corker, as you can see these pictures now the left of your screen, that was Joshua with Senator Corker carrying luggage together.
Senator Corker with his jacket off and boarding that plane, somewhat a light-hearted moment in the Oval Office when President Trump was pressing them on what happened, and Bob Corker said they were finally about to leave that airport you see in Caracas after this long, long journey and they were about to take off and suddenly, the pilot turned off an engine and started heading back as if they were not going to be leaving Venezuela.
You heard the President press Senator Corker what exactly was going on, what were the Venezuelans up to, and Senator Corker explained that there had been something wrong with one of the instruments on the plane. President Trump saying that maybe the first time someone was happy that it was just a problem with an instrument and not being dragged back into this communist country.
As you can see, everyone relieved now, that was just a light moment where now, Joshua has been released just weeks after three American hostages in North Korea were released as well, the president touting that. We are going to be following this story on foxnews.com all weekend. Now "Justice with Judge Jeanine" is coming up next.
END
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