Sen. Marco Rubio: America relies so much on China for prescription drugs
Senator Marco Rubio wants to hold China accountable for putting the world at risk with coronavirus outbreak.
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," March 1, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Maria Bartiromo. Welcome to "Sunday Morning Futures."
Brace yourself for an explosion of new cases of the coronavirus in America, now that the USA has begun to ramp up testing across the country.
The president's point man on coronavirus is here, Vice President Mike Pence on the new travel restrictions put in place from South Korea and parts of Italy, among other places.
Plus, a landslide victory for Joe Biden yesterday in South Carolina's Democratic primary, now Super Tuesday just two days away.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is here assessing the race and reacting to Tim (sic) Steyer dropping out.
Also joining us this morning on that landslide, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, along with Senator Marco Rubio joining me as well on China's handling of the coronavirus.
Plus, Intel Committee Ranking Member California Congressman Devin Nunes will break news this morning. We have got breaking news on his pending lawsuit against The Washington Post, plus his reaction to the president's big peace deal with the Taliban.
All that and a lot more right here, right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."
All that ahead, but, first, the United States has put new travel restrictions in place, as the first coronavirus death here is confirmed.
A new case is also confirmed in Chicago. And the White House is planning for possible shortages of some key drugs and medical components.
Vice President Mike Pence, tapped by President Trump to lead the response, tells me the risk to most Americans still remains low.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about some of the news, the important news this weekend.
And, of course, you have lifted travel restrictions from parts of Italy, parts of South Korea, Iran.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right.
BARTIROMO: How are you going to enforce this?
PENCE: We use what's called Section 212(f) with China to suspend all travel back into the United States by non-citizens or legal residents.
And the president's using that authority with regard to Iran. We're banning all travel into the United States. Even foreign nationals that have visited Iran in the last 14 days will be stopped at our border, will not be allowed to come into the United States.
But for Italy and South Korea that are seeing a rising number of coronavirus cases, the president wanted to use the authority to issue a travel advisory -- it's called level four -- to tell the American people, do not travel to those affected areas in Italy and in South Korea.
But we're also making that connected to a screening process that we have already initiated discussions with both countries.
BARTIROMO: I understand that the FDA sent testing kits to the 50 states, and then called them back and said, well, wait a minute. There are three parts to this test, but one of those parts is actually defective, so don't do the testing. Wait on the testing.
I mean, is that just incompetence on the part of the FDA?
PENCE: Well, what I can tell you is that, in my conversations with governors -- and I have spoken to all of the governors that have been handling people coming back into our country as Americans have returned from China in particular -- is that we believe we are in the process of resolving the issues about testing kits.
In fact, as the director of the FDA announced yesterday, we have now approved new arrangements, so that states can conduct these tests on their own.
But, as we speak, literally, more than 15,000 kits are going out to the relevant areas, and we'll soon be sending another 50,000 that are going to be made commercially available out to states.
BARTIROMO: I mean, was the president upset that we couldn't do accurate testing initially?
You know, South Korea has testing from your car, drive-through testing. China says you can test from home. We haven't done the testing.
PENCE: Well, we -- we've done a fair amount of testing.
BARTIROMO: Five hundred tests?
PENCE: Well, as -- look, we've actually screened 47,000 people coming through designated airports in the country and -- and done testing at airports.
But the new challenges that we have is, we want to make testing kits available to local health care providers, so that, if someone presents with a respiratory illness, that they'll not only be tested for the flu, but they'll also be tested for the coronavirus.
BARTIROMO: OK, so now that we are beginning this real ramp-up of the testing, is it fair to say that we will likely hear of thousands of new cases in the United States?
PENCE: Well, I don't want to -- I don't want to put numbers on it.
BARTIROMO: OK.
PENCE: But there will be more cases.
But I want to assure your viewers and people across this country that we're ready. The reality is that the United States is more prepared than any other nation in the world.
BARTIROMO: So, in the coming days and weeks, if we see thousands of new cases, should we be not concerned?
PENCE: Well, we -- we know that there will be many more cases.
But we continue to remain hopeful that, because of the vigilance of our local health officials, because of the efforts of state leaders and CDC and HHS, that we'll be able to mitigate the spread of that.
And that's the reason why the president directed immediate increase in the production of masks.
We have a stockpile of some 43 million, but we're already making arrangements with several American companies to begin to produce almost that amount on a monthly basis.
BARTIROMO: The FDA has developed a list of 150 prescription drugs that we soon will not be able to provide because all of these active ingredients are made in China.
What will the government do about protecting Americans and their health, given the fact that so many drugs are produced overseas?
PENCE: When we came into office, fully half of our international deficit was with China. And the president has taken a strong stand to change that.
The new phase one China deal is a beginning in that. But we'll be meeting this Monday with the heads of pharmaceutical companies across this country. And I have spoken to members of Congress who've expressed the very same concern.
BARTIROMO: I'm going to get back to that, because the supply chain issue is real important. But you just said the risk is low.
It doesn't seem like Bill Gates thinks that. Bill Gates wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine, this is starting to look like -- quote -- "a once-in-a-century pathogen."
That's why he's donating $100 million for the treatment and testing.
PENCE: Well, I -- his assessment doesn't agree with our health experts. But I'm grateful for his generosity. I am.
We're all in this together. And I, frankly, am grateful for the spirit that I have heard from -- from many public officials at every level, Republicans and Democrats, who have said, this is a time to set aside recriminations or blame and really work the problem.
That's what the president has tasked us to do.
BARTIROMO: And yet the critics of the president have ramped up the politics once again.
Bernie Sanders is on the campaign trail saying, you don't have the qualifications to be running this task force. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says, you don't understand science.
PENCE: I will tell you, I have -- the job the president has given me, to bring this team together to drive forward to his objective to bring a whole-of-government response, the full resources the federal government to bear on the coronavirus in this country is going to be my singular focus.
BARTIROMO: Mr. Vice President, let me ask you about the president's conversations with Xi Jinping, because the president has said that he has spoken with him a couple of times.
Has the president asked him why they're giving us such disinformation, why they have played this down from the get-go, and perhaps made this worse?
PENCE: Let me say, the president has a very strong relationship with President Xi.
And our hearts go out to the families that have lost loved ones in China and to those that are struggling with the coronavirus. It originated there. And China's been working to address the issue.
There was some encouraging news that there were actually fewer new cases in China than in the balance of the rest of the world.
BARTIROMO: And we believe them?
PENCE: Well, we -- we had CDC officials that were just in China a few short weeks ago. And they informed me that they were able to look at the raw data.
And, from their initial look, it did line with much of the data that we were receiving. So we'll continue to ask the hard questions. We'll continue to call on China to even be more transparent than they've been.
But I think the president's decision to suspend all travel out of China and to establish a quarantine for Americans who are returning here should tell you everything you need to know about our -- our overall concern about ensuring that what's been happening in China, which we -- we have continued and will continue to offer American support and assistance for.
BARTIROMO: Mr. Vice President, this is about a vaccine. And...
PENCE: It is.
BARTIROMO: ... if a promising antiviral or a vaccine is developed, let's say it needs to pass government muster, are you willing to clear the pathways, the regulatory pathways of the FDA to get needed antivirals or vaccines to the American people?
I mean, there's a bureaucratic process to go through with the FDA.
PENCE: Already doing it.
Dr. Fauci made us aware a couple of days ago that, because of the expedited process that the FDA has approved, we're actually going to be able to go to clinical trials in six weeks on a vaccine for the coronavirus.
As Dr. Fauci said, that's -- from the National Institute of Health -- he said, that's utterly unprecedented.
Now, I want your viewers to know that a vaccine will go through the process and will likely not be available for this season.
But we're working very earnestly with multiple providers and multiple researchers to develop a vaccine for -- if the coronavirus -- we will deal with it in this season, from prevention, from mitigation, from treatment.
But, as the next season comes on, if coronavirus persists, then we're going to -- we're going to continue to work. We are clearing the red tape out of the way.
The FDA is providing great leadership on this front to have a vaccine for the American people by next year.
BARTIROMO: Mr. Vice President, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARTIROMO: And we have a lot more to come with Vice President Mike Pence.
Join me tomorrow on "Mornings With Maria" on FOX Business for part two of my special interview with Vice President Mike Pence.
That's tomorrow 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern on FOX Business.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden notching his first primary win with a landslide in South Carolina. But with Super Tuesday just two days away, can he keep the momentum going?
Stay with us, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures" with Senator Tim Scott coming up next and Senator Marco Rubio ahead.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
A big night for Joe Biden in South Carolina last night.
The former V.P. was -- quote -- "desperate" for a win, but he may have topped even his own expectations with a nearly 30-point victory in the state's Democratic presidential primary, thanks to strong support from black voters and late-deciders. Now he needs to carry that momentum into Super Tuesday.
I want to bring in South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott right now.
And, Senator, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for being here.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Absolutely. It's good to be back. Maria.
Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Were you expecting this? Tell me what's behind Joe Biden's win, from your standpoint?
SCOTT: You know, three weeks ago, he was up by 30. He had terrible debate performances. He went down in the polls. It narrowed very quickly.
And then two things happened. Number one, he had the best debate performance of his life, number one. Number two, Jim Clyburn, the next morning, endorsed him and also coalesced the African-American leadership.
About 61 percent of African-Americans say they voted for Joe Biden and that Jim Clyburn's endorsement was very important to them. And, number two, 60 percent of churchgoers also voted for Joe Biden.
So, if he's looking for a formula for Alabama, for Georgia, for Arkansas, or North Carolina, Texas, he's going to have to have a Jim Clyburn in all those states, African-Americans at a high level and high intensity, and churchgoers to create the type of secret sauce he will need to be successful.
That's going to be challenging to do. In 14 states, about six of the 14 are in the Southeast. It's going to be challenging for him to have the money and the infrastructure to replicate that performance.
But no doubt about it, the Biden bounce will give him more opportunities to raise money to try to do to then deploy those dollars in African-American congressional districts, so he picks up delegates. That seems to be his current strategy to stay alive, no matter the results -- statewide results.
He's now looking at congressional districts to pick up delegates...
BARTIROMO: Right.
SCOTT: ... so that he's alive at the end of Tuesday.
BARTIROMO: Well, look at the end of Tuesday, how much will Michael Bloomberg have spent?
I mean, let's say he may -- he may be running out of money.
SCOTT: About a billion dollars.
BARTIROMO: Yes, exactly.
So, Bloomberg has got all the money he needs to keep on going.
SCOTT: Yes.
BARTIROMO: What about that? And tell me about that narrative
SCOTT: Well, I think, if you think about the Bloomberg effect, so Bloomberg takes votes from Biden. No one's really challenging Bernie in Bernie's lane.
So, the question is, did the Elizabeth Warren bombing of Bloomberg end his Super Tuesday hopes? Certainly, he spent a billion dollars. He's running, I hear, three-minute ads during prime time tonight on different stations, trying to get traction throughout the 14 states.
I think it's going to be a little -- too little, too late. The Warren effect -- I'm not sure why she decided to do so, but the Warren effect on the Bloomberg campaign may be one of the most important narratives not covered consistently.
Thank God we have you on the air, Maria, looking at the analysis of the -- and the breakdowns of these races.
And the other effect is, Steyer is gone. A billionaire spent $100 million. You can't buy this election. The one thing that Trump did that other billionaires didn't do, he appealed to the voters. He didn't try to buy his way to the White House. He actually appealed to the voters.
Bloomberg didn't do that. He's trying to buy the election on Super Tuesday. I think he's going to fall short. Bernie's train has already left the station.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
SCOTT: And so he's on his way.
And you look at his numbers in California...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
SCOTT: ... in Virginia, in Texas, he's up, up, up in the delegate-rich...
BARTIROMO: Maybe -- maybe Elizabeth -- maybe Elizabeth Warren wants to be Bernie's running mate.
I mean, she doesn't...
SCOTT: You know, I thought...
BARTIROMO: Yes, she might want the V.P. title for Bernie.
SCOTT: Yes, I tell you what. If there's -- if there is a dream come true, it's Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren on the ticket for Republicans and for conservatives.
And, frankly, for the sake of America, it creates the greatest contrast between the Trump economy and the -- Trump's endearment of the democratic process that we have, free markets, economic freedom, vs. someone who creates a caste system.
Remember, socialism is a caste system. If you're at the bottom, you never move up...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
SCOTT: ... because when they start redistributing the wealth, you always get to the bottom last, and they never come up.
BARTIROMO: Well, this is a really good point.
SCOTT: And free markets...
BARTIROMO: And -- and that's what I wanted to talk to you about, because the African-American community...
SCOTT: Yes.
BARTIROMO: ... has been seeing poverty rates go up -- I'm sorry -- poverty rates go down, people being lifted out of poverty...
SCOTT: Go down, yes.
BARTIROMO: People being lifted out of poverty is what I meant.
SCOTT: Yes.
BARTIROMO: But the economy has been a real factor in terms of the support there for President Trump, right?
Tell me about South Carolina.
SCOTT: Absolutely.
BARTIROMO: And tell me about the African-American support for Donald Trump right now.
SCOTT: Well, one of the things that you have to see through all the polls when you look at Donald Trump's numbers, our president's numbers, in the polling in African-American communities, we have seen it as high as 34 percent.
I am confident that President Trump will move from 8 percent of the African-American vote to at least 12 percent on Election Day. And the reasons are clear. Give me a contrast.
Think about this. Don't think about it from our perspective. I used to be a little kid in a single-parent household mired in poverty feeling hopeless.
What has President Trump done? President Trump has come in at the State of the Union and said, education is important to every single American. And to an 11-year-old girl in the audience, he helped provide a Opportunity Scholarship, so that little girl can have the best, brightest future.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
SCOTT: He said to a 14-year-old kid whose great-grandfather...
BARTIROMO: Yes. You're right.
SCOTT: ... was a Tuskegee Airman, you will be looking down on us.
BARTIROMO: It's a great point, Senator.
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: And I know you were with the president at that rally this weekend. And you were talking just about this.
Great to see you this morning, sir. Thank you, Senator Tim Scott, joining us there.
SCOTT: Thank you, ma'am. Have a great day.
BARTIROMO: A stark warning that America could see a shortage of prescription drugs, that China would have a lot to do with it.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio discusses that next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
As the first coronavirus death in the United States is confirmed in Washington state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio wants China held accountable for putting the world at risk with this outbreak.
He's called out Beijing four years over its treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. He says China's handling of the coronavirus is just one more example of bad behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): The way you deal with a global pandemic is, you become transparent and you share information, beginning with the actual virus.
You share the virus, because researchers around the world can start working on the basis of that and developing treatments and vaccines. They didn't do that.
You also share best practices. You share infection numbers. You share statistics. And the reason why you do that is so that researchers, again, all over the world and other governments can take steps and measures to adjust to that. They didn't do that.
BARTIROMO: The president, of course, first thing he did was stop flights in and out of going to China. And yet they have people locked up in their home.
RUBIO: The Communist Party of China is more interested in protecting their global image than they are in containing this.
And that's really the fundamental challenge here. They have even intimidated the World Health Organization, which went over there and came out with this glowing review of the way they responded to it.
But now that they're out of the country, the World Health Organization, now that their experts have left, are criticizing China again, this time for not sharing numbers on how many of the health care workers have been infected.
So, it's really complicated the response to it, both here in the U.S. and for other countries, and I think evidence of what we're dealing with when it comes to the Chinese Communist Party.
BARTIROMO: We continue to see company after company talk about disruptions in their supply chain. That's going to impact earnings.
But when it comes to health care supply chains, this is where it really gets dicey and very dangerous for Americans, because America relies so much on China, in particular for our prescription drugs.
RUBIO: Yes.
BARTIROMO: Eighty percent of the active ingredients in prescription drugs are coming from either China or India.
How is it possible that America is so reliant on this, when it comes to such an important issue as our prescription drugs?
RUBIO: Not only is it 80 percent coming from outside the country, and a significant percentage of those active ingredients are from China, but they actually come, a lot of it, from that very province, that Wuhan province, that's -- that was the origin of this crisis.
And so the result of it now is that there is invariably going to be supply chain issues and disruptions. We already saw last night that there was a disclosure that we have already had our first declared drug shortage.
They haven't yet, as of this moment, told us what drug it is, but it won't be the last one.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
So are you expecting that we will see a shortage in things like antibiotics, penicillin?
RUBIO: I don't want to speculate about how bad it can be. And I know steps are being taken to stockpile.
Now, I asked this -- this question a few days ago in a hearing we had with -- with the HHS secretary. But bottom line is, I do think we are going to have some shortages. And I hope we're in a position to manage it here in terms of knowing what they are.
But, long term, the question is, should we rely, as a nation, on something as important as medicine? Should we rely so heavily on a single foreign country, particularly one who's a near peer adversary, and one who appears to be prone to these sorts of outbreaks that are disruptive?
BARTIROMO: You have also talked a lot about investing in Chinese companies and why there is so much obsession with making sure that these global indexes include all of these Chinese companies.
I want to get your take on what's this proposal is on the table for the Thrift fund, which, of course, is the 401(k) money for military past and present, and this proposal to put 10 percent of that $500 billion Thrift fund into the MSCI index.
That index holds a lot of Chinese companies, some of which are sanctioned already. Others are creating the technology that are tracking the Uyghurs that are in camps right now in China. They are creating weapons that may very well be used against America.
Do we really want our military to be funding these Chinese companies?
RUBIO: Well, I don't think we want that. And that's the first point. And that is, from an industrial policy standpoint, we shouldn't be using money of American federal employees, like military personnel retirees, to fund the industrial policy of a country that seeks to overtake us in critical industries.
But the second is the vulnerability of it. You're seeing it now. You want to invest 10 percent, 10 percent of the retirement funds of our military personnel and other federal employees into companies in a country that's not transparent. These are not transparent companies. They do not meet the same standards as companies traded on Wall Street from the United States would.
We don't know what their true numbers are. We don't know what their operations are internally. And think about the leverage that that gives them if, at some point in the future, in a conflict, they decide that they're going to undervalue those shares for purposes of striking back at American retirees 20 years from now, 10 years from now, particularly those that once served in government.
It would create tremendous societal pressure. It would harm our economy. It becomes a systemic risk. It's just one more example of the mistakes that have been made over the last 20 years in viewing the true nature of the Chinese Communist Party and its practices.
And that's something that really needs to be reversed. And I get it. Money managers...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RUBIO: ... they want the returns that they're getting. It makes them look good.
But the vulnerability it creates for our country long term is unacceptable.
BARTIROMO: So what's the answer here?
I mean, how do you walk a balance of having China as a partner -- we just did a phase one China deal -- but also recognizing that China has been a bad actor on so many levels. How do we deal with that?
RUBIO: I think you deal with it pretty straightforward.
And that is, we want to interact with China. We're going to need to, because the 21st century will be defined by the relationship between the United States and China.
BARTIROMO: Right.
RUBIO: But in every one of our interactions with them, we are always going to act in the best interests of the United States of America.
That means that, if something -- if some action their part or some action on ours runs counter to our national interests and/or our national security, we don't do it.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RUBIO: And that's the bottom line. These are not punitive measures I'm discussing. This is not about punishing China. This is about protecting the United States.
And so I think that that's what we need to buy into, because I think one of the critical mistakes that was made in the last 20 years is the belief that capitalism would change China, when, in fact, it's China that has changed capitalism.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Senator, do you think China is concocting plans to paralyze U.S. society before this conflict?
RUBIO: In the 21st century, conflict is not simply going to be a military against a military. It's going to operate in the informational realm, and the cyber realm, and the -- and electrical warfare, and all sorts of different -- and diplomatic pressure that we see even now...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
RUBIO: ... the leverage that they hold over the World Health Organization and others.
Those are the new battlefields of the 21st century. And they will most certainly employ those asymmetric capabilities if the potential for conflict arises.
BARTIROMO: Senator, thank you so much for your time this morning. We so appreciate it.
RUBIO: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Senator Marco Rubio.
RUBIO: Thank you so much.
BARTIROMO: We will be right back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Worries over the coronavirus have caused a stock market sell-off, with the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 down about 12 percent just in the last five trading sessions, about $2 trillion in lost market value.
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called that weeks ago on this program. He said he expected to see a slower economy and a market disruption.
He joins me right now.
Steve Bannon is the host of the wildly successful "War Room: Pandemic."
You had that pandemic series on before anybody was talking about this.
(CROSSTALK)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Six, seven, eight weeks ago.
BARTIROMO: You saw this coming. You talked about this on this program.
First, your reaction to what you heard from Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Marco Rubio about China?
BANNON: I think you had breaking news here about China, particularly from Vice President Pence.
Number one, the CDC actually has gone, looks like -- hopefully, they went to Wuhan. They have gone to China as part of, it looks like, the WHO team. They looked at some raw data.
In addition -- and I think this is very powerful, because I kind of fall more into the super hawk category with Senator Rubio -- the president is continuing to push President Xi for more data and more transparency. And that needs to be done here.
Remember, one of the most powerful things President Trump has done, in addition to the bold action early on, is to say, nothing is inevitable. He's kind of reached back to FDR and says, what we have -- what we have to fear -- we have -- what we have to fear is fear itself, OK?
And we need to get all the information out there and take bold action. Remember, he shut down travel...
BARTIROMO: Yes, he did.
BANNON: ... from China back in late January. And Joe Biden said, this is nativist, this is xenophobe, just a typical kind of identity politics attack, when President Trump bought us time, and also stopped potentially the inflow of other people that were infected.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: That's why we're in the shape we're in today that we can actually get our hands around this and start to get the local authorities up to speed with this task force he's got that Mike Pence, who is a steady pair hands, is on top of.
So I think this is all about bold action. Remember, Nancy Pelosi attacked him: Trump doesn't know anything.
And President Trump comes back and says, hey, we got to stop the partisan nonsense. We have to rise above this. This is a national challenge. This is why the United States is the indispensable nation. We have the economy, we have the expertise, and we have the will.
And President Trump, I think, is showing that. And I think, in Pence's interview, you saw the nuggets down there, that people like Rubio and ourselves would naturally say, hey, everything the CCP says is a lie. They spin everything. There's a story out today they suppressed this. They probably last two months.
They probably lost all of December, most of January...
BARTIROMO: Right.
BANNON: ... suppressing it.
But President Trump looks like he's forcing Xi to get more accurate information out there.
BARTIROMO: And we talked about this weeks ago, when I said, look, they sent the largest delegation ever to Davos in January. They went to sign the phase one trade deal at the White House, shaking everybody's hands. They knew coronavirus was happening.
What about the impact to the economy? Because President Trump right now has to show real leadership. And he has. He was courageous in saying, no more flights to China, as he got criticized.
What is he going to do now, as we see businesses pulling back? Three banks last week said, look, we're not going to have any earnings growth at all in 2020. And look at the market, $2 trillion in market value lost.
BANNON: Let's bifurcate this for a second.
So we have this pandemic. You have a pandemic about a virus, right? That clearly has a disruption in the economy, travel, hotels, all that uncertainty.
BARTIROMO: Components, parts shortages.
BANNON: Well, then you have a deeper thing. That's the contagion coming out of China for the -- about globalization and making China not just the manufacturer of the world, but the railhead of the logistics system. That's the deeper issue.
That's where President Trump has been ahead of this. Remember, his whole campaign is built around moving the supply chain back. People forget, the central part of NAFTA was to make North America and Mexico a geostrategic alternative for manufacturing supply base.
Now here's what we have got in front of us. You have immediate problems, like the pharmaceuticals, the generics, the -- APIs. You also have the masks and the consumables and medicals.
But then you have the deeper thing. That's why China is trying to get up the Apple, Foxconn trying to get their production up. They're trying to force people back to these factories, because...
BARTIROMO: He's sending people back to work, even though they're still dying, in China...
BANNON: Well, listen, you saw the numbers.
BARTIROMO: ... to go back to the -- the factories.
BANNON: You saw the numbers. You saw the numbers. And this is why it's going to take leadership of President Trump and the United States.
You saw the numbers coming out of China on Friday were horrific. They were 36 percent, I think, for their manufacturing, and that's probably a promoted number.
If you look at the actual logistics, if you look at rail stock going around and coal, you have seen the atmosphere is cleared up. There's literally nothing going on in manufacturing. President Trump is dealing with that.
That, I think, is also where the market -- the market sell-off is. But, remember, his entire thesis is to bring the supply chain back to the industrial democracies. That's the entire thesis of his trade from day one.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: I think you're seeing him take bold action. He's continued to take bold action. And that's what -- that's what leadership is about.
BARTIROMO: I will tell you, the president has changed the conversation around China.
Now you're looking at companies wondering if they could trust China anymore. What does this mean for China and their plans for 2030 and their plans to take over the U.S. in terms of being number one?
We know right now that, while ships were supposed to be coming to America to distribute gloves and masks, the Chinese government told those ships: Turn around. We need them. We're not going to -- we're not going to keep these contracts that we had with American companies.
BANNON: This is the central part of Trump's economic thesis.
The China price comes at a huge cost, right? You have had this globalization project always looked at essentially slave labor in China, making the absolute lowest cost of production, and shipped throughout the world.
And you had One Belt One Road. You have had Made in China 2025. You have had Huawei, the whole Huawei situation. President Trump has said, hey, the industrial democracies have to bring the supply chain back.
And all the Wall Street cheerleaders, you didn't see them cheering last week.
BARTIROMO: No.
BANNON: Because now we understand that not just national security, but health security, is inextricably linked with having this logistics chain in the middle of China.
And that is what people are going to start looking at right now. That's why I think, quite frankly, on the health care side, with Pence, I think it's terrific you got the vice president in charge of this, with Secretary Azar, with Fauci.
I do think you need to bifurcate that, and you need to have an economic task force, because these issues, not just a short-term on the supply chain for the medical, but what Peter Navarro and Larry Kudlow and others are working on...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: ... the deeper issues about supply chain coming back.
I think an economic task force that would be looked at that, go into the health care, to say, what are we doing here on supply chain? How are we going to bring it back to the industrial democracies, particularly North America?
BARTIROMO: Especially since you got Senator Cotton saying, we don't even know how this originated.
The only level four super lab in China is in Wuhan. He's questioning how it originated.
BANNON: OK.
For President -- for Senator Cotton...
BARTIROMO: Real quick. I want to get into 2020.
BANNON: For Senator Cotton saying that, you're now conspiracy theorists, the mainstream media and the far left saying, oh, he's a conspiracy theorist.
All he's saying -- and this gets back to what Pence said -- it's incumbent upon the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: ... to come out and give all information.
And it's incumbent upon...
BARTIROMO: And they're not.
BANNON: And this is what Cotton is saying.
It's incumbent upon them to let the CDC down to Wuhan, to let them go to this P4 lab, to get all the information out. I think you're seeing in the subtext of what Pence was saying...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: ... the conversations Trump is having with Xi is to force more transparency.
BARTIROMO: All right, so this is changing geopolitics.
Let me get your take on the 2020 field. You saw what happened in South Carolina. You got Super Tuesday on -- in two days away. What's your assessment?
BANNON: I think it's Bernie vs. the anti-Bernie movement.
Last night, you saw -- you saw Biden obviously had a big night. I think one of the most important things is, the African-American vote, which is obviously so critical to the Democratic Party, is not buying what Bernie is selling.
They're not buying the socialism. They're not buying the radicalism. They're not buying the revolution. These are very practical, pragmatic people. And I think you are going to see on Super Tuesday how that plays out.
Look, Bloomberg's capital is going to back one of the establishment alternatives, whether that's Biden, or whether it's Hillary Clinton, or somebody else, OK, against Bernie. They're going to try to steal the nomination from Bernie again.
And that's why I think many Bernie supporters will come to President Trump at the end of the day. There's nobody on that stage, there's nobody on the ballot in South Carolina, there's nobody on the ballot on Super Tuesday that is going to defeat Donald Trump.
BARTIROMO: You still think Hillary Clinton might make an appearance in this election?
BANNON: I think that the Democratic Party is going to look for any alternative to Bernie.
And if Biden can't do it with Bloomberg's capital -- obviously, Bloomberg doesn't have the charisma or the presence, I think, to be commander in chief and president right now.
If they -- if they can't get Biden to do it, they will look otherwise. And, you know, Hillary's already out there pushing herself.
BARTIROMO: And what about Michelle Obama, who you have mentioned before as well?
BANNON: I think, if they go to the convention and they're desperate, and Bernie is way behind, seven, eight points behind Donald Trump, the Obamas and the Clintons will look for any alternative to try to defeat President Trump.
Remember, their number one objective is defeat President Trump. That's what they have had so many snarky -- they accused suppression of information. And Dr. Fauci stood up there on national TV and said, I haven't been suppressed. I have had -- what we're trying to do is get accurate information out. And that's what you need right now.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BANNON: The Democrats will do anything to destroy Donald Trump.
And that's why I think that they will come around any candidate they think that can do it. So this thing is still wide open.
But here's the point. This is Trump's Churchill moment. This is -- he's got to bring the country together, which he's doing. He's got to confront not just the virus, but the economic contagion that's coming out of China that Rubio talked about.
He does that, you don't need to worry about 2020.
BARTIROMO: All right, we will leave it there.
Steve Bannon, so great to have you. Thanks so much.
BANNON: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: We will see you soon.
GOP Congressman Devin Nunes is vowing to sue one of President Trump's least favorite newspapers. Next, he will tell us why he is about to file in the week ahead, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Devin Nunes is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
California Congressman Devin Nunes is expected to file a lawsuit against The Washington Post. He says he wants accountability, after years of misinformation about collusion with President Trump.
Congressman Nunes is the ranking Republican on the House Intel Committee. He joins me right now.
Congressman, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks very much for joining me.
REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): Always a pleasure. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: When will you file suit against The Washington Post?
NUNES: So, we will likely file tomorrow -- file tomorrow in the afternoon in federal court. This is just ongoing nonsense. We're on Russia-gate 9.0.
A lot of people forget, because the narrative was -- the new Russia hoax that started about 10 days ago, two weeks ago, fell victim to the new narrative about coronavirus, and then blaming Trump.
But the mainstream media continues to go about their normal pace of creating narratives and then going out and selling them to the American people. And they hope that we forget.
But, unfortunately, for me and for the American people, these fake news stories live on. And what The Washington Post did to me once again is -- there's no explanation for it.
I -- I never talked to President Trump about Admiral Maguire. I didn't go to the White House. None of this was true, was -- it was all invented by someone.
So, look, I don't know if The Washington Post was conspiring with the Democrats to make up this fake news story. But they will have a chance next week to meet me in federal court. And, once again, I will make this prediction. The Washington Post will be nowhere to be found.
Any time you try to hold these fake news companies accountable, they do everything but meet you in federal court.
BARTIROMO: Well, you...
NUNES: So, they will stall, they will delay. But, ultimately, we will hold them accountable.
BARTIROMO: What happened to your suit with -- what happened to your suit against CNN? I mean, they're going to say, free speech.
NUNES: Yes, well, that's still -- that's still ongoing, right? That's a good example.
Just a few months ago, after their impeachment hoax blew up in the House of Representatives, what did they do? They said that I was doing nefarious things in Vienna, Austria, when, in fact, I had proof that I wasn't in Vienna, Austria, when they said that I was there.
This is a very similar case, in that they said that I spoke to the president, went to the White House and spoke to the president about Admiral Maguire.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: Look, I was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on the days in question.
BARTIROMO: OK.
NUNES: All The Washington Post had to do, Maria...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: It's real simple. All they had to do is go to my social media. There's hundreds and hundreds of witnesses in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I wasn't talking to the president of the United States.
BARTIROMO: So, the -- well, the Intel Committee, I mean, must have been part of this with CNN and The Washington Post as well, because you have John Brennan over there on CNN and MSNBC for three years saying the president committed treason. You have Adam Schiff all over TV also making these charges.
NUNES: Yes.
BARTIROMO: What is your take on John Ratcliffe, who is a regular on this program, a friend of "Sunday Morning Futures" -- congratulations to you, Congressman Ratcliffe, for being nominated by the president for the new DNI, director of national intelligence.
Is this going to help with these agencies that are obviously getting caught up with the media's narrative?
NUNES: Well, if you look at the most important issue today that we have within the intelligence agencies, and -- because, on many fronts, the 17 agencies are doing a good job, right?
We took out Soleimani. We're taking out terrorists in Yemen. They're doing a really good job.
But where do we have a problem? The American people are losing trust in the Department of Justice and the FBI. So, the most important issue at the highest level is building back that trust.
And who better than John Ratcliffe, who actually was one of our lead investigators who got to the bottom of the FISA-gate and Russia-gate hoax?
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: He's the one that really knows this issue.
And so it makes a lot of sense to put John Ratcliffe in there. And the Senate should quickly approve him...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: ... because he's -- he's a man that really knows what he's doing, and get to the bottom of a very serious problem, which is, how are we going to continue to go after terrorists...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: ... and others if the American people don't trust the Department of Justice and the FBI?
BARTIROMO: And if the agencies are using the tools we use against terrorists against Donald Trump, which is what happened in 2016.
NUNES: Right.
BARTIROMO: Stay with us, Congressman.
I want to get your take on the president's efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Well, the U.S. and the Taliban signing an historic peace deal yesterday in Doha, Qatar, with hopes of ending America's longest war, which began in 2001.
I'm back with House Intel Ranking Republican Devin Nunes.
And you just made news about your lawsuit against The Washington Post. That's going to be tomorrow.
I want to also get your take on this, Congressman.
NUNES: Well, thank you, Maria.
It's great to -- as always, I think people are just sick of The Washington Post and the fake news media.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: And I'm tired of being attacked.
And that's why I have created this site DefendUSA.com that people can go to and join the fight. We have to stop millions of Americans from being poisoned by this fake news.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: I think what you're seeing in Afghanistan is -- real quickly, is, is that I don't have a lot of confidence that the Taliban is going to perform at all.
But what President Trump is doing is, he's giving a runway for the Taliban to land on. I just think it's impossible for them. And -- but, ultimately, we will see where this goes.
If you -- if you look at probably what the future is, they will probably spoil their chance once again. And, ultimately, what we will be left with there with is a powerful force to take out terrorists, and all the international money will dry up.
I think the American people and our NATO allies are tired of spending money on -- on these failed governments. And we're just not in a position to try to rebuild Afghanistan anymore.
So, it'll end up being a small force. And they will be left with their mountains and goats and tribal warfare.
BARTIROMO: Well, they have preconditions in this deal.
NUNES: Yes.
BARTIROMO: I mean, that alone tells you that I don't know that the administration even believes that they're going to be truthful.
There are predictions that have to be met.
NUNES: Look, these are extremists.
And the problem here, I think, that the administration is giving them a landing spot, but the Taliban, for a long time, has been connected to Al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network for years.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: I mean, they have blood on their hands of American soldiers.
And, look, we always hope for the best, but we have to expect what's like - - the likely scenario here is, is that they will -- that they will fail again. And it's sad. Millions of Afghans will suffer.
BARTIROMO: OK.
NUNES: But we, as American people, we have to stop spending money on this failed -- this failed rebuilding effort in Afghanistan.
BARTIROMO: All right, we will leave it there.
Congressman, it's good to you see this morning. Thanks so much.
NUNES: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Congressman Devin Nunes joining us.
That will do it for "Sunday Morning Futures."
Don't forget to join me this upcoming week on "Mornings With Maria" on FOX Business. We have part two of my interview with Vice President Mike Pence, 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. Eastern, on "Mornings With Maria" tomorrow.
Plus, all week, we're going to be covering this market activity, because the stock market lost $2 trillion in market value in the last five days. You will get the best analysis on FOX Business and "Mornings With Maria" weekdays. Join me.
Have a great rest of your Sunday, everybody. Thanks for being here.
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