Sen. Rick Scott on GOP unity: The ‘Republican civil war is canceled’
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., argues his party is united against Democrats’ policies. He tells ‘Fox News Sunday’ he will be ‘very aggressive’ in supporting Republican incumbents in 2022 congressional races.
This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday" February 28, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Chris Wallace.
Former President Trump set to make his first public appearance since
leaving office as the Republican Party tries to figure out its future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice-over): The GOP facing an identity crisis at the
Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando.
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): In the face of this mortal threat to our nation,
our very existence, some preferred to fan the flames of a civil war on our
side. That's foolish, it's ridiculous.
WALLACE: We'll ask Florida Senator Rick Scott, who is in charge of trying
to win back the Senate for Republicans, about his call for party unity.
Then, President Biden's COVID relief package passes the House.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we act now,
decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus. We
can finally get our economy moving again.
WALLACE: But Democrats face a big setback in their bid to boost the
minimum wage. We'll discuss the critical week ahead with the White House
Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Plus, the president takes his first military action as commander-in-chief,
ordering an airstrike on Iranian-backed militia. We are joined by Senate
Intelligence Committee chair Mark Warner.
Then, Mr. Biden's moves on immigration face sharp push back as he stamps
out Trump era policies. We'll ask our Sunday panel about the new crisis on
the border.
And our "Power Player of the Week," a 12-year-old whiz kid on his way to
college.
All, right now, on "FOX News Sunday."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
WALLACE (on camera): And hello again from FOX News in Washington.
The center of the political universe today is Orlando, Florida, and the
annual conservative gathering at CPAC. While a parade of 2024 hopefuls has
addressed the crowd, the main event is former President Trump's first
public appearance since he left office more than a month ago.
Insiders will be watching closely not only for what Mr. Trump says about
his political future, but also where he sees the Republican Party headed
over the next few years. Perhaps the biggest immediate issue, whether he
intends to work with or against the GOP establishment.
In a moment, we'll speak with Florida Senator Rick Scott, head of the
National Republican Senatorial Committee, charged with winning back the
Senate for the GOP in 2022.
But first, Mark Meredith reports from Orlando, where conservatives are
eagerly awaiting Mr. Trump's big speech.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MEREDITH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Trump
is expected to get a hero's welcome when he addresses conservatives at CPAC
this afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going anywhere. We are Trump nation and we
are here to stay.
MEREDITH: All weekend, some of Trump's staunchest supporters have
delivered speeches calling for the 45th president's agenda to remain the
Republican Party's platform.
CRUZ: And let me tell you this right now: Donald J. Trump ain't going
anywhere.
RIC GRENELL, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: America
First is now positioned to guide our country through the trials and
tribulations of the next generation.
MEREDITH: Today, Trump is not expected to announce plans for a run in
2024, but other potential presidential hopefuls appear to be testing the
waters, from rallying behind lifting lockdowns.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: Florida got it right and the lockdown
states got it wrong.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: I don't know if you agree with me, but
Dr. Fauci is wrong a lot.
MEREDITH: To pushing back against the Democratic agenda.
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I hear President Biden say,
America is back. Back to what?
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): They are more focused on renaming Abraham Lincoln
High School than they are opening up so kids can go back and learn there.
MEREDITH: Some high-profile Republicans avoided the conference, including
former Vice President Mike Pence, who declined an invitation to speak.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MEREDITH (on camera): Minutes before Trump speaks today, CPAC is due to
announce the results of its straw poll. Attendees have been asked who
they'd like to see the 2024 Republican nominee.
Chris, given the crowd that we've seen all weekend long, Trump should do
very well -- Chris.
WALLACE: Mark Meredith reporting from CPAC in Orlando, Mark, thanks for
that.
And joining us now from Florida, Senator Rick Scott, who as we said has the
job of trying to win back a GOP Senate majority next year.
Senator, welcome back to "FOX News Sunday".
SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Chris, it's nice to be back.
The CPAC was fun. I got to go there on Friday. I talked about the
Republican civil war is canceled.
If you get out of D.C. and talk to people, they are focused on what the
Biden administration is doing and what Republican stand for, and that's
what I'm going to do --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Let me pick up -- let me pick up on that. You said Republican
civil war is now canceled, but let's look at the divide just this weekend
about CPAC.
Here are some of the Republican leaders who were -- either weren't invited
or chose not to attend: Vice President Pence, Senate Leader McConnell,
Governor Nikki Haley.
And listen to this split among House leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Do you believe former President Trump should be speaking at CPAC
this weekend?
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Yes, he should.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I don't believe that he should be playing a role
in the future of the party or the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Senator, that is not a united party.
SCOTT: Well, Chris, if you -- if you look at -- if you look at what's on
TV, you'd say, yeah, right, there's a division. But if you get out and talk
to voters -- I talked to voters, you know, especially in Florida, you know,
almost every day, and they're focused on what the Biden administration is
doing. They do like open borders. They don't like killing the Keystone
pipeline. They don't like men-women sporting events.
Those are things that bother people and then all the Biden administration
is not going to be good for jobs. So I'm going to make sure that in '22,
when we have our elections, next elections, we're going to vote on job
growth, we're going to vote on secure borders, we're going to vote on
supporting our law enforcement, school choice.
That's why we're going to win. That's how I won make my elections. My --
you know, each of my elections was an issue election and that's you win.
And that's what we're going to do. It's not going to be about --
WALLACE: Let me --
SCOTT: -- what TV is staying about some infighting.
WALLACE: But this isn't just TV, Senator.
President Trump is expected to stake his claim as the continuing leader of
the Republican Party in a speech today. But you have top Republican leaders
like Liz Cheney, like Mitch McConnell, like Mitt Romney who say the
president forfeited that because of his actions after the November
election.
So let me ask you, is this still Donald Trump party?
SCOTT: It's the voters party. I mean, it always has been the voters party.
Let's go back to 2010 and my primary. Every Republican I think in the
country endorsed my opponent and I won.
I talked to President Trump about a week ago and I told him, this is my
job. My job is to help Republican senators win all across the country, and
he made a commitment to me to help me do that. I believe he's going to be
helpful, but I think other Republicans are going to be helpful.
But, Chris, it is your election and when you're running, you've got to do
all the things. You've got to talk about the issues important to your
state. You've got to do your grassroots. You've got to do all these things
to make sure you win. You've got to get prepared for your debates.
That's where we are going to win in '22, we're on the right side of the
issues and the Democrats are on the wrong side of the issues.
WALLACE: But -- and we'll get to that, I promise, but you know, let's talk
about Trump and his continuing hold on the party. This is kind of a loyalty
oath for the Trump party.
Let me ask you a straightforward question, Senator. Did Joe Biden win this
election fair and square?
SCOTT: Absolutely. Joe Biden is the president. We went through the
constitutional process. Joe Biden won the election.
Now, do -- are there people that believe we've got to focus on making sure
people feel comfortable that elections are fair? Yeah.
I've done two bills. We need to have voter ID. You need to prove
citizenship. You need to show your Social Security. You can't have, you
know, unmonitored ballot box.
You've got to do the things that make all Americans feel comfortable that
we should have 100 percent participation and zero percent fraud.
WALLACE: I want to pick up on that because there are a number of
Republican state legislatures which are talking about new voting
restrictions, and I want to ask you about at least one of them. In Georgia,
the Republican-controlled House has a bill that would limit early voting,
mostly to weekdays from 9:00 to 5:00. It would reduce the number of
absentee ballot drop boxes and it would restrict early voting on Sundays
when black churches hold Get Out the Vote events.
Do support making it harder for people to vote?
SCOTT: Of course not. We need to have -- we need to create a process that
people can get out the vote, but we've also got to create a process where
there's no fraud.
People should not feel that their vote is ever diluted, so should you have
ballot boxes that are unmonitored? No. Should you have your vote in by
election night? Yes. Should you keep voting -- keep counting the votes once
you start seeing -- we get the results quickly? Yes. Should you signature
match? Yes.
There are some basic things we should do, but we should create a process
where people get to vote, but make sure no vote is ever diluted.
WALLACE: But -- but let's pick up, because this specific -- the one that
struck in the Georgia bill, you know, I know that a lot of black churches
hold Get Out the Vote events. You go to church, then you go for early
voting.
If you restrict voting on Sundays, what's -- what reason is that other than
trying to suppress the black vote?
SCOTT: Well, I want people to -- I want people to vote. We have -- we have
voting on Sunday in Florida. You know, I think we ought to have some
national standards of what we expect to make sure we get -- so there's no
fraud.
You know, it worked in Florida. We have mail-in ballot systems that works.
I want these things.
I want people to vote. I would -- you know, I tell people what they are
going to vote for me or not, get out and vote and participate in the
process.
But I don't want people -- I don't want people to feel like their vote was
wasted because there was fraud. I mean, come on, unmonitored ballot boxes,
no signature match, no voter ID, those things don't make any sense. That's
what I'm focused on.
WALLACE: Let me talk about another issue that you're going to face, which
is primary battles inside the Republican Party in 2022, which could make it
harder, your job, to take back the Senate for the GOP.
President Trump has talked openly about endorsing primary candidates at all
levels to run against GOP incumbents. Let me put up a few of those. He's
going after Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He just backed a challenger to
Republican Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who voted to impeach him, and this
one affects you directly for the Senate, he says he'll oppose Senator John
Thune, who is running for reelection.
So will you support incumbents running for the Senate or would you support
or Trump challenger to that incumbent in the Senate in 2022?
SCOTT: I am supporting every Republican incumbent in all the Senate
releases. So I believe all of our incumbents are going to win. We have some
open Republican seats, open Democrats seats. I think we're going to get --
I trust the voters. I think we're going to get great candidates come out.
And look at -- look at Ohio, we have, what, five or six great candidates
that are -- that looks like they're going to be in. We're going to have a
great primary. I think we'll have great primaries across the country.
And once these individuals get to the primary, I'm going to a very
aggressive to make sure we win all these seats and we get back the
majority.
WALLACE: Finally, the $1.9 billion -- $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan from
President Biden just passed the House. It's headed your way to the Senate
and President Biden has taken to asking this question. Take a look,
Senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH R. BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNTIED STATES: Critics say the plan is
too big. Let me ask them a rhetorical question. What would you have me cut?
What would you leave out?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Senate -- Senator, what's your answer? What would you cut?
SCOTT: That's pretty easy, Chris. That's pretty easy. Oh, boy, that's
pretty easy.
Do we need to pay for bridges? Does it have anything to do with COVID? Do
we need to pay for tunnels for Silicon Valley? Does that pay -- does that
do anything?
I mean, if you look -- if you look at what they're doing -- listen, if
we're focused on COVID, let's take care of the people of lost their job,
let's help our businesses, let's make sure that we have plenty of tests and
make sure we have plenty of vaccines, get out quickly.
But this radical left stuff -- first off, giving money to states when their
revenues have not even gone down and we've already given them $400 billion
and we don't even know how much -- how much has not been spent.
I mean, we have $27 trillion worth of debt in this country. Let's spend the
money where we need to spend the money but stop wasting money. Interest
rates are going up. Inflation is starting to kick in. We're going to hurt
the poorest families in the country if we're not careful.
So I want to help people, Republicans want to help people. This is -- this
is just a radical left-wing agenda that they're trying to cram through
because they think -- they think they can tie it to COVID.
If they like the tunnels so much in California, do a separate bill, see if
it passes. If they like the bridge for Schumer in New York, do a separate
bill.
WALLACE: All right.
SCOTT: See if it passes. It wouldn't pass.
WALLACE: Senator Scott, I had a feeling you'd have an answer to that
question. Thank you. Thanks for your time this morning and we'll be
watching what President Trump has to say later today. Thank you, sir.
SCOTT: See you, Chris. Have a good day. Bye-bye.
WALLACE: Up next, now it's the turn of Senate Democrats to pass President
Biden's COVID relief package. But what will they do about the $15 minimum
wage?
We'll ask White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about that and more when we
come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: President Biden's sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill has
passed the House and is now on to the Senate, but there is still plenty of
hurdles there before Vice President Harris can cast the tie-breaking vote.
In a moment, we'll speak with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. But
first, let's bring in David Spunt, traveling with the president in
Wilmington, Delaware -- David.
DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Chris, President Biden is moving full
steam ahead with his recovery plan, and he's doing it without Republican
support.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIDEN: Now the bill moves to the United States Senate where I hope it will
receive quick action. We have no time to waste.
SPUNT (voice-over): The eyes of anxious Americans are now in 100 senators
poised to debate, then vote on the president's $1.9 trillion relief
package. The White House hoped for bipartisan support, but in a House, it
was nonexistent.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Democrats are so
embarrassed by all the non-COVID waste in this bill. They are jamming it
through in the dead of night.
SPUNT: The Democrats bill would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour,
a major progressive priority.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The $7.29 minimum wage
that exists now in many instances an exploitation of the American worker.
SPUNT: But the Senate parliamentarian rolled, including the minimum wage
in the relief package would break Senate rules.
SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): I think it will pass if it doesn't have it in it,
but I'll tell you, that's a big loss for the country.
SPUNT: Senate Democrats are already working on plan B to force large
companies to pay at least $15 an hour or pay a 5 percent payroll tax
penalty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SPUNT (on camera): Democrats want the entire plan signed into law before
March 14th. That's when unemployment benefits run out -- Chris.
WALLACE: David Spunt reporting from Wilmington -- David, thanks for that.
And joining us now, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Jen, welcome back to "FOX News Sunday".
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Thank you, Chris. Thanks for
having me on this morning.
WALLACE: President Biden has taken to asking critics of his COVID relief
bill what would you cut. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says
that more than one-third of the total bill, $700 billion, would not be
spent this year but would be spent between 2022 and 2031.
So how does that qualify as COVID relief?
PSAKI: Well, first, Chris, the focus of the package is getting direct
checks to the American people, getting vaccines in the arms of Americans,
and ensuring that people who need help at this very difficult time can get
it.
But people also have to plan. Schools have to plan to reopen. They need to
do budgetary planning over the course of years. Businesses need to do that
as well.
So this package is meant to, of course, provide immediate, direct relief,
but also provide a bridge to help us all get through this crisis.
WALLACE: But let's take one specific area that you just mentioned,
schools. The bill would give $170 billion to schools from elementary
through college, but the CBO projects that 95 percent of that money, again,
won't be spent this year, but will be spent from 2022 to 2028.
And let me drill down even further, $480 million of the COVID relief bill,
according to the CBO, would go to the arts, humanities, museums, libraries.
Again, what does that have to do with emergency COVID relief and getting
kids back into schools this year?
PSAKI: Well, first of all, the -- 90 percent of this package goes to
address the twin crises we're facing right now, Chris, which is getting the
pandemic under control and helping the American people go back to work,
helping them get the relief they need to get through this period of time.
Schools are like businesses, Chris. They need to budgetary plan over a
period of time. Some have to frontload changes whether it's to their
facilities or insuring that if they have to hire additional teachers or bus
drivers at this point of time --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: But we're talking about -- but we're talking about a decade from
now, Jen.
PSAKI: -- social distancing.
Well, they have to plan over the period of time. I'm sure.
I don't want my kids to be going to school where they have to fire teachers
next year, or won't have to be able the facilities up -- facility upgrades
I should say, necessary, in order to insure they're going to school
safely. That's exactly what is included in this package.
WALLACE: Let me turn to another subject about the bill. Now that the
Senate parliamentarian has ruled that the $15 minimum wage does not qualify
under the budget rules, some Senate Democrats are talking about either
using tax incentives or tax penalties to get corporations and small
businesses to go there as part of the COVID relief bill.
Does the president support that?
PSAKI: Well, I think you're referring to Senator Sanders' proposal, Chris,
and we have not yet reviewed that proposal. But the Senate -- the president
supports exactly what Senator Sanders does, which is increasing the minimum
wage for the American people, for workers who are just trying to make ends
meet, and he thinks that's long overdue.
We're going to have to spend the next several days or even weeks figuring
what the best path forward is, but he's committed to doing that.
WALLACE: You also had a busy week in foreign policy and I want to talk
about that.
During the campaign, candidate Biden said that -- he promised to crackdown
on Saudi Arabia for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We're going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in
fact, the pariah that they are. There's very little social redeeming value
of the -- in the present government in Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And on Friday, U.S. intelligence agencies released this report:
We assessed that Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved
an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist,
Jamal Khashoggi.
Couple of questions, Jen. Does the president still believe as he did back
in November of 2019 that the crown prince was personally responsible,
personally ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi? And if he does, why
didn't he move to act against MBS personally?
PSAKI: Well, the president believes this was a horrific crime, and what we
saw outlined in the unclassified report released, as you referenced, Chris,
is confirmation of the details of this crime, some that we've known for
sometime. And president put -- was an advocate for releasing that and
abiding by our legal obligations.
Let me be very clear, though. We took specific actions on Friday. Our
objective is to recalibrate our relationship. We've already taken steps to
do that, make sure it's not a continuation of the last four years, and
prevent the horrific acts that happened to journalist Jamal Khashoggi from
ever happening again.
That's why we put sanctions through the Treasury Department, on the deputy
head of the intelligence department, why we set -- why we -- under the
Magnitsky Act designated the Saudi intelligence forces, why we've taken
very specific steps, Chris, to make sure we're sending a clear message to
the world.
And that's what we announced on Friday.
WALLACE: But it isn't a clear message.
In 2019, the president in a Democratic debate said that he believed that
MBS, the crown prince, personally ordered the murder of Khashoggi. That's
what his intelligence report says.
I'm asking you now, does he personally believe that MBS ordered the
assassination of Khashoggi? And if he does, why not penalize him? He
sanctions a bunch of other people. He doesn't sanction the crown prince.
PSAKI: Well, first, let me be clear that behind the scenes there are a
range of diplomatic conversations that make absolutely clear to the Saudis
and to others around the world, that this is going to be a different kind
of relationship. And our actions make that absolutely clear as well, Chris.
Historically though, as you all know, you've been covering these issues for
some time, the United States has not historically sanctioned the leaders of
countries where we have diplomatic relations or even some where we don't
have diplomatic relations. We understand that's a bar some are holding this
to, but our objective here from the government, from the Biden
administration, is preventing this from ever happening again.
I should also note, we also announced the Khashoggi Rule, which gives power
to the secretary of state to be able to prevent foreigners who have shown
that they are going to threaten dissidents or journalists from traveling on
a visa to the United States. This is a global issue and one we're going to
be clear in sending a message about, both privately and publicly, Chris.
WALLACE: I'm running out of time but I got a couple of questions I really
need to ask you.
The president also ordered a military strike in Eastern Syria this week
against Iranian-backed militias. Is he sending a message that there is a
link between an Iran nuclear deal and Iran's activities in the region, that
there can't be an agreement, there can't be successful diplomacy at the
same time that Iranian-backed forces are attacking U.S. personnel?
PSAKI: Chris, he's sending an ambiguous message that he is going to
protect our men and women serving and our coalition forces. And that's
exactly what he did with this strike.
In terms of the Iranian nuclear deal, we believe that the best path is a
diplomatic path forward. We want to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear
weapon. That's in our national interest, that's in the global and national
interest. Where that sits now is we're waiting, the Europeans are waiting
to hear back from the Iranians on whether they will sit at the table and
have that discussion.
But the strike this week was specifically about responding to threats and
attacks that were threatening our troops and our men and women serving
overseas.
WALLACE: The president -- or rather the Biden administration this week
reopened a migrant facility for children that was used under President
Trump and that unleashed a storm of criticism, as you know.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: This is not OK, never has
been OK, never will be OK -- no matter the administration or party.
Now, you have distinguished between what you admit you are doing and what
the Trump administration is doing. I'm asking you a different question
though.
Isn't the Biden administration contributing to this crisis by reversing the
Trump policy which called for immediately returning migrant children who
crossed the country -- unaccompanied children who crossed the border by
themselves?
There -- Border Patrol officials are saying that you are creating a surge
and that by May we could see a bigger surge than we saw during the worst
moments of the 2019 crisis on the border.
PSAKI: Well, Chris, the vast majority of families and adults are turned
away at the border. This is not the time to come and we have been very
clear about that.
But our approach from the Biden administration is that we think the most
humane step we can take here is to have these children, unaccompanied, kids
under 18, not send them back to take a treacherous path forward.
This is a difficult choice but that's one that we felt was the right one,
the most humane one, because these are kids, they're fleeing prosecution,
they're fleeing difficult circumstances in their country. And our objective
is to treat them humanely and to keep them safe.
And the reason, I should say, that we opened this facility is because of
COVID, Chris, as you know. And that's why it's open because we want to keep
these kids safe, including at a time where we're facing a pandemic.
WALLACE: But aren't you, by changing the facility, aren't you encouraging
some of these young people to come? Which means you're going to have a
bigger crisis on the border.
PSAKI: Well, Chris, we've been unambiguous and very -- being clear in the
region, this is not the time to come. And this is the difficult choice for
everyone.
But as a mother, as a parent, I'm not going to support, nor was the
president, sending kids under 18, some at the age of 11, 12, 13, back on a
treacherous trip across the border, to face persecution and difficult
circumstances in their country.
These kids are coming alone and this is -- this is the choice we've made
because we feel it's humane and we feel safe. That vast majority of any
family that's coming together, any adults that's coming are turned away at
the border --
WALLACE: Right.
PSAKI: -- because we have not had time to put in place comprehensive
immigration policies yet at this point in time.
WALLACE: Finally, when will the White House pull the nomination of Neera
Tanden to be budget director?
PSAKI: Well, Chris, we remain committed to fighting our hearts out for
Neera Tanden. We believe she is the right person. She's qualified, she's
experienced, to lead the budget department. She brings unique experience as
somebody whose lived through benefiting from a number of these programs and
she's worked on these issues for decades across the aisle. So we're going
to keep fighting for her.
We knew that some of these fights would be difficult and this is certainly
one of them. But she's going to have a number of continued engagements this
week and we are certainly hopeful we can get it across the finish line.
WALLACE: Jen, there was lots to talk to about. You guys made a lot of news
this week.
PSAKI: I Know. We tried.
WALLACE: Thank you. Thanks for joining us today. Always good to talk with
you.
PSAKI: Thanks, Chris. You too.
WALLACE: Up next, President Biden takes his first action as commander in
chief in Syria and releases that report on the Saudi crown prince. We'll
talk with the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee about the emerging
Biden foreign policy, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Coming up, the White House releases a report on the murder of
Jamal Khashoggi, but doesn't sanction the Saudi crown prince.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLINKIN, SECRETARY OF STATE: What we've done by the actions that we've
taken is really not to rupture the relationship, but to recalibrate it.
WALLACE: We'll ask Senator Mark Warner about the president's decision,
next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: This week, President Biden was staking out
new U.S. policy in the Middle East, but at the same time, Congress was
still grappling with a shocking attack on the Capitol last month.
Here to discuss it all, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee,
Senator Mark Warner.
Senator, the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police said this week that
they intend to keep up enhanced security at the Capitol at least through
the president's speech to a joint session of Congress sometime next month.
From all the intelligence you see, is there a credible threat of another
attack against the Capitol?
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA.): Well, Chris, in a public reporting this past
week, there were indications that some of the insurrectionist groups that
stormed the Capitol on January 6th potentially had a -- have interest in
seeing if they can cause more destruction when President Biden gives his
State of the Union. That's coming just from the public reports. So I think
it is appropriate that we keep that security in place.
Listen, I want -- I want there to be a new regime. I'm -- I'm -- I'm the
local guy. I live in northern Virginia. Capitol Hill is, in a sense, my
extended neighborhood. I want those fences to come down as soon as possible
so that the American people can have access to their elected
representatives to see the halls of Congress.
But I was there January 6th when those insurrectionists were willing to
trash our Capitol. And if there is still valid intelligence that that
threat continues, we've got to get this balance right. It's one of the
reasons why I think it's extraordinarily important that my committee, the
intelligence committee, not with a backward look, but on a forward-looking,
look at these domestic, violent extremists. They're oftentimes ties to
similar groups in Europe. Oftentimes the fact that they are amplified by
Russia. The truth is, as director of the FBI, Chris Wray, has said a number
of times, this is a long-term national security threat to our country.
WALLACE: Senator, let's turn to the intelligence community's assessment
released this week that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, was
responsible, that he ordered the assassination of the journalist Jamal
Khashoggi.
What do you think of the Biden administration's decision not to impose
sanctions on MBS and, I don't know if you noticed, but in the interview I
just had with Jen Psaki, she declined to even repeat the president's
contention during the campaign that he believed that MBS had ordered the
assassination.
WARNER: Well, Chris, first of all, let's step back.
You know, Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist. He tried to hold powerful
people accountable, and that cost him his life. And I think if we look
back, particularly during the Trump administration, Mr. Trump took his
first trip to Saudi Arabia. He said business is open. Matter of fact,
Donald Trump even complemented MBS, the Saudi leader, for the kind of
crackdowns that took place during Donald Trump's tenure.
And this is a very messy neighborhood, Saudi Arabia. Its record toward
dissidents, towards women have been pretty dreadful for decades. They are a
key ally in terms of our challenges against -- against the Iranians.
WALLACE: But -- but, sir, I just have to ask you, because we've got limited
time. Senator, do --
WARNER: Let me -- no, let me -- let me finish -- sure, let me finish,
though.
WALLACE: Well, do you think that the -- that the president should have
imposed sanctions on MBS?
WARNER: And -- and the question is this, we -- it was our intelligence
committee -- it was our intelligence committee that passed the law that
made this report public. And I think what we've seen out of the Biden
administration s they've taken the first step of sanctioning those
individuals around MBS. I think they need to keep open additional sanctions
against MBS if we don't see a change in behavior.
WALLACE: Then, there was the U.S. air strike in eastern Syria this week
against Iranian-backed militias. It seemed that in the Biden -- in the
Obama administration they felt that the nuclear deal was so important that
they didn't link it to Ian's malign activities in the region.
Do you think that as the Biden administration pursues diplomacy, perhaps
another nuclear deal, that that should be linked to what Iran does in the
region and specifically that you can't have diplomacy at the same time that
Iran is sponsoring attacks on U.S. personnel?
WARNER: Well, I think the Iranians are always going to test a new regime.
And when Iranian proxies are putting our troops in Iraq in harm's way,
there needs to be punitive actions taken. And I think the Biden missile
launch was appropriate pushback against the Iranian proxies. There needs to
be a guarantee that we're going to protect our troops. I think you can
create a dual track where you guard our troops, but also potentially reopen
conversations with the Iranians, but they will continue to press any
opportunity they see and I think the Biden action was appropriate pushback.
Now, I wish the Biden team would have given Congress greater knowledge and
greater warning. We got a heads up about 15 minutes before the attack took
place. I think it brings into question a whole new debate around the
authorization of use of military force, something my friend Tim Kaine has
been advocating for almost a decade now. We need to have that debate in
Congress.
WALLACE: Senator -- Senator, I've got a little over a minute left, I need a
quick answer here.
As we said, the COVID relief bill is coming to the Senate this week. Were
you concerned at all about the questions I asked Jen Psaki about billions
of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars that wouldn't be spent for
years, and where are you on the idea of trying to use the tax code to get
around the parliamentary issue and, in effect, either impose tax penalties
or tax incentives to get companies to raise the minimum wage to $15?
WARNER: Actually, some of the things you referenced were investments in
mass transit systems that around the country are about 90 percent down in
terms of user ridership. I don't think we ought to completely destroy mass
transit during this nonuse during COVID.
In terms of -- in terms of the $15 for corporations penalty, I'd be
concerned there about those corporations then outsourcing that work to
small enterprises that wouldn't be a penalty. I'm hoping in this package we
can narrow some of the checks to those most in need and potentially put
some broadband investment here. Broadband, I think, is absolutely linked to
COVID.
WALLACE: But not using the tax code for the $15.
WARNER: Listen, I want to see that proposal. I've seen the written reports.
I do -- I do want to make sure that a company would not simply move their
work from the large corporate enterprise to a smaller enterprise that might
not fall under that penalty and somehow have the work outsourced in a way
that may not be appropriate.
WALLACE: Senator Warner, thank you. Thanks for coming in. Please come back,
sir.
WARNER: Thank you, Chris.
WALLACE: Up next, we'll bring in our Sunday group to discuss the growing
crisis at the southern border and what it means for President Biden's
overhaul of U.S. immigration policy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is not kids being kept in
cages. This is -- this is kids --
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) --
PSAKI: This is a facility that was opened that's going to follow the same
standards as other HHS facilities. It is not a replication. Certainly not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defending the Biden
administration's immigration policies against critics who say he's dealing
with migrant children the same way President Trump did.
And it's time now for our Sunday group. Co-founder of "The Federalist," Ben
Domenech, Susan Page of "USA Today," and former Democratic Congresswoman
Jane Harman, director of the Wilson Center and author of the new book
"Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security
Problems Makes us Less Safe."
Ben, what do you make of the White House contention that what they're
doing, putting these kids in migrant child facilities, is different from
what the Trump administration did, and are they, in effect, as I discussed
with Jen Psaki, are they creating a magnet for these unaccompanied minors
to come over by saying that they can stay in the country?
BEN DOMENECH, "THE FEDERALIST" AND FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: They absolutely
are, Chris. And I want to correct something that the White House keeps
saying here about just reopening this facility, declaring essentially that
this is a limited action. They also have opened, you know, a new facility
in Donna (ph), Texas, and they're going to be opening another one in Del
Rio area because -- within the coming days because of the increases of
numbers that we're seeing, to levels that traditionally we don't see until
later in the spring.
This is a situation where the Biden administration is dismantling the Trump
approach to the border, and that is having consequences, serving as a
magnet, as you've said, for more people to come over and we're only going
to see this crisis continue to grow in the coming weeks and months.
WALLACE: Yes, Susan, I want to pick up on that, that there is an impact
from the Biden decision to reverse the trump policy, which was, if you had
unaccompanied -- this isn't kids that are being separated from families,
these are unaccompanied minors, 12 to 18, 19 years old, and it -- where
before they would turn them around and send them home, now they're saying
you can stay. Some would argue that by saying they can stay, more of them
are going to come. And, in fact, there's an alarming report this week from
"Axios" that border officials now project that 13,000 unaccompanied minors
will cross the border in May, which would be worse than at any point in the
crisis in 2019.
SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY": So this is a good example of how governing is so
much more different than politicing. So the Biden administration has made
it clear they've got a moral stance when it comes to immigration. But it
has all these real-life consequences. And while Jen Psaki talked about the
difficult choices involved for the Biden administration in making some of
these calls on immigration, you can imagine the difficult choices that
desperate parents are making in Central America. And they've got to look at
these policies and say, she says this isn't the right time to come to the
border. Maybe it is the right time to send our unaccompanied minors, our
kids, to the border with the hopes that they get into a facility, get into
-- perhaps get vetted, get moved to live with relatives that are in the
United States.
This is not -- this is a problem now. It's going to be -- I agree with Ben,
this is going to be a much worse problem in the next couple months,
especially as pro-immigration groups in the United States pressure the
Biden administration to do even more to implement the policies he talked
about when he was a candidate.
WALLACE: All right, let's turn to the U.S. air strike on those Iranian-
backed militias in eastern Syria this week.
Here was a comment from Defense Secretary General Lloyd Austin. Take a
look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We're confident in the target that we went
after. We know what we did. We're confident that that target was being used
by the same Shia militia that -- that conducted the -- the strikes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Congresswoman Harman, was this a good move by President Biden,
perhaps his first military action at least that we know about as commander
in chief, and what about the argument that as he moves to get back into a
nuclear deal with Iran, that any progress on diplomacy should be contingent
on Iran's actions in the region, and at the very least that they're not
attacking U.S. personnel?
JANE HARMAN, FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN (D-CA) AND WILSON CENTER DIRECTOR: Well,
a couple of points, Chris, and -- and thank you for mentioning my book.
I think this was a proportionate response and the right response.
What I think was not adequate was the notice to Congress. Mark Warner is
right, both the Gang of Eight, which I used to be part of as ranking member
on the Intelligence Committee, and the Foreign Policy Committees of
Congress, Joe Biden would be screaming if you were chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, should have gotten fuller notice. It's also
true that Congress should do more to replace those authorizations to use
military force enacted right after 9/11 that are completely irrelevant to
what's going on now. We have done 40 military actions in 19 countries using
the 2001 AUMF, which just applied --
WALLACE: Right.
HARMAN: Anyway, I think it was the right thing. And on them malign activity
of Iran, I never believed that the agreement that was struck by the Obama
administration prevented us from calling Iran on its malign activity.
We're doing the right thing. We should still be talking to Iran. They
should expect that we can walk and chew gum at the same time.
WALLACE: Right.
HARMAN: Hopefully they can too, and they have an election coming up and I
think this is smart action.
WALLACE: Ben, what do you think we learned this week about President Biden
and particularly his foreign policy, both from the air strike on those
Iranian militia in Syria, and also from what he did and didn't do with
regard to the Saudi crown prince and the assassination, the brutal murder
of Jamal Khashoggi?
DOMENECH: Well, t\o circle back to what Susan said, governing is harder
than politicking. And I think that on the -- his reaction to the Khashoggi
killing, I think that that's a good example of that.
The killing has been used, obviously, to create a big wedge in -- or
attempt to create a wedge between this normalization of Arab states with
Israel that we saw under President Trump. I think that's going to continue
to be a nagging issue.
As it relates to the strike, I think the real question we should be asking
is, is this a brushback or is it a prelude to more involvement in the
region? The American people, I think, have largely become convinced that we
ought to have most of the solutions to those problems solved by the nations
that are in that region, and at America's foreign policy interests should
shift to look a little bit more at the rising China and other threats
around the world that go directly to our national interest.
But I think that that's something that we don't really know yet to -- in
terms of what to expect from this Biden administration and it's a question
that remains open, I think, after this week's action.
WALLACE: You know, Susan, it's so interesting, with Obama, with Trump, now
we hear with the Biden administration they keep saying we're going to get
out of the Middle East and we're going to focus on the Pacific and take on
China. They never seem to be able to get out of the Middle East.
PAGE: Yes. Well, you know, it's hard. Foreign policy is tough. I think what
we've learned this week about Joe Biden and foreign policy is pretty
pragmatic. I mean I think that's true with the situation with the Saudis,
unwilling to blow up our relationship with the Saudis because of this
horrific killing of a journalist working for an American newspaper. That is
to the disappointment of some of his supporters, but it's to the relief of
some in the foreign policy community.
WALLACE: Thank you, panel. See you next Sunday.
Up next, our "Power Player of the Week." A remarkable whiz kid racing
through school and proving the sky's the limit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: At age one, he could read. At age three, he qualified for Mensa.
And now at age 12, he's heading for his dream. Here's our "Power Player of
the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALEB ANDERSON, 12-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT: My gift is just, you know, I
learn a lot quicker than any -- you know, a lot of other children.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is decision day.
WALLACE: To say Caleb Anderson learns quickly is an understatement. At age
12, he's a college student.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are thrilled to offer you --
WALLACE: And he recently found out he's going to Georgia Tech next fall
where he'll study aerospace engineering.
WALLACE (on camera): You say that you're not that smart. Really?
ANDERSON: No, no, I don't think I'm smart. Number one, there are a lot of
people who are smarter than me and, you know, there are a lot of people who
work harder than me. So, compared to them, you know, I'm definitely not
smart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caleb, what does this say.
ANDERSON: Book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
WALLACE (voice over): Caleb's parents beg to differ. At age six months, he
was reading.
ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dog (ph). Yes, that's right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's always had this like hunger and thirst for
knowledge.
WALLACE: They nurtured his abilities, teaching him sign language.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you sign juice?
Juice.
WALLACE: By age two, he was a first grader.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many hats were there?
ANDERSON: Three.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good job.
ANDERSON: I definitely remember, you know, all of these kids, you know,
twice my age and twice my height towering over me. I think that's when I
first realized that, you know, I'm a bit different.
So, six minus three is three.
WALLACE: Being different wasn't always easy.
ANDERSON: Middle School was pretty bad to me. They're not old enough to,
you know, understand and they're not young enough to, you know, not care.
WALLACE: These days Caleb is wrapping up high school while taking courses
at a technical college.
ANDERSON: Currently I'm just studying really basic things that, you know,
I'm going to need for aerospace engineering. I'm studying physics one,
chemistry one, and I'm taking world and American literature.
WALLACE (on camera): How to the other students treat you?
ANDERSON: Well, every once in a while I get a double take, but they really
look at me as, you know, a little brother.
WALLACE: If in your academic life you're a college student, where are you
outside of school in terms of your social life?
ANDERSON: I'm a 12-year-old seventh grader. I like to swim. I love Marvel.
I love "Star Wars."
What's the most extensive computer.
WALLACE (voice over): But then there's his remarkable gift. Comedian Steve
Harvey gave Caleb a laptop and is paying his full college tuition.
ANDERSON: Thank you!
WALLACE: Plenty for the family to celebrate, including younger siblings who
are also in gifted programs.
WALLACE (on camera): Do you feel pressured to live up to your potential?
ANDERSON: Yes, yes I do. I'm a pretty big risk-taker. I'm taking the fast
track, but I -- you know, it's going to be very hard. That's what drives me
because I know that if I don't do this now, this chance is never going to
happen again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: What a remarkable young man.
Caleb also hopes to be a role model for young students of color,
encouraging them to consider careers in science.
And that's it for today, have a great week and we'll see you next FOX NEWS
SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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