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Sen. Rubio on whether Trump has reversed course on China

President Trump tweets he's working with Chinese president to save jobs from sanctioned electronics company ZTE; reaction from Republican Senator Marco Rubio on 'The Ingraham Angle.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," May 14, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Good evening from Washington. I'm Laura Ingraham and this is the Ingraham Angle. History is made in the Middle East in a possible game changer here in the Russia probe. We're going to talk to John Solomon for part two of a huge story he just broke on Hannity on a possible conflict of interests by Special Counsel Bob Mueller. Meanwhile amid protest from Palestinians, there's gratitude in Israel as the U.S. opens its embassy in Jerusalem. Picture Davis Hanson and Mike Huckabee, he was there, are here to put it all in perspective. Also, President Trump wasn't elected to make China great again. What's going on with that? So, why is he suddenly trying to save Chinese jobs? Let's ask Marco Rubio about that coming up. And commencement speakers say the most darned thing. You got to hear these attempts that words for the ages. But first, results versus resistance. That's the focus of tonight's "Angle." Today, the world watched as Donald Trump made good on this promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Three previous American Presidents had promised to do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, 42nd PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jerusalem is still the capital of Israel and must remain an undivided city accessible to all.

(APPLAUSE)

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, 43RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As soon as I take office, I will begin the process of moving the United States ambassador to the city of Israel as chosen as its capital.

PRESIDENT BARAK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided.

(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)

INGRAHAM: But when Trump promised, he actually delivered. Now, remember Congress passed a law authorizing the embassy to move back in 1995, but every President has delayed it until now. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel celebrated the significance of the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: President Trump became the first world leader to recognize Jerusalem as our capital. And today, the United States of America is opening its embassy right here in Jerusalem. Thank you. Thank you, President Trump, for having the courage to keep your promises. It's a great day for our fantastic partnership. But I believe it's also a great day for peace.

(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)

INGRAHAM: Now, of course, if Israel is jubilant and Trump chalks up another achievement, well, well, well, the media reflexively wail and failed politicians and diplomats of yesteryear grouse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALE GUEST, MSNBC 'MORNING JOE': It doesn't help. Into some extent, it hurts, but mainly it just exposes again a lack of a diplomatic strategy.

NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER: I hope that the administration is seeing and understands what the consequences are going to be if they do actually want to restart the peace process.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR This decision was unordered and untethered to any foreign policy consideration. Peace process is comatose.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE: In the long run, it will not advance the peace process. It will make his own policy more difficult to achieve and implement. That's the real issue and it greatly inflames an already very turbulent violent region.

(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)

INGRAHAM: As opposed to what, I mean, George Mitchell, what you negotiated? I mean, look, if the old guard, the so-called wise men of diplomacy knew so much, such smart guys, why are we still struggling in2018 to bring peace to the region? You had your shot and it didn't work. Let's face it. Now, it's Trump's turn. So, what the critics failed to acknowledge is that President Trump is engaged in an international strategy that is already paying some dividends. He's remaking alliances in the Middle East and taking the old bargaining chips off the table. He's changing the old and frankly the stale dynamic that was in place. Trump is reordering the status quo and he's forcing our international partners into new ways of thinking and acting even if it seems uncomfortable. Say what you want and a lot of you do about the President's approach. But he has reinvigorated the prospects of peace in places we never would have thought change would ever happen and he's created new possibilities. Now, who would have thought?

Only a year ago that North Korea would be willing to melt down its nuclear testing facilities or even come to the negotiating table, no one thought that except maybe President Trump himself. At home, the economy is booming and the President is demonstrating that bold, innovative leadership can get real results abroad and at home. Now, he's appointing topnotch legal minds to the federal bench. We know that. He's untangling regulations that choke, stifle American businesses large and small. And now, he's even tackling prescription drug prices. He did that last week and he's going to be working on that. So, even as the media are loath to cover any of this at least fairly, the public I think gets it. So, Trump's numbers are climbing. But the only group of course that hasn't gotten the memo is the resistance media and their pals in politics. They consistently ignore the President's achievements while grasping at any straw to assail him. Well, today's straw was a side comment made last week by a White House aide during a private meeting about ailing Senator John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC ANCHOR: A White House aide mocks him and they interject that they stand with the person mocking John McCain for having brain cancer.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: They don't believe in apologies and it's easy to assume that the President of the United States was OK with this being said.

FEMALE GUEST, CNN'S 'WOLF': She has so not publicly apologized and she is still an employee here at the White House.

MALE GUEST, MSNBC'S 'LIVE WITH CRAIG MELVIN': This shows something about the culture of the Trump White House that has nothing to do with politics, liberal, conservative, Republican or Democrat, that there has been a kind of indecency that's been permitted.

(VIDEO CLIP ENDS)

INGRAHAM: I'm sorry. I had to be awakened from that montage. Come on. This staffer called McCain's family and personally apologized. Of course, they want a public apology for what was a private, leaked comment. And I was thinking about this, this afternoon. Can you imagine what team Obama said about Trump and his staff, his team, or any of his supporters behind closed doors? I shudder to think what they said. Come on. You know what this is really all about, trying to revive the President's comments about McCain made during the campaign, about the being a POW which were unfortunate comments. But to do that in an effort to somehow hurt Trump now -- now, it didn't work then and I don't think it will work now. While the media and their friends in politics obsess about thoughtless comments and nonessentials, few members of the media seem interested in doing their actual jobs, pursuing the stories that actually touch and affect our lives. What about holding our institutions accountable, accountable to the people that pay the bills? Why are the media so incurious about the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton and Comey's decision not to indict her?

What about the reports of partisanship in the FBI, possible corruption within the Mueller probe or the reporting on Devin Nunes' attempts to get the Justice Department to hand over documents explaining how the FBI's Russian collusion probe started and who actually started it. I mean, Nunes had to threaten Rod Rosenstein with impeachment basically to get a response and he still hasn't seen all the documents in question. Now, isn't that worth investigating? Put Trump aside and what you think about Trump aside. The Justice Department and the FBI stonewalling those with actual oversight responsibilities or have porn stars and Russian collusion conspiracy theories sapped all the media's manpower and all of their energy resources? If the press, think about this, spent just a little bit of time covering some of those stories, well, maybe more Americans might listen when they reported critically on the President. But so long as the press is just a wing of the resistance, their audience will scatter. It will dwindle and soon, most of Americas will just tune them out.

So, I think go ahead and cover criticism of the President, but once in a while, just try balancing out with some honest coverage of some of the groundbreaking successes and the real achievements. We all need the press to hold everyone accountable, Trump surely, but also the other sectors of government as well, including the FBI, and that's the Angle. In the last hour, you heard The Hill's John Solomon tell us about Special Counsel Bob Mueller's possible conflict of interest due to his ties to a Russian oligarch. John is now here with an even newer breaking series of developments that were just posted moments ago on The Hill. Nobody sorted this before. It's stunning stuff. John, what else should we know? I mean, I read through your piece about half an hour ago when it was posted. Now, we find out that in September of 2016...

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: ...Oleg Deripaska who's this guy made out to be this big boogeyman by the political party... do what?

SOLOMON: Yes. It's great. So, he's already been very helpful to the FBI. He spent $25 million of his own money trying to help to rescue one of their captured agents in Iran. So, he has their trust. They bring him in to the country because he had been banned from coming in by the State Department. They gave him 10 passports to come in. And then, two months before the election, he's asleep in his apartment in New York and he gets a knock on the door by some of the same FBI agents that worked with him on the early operation. They said, "We think Trump's campaign and Russia are colluding on the election" and he lets out a big laugh.

INGRAHAM: Wait. Wait. Wait.

SOLOMON: Yes. Yes.

INGRAHAM: The agents say to a Russian billionaire...

SOLOMON: Close to Putin.

INGRAHAM: Supposedly close to Putin.

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: I mean, all the billionaires.

SOLOMON: Yes. That's true.

INGRAHAM: It's like all the billionaires in the United States know Trump and all politicians. Like, they always say that's like not a big deal.

SOLOMON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: But, they say to him "We have an idea or a theory that he's colluding."

SOLOMON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Through what, Paul Manafort?

SOLOMON: Paul Manafort was a person they mentioned. They thought -- and here's the funny part. Oleg Deripaska had a tortured relationship with Paul Manafort. He hired him as a political consultant. He wasn't happy. That gave him some money for an investment. Deripaska sued him. They had a falling out and he said "He stole my money, took it into the United States". So, the guy they go to is an enemy of Paul Manafort and they say, "Well, can you help us prove that maybe Manafort is colluding with Putin to throw the whole election to Donald Trump?" And he laughs. He brings out a laugh and saying "It's preposterous." And they said, "No, seriously, take this seriously." And, "No, I'm telling you. It's not true. I don't like the guy. Listen. I'd love to smear him. I'm telling you. There's no chance that Russia is using Paul Manafort to coordinate an election." And that's important for two reasons. It's two months before the election. It's before the FISA application and here is someone that the FBI trusted previously to give them reliable information, spend his own money doing FBI work and now, they're telling them, no collusion. Does the FISA court know this? I bet not from what my report indicates.

INGRAHAM: Again, so our viewers understand this, we have a situation where three FBI agents go to this Russian billionaire's apartment who only can come to the United States because he's supposedly a bad guy which by all indications, he was helping -- trying to help Bob Levinson get out of Iran, a 30-year veteran of the CIA who we left there. He tried to get him out, two times spent $25 million as you said.

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: Had a jet waiting on the tarmac, pulled back by the State Department.

SOLOMON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: For some weird reason, Hillary Clinton involved, Barack Obama involved.

SOLOMON: Right.

INGRAHAM: Perhaps even the previous administration got involved.

SOLOMON: Right.

INGRAHAM: They go to him and they say, "We have a collusion idea." And he says, "Well, that's ridiculous" and they then say "Keep an open mind", I understand.

SOLOMON: That's exactly what they said. They're trying to keep him going, "Keep an open mind. Let's stay in touch." And my report indicates...

INGRAHAM: Oh my god.

SOLOMON: Yes. "Let's stay in touch." Well, they've been in touch for quite a while.

INGRAHAM: Now, you have sources, strong sources for this report.

SOLOMON: I do, including Deripaska himself is on the record and his lawyer, as well as several FBI agents and their story, story that's well sourced.

INGRAHAM: I also understand that Deripaska offered to testify on Capitol Hill.

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: I have two sources on this, offered to testify, did not ask for immunity. It was reported by the New York Times falsely that he asked for immunity to testify and also a member -- I think someone in Congress also repeated that. Correct me if I'm wrong. He did not ask for immunity.

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: Why are they smearing this guy? It's like -- why are they smearing this particularly person? I mean, somebody who spent $25 million trying to get that patriot Bob Levinson out of Iran.

SOLOMON: Yes. There's a black cat, white cat, black cat syndrome with him. He's a bad guy for a while, probably treated that way. Then, he's a great guy. Let him in the country, no problem. And then, with the same evidence that's been there all this time, now he's suddenly a bad guy again.

INGRAHAM: But he's a good guy that they apparently want to use...

SOLOMON: That's right.

INGRAHAM: ...to push this collusion theory which if he wanted to try to get off the sanctions list...

SOLOMON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: ...maybe he could have said, "Well, yes, I'm sure Paul Manafort's colluding with some people..."

SOLOMON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: "...some agents, some rogue agents in Russia. What can you give me?" He didn't do that, correct?

SOLOMON: No. He waved them off in a hard way. Yes.

INGRAHAM: OK. Let's bring it into this -- this is unbelievable. It's like a John le Carre novel. Retired FBI special agent Tom Baker is here in Washington and Attorney Harmeet Dillon in San Francisco. Guys, these details are moving fast and furious. John Solomon has done some of the most important reporting on this case on Mueller, on the FBI for months now and now this. Tom, I want to start with you. You knew Bob Levinson, going back to the first part of this narrative. You knew him. You worked with him when I think he was at counter-terror and you were at the FBI and now we hear more details on this Russian billionaire spending $25 million, two times, he had a good handle on getting him out of the country twice and he was waived off twice. And now, they try to use him for the collusion nonsense. This is an outrage.

BAKER: Well, yes, it is. It is and what was an outrage in that was the way the whole thing was waved off. Bob Levinson, I crossed trails with him a couple of times when we were both involved in Russian organized crime. I happened to be at that time the legal attach, in Paris where Oleg Deripaska often would stop by himself actually. He spent a lot of time in Paris. But Levinson, we would try to do everything we could to get every part of the government moving on him. I was retired when he went missing. We've had very little cooperation from the CIA and very little cooperation from the State Department and the FBI had to reach out and do whatever they could themselves.

INGRAHAM: Now, why is the FBI Harmeet, the FBI is actually doing the work to try to get the CIA guy out of Iran, reaching out and again, I don't know if it's illegal or not, but working with this guy who had business interests in Iran, really rich, really connected and I bet Deripaska wanted to know "Why the heck am I being banned from coming to the United States? Show me the file I'm such a bad guy. Show it to me" and he starts working with them. Like, again, motivations aside, that would have been a great thing to get him out of the country. The State Department...

DILLON: Right, absolutely.

INGRAHAM: ...takes back the deal at the last moment on some seemingly spurious grounds. Go ahead.

DILLON: Right. Well, what we learned from Solomon's reporting is that this is pulled off the table at the last minute because Hillary Clinton refused to say certain things that the Iranian government wanted said and were to point the finger away from them. And so, that said, this gentleman and most wealthy people in his position don't do things out of necessarily the goodness of their heart. It would have been an interest in it for him. And having good relations and ability to come and go from the United States is literally worth over $10 billion to his businesses. And so, naturally, he wanted to help and do a good thing as long as it didn't blow back on the Russian government. And so, he was assured of that. He did what he was asked. McCabe was one of the people who recruited and then this is how he's thanked.

INGRAHAM: Yes.

DILLON: This is how he's thanked. He's now on a sanctions list after by the way refusing to, quote/unquote, "keep an open mind" when FBI agents visit him. How do you keep an open mind if you're asked that the crime occur? I mean, keep an open mind about it, what does that mean? That is incredibly shady and suspect. But, now, we have a second instance here, Laura, of clearly the Department of Justice and FBI not giving all the information to the FISA court because this is what we could call exculpatory evidence of in a criminal investigation where you ask somebody did Manafort collude with the Russians on behalf of the Trump investigation, Deripaska who would know said, "Absolutely not. Are you kidding me? I hate his guts. He's cheating me in a business deal," but he didn't do that. I am quite certain as Solomon just said that that was not revealed to the FISA court because if it were, a judge would take a second look at that. And now, Manafort is fighting in court for evidence of whether this is even covered by the Rosenstein authorization.

INGRAHAM: Right.

DILLON: And Mueller has filed that information under seal. Again, I think the fact that this whole $25 million -- we haven't even talked about the fact that the $25 million violates the Anti-Deficiency Act of our government where the government is not allowed to take volunteer support from citizens if it's not authorized by Congress.

INGRAHAM: Yes.

DILLON: So, Mueller is maybe trying to cover that up.

INGRAHAM: Right.

DILLON: Because it is embarrassing to him that he violated the law.

INGRAHAM: We're going to (inaudible). Thank you, Harmeet and Tom. John, stays here with us because we're going to continue to examine this major development tonight breaking, just moments ago, in the Russia probe with one of the agents who worked on that Levinson case, more to share on this bombshell, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Welcome back. We're continuing our discussion with Hill reporter John Solomon on the big story he just broke, Special Prosecutor Bob Mueller may be tainted by a conflict of interest in the Russia probe. Let's also bring in former FBI agent Robyn Gritz in Chicago. Now, Robyn supervised the Levinson case back in 2009. If you just tuned in, Bob Levinson, 30-year veteran of the CIA held now for 11 years in Iran. We learn more details tonight about the efforts of a Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, now on the U.S. sanctions list to secure his release on two different occasions, spending $25 million. And now, we learn that Oleg Deripaska was approached by the FBI in September of the election year, September 2016 where they floated an idea of, "Well, Manafort might be colluding with Trump and what do you think about that?" And he's like, "I don't even like Manafort. The facts are ridiculous. The intent is ridiculous. That's absurd" and the FBI basically said "Keep an open mind". That's wild. Robyn, I want to go to you. Of course, you are on this Levinson case from the beginning. Now, we're learning more about how this effort was strung along, shut down at least on one occasion now by Hillary Clinton. Your thoughts tonight as these new developments are coming in?

GRITZ: When John gave me a call about what he was finding out, I was shocked. I had taken over the case about seven months after Bob was arrested by the Iranian authorities and we were turning over every stone to bring him back and working with a whole of government approach to bring him back. And now, I hear after I left the case that there was actually a plane on the tarmac and because of some changes in the statement, the agreement went downhill and Bob remained in Iran and I think is still there today.

INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, we hope he's still alive. I mean, he'd be 80 years old today.

GRITZ: Yes.

INGRAHAM: But we think John Solomon, we don't leave a man behind if it all possible.

SOLOMON: Right.

GRITZ: We don't.

INGRAHAM: We don't leave a man behind. And in this case, he was left behind.

GRITZ: Yes.

INGRAHAM: And we have the FBI and McCabe's I guess trying to be creative about Deripaska. Deripaska by the way had had conversations with John McCain. Do we know what those conversations were about years ago?

SOLOMON: I do. It's a story I broke into Washington Post 10 years ago.

INGRAHAM: Right. Yes.

SOLOMON: He was just trying to find out about policy what the President might be for.

INGRAHAM: Yes. OK. Heaven forbid, we actually try to find out what the current U.S. government is all about. But getting back to the conflict of interest, Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Churly had interesting comments. Let's first look at what Jonathan Churly said about all this. He's concerned about a potential conflict. He said if the operation with Deripaska contravenes federal law, this figure could be viewed at a potential embarrassment for Mueller. The question is whether he could implicate Mueller -- it could implicate Mueller in propriety and then Alan Dershowitz saying this. He also had similar concerns about a potential conflict. I think we have the full screen. He said, "The real question becomes whether it was proper to leave him, Deripaska, out of the Manafort indictment and whether that omission was to avoid a kind of transparency that is really required by the law."

SOLOMON: Yes. I mean, I talked to four or five legal experts. They all have the same assessment. They come from all different political viewpoints, very similar. Let's think about something. You said something really powerful, "We don't leave any men behind." Think about how desperate the FBI had to be to go to our Russian oligarch and say, "Could you fund this because the United States government wouldn't fund it?" The Obama administration, the State Department, the CIA would not go back and get their own man for the level that the FBI thought it deserved. So, they go and reach out to this guy and they had to fund an extracurricular activity to rescue one of our own men. I think that's one of the saddest parts of this tale that gets overlooked.

INGRAHAM: And Hillary Clinton, obviously, as Secretary of State, tell me about her potential involvement.

SOLOMON: What we know is from the family. So, Dave McGee, the lawyer for the family told us on the record...

INGRAHAM: Yes.

SOLOMON: ...that they had a deal. Deripaska came back. They were sending a plane for the tarmac. We're going to rescue him. There was a statement that the Iranian government wants to basically say "We really weren't involved" and Hillary Clinton was unwilling to give that sort of absolution and the deal fell apart. The plane left and he was never rescued.

INGRAHAM: Well, you got to say -- I mean, you kind of have to say what you got to say that point. Again, I mean, some stupid statement to Iran. I mean, who cares? I mean, Robyn, to me that's just a nothing. You wonder if there was any future concern about any Iran deal down the road. I mean, I don't know what was going into play, but then, you fast forward, Robyn, to the fall of 2016. Now, some of these agents who approached Deripaska in his apartment in New York, remember, he's only allowed to come into the United States on a few occasions, one-by-one visa, they approached him and they say to float this collusion idea. And he's like, "What? Collusion with Manafort" and he's like kind of laughing at them and they're like, "No. Keep an open mind." So, they were actually trying to collude with the Russian billionaire to push the Russian collusion theory, Robyn.

GRITZ: It's outrageous that all of this is going on. It's stuff that you see in the movies. And to see that people that were working for the release of Robert Levinson have now switched and are actually pushing a political agenda. And you said something really interesting about Hillary Clinton and then the Iran deal. And I actually was gone from the FBI when the Iran deal was signed and I was waiting for Bob's name to be read. I was waiting for him to come home and when his name wasn't read, I just -- it's heartbreaking because I want to clarify that Bob was actually an FBI agent for that amount of time. He was also a DEA agent. He was just like any of us when we leave government service. We contract with people. And, yes, he was contracting with one agency, but he was talking to a lot of people, having all the kids and everything. And, yes, it's so -- the family...

INGRAHAM: And the family has been through hell.

GRITZ: Yes.

INGRAHAM: And now, they're still in Iran.

GRITZ: Yes.

INGRAHAM: I'm telling you, John, I think Republicans on The Hill, if it's not going to be Democrats, Republicans should call Deripaska to Washington. He's offered to testify without immunity. Don't lie and say yes for immunity because he didn't. Bring him up to The Hill. He already has to say. Question him. Sharply question him. You don't have to trust what he says. Question him. I think the American people would like to know a little bit more about keeping the boogeyman of the Russian billionaires alive, keep the big fantasy alive. Fantastic reporting, Robyn, thank you for what you've done for your service to this country, all those years.

GRITZ: Thank you.

INGRAHAM: John Solomon, please keep us up to date on your reporting, fantastic reporting. Any news from Mueller, did Mueller respond to your report?

SOLOMON: The proverbial no comment.

INGRAHAM: Proverbial no comment. We appreciate it, of course.By the way, President Trump, of course, has become a national hero in Israel because of a promise that was realized in Jerusalem today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Dear friends, what a glorious day. Remember this moment. This is history.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Victor Davis Hanson and Mike Huckabee join us to explain why today is a day like no other, and a lot more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Perhaps no city in the world has been fought over, treasured more than Jerusalem. And today the United States became the only country in the world to open a permanent Israeli embassy there. To Israelis the embassy isn't just a building. It's a long-sought recognition that Jerusalem is indeed the capital of Israel. It's been 69 years since Israel declared the holy city its capital, and 23 years since Congress passed a law mandating that the U.S. move its embassy there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The embassy of the most powerful nation on earth, our greatest ally, the United States of America, today its embassy opened here. What a difference.

(APPLAUSE)

JARED KUSHNER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: While presidents before him have backed down from their pledge to move the American embassy, once in office, this president delivered, because when President Trump makes a promise, he keeps it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Here to put today's events in perspective our historian Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover Institution and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee who attended today's ceremonies in Jerusalem and must be exhausted, but exuberant. Governor Huckabee, let's start with you. Lucky you, I'm so jealous that you were there. The media of course had the split screen of the Gaza violence and that was a lot of what they were covering. But the moment as you witnessed it, tell us.

FORMER GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE, R—AK:I think it's a powerful moment, and when everybody talks about President Trump made this decision, he did. But what he did, he affirmed the decision that King David made3,000 years ago when he made Jerusalem the capital of the Jewish people. And they are the only people for whom Jerusalem has ever been the capital. So all of the people who are tugging at their hair over the fact that Jerusalem has now been officially recognized by the United States ought to remember that there's never been a people ever and all of human history that have named Jerusalem as its capital other than the Jewish people. It was the right thing to do. This president had an extraordinary amount of courage to do it, and I think many of us are thanking God that we now have truly paid tribute and honor to the ally which we should have done 23 years ago.

INGRAHAM: Victor Davis Hanson, check out the difference between the way the media covered the opening of Cuba and this. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEMALE HOST, 'CNN NEWSROOM': As he makes these remarks at the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, a highly controversial move by President Trump.

ELISA LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It was a real historic day, steeped in symbolism. Not only to the national anthem.

FEMALE CORRESPONDENT, 'NEW DAY' CNN The move, this very controversial move, which clearly is a blow to Palestinians.

ANDREA MITCHELL, MSNBC 'ANDREA MITHCEOL REPORTS': We leave you with some of the sights and sounds of this historic day here in the Cuban capital.

MAE CORRESPONDENT, 'CBS THIS MORNING': Underlining just how controversial this embassy move is.

MALE HOST, ABC 'GOOD MORNING AMERICA : We're going to turn now to an historic moment, the raising of the American flag over the U.S. embassy in Cuba.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Your reaction?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, HOOVER INSTITUTION: It's part of a theme, isn't it, that reality has returned and what we consider normal, somebody pulled the curtains away and we see it was abnormal. So Trump comes in with an outlier and he says Jerusalem is the capital and the Palestinians are no more refugees, and 13 million Germans who were ethnically cleansed in the same year in 1945, they are not refugees. And then he starts looking at the world and he says what was normal is abnormal. And people who say they are normal or abnormal. NATO, why can't affluent Germany and France pay two percent? Why does China have to expropriate technology as the price of doing business. Why are we in the Paris peace accords when we already meet the climate so-called regulations by fracking?

INGRAHAM: Trump is throwing out all the old rules.

HANSON: He is.

INGRAHAM: The old rules, the old dynamics are stale. They didn't lead to a breakthrough. Governor Huckabee, this is what John Brennan tweeted. You're going to love this. He said "Death in Gaza result of utter disregard of Mr. Trump and Netanyahu for Palestinian rights and homeland. By moving the embassy to Jerusalem Trump played politics, destroyed U.S. peacemaker role. New generation of Israelis, Palestinians need to isolate extremists to find path to peace." So I guess Trump is the extremist along with Bibi here.

HUCKABEE: And "The New York Times" tried to make this whole incident with the embassy is what caused Hamas to push people out into the open, trying to rush a border, do something that they were warned not to do, break laws, invade another country, and somehow it's Israel's fault that Hamas is a terrorist that used human beings as shields, that encourage people to violence? I've read one account that said it was peaceful protest. It was not peaceful process. It was burning up tires, it was throwing Molotov cocktails. It was throwing rocks. It was trying to charge a border and overrun it. And Hamas was telling them that they had already breached the border and that millions were rushing toward Jerusalem, and these poor people who need food, who need shelter. Instead the millions of dollars of aid that go to Gaza ends up in the hands of these murderous terrorists in Hamas, and that is a tragedy that these innocent people who have been exploited and duped and now many of them are dead, and it is not Israel's fault. It is the fault of terrorists. That's who it's the fault of.

INGRAHAM: It's heartbreaking. A lot of young people. Washington Post headline today, Victor, Israelis kill more than 50 Palestinians in Gaza protests health officials say. Then a quote from 23-year-old Mohammed Mansoura. "We are excited to storm and get inside," he said. "When asked what he would do inside Israel he said whatever is possible to kill, throw stones."

HANSON: Two thoughts. No country in the world would allow people to storm their country and try to kill people, so obviously a country has a right to protect its sovereignty. But more importantly I feel like this whole thing is fossilized, ossified. The chief worry in the Middle East right now is the existential threat from nuclear Iran. So if you talk to people in these countries off the record they used to be, but now they are publicly saying it, that they are more worried not about the Palestinians who need to get a life and go on like the Germans who left Prussia. Or one million Jews were ethnically cleansed after the Six-Day War and they got a new life. So it's time for the Palestinians to build a humane state and let the Arab world work with Israel about an existential threat, Iran.

INGRAHAM: Gentlemen, thank you so much. And by the way, has President Trump suddenly reversed course on China? We should keep Victor Davis Hanson for this next segment. One of his puzzling tweets. Supporters in the intel community a kind of like what. Marco Rubio joins us to discuss this very strange turn of events today. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Why it is President Trump suddenly worried about saving jobs in China? Trump may ease off the U.S. ban on exports to Chinese telecom maker and big giant ZTE, tweeting too many jobs in China laws. However the heads of the FBI and CIA have warned Americans by buying ZTE phones because they are considered a national security risks. Senator Marco Rubio says it's crazy to help ZTE. I spoke with him just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

INGRAHAM: Senator Rubio, you have been writing and speaking a lot about the China threat over the last several months, and this really took me by a complete surprise today with this seeming reversal of what I thought was a very commonsense approach to the Chinese telecom giant. What is your reaction tonight? The White House seemed to try to back off a little bit in reaction today. China will have to make concessions on its past cheating, frankly, but what is your reaction as of tonight?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R—FLORIDA: First of all, I don't feel bad for these companies because, frankly, they have benefited greatly and continue to benefit great greatly from the theft and intellectual cheating which is what the government does on behalf of their companies. What's really concerning is telecommunications is one of the 10 or 12 industries that China intends to dominate the world in. And so to be selling American technology to ZTE is going to allow them to get it and then reverse engineer it, and then they will make it themselves and they won't need us anymore. They do that in every industry. But remember, this enforcement action against ZTE was not a trade issue. It was because they got caught helping North Korea and helping Iran evade sanctions and they were punished for it. But frankly we should not be in the business -- ZTE should not be operating unfettered in the United States and they shouldn't have access to American technology.

INGRAHAM: Senator Rubio, there's always this tension between the national security side of things and the economic side of things. And it seems that Trump is trying to triangulate on this. Obviously there is concern about farmers and the soybean tariff that China has threatened to put on them, also with the upcoming talks with North Korea. Without a doubt China has played some role in facilitating perhaps how we've gotten to this point this far. Do you take that into consideration as you judge this?

RUBIO: No, because without national security you have no economy. And in the case of China, part of our national security threat is they intend to wipe out United States industries in 10 key sectors. It's called Made in China 2025. They have telegraphed it very clearly. They intend to dominate the world in these 10 industries, and one of the ways they do it is they take American secrets, they either spy on us and steal them or they get American companies to do business with them and then they take whatever it is we invented and they learn how to make it themselves even though they are not allowed to under the law, and then they get rid of us and then they start competing with us, subsidized by their government. You do that in enough industries and it becomes a national security threat. And then in their case of ZTE and telecommunications, these are devices that could be theoretically used -- not theoretically. They can be used to track people, to listen in without any court orders or anything of that nature. If this was a farm dispute that's one thing, but this is a direct threat to our national security and our economic well-being, which are interrelated.

INGRAHAM: Marco, Chuck Schumer today said -- and I've known you for so long so I just called you Marco. Excuse, Senator Rubio. Sorry about that.

RUBIO: Just don't say Polo.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Senator Rubio, Chuck Schumer tweeted out kind of in agreement with you and myself. But he was pretty harsh. He said make China great again. You don't believe that Donald Trump wants to -- is interested in making China great again or would purposely harm our national security interest by doing some type of deal with China on this, do you?

RUBIO: No, I don't. I just think there's a lot of people tripping over there. Every day some group of CEOs comes marching into the White House and tries to talk the president down from the strong stand that he has taken on China. There's a lot of voices, perhaps even some people within the administration that want to back down a little bit on the China thing. This confrontation with China is by far the most important thing facing this country on a global scale. This is going to define the next 80 years.
They intend to replace us.

INGRAHAM: I completely agree with you. The business interests, I would say if Goldman Sachs is happy about something regarding China I'm usually not happy. This is what -- on another issue, on the tax bill, this is what you were quoted in the "Washington Post" as saying about the GOP tax bill. You said if you look at all the benefits that are flowing to corporations, it was important to be able to go back and do more for working families, again in reference to the tax bill, otherwise the message is what it has been for 25 years for both parties, that is when push comes to shove, we want your vote but we are not all that concerned about the working class. This is what Trish Reagan said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRISH REGAN, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: I thought you were a guy who like to lower taxes. Lower taxes enable people to keep more of their money. But now perhaps because it's beneficial to him politically he's trying to divide the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: I don't know what she is referring to when they say that. I am for lower taxes. I think the whole debate began with this. We have a corporate tax rate of 35. The Republican bill lowered it to 20. I said why don't we lower it to 21, which is still massive. Again, we are talking C-corporations. We're talking about Apple and Google, these multinationals, not talk about S-corporations, your everyday small business, midsize business. I'm talking about big, multinational corporations for the most part. I said instead of lowering to 20, let's lowered to 21, still a dramatic cut, and -- actually said 20.9, and let's use that 0.9 to fully expand the child tax credit for working families, people making, $30, $40, $50, $60,000 a year. And my argument was that 0.9 was better in the hands of these workers that have already been hurt by all these changes in the economy.

INGRAHAM: I get you, Senator Rubio, but it's over. I see where you're coming from, but that's over and now we have the midterms. And it's like Republicans have to be unified on this issue. And I can see the argument -- with all that to hang together here on this tax bill. It's what we have. It's not perfect. There's a lot more I wanted, we didn't get it.

RUBIO: The criticism is not about the tax bill. It is what it is and on that it's a positive. The issue is the attitude. The attitude that some people had towards that child tax credit that it's better off in the hands of these big corporations than it is in the hands of a working family. That attitude is going to be ongoing, and we cannot continue because working people in this country have been crushed over the last 20 years by all these changes. We need to think about that.

INGRAHAM: That's for sure. We'll see next year the full force of the tax bill kick in when they have to file their taxes under this new regime in 2019. Senator Rubio, before we let you go, big blockbuster story today in "The Hill." What you make of the story Mueller had not disclosed this before he was named of course special counsel?

RUBIO: First of all, Bob Levinson is a Floridian, the family is from Florida. I wanted to do everything possible within the law to get him home, and we met with the Trump administration about his case. He's unfairly detained. His case was forgotten at the end of the Obama administration when they're cutting deals with Iran. This is a man who served our country and was unjustly kidnapped by the Iranians.

INGRAHAM: But the Russians were working on it. This is what I'm saying, Senior, Rubio, a Russian oligarch used $25 million according to multiple sources of his own money to get this guy out. He's working with the FBI.

RUBIO: So I'm on the intelligence committee so I want to be careful about confirming or denying any sort of media articles because a lot of the work that's being done with regards to this -- I'm not confirming it. Like I said, I saw the same article. Suffice it to say that here's the bottom line. Mr. Mueller is conducting this investigation. If there is a conflict of interest at some point and it's born to be true, it would jeopardize the investigation. I'm not prepared to say that. We don't know all the facts. I think we'll see as this thing rolls forward and as he brings out -- this investigation has to end at some point. People will be able to look at who he went after and who he didn't and then ask these questions. But we should wait until that moment arrives. But on this particular case we have that article. I don't even know quite frankly how any of that is classified or not at this point and so I would be personally cautious. I'm trying to be evasive. I don't want to get in trouble here and go beyond where I should. But suffice it to say, for purposes of an investigation Bob Mueller should be able to finish his work and then -- it has to end at some point and we will be able to look at it all and say, hey, why did you do this or not do that?

INGRAHAM: I think we are going to learn a lot more about this in the days to come, but we really appreciate your voice on China and all these national security issues. Marco Rubio, thank you so much for bearing with us tonight. Thanks for joining.

RUBIO: Thank you. Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

INGRAHAM: Commencement address, existential riddle, or political speech? We will let you decide next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Do you remember who even spoke at your college graduation? Mine was Beverly Sills. It was words ridiculing Ronald Reagan, that's all I'll say. But it's that time of year when commencement speakers attempt desperately to impart words of wisdom and inspiration to graduating seniors. Yes, it's that time of year. And this weekend, some of the addresses, I've got to tell you when I was watching them on YouTube, they were so original, so unique, so groundbreaking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM COOK, CEO OF APPLE AND DUKE FUQUA ALUMNUS: Be the last people to accept things as they are and the first people to stand up and change them for the better.

CHADWICK BOSEMAN, ACTOR AND HOWARD UNIVERSITY ALUMNUS: Invest in the importance of this moment and cherish it. Savor the taste of your triumphs today. Don't just swallow the moment whole without digesting what has actually happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: It might not be all that original, but other speakers seem to be auditioning for, I don't know, the leader of the anti-Trump resistance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCELLOR KUMBLE R. SUBBASWAMY, UMASS AMHERST: We are in a moment where humanity and decency are being eroded, where basic systems of law and justice are under attack, where the very notion of empirical fact is being attacked and corroded.

FEMALE: In a time where our politician tries to conflate the term "refugee" and "terrorist" and make us fear one another, we need courage.

MALE: The greatest threat to American democracy isn't communism or jihadist, or any other external force or foreign power. It is our own willingness to tolerate dishonesty in service of party and in pursuit of power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: By the way, there were no super gulps in the audience at all. They were not allowed at that graduation. Come on, if these oracles are leading graduates into the future, I hope they all have Google maps on their phones. You've got to come up with something original. Dream the impossible dream, oh, no. That was taken. You have to have something original. Be all that you can be, find courage, find your dream, follow your dream. When we come back, the final, the last bite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Before we go, it's time for the last bite. MSNBC anchor Katy Tur got a little nervous covering today's opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, even if she was monitoring it all the way from the safety of Manhattan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY TUR, MSNBC HOST: Reacts to Rah Shah just now saying that this is all Hamas' fault and this is just a gruesome propaganda attempt. And what are we hearing in the background? Is that Matt Bradley? Is that shelling?

RAJ SHAH, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, Katy. You are actually hearing that from here in Jerusalem. It's actually fireworks going off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: This could happen to anyone. Katy hasn't been the only one at MSNBC ready to dive under the desk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE WALLACE: We are in our tribes. We are in our corners most of our lives. I think we just heard some gunshots. Listen to that for a second. Not gunshots? OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: That was just Steve Schmidt shooting off his mouth, sorry. They are a little bit jumping over there, aren't they. We have drilling going on in our studio, stuff happening, sirens, fire drills. We just stay into the show. That's all the time we have. Be sure to tweet me your thoughts about tonight's show. Remember that John Solomon report, the developments that were just posted before the show started. Got to read the story, it's posted on my Facebook page, also on The Hill of course, dot-com. Shannon bream and the "Fox News @ Night" have a huge show lined up. Shannon?

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