Trump picks Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," February 28, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: You should. You should not expose yourself in the E.R.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Now, he's worried -- yes, he's worried about going to the E.R. to get the coronavirus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: I totally understood wherever he's coming. That's it for us, everybody. Have a great weekend. We will see you back here on Monday.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening, welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier. "BREAKING TONIGHT", a big win for President Trump in his fight to keep one of his top advisors from appearing before Democrats in Congress.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A huge loss for Democrats hoping for another chance to rekindle the Russia investigation. And appeals court today rejected a House committee's effort to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify.
Correspondent David Spunt is here with details. Good evening, David.
DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening. This is significant. This is a decision both House Democrats and those close to the president have been waiting to learn for months. Many months of federal appeals court in a 2-1 ruling tonight, telling those Democrats, Don McGahn, the former White House Counsel does not have to testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now, members of the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Don McGahn to testify as the Mueller investigation was in full swing. But a lot has happened since then, the Mueller investigation is history, Don McGahn hasn't been the White House Counsel since October of 2018.
The court is sending the case back to a lower court with the instructions to dismiss it. House Democrats were hoping to get information from McGahn relating to the president's conduct during the Mueller-Russia probe.
Judge Griffith wrote, "Article III of the Constitution forbids federal courts from resolving this kind of inter-branch information dispute. We agree and dismiss this case."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now, this means a federal appeals court in Washington has ruled the constitution bars federal courts from getting involved in certain disputes between branches of government.
During the president's impeachment episode last fall, House Democrats subpoenaed other aides from the White House. But this sets a new precedent and tone and it allows the White House to claim victory. House Democrats have until March 9th to request a rehearing.
Bret, I bet this could possibly go to the Supreme Court, we'll be watching it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}BAIER: OK, David. Thank you.
Also "BREAKING TONIGHT" President Trump is nominating Republican Congressman John Ratcliffe to be his director of National Intelligence in permanent form. The president tweeting a short time ago that he would have completed the process earlier, but Ratcliffe wanted to wait until after an inspector general report was finished. He calls Ratcliffe, an outstanding man of great talent.
Let's bring in Chief White House correspondent John Roberts on the North Lawn. John, second time the charm for Congressman Ratcliffe.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We will see. Well, usually they say third time's the charm or this is the second kick of the can for Texas Congressman John Ratcliffe.
The president announced his intention to nominate Ratcliffe for DNI late last July. But after accusations of resume padding cropped up, the president allowed Ratcliffe to withdraw, saying that he was likely in for a rough ride when it came to Senate confirmation.
Here is what John Ratcliffe told Fox Businesses Maria Bartiromo, back then.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN RATCLIFFE (R-TX): I made the decision to withdraw from consideration because, you know, if your political future comes down to the vote of 100 U.S. senators and you start out day one down 47-0 because every Democrat is against you, my concern was there's not a lot of margin for error there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROBERTS: So, what changed between last August and now? As you pointed out, the president tweeted that the I.G. report is out. Ratcliffe wanted to wait for that. Fox News has also told that the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee are fully on board for what they say will be a swift confirmation process.
Now, to the other big story, the coronavirus, Fox News is told that tonight at 7:00, there will be a press conference in California to announce what is the second case of suspected community transmission of coronavirus in that state.
Community transmission is when somebody gets infected who has had no obvious contact with anyone else who is carrying the coronavirus, so is showing any symptoms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}As for President Trump, he still remains optimistic about the situation here in the United States, pointing out late this afternoon that there is still very few cases here, and that with one exception, everyone who is infected and got sick is getting better.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Amid growing criticism from Democrats, the White House is defending its response to the coronavirus, insisting that while Democrats were consumed with impeachment, President Trump was taking early steps to contain the virus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We made a decision very early to close up our borders to certain areas of the world. We did that, and so, we are hopefully getting lower from that number --
ROBERTS: As the stock market continued its downward march today, President Trump said it wasn't all about the virus.
TRUMP: It's the unknown. You know, they look at it and they say, well, how long will this last? I think they're not very happy with the Democrat candidates when they see them.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ROBERTS: But, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg today said, investors have no confidence that President Trump can manage the crisis.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president was briefed on the coronavirus two months ago, but he just buried his head in the sand. And he's done that again and again and his failure to prepare is crippling our economy to respond.
ROBERTS: Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar today, said talks about the White House's emergency request for $2-1/2 billion dollars are accelerating. With a goal for Congress to pass it early next week, and the president to sign it the week after.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The White House believes the money is enough for the next seven months, but Democrats are slamming the White House for not requesting more.
ALEX AZAR, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: This is a time as the president said that we all need to be standing together and working together. It's not a time to be scoring political points.
ROBERTS: But one Democratic presidential candidate said if the virus is such a priority, why is President Trump holding a political rally in South Carolina tonight on the eve of the Democratic primary?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey Mr. Trump, why don't you worry about the coronavirus rather than disrupting the Democratic primary right here in South Carolina.
ROBERTS: HHS is also actively investigating a whistleblower complaint that the team sent to repatriate Americans from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, lack both the protective equipment and the expertise to do the job.
The group which typically handles refugee resettlement is no longer involved in the coronavirus response.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}AZAR: We must have a full investigation to learn if there's any truth to these allegations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: The White House is also denying that a member of its coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci was muzzled. After Fauci said it may be impossible to contain the coronavirus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fauci was told to cancel his appearance on five Sunday shows this weekend. But the White House says that's because Secretary Azar will now do those shows, Fauci will be doing other T.V. appearances tonight and over the weekend. Bret.
BAIER: John Roberts, live in the North Lawn. John, thank you.
Well, it was another day of worry over the coronavirus and another day of carnage in global financial markets. It's an issue that may affect you or your family, particularly if you have pension or retirement money in stocks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Global equities have lost $6 trillion just this week. The Dow fell more than 1,000 points earlier today but gained much of that back amid a new resurgence and reassurance from the Federal Reserve.
The Dow finishing off 357, the S&P 500 was down 25. The NASDAQ ended up a fraction ahead. For the week, the Dow plunged more than 12-1/3 percentage points. The S&P 500 dropped 11-1/2, the NASDAQ was off 10-1/2.
Liz Claman, host of the "CLAMAN COUNTDOWN" on Fox Business, joins us tonight from New York. Good evening, Liz. How significant is this sell-off we saw this week?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LIZ CLAMAN, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: Well, Bret. I guess if you want to see a direct cause and effect of the palpable fear of coronavirus. It's in this week's stock market route, you'd really have to go back to the financial crisis of 2008.
If you don't remember that's when the mortgage bubble burst and Lehman Brothers went bankrupt if you want to find those kinds of karate chops to stocks. This week alone, you just show the percentage loss for the Dow and its value.
Names like McDonald's got torched, down 10 percent on the week. Coca Cola, which lost 11 percent on the week. I mean, that just doesn't really make a lot of sense, people are still going to drink Coca Cola, but oil prices were decimated down 16 percent from Monday to Friday on the belief that demand will be dented if economies from China to Europe to -- yes, the United States begin to shrink.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}And Bret, we know the deadly virus was already disrupting supply chains. It was getting harder for big technology names like Apple and Intel to get parts and materials from other countries.
But this week, the fear really ramped up to a whole new level triggered by that hot zone of victims popping up in Italy over the weekend. And now, John Roberts, of course, just reporting the connection in California of a second community spread victim.
BAIER: Yes. You know, you had Larry Kudlow, saying, well I would look forward to buy in the market, you know that this is there are buys to be had, coronavirus is obviously the trigger. But what connections are investors making between the virus and their money?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CLAMAN: You know, he's right. There's so many things that are on sale but the virus spreading and that fear paired with a very real concern that the domino effect of that fear will slam their investments had -- say, for example, all the airlines selling-off because they've had to cancel flights to China, then South Korea, now Japan. The cruise ship operators suffering on news of the virus spreading on, of course, the Diamond Princess ship, which had to be quarantined.
Investors are pretty much asking, we don't know which country might be next. So, restaurant chains are getting hit. They don't see them on sale because there's a perception that people might decide they don't want to eat out because of infection risk.
So, you can start to see the daisy chain effect. But Bret, you did show the NASDAQ it ended just barely in the green after having been down triple digits because the Federal Reserve jumped in and said, hey, we will cut interest rates if we feel that it's necessary.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}There is now a 100 percent chance the market believes that we will see a rate cut for the March meeting. The question is, does cheaper borrowing prices really make anybody watching right now on your show or anywhere else want to go out to the movies and sit in a sealed theatre or go on a cruise ship?
That's the big question. And for now, they're just too many question marks hovering over this issue.
BAIER: All right, Liz. We will watch it. Thank you.
From fashion shows in Paris to theme parks in Japan, officials are scrapping different events in order to keep the risk of transmissions lo. But there may be something more dangerous than the virus itself.
Correspondent Benjamin Hall looks at the worldwide worried tonight from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: As coronavirus spreads around the world, so to this fear, and authorities are now trying to contain both.
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Our greatest enemy right now is not the virus itself. It's fear, rumors, and the stigma.
HALL: But the virus knows no borders. 83,000 people are now affected in countries as far afield as Nigeria, New Zealand, Nepal, and 51 other countries. The response has been drastic. Singapore is prosecuting those who lie about travel. South Korea is strengthening punishments for people who violate self-isolation rules. And the U.K. now says anyone can be forcibly quarantine. Some world leaders say the fear is real.
SCOTT MORRISON, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: We believe that the risk of a global pandemic is very much upon us.
HALL: Major landmarks are empty. Tokyo Disneyland is closed, mass transit systems and public places are being disinfected across the world.
While in Moscow, authorities are rounding up stray animals and rats as a dog tested positive for the virus in Hong Kong. Sporting events around the world are being played in empty stadiums and global events have been canceled. The Venice Carnival, Facebook's annual conference, and the Geneva Motor Show, after the Swiss government banned all events involving more than 1,000 people.
The U.S. and South Korea have also canceled their annual military drills. But the virus hasn't scared everybody off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People make a big deal. I mean, it's just like normal flow. You just keep your hands clean and have fun while you're at it.
HALL: In fact, many people around the world are learning how to live with the threat. From ballet in Shanghai to heavy metal fans in Hong Kong, life for many goes on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HALL: The World Health Organization has now raised its threat level from high to very high. That is the highest. The deputy director saying this meant wake up, get ready, the virus may be on its way. Bret.
BAIER: Benjamin Hall in London. Benjamin, thank you.
We have two big town hall meetings to tell you about scheduled for next week. Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg will be our guests and -- guests in Manassas, Virginia. That begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern. Martha MacCallum and I will moderate that.
Then, Thursday night, President Trump joins us in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His first town hall of the election cycle in the city, Joe Biden grew up in. That town hall also begins, 6:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The South Carolina primary is tomorrow night. The front runner, former Vice President Joe Biden is walking back a statement he made in order to curry favor, it seems, with the African American community.
Correspondent Peter Doocy has the latest from the campaign trail tonight in Columbia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can do this.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER: Joe Biden is betting big on tomorrow's first in the south primary.
BIDEN: You want to know what's going on, not a joke, you want to go what's going on? You go to barbershops and beauty shops.
DOOCY: He also spent part of the day backing off this campaign trail tale about Nelson Mandela.
BIDEN: I had the great honor of meeting him. I had the great honor, being arrested with our U.N. Ambassador on the streets of Soweto, trying to get to see him on Robben's Island.
DOOCY: Now, he admits no arrest.
BIDEN: I guess, I wasn't arrested. I was stopped. I was not able to move where I wanted to go.
DOOCY: Candidates have been caught like this before, like Hillary Clinton. In 2008, who remembered a child greeting her in Bosnia like this?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I remember landing under sniper fire.
DOOCY: Clinton's running mate on the 2016 ticket is backing Biden. Senator Tim Kaine, writes, "He reminds me of Harry S. Truman. I am proud to vote for Joe Biden," who insists he's fiery.
BIDEN: The fact that I'm not screaming like Bernie and waving my arms. Or like Elizabeth is not lack of fire.
DOOCY: Sanders is trying to win his third contest in a row by bashing billionaires.
SANDERS: Some of these guys are on T.V., they're literally crying about what Bernie said. Oh well, I'm down to my last $6 billion and Bernie wants to tax me. Oh, my God. How much could a human being take?
DOOCY: A Sanders campaign memo argues he is strongest against Trump with Independents, working-class voters, and suburban women, among others. But that's not the way Michael Bloomberg sees things.
BLOOMBERG: If Bernie Sanders gets the nomination, he will lose to Donald Trump.
DOOCY: Super Tuesday is the beginning of Bloomberg's time on ballots and a firm advertising Analytics reports more than half of the billion dollars spent on all campaign ads, so far, have been for Bloomberg. Like this new one.
BLOOMBERG: So, ask yourself. For president, do you want a debater or a doer?
DOOCY: Now, he's saying that if he wins, you can be his roommate temporarily.
BLOOMBERG: I have lots of friends who are mayors, and if I'm in the living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I think they're all going to want to come and stay in the Lincoln bedroom, but I thought what I might do to make it even, I should put the Lincoln bedroom on Airbnb. And then, everybody. Why not let all 330 million Americans have a chance?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOOCY: You can tell how important South Carolina is to Joe Biden by looking at his schedule. Biden and Tom Steyer are the only top tier Democratic candidates who are going to be here all day tomorrow. Everybody else is jumping ahead to Super Tuesday states to campaign there.
But Biden did tell us today he thinks he's going to win here. Bret?
BAIER: Peter Doocy, live in Columbia, South Carolina. Peter, thanks.
Up next, will there finally be peace in Afghanistan? We may know very soon. Stay with us.
ANNOUNCER: This program is brought to you by Otezla. Learn more at otezla.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: A federal appeals court has temporarily halted a Trump administration policy to make asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration courts.
The same court decided to keep another major change on hold. One that denies asylum to anyone who enters the U.S. illegally from Mexico. Justice Department statement said the rulings ignore the constitutional authority of Congress and the administration.
We may be just hours from history in Afghanistan. The U.S. and the Taliban are scheduled to sign a peace agreement that is supposed to mark the beginning of the end of America's longest war.
Senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot is in Kabul tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG PALKOT, FOX NEWS SENIOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Kabul, Afghanistan Central Market on Friday, busy as always, but a bit less tense. This was the last day in a week-long reduction of violence period involving the Taliban and U.S. and allied forces.
Secretary of State Pompeo told Congress this partial ceasefire is holding.
MIKE POMPEO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We've seen just these last six days a significant reduction in violence in Afghanistan.
PALKOT: And that's paving the way for the signing Saturday in Doha, Qatar of an agreement between the U.S. and the Taliban, calling for the reduction of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and a severing of ties between the Taliban and other terror groups.
HAMID KARZAI, FORMER PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: The signing tomorrow with the Taliban, by the Americans, is a good thing.
PALKOT: U.S. troops here in Afghanistan have been fighting a war for some 18 years. But the people of Afghanistan have been living with war for some four decades. So, even the possibility of peace is making some people here hopeful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hope to do to finish this, the war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A (INAUDIBLE) war in Afghanistan.
PALKOT: That hope illustrated in this public service announcement running on Afghans Tolo T.V. Showing both the horror of war, but also progress made since the fall of the Taliban.
SAAD MOHSENI, CHAIRMAN, MOBY GROUP: The hope is inter-Afghan talks will lead to a comprehensive peace deal. That would allow this nation of 35 million people to -- at last, experience peace.
PALKOT: Those comprehensive talks set to start 10 days after tomorrow signing are where the real questions lie. Can a proper ceasefire be established? How fast will more U.S. troops leave? When more Taliban prisoners be released? And how will the Taliban share power?
JENS STOLTENBERG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION: Their road to peace will be long and hard, and there will be setbacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PALKOT: Despite all the diplomatic challenges, a grim reminder, some 2,400 U.S. service members have died here. 20,000 have been injured, as well as tens of thousands of Afghan casualties. Give peace a chance, indeed. Bret.
BAIER: Greg, thank you. Up next we'll talk some politics with Martha MacCallum. Plus, talk about her new book which mixes history with family.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: We are getting a very clear picture tonight of where the public stands in the simmering election-year showdown between capitalism and socialism. The latest Fox News poll indicates registered voters favored capitalism by the 2-1 margin. The spread is just 10 points among Democrats, the GOP scoreboard 67-15.
Younger people favor capitalism by just nine points. Seniors overwhelmingly reject socialism, 72-16.
Let's talk about those polls, the presidential race, and a new book, with the anchor of "THE STORY". Co-anchor of politics, Martha MacCallum. Martha's new book is called "Unknown Valor: A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima." Besides being about history, it's also personal, she'll talk about that in a minute. Congratulations.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hello there, Bret.
BAIER: It's awesome.
MACCALLUM: Thank you.
BAIER: I want to talk all about this.
MACCALLUM: Thank you so much. Great to be here.
BAIER: I want to talk about our week ahead.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: I mean, when it rains, it pours.
MACCALLUM: When it rains, it pours. I said the same thing today. We have a lot going on. It's very exciting. I mean, we're right in the middle of the busiest season. And coming at us.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: So, South Carolina is tomorrow, then we have Monday, a town hall with Mayor Bloomberg.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: Super Tuesday.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: And then, a town hall with the president. It's a lot to cram in.
MACCALLUM: It's a lot to cram in. But it feels like people are so engaged right now too. I mean, we just look at, you know, how many people watched Amy Klobuchar last night even more than the first time we spoke to her.
I think people are very focused on what's going on in this race. And if they tune into us for the next six days, they're going to really get a good sense of all of these people, I think.
BAIER: What do you make of those numbers? You know, right now, Bernie Sanders is in the pole position, heading into Super Tuesday. Most states, the big ones, especially like California and Texas, he's really performing well. You look at those socialism numbers, they're kind of interesting.
MACCALLUM: They are. You know, when you look at the fact that 56 percent of America thinks capitalism is the way to go, 28 percent are in favor of socialism. It's -- I mean, I'm actually shocked that the numbers as high as it is, and I think we've been sort of absorbing that number over the past few years.
And I think that there's, you know, the way you presented it in the intro, a lot of younger people think socialism is attractive. It seems like a nice idea, right? That everybody shares, but we see how it works in countries where it's actually an effect. And older folks who have, you know, maybe a little bit more wisdom on the issue, some might say, just say no, thank you.
BAIER: I bet we'll hear some of that from Mayor Bloomberg on Monday.
MACCALLUM: Absolutely.
BAIER: All right. I want to talk about this book. This book is -- I mean, it's kind of a journey. It's almost like archaeological journey back to your history, your family history, but also those who served in the Pacific in World War II.
MACCALLUM: I mean, it certainly was for me. I started with letters that my mom shared with me when I was growing up, they were written by her first cousin who was very close to her. They were -- he was like a brother to her. And she loved him very much. He died at 18 when he was in Iwo Jiwa, he was a young private in the Marines.
And I started sort of pulling on where that letter lead, and the other letters that were written by his friends to my family after he was killed, and ended up meeting two of the men who were actually with him on March 13th, 1945, when the Japanese mortars went off, and he was killed.
And it's just been, you know, we sort of used that vehicle of these men's lives and their stories and the interviews I did with them to tell the story of World War II, the Pacific theatre, starting with Pearl Harbor, which is what inspired all these young men to wrap around lines of blocks to enlist, and goes all the way through Iwo Jima, where for these men, the story ends.
BAIER: It's emotional.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
BAIER: I'm obviously a big fan of history. And -- but I love the fact that you can tell stories in history that bring it to life, through people's eyes.
MACCALLUM: Yes. I think that's what's engaging about this man. And everyone has said the same thing to me, and they're -- you know, bring a box of tissues when you read.
And I always found it moving. I'm glad that other people find it moving. But I think that when you tell the personal stories, it makes the rest of history really come to life. And we do really lay out the progression of the stepping stone battles and why each island was different. I think we don't learn that much about the Pacific theater I think growing up. People are more familiar with the European theater and Hitler. But the Hirohito story is fascinating. We do a lot of what happened in Japan as well, and why we have this confrontation with them.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: It's amazing. "Unknown Valor" is the book. You need to get it. It was number one on Amazon.
MACCALLUM: Thank you, Bret.
BAIER: Congratulations.
MACCALLUM: You've written so many great history books that I have enjoyed, so it's great to --
BAIER: And you're doing this in the middle of all of this. So congratulations.
(LAUGHTER)
MACCALLUM: I know. Quite a rollercoaster we are on. Glad we are doing it together. Absolutely. Good to see you.
BAIER: Socialism, as we just talked about, a big topic in this presidential race. With the rise of democratic socialist Bernie Sanders as a front runner, it figures to be a talking point throughout the campaign. We're likely going to hear about it from Mayor Bloomberg on Monday.
Tonight, we continue our weeklong look at the "Unauthorized History of Socialism." This evening, one of socialism's darkest chapters, Lenin's Red Terror.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Through posters, leaflets, and speeches, Lenin tried to convince Russians of just who were the enemies of the people, and who were their saviors. But Lenin didn't stop with propaganda. The enemies of the people were marked for retribution, including priests, many peasants, and his political opponents. Lenin began with Nicholas II, the last czar to reign over Russia.
RICHARD PIPES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY (1923-2018): Him, his wife, their five children, the doctor, the servants were all massacred. Then their bodies were cut up and burned. And then what remained was buried in a shaft which was only discovered a few years ago. Then in August of 1918, a revolutionary who felt that they had betrayed the revolution who took two shots at him and wounded him, almost fatally. Whereupon Lenin and his henchmen agreed to carry out return.
This is a terrible thing. People were taken out of prison who were political prisoners who had never been tried and done nothing, and they were summarily shot. This shooting went on. Hundreds of people were shot at night.
BAIER: Many others found themselves banished to forced labor camps. Later, under Joseph Stalin, the system would become known as the gulag.
ANNE APPLEBAUM, AUTHOR, "GULAG": A part of the red terror was a gathering of all opposition members into concentration camps outside of major cities. And these were the very first camps, and it was from these camps that the entire gulag system developed. So they are very much a precursor to what came later in Stalin's time.
BAIER: The czar had been reviled as a tyrant for executing a handful of violent radicals. Under Lenin and his followers, millions would die at the hands of the state.
APPLEBAUM: It's difficult to calculate how many people came to die under Lenin's system and then Stalin's system because they were so many different ways to die. There were people who died in camps. There were people who died because they were machine-gunned down in the woods. There were people who died because they were deported. There were people who died in artificial famines. When you begin to put the numbers together, you get numbers, statistics in the tens of millions.
PIPES: Lenin in general had no sympathy for human beings such as they were. He believed, as did others, that through education, legislation, you can make people not want to own things. You create new human beings. So the existing human race was so rotten that killing them was actually progressive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: You can watch the whole six-part series, 30 minutes in each part, "The Unauthorized History of Socialism" on FOX Nation. The first episode there is free. We will run an hour special Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. eastern time.
The politics of the coronavirus, we'll discuss all of that with the panel when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICK MULVANEY, INCOMING ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We don't know what to do. We were caught unprepared. We have no idea what's going on. That's the narrative, right. They think this is going to be what brings down the president. That's what this is all about.
TED LIEU, (D-CA) HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It's not even a gotcha question.
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Is a gotcha moment. It's not useful.
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D-NY) HOUSE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Do you feels we should divert funding from building the wall to stop this pandemic that's terrifying American families, yes or no?
POMPEO: America has the resources --
ESPAILLAT: You are not answering my questions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Secretary of State up on Capitol Hill answering questions and getting a lot of pushback and questions from Democrats on the coronavirus, and the White House chief of staff.
Meantime today, the markets took another dip, but not as bad as it was. It went down by about 1,000, but finished about down 357. The Federal Reserve put out a statement, "The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to the economic activity. The Fed is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook. We'll use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy." A lot of people say there's a drop coming.
If you look at the history of the Dow, just to give you little bit of a pause here in case you are really worried about your 401(k) or your market investments, just take a look at this. It goes back to 1970. It take dips. We don't know how far this dip will go, but just to give you a little something on a Friday as you are watching your money.
Let's bring in our panel, Steve Hayes, editor of "The Dispatch," Leslie Marshall, Democrat strategist, and Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at "The Federalist." A lot of talk from the White House chief of staff and others about the politics around this. Obviously, there are two sides to this. There is the policy and what's happening to try to curb it, and then there's the politics that's wrapped around this place always.
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE FEDERALIST": I think everyone has to be honest that there is a delicate balancing act that's in play. We want to get people prepared, and this is a very serious issue that we are dealing, and preparation is a very key part of it, without leading people to panic. And I'm not sure how well everybody is doing this far, but some of the criticism that the administration is getting for saying we have this under control but take it seriously seems a little bit unfair.
BAIER: Here is the White House chief of staff on how to calm the markets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICK MULVANEY, INCOMING ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I got a note today from a reporter saying, what are you going to do today to calm the markets? I'm like, really, what I might do today to calm the markets is tell people to turn their televisions of for 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer putting out a statement saying "Hiding the truth about the coronavirus and the government's response only increases the likelihood of the virus spreading. For Mick Mulvaney to suggest that Americans turn off their TVs and bury their heads in their stand when they are worried about a global health pandemic is Orwellian, counterproductive, dangerous, and would be repeating China's mistake." Leslie, they can say that about Mulvaney said, but there have been a lot of Democrats and columnists and all kinds of people throwing a lot at the wall about how this is being handled.
LESLIE MARSHALL, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: And I have to say, Mollie, I don't we've ever agreed, and I agreed up until to your last two sentences, I did agree with you. Here's the problem that I have, and I put my money under a mattress with regard to the market. I get upset because I care about the humanity, I care about lives and health. I really don't care about the politics of this, and I don't care about the market and economic value of this. And that's really where I think we need to be.
I think when we look to other areas like Hong Kong, which have been very good with prevention, I really feel that is something that we as a nation need to do, our president needs to do as our leader and as leader of the free world. Put out those PSA's about the masks aren't really effective, about handwashing, and also about increasing your immune system by getting a flu shot. That type of information I feel is essential.
I don't think we should downplay it. I think that's dangerous. I certainly don't think that we should be fearmongering. That's dangerous as well. But politics aside, this is a containment issue. And that's what the scientists have said. And I trust the scientists, not the politicians on this, and the scientists are concerned about containment because it is spreading faster than SARA and the Ebola, and we have two cases in California where they didn't go to China and they don't know how these people transmitted this.
BAIER: I bet we get a scientist, medical staff person to brief pretty much every day coming soon, I would venture a guess. But the politics surrounding it, here are Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No one takes the president's words for these things. He at a minimum exaggerates everything. And the idea that he's going to stand there and say everything is fine, don't worry. Who's going to believe that?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, Mr. Trump, why don't you worry about the coronavirus rather than disrupting the Democratic primary right here in South Carolina? How pathetic and how petty can you be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: He's talking about the rally tonight in South Carolina that President Trump is going to.
HAYES: I guess we shouldn't be surprised that leading politicians are being political even at a time like this. I agree with Mollie and Leslie. I think what we need is a calm, dispassionate recitation of facts by people in authority. I think it would be a very good idea to have a daily half- hour briefing led by a team of experts, the people who we've entrusted to look at these kinds of issues on our behalf for years who know what they are talking about, and come out every single day for a half-hour, walk people through the facts of the situation. Here are the facts. Here's how you conduct your everyday life. And give people that advice.
BAIER: Let's just say you start this way. The CDC is better prepared now than they were for Ebola, so is NIH. They actually have more funding than they did back then. You wouldn't have known that at the beginning. But you are right, just to know the facts of the specifics of the containment effort is what's important.
HAYES: It's a difficult thing to talk about in part because the people who have it may not have had it detected. It's unlike SARS or MERS or Ebola where the symptoms are manifest and they are often deadly. This is not, and so people could walk around undetected without anybody knowing that they are potentially being exposed. I think that makes it difficult. On the one hand it's must less serious. The irony of it being much less serious on an individual patient basis means that the potential for spread is greater.
BAIER: Quickly, I just want to get the John Ratcliffe being announced as the nominee for DNI.
HEMINGWAY: This is very interesting news. He'd been previously nominated and pulled his own nomination, and he's been re-nominated. This is a guy who came up to speed pretty quickly on the House Permanent Select Committee of Intelligence. He really is known by his colleagues as someone who is very dutiful and has been looking in the right places in terms of oversights for how this crazy conspiracy theory of treasonous collusion with Russia took root. It's also why a lot of people are worried about having him there is that he understands how the intelligence community works, knows the need for reform, and seems intent on actually getting that done.
BAIER: We'll follow it. Next up, the Friday lightning round. We will talk politics. Candidate Casino, remember that? Plus Winners and Losers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are tired of billionaires, whether it's Michael Bloomberg or anyone else trying to buy elections.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, (D) FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: I will vote for the Democratic candidate even if it's Bernie Sanders. The other day his staff for reasons beyond me said we don't want Bloomberg's help. So I guess I'm off the hook there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: What about money, cash on hand? Take a look at this. Through January 31st, Mayor Bloomberg, obviously he has a lot of cash on hand. It's not really measured here. But Joe Biden, $7 million down there. Candidate spending, again, Bloomberg, $409 million so far. Tom Steyer, $253 million. Biden at $62 million.
We're back to the panel. We're going to first go down to a place we call candidate casino, but it's the South Carolina version of Candidate Casino. We start with Steve Hayes. You have $100 in chips. South Carolina, here we go.
HAYES: That's an extraordinary amount of spending for the party that wants to remove money from politics, I would just point out. I think this is basically a two-man race. I've got $65 on Joe Biden, $35 on Bernie. I wouldn't put it past a surprise from Bernie, a better than expected performance from Bernie.
BAIER: Leslie?
MARSHALL: I'm putting $90 on Joe Biden and $10 on Bernie. Although I would agree it would be a surprise, because is it going to be a 20-point spread or a four-point spread depending on what poll and what time of the day you look at it. But I think Biden will pull it off.
BAIER: Mollie?
HEMINGWAY: Leslie, we agree for the second time tonight, $90 on Biden, $10 on Sanders. I think Biden needs to not just win but win big. And so I'm very excited to see how it goes.
BAIER: I wouldn't have bet on that, you agreeing twice.
(LAUGHTER)
BAIER: All right, 2020 candidate casino, a different bet, $100, here we go.
HAYES: Even if Joe Biden wins South Carolina I don't think he's likely to win the Democrat nomination, so I've got $75 on Bernie Sanders, $15 on Joe Biden, and $10 on something kind of crazy happening at the convention, and who knows what that will be.
BAIER: Wine, women, and song. OK.
MARSHALL: I'm going to split it 50-50, 50 bucks on each of them. Every day I change my mind.
BAIER: There's nobody else?
MARSHALL: No, I think it's going to be one of them. I really do.
HEMINGWAY: I have $50 on Sanders, who I think is the guy most suited to get the nomination. But I also have $25, which is my next largest bet, on none of these candidates making it to getting the nomination. I think if you are not going to give it to Sanders, you might not be able to give it to any of them. And $10 each on Biden and Bloomberg, and I did put $5 on wine, woman, and song, because we all could use some fun.
BAIER: A hat-tip to the late Charles Krauthammer. OK, Winners and Losers, quickly down the row. Steve?
HAYES: My winner is the Taliban. They're getting Afghanistan back, and I think we are likely to whitewash their radicalism as we withdraw. The loser is your 401(k).
BAIER: Sad clown. OK.
MARSHALL: I'm going to do it opposite. Loser, I'm going to say Donald Trump Jr. for saying that myself and other Democrats would actually want coronavirus to be inflicted on people for political gain -- paraphrasing. And in light of black history month, Olivia Hooker.
BAIER: Is the winner.
MARSHALL: Is the winner yes. She hid under her table at six years of age while white people destroyed her house, worked for civil rights, became the first African-American female in the Coast Guard.
BAIER: Nice. Winner and loser?
HEMINGWAY: My winner are the Democratic superdelegates who really do seem poised to play a huge role in who gets the nomination. They always have had an outsized role, but here they could actually determine it. We had stories this week showing how much they were interested in keeping Bernie Sanders, the presumptive plurality getter of votes, from getting the nomination, and so they will play a key role.
BAIER: Although if you are a Sanders supporter, they are the loser, potentially.
HEMINGWAY: Well, I'm not saying they're great or bad. I'm just saying they're the winners of the week.
BAIER: Yes.
HEMINGWAY: My loser would be the Democratic debate moderators who seem to match a lot of their media colleagues in being unable to ask tough questions of these candidates, whether it was Joe Biden making false claims about getting arrested in South Africa or Elizabeth Warren changing and flip-flopping on PACs, or really just any good tough questions about how to deal with coronavirus. We are not seeing our best questioning of these candidates.
BAIER: Winners, you guys, made it around the horn very quickly.
Finally tonight, we have "Notable Quotables."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God knew they couldn't be on this earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Donald Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As the great religious teacher Swami Vivekananda once said. Namaste, namaste.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all about the virus on Wall Street, on main street, and, yes, on Pennsylvania Avenue.
CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: President Trump, good morning. There's a pandemic of coronavirus. Where are you? Where is your plan?
TRUMP: Wash her hands. Stay clean. You don't necessarily have to grab every handrail, unless you have to.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When Fidel Castro came to office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Imagine spending the better part of 2020 with Bernie Sanders versus Donald Trump.
SANDERS: First of all -
(CROSSTALK)
MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: That wasn't a Democratic debate. That was a demolition derby.
(LAUGHTER)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW": Let's imagine I'm a billionaire and these ribs are my money. How many of my ribs would you take away?
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My name is Joe Biden and I'm a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.
TRUMP: He said I have the worst fever in the worst way. And he's hugging and kissing me. So I said, excuse me, I went and I started washing my hands.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: One week, and we have a busy weekend and week ahead. Tomorrow, we will have special coverage of the South Carolina primary. I'll be anchoring that. And then Sunday, "FOX News Sunday," Chris Wallace will interview former vice president Joe Biden. Check your local listings there for showtimes.
Monday, Martha MacCallum and I will host a town hall with presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries, then we have Super Tuesday, and then on Thursday, we have another big town hall, this time with President Trump in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You'll want to tune in for that.
Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "The Story" hosted by Martha MacCallum, whose book, by the way, spectacular, starts after the break.
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