tv Shepard Smith Reporting FOX News April 4, 2017 12:00pm-1:01pm PDT
12:00 pm
deployed spike strips to slow it down. cops catching up with and arresting the suspect. the driver was suspected to be under the influence of drugs. here's bill hemmer for shep. >> it's 3:00 p.m. on the east coast. susan rice is talking after she requested names of trump up in surveillance. rice said she had to ask for certain names to do her job. democrats say this is to draw attention of the real issue about links between the trump administration and moscow. the facts ahead in a moments. it's time for a show down over the u.s. supreme court. democrats have enough support to block neil gorsuch.
12:01 pm
will republicans follow-through on the nuclear option? and also republicans trying to repeal obamacare. that idea went down in flames two weeks ago. now a new plan is rising from the ashes of the swamp. in minutes you'll hear from a conservative group whose support might make or break the plan. that's ahead in a very busy 3:00 hour starting now. i'm bill hemmer. good day. in for shepard smith, we begin with the show down over surveillance in the nation's capitol. susan rice is calling accusations she mishandled intelligence information and targeted members of trump team false. rice responding after fox news and other news outlets said who is the one that asked officials for the names of trump associates caught up in surveillance. that means revealing the names in intelligence reports not to the public. here's susan rice.
12:02 pm
>> there were occasions when i would receive a report in which a u.s. person was referred to. name not provided. just u.s. person. sometimes in order to understand the importance of the report and access its significance, it was necessary to find out as to who the u.s. official was. >> more in that interview in just a moment. rice saying she and other officials would request the information only to protect the american people. she said she never did it for political purposes and she never leaked any information to anybody, her words earlier today. all this coming after house intelligence chairman devin nunes told reporters that trump transition officials and even the president himself may have gotten swept up in surveillance of foreigners. we have since learned two white house officials helped get nunes the information which he shared with the president before the rest of his own committee.
12:03 pm
catherine herridge speaking with chairman nunes earlier today. she'll have more on those developments later this hour. after meeting with nunes, president trump said he felt somewhat vindicated after he's unsubstantiated claims that president obama had tapped trump tower. even though nunes said many times that did not happen, nunes met with the president, susan rice telling pbs she had no idea what the chairman was talking about. >> i know nothing about this. i was surprised to see reports from chairman nunes on that count today. i really don't know to what chairman nunes was referring. but he said that whatever he was referring to was illegal lawful surveillance and it was potentially incidental collection on acitizens. >> so that interview from 13 days ago is now getting a second
12:04 pm
look today. today susan rice says she does not know what information nunes received and she would not get in specifics on any reporting. i spoke with south carolina senator lindsey grammarlier today on america's newsroom. he said that he wants lawmakers to look into rice and the entire business of unmasking. >> and terms of political manipulation of national security information, susan rice in my view has done it in the past. whether or not she did it this time, i don't know. it's something congress should look into. if she was involved in unmasking trump transition figures, what was the reason and was there a political motive. i'd like to know that. we'll get to the bottom of it. >> you heard that senator graham said that rice has manipulated security information in the past. after the attack in benghazi, she went on the sunday talk shows and said based on the intelligence at that time, it looked like a spontaneous response to protests over an anti muslim video and not a
12:05 pm
terror attack. president trump now has referred to the unmasking as the real story on russia. democrats say it's a distraction from the bigger issue they argue about the investigations into team trump and potential collusion with the russian government. you got that? it's a mouthful. john roberts on fox's top story live at the white house. good day to you. so what else did susan rice said about this so-called unmasking? >> bill, when is it not a mouthful to digest everything that happened here daily? interesting to look as you point out, the difference between what she said today compared to the pbs interview on march 22 when there was an utter denial of anything that devin nunes was talking about. today no denial that she's the person that asked for the names to be unmasked in intelligence reports but that firm denial that any of this was done for political purposes or she leaked any one's name.
12:06 pm
listen here. >> it's in that process and within the context of the trump campaign, the trump transition, did you seek the names of people involved in -- did you unmask the names of people involved in the trump transition, the trump campaign, people surrounding the president-elect in order to spy on them? >> absolutely -- absolutely not for any political purposes, to spy, expose, anything. >> so the white house suggesting that most of the media is not giving this the sense of importance that the white house thinks it should have. we know that she is the one, susan rice, that asked for some names to be unmasked. what we don't know is who leaked the name of lieutenant general michael flynn, an act that may constitute a serious crime. >> in russia, a report of a back channel. communications between vladimir putin and a donald trump donor. what is the truth on that? >> it's hard to discern.
12:07 pm
the white house and the person involved denied any kind of meeting to create a channel between the trump transition and vladimir putin. the person at the center of this is eric prince, the founder of black water security organization. a big checkered past putting contractors in iraq. he's the brother-in-law of betsy devos. we're told by sources that on january 11th eric prince met with a russian envoy at the four seasons hotel. one of the reasons for the meeting said to pe that the united arab emirates wanted to convince putin to dial back on his support for iran and syria. again, the white house and prince denying all of this. it presents a potential problem. this is the sort of thing that susan rice and other members of the obama administration could say we were concerned about, which is why we asked for the
12:08 pm
unmasking. sean spicer dismissing all of this as flimsy reporting saying i guess someone may have visited an island but there's no proof that they met with an individual or that they had any ties or the date or the consequences of the meeting. i think that it's flimsy at best. >> a pro russian congressman set to meet with president trump today. who is that and what is the meeting about? >> dana rorbacher will be here. he's an advocate of improving the relations between russia and the united states. dana rorbacher said it's a brouhaha over nothing. he said "what is happening is you have the fake news avalanche trying to create the impression that something sinister is happening with russia and that is preventing us from negotiating and getting into a
12:09 pm
real relationship where we can do some good by working together with russia." the president has said he would like to work with russia on defeating isis. what happened in syria with al-assad could complicate things. >> thanks, john. want to look at this now from both sides. a former democratic leader is an executive resident at the american university of public affairs. ned ryan, founder and ceo of american majority, a political training institute and former writer for george bush. good day to both of you. st. the story changing with regard to susan rice given that interview on msnbc? >> you'll have to pardon me of being skeptical of someone that lied about the benghazi video and a few weeks ago claimed no knowledge of what congressman nunes is talking about and now lo and behold, she's claiming
12:10 pm
she knows nothing. i'm skeptical of how honest susan rice is being. here's what we're starting to figure out. this appears to be coordinated, systematic. the thing that is interesting to me, bill, based off of some of these records, according to fisa court rule and nsa policies, any incidental communications collected that are not specific to the investigation are to be discarded. based off the reports that we're hearing, not only are the incidental communications that had nothing to do with russia, not only are they not discarded, names were unmasked and put in the reports and widely disseminated. that's a problem. i hope at the end of day and we're going to -- i feel like we're peeling back an onion every day. there's -- >> you're not far from off on that. a lot of people would argue this is referred surveillance. quickly. >> i would argue, there's real questions is this reverse surveillance. did the party in power weaponize
12:11 pm
the state against the opposing party? these are serious allegations and serious questions being raised. i would like susan rice to go under oath, go up to the hill in front of the senate intelligence committee and give answers. >> capri, how big of a deal this is now? >> what a mess this is for the american public, for our credibility. i think credibility here is a huge issue. you have susan rice who as the other guest just mentioned had credibility questions because of the history with benghazi. then you have the issue of devin nunes and his cloud of controversy surrounding whether or not he was politically motivated. you have two people cooking in the kitchen that don't necessarily have great credibility in addressing this issue. at the end of the day, the american people deserve answers. they deserve answers -- >> might take some time. >> from march 22, judy woodruff
12:12 pm
asked susan rice about being swept up in the surveillance. her answer is "i know nothing about this." i was surprised to see the reports from chairman nunes. >> i can make that request. the intelligence community processed that request through their normal procedures and if they feel they can give the answer, they will give the answer. that comes back to me, not to anybody broadly in the national security world. that is necessary for me to do my job. >> did you seek the names of people involved in -- to unmask the names of people involved in the trump transition, the trump campaign, people surrounding the president-elect in order to spy on them? >> absolutely not for any political purposes, to spy, expose, anything. >> two weeks later, a completely
12:13 pm
different answer. andrea mitchell had the right question. did you use this information to spy. >> no. this is the thing. if it looks like and appears this way that trump and his transition team were targeted, it had nothing to do with russia, that there was a political intelligence gathering operation and it was wide by disseminated. common sense dictates that there's something wrong here. we're not just realizing it's susan, her deputy, ben rhodes as well. i think there's more names coming out. here's the thing. susan rice did not act in a vacuum. she did not do this of her own volition. there's others involved. the question is how high -- >> none of us here have security clearance. we have no what happened behind closed door. the american people deserve answers. we need answers both from susan rice and on the russian debacle -- >> to both of you, thank you.
12:14 pm
a quick break here. if republicans want to revive their plan to repeal and replace obamacare, they need conservative support. in a moment, meet the leader of a group that may just give that next live here. fun in art class. come close, come close. i like that. [ all sounds come to a crashing halt ] ah. when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. awww. try this. for minor arthritis pain, only aleve is fda approved to work for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. thank you. come on everybody. aleve. live whole. not part.
12:16 pm
12:17 pm
might be republican hopes for reviving the healthcare plan. the initial effort to repeal obamacare flopped two weeks ago. now administration officials moving to get it another go. there's a lot of meetings day and night. my guest may be able to offer help. david mcintosh joins me live from washington. sir, good day to you. ready to break some news? ready to get on board a new plan to pass it or not? >> well, bill, vice president pence has worked hard the last conservatives and moderate republicans together. as you know, the flaw in the first effort was it didn't repeal the costly regulations that obamacare put in place that have caused insurance premiums to go through the roof. what vice president pence said is, you know, the more moderate and liberal states want to keep the regulations. more conservatives want to get rid of them. how about if we did an approach
12:18 pm
where the states could ask for waivers, that they could get rid of the costly regulations and if a state like my state of indiana wants to do that and save our citizens a lot of money on their health insurance, they can do it. if a state like new york wants to keep the expensive regulations, they can do that. >> that answer tells me you're not on board. you're still negotiating. >> the problem is, speaker ryan has not agreed to the deal that vice president providence put together. we're ready to support it, bill if he will agree to it. >> bill: are you on the same side as mike pence at the moment? >> yes, sir, i am. he's good a good proposal. >> bill: let me interrupt you. trying to squeeze as much as we can in here. how many members of the freedom caucus would vote with your plan a second time around? >> they want to see we want to see the actual language in the bill. they feel like it's lucy and
12:19 pm
charlie brown. they have been promised things in the past and he didn't deliver it. i don't blame them. see the language, see the bill. if it's in there, the agreement that we reached with vice president pence is in there, then it's a good provision and the bill should go forward. >> david, very important, as you know. there were 36 members of the freedom caucus, perhaps 35 at last check. you're saying that if you get what you want, all 35 sign on to this? >> i don't know about all of them. there will be some that won't. i can't speak for them all. what i do think is you'll see almost all the conservatives agree to it and then the moderates, will they hold up repeal and replace. that's their decision. early on, they signals to the vice president that they could live with this compromise. i think the real question is will speaker ryan and the moderates take a yes at this point. >> bill: do you believe at this point that that there happen? >> yes, i do. i think in the end, they're
12:20 pm
faithful to their campaign promises that they want to repeal obamacare. this is a compromised way to do it and a good way forward. >> so when we talk about a revival for repeal and replace, it sounds as if a lot is moving at the moment. >> a lot is moving. the key is not everybody is going to get everything they want. conservatives got a big part of what they want now. the individual states can decide to get rid of those regulations. i hope the moderates will say yes, we preserved it for our state if we don't want to do it. that's a fair compromise. >> bill: for the record, we heard the same thing about three weeks ago. >> yeah, you have to keep moving. things can fall apart in washington. the club for growth was dead set about the earlier bill because it didn't do anything on these regulations, this is a big step forward to provide relief so insurance premiums can come down. >> bill: we'll see if it goes. david, thanks. president for the club for growth. in a moment here, children among
12:21 pm
the death after reports of a chemical attack inside syria. now the white house under growing pressure to deal with the russian back's dictator, al-assad after the administration said they're not focused on removing him from power. so what now? that's next. why do we put so much effort into engineering the can-am defender? because a job worth doing, is worth doing right. can-am defender. tough, capable, clever. get a 3-year brp limited warranty plus a $1,500 cash rebate on 2016 defender models.
12:22 pm
my lineage was the vecchios and zuccolis. through ancestry, through dna i found out that i was only 16% italian. he was 34% eastern european. so i went onto ancestry, soon learned that one of our ancestors we thought was italian was eastern european. this is my ancestor who i didn't know about. he looks a little bit like me, yes. ancestry has many paths to discovering your story.
12:24 pm
>> the white house saying today's apparent chemical attack in syria against civilians is reprehensible and cannot be ignored. it's calling actions by bashar al-assad heinous and that is a shift from what top trump officials were saying days ago. activists claim syrian or russian fighter jets dropped chemical weapons on a town in northern syria. a human rights group said the
12:25 pm
attacks killed 58 people including 11 children. we want to warn you, the images are disturbing and you may want to think twice about sharing with your kids. we're showing them thou because they convey the true horror of this attack and the victims it involves. heart-breaking photos posted on facebook. small children in diapers among the victims of the chemical attack. medics reporting that rocket attacks and clinics treating the wounded. today reporters asked sean spicer if the united states will respond. spicer is saying off camera that he wasn't going to get ahead of the president. this coming days after the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. nikki haley said the trump administration wasn't interested in removing al-assad from power and it should be up to the syrian people to decide the
12:26 pm
future of their country. this is the third claim of a chemical attack in just over a week in syria. lea gabrielle with more on this today. lea? >> there's reports of people foaming at the mouth, people unresponsive. you can see emergency workers dressed in hazmat suits as they take children into the hospital for treatment. one doctor said he saw patients with pinpoint pupils. these are common symptoms of toxic gas exposures. they think more than one gas was used including sarin. this happened in an air controlled by forces opposed to the assad regime. it's home to 900,000 displaced syrians. this is the worst toxic gas attack on a damascus subject
12:27 pm
bosch. after that, president assad agreed to destroy chemical weapons. 1,300 tons of materials were destroyed. many countries worry whether he gave up his materials. >> and senator mccain is questioning whether it's time to take action against assad. >> today a statement was released saying "assad believes he can commit war crimes with impunity. the question is whether we will take action to disabuse him of this murderous notion." he said the syrian people would have a decision about assad's fate under these conditions. as you recall last week, the trump administration said they weren't focused on taking out assad anymore. take a listen. >> there's a political reality that we have to accept in terms of where we are right now. we lost a lot of opportunity the
12:28 pm
last administration with respect to assad. now it's up to the syrian people. we had an opportunity and we need to focus on now defeating isis. >> well, today press secretary sean spicer took a different tone. he said the administration has a lack of comfort with assad. very didn't tone there. >> bill: we await the next chapter. truly disturbing. thank you. in a moment, more on the ongoing investigation into russia's involvement in the past election and susan rice responding to the controversy of unmasking trump associates caught up in surveillance. a live report from catherine herridge. we'll talk to her in a matter of minutes. over here! over here! no! (dog barking) whoever threw it has to go get it. not me! somebody will get it... ♪ (dog barking) anyone can dream.
12:29 pm
12:30 pm
12:31 pm
bombing. and yesterday the station was filled with smoke and people tried to pry open doors. witnesses describe a horrific scene. people kneeling of bodies and their hair burned. investigators say the suspect planted a bomb in another subway station in st. petersburg. the entire subway system shut down for hours. vladimir putin was visiting that town at that time, which is also his hometown. he cold it a possible terror attack. no word on groups claiming responsibility just yet. the news will continue after this. areds 2. my doctor said preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula the national eye institute recommends
12:32 pm
12:33 pm
12:34 pm
cam where we can hear from members of the committee once they're done meeting, this comes only hours after susan rice addressed the controversy surrounding the unmasking of trump associate names caught up in surveillance. catherine herridge is on that story now live in washington. catherine? >> thank you. the rice interview illustrates the political divide here in washington. some say the obama administration was doing due diligence. the former national security advisor emphasizing that unmasking is separate and distinct from making the names public. >> the notion that which some people are trying to suggest that by asking for the identity of an american person, that is the same as leaking it is completely false. there's no equivalence between so-called unmasking and leaking. >> meantime a government source confirmed to fox news that rice
12:35 pm
with ben rhodes and former c.i.a. director john brennan had regular access to the intelligence where members of the trump transition team were identified or unmasked. as the house intelligence commitsty's ranking democrats said, it may be possible to get identities to under the conversations. >> bill: are they doing that already, catherine? >> a short time ago, fox news asking the republican chairman richard burr about susan rice. mean tonight the house intelligence committee, fox news said that those that will be interviewed be investigators including carter page, paul manafort and roger stone. based on our reporting, there's an agreement in principle were democrats for the interviews and could be done as early as april
12:36 pm
17th. likely after the recess. >> so the fbi director is back in the cross hair. what gives with that? >> james comey and the nsa director admiral mike rogers testified at the hearing march 20th. but after these reports came to light, both men were recalled. that was supposed to happen last week. the fbi said that they're not cooperative on the matter. meantime, a government official said the fbi director in their opinion was so damaged by his public statements in the clinton e-mail problem and the russian election scandal that she should consider recusing himself. he was at the center of the masking of mike flynn as part of the counter intelligence investigation. these individuals would not speak on the record but they claimed what the director said in the march 20th hearing did not sync up with his statements during private classified
12:37 pm
briefings. the director's view on the president's wiretapping tweets were described as showing a complete lack of discretion. i would emphasize we've heard nothing in a similar vein from the democrats that are on these committees. no a lot to follow, catherine. thank you. also from the hill, there's more this hour. senators have started their formal debate over president trump's supreme court nominee, neil gorsuch. a live look at the senate floor. it's looking like republicans might use the nuclear option to get him confirmed and on the bench. 41 democratic senators say they will plan to vote no on confirming gorsuch. that is enough to stop republicans from getting the 60 votes they need. the way around that for republicans is the nuclear option. that would set a new precedent and lowter majority to 51 votes. that way republicans could
12:38 pm
confirm gorsuch without a single democratic vote. the rule change would be for future nominees. it would be a different body. peter, democrats are trying to avoid using the nuclear option in what way? >> we just heard from the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, his party in the minority, that if the nuclear option gets used against them, they will be further marginalized while republicans are in charge. now schumer says that republicans and democrats should get together in a room behind closed doors to talk it out and figure out how to avoid using the nuclear option. that is new for schumer. previously he had been saying if gorsuch wasn't going to get 60 votes, president trump should nominate someone that could. schumer and his colleagues, richard blumenthal, are laying out the consequences of having
12:39 pm
the precedent changed. blumenthal is using bleak adjectives. >> the reason they call it the nuclear option, that is that there's fall-out. >> the minority leader schumer is suggesting that president trump is going to have a really hard time doing something that he suggested that he might do some day, reach out to democrats for some legislating here if the nuclear option is used. >> what are republicans telling you about the justification, the change of precedent? how did they back that up at this late stage? >> they're justifying it by saying this is the only way they can confirm gorsuch even though they know this rule could some day be used against them. >> it's going to be very harmful. some day the democrats will be in the majority and we will lose the unique aspect of the way we should be doing business. it will result in supreme court nominees that are much more
12:40 pm
radical in either direction. >> the second highest ranking senator, orrin hatch from utah says it could be the next confirmation fight that would be like armageddon. that might be the one where president trump could have the opportunity to replace one of the court's liberal justices with a conservative. >> maybe senator schumer is cooking up a deal. could be the art of his own deal. peter doocy live. more on the showdown in the senate a and the possible consequences of using the nuclear option. that is next as we continue. hey, ready for the big meeting?
12:42 pm
yeah. uh, hello!? a meeting? it's a big one. too bad. we are double booked: diarrhea and abdominal pain. why don't you start without me? oh. yeah. if you're living with frequent, unpredictable diarrhea and abdominal pain, you may have... ...irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, or ibs-d. a condition that can be really frustrating. talk to your doctor about viberzi, a different way to treat ibs-d. viberzi is a prescription medication you take every day that helps proactively manage both diarrhea and abdominal pain at the same time. so you stay ahead of your symptoms. viberzi can cause new or worsening abdominal pain. do not take viberzi if you have or may have had: pancreas or severe liver problems, problems with alcohol abuse, long-lasting or severe constipation, or a blockage of your bowel or gallbladder. if you are taking viberzi, you should not take medicines that cause constipation. the most common side effects of viberzi include
12:43 pm
constipation, nausea, and abdominal pain. stay ahead of ibs-d... ...with viberzi. >> bill: follow up on the story out of syria. president trump putting a statement out on the deadly chemical attack in syria. blaming the assad regime for what the president calls heinous actions. activists say syrian or russian
12:44 pm
fighter jets dropped chemicals on a northern town in syria. the attack killed at least 58 and 11 children. the president's statement reads the following "today's chemical attack in syria against innocent people, including women and children, is reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world. these are a consequence of the past administration's weakness. president obama said he would establish a red line against the use of chemical weapons and did nothing. the united states stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this intolerable attack. that is the statement from the president at the white house. more updates on this story as we get developments here at the fox news channel. now back to continuing coverage of the senate debate over supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. it's almost that time.
12:45 pm
democrats threatening to block the confirmation. republicans say they will get it done anyway. i want to bring in emily good den to talk more about this. good afternoon. for republicans, what the do they have on the line for this potential nuclear option? >> it may backfire on them just like it did on democrats when they did this under president obama. this is a very powerful weapon and can bite you. this does make the nomination process easier for supreme court nominees. but let's say in 2020 a democrat gets elected to the white house. they would have an easier time putting people on the supreme court. >> what about democrats? what is at stake for them? >> for democrats, this is really about rallying for the base and looking ahead to the 2018 election. you have to keep in mind, the democratic base was furious about what happened to merrick garland. they see this as his supreme court seat that president obama should have gotten to nominate
12:46 pm
his nominee and the republicans stole this and the democrats are furious. they're trying to keep the base happy. they want to take the senate back. >> they're raising money off of this, too. republicans would take that argument and saying you're doing this for revenge. >> revenge or planning ahead, put it either way. this is a rallying cry for them. they're already fund-raising off of it, this is a big deal for democrats. >> you need 60 votes to end the debate. if you had the 60 votes, you could get an up or down vote or governor sum and then only need 51 votes. so there's a rule in the senate that needs to be verify for viewers at home. that's why we talk about 51 versus 60. democrats changed this rule in the first place under harry reid in 2013. so what are they complaining about now? >> well, exactly. what happened republicans were filibustering president obama's nominees and democrats weren't happy. so they changed it so you only need a simply majority for
12:47 pm
everything but supreme court nominees. so now we may make it an across-the-board simple 51. >> let's turn the logic around. say you're chuck schumer. you don't want to break this rule for supreme court nominees, right? so you work out a way to get the 60 votes. the reason you try to do that is not because you're a big supporter of neil gorsuch, you don't know what the is behind door number 2. if president trump gets another nominee, who knows who le offer. he or she may be less palatable to democrats in the senate then. so you do a deal now so if the event comes up. you save face for later is. that logic too twisted or is that logic impossible? >> bill, i think you're exactly right. there's a concern among some that president trump will get another nomination. if you look at the justices on
12:48 pm
the court, the odds are the person leaving will be a more liberal member. president trump will appoint a conservative. if he only needs 51 votes, it's a done deal. >> what is your guess now? is neil gorsuch sworn in as the next supreme court member by the end of the weekend? >> absolutely. it's a done deal. >> a done deal. >> you believe right now it's a 51 vote count that does it with the nuclear option or do you think chuck schumer as peter doocy is reporting is working on a big deal behind closed doors now? >> i think that's the unknown question. that's the unknown. will it be the 60 or the 51. keep in mind, chuck schumer wants to be senate majority leader one day. whatever rules he makes right now, he has to operate under in the future. >> how would that influence how he makes this work or not now, emily? >> he wants to think about he's majority leader in say 2018. he's majority leader under a
12:49 pm
president trump. he's going to want to be able to have to use the 60 votes because that's harder to get. so he's probably thinking ahead that way. >> you think chuck schumer is in a box on this? >> i'm not sure he's in a box, but he has to tread carefully. he's balancing the future power of the senate versus his party and his democratic base, which he needs in order to get control of the senate. >> last question. you believe paced on the judicial record of neil gorsuch that he is that offensive to democrats? is he that offensive to liberals or just the extreme liberal part of the democratic party? >> they have some concerns about his record on workers right. that's a big part of the base, women's right. so there are some red flag issues there. whether that is usually disqualifying, i know a lot of senators are thinking about that we're seeing democrats say they're going to vote for him. >> up to three, i do believe.
12:50 pm
thank you for your time today. emily gooden, you're on record. you're brave. thanks. for years the egyptian president has not been welcome in washington d.c. now today that is changing. the trump team extending a hand to the leader. we'll look why this is happening and what it signals for the middle east and policy between the united states and those countries. stay tuned for that. we continue.
12:53 pm
12:54 pm
shift from president obama's administration. he never hosted the president after a military takeover four years ago. the u.s. has condemned egypt for human rights violations. the government is holding an american aide worker for three years. we're going to rich edson with more. >> well, bill, this is the second straight day of meetings for president sisi right here in washington. he's on capitol hill right now meeting with top congressional leaders right now. this is after a public display yesterday in the oval office at the white house where president trump said that the u.s. stands behind sisi noting he's done a fantastic job in a difficult situation. the white house also adds that the u.s. and egypt will continue coordinating on military and diplomatic and political efforts to defeat extremism. that is something that the secretary of state has been working on over the last couple weeks. he just returned from overseas, meeting with turkish officials,
12:55 pm
nato officials. on top of that, as you mentioned, this is a much greater embrace by the trump administration than the predecessor, president obama, because of those human rights issues. the president has acknowledged there's some differences but didn't get into the specifics of the human rights violations that those around the world and human rights groups have seen, bill. >> bill: and there's news on syria. secretary tillerson just put out a statement. what did it say? >> the secretary of state has just released the statement. what tillerson is saying, he's calling upon russia and iran to exercise their influence over the syrian regime in guaranteeing that this sore of horrific attack never happens again. the white house shortly before then put out a statement saying that it was the administration of president obama to blame for
12:56 pm
this for not enforcing that infamous red line if the syrian regime of barber al-assad had used chemical weapons against his own people, this is a week after the secretary of state said it's up to the syrian people to decide al-assad's future. >> bill: more to come. break. back here in a moment on this day in history, old glory.
12:58 pm
12:59 pm
do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. >> bill: on this day in 1818, congress decided on new rules for the american flag, what it should look like. before then, the number of stars and stripes had changed over the years. lawmakers said old glory should only have 13 stripes for the original 13 colonys. president james monroe signed the measure into law and our new flag was born 199 years ago
1:00 pm
today. well-done! we have to run. when news break out, we'll break in. meantime, decent day for the dow. up 38. 42 points at the close. here's neil. see you tomorrow in america's newsroom. bye-bye. >> neil: all right. thank you, bill. i know, i know, everyone is wondering about russia and rice and what she knew and when she knew it. president trump talking jobs and jobs. he was a laser beam on this focus today. his 17th ceo meeting of his young presidency, 170 business leaders collectively, more than barack obama had in his entire eight years, more than george bush had. what is really going on here? there's some positive developments we cannot miss. while we're not going to miss some of these other developments networks are pouncing on, we thought we would balance it out with good news the markets are pouncing
161 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
Fox News West Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on