tv Fox News Night FOX News January 24, 2018 12:00am-1:00am PST
12:00 am
population of los angeles, dallas, cleveland, chicago, and san francisco combined. yes, 9.3 million people. but it's all the time we have tonight. coming up next, shannon bream has partook out of her exclusive interview with vice president mike pence as he tours middle east middle east. shannon, last night you are broadcasting live from jerusalem was in. you looked beautiful. somebody said you did your own makeup which i can't believe. >> shannon: is the holy land, land of miracles. >> laura: i can't believe, you look beautiful and you are back in washington already. take it away, you must be exhausted. >> shannon: we just made it back. we have more from jerusalem and many other topics. here's what we have coming up tonight. house republicans rail against the fbi and the justice department as concerns emerge about finance and even "a secret society" against president trump. republican congressman john ratcliffe explain what's behind the wave of skepticism and anger from capitol hill. and more from jerusalem with vice president mike pence after
12:01 am
last nights exclusive and the holy land. plus, hard-line reaction from top palestinian negotiator, saeb erekat. plus, date two of #schumersellout. a daca recipient saying... will debate how far schumer will have to go for the so-called dreamers. ♪ >> shannon: welcome to "fox news @ night." i'm shannon bream back in washington tonight. new tonight, reports that former fbi director james comey may again appear before the house judiciary committee. to answer for alleged inconsistencies in his testimony about the hillary clinton email investigation. that is according to dop congressman john ratcliffe. he will be with us alive in just minutes. former director comey was interviewed last year by the special counsel, according to "the new york times," and the investigation into russia
12:02 am
collusion on potential obstruction of justice has reached the ranks of the president's cabinet. fox news confirming today at attorney general jeff sessions met with muller's team of investigators lack week, we understand for several hours. the news comes as house intelligence is blasting the fbi in the doj for what they consider untracked bias, even accusations of a secret society working against the president. team coverage tonight. ed henry on how both parties are trying to work this up people to their advantage. first, let's begin with chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge with an update on the missing fbi text messages. speak out on the same day a justice department official confirmed the attorney general special counsel interview, new text messages suggest senior fbi investigators were skeptical the russia probe would uncover any wrongdoing. two days after special counsel robert mueller took over the russia probe and make him a newly released text messages between demoted fbi agent peter strzok and lisa page suggest
12:03 am
they discussed the merits of joining mueller's team. on fox, republic and lawmakers have the texts are more evidence of political bias. >> i care a lot about the department of justice and the fbi, and it breaks my heart that we are having to have this conversation about two agents that only one had to get the -- >> another republican or read the texts of the fbi officials talked about a "secret society" within days of president trump's victory. >> there was a society of at least two people to include peter strzok and lisa page that had a desire to keep donald trump from becoming president. then, and expressed intent to work against him after he was elected president. >> in a cryptic text, strzok wrote...
12:04 am
the fbi blames the technical problem for a five month gap in the strzok-page tax and would not comment on whether the bureau has taken physical custody of their phones to recover the messages. >> it is no coincidence in my opinion that we are missing texts that run from when the russia investigation was launched right up until the point where you have the mueller investigation being launched. >> writing in a tweet, president trump other missing texts one of the biggest stories in a long time. the senate senior democrat called that republicans for undermining mueller. >> he shouldn't be thwarted in any way and the diversion that they are trying to do both with mueller and others is not good for the country. >> in a separate development, president trump said the white house had no advance notice of attorney general jeff sessions' special counsel interview last week. >> no, i didn't, but i'm not concerned. to speak of the president to denied media reports that christopher wray threatened
12:05 am
to quit after pressure to remove his deputy, andrew mccabe. a longtime lieutenant of fired fbi director james comey. >> he did not even a little bit. nope. he's going to do a good job. >> those close to the presidet said that they always suspected that sessions would be interviewed but they did another timing. a white house spokesman emphasized transparency in their cooperation with the special counsel. shannon? >> shannon: catherine herridge, thank you. return to achieve national correspondent at henry, following the increased political sniping between congressional republicans in the nation's top law enforcement authorities, what can you tell us? >> an extraordinary 24 hours really of leaks, potentially damaging to the white house. they suggest special counsel robert miller wants to question president trump about the firings of james comey and retired general michael flynn. plus, elite today about mueller interviewing comey last year about his memos laying out his discomfort with some of the conversations with the president, and then as you know to come another week that mueller questioned
12:06 am
attorney general jeff sessions for several hours last week. then, a leak that sessions, the president's urging, has been pressuring new fbi director christopher wray to clean house and put in place trump loyalists. the president flat out denied that wray has been pressured at all. they believe that these leaks are an attempt out her overshadow the impending release of the four page memo that will likely be damaging to the fbi about obama era administration surveillance of trump officials. plus, these text messages, the president declared it as a major story. working tonight, republicans ron johnson and chuck grassley demanded to know how five months of these text messages between fbi officials strzok and paige all went missing, all of us barking much different from republican's and democrats. >> the secret society, we have an informant that is talking about a group that were holding secret meetings off site. there is so much smoke here, we have to dig into it. this is not a distraction. >> i think there has been a
12:07 am
great deal of activity on the other side intending to either divert attention from mueller or even stand in his way. >> amid all this turmoil, we learned that wray's chief of staff is out of the fbi, significant because he was previously chief of staff to james comey. he was grilled by the house oversight committee about the fact that he and peter strzok were involved in drafting comey's statement exonerating hillary clinton before she was even interviewed by the fbi in that email probe. sarah sanders at the white house, by the way, reiterated today that the president's support supportive of rank and file fbi agents. she has 100% confidence and wray is to make necessary changes. it's also interesting that sarah sanders said that the white house is for full transparency when it comes to the house intelligence committee and that four page memo about alleged obama era surveillance of trump officials, the idea that they want transparency, that means the member will probably come out very soon. >> shannon: ed henry, thank you very much.
12:08 am
my next guest has seen some of the tens of thousands of texts exchanged by two fbi officials who sent anti-trump messages during the 2016 campaign and beyond. he claims those tax include a reference to a quote secret society and it could be something aimed at undermining the president. joining us now, texas republican congressman john ratcliff. great happy with us tonight. >> hi, good to be with you. thanks for having me on. >> shannon: let me start by reading a little bit of what we heard from the attorney general today on this, or late yesterday. he said "we believe no stone unturned to confirm with certainty why these text messages are not available to be produced and we'll use every technology available to determine whether the missing messages are recoverable from another source." are you confident you will get those messages? >> there is some talk that may be the inspector general, michael horowitz, already had them. i don't off that is case. i do have every faith and confidence that mr. sessions
12:09 am
will overturn everything to try and locate these texts. a couple of things about that. maybe they were lost, maybe it was innocent, maybe is it is a strange coincidence. it's a coincidence that they relate to the time when mueller became the special counsel, so it makes it hard to defend what the fbi has done here. the other thing about it, though, the other way to look at it, shannon, of the text messages that i have been able to review, it's the ones that i have seen, they are as alarming and troubling and stunning as they really are, it makes you wonder what the once we haven't seen yet might actually include. >> shannon: have you seen the one that has a reference to the so-called secret society and what can you tell us about that? >> i have. chairman gowdy and i were reviewing the text messages yesterday and came across that one. there is a reference in the immediate aftermath of the
12:10 am
election of donald trump where page and strzok refer to "hidden thumb drives and having the first meeting of the secret society." when you take it in the context of their expressed, not just biased, but their intent to prevent donald trump from becoming president in the first place, and some of the texts that were read in the intro about finishing the job, and fixing things, it really does tell a troubling story that we need to investigate. >> shannon: you are not surprised, i'm sure, that your colleagues across the aisle, the democrats, don't see it that way. a joint statement from the top democrats on judiciary and intelligence, jerry nadler and adam schiff saying, "republicans are now attacking the fbi in order to undermine special counsel mueller to protect president trump for their claims are directly at odds with the facts." two things, first of all, are you worried about folks, rank and rank-and-file, working around the clock every day,
12:11 am
these key law enforcement agencies, feeling a little beat up by the public criticism? secondly, do the democrats have a point? >> to the latter, i don't think that the rank and file feel beat up because a lot of the rank and file that i worked with when i was a federal prosecutor at work with the fbi are contacting me and saying, keep the pressure o. look, a big barrel full of apples at a place like the fbi, there will be a few rotten ones. the problem is, some of the rotten apples were at the very top around some with the most important investigations that were going on. with respect to the democrats, we keep hearing the same thing over and over again. all we are doing is following the facts and the evidence and clearly, as these texts come out, they keep offering explanations for why they are not that bad, but shannon, they just look bad. >> shannon: i want to ask you, too, about your statements that it's possible former fbi
12:12 am
director comey would be brought back for more testimony, saying there would be inconsistencies of our different statements he's made regarding the hillary clinton email investigation. is that -- could that happen? >> it could happen. i think it will happen. there are inconsistencies. now let me be clear, i think a former director comey was very clear in his testimony. he said that no decision was made to charge hillary clinton -- worked in our charger with mishandling classified information until after her jewel her -- interviw with the fbi. the problem is, her texts indicate that page and strzok and lodge in virtually every member of the midyear exam team, which was the code name for the hillary clinton email investigation, new days, weeks, and in some cases, months before that she wasn't going to be charged and that is simply inconsistent with the testimony that he gave under oath. if all the folks working for the director knew that she wasn't going to be charged, i think the director had to know, and he
12:13 am
knew, why didn't he give different testimony under oath? >> shannon: very quickly, the memo that seems to be making all the headlines, suggesting intelligence potentially government surveillance, used inappropriately, some of the allegations by those who have seen it. do you think the memo should go public and when you think that would happen? >> while, it could happen relatively quickly. there is a process that has been identified. the problem i have for the concern that i have is that it's a process that has that been used before. i do want to be careful with respect to classified information. i want to make sure that processes that are for classifying information and protecting our national security, secrets, and surveillance tools, that have allowed former federal prosecutors and heroes and prosecutors like me to help keep america safe, don't get damaged by the people who accuse abuse . we do want to hold the folks accountable if there were abuses of the process and the tools that we give law enforcement and counterintelligence, but we don't want to destroy the tools
12:14 am
and processes along the way. >> shannon: congressman radcliffe, thank you for your time tonight. good to have you with us. >> you back to. >> shannon: about 15 minutes ago, president trump tweeting on this topic, saying,... meanwhile, the president says it doesn't bother him that his attorney general has been interviewed by special counsel robert mueller. >> no, i'm not at all concerned. >> are you concerned about the senior leadership? >> let's see how it all works out. >> shannon: indeed. chris stirewalt, fox news politics editor, and editor of the halftime report for analysis. great to see you on this tuesday night. >> dun, dun, dun. [laughter] >> shannon: now that we know that jeff sessions has spent hours, and we are hearing a push
12:15 am
for some specific questions they have for the president, as well. >> if the president thinks that he will get out of this without having -- so the total victory for trump would be getting away with just doing a paper statement, that he and his lawyers can sit down in a room, maybe even without him for some of it to craft responses -- you know, counselor, to navigate or circumvent the questions that mueller will put for him. the loss for trump in this case represents that he gets pushed into a place where he is going to have to sit down and be deposed. we know from prior depositions of trump and the private sector, those can be interesting spaces. they want to keep of being actually interviewed. they will try to find some compromise in between the two that probably looks like a "no" under oath, let's have a talk, let's be clear and clear the ai air. >> shannon: in addition, we now have word behind the scenes, so much leaking all the time, that the fbi director, christopher wray, was being
12:16 am
pressured by someone within the administration, the white house, to get rid of deputy director andrew mccabe, who is in the middle of all the stories. essentially, the attorney general became a concern, the fbi director was going to quit over this. period as that story is playing out, we have a tweet from the former fbi director saying this... he's attributing now to mlk. he does like to troll. >> it's beyond trolling, it's anchor money, it's dripping with the sanctimonious former fbi director. it's the same reason he screwed up as fbi director is because he believed that he was the last honest man. he said, i am he and i am the only man who can save the megan republican and -- the american republic. that is hogwash. that is the reason that democrats and republicans thought that comey was not a good fbi director, he inserted himself, was too political,
12:17 am
could not stop yammering. >> shannon: a lot of people, as we were reporting, we talked to the congressman, catherine, ed, there was a piece today, i think it was today coming from the havoc they post, saying if this was about people trying to scheme to get rid of trump, it wasn't right, the bureau's handling of the investigation of the clinton's email produced a slew of negative headlines for her and provided plenty of fodder for trump and his allies to attack the democratic opponent. if fbi officials really were trying to get clinton elected, they did a terrible job because trump won. >> i don't know what to tell these republicans. you won the election. they are not taking it back. you can look for her emails, talk about james comey, talk about whatever you want to pray two things have to happen here. mueller has to finish the investigation and you can tell that he is getting the principles, he is almost done. those are the very last things that you do in an investigation. i understand that partisan will partisan in the fact that republicans are throwing up so much chaff right now, listening
12:18 am
to ron johnson, they might have -- bigfoot might be in those -- anything -- >> shannon: we don't know if we can't see them. >> it could be full of sasquatch is. >> shannon: or yeti. what is the plural of yeti? >> i think yeti. same thing. >> shannon: a lot of these things feel completely justified when they see bee stings that are talking about insurance policies in secret societies and we hate trump and he's a buffoon ended and an idiot. those things raise a lot of red flags. >> they have a problem, which is, peter strzok has one text that says, if you read it one way, there is a resistance, a secret society. another text he says, i think this would be a bad move for my career to go into this probe because i think it won't find anything. well, which is it? the point is here, take it with a grain of salt anything that partisan say about an ongoing investigation like this. mueller is where the action is act. the republicans are still too scared to say that they think mueller is a crook so for now
12:19 am
just wait and watch and see and we will wait and see what happens. it's going to be a heck of a scrum when we get there. >> shannon: it will. you think is coming into the home stretch. >> welcome home. >> shannon: good to see you. progressives labeled it the schumer sellout. president trump was tweeting about it late tonight. yes, he is busy. feeling the pressure from his left on the delta and the shutdown, senator schumer is doing an about-face on somethine border wall, so we will debate. are there two related? the nfl under fire again. this time, for rejecting an ad from a veterans group. coming up in a real news roundup. while i was in israel yesterday, had a chance to sit down with a man who has been negotiating for the palestinians for decades. his heated reaction to the trump administration's latest move in israel, sure to make waves. israel, sure to make waves. ♪
12:21 am
12:22 am
12:23 am
we usso why do we pay to havers a phone connectede days. when we're already paying for internet? shouldn't it all just be one thing? that's why xfinity mobile comes with your internet. you can get 5 lines of talk and text included at no extra cost. so all you pay for is data. choose by the gig or unlimited. and ask how to get a $150 prepaid card when you buy a new lg x charge. it's a new kind of network designed to save you money. call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile.com >> shannon: it's being called the cheeseburger so much. last friday, senate majority leader chuck schumer and president trump came close to a deal for the dreamers. schumer offering a large increase in spending for the border wall in return. schumer says that offer is off the table but progressive groups and so-called dreamers are still fuming. what, if anything, can the democratic leadership due to win them back to? speak a bit disappointing that certain democrats voted with a
12:24 am
continuing resolution that will not carry a clean dream act. >> is another form of betrayal. i have lived my life, my entire life, in this country, i pledge allegiance to this flag pray for them to say they are not willing to protect us, it's a betrayal. >> shannon: another new tweet from the president tonight. he is busy. speaking of great people, joining us now, political editor at town hall, fox news contributor guy benson and radio talk show host richard fowler. great to see both of you tonight. >> hello. >> shannon: the president, he's back to calling him crying chuck schumer. we want to play for you a little bit of what the senate minority leader, chuck schumer, had to say about where we are now. >> they are afraid of president trump, we want to know what he will do but he doesn't tell them to do anything and he
12:25 am
usually tells him, you do with your selves. we get paralysis. we are very pleased with how things came out, we are better off today when it comes to the cause of dreamers then we were four, five days ago. >> shannon: how so, guy? >> they are not. that's made up talking point. they got there butts handed to them in the shutdown. i am someone who supports a dream act and a compromise to increase border security and get the legal situation figured out for these people who are brought here illegally as children through no fault of their own. but the idea that we are closer to a deal because of the shutdown is ludicrous. i think a deal as possible, i think there is a bipartisan desire to get it done. but i think the shutdown made it harder, at least pushed it back. >> shannon: what do you think of a ruptured? where are you on the spectrum of thinking that schumer caved or you are mad he did not hang in there? >> he definitely had a tough, tough, tough needle to string here. but i do think that democrats,
12:26 am
if they were going to go outcome if they were going to shut down the government, mind you, republicans control all three branches, so it was in republicans and not voting for the continuing resolution, they would have had to have more than just the dream act as one of the measures. i think you have community health centers, budget cap, i think there were some things missing. where i agree with guy, i think we are farther away from a dream act just because i feel as though -- my gut tells me -- there will be under the government shut down when we come close to the february 8th data because for whatever the reason, our members of congress on both ends of the aisle don't want to get anything done unless there is some clock -- >> shannon: we are at the edge of a cliff. >> at the shot clock looming, waiting for the fourth quarter to score points. >> here is my it i think further from a dream act. because schumer quarterbacked the stupid shutdown that was pointless, he kicked off the left-wing base for capitulating and walking away from it. so the left is furious, they are picketing his private home in
12:27 am
manhattan. now he has to puff up his chest and say things and do things to try to win them back which i think will make it more difficult to come to a compromise on daca at immigration. >> one point i do want to make, if there was a clean dream act built to hit the senate floor, that bill would pass. >> shannon: you think? >> i do believe it would pass. >> shannon: no border wall? >> a clean dream act bill, given where they vote count currently is, that five republicans joined democrats in not forwarding for the cr, it's very likely it would pass. i think of paul ryan brought that bill to the floor in the house, there would be maneuvering but i think it would be close to passing. the problem we have is the president's desk. >> the president can veto it. frankly, there shouldn't be a clean dream act. another -- i know that what is the democrats and what the dreamers want to. both sides need to get something. is there to take care of the dreamers but when you create a
12:28 am
new amnesty, which is what this would be, it would be a form of amnesty. >> shannon: many people view it that way. semantics were some folks. >> you are making people who are here illegally legal, that's amnesty. i support the amnesty but when you do anything like that, it creates a more powerful incentive for additional illegal immigration. that is what embassies do historically. >> you have to medicate that with border security. >> i agree, but i think the distinction today is that these dreamers, i don't think the 2-year-old who crosses the border with her mom can come here with criminal intent and that is a larger argument. yes, they came here illegally but i don't think them and themselves did an illegal act because a 2-year-old or a 5-year-old or an 8-year-old -- >> shannon: not all criminal acts require intent to. >> that is why they are so sympathetic. >> that's why it's not amnesty. if this bill looks like -- they have done so much of the work. they passed a background checks, they are working, and college, the military, they want to be
12:29 am
american, they want to achieve the american dream. >> shannon: would you be okay with legal status short of citizenship? either of you? we are getting the full monkey on the show tonight. it is after 11:00. >> i want to say, the word amnesty is not unto itself a value judgment. i know it is laden with meeting in a political discourse but it is just a descriptive term that applies to the situation. >> shannon: and upsets a lot of people. we got to leave it here, gentlemen. guy and richard, good to see both. president trump will bring america first to an exclusive club that embraces free trade, open borders, and billionaire elitists. now, after leaders -- 190 women are bravely speaking out against a former doctor of the u.s. gymnastics team. the parents are coming under fire on social media. we'll explain that next. ♪
12:34 am
♪ >> shannon: president trump will be wheeled out tomorrow night heading to the annual world economic forum, which kicked off in davos, switzerland, today. the first sitting president to visit in 18 years will take along his message of america first. rich edson is here to tell us how that will go over. apparently, this appearance will not be without controversy and that should not surprise us surprise us. >> not at all. good evening to you. president trump will travel to the mountains of switzerland shortly, that is where the world economic forum happens, to an alpine resort village populated this week by many of the globalist politicians, executives, and billionaires he has promised to fight against. summit organizers say their annual event intends to rededicate leaders to developing a shared narrative to improve the state of the world in that environment friday, president trump addresses the 48th world economic forum in davos, switzerland. switzerland. >> expect this president to go there and show an america first continues to look like on the w. he is certainly willing to
12:35 am
engage on trade and participate in the global economy. however, he has made very clear that it will always benefit americans. >> president trump is already pushed an overhaul of nafta, withdrawn the united states with a trans-pacific partnership, the 12 nation agreement, the remaining 11 pacific nations agreed to move on without the u.s. this become of the administration also announced steep tariffs on imported solar panels and washing machines. despite the apparent pushback on global integration, the president's economic team cleans the administration is working to expand the u.s. international presence. >> the u.s. is pulling back from nothing. the u.s. is involved, when the president was in asia, he talked about trade agreements and his willingness to have bilateral trade agreements with many of the countries he visited in asia and we are more than willing to have bilateral trade agreements. >> as for any new trade agreements, cohen says it is starting to work on discussions,
12:36 am
though he refused to identify any countries, the u.s. trade representative will announce that when he's ready. he also said the president has davos will push international companies to expand their presence of the united states and higher more american workers. as the president travels this time, he does so without the first lady. the white house as scheduling and logistics will keep first lady melania trump from davos. >> shannon: we will be covering it covering it around the clock. thank you very much, rich. it's time now for the real news roundup. as you know, super bowl lii is now set. it will close at a very controversial season for the nfl, and the anthem controversy. it's not over. the league is under fire yet again, this time for rejecting a proposed ad for the games program. a veterans group wanted to urge people to please stand for the national anthem but they were turned down. the nfl's reason? "the super bowl game program has never been a place for advertising that could be considered by some as a
12:37 am
political statement. the nfl has long supported the military and veterans and will again salute our service members in the super bowl." meanwhile, nfl commissioner roger goodell just talked about the anthem controversy tonight. here are some of what he said. >> we want to also listen to our players and understand what it is that they were actually protesting. our players were all trying to do what's in the best interest of communities that they live in. that they care about, and trying to improve them, and i admire that a great deal. i wish all our players were standing for the national anthem, i always did i always told them not. but we took the time to understand them and i think we could use more of that in our society and tried to get to a better place. >> shannon: also in the world of sports, heartbreaking closure for gymnasts abused by former u.s. olympic team doctor larry nassar. more women speaking in today during his sentencing hearing on seven counts of criminal
12:38 am
.. social media criminal criticism that they should marv is happening at the training facility. >> your honor, i would like to take just a minute to address the people following the story on multimedia outlets. quit shaming and blaming the parents. trust me, he would not have known, and you would not have done anything differently. so stop. >> i was sexually abused by him hundreds of times without consent. >> used all my life, larry nassar, and i'm now taking it back. >> you were never a real doctor. you did not heal me. you only hurt me. >> shannon: he's already been sentenced to 60 years in prison on child pornography charges and could get up to 125 years for his serial child abuse when his sentence is announced tomorrow. you heard last night from vice president mike pence about the ambitious timeline for moving the u.s. embassy in
12:39 am
jerusalem. tonight, and your reaction from a top palestinian diplomat and t what might happen after we make that move with the embassy. we'll hear more from the vice president about the plight of christians in the middle east when "fox news @ night" continues after this. ♪ .. when i received the diagnosis, i knew at that exact moment, whatever it takes, wherever i have to go...i'm beating this. my main focus was to find a team of doctors that work together.
12:40 am
when a patient comes to ctca, they're meeting a team of physicians that specialize in the management of cancer. breast cancer treatment is continuing to evolve. and i would say that ctca is definitely on the cusp of those changes. patients can be overwhelmed ... we really focus on taking the time with each individual patient so they can choose the treatment appropriate for them. the care that ctca brings is the kind of care i've wanted for my patients. being able to spend time with them, have a whole team to look after them is fantastic. i empower women with choices. it's not just picking a surgeon. it's picking the care team, and feeling secure where you are. surround yourself with the team of breast cancer experts at cancer treatment centers of america. visit cancercenter.com/breast appointments available now.
12:41 am
12:42 am
books like peak performance... and endurance. books that energize and inspire for just $14.95 a month. less than you'd pay for the hardcover. with audible, you get a credit-a-month good for any audiobook. if you don't like it, exchange it any time. no questions asked. you can also roll your credits to the next month if you don't use them. audible members use the free mobile app to listen anytime, anywhere. ...on the go... or in the car. the audible app automatically keeps your place, no bookmarks required. so you'll pick up right where you left off, even if you switch your phone... ...to your echo at home. get more books in your life. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime, and your books are yours to keep forever. listening, is the new reading. text "listen 8" to five hundred five hundred to start listening today. ♪ >> shannon: vice president mike pence wrapping up his time in jerusalem with a meeting with
12:43 am
israel's president who offered high praise for him and you dish, him a mensch, a person of integrity. he also traveled israel's holocaust remembrance center. the vice president is clearly on display, protecting persecuted religious groups, a focal point of this group. >> the terrorism of isis in iraq and syria has torn asunder communities have every. united nations programs were failing to fund reconstruction dollars to historic christian communities and communities of other religious minorities in the region. and president trump made the decision last fall to fund directly from usaid religious-based organizations that are rebuilding christian communities and communities of religious minorities. >> shannon: is that something you were able to discuss in egypt and jordan?
12:44 am
>> vice president pence: i was deeply moved, as a christian believer, by king abdullah and president el-sisi, to ensure that christian communities are thriving across the arab world. >> shannon: but he was slammed by displaying his faith. i sat down with the top palestinian negotiator, saeb erekat come on our trip. we visited with him in ramallah. he had this essay by by the vice president stepping up the timetable for moving the u.s. embassy to jerusalem. >> i think we are in the worst situation we have been in since 1993. now with the decision of president trump to declare jerusalem as israel's capital, and then to move the obligation, by the way, the aide, to the refugee camps, it doesn't help -- you lose hope. if you lose hope, when i say
12:45 am
losing hope, keeping hope in the minds of palestinians and israelis means saving lives. because when the president of the united states decides in the unilateral move to declare jerusalem as the capital of israel, and the last president, on fox news, saying that now, since jerusalem is off the tabl table, which wasn't even subject to negotiation, but let's discuss issues that are negotiable. so when they say these things, for me as a negotiator, it's over. it's over. >> shannon: meanwhile, the truman administration is cutting back funding to the united nations agencies that works directly with palestinian agencies. it is called unwra. they say it benefits the terror group hamas. speak it with an international, international obligation. for the united states to cut
12:46 am
$65 million from the refugees, shannon, last year, we spent 18%, of our very, very poor budget on our refugee camps in lebanon and syria because we didn't want the killers and murderers of isis to recruit our people. okay, now you move immediately to cut $65 million. so what will happen? you are going to force these people to migrate in thousands or to go to recruitment for those extremist killers and murderers? you cannot take such steps without reading the consequences of them. you just cannot. this is a region -- there are no moderates in this region praise. when i then asked erekat if he has a method for americans. here's what he said about that. >> i think it's american national interest, the u.s. borders are no longer with
12:47 am
canada and mexico and the two oceans. i think you have more than 100,000 kids in this region. your borders are everywhere. making peace between palestinians and israelis is a major requirement to defeat extremism. >> shannon: i also asked erekat what would bring the palestinians back to negotiating with the americans, and he kept saying it's over, it's over. his answer was basically, the only thing that we get them back to talk to before the u.s. or the president to revoke those decisions about moving the embassy to jerusalem and recognizing it as israel's capital. so we both get reaction to what you just heard from the palestinians top diplomat from a term or top -- former top israeli format. what it saeb erekat talk mean when he talked about bloodshed and desperation? next from jerusalem. next from jerusalem. ♪
12:48 am
you won't see these folks at the post office. next from jerusalem. ♪ they have businesses to run. they have passions to pursue. how do they avoid trips to the post office? stamps.com mail letters, ship packages, all the services of the post office right on your computer. get a 4 week trial, plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. presents... the quicker downhiller with lindsey vonn when you live your life as an olympic downhill skier...
12:49 am
12:51 am
♪ >> shannon: we just heard from top palestinian negotiator dr. saeb erekat, who said "if you lose hope in this region, it transfers to bloodshed." he was referring to the u.s. unilaterally declaring it would move the embassy to jerusalem sooner than expected. let's bring in the president of the jerusalem center of foreign
12:52 am
affairs. great to have you come with us. >> great to be with you. >> shannon: if you were able to hear the interview, i continually pushed dr. erekat on the idea that this administration, the trump administration, was leaving up in the idea that all the parties there are the ones who will decide the borders, the nuances, the custodianship of the holy sites, that kind of thing won't change. he said it didn't matter, what they heard about jerusalem, the headline wasn't the u.s. is recognizing it as a capital, moving the embassy, and the new ones didn't mean anything beyond that. >> he's a professional and he should know better. what i was disturbed by in that interview is the fact that saeb erekat is talking about bloodshed, violence, and that is not the way to conduct a public -- that is not the way to speak to the american people. if america decides next, the palestinians are going to explode and have some kind of reaction of rage. i think he asked to answer, specifically, the concerns, the
12:53 am
increasing concerns of the international community on jerusalem, on refugees, where there are very specific matters that have been raised. >> shannon: erekat, to me, kept saying that he thought this was some political pressure domestically on the president and the president wasn't thinking about the parties in the region is much as he was answering to his base. we have this now pew poll that talks about who is more supportive of the israelis versus the palestinians. the republicans overwhelmingly, 79% of them, some with ties with israel. the democrats are divided. they say 27% israel, 25% palestinians, half of them say both or neither or they don't know. do you think president trump made a domestic political decision? is that the right way to attack something that is really critical to the stability of your region? >> there are professional assessments that have been made in the president's decision. it's not all politics by any means. take for example the issue of
12:54 am
unwra, the refugee organization. a lot of people have observed that unwra isn't working. take for example how many refugees were there at the end of world war ii in europe. tens of millions. how many refugees are there today? zero. palestinian refugees, a few years later, 1948-'49, how many were there? half a million, 600,000, today, how many are there? 5 million according to unwra. unwra has different accounting rules and all the other refugee organizations in the world. united states has the right to raise questions. you don't have to hear threats of violence because those questions are being asked. >> shannon: what you make of his response? we talk about the eight, $60 million, usaid, being cut from unwra and they are by far the biggest donor to that fund and that effort. erakat said to me that he worried because so many of the people are completely dependent
12:55 am
on it, you talk about the huge number of people that are anti-worried, especially among the young people, if they lose those benefits and lifelines, that they will be more ripe for recruitment by the terrorists. is that a legitimate argument about that issue? >> they have been on notice for a while. previous israeli operations in the gaza strip, which came about because there were attacks on us, what do we find in various unrwa facilities? hamas weapons. that is unacceptable. there are standards for how organizations like unrwa should be run. meet the standards and get the money. >> shannon: all right, former ambassador dore gold, we appreciate you being up so early in jerusalem is spending your time with us. we appreciate it. >> you have good coffee. >> shannon: yes, you do. our thanks to everyone of the jerusalem bureau who made our trip possible. we appreciate all of your help. it was an interesting and
12:56 am
eye-opening experience to be there on the ground. by the way, most-watched, most trusted, most grateful that you spent this evening with us. good night, good to be back in washington. i'm shannon bream. ♪ they came out of nowhere, sir! how many of 'em? we don't know. dozens. all right! let's teach these freaks some manners! good luck out there, captain! thanks! but i don't need luck, i have skills... i don't have my keys. (on intercom) all hands. we are looking for the captain's keys again. they are on a silver carabiner. oh, this is bad. as long as people misplace their keys, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.
12:59 am
1:00 am
>> not at all. >> the president as confidence and attorney general sessions and the work he is doing. >> there are republican forces trying to stop him from doing his job. that is not what america is all about. >> the president is going to speak to world leaders about investing in the united states, moving businesses to the united states, hiring american workers. >> we are trying to do what is in the best interest of communities they live in, they care about and trying to improve them. i admire that a great deal.
97 Views
Uploaded by TV Archive on