tv Shepard Smith Reporting FOX News August 15, 2018 12:00pm-1:00pm PDT
12:00 pm
sanders just announcing at the white house the president is revoking security clearances for former administration officials, especially that of john brennan, pointing him out as the big example. shep will have more for you. i'm diana perino, here is shep. >> shepard: breaking news on fox news. an extraordinary announcement from the white house. the white house taking a step to revoke the security clearance from the former cia director, john brennan. he's been a firm critic of the president. the president's actions, his governance, conduct and his statements. most recently john brennan spoke to lawrence o'donnell on msnbc. >> i think donald trump has pulley sullied the reputation of the office of the presidency
12:01 pm
with his invective, constant regard for human decency as well as his befriending of democratic leaders around the world. i do think that america's standing in the world has also been tarnished. i think even more fundamentally, what he's doing here in the united states is very polarizing and he is, i think, the most divisive president we've ever had in the oval office. >> shepard: that was last night on msnbc. the night before on this channel, the president's lawyer, rudy guliani, told our sean hannity that brennan "should face a grand jury for his role in pedalling the salacious trump dossier that kicked off the phony russian investigation." >> i'm going to tell you who was the quarterback for this. he's a bit of a puppet. mueller is a puppet.
12:02 pm
people that are working for him -- >> i have a funny feeling you're act to drop a bomb. >> shepard: much of the attack on mueller was compiled by christopher steele that the administration has asserted what began the russian investigation. it was not. the russia investigation began after the former trump policy adviser, george papadopoulos told an australian diplomat that the russians had dirt on his then political opponent, hillary clinton. that information was passed on to intelligence officials. guliani calls that dossier laugh able. for context, the dossier alleges misconduct and a conspiracy between members of the trump campaign and the russian government in the 2016 election. some assertions in the dossier have been confirmed. other parts are unconfirmed. none of the dossier has been
12:03 pm
disproven. that said, the battle lines were drawn between john brennan and president trump. the president's defenders attacking john brennan with brennan attacking the president. today just a short time ago, reporters asked the president's spokesperson, sarah sanders, whether he is trying to silence his enemies. >> there were others that weren't, that we deemed necessarily and would you take a look and review them as well. >> shepard: among those she mentioned the clearance of other former senior officials and others are now under review. the names she listed, the former director of national intelligence, james clapper, the former fbi director, james comey, general michael hayden, sally yates and the obama national security adviser, susan rice, the former fbi director, andrew mccabe and the former fbi agent, peter strzok along with his one-time lover and former fbi lawyer, lisa page. each and every one mentioned by sarah sanders a critic of the
12:04 pm
president. so what is the big picture here. with news breaking now, let's go to caitlin owens, a reporter for axios who jumps in to speak on this at the last minute without any prior notice. we didn't know this was coming. historically it's been a professional courtesy, i guess, maybe the right way to say it, to allow the security clearance of people from previous administrations to continue with their security clearance. how unusual is it to revoke such a thing? >> this is highly unusual. you know, i think that that's why this is such big news. the former director of the cia here. so yes, this is not an unprecedented thing. let's go back to why the press secretary just told us why the president revoked his clearance. because of his erratic behavior -- >> shepard: that was the line. >> that was the line. so this is quickly unfolding. the debate will be what behavior was it and was he contradictory
12:05 pm
and did he behave in a way to have his security clearance revoked or is it president trump's critics pointing out, is this an attempt to silence his critics. >> shepard: there's other news. there's times when the president has used dramatic pronouncements of this sort to distract, which is also possible. i have a quote from john brennan. this is from msnbc last evening, this is a tweet. he says it's astounding how often you fail to meet civility and probity. seems like you will never understand what it takes to be president or a good and decent honest person. so disheartening, so dangerous for our nation. some of this coming on the heels of the sort of series of words yesterday against his former staffer, omarosa who he met in
12:06 pm
2004 when she was a contestant on "the apprentice" and came into his white house. he called her a dog and any number of things that i've forgotten thankfully. but be that as it may, some of this was in response, i believe, to some of that. >> i think so. >> shepard: and bigger picture as well. >> right. we saw brennan piling on the critics. look, this isn't the first time this is thought about by the white house. you know, i guess you can say that maybe brennan's comments about omarosa could have been the last straw if you're -- if you think that trump fired brennan for being a critic. but brennan was -- this goes back to the mueller probe, back to 2016 and allegations of russian meddling in our elections and it came to our attention. this goes back to brennan has raised this issue and the president is not willing to -- i guess sometimes he admits that
12:07 pm
the mueller investigation and the russian meddling is real. but this is part of -- this is tied to the president's attempt to smear the mueller investigation as a witch hunt. so whether brennan's behavior warranted his security clearance being revoked or not, that will be debated a long time. i would think -- let's not forget that brennan is tied to this mueller investigation and everything that goes with it that the president is deeply skeptical of. >> shepard: this process over the years of allowing those in high positions especially intelligence and law enforcement to keep their security clearance, the president said of that in a statement today, i think it's worth hearing what the president had to say about this in his statement. he said among other things, his words out weigh the risk posed by his erratic conduct and behavior. he said mr. brennan has a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility. he said mr. brennan has recently
12:08 pm
leveraged his status to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations, would outbursts on the internet and television about this administration. it's clear that the president is upset, that john brennan has been a detractor of his and pointed out what john brennan believes were inappropriate activities, words and otherwise. as a result of that, it would appear at least from reading the president's statement, as a result of that, this security clearance was revoked. whether revoking a security clearance is a matter that the future would unfold but maybe a sort of warning to others that were speaking about his administration. i guess it's left for us to understand. >> right. a lot of names left on the list. i think that you were pointing this outer earlier. whether it's susan rice, mccabe,
12:09 pm
comey. a lot of people that have criticized president trump and a lot of people connected early on by the obama administration to the russian investigation and the mueller investigation. so -- and i guess another thing to think about, how do you define erratic behavior? if this is a partisan war of you're criticizing me, your behavior is erratic, where does it end? does this happen every time that the presidency switches parties? you know, i think there's a lot to unpack here even though this just broke. >> shepard: katelyn, stay with us for a moment. i want to turn to catherine herridge, our chief intelligence correspondent. talk about, if you could and as you understand it, the practical implications of this action. >> shep, i've been covering the intelligence community the past 17 years. what i know from my own
12:10 pm
reporting, when you have a change in administration often they'll bring back the former senior players for ongoing operations to discuss what the next steps might be. they need to maintain their clearances to participate. i'm talking about what they call stat programs. they're special access programs. these are highly compartmentalized programs. sometimes a dozen people or less might have first-hand information about what is going on in the program as well as black operations. so with brennan losing his clearance, it means he cannot participate if he was needed to come back and talk with senior people in the white house. they'd have to go the extra step and get him temporary security clearance. based on the announcement today, that would seem unlikely, shep. >> shepard: i want to go through a series of back and forths. for those of you that don't follow these players on social media, this might be able to help give you an idea how this has begun and the way it's moved forward.
12:11 pm
stay for with me just a moment. what happened is, the president sends out a series tweets. here's one. jeff sessions should stop the witch hunt right now. bob mueller is totally conflicted and 17 angry democrats are doing his dirty work and a disgrace to the u.s.a. to that, john brennan responded. as mr. trump's desperation to protect himself grows, he could turn words to actions. congress must warn trump of dire consequences. and then donald trump said lebron james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. he made lemon look smart, which is no easy to do -- which is not easy to do. i like mike. and john brennan responded to that on august 4. he said what responsible and right-thinking adult can point to donald trump as a role model
12:12 pm
for our youth? when he spews lies and polarizing hate speech against fellow americans, think of it as harmful impact on the young people and the way they talk and act to each other. a couple more examples. i want you to understand this feud. donald trump said while i know it's not presidential to take on omarosa and while i would rather not be doing so, this is a modern day form of communication, twitter, and i know the fake news media will make omarosa look legitimate. sorry. since then, tapes have come out. two days ago, john brennan responded to that and said you're absolutely right. if you were presidential, you would focus on being presidential and healing the rifts in the nation and show that america is a shining beacon of freedom, liberty and welcomes all. finally, one last one -- this is the one this says when you give a crazed lying low-life a break and give her a job at the white house, i guess it didn't work out.
12:13 pm
good work by john kelly for firing that dog. in response, john brennan said, it's astounding how you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency. so to say there's not a pattern of back and forth suggesting this might be retaliation by the president doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility given the evidence in front of us, catherine. >> in the 17 years i've been here, i can't remember a former cia director having their clearance pulled and i can't remember a former cia director speaking so openly and publicly and consistency in opposition to a sitting president. what we don't know is whether this comes down to personal animous. it was in the summer of 2016 that brennan, an old russia hand, began ringing the bell about russian interference and was a driving force behind the
12:14 pm
allegations that there may be contacts between members of the trump campaign and russian officials. so that is the big question that only brennan can answer. >> shepard: indeed, catherine. we'll be back in just a moment. first, phillip rucker, a journalist at the "washington post," says that john brennan was the cia chief of staff, the director of the terrorist threat and integration center, the white house homeland security adviser, cia director and has briefed three different presidents. he just had his security clearance revoked by the president of the united states. an extraordinary statement read at the white house. much more on that in the hour ahead and in the many hours ahead here on fox news channel. but the news breaking right now is this morning the prosecution got their final arguments in in the paul manafort case in virginia. after that, the defense had
12:15 pm
their closing arguments and the prosecution got its rebuttal. and breaking news now, the trial is about to go to the jury. we'll go back to catherine herridge for breaking developments there on this thursday afternoon. feel the clarity of non-drowsy claritin and relief from symptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity. and live claritin clear. no mathere are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. call one today. are you in good hands? plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently. for psoriasis,
12:16 pm
75% clearer skin is achievable, with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and for psoriatic arthritis, otezla is proven to reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.
12:17 pm
all your school get supplies today... school.. grade.. done. done. hit the snooze button and get low prices on school supplies all summer long. like these for only a 25 cents at office depot officemax. >> shepard: more on the white house decision in just a moment. prosecutors say paul manafort's money trail is littered with
12:18 pm
lies. this happened during closing arguments today. the prosecutors said paul manafort lied to dodge taxes and get loans. if the jury finds manafort guilty on all of the 18 charges, he could spend many decades behind bars. attorneys for manafort argue the prosecutors did not prove that he's guilty beyond every reasonable doubt. the defense rested their case yesterday. the defense never called a single witness, never presented one piece of evidence saying instead that the prosecution didn't prove their case. the feds say president trump's former campaign manager ran a multimillion dollar scheme to evade u.s. tax and banking laws. paul manafort has pled not guilty. again to catherine herridge. my understanding is the defense
12:19 pm
just wrapped up their closing and the prosecution gets a rebuttal? is that right? >> yes. the defense's closing arguments ran for 90 minutes. it began with defense attorney richard westling that told the jury that he was proud and honored with his partners to represent paul manafort and they thanked the jury for their service. he also reminded the jury about what he described as essential tenants of the u.s. justice department system. there's a presumption of innocence and the burden of proof is on the government and the government must prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. there's a key quote from that proceeding with westling. he said "it's not even enough if they are highly guilty. it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. hold the government to its burden in this case, ladies and gentlemen." that was part of the defense, shep. >> shepard: catherine, what was
12:20 pm
the government's main point during its closing arguments? >> the thrust of their argument was that manafort is a liar. he's lied about his money, he's lied to conceal his money so he doesn't pay taxes. when he ran out of money, he lied to paying the multimillion dollar loans. a quote from the senior prosecutor said, mr. manafort lied to keep more money when he had it and lied more to keep it when he didn't. he hid money in foreign bank accounts, later spent the money on personal -- i can't read my own writing there, personal items and real estate. he's not above the lie. it was about the lies as well. >> shepard: catherine, prosecutors are trying to do cleanup on their star witness. >> i think this is the most important element. they said that rick gates was chosen by paul manafort because he's a criminal like they allege paul manafort is.
12:21 pm
when manafort chose someone to lie to his accountants, he didn't choose a boy scout. mr. gates had his hand in the cookie jar. it was a huge dumpster of money in foreign bank accounts. ladies and gentlemen, the star witness in this case are the documents. that was the way the government, the prosecution made the argument. don't just look at gates because he's got a lot of flaws. be sure to look at the paper trail, shep. >> shepard: catherine herridge at the trial. thank you. we'll continue to track the manafort trial, but coming up, what was the -- coming up here, much more on the revoking of the security clearance of the cia director john brennan. reaction is coming in now from capitol hill. we'll have that next.
12:22 pm
12:23 pm
to explore. with two times more detail than any other dna test... you can get a new taste of your heritage. only $59- our site's lowest price ever. it's absolute confidence in 30,00or it isn't. arts, it's inspected by mercedes-benz factory-trained technicians, or it isn't. it's backed by an unlimited mileage warranty, or it isn't. for those who never settle, it's either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned, or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event, now through august 31st. only at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer.
12:24 pm
this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. >> shepard: more on the breaking news for this hour and the white
12:25 pm
house revoking john brennan's security clearance and saying its reviewing the clearances of others. keep in mind the white house says this is for national security reasons. historically former heads of intelligence and law enforcement have been allowed to retain access to the classify information after the government service so they can consult with successors about matters in which they have special insights and courtesy. that's according to sarah sanders. let's bring in blake burman. he was in the briefing. sarah sanders talked about this in a number of different ways, blake. >> yes, she did. keep in mind, shepard, this came out of nowhere off the top. the administration said this was under review a couple weeks ago. the decision from the president being made today is what sarah sanders started the briefing with as it relates to john brennan and revoking his security clearance. keep in mind as well, this goes well beyond the former cia director because there are a host of other officials, former officials in the obama administration that sanders says
12:26 pm
the trump administration is now looking into as well as to whether or not their security clearances will be revoked. she named james clapper, james comey, michael hayden, sally yates, andrew mccabe, peter strzok, lisa page, bruce ohr. you know those names. as relates to brennan, the argument in part from the white house as relayed by sarah sanders earlier today was that brennan is essentially trying to leverage his criticisms against the president in a way that should not be leveraged. here's sarah sanders a little while ago. >> mr. brennan has leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded allegations, wild outbursts on the internet and television about this administration. mr. brennan's lying an conduct
12:27 pm
characterized by his commentary is wholly inconsistent with the nation's close secrets. more broadly, the issue of mr. brennan's security clearance raises larger questions about the practice of former officials maintaining access to our nation's most sensitive secrets long after their time in government has ended. >> sarah sanders was also asked in a bunch of ways whether or not this sets a bad precedent as many of the people who are named in all of this have either come out and spoken out against the president, president trump, in harsh terms or wrapped into the russia investigation that the president clearly does not like. she tied it back to brennan in this one instance saying this is a matter of national security. as it relates to one person on the list, bruce ohr, keep in mind as a colleague asked, he's still a member of the department of justice.
12:28 pm
he's still a federal employee of the united states of america. the question is if you revoke his security clearance, that essentially renders him meaningless in the doj, a position of that height. sanders was asked why doesn't bruce ohr just -- why doesn't the president just fire him? she responded with the standard line, there's no personnel announcements. >> shepard: there's been a response on the precedent level from don baer. he's a democrat from virginia. he said this is a flimsy excuse to set a terrible president. he tweets, trump is clearly punishing john brennan for criticizing him, cracking down on a dissent and retaliating against a private citizen's free speech. the president has adopted a weak, paranoid authoritarian behavior of a dictator. have others yet come forward? this is the only one we can find thus far.
12:29 pm
>> yeah, it's still fresh. we just got out of the room. i'll go back to one of the questions also posed by my colleagues in there, in the briefing a little while ago. what about michael flynn? right? he was the president's former national security adviser that was fired by this administration for lying to the vice president who is now wrapped up in the mueller investigation as well. it would seem to be a logical question if you're going down the line of these folks in the past administration, might you want to take a look at the security clearance of michael flynn. bottom line, this opens up the door going forward not just to these seven or eight people that sarah sanders announced earlier today but more questions down the line when you talk about some of the most respected positions in the federal government and what happens to those people once they're out of those positions. >> shepard: you'll remember as some of our viewers will that it was weeks ago, maybe a month,
12:30 pm
not sure, all breaking, but maybe a month or so ago that paul ryan was asked about this, this idea of revoking security clearances is one that has come up before. paul ryan was asked after it was mentioned about it. he said oh, i think he's just trolling people. now it's actually happened. you wonder what paul ryan's reaction will be now. and then if he begins to revoke the security clearance of others, the list is long, i read it, you went through some of them who have been his critics for a specific reason over time, if we're not beginning something that at least to his critics and to some others looks like it's retaliatory and precedent setting. >> as relates to paul ryan, might take a day or so until the question is posed to him. senators are returning back to capitol hill as we speak for a rare august recess. certainly that question, one would presume, would be posed to them as they trickle in.
12:31 pm
you know, when we started off this briefing earlier today as you saw the briefing yesterday, it was believed and we never know and my colleague would never know what they're going to ask and as it goes down the line, it was believed a lot of questions would be about omarosa. sarah sanders comes out with this announcement today. just like that, the narrative has seemingly changed. >> shepard: there's been a pattern of that over time and certainly they would have anticipated this would change the narrative. whether this was the -- whether this was the idea or not is another matter. the effect of it has been in the short term to change the narrative. that said as long as omarosa is coming out with tapes and she said there's more, the omarosa story is not going away, especially given the president keeps tweeting about it. >> keeps tweeting about it. here we are in mid august. like i mentioned, half of congress is here. you have the president tweeting about it, this is normally the time of year that some folks like to look for story lines.
12:32 pm
12:34 pm
>> i'm lea gabrielle with a fox report and more headlines. 48 people are dead after a suicide bomber attacked a building filled with students. this happened today in afghanistan's capitol of kabul. officials say the suspects targeting students for studying for university entrance exams. investigators are blaming the islamic state. the group has not claimed responsibility. a driver in china apparently mixing up the gas pedal and the break. the s.u.v. smashing through the doors of a car dealership. state media reported the driver was trying to park the car after a test drive. she walked away with minor injuries. and a real-life free willie.
12:35 pm
12:37 pm
>> shepard: we're hearing some of the horrific details of alleged sexual abuse in the catholic church in the state of pennsylvania. a grand jury report accuses hundreds of priests of abusing more than 1,000 children over seven decades. according to the report from the grand jury, a man told the grand jury that four priests forced him to stand on a bed naked in a rectory where the priests lived. this before he was 18 years old. they compared the image to jesus christ on the cross and took pictures of him. he says the priests added the photos to a collection of similar photos they had of other children. the same man said one priest told him priests would give their boys the alter boys or the favorite boys those crosses.
12:38 pm
so he gave me a big gold cross to wear. the grand jury wrote that those crosses helped other predators identify who had been groomed for abuse. this allegedly happened in the diocese of pittsburgh. the bishop of that diocese did not comment on that specific accusation but he did respond to the report saying he will do everything he can to stop abuse from happening again. >> those of you that have in any way been the victim of any abuse, sexual or otherwise, whether as a child or as an adult or as a parent or as a sibling or as a friend who shared the pain of that someone you love, i ask you, the church asks you for forgiveness. >> shepard: the grand jury named six of pennsylvania's eight
12:39 pm
diocese and several of them have released similar statements. the vatican has not weighed in on the report. tim lennon joins us rise now. he's from the survive investor network of those abused by priest. he's also a survivor of abuse himself. sir, thank you. >> thank you. >> shepard: generally your reaction to this grand jury report. >> well, a couple of reactions. the immediate reaction is it's no surprise. we've known for months this was coming along. there's been two previous grand juries in altoona and philadelphia naming similar horrific kinds of abuse. the emotional impact is more powerful. that is one, the sadness of knowing that thousands of children have been harmed. the other is the anger, the emotion of anger knowing these church officials covered up for so long, causing more children to be harmed. so there's a great emotional
12:40 pm
turmoil for survivors like myself to know that the harm done of sexual abuse of children is a life-long injury. >> shepard: one of the diocese put out a statement saying the vast majority of the cases were from more than 15 years ago and the charge has cleaned up its act, to paraphrase. is that true in your experience? >> no, no, not at all. we look at the diocese of harrisburg. previous to the report, there was ten known predator priests in that diocese. when the grand jury report comes out, there's 72. that means for a year or five years or ten years that the arch -- the diocese of harrisburg new of predators but didn't tell the community and possibly allowed these predators to prey on other children. let's be clear. the grand jury stated
12:41 pm
explicitly that the church hierarchy covered up. apologies don't cut it. they need to do more. and they need to work to support survivors. not just give apologies. >> shepard: the grand jury said in its lengthy and detailed report that it's clear to the members of that panel at least that at one point they thought these were isolated incidents in other places and the grand jury wrote that no, they were wrong. the abuse happened everywhere throughout the church. what should we hear from the vatican? >> well, truthfully, i'm not too interested in the vatican. what i'm interested is the safety of children and the support of survivors. we have the investigation in boston 15 years ago where the church said they were going to clean up. we've had the investigations in los angeles where 600 or so survivors have stepped up.
12:42 pm
what i'd like to see is grand juries in every state, every diocese. what happened in pennsylvania is the same in indiana or idaho or new mexico or florida. it's the same. >> shepard: how did this become this? how is it that along the way no one was ever able to stop this, despite all of these apparent victims? >> well, our organization, snap, has for 30 years been knocking at the doors of the church saying to open the books. that is something that they can do in every diocese. that they open the books of all the known clergy abusers, the predators. it shouldn't take a grand jury for the church to do that. the second them is the pope could do -- could say every diocese has to report to the police first of instances of accusations of child abuse. he hasn't yet.
12:43 pm
so i think there's easy solutions. the biggest thing is community awareness. that the people and the communities need to stand up, compel the prosecutors and district attorneys to take action, to put pressure on those politicians, to reform and to make stronger child protection laws, to eradicate statute of limitations. >> shepard: jeffery cramer, the best to you, sir. many thanks. tim lennon with it. many apologies. thanks so much. the news continues in just a moment. (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events
12:44 pm
like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪
12:46 pm
we really pride ourselves on making it easy for you >> tech: at safelite autoglass, to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ >> shepard: more now on the white house revoking the former cia director john brennan's security clearance. you'll recall that a short time ago, just about an hour ago now in the white house briefing, it was announced right off the top by the press secretary sarah sanders that the former cia director's security clearance had been revoked. this is as our catherine
12:47 pm
herridge reported and others outside the norm as normally those that held high security clearances and especially in positions of authority within the cia and law enforcement are normally allowed to keep those. in this case, john brennan has been a harsh critic of the president. now the president has revoked his clearance. let's bring in brian mckeon. sir, thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> shepard: your reaction today to the revocation of security clearance and the suggestion that others might meet the same end. >> well, the clearances are for the benefit of the government, not the individual. so the president and the executive branch has a right to reconsider those for these former officials if they decided it doesn't benefit the government anymore and they don't plan to consult them. on the face of it based on what i know so far from the reporting, it doesn't seem to be that's what is happening here.
12:48 pm
this seems to be a punitive response to mr. brennan's criticism of the president and the list that i saw of the others under consideration that mrs. sanders stated from the podium are also people that appear to be critics of the president. so if they're going to do this, there needs to be a standards. there's not evidence that there is one? a democratic congressman from virginia's eighth district said today that he believes this is retaliatory and that these were in his words the actions of a want-to-be dictator. they're extreme responses to extreme actions in all cases. can you give us some clarity on precedent and how we're supposed to process it? >> i don't know of other precedent. at the national security council, it was common that we add the nsc held the clearances
12:49 pm
for those for president bush. as far as i know, those still remain in effect. from time to time either the president or the national security adviser would meet with the predecessor, national security advisers to explain the policies and get advice and reaction. so it was useful for them to retain their clearances for that purpose. i don't think it's going to stop mr. brennan from talking publicly and giving his views of the president. as far as i can tell, he's not using the classified information that he obtained while cia director and a white house official to talk about national security concerns that he had about this president. >> shepard: largely he appears to be commenting on actions of recent days or depending upon the day. he's been a harsh critic. does this action on the president's part concern you as part of a pattern or is it -- would that be overstating things? - >> well, we see the president
12:50 pm
fighting back. he's going after people that criticize him. this is a big healthy democracy and we'll survive this. i don't think it's a good precedent to set. i think having the benefit and the ability to call in former senior officials that have run big national security departments is something that the government should have as an option. they may have memory of particular incidents or relationships with particular officials overseas that would continue to be useful for the government for mr. bolton or secretary mattis or the director of cia. so i think it's a mistake on the part of the government to pull the clearance of somebody like mr. brennan. >> shepard: brian mckeon, very good of you. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> shepard: breaking this hour, the feds teaming up with mexico to fight cartels that flood american streets with illegal drugs. details on the new game plan next. ♪motorcycle revving
12:51 pm
♪ motorcycle revving ♪motorcycle revving ♪ motorcycle revving ♪ no matter who rides point, ♪ there are over 10,000 allstate agents riding sweep. ♪♪ and just like tyrone taylor, they know what it takes to help keep you protected. are you in good hands? this is not a screensaver.game. this is the destruction of a cancer cell by the body's own immune system, thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪ ♪
12:54 pm
>> shepard: we're getting closer to the mid-terms now. four states held primaries last night. on the democratic side, diversity took center stage in what was a night of many firsts. for republicans, the trump effect appeared to play a big role. let's start in the state of minnesota. democrats there backed ilhan omar. she could be the first somali american member of congress. republicans rejected the former governor, tim pawlenty. he once called president trump unhinged and unfit. instead, voters went with the republican county commissioner, jeff johnson who said he supports the president despite any concerns that he may have. in the state of connecticut, a major upset in the republican primary for the governor there.
12:55 pm
former g.e. executive bob stephanowski took down the candidate, the gop establishment endorsed. the rookie politics beat out four candidates for the nomination. president trump tweeted his support for stephanowski. and in wisconsin, governor scott walker easily won the republican nomination to run for his third term. president trump endorsed him this week. walker will face the democrat, tony evers in november. evers beat out seven people for that spot. and in a race to replace the house speaker, paul ryan's congressional seat, university of wisconsin regent ryan stile came out atop of the republican field. he used to work for ryan who endorsed him. randy brice won the democratic nomination. he's an iron worker that goes by the nickname iron staff.
12:56 pm
in vermont, christine colquitt when she became the first tran gender to win state after. she beat three democrats. she called vermont a beacon of hope. she will face the incumbent, phil scott, in the general election coming up. we'll be back with a look at one of the most talked about concerts of all-time. it might never have happened had it not been for the help of a farmer. the concert kickoff on this day in history. the nation's largest senior-living referral service. for the past five years, i've spoken with hundreds of families and visited senior-care communities around the country. and i've got to tell you, today's senior-living communities are better than ever. these days, there are amazing amenities, like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars, and bistros, even pet-care services.
12:57 pm
and nobody understands your options like the advisers at a place for mom. these are local, expert advisers that will partner with you to find the perfect place and determine the right level of care, whether that's just a helping hand or full-time memory care. best of all, it's a free service. there is never any cost to you. senior living has never been better, and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. call today. a place for mom -- you know your family, we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice.
12:58 pm
the chili pepper sweat-out. not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool! coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some common side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort,and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting.com today for your chance to win a free treatment.
12:59 pm
1:00 pm
out to see the who, the grateful dead and janice joplin. music history was made 49 years ago today. "your world" with neil cavuto starts right now. >> neil: thank you, shepard. forget a red wave that was dragging stocks down is a blue wave of democrats coming down on nancy pelosi. hello. welcome. very good to have you. i'm neil cavuto. revoking ex-cia director's security clearance may have democrats ready to romp but they're not looking to nancy pelosi to lead the charge. garrett tenney has more. the story is growing. >> democrats are optimistic about their chances of retaking the house but there's growing concern that nancy pelosi could jeopardize their
148 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
Fox News West Television Archive Television Archive News Search Service The Chin Grimes TV News ArchiveUploaded by TV Archive on