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tv   Americas Newsroom  FOX News  March 23, 2023 6:00am-7:00am PDT

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>> nice morning. thanks for watching us today. >> see if you can run to the radio. >> everyone have a great day and we'll see you on friday. >> dana: tiktok on the chopping block. the company's ceo is about to testify on capitol hill as it tries to avoid being banned. bill has a day off. i'm dana perino. >> john: great to be with you again on friday eve. tiktok ceo chew scheduled to be before congress in an hour facing intense questioning from lawmakers who say the tiktok app gives china unfettered access to
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the personal data of 150 million americans. >> dana: lawmakers see it as a major national security threat. china and russia made no bones about their shared goal of undercutting america on the world stage. >> john: a perceived lack of action by the white house. administration sending mixed messages whether it is safe to use tiktok. >> i wanted to follow up on tiktok. you have expressed today the national security concerns with the app. why then did the president agree to appear in tiktok videos as recently as i think st. patrick's day? >> again we have not changed our national security concerns about the app. it is not for use on government devices. i don't have anything more for you on that. >> it sends the wrong message if the administration is weighing a ban or could in the future. >> we have been consistent of
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our concerns over tiktok. there is a review underway. i won't get ahead of that. >> dana: an excellent question by grady trimble at the white house where we find mark meredith this morning. >> for years lawmakers are warning about the threat that tiktok poses to u.s. national security. the company is owned by a chinese company called bytedance hearing a lot of questions whether or not china may use the app to target, spy on or influence americans. in the next hour we're going to hear a lot about tiktok. a hearing on the hill. many lawmakers are questioning how the company operates. what kind of data it collects and whether it's a threat to democracy worldwide. the house committee chair expected to address the app's popularity and warning that is 150 million americans that the chinese communist party can collect sensitive information on and control what we ultimately see, hear and believe. now tiktok is fighting back. it's in the middle of an
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aggressive lobbying campaign in d.c. trying to win over lawmakers and public. the company rejecting calls for it to be spun off from bytedance. it says if protecting national security is the objective di vestment doesn't solve the problem. a change in ownership wouldn't impose new restrictions on access. congress weighing all this considering giving the commerce department more authority to ban the app. the white house is still deciding whether or not a ban in necessary. awaiting a security review. president biden talked about all this last month. take a listen. >> president biden: i'm not sure. i don't have it on my phone. >> the president up close saying he doesn't have it on his phone. axios had an interesting point this morning saying top democrats are worried if the white house were to ban tiktok, it could cost them in future elections. millions of younger americans
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use this app very popular with progressives as well and a ban would impact any political discussion heading into next year's presidential election. >> dana: thank you so much. on to the politics thing, john, on capitol hill when you have a hearing like this, the company that's going to be grilled in this case tiktok are looking for any sort of lifeline where someone will defend them. listen to jamal bowman what he thinks republicans are doing here. >> republicans in particular have been sounding the alarm creating a red scare around china. let's not be racist towards china and express our xenophobia when it comes to tiktok. >> dana: yet this issue, john, is one of the most bipartisan ones we've seen in recent years. >> john: i don't know what bowman is missing. this is a national security issue people are talking about. a company sucking up mountains
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and mountains and mountains of data, gigabyte upon gigabyte and he is saying it's xenophobe i can and racist? >> dana: the ceo is lobbying directly to the millions of users, watch here. >> some politicians have started talking about banning tiktok. this could take tiktok away from all 150 million of you. let me know in the comments what you want your elected representatives to know about what you love about tiktok. >> dana: that could prove powerful. >> he is a smart guy and knows how to leverage the app. 150 million people on the hook in the united states and calling on them to come out in defense of the company and tiktok influencers. i don't know what that is. to do the same thing. a lot of pressure on members of congress to not do this. if they do do it, as happened during the trump administration,
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tiktok will end up in the courts. >> dana: we'll have much more on this with the leaders of the house china committee. republican chairman mike gallagher and ranking democrat. that's coming up at the bottom of this hour. >> john: looking forward to that. the trump grand jury in new york city set to return at noon today. the panel will reconvene after alvin bragg called off yesterday's session at the last minute. prosecutors could call an additional witness or present formal charges for the jurors to vote on. bryan llenas is outside the courthouse with the latest. bryan. >> good morning. the grand jury reconvenes this afternoon amid speculation over why yesterday's proceeding was abruptly canceled by manhattan district attorney alvin bragg under intense political pressure to drop this case. new letters sent from republican jim jordan have been sent demanding documents and
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congressional testimonies from mark palm rains and carey dune who resigned from his office last year. they were both investigating trump for financial crimes but resigned in protest after bragg expressed doubts about the investigation and refused to prosecute trump. one went on to write a book attacking the decision saying bragg's change of heart to prosecute trump is politically motivated. >> the only thing that changes between then and now is president trump announces he is running for president and most importantly, i think, these two individuals who worked as assistants resigned, start protesting, write a book and create pressure on alvin bragg from the left and suddenly decides now i'm going to indict president trump. >> sources tell fox news digital yesterday's grand jury proper singed was abruptly canceled
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among major dissension within the d.a.'s office and the concern of the weakness of the case. this case centered around a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film actress stormy daniels relies on star witness michael cohen. fox news obtained the letter from february 2018 from cohen's attorney to federal election officials saying cohen used his only personal funds neither the trump organization or trump campaign reimbursed cohen. six months later he changed his story and pled guilty admitting to making those payments to stormy daniels and served prison time. he says he did it at the direction of and in coordination and for the benefit of the former president. >> john: clearly somebody will call into question which is the truth, what cohen admitted to or what he wrote via his attorney in the letter? certainly adds a new layer to it. thank you.
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>> are the drug cartels in control of parts of mexico? >> it's fair to say yes. >> do you believe our policies toward drug cartels and fentanyl coming from mexico, those policies are working? >> they need to do more. >> how about this? rather than interdicting at the border we go to the source and declare mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations under u.s. law? >> dana: antony blinken pressed on the growing threats from mexico. meantime border agents are seeing a spike of criminal my rants illegally crossing into the united states. it doesn't end. griff jenkins is live in mission, texas with the latest. good morning, griff. >> good morning. they are saying an uptick in criminal migrants. thursday mornings are busy. smugglers want to get paid before the weekend and what we saw. we've been out since 3:00 a.m. with texas dps sergeant and want to show the video we shot early whyer this morning.
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viewers can see, sergeant, we got a big group this morning early. >> that's affirmative. you are with us this morning when we appear handed this group of eight. one subject crossed two days ago. another subject spoke perfect english. he was deported for smuggling and look what is happening again. trying to cross into the u.s. illegally again. >> unbelievable. we had more than six groups we pursued this morning and you put out for the world to see the texas dps film. a teenage driver. >> 16-year-old driver with an aunt and 2-year-old child. they all came from laredo to smuggle a group of four undocumented immigrants and stated they get paid $4 thousand for all four. that's another significant event going on. >> they're dangerous and happen every day. sergeant, i've been doing this for more than a decade.
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i want to show our viewers a picture of you with a 2-year-old child dropped off. that was a moving moment. >> it goes to show the ruthlessness these smugglers and cartel people have on these subjects. monetary gain for them and they dropped off that 2-year-old on the mexico side and that's very awesome we were able to save that child. >> indeed, sergeant, great work this morning. dana, it happens like clockwork every day. no signs of it slowing down. send it back to you. >> dana: a great interview. thank you for bringing it to us. the dea sounding the alarm about the growing treat from tranq. a dea administrator joins us on that later this hour. >> the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go and likely to be bumpy. despite elevated inflation, longer term inflation expectations are well anchored.
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>> chairman jerome powell defending his decision to raise interest rates against in the fight against rampant inflation despite a severe banking crisis. did he make a bad situation worse or the right move? our maria bartiromo breaks it all down just ahead. >> dana: president biden not feeling the love even from his hometown of scranton, pennsylvania. why alarm bells are ringing for the potential 2024 democratic ticket. that's just ahead. >> john: u.s. military dominance could be in jeopardy with china catching up fast. >> china is like militarizing islands and we're having to spend time to talk about dods $114 million budget request for diversity, equity inclusion training?
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>> john: the cost borrowing money is higher after the federal reserve hiked interest rates despite the greatest banking crisis since the depression. walking the tight rope. joining us now the maria bartiromo for a deeper dive on this. the "wall street journal" also said this. that try to walk that tight rope is fraught with risk. one is that they prove insufficient to provoke a larger bank panic. a sudden easing of interest rates no matter the inflation rate at the time. the fed could be forced to ease before it has conquered inflation. you talk about a balancing act here. this is precarious and the ramifications are huge. >> yes, they sure are, john.
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that came across yesterday with the federal reserve really walking a fine line in terms of telling us that the banking crisis has eased but also telling us that the federal reserve is watching the banking crisis for its ultimate impact on the economy. we know the fed has raised rates nine times and it takes about one year of a lag effect to feel the pain. and feel the impact of those higher interest rates. we are beginning to feel it. we've seen it in a number of interest rate sensitive segments like real estate and auto area. i would expect we'll continue to see an economy that is slowing and there are many expectations we'll see a recession later on this year. the one area that seems to be holding things up is this very tight labor market and the fact that we continue to see jobs created and continue to see people leaving and going to different jobs. trying to be competitive and as a result, that is the off set to
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what appears to be a weaker economy and on your note in terms of cutting interest rates, i had one guest on the other day that told me he thinks the federal reserve will be cutting interest rates by july 4th weekend this year. others like nancy lazar from piper sandler says we expect recession at the end of the year and cuts will start next year in 2024. no doubt this is a real balance the federal reserve is walking and we're in a slowing economy, higher interest rates have represented a shock for a number of businesses and let me just add one other warning sign, john. that is right now you are talking about $1 trillion of debt that will be rolled over. that debt will come with higher interest rates because rates have been rising. when you have businesses that were paying 4% for their debt but now paying 9% or higher and going higher, that's a big deal. i would expect bankruptcies this year as well. >> john: you mentioned recession.
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to that point the white house sees it completely differently. listen to what karine jean-pierre said. >> we do not see a recession or pre-recession. we see a strong economy and because of the work this president has done. >> john: they must have an entire crate of rose-colored glasses in the white house. they appear to be the only ones seeing it that way. >> she has her talking points. i don't know what she is looking at in terms of research. we are looking at an economy slowing down and likely to continue to slow down. recession either at the end of this year or next year is baked in the cake for the economist i've spoken with. >> john: elizabeth warren doesn't like what jay powell is doing at all and calling for his head. listen to what she said. >> do you think the united states is headed for a recession? >> i think that is where jerome powell is trying to drive it.
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it is a danger to my economy. i think he is a dangerous man to have in this job. >> john: she didn't say she would accidentally trigger a recession and that he is dangerous and needs to go. i don't think the president is listening. >> i don't think that anybody wants to drive the economy into a recession. i think the fed made major mistakes by keeping interest rates as low as they were for as long as they did. let's face it, you had interest rates at 0 for 15 years. 15 years. all of a sudden in 11 months we go from 0 to 5%. that's a shock. it has been a shock on many businesses. it will be a shock on consumers. let's face it, rates right now when you are talking about credit card rates or other rates, mortgage rates, you are talking about the highest rates in decades. so already we've seen an impact. i don't think jay powell is really thinking i want to drive this economy into a recession. that's probably elizabeth warren trying to run for president.
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i do think he has made a lot of mistakes in terms of monetary policy and trying to figure out how to get himself out of that. we talked with thomas hornig a lot. he said no, too much stimulus. i'm not on board. the one dissenter. he was the right one to follow. >> john: yellen said oops in the past and we'll see if jay powell says that one of these days. thank you. >> dana: there is yet another twist in the bizarre family saga that's only now coming to light. stephen smith's mother flagged buster murdaugh as a potential suspect in her son's murder in 2016. items from the murdaugh estate go up for auction. jonathon seary tracking it with more. >> interesting letter where
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smith's mother imply indicates members of the murdaugh family. a letter that dates back to 2016. she was reaching out to the f.b.i. asking for their assistance. the letter was obtained and published. she said shortly after authorities informed her of her son's death and before they made a positive idea on the body. randolph murdaugh contacted the family and offered to help them with the investigation and then stopped returning calls. the letter says stephen, openly gay, mentioned to friends he was involved romantically with someone from a prominent local family. alex murdaugh's son, buster is pushing back denying involvement with stephen and his death. items from the murdaugh family estate are being auctioned off including mounted animal heads, lamps, table ware and furniture. bidding will take place in
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person only at liberty auction. back to you. >> dana: jonathan serrie, thank you so much. >> john: we're expecting and awaiting what is expected to be a blockbuster hearing on capitol hill. you thought blockbuster went out of business. lawmakers grilling the ceo of tiktok whether the app gives china's communist government unlimited access to american's private information. the leaders of the house china committee coming up after the break. seattle prosecutor is flipping the script and making headlines for going after career criminals. how she is getting results and making her city safer. what does it mean to be ever better? its your customers getting what they ordered when they expect it.
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giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. lomita feed is 101 years old this year and counting. i'm bill lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund, it allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify. go to getrefunds.com. >> right now over 150 million people's data is at risk. something we're all concerned about. tiktok is getting all the data on their phones, emails, pictures and ban it entirely. >> i want to make sure no data
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is going back to the chinese communist party and putting us in a national security risk. >> dana: expect much more of that in 30 minutes whether the ceo of tiktok tries to defend his company's security practices to a skeptical congress. things are expected to get heated. we'll monitor it as it happens on the heels of the russia/china summit seen as a major test for president biden's foreign policy. the two top members of the house china committee chairman mike gallagher and also the ranking member. let me start with a question that to bring this kind of a bigger picture. we have this tiktok hearing that we'll pay attention to. you have a hearing tonight the two of you focusing on genocide and the uighurs and the plight of them and the secretary of defense and state on capitol hill today where china is the major issue. this comes just after xi and putin meet to try to establish a
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new world order just showing you this and get your reaction. "wall street journal" headline china is starting to act like a global power. beijing grows bolder. it might not be news to you. are you believing the other members that you work with there on capitol hill are they starting to understand the risk? >> that is indeed part of our mission as chair and ranking member of the committee on the ccp to explain to our colleagues and the american people that it is a global competition. and that we face a very determined competitor in the form of the chinese communist party. they want to undermine our sovereignty and our alliances and is committing genocide, something we thought was unthinkable in the modern era. our concern as it pertains to tiktok is not only that they could downplay stories related to the ongoing uighur genocide or get data from american phones
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but tiktok is now a news sours for young americans and used to meddle in future elections. do we want to give the chinese communist party that level of power over our sense of reality and our sense of national identity? that's the concern. >> dana: congressman, here is the white house press secretary yesterday trying to answer a question about the new world order. watch here. >> xi told putin at their meeting change is coming that hasn't happened in 100 years and we are driving this change together. what do you think that means? >> you would have to ask them. >> dana: we can't ask them because they don't take any questions from the press. could i ask you what does this mean and do you think from a bipartisan standpoint this is one of the things you would like to try to move forward on? in lock step with the republicans if possible. >> i think this has to be a bipartisan cause. i think that, you know, exactly
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what they meant i'm not sure. but i think what they are trying to get at is they are trying to change what is acceptable in terms of our international norms. of course, we and our allies and partners and friends around the world are trying to protect freedom, trying to protect liberty, trying to cultivate the conditions for democracy and free enterprise. and quite frankly, i think that the ccp as well as the russians are wanting to go a different direction and so that's really what's at stake and that's why the chairman and i are determined to try to steer this committee in a bipartisan fashion and trying to study the challenges and how to deal with those challenges. >> dana: what kind of evil will we learn about tonight, congressman gallagher? >> i think we are by incorporating the testimony of people that have actually survived reeducation camp and modern day concentration camps
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we hope to give your average americana sense of just the horrors that are being done to the uighur muslim minority in the autonomous region in china. there is a tendency to dismiss it which we cannot. we need to prevent it and insure our own companies and american capital isn't inadvertently funding communist genocide and then we have a panel of experts to help us think through things like how do we fully enforce the uighur forced labor prevention act and more transparency in the supply chain and not dependent on slave labor. those are things we hope to discuss tonight. >> dana: the last question and i'm curious, is any of this information, these revelations getting into the actual people who live in china? or are they just locked from any information? >> it's a great question. i think they're blocked from a lot of outside information.
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but i do think that they hear about what we're doing through different channels. certainly there are a lot of dissidents and activists in the west and in the united states who are able to communicate what is happening here. and, you know, us shining a light on the genocide of millions of uighur people and their culture is absolutely essential but also provides hope to them that we'll be able to bring about some change in their circumstances. but as mike alluded to, we as americans are impacted by this in so many ways as well which we'll illuminate tonight including the fact they have perfected a techno surveillance state with regard to the the uighurs which they are trying to export elsewhere including to the united states. that's why, by the way, we're so concerned about tiktok. mike and i have the only bipartisan bill on this particular issue and as you can tell, there is a lot of interest
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in it. >> dana: one quick question. kirby was asked yesterday at the white house whether the white house believes in the ban on tiktok because just on st. patrick's day president biden participated in a video for tiktok. >> well, we've had some mixed messages. you had the secretary of congress saying well, the politician in me doesn't want to do this because it would anger american teenagers. that's a bad reason for not taking action on tiktok. i would rather follow the advice of the c.i.a. director, dia director, n cymric a and f.b.i. director who said tiktok is a threat. i who app the white house comes out in favor of our bill or ban without dealing with controlled algorithm everything else is irrelevant. >> dana: thank you both for joining us this morning. >> thank you.
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>> john: republicans demanding answers from top military officials on diversity and equity goals at yesterday's hearing on recruitment challenges. listen here. >> this sort of obsession with this equity agenda that you all are defending here today with just sort of a word salad is divisive. we're having to spend time to talk about dod's $114 million budget request for diversity, equity, inclusion training? this stuff is nuts. is there any intelligence you've heard that communist china is somehow intimidated or deterred by our dei initiatives? >> john: lawmakers suggesting woke policies are to blame for record low recruitment numbers across nearly all branches of the military. during the last fiscal year the army was short by 15,000 new hires while the navy and air force struggled to meet targets for active duty employees.
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it is one of the most dangerous drugs on the streets of america, an animal tranquilizer mixed with fentanyl. what to know about the drug after more overdose deaths across the country. one of the suspects in the murdaugh -- the major break in the case amid a mounting pile of evidence. that's coming up. like your workplace benefits and retirement savings. with voya, considering all your financial choices together can help you make smarter decisions. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we support immune function. supply fuel for immune cells and sustain tissue health. ensure with twenty-five vitamins and minerals, and ensure complete with thirty grams of protein. ♪ ♪
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>> john: one of the suspects accused of murdering microsoft executive brad gann is making his appearance in court. the second person to be charged in this case. phil keating is watching the developments in miami with the latest. >> he is the suspected money man in this alleged conspiracy to
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assassinate bridegan making his first court appearance up in jacksonville. he goes just by mario fernandez indicted by a grand jury near orlando where he was arrested last week and now back in jacksonville. in court for a few minutes his bond status was postponed. he will just remain behind bars for now. they spotted him with his dog outside of orlando. investigators reveal he wrote three checks to the admitted killer and called him 70 times before and after the murder. he is the second husband of jared bridegan's former wife and once rented out a property to the only other person arrested in the case, the admitted trigger man. shannon gardner fernandez had a bitter feud with his first husband, mr. bridegan. he was executed in february of
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last year, 13 months ago after he left his ex-wife's house after dropping off their 9-year-old twins. as he was driving home, he had to come to a stop for a tire lying in the middle of the road. when he got out to move the tire, that's when he was ambushed and shot to death on the dark road while his young 2-year-old daughter from his second wife sat in the back seat hearing it all. the admitted trigger man, 61-year-old tenon pleaded guilty last thursday to second degree murder for being the person who pulled the trigger and is cooperating. fernandez is facing four felony charges, including first degree murder. that is a capital offense. so if convicted, he would either face the death penalty or life in prison. john. >> john: we'll watch this case. it is fascinating. phil keating in miami. >> dana: a new warning for americans over the rise of a street drug, a deadly
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combination of fentanyl and animal sedative. the dea has trafficking has become more widespread and it is killing users at an alarming rate. let's get to ann milligram who joins me now and you are sounding the alarm. now more widespread and actually even more deadly. explain to people how that happens. what physically happens to you if you take one of these drugs. >> thank you, dana for having me. we just put out a public safety alert because we've looked at all the fentanyl that was seized in the united states last year by the dea and found that 23% of the fentanyl powder that we seized has xylazine in it. an animal tranquilizer and a sedative. what it does is makes a deadly drug, even more deadly. it depresses your respiratory system or breathing. it is devastating. so we've seen this go up
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enormously in 2022 and it is now in almost all 50 states, in 48 states. every state other than south dakota and wyoming right now. >> dana: where is it coming from? >> we're investigating that right now. we know that we've seen this for some years being diverted from veterinary practices but we're also aggressively investigating whether it's coming from other sources right now. as we know more i'll provide that information. >> dana: okay. do you think it is coming from china to mexico to the united states? >> we're aggressively investigating all the possible sources. we know one for certain. >> dana: when you put out an alert does it trigger anything for the dea. do you get additional resources or a public service announcement? >> a public service announcements. we put out an alert about fake pills and a warning about cocaine being cut with fentanyl where we were seeing an enormous number of american deaths.
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now with xylazine we're coming off a year of 107,735 american deaths from fentanyl and meth. as we've seen in the last year xylazine really infiltrating the drug supply of fentanyl now being cut in a quarter of all the fentanyl samples that we have. we feel like we need to tell the public that it is out there and the other piece is that in addition to depressing respiratory systems it has these other horrific side effects. it causes wounds, open sores, leads to amputations. we want everyone to know meth is being cut with fentanyl. cocaine is being cut with fentanyl. heroin and now we know that it is going to the next level. fentanyl is being cut by xylazine. >> dana: if you end up taking this street drug and you start to have these problems. we've seen the open sores and amputation and things like that.
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what are your chances of being able to get off that drug and live a normal life after that? >> well, we see -- we're seeing xylazine right now. it is with fentanyl. you are talking about not just xylazine which is difficult for people to get off of but fentanyl. which is a devastating drug. we are working at dea to expand access to medication for opioid use disorder. it is one of the research-based things that works. but as you and i are seeing, we're seeing this tragedy unfold every day. people don't even know often that they are taking fentanyl and the cartels are using it to drive addiction so people want more and want more and now again with xylazine it is making it even more deadly and more devastating for people. >> dana: yet you have the president of mexico denying any mexican involvement and he says why don't the united states take care of their problem of social
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decay? there is a lack of love, of brotherhood and hugs and embraces. maybe give you a last word on that. >> so we are focused right now, our top operational priority now is to defeat the two cartels in mexico, sinaloa and halisco that are responsible for the meth and fentanyl. we are tracking those two cartels in more than 40 countries worldwide and taking a network approach to defeat them. so we are aggressively focused on that goal. >> dana: we wish you the best and stay in touch with us. thank you. >> thank you. >> john: house lawmakers set to grill the ceo of tiktok in moments as congress considers banning the social media platform outright. we'll take you inside the hearing live when it begins and we await updates for the trump grand jury in manhattan. why sources claim the district
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>> john: the trump grand jury in new york is set the reconvene just hours from now. we don't know for sure if they are going to as we're learning of major dissent in the district attorney's office. the d.a. alvin bragg is having trouble convincing the grand jury on potential charges due to the weakness of the case. let's bring in jonathan turley, constitutional law attorney. a lot of alliteration in that, jonathan. if bragg can't convince the grand jury that this is a case worthy of bringing charges, where does that leave it? >> well, that's the problem of the old adage. the grand jury just heard from the counsel of michael cohen, the star witness, who
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contradicted what cohen said and brought with him 300 emails. there is more evidence that suggests that michael cohen repeatedly told various parties that this was not a contribution from donald trump and it was not a violation of the federal election laws. so that's a very difficult cat to make walk backwards. >> john: it has been said a d.a. can indict a ham sandwich. not the size of donald trump. but you mention michael cohen and the various things he said over the years. the daily mail published and email that his attorney sent to the fec back in 2018 which says in part quote, in a private transaction in 2016 before the u.s. presidential election, mr. cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to stormy daniels. neither the trump organization or campaign was a party to the transaction and neither
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reimbursed mr. cohen for the payment directly or indirectly. was that the lie or was everything that he told other investigators the lie? which is it? >> well, that's the problem, of course, when you are trying to establish ultimately when you get to trial proof beyond a reasonable doubt. this creates a reasonable doubt as to what the intention was in the payment of this money and also what donald trump may have been thinking when this was done. that's the reason that the prosecution of people like john edwards collapsed. there are various reasons why a celebrity or well-known person would pay hush money. you have to establish here that it was the sole purpose to evade election laws. that's a very difficult proposition and why the department of justice likely refused to bring this case. so bragg is trying to do something that may be unprecedented. trying to bootstrap a new york
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misdemeanor into litigating a federal crime that the federal government didn't think warranted a prosecution. >> john: does it seem odd to you that here you have a d.a. trying to bootstrap this case from a misdemeanor to a felony and relying as his star witness a guy for whom the truth seems to be a fluid thing. you are bringing a case against a former president. >> yeah. that was the selling point of michael cohen was his ethical flexibility. he would do things others would not do. and that's hardly someone you want to put on the stand. for bragg, he is about to set history in indicting the first former president in history. i don't believe history will be kind to him. i believe that this will invite infamy for bragg. i believe this case will ultimately be shown to be dramatically flawed both a legal and factual basis.

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