Joe Biden announces biggest fundraising quarter, rolls out new campaign slogan
Biden announces 'Battle for the Soul of the Nation'; Peter Doocy has the details.
This is a rush transcript from " Special Report with Bret Baier," January 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
Bret Baier: Good evening, and welcome to Washington. I’m Bret Baier. Breaking tonight, the new year will bring new rules about vaping and e-cigarettes. The Trump administration putting out official word today saying it will ban most flavors popular with underage teenagers but will allow others to remain. That decision, the last part of the decision, favors the multi-billion dollar vaping industry but, obviously, enrages anti-tobacco advocates. Correspondent Doug McKelway starts us off tonight with details of these new rules. Good evening, Doug.
Doug McKelway: Good evening, Bret. The new Food and Drug Administration enforcement action announced today bans the sale of fruity or mint-flavored, cartridge-based e-cigarettes popular with teens. The action doesn't go as far as President Trump's original plan of an outright ban announced four months ago. HHS Secretary Alex Azar today acknowledged "The United States has never seen an epidemic of substance use arise as quickly as our current epidemic of youth use of e-cigarettes." Yet, the president said yesterday vaping has helped many people kick the more dangerous habit of smoking.
[begin video clip]
Donald Trump: Look, vaping can be good from the standpoint if you look at the e-cigarettes, you stop smoking. If you can stop smoking, that's a big advantage. So, we think we're going to get it back onto the market very, very quickly. But we have to protect the children."
[end video clip]
Doug McKelway: The new policy still permits the sale of closed vaping cartridges formulated to taste like tobacco or mentholized tobacco, nor does it restrict open tank vaping systems popular with adults in which users can mix their own flavorings. The administration has left itself open to criticism from both sides. Some say it should go further to restrict all forms of vaping; others believe it could be a rule of unintended consequences.
[begin video clip]
Female Speaker: So, the big risk when you eliminate access and choice, variability of products, is that people who got off deadly cigarettes and went onto much safer vaping may now return to those deadly cigarettes or buy flavored vaping products on the black market.
[end video clip]
Doug McKelway: Indeed, black market vaping cartridges infused with THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, have now been linked to the deaths of 55 and more than 2,500 respiratory illnesses last year. Today's action is only a temporary step. Technically, no vaping products have yet been given full permanent FDA approval for use.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: All e-cigarettes currently on the market are illegal. E-cigarettes have remained on the market only because we have been exercising enforcement discretion.
[end video clip]
Doug McKelway: A permanent deadline comes this May when vaping companies must submit all products to the FDA's long bureaucratic approval process to determine the long-term health effects and the ultimate legality of all the vaping products. Bret.
Bret Baier: We'll see if any of that goes to court. Doug, thank you. Another story here dealing with this: U-Haul says in 21 states it will not hire people who use nicotine products. The company saying the new policy, which begins February 1st, is an attempt to establish what it calls "one of the healthiest corporate cultures in the U.S. and Canada." The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU, terms anti-nicotine hiring policies discriminatory and also a violation of worker privacy; however, advocates point out smokers are not a protected class under federal antidiscrimination laws. Now to the story that we've been following over the past couple of days: Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the U.S. may take preemptive action to prevent further violence against American interests by Iran-backed militants in the Middle East. This comes after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week. We have Fox team coverage tonight. Kevin Corke with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida with what the administration is saying and doing about the situation in Iraq and the provocation from Iran. First up, though, correspondent Trey Yingst in Amman, Jordan to tell us where things stand at this hour on the ground. Trey.
Trey Yingst: Bret, good evening. We are getting reports in just now that four rockets have been fired at Baghdad International Airport; meanwhile, across the city in the Green Zone, the dust has settled outside the U.S. Embassy. It is now under control of American forces, though the message that Iran left remains.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: Once a place of welcome, newly released photos show a blackened and charred reception room at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad after Iran-backed militia and their supporters attempted to destroy the building. Iraqi troops are being criticized for allowing the mob to pass numerous checkpoints into Baghdad's Green Zone before storming the embassy. The protestors raised militia flags, clashed with U.S. security forces, and chanted "Down, down USA," before retreating on Wednesday. And today, the Trump administration is doubling down on blaming Iran for orchestrating the assault.
Male Speaker: People know that we have vast capability to do any number of things. We will act in response to actions by Iran or its proxies, and we will act to preempt any attacks on our forces, our personnel by Iran or its proxies.
Male Speaker: As war drums beat, the U.S. and Iran appear to be preparing for the possibility of a direct military confrontation. Thursday, a top Iranian Revolutionary Guard general said his country isn't afraid of conflict and could break America into several pieces. Overnight, Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, reiterated his willingness to hold talks with the United States, though the talks would come with serious preconditions. American sanctions have crippled Iran's economy as the Islamic Republic continues to violate key terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement. The Trump administration, vowing to continue its maximum pressure campaign, is now locked in a political and military standoff with the Islamic Republic.
[end video clip]
Trey Yingst: There are American troops working alongside Iraqi security forces next to Baghdad's international airport. With reports of new rocket fire tonight, the region will certainly be watching to see how things develop in Iraq. Bret.
Bret Baier: Trey Yingst in neighboring Amman, Jordan. Trey, thanks. The Trump administration is warning Iran against any further action by its proxies inside Iraq or really throughout the Middle East. Correspondent Kevin Corke has that part of the story near the president's winter White House in West Palm Beach, Florida.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: If anybody challenges us, they will be, they will be met with a severe response, a strong response by U.S. forces.
[end video clip]
Kevin Corke: It's often referred to as saber rattling when leaders of one country preemptively promise reprisals for any action by another. But in the case of the United States and Iran, seemingly teetering on the brink of a proxy war in Iraq, Defense Secretary Mark Esper's warning today seemed to carry particular heft and an almost haunting certainty.
Mark Esper: We need to stand up to Iran and we need them to behave like a normal country. That means ending their nuclear program, ending their long-range ballistic missile program, the stopping of hostage-taking, and then, of course, their malign behavior.
[end video clip]
Kevin Corke: Behavior, like the orchestrated protest at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which enabled the regimen to conflate domestic unrest in Iraq with Tehran's anti-American fervor. But with unrest percolating in Baghdad, some 6,000 miles away back in Washington a triumvirate of power has been coordinating crucial next steps in effort to simultaneously prepare for and, if at all possible, avoid an escalation of hostilities. Translation: More capability on land, sea, and air.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: We responded at the direction of the president, quite forcefully, and it was a very bold and decisive move and asserted our right of self-defense and the fact that we will act in order to defend our personnel and our interests in the region.
[end video clip]
Kevin Corke: But as lawmakers make their way back to Capitol Hill for the new year, familiar partisan stances on the president's policies prevail.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: President Trump really has no policy at all. He doesn't seem to know what he's doing. No end game. President Trump clearly has to begin at least some back-channel discussions with the Iranians. He has coddled every other thug in the world, why not talk with the Iranians?
Male Speaker: I think a proportional response like we've been seeing so far is exactly what Iran doesn't want to see because it doesn't turn the world against us, it really doesn't give ammo to the blame America crowd, and it does impact Iran's standing.
[end video clip]
Kevin Corke: An important outreach for the president on Friday, Bret, as he makes his way over to Miami for an event at the nation's largest Hispanic evangelical church. And of course, we'll have coverage for you then. But for now, back to you and Happy New Year.
Bret Baier: Happy New Year, Kevin, live in West Palm Beach, Florida. The U.S. has a new top diplomat in Ukraine. Kristina Kvien is the new chargée d'affaires, the highest-ranking official at the embassy. She introduced herself on social media this morning. Kvien's predecessor, of course, Bill Taylor was a witness in President Trump's impeachment hearings before House committees last year. Kvien is promising American support to Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity and reforms that will help Ukraine. Yesterday we reported that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has postponed his trip to Ukraine to deal with matters like Iraq and Iran throughout the Middle East. You may be asked to read and approve a new waiver on some Internet sites the next time you log on. It has to do with a new law in California about online privacy. Chief Correspondent Jonathan Hunt has details from Los Angeles.
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Male Speaker: Consumers in California will have more ownership and control over their data. [end video clip]
Jonathan Hunt: It may be a state law, but it's an attempt by California and its attorney general to do nothing less than to upend the laws -- or lack thereof -- of the Internet and will affect any large company doing online business with anyone in California. In other words, pretty much any company anywhere with a website. The law requires the company to disclose whether they sell customer's personal data and give them an option –
to opt out by creating and prominently displaying a do not sell my personal information button on their website.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: I think that's important to state. There is no other state in the nation. The federal government. No one else has this level of protection for its consumers when it comes to the use of the Internet. Jonathan Hunt: But some tech experts warn that the legal statement's customers may be required to read and the buttons they may be required to press before they get to the shopping, posting or whatever they're doing on any given site may drive some of them away. Male Speaker: It only takes a few seconds, maybe 10 to 15, before they get frustrated and they say, I don't like this, I'm moving on, I'm going to go to something else. So, if you don't have users, you don't have revenue and if you don't have revenue most likely, you may not be in business.
[end video clip] Jonathan Hunt: But online privacy and how to better handle it is clearly a major concern for customers and politicians in California at least seem determined to take the lead if the companies won't.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: Should you feel safer? I don't know. Should you feel good that at least somebody is doing something? Yes. I think that's the positive that California has at least put a stake in the ground to say we've got to start having this discussion.
[end video clip]
Jonathan Hunt: The state law seems certain to face court challenges, and it is likely that ultimately the federal government, rather than individual states, will have to define online privacy laws and how they can be implemented and enforced. Bret.
Bret Baier: Jonathan, thank you. Stock markets picked up the new year where they left off in 2019. The Dow surging 330 points today to another record close just 131 points shy of another huge milestone, 29,000. The S&P 500 gained 27. The Nasdaq jumped 120. All three indices hitting record highs in this the first day of trading in 2020. We will talk to the secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, live about the economy and other topics coming up. Up next, we're learning new details about a man accused of using a machete to attack Jewish worshipers over the weekend, we'll tell you what we were learning. First, here's what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. Fox Alaska in Anchorage as the Coast Guard calls off the search for five crew members of a crab fishing vessel that sank New Year's Eve. The decision comes after 20 hours of searching the chilly waters about 170 miles southwest of Kodiak Island. Two other men who dawn survival suits and got into a life raft were rescued. Fox 5 in New York as the state begins enforcing a new bail reform law. The number of people held in jail awaiting trial will decrease. Supporters say the previous cash bail system would unfairly keep the poor in prison as the wealthy walked free. Critics contend the reforms go too far and already releasing suspects who pose a danger to others. And this is a live look at Las Vegas from our affiliate Fox 5 out there. The big story there tonight police arrest a suspect after a resident captured an in progress kidnaping on a home surveillance system. They say the woman was found safe. Darnell Rogers faces charges of kidnaping and domestic battery. That's tonight's live look outside the Beltway from special report. We'll be right back.
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Bret Baier: There are new indications tonight a man accused of hacking several people with a machete during a Hanukkah celebration Saturday in New York may not have been fit to be on the streets in the first place. This comes amid a wave of attacks in the New York area against Jewish victims. Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has our update.
[begin video clip]
Female Speaker: We all believe that God has a plan.
Jacqui Heinrich: Despite the painful cost this family hopes, what happened to Yousef Neuman will reunite humanity as the Hasidic community reels from a machete attack at a Hanukkah celebration Saturday. The 72-year-old, one of five injured, is still in critical condition, with doctors not hopeful he'll speak or walk again.
Female Speaker: Please stand up and stop this hatred. We want to go to our synagogues and feel safe. We want to go to groceries and malls and feel safe.
Male Speaker: Mr. Thomas, why did you do it?
[end video clip]
Jacqui Heinrich: The suspect, Grafton Thomas, now faces federal hate crime and attempted murder charges after at least one prior run in with police. In 2018, Thomas was arrested for menacing a police officer with a knife, a felony carrying a mandatory minimum of two years in prison. There was apparently not enough evidence for that charge to stick. The judge opted for a conditional dismissal of the lesser charges, allowing the court to monitor him for six months. Investigators say after Saturday's attack, they found Thomas' journals referring to Adolf Hitler and Nazis. His defense claims he's not anti-Semitic, but developed mental illness after joining the Marines and recently stopped taking prescribed antipsychotics. Military officials confirm Grafton Thomas was removed from the Marines just a month after boot camp for fraudulent enlistment. But Saturday's rampage is just one of at least 13 anti-Semitic incidents around New York in the last two weeks. Yesterday, police arrested two women for allegedly shouting slurs at a Hasidic man in Brooklyn. One of them was charged for punching him in the throat. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo labeled the incidents domestic terrorism, prompting calls for increased security around orthodox communities and events like a religious gathering of 92,000 at MetLife Stadium. Tomorrow, a grand jury will hear the case and it's possible more charges will come down Bret.
Bret Baier: Follow that, Jacqui thank you. In tonight's Democracy 2020 report, another dropout from the Democratic presidential race, former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro, has suspended his campaign over lack of support and lack of money. This comes as some other contenders, including President Trump, trumpet big donation numbers to start the year. Correspondent Peter Doocy has the latest tonight from Manchester, Iowa.
[begin clip]
Peter Doocy: Senator Sanders has money to burn.
Bernie Sanders: So far, we have received over five million campaign contributions, which is more than any candidate in the history of the United States.
Peter Doocy: 34.5 million dollars flowed into the Bernie 2020 account last quarter and now his campaign explains teacher was the most common occupation of Sanders fourth quarter donors. The five most common employers were Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, the United States Postal Service and Target, and the average donation was $18.53 cents. Last quarter, Sanders raised almost 10 million dollars more than Mayor Pete and almost 12 million dollars more than Joe Biden in his biggest quarter ever.
Joe Biden: And by the way, our online contributions are doubled since last quarter.
Peter Doocy: Even though Biden trails Sanders and now even Buttigieg in fundraising, his campaign argues these numbers clearly demonstrate Donald Trump's lies and attacks on the Vice President have only cemented and expanded his support. But the president's reelection campaign has a lot more money than any of the Democrats running.
Male Speaker: Trump give him his due. 46 million dollars in the fourth quarter. He's got one hundred three million dollars cash on hand.
Peter Doocy: Donations and polling kept Julian Castro off debate stages and today he suspended his campaign.
Julian Castro: With only a month until the Iowa caucuses and given the circumstances of this campaign season, I've determined that it simply isn't our time.
Peter Doocy: In Iowa and New Hampshire Elizabeth Warren has slipped to fourth place in the Real Clear Politics polling averages of those states and lately, she's been talking less about Medicare for all.
Elizabeth Warren: I take questions and I go wherever the questions take me.
Peter Doocy: Warren's fundraising numbers haven't been released yet, so it's not clear if anybody can match Sanders in the month before caucus day.
Male Speaker: Bernie Sanders already has the biggest crowds so far in Iowa this cycle and now he's got all this money. Is that something that alarms you? Joe Biden: No, no. I think we're doing fine. We raised almost two and a half times much before we're competitive with everybody else I think we feel good.
[end video clip]
Peter Doocy: But there has been a big bus sized change because in the New Year, Biden has a new slogan on the side of his ride he's rolling around in a rig that says The battle for the soul of our nation, which means the old design, no malarkey, is no more Bret.
Bret Baier: Peter Doocy on sign design from Iowa. Peter, thanks. Bestselling author and spiritual guru Marianne Williamson, also a presidential candidate, has laid off her entire 2020 campaign staff two former staffers say she is still pushing ahead with her presidential bid. A former campaign aide says Williamson laid off her entire campaign staff Tuesday because of financial concerns. Up next, we will talk to the secretary of commerce about the latest with the U.S. economy and what could be a major breakthrough in the diagnose diagnosis of breast cancer we'll have that story as well. First, beyond our borders tonight. Taiwan's top military official was among eight people killed today in an Air Force helicopter crash in mountainous terrain outside Taipei. The Defense Ministry says five others survived. The general was responsible for overseeing the self-governing islands defense against China, which threatens to use military force if necessary to annex what it considers part of its territory. Residents of Indonesia's capital, who had to be forced into shelters by heavy rain and widespread flooding are returning to their homes today. Floodwaters have started to recede, though the death toll from that disaster has jumped to 30. Three women are under investigation, meantime, in Germany for launching paper sky lanterns for the new year that apparently ignited a devastating fire, killing more than 30 animals at a zoo there. Sky lanterns are both illegal and unusual in Germany. Just some of the other headlines beyond our borders, tonight. We'll be right back.
[commercial break].
Bret Baier: We watched the market record day earlier. Let's talk about the U.S. economy and other topics tonight with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross who joins us from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Mr. Secretary, thanks for being here.
Wilbur Ross: Thanks for having me on, Bret.
Bret Baier: And Happy New Year. Listen, we talked about the markets earlier. If you look over the past year, it's pretty stunning to see the graph of where the markets have been, where they've really accelerated. And then you look at the economy overall, the changes since the president took office, GDP growth currently at 2.1 percent. That's a little down, but unemployment 3.5 percent. Consumer confidence is up significantly as are average hourly earnings. We put that up often to talk about the economy. Whereas, commerce secretary, tonight, do you see the U.S. economy as you look towards this new year in 2020?
Wilbur Ross: I think the U.S. economy is in very, very good shape. The main argument that the naysayers have is that until 11 years into recovery, but I have news for them -- rallies, recoveries don't die of old age. Something has to kill them. The hyperinflation and oil crisis, something like that. And I don't see anything on the horizon. Instead, there are some real pluses coming in. The settlement of the arrangements with the USMCA. There's going to be a huge, powerful influence. The International Trade Commission estimates on average it to be some 370.000 jobs added as it gets rolling. The new agreement with China should be very, very powerful -- 100 billion a year for the next couple of years. That alone is a half a percentage point on the economy. Sooner or later, Boeing will hopefully get the 737 MAX back flying. That's probably been a quarter of a point drag on the economy. So, there's a whole lot of things that have to be coming in as a positive superimposed on the momentum that we already have. I feel very good.
Bret Baier: You mentioned USMCA and obviously that negotiated deal with Congress as the countries sign on, and you mentioned China. Today, headlines from two different papers with two different kind of market looks at the China deal. Washington Post "Major hole in initial U.S. China trade deal," suggesting it's not living up to everything it was promised. New York Times says, "China injects $115 billion to stabilize its economy." What's the reality of this China deal? Is it -- does it fall short significantly of what the administration hoped? And what does it mean for China? Are they in trouble, and they're in a negotiating mode?
Wilbur Ross: Well, in terms of the administration, this is not the final deal. This is phase one. The decision was made to get over the relatively easier parts first. We are getting very major concessions in terms of current trade. As I mentioned, 100 million, 100 billion a year for each to the next couple of years. That's a lot. That's a half a point in and of itself. But there's also changes in intellectual property, right, respect. Changes in technology transfer not letting that happen to the degree that it had been. Number of other things of that sort. Financial services, foreign exchange currency. So, considering that it's only first phase, I think it's a very monumental achievement. The real test, though, will come in the next phase because that's the really hard things that will require major structural reforms to the Chinese economy. But even before that, just the very fact that we have a very clear enforcement mechanism in this agreement is an enormous step forward. No trade agreement has ever had as powerful an enforcement mechanism as we have here.
Bret Baier: You know, I saw you on the list to travel to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. Is President Trump going to attend this year?
Wilbur Ross: Well, he's announced that he intends to, as you can appreciate. His schedule is not totally within his own control. But I was with him when he went two years ago, and it was a rousing success. The very fact of him coming, the very fact of him stating very clearly his position on a variety of issues made a very, very powerful impression on the people there. We all would have gone last year except obviously with the budget crisis it was inappropriate to go traveling while that was still a work in progress.
Bret Baier: I want to play a sound bite from that 2018 trip where the president was in Davos. Here's what he said back then.
[begin video clip].
Donald Trump: There's a tremendous spirit in the United States.
All of those that are pouring billions of dollars into our country or ten dollars into our country. We thank you very much.
I don't think the United States would have done very well if it went through four or eight more years of regulation and really a very anti-business group of people. We have a very pro-business group.
[end video clip]
Bret Baier: You know that was the message then. What's the message this time as he goes to Davos, if he goes, what's the message to the world?
Wilbur Ross: Well, I think the message to the world will be that notwithstanding that people were criticizing his trade program saying, "Oh, it's going to ruin the world trading system. It's going to ruin the world economy, and you'll never get success." Well, guess what? Assuming ratification of USMCA and assuming we have the signing on January 15 with China, that will be four important trade deals that he has completed within a 12-month period. The first two were the deal with Japan and the reformation of the KORUS Free Trade Agreement. No president has ever achieved that much in such a short time period.
Bret Baier: Mr. Secretary, last thing, and this is under your category, and that is the census. Obviously, it's been controversial in the courts, but just the logistics of it is a big, big job. You have only one state so far that I can see, Nebraska, the first state agreeing to share driver's license records with your department, with the U.S. Census Bureau, falls under Commerce. Are there going to be challenges for you in 2020 for this census and where does it stand tonight?
Wilbur Ross: Well, first of all, we've had very good success in getting records and joint ventures set up, not only with most of the states on the snap records, on the WIC records, on the TANF records, all kinds of records that we can use to cross check a far greater abundance of federal records than we ever had available before, and that became available this time because of the president's executive order. So, we're feeling very, very good about the increased flow of very reliable administrative records that we will have available. We also have found in the two experiments we've done that the addition of direct cell phone into the computer has greatly improve the efficiency of the enumerators. Enumerators are the people who go door to door to try to get the information verbally from those folks who didn't respond to the repeated mailings that were made to them. We're finding their efficiency is up more than 50 percent. That means we can make a lot more calls. More calls made means we'll have more success. I have every confidence this will be the most complete and most accurate census we've ever had.
Bret Baier: Obviously, it means a a huge deal politically for different states and the representation here in Washington. Mr. Secretary, we appreciate your time and again, Happy New Year.
Wilbur Ross: Well, thank you very much, and Happy New Year to you, Bret.
Bret Baier: Up next, Australia declares a state of emergency as the worst wildfires on record burn through millions of acres.
[commercial break]
Bret Baier: Breaking tonight, massive evacuations in Australia. Meantime, thousands of tourists there have had their holiday vacations upended by these massive wildfires along the continent's eastern coast. For the people who live there, evacuations in hundreds of cases, homes destroyed. A major emergency in Australia tonight. Correspondent Benjamin Hall has the latest.
[begin video clip]
Benjamin Hall: A weeklong state of emergency declared this morning in Australia with thousands fleeing the worst fires on record. Over 12 million acres of land have burned an area twice the size of Connecticut. At least 17 people have been killed more than 1,400 homes destroyed.
Male Speaker: As I looked up into the sky and I saw black leaves, it was like raining black leaves I was expecting something real bad to happen, and it certainly did.
Benjamin Hall: The fires have been fueled by a combination of extreme heat, prolonged drought and strong winds. Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison had to cut short a visit to a town ravaged by fire after angry locals heckled him over the government's response.
Female Speaker: What about the people who have nowhere to live.
Benjamin Hall: Morrison has been heavily criticized for vacationing in Hawaii during the fires and for insisting that the responsibility belongs to state rather than federal government. Furious firefighters have refused to shake his hand.
Male Speaker: I understand the very strong feelings people have that they've lost everything and there is still some very dangerous days ahead and we understand that, and that's why we're going to do everything we can to ensure they have every, every support they will need.
Benjamin Hall: The fires are so hot, they are melting fire trucks making work for the firefighters, highly dangerous.
Male Speaker: When we were in there, in the thick of it, we thought that this could be it.
Benjamin Hall: The military have also been called in and in one remote region, a Navy troop carrier is preparing to evacuate up to 4,000 people trapped on a beach by the advancing wildfires. They have nowhere else to run.
[end video clip]
Benjamin Hall: A contingent of U.S. and Canadian firefighters arrived in Australia on Thursday offering expertise and advice, but it's feared these fires will go on for months and will get worse, at least until rain arrives Bret.
Bret Baier: We'll continue to follow it Benjamin, thank you. Meantime, on a science and health front, there may be a major breakthrough tonight concerning one of the most dangerous cancers in the world. A new artificial intelligence program may actually be more accurate than human doctors in reading breast scans in women. Susan Leave, the Fox Business Network joins us from New York with specifics. Good evening Susan.
Susan Leave: Good evening, Brett. Breast cancer is a second deadliest killer of women worldwide, so any improvement in early diagnosis is a good thing. Google says its artificial intelligence can help.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: Using these tools allows clinicians to have significantly more free time to concentrate on what we all went to medical school for, which is to actually take care of patients.
[end video clip]
Susan Li: After analyzing 25,000 mammograms in the U.K. and 3,000 in the U.S., Google's A.I. system helped identify 10 percent more missed breast cancer cases in the U.S. and reduced false positives by close to 6 percent. However, in the U.K., the results were more negligible, a sign that Google's A.I. system still needs improvement.
[begin video clip]
Male Speaker: This mammogram shows a malignancy outlined in yellow that all six radiologists missed but our algorithm caught; however, there were also cases that our -- that all six radiologists caught but the algorithm didn't. And so, it's clear that they're making, hopefully, complementary decisions and we're excited about by the synergy of putting the two together.
[end video clip]
Susan Li: As Google pushes further into health-care developments, concerns grow over data privacy. Late last year reports surfaced that Google was accessing millions of Americans health records without the patient's and the doctor's direct knowledge. Code named to Project Nightingale, it was revealed that Google was working with Ascension Health, the country's second-largest health-care system. Now, the U.S. government itself also has reservations about Google's health care ambitions with the Justice Department now taking a closer look at Google's $2.1 billion acquisition of fitness tracker Fitbit. Early detection of breast cancer is just one disease that Google is working on better diagnosing. Accurately identifying lung cancer and preventing serious eye disease are two other initiatives that Google is hoping A.I. can also improve upon in the future. Bret.
Bret Baier: Susan, thanks. Happy New Year.
Susan Li: Happy New Year.
Bret Baier: Next up: Bernie Sanders' big cash haul; not as big as President Trump but leading the Democratic field by far. We'll get reaction from the panel after the break.
[music playing]
[commercial break]
[begin video clip]
Joe Biden: And by the way, our online contributions are -- have been doubled since last quarter. I hope we can double them again.
[cheering]
Bernie Sanders: What is important to me is not just a large amount of money. That is important. What is more important that, in this campaign so far, we have received over five million campaign contributions, which is more than any candidate in the history of the United States. And that tells me the kind of grassroots support that we have and tells me why we're going to win the nomination and why we're going to defeat Donald Trump.
Male Speaker: Bernie did a great job.
[end video clip]
Bret Baier: Well, the fundraising numbers for the fourth quarter are out and they're pretty staggering, if you look at them. President Trump, obviously not against anyone, but raising $46 million in the fourth quarter. Bernie Sanders with a jaw-dropping $34.5 million, and as he mentioned there, a lot of them from small donors; the average donor, $18. Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden there, and Andrew Yang with a significant quarter in the fourth quarter as well as fundraising. Meantime, The Washington Post has an article which it says, "Ascendant Bernie Sanders turns his focus to Joe Biden." And there's a quote, "It just, it's just a lot of baggage that Joe takes into the campaign, which isn't going to create energy and excitement. He brings into this campaign a record which is so weak that it just cannot create the kind of excitement and energy that is going to be needed to defeat Donald Trump." So there, as we close in on the Iowa caucuses, February 3rd.
[crosstalk]
Let's bring in our panel. Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen; Mara Liasson, national political correspondent of National Public Radio; and Matthew Continetti, founding editor of The Washington Free Beacon. Mara, it is true. The Washington Post says, "Ascendant Bernie Sanders." He is ascendant.
Mara Liasson: He's ascendant. He's the oldest candidate running, period. He's had a heart attack and he's still doing really well in the polls, brought in tremendous amounts of money, and he's doing something now that he said he wasn't going to do. He doesn't like to attack other candidates. He said that's kind of his brand, but now he's going after Joe Biden. So, it tells you who he thinks is the biggest obstacle for him.
Bret Baier: Julián Castro, dropping out of the race today, saying he just can't compete with money and influence as you close in on the Iowa caucuses. What's the picture look like? It's really kind of a jump ball.
Matthew Continetti: It is a jump ball. I mean, look, Joe Biden is basically exactly where he's been the whole time, which is about 24 percent support. He's not, he's not pulling away from the pack because people are rightly concerned that he's too old, and fragile, and not ready to go up against Donald Trump. But they don't see an alternative because, I mean, the truth is that both Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are so far to the left that they, that they spook the independents. And they -- if either Sanders or Warren got the nomination, it would be a Trump landslide, I think.
Bret Baier: If you look at the Democrats who have qualified for the next debate, which is in Iowa in two weeks, this is what the group looks like. And for a party that talks a lot about diversity, Cory Booker, Andrew Yang no longer on that stage.
Matthew Continetti: Oops. I guess we're going to have to examine the prejudices of Democratic voters now as opposed to Republican ones who are often said to be prejudiced. Look, the fundraising numbers are fascinating. The top fundraiser in your graph is a nationalist and the second fundraiser in your graph is a socialist. And what that says to me is the American people are continuing to reject establishment politicians. They're continuing to reject politics as usual. They're looking for candidates who are outside the mold and have brands that are distinctive from Washington. And if it's, if the Democrats end up nominating a typical politician -- in Joe Biden, say -- that is trouble for them in the general election.
Bret Baier: You mentioned President Trump's numbers. Brad Parscale, the campaign manager, put out a tweet: "Staggering $46 million raised by President Trump in Q4 2019, jaw-dropping $102.7 million cash on hand." This is just campaign fundraising, doesn't include RNC money. This will be huge, too. Big response to POTUS record: Dems impeachment, Trump gets stronger." $10 million raised, Mara, just in the day of the actual impeachment vote.
Mara Liasson: There's no doubt that he's -- impeachment has helped him raise money. There's no doubt that $46 million is a staggering number. However, if you add up all of the Democratic fundraising totals, they're twice as much as he has raised, and that did not happen in 2012.
Bret Baier: Right, and that's to assume that all of those candidates, however, would coalesce behind one Democrat.
Mara Liasson: Yes, that's to assume, but in just in terms of a fundraising marker, in 2012, the last time we had an incumbent president running, the Republican field together did not outraise Barack Obama at this point.
Bret Baier: You mentioned impeachment as a political issue. Here is Susan Collins from Maine, Republican, about this upcoming trial.
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Susan Collins: I am open to witnesses. I think it's premature to decide who should be called until we see the evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the chief justice to both sides.
[end clip]
Bret Baier: So, you have Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski both saying, "Hm, maybe witnesses." They would need two others, Republicans, to vote to make that happen, we think. Obviously, the articles of impeachment haven't moved from the House to the Senate yet but will -- likely is going to be next week.
Mark Thiessen: Yeah, I think it will be very unlikely that Republicans are going to buck the majority leader when he's when he's managing this process. I mean, look, the Democrats are completely hypocritical here. They are the ones who rushed this entire process. They are the ones who set the artificial deadline. Impeachment has to be done by Christmas, which there is no reason why impeachment had to be done by Christmas. They are the ones who said we can't wait for the courts to adjudicate. When the legislative branch and executive branch disagree, then you go to the courts and they decide, right? And they said, "No, obstruction of Congress." This makes a mockery of their obstruction of Congress.
Bret Baier: Ten seconds witnesses or no witnesses.
Mara Liasson: I doubt it very much.
Mark Thiessen: No witnesses, and don't bet against McConnell.
Matthew Continetti: No witnesses and obviously acquitted.
Bret Baier: OK. When we come back, one presidential candidate hangs a very chilly 10.
[commercial break]
Bret Baier: Finally, tonight is January, so surf's up.
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Tulsa Gabbard: There is absolutely no better way to start the dance to start the year.
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Bret Baier: Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, the congresswoman from Hawaii, likes to surf fair enough. Yesterday morning, though, she joined a group of surfers in New Hampshire, not Hawaii, New Hampshire while campaigning. She says she recommends early morning surfing even in the frigid temperatures. The water temperature in New Hampshire in January estimated at 43 degrees, not exactly Honolulu, and I'm not sure how many votes you get that way but looks cool. That's enough for special report tonight. Happy New Year. Fair, balanced and unafraid, we promise. The story guest hosted by Ed Henry starts right now. Hey, Ed.
Ed Henry: Happy New Year Brett, we'll be up in Manchester we could surf pretty soon.
Bret Baier: Sure why no.
Ed Henry: Let's try it out.
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