This is a rush transcript from “Sunday Morning Futures," September 13, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Maria Bartiromo.
Straight ahead right here on "Sunday Morning Futures": It is now just 50 days away Americans will decide the next U.S. president, in what is shaping up to be the most important election of our lifetime.
The economy, crime, and coronavirus all top of mind for voters, as the latest FOX News poll shows President Trump is cutting into Joe Biden's lead in key battleground states.
Coming up, Senator Ted Cruz is here. He will tell us what's at stake in November and the pivotal campaign issue he believes could change the course of history.
Also ahead, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is here to set the record straight on the administration's handling of COVID-19, with new documents that show the president's actions taken.
And the very latest Russiagate bombshell this week. More than a dozen government issued phones belonging to members of Robert Mueller's team, including Lisa Page and Andrew Weissmann, have been wiped clean entirely. Obstructing justice is against the law, but will they pay a price?
Congressman Devin Nunes investigates with us.
Also this hour, the former Super Bowl champion turned Republican congressional candidate Burgess Owens is here on his race in Utah and why he believes Biden will be remembered as -- quote -- "the Democrat who lost the black vote.
All that and a lot more, as we look ahead right here, right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."
But first this morning: President Trump has added 20 names to his list of potentially Supreme Court nominees this week, including three Republican senators, Tom Cotton from Arkansas, Josh Hawley from Missouri, and my next guest, the first guest this morning, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who serves currency on the Judiciary and Foreign Relations committees.
Before running for office, he was a Supreme Court litigator and clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
And his new book, "One Vote Away," explores the high-stakes of judicial appointments, and why he believes we are only one vote away from losing our freedom.
Senator Ted Cruz, great to have you this morning. Congratulations on the new book, and thank you for being here.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Well, thank you, Maria. Good morning. And it's great to be with you.
BARTIROMO: Senator, we're talking about a lot of issues that are important to viewers this morning as it relates to this upcoming election.
But you pinpoint the most important, potentially, and that is Supreme Court announcements, appointments. Tell me why you believe this issue can change the course of history.
CRUZ: Well, I think nothing matters more long term than preserving the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, preserving our fundamental liberties that all of us enjoy as Americans.
That's why I wrote this book. I spent much of the COVID lockdown this spring and summer actually sitting right here in my living room writing the book. The book comes out October 6, in three weeks, but it's already available for preorder on Amazon or on https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__OneVoteAway.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=xqoGUeGhRs2cu_dAImn196BSK7r30LgaRZoTanZiTlc&s=ig7fK3ZCKeTlAUuS-RQh594nUl6KRQ9gNKA3p2LO3GU&e= .
And what the book does is, it walks through -- each chapter is a different constitutional liberty. And each chapter, it talks about free speech, it talks about religious liberty, it talks about the Second Amendment, it talks about U.S. sovereignty.
And the way the book is written, each chapter is telling war stories about landmark cases, many of which I litigated. So, it's telling the inside story of what went on.
So, for example, on religious liberty, I talk at great length about a case called Van Orden v. Perry. Van Orden v. Perry started in the state of Texas. It was a challenge to the Ten Commandments monument that stands on the state capitol grounds.
And an atheist, a homeless man, brought a lawsuit challenging that monument. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court. And Texas won 5- 4. It was just one vote away, preserving the right to acknowledge God almighty in the public square. We were one vote away from the Supreme Court ordering, tear down that monument, tear down crosses at cemeteries.
Another case I argued that I talk about in the book is the Mojave Desert veterans case.
BARTIROMO: Right.
CRUZ: Actually didn't argue it, but I litigated it.
It was, in California, a lone white Latin cross that memorializes the veterans who gave their lives in World War I. And the ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging it, saying, you cannot gaze on the image of a cross on public land. It went all the way to the Supreme Court.
And, 5-4 -- I represented the veterans pro bono, for free -- 5-4, we prevailed, and the Supreme Court didn't order that monument torn down. We're one vote away.
That same thing is true on the Second Amendment.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: The same thing is true on free speech.
On issue after issue, what I do in the book is walk through, here is what was going on in the case, here are the players, here's what's happening.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And, you know, Maria, it's designed, hopefully, to be readable, to be interesting, to be fun. You don't have to be a lawyer to read it.
If you care about free speech, if you care about religious liberty, if you care about any of our rights, then this book is designed to explain where they stand right now, and just how much jeopardy they're in.
BARTIROMO: So, let's talk about where we stand right now, Senator.
I want to get into the issues at stake for the American people come November, now 50 days away.
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: Why do you believe certain rights are actually in jeopardy? Why do you believe, right now, in some of these issues that are so important to us, our constitutional rights, like free speech, why do you believe they are in jeopardy or at risk right now, with this 5-4 situation in the Supreme Court?
CRUZ: Well, because, on issue after issue, there's a four-justice radical left majority on the court.
I will give you an example on the Second Amendment, Heller vs. District of Columbia. Now, that's a case many people know. It started in D.C. Dick Anthony Heller, who was a federal police officer, brought a lawsuit, because it was illegal for him -- even though he carried a gun at work, he was not allowed to have a gun at home.
He couldn't have an operative firearm at home. And the Second Amendment protects our right to keep and bear arms. That case went all the way to the Supreme Court. I represented 31 states in that case.
And the position of the dissenters -- it was 5-4 -- many -- most of these cases were 5-4. The position of the dissenters, here is what they were saying, Maria. They weren't saying some gun control sometimes is permissible. That, we could have an argument about, but that was not what they were saying.
What the dissenters said, the four justices who lost, they said the Second Amendment doesn't protect any individual right whatsoever. That means, you and I have zero rights. They said instead it's what's called a collective right of the militia.
Now, what does that mean? That's a fancy lawyer term for a nonexistent right. Under the dissenters' view, if the Second Amendment only protects a collective right, the federal government, the states, the local government could make it a felony for you or I to own, possess a firearm, and we would have no recourse.
We'd have no ability to sue. We'd have no right under the Second Amendment. The dissenters are literally erasing the Second Amendment from the Bill of Rights. And we are one vote away.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: If Joe Biden wins, the odds are very high, depending on what appointments he gets, that that four votes will become five votes, and the Second Amendment will be erased from the Bill of Rights.
That's the stakes of this election. And it's true on issue after issue. You know, I have got another chapter talking about elections and democracy. And I take readers inside the inside story of Bush vs. Gore.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: I was one of the lawyers that helped litigate Bush vs. Gore in 2000.
That case, when it went to the Supreme Court, four justices were prepared to take away the right to elect our president, to take it away from the voters, and to give it to unelected judges instead.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
CRUZ: And every chapter walks through, these are the stakes.
But then the book also lays out, here is how a Republican president should get it right. So, the last chapter traces the history of judicial nominations, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And Democrats, they get this right almost every time. Their nominees bat close to .1000. They vote almost exactly how Democrats would want them to vote on every issue.
BARTIROMO: They're all in line. Yes. They're all in line.
CRUZ: Republicans, at best, Republican nominees maybe bat .500.
We need to get it right. And the book lays out, here is how you get it right. Here is what you look for, so that we stop screwing this up and stop rolling the dice with our constitutional liberties.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Senator, the president has put your name on a list of potential Supreme Court justices that he would name. Do you want the job?
CRUZ: You know, I don't. It is deeply honoring. It's humbling to be included in the list. I'm grateful that the president has that confidence in me.
But it's not the desire of my heart. I want to be in the political fight. I want to be fighting to nominate and confirm three, four, five principled constitutionalist justices.
But that's not where I want to serve.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: I want to stay fighting right where I am in the U.S. Senate.
BARTIROMO: Well, Senator, I want to ask you about some of those fights.
I mean, we had news this week in terms of John Durham's investigation. Got to get your take there. And you have been very vocal on China, new developments there as well, plus your SCRIPT Act with regard to entertainment. Got to get your take on this Netflix show "Cuties," which is all the talk right now.
Stay with us. We will slip in a break.
We are talking with Senator Ted Cruz this morning. We will get the latest efforts to hold Beijing accountable, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: And we're back with Senator Ted Cruz.
And, Senator, we were talking about your book.
I want to get your take on the latest polls and how you're feeling about the Senate. I have been speaking to a number of CEOs and business managers lately, and they are concerned that the Republicans could lose the majority this coming November.
Where are the risks? And what do you feel is most important in terms of the vote in 50 days now?
CRUZ: Well, Maria, I'm very concerned about this election. I think it is exceptionally volatile. And I think it depends on what happens over the next two months.
I think, if we see people starting to go back to work, I think, if we see a renewed sense of hope and optimism, we could have a phenomenally good election. We could see the president reelected by an even bigger margin than last time. We could see Republicans growing our majority in the Senate. We could even see Republicans re taking the House of Representatives.
And I'm fighting hard for all of those to happen.
But, on the other hand, if, in the next two months, we see more people losing their jobs, more shutdowns, we see COVID numbers going up, if people are depressed and demoralized, if they are giving up hope, we could see a terrible election.
We could see an absolute bloodbath, where Biden wins the presidency, and we wake up and Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the House.
And I have got to tell you, Maria, the damage that a Biden-Schumer-Pelosi government would do, I think, in two years would exceed the damage that Barack Obama and Joe Biden did in eight years.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And I don't recall an election in my lifetime where there was so much delta, so much volatility between a very a very good election and a Watergate-level catastrophic election.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: I don't month which one it's going to be, which means the stakes right now are enormously high.
BARTIROMO: They are enormously high.
You have come out with your own bill to safely reopen the economy, get kids back to school. I know that school choice is very important to you, and you would expect that that's very important to suburban women, which has been one of the cautious or weak spots for President Trump.
Talk about school choice here, and why you believe that is and may ultimately resonate with voters.
CRUZ: Well, I think school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century.
And I think it is particularly poignant right now. We have got 56 million schoolkids all across America. And, right now, a whole lot of kids, a whole lot of families, a whole lot of moms and dads are hurting.
You know, as you know, Heidi and I, we have got two little girls. They're nine and 12 years old. Since March, they have been distance learning at home. And so, for most of the time, I have been working here at home here sitting in this living room. Heidi has been working in her office from home.
And we have had Catherine, our fourth grader. She's been on the kitchen table doing distance learning. Caroline, our seventh grader, has been in her bedroom doing distance learning.
That's hard. And that's hard. And we have got two parents who have been able to work at home, who are able to help both girls get online, stay engaged, do their homework.
You know, Maria, I cannot imagine how unbelievably difficult, how impossible it's been for a parent that's a single mom right now. If you're a single mom, you're trying to hold ends together.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: You maybe have three, four, five kids at home, trying to get them online.
And what we're seeing, tragically, is for millions of kids, they're not getting an education right now.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: They're not logging in online.
BARTIROMO: It's a big cost.
CRUZ: And this was -- initially, we were told, OK, this is just going to be a week or two to flatten the curve.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Well, this has gone from a week or two to months to now we're coming up on half-a-year.
And, if it continues, there's a whole generation of kids that is at risk of being lost.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And so I have legislation. It's included in my bill the Recovery Act, but, actually, the Senate voted on my school choice legislation last week.
What it provides is $5 billion of federal tax credits for contributions to scholarship granting organizations that give scholarships for K-12 education.
BARTIROMO: Right.
CRUZ: And it's matching dollars.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And what that means -- let's take the state of Texas.
State of Texas, we got 29 million people. It would mean that, in the next year, there would be an additional $500 million in scholarships in Texas, so that, if you're a mom...
BARTIROMO: It's very powerful, yes.
CRUZ: ... at home and you're not -- your kids aren't getting educated, you can get a scholarship to find a school that will give an education to your kids. And it's an injection of new cash.
And I have got to tell you, I'm sorry to say, Republicans were united, supported my school choice legislation. Every single Democrat voted against it.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: Every single Democrat voted to leave those kids trapped, without providing the relief they need.
BARTIROMO: Yes, that's unbelievable.
Look, I want to get to two more things. We only have a couple seconds here -- a couple minutes, rather.
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: But your young girls that you have, which is why your red flag antennas went up when you saw Netflix promoting this show called "Cuties."
It's extremely disturbing to me as well. You sent a letter to the Justice Department asking whether or not they have done something wrong by promoting "Cuties."
CRUZ: Yes.
BARTIROMO: You want to know whether there should be an investigation into Netflix. Tell me about that real quick, because I want your take on China before we go.
CRUZ: Well, this movie "Cuties," it sexualizes 11-year-old girls, has them dancing like strippers, has them in very suggestive sexual roles, and it's, frankly, disgusting.
BARTIROMO: It is. It is. I don't even want to show the video.
CRUZ: Kids ought to be preserved, and we ought to protect them.
And Netflix is an incredibly profitable U.S. company. Barack Obama makes a ton of money from Netflix. And they are profiting. They are making money by selling the sexual exploitation of young kids.
And so I asked the attorney general to investigate them, because federal law makes it a crime. It is a felony to distribute child pornography.
And, you know, it's interesting online. Lots of so-called journalists were defending, well, it's just a movie.
You know what? We arrest and put in jail people every year for movies.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: If you have child pornography, if you have kids engage in sexual activities, if you produce it, if you distribute it, you face criminal penalties.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: And Netflix is making a ton of money.
I guarantee you every pedophile in America is going to watch this movie. And that Netflix is sitting back fat and happy making money on it, that's not right.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
And you would think that suburban housewomen be with you on that as well, by the way, going into this election.
Real quick before we go, Senator, on China, in terms of where we are, there will be a very different approach, depending on who wins this election, in terms of our long-term relationship with China, yes?
CRUZ: Absolutely.
China is, I believe, the single greatest geopolitical threat facing the United States for the next century.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Donald Trump, one of the most significant things he's done as president on foreign policy is stand up to China. And he's changed the debate. He has stood up vigorously to China.
Now, I think, in the second term, he needs to stand up even stronger to China.
BARTIROMO: All right.
CRUZ: But Joe Biden has spent 57 years -- 47 years, rather -- just kissing up to China, saying China's not a threat, saying China's our friends, saying we should be in bed more with China, don't worry about the communists murdering and torturing and stealing.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: Let's go make some money.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
CRUZ: This election, if you want communist China to have more power in America, Joe Biden is your guy.
Actually, even Nancy Pelosi said that in an interview, that China wants Joe Biden to win.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
CRUZ: That's not good for America.
BARTIROMO: Senator, thank you so much for joining us this morning. It's good to see you, sir.
We appreciate your time, Senator Ted Cruz.
And, as the senator just said, the only way for the economy to recover is for it to restart. How will the president make that happen?
We will talk with White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on the other side of this. He's got his 90-day economic forecast right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
After six months of coronavirus lockdowns, one Wall Street giant is calling its employees back to work.
J.P. Morgan announced on Friday staffers must return to the office by September 21, barring any child care or medical issues. This comes just two months before the 2020 election, with many businesses struggling to survive without another stimulus plan.
Joining me now is White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
Peter, it's great to see you. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
PETER NAVARRO, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF TRADE AND MANUFACTURING POLICY: Good morning, Maria.
BARTIROMO: I want to get to China and how the president has reacted.
But, first, let's see the -- let's talk about the economy. Here we are back in business in September. How do you see the next couple of months playing out?
NAVARRO: Back in business, back to business.
And the arc of this was, the Chinese Communist Party hit the strongest and most resilient economy in the history that President Trump had built. And we had to go into a lockdown because of that.
But, because of the resilience, we're coming out of that now. And if you think about what's going on now, it really traces back to a series of key decisions and a strategy by President Trump that dates back to January 31.
That was the day that he pulled down the flights from China, saved hundreds of thousands of lives. But the real story is what happened next in February, a strategy that was based on a hope for the best, prepare for the worst, stay calm, but, most importantly, Maria, attack this virus through four vectors of attack, which is personal protective equipment, therapeutics, testing, and vaccine development.
And, as early as February 9, I circulated a memo to the task force that outlined much of that, including a call for immediate action on vaccine development. And I predicted that, if we acted then, under President Trump's leadership, we'd have a vaccine perhaps as early as November, at least by the end of the year.
And so the ability of this administration and this president, basically, to go along those four vectors of attack has allowed us to reopen the economy, be much better prepared to deal with the Chinese Communist Party virus.
We're seeing much better performance in our hospitals. And, as we open up, as we move out of this trough, the economy is performing very strongly.
Now, we face challenges ahead. The worst thing that could happen right now would be a Biden presidency, where we go back to the old days of tax hikes, $4 trillion, more regulation, bad trade deals, capping our oil wells. I mean, this be truly a disaster.
But the key, Maria, for success over the 90 days and the next nine years is going to be restoring our manufacturing base, onshoring our production, not just of essential medicines, but of everything.
So, where we have these service sector refugees in our cities who are losing their jobs in things like restaurants, we employ them in our factories.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Yes, so that's the thing. You have been talking about moving supply chains, firing up the manufacturing base for some time. That's one of the president's priorities for a potential second term.
What do you believe? What do you think the next couple of months will look like? Do you think we're going to see a bounce-back from that contraction that we saw in the second quarter? And how long will it take to get those jobs fired up?
Because I know, Peter, you agree that some industries will change forever. The digital economy has penetrated even further, and we will likely see a nuance in terms of how people approach work, more focused on digital, right?
NAVARRO: A couple of things here.
One, good for Jamie Dimon. I'd rather have him mayor of New York right now than Bill de Blasio. He's putting priority of getting the greatest city in the world back into business.
But, for me, Maria, the success long term is really in places like Scarborough, Maine. Why do I say that? Well, Scarborough, Maine, is where Abbott Labs is. And Abbott Labs is at the cutting edge of building out our testing capabilities.
They pioneered this ID NOW thing, which was a ready test. They're pioneering going in to point-of-care pregnancy-type tests. And what you have is not just the ability to help our people defend themselves from the Chinese Communist Party virus, but, also a boom.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: It's a boom outside the Portland area, a jobs boom.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: And if you look around Maine, you have got the lobster fishermen coming back because we're doing things with European tariffs. You have got Guilford, Maine, with testing.
So, my point, Maria, is that what we need to do is turn some of these really worst lemons ever into the lemonade of production, producing what we need to defend this country.
And that's going to be really the cornerstone of economic prosperity in this country going forward.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Peter, real quick, before you go, want to get your take on China and the situation around Hunter Biden. Biden's investment fund, BHR, co-purchased Henniges Automotive with Chinese military contractor AVIC.
How is it possible that this company in Michigan was able to get acquired by a company that is Chinese-military-related?
NAVARRO: Well, my favorite moment of the week was watching Joe Biden use a teleprompter and canned Q&As.
But the question we all need to ask Joe Biden is, when he took Hunter over -- Hunter Biden over on Air Force Two, did he know Hunter was going to come back with pallets of cash, over $1 billion for Bohai Harvest?
Did he know that this fund was going to be used by the Chinese Communist Party to buy companies in places like Michigan that could then be sold to military companies in China, basically, for that technology should be used to kill Americans?
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: These are like really serious issues that the press seems to be glossing over.
And it's -- the question is not, where is Hunter? It's like, how much damage has Hunter actually done to American national security? And what did Joe Biden know and when did he know it?
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: And, look, if it's one of the cases where he didn't know what his kid was doing on Air Force Two, that's a whole 'nother can of worms.
But that single act was treason and betrayal by Hunter Biden.
BARTIROMO: It's pretty extraordinary.
Peter, it's great to see you this morning.
NAVARRO: Thanks, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Thanks for checking in. We will see you soon.
Peter Navarro is at the White House this morning.
Up next: Destroying evidence is a federal crime, punishable of up to 20 years in jail. But will members of Robert Mueller's team pay the price for wiping their phones clean during the Russia probe?
Congressman Devin Nunes is here to weigh in on that, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RATCLIFFE, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I said, my only condition is that you would treat this information with the respect that it deserves and you keep it private.
And yet, within minutes of that -- one of those briefings ending, a number of members of Congress went to a number of different publications and leaked classified information, again, for political purposes to create a narrative that simply isn't true, that, somehow, Russia is a greater national security threat than China.
So, I'm going to continue to keep the promises that I made. I'm going to continue to follow the law. I'm going to continue to keep Congress informed.
But we have had a pandemic of information being leaked out of the intelligence community. And I'm going to take the measures to make sure that that stops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: That was the director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, speaking with me exclusively last week on "Sunday Morning Futures," in his first and only interview independence is being sworn into office on May 26.
My next guest worked alongside Director Ratcliffe on the ground floor of the Trump-Russia investigation. He has long warned viewers on this program about D.C. leakers and corruption and the Russia probe.
Devin Nunes is the ranking member of the House Intel Committee. And he is the author of the new book "Countdown to Socialism," which is on store shelves right now.
Congressman, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us.
Want to talk a bit about what's taken place this week.
REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): Great to be with you.
BARTIROMO: We learned that more than a dozen government-issued phones used by Mueller's team during the Russia probe were wiped clean.
Isn't this obstruction of justice? Is that a federal crime, punishable up to 20 years? Your reaction to this?
NUNES: Well, the way I look at this is, thank God for Judicial Watch, who was actually able to fight the Department of Justice to get this information.
This looks like it occurred at a very interesting time. This is when the lovebirds' text messages were discovered. So, clearly, after that, everybody on the Mueller team went and wiped their phone.
So, the question here is, is, was there an investigation? Because, if there was, that could be obstruction of justice. But I think, regardless of that, this is destruction of federal records. We cannot have a justice system, whether it's at the federal level or the state level or local level, where records are being destroyed, Maria, because that's how we have a fair and equal justice system here, that, if there's misconduct of any kind, that you can go back and look at what the prosecutors were doing.
And, look, this is very relevant. If I was in General Flynn's shoes right now, I'd be furious, and I think that as all Americans should be upset about this.
But, for the Republican Party, the Republican Party has to prioritize this, that these guys are prosecuted and held accountable. This was a witch-hunt against our party, against a political party. They politicized and weaponized -- just like Ratcliffe, Director Ratcliffe, said, they weaponized this intelligence.
They knew -- and I will just finish with this part. Remember, all of these witch-hunters on the Mueller team knew the day they walked in the door that there was no evidence of collusion.
So, what they were doing is, they set an obstruction of justice trap. And I have spoke directly to attorneys that dealt with these people. The stories that come out of there -- and they have attorney-client privilege, so they can't talk about who they were representing.
But they have all come to me, Maria. And I don't mean just one. I mean several have come to me and said how out of control they were, the threats that they were making to their clients.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: And here you have it, they wiped some 30 phones? This is so, so wrong. It's infuriating to me.
BARTIROMO: Unbelievable.
So, is it 30 phones?
How many phones were wiped? And is there going to be any accountability, Congressman? What are you going to do about it? For the last three years, all I have heard is about obstruction of justice and collusion on the other side.
And the president's critics constantly say that that's what he's doing. In fact, that's what they have been doing.
NUNES: Yes.
BARTIROMO: I mean, Hillary Clinton destroyed, what, 30,000 e-mails? No accountability whatsoever.
NUNES: Yes.
BARTIROMO: She even used a hammer to try to -- you know, to try to destroy devices. And then it was like a joke about it.
Ron Johnson has been on this show umpteen times telling us that there were 125 leaks in the first 126 days of the new administration. So, where is the accountability?
NUNES: Well, look, this is why this is so critical.
So, as legislators, we don't have handcuffs and we don't have guns, but this is why the Department of Justice has to rein these bad guys in. There has to be an investigation of this.
Now, look, it is possible there already is one. Remember, there's the Durham investigation, but there's also three other U.S. attorneys from Missouri, from Pennsylvania, and from Texas that are looking into the areas surrounding all of this.
So, hopefully, there's already an investigation on this, I would hope. But, if I'm in General Flynn's shoes, I sure want to know what these prosecutors were doing.
BARTIROMO: Well, when are you expecting John Durham?
Are we going to see a solution or conclusions to his criminal investigation within the next two weeks? News this week that one of his key or lead investigators has stepped down. What's behind her stepping down, in your view?
NUNES: Well, look, we don't know that.
But you have to remember, the fake news complex in this country that's essentially the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party, these are -- they were involved in this entire Russian hoax.
And so the only thing that's out there right now on this prosecutor stepping aside is the very people that were involved in this. And they're spinning up their own story, building their own fake news narrative, like they always do.
But here is what we know. The Department of Justice hasn't said anything. The U.S. attorney in Connecticut hasn't said anything. So, all of this is just speculation.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: And the last thing I'm going to do is listen to the same hoaxers' propaganda arm of the Democrats, the media, these media operatives, spin their story and their tail of lies, when they have been involved in this from the very beginning.
BARTIROMO: In fact, this week, Kamala Harris once again raised the issue of Russia interference.
We have been hearing that a lot. We know that Ratcliffe had to set the record straight and say, look, I give a presentation about election interference, and certain members of Congress, they go and leak it to their favorite news people, and then they miss the whole story, because it's Russia, China and Iran trying to interfere.
But you heard what Kamala Harris said this week, right? What's your reaction?
NUNES: Well, I -- Kamala Harris is from California. She's a senator. She never meets with Republicans.
And, in fact, this is someone who, essentially, Obama had picked her to run. Obama and his team had picked her to run. And then she floundered. She fell flat. She was going to get last place in Iowa and New Hampshire in the early primaries. So, she quickly dropped out, after burning up tens of millions of dollars.
And then the story that is not being told to the American people is that Bernie Sanders was in the poll position and he was going to win. And Obama and his team knew that Sanders, as an outright socialist, that he would lose.
And so what they did is, they propped up Biden, you know, who appears to be nothing more than just an avatar. And they plugged in their apparatchik, Kamala Harris, who has never really had a real race in California, because we're a one-party state out in California, where the Republicans are essentially just sacrificial lambs.
So, she never really had a race when she was district attorney. Then she was put into -- as attorney general of California.
And so, look, she's totally unqualified. And she wouldn't know what the hell the difference between Russian collusion and China collusion would be.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NUNES: All she knows is, she's a politburo apparatchik that's going to build the fake narratives, working with their propaganda arm, which just happens to be 90-plus percent of the media in this country.
And so people just need to know, this is not a serious person that should be considered to be vice president of the United States.
BARTIROMO: Yes. We will be watching. She could be president, sooner, rather than later, should Joe Biden decide to step down because he's got, obviously, his own issues. We will keep watching that.
Congressman, it's good to see you this morning. Thank you, sir.
Congressman Devin Nunes joining us there.
NUNES: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: All of this is in my new book, remember.
I hope you will preorder my new book coming up, along with James Freeman, "The Cost: Trump, China, and American Revival."
Visit https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__TheCostBook.com&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=xqoGUeGhRs2cu_dAImn196BSK7r30LgaRZoTanZiTlc&s=2uAbQ1vkW5kP7kTKlsr10TaHg1sBpQOtesuluL8nR7I&e= for more information. Check out my new book, which is coming out this October, where we delve into the extraordinary resistance this president has faced from the Democrats to China.
Coming up, GOP congressional candidate Burgess Owens is here on the growing movement happening right now in minority communities that could decide the election in President Trump's favor this November.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURGESS OWENS (R), UTAH CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We live in a country where we're encouraged to dream big, where second chances are at the core of our American DNA.
We don't hear that same message from Nancy Pelosi's Congress. Career politicians, elitists, and even a former bartender want us to believe it's impossible. They want us to believe that what I did, what my great-great- grandfather did is impossible for ordinary Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: That was former NFL player and Utah congressional candidate Burgess Owens speaking on behalf of President Trump at last month's RNC.
The president got a nine-point poll bump with African-Americans after the convention, which some say is a sign that minority communities will vote Republican this November, something that could decide the election.
Burgess Owens joins me right now to talk more about that.
And, Burgess, that speech really gave me chills. It was incredible. Congratulations on that and so much to you. We're happy that you're here with us this morning.
What is the feeling among the black community, in your view, as it relates to President Trump and his policies?
OWENS: Thank you, first of all, Maria, for the opportunity.
First of all, Burgess for Utah, for those who want to support my efforts out in Utah.
What we have to understand, Maria, about our country is that, no matter what our color is, our background, our creed, our religion, we all want the same thing, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
And the black community has been dealing with a death of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness for decades because we have trusted the Democratic Party.
And my background, I grew up in a middle-class, segregated community, which was basically 50 to 60 percent of black Americans in the '60s, because we believed in education, in entrepreneurship, in family unit, and our faith.
And so what's happening today is, the last three years, black Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women, veterans are finally realizing we have a president who just doesn't talk the talk and give promises. He's getting results.
So, we're experiencing things that we have not experienced in decades. And because of that, black Americans are walking up, and we're leaving the plantation. The greatest thing that President Obama did was that he was such a lousy president that people woke up one day and say, what happened to hope and change? And that's what's going on today.
We're realizing that the middle class and the poor suffered tremendously over eight years of Obama/Biden. And we're seeing now that it doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to have this low expectation that we have had for at-risk people.
So we're now waking up. You are seeing that nine-point bump. That's just the beginning. We have black Americans across this country wearing MAGA hats because they are well over being intimidated, being called names.
We love our country. We love kids. We love our future. And we want to be hopeful. So that's what the we see happening right now. I'm so excited about -- after seeing this for decades.
I have always been a conservative, but I became a Republican with President Reagan. And it's so refreshing to see Americans across the country put aside the politics and the politician, and vote and focus on their values and principles and their kids' future.
So, we have a -- I think are really going to have a good time this coming 2020 election.
BARTIROMO: And you're zeroing in on the policies. You're talking about Opportunity Zones, school choice, all of the things that you would imagine really do resonate with all of us.
I mean, whether it's suburban women, black America, white America, these are policies that will impact people. You're not hearing that on the other side.
OWENS: It's always been about policies.
And the tenets that have made our country great is something consistent, no matter whether it was my great-great-grandfather who came in on a slave ship that became a successful entrepreneur, or the '60s, when you have segregation.
It comes down to four tenets. It's education, it's faith, it's having the opportunity to have a business and have a legacy you can pass on to your kids, and a focus and commitment to your family.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
OWENS: You put that together -- and suburban women feel the same way.
We're beginning to see things in the streets the last -- this last year that's allowing all Americans, no matter what side of the aisle we're on, to realize we're not into this destruction.
BARTIROMO: All right, Burgess, stay with us.
I want to talk more about that, because you have hit on something that's real important. And that is crime and security across our country.
More with Burgess Owens when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
We are back with Republican congressional candidate Burgess Owens. He's running in Utah's Fourth District.
And, Burgess, we were talking about the support from black America for this president.
And I want to get your take on your own compelling story. I mean, you talked about it at the RNC. After retiring from the NFL, you lost everything. You had to start over again as a chimney sweeper and a security guard. That did impact your view on politics. Talk about that.
And then, really, I'd like to get your take on some of these Democrat-run cities and the policies, because that also feeds into why you have these strong beliefs that you have.
OWENS: Well, first of all, I think the secret needs to come out that everyone has the obstacles. Everybody goes through their ups and downs in life.
And the most powerful nine words that one American can tell the other is, if I can do it, you can do it.
And that's the American way. That's the American dream. And that's how we keep hope in our country and with each other.
And we need to do more of that. At the end of the day, we also have policies put in place -- and I truly do believe this, Maria -- that the Democratic Party, what really draws the type of people there -- and I'm talking leadership now -- are -- they are drawing narcissists and sociopaths.
These people who have no empathy for anyone else. They love misery, because misery is a strategy. And you look at every single blue city in our country, you see death, you see destruction, you see anger, you see -- if you want to see systemic racism, look for Democratic cities, and you see more black people upset and hopeless than ever before. So, we have to understand that it is all about policies.
The reason I'm running, to be honest with you -- I have never thought about being a politician -- is, I realized the young people that I have been trying to fight for and give hope to do not have a chance in our country as long as the Democrats keep power.
So, I want mothers to understand this. I don't care whether you're poor or middle class or very wealthy. If you care about our kids care, if you care about our kids' future, we need to make sure we take away control of their future from Democrats and from this party that uses misery as a political strategy.
It's important for us all to have empathy for those who don't have opportunities...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
OWENS: ... because those kids who cannot read, writing, and all that kind of stuff will impact -- end up impacting our kids at some point in the future.
So, we need to be going the right direction now.
BARTIROMO: It's such an incredibly compelling point. And when I look at this list of Democrat-run cities, and I see the crime, it's just a heartbreak, and the shootings that are up.
Burgess Owens, thank you so much for joining us this weekend. It is great to talk with you. Please come back soon.
Thank you, Burgess.
I will see you tomorrow on FOX Business. That will do it for us on "Sunday Morning Futures."
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