This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," June 24, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening. Welcome to Washington, I'm Bret Baier.
Breaking tonight, we are coming to you from the J. Edgar Hoover Federal building in Washington. The Washington headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Just a minute, I'll have an exclusive interview with the FBI Director Christopher Wray. We will talk about the many changes and implications after the George Floyd killing to law enforcement. Also talk about the investigation into the origins of the Russia interference in 2016 and the Trump campaign, all of it open in this interview with the Director in just a moment.
But first, breaking tonight as well, a federal appeals court has ordered charges to be dropped against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. That is considered a huge win for President Trump and his Justice Department.
Correspondent David Spunt has details tonight outside the DOJ. Good evening, David.
DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Bret, good evening to you. Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn is one step closer to putting a three-year legal saga behind him. He wants the case dropped, the Department of Justice wants the case dropped, the original judge says not so fast but Michael Flynn is praising today's development.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SPUNT: In a surprise call to "The Rush Limbaugh Show", Michael Flynn sounded relieved.
MICHAEL FLYNN, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's a good thing for me, it's good thing for my family, but it's really a great boost of confidence for the American people and our justice system.
SPUNT: Flynn declined to discuss specifics just hours after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1, his case must be dropped.
Judges Karen Henderson and Naomi Rao writing in part, if evidence comes to light calling into question the integrity or purpose of an underlying criminal investigation, the Executive Branch must have the authority to decide that further prosecution is not in the interest of justice.
Flynn pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI but withdrew his latest plea earlier this year, arguing misconduct on behalf of the Justice Department and FBI.
Flynn's legal team claims these heavily redacted notes were written by former FBI agent Peter Strzok and the notes point to a meeting between then President Obama, Vice President Biden and FBI Director Comey in early January 2017.
According to the notes, President Obama allegedly said, make sure you look over things and have the right people on it and is there anything I shouldn't be telling the transition team? Director Comey apparently use the word legit when talking about call between Flynn and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Biden was asked about the Flynn investigation last month.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know nothing about those moves to investigate Michael Flynn, number one. Number two, this is all about diversion.
SPUNT: Seconds later, he changed his answer, acknowledging he was aware of the investigation.
BIDEN: I'm sorry, I was aware that there was -- that they asked for an investigation but that's all I know about it and I don't think anything else.
SPUNT: Last month, Attorney General Bill Barr personally got involved to drop the Flynn case. The judge overseeing the matter Emmet Sullivan refused, hiring his own attorney to argue why the case could potentially move forward to sentencing. He set a hearing for July 16th. Sullivan has yet to say if that hearing will still happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SPUNT: Judge Sullivan has hired an attorney; he could still appeal to what's called the en banc which is the full circuit court if he wants to in this specific case.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr in the top brass here at the DOJ, they are praising this decision today, they are happy about it. That's the same story down Pennsylvania Avenue where Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts picks up this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In the Oval Office today, meeting with Poland's President Andrzej Duda, President Trump praising the order from an appellate court to drop the case against his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very happy about General Flynn, he was treated horribly, he was treated very, very horribly by a group of very bad people. The Obama administration spied on the campaign, this is just the first one, he's been exonerated.
ROBERTS: At a Rose Garden news conference, President Trump also weighing in on the Democrats move to stop South Carolina Senator Tim Scott's police reform bill, the Justice Act, from moving forward.
TRUMP: The Democrats don't want to do it because they want to weaken our police, they want to take away immunity.
ROBERTS: Protests, some of them violent and destructive continue across the country. In the response to Monday's attempt by protesters to pull down the statue of President Andrew Jackson across the street from the White House, President Trump will this week sign an executive order providing stiff penalties for anyone defacing or damaging national monuments.
TRUMP: And we have the Monuments Act already which means 10 years in jail but I think we're going to consolidate various things; we're going to come out with a very strong executive order and I should have that by the end of the week which is fast approaching.
ROBERTS: The federal government is also calling in the National Guard. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt today asking the Pentagon to dispatch a hundred troops from the D.C. National Guard to protect monuments in the nation's capital.
President Duda's appearance at the White House was the first visit of a foreign leader since the coronavirus crisis and comes just four days before the Polish election.
Critics say the meeting meant to show close ties between President Trump and Duda is tantamount to election interference. President Duda says it was simply a matter of timing.
ANDRZEJ DUDA, PRESIDENT OF POLAND (through translator): President Trump is realizing the interest of his own country and realizing the interest of Poland's. So we are looking for a win-win situation where both parties are the winners.
TRUMP: I don't think he needs my help. I'm honored that this is a day that's I guess just before your election, I'm honored but he will do very well with or without us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: President Trump also confirmed that is he draws down U.S. troops in Germany, some of those troops will be redeployed to Poland. Asked what signal that sends to Russia. President Trump today sends it says, it sends a strong signal. The president went on to criticize the German Chancellor Angela Merkel for buying Russian oil and gas and expecting the United States to defend Germany, saying it just doesn't work that way, Bret.
BAIER: Thanks, John.
Director Wray, thanks for being here.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Thank you.
BAIER: There are a lot of topics we want to talk about and cover here with you. I want to talk about first, foreign influence in this country. The Justice Department recently indicted a professor at Harvard for lying about his relationship with the Chinese government.
For people who don't know about China and what they're trying to do in the U.S., how much is China doing? How much is China spying in the U.S.?
WRAY: Bret, there's not country that presents a broader more comprehensive threat to America's innovation, to our economic security and to our democratic ideas than China does.
Just to give you some context for that, just as we're sitting here having this conversation, the FBI has over 2,000 active investigations that trace back to the government of China.
BAIER: 2,000?
WRAY: And that's -- put a little more context on that, that's about a 1,300 percent increase in terms of economic espionage investigations with the Chinese Nexus from about a decade ago.
BAIER: So how much is that economic espionage? How much is it government espionage?
WRAY: Well, that's the thing that a lot of people don't really understand about the Chinese government. This is not about the Chinese people or Chinese Americans. This is about the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. And they are pursuing a campaign of intellectual property theft, economic espionage, cyber intrusions that target businesses big and small all across the country and our academic research institutions.
And they do it not just through traditional government officials which they certainly do, but also through what we sometimes call non-traditional collectors which can be businessman, high level scientists, high level academics, people like that. All of whom are in different ways incentivized to steal American innovation and confidential information and to take it back to China.
BAIER: So, in the 30s and 40s the Soviet Union, for example had more than a hundred spies in the State Department. Is espionage a real problem in the U.S.? What is China doing on that front?
WRAY: Well, traditional espionage is certainly -- you know, the old sort of spy versus spy thing. Still very much a phenomenon in today's world. But we're much more focused in many ways on the economic espionage which targets American businesses and hurts American jobs and American consumers. And it's everything from Fortune 100 companies to start ups. It's agriculture. It's high tech. It's aviation. It's healthcare.
As I've said before, it's our academic research institution.
BAIER: Are they taking an interest in elections?
WRAY: They certainly have an interest in influencing our political thought, our policies to try to shift them in a more friendly pro-China, pro-Chinese Communist Party direction. And so sometimes that gets wrapped up in election issues.
BAIER: Is the FBI in charge of the investigation of the origins of the coronavirus?
WRAY: We certainly have a role in looking into the origins of the coronavirus.
BAIER: Are you getting closer?
WRAY: I would say at this point, there's nothing to add to what the intelligence community has already said publicly on that. There's still insufficient information to really know exactly how the virus emanated from Wuhan.
BAIER: When you say that China's active, when there is a crisis -- for example, the protests after the George Floyd killing. Are you seeing foreign intervention to kind of stir up chaos inside the U.S.?
WRAY: We have certainly seen in the past a variety of foreign adversaries looking to amplify controversy in this country. And they use state media, they use social media. Some of that is through propaganda, some of that's through disinformation, some of that's through just fake information.
And we are looking carefully at the prospect of foreign influence or foreign interference in all of the protest activity that's occurred over the last few weeks.
BAIER: The president has talked and the administration has talked about Antifa, yet what the Justice Department and you all have moved on is this Boogaloo group that is kind of a right wing group that is trying to stir up chaos to make it look like it's left wing.
I talked to the Attorney General about this last time we sat down. Are there any Antifa investigations ongoing?
WRAY: The violence that occurred during the protests over the past few weeks is driven by a variety of different motivations and ideologies. It's not all the work of any single ideology, movement or group. We certainly have a number of active ongoing investigations into violent anarchist extremists, some of whom self-identify or otherwise link to the Antifa movement.
But, I think it's a mistake to try to put a lot of this into sort of neat ideological buckets. We're really about the violence, not the ideology.
BAIER: I saw the letter you sent to your FBI family after the George Floyd killings and what that means internally. What have you been doing to change the dynamic in the wake of all of this?
WRAY: So, I understand completely that there are a lot of people out there in this country who are hurting, who are angry, who are upset over instances of racism or where the justice system has failed people of color in particular.
I would also say though that the law enforcement family is also hurting, and there are lots and lots and lots of police officers out there who are putting their lives on the line every day, who are -- you know, unfairly tarred by the misconduct of a few.
So what we really need is for people to come together, to listen to each other and to work together to try to figure out a better way forward.
BAIER: When I talked to the Attorney General, he suggested that there's going to be some kind of federal involvement in setting clear standards for police units across the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think there's a general agreement among police agencies that we need clearer standards. We have to make sure those standards are claimed to and we have to make sure that there are systems in place that hold officers accountable.
BAIER: So is that a federal effort? Does that suddenly become a federal training effort?
BARR: I think we're going to need a strong federal participation in this effort in helping to set standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: So, what does that look like?
WRAY: Well, the FBI's role is a few different things. First, in terms of accountability, we pursue and have for some time civil rights, color of law investigations where excessive force violates federal law. But we also participate in doing training and setting best practices for police departments, state and local, around the country.
BAIER: You know, the president said about these monuments coming down:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are looking at long-term jail sentences for these vandals and these hoodlums and these anarchists and agitators. They're bad people, they don't love our country and they're not taking down our monuments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: Is that going to happen?
WRAY: Look, equal justice is essential, but violence and destruction of federal property is not the way to get there. And if there are appropriate bases for federal investigations, we'll pursue.
BAIER: What is the biggest threat you see? For a long time it was radical Islamic terrorism. What's the biggest threat that you see as FBI Director?
WRAY: The biggest terrorist threat here in the U.S., here in the homeland is what we would call sort of homegrown violent extremists.
And these are people who are lone actors typically, motivated by a variety of different ideologies, some jihadist, some others who go very quickly from radicalization to attack. Typically, radicalized online, and they're going after soft targets. You know, schools, shopping malls, you know, easy to hit targets, and using easily accessible weapons. And those kinds of terrorists are much harder to detect and prevent in many ways.
And so that's what we think of this, but the greatest threat to hear in the homeland.
BAIER: What's the morale here at the FBI?
WRAY: I actually think the morale in the FBI is quite good. Our attrition rate is down to 0.4 percent. And there not a lot of organizations out there, public or private, that can say that.
BAIER: Now, the investigation into the FISA abuse -- there was false information provided to the FISA court, according to the I.G. Bogus information about this -- from a rival presidential campaign, and the Steele dossier.
One of your own top attorneys fabricated evidence to suggest Carter Page was a secret Russian asset, when, in fact, he had help the U.S. build the case against Russian operatives.
There are a lot of people who look at what has come out. And understanding the Durham report is yet to come likely this summer. They wonder, will anybody be held accountable? Will anything come of this?
WRAY: Well, first, let me say this. I think that I.G. report describes conduct that I consider unacceptable and unrepresentative of who the FBI is as an institution, and cannot be allowed to happen again. And I've made that very clear to our workforce.
Now, I've put in place an entirely new leadership team. And even though I wasn't director at the time of all of this, my team and I are fiercely committed to making sure we fix the problems of the past. We have accepted every finding and recommendation in that I.G. report.
To think going above and beyond put in place over 40 corrected measures that enhance our training, strengthened our processes, building more oversight and accountability, and, and have referred employees -- current employees for discipline.
Now, having said that, the most senior people involved in this activity, in this report are long gone. Either terminated, some during my tenure or retired or resigned.
BAIER: Has the FBI disclosed every piece of evidence related to the Durham inquiry?
WRAY: We've cooperated fully with the Durham investigation. In fact, we even have -- a lot of people don't know this, we actually have agents assigned to working on the Durham investigation. So we're very much lashed up with that.
BAIER: Congress says they've had a tough time getting documents and things from you. Senator Grassley, in particular, about the Michael Flynn calls. Were you responsible for holding back from Congress some of that stuff?
WRAY: I think we've tried very, very hard to be transparent and cooperative with all the relevant congressional committees. We've produced all sorts of information and tried to really lean forward.
BAIER: Why did it take so long for the material to come out for Horowitz? You know, publicly, like with FISA, the Flynn, 302s, the reports. It seemed like you took forever. Why was that? I mean, if it wasn't court orders and the I.G.'s efforts, we wouldn't know anything about any of this.
WRAY: For the I.G.'s efforts, we've been over backwards to be transparent and cooperative with the I.G., and he actually, in his report, talks about how fully cooperative and transparent we were with him.
BAIER: The Flynn defense attorneys -- Michael Flynn, former NSA, National Security Advisor, said they were not provided the exculpatory evidence that eventually came out during the trial. They weren't provided it. Who held that back?
WRAY: Decisions about producing documents in a criminal prosecution are typically handled by the prosecutors. I will say that, of course, the Flynn investigation, which took place before I started. And then, by the time I started, was in the hands of the Special Counsel's Office is something that has, in my view, raised serious concerns and questions, which is why I ordered an after-action review by our inspection division to take a look at whether or not the FBI's policies and procedures need to be changed. And if there are any current employees left, who may bear any responsibility for this conduct.
BAIER: This interview happened before the appeals court decision on the Flynn case siding with the Justice Department. But the FBI says, no matter how it's decided, the after-action review will continue.
Now, the president gave an interview in which he said just the other day, what does he think about this whole process as we wait for the Durham report, and he characterized it as treason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's treason. Look --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's treason.
TRUMP: Look, when I came out a long time ago, I said, they have been spying on my campaign. It turned out I was right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: What are you looking at what you know, think this is?
WRAY: On the Crossfire Hurricane matter, that's the subject to the I.G. report, I think, it describes conduct that is unacceptable, period. Full stop and cannot be allowed to happen and will not be allowed to happen in today's FBI.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: But whether it's criminal enough.
WRAY: Criminal decisions, charging decisions, prosecution decisions, are not made by the FBI director. Those were made by across the street at the Justice Department by the prosecutors.
BAIER: But somebody here altered that FISA report, and that would be a criminal offense, right?
WRAY: And that individual no longer works at the FBI, and I don't want to get out in front of the Durham investigation.
BAIER: Are you worried what the impact is going to be, when that all comes out, knowing what you know?
WRAY: I think, allegations of misconduct need to be taken seriously. I think there are serious questions that have been raised here, and they need to be given a serious look. And whatever the impact is the impact is.
BAIER: Have you ever, one-on-one gone to the president in the Oval Office and say, hey listen, I've -- this is what I know, this is what the FBI did, and here is what it is.
WRAY: I have not met with the president, one-on-one.
BAIER: You have not met ever with him, one-on-one.
WRAY: No.
BAIER: And this president has -- well, publicly said he wants to see the jury is still out, is what he said about you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Let's see what happens with him. Look, the jury's still out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: You don't meet one-on-one with the president, and he says, the jury's still out. Are you worried at all about how the president thinks about you and the job?
WRAY: No, I think I have a very professional relationship with the president which is I think what every FBI director and every president should have. And I've certainly had plenty of occasions where I've met with the president, just with others present.
BAIER: Them.
WRAY: Right.
BAIER: You're on Senator Graham's list to testify. Do you expect to be up there testifying on in his investigation?
WRAY: I'll see. I've testified quite frequently in this role. It seems to be a routine part of the job.
BAIER: What's the toughest thing you deal with every day?
WRAY: The sheer volume of the threats that face this country is remarkable. And so, just to give you a flavor of it, you know, in the past few months alone, our joint terrorism task forces have afforded potential terrorist attacks in Tampa, in New York, in Cleveland, in Kansas City, and then, you had COVID come in, right? And we've probably got over 400 COVID-19 fraud investigations.
So, we have probably, in the last year, something like 1,500 kids that the FBI has recovered or rescued from child sexual exploitation or human trafficking. We talked about China before.
What the FBI is opening, a new counterintelligence investigation that ties back to China every 10 hours. So, you put some of those thing and that's just sort of the tip of the iceberg.
BAIER: And your relationship with the attorney general.
WRAY: The attorney general and I, have, I think, an excellent working relationship. I value him as a friend and a colleague.
BAIER: Director Wray, we appreciate the time. Thanks very much.
WRAY: Thanks, Bret.
BAIER: We'll bring you back to Washington. Other headlines and stories after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: "BREAKING TONIGHT", just minutes ago, Judge Emmet Sullivan has issued a stay in that July 16th hearing. The David Spunt told you about earlier for former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn.
It does not appear he has formally dismissed the case as he was ordered to do today by an appeals court. Judge Sullivan has merely canceled the July 16th hearing, but it may be the first step in formally dismissing that case.
Worries over increasing cases of coronavirus sent stocks plummeting today. The Dow lost 710, the S&P 500 dropped 81. The NASDAQ fell 222.
Some northeastern states will require visitors from places with high infection rates to quarantine for 14 days. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, making that announcement today, calling the federal response to the pandemic, incompetent.
This follows sharp rise in cases in many locations around the country. Correspondent Casey Stegall has the latest tonight from Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY STEGALL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: New travel advisories issued by the governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Visitors traveling in from nine states experiencing the highest spikes of coronavirus cases must now self-quarantine for 14 days.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): It's only for the simple reason that we worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down.
STEGALL: Texas is on the list. Governor Greg Abbott urging people to stay at home if they can, though it's not a mandate. Many cities like Austin requiring people to wear face coverings.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We do have a spike in places like Travis County or Austin, Texas, where the mask requirement at the local level is important.
STEGALL: Texas Children's Hospital, now accepting adult patients around Houston, after the city's health department reported a 177 percent jump in hospitalization since last month.
Arizona is facing similar issues, 88 percent of all ICU beds there are full. The Grand Canyon state also reporting the highest test positivity rate in the whole U.S.
Now, prevalence is also increasing, which is the rate of positivity that we see. We are seeing now, he's -- it's hovering a rate around 20 percent of our chest are positive.
STEGALL: Yet, another record-breaking day in Florida as well. More than 5,500 new cases reported in the last 24 hours alone, shattering the previous high of 4,000. Data also shows younger Floridians are now spreading the virus at a more rapid pace.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Most of it is community transmission, particularly, amongst the 20 to -- 20 and 30-year-old group.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEGALL: The cities across the country, seeing the sharpest rise in new cases include Phoenix, Tampa, Orlando, San Antonio, and Austin. The lowest, Indianapolis, Detroit, New Haven, and Hartford, Connecticut. Bret.
BAIER: Casey Stegall in Dallas. Casey, thanks.
Up next, the Biden campaign's not so secret weapon, plus, the official plans for the Democrats convention.
First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. FOX 5 in Atlanta, as a grand jury returns indictments of three suspects in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.
The indictment has nine charges, including malice murder, four counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.
FOX 47 in Madison, as Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers activates the National Guard after a night of violence. Crowds outside the state capitol tore down two statues there, and neither of which represented any confederate figure or symbol.
They attacked the state senator and threw a Molotov cocktail into a government building.
And today, in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, the city removed its statue of early U.S. Vice president John Calhoun, a fierce slavery advocate.
This is a live look at Denver, from our affiliate FOX 31 there. One of the big stories there tonight, three players with the Colorado Rockies test positive for COVID-19. That news comes as Major League Baseball imposes 60- game season to begin in late July. Training camps scheduled to open next week.
That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: In tonight's Democracy 2020 report, moments ago Joe Biden's campaign said he will officially accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during a mostly virtual DNC Convention. Meanwhile, Biden unveils his not so secret weapon and walks away with more than $11 million in campaign cash. Former president Obama made his first fundraising appearance with his former vice president last night. Correspondent Peter Doocy shows us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: In 08 end 12, Joe Biden helped Barack Obama win. Now Obama is trying to return the favor.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Love you, Joe.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Love you, too, pal.
DOOCY: Biden has been laying low lately, but still managed to build a 14- point lead nationally in the "New York Times"/Siena College poll by trying to let his opponent to do most of the talking.
BIDEN: Donald Trump has made it clear that this is all about him.
DOOCY: It was all about Obama last might, though, who lashed out at President Trump on the two biggest issues of the day -- the federal response to COVID-19 --
OBAMA: Poor Dr. Fauci.
DOOCY: -- and the government response to Black Lives Matter protesters.
OBAMA: Now they are witnessing out of our White House a military -- a militarized response to peaceful demonstrators.
DOOCY: Biden's team is trying to be creative, as his campaign manager points out, during a pandemic, door-knocking is no longer the gold standard of campaigning, and even though 120,000 people logged on to a grassroots fundraiser, which combined with a high dollar stream to raise $11 plus million, Democrats know Trump is tough to beat.
OBAMA: We can't be complacent or smug, because, look, he won once.
DOOCY: This time Obama is betting on better luck with a nominee who has a resume inside the beltway as long as they come.
OBAMA: Hopefully Joe doesn't take offense by this. Joe's been around for a while.
DOOCY: Now that Democrats are nostalgic for Obama, Joe Biden is going to try to turn voters' attention back to Obamacare. Tomorrow in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he's going to meet with families who have helped by the Affordable Care Act in his first event since last week away from home here in Wilmington. Bret?
BAIER: Peter Doocy in Wilmington, Delaware. Peter, thanks.
We are awaiting final results from some big primary election contests and there could be some big shake-ups brewing. Here is senior political correspondent Mike Emanuel.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A big night for progressives as political newcomer Jamaal Bowman takes the lead over House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: We're going to have a Democrat in the Congress, that's what is important to us.
REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): Hi, how are you?
EMANUEL: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez endorsed Bowman.
JAMAAL BOWMAN, (D-NY) U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We have to deal with racial and economic inequality very directly and very honestly.
EMANUEL: Ocasio-Cortez also defeated a well-funded moderate challenge from Michelle Caruso-Cabrera. Some leading Republicans suggest nominating progressive candidates could be dangerous for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
TOM EMMER,(R-MN) REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE: Nancy should be nervous because this is going to be the end of her short-lived majority.
EMANUEL: It was also an unusually good night for Republicans who President Trump did not support. In North Carolina, 24-year-old Madison Cawthorn defeated Trump backed real estate agent Linda Bennett in a runoff for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' old seat.
MADISON CAWTHORN, (R-NC) U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We have 44 percent in western North Carolina of undecided voters. And so all these people, I think we can all coalesce.
EMANUEL: In Kentucky, Congressman Thomas Massie won his primary even though the president called on voters to throw Massie out of the GOP. Massie says voters in his district want someone to represent them in Washington who will consistently stand on principle, defend life, and support the Constitution.
A major race for Democrats in Kentucky, the Senate race, featuring progressive Charles Booker and well-funded former Marine fighter pilot Amy McGrath won't likely be settled for some time. Mail-in balloting was encouraged in the bluegrass state, and counting those votes is expected to be a slow process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EMANUEL: Outsider victories could embolden rebels in both parties if the takeaway is that the Washington political establishment is not fully in charge. Bret?
BAIER: Mike, thanks.
When we come back, the Justice Department and the attorney general under the microscope.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has confirmed its 200th judge since President Trump took office. Cory Wilson becomes a U.S. circuit court judge for the Fifth Circuit. The vote was 52 to 48. Maine's Susan Collins was the only Republican to vote no. Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham calls the confirmation a historic milestone.
The Justice Department, meantime, finds itself under increasing scrutiny tonight. Congressional correspondent Chad Pergram is on Capitol Hill to tell us why. Good evening, Chad.
CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS PRODUCER: Good evening, Bret. Aaron Zelinsky was a prosecutor in the Roger Stone case. Zelinsky, he quit during the investigation during Stone's recommended sentence after he was convicted of lying to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON ZELINSKY, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Roger Stone was being treated differently from every other defendant. And what I heard repeatedly was that this leniency was happening because of Stone's relationship to the president. And I was told that the acting U.S. attorney was giving Stone a break because he was afraid of the president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: That acting U.S. attorney is Timothy Shea. Stone only got three years in prison. He could have gotten up to nine years under federal sentencing guidelines. Stone was supposed to report next week. He's pushing for a delay due to COVID concerns. But for Democrats this hearing was really about Bill Barr and 2020.
REP. JERROLD NADLER, (D-NY) HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Barr's work at the Department of Justice has nothing to do with correcting injustice. He is the president's fixer. He has shown us that there is one set of rules for the president's friends and another set of rules for the rest of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: Republicans turned the tables on Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM JORDAN, (R-OH) HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: The Obama-Biden Department of Justice spied on four American citizens, they lied to the FISA court 17 times. Politics was in the previous administration. Bill Barr is doing the Lord's work trying to clean it up so that it doesn't happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERGRAM: Bill Barr was not at the hearing today. He is going to come up and testify on July 28th. And just tonight, Bret, Jerry Nadler, the chair of the Judiciary Committee, said that he would not rule out an effort to try to impeach him. Back to you.
BAIER: Chad Pergram live on Capitol Hill. Chad, thanks.
Up next, the panel on my interview with the FBI director and the order to dismiss charges against Michael Flynn, plus what's happening with police reform.
First, Beyond our Borders tonight, at least six people are dead following a magnitude 7.4 earthquake that rocked southern Mexico Tuesday. Hundreds of homes damage, almost 2.5 million people lost power.
Pakistan's aviation minister says the pilot of a Pakistani airliner that crashed last month were distracted and preoccupied as they talked about the coronavirus pandemic while preparing for an initial failed attempt to land. Ninety-seven people were killed when that plane crashed May 22nd in Karachi. Two people on board survived.
Russia Victory Day parades taking place in several cities despite the coronavirus, Russian officials insisting all necessary precautions were taken to protect troops and ensure safety of veterans and foreign guests. Several other regions canceled planned celebrations.
Just some of the other headlines and stories Beyond our Borders tonight. We'll be right back.
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BAIER: The president's critics say there really isn't voter fraud, but you're saying it's on your radar?
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: It's certainly on our radar. I don't want to weigh in on the prevalence of it, but I would say it's a real thing, it does happen, and we investigate it sternly when it happens.
BAIER: And the closer you get to an election, for you, the less you want the FBI in the picture as a change from 2016?
WRAY: I think the FBI has a job to do and we are going to do our jobs. But I also think that people rightly expect from the FBI that we are going to be utterly apolitical, no nonsense, grind it out professionals, just the facts, balls and strikes.
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BAIER: FBI Director Chris Wray there from my interview, another part of it.
Let's bring in our abbreviated panel, Jonathan Swan, national political reporter for "Axios," Kimberley Strassel, a member of the editorial board at "The Wall Street Journal." Jonathan, what did you take from that?
JONATHAN SWAN, NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER, "AXIOS": I took that he is on a very different page from Donald Trump, which we already knew, but I think in several ways it was reinforced in that interview. It's quite clear that Christopher Wray wants to suggest that the cultural problems at the FBI are a relic of an earlier time. That is not why President Trump believes. That's not what people in President Trump's inner circle believe. They believe that there needs to be major, major changes in the FBI, and they do not believe that Christopher Wray is the man to do it.
President Trump has been contemplating firing him for a number of months. I don't know whether he'll pull the trigger on that, but I thought your interview revealed the hesitancy and some of the divisions that clearly exist between him and the president.
BAIER: Kimberley, one of the reasons the FBI is under focus, obviously the Durham report, we wait for that, but the Michael Flynn case, which obviously had a development today with the appeals court saying you've got to drop these charges as the Justice Department wants. Here's Flynn on Rush Limbaugh's show.
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LT. GEN. MICHAEL FLYNN (RET), FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's a good thing for me, it's a good thing for my family, but it's really great boost of confidence for the American people in our justice system, because that's what this really comes down to is whether or not our justice system is going to have the confidence of the American people in it.
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BAIER: And just new evidence today coming to the forefront. Kimberley?
KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes. Bret, by the way, congrats on that interview, because it was news breaking, and in this regard. The problem and the frustration with Wray up until now has not been his actions, which as he has noted, all of the bad behavior people who were involved in 2016 are gone and under his watch, and they have accepted every reform that has been offered at them.
I think the problem is that he hasn't up until now owned it, and he finally kind of did that today and said this is not behavior that is appropriate at the FBI, and it shouldn't happen again. And that's an important message for Americans.
And it's related to the Flynn decision today as well, too, in that what we had was a federal court who said, yes, the Department of Justice might be trusted to know when it has veered off course. It clearly did here, and so the judge's responsibility is to accept that motion to dismiss and move on.
BAIER: Yes. The other big event today is the Republican police reform bill going down in flames to a Democrat filibuster. Here is House Speaker Pelosi and Tim Scott, senator from South Carolina.
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REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE SPEAKER: For something to happen, they're going to have to face the reality of police brutality, but so far they were trying to get away with murder, actually, the murder of George Floyd.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): How does that work around the country, when instead of getting 70 percent of what you wanted, today and tomorrow and next week you get zero. And you're going to wait until the election to get more. OK. Well, why wouldn't you take the 80 percent now, see if you can win the election and add on the other 20 percent? You've got to be kidding me.
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BAIER: If you haven't watched that speech, it was quite something on the Senate floor. But Jonathan, the House speaker saying the Republicans are responsible for George Floyd's murder, really didn't get covered today.
SWAN: A remarkable comment, and even more remarkable that she declined to apologize for it. It really does look like this effort is dead before the election. I think the only thing that bring it back is if there's overwhelming pressure from protests and other mechanisms, but it looks pretty dead to me.
BAIER: Kimberley, quickly?
STRASSEL: The question for Democrats today was, did they want a victory on this are a solution or did they want the issue? And it seems pretty clear they wanted the issue for the election.
BAIER: Thank you, both, appreciate it.
When we come back, the brighter side across the pond, too.
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BAIER: Finally tonight, a fun show of diplomacy. When an American woman on TikTok decided she wanted to show the Brits how to make a cup of tea in the microwave, British Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce said she thought she would set the record straight, brought her military advisor, and here's what ensued.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not using a microwave. Use a kettle, leave your tea to brew, then you just add milk. There you are, a proper British cup of tea.
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BAIER: The U.S. Absolutely to Great Britain Woody Johnson decided he would get the last word, showing the Brits how to make a cup of coffee the American way.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How's that? Perfect. Ready to go. Have a nice day.
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BAIER: Tea, coffee, diplomacy. Thanks for inviting me into your home tonight. That's it for this SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. "THE STORY" hosted by Martha MacCallum starts right now. It doesn't matter how you make it, right?
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: As long as you have it. Very important.
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