Rep. Crenshaw reacts to Attorney General Bill Barr testifying that 'spying did occur' on the Trump campaign

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Rep. Crenshaw reacts to Attorney General Bill Barr testifying that 'spying did occur' on the Trump campaign

Texas Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw says Attorney General Bill Barr obviously has good reason to believe that there was spying on the 2016 Trump campaign.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," April 10, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What has been found during this period of time are the illegal acts of getting this whole phony investigation started? And, hopefully, that's where people are going now. That's where people are going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES PAYNE, ANCHOR: President Trump says he wants to get to the bottom of the origins of the Russia probe, as Attorney General William Barr testifies spying did occur on the Trump campaign.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Charles Payne, in for Neil Cavuto, and this is "Your World."

The president making those comments before heading to Texas today, where he's expected to speak later this hour. We will be monitoring that.

First, more bombshells, as the attorney general testifies for a second day.

We have got Fox team coverage with Catherine Herridge on what Barr's saying and Rich Edson at the White House on how the president is responding.

We begin with Catherine.

CATHERINE HERRIDGE, CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, thank you Charles.

Attorney General William Barr said he is personally reviewing the origins of the FBI's counterintelligence investigation that began in late July of 2016. That is the foundation for the special counsel Russia probe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think spying on a political campaign is a big deal.

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN, D-N.H.: You're not suggesting, though, that spying occurred?

BARR: I think there was -- spying did occur. Yes, I think spying did occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: Barr said the issue is whether evidence drove the decision- making back in 2016 or whether personal bias among some top Justice Department FBI personnel was the driver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: I believe there is a basis for my concern, but I'm not going to discuss the basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: During the 2016 campaign, the FBI opened what's called a counterintelligence investigation. This is designed to gather information vs. bringing a criminal prosecution in the future.

And what we also saw is that they secured a surveillance warrant for a Trump campaign, Carter Page. But the Trump campaign -- and this is what's important -- was never -- never offered -- pardon me -- what's called a defensive briefing.

It's like an intelligence heads-up to warn the Trump campaign about Russian contact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: So would it be odd that the candidate was never really briefed by the Department of Justice that your campaign may be targeted by foreign entity?

BARR: That is one of the questions I have is, I feel, normally, the campaign would have been advised of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: Democrats pressed the attorney general on the Mueller report and these four categories of redactions, arguing that there is a legal precedent for sharing grand jury information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, D-VT: I think attempts to hid swathes of the report from the public scrutiny along the way will only fuel suspicions that have been raised by many that the Justice Department, which represents the United States, is playing the role of President Trump's defense team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HERRIDGE: But Barr clarified that there will not be redactions that would shield the president. He testified that public officeholders would be identified -- Charles.

PAYNE: Thank you very much, Catherine.

HERRIDGE: You're welcome.

PAYNE: Now to Rich Edson at the White House on what the president is saying about all this -- Rich.

RICH EDSON, CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good afternoon, Charles.

And the president says he has not seen the Mueller report. He says he doesn't need to see the Mueller report because he says he has won and he is exonerated. And he says, as for the beginnings of the Mueller report, the origins, what initiated it, what eventually became that investigation, he calls all of that a coup attempt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So, the Mueller Report, when they talk about obstruction, we fight back. And do you know why we fight back? Because I knew how illegal this whole thing was. It was a scam.

And what they did was treason. What they did was terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON: Democrats say they still need to see the full report before they draw their conclusions.

The president spoke as he was leaving for a couple of fund-raisers in Texas. He's also signing an executive order there to make it more difficult for states to block pipeline projects. He's speaking in a border state and continued pushing again for that border wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If you had a wall on the other side, you had a wall, they wouldn't be able to get through, and they won't come. You won't have so many, because, if they know they can't get through, they're not going to come. All of a sudden, they're not going to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EDSON: The Pentagon says it has awarded about a billion dollars in contracts to build more stretch of wall.

The money, according to the Defense Department, comes from a counternarcotics fund, this as U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released new data from last month saying that 103,000 people were either apprehended at the border or turned away there coming up through Mexico to the southern border of the United States, and that number represents double the same -- the amount of for the same month the previous year.

So you compare March of last year to March of this year, you have got more than double of those showing at the border either being apprehended or turned around -- Charles.

PAYNE: All right, and, folks, you're looking there, President Trump has arrived, Air Force One, in Houston. Earlier today, he was in San Antonio.

He has been very passionate about this. And there's a good chance we could actually be hearing from him at any time.

In the meantime, joining us now, Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who is a member of the Homeland Security Committee.

Congressman, before we get into the president's visit to Texas today and talk about his border strategy, I would like your reaction to the attorney general today testifying that there was indeed the spying on the Trump campaign and that he's looking into it.

REP. DAN CRENSHAW, R-TX: Yes, look, I mean, I think it should be looked into.

The attorney general obviously has some reason for believing that. And whether it was spying or whether there was good reason for that spying, I think, is the question that he's trying to answer. And I think the American people deserve to know that answer.

PAYNE: So, in addition to the I.G. report that we may see very soon, it looks like A.G. Barr on a parallel track.

But, also, the question was brought up why the Trump campaign was never even notified that such -- that this was actually occurring.

CRENSHAW: Yes, you would think that that's exactly what they would do if they really cared about solving a counter investigate -- a counterintelligence investigation.

I do have some history in counterintelligence. I understand what goes in these kinds of operations. And it does seem a little strange that we wouldn't notify our fellow Americans when something like this is going on.

PAYNE: During the hearings, Congressman, a lot of debate over just how much, if any, of the Mueller report should be redacted. Again, with your experience in these kind of things, what is at stake if there are no redactions?

CRENSHAW: Well, it's hard to say. I have not read it. I don't know what is in it.

There's definitely potentially classified material, damaging material that shouldn't be released. I still urge them to release as much as possible under the law.

PAYNE: I want to switch now back to the topic of immigration, particularly border security.

President Trump had an impromptu press conference, if you will, at a fund- raiser today after hearing some heart-wrenching stories . He wanted the public to hear them.

Representative Crenshaw, we heard about people finding dead bodies on their ranches, people afraid to go to their gates, homes -- afraid to answer their own doors. This is your part of the country. You know it well.

Just how shocking these stories are, I don't think the American public has ever heard them before.

CRENSHAW: No. And we need to get those kind of stories out.

I have personally heard those stories, because here's the reality. We have an overwhelming crisis on our border right now. Just this year, just this fiscal year alone, there's been more apprehensions than in an entire over the last five years. We're at absolute crisis levels. OK?

So, there's a problem and we need to fix it. And there's a real issue with the fact that we don't have partners on the other side of the aisle who even have a desire to fix it. All right? They didn't want the wall. OK?

PAYNE: Right.

CRENSHAW: They didn't -- then they voted that way. Well, what about the asylum process? There's a very obvious problem occurring here.

People are taking complete advantage of the asylum process. OK? They're coming over with families because they know if they bring a kid with them, it's basically their ticket across. And they know they will be released into the homeland.

Well, that's an unsustainable policy. And it's not fair to legal immigrants. It's not fair to cut in front of them. It's not fair to these migrants. We should be telling them that they can claim asylum in their home countries or in Mexico, so they don't have to make this dangerous journey across the border, which, by the way, is completely controlled by drug cartels.

This is resulting in human trafficking. It's resulting in kids being used and recycled over and over again by different adults to cross the border.

PAYNE: Right.

CRENSHAW: I saw 16 different kids that happened to in one day that I was down there near McAllen.

PAYNE: Representative, also the composition, some have argued on the other side of the aisle from the Republicans that this is -- this isn't up to some of the crisis levels of before, but certainly the composition, with so many families, with so many children being used this way, has to spark some greater sense of urgency, you would think, from Washington, D.C.

CRENSHAW: Exactly. You would think.

There's a different problem now. And it requires different solutions. All right, we need more detention facilities there. We need more immigration judges immediately. These cases need to be adjudicated fast.

And if they're not found to be valid, then they can be deported right away. But, instead, what's happening is that we're being overwhelmed, and then everyone's just being released. OK? And then -- and then that's it.

PAYNE: Right.

CRENSHAW: I mean, they really don't come back. You can put deportation orders out there, but they're very difficult to enforce.

PAYNE: Right.

CRENSHAW: And this is a completely unsustainable policy. It's not how you run a country.

I mean, why even have borders at all? Why do we check people when they come in on airplanes? I mean, what is the point?

PAYNE: Well, some don't -- some don't want us to have borders at all.

CRENSHAW: That's exactly the problem.

PAYNE: Yes.

CRENSHAW: That's exactly the problem. Some truly don't want that.

PAYNE: Congressman, I do have to ask you about your reaction -- I would like to get it -- from a tweet from your colleague New York Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

In it, she says that: "The far right loves to drum up fear and resistance to immigrants, but have you ever noticed they never talk about what's causing people to flee their homes in the first place? Perhaps that's because they would be forced to confront one major factor fueling global migration, climate change."

So, again, sort of conflating illegal immigration with immigration and making this a global problem, but climate change?

CRENSHAW: Yes. Well, it's news to me.

I didn't know the Green New Deal would also solve the border crisis.

(LAUGHTER)

PAYNE: Well, it's the ultimate deal.

CRENSHAW: Yes.

PAYNE: It's going to solve all of our woes in this country, if we could just figure out how to pay for it.

But does that to you mean -- in your mind, though, does that mean they're taking this seriously? Or are they looking to score political points?

CRENSHAW: Well, they have never -- it's pretty clear that they're not taking this seriously at all.

I mean, listen, the numbers speak for themselves. This is not due to climate change. All right, every immigrant who comes across has a different reason for wanting to come across, but it certainly isn't climate change.

And that's just a ridiculous statement. They have gotten to this point where they want to blame climate change for quite literally everything now. And, sorry, but the Green New Deal is not going to solve that. Well, it will wreck our economy. So maybe we won't -- they -- immigrants won't want to come here anymore.

So maybe that's what she's getting at.

PAYNE: Well, we did see a downturn during the Great Recession.

Before I let you go, then, what could solve this? Is there something realistic in our grasp, considering the current political climate, that could at least start to address this issue?

CRENSHAW: Yes.

Like I said, we need to reform the way our asylum process works immediately. We have to take into account the real problem here, which is that people are taking advantage of this process. OK, so what do we do?

Well, we need more detention facilities immediately, OK? We need to actually be able to house these people while their cases are adjudicated, and we need the resources to adjudicate those cases. We need more immigration judges there now.

And then they can be turned around and deported if their cases are not found to be valid. They should be taking asylum cases up in Mexico. They should be allowed to wait in Mexico, as the Trump administration wanted.

We shouldn't allow activist judges to overturn that decision. By the way, there's precedent for that. President Clinton did the same thing with Haiti. OK, this is not -- this is not some crazy idea. It makes sense.

PAYNE: Right.

CRENSHAW: It is safe there. There's no reason to think it isn't. They're not fleeing Mexico. OK?

So those are just a few solutions that we should all be able to agree upon to get back -- get operational control of our own borders and have sovereignty over our own country.

PAYNE: Congressman Crenshaw, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

CRENSHAW: Thank you. Thanks for having me.

PAYNE: 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders relaunching his Medicare for all plan.

A fair and balanced debate on what it means for the campaign and, probably more importantly, for your money next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people want and we are going to deliver a Medicare for all single-payer system.

Thank you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Under a Medicare for all, we cover all basic health care needs. So they're not going to be there to do that.

I suppose if you want to make yourself look a little bit more beautiful, you want to work on that nose or ears, they can do that.

QUESTION: So, basically, Blue Cross Blue Shield would be reduced to nose jobs?

SANDERS: Something like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Well, that was Vermont Senator and 2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders with part of his Medicare for all health care plan.

He's relaunching a bill in the Senate, and he's making it the focus of his White House bid. A bunch of 2020 candidates actually supporting this plan, but will voters support it?

Let's ask Democratic strategist Robert Patillo, GOP strategist Kimberly Klacik, and Washington Examiner's Tiana Lowe.

Robert, Medicare for all plan, the Dem -- at least a lot of Dems who are running for the White House are starting to rally around it. Should everyone else?

ROBERT PATILLO, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think so.

What we did in 2010 with the Affordable Care Act, so-called Obamacare, was -- codified an idea which had been floating around for two decades. They called it -- it was Romneycare in Massachusetts. It was the Chafee health care bill in 1993.

But, generally, it was the Republican side of the aisle's attempted health care reform, and it didn't work. We see premiums increased, a lack of coverage across the board. Obamacare is broken.

The next step is not to simply repeal Obamacare and not put anything in its place, but rather to expand the Medicaid pool to cover more individuals, lower costs, and make sure that everyone has a baseline right to health care coverage.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: Excuse me one second. Did you say that Obamacare is broken?

(LAUGHTER)

PATILLO: Absolutely, Obamacare is broken. That's an undeniable fact.

It was broken from the minute that it was passed. It was broken from the minute that the government option wasn't placed into it by a conservative Democratic senator, so a broken system that has get fixed.

But the problem is, Republicans haven't come up with a better plan in nine years to fix it.

PAYNE: Kimberly, your thoughts?

KIMBERLY KLACIK, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, Bernie Sanders is offering not only just a bad deal, but a very expensive deal.

This will cost taxpayers upwards of $32 trillion. Now, I know a lot of people already know, if you want to know, how the government runs health care, ask a veteran, they will tell you. They suck at it.

So why would we go through with a terrible idea like this? But I want to point out, most of the issues that Democrats run on basically can be fixed with the job. I know lots of people that have good health insurance through their employer. And that can help.

Now, for me, I know many people think, hey, why would you take Medicare for all and make it a mandate, instead of picking it and making it compete against private health insurance? Can they do that? Is it an offer?

PAYNE: Well, Tiana, that's it. We're talking about wiping out 190 million folks who have health insurance via their jobs.

And say what you will. People have become comfortable with that. They have become comfortable with the doctors that they see. And we're talking about chucking all this out the window and relying solely on the government. And that scares a lot of people.

TIANA LOWE, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER: And it's funny that Bernie brings up specifically the idea of nose jobs, considering that private health insurance systems currently do not cover elective plastic surgeries.

However, if you compare the costs of the cosmetics industry next to the health care industry as a whole, cosmetics have plummeted in terms of the price, because it operates much more like a free market, because people pay out of pocket and because there's full price transparency.

A Medicare for all system assumes that doctors will be OK taking home reimbursement rates 40 percent lower than current private insurance reimbursement rates.

PAYNE: Yes.

LOWE: And this is such an error, thinking that you're going to maintain the supply, the quality and the access that we already have in our albeit flawed system.

PAYNE: Yes. There's a lot of apprehension there.

Folks, I want -- I want you to listen, I just had Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw on. And he responded to Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez's is claiming that climate change is what's causing the crisis at the border. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRENSHAW: It's pretty clear that they're not taking this seriously at all.

I mean, listen, the numbers speak for themselves. This is not due to climate change. All right, every immigrant who comes across has a different reason for wanting to come across, but it certainly isn't climate change.

And that's just a ridiculous statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: I got to tell you, Robert, it feels like, when in doubt, hit the -- you got a box on the wall somewhere, break that glass and out comes climate change.

I mean, are we going to say now the climate change is the main factor here? And, by the way, how do you factor that into the asylum process?

PATILLO: Well, you're not going to get me to defend AOC very often.

But what I will say is that Republicans should take the issue of climate change seriously. The biggest environmentalists I know are outdoorsmen, they're hunters, they're fishers.

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: Whoa, whoa. Because they're not accepting the climate change argument, that means they're not taking it seriously, Robert?

PATILLO: Well, when you're not willing to do anything about it, you're not taking it seriously. We still have climate change deniers.

So, if we admit it's a problem, find a way to fix it in a bipartisan way that helps both sides of the aisle. Farmers, hunters, fishermen, outdoorsmen are the biggest environmentalists. And they want to have a clean environment.

Now, to say that it drives asylum and it's driving immigration, it's ridiculous. Of course it's the cartels who are doing. It is violence. It is political instability. But all those things are things that we can fix as Americans by having a conference with our Central America and South American counterparts to fix border security, to break down the cartels, to have policy across the board that will break down these issues.

PAYNE: So, let me get Kimberly and Tiana in on this as well.

Kimberly, I mean, listen, those are those are reasonable factors. And I'm impressed that Robert even mentioned them. But it feels like that's not gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

KLACIK: No.

And I don't think you can seek asylum with checking climate change. And I think that's ridiculous that she even offered such a suggestion. I mean, think about it. People are risking their lives, putting their children's lives at risk because of the weather? I don't think so.

And according to her, the U.S. is such a huge threat to climate change. So why would they flee here? I mean, we should be getting a ticket out of here if it was really going off of her logical sense. But she doesn't make any.

PAYNE: Right.

KLACIK: And, according to her, we're all going to die in 12 years anyway. So why cross the border? Remain where you are.

PAYNE: Tiana?

LOWE: I think that it's -- it just represents this extreme historical ignorance.

If you look at -- so the three countries where most of the asylum seekers are coming from, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, these problems have been going on for half-a-century.

PAYNE: Right.

LOWE: The Guatemalan genocide that still influences the migrants who are coming here, that started in 1968.

PAYNE: Yes, there's no doubt. There's no doubt.

I got to break in, though, folks, because I have got a FOX News Alert I must share with the audience right now.

Acting ICE Director Ron Vitiello, his last day on the job will be this Friday, April 12.

We will have more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: Will you please refrain from making any comments in the committee? Order. Order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Some protesters today, as Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters led the charge, as seven big bank CEOs are called to testify before the House Financial Services Committee.

FOX Business Network's Deirdre Bolton following the hearing from Capitol Hill -- Deirdre.

DEIRDRE BOLTON, FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Charles.

Wow. You said it. And you saw those seven CEOs in a row, Chairwoman Maxine Waters asking them if they had streamlined their businesses, if they had cut down on particular lines, basically making them easier to manage in the 10 years since the credit crisis. Here's part of that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATERS: I'm concerned that several of these institutions are simply too big to manage their own operations, too big to serve our communities and to big to care about the harm they have caused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLTON: So, Charles, there was a variety of subjects, the questions in the morning a little bit more varied.

They went from Brexit preparedness, to questions about student loan debt, to questions about the consumer. Now, the afternoon, more consumer- focused, if you like.

Here's one of the spicier exchanges between the Representative from Texas Sylvia Garcia and a few of the CEOs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SYLVIA GARCIA, D-TX: What percent of your revenues is fees?

Well, how tiny is tiny? Because tiny for you may be millions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Less than...

GARCIA: Less than 1 percent? Mr...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No consumer business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLTON: Freshman from New York, of course, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was here. If you are a fan of hers, you would say she asked varied questions. If you are a critic, you would say that, well, there were a few meandering topics in there.

She honed in as well on some of the consumer-driven fees. She also gave a shout-out in particular to Jamie Dimon from J.P. Morgan Chase, saying it was laudable that J.P. Morgan Chase has stopped financing private prisons.

She also talked about the fact that very few bankers have gone to jail as a result of the credit crisis, asked Jamie Dimon in particular if he thought that was fair. He said that she should be discussing this more with the legal experts vs. him.

And then she had a closing comment, more than a question, on monetary policy.

Chairman -- Chairwoman -- excuse me -- Maxine Waters wrapping up the day, saying that when she met with these CEOs 10 years ago, she called them captains of industry, captains of the universe for a reason, saying they have a lot of influence and a lot of power, and encouraging them to use creative solutions, Charles, for the next generation.

She talked a lot about millennials, a lot about the fact that they do have a lot of student debt, it's hard for people to afford homes and cars for this next generation.

PAYNE: Right.

BOLTON: One interesting thing that she did say is, next year, when you come. So she repeated that twice, not if you come, or not you will be invited, just when you come -- Charles.

PAYNE: None of that Mnuchin confusion. You will be back.

Deirdre, thank you very much.

BOLTON: Yes.

PAYNE: Attorney General William Barr thinks the Trump campaign was spied on -- what that means for the Russia investigation after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: I think there's -- spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Scientists releasing the first image of a black hole. It's 6.5 billion times larger than our sun, and about 55 million light years from Earth.

We will be back sooner, in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: I think there's -- spying did occur, yes. I think spying did occur.

To the extent there were -- there were any issues at the FBI, I do not view it as a problem that's endemic to the FBI. I think there was probably a failure among a group of leaders there at the upper echelon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Attorney General Barr looking into why the FBI started the Russian collusion investigation and if the government was spying on the Trump campaign.

So should former FBI officials like James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, should they be worried?

Attorney Andrew Stoltmann joins me now.

Andrew, certainly, if I'm them, I'm thinking, wow, that's the first time we have heard this in public from someone of this stature.

ANDREW STOLTMANN, FEDERAL COURT LITIGATOR: That's right.

Something's rotten in the state of Denmark. I mean, these are extraordinarily serious allegations, when you have the head of the Department of Justice saying this.

There has been a long line of a parade a horrible taking place at the FBI that launched this investigation. And people have said sunlight is the best disinfectant. So let's get some sunlight on this. We spent $50 million on the Mueller probe. Well, let's spend some money, potentially launch a second special counsel investigation, and get to the bottom of this.

This is serious stuff. When you have the head of the DOJ saying a presidential candidate was spied on? That is serious.

PAYNE: Although we may not need a special counsel.

It seems, between the I.G. report and the team that Barr's put together, it seems like he's very serious about getting to the bottom of all of this. And I do want to -- I do want to ask, because he did sort of preface or hedge it a little bit, saying maybe -- maybe there was a reason for it.

STOLTMANN: Yes, I just have a problem with it just being the inspector general, because that's someone that was appointed by Obama.

And, number two, he doesn't have prosecutorial powers. So when you have allegations that are this serious, we need more. Democrats were so willing to investigate the president and push for the special counsel. Well, when you have an FBI agent or agency potentially spying on a presidential candidate, that warrants the full extent of the law.

And in my opinion and the opinion of many others, it requires a second special counsel.

PAYNE: Andrew, what do you make of the fact that A.G. Barr went out of his way to -- not to condemn all of the FBI, but the upper echelons?

I mean, again, James Comey -- right now, what can James Comey be thinking about or Andrew McCabe? And your thoughts that they should be the focus of this?

STOLTMANN: Yes, look, the FBI does a fantastic job, but, like any organization, there are some people that have significant problems.

And if I'm James, Comey, I am extraordinarily nervous. Let's put the magnifying glass on Comey. Let's see what he was up to. Let's see what Strzok was up to, Peter Strzok. I mean, we know that he had anti-Trump Animus.

You also know that Comey leaked confidential information to a journalist. So let's put the magnifying glass on the FBI, at least some of the senior leaders, and let's see what we got.

PAYNE: Also during the hearing, a lot of puzzlement about the idea that the Trump campaign wasn't even notified, again, perhaps an example of disdain, or maybe something even more nefarious.

STOLTMANN: Look, nobody knows for certain at this point, but the allegations are there.

And if what is alleged is to be true -- and we know some people in the FBI have acted improperly -- we have to get to the bottom of this. If the FBI's house isn't in order, if they have engaged in chicanery, that's extremely important, and we need to find out what went on.

PAYNE: Real quick, before I let you go -- we have got a minute left -- but what would the recourse be if indeed it's found out that these activities were directed by the heads, the leadership at the FBI? What should the penalty be for them?

STOLTMANN: Boy, that's the $64,000 question.

But if you're talking about the abuse of power at the highest levels of the FBI, that warrants a criminal investigation. This is our national police force. It is extraordinarily difficult to comprehend FBI directors and FBI agents acting improperly.

Again, by and large, it's a wonderful organization.

PAYNE: Sure.

STOLTMANN: But if there are bad apples, that's a problem. They should potentially be criminally investigated.

PAYNE: Yes. I mean, people are shocked at what they have already seen from some of these e-mails and other things.

Andrew, we got to leave it there. Thank you very much.

STOLTMANN: Any time. Thank you.

PAYNE: Well, the Pentagon identifying the three U.S. Marines killed in a Taliban-claimed attack in Afghanistan earlier this week, this as we're in peace talks to end the 18-year conflict.

So, can the talks work? General Jack Keane is with me to discuss it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. STEVEN MOORE, FDNY: Today, we're here with heavy hearts, not only for the FDNY, but for the entire country. Chris was the epitome of what it means to be a New York City firefighter. He was brave, conscientious, dependable, and always rose to the occasion.

I know Chris would also want us to mention the other victims of this tragedy. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: The New York City Fire Department honoring Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Christopher Slutman.

The Pentagon identifying him, along with Corporal Robert Hendriks and Sergeant Benjamin Hines, as the three Marines killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the Taliban claiming responsibility for the attack.

So should we continue the peace talks with the Taliban?

Retired Four-Star General Jack Keane joins me now.

I guess, technically, General, we're at war, but, certainly, it seems it's -- it's hard for the average person to imagine that we're engaged in deep peace talks, as our -- as our brave men and women are still under attack.

JACK KEANE, SENIOR STRATEGIC ANALYST: Yes.

Well, certainly, our heart goes out to these families, what's happened here. And their death is no less meaningful than the first death that occurred there with Sergeant 1st Class Chapman, who was killed back in the beginning of this war, whose funeral I attended up at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Yes, there are negotiations going on. And, actually, there's an uptick in violence because of the negotiations. They're about to get around the table again in Qatar. And the Taliban have upped the level of violence.

There were 30 Afghans killed earlier in the week in a battle. And last night, there was another 18. And, obviously, Americans who are not directly involved in this fight who are helping the Afghans do the fighting, it is a combat zone. And, certainly, this points out how dangerous it is.

This totals seven now that have been killed this year who are our Americans supporting the Afghans.

PAYNE: Right.  KEANE: But, yes, you put your finger on it. Where are we really going with this thing? And behind that statement is your skepticism, certainly. And I have the same. I'm not convinced that the Taliban are going to be faithful in these negotiations

Here's what's on the table. We pull all our troops out, and the Taliban will guarantee that ISIS and the Al Qaeda would not establish a safe haven from which to attack the United States. Remember, the reason why the United States and NATO are in Afghanistan is one reason only. And that is because it's from Afghanistan that we were attacked on 9/11.

And we want to prevent that from happening again. Now, we don't trust the Taliban. I know I don't.

PAYNE: For sure. Sure.

KEANE: I don't know a military commander that does.

So I'm very concerned about where the negotiations are heading.

PAYNE: General, General Keane, you talked about the attack on the -- I think it was a combination of Afghan soldiers and policemen.

And we read these all the time, where the Taliban is so brazen, they attack police stations, they attack army barracks, they attack buses with police officers, folks with machine guns, and they typically wipe them out.

What does that say once America walks away? What could we see there? What kind of carnage could be -- could we actually see once this is -- if we do succeed and get their pledge that maybe no other terrorist group will be there, but the Taliban will?

KEANE: Well, in the fights that took place, not this suicide bombing, in the other ones, the Taliban, in one of those fights where Afghans lost 30, the Taliban lost over 100.

So it's not true that they win all these fights.

PAYNE: OK.

KEANE: The fact is, they don't.

But they have -- they have -- to be factual, though, they have regained territory these last few years, after the United States stopped combat operations and pulled back so dramatically. There's been a slow gain each year in this.

PAYNE: Right.

But...

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: I'm sorry, General.

KEANE: Go ahead.

PAYNE: But we don't have a lot of time.

And I do want to sneak this one in, because Senator -- Republican Senator Rand Paul is cautioning the Trump administration today against going to war with Iran, saying, Secretary of State Pompeo would need permission from Congress to do so.

Your thoughts?

KEANE: We are not going to war with Iran. We got to stop this hand- wringing stuff that goes on. That's just not going to happen.

We are -- yes, have we declared the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization, so we can have more leverage over Iran economically? The Iranian response to this is not going to pull triggers at us. They're likely going to declare the United States Central Command as a terrorist organization, maybe the United States Army as a terrorist organization, maybe run some patrol boats out near a Navy combat ship, hoping that we don't fire at them.

That's going to be the response. We're not going to war.

PAYNE: General Jack Keane, always a pleasure. Thank you very much.

KEANE: OK, good talking to you, Charles.

PAYNE: You too.

Hey, you're looking live at Crosby, Texas, President Trump just arriving. And, well, he is set to speak there soon and set also to unveil some new executive orders that help boost the oil industry there. We will get the latest next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: President Trump expected to speak in Crosby, Texas, shortly and expected to introduce a new plan to help the oil and gas industry down there.

FOX's Garrett Tenney is there with the latest -- Garrett.

GARRETT TENNEY, CORRESPONDENT: Well, Charles, as you well know, the booming energy sector is a big reason why the economy has been so strong since President Trump took office.

And he has made it a goal to have American energy dominate on the global stage. And to that end, this afternoon, he will sign two executive orders aiming to boost oil and gas production by cutting red tape and easing regulations.

A big one is the Clean Water Act. States are supposed to approve or deny applications to build pipelines within one year. But some states have delayed that decision and those projects for years by repeatedly asking for revisions or new studies.

As a senior administration official told us, many states implement Section 401 faithfully. However, the implementation on occasion has caused delays in the permitting and development of energy infrastructure that would have broad regional and national benefits.

This afternoon, the president will direct the EPA to review and update its guidelines for the Clean Water Act, so not overriding it or getting rid of it, but trying to force states to either approve or deny projects in a more timely fashion.

Environmental groups argue that rushing the approval process is dangerous and it could lead to environmental disasters. But even some Republican governors have expressed concern that the administration is eroding states' rights with this move.

So, like many of the president's executive orders, these could end up in the courts. And you can see behind me, though, you have the hardhats and yellow vests on the stage, the president expected to arrive here in just a few minutes, where he will speak here at an engineer training facility -- Charles.

PAYNE: Garrett, thank you very much.

And the president's push the boost oil production coming where prices for oil on the rise this year.

Let's get reaction from market watcher Scott Martin.

It's been a pretty good year for West Texas Intermediate. But it's not always -- it's not reflected always with these oil companies, because they need to get the oil out faster, and they need to get it to the market even more so. And they have got some issues there.

SCOTT MARTIN, KINGSVIEW ASSET MANAGEMENT: Yes, I mean, Charles, there's a real infrastructure problem.

That's why I'm glad, per Garrett's report, that we are making some steps forward on how to get this stuff kind of built and flowing. I mean, in West Texas alone, there's thousands of oil wells, Charles, that are drilled, but not producing.

So, yes, with respect to infrastructure pipelines that need to be built, that absolutely needs to get out there, because, yes, you're right. It has been a great year for West Texas crude, but, my goodness, even a better year for West Texas, just given that now the Permian Basin is the world's largest oil producer.

PAYNE: And to that degree, when we used to talk about oil just a few years ago, it was always a negative conversation when oil prices are going up.

Not so much, particularly on Wall Street these days, considering that we are either at the cusp or have become the preeminent producer of crude oil in the world.

MARTIN: Yes, it's a good thing.

And I think really the reason that stocks and the economy, I guess, Charles, are taking it so well, as you put it, is because this is actually real energy policy. Before, the energy policy was, yes, we don't have -- we have energy, we have oil, we have natural gas off Florida, but the policy was, let's just not use it and, instead, let's rely on OPEC countries -- or OPEC, whose member countries with whom we have very poor relations.

Let's rely on like a cartel like OPEC and Venezuela and all these other countries that are having terrible civil wars to regulate price and put pressure on us and our economy, instead of having our own energy policy, our own reliance on energy here.

So the fact that this is back to the United States as being an energy powerhouse or say the United States being an energy powerhouse for the first time in decades, I think, is exciting for the economy and exciting for stocks.

PAYNE: You know, Scott, when President Obama won, the argument was that the pendulum with respect to things like regulation had swung too far over with self-regulation.

And now I think it appears that people are realizing there's room in the middle. There's a chance to have the Clean Air Act and all of the things you want to achieve with that, but not the onerous speed bumps and hurdles that it takes to do business in this country.

MARTIN: Yes, and I think that's exactly the point.

It's not something that needs to be completely far off, where we're not going to do anything, and it doesn't need to be free-flowing either. It's something in the middle. And that's where I think a lot of things will come together, as Garrett reported, with some of the states feeling maybe like their rights are being compromised.

I mean, things will come to the middle, and that's where we will come to a solution here. But the fact that we have things to work with respect to gas, with respect to oil, as we talked about, how much supply is out there, is really exciting to be in America today to actually have energy that we can rely on, that we will produce here.

PAYNE: Scott, let me wheel over to the market. I think we're up, the S&P, nine of eight sessions. Today was a much better day than the headlines would suggest, because Boeing was off again.

This is a remarkable start to this year. And how sustainable is it, in your mind?

MARTIN: It's sustainable. I don't think it's something that's going to continue. I don't think next three months are going to be like the first three months, let's say, Charles of the year, but that's OK.

I mean, markets are supposed to take breathers. As you know, we talk a lot about this on FOX Business. Markets backfill. They rise and then they come back to levels, and then rise again and go to highs. So, I think the market behavior is very good.

We're seeing a lot of sectors pick up slack when other sectors fall. We particularly like health care right now, biotech, and we have been adding to industrial names here on the recent pullback.

PAYNE: All right, I got to tell you, many people would be surprise. If you said three months ago we'd be on the cusp of all-time highs right now, no one would have believed you.

Scott, though, you have always been on top. We appreciate it.

MARTIN: See you see, man.

PAYNE: Hey, folks, we're continuing to wait for the president to start speaking. We are watching.

More after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: A measles outbreak causing some drastic measures from health officials, calling from mandatory vaccinations, to warning parents not to take their kids to measles parties.

Bryan Llenas has more.

BRYAN LLENAS, CORRESPONDENT: Charles, New York City is experiencing its worse measles outbreak since 1991.

There are 285 measles cases. Most are children. There are eight new cases in Westchester County this morning. The outbreak started in October, and they haven't yet stop the spread. So, now New York's Health Department has issued a mandatory vaccination order, a rare order, for every person who lives in these four zip codes in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Those who get the measles and are found to be unvaccinated could be fined $1,000. Parents could be fined too, if their children become infected. Most of the measles cases are in Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York. City officials say anti-vaccination literature has spread throughout the Orthodox community, spreading misinformation and lies that vaccines are dangerous.

There are now 465 measles cases in 19 states nationwide. It's the second worst outbreak in the U.S. since the measles was eradicated in 2000, thanks to the MMR vaccine.

Now, anti-vaccination fear-mongering is part of the problem and has caused some to try things like unsafe measles parties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMINIA PALACIO, NEW YORK CITY DEPUTY MAYOR: There are people attending so-called measles parties, bringing children together to purposely get exposed to measles.

But, as a doctor, a public health practitioner and a mom, I must warn you that exposing your unvaccinated child to measles is very dangerous. And it could even be deadly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LLENAS: Measles parties are not recommended, Charles. Doctors say vaccines are the best and safest way to develop immunity to measles.

PAYNE: Bryan, are there any anticipations of legal challenges to all of this?

LLENAS: I think we could expect some legal action, based on what we saw in Rockland County just a couple weeks ago here in New York.

The county there tried to keep people that had measles and children away from public spaces. A judge said that that emergency order went too far. And so now they're quarantining those folks. One can expect, now that they're trying mandatory vaccinations, which hasn't been seen in this country since 1905, that legal action could be headed their way.

PAYNE: Wow. Measles parties, never heard of it. But this is an epidemic.

Bryan, thank you very much.

And, folks, thanks for joining us.

By the way, tomorrow, Neil Cavuto will be back. Great news.

Also, you can check me out. I will be on the FOX Business Network tomorrow at 2:00 p.m., where we will be "Making Money," because, remember, tomorrow, we get the initial jobless claims. Last Thursday, we learned it was at the lowest point since December of 1969.

Name the top song that year.

(SINGING)

PAYNE: That's right.

(LAUGHTER)

PAYNE: All right, folks, that's it. Keep it right here.

"The Five" starts right now.

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