Pompeo: US will live in ‘different world’ if Chinese government celebrates 200th anniversary
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on US preparedness to take on China.
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," July 11 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good Sunday morning, everyone. Welcome to "Sunday Morning Futures." I'm Maria Bartiromo.
Today, breaking news, with President Trump still fighting back and rallying back. The 45th president of the United States will join me coming up in an exclusive on his lawsuit against big tech, battling detractors and the questions that will not go away about election 2020.
Then, constitutional attorney Alan Dershowitz and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk on the double standard against Trump and company.
Plus, the new timeline out of Afghanistan has communist China waiting in the wings. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the biggest winners of Joe Biden's foreign policy, as oil prices move from the 30s a barrel to $74 a barrel in Biden's America, enriching Vladimir Putin and Iran.
Plus:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): We must eliminate funding for CBP, ICE and their parent organization, DHS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: More lunatic ideas from the extreme left about stripping resources from the very people protecting our shores, as we bring you new numbers this morning on apprehensions and the got-aways at the Southern border for the month of June.
New York Congressman Lee Zeldin on why so many illegal migrants and dangerous narcotics are making their way to New York City and other big cities within days of arriving at the border, the spike in crime and his bid to turn it around.
All that right here, right now on "Sunday Morning Futures."
But first this morning, we are awaiting the launch of billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic rocket plane, expected to blast into outer space later this hour. We will take you there as more becomes available.
More questions, meanwhile, this morning about President Biden's foreign policy agenda, after his surprise announcement on Thursday that the United States will withdraw troops from Afghanistan on August 31, instead of September 11.
Joining me right now is former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, also a FOX News contributor.
Secretary, it's always a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much for being here.
We're waiting on this launch out of the -- Afghanistan. We're looking at the pictures of the Afghanistan base, while we await the launch of the Virgin Galactic.
Your thoughts on all of this? I know that you and President Trump created the first space team, the first new military arm since 1947.
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: So, it's exciting to see what's happening this morning. I wish them well. I hope everybody gets up and gets back and does so safely.
What's really going on here is to see American innovation, private sector work. This is all good stuff, creativity. I'm sure they will learn a lot from their continued efforts, not just his company, but others who will come compete for space tourism, and to continue to expand the limits of man's knowledge. That's all good stuff.
The really important things that are happening in space are about American national security. And we worked hard on that, not only creating the Space Force, but building out intelligence capabilities and all the tools that America will need in space to be able to defend itself in the next century.
BARTIROMO: And now we see our troops coming home by August 31.
I want to get your take on how President Biden is approaching this, initially, a September 11 deadline. Now he is taking the troops home. It's not how he's -- that he's leaving, but how he's doing it, the U.S. abandoning its biggest airfield in the country in the dead of night without notifying the base's new Afghan commander.
Your reaction?
POMPEO: Well, Maria, you hit it on the head.
Our mission was twofold. The president gave me a bite -- two pieces of the puzzle. One was to get our kids home. It's the right thing to do. We worked diligently to do that. We went from 10,000, 12,000, 14,000 down to just a fraction of that.
But, importantly, we had a diplomatic mission there. And that diplomatic mission was to make sure that America was never attacked from Afghanistan again. And so that was the work. I met many times with Mullah Baradar and his team of the Taliban trying to convince them the right path forward.
To move this date around is an odd thing, it seems to me. Maybe it's just they moved out faster. That's all fine. But the devil is in the details. You have to get this right. You have to have the intelligence capabilities.
President Trump made clear. He spoke with the Taliban a couple times as well. He made clear to them, if you kill an American, there will be an enormous cost. We will do whatever it takes. We will come back in with the forces we need to come back in with.
And it was clear. From the moment we began our conversations with the Taliban in a serious way, we didn't have a single American killed. Indeed, there was only a single attack on an American. It looks like it was a rogue actor. We had the policy right. It's one thing to get out. It's how you do it, how you execute it, and how you implement our global counterterrorism mission in the aftermath of that departure that will make all the difference in whether this ends up being something that President Biden can say, yes, he did it well.
BARTIROMO: So, Biden says that he's going to go with his gut, despite military opposition on his plans and credible -- and credible warnings, apparently, according to the military, that Kabul could fall within a few months.
Tell me your thoughts on what happens now, as we now understand that China is waiting in the wings to go into Afghanistan.
POMPEO: Well, Maria, look, the civilians are in charge. And President Trump had the same kind of resistance from the military as well to reducing our footprint in Afghanistan.
It was ultimately his decision, as the leader, to begin this march towards having fewer and fewer troops there in Afghanistan. It's all about how you execute it. Your point about the Chinese is well-taken.
Frankly, we provided security for the Chinese for 20 years. Today, there's fewer than 200 Al Qaeda there. That benefits the Chinese enormously. Their interests in Afghanistan are commercial. They're loath to commit their own troops, I expect.
And so Afghanistan needs to begin to stand up on its own. I saw some clips last night of fighting-age males who are saying, it's really unsafe, I need to get out. When I see that, Maria, the Afghan people need to decide their nation is worth fighting for and making the case. They need to create a political system and political institutions.
You have got Afghan leaders with beautiful homes all over the Middle East, in Europe. There's corruption everywhere. It's time for the Afghan people to do the hard work, the heavy lifting, and demand that they push back against the Taliban, not just militarily, but politically, exercise their own rights, secure their own freedom.
We have provided all the resources the Afghan National Security Forces could possibly ever have dreamed of and all the training over two decades. It's time to come back. And it's time to make sure that we do this right with few American troops and making sure that we're never attacked from this place again.
BARTIROMO: Well, look, this offers China a portal for the Chinese Communist Party to access the Arabian Sea via Iran, Pakistan. It may very well become an even more dangerous neighborhood, if you will.
I want to get your thoughts on what has taken place regarding China this last two weeks, as the CCP celebrates its 100-year anniversary. And Xi Jinping said that China's enemies will have their heads cracked and bleeding in any future conflict.
And he vowed to take Taiwan back. Your thoughts in where we are with China, as I am yet to see any policy out of the Biden administration that has any teeth against the CCP?
POMPEO: Maria, I haven't seen it either. I truly hope that the Biden administration will pick up the cudgel where the Trump administration left off.
After 50 years of the idea of constructive engagement, that we could just sell some more trinkets or manage some Chinese wealth or allow them to come operate here inside America, that they would get political freedoms, it's just failed. The Trump administration turned this around. We began to protect American jobs and create American technology and military force posture in a way that would push back against the very language you saw from Xi Jinping.
He is serious about this. We shouldn't take that as bluster. The Chinese Communist Party presents the single greatest threat to the United States of America from external forces, bar none. And we need to mount a sustained, serious campaign to push back against them.
This is doable. We have done it with the Soviet Union. We know exactly how to build coalitions around the world. We did it with the Indians, with the Japanese, with the Australians, our good friends and allies. We were beginning to put together a coalition to protect the West.
We don't want to live in a world dominated by the Chinese Communist Party. And when you hear Xi Jinping make threats like that, threats to the people on Taiwan, this requires resolve, strength, deterrence from America. And American leadership has to be there.
And I hope President Biden will take that up.
BARTIROMO: Yes, but you have to wonder if, in fact, the U.S. is there should Xi Jinping invade Taiwan.
Look at the response as he invaded Hong Kong and started throwing everybody in jail. The freedom fighters are now in jail.
Just this week, communist China seized control of Britain's largest microchip factory. And they also -- the Biden administration announced that more companies will be added to the blacklist over the Xinjiang disaster, where they have Uyghurs locked up.
And yet a lot of people are questioning that blacklist, because while he's putting some companies on the blacklist, the companies that are actually doing anything and the subsidiaries of those companies are not on that list.
What do you make of these moves this week from the CCP?
POMPEO: Yes, the CCP is serious.
The moves that you described there this past week are serious, where there were -- there was actions that we saw disclosed about how they're continuing to cover up for the virus as well. We have seen the work they're doing with genetics. They're doing testing on mothers who are pregnant. They're collecting their DNA samples.
This is a machine. This is a machine that is intent on dominating the world in technology and commerce and militarily. The responses have to be equally serious. I saw the blacklist that you're referring to. It's pretty technical. It's hard to tell exactly what's in it and what's not.
But, in the end, if it doesn't impact a Chinese Communist Party company, if it doesn't impact their capacity to put Americans at risk, then putting their name on a piece of paper is not of any value. They need to do more. The administration needs to do more than just respond to the genocide that we declared.
They need to begin to confront them in a serious way and impose real costs on a Communist Party that celebrated its 100th anniversary. And if they're able to celebrate their 200th anniversary, we will live in a very, very different world.
BARTIROMO: A very, very different world, as corporate America is yet to get the memo.
Two weeks ago, we heard the CEO of Nike say that Nike is of China and for China. Pretty extraordinary stuff.
Secretary Pompeo, it's always a pleasure. Thank you, sir.
POMPEO: Thank you, Maria. Have a good day.
BARTIROMO: And to you.
We will take a break and come back and look at the crime wave sweeping the country. Congressman Lee Zeldin is here. He's running for governor of New York. We will find out his platform and get his thoughts on the movement to defund the police, open borders, and put prisoners back on the streets.
Stay with us. We have got breaking numbers coming up this morning on the June border apprehensions you will only see here. Back in a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Breaking news this morning.
We have brand-new apprehension numbers for the month of June from our source, Brandon Judd, the president of the National Border Patrol Council.
Here are the unofficial numbers. They will probably go higher, because this is just up until today.
June border encounters nationwide, 174,000 in the month of June, 39,000- plus got-aways. In other words, those people were seen on surveillance. They got away. We have no idea what their intentions are. They are now in America. according to Brandon, these people are going everywhere, Little Rock, Charlotte, Des Moines, and New York City, and Miami both major hot spots for got-aways, Tucson, Arizona, also a real hot spot for got-aways.
Joining me right now is Congressman Lee Zeldin. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He's also running for governor of New York right now.
And good morning to you, Congressman.
Your reaction to these new numbers, as we expect some of them to go to New York? What can you tell us?
REP. LEE ZELDIN (R-NY): It's a staggering crisis at our border right now, reality setting in.
We have, as members of Congress, an oath that -- provide for the common defense. We should be funding Department of Homeland Security and ICE and Customs and Border Patrol. We should be strengthening our borders, enforcing our rule of law.
And we talk about people who come across our border, but, as you look at those numbers, we also have to take account for the things that come across, the drug trafficking, the arms trafficking, the story behind these numbers. Oftentimes, we're talking about labor trafficking and sex trafficking as well.
So it's important for those in government to provide all the resources to law enforcement to do their jobs safely, effectively, because this is not just something that crosses a border, but it's something that quickly spreads to cities and communities all across our country.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
And, of course, President Trump cleaned all of this up, but the Biden administration overturned it. We're going to speak with the president in just about 30 seconds' time here.
But, real quick, what is your plan to turn around what's taking place in New York? You have got murder rates skyrocketing in U.S. cities, 35 percent up in Atlanta, 24 percent up in L.A., Minneapolis up 45 percent, crime also skyrocketing in New York.
What is the plan?
ZELDIN: Support law enforcement more, not less.
Reverse cashless bail here in New York. Keep qualified immunity. Enact a bill of rights for law enforcement that recognizes their inherent right to self-defense, that gives them the resources they need, to ensure they aren't unfairly targeted.
I was raised in a law enforcement household. I'm hearing it from all across our state from people from all walks of life.
BARTIROMO: OK.
ZELDIN: They want to strengthen public safety in our state.
BARTIROMO: All right, Lee Zeldin, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks very much.
A little abbreviated interview there. We appreciate your time this morning, Congressman. We will keep watching, Congressman Lee Zeldin.
And now joining me right now is the 45th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, on the telephone.
And, Mr. President, thank you very much for joining me this morning.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, thank you very much.
BARTIROMO: We have been looking at the border numbers and the crime statistics.
But I want to get right to your pushback on big tech, Mr. President. You wrote an op-ed after you launched a lawsuit against these major big tech companies.
Tell me why this is different. We have been told that social media cannot be sued. So, why is it that you are able to launch this lawsuit against Twitter, Google and Facebook and their CEOs, sir?
TRUMP: Well, we're working with the America First Policy Institute, brilliant people, great lawyers. Everybody's so enthused.
People are joining because it's a class action. It's not about me. It's about everybody. And people are joining left and right. They're joining at a level that nobody -- I guess they -- I could say this on your show. It's takeonbigtech.com, takeonbigtech.com.
And they're joining like -- like, I don't know, I guess probably most of these class actions have never seen before.
And what it is, is, they're taking away your freedom of speech. They are taking away your right to speak. They're taking away everything. And they get powers. They have a Section 230, it's called, and that gives them immunity. That gives them protection.
But once they have that, they no longer have that kind of a power where you can't go after it. This is a private company. Well, now they're not private companies. They're getting the biggest subsidy. And you can call it that. They're getting the biggest subsidy that any company has ever gotten from a government.
I mean, they -- they're immune from so many different things. But they're not immune from this lawsuit, because what they have done is such a violation of the Constitution, a violation like we have never seen before. You look at -- they take me down. They take all conservative voices down, or most of them. If they find them, they take them down.
It's a disgrace.
BARTIROMO: Now, Mr. President, your lawsuit argues that big tech companies are being used to impose illegal and unconstitutional government censorship. In other words, they are working as agents of the government.
We do have information and evidence to show that there was a real conversation going on between Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Anthony Fauci, for example, during the pandemic. They did censor key information.
We had Dr. Kory and Senator Ron Johnson last week to discuss ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, which may very well have been very important treatments for COVID-19. And yet social media censored them.
So, tell me about that, because you have got social media working hand in glove with the Democrat Party. Is that what gives you the opening to sue these companies, even though they do have that 230 immunity?
TRUMP: Well, that's one of the many reasons.
But when you say they work with government, they work with Democrats within government and, frankly, outside of government. They work with the Democrats. It's a Democrat machine. It should be a campaign contribution, the largest ever made.
And even on the election, how they helped rig the election, the 2020 presidential election, they have lockboxes all over the place. They bring them in late. They bring them in whenever they want. The boxes are open. Trump has some -- in some cases, virtually no votes within the boxes, like we got no votes.
We got 12 million more votes than I got the first time. And they have a lockbox. And people are looking at that left and right.
By the way, the investigation going on right now from different states is massive concerning the rigged election of 2020. It was a disgrace. But a big part of that rigging was done by these companies, these very companies that we're suing, on different grounds and on other grounds.
BARTIROMO: Yes, I want to get back to that in a moment.
But you said these companies are pushing back. And yet I had a list on this program two weeks ago about the biggest lies of all. That includes the Russia hoax, the phony dossier, impeachment with no crime, Hunter Biden's laptop, business deals, the origins and treatment of COVID-19, voting laws in 14 states are Jim Crow.
And, of course, they call the armed insurrection -- they called it an armed insurrection, and yet no guns were seized, all of this misinformation to the public. And yet Twitter has restricted the account of a Chinese scholar who dared to mock Xi Jinping.
Also, Twitter allows The Global Times, which is Chinese Communist Party propaganda, to come out with a story the other day and recommend that the CCP bomb Australia.
How is it possible that these companies that have enriched themselves because of the liberty and freedoms of America to go on and cancel a former president, a sitting president at the time, and allow propaganda from the CCP to run wild and Iranians run wild on Twitter?
I don't understand what this motivation is.
TRUMP: Well, the motivation is a sick motivation.
And, when you look at it, they allow Hamas. They allow countries and dictators that want to destroy everything and everybody and that are doing tremendous harm to their countries, killing people by the thousands. They're allowed.
But a president of the United States that has a following like nobody's seen before, we're not allowed to do that. And so we have to use other methods, until this lawsuit is -- it's going to wind its way through the courts. I think it's going to be very successful.
It's been -- as you know, it's been very well-received, very popular. A lot of legal scholars are saying, it's about time. So, we look forward to that.
BARTIROMO: Mr. President, it is being also reported, though, that this was filed in Miami -- in Florida, rather, and yet the jurisdiction is not right because the terms of service for these social media companies are in California.
So, explain that. You filed this lawsuit, class-action lawsuit, in Florida, and yet their terms of service say that this can only be done in California.
TRUMP: Well, I filed the lawsuit, and I live in Florida. Florida is my home state. And we filed it, therefore, in Florida.
And they would probably like to get it out of Florida. Maybe they will try and bring it into an area where they feel they have total control of everything. And they will try. And our lawyers will be fighting.
The fact is, I live in Florida. So it's the obvious place to file it. And we will see what happens on that. But we should be successful.
BARTIROMO: Mr. President, you just referred to the 2020 election.
I want to refer you to an article in The Federalist over the weekend. And it says new evidence indicates enough illegal votes in Georgia to tip the 2020 results. This is from The Federalist.
I want to get your thoughts on what's taking place right now in Arizona and in Georgia with regard to that, as you continue to post and discuss election 2020.
TRUMP: That's right.
Well, the Federalist, they have 35,000 votes. And that's far more, numerous times more than we need to win that state. But there are many other things in Georgia. Georgia was so corrupt. It was so incredibly corrupt. Frankly, nobody's seen anything like it.
And you have a secretary of state, you have a governor that does nothing about it. And they have to get on the ball. But that -- 35,000 votes was -- and this is just one category.
If you look at what's going on in Arizona, Arizona has been incredible. The state senators in Arizona have taken it to heart. They're doing an audit, a forensic audit, like you haven't seen really in this country. They're going to be announcing the results. That's done by them. It's not done by me. These are great patriots.
They're going to be announcing the results of that audit, Maria, I hear, over the next two or three weeks. And I would imagine it would be horrendous. But we will see. Maybe it'll be wonderful. But we're going to see. It's a very big deal.
And this is, again, done by the Senate, the state Senate of a state that looked and they watched, and they saw, wow, we're being scammed. Take a look at Pennsylvania. They're now starting an audit. So many areas. In New Hampshire, they found horrible things in New Hampshire with respect to voting.
And we're talking about all determinative. The word is determinative, in other words, things that would overturn. I'm not saying, if you lost by 10,000 votes, and you found three votes of dead people as an example. No, I'm talking about many times the 10,000 votes necessary.
We won this election in a landslide. We got 12 million more votes, Maria...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: ... 12 million more than I got the last time...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: ... the last time I won.
This was a rigged election. And the people aren't standing for it. So, we will go forward.
BARTIROMO: Mr...
TRUMP: And let's see what happens.
BARTIROMO: Mr. President, you know that the Supreme Court would not take any of this up.
And, today, we are facing a situation where you're not even allowed to discuss any of this. You get attacked on social media if you raise any irregularities.
I want to get your take on where we go from here, because there are 14 states that have come up with new voting laws. Do you think that the current laws on the books and these new laws will ensure a fair and free election in 2022 and 2024?
TRUMP: That's right.
States like Texas and others have taken it to heart. They saw what happened. They saw the travesty of the election. They know what happened. They were very strong during the election. And we won Texas very easily. But they know exactly what happened.
And they have drawn up new laws, many states. I think that you have -- I think it's going to be 41 states are looking at it very strongly, because they saw the travesty of the 2020 election. And we can't have that, where a large percentage of our population and 78 percent of the Republican Party thinks the election was rigged and stolen.
We can't have that as a country. We were known for great elections, for honest elections. These elections were so corrupt with the mail-in ballots, and by the thousands, and people getting three, four and five mail-in ballots, just like in New York. Look what happened in New York. And look what happened previously in New York with a congressional race. They never had any idea who won that race.
So, this was a terrible blot on our country and our country's history and our country as a free and fair place. This -- you can't allow this to happen. We were very disappointed by the Supreme Court, because they didn't have the courage to take it up. They didn't want anything to do with it.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: Too controversial.
BARTIROMO: That's right.
TRUMP: They didn't want anything.
The Supreme Court didn't have the courage to take it up. And they should be ashamed of themselves.
BARTIROMO: Mr. President, let me move on.
The fencing around the Capitol is beginning to come down this week and this weekend. And I know that you have had some time to reflect on what took place on that day, January 6.
Talk to us about what you're thinking about as you reflect. What happened that day, from your standpoint?
TRUMP: So, there was a big rally called. And, actually, when I say big, who knew? But there was a rally called.
And a tremendous number of people, the largest one I have ever spoken before, is called by people, by patriots. And they asked me if I'd speak. And I did. And it was a very mild-mannered speech, as I think has been -- in fact, they just came out with a report in Congress, and they didn't mention my name, literally.
But what they were complaining about and the reason, in my opinion, you had over a million people there, which the press doesn't like to report at all, because it shows too much -- too much activity, too much -- too much spirit and faith and love. There was such love at that rally.
You had over a million people there. They were there for one reason, the rigged election. They felt the election was rigged. That's why they were there. And they were peaceful people. These were great people.
The crowd was unbelievable. And I mentioned the word love. The love -- the love in the air, I have never seen anything like it.
And that's why they went to Washington.
BARTIROMO: You know, Mr...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And, by the way, I can tell you that I thought -- because I was hearing from a lot of people there are going to be a lot of people coming there, much bigger than anybody ever anticipated by many times.
And I had suggested to the secretary of defense, perhaps we should have 10,000 National Guardsmen standing by. And he reported that, as you know, but I -- we should have -- and he was turned down. I said, it's subject to Congress. They run it. Nancy Pelosi runs it. So, it would be subject to the Capitol Police and the other things, whatever they need.
But I said, perhaps you need 10,000, because I think the crowd is going to be very large. Who knows? Maybe two people will show up. But I think it's going to be very large.
Anyway, he had that. He went to them. They said it won't be necessary. They were the ones that were responsible. They were the ones. And this came out very loudly in the report.
BARTIROMO: Yes, that report showed FBI operatives potentially aware.
But there are unanswered questions here. What did the FBI know? Why weren't your Cabinet secretaries briefed? What did Speaker Pelosi know, Chuck Schumer, McConnell?
Do you have any answers to that? They continue to call this an armed insurrection.
TRUMP: Oh, I think they knew plenty.
BARTIROMO: And yet no guns were seized, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Right. There were no guns whatsoever.
And yet Antifa, which went into Portland and went into so many other places, Seattle -- they took over a big part of Seattle. People died. And there were plenty of guns there, by the way -- and in Minnesota, in Minneapolis. They got -- there was no repercussions for them. And yet they have people still in jail. There were no guns. There were no guns.
And, by the way, while you're at it, who shot Ashli Babbitt? Why are they keeping that secret? Who is the person that shot...
BARTIROMO: Well...
TRUMP: ... an innocent, wonderful, incredible woman, a military woman, right in the head? And there's no repercussions.
If that were on the other side, it would be the biggest story in this country. Who shot Ashli Babbitt? People want to know, and why.
BARTIROMO: Well, that's right.
And I want to talk about that, because Ashli Babbitt, a wonderful woman, fatally shot on January 6 as she tried to climb out of a broken window.
Her family has spoken out. Her family has been on "Tucker Carlson." And they want answers as far as why this wonderful woman, young woman who went to peaceful protests was shot.
Do you have any information? There is speculation that this was a security detail in a leading member of Congress' security detail, a Democrat.
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: What can you tell us in terms of who shot Ashli Babbitt? What do you know, Mr. President?
TRUMP: So -- so, I have heard that.
I will tell you they know who shot Ashli Babbitt. They're protecting that person. I have heard also that it was the head of security for a certain high official, a Democrat.
And we will see, because it's going to come out. It's going to come out. What happened to Ashli Babbitt and what's happening currently to people that are incarcerated -- and, you know, it would be one thing if you did that, but why isn't BLM, the death and that destruction that they have caused in Manhattan, in New York, in Chicago, if you take a look at the kind -- in L.A.
And look at Minnesota. Look what they did in Seattle. They're not paying a price. In New York, they released 400 people who practically burned down Fifth Avenue and burned down our stores and killed people. And they're all released. They were released. Don't worry about it. We -- you just leave. It was just announced.
And yet you have people with no guns that walked down. And, frankly, the doors were open, and the police, in many cases, you know, they have -- they have hundreds of hours of tape, and they're not releasing the tape. They ought to release the tape to see what really happened. But there was also a lovefest between the police, the Capitol Police, and the people that walked down to the Capitol.
BARTIROMO: Well...
TRUMP: So, I think it's going to all come out.
But you have to find out. And you can do it perhaps better than most. And I think I know the answer.
BARTIROMO: Well...
TRUMP: But who shot Ashli Babbitt? And why are they holding that information back?
BARTIROMO: Ashli...
TRUMP: And they have to release the people that are incarcerated.
They won't do it to the other side.
BARTIROMO: It's -- yes, it's actually quite extraordinary.
I want you to know that my team reached out to Senator Chuck Schumer's office to check on what he may know about who shot Ashli Babbitt.
TRUMP: Right.
BARTIROMO: We have not heard back from Chuck Schumer's office.
We did send a note and call.
TRUMP: I wonder why.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
What do you think? Do you know who it is, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Well, I wonder why. I wonder why.
You know, they -- they talk big, and they're real law and order people when it comes to a certain group. But, with another group, they can do whatever they want.
Hey, I was in Washington, and I saw what happened. And the repercussions to these people was, like, the people that did damage in these various Democrat-run -- in all cases, Democrat-run cities, there was no repercussion whatsoever. There was nothing. Nothing happened to them.
And yet they have people who walked with no guns, with no nothing. They're currently incarcerated. And there's large numbers of them. And it's not right. And they're military people, and they're police officers, and they're construction workers.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: And they're tremendous, in many cases, tremendous people, tremendous people.
Now, we have to find out, why is there a double standard? Why is Antifa, vicious killers, why is Antifa and BLM, which is a scam of the system, why are they set free all the time, never even arrested, never even arrested? Why is it?
BARTIROMO: Well, Mr. President, on that day, January 6, you did speak with Kevin McCarthy.
Let me just point out that Nancy Pelosi is going forth with a commission to investigate all of this. It may very well be that Kevin McCarthy is called to testify under oath.
Do you want to tell us what took place on that phone call?
TRUMP: No, I don't have to, because Kevin will speak. And I'm sure Kevin will be very good from that standpoint.
But I will tell you this.
BARTIROMO: OK.
TRUMP: If they're going to do this very partisan investigation, because they couldn't get support to do a straight investigation, a big part of that investigation is the reason that people went to Washington.
And that's because of the fraudulent presidential election of 2020. And that has to be a part of it.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: And everybody that got there, I think, on the one side, those people want to talk about the reason they were there, because, to me, that's the biggest crime of all.
We had a corrupt election. We had a rigged election. We had a stolen election. And that's why you had over a million people march to Washington.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
Mr. President, we are watching on the side of the screen the Virgin Galactic launch about to take place. This is the first crewed spaceflight.
I want to point out that, in 2019, you created the first Space Force. This was pretty extraordinary. When you first announced it, you were mocked, of course, by the mainstream media.
What do you say as you watch this historic moment, with Richard Branson going into space? You said at the time space is the world's newest warfighting domain, when you created that U.S. armed services unit, a sixth branch of the U.S. armed services, and the first new military service since the Air Force was created in 1947, sir.
TRUMP: So, we're very proud of that.
It was close to 75 years. It was the Air Force. And now we did Space Force, which is going to be so vital. And we not only did it. I mean, it's up and running and really great. And, as you know, Biden wanted to cancel it. And he was hit so hard that he said, well, we won't cancel it, because this is what we need.
Russia has it. And China has it. And they were way advanced over us. And I got it started. The other thing I did is, I opened up NASA again. That was closed. There was grass growing in the cracks of the runway. They were all broken-up runways. There was grass growing through those cracks.
And now it's a vibrant, incredible place, which it has to be if we're going to go forward. So, I'm very proud of NASA. And I'm very -- because that was a closed, dead deal. And I'm very, very proud of the Space Force.
BARTIROMO: Well, you should be.
It's pretty incredible that now you have got Richard Branson going up to space, trying to beat the other billionaire who wants to get there first. And that's Jeff Bezos. Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO of Amazon recently to focus on these things.
Your thoughts on why this is so important to some of these big billionaires, who, of course, have their hands in every other business. Amazon is everything from cloud computing to delivery, to -- of course, Bezos also owning The Washington Post.
TRUMP: So, I just say, better them than me.
I would rather see Richard in the plane today than me, in the spaceship. But, if -- Richard loves it, and Bezos loves it. And a lot of rich guys love space, OK? You will explain that someday. But they do love space.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: Yes. Well...
TRUMP: They love sending rocket ships up.
And I made it possible for them to do this. I actually said to my people, let private -- let the private sector do it. These guys want to come in with billions of dollars. Let's lease them facilities, because, you know, you need certain facilities to send up rockets, and we have those facilities. We have the greatest facilities.
And I reopened them, because they were -- as I told you, they were dead. They were closed, or essentially closed, for the most part.
So, I said, hey, look, if Elon wants to send up a rocket, let him do it. We will get charge him some rent. Let him do it. Let these guys do it.
And we're seeing advancement now that I don't believe we would have ever seen had we done it the way -- the old-fashioned way, which we're also using. We're planning on Mars, to go to Mars. You land on the moon, and then you have your pad going to Mars. And all of that's being worked on. And it's very exciting. And a lot of good things are happening.
But we also need it for military and for military protection. So, we're doing it for that. I mean, to me, that might be number one, because, when you look at what China is doing, when you look at what Russia is doing.
And now, because of what I did, we are leading the pack in space by far.
BARTIROMO: We sure are.
And the blastoff has happened. Richard Branson now up in the air in his first trip into space, an incredible accomplishment. We are watching this closely. And we, of course, will be reporting on this all day.
Mr. President, let me turn now to that double standard that you mentioned a moment ago. Of course, we are watching the news from the Trump Organization and your CFO indicted. Of course, we also see the elements around Hunter Biden doing this new business on selling art, and we're not allowed to know who is buying that art.
We don't know if it's a Chinese company tied to the Chinese Communist Party, if it's a Ukrainian company, after he was on the board. And yet your family is under pressure. There are stories this weekend that, given the indictment of the CFO, perhaps your children are also being fingered.
What can you tell us about the current state of affairs, sir?
TRUMP: I think it's a shame. I think it's a horrible thing that's happening in our country.
I have been under investigation since the day I came down the escalator. Between Russia, Russia, and Mueller, and all of these different things I have been under heavy. And they failed totally, no collusion. There was never any collusion. There was never any conversation.
The collusion was, frankly, between the Democrats and Russia. And, frankly, it's too bad, when you look at what happens. They use -- they have weaponized this. They have weaponized so many different things. They have weaponized the IRS. They have weaponized things against Republicans, and Republicans haven't done it to them.
And what it leads to is, it'll be a big attack the other way also, I guess. Look, how much can Republicans stand? What they are doing, where Hunter Biden gets a billion-and-a-half from China to manage, he gets all of this money from Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to sit on an energy board -- he never had anything to do with energy. He knows nothing.
The great one is $3.5 million from Russia from the wife of the mayor of Moscow. What was that? I mentioned that in debate. Your friend -- your friend Chris Wallace would not let me ask that question. He said, that's irrelevant.
Well, it's not irrelevant.
But the beauty of them all is, he's going to get a half-a-million dollars a painting. And he never painted before. He's not an artist. He's never painted. This is just the payoff. And, already, they're trying to say, well, isn't it lovely? He's a painter.
There is such a difference, such an incredible difference. I was president. I took no salary. It cost me a lot of money being president. And I always knew it would. But all of those things that they have done -- and the whole deal is very simple.
I got 75 million votes, the most of any sitting president. Polls today show me way ahead of everybody, not only Republicans, against any Democrat.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: They want to do anything they can to stop that.
These are dirty players. And it shouldn't happen. It's a disgrace.
BARTIROMO: All right, so, the question is, will you make the run again?
You said that you know your answer, but you're not revealing it yet. You ready to get back in that ring and run for president again, sir?
TRUMP: Well, I do know my answer, but I can't reveal it yet, and -- because that has to do with campaign financing and everything else. You know that.
So, I can't reveal it yet. But I absolutely know my answer. And we're going to do very well. And people are going to be very happy.
And, look, I look at cable ratings. I look at the ratings of CNN. They're down 79 percent.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
TRUMP: MSDNC is down 64 percent.
I mean, what's going on?
BARTIROMO: Yes. All right.
TRUMP: I think they're going to come out and endorse me. They will endorse Donald Trump pretty soon, I think.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: Mr. President, it's good to catch up with you this morning, sir. Thanks very much.
TRUMP: Thank you, Maria. Thank you very much. Bye.
BARTIROMO: All right, we will see you soon.
President Trump joining us there live.
We're going to take a break and come back with Charlie Kirk and Alan Dershowitz to respond.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back to a jam-packed "Sunday Morning Futures" this morning.
Joining me right now with reaction to what we just heard from President Trump are constitutional scholar Alan Dershowitz, the author of "Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process." Also here is Charlie Kirk, the president and founder of Turning Point USA.
Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to see you.
Alan, kicking it off with you, let me get your thoughts on the merits of President Trump's case against big tech.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, ATTORNEY: Well, it's always uphill to try to sue private companies.
But here you have private companies that are trying to suppress freedom of speech. So you have private companies using the First Amendment as not a shield to protect the marketplace of ideas, but as a sword to close the marketplace of ideas.
I anticipated this problem six months ago. And I wrote another book called "The New Censorship, " the case against the new censorship.
What's the new censorship? The old censorship was the government suppressing free speech. That was easy to defeat. I won the Pentagon Papers case, the Chicago Seven case, the Hair case, all of the cases involving the old censorship.
The new censorship is when private companies that have the benefit of Section 230 use their power, their monopoly power, their duopoly power, their triopoly power to try to close the marketplace of ideas to different ideas.
So, this is an important case. It was a very important case to see how the Supreme Court will resolve the conflict between using the First Amendment to suppress speech and free speech itself.
Justice Thomas has already indicated that he might well regard these giant companies in a way that permits regulation. And so we will see if there are other justices as well.
But what no one can deny is, this is an important matter in America, big companies using the First Amendment to suppress free speech. And the radicals on the left who say this is not an important case simply don't know what they're talking about.
BARTIROMO: Charlie, real quick on this story before we move on.
CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER, TURNING POINT USA: Yes, with the big tech issue, I'm very pleased to see the president play offense on that.
And we have been saying for quite a while that if we do not have the ability to speak online, then many of the promises of the First Amendment and our government's promise to protect our right to speech are completely invalidated.
We have a parallel government in Menlo Park, California, and it's time that we start to hold them accountable.
BARTIROMO: And how about the right for privacy and freedom?
I'm going to take a break and then get your take on Tucker Carlson's revelation that the NSA has been spying on him, reading his private e- mails. How many others are getting their constitutional rights violated?
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
We're with Charlie Kirk and Alan Dershowitz.
Charlie, I want to get your take on who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt. What do you know?
KIRK: Yes, we're still in the allegedly phase, but, according to RealClearPolitics and RealClearInvestigations, it looks that -- it looks like it's -- we're pretty certain to believe that it's a man by the name of Lieutenant Byrd, Michael Byrd.
And there's more information that's going to come out around this, I think, in the coming weeks and months.
But isn't it interesting, Maria, about every single one of these nationalized and politicized tragic police incidents, almost within days, we know the police officer involved, we have body camera footage, we know the history behind it. And all the activist groups call for the resignation of that person, and possibly even charges around that person.
And, here, you have an unarmed veteran that went into the Capitol and got fatally shot. And a lot of people talk about January 6 as saying that it was a tragic day where people died. The only death that we know of that day where someone was murdered was the death of Ashli Babbitt.
It is time that we get answers from our government. And the fact that they are remaining silent on this is very, very suspicious. And if Nancy Pelosi is actually serious about finding the truth of January 6, why doesn't she find the truth of the one murder that we know that happened of an unarmed veteran that went into the Capitol?
BARTIROMO: So the one fatality happens at the hands of a security detail of a leading Democrat?
KIRK: That's what it looks like.
Again, I want to say allegedly, because we don't want to jump to anything, but it's pointing that way. The investigative work from RealClearPolitics is very convincing. And the fact that the government is not flat out denying it and they're almost avoiding the question goes to show that it's all but certain that it is this person.
We're going to wait until we're 100 percent sure. But, again, we need to get an answer of who killed Ashli Babbitt, an unarmed veteran who went into our Capitol Building and was murdered by her own government.
BARTIROMO: Again, we reached out to Chuck Schumer's office. We have not heard back.
Real quick on the NSA reading Tucker Carlson's e-mails, Alan Dershowitz, your reaction real quick?
DERSHOWITZ: It's unconstitutional for the government to read people's e- mails without a FISA warrant.
We need to get information to see whether or not they got a FISA warrant, whether the FISA warrant was based on accurate information. Any time an American has his e-mails read without due process, there's a problem, under the Fourth Amendment.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
DERSHOWITZ: So, let's get to the bottom of it.
BARTIROMO: All right.
And, again, we have not confirmed the name of the shooter, but we are investigating.
Thank you, gentlemen. Extraordinary times we are living on. And I am honored to cover it with you.
I will see you this week on "Mornings With Maria" on FOX Business.
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