This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," May 17, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Sunday morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Maria Bartiromo.
Joining me straight ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures," just one week after bombshell revelations in the General Michael Flynn case, a new list emerges of more than a dozen top Obama officials allegedly involved in unmasking the three-star general during the 2017 presidential transition.
James Comey, John Brennan, and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden all named.
I had an exclusive sit-down with President Trump on Wednesday, just moments after that news broke. His reaction straight ahead, as well as why he says he is no longer interested in negotiating with communist China.
Plus, House Democrats passing the largest bill in the history of Congress just before midnight Friday night, without a single committee hearing. Senator John Kennedy and Congressman Doug Collins are here telling us why the $3 trillion stimulus will be dead on arrival in the Senate and how they intend to hold China accountable for getting us here.
Also here this morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio on what it takes to reopen New York City and his response to the president's comments on stimulus.
Plus, NASCAR is back today live. FOX NASCAR analyst and four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon on what it means for the economy and the country.
All that and a lot more right here, right now, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
And first this morning, breaking news out of the intelligence community this morning.
Acting DNI Richard Grenell announcing on Friday that his office will strip the FBI of its duties briefing the 2020 presidential candidates. That follows accusations of political bias in the 2016 election.
Former FBI Director James Comey infamously briefed president-elect Donald Trump on January 6, 2017, just one day after he met with President Obama and other top officials in the Oval Office.
I sat down with President Trump himself to discuss what happened in the weeks leading up to his inauguration.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was the greatest political crime in the history of our country.
If I were a Democrat, instead of a Republican, I think everybody would have been in jail a long time ago. And I'm talking with 50-year sentences.
It is a disgrace, what's happened. This is the greatest political scam, hoax in the history of our country.
BARTIROMO: Well, it is the biggest political scandal we have ever seen.
TRUMP: And people should be going to jail for this stuff.
And, hopefully, a lot of people are going to have to pay. No other president should have to go through -- and I will tell you, General Flynn and others are heroes, heroes, because what's happened to them, they went after General Flynn.
They wanted him to lie about me, make up a story. And with few exceptions, nobody did that. There were many people. I watched K.T. McFarland the other day. I watched where she was, knock, knock, FBI, you know, the FBI, OK?
This was all Obama. This was all Biden. These people were corrupt. The whole thing was corrupt. And we caught them. We caught them.
BARTIROMO: You -- but I saw you...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And what you saw just now?
I watched Biden yesterday. He could barely speak. He was on "Good Morning America," right? And he said he didn't know anything about it.
And now it just gets released. Right after he said that, it gets released that he was one of the unmaskers, meaning he knew everything about it. So, he lied to your friend George Stephanopoulos.
What kind of...
(CROSSTALK)
BARTIROMO: Explain to our audience what this means, because, I mean, this is a serious thing. They are tracking phone calls. They were tracking a phone call of, I guess, Kislyak. And you're not supposed to... TRUMP: I will tell you what it means. It's very simple. BARTIROMO: Yes. I mean...
TRUMP: So, even before I got elected, you remember the famous -- the two lovers, right, Strzok and Page, the insurance policy. She's going to win, but, just in case she doesn't, we have an insurance policy. That means that, if I won, they're going to try and take me out. That's all it means. It's very simple. It's an insurance policy.
So, she's going to win, isn't she, darling? Isn't she going to win?
And you remember, very famous.
BARTIROMO: I do.
TRUMP: That was a real -- getting that whole thing, that whole series of - - of texts. BARTIROMO: We covered it. We seek out the truth, Mr. President, on my show. TRUMP: You have been unbelievable, but most shows haven't.
BARTIROMO: The FBI said that they started the Crossfire Hurricane in July of 2016.
But we know that there were informants running into your campaign associates as early as January, February of 2016. They would be Stefan Halper, Joseph Mifsud, Alexander Downer.
Who organizes that? Would that come out of the CIA? I know that Stefan Halper made $1 million. I don't know what he was paid that $1 million for, but I... TRUMP: So, look -- look, they got paid a fortune. These guys got paid...
BARTIROMO: Just for -- for running into your campaign?
TRUMP: ... government money. Think of it, government money.
They were interviewed. And I never -- I don't know Papadopoulos. I never met -- even Carter Page, I never met this man.
But they went after Carter Page because they thought he was a person in the campaign. I think he was on a committee. But I never met him. But they went after these people viciously, all because they wanted to hurt the president of the United States. They figure they'll either hurt him, or they'll take him out. That would be the ideal.
Comey is a corrupt person, but let me tell you, Brennan bad. They're all bad, everyone. Clapper is a not-smart guy, in charge of intelligence. But here's the thing. It was impossible for it to happen without the man that sits right in that chair in the Oval Office. He knew everything. BARTIROMO: Do you believe President Obama directed the U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on you? TRUMP: Yes, he probably directed them. But if he didn't direct them, he knew everything. And you will see that. BARTIROMO: Once they couldn't find collusion evidence... TRUMP: By the way -- excuse me. You're going to see that when the papers come out. Remember the Lisa Page text to her lover saying, POTUS wants to see everything? POTUS. They're not talking about me. I wasn't president. They're talking about POTUS wants to see everything. BARTIROMO: Well, there was a meeting on January 5 in the Oval Office. President Obama was there. Vice President Biden was there, Clapper, Brennan. And that's when the Logan Act came up. So, should we believe that they were looking for collusion evidence? They couldn't find the collusion evidence. There was none. So, they said, let's just use the Logan Act to take you down? TRUMP: First of all, they snuck around White House counsel. They went to see a very unsuspecting General Flynn.
You know, he's a general. He's not a lawyer. They said, you don't need a lawyer. And they started asking him questions. And they probably brought up the Logan Act. And they probably scared the hell out of him. But let me tell you a little secret. They go knock, knocking. Ask K.T. McFarland the way they knocked on the door, and many other people with Mueller. That whole thing turned out to be a total fraud. The whole Mueller investigation is a fraud. It was all part of the same deal. But they -- what they did to General Flynn and others -- you know, we know about General Flynn. You'll find out about others too. What they did to these people is an international disgrace. And all over the world, they talk about it, because this is not America. And, hopefully, the people involved are going to pay a big price, because it should never be allowed to happen again. BARTIROMO: Trey Gowdy on my show this weekend said that leaking classified information is a 10-year felony. TRUMP: Yes. BARTIROMO: We know that some of those people did that. TRUMP: Well, Comey did, and other people did too. BARTIROMO: How involved was John Brennan? TRUMP: Totally involved. He was totally involved. John Brennan was one of the architects, in my opinion. You look at Brennan, you look at Clapper, you look at them all. But, ultimately, the president knew everything. The president knew everything. President Obama and Vice President Biden, they knew everything. BARTIROMO: So, what can you do about it? TRUMP: And, again, if... BARTIROMO: What can you do about it, that... TRUMP: Let me just tell you, if I were in that position, it'd be a whole different thing.
If this happened to Obama, instead of to a Republican president, that's popular, 96 percent in the Republican Party, but it's a whole different thing. If this happened to Obama, instead of to me, you know what? Everybody would be in jail for years already, for years. It's a disgraceful thing. But it's -- it's -- we caught them in the act, Maria. It's a beautiful thing. And, every day, we're seeing more and more information come out. We caught them. And their guys are gone. They were guarding the fort. Comey and all these guys, they were guarding the fort. And once they left, it got easier and easier. And now it's like an avalanche of really bad -- call it treason, call it whatever you want, but they tried to take down a duly elected president of the United States. BARTIROMO: They didn't care that 53 million voted for you and wanted you in the office. TRUMP: More than 63 million. Just so you understand that they got caught in the act. They never thought that was going to happen. And they got sloppy, where Lisa Page would text and send messages through service. You know one of the other things that is missing? The DNC server. Where is it?
Why is it that the FBI didn't take it? They arrested all of these people, but they didn't arrest -- they went in to see the people at DNC, right? They go in to see, you know, her wonderful campaign manager. You know all about that, right? They went into see those people, whose brother, by the way, was supposed to be arrested. And the brother never got arrested, right? BARTIROMO: Well, the same people who were working on... TRUMP: But why didn't -- why... BARTIROMO: ... the investigation into the Trump campaign, they were also working on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails. TRUMP: Yes, oh, yes, except slightly different level of intensity, OK? How about where they walk... BARTIROMO: But they wanted that over by the middle of the year. They called it the mid-year review. TRUMP: How about they walk into see Hillary Clinton's people, five people, I think, and they said, you all have immunity, you all have -- no problem, you all have immunity? And, with our people, they wanted to try to put them in jail. And in some cases, they did. And those people are going to go down as heroes.
BARTIROMO: I think Carter Page is going to sue. And I wouldn't be surprised... TRUMP: Well, I hope he sues. BARTIROMO: ... if General Flynn sues. TRUMP: General Flynn's going to have a heck of a case.
But he's got a judge that I guess doesn't like him very much. But maybe the judge doesn't like me very much, OK? Maybe the judge doesn't like me very much. I will tell you what. I've read legal scholars. They can't even believe what the judge is doing to him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARTIROMO: We have got a lot more to come.
Stay with us for more of my sit-down with President Trump.
Also ahead, live this morning, Senator John Kennedy, Congressman Doug Collins, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will react to the president, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
Breaking news this morning on a story that we have been following.
A professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland has been arrested over his alleged financial ties to China, this just days after the FBI sounded the alarm on China's attempt to steal coronavirus research.
A professor at the University of Arkansas was arrested on similar charges last week. And then, in January, Harvard's chemistry chief was charged with failing to disclose that he too was being paid by the Chinese Communist Party.
Two weeks ago, Senator Tom Cotton told us that the CCP was trying in many ways to steal medical data from the United States to try and come up with a vaccine for COVID-19 before the United States.
My sit-down with President Trump included this.
We discussed I.P. theft and the pandemic's impact on his relationship with China and President Xi Jinping.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARTIROMO: Secretary Pompeo said that he has strong evidence that it did come from the virology lab. We've been reporting this every Sunday, by the way, from early on. You also said that you saw evidence. Can you tell us anything about the intelligence? TRUMP: No, no.
But we have a lot of information, and it's not good. But you know the worst of all, whether it came from the lab or came from the bats, OK? It all came from China. And they should have stopped it. They could have stopped it at that source. I call it the source right there. Should have been stopped. BARTIROMO: They made a decision to allow it to escape its borders? TRUMP: I don't know if they made the decision, but it got out of control. I think, more likely, it got out of control, but, you know... BARTIROMO: Senator Cotton said that they didn't want the Chinese economy to contract 20 percent and the rest of the world to contract 2 percent. TRUMP: So, we were beating them very badly before this. We were beating them, between the tariffs and other things we were doing, and we were going up. And they were having a very bad year.
They were having the worst year they've had in 56 years. This was before. BARTIROMO: He had Hong Kong protesters on the street, two million. TRUMP: And they weren't well -- and even beyond that -- and we were really doing well. And that is a theory. But here's what I know for sure. They didn't allow -- this whole thing, they didn't allow people to go into China, but they did allow them to go out to the world, including the United States. That's why Europe is a mess. That's why -- look at -- look at these countries. Russia's having a hard time. Everybody's having a hard time. BARTIROMO: So, will it get worse for those countries, do you think? TRUMP: For some of them. Some have just started the process. We're getting toward the end of the process. BARTIROMO: You know, so they downplayed the disease. They downplayed the virus.
At the same time, they're allowing international travel, five million people leaving Wuhan, going to Italy, going to the United States. Then they start cornering the market on protective equipment...
TRUMP: Yes.
BARTIROMO: ... even though China is already the largest producer of this stuff. TRUMP: Maybe they do. That's not the big thing. Look, the big thing is, they should have never let this happen. So, I make a great trade deal, and now I say, it just doesn't feel the same to me. The ink was barely dry, and the plague came over, and it doesn't feel the same to me. You will understand that. BARTIROMO: Are they going to renege on it? They're not going to buy the $250 billion, are they? TRUMP: They will buy 250 -- $250 billion.
They said somewhere, I see, they'd like to renegotiate the deal. We're not going to renegotiate. Look, I'm not happy about anything having to do with that particular subject right now.
BARTIROMO: Have you spoken to Xi Jinping? TRUMP: I have a very good relationship, but I just -- right now, I don't want to speak to him. I don't want to speak to him. BARTIROMO: Because Senator Cotton was saying, maybe we should be limiting the amount of visas that we give to students who want to study things like quantum computing and A.I. TRUMP: There are many -- there are many things -- there are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut off the whole relationship. Now, if you did, what would happen? You'd save $500 billion if you cut off the whole relationship.
Look, at what point does it -- and I said this for years. I said it with other countries also. China's not the only country ripping us off. At NATO, where we defend Europe for nothing, by the way, essentially nothing, I was able to get them to pay hundreds of billions of dollars more.
You know my biggest fan in the world? Secretary Stoltenberg. BARTIROMO: He has said that to me on this show, actually. TRUMP: He said -- he's been there a long time. He said, nobody has ever gotten -- you know, we were paying more and more. They were paying less. You have to see the chart of what they pay. So, we are defending Europe, and then they're taking advantage of us on trade. It's all one way. And it was all turning and it is all turning around. BARTIROMO: And you pulled back the money. TRUMP: But we've been proven to be right.
Yes, I pulled back the money. BARTIROMO: You pulled back the money from the thrift fund.
They wanted to put 10 percent of the thrift fund into MSCI index that was Chinese companies. TRUMP: That's billions of dollars, billions. BARTIROMO: Fifty billion dollars. TRUMP: Yes, I pulled it back. BARTIROMO: Will you go one step further and force that Chinese companies have to follow accounting rules if they want to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq? TRUMP: So, we're looking at the very strongly.
But on the thrift fund, you know, it's run by the Obama appointments, right? And we said, you got to do this. And we're going to find out whether or not they're going to do it very soon. And if they're not, we're going to replace them very quickly. BARTIROMO: Do you... TRUMP: And we are looking at your second part of your question. We're looking at that very strongly. BARTIROMO: Because Chinese companies, like an Alibaba, any Chinese company, they're listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
They don't have to report their earnings, the way an American company does? TRUMP: It's pretty amazing.
But here's the problem with that. You know, look, I hate to say it, but let's say we do that, right? So, what are they going to do? They're going to move their listing to London or someplace else. You see? Let's say you want to get tough, and you're going to do -- you know, everyone is -- everyone wants to be a tough guy. Look. I'm the toughest guy. But what happens is, so we say, you're going to do this, and you're going to follow the rules of the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq.
What do they do? They say, OK, we'll move to London or we'll go to Hong Kong. (END VIDEOTAPE)
BARTIROMO: But London doesn't have the same liquidity as the United States.
We will talk more about that.
Then: House Democrats passing the biggest stimulus bill in congressional history in a late-night vote. Now it goes to the Senate, where my next guest says it is dead on arrival.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy will join me, as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
My thanks to President Trump for that special interview.
You can watch the rest of that interview on FOXBusiness.com.
Stay with us. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
The House passed a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package late Friday night.
This is the largest in congressional history. Now it heads for the GOP-led Senate, where my next guest says it is as dead as fried chicken.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy serves on the Senate Judiciary, Budget, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committees. He also chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services.
Senator Kennedy, it's great to see you this morning. Thanks very much for joining us.
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): You bet.
BARTIROMO: Tell me about this $3 trillion bill. Your colleagues and the House have passed it.
Why do you say it is as dead as fried chicken?
KENNEDY: It's $3 trillion, for one thing, every penny of which we would have to borrow.
That's 3-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 dollars.
(LAUGHTER)
KENNEDY: It's not going to pass the Senate, nor should it.
My fellow Republicans in the Senate have tried to see things from the speaker's point of view, but we can't get our heads that far up our rear ends. And I think any fair-minded American would agree, once they read the bill.
BARTIROMO: There are things in this bill that have nothing to do with coronavirus, Senator.
And you have to wonder. Maybe they're saying, let's not waste a crisis opportunity, but money so that marijuana companies can do banking, money for illegals coming into the country and having services. I mean, the list goes on.
Tell us what you see as the most sort of damaging here in this bill that is not helping anybody related to coronavirus.
KENNEDY: Well, it's not a coronavirus bill, as much as it is an effort by the speaker and her colleagues to rewrite the rules for American society.
This bill, her bill would rewrite our immigration laws. Her bill would federalize elections. Our elections have always been run by states and local governments. Her bill would begin the process of federalizing the elections.
It would allow federal prisoners to go free. It mentions dope more than it talks about jobs. I think it references cannabis like 68 times. It would expand Obamacare.
And let me end as I began. It would cost $3 trillion. That's 3,000 billion dollars. We just spent $3 trillion. We need to see how that works first.
BARTIROMO: How is it working?
We are seeing almost half of the country open here, in terms of the reopening. How is that money being used? And do you think that we're going to be able to get out of this fairly soon and start seeing growth in the economy again, Senator?
KENNEDY: We can't appropriate enough money, Maria, to buy the American economy.
By we, I mean Congress. Nor can the Federal Reserve. The only thing that's going to get us out of this is the American people and the American private sector. We're going to have to open up the economy.
Now, that doesn't mean that we won't do it safely. It's no longer a debate between safe or soon. It's now safe and soon. We have got to do everything we possibly can to keep people safe, and we have got to do everything we possibly can to get this economy open safely.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
KENNEDY: And unlike some of my colleagues, I think the American people can do it.
BARTIROMO: Senator, let me switch gears and ask you about your legislation in terms of your bill to kick Chinese companies off of U.S. exchanges if they keep hiding audits from U.S. inspectors.
The president just referred to this. And I asked him, is he going to go one step further and make sure to hold these Chinese companies that are listed on our exchanges accountable to just follow the rules that everybody else does?
Tell us about your bill.
KENNEDY: God created the world, but everything else was made in China.
How did that happen? We let it. We allowed China to be admitted to the World Trade Organization on December 11, 2001. China started cheating December 12. And President Trump has been the first president to really stand up to them.
Let me give you an example. If you list your stock on an American exchange, you have to have audits periodically, and the SEC gets to review those audits.
China has many of its companies, some state-owned, listed on our exchanges, but they refuse to let the SEC look at their audits. Senator Chris Van Hollen and I have a bill to kick them off. We have known about this forever. And you know what the Congress has done about it? Nothing, zero, nada, zilch.
If my bill gets to the floor -- and Senator Van Hollen's bill comes to the floor of the United States Senate, it will pass.
BARTIROMO: There is also a letter going out this morning to Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, pushing him to make this change.
But you heard what the president just said when I asked him about this, that they will then take their listings and go to London and go to Hong Kong.
But I think what's really important to point out is that these companies will not get the liquidity that get in the United States anywhere else in the world. Forget London and Hong Kong. The United States has the most liquidity.
And that's going to be a huge blow to them. The administration also did a big blow to Huawei telecom, as you know, on Friday by making it more difficult for Huawei to sell to global chipmakers.
KENNEDY: Well, if Chinese state-owned companies are going to cheat American investors, why do we want them on our exchanges?
China can't go to Hong Kong. They do have some of their listings on the Hong Kong Exchange. But China is slowly destroying Hong Kong economically and politically.
BARTIROMO: OK.
KENNEDY: You made a very good point. There's less liquidity in London.
Everybody wants to list in America.
BARTIROMO: Right. Exactly.
Real quick, before you go, Senator, given that -- your role in the Judiciary Committee, what is going to happen with this unmasking? We know that crimes were broken. Will our audience see accountability here for the people who actually did this and tried to effort taking Donald Trump down, despite the American people voting for him?
KENNEDY: Unmasking is just a form of spying.
Thirty-nine members of the Obama administration spied on the general. What's Congress going to do about it? So far, nothing. Its been five months since Inspector General Horowitz pointed out that the Steele dossier was rubbish.
Only Bill Barr has done anything so far. But Congress has done absolutely nothing. And, unfortunately, the Congress...
BARTIROMO: So, what are you going to do? It's your committee. You're on the Judiciary Committee. You're on the Judiciary.
KENNEDY: I'm not the chair. I'm not the chairman, unfortu -- Lindsey Graham says that we're going to start the hearings in June.
And I'm not saying that -- I'm not trying to tell Lindsey how to run his committee.
BARTIROMO: OK.
KENNEDY: I just know I would issue subpoenas, line them up, work night and day.
But, unfortunately, the Constitution does not require Congress to be productive.
BARTIROMO: Senator, it's good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much.
We will be watching the developments, Senator John Kennedy, this morning.
My next guest says that, with that historically huge stimulus bill, Democrats are exploiting this crisis for political advantage.
He's introduced his own legislation to hold China accountable. That is Congressman Doug Collins live next.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
The Trump administration is blocking shipments of semiconductors to Chinese tech giant Huawei, this as the Chinese Communist Party threatens to sanction several U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Tom Cotton, who has appeared on this program to call out China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, among other bad behavior.
Georgia Congressman Doug Collins just introduced his own legislation on China.
He joins me now.
Congressman, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks very much for joining us.
Let's get right to it.
Your bill basically sanctions and freezes assets of the Chinese leadership. Tell us about it.
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): Exactly.
It's time China decides, if they want to be a world economic power, they also have to be a responsible world economic power. They can't treat the world like they treat their citizens, which is to keep them under oppression and make them believe every bit of communist doctrine that they what to believe.
And what we're going to do is say, if you actually want to be a part of the world, you need to be out there and give us full accounting, an international accounting, of what you did and what you did not do.
It has become very apparent that they were much more willing to control it internally, but yet spread it across the world. China has a problem. And the problem is, they can't be honest with themselves, and they can't be honest with the international community.
So, we're going to put it -- in fact, to give the president a way to sanction. We're going to let -- not tie his hands, but give him every tool in the toolbox to get them to compete in a way that is fair in the international market.
And if they don't, then, fine, they will suffer the consequences for it.
BARTIROMO: Do you worry that there will be consequences to that, that they're going to push back?
I mean, you already have Chinese state media ominously threatening congressmen.
(LAUGHTER)
BARTIROMO: You weren't on the list, but Josh Hawley was on the list. Tom Cotton was on the list.
They are watching each of your districts to try to get back at you for coming up with legislation against China and the Communist Party.
COLLINS: Well, I hope the Communist Party is watching. My name is Doug Collins. They can come after me whenever they want to.
But I'm going to stand with America. And I'm tired of watching intellectual property. I'm tired of them trying to steal pharmaceutical secrets. I'm tired of them letting their own country be locked down, while they send people out of the country. And then they lie to it about the -- to the world.
The Communist Party must realize that they may be able to try and keep their own people down, but that regime is bound and destined to fail. We need to make sure that, if you're going to have an economic partner in the world, they have to be able to compete, like everybody else does, and tell the truth.
It seems like they can't do that even to their own people. So why would we expect it from the rest of the world?
BARTIROMO: All right, let me switch gears, Congressmen, and ask you about the unmasking.
You heard the president's response to what has taken place, where we see a number of high-level Obama administration officials moving to tell the world, expose what was supposed to be a private call between an incoming NSA director and the ambassador to Russia.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: Well, it's amazing what we have seen.
Maria, we have been talking about this for so long. And now it just feels like that what we have been talking about and the corrupt cabal with Strzok and McCabe and Comey and all of them, and now Yates and the rest.
But it now found something different. We now find it in the Oval Office, not the Oval Office of President Trump, but the Oval Office of President Obama, who was asking about Flynn, who had had his own chief of staff unmask him the day that there was a meeting.
And, oh, by the way, Joe Biden, were you asleep in this meeting as well, when you actually were there, and you told just this past week that you knew nothing about unmasking, and you actually made a request for unmasking?
This is the problem that we're seeing right now, is that people are now waking up to the real fact that there was an attempt to take out a candidate and then a president before he could get going.
And the American people ought to be appalled. They ought to be demanding that why every news outlet is not covering this, the way you have for the last few years and the way many of us have been screaming at the top of our lungs that there was a -- basically a coup attempt at the highest levels.
And now we have it placed right into the Oval Office.
BARTIROMO: And you still don't see it on any of the news media.
They actually used the media to leak things, classified documents, in fact. Trey Gowdy says that leaking classified documents is a 10-year felony.
I know we're waiting on John Durham, but do you see crimes being committed in plain sight here?
COLLINS: How could it not be?
I agree with Trey here. This is just -- I mean, this is ridiculous. How did -- that information had to get out from one of these that had unmasked or someone that they gave it to.
It's amazing to look at how the mainstream media treats this president. They treat him as if he was different. They will believe anything, if he was accused of collusion or accused of doing anything else with the Russians.
But yet, when it comes to the ones that they think are the greatest in the world, the superheroes that they thought of, were really nothing but a corrupt bunch of thugs going around, it looks like now, because they tried to use it -- they believe everything they say.
But this goes back way past this, from the Clinton e-mail scandal into the re -- discussion of Russia.
And so what I want to see happen here is, let's hold people accountable. Somehow, this information got out. We now know who unmasked. Let's start having the investigation.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
COLLINS: And Durham, I think, is doing that. But there needs to be accountability, because, otherwise, how can it not happen to you and me?
BARTIROMO: And throughout this whole hysteria, let's not forget, they missed the real bad actor, and that's China, while yourself and some of your colleagues were investigating China's moves, like Devin Nunes, over the last several years. We have reported that.
Congressman, it's good to see you this morning. Thank you, sir.
COLLINS: Very good.
BARTIROMO: We will be watching your developments in terms of that legislation, Doug Collins.
New York, meanwhile, the epicenter of the pandemic, in the United States, says it needs billions of dollars in federal aid now. President Trump says he's not about to bail out states trying to use the crisis to make up years of mismanagement.
We will hear from the president again and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to react live right here -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: We had Mayor de Blasio on the other day.
He said he needs $7.5 billion right now, yesterday. He said he needs to be made whole. What are you thinking in terms of aid to the states, to the cities? How are you going to decide who gets what? TRUMP: So, you've had a lot of states and cities that have been very badly run for a long time.
A lot of them are trying to use the COVID problem -- you know that -- for making up what -- what's happened over 25 years of bad management, like your governor of Illinois.
He wants money. He wants money. I know the family. He wants money, because, you know, let's make up for 25 years and some very bad current years. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: And joining me right now to react to the president and that comment is the man who leads the city where President Trump was born and raised and came to fame, which is taking the biggest hit in the United States today from the coronavirus pandemic, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Mr. Mayor, it's good to see you this morning. Thanks so much for joining us.
BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: Thank you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: You heard the president.
Are you using this COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to cover up for years of mismanagement, sir?
DE BLASIO: Maria, you have seen what's happened in the city. You're a New Yorker. You have seen what has happened in the city in recent years right before this pandemic, the highest level of employment in our history, booming economy, lowest crime since the 1950s, more and more kids graduating on time in our public schools than ever in our history.
You name it, this city was moving forward.
And, as an American, Maria, I want to say, as an American, we're all in this together. So, when New York City does well, when New York state does well, it helps the whole country. When California does well, one of the other great engines of the national economy, it helps everyone.
I don't think we should be talking about red states and blue states. We should be talking about American states and American cities, how to put America back on its feet.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
DE BLASIO: And when I told you about that $7.5 billion, that's revenue that's gone, that pays for cops, firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers.
It's gone. And there's no way I'm going to get it back. In fact, Maria, I'm probably going to see more and more revenue gone, because our economy won't come back without a stimulus.
So, I'm simply saying what it's going to take get us back on our feet.
BARTIROMO: Right, but you -- right, but you can't blame the COVID-19 for everything.
I mean, even before the coronavirus, you had streams of people, individuals and businesses, fleeing the city because of the taxes, fleeing the city because of the homelessness, and fleeing the city because of the inmates that you are letting out.
New York City shootings spiked nearly 200 percent this week, compared to the same time a year ago. Crime is up. All the bad stats are up. You know that.
DE BLASIO: No. That's -- no, Maria, that's...
BARTIROMO: So, the question becomes about your sanctuary city policies.
Mr. Mayor, bottom line, are you willing to sacrifice sanctuary cities in order -- sanctuary city policies in order to be eligible for this money?
DE BLASIO: Maria, bottom line, first, because I have a lot of respect for you, but you mischaracterized the reality.
Crime has been going down overall in the city now for seven years. We have times when things go up, and the NYPD fights them back. NYPD, every single time there's even the smallest spike in crime, fights it back.
In terms of the city, some people left, and a lot of people came, including we have built more homegrown millionaires in recent years and more millionaires have moved here than any who left.
So, no, in fact, highest employment in our history, Maria, before this pandemic. This city has been booming. And I want to be clear. It's a city for everyone.
BARTIROMO: Well, the whole country was -- the whole country was experiencing -- the whole country was experiencing record low unemployment...
DE BLASIO: And New York City was doing better than in our entire history.
BARTIROMO: ... because of the president's tax cut and deregulation plans.
That was the president's policies, not New York policies.
DE BLASIO: Wait. Wait, Maria. I don't want to talk about...
BARTIROMO: Look, I spoke with one leader of a hospital this weekend. And he said to me, the problem with Mayor de Blasio...
DE BLASIO: ... President Trump or President Obama's policies that may have contributed. I'm saying, New York City...
Listen, a just simple point.
BARTIROMO: One issue is -- that is talked about around you is, people say, the problem with Mayor de Blasio is that he hates wealth.
He drives rich people out of the city with the reg -- the amount of regulation and the tax increases, that you're driving businesses and individuals out.
Let's not even go into the issue of the bail reform law, where you had to let all of these inmates out, and crime did spike. And we see that continuing, so much so that you had to get them back and put them back in jail, because, as soon as you let them out, they went and they committed more crimes.
DE BLASIO: Again, Maria, the city is the safest it's been since the 1950s. I have increased the number of officers on patrol.
BARTIROMO: Shootings are up 200 percent just this week, Mr. Mayor. Shootings are up 200 percent just this week.
DE BLASIO: And guess what? Guess what? The NYPD will fight it back, because I added 2,000 more officers on patrol.
And for six years in a row, now seven, we have reduced crime. And we will continue to. And, again, more and more...
BARTIROMO: Is there any way you can pull back on your sanctuary city laws and follow the rule of the law when it comes to immigration?
DE BLASIO: We follow the rule of the law.
BARTIROMO: Then maybe the Trump administration will want to work with you.
DE BLASIO: We follow the rule of the law in this city.
And we respect the fact there's a half-million people here who happen to be undocumented. And the U.S. Supreme Court said in 2012 that the federal government does not have -- in a federal system that respects states and localities, does not have the ability, because of its own policy preferences, to penalize cities that are trying to provide security and safety.
You know the funding that President Trump originally threatened for the city? It was for the NYPD for our anti-terrorism efforts. That makes no sense at all.
So, we are going to stick to our policies, which the Constitution protects. And we're going to serve our people and create a place that's safe for everyone.
And you know what? The NYPD does not ask documentation status, because, decades ago -- Mayor Bloomberg knew this, Mayor Giuliani knew this -- to keep a city safe that happens to have hundreds of thousands of undocumented folks, we're not going to ask documentation status.
We want to fix immigration in this country, let's have a comprehensive immigration reform, with a path to citizenship for all those who are here now, 12 million people. Let's stop ignoring, Maria, and denying it, and actually dealing with it as a country.
That's something that Republicans and Democrats might actually get together on, because, if we don't, everyone is going to suffer, our economy is going to suffer. Let's deal with the reality.
BARTIROMO: What do you want to say -- what do you want to say to those people who are horrified by the nursing home situation, where Governor Cuomo allowed coronavirus patients to go into nursing homes?
Now we're seeing a dreadful number of people having died at nursing homes. How is this happening on your watch?
DE BLASIO: We all have to do better, there's no question.
We're working with the state, with Governor Cuomo. We have been supplying protective equipment to those nursing homes. We are going to do everything we can.
This is a horrible human crisis. I think about these families, Maria. We all have to -- the state actually has the regulatory role in terms of regulating nursing homes. We don't.
But we're all going to work together to fix this problem, because we owe it to the people in those nursing homes and their families.
BARTIROMO: All right, real quick, before you go, Mr. Mayor, we know that the beaches will be open for Memorial Day.
DE BLASIO: Not in New York City.
BARTIROMO: Is New York City going to be the last place in the country to open?
Yes, not in New York City, right.
DE BLASIO: Yes. We're not going to do that in New York City, Maria.
And you know...
BARTIROMO: Why not?
DE BLASIO: You grew up not far from Coney Island.
BARTIROMO: Right. You're right.
DE BLASIO: You know that our beaches get very crowded very quickly. We're not going to allow it.
So, what I said today is, we're not opening on Memorial Day, as we normally do. For folks in the local communities who walk on the beach, walk on the boardwalk, they can still do that, but no swimming, no lifeguards, no congregating.
NYPD will be out there. Parks Department will be out there. If people are smart about it and listen to the rules, great. If not, we actually might have to put up fencing to keep people off the beach. I don't want to do it, but if I have to, I will.
We are so far from being out of the woods here in New York City. We're still the epicenter. Until we're safe, no beaches open.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
We all want to get through this together.
Mr. Mayor, good to see you. I hope you will join me soon on "Mornings With Maria." We will see you soon.
Thank you, sir, Mayor de Blasio.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
NASCAR finally firing up its engines, after 10 weeks of stay-at-home restrictions.
The first Cup Series race today at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, but with social distancing in place. Starved sports fans can catch this race this afternoon live on FOX at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss it.
Joining me right now to give us a preview is NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon. He is FOX NASCAR analyst and four-time Cup Series champion.
It is great to see you, Jeff. Thank you for joining us.
Tell us how -- what it's going to be like for these drivers, who haven't been behind the wheel in 10 weeks.
JEFF GORDON, FOX NASCAR ANALYST: Yes, these drivers, when they start off in Daytona in February, they're looking at a 38-week grind.
It's a long season. Since these guys have been away from this for now, what, 10 weeks, I think it's been a reminder to them, to all the competitors and to everybody that loves racing, that is passionate about it, just how much it means to them, and maybe that they took that for granted because of the repetitiveness and just how long this season is, but not anymore.
Today, that passion is back, the excitement is there, and everybody is just thrilled that we're going to get to see the first major sport to be able to happen.
And I applaud NASCAR and the track and the teams and FOX for being able to find a way to make this happen. We're a unique sport. And our uniqueness is what's allowing us to get there to the racetrack today and do this in a safe manner.
BARTIROMO: And you're going to be calling the race from Charlotte, right? Because of safety protocols, everybody is in different places.
GORDON: Yes, that's right.
I mean, we're all making adjustments. Obviously, the teams are limited on the number of people that are going to be there. NASCAR -- there's definitely going to -- it's going to feel and look different at the racetrack.
But for those race car drivers, they are going to strap in, they're going to start the engine, and they're going to get that green flag, and then it's going to be business as usual.
For us at FOX, yes, we have got a different setup. We're going to be doing this remotely from Charlotte.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
GORDON: And we have got an amazing setup. I mean, we have actually got cameras in the actual booth.
BARTIROMO: Oh, awesome.
GORDON: So, I think we're going to able to be pull this off.
It's a very exciting day.
BARTIROMO: Jeff, we are looking forward to it.
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