Transcripts For FBC The Journal Editorial Report 20170515

Theres no good time to do it, by the way. He made a recommendation, but regardless of recommend, i was going to fire comey. Paul Michael Mukasey served as the 81st attorney general of the United States. Thanks for coming in. Good to be here. Paul first point, is there any doubt in your mind that as a legal matter the president had the right, the authority to fire james comey . None. Paul none. None. The fbi director is a part of e. E executive, the president is regardless of whether the fbi director is appointed for a term or not for a term, the president has the authority to fire him. Paul thats despite the tenyear term he was supposed to yeah. Paul all right. In the chain of command at the Justice Department, some people seem to believe that the fbi is independent. That is not true. It is not true. The fbi director is supposed to report to the Deputy Attorney general who then reports to the attorney general. Thats the way its supposed to work. Paul okay. And the fbi is not some independent branch of government. Paul okay. So, ultimately, this is the basis of the critique, that mr. Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney general only in the job now for two weeks, baptism by fair [laughter] in his critique that he laid out in that memo of the fbi directors behavior, youve read the memo. Ive read the memo. Paul what do you think of the analysis . The an us is analysis is spot on, and i say that not only because im quoted [laughter] paul right. As are several other paul yes. Of both parties. Right. But its quite clear the fbi director has the authority, is supposed to investigate cases and then bring his or her findings to the attorney general. Or to some other designee at the department then to evaluate, to a prosecutor to evaluate whether a case should be brought or not. It is not the job of the attorney general to decide whether the case should be brought or not, its certainly not the attorney the fbi directors job to go out and announce that no case should be brought and then to go into a discourse on why it is that whoever was under investigation done wrong. Paul and thats exactly what james comey last july 5. Right. Paul now, comeys defense ex post facto is that the attorney general at the time, Loretta Lynch, was conflicted because she had met on a tarmac with bill clinton, the husband of Hillary Clinton, and that compromised her x. Thats why he did what he did. Yeah. Paul is there justification for that . Well, that may be true. First of all, thats not his determination to make. But secondly, even if it were true, there is in the office somebody known as the Deputy Attorney general who is there for precisely the situations in which the attorney general has to recuse herself, as she probably should have in that case. Paul she hadnt formally recused herself. No. Paul and you have to formally recuse yourself if youre going to actually say im not responsible for this decision. Correct. You put it on a piece of paper. Paul right. And then if she had done that, comey still would have had to go to the deputy right. Paul now, another thing that rosenstein said in that memo was related to the statement that comey made, the letter he sent to capitol hill saying that hed reopened the case 11 days before the election which, of course, created all of that turmoil. And comey said later, i had to do that because i felt i couldnt conceal what had occurred. And rosensteins memo said thats not your job either. Concealment, silence in a case does not mean conceal. Correct. Of course. Concealment is an active is an act. Paul right. Simply not talking about an investigation is simply not talking about an investigation, which is what the fbi director is supposed to do. Paul thats the norm. Thats the norm. When you start an investigation, you dont go out and announce it and think that youre concealing the existence of the investigation by not announcing it. Thats what youre supposed to do. Paul okay. So adding all of this up, the rosenstein memo, the circumstances that you followed closely youve written for us, do you think the president was justified in firing the fbi director. In the firing . Absolutely. Paul okay. In the firing, he was. Right. Paul he had more than ample reason to do so. Absolutely. Paul okay. You suggest to me that maybe the firing, but what about the timing and the politics . Certainly, thats complicated. Well, that, i mean, thats sort of stepping outside my lane a bit. Paul okay. Im pulling a james comey. [laughter] paul well, but youre not, youre not the director. Right. It couldnt conceivably have been worse. The timing was awful. It was made to appear as if, you know, somebody was trying to derail an investigation. Paul right. And, of course, you dont derail an investigation by firing the director, because the director doesnt conduct investigations. [laughter] thats done by agents out in the field. Paul right. Is there any doubt in your mind that this investigation is going to continue no matter who runs the fbi . Absolutely. Paul and mccabe said so, the Deputy Director was up on capitol hill saying were going ahead with it. And in my experience with the fbi, it shouldnt be this way perhaps, but its pretty porous. If there are facts that they discover and they think its being covered up, thats going to come out. Is that your experience . Of course. The fbi knows how to keep investigation in confidence, it also knows how to release it to its particular benefit. Weve seen that many times over the years. And theres no way that you kill an investigation by firing the director. Paul all right or by firing anybody. Paul theres no pressure, political pressure on Rod Rosenstein because the attorney generals recused himself from the russia probe. Hes the man who would make a decision about a special prosecutor. Right. Paul do you think he should name a special counsel . I dont. And its kind of too bad, because there are many people who are now, who have now announced that they are going to measure his propriety and his suitability and his ethics by whether or not he appoints a special prosecutor. And in order to have a potential prosecutor, theres got to be something to prosecute. And as far as i know, there is no criming being investigated. This is a counterintelligence investigation, not a criminal investigation. Paul explain the difference. The fbi has two functions. One is, of course, the traditional one. We all know it investigates crimes. Paul right. After 9 11 it was given an intelligencegathering function and a counterintelligence function which the counterintelligence function, actually with, its had for a long time. And that is simply to conduct investigations that relate to National Security and then report those to other National Security agencies. Paul and theres no doubt in your mind, briefly, that the fbi that the Justice Department under rosenstein can conduct this investigation honestly. None. Paul none . None. Paul okay. If none. And there are other agencies within the Intelligence Community that can, that can and will look into this. And there are Senate Committees and house committees that can and will looking into it. Paul all right. Thank you very much, judge mukasey, appreciate it. Still ahead, calls grow for a special prosecutor in the russia probe in the wake of comeys firing, but is that the best way to get the answers americans deserve . I have said from the get go that i think a potential prosecutor is the a special prosecutor is the way to go. But now with whats happened it is the only way to go, only way to go to restore the American Peoples faith. Paul that was Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer this week calling for the appointment of a special counsel in the wake of fbi director james comeys dismissal. But is that the best way to get to the bottom of alleged russian interference in the 2016 president ial campaign . Lets ask wall street journal columnist and Deputy Editor dan henninger, manhattan senior fellow jason reilly, and Editorial Board member joe rego. Dan, lets put this week into context. Start with a question, do you think that the comey firing on the merits, the legal merits, well get to the politics in a second, but on the legal merits was justified. Yes, paul, it was absolutely justified. And as you and judge mukasey just made clear, Deputy Attorney general rosensteins memo on this makes it clear that many comey had erogated to himself powers that do not belong to the director of the fbi. Those powers should have belonged to the Deputy Attorney general after Loretta Lynch recused herself. And secondly it was not, as he made clear, mr. Comeys responsibility to decide whether any prosecutions were warranted in the email server case. That was something that should have been handed up to his superiors at Justice Department. So mr. Comey was way outside his brief, and it would have been best if mr. Trump had fired him the day after the inauguration and put a new fbi director this place to proceed with whatever investigation of the russia connection was onboard. So that there was no question at all that there was a basis for firing him. Paul but, mary, trump said he was going to do it no matter what, i was going to do it anyway, no matter what they told me at the Justice Department. That certainly did contradict some of the early lines out of the white house. And it kind of messes up the whole tale and makes it look worse than, i think, the decision actually was. You know, theres no question he has handled this so poorly. I mean, across the board in every way. And i think the publics perception matters a lot here. And is, yes, their confidence is shaken even though, as dan says, he was completely within his rights to fire him. But i think that donald trump is also right when he says there was no good time because had he fired him when he first came into office after everything happened with John Podestas emails being hacked and so forth, he would also have been accused of trying to cover something up. Paul but it would have been a more natural transition, would it not . New government come in, fresh start, fbi, all that . In hindsight, for sure. Paul thats what we specialize in, mary, hindsight. [laughter] but i understand paul we did recommend it at the time. Yes. But im mildly sympathetic to his point. I think whats really damaging now is when it comes out that he, when he explains that he went out to dinner with the guy and asked him am i a subject of the investigation x then decided to keep him when he found out that he was not. Paul this is the problem with trump in many respects, its about him. [laughter] it is about him, but also the management of this. Its not just the timing, its the rollout. Did they learn nothing from the rollout of the travel ban . You have to get your ducks in order, you have to get everyone on the same page, paul. This is a very important decision. Why not hold a press conference, give a speech to the American People . This is why we need a new fbi director. Hes damaged the credibility of the institution, and he has to go, and heres why. He could have anticipated all of the responses to this and handled them in a press conference. And the leaking that has gone on daily, its been a very exhausting week in that sense. There was one Washington Post story that said there were 30 sources. 30 sources. I mean, theres leaking and then theres niagara falls. [laughter] yeah. Well, and theres no question about that, joe. But its interesting, the russia probe the implication from the critics of trump is that theres a coverup going on, right . Youre trying to, hes trying to comey was serious about the information which, of course the investigation which, of course, no doubt he was. Youre firing comey, youre covering up. Thats not likely to be the case, is it . No, i dont think so. If thats really the goal, then this is probably the worst possible way to actually squelch an investigation. The interesting thing is if theres actually evidence that trump was colluding with the russians or there was some kind of nexus between his campaign and the kremlin, that evidence would probably be coming out right about now. We havent seen that. So for all the outrage, its a lot of innuendo that hasnt actually gotten to the merits of the case. Paul and mccabe, the deputy fbi director, mary, came out this week and told congress theres no interference that he knows of in this investigation. And, in fact, a report i think in the Washington Post that said he had made a request, comey had made a request for more resources for the probe that, actually, he was not aware of the request, and they have ample sources to investigate. Yeah. Theres more than 100 people working on this investigation, and as joe says, the odds of or the ability to cover that up is sort of ridiculous. And i think mccabe rained on the parade of the democrats by saying, look, this investigation is going to go on. But to jasons point the the bigger problem that we see here is Donald Trumps lack of discipline. And, you know, you look at this, another mistake in the same vein, and you kind of wonder is this guy going to learn . Because its going to be a long four years if he doesnt figure this out. Paul dan, should the Rod Rosenstein name a special counsel for this, or should he himself supervise this probe . Absolutely, they should not name a special prosecutor for the reason judge mukasey made absolutely clear. No crime has been identified or alleged at any point in this incident, and that is what prosecutors do, is they investigate virtually, a fishing expedition, in my view. So i think it should reside in the Deputy Attorney Generals Office to decide whether any sort of prosecution is warranted. Paul all right, thank you all very much. When we come back, democrats are already targeting republicans in swing house districts following last weeks districts following last weeks health care vote. 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Only at a sleep number store or sleepnumber. Com paul House Republicans in swing districts already feeling the heat from last weeks vote to repeal and replace obamacare. Democrats are targeting two dozen members who supported the legs promising to make it a central the legislation promising the make it a central issue in 2018. And with a new poll showing just 38 of the votes approve of the gop plan, the party has its work cut out for it. This week a group allied with House Speaker paul ryan went on the offensive with this ad. Its a bold plan to cut the deficit and provide 1 trillion of jobcreating tax relief. It puts patients and doctors back in charge of health care, eliminating washingtons expensive mandates and empowering state toss reduce Health Care Costs and protecting people with preexisting conditions. The Republican Health plan provides families with more choices, better coverage and lower premiums. Thank congresswoman mimi walters for keeping her word and fighting for the health care we deserve. Paul so, joe, democrats clearly think theyve got, this is their ticket back to the majority . Do you agree . I dont. I think republicans have a fairly good product. It needs to be improved. They can do that in the senate where the bill is now, but i think they really have a problem with messaging. They are not explain they have not done a good job explaining whats in the bill, how it would work, how it would improve peoples access to health care. Paul now lets i want to listen to another explanation for the bill. Weve got a democratic attack ad thats running. Lets listen. Congresswoman mcsally just voted for a disastrous Health Care Repeal be bill opposed by the ama, aarp and and the american cancer society. She voted to raise your costs and cut coverage for millions, to let Companies Deny coverage for cancer and maternity care. Mcsally voted yes even though the bill makes coverage completely unaffordable to people with preexisting conditions. Congresswoman mcsally, how could you do this to us . Paul jason . Are well, you mentioned earlier 38 of people support the republican plan, but i still think democrats are overstating the popularity of obamacare. They really are. Only about one in four americans support obamacare in its current form. Only about 40 of democrats support obamacare as is. Youve, meanwhile, got around 70 of americans who either want significant changes to it or want it to start from scratch. So you have to be careful. So in addition to fulfilling a campaign promise, i think republicans also need to deal with the unpopularity of this current plan and, you know, aetna is pulling out, pulled out of two more states recently, nebraska and delaware paul for 2018. They said they were going to lose about 200 million. Remember, they were big backers paul and thats happening whether or not the congress acts. If congress does nothing, youre going to see that exchanges deteriorate, mary. Well, i think the republicans should focus on the fact that the democrats have, it seems to me, completely given upen on this idea of the exchangeses. That was how it was sold, but really what theyre talking about now is single payer. Paul throw people on medicaid or expand medicare. Yeah. Its basically Government Health care. And if you look at the town halls where people are up in arms and so forth, theyre people who are on medicaid because medicaid was expanded, they got access to health care. And theyre basically saying we want more of this. And i think the American Public basically wants to have its own doctors, and it wants to have, basically, its own choices. It doesnt want governmentrun health care. Thats where the republicans should target their campaign. Paul the question, i think, dan, 20 republicans voted against the house bill no taut no doubt they felt theyd be in trouble if they voted for it. Do you think theres an element of safety there if they didnt vote for this, or would these folks be washed out anyway if theres a wave . El, i think well, i think they were in a tough spot, no question about it, and theyre on the defensive, paul. The republicans have to to understand they are this a political war over this health care bill. And that was made clear at a town hall a this past week, representative, republicancom mcarthur of new jersey held a town hall less than five hours that essentially consisted of people yelling at him. The republicans are going to have to get their own people out to these town halls to counteract the democrats. And ill tell you something, if a melee ensues, so be it, but they have got to get their story out there, get people supporting them or theyre going to have a problem in 2018. Paul right. But the way to do that, i think, joe, is actually to pass something. The democrats are going to be motivated, going to be fired up, okay . Theyre going to be waiting in lines around the block. Republicans cant stop that. The only thing you can do is to get your own people also excited about the election, and thats by actually showing some legislative success with the power they have. Exactly. Defend an accomplishment, point to specific things, how it will improve peoples lives. Much better than trying to defend a failure, saying, well, we said for seven years we were going to repeal and replace obamacare. We tried but we couldnt paul oh, well, never mind. Meanwhile, the exchanges go downhill, jason. One of the other challenges is getting republicans in order. Youve got ted cruz, rand paul, two guys that specialize in obstructing everything that are going to be out there, and youve got more moderate republicans like in ohio. Paul no question theres going to to be a challenge in the senate. Well see what happens. Still ahead, as he prepares for his first trip abroad, a look at Donald Trumps Foreign Policy as the unconventional policy as the unconventional candidate turned into listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. And hey, unmanaged depression, dont get too comfortable. Were talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. And fragmented care stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. Every single one of you is on our list. For those who wont rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. Optum. How well gets done. This is a strategyis, fid recommend. This actually makes sense. Now on the next page youll see a breakdown of costs. What . Its just. We were going to ask about it but we werent sure when. So thanks. Yeah, thats great. Being clear and upfront. Multiplied by 14,000 financial advisors, its a big deal. And its how edward jones makes sense of investing. Paul amid the political turmoil here at home, President Trump is preparing for his first trip overseas, leaving late next week for stops in saudi arabia, israel and rome before attending a nato meeting in brussels and a g7 meeting in sitly. So sicily. So what should our allies expect . Earlier i spoke to Walter Russell mead, a professor of Foreign Affairs at bard college and editor at large of the american interest. When donald trump ran for president , he was an unconventional candidate, to say the least. Especially on Foreign Policy. But now a lot of people look at him as president and say, you know what . Its a pretty conventional Foreign Policy, maybe even normal if you can use that word for a republican president. Do you agree . Yes and no. His appointments, you know, the core National Security team is as normal as it gets. Didnt start out that way, but [laughter] it soon became that way on some of the key issues like nafta, like the alliance with korea he has moved away from what once seemed very nonmainstream positions. Paul right. On the other hand, he can still surprise us on any given morning. Paul by what he tweets or what he says exactly. Paul like considering pulling out of nafta, for example, and then has to walk that back as his aides talk to the canadians and mexicans and said get on the phone and talk him off the ceiling. Or in the middle of a tight korean president ial election say were going to make them pay for the missiles. Paul okay. On that point, since were there, how is that for an american ally . Thats got to be disconcerting. You know, its, i mean, in a sense in korea and in japan, i think a lot of people have the feeling that theyre betting their future on the capabilities of the american president. And that is, thats an unsettling thing. I think that mattis and tillerson and mcmaster have all done a pretty good job of broadcasting a message that american policy is what it was paul secretary of defense, state and National Security. Exactly. So thats a pretty powerful team, and theyre all people trump appointed. Paul so the if youre an ally sitting in south korea or japan, you have to say, you know, were going to roll with the odd comment and actually keep our eyes on the main policy . Is that the way you have to approach this . Thats what you have to do, but also you have to explain it to your Public Opinion paul right. Because the Public Opinion is reading the tweets and seeing the remarks. And so its not just something that you control within the government. Paul okay. Now, where would a donald trump Foreign Policy, do you think can, differ from, say, the last couple of republican president s . Well, i think the you compare him to george w. Bush, george w. Bush was very much about spreading democracy. I think especially in the second term with condi rices influence paul nation building. Nation building, you know, lets have elections in the Palestinian Authority paul right. And that will bring peace and democracy to everybody. So i new the wilsonian element in american Foreign Policy which has been a pretty strong theme for a while has had so many failures really under both bush and obama to some degree, think of the libya invasion, that trump has pushed that way in the background. I think any american president right now would be devaluing that some, because weve been burned, and the American People are not that eager to make sacrifices for something they think may not happen. Paul but that doesnt necessarily mean isolationism. No. Paul it doesnt mean disengagement from the world and, in fact, trump in his first couple of months here has sent missiles into syria. Now, right. Exactly. And i think, when i think of where does trump come from in the spectrum of american history, i think of Andrew Jackson who was certainly a president who believed in unilateral American Action and use of force. But jackson was very global. He mobilized the fleet against france [laughter] paul basically, not even a full continental nation. Exactly. He shelled a aprilage in sumatra a village in sumatra. So testifies a forceful and globalminded president. But also you think of Alexander Hamilton who saw the International Economy as an important the United States had to be end beiged in the International Economy, but on favorable terms and in a way that would build the strength of the american nation which would then protect us. Paul so be engaged with the world but dont and not afraid to use force, but youre not going to have longterm, permanent, new commitments, you dont think, around the world. Well, i think hes it would depend on events. I mean, any president , you know, something happens and you have to respond. I do think that both in asia and in the middle east trump, if anything, is strengthening some of our traditional alliances more than, say, obama did. Paul okay. So, you know, the Saudi Arabians and the israelis are looking forward to his visit with some anticipation. Paul all right. Lets, lets talk about russia, because this week the president met with sergey lavrov, the Russian Foreign minister, with a photo op that Vladimir Putin loved and wanted, and yet the timing was very awkward given what weve been having in domestic politics with the russian probe and at the fbi. How do you see trumps russia policy so farsome. Well, to me, the interesting thing that trumps the core of trumps policy is almost a stake through the heart of putins goals. You know, what is the core of Trumps Energy policy and domestic policy . Its to frack everything that can be fracked. Paul right. To build every possible pipeline, to get every barrel paul Keep Oil Prices down. Exactly. And this is more than any other single factor, more than sanctions, the price of oil is the limit on putins power. And the fact that it is so low and will stay so low because of trumps policies and because generally the fracking revolution does much more to limit russian poll power than all the diplomatic notes you could write. Paul can trump actually find a working relationship with putin . Not a good one, i think. You know, kennan wrote in his famous long telegram that our problem with these people isnt that theyre marxists, its that theyre russian. [laughter] that hasnt changed a single bit. Paul all right. Walter russell mead, thanks for coming. Thank you. Paul still ahead, Barack Obama Paul still ahead, barack obama and Hillary Clinton both making earning your cash back shouldnt be this complicated. Yet some cards limit where you earn bonus cash back to a few places. And then, change those places every few months. Enough with that with quicksilver from capital one youve always earned unlimited 1. 5 cash back on every purchase, everywhere. Welcome to unlimited whats in your wallet . And the wolf huffed like you do sometimes, grandpa . Well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. It can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. So i talked to my doctor. She said. Symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. Symbicort doesnt replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. Symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. Symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It should not be taken more than twice a day. Symbicort contains formoterol. Medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems. Symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. You should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. Watch out, piggies child giggles symbicort. Breathe better starting within 5 minutes. Get symbicort free for up to one year. Visit saveonsymbicort. Com today to learn more. Paul theyre back. After a brief hiatus, both former president barack obama and 2016 democratic president ial nominee Hillary Clinton are making a return to public life, accepting the john f. Kennedy profile in courage award last weekend, president obama defended his Signature Health care law and called on congress to whats right to protect the sick and vulnerable. Hillary clinton, meanwhile, is reportedly set to launch a new Political Action committee calling herself part of the resistance during an appearance last week in new york city. Were back with dan, jason, mary and joe. Mary, first lets take Hillary Clinton. Whats she doing here, is she running for president again . You know, Hillary Clinton reminds me of one of those blowup dolls that you, with the weight in the bottom that you punch and it goes down and pops back up . Shes just irrepressible. But i think the problem with her launching this, she has something called onwards together. She wants to sort of restore energy in the party and so forth. But, basically, Hillary Clinton has maxed out on the number of people shes going to draw x she cant expand beyond, basically, who supported her in the last election. And the other problem with what shes doing, which is sort of amusing, is that she describes herself as, that shes going to be a connector between big money and political actors. And if that doesnt sound familiar, i mean, thats basically what the clintons have built their whole political career on. And be as the money passes through somehow, theyve done very well. Paul yeah. That was Bernie Sanders critique of the clintons in the last election. I think the Democratic Party is in a tate of disarray state of disarray now, they didnt expect to lose, and the two big names they still have going for them are barack obama and Hillary Clinton. And hillary is still in denial about why she lost. Shes still blaming it on james comey and russia and so forth, but so are a lot of her fellow democrats. Something like 60 tell pollsters hillary, you know, the russians are why hillary wasnt elected. So joining the reus dance seems like a natural thing for her to do at point. Paul and what about former president obama, dan . Hes really gotten out earlier than any recent former president that i can think of. And hes making fairly are pronounced shots at the republican agenda and President Trumps agenda. Yes, he is. And i dont believe the democrats are particularly happy about it. Look, when they were running for the chairmanship of the Democratic National committee, both tom perez and Keith Ellison said in Public Forums that they thought the Obama Presidency had sucked too many resources towards that presidency and starved the democratic grassroots, and that had to change. But consider barack obama and Hillary Clinton are media superstars, and it is unlikely that cnn or msnbc are going to start interviewing secondlevel democrats when they can interview these two superstars. They are siphoning the oxygen out of the political air for young democrats. Paul let me push back on that, joe, in this sense. The 2018 election is going to be in large part about mobilization and energy. Are republicans fired up enough to deter democratics who are going to be fired up. So is obama and clinton coming out now to mobilize democrats against republicans maybe doesnt hurt the party, on dans point. It could in 2020 if they basically dwarf anybody else and make it difficult for anybody else to emerge. I think that could be part of it. I mean, Hillary Clinton and obama, i think, are different. I mean, hillary spent a billion dollars to lose to a reality tv star. So for all the disorder that were seeing in washington today, i think she should probably maybe reflect a little bit more on what just happened. About obama, however, he continues to be personally popular. I mean, he left office pushing a 60 approval rating. The problem hes had, though, is transferring that popularity to his party. And we saw what happened in the offyear elections when he was president x. Thats what hell be out there trying to do right now. Historically, it hasnt been very successful. So i can understand why they might want to go that route, but historically it has not been, gotten them where they want to be. A politician with the popularity that barack obama had has to be willing to groom successors. And it seems like hes not really willing to do that. He likes being in the limelight x. I think as dan says, that is going to suck oxygen out of room for paul does Hillary Clinton want to run for president again . Is that what this is about, setting up the machinery to be able to do it . I dont think so. And not that she doesnt want to run, but i think that she, at some point, will have a reality check and realize that she cannot go through that again, she cannot put party through that again. And i dont think the party would let her do that again. Paul all right. Still ahead, a raucous reception for education secretary betsy devos at a historically black college in florida. So whats behind the hostility . So whats behind the hostility . And is it misplaced . So how old do you want to be when you retire . Uhh, i was thinking around 70. Alright, and before that . You mean after that . No, im talking before that. Do you have things you want to do before you retire . Oh yeah sure. Ok, like what . But i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement . Were absolutely doing that. But theres no law you cant make the most of today. What do you want to do . Id really like to run with the bulls. Wow. Yea. Hope youre fast. I am. Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. Investment Management Services from td ameritrade. Here comes the fun with seadoo. Seadoo has the most affordable watercraft on the market. Starting at just 5,299 and get 0 percent financing. Visit seadoo. Com today. Paul betsy devos faced a hostile reception at Bethune Cookman university in Daytona Beach this week. Students at the historically black university booed the education secretary, some even turned their backs as she delivered a 20minute be commencement address there on wednesday. Take a look. Its a real honor and privilege to be with you as we celebrate the Bethune Cookman University Chat of 207. Class of 2017. If this behavior continues, your degrees will be mailed to you. Paul jason, whats behind this hostility . She was invited, after all. I think you have a couple things going on. Unone is whats going on on College Campuses all over the country. You also have a long history of College Graduates protesting speakers, turning their backs and so forth, and thats all been on steroids in this trump era. She was a standin for the trump administration, which is very unpopular on College Campuses, and i think thats what we saw a reaction to. Its particularly unsettling in her case, however, because if there is one member of the administration who in a previous life had done a lot more black americans, particularly in offering educational choices to them, in working to get low income blacks better access to better schools, it is bessie devos. And its betsy devos. And its a shame she was not allowed to explain her vision for bringing Educational Opportunities to low income paul and explain what she did. She worked for something called americans for school im blanking on the exact name of her organization. Paul educational freedom or Something Like that. But betsy devos spent a lot of money pushing for School Choice. Paul right. Which is very popular in the black community. You wont hear that from the paul charter schools. Vouchers, charter schools, home schooling, you name it. She wants better educational options, and shes pushing for the types of schools that are, in fact, closing the achievement gap. So she really did deserve to be heard on this subject, and its a shame she wasnt able to. Paul kudos, though, to the president at Bethune Cookman for standing up and saying, look, lets tone it down or were going to call this whole thing off. Well, i thought that was fantastic, and i wondered when i was listening to those students, you know, what they had learned in the four years when they were at that school because, obviously, tolerance was not one of the items on the agenda. By the way, betsy devos organization was the foundation for excellence in education. And i agree with jason, she has done an enormous amount and particularly which is the most important thing in this country, k12. Shes worked in the k12. And some people said that these students were complaining because theres a threat of University Education being cut. If we dont fix the k12 education in this country, you can forget about the, you know, the opportunities underprivileged people will have in universities. Paul dan, if i had to, when i was in college, if i had to turn my back and boo everybody i disagreed with who was on stage, i mean, i would have flunked out freshman year, because that was most of the people who came and talked, including most of the professors. Yeah, well, thats for sure. Times have changed. And, you know, there was a specific, discreet incident which was a signing statement that donald trump issued last friday on the budget, had about 11 paragraphs in it. In the final paragraph, there was something a lot of people interpreted to say he was going to withhold 20 million from historically black colleges. This became a firestorm on black social media. It was fed into those students, and they reacted to it. And this is why white house staff really fly speck everything that a president puts his name to. This wasnt justified, but there was this issue behind it that drove this kind of reaction. Paul what should betsy devos do Going Forward to make her case, jason . I think that betsy devos should continue to back those state and local efforts to spread School Choice across this country. You know, the federal government only plays a limited role in education. They only make up 10 of funding 10 of funding what school reformers at that level need is to know that washington has their back. Paul is so dont back down oh, no. And i dont think she will. Because shes been in the trenches on these fights for many, many years, and i think she would have been willing to explain that to those students if they had been willing to listen. Paul thank you very much. Paul thank you very much. We have to take one more break. I count on my dell Small Business advisor for tech advice. With one phone call, i get products that suit my needs and i get back to business. Welcome to holiday inn whether for big meetings or little getaways, there are always smiles ahead at holiday inn. Paul time now for our hits and miss of the week. Jason, start us off. On thursday new orleans removed a statue of confederate president Jefferson Davis. I have no problem with the city doing that, but i do wonder about the priorities of the liberal activists who place so much time and energy into these gestures. New orleans is a place where the murder rate last year was the highest its been since 2012. The black white student achievement. Gap has been widening. Last year black unemployment in louisiana was double digits. A statue of Jefferson Davis coming down is not going to solve any of those problems, so im kind of wondering why theyre so focused on things like this. Paul jason, thank you. Joe. Paul, a miss to the department of Homeland Security which is probably going to expand its laptop ban to flights from europe as well as the middle east. If the risk is that a laptop can be used to conceal a bomb or detonate a bomb, that would be good to know. But if in that case, it should apply to flights from asia and domestic flights. This is a miss for security theater over government candor. Paul get ready to check your laptop. Mary. Paul, this is a miss for senator marco rubio who visited the Colombian Embassy in washington for dinner last week, and the next day threw his support behind an amnesty deal in colombia for the terrorist group who are getting unelected seats in congress. He said that the crimes that they committed should not go unpunished, but amnesty for the terrorists is the centerpiece of the deal. And now theyre out, colombias asking for 450 million, and senator rubio seems to want to give it to them. Paul all right. Dan . Well, my miss goes to new york city, paul, where if this summer you have people blasting a party into your neighborhood at four a. M. , you can just forget about calling the cops. Under a new nypd directive, the cops can only enter a party if the host invites them in. Now, this is apparently the result of the city getting sued constantly by partiers who objected to the cops coming into their parties. Now the only way they can come in is if host invites them in. Welcome to fun city. Paul all right. Thats it for this weeks show. Thanks to my panel, thanks to all of you for watching. Im paul gigot, and we hope to see you right here next week. J. J. Olivia. Have a great sunday. Maria good morning, the president could take a new fbi director by the end of this upcoming week. The white houses revised travel ban back in Court Tomorrow morning. Hi, everybody, happy mothers day, thanks for joining us. Im maria bartiromo, this is sunday morning futuresment full speed ahead for interviews to replace james comey as head of the fbi. Where does the bureau go from here . Former House Speaker Newt Gringrich and james will be here live for that. Plus a closer look at allegations that the Obama Administration spied on rand paul and at least one other senator, then widespread voter