Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Troops can provide a deterrence on the border
Interview
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back. President Trump touting his efforts to improve border security as nearly 500 National Guard troops make their way to the U.S.-Mexico border. More are expected to arrive in the near future after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis approved up to 4,000 National Guard personnel. The president says they will stay there until the wall is built. Big questions though remain over the cost of this mission and whether all border states will comply. One holdout, of course, California as Democratic Governor Jerry Brown has yet to issue an official response. At the other end of the spectrum though, our states like Texas that say they are all in. Joining me right now is Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, he's the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and member of the House Foreign Relations Committee Mr. Chairman it's always a pleasure to see you. Thanks for joining us.
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, R-TEXAS, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thanks, Maria. Thanks for having me.
BARTIROMO: What should we expect from National Guards men and women at the Mexico border?
MCCAUL: Well, I talked to them yesterday. They deployed 250 from my state, probably 300 next week. I can tell you what they don't want to do and that's push paper and sit in an office. They want to be active basically active duty down on the border fulfilling the roles of border security missions. They want to do surveillance. They want to do watchtowers, they want to be right on the border with Border Patrol. They cannot apprehend them and process them because of Posse Comitatus and other federal laws. However, they can play a very good role and admission of deterrence down on the border because when the drug cartel sees our military down there it's going to stop them before they can get in.
BARTIROMO: So where is this going? I mean, the president has been talking about this border wall since the election and he continues to face pushback. You know, Secretary Nielsen, the Secretary of Homeland Security, talked this week about looking to Congress for help to unlock this. Here's what she said, sir. Listen to this.
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BARTIROMO: Congressman at this point, what can you do? What can Congress do?
MCCAUL: Well, I talked to the secretary who had many meetings with her. Let me just say that since last year, crossings have gone up 200 percent, last month up nearly 40 percent. I think this bold action by the president putting our military and National Guard down on the border, I hope, is a wakeup call for Congress to get its job done. I have a border security bill, I passed that in my committee. It's been sitting out there and we want to put it on the floor. This would give her the secretary the resources she needs to finally get this job done. And Maria, we finally have the political will in Washington to get it done. We have a president who will sign this bill, unlike the last eight years. You and I have been talking about this for quite some time. In addition what the secretary talked about is closing legal loopholes. What does that mean? When they - - when these central Americans come into the United States, we can detain them for certain period of time and then it's called catch and release. They're given a notice to appear and they don't show up to the hearings so they essentially get into the United States. We need to change those laws, those legal loopholes, so that not only can we stop them at the border but once we apprehend them we can deport them expeditiously.
BARTIROMO: And the president tried that this week with executive order on catch and release. I mean, it just boggles the mind that you could step one foot into America, be caught, and then we have to release them and we don't know where they go and as you just said they're not showing up to the hearings.
MCCAUL: They're not. It's under this case law, the Flores decision and that's why Congress has to step up and change the law so when we apprehend somebody from Mexico, we can deport them immediately but not from Central America. That's ridiculous, right? So we need to fix that law. Where do they go? Well, a lot of these young men I've seen go join a family called MS-13. This is a public safety issue. It's a drug cartel issue and it's a potential terrorists issue as well.
BARTIROMO: Yes. And it's a really important point. I want to talk more about this Congressman. We are also hearing this morning of another chemical attack in Syria. We want to talk to you about how safe the homeland is. Stay with us, Chairman Michael McCaul. We're going to get your reaction to that attack against a hospital in Syria when we come right back. Stay with us.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back. New reports this morning of a chemical attack on a hospital in Syria. In the besiege enclave outside of the capital of Damascus, rescue workers say dozens of people have been killed. President Trump reacted to this on Twitter this morning. He says this in part. If President Obama had crossed his stated red line in the sand, the Syrian disaster would have ended long ago. Animal Assad would have been history. The president also says that Russia and Iran are responsible for keeping Assad in power. Once again I'm back with Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and member of the House Foreign Relations Committee. Mr. Chairman, what do you make of what we're learning this morning in Syria?
MCCAUL: Oh, it's a humanitarian crisis. It's barbaric. I've seen the photos. I think you just show these women and children in a hospital, this is a very deadly and brutal nerve agent that was barrel-bombed on the hospital, a very painful way to die and there has to be a consequence to this. And I think the president is absolutely right is that President Obama drew the redline, the red line was crossed he did nothing and then he negotiated through John Kerry the settlement, this weapons convention and I remember John Kerry saying we took all their chemical weapons away. Obviously not. They still have this and I also blame Russia and Iran. I think they're complicit with this as well.
BARTIROMO: Well, that's what I want to ask you about because this appears to be a real willful intentional attack to target women and children. We have some very disturbing video. I want to warn our audience right now this video is disturbing because it is children in the middle of all of this, this attack coming almost one year after the sarin gas attack in April of 2017, so leave, walk away from the T.V. if you don't want to see this because this is horrible. Mr. Chairman, what should the U.S. do in response to this at this point?
MCCAUL: Well I think we need a bold and swift response. The last time Assad did this we responded with 59 tomahawk missiles destroying his landing and air base capability so they could not deliver these barrel bombs. I think something similar to that but I think as the president said all options are on the table right now. And I think this is -- you know, look we're not -- we're not going to occupy countries anymore but this cannot stand in the civilized world and this needs to be responded to in a very firm strong way and I think we need to deal also with Russia and Iran's involvement with this. I think they are complicit and there are 42 people now dead and that's the latest count that I got, women and children, as a result of this. What I worry about too Maria, is that we saw a nerve agent killed a former Russian spy in London and these nerve agents, you know, the Russians violated their treaty as well and these nerve agents can be floating all around the world. I certainly don't want to see that end up here in the United States in the homeland.
BARTIROMO: Which is why people are saying Russia's fingerprints are on this because it's this nerve agent that apparently is from Soviet years. Should the president be taking a different task when -- as it relates to Russia and Vladimir Putin given what we're watching?
MCCAUL: Well, and he sanctioned the top oligarchs which I applauded. I think his rhetoric needs to get a little tougher against Russia. They're not our friend, Mr. Putin is not our friend. I think this whole -- I think they're all in bed together the Russians, the Iranians and Mr. Assad behind this horrific attack. It has their fingerprints all over it and I think there needs to be a bold, swift response of the military strikes to stop their capabilities to continue doing this.
BARTIROMO: Would you say we are safer here in America than in the past? How would you characterize the safety net today, given what we're talking about from the border security and the porous borders to what's happening in the Middle East?
MCCAUL: Well, when the BorderPpatrol tells me they can't -- they only apprehend less than 50 percent what's coming across that means more than 50 percent is coming in. And Maria, we don't know what it is and it could be people coming here to work that's probably drug cartels, MS-13. It could be a weapon of mass destruction being brought across by a terrorists. That's why securing that border I think is absolutely paramount and that we've done a good job keeping all this stuff out but there are plots underway as I speak to blow up airplanes using computer laptops, to toxic devices, using gasses, and if these nerve agents are in the hands of Assad, God knows where else they are.
BARTIROMO: Mr. Chairman, it's good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much.
MCCAUL: Thank you so much, Maria.
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