Fox News "Sunday Morning Futures" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Michael McCaul

Interview

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BARTIROMO: A lot of news this morning from Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intel Committee.

President Trump will meet -- be meeting with House Republicans this Tuesday to discuss immigration legislation meanwhile. There are two different bills being proposed, a moderate one written by House leadership and a more conservative composed by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte.

My next guest helped write that legislation. He is Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas. And he joins me right now. He is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, a member of the House Foreign Relations Committee.

And, Mr. Chairman, it's a pleasure to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, R-TEXAS: Oh, Maria, thanks for having me.

Can I first say, as a father of five children, happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

(LAUGHTER)

BARTIROMO: And happy Father's Day to you, Mr. Chairman.

MCCAUL: Thank you.

BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us on this special day. Thank you for that.

What are you expecting on Tuesday, when the president comes to Capitol Hill to look at these two bills and discuss these bills with you?

MCCAUL: Well, look, I have been working with the -- working with the president of the United States and the administration.

I talked to him, in fact, just yesterday. The president is fully committed to both of these bills. He has put the full weight of his office behind it.

You know, the McCaul-Goodlatte bill, they both, I would say, provide the four pillars that I discussed with the president at that sort of famous roundtable discussion.

Most importantly from my perspective, Maria, it has got border security in there. It has got funding for the wall that the president really wants. It has got the technology and boots on the ground. And the four pillars being ending chain migration, ending this random visa lottery system, providing border security, and a DACA solution.

So I think obviously I'd like to see McCaul-Goodlatte pass on the floor and we wouldn't have to get to a second bill. But if it gets to that point, I do think this is a historic opportunity to advance a conservative agenda that we've been trying to do for the last 25 years, to structurally change the way we do immigration and make it more merit-based rather than random, and also get that border secure because, Maria, the threats, as I get briefed by the secretary and the ICE director, of potential terrorists and drug cartels and all the other stuff, is real.

BARTIROMO: Yes, I want to ask you the cooperation you're getting from your colleagues in the Senate and certainly your colleagues on the left because this is an issue that America wants taken care of. And it just seems that you get to some success and then it stops.

MCCAUL: Well, look, I don't think without the president's leadership, and I applaud him for doing this, and I applaud his team. Without him coming to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, I don't think we would have that sort of maximum pressure, if you will, to get us across the goal line.

And I anticipate on Tuesday he's going to be the leader he is and we're going to get something passed out of the House. And to your point, what I do worry about is Mitch McConnell and the Senate and what can they do.

But I do think this is the beginning of the conversation. We won't get anything done if the House doesn't get its business done and pass something.

BARTIROMO: Hold that thought, Mr. Chairman, more after this short break.

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BARTIROMO: Welcome back. I'm with Congressman Michael McCaul this morning in the wake of the historic Trump-Kim summit. President Trump tweeted this morning this: "Holding back the war games during the negotiations was my request because they are very expensive and set a bad light during a good faith negotiation. Also quite provocative."

I'm back now with Congressman Michael McCaul.

And, Mr. Chairman, what about that? Because after this historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and the president, a lot of debate over stopping the missile-testing that has been taking place between the U.S. and South Korea.

MCCAUL: Yes, I think the president and Secretary Mattis actually supports what the president said with respect to the war games and South Korea. And I think it was a good faith gesture, based upon Kim Jong-un's agreement to stop nuclear testing, to destroy nuclear military facilities, and also the remains of our prisoner of war victims over there, to bring those remains home, back home to the United States.

So this is, in my view, the maximum pressure campaign has been working. We're willing to snap back to that at any time. I think the difference between this and the Iran negotiations that Obama did was that he was not willing to walk away from the table. I think this president is.

And I met with the vice president, he said that this -- the chemistry between the two is very positive. And I know personal chemistry is important to this president. But always have a healthy amount of skepticism when you deal with North Korea.

They had deceived three prior administrations and presidents and each time gotten concessions from us and then thrown the United States and the global community under the bus.

BARTIROMO: Mm-hmm. And yet you still call this meeting a monumental diplomatic breakthrough.

MCCAUL: I do. You know, I really do. I mean, Trump is a -- I mean, he's a different president. He's not going to give away the store. He's going to negotiate. If anybody can get this thing done, and I'll admit it's a big challenge to do so, I think he's the man to do it.

He's really negotiating out of strength, strength through peace, like Reagan talked about, because of the sanctions that we, that Congress and the administration put on them, and also, you know, Kim Jong-un looks at his shoreline and sees our submarines and our naval ships.

He knows that there is another option here and it's not a pretty one. And he knows that this president is willing to exercise that if necessary. Of course, that's the path we would least like to see take place.

BARTIROMO: Right. Well, we'll be watching. This is incredible storylines. Mr. Chairman, it's always a pleasure to see you. Thanks so much.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Maria.

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