Rep. Steve Scalise on immigration ban, Cabinet confirmations
House majority whip weighs in on 'Sunday Morning Futures'
This is a rush transcript from "Sunday Morning Futures," January 29, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: Good Sunday morning, everybody.
President Trump facing his first legal challenge over executive actions as his controversial extreme vetting order is put into action.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Maria Bartiromo. Welcome to "Sunday Morning Futures."
President Trump doubling down after a judge blocks part of his immigration order, amid nationwide protests. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey is here on the legal fight ahead.
Plus, next week, Jeff Sessions expected to be confirmed as attorney general by the Senate while Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson awaits his vote, also expected next week. When will the president's Cabinet be in place?
This as relations with Mexico got off to a rocky start this past week. What will it mean for NAFTA negotiations? What might NAFTA look like? How could it impact American workers?
We will talk to the director of the White House National Trade Council, Peter Navarro, along with the president of the Teamsters Union, right now as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures."
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BARTIROMO: And the Trump administration dealing with fallout this morning from one of the president's executive actions. Dozens of people have been detained across the country because of an order that blocks citizens of seven different countries from entering the country. The detainments sparking protests at several airports this morning.
It comes as Congress is getting ready to take on the president's aggressive agenda -- issues of immigration. Who will pay for the controversial border wall topping the list. We're also waiting President Trump's supreme nomination later this week and handful of Cabinet confirmation vote as well.
Joining me right now is Congressman Steve Scalise, the House majority whip.
Sir, good to have you on the program. Thanks so much for joining us, Congressman.
REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA., MAJORITY WHIP: Good morning. Good to be back with you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Sure.
First off, give us your take on what's happening this morning, where we're seeing this challenge certainly from a federal judge from Brooklyn temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting U.S. refugees and visa holders from those seven Muslim countries?
SCALISE: Well, the bulk of the order's still gone forward, and I think the most important point is that President Trump ran on this. This is something he said he would do to protect America, to keep America safe from countries that cannot be vetted when they're sending people to our nation.
And so, if you look at Syria, for example, you've seen FBI and every other intelligence agency say they can't tell you who's coming in. ISIS has already said they're going to infiltrate these refugee programs. And we've seen it as a disaster in European countries where they've actually carried out terrorist attacks. So, I think this is important to protect America's security. Let's look at this, take a pause and see if we can put real vetting in place to protect America from terrorists.
BARTIROMO: What does that vetting involve? You know, people are questioning this morning how the president chose these seven countries. Now, I recognize these are the leading places where terrorism exists, these seven countries.
But there's a question about Qatar. There's a question about Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan not on the list.
SCALISE: Right. And if you go back, there's a 2015 and a 2016 law that a lot of this was based off of where many of those countries were listed by name. Obviously, there are other countries where we have a better ability to vet. And that's really, I think, what's at question here.
Some of these nations -- Syria, for example -- there are no records on pretty much any of the people coming into the United States at a time when ISIS is saying they're going to infiltrate the program, and they've done it. So, I think it's very prudent to say let's be careful about who comes into our country to make sure that they're not terrorists.
BARTIROMO: Right.
Congressman, let's look ahead for a moment, let me switch gears to what's going on next week. We see that there are -- Senate aiming to end the debate on Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson on Monday. We are expecting a vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee on GOP Senator Jeff Sessions to be the attorney general. What are you expecting in terms of these nominees getting confirmed this upcoming week?
SCALISE: I would like to see President Trump's entire Cabinet get pushed through the Senate, ultimately voted on by the Senate this week. And I'm glad that Majority Leader McConnell has been aggressive in saying that this is a president's prerogative.
You saw President Obama when he came into office, got the bulk of his Cabinet approved on day one. For whatever reasons, Democrats wanted to block President Trump from having that ability, but I'm glad to see that the Senate's moving forward in their role, and that is to make sure that the president's Cabinet are looked at. They've had all of these hearings, but ultimately, you've got to give the president the ability to run his administration and get our economy moving again.
BARTIROMO: And, of course, we're expecting Andy Puzder hearing for labor secretary taking place on Thursday in front of the health education, labor and pension committees.
Why has it taken so long? I mean, you make a good point, President Obama had 10 or 12 confirmed Cabinet members in his first week in office, and President Trump has now four.
SCALISE: What you've seen, some of the leaders on the Democrat side in Congress threatening to block everything that President Trump does, whether they agree with it or not, whether it's focused on following through on his campaign promises.
Look, Maria, you've got a president who very quickly, in just a few days in office, has followed through on many of the things that he promised he would actually do as president. That's a refreshing thing.
It's unfortunate to see some Democrats in Congress taking that as an affront. You know, their side fought it out, they lost the election. Shouldn't they be celebrating the fact that somebody's actually following through on the promises that they made to the American people instead of trying to block President Trump's agenda? They ought to be trying to work with him.
BARTIROMO: So, do you think the Republicans have the votes to get every nominee through?
SCALISE: I think they do, and I think they should because this is a very strong Cabinet. If you look at the background of these Cabinet picks, they're people who are well-equipped to carry out the work of the American people, focused on getting the economy moving again, focused on reasserting the United States of America's strength around the world to our allies and our enemies. I think that needs to happen quickly. I'm glad to see that President Trump brought forward such strong Cabinet picks.
BARTIROMO: Congressman, I know that the open enrolment period ends for coverage through the Affordable Care Act next week, on Tuesday. Where do we stand in terms of a replacement on ObamaCare? And it sort of feels like the Affordable Care Act and ObamaCare has been taking all the oxygen in the room, not leaving much for tax reform and the other priorities.
Give us your timeline in terms of getting these things done.
SCALISE: Sure. We've laid out a 100-day and 200-day agenda, ObamaCare is front and center. Getting the economy back on track, creating jobs has been mission one. You saw just last week with the Keystone pipeline being green lighted, thousands of American jobs, a freeze on regulations that are killing jobs.
But we're already starting work in our committees to repeal and replace ObamaCare. And the key is to rescue American families who are struggling under the weight of this failed law. People are tired of seeing double- digit increases in their premiums. Many people who have insurance can't even use it because they have $10,000 or higher deductibles. This is something families are facing all across the nation. They've asked for relief, this was front and center on President Trump's agenda and our agenda in Congress, and we're moving forward on it.
BARTIROMO: So, you said 200 days. In terms of a timeline then, Congressman, you think you will have a repeal and replacement of ObamaCare this year? And when do you expect tax reform to actually become law?
SCALISE: Well, the first thing in the budget process has to be ObamaCare, and then the second budget we're going to do -- first time in our country's history since the 1974 Budget Act -- that we will have two budgets done in the same fiscal year, and that allows us not only to go after gutting ObamaCare and replacing it, but then also putting forward major tax reform that creates jobs and makes our country competitive again. That will come right after ObamaCare.
BARTIROMO: All right. We will leave it there. We'll be watching the developments. Sir, thanks so much for joining us.
SCALISE: Great to be with you, Maria.
BARTIROMO: Good to see you, Congressman. Steve Scalise there.
President Trump makes good on his promise to abandon the Trans Pacific Partnership meanwhile. He wants to rework NAFTA as well. Which trade agreements will survive and which countries?
We'll talk with the director of the White House Trade Council next.
Follow me on Twitter @, let us know what you'd like to hear from Peter Navarro and James Hoffa, head of the Teamsters Union.
Back in a moment on "Sunday Morning Futures" right here.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
President Trump calls NAFTA a one-sided trade deal that benefits Mexico more than the United States. But what is the future of the trade agreement now that Mexico's president has scrapped a visit to the White House which was scheduled for this Tuesday, which was scheduled to this Tuesday. This comes on the heels of the president's executive order to withdraw the U.S. from the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership.
Joining me right now is Peter Navarro. He's director of the White House National Trade Council.
Peter, it's good to see you. Thanks so much for joining us.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL TRADE COUNCIL: Good morning, Maria.
BARTIROMO: I want to talk about the Trans Pacific Partnership for sure, and the overall trade mentality with the new administration. But let me start with this rift with the Mexican president. A lot of people are worried now that that meeting has been canceled that that's going to mean that NAFTA is getting completely redone.
What are the implications here?
NAVARRO: Well, let's quote Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers. Relax, we're going to get a great trade deal done with Mexico and Canada at some point, but the president is absolutely right. NAFTA is simply not working for American workers and domestic manufacturers.
Here at the White House, my job, Maria, as the director of the National Trade Council is to stand up for American workers and domestic manufacturers.
With Mexico, you know the numbers. We've got a $60 billion deficit in trade goods with them. We've got problems that need to be addressed through renegotiations with Mexico and with every other country that we have massive trade deficits with, whether it's China, Germany, Japan, on down the line, Vietnam.
What President Trump did this last week was historic. That was the fastest out of the gate you've ever seen any American president on jobs and the economy, and we saw the Dow go over 20,000. It's been on a steady upward move since President Trump was elected.
BARTIROMO: Right.
NAVARRO: And what's funny to me is you get all the hysteria in the media, digital and print media, basically saying the sky is falling, there's rifts with Mexico, everything's -- no. We're straight ahead with a strategy to basically defend this country against unfair trade practices, cut good, solid, smart deals for the American worker --
BARTIROMO: Right.
NAVARRO: -- and that's all we're going to do. And this week, this last week, we got rid of TPP one stroke of the pen. I mean, that was amazing.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: That was -- gone was the work of thousands of lobbyists and hundreds of millions of dollars spent by special interests out to basically steal away what would have been our auto industry from Michigan and Ohio.
BARTIROMO: Yes, no, we saw the pictures of you standing right behind the president when the president signed that executive order this past week --
NAVARRO: And what a great honor that was on the first day.
BARTIROMO: I bet. To withdraw the U.S. from the Trans Pacific Partnership.
So, Peter, explain to us then why almost the entire S&P 500 CEOs wanted the Trans Pacific Partnership to go through? I mean, I had the CEO of FedEx on the morning show last week, Fred Smith, the CEO of FedEx on "Mornings with Maria" on the Fox Business Network, and he said even though we're the largest economy, 80 percent of the world's purchasing power and 95 percent of its consumers lie outside the United States.
So, trade is a two-way street.
NAVARRO: Sure.
Well, let's be clear. The TPP was flawed because it was a multilateral deal. That's not what the Trump administration's going to do. The problem with multilateral deals is we reduce our bargaining power, and we surrender our sovereignty. I mean, in the TPP, the kingdom of Brunei would have had the same vote as the United States of America. That's absolutely absurd.
Now, let me assure the CEOs of the S&P 500 that we fully intend -- and if you read the executive order very carefully, we fully intend to negotiate bilateral trade deals with every single country that comprised the TPP. When we do bilateral negotiations, we get a much, much better deal for the American worker, American domestic manufacturer.
Unfortunately, a lot of these S&P 500 CEOs just love going to China or Vietnam or Cambodia or anywhere else around the world where they can use cheap labor and pollution havens, make their goods, go to a tax haven and then sell 'em back here to America.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: President Trump says no mas, no more. None of that is going to happen anymore.
BARTIROMO: Yes --
NAVARRO: We're going to have a policy of America first, and what's good for the CEOs in the S&P 500 aren't necessarily what's good for America. But they're going to be good for the S&P 500.
BARTIROMO: And I could see why the mentality of, as part of NAFTA, for example, the idea that it's OK for companies to take production and send it to anywhere, do production anywhere you want and then -- especially Mexico where it's much cheaper -- and then sell products back to the U.S., became a template for lots of other trade deals, and that's why wages have been stagnant for 20 years.
I get that, but are you willing to go to a trade war? I mean, it sort of felt like that on Friday when the president of Mexico said, you know what? There's no reason for this meeting. I'm not coming on Tuesday.
NAVARRO: We're going to have trade peace. Here is the vision, it's a very simple vision. What we've got to do is understand that when we see these big boxes in America which say Ford or GM or Carrier or whatever on them, right? What's going on now too much is that we're simply assembling products in those big boxes using components from everywhere else in the world but America. And the vision really is to keep Ford and Carrier, GM here with those big boxes, but more importantly, make those components in America or in a NAFTA arrangement with Canada and Mexico so we have like a powerful North American engine of prosperity --
BARTIROMO: Right.
NAVARRO: -- and so the vision, President Trump, he's just amazing. I just -- every time I'm in his presence and listen to him talk about the economy, it's just amazing how he sees how important it is to regain the value chain, to regain the supply chain because that's where the jobs are. You have a manufacturing jobs -- you take a country like Germany, they have 20 percent of their manufacturing in workers, in manufacturing, even though they're the most advanced robotics country in the world. We only have 8 percent.
The more manufacturing jobs we have in our supply chain, the more jobs we create downstream. And that's what this economy's been missing.
BARTIROMO: And you don't think --
NAVARRO: So, we have a strategy and a vision. Go ahead, Maria.
BARTIROMO: And you don't think, Peter, that pulling out of TPP empowers China? I mean, China's already looking to all of those other Asian nations to do its own deal now, because China was not part of the Trans Pacific. A lot of people say, well, now you just gave it to China.
NAVARRO: Sure, that's the spin. Everybody's got to go, ooh, we've got to do this with China.
They'd be right if we weren't going to go right to Japan and Australia and New Zealand, Malaysia and Thailand and negotiate bilateral deals.
The dirty little secret here that The New York Times need to understand a little better is nobody in Asia wants to deal with China. They're afraid of China. Right now China's bullying Taiwan. China's bullying Japan, China's using its economic power basically to have its way with the rest of that region, and these countries that are subject to that -- which is every country in that region -- loves to be with America because we represent democracy, freedom --
BARTIROMO: Sure.
NAVARRO: -- economic growth, prosperity, and we don't hold a gun to their head and try to make them do whatever we want them to do.
BARTIROMO: All right.
NAVARRO: We want to reach out and say, hey, look, let's work together strategically, economically.
So, this whole thing about, oh, TPP, we need it? No. That was the biggest bogus argument in the world, and "The Times" and "The Post", CNN and MSNBC who spin those yarns --
BARTIROMO: Yes.
NAVARRO: -- really should be ashamed of themselves for keep propagating that nonsense.
BARTIROMO: All right. We will leave there. You explain it well, Peter. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
NAVARRO: Thanks for the time, Maria.
BARTIROMO: We'll see you soon. Peter Navarro at the White House this morning.
Meanwhile, widespread protests at airports across the country right now. Dozens of people detained because of the new U.S. travel restrictions. How President Trump is defending his executive order. That's next as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures." We'll be right back.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
A federal judge issuing an emergency order late last night preventing the U.S. from deporting those stranded at airports by President Trump's travel ban. More than 100 people have been detained across the country, sparking major protests in several U.S. cities. A homeland security official saying last night all green card holders who tried to come into the U.S. yesterday have now been granted special permission to enter the country.
This morning, DHS saying the judge's order, quote, "won't affect implementation of the travel ban." The president defending his executive order yesterday in the Oval Office.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It's not a Muslim ban, but we are totally prepared. It's working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over, it's working out very nicely. And we're going to have a very, very strict ban, and we're going to have extreme vetting which we should have had in this country for many years.
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BARTIROMO: And President Trump also tweeted this, this morning, "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting now. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world. A horrible mess."
Joining me right now is Judge Michael Mukasey, who's the former attorney general under President George W. Bush, and it is great to see you, Judge.
MICHAEL MUKASEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good to be here.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us.
Can you explain to our audience, this stay, a federal judge temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting the U.S. refugees and visa holders from seven mostly Muslim countries? This is the ruling by the U.S. District Court's Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn, came late last night.
MUKASEY: Right. I haven't seen the order, but it sounds right. Once an alien gets here, that person has rights that are similar to the rights that a U.S. citizen has. They have a right to a hearing. They can't simply be treated arbitrarily.
And so, if the government could not assure the judge that if somebody was sent back that they wouldn't suffer irreparable damage, in fact, that's -- it's impossible to claim that. So, she was justified in issuing that order. But that said, you can certainly screen people before they get here because aliens have no rights under the U.S. Constitution, although U.S. citizens have rights wherever they are.
BARTIROMO: Yes, it's interesting, because when you see the media, the way they are panicked about this, it almost feels like someone thought there was some kind of a constitutional right out there for anybody and everybody to just come to America.
MUKASEY: There isn't. The U.S. Constitution is not a treaty with the world. It protects people who are here, and it protects U.S. citizens wherever they are. That's it.
BARTIROMO: Yes. So what do you think about this executive ban, the extreme vetting? How will it play out in a practical way?
MUKASEY: I hope the way it will play out in a practical way. There is, there are techniques and technology available now that can be used to screen people individually with probing questions that'll take something like 5-7 minutes. This was developed with a grant from DHS, the Department of Homeland Security. They gave this outfit $750,000 to help develop this technique.
It's being used in Israel, it's being used in Singapore, it's being used in Mexico, India, China.
BARTIROMO: Wow.
MUKASEY: The only place it's not being used is the United States because DHS refused to do it because it was too invasive of the privacy of people being questioned. That's ridiculous.
BARTIROMO: Yes, which, of course, came down from President Obama.
MUKASEY: Exactly.
BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about two other subjects while you have you. Number one, Jeff Sessions. Are you expecting him to get confirmed next week? It's incredible to me that the president doesn't have his Cabinet, and he's going on week two.
MUKASEY: Right. And there was absolutely no good reason for doing that. The only basis on which he was delayed by a week is that they could to it. Any senator on that committee is empowered to delay the vote by a week, and that's what happened.
There was no good reason given for it. It was simply a matter of delay so that he has less of an opportunity or a week less until he arrives to do what the Democrats don't want him to do. So, they're simply delaying his arrival by a week. That's -- that's totally unjustified.
BARTIROMO: So, he did really well, I thought, in the hearing. You're expecting him to get confirmed next week?
MUKASEY: Absolutely.
BARTIROMO: Absolutely. So, we think it'll happen on Wednesday. And then it's right to work.
MUKASEY: It should have happened a week ago.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
MUKASEY: Yes.
BARTIROMO: Let me ask you about the Supreme Court pick. Obviously, President Trump said he is going to come out with his choice for filling that vacancy of Antonin Scalia this Thursday. Now, initially, he had narrowed it down to three choices.
A lot of people are talking about Mr. Gorsuch, the closest to a Washington insider, son of a former EPA administrator, educated in the Ivy League, at Oxford, law clerk to Anthony Kennedy, and Bush era Justice Department official.
What's your take on Gorsuch?
MUKASEY: He's an excellent judge. He -- I know that the president hat one point made a comment to the effect that evangelicals would be pleased with the choice. Judge Gorsuch has made a number of rulings that are sympathetic to and supportive of religious rights, including, he was a judge who wrote a strong concurrence in the Hobby Lobby case that was sustained by the Supreme Court. So, I don't know whether that's a hint that Judge Gorsuch is at the top of the list or not.
BARTIROMO: But then he's got to get the 60 votes.
MUKASEY: We've got to get 60 votes in order to overcome a filibuster unless the Republicans decide to extend Harry Reid's nuclear option to Supreme Court justices as well.
BARTIROMO: Because, you know, Senator Schumer has said, we will block anybody and keep, you know, stalling as long as we have to, particularly when it comes to the Supreme Court.
MUKASEY: That's -- I mean, what are they going to do, leave the seat empty for four years?
BARTIROMO: I don't know.
MUKASEY: Sounds unlikely.
BARTIROMO: Judge Mukasey, great to see you.
MUKASEY: Good to be with you.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much for joining us this morning. Always a pleasure. Michael Mukasey there.
President Trump not wasting any time with a campaign pledge to keep jobs in America. What does a Trump presidency mean for millions of the country's union workers?
Next up, the president of the Teamsters' Union, President James Hoffa, with us as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures." We'll be right back.
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BARTIROMO: President Trump taking quick action on the economy this past week, removing the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal and calling for work to continue on the Keystone XL oil pipeline. What will this mean for jobs and labor unions?
Joining me right now is James Hoffa. He is the president of International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Mr. Hoffa, good to have you on the program. Thanks so much for joining us.
JAMES HOFFA, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS: Great to be here.
BARTIROMO: So, what do you think? I mean, he had a lot of work done this week. He signed all of these executive orders on the Keystone pipeline, on pulling the U.S. out of TPP. How did the president do for the American worker?
HOFFA: Well, you know, when it comes to unions -- I mean, we're talking about, wow, this is something. Basically, we all opposed TPP, and with the stroke of a pen, he does it, what we've been talking about.
We're very encouraged by that. And we've always been against NAFTA. We always said that TPP was NAFTA on steroids. So, we've got to be very -- you know, applauding him on that. We want to keep good union jobs here in this country, not export them to Vietnam or someplace like that. And the same thing with Keystone and Dakota Access. Those are big things.
We've been talking about that, this will put thousands and thousands of union workers to work. That's important, to get this done on time, under budget just the way we want to do it. That's an important, and those are good things that we applaud the president on.
BARTIROMO: You know, I was -- I was talking with the CEO of a concrete company on the morning show on the Fox Business Network the end of last week, and he said that every billion dollars in spending, whether it's infrastructure, Keystone pipeline, is equivalent to 20,000 good paying jobs.
HOFFA: That's the number. And that's the thing we're so encouraged about. And also, the other thing that the president's doing with regard to Carrier air-conditioning, with regard to basically, you know, convincing Ford not to build that big plant down there and bring those jobs, those will be union jobs.
Also now, Chrysler's saying -- well, we're going to bring our truck production back to the United States. Those will be union jobs. So, we're very encouraged by what he's done in just a few days, so let's see what happens.
But, you know, so far, it has been encouraging with regard to bringing good jobs back here and putting Americans back to work, and that's important.
BARTIROMO: Really interesting to hear you speak this way because often times, the public believes that the unions are with the Democrats, and Donald Trump is a Republican. Have you met with the president already, and you're supportive, obviously?
HOFFA: Well, what I did was I basically met with the president, who I met before, and I basically said, where we can find areas to work with you on, we're going to do that. If there's any areas that hurt workers, we're going to be against you.
But we basically want to find things that we can do together, and so far, we are finding those.
BARTIROMO: You know, it's interesting because the unions really could not deliver the vote for Hillary Clinton. There was a big push of lots of unions that were actually in the corner of Donald Trump for this very reason. He was promising putting people to work, and that's what we're seeing right now.
What kind of a working relationship do you envision between the Teamsters and President Trump?
HOFFA: Well, we're going to have to see how this works out, as I said. Where we can find areas to work with him, we want to do that. I think there has to be some bipartisan things with regard to some of the big projects like infrastructure. We want to work with him on that.
We want to find areas that we can work on, and we just hope that we can keep doing that. We want to be successful. We want the unions to be successful. We want the American worker to be successful, and if that includes working with the president, we certainly will do that. He is the president, and we intend to work with him where we can.
BARTIROMO: And Mick Mulvaney, the nominee who he has chosen for his budget head, Office of Budget and Management, said, look, we have got to teal with the entitlements, we have got to deal with $20 trillion in debt.
You're very concerned about retirement. Do you want to find a way for better security for workers when it comes to retirement, right?
HOFFA: We have to have a way to find, to protect pensions right now. People have worked 20 and 30, 40 years. They have been promised these pensions, and we've got to make sure that we fulfill that promise.
And we're going to need some type of bipartisan approach to that. I've talked to the president about that and we have a proposal, and we're going to try and work with them on that and work with whoever's head of the treasury.
BARTIROMO: What about the minimum wage, sir? I mean, look, President Trump has been very clear, he thinks it's too low, he thinks it should go higher, but he wants the states to deal with it depending on where you live. Maybe there's a different cost of living.
Does that jibe with you?
HOFFA: No, it doesn't. We've talked about a $15 rate, and we think that's a good rate, but that's a goal. Maybe we don't achieve that, but it has to be higher than what it is, and it has to be standardized because you can't have every state have something different. You'll have 50 different minimum wages.
Right now, we do have a minimum wage, and we're basically raising that. And also, the states across the country, even Republican states like Michigan where I'm from, they've raised the minimum wage. So, something's going on out there. People are realizing.
But, you know what I tell people, you want a raise? Join a union.
BARTIROMO: What about the NAFTA? Obviously, the meeting between the president of Mexico and Donald Trump canceled. NAFTA, you want it -- you want it changed.
HOFFA: Well, it's got to be changed. We've been talking about changing NAFTA forever, and no one would ever do it. It can be done, and, you know, I applaud the president by having, being so bold to say we'll just rip it up and negotiate a new one. That's unheard of.
But it really is what needs to be done. There's so many inequities there, so many -- you know, it's encouraging good companies to close down, lay off Americans and move down to Mexico.
That wasn't the purpose of NAFTA. People thought we would be trading, and that's not what they're doing. They're basically closing down factories and moving them down there. We've had that with Mr. Coffee, with the Oral B, with Square D. I could go through a hundred companies that have closed down that have moved down there and just basically make the same product across the border.
BARTIROMO: Right.
HOFFA: That wasn't the purpose of NAFTA, so we've got to change that, and I'm very encouraged by the president saying let's renegotiate it, and I will back him all the way. If he needs any help, I'll go be with him.
BARTIROMO: So, you're happy he canceled that meeting, I guess.
HOFFA: Well, the meeting is the meeting about the wall. I don't want to get into the wall, but that is a whole other issue. But the issue of renegotiating NAFTA is key. We've got to do that, and I encourage him.
BARTIROMO: James Hoffa, good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much.
HOFFA: Thank you.
BARTIROMO: We'll see you soon, sir.
All right. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "MediaBuzz." Check in with Howie Kurtz right now, top of the hour.
Hey, Howie.
HOWARD KURTZ, "MEDIABUZZ" HOST: Good morning, Maria.
We're going to talk to Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, about President Trump labeling the media the opposition party. His own confrontations with the White House press corps, the flap over illegal voting and how the press should handle it if the president makes unverified claims, making policy by Twitter and much, much more. Plus, of course, coverage of the temporary ban on refugees getting a lot of play in the media coming up on "Media Buzz."
BARTIROMO: All right. We will see you in about 20 minutes. Howie, thank you.
Meanwhile, Hollywood seems to be having some trouble coping with the fact that President Trump is in office. One celebrity supporting Mr. Trump, Scott Baio, joins me live with his message for the Hollywood elite.
We're looking ahead right now on "Sunday Morning Futures". We'll be right back with Scott Baio.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
From Meryl Streep's speech at the Golden Globes, to the celebrities who spoke out at the women's march, many Hollywood A-listers are voicing their objections to President Trump loud and clear. Not all celebrities are anti-Trump though.
Actor and President Trump supporter Scott Baio joins me now to talk more about that.
Scott Baio, it's great to have you on the program. Welcome.
SCOTT BAIO, ACTOR: Maria, always good to to be with you. Thank you for having me.
BARTIROMO: Yes. So, you were supportive of President Trump when he was president-elect and when he was campaigning. First, give us -- before I ask you what went on at the inauguration, give us your sense of why you've been supportive and whether or not you've faced backlash in largely left Hollywood?
BAIO: I don't know if I've faced backlash, I haven't really been out there all that much. I'm sure I do in some quarters, but I really don't care. But I always thought for the Republicans to win or conservatives to win another election, the only way they were going to do it was with somebody who fought back and fought back hard.
And as soon as I saw Trump, President Trump -- which I'm happy to say -- in that first debate, I thought this is my guy. This guy is no holds barred, and he's going to go after everybody that goes after him. And that's when I figured I'd throw my lot in with him.
BARTIROMO: Yes. And that's certainly what he's doing. This morning we're watching pushback on his ban for visas.
But let me ask you this. There's some news reports out there that you were attacked, you were pushed around at the inauguration. Set the record straight for us, Scott. What happened on the inauguration ball night?
BAIO: The short of it is I was walking with my wife, and I was on the phone talking to somebody there, and we somehow got next to some protesters, and one guy called me a blanking fascist. And I saw his arm start to go like he was going to take a swing at me, and I put my arm out to put it on his arm and stop him, and my wife kind of got to him too. My wife is tough. She got in the way of this guy.
And behind me was Charlie Gasparino who told him to -- I can't remember, I don't know exactly what Charlie told him, you could ask him. I think in some sort of New York terms he told him to take it easy, and we just kept going. I think he was going to take a swing at me, and these people are a little unhinged.
BARTIROMO: This is incredible. Now, you filed a police report earlier this week with the Ventura County Police Department in Thousand Oaks against Nancy Mack, right? The wife of Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith of battery. What happened?
BAIO: That's more -- it's around -- that was around Christmas time, Maria. I can't talk about it because it's still, they're still investigating. I think D.A. has it now. But it was just something that happened at a school event, not on school grounds, but at a school event, and the woman was hysterical. Just a couple of bad things happened in front of my 9-year-old daughter which is just unconscionable.
BARTIROMO: And so they see you, they know that you're support u6 of Donald -- supportive of Donald Trump, and they just try to act out and actually get physical with you.
BAIO: They do. I, you know, I'm starting -- I don't know exactly what their problem is, and I'm sort of kind of coming to a conclusion -- kind of coming to a thought of what it is, and I think they are in the last throes of a dying party.
They don't know what to do. They can't believe that they lost. So they're getting violent.
And the tolerant people are the most vicious, violent, intolerant people I've ever seen. So, it seems to me like -- I have a feeling with the amount of seats they've lost across the country in the state and the Senate and the presidency, they're almost irrelevant. And I think they feel that.
BARTIROMO: Yes. I mean, and this is the group that's calling everybody else bigots.
BAIO: Yes. This guy calls me a fascist, and I'm thinking to myself --
BARTIROMO: You don't even know me.
BAIO: Yes, but not even don't you know me, but I'm -- I don't want to think like you think. You want me to think like you think. I think like me, and I want you to think like you.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BAIO: I'm not you. So don't tell -- that's fascism to me, you know, dictatorship, telling people what they should do.
BARTIROMO: Yes.
BAIO: And it's the complete flip of -- and that's the propaganda that they put out there.
BARTIROMO: Do you think if President Trump has some victories in terms of getting the economy moving again, creating jobs this mentality will change and they will side with him, or are we going to have this pushback for four years or eight years?
BAIO: I think there's a core group of George Soros-backed people that will always resist. I think, I think as time goes on, and you just had James Hoffa Jr. on, guys like, union guys are starting to get behind Donald Trump. That scares them more than anything.
But there'll always be a core group of people that will resist President Trump because, Maria, I'm telling you, I know people. They can't -- they can't stand it. They just can't stand that she lost and he won, in a landslide.
BARTIROMO: It's pretty incredible.
Scott Baio, thanks so much for sharing the story, setting the record straight. We appreciate it. We'll be watching the developments.
BAIO: Anytime, Maria. Thank you.
BARTIROMO: Scott Baio joining us this morning.
President Trump topped off his business I first week in office with several major executive actions. We're talking with the panel about what these executive orders, what they mean for the country as we look ahead on "Sunday Morning Futures." The panel on deck next.
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BARTIROMO: Welcome back.
President Trump finished a busy week, first week in office with a flurry of executive actions. Among them, giving the Pentagon just 30 days to come up with a new plan to defeat ISIS.
Mr. Trump working through the weekend, speaking with five world leaders yesterday, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I want to bring in our panel. Ed Rollins is a former White House adviser to President Reagan, Jessica Tarlov is a Democratic pollster and strategist, and Tony Sayegh is a Republican political analyst.
Good to see you all. Thanks so much.
JESSICA TARLOV, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
BARTIROMO: Busy week, Ed Rollins.
ED ROLLINS, FORMER PRINCPAL WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: Extraordinary week. This is promises made, promises kept. I've never seen anybody move as quickly as he has. He's very comfortable. I mean, he looks like a president. He's sitting in the Oval Office, and I think it's a tremendous start, and I think it's, you know, people are going to step back and watch it.
BARTIROMO: Yes. But, look, he will further grow into the job, Tony Sayegh, right?
Yes, go ahead, Ed.
ROLLINS: And his staff's not fully there yet.
BARTIROMO: That's what I'm saying.
ROLLINS: So, once he gets staffed, I mean, it's just -- he's meeting with world leaders. He's basically on charge. Obviously, there's a polarization that's going on out there, but he's charging forward.
BARTIROMO: These confirmation hearings are being stalled, Tony.
TONY SAYEGH, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL ANALYST: They are, but there's no way the Democrats can suspend or shoot down any of these options. And the reality is it also goes to show you -- and this is what I've been hearing at lot, Maria -- there's not really a strong, organized leadership. I mean, they kept Nancy Pelosi, who's basically been losing since 2010. Chuck Schumer himself is going through this transition process of being what he hopes would be a majority leader, he's now the minority, correct, and he has a progressive caucus that wants him to be loud and antagonistic to Donald Trump, while the majority of the American people in the esteem of many who have watched this year want to see some sort of progress and resolution.
So, the Democrats have really been extraordinarily disorganized in their potential opposition to Donald Trump. Which is why to Ed's point, you've seen him be able to in such a short-term way get so much done.
BARTIROMO: Jessica, your thoughts on that. Your team, disorganized?
TARLOV: A little disorganized. I mean, listen, we weren't planning on losing. That's something we can accept on both sides of the aisle here. You know, it was a shock for everybody.
I disagree about Chuck Schumer. I actually think he has been doing well with the hand he's been dealt, and he's made it clear that we're willing to work with Republicans, obviously, on things like the trillion dollar infrastructure bill --
BARTIROMO: Well, he's calling the Cabinet a swamp.
TARLOV: Well, it is a little swampy.
BARTIROMO: Why? What's a swamp about it?
TARLOV: Donald Trump said he had big problems with Wall Street. He's brought in all these Wall Street insiders. Rex Tillerson won't say that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal. I mean, there are real concerns that people like Lindsey Graham, John McCain, Marco Rubio have all brought up. So, I think, you know, that's important.
BARTIROMO: True.
TARLOV: Donald Trump is also doing this all by executive order, when he has a rubber stamp Congress. And I just want to say, we were talking about this earlier. You know, going back to this ban when we know that Rudy Giuliani said that Donald Trump called him and said how do we make this legal, when we know they're going after people now, I understand that green card holders will be allowed in.
But the idea that we're doing things this way, that we're putting countries on this list that aren't even Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, et cetera, it's really concerning.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: Tunisia is the number one producer of is.
ROLLINS: This is a temporary thing. We are not shutting immigration down. We are basically securing our borders. We were making sure that people who come here, we know who they are. That's very, very important.
The critical thing where I take objection to the swamp, and to Schumer, there are members of Congress, there are governors, there are very significant Cabinet people who have served, you know, why would you not want people like Wilbur Ross and others who have been businesspeople, Goldman Sachs people --
BARTIROMO: No, Rex Tillerson has dealt with the biggest of the big around the world.
SAYEGH: And it's the policies that are more important than the people. In this case, Donald Trump has made his priorities very clear. National security, revitalizing this economy, getting jobs created for hard working Americans. I think you see a lot of the executive orders are going toward job creation.
Jessica, I completely disagree, Barack Obama essentially made executive orders a cottage industry, way out maneuvering any of his predecessors --
BARTIROMO: I think that's part of --
(CROSSTALK)
SAYEGH: Excuse me. Most of the orders he is doing is actually reversing what Barack Obama did through executive order.
TARLOV: That isn't true. What happened on Friday, the national security ones weren't undoing what Barack Obama --
SAYEGH: Many of the immigration ones did.
(CROSSTALK)
TARLOV: -- Donald Trump's agenda which is not popular. The Muslim ban was never popular.
BARTIROMO: We've got to jump.
ROLLINS: Most important thing this week, the Supreme Court appointment.
BARTIROMO: Supreme Court on Thursday. Do you think it's Gorsuch or Pryor?
ROLLINS: I don't know who it is, but it's going to be one of those two, it's going to be superb.
BARTIROMO: See you tomorrow. Fox News --
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