REPORT-WI-01
and Rep. Susan Brooks; Trump on Trade; The Trust Question; British Prime
Minister Speaks to EU in Brussels; House Committee Releases Report on
Benghazi - Part 1>
Roberts, Mike Emanuel, Greg Palkot>
Hayes>
Policies; Turkey; Ataturk Airport>
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR: This is a Fox News alert.
Good evening. Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret Baier.
Gunfire and explosions erupt at a major airport in Turkey. As many as three suicide bombers launched an attack at the Istanbul airport. At least 28 people are dead so far, 60 injured according to authorities and the investigation is just under way into who may be responsible.
Correspondent John Huddy is in our Middle East newsroom with the very latest. Good evening -- John.
JOHN HUDDY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes -- Bret. Good evening.
Actually Istanbul's Governor Vasip Sahin says that 28 people were killed, as you mentioned, more than 60 others injured and possibly three attackers -- he says three attackers were involved in the attack at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport earlier in the evening.
This happened right around 10:00 p.m. local time there. It's just after 1:00 a.m. on the ground now. Turkish officials say that the attackers blew themselves up at the international terminal entrance. You see that CCT video of one of the bombings. This happened just before the security check-in area.
And also we're hearing that one of the attackers may have opened fire on police with a Kalashnikov rifle before detonating the explosive device. We do not know the identities of the attackers and no particular group has claimed responsibility.
But this is the latest terror attack in Turkey and in Istanbul. There have been a string of others carried out by ISIS and also Kurdish militants, in particular the PKK Kurdistan Workers' Party and has been in a long-running battle with Turkey's government.
In fact, earlier this month, Kurdish militants attacked a police van in central Istanbul, killing 11 people. In March, Kurdish militants killed 37 people in Ankara. In February, the PKK claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that killed 28 people again, also in Ankara. And then in January as you may recall, an ISIS operative carried out a suicide bombing in Istanbul's famous autonomic district near the famous Blue Mosque, if you've ever been there, killing ten German tourists.
Again, so far no group has claimed responsibility. But this is certainly reminiscent of the Brussels airport bombings back in March. Right now Bret, Turkish prime minister and president have convened emergency security meetings with defense officials and their cabinets as to be expected.
We're not hearing of any American casualties but we know the State Department is in contact with its personnel. But just yesterday, on Monday, Bret, the State Department issued a travel warning to U.S. citizens warning about, quote, "increased threats" from terrorist groups throughout Turkey.
Bret -- back to you.
BAIER: John, as we're looking at that video of the explosion as it happens, we're just hearing from Secretary of State John Kerry, who said this is very difficult to defend against. We also hear from U.S. officials that this is the type of attack that ISIS -- fits the ISIS profile, as we saw in Brussels, as you mentioned.
Are you seeing in the Middle East so far reaction to crack down on security really across the board, as we did after Brussels?
HUDDY: Well, certainly here in Israel, that is always a threat. Terrorism is always a threat, particularly after the bombing where the attacks in Tel Aviv earlier this month, as you may recall. And as for airport security, you know, Ben Gurion always has a sense of heightened airport security. You have to go -- just to get to the airport terminal -- through a checkpoint there. It's also the same in Amman, Jordan at Queen Alia Airport.
So yes, there is a heightened sense of security. And this, of course, will increase those concerns here and also throughout the rest of the region -- Bret.
BAIER: John Huddy in our Middle East Newsroom. We'll head back for any breaking details, John. Thank you.
Back here at home a busy day.
The Benghazi report is out after an extensive two-year investigation. The Republican majority on the House Select Committee released its report that presents striking evidence the Obama administration made several mistakes during, before, and after the attacks as well as perhaps misleading the public afterwards.
We have Fox team coverage tonight. Correspondent Rich Edson is at the White House where the administration downplayed the report today. We also have House Select Benghazi Committee chairman Trey Gowdy and committee member Susan Brooks here to answer some questions about their findings.
But we begin with chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge, who spent the day going through this 800-page report -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Bret -- the Republican report for the first time identified a key meeting at the White House on the night of the attacks at approximately 7:30 p.m. eastern which included then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton who is the only cabinet member who participated and the focus was not on immediate military help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. TREY GOWDY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Nothing could have reached Benghazi because nothing was ever headed to Benghazi. No U.S. military asset was ever deployed to Benghazi despite the order of the Secretary of Defense at 7:00 that night.
HERRIDGE: At that time, the attack had five hours yet to go. Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith was dead. Ambassador Chris Stevens was missing and former Navy SEALs Ty Woods and Glen Doherty, who would later die defending the CIA base, were still alive. But the administration worried about how the Libyans would react.
REP. PETER ROSKAM (R), ILLINOIS: There's concern -- actually more concern about whether they're going to be offending the Libyan government by how it is that this rescue is supposed to take place than whether the rescue is actually successful.
HERRIDGE: And there was concern the Libyans would find the rescue team's military uniforms insulting. One commander testified he and his marines changed in and out of their uniforms four times.
REP. MIKE POMPEO (R), KANSAS: If it was your son or your daughter or one of your family members or friends who were on that ground that night and you watched the actions in Washington, D.C., you would have every right to be disgusted.
HERRIDGE: Charles Woods's son Ty died protecting State Department and CIA personnel.
The report found that the administration was concerned about offending the Libyans.
CHARLES WOODS, FATHER OF TY WOODS: I don't think that that's really even an issue. With Hillary, she took credit for invading Libya when we bombed them, when we went in without permission from the host country? No, she wasn't afraid of that.
HERRIDGE: Discussion of the obscure anti-Islam video the White House would wrongly tie the attacks also dominated the meeting, taking up five of the ten action items.
WOODS: I have forgiven all the people that were involved in this, ok? But there are times when tears come to my eyes. I can't help it.
HERRIDGE: Woods said he's disappointed the report does not explain who blocked the order to help.
WOODS: They're definitely making a very concerted effort not to allow the American public or Congress to know why they didn't rescue.
HERRIDGE: And the pressure was on Clinton, who wanted the Benghazi outpost to be permanent with an announcement one month before the November 2012 election.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R), OHIO: Now they have a terrorist attack and they have to mislead the American people because it's 56 days before an election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HERRIDGE: None of the investigations have answered a central question which is why the U.S. was in Benghazi with such a significant CIA presence. Chairman Gowdy said today that they investigated whether there was a covert weapons operation at one point to arm the Libyan opposition but the President and the White House would not cooperate with those questions -- Bret.
BAIER: Thank you -- Catherine.
The White House discounted the Select Committee's Benghazi report as a waste of time and money. This despite the report finding several missteps by the administration before, during and after the attack that killed four Americans as you just saw.
Correspondent Rich Edson reports from the White House on the Obama administration's attempt to downplay the report overall.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Two years, $7 million -- all politics. That's the Obama administration's assessment of the House Select Committee on Benghazi's report.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's unfortunate that the deaths of four Americans would be subject to that kind of political fantasizing. But that is the state of the Republican Party these days.
EDSON: White House press secretary Josh Earnest addressed questions about the specifics of the report by dismissing the entire effort as a politics- driven expedition to discredit the administration and then-secretary of state and the current presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll leave it to others to characterize this reported but I think it's pretty clear it's time to move on.
EDSON: Much of the Republican report focuses on the White House response. Days after the 2012 attack, the administration deployed its then ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice to television networks to explain what had happened.
The Benghazi report claims political and communications officials prepared her for those appearances and, quote, "nobody from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Defense or Central Intelligence Agency participated in the call." It cites an e-mail from aide Ben Rhodes discussing that call quote, "to underscore that these protests are rooted in an Internet video and not a broader failure of policy".
Rice then denied on television the attack was planned and claimed it was a spontaneous reaction to a hateful anti-Islam video. The Republican reports cites two State Department officials summarizing Rice's assessment as, quote, "off the reservation".
EARNEST: It's common for senior communications officials in the White House to be involved in preparing senior administration officials for television appearances. The intelligence community even in testifying here has acknowledged that there was conflicting intelligence information that they were sifting through in the immediate aftermath of the attack. I don't think that's -- I don't think that's new.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EDSON: In a separate report, committee Democrats say that security in Benghazi was, quote, "woefully inadequate" because of decisions made by officials at the State Department -- Bret.
BAIER: Rich Edison, live on the lawn. Rich -- thanks.
Joining me now to talk about the report two of its authors -- House Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy and committee member Susan Brooks. Thank you both for being here.
You know, you have come on a day -- and obviously we have all this breaking news with this attack in Turkey. A lot of this report -- the pre-attack deals with the security of facilities around the world.
Congresswoman Brooks, you used to be on the House Homeland Security Committee. As you look at these attacks today and you think about this report, are we changing things? Do we need to change things in the wake of this terrorist threat?
REP. SUSAN BROOKS (R), INDIANA: After 9/11 I was actually appointed U.S. Attorney for the southern district of Indiana and was part of helping stand up TSA. And I will tell you that Homeland Security has a subcommittee focused on Transportation Security Administration and our security at airports.
But when incidents continue to happen at airports, it does cause us, as a government, to continue to question whether or not we're doing enough. And that's what the oversight of Congress is about. It's about asking those questions of the administration, of Homeland Security, to make sure that they're monitoring the threats. They're doing all that they can and that we provide them the tools to make sure they're keeping these types of threats from the homeland.
BAIER: And this Benghazi report -- that lack of security at the facilities was one of the biggest dropped balls, you said.
BROOKS: It certainly was. I was very focused on what happened pre-attack. And there were numerous requests for additional diplomatic security personnel, numerous requests that were ignored to strengthen the physical security of our compound. And those were ignored. And it was a huge problem for those on the ground.
And I think the American people do need to ask those questions. Why were they not given when it was a high threat post, when we knew there was dramatic amount of security incidents that had happened in Benghazi, including two to our own compound, one in April and one in June of 2012? An IED had gone off, had been thrown into our compound in June of 2012. And yet officials in Washington continue to deny requests for more security.
BAIER: Mr. Chairman, you heard Catherine's report. The President orders the military assets to move, to do everything they can. Defense Secretary Panetta orders military assets to do everything they can to Benghazi. And yet nothing goes. Why?
GOWDY: Someone changed Secretary Panetta's order. And I think General Carter Hamm is a good place to start. That's where we started. You may recall we were ridiculed for talking to him again but that's because he wasn't asked the right questions the first six times he was talked to. He believes they were evacuated -- Bret. He can't tell you --
BAIER: The orders, you mean?
GOWDY: Carter Hamm believed that our guys in Benghazi were evacuating. So whatever assets were going to be deployed to Benghazi he decided to deploy them to Tripoli instead. He believed that the fighting had subsided and that we were evacuating.
When you press him on what informed and instructed that belief, it certainly wasn't any information on the ground because guys in the firefight did not believe the fighting had subsided and they did not believe we were evacuating.
BAIER: But the focus on this deputy's meeting at 7:30 where Hillary Clinton is part of that, as well as the White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough and others. The discussion after the orders focus on, at least in part, whether the new Libyan government had given permission for the U.S. military to intervene. Did that play a role in this whole --
GOWDY: Well, they say not. There's a lot of discussion about diplomatic clearance. They say not. But yet it's interesting, no wheel turned until we got diplomatic security clearance. So they say it wasn't an issue, but nonetheless no asset moved until that permission was acquired. So I would rather have the argument that it was an issue, because nothing happened until they secured it.
BAIER: Mr. Chairman, I want to just put up "The New York Times" assessment of this. The headline reads "House Benghazi report finds no new evidence of wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton". It is not alone in that headline. And you're getting a lot of people saying there's no new evidence.
GOWDY: Well, "The New York Times" made up their mind about a year ago when they called for our committee to be disbanded. And if you had believed the House Democrats and "The New York Times", you would never have known who evacuated us from the annex. You would never know that no asset was headed towards Benghazi. You would never know that not a single wheel was turning when the last two Americans were killed.
You would not know the corroboration that the Secretary of State was going back to Libya in the fall of 2012. You would not know about the $20 million fund she approved in August of 2012 before our facility was attacked in September of 2012. Read the report. I wish "The New York Times" had read it before they wrote the headline.
BAIER: When you hear, Congresswoman, that nothing is new in this report, what do you think and what's your response?
BROOKS: Well, I certainly hope that the American people read the report.
BAIER: What do you take away from it? What's most important for you?
BROOKS: Well, besides what our chairman said about the military posture and the fact that they were not only not prepared to respond, but then that they did not respond to Benghazi. I think the failed policy in Libya and the fact -- and even President Obama admitted that the worst mistake of his presidency was by failing to prepare for the day after.
All the focus of the State Department was on toppling Gadhafi. And toppling Gadhafi and -- during the hearing in which I question secretary Clinton there was a massive amount of communication that went to her from a number of people about prior to Gadhafi falling. But after Gadhafi fell there was very little attention given to the people who remained there, our people in Benghazi -- in Tripoli and then in Benghazi.
BAIER: You say in this report that there's Gadhafi people who -- allies, essentially -- who rescued our people. You also say the only guy who has been arrested, Abu Kattalah who is now in custody, was standing next to one of the people who rescued our guys from the annex.
GOWDY: Well, those are two different groups. He was standing next to a different Libyan militia -- they left. They left to go to the other side of town to get more weapons. Kattalah was standing next to the head of a militia who did not lift a finger to help our guys evacuate.
One of our guys working the phone had to call a group no one had heard of before. They weren't familiar with. That's who came and saved our guys. It wasn't any of the groups that we were building relationships with over the past 18 months. So those are two separate groups -- Bret.
BAIER: The bottom line here, you were asked today whether Secretary Clinton had lied. And you declined to talk about that. Yet a few moments later you said Susan Rice, in your judgment, had made up things out of whole cloth in those five Sunday talk shows talking about that. So, people are wondering, are you somehow bending over backwards to avoid the politics of this presidential race by not characterizing what you see as misstatements by Secretary Clinton?
GOWDY: I don't think so. I was not asked to investigate Secretary Clinton. Susan rice was the person that they chose to send on five separate talk shows. So there's a lot of fodder to critique from her. With respect to Secretary Clinton, we spent a lot of time discussing that first statement that she issued on behalf of the United States government and what evidence was available to her and what evidence she chose.
So our report involves Secretary Clinton where it should involve Secretary Clinton. We just mentioned her name less times than our Democrat colleagues do. So I don't think I said Susan Rice lied. I think I said --
BAIER: Made up of whole cloth.
GOWDY: -- you look at the talking points and her comments do not resemble the talking points that were provided to her.
BAIER: And last thing -- the Democrats and the White House pointing to Mike Rogers' committee, intel chairman, saying that he essentially found different findings than you all found. Are you saying that his report was not good and that people shouldn't take him seriously?
GOWDY: Yes. Well, they can take him seriously if they want to. But two of his intel committee members were on our Benghazi committee. They didn't sign his report. They signed ours. You don't issue a final definitive report without interviewing eyewitnesses. He didn't interview the eyewitnesses. He didn't even interview the guy that we found that told us who evacuated our folks from the annex.
Those he did interview, he interviewed them in groups. And a former U.S. Attorney and a former federal prosecutor, you never interview witnesses in groups. So I'll let Chairman Rogers defend his report. Two of his HIPC -- house intel committee members were also on our report. They didn't sign his. They did sign ours.
BAIER: Is this the definitive word?
BROOKS: I would say nine people -- our investigation we interviewed over 100 people nine of whom were actually eyewitnesses to the attacks that had never been interviewed by any congressional committee before. We interviewed 81 people who had never been interviewed by congressional committees.
And so while the other committees that had worked on this -- their work product was not complete. And I believe that if people will take the time, as the chairman has said -- the time it takes to read this report, and while it is long, is actually less time than the brave men who fought in Benghazi fighting for their lives.
And so I hope that the American people, as they come to decide facts -- we presented them with the facts. We hope they take away conclusions that will indicate to them what really happened there in Benghazi.
I'm very proud of the manner in which this investigation was conducted. I think most of the witnesses thanked us for the manner in which the investigation was conducted.
BAIER: Yes. You heard the father, Charles Woods, say as much. Congresswoman, Mr. Chairman -- thanks for coming in.
GOWDY: Thanks.
BROOKS: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
BAIER: Up next, Donald Trump targets Hillary Clinton over trade deals as former Secret Service agent's new book slams her behavior in the White House.
Plus the latest on the terror attack in Turkey. Now getting word, 50 are now believed dead in that attack. Details breaking, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Donald Trump back on the campaign trail today, talking about one of his favorite subjects -- business. The billionaire businessman took a tough stance on trade policies and called out Hillary Clinton over her flip flop on that subject.
Senior national correspondent John Roberts reports tonight from Pennsylvania on Trump's speech in the critical swing state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The gritty industrial backdrop underscored the message Trump was selling today. That it's time for American workers to rise up against trade policies Trump insists have devastated the middle class.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our friends in Britain recently voted to take back control of their economy, politics and borders. Now it's time for the American people to take back their future.
ROBERTS: At an old Pennsylvania steel mill, reborn as an aluminum recycling plant, Trump railed against the trade deficit with China and said as president he would instruct the Treasury Department to label China a currency manipulator, something successive administrations have avoided doing. And he slammed Clinton for supporting NAFTA, China's entry into the WTO and the Trans Pacific Partnership -- deals Trump insists have hollowed out the American economy.
TRUMP: The TPP, as it's known, would be the death blow for American manufacturing.
ROBERTS: Clinton recently said she opposes the TPP. But in a 2012 video circulated by Republicans today, she appeared to be of a different mind.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This TPP sets the gold standard in trade agreements to open free, transparent, fair trade.
ROBERTS: As president, Trump today said he would immediately withdraw from the TPP, renegotiate NAFTA to get a better deal, impose tariffs to remedy trade disputes and take China to the WTO for what he calls unfair trade practices.
Democrats have derided Trump's past proposals as the sort of stuff that ignites trade wars. Union leaders are warning voters to beware of Trump's siren song about jobs, pointing out that many of his branded products are outsourced to places like Asia. Clinton underscored the point by tweeting a picture of Trump shirt made in Bangladesh.
While Trump has not said whether he will move his manufacturing to the U.S. he insists bold action will bring back American jobs.
TRUMP: If we're going to deliver real change we're going to have to reject the campaign of fear and intimidation being pursued by powerful corporations, media links and political dynasties.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: In pushing back against Hillary Clinton's warnings about tariffs and trade, Donald Trump pointed to Ronald Reagan, who once imposed stiff tariffs on foreign governments to protect American interests. It's Trump's argument that we are already in a trade war one we're losing badly -- Bret.
BAIER: John -- thank you.
Hillary Clinton also tried to focus on economics today in Colorado. But the House Benghazi report, the ongoing e-mail investigation and now scathing new book have taken the focus off her policy ideas perhaps and highlighted questions whether she can be trusted as commander in chief.
Senior political correspondent Mike Emanuel reports from Denver.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In Denver Hillary Clinton tried to put the spotlight on 21st century entrepreneurs making the case she has a plan to jumpstart the economy. She also took aim at Donald Trump.
CLINTON: Saying that you want to make America great again is code for saying we want to go back to the way it used to be. Forget about technology. Forget about inclusivity. Forget about giving everybody an opportunity to have a real shot at the best possible future. Well that's not who we are as Americans. We don't go back. We go forward.
EMANUEL: The Clinton campaign is dealing with a new controversy -- a book by former White House Secret Service officer Gary Byrne accuses her of dangerous, abusive and paranoid behavior.
GARY BYRNE, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: If she did become the President without me speaking the truth I'm not sure I could deal with that. People need to know this is serious. And her behavior is appalling. She's two different people.
EMANUEL: There's also Clinton's e-mail probe, another 165 pages were made public under a court order. One previously unreleased March 22, 2009 e- mail showed she was concerned about how her records were being handled and, quote, "no idea how my papers are being treated at state".
A day after their joint appearance in Ohio, Senator Elizabeth Warren wasn't taking the bait on potentially being Clinton's running mate.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You know, yesterday was not about vice president. Yesterday was about having a chance to get out there with the woman who is going to be the next president of the United States.
EMANUEL: To get there Clinton needs to boost her poor honest and trustworthy poll numbers which she's now trying to change.
CLINTON: Political opponents and conspiracy theorists have accused me of every crime in the book over the years. None of it is true, never has been.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EMANUEL: Clinton blamed what she calls 25 years of wild accusations about her and she said once the claims are out there, they never really go away - - Bret.
