REPORT-WI-01
Deregulation Nation; Ohio State Attacker; Legalizing Marijuana; Battle for
Mosul; General James Mattis Likely Nomination for Defense Secretary;
Carrier Announces Plans to Keep Operations in U.S. - Part 1>
James Rosen, Catherine Herridge, Kevin Corke, Greg Palkot>
Infrastructure; Policies; Terrorism; Drugs; Middle East; World Affairs;
Economy>
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS CHIEF POLITICAL ANCHOR: This is a Fox News alert. I'm Bret Baier in Washington.
On a day when the President-Elect was out touting a job-saving deal, we're told he's ready to create another job for a retired general inside his administration. Sources tell Fox the President-Elect has found his defense secretary, retired Marine General James "Mad Dog" Mattis. He was considered a front runner from the outset and still has one more hurdle to climb and that's where we are tonight.
We have Fox team coverage. Jennifer Griffin is at the Pentagon with background on General Mattis. But we start off with senior national correspondent John Roberts in Cincinnati tonight where Trump will hold a rally at the top of the hour. Good evening -- John.
JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bret -- good evening to you. I just got off the phone with high-placed another source in the Trump transition process who told me that while General Mattis is Trump's top contender for the job that Donald Trump would really like to see him as secretary of defense.
To the knowledge of anybody that I've talked to in the transition team it is still not 100 percent yet for a couple of considerations. Trump feels like he's still got a little bit of time to deliberate over his choice for secretary of defense.
And then there's this idea as well that because the statute stipulates that in order to take a civilian position at the department of defense you have to be out of the military for seven years. Mattis would need a congressional waiver from both the House and the Senate. And Donald Trump wants to make it sure that that waiver is rock solid before he comes out and says that Mattis is his pick because God forbid he says that and then something goes wrong.
Meantime as Donald Trump was trying to give jobs to figure out who will be put in those jobs, he was out saving jobs earlier today in Indianapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: I want to thank all of the workers at this plant.
ROBERTS: Still seven weeks away from taking office, President-Elect Donald Trump and his running mate made good on a campaign promise today announcing a deal with Carrier to keep more than a thousand jobs in Indiana.
MIKE PENCE (R), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: When Donald Trump was running for president he said that if he was elected president of the United States America would start winning again. Well, today America won. And we have Donald Trump to thank.
ROBERTS: At nearly ever stop on the Presidential campaign Trump singled out Carrier for abandoning American workers, threatening massive tariffs if Carrier moved its Indianapolis operations to Mexico.
TRUMP: Indiana is the home of Carrier air conditioning which is leaving for Mexico. We will be charging you a 35 percent tax every single year.
Carrier air conditioners of the world are not going to get away with what they did.
Carrier will not be leaving Indiana if I'm president.
ROBERTS: Today Trump indicated as president he'll use a combination of incentives and threats to keep other companies from leaving.
TRUMP: Companies are not going to leave the United States any more without consequences.
ROBERTS: At the transition office today, the palace intrigue continues over two of the top cabinet positions. After declaring yesterday there were four finalists for secretary of state sources now say that number is fluid. While Mitt Romney is still considered a front runner, Ambassador John Bolton will meet with Trump tomorrow afternoon to discuss the top job. Bolton says the State Department is in urgent need of reform.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: It's not a question simply of a management restructuring. It needs a cultural revolution for a lot of reasons. And I think that's important going forward because of the damage that's done to American interests by not having a department which is what we need to be effective advocating American interests.
ROBERTS: Some officials in the transition office continue to push retired General David Petraeus for secretary of state though there's concern his conviction on leaking classified information could be problematic in confirmation. Petraeus would also have to notify his parole officer any time he travels outside the state of North Carolina. But of course, Trump could always pardon him. Petraeus who retired from the military in 2011 would also need a congressional waiver to serve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Sources inside the Trump transition team tell me they are confident that they could get David Petraeus through the confirmation and could get him the waiver necessary to serve. They're also confident that they could get General Mattis that same waiver.
And if you look back in history, Bret, the last time that the congressional waiver had to be sought, the last time a flag officer was put at the head of the Department of Defense was in 1950. That was George Marshall. It was a different time though and Marshall had already served as the secretary of state -- Bret.
BAIER: John, real quickly, you know, the "Washington Post" and other news organizations now coming out with that Mattis is the pick and we've been reporting that he has to get over this hurdle about the waiver until it's official. No announcement probably until the beginning of next week.
How much do you think this has to do with not stepping on the jobs story today that they really wanted to get out and about on the Carrier issue?
ROBERTS: Clearly there's a timing thing here going on, Bret. And I was told by a senior source earlier today that they want to pace this out. They don't want to get the secretary of defense out this week. They don't want to get the secretary of state out this week either.
But there also is this idea that between now and the time that they want to make that announcement about both the secretary of defense and the secretary of state there are little things that could go wrong, as they always do in a transition, and things could change. And that according to a transition source I talked to earlier you don't want to get too far out over your skis on this one -- Bret.
BAIER: John -- thank you.
Let's find out who General Mattis is. National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin is at the Pentagon tonight. Good evening -- Jennifer.
JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good evening - - Bret.
Well, when I was on Capitol Hill earlier this week I learned that Republicans on both the House and Senate Arms Services committees had taken steps to write up legislation allowing them to make an exception and bypass a law that bars military personnel from serving as defense secretary within seven years of retirement.
It would be a one-time law mentioning General Mattis by name. Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Congressman Mac Thornberry told us just a short time ago that Mattis has tremendous support on the Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R), TEXAS: We have a draft of language that we have prepared based on the same language that was used for General Marshall back in the Truman administration. So that's our starting point. There may be some tweaks to it, but we're pretty much ready to go with that here in the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Neither the Trump transition team nor General Mattis himself will confirm the decision has been made. General Jim Mattis' last job was that of CentCom commander before he retired three years ago. He oversaw relations with 20 countries. Before that he served for three years as the Supreme Allied Commander for transformation of NATO.
I'm told he doesn't like being called "Mad Dog" unless you're one of his young marines who gave him that nickname. During the invasion of Iraq his call sign was "Chaos". He also led Marines in to Fallujah and led a Marine amphibious task forces into Afghanistan after 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JAMES MATTIS, FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. Guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway so it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. You know, what I mean. It's a good fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: When he met with President-Elect Trump, General Mattis reportedly told him he does not like waterboarding because frankly it doesn't work. I'm told by a well-placed source he was not told about the Cuban negotiations or Iran deal when he served under the Obama administration, even though Iran was one of the countries for which he was responsible.
General Mattis was forced to retire three months early because he saw Iran as a greater strategic threat than others in the administration -- Bret.
BAIER: You know Jen -- I'm told by marines who know him obviously he's blunt spoken, straightforward and as you mentioned in your report. But there's also this other side to him. After he retired in 2013, he got in the car and crisscrossed the country to try to personally visit as many of the families of marines who died under his command as he could over a two and a half week drive across the country. And he wrote a handwritten letter to every parent who lost a son or daughter under his command. So you don't often hear that story.
GRIFFIN: Well, that's the kind of guy he is and already morale here in the building upon hearing that he might be the commander, the defense secretary here, it's already rising.
As CentCom commander he made it a point to stop in Tonga, of all places, to thank them because they had the largest number of securities guards guarding the Green Zone in Iraq. He also made it to Estonia. He made that a priority because Estonia lost more troops per capita than any other country in Afghanistan -- Bret. That's the kind of guy he is.
BAIER: All right. More on this with the panel. Jennifer -- thank you.
President Obama is supporting a requirement that women register for the military draft. The administration has been deliberating for roughly a year about whether to back this change. A White House spokesman says because previous barriers to military service are being removed it makes logical sense for women to be required to register for the draft, but he says the Obama administration remains committed to an all volunteer military. The defense bill which the House will debate tomorrow still prohibits the draft for women, but they will study it.
Let's take a closer look now at that Carrier deal that was mentioned in John Roberts' report. Here's correspondent rich Edson from Indianapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK WEDOLT (PH), CARRIER EMPLOYEE: It's a thought and feeling that you know for a fact they're going to be working hard. They're going to be able to provide and help take care of mom.
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This man is one of hundreds of workers at the Carrier plant in Indiana who had just learned his job is saved. A few months ago we spoke with Mark Wedolt after Carrier announced it was moving his job to Mexico.
WEDOLT: It was devastating. I didn't know what to think. You have 15 emotions going on all at once. Like really -- anger you know, shock, depression, like in an instant (ph) like wow. You know, what are we going to do now?
EDSON: The Trump transition team has helped negotiate a deal between Carrier's parent company and Indiana keeping hundreds of these jobs here.
TRUMP: These companies aren't going to be leaving anymore. They're not going to be taking people's hearts out.
EDSON: Carrier says it is preserving more than a thousand jobs in Indiana and will spend $16 million to maintain manufacturing in the state. In exchange the company says Indiana will give it $7 million in tax incentives over the next decade.
In February Carrier said it would move 1,400 jobs to Mexico. The company is blaming federal regulations on the move. The "Wall Street Journal" reports the agreement with Indiana and the Trump administration protects 800 jobs at the furnace plant here. It also covers an additional 300 research and headquarters jobs in Indiana.
However the paper reports the company had no plans to move those jobs to Mexico. The Journal also reports Carrier still plans to move 600 jobs from this plant to Mexico and will close another facility in Huntington, Indiana sending 700 jobs to Mexico.
PENCE: He picked up the phone. He made the case for America. And Carrier decided to bet on a brighter future for the American people.
EDSON: Critics claim the deal will prompt other companies to threaten international moves. In a statement Democratic socialist Senator Bernie sanders says quote, "In essence United Technologies took Trump hostage and won."
For Mark Wedolt he says his life can continue with a good job and steady paycheck.
WEDOLT: I'm not going to go buy a new truck, you know, I'm going to fix the old one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
EDSON: Even Carrier acknowledges the forces of globalization require a solution beyond this agreement as this deal may only represent a temporary solution for American workers who face a powerful dynamic of a move towards automation and finding cheaper labor in other countries -- Bret.
BAIER: Rich Edson at Carrier. Rich -- thank you.
One of the few things candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agreed on, the need to rebuild America's infrastructure.
Chief national correspondent Ed Henry reports on President-Elect Trump's plan to make riding in planes, trains, and automobiles easier and safer. The question is what's the price tag?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President-Elect Donald Trump's new economic team is promising to create 20 million new jobs over 10 years in large part by pushing legislation that would lower the tax to 10 percent for companies like Apple that are willing to repatriate profits from overseas which the government would ten pour into rebuilding America's fumbling infrastructure.
STEVEN MNUCHIN, TRUMP TREASURY SECRETARY DESIGNATE: We think there's going to be hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars that's going to come back and that's going to create infrastructure and create jobs.
HENRY: And nominating Elaine Chao as transportation secretary, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may smooth passage of Mr. Trump's infrastructure plan.
BRIGHAM MCCOWN, INFRASTRUCTURE ADVOCATE: I think we can see a 1 to 2 percent GDP improvement over the next five to ten years if these plans are put into effect. And again, if we can cut the cost of goods, materials and service by moving them more efficiently, that's money in all of our pockets and that will reduce prices not increase them.
HENRY: Except conservatives have heard this tune before from President Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Shovel ready projects.
Shovel-ready projects --
HENRY: -- who later admitted his massive $831 billion stimulus bill did not quite pan out as promised.
OBAMA: Shovel ready was not as shovel ready as we expected.
HENRY: And during the first presidential debate Mr. Trump suggested he was ok with further running up the national debt to pay for it.
TRUMP: You know, it's one thing to have $20 trillion in debt and our roads are good and our bridges are good and everything's in great shape. Our airports -- our airports are like from a third world country.
HENRY: Yet, Mr. Trump's commerce secretary designate Wilbur Ross insisted they're looking at plans to make sure the debt does not further balloon.
WILBUR ROSS, TRUMP COMMERCE SECRETARY DESIGNATE: The taxes on the wages of the people completing the infrastructure and the profits of the companies building it will more than offset the tax credits to investors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: But experts on rebuilding America's infrastructure say it's not just going to take billions of dollars, this will be trillions in new spending, which is real money -- Bret.
BAIER: Yes, it is. Ed -- thank you.
The President-Elect is not the only one hustling toward inauguration day. The current commander-in-chief appears to be trying to leave as much of a regulatory footprint as possible.
Chief Washington correspondent James Rosen shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES ROSEN, FOX NEWS CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President-Elect Trump said the biggest surprise in his experience as a politician thus far is his discovery that business leaders are more apt to cite regulation rather than taxes as the biggest drag on growth.
TRUMP: Since about six years ago, 260 new federal regulations have passed; 53 of which affect this plant. 53 new regulations, massively expensive and probably none of them amount to anything in terms of safety or the things that you'd have regulations for.
ROSEN: In fact the executive branch is on pace to enact more than 3,700 rules and regulations this year, a new record, with the federal register on pace to exceed 87,000 pages, also a record.
The White House said President Obama's directive to review red tape issued in 2011 has purged more than 70 notable regulatory provisions and saved Americans $37 billion.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The regulatory work that's being done in this administration is not going to be characterized by a last minute rush on the way out the door. I think what it will be characterized by is a continuous and persistent effort to complete the work that's already been started.
ROSEN: Items currently in the pipeline range from community college debt forgiveness to the number of engineers required on freight trains. Mr. Trump has vowed to carry a war of attrition to the regulatory beast.
TRUMP: I will formulate a rule which says for every one new regulation two old regulations must be eliminated -- it's so important.
ROSEN: But the White House voiced skepticism.
EARNEST: That's the kind of thing I think that probably sounds pretty good on the campaign trail but may be a little bit more complicated when you implement it.
ROSEN: As of inauguration day, Congress will have an option to reject rules and regulations enacted since mid-June, but many Obama era rules and regulations from before then can also be nullified through executive action, non-enforcement and other means.
WAYNE CREWS, COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: You know the regulations are going to be rolled back that are coming forth from Obamacare. You know that's going to be the case with financial regulation. Trump is definitely going after EPA regulations and other rules that have come out over the past year from the Energy Department, say. All of that stuff can be frozen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSEN: A study released this week by the American Action Forum, another group that favors deregulation found that recent EPA rules on heavy trucks pushed the total regulatory price tag over the next ten years over the $1 trillion mark and accounting that will require every man, woman and child in our regulation nation to cough up $3,080 a piece to satisfy it. That also is real money -- Bret.
BAIER: Big tap. James -- thank you.
ROSEN: You bet.
The Senate has unanimously passed a ten year extension to a law that allows the U.S. to impose penalties on companies that do business with Iran. The House had already approved it. A senior White House official says the President is expected to sign it. The administration has said in the past the bill would not undermine the President's legacy nuclear deal with Iran.
Wisconsin has begun a recount of votes in the Presidential election. It's the first such recount in 16 years. It was called for as we reported by Green Party candidate Jill Stein and is supported by the Hillary Clinton campaign.
President Obama's press secretary though said today there is no indication of any hacking interference by the Russians on voting machines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EARNEST: The intelligence community and the Department of Homeland Security did not observe an increase in malicious cyber activity on Election Day from the Russians that was directed at disrupting the casting or counting of ballots.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BAIER: The original count indicates Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin by 22,000 votes.
Starbucks is making a change at the top. It says CEO Howard Schultz is stepping down after more than 30 years with the company. Schultz is credited with turning around the coffee chain's fortunes since returning as its CEO in 2008. He will become executive chairman focusing they say on innovation and social impact activities opportunities. Current president and chief operating officer, Kevin Johnson will take over as CEO next April.
Stocks were mixed today. The Dow gained 68, the S&P 500 lost 8, the Nasdaq dropped 73.
Up next, what was the Ohio State car and knife attacker doing here in Washington, D.C. over Thanksgiving. We'll explain.
First here's what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight.
Fox Carolina in Greenville as jurors consider the case against former North Charleston patrolman, Michael Slager. He is charged with murder in the shooting death of an unarmed motorist Walter Scott. This is the first full day of deliberations in that case.
Q13 Fox in Seattle as a man who shot and killed a Tacoma police officer is himself killed after a long standoff with authorities. Police say the man had been using two children as human shields. The officer was killed after responding to a domestic dispute.
And this is a live look at Sacramento from our affiliate in California Fox 40. One of the big stories there tonight Governor Jerry Brown nominates House Democratic Caucus chairman Xavier Becerra as the new state attorney general. Becerra says in a tweet, he could not pass up the chance to serve in his home state of California. Becerra has been in the House since 1992.
That's tonight's live look outside the Beltway from SPECIAL REPORT. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BAIER: Heavy rains and storms in the southeast have helped crews battling wildfires in the region but they have also exacted a heavy toll on people and property. The National Weather Service has confirmed at least 13 tornados Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. Five people have been killed and at least a dozen more injured.
Meanwhile evacuated residents of Gatlinburg, Tennessee are waiting permission to return to their homes. The death toll there has risen to ten. Tennessee officials say they are making significant progress searching for survivors in homes and businesses. A national park official says the fires were likely caused by people.
We are learning more tonight about the Somali-born student who used his car and a knife to attack people at Ohio State University Monday and a mysterious trip here to the nation's capital.
Chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge is here with the very latest. Good evening -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well Bret - - a law enforcement source confirms to Fox News that the Ohio State suspect Abdul Razak Ali Artan traveled to Washington, D.C. late last week and this is now a central focus of the FBI investigation into his motive for Monday's attack.
The source said Artan made the six and a half hour trip by car arriving late on November 24th, Thanksgiving Day and then left on the 25th. Fox News has learned Artan had no family members or known associates in the D.C. area. And FBI agents are now seeking the necessary court approvals to get his phone records that will help nail down where he went and whether he was contacted by anyone else.
Early Friday morning Artan bought several items at a D.C. Home Depot reportedly to include a knife. Ohio investigators say he also bought a knife at a Wal-Mart Monday morning a few hours before the attack and they want to confirm what weapon was used to injure 11 people.
This afternoon the Homeland Security Secretary urged Mr. Trump to strengthen engagement with diverse groups what his department calls countering violent extremism or CVE.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: In my judgment our CVE mission must continue into the next administration and that this is not a matter of politics. This just makes common sense for homeland security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: The Ohio suspect was among a small tight knit group of Somali refugees who lived in Pakistan. In 2014 he immigrated to the U.S. with his mother and siblings. The FBI is now probing whether the seeds of Artan's apparent radicalization were first sown in Pakistan during his seven-year stay.
On SPECIAL REPORT last night the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said the case shows the relevance of extreme vetting -- a concept promoted by the President-Elect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R), TEXAS: I think when you look at immigration differently coming from these high threat areas we need a higher threshold of investigation and review and vetting before we let these individuals into the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: In the last year online propaganda has played a significant role in four major domestic plots killing 63 people and injuring another 86 from San Bernardino, California to Orlando's Pulse Nightclub, the New York City/New Jersey bomber and now Ohio. The evidence suggests the radical teachings of the American cleric al Awlaki killed in a 2011 CIA drone strike is a stepping stone to the Islamic state's call for violence here at home -- Bret.
BAIER: Catherine -- thank you.
HERRIDGE: You're welcome.
BAIER: President Obama says he will not press the issue of legalizing marijuana on his final weeks on the job, but he is in favor of quote, "better regulation". The President who has talked and written about smoking pot as a kid made the comment during an interview with "Rolling Stone Magazine".
Correspondent Kevin Corke tells us what else the President said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's a patch work. That's how President Obama has described the nation's increasingly convoluted marijuana laws telling "Rolling Stone" magazine, "It is untenable over the long term for the Justice Department or the DEA to be enforcing a patchwork of laws where something that's legal in one state could get you a 20-year prison sentence in another.
While coming well short of calling for legalization, the President's concerns have been heightened by a spate of new state laws legalizing marijuana use despite a federal ban. In November, voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada legalized recreational use joining Colorado and Washington. While on the medical side voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas all approved medical marijuana initiatives.