you saw evidence that gave you a high
confidence that the virus came from the
Wuhan lab not that it was created there
perhaps but that it came from there at
the right time we can illuminate any
more about that yeah we're gonna be
given a very strong report as to exactly
what we think happened and I think it'll
be very conclusive president Trump last
night echoing Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo who says there's enormous
evidence that connects the origins of
Cova 19 to the Wuhan lab the w-h-o says
that if the united states has it they
should let them know The Associated
Press has also obtained a US
intelligence report that concludes that
Chinese leaders initially concealed the
severity of the virus to hoard medical
supplies from the rest of the world but
the headline over all of this is
a-brewing escalation of tension between
the United States and China over this
whole situation so where is this headed
joining me now
Senator Tom cotton of Arkansas a member
of the of the Intel and Armed Services
Committee senator always good to have
you with us thank you for being here
tonight I'd like to start by playing a
soundbite from dr. mark dr. Mike Ryan
who is the w-h-o executive director he
was asked about this enormous evidence
here's what he said we have not received
any data or specific evidence from the
US government relating to the purported
origin of the virus so from our
perspective this remains speculative if
that data and evidence is available then
it will be for the United States
government to decide whether and when it
can be shared but it's difficult for the
vho to operate in an information vacuum
how's that gonna work out senator well
they also haven't gotten a lot of
information from the Chinese Communist
Party either but Martha look all of the
evidence points at one of those two labs
in Wuhan where they research that base
coronaviruses we know that Chinese lied
about it
originating in the food market from at
least as far back as January where they
apparently didn't even sell bats of any
kind much less the species of bat from
which we believe this virus migrated
from or into humans
but all of the evidence although it's
circumstantial to be sure points at
those labs if China wants to dispel any
kind of suspicion about those labs which
is private present all over the world
then they should open up their labs and
open up Wuhan and tell us exactly what
happened there and let us review all the
safety protocols in place they are
definitely feeling the global heat on
this so that would certainly improve
them to do that if they want to you know
clear this up in everybody's mind they
should be very forthcoming with what
they have I don't think anybody expects
that that's gonna happen anytime soon
but there's discussion in the National
Security Council in the United States
starting a different sort of global
medical organization that is not so
beholden to China that would include
Taiwan as well which I would imagine
would not sit very well with the Chinese
government do you think that's what
should be done we very well may need to
do that Martha I've said for weeks now
that dr. Ted Rose and his team needs to
leave the w-h-o and leave now but if
they don't leave even if the w-h-o
doesn't commit itself to more
transparency more accountability and
other reforms then the United States
should lead the world's leading
countries from a scientific standpoint
to create a new organization that will
be a world health organization not a
world politics organization as you
mentioned Taiwan which has done one of
the very best jobs and controlling the
spread of this virus was precluded from
even sharing information in the early
days of this pandemic because Beijing
demanded that the whu-oh not cooperate
with Taiwan at all which is a true
outrage so you have pushed back on the
you know Chinese students who come here
to study these Confucius Institutes that
exist at universities across the country
last night when we spoke with President
Trump I asked him you know do you think
this is going to change your
relationship with president G you know
the trust issues that are around this
and there was a question that we did not
get to that came from a woman who
organizes exchange students and she's
from Apple Valley California here's
Candis Quiros
my name is Kenneth skyros I'm the new
exchange student coordinator I have
students come from China from high
school age to university age they come
from one week to a whole school year
how will the Cova 19 impact any further
exchange student programs with all of
the hate and degrading that the Chinese
people are enduring will the American
people please stop blaming the Chinese
people for their government's actions
what would you say to Canada senator
well first Candice it's very important
that we not blame the Chinese people the
Chinese people are the first and the
worst victims of the Chinese Communist
Party both in this pandemic and going
back 70 plus years and they've killed
tens of millions of their own people but
most exchange programs like the ones
that she runs would not be affected by
any reforms because it's a good thing to
have young Chinese students studying in
our high schools even for just a few
weeks you're coming here and being
exposed to the American Way of life but
what we cannot allow to continue is
training Chinese Communist Party
affiliated students at the highest
levels of graduate and postgraduate
education in the most advanced
scientific and technological fields not
only is right for espionage but it is
training our adversaries in the world's
most cutting-edge technologies something
that we should never do it's a great
point I want to squeeze in one more with
you the Chinese Ministry warned
warned President Xi that there could be
potential for armed confrontation even
with the United States because of the
tensions that they claim are as bad as
they were during the chana Minh Square
situation so they're concerned about how
this looks for them on the global stage
with this pandemic you know how where do
you think this is headed and what do you
think China will do to try to fix that
reputation globally well north I saw
that report that said that anti China
Chinese Communist Party sentiment is at
its highest peak around the world not
just in the United States since the TM
and square massacres and it should be
China is a pariah state and it's time
for the world to change our relationship
with China because China has not changed
its behavior
for 30-plus years we'll see we see some
video from a while back of President gee
with President Trump a lot of trade
negotiations to be worked out so we're
gonna see where this goes senator cotton
thank you always good to see you sir
Thank You Martha