DOW’S ABOUT 130-ODD POINTS DOWN.
NOW THIS: SPEAKER PELOSI HAS
LANDED IN SINGAPORE TO START OR
HER VISIT TO ASIA.
IS THERE ANY MENTION OF TAIWAN
ON HER OFFICIAL ITINERARY?
LAUREN: NO.
SING MOTHER O -- SINGAPORE,
MALAYSIA, SOUTH KOREA AND JAPAN,
HOWEVER, SHE COULD MAKE A
SURPRISE TRIP TO TAIWAN, AND
THIS IS A REPORT THAT SAYS SHE’S
EXPECTED TO GO THERE.
THEY SAY SHE’S GOING TO STAY
OVERNIGHT, THEY DON’T SAY WHEN
SHE WILL LAND.
BUT CHINA HAS INCREASED
PROVOCATIONS TOWARDS THE U.S. IF
THE SPEAKER DOES, IN FACT,
VISIT.
STATE MEDIA WENT AS FAR AS
SAYING THEY’LL SHOOT DOWN HER
PLANE.
WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT OUR
STANDING IN THE WORLD WHERE
CHINA OR ANYBODY THINKS THAT
THEY COULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE
THAT?
IF.
STUART: IT WAS SURPRISINGLY
HARSH, THAT STATEMENT.
IT WAS A DIRECT THREAT AGAINST
THE PERSON WHO IS THIRD IN LINE
TO TAKE OVER THE OVAL OFFICE.
LET’S BRING IN FORMER SECRETARY
OF STATE MIKE POMPEO WHO JOINS
US THIS MORNING.
MR. SECRETARY, DO YOU THINK THAT
SPEAKER PELOSI SHOULD GO TO
TAIWAN?
>> WELL, STUART, GOOD MORNING,
GREAT TO BE WITH YOU.
SHE SHOULD ABSOLUTELY GO.
I SUPPOSE SIX MONTHS AGO IT
WOULDN’T HAVE MATTERED SO MUCH,
BUT ONCE IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR SHE
WANTED AND INTENDED TO GO THERE,
YOU CAN’T PULL THAT TRIP DOWN
BECAUSE THE CHINESE COMMUNIST
PARTY SENDS SOME THIRD RATE
PROPAGANDIST TO THREATEN HER OR
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
PRESIDENT BIDEN SAID, WELL, THE
MILITARY DOESN’T WANT HER TO GO,
THAT WAS AN ENORMOUS TACTICAL
MISTAKE.
ESPECIALLY AGAINST THE BACKDROP
OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES.
FOR THEM TO THREATEN THE SPEAKER
OF THE HOUSE AND TELL THEM WHERE
SHE CAN AND CAN’T GO MAKES
ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE.
YOU AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT
HOLLYWOOD BACKING DOWN FROM
PUTTING THINGS IN PARTICULAR
MOVIES, WE’VE TALKED ABOUT WALL
STREET COW I TOWING TO THE
CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY, STILL
OPERATING WHERE THERE’S A
MILLION PEOPLE IN INTERNMENT
CAMPS, FOR THE SPEAKER OF THE
HOUSE TO FALL TO CHINESE
PROPAGANDIST IS WEAKNESS.
STUART: WHAT SHOULD OUR RESPONSE
BE TO THIS?
>> I WOULD, FIRST OF ALL, MAKE
SURE WE WEREN’T ON DEFENSE.
ONE OF THE THINGS THIS
ADMINISTRATION HAS FAILED TO
UNDERSTAND IS IF YOU’RE JUST
DECIDING WHETHER TO ACCEDE TO
THE THREAT OR NOT, STUART, YOU
CAN IMAGINE LOTS OF OPTIONS.
YOU COULD SAY, WELL, WE’RE GOING
TO REDUCE CHINESE STUDENT VISAS
BY 50,000 NEXT YEAR IF YOU FLY
AN AIRPLANE UP AND THREATEN THE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
YOU COULD SAY WE’RE GOING TO
IMPOSE SOME ECONOMIC PAIN ON THE
CHINESE.
THERE ARE SO MANY TOOLS.
WE HAVE SO MUCH POWER.
WE’RE STILL THE GREATEST NATION
IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION,
STUART.
TO THINK THAT, BOY, SOME
PROPAGANDIST FROM THE GLOBAL
TIMES INSIDE OF CHINA COULD
ISSUE THIS KIND OF THREAT, THE
UNITED STATES WILL JUST, YOU
KNOW, BECOME BEDWETTERS WORRIED
ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT OUR SPEAKER
CAN TRAVEL TO AN INDEPENDENT,
SOVEREIGN NATION FREELY IS A
REAL SIGN OF WEAKNESS, AND THE
WHOLE WORLD’S WATCHING
ESPECIALLY, STUART, OUR FRIENDS,
THE JAPANESE, THE AUSTRALIANS,
THE SOUTH KOREANS, ALL THE
COUNTRIES IN SOUTHEAST ASIA.
IF PRESIDENT BIDEN PULLS THIS
TRIP DOWN AND WE TURN AROUND AND
ASK THEM, HEY, CHINA’S
THREATENING YOU, WE WANT YOU TO
RESPOND TO THEM, THEY’RE GOING
TO SAY WE’RE GOING TO FOLD TOO.
CHINA’S COUNTING ON THAT.
STUART: LET’S TRANSFER TO
ANOTHER FRONT.
VLADIMIR PUTIN IS WARNING
THEY’VE GOT A FEW NAVAL DOCK RUN
THE THAT LABELS AMERICA --
DOCTRINE AS AMERICA’S A GLOBAL
ADVERSARY.
WHAT SHOULD OUR RESPONSE TO THAT
BE?
>> A DOCUMENT TALKING ABOUT
RUSSIAN NAVAL, WE SHOULD STUDY
THAT AND UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE
DOING.
WE KNOW A LOT ABOUT THE RUSSIAN
NAVY.
YOU SHOULD, YOU SHOULD NOT
UNDERESTIMATE THEM ALTHOUGH
WE’VE SEEN WHAT THE RUSSIAN ARMY
FAILED TO BE ABLE TO DO IN
UKRAINE.
BUT THESE TOOLS, THESE
HYPERSONIC TOOLS THAT YOU
DESCRIBE, STUART, THESE ARE ARE
SERIOUS WEAPONS SYSTEMS.
I CAN’T SAY TOO MUCH OTHER THAN
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE
DOING ALL THE WORK THAT’S NEEDED
TO BE TO DO.
WE CAN’T UNDERFUND OUR MILITARY
THE WAY PRESIDENT BIDEN HAS
DONE.
WE NEED TO PREPARE NOT ONLY
DEFENSIVELY TO PREVENT HEM FROM
USING THEM AND DETER THEM FROM
USING THOSE WEAPONS, BUT MAKE
SURE WE’RE CAPABLE OF RESPONDING
IN A WAY THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN
WILL UNDERSTAND AND DETER HIM
FROM EVER THINKING ABOUT
DEPLOYING ONE OF THOSE WEAPONS
AGAINST THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
STUART: DO YOU THINK WE WOULD BE
FACING THIS KIND OF THREAT FROM
CHINA AND RUSSIA HAD BENOT HAD
THIS DEBACLE IN AFGHANISTAN
ALMOST EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO?
>> I THINK WHAT HAPPENED IN
AFGHANISTAN WAS A BENCHMARK FOR
ALL OF OUR ADVERSARIES.
THEY SAW AN AMERICAN THAT DID
THINGS THAT IT’S NEVER DONE
BEFORE AND LEFT AMERICANS
BEHIND.
IT WITHDREW FROM A FIGHT IN A
WAY THAT DIDN’T SUPPORT OUR
FRIENDS AND ALLIES AFTER 20
YEARS OF COMMITMENT, THE WAY IN
WHICH WE DEPARTED WAS SOMETHING
THE WHOLE WORLD WATCHED.
WHETHER SOME OF THIS WOULD HAVE
HAPPENED OR NOT, STUART, IT’S
ALWAYS DIFFICULT TO KNOW, BUT I
DON’T THINK FOR A MOMENT OUR
ADVERSARIES DIDN’T SEE THAT, SEE
A PRESIDENT THAT WAS UNWILLING
TO SHOW THE RESOLVE TO PROTECT
AMERICA AND DEFEND OUR INTERESTS
IN THE WORLD, AND I THINK THEY
ARE NOW PRESSING US, TRACE --
TESTING US TO SEE IN THIS
PRESIDENT WILL STAND UP FOR THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE IN THE WAY WE
DID FOR FOUR YEARS.