Skip to main content

tv   The Journal Editorial Report  FOX News  May 18, 2024 12:00pm-1:01pm PDT

12:00 pm
♪ ♪
12:01 pm
>> welcome to the "journal editorial report," i'm edward lawrence in for paul. donald trump's new york criminal trial ajuniored for the week on thursday with the prosecution's star witness, mike cohen, undergoing a bruising cross-examination if by the defense. trump attorney todd blanche trying to paint cohen as a serial liar with a grudge with against the former president. here with a look at all of this courtroom drama and where the case is likely to go is "wall street journal" columnists kim strassel and bill mcgurn as well as editorial board member kyle peterson. so, kim, i want to talk to you first. from what we've been seeing here, there are questions over whether the t.a. actually provea crime. but you have a favorable judge, you have a favorable new york pool there. there may be a case for an appeal, but the damage if there's a conviction is already done politically, right? >> excuse me, yes. no, i think you make a really good point, and this is what
12:02 pm
they have been aiming at doing ever since they launched these lawfare candidates. now, i still think the trump team is feeling pretty confident that they have at least a shot at getting a mistrial. we all just have to have one juror on there who questions the charges that have been brought and the strength of the case or the witnesses. and what we're seeing this week very much is the risk the prosecution took if9 putting their star witness, making their star witness mike cohen, a guy who has been found to have lied to congress k lie today a federal judge, he's expressed great animation and hostility, and that was the big moment this week, was prosecutors really went after his credibility in terms of what he actually told the jury themselves about his conversations and what trump knew. they caught him out in a couple of things, and that could change things. edward: yeah. it's good to see you in person, first of all. bill, is so this week there's a parade of people who can be considered vice president
12:03 pm
contenders, and the trial visits were about support, but who do you think that visited scored points for the vp and who fits into a cabinet position? if. >> well, i think there's a lot of choices. certainly, a lot of people showed up. the speaker showed up, different people showed up. as for vice presidential choices, i think the logical thing would be for donald trump and nikki haley to make peace as other feuding candidates have done before and unite for the republican party going in. so i don't know that the trial is about that. i think it does reflect a lot of outrage by republicans on the circus that this has become. i mean, if anything, michael cohen was so discredited, but i think the prosecution and the judge may have emerged even more discredited today. edward: and nikki haley also did not show up, was not one of the people who came to this. >> right. edward: to that point, when you
12:04 pm
talk about the michael cohen, kyle, he took the stand this week. there was no gag order on michael cohen, he had no issues talking about his feeling over former president trump going forward with this. you know, what do you -- do you think he was a credible witness in this case? i mean, given all of the history that he has. >> i think there are big doubts about whether he is a credible witness including some of the contradictions that the cross-examination seems to have caught him in. and part of what i think is important to underline here is how much of this case is, how much of it rests on michael cohen's testimony. because in order to get a guilty verdict, the prosecution has to prove not only that donald trump falsified these business records beyond reasonable doubt, but that he did so with intent to commit if or conceal another crime. and the prosecution has said that other crime could be a campaign finance violation, it could be tax fraud because they were repaying michael cohen in a way that would cause michael cohen to report false information to taxing authorities. so i keep waiting for some
12:05 pm
bombshell testimony, somebody saying president trump was advised, i was there, i heard the the lawyers say we're worried about this, we're worried this could be a campaign finance violation, and so far i don't think anybody has gotten even close to that. really all you have is michael cohen's testimony saying this is how the payment was structured, and president trump was worried about his campaign primarily, but i'm not sure if that is going to be inform in the minds of all of these jurors. edward: trying to find the crime. kim, politically if we get a hung jury or we get not convicted, what happens politically? what does that a mean? >> well, look, i'm not entirely convinced that a lot of voters or are hugely tuned into this. i think a conviction if -- if they get a conviction, obviously, the president would appeal and argue for a mistrial. that might not come -- the real value of it is joe biden goes into that first debate and from now until the election can say my opponent's been convicted, convicted, convicted. can you turn some people on.
12:06 pm
that on the other hand, we have a lot of polls that suggest a lot of americans do believe this is politically motivated, and they seem to be discounting some of this. we've got mixed data coming out of that in terms of all of the polling. so it's just not clear what this means. i think some of the bigger cases, for instance, the ones that have to do with the classified documents and the january 6th stuff, it's not even clear those are going to go ahead prior to the election. so this could, in the end, weirdly be the only thing that makes it to the docket and the political rell realm before we have people going to the polls. edward: that's what i was going to ask bill about. do you think jack smith can get the january 6th case on the docket this year the way things are doing -- are going? >> no, i think they're stuck with alvin bragg. none of the other cases, i think, go to trial. it'll hangover trump, but again, they're all brought to influence the election. that's the irony of this charge, that he did that to help himself
12:07 pm
politically when all these trials and prosecutors are motivated by the same thing. and i think the people see it. it's ache -- like a circus. in this ring you have alvin bragg, in that ring you have, you know, the georgia prosecutor. edward: and maybe they realize that all of this lawfare is working against them. kyle, i owe you a question. still ahead, yet another poll shows that joe biden losing ground to donald trump in critical battleground states. a new report says the president is in financial. ing former clinton pollster doug schoen will ec plain.ro ♪ni ♪ like here. and here. not so much here. farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure which can lead to dialysis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ farxiga can cause serious side effects,
12:08 pm
including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. when you have chronic kidney disease, it's time to ask your doctor for farxiga. because there are places you want to be. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪
12:09 pm
(reporters) over here. kev! kev! (reporter 1) any response to the trade rumors, we keep hearing about? (kev) we talkin' about moving? not the trade, not the trade, we talking about movin'. no thank you. (reporter 2) you could use opendoor. sell your house directly to them, it's easy.
12:10 pm
(kev) ... i guess we're movin'. ♪ edward: a number of polls showing president biden is losing to former president donald trump in the battle ground states likely to decide this presidential race. but apparently the president is in denial. axios reports he and many of his closest advisers don't believe the bad numberses. they claim the public polling
12:11 pm
doesn't reflect biden's true support among voters and that the president is gaining ground and is probably even ahead of his rival. so let's bring in democratic pollster and former clinton adviser doug doug schoen. first of all, the new fox news polling is showing former president trump martially with a 1-point lead over -- nationally with a 1-point lead over find. it's within the margin of error, but do you feel like the biden campaign is in financial? >> -- in denial? >> i think they're absolutely in denial. i talk to top democrats all the time, and they are aghast that the biden campaign hasn't reached out, hasn't changed strategy, hasn't done anything about inflation, the border and is involved in conflicts overseas that seemingly will not be resolved anytime soon. put another way, ed, the democratic party given the swing states knows that it is in
12:12 pm
trouble. the only people who don't appear to know that is the biden campaign. edward: so then what are they looking at if all of this? >> they're looking at the head to head numbers which show, as you suggested, a very tight race within the margin of error. they're saying that,s you know, donald trump has got four indictments, the first one he is now being tried, that they have the abortion issue they can use and that ultimately as we saw in 2018, 2020 and 2022 come by nation of trump's character -- combination of trump's character and the issues that work for the democrats will pull them over the finish line. i don't think from the numbers i'm seeing that will be the case. edward: yeah, and former president trump has not been on twitter which is what plagued him in the last election. does that social media presence play into it a little bit? >> it does. i think trump still is trump.
12:13 pm
there's going to be no change in his approach. but he's toned his a act down, and i think he understands that he'll be helped not hurt by being more cautious rain circumspect in his messaging. certainly, that's been the approach so far. edward: so looking at the polls and looking at how much time we have left in the campaign, should there be a change then at the top of the democratic ticket, or is it just a change of messaging? >> well, i think it's the very hard -- it's very hard to say to an incumbent president who is within the margin of error of his challenger that he can't or shouldn't run. so i think, by and large, it's entirely likely joe biden will be nominee. that being said, i think it's not only a change in message if, but a change in emphasis. unless biden talks about inflation and understanding people's concern, his
12:14 pm
willingness to do something about it, cut spending, reduce the size of government and reduce as much as possible the numbers at the southern border, unless he does those two things, i think he's likely to lose the lectionary rowly as the polls are now suggesting. edward: do you feel like you've got the border issue that you mentioned, you have got inflation, the economy, that you mentioned. do you feel like that bucket outweighs the abortion debate bucket which democrats believe that they win on? >> yes, i do. now, in past elections it's been the case that the abortion, particularly with swing voter, has been enough to elect democrats in marinnal districts and -- marginal districts and states. this year, i think, is different. inflation, as we just heard, is really still plaguing people even if it's coming down, prices at the pump, the grocery store
12:15 pm
are well in excess of 20, 25, 30% from when biden took office. and there is a sense that people cannot afford their lifestyle and are living increasingly paycheck to paycheck with more challenges, more risks and more uncertainty. finish. edward: so i want to change gears a little bit. who is vice president pick for former president trump would femme9 accurates be most worried about, do you think? >> it's tough to say. i think j.d. vance is a serious candidate who's done very well. i think glenn youngkin has done extremely well as governor of virginia. i think the one that certainly is most logical is nikki haley, but president trump has said he's not going to go in that direction which, for now, i think we can take as a given though things change in politics. or he could go with a woman such as elaine stefanik from new
12:16 pm
york. i think all of those the have strengths that would redound to trump's benefit. edward: so, doug, in the last 30 seconds that we have, do you believe that a male, an all a-male ticket could go up against or should there be a male and a female on the republican side to match up with the male and female on the democratic side? >> well, if i was making the decisions, i would get nikki haley together with president trump. to work out whatever differences they are. i think that provides balance. we saw in 1980 when george h.w. bush and ronald reagan resolved their differences. reagan went on to a landslide victory. i think that's the best ticket for the republicans, and that's what i think they should do and probably won't do because i don't think donald trump feels the need to have nikki haley on his ticket. edward: doug, we've got to leave it there. i appreciate it, thanks for your
12:17 pm
time in beautiful miami. i wish we all could be there. >> thank you. edward: coming up, game on for presidential debates. both president biden and former president trump agree to the face off twice before the november election. our panel digging deeper into what's at stake for both candidates after the break. ♪
12:18 pm
12:19 pm
norman, bad news... i never graduated from med school. what? -but the good news is... xfinity mobile just got even better! now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. i gotta get this deal... i know... faster wifi and savings? ...i don't want to miss that. that's amazing doc. mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc?
12:20 pm
♪ edward: the debates are on, at least for now. president biden and former president trump agreeing to face off twice ahead of the 2024 election with the first debate set for june 27th. much earlier than normal and before either candidate's officially nominated at their party's convention, so let's find out if this will set the taupe for the final months of the presidential campaign. kim strassel, bill mcgurn and
12:21 pm
kyle peterson. kim, you're here in person, advantage to you with. will the first debate set the tone, and what is that tone it's going to set? >> well, look, we always knew this was going to be an ugly race. just look at the way they challenged each other to the debate there was some real tweaking of each other ask if some accusations. so we knew this was going to be lug ugly -- ugly. i think there are risks on both sides for them doing that. look, donald trump's big mistake with that first debate four years ago are where he was constant thely interrupting, yelling, it highlighted this theme that was a growing worry in people's minds that -- about the chaos of his presidency and given that it was coming during covid when everything felt chaotic e anyway. i think that really hurt him going into the polls. on the other hand, joe biden has tried very hard to portray this image of this kindly grandfather, calm and everything, and he looks like he feels this need to be feisty.
12:22 pm
but i think that if he is scrabble value -- scrabbling back, i don't see how either of hem help themselves very much although i do believe it's probably good the country will be having the debate. edward: and president biden sometimes gets himself into trouble. >> oh, yeah. edward: so, bill, second debate has been set for september 10th. you wrote about robert f. kennedy this week. he's not on this debate stage, but could he play a role in how the campaign unfolds? you said what they all now realize is that no if's election may be decided by whose definition of robert f. kennedy jr. voter find most persuasive. how does that play to the debates? >> well, it plays -- i think robert kennedy has no chance of winning. he might have a math mathematical chance and so forth, but he has no real change. and if you look at -- chance. if you look at the battleground states, the amount of votes he's
12:23 pm
polling at could be enough to be the spoiler. the question is when it's for trump or joe biden. i believe -- i agree with kim the debates are good for america. i also agree, i in that joe biden's -- i think that joe biden's announcement even of the debates in a video, prepared video is marked where he kind of tries out the dirty harry look, you know, go ahead, make my day? i don't think that's really fitting for him. and i take it that though there are risk ifs or donald trump -- risks for donald trump, joe biden is taking a risk because the other news has been so bad. he's underwater with the american people on all the issues and if in some of the polls especially in the battleground states. so i think they knew they couldn't just stay in the basement and if avoid direct confrontation with trump. but who knows? my colleagues are too young to remember -- [laughter] but i grew up with the
12:24 pm
allie/frazier fights, and everyone looked forward to the thrill la in manila. edward: float like the butterfly and sting like the bee. kyle, i read that your philosophy is to pick an item up at the groce withly store and think about everything that goes into it. so over the past three year, all of that stuff is more expensive. what issues do you think play largest in these debates, and what would be the tipping point, do you think can, for voters one way or the other? >> one is exactly what you said, the economy and this inflation peak out at 9%. and president biden has made the argument that it's getting down there now. it's now more like 3%, but i think that many voters still are seeing it at the grocery store, in their paychecks, and there's not a whole lot that he can do about that at this stage. that is a huge vulnerability for him. the other one is, obviously, the border. i think president trump will hit that hard in these debates, make the argument that his policies including the remain in mexico policy have more or less if solved this problem and that president biden by rescinding
12:25 pm
those policies has created the border crisis that we've seen in the last couple of years. there's been some rumors that president biden is now thinking about taking some strong executive action on the border, and so that might be a way that he is going to try to deal with that problem, that political problem for him as we get toward november. but we'll have to see9 what the details look like and how well he can defend it and defend his record when he shares the debate stage. edward: kyle, do you feel like the debates will be the deciding factor between who wins and loses in november? >> i think it could be, but there are so many unknowns. we still don't have a result from this new new york trial of donald trump's, we don't know how well 81-year-old biden is going do to hold up on the debate stage, and we don't know how rfk jr.'s going to ultimately fare and if he's going to take more from the left or the right voters. so still a long way to go but, certainly, i think the debates will be big for voters, and there'll be a lot of people
12:26 pm
tuned in not only to see how donald trump the performs, but how joe biden holds up under the pressure. edward: kyle, i owed you a question, you got it. don't go away, fact checking the president as he continues to make false claims about the economy. >> inflation has gone slightly up, it was more than% when i came in -- 9%, and it's now down around 3%. ♪ (♪) book in the hotels.com app to find your perfect somewhere. [tense music] one aleve works all day so i can keep working my magic. just one aleve. 12 hours of uninterrupted pain relief. aleve. who do you take it for? ...and for fast topical pain relief,try alevex.
12:27 pm
it's time. yes, the time has come for a fresh approach to dog food. everyday, more dog people are deciding it's time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmer's dog. made by vets and delivered right to your door precisely portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. ♪
12:28 pm
12:29 pm
only purple's gel flex grid passes the raw egg test. no other mattress cradles your body and simultaneously supports your spine. memory foam doesn't come close. get your best sleep guaranteed. save up to $800 during our memorial day sale. visit purple.com or a store near you
12:30 pm
♪ >> we have dramatically reduced inflation from 99% down to close -- 9% down close to 3%. we're in a situation where with we're better situated than we were when we took office. it was 9% when i came to office, 99%. but, look, people have a right to be concerned. i think inflation has gone slightly up. it was more than 9% when i came in, and it's now down around 3%. edward: president joe biden continuing the insist that inflation was 9% when he took office, a claim finally getting pushback from mainstream media with fact checkers confirming what we already knew, that the inflation rate was 1.4% in january of 2021. so i asked the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre on wednesday why the president keeps repeating the falsehood. two times over the past two weeks the president said inflation was 9% when he came into office. is president misleading americans on that, or does he just not realize that inflation was 1.4%? if. >> the point that he was
12:31 pm
taking -- making is that the factors that cause inflation was many place when he walked into the administration, when he took office. edward: let's bring in economist steve moore p senior fellow at the heritage foundation and also an an a former economic adviser to president trump. the argument is covid was already in place. >> well, you know, joe biden also reduced the budget with deficit more than any other president. i mean, look, they're making up facts. this is misremembering. when trump left office and joe biden left office, the inflation rate was 1.5%. so it wasn't baked into the cake. what caused the inflation rate to go from 1.5% in january of 2021, 18 months later under biden we got 9.1% inflation. you can't blame that on trump. and the reason that happened is very simple, and i think every american knows the reason, because we had a $6 trillion spending spree that spent money
12:32 pm
we couldn't have. and how did they pay for it? they printedded money. very simply, you get inflation. by the way, right now i would estimate based on the last three or four months' of data we're running about a 4% inflation rate. so that is improvement over, you know, the 9% we had before, but people are still feeling -- i want the make sure people understand and the white house understands that when biden says, oh, prices are falling, prices aren't falling, they're just rising at a little slower rate than they were before. everything's basically 20% more education pensive today. edward: january, 2021, it was 1.4%. fox news polling this week is showing 70% of the americans think the economy is either poor or fair. why do you think that is? >> because it is. [laughter] i would regard it as fair, you know? it's not good. it's not terrible either. i mean, we do have a pretty healthy jobs market, to be fair. by the way, the dow jones hit 40,000, that's a great thing for
12:33 pm
america. pretty good stock market, pretty good jobs market. i think the albatross the around this president's neck economically and the reason i think trump will win the election is because people are feeling poorer than they were four years ago. just like ronald reagan asked the american people, do you feel like you were better off four years ago when he ran against jimmy carter. think that's what concern i think that's exactly what donald trump will ask the american people when they have that debate. edward: so inflation finish. >> can i adjust one thing? yes, overall consumer prices are up 19, but food price up 25, rent and mortgages up 40%. gasoline up almost 50%, and those are the things people have to buy every i day. what i'm saying is the middle crass inflation rate is even higher than the reported number. edward: yeah. and energy -- >> exactly. edward: -- all in, 38%. inflation is coming down though. we are seeing the rate coming down. >> yes. edward: if it continues to come down through the summer, do you think that the voters have a different view then going
12:34 pm
forward? if maybe they forget about the higher prices? >> well, look, if the economy improves, that'll certainly be in biden's favor. the problem i think that joe biden has, let's say that we get the inflation rate down to 2%. by the way, biden also said we're at 2% -- edward: the fed says 2026. >> even if we get the inflation rate down to 2% which we'd all love to see, this inflation we've had is baked in the cake. in other words, everything will still be 20% more expense i have, it just means it won't be 30% more expensive, so i think it's going to be difficult. it's the reason jimmy carter lost the election with reagan. people hate seeing higher prices every time they go to the store. edward: so we had three inflation reports this year that were raising -- rising. one inflation report that is coming down. with is the trend, do you think? >> a little bit of improvement but actually, you know, in the last three months it's ticked up a little bit. remember, this all ties into whether the fed will lower
12:35 pm
interest rates. i feel like it's a really difficult thing to do when you're not anywhere near the target inflation rate of 2%. so we'll see is, but i think it's still unlikely. edward: i want to get to the tax exemptions. president biden says he will let the tax cuts expire. that will raise tax tax on pretty much all americans. for example, the tax foundation found that a family of two will pay an deliverable $is 1,65 a 11.5 in taxes -- 16551 -- 1651. the president can't pick and choose. this will raise taxes if it expires. >> that's right. and, by the way, the average family gained about $2,000 in after-tax income because of the tax cuts, so that would be a big increase on the middle class. i want to make another important point here. it's not just he's saying he's going to to let the tax cuts expire, he is talking about -- and, by the way, i'll give biden credit, he's telling the american people what he wants to
12:36 pm
do. he wants to double the capital gains tax, so anybody who owns stocks, he wants to increase the tax on dividends, he what wants to raise the tax on american companies. we would have a higher tax rate under the biden plan than china and russia do. i mean, come on. he wants to raise the's estate tax. i think these are doses of economic cyanide, and people should pay attention because he's telling us that's what he's going to do if he gets elected. edward: compounding. obviously, we'll see what voters come up with. thank you, steve moore or. still ahead, president biden starts a green trade war with china as he scrambles to salvage his electric car dreams. ♪ ♪ okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete
12:37 pm
with 30 grams of protein. (♪) all these games on directv— and no satellite on the roof! think about this: blue jays, cardinals, orioles... what's missing? the andean condor? no, walnut-brain! pigeons! they'd rather name a team after socks! to be fair, we're not very athletic. what the biggest companies deliver is an exceptional customer experience. what makes it possible is unmatched connectivity and 5g solutions from t-mobile for business. t-mobile connects 100,000 delta airlines employees, powers tractor supply's stores nationwide with reliable 5g business internet, and partners with pga of america on game changing innovation. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business.
12:38 pm
weathertech knows that trucks like yours can take a beating. are you sure? bring it on! but with weathertech's heavy—duty impactliner you can safeguard the bed while throwing almost anything at it.
12:39 pm
the underside features an innovative solution. shock absorbing rings disperse the impact of hauling, dropping, or dragging your cargo. wow, no damage! protect your truck from costly dents and scrapes with the rugged impactliner from weathertech. for even more protection add these premium american made products. order today at wt.com ♪ edward: president biden taking a page out of the trump playbook
12:40 pm
this week as he announced sweeping new tariffs on ooh china including a whopping 100% tax on electric vehicles. donald trump reacted to his rival's announcement on tuesday as the two candidates battle to prove who's toughest on china. >> the electric vehicles that biden is pushing down everybody's throat the even though people don't want 'em, he wants to put a big tariff on china which is the suggestion that i said where have you been for three and a half years? they should have tone it a long time ago. but they've also got to do it on other vehicles, and they have to do it on a lot of other product because china's eating our lunch right now. edward: we're back with kim strassel and bill mcgurn, also joined by "wall street journal" columnist mary o'grady. mary, i want to start with you. these tariffs have a heavy focus on electric vehicles, but it also includes semiconductors, steel and aluminum, certain medical products. is this getting tough on china? >> well, i think most
12:41 pm
importantly it's getting very protectionist not just about china, but the idea that imports from other countries are somehow a danger to the u.s. economy is a very protectionist way of thinking, and donald trump is a protectionist. he ran on that in 2016. he's appealing to, you know, a small number of states where organized labor is marley sensitive about imports, and joe biden is trying to -- in those same states. so it's a race to the bottom in protectionism. edward: yeah. we'll is are to see if it works too. bill, i want to ask you something i asked the u.s. trade representative this week. why do you think it took so long to use tariffs to stop china from flooding the global market with some of these goods? >> well, i think it's an election year, you know? that's the big thing. i agree with mary, the depressing thing is that the
12:42 pm
only bipartisan agreement today in washington seems to be on protectionism. and threats to trade. if we really want to go after china and raise the prices for them, make it hard for them to compete, we would have been for a trade the agreement in the pacific which biden, i think, had to be -- when he was defending as vice president. when both trump and biden are against that, it's really debilitating. the whole thing on electric vehicles is attacking the wrong problem. the problem is joe biden is distorting our economy with subsidies and incentives to produce green cars that no one wants. that's playing into china's hands. we want to help american workers and stuff, end that. stop the subsidies and let people buy the cars that they want to buy and let american automakers make the cars that americans want to buy.
12:43 pm
edward: so, or kim, chinese tariffs -- chinese are calling these tariffs bullying and unfair trading practices, but the response has been less than the reaction to imposing the tariffs and, less than what they imposed from former president trump. it's been more muted hand that. can we read anything into the muted reaction this time around? >> i don't know if you can read anything into it in terms of what they're going to ultimately do. if we go ahead with this, they're going to file complaints at the world trade organization, there's going to be litigation, and there can be with retaliation. one with of the things they did was to slap a bunch of tariffs in return and to double town on a lot of these sub city d i -- sub city byes to -- subsidies to flood the global market china's not backing down. china is a different trading partner than almost every other one we have in that it's often hostile to us and an adversary to us, and i think we have to be aware of that, and that has to
12:44 pm
play into the way we look at is some of these issues. but i also worry this distracts attention are from one of the bigger problems which is along the lines of what bill was just saying. do you want to know why the chinese ev market and solar panels are good? because they have an amazing supply chain. they're in their own country, they utilize it. we need to be mining our own things here, taking off these insane environmental regulations the president has load ared on. if we wan to compete with china better, if you really want americans to be able to buy evs if that's your goal, then allow american ev makers to produce them at a decent cost, and that's one of the other backward aspects of this biden policy. edward: mary, with the 'em posing of these tariffs, the bidenen administration has made no formal ask of the chinese to change the way they do business. there are ongoing conversations about that, but when former president trump imposed tear are riffs, it was to get the chinese to sit down and negotiate a troid trade agreement.
12:45 pm
what do you think about the way president biden has imposed those tariffs? >> i think that's a distinction without a difference. if you end up putting those high tariffs on, you're basically signaling china that they need to come to the, take, they need to, gowp, do something about -- do, you know, do something about what the u.s. is concerned a. deny about. i think this is more likely to lead to formal complaint at the wto or retaliation which could end up costing u.s. consumers more. you know, the main point, i think, has to be here for anyone who believes in free trade that the u.s. has to become more competitive so that u.s. innovation which is always the best in the world can lead the way. and this idea of just, you know, pulling up the drawbridge and locking out, you know, imports, i think, is going to lead to economic destruction. edward: mary, kim, bill, we've got to leave it there. i appreciate it.
12:46 pm
thank you very much. so when we come back, refunding the police. the university of north carolina-chapel hill diverts millions into d -- in dee funding to campus safety in the walk of anti-israel protests get there. stayting tuned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] eati[bleep]l today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. (psst! psst!) ahhh! with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy long lasting relief in a scent free, gentle mist. flonase all good. also, try our allergy headache and nighttime pills.
12:47 pm
(vo) in three seconds, this couple will share a perfect moment. (woman) is that? oh wow! but we got to sell our houses! (vo) well, almost perfect. don't worry. just sell directly to opendoor. (woman) yes! (vo) close in a matter of days. when life's doors open, we'll handle the house.
12:48 pm
12:49 pm
♪ edward: turns out those anti-israel campus protests could actually come at a cost to progressives. the board of trues teatses at the university of north carolina-chapel hill voted unanimously to redirect $2.3 million from diversity, ec wety and inclusion programs and put it towards public safety. the move comes just two weeks after campus police struggled the clear out a pro-palestinian encampment at the school with the town refusing to send law enforcement many to help the situation. it escalated, claiming
12:50 pm
protesters were engaged in peaceful dissent protected by the first amendment. so we're back with kim strassel, bill mcgurn and mary o'grady. bill, defund the police movement, the pendulum was swinging back on that, but these are campus protests. is that a going to be the catalyst, do you think, for the pendulum to swing on the dei funding and focus? >> well, it is, it is, in fact, swinging on this. we see the consequences. look, dei is bad on its own. is so even without the protests they should be with getting rid of it because it has bad effects, it puts all these people on the pack -- faculty who responsibility be there. they're not there for their expertise on a subject, they're there for their ideology. and security important for if its own reason. people should be able to walk the campus unmolested. the larger problem is if you look at the american university today, people used to look at universities as the ideal
12:51 pm
expression of how free people live together in a community and debate things with reason. today they look over at the wall, and they see the balkans or somalia, you know? clashing, breaking into buildings and is so forth. do any of these people chanting from the river to the sea have any idea what it means, or can they debate it? there'sing nothing for debate. the most illiberal places in america today are on campuses. so i applaud unc for taking this step, but i think we're going to have to get -- it's a long-term process to to restore san deto the campus. edward: so, mary, "the wall street journal" editorial board this week wrote that maybe other schools will take the sameless dison. and because washington, d.c -- lesson. because washington, d.c. police refused to help and chicago police refused to help the university of chicago, do you think this lesson will go the
12:52 pm
way of that 8 a.m. accounting class i had with the monotone professor, or are other schools taking note of this. >> i think this is part of a much wider, what my colleague called a few weeks ago the counterrevolt that is gaining momentum in the country, and it's now hitting the campuses, but it's been going on, you know, over the last few months, i'd say at least since march, where, you know, even blue states in urban with areas are beginning to rescind, you know, these i dib louse laws about a shoplifting -- these ridiculous laws about shop lift lifting ask ways of basically restraining the the police there from doing their job. i think that in general, the public wants safety from government, if if if the local government and the tate government is not going to provide it, you know, campuses are going to begin to do it on their own because it's what people want. edward: so, kim, you had maybe 100 or so disrupters on campus. is this about a protecting the
12:53 pm
other 10,000 or 30,000 students, or is it about freedom to speech and protest? >> it has to be a balance. a lot of administrators have said all along of course you have the ability to voice your opinions. we're not taking that away from you. you don't get to camp on the public spaces, you don't get to intimidate jewish students who are trying to walk to their buildings, you don't get the take over entire halls and rename them and pull down flags. that's not peaceful protest in the end. and, yes, it's not only about protecting the vast majority because we do see this is a very small group of people on all a of these campuses, many of them, by the way, that right-hand students, that are professional activists who have joined. it's also about a allowing them to fulfill and finish their university appearance p. like, being able to go to a commencement. you know, all of the things that they have worked very hard for over three or four years are being denied to them because of this small crew of whiners. [laughter] edward: well, and these are kids that dealt with covid too. some cases didn't get a
12:54 pm
graduation from high school. so, bill, this week the president of morehouse college said he might halt the commencement on the spot if the president is disrupted on sunday. what do you think about the protests there and the reactions by the schools? >> i think it's a mistake to not hold the commencement. the school has obligations, as kim said, a lot of these kids have worked hard for their day. they deserve it. and when with you cave in, the protesters win. look, these are the most obnoxious protesters. they not only go on campuses and harass people, but they've been out in the streets blocking airports, preventing people from going to work and so forth. they care only about themselves, and the problem is the universities have let it grow big. they should nip it in the bud, and people want to see order at the schools. and as kim says, the people who
12:55 pm
worked hard and if honestly are being deprived of what they earned. i don't think -- i think the school has an obligation to provide a safe commencement. edward: and, marie, just quickly, last 15 seconds, is it fair? >> well, if i hear one for person say don't worry, they're mostly peaceful, i think i'll, you know, scream. these are violent people who are using, you know, small numbers to take things away from the rest of us. edward: mary, bill with, kim, appreciate it. we have to leave it this. we have the take one more break. when we come back, the hits and misses of the week. misses of the week. stay here. ♪us ♪ed . most people got 100% clear skin. some after the first dose. (♪) serious side effects, including suicidal thoughts and behavior, infections and lowered ability to fight them, liver problems, and inflammatory bowel disease, have occurred. tell your doctor if these happen or worsen,
12:56 pm
or if you've had a vaccine or plan to. start to get yourself back, with bimzelx. ask your dermatologist about bimzelx today. the terrorist attacks of october 7th were the single deadliest day for the jewish people since the holocaust. i stand here before you with an extremely burdened and heavy heart. not only for the immense cruelty and loss of life suffered here, but for the immense needs of the people of israel in the months and the years to come as we fight for our survival. it's an especially critical time right now for the elderly. many close family members were killed or severely injured and are no longer able to help them with their basic needs such as food. the international fellowship of christians and jews is urgently responding to help the thousands of displaced elderly jews. your gift of
12:57 pm
only $25 will help rush an emergency food box to an elderly jewish person who is at risk. zina, she used to take care of me. it was 6: 20 in the morning when we heard the first rocket. so i phoned my daughter and she said, "mommy, i'm on the bus. everything is okay." two minutes later, the terrorist shot her dead. volunteers from the fellowship deliver the food boxes and let them know that christians are helping provide them with a month's supply of healthy, ready to eat foods to strengthen them and encourage their faith. i can feel the love coming from this box. thank you and may the god of israel always bless you. let's extend our prayers together in support and share our resources to bring meaningful change to the lives of our brothers and sisters in israel. they need right now to feel your love and your healing touch for their souls. call the
12:58 pm
number on your screen, scan the qr code, or go online to i f c j israel.org now. time now for the hits and misses of the week. >> and mr. president biden strange assertion of executive privilege to shield the audiotape of his interview with investigators over's mishandling of classified documents.
12:59 pm
special counsel robert hurd described the report as an elderly man with the poor memory. that came up the president did not block the release of the transcript. of the executive privilege does not cover the transcript how does it cover the audio of the transcript? opposite the white house is not worry about confidential information it's wor worry about embarrassing the president. >> amary, you're up next protecs a hit for caitlin clark the iowa basketball star who depute in de wnba this week. her team lost, but the game drew about more than 2 million viewers. that was not driven by dei police it. that was driven by the fact that she is fun to watch. that's the market in action. >> bill, what exciting you have? >> a miss to all the western experts who over the decades told us countries had to reduce the population to become a rich. guess what, no of headline
1:00 pm
saying the problem is that people are not having enough babies. that means agreement future per the journal for decades resisted the population control. we believe pupils are mines rather than mouth. an out in the world is paying for the old mistake. >> kim, saved the best for last regards my hit go to judge mary ellen who ruled this week she was going to insist hundred biden's trial, duke proceed on june 3 on the gun charges he put with the. his lawyers desperately trying to get these cases pushed beyond the election. she's having none of it. a good first step for getting politics all the classes. quick thinking to my panel and for all of you for watching but we hope to see you here next week. ♪ ♪ ♪
1:01 pm
>> any moment now former president donald trump is seto