Mediaboss Marketing

The 32-year-old is prone to big, open-mouthed laughter, with eyes that smile and a voice tinged with sweetness. She wears chestnut highlights in her black hair, which she does not cover though shes a practicing Muslim.

Passing as American as possible has always been important to Mona, who prefers the English variant of Muna, the name her mother gave her. The result is a charming ethnic ambiguity, which she believes can camouflage her within her tribeless Edina neighborhood. Mexicans speak Spanish to her. Arabs speak Arabic to her. Most others assume she is African American.

She has a 9-year-old son with an African American man, which is something of a taboo in Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis Somali enclave. She admits she does not have many friends in that community.

Taking a drag from a cigarette a rare indulgence on her balcony above the Canadian Pacific railway tracks, she looks down over the rooftops of a woodsy subdivision full of mansions interwoven with winding creeks and fairytale bridges. She is proud to say that in order to send her son, Toddy, to nearby Highlands Elementary to study alongside the children of doctors and lawyers, shes made sacrifices to afford the cheapest condo in the best school district her money could buy.

But today, Monas mind is miles away. Because for all she has done to blend in, she also has a secret.

Sarah White

Whos gonna care about scum? Whos even going to listen to what scum has to say? she muses pragmatically, pondering the legal quagmire that stands between her and the real American dream.

At 13, she slipped across the United States-Canada border in the sleeper cabin of a semitruck with her mother and seven siblings. It was the conclusion of an audacious flight that took her family from war-shattered Somalia to the Middle East, through Western Europe into Scandinavia, Canada, and finally Minnesota.

Mona has kept the full story from most everyone in her life. Co-workers, friends, fellow Highlands parents, and even her husband know only scraps of the odyssey.

But now, at a time when immigrants at every step of the long path to citizenship are wracked with anxiety quietly awaiting the consequences of the Mexican wall, the ban on Muslims, the White Houses indifference to the plight of refugees Monas instinct is to out herself.

Its because her current status even less than that of a refugee has sentenced her to life within a box of limitations.

She cannot hold certain jobs, cannot complete school, cannot leave the country, nor work toward citizenship the only thing that could ensure her stay in the one country for which she holds allegiance.

The reason I want to come out with it now is because Im tired, Mona says. Im tired of not being able to do what I want to do, not just what I need to do to survive. I follow the rules. I pay taxes. I dont know what its like to be in the back of a cop car. Im getting gray hairs now. Its about time I live the way I want to live.

II. The war

As late as 1980, Somalia had peace. More than that, its place as the easternmost arrowhead of the Horn of Africa conferred a legendary beauty. Capital city Mogadishu was known as the White Pearl of the Indian Ocean, which along with the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden hugged Somalias long coastline of endless beaches.

There was something resembling a secular society then, as military dictator Siad Barre forced communism upon the country. He attempted to erase the nations fractured clans patrilineal groupings that had bickered for authority throughout the centuries and gather their powers for himself.

He picked a standard Somali alphabet, nationalized industries, and upset traditional gender roles by giving women the right to inherit property and divorce. Polygamy was banned, head covering discouraged. Barre viewed veiling as a distasteful Saudi style that Somali women need not emulate.

But Barre would prove to be a man of ambivalent ambitions. Though he publicly condemned clanism, he filled his government and army with members of his own tribe. Property seized by the state was redistributed among the same allies. His critics including religious leaders who believed he undermined Islamic traditions were tortured and imprisoned.

Insurrectionists with democratic aspirations began to brew discontent. In the north, clans sidelined during Barres reign talked of seceding from his government and forming militias.

Barre cracked down, sending the army to quash resistance by any means necessary. Northern towns were bombed, survivors shot as they tried to flee to Ethiopia. Over a 10-month period, some 10,000 people were killed as government forces arbitrarily arrested and executed anyone suspected of being a dissident, or for simply belonging to any clan at odds with Barres.

Rebel militias assembled and fought back. The war had begun.

It would take months to trickle the length of the country to Mogadishu, where Monas family lived. At 5 years old, she was too young to remember anything more than a disquieting urgency. She felt it in the talk of elders, the tensing of police, the way people seemed to rush everywhere they went.

Monas mother, Sahra Ibrahim, remembers waking in the dead of night to the sound of gunshots, a sign that war was not far.

Sahra and her husband, Hasan Diiriye, sold their properties and made for Gedo, a region further south where Hasans parents lived. The move would save their lives.

On January 26, 1991, rebel militias invaded Mogadishu, murdering people who belonged to Sahra and Hasans clans. They stormed Barres palace and forced the dictator to flee to Nigeria.

Four days later, militiamen broke into the home of Sahras sister. They raped her before killing her and her son.

It is difficult for me to piece together this history, because I suffer from depression, and my mind becomes confused about things that happened when I was living in Somalia after the war broke out, Sahra would later say in an affidavit for U.S. immigration officials.

Before long, the militia gained on their new home in Gedo. Sahra, Hasan, and their children returned to the road, convinced that no part of Somalia was safe. Hasans brother did not go with them. His wife was ill, hugely pregnant, and almost due. Their parents stayed with them.

Eventually, my husbands mother joined us, but the rest of the family did not, Sahra recalls. We learned that the [militia] came looking for the Darod clan and killed my husbands father, brother, and sister-in-law. We learned that the [militia] had cut off my sister-in-laws finger while trying to remove her ring. Only his mother survived she was blind in one eye as a result of being beaten.They had left her for dead.

I have suffered. I dont want to suffer any longer.

III. Where the wind blows

By 1992, Somalia was awash with violence. Bandit checkpoints partitioned what was left of the roads, where naming the wrong clan affiliation could get a traveler robbed, maimed, or killed. Journalists, aid workers, and United Nations peacekeepers were kidnapped and ransomed for arms.

Monas family was on its way to an ill-defined West, which symbolized stability, prosperity, and humanitarianism. They had a vague idea of aiming for Britain, she believes, or even the United States, whose Hollywood diplomacy of a muscle-bound Schwarzenegger and cowboy Eastwood had charmed Somalis prior to the war.

Her family embarked on a fitful journey, with no final destination. Their travels, as seen through the eyes of a young girl, left only vague impressions of a strange new world.

They carved through Somalias neighbors Ethiopia and Djibouti and spent some time in Saudi Arabia, where Monas mother had to wear a veil and be escorted through the streets by her husband. From there they went to Italy, where Mona recalls that East African prostitutes, women and girls, could be found most everywhere, plying their trade in plain sight.

Then came France, teeming with African migrants of former colonies, all lumped together in second-class-citizen standing. They hiked across its mountainous border to Switzerland, moving onward to the Netherlands, where they settled in a farm community.

What Mona remembers best was the illusory romance of living in a country with a king and queen, of towns devoted to growing the worlds flowers, of Christmas parades where St. Nicholas was accompanied by Zwarte Piet, a white actor in blackface with cherry red lips, who heaped pumpernickel on the children.

They were clearly searching for a place that they could call home, Mona says of her parents. But something came up, it didnt fit their needs, or it wasnt what they thought it would be, and they left.

Finally, at the end of 1996, Monas mother Sahra boarded a plane with the children bound for Canada. Father Hasan headed to the United States, where he found work in meatpacking plants. He would send money while Sahra put the children in Canadian schools.

Sahra applied for asylum in Canada, but fear of being turned away would sabotage her chances.

On bad advice from other Somalis, she told immigration officials that she belonged to a different clan than her own, and claimed to have hailed from a town other than Mogadishu. Canada rejected her application. The clan she named resided in Somalias relatively stable northwest arm, they told her, and could not have endured the horrors she described.

My mom, I swear it was complete and total lack of guidance. Shes completely misguided, mostly, probably, by her own self, Mona laughs. But also she didnt have many friends who were supporting her, and she just did what she believed was right. When she did go into the community and ask for help, they told her the wrong things to say, the wrong way to go about it.

Sahra knows now that if she had only told the truth, she would have been granted asylum. But once Canada denied her application, she believed there was nothing left to do but find a way into America and try again. Hasan had been successful there. She wanted to return to his side.

So she paid a trucker $2,000 to take eight bodies across the border of Michigan with only light bags and Nutella sandwiches for the children. Sahra was terrified, she says. Among her children was a 1-year-old baby, whose cries could have alerted the border patrol at any minute.

God protected us because he knew we werent up to anything sinister, she says. We just wanted to be safe and have recognition. We wanted to just live in a place that was nice, that was safe. We werent trying to do anything wrong on our way to happiness. But there is no happiness now.

IV. No fate at all

They would apply for asylum in California, where, according to Mona, They were giving asylum out like hotcakes!

This time, Sahra did not lie about her clan affiliation or her birthplace of Mogadishu. But she wasnt entirely truthful, either. She omitted the fact that shed been rejected for refugee status in Canada.

It seemed like a harmless redaction. While crossing Europes borders, the family embellished, dramatized, and outright invented parts of their story, Mona admits. They couldnt risk the chance of being turned away for not experiencing enough trauma to earn a nations sympathy.

They claimed their home was looted, Sahra raped, her mechanic father murdered in his shop when in reality he had died several years before the war even started. And they rationalized it all, knowing that these things indeed happened to their countrymen, and could happen to them still if they were shipped back.

In 2000, California granted their asylum. Sahra moved the children to Minneapolis, where they reunited with Hasan.

Mona began high school at Southwest, where classmates marveled at how well she spoke English. With time, she adopted the expectations of American teenagers, fading innocuously into the blended fabric of American society, where the past didnt matter.

After graduation, Mona went to the University of Minnesota, by the grace of federal aid, majoring in economics.

But in the second semester of her sophomore year, Mona received a letter. Her financial aid had been discontinued, effective immediately.

She begged the university to explain why her college lifeline had been cut. Officials referred her to the U.S. Department of Education, which would only confirm the letter was real.

Nobody explained to me why until [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] summoned us to go to court, Mona recalls. We went alone, the first time, just me and my mom. And the judge said, Were going to continue this case, but you need to go get a lawyer. That was a solid because he could have went on and been an asshole and deported us on the spot.

In 2004, Homeland Security began collecting fingerprints of non-U.S. citizens applying for visas to uncover terrorists and international fugitives seeking shelter in America. That data was shared with Canada.

Thats when U.S. officials learned that Sahra had been rejected in Canada.

Under an agreement between the two nations, refugees were to declare asylum only in the first country they set foot in. The familys American asylum status was voided. Sahra was slapped with a fraud charge for lying on their application.

The family fought to stay. Their attorney, Linda Close, argued that 2005 Somalia was no better off than the version they fled, where indiscriminate murder remained the coin of the realm.

Police shot unarmed noncombatants. Journalists and aid workers were slain. Rape was used as a weapon of war.

Three years later, Immigration conceded, granting the family a rare status called withholding of removal. They would not be deported as long as the U.S. considers Somalia a country in turmoil where they would likely face torture and persecution.

But the governments clemency came with conditions. To Mona, they looked like criminal probation. She was barred from ever obtaining permanent residency. She could be deported at any time. And she was no longer eligible for federal aid, meaning that she could not finish college. None of her younger siblings could afford to enroll.

Twenty-three-year-old Khadra Ali recalls with distinct disappointment the year Mona dropped out. She was just entering high school when another sister told her to quit trying since she had no shot at college anyway.

Nobody had a chance after Mona, Khadra says. Thats why I dont think anybody actually tried to get good grades. I honestly wanted to go to college, and I could have if I paid out of pocket, but I cant afford that.

Mona tried to maintain a job as a mortgage broker at Wells Fargo. It required that she reapply for her work permit annually, at least three months before it expired, so that the backlogged Immigration office could process it in time. Yet there were years when the government could not respond quickly enough. She would lose her job, be forced to sit idle until her new permit arrived, and then find new employ.

For the past four years, shes been working as a personal care assistant, paid $11 an hour through Medicare to take care of young boys with autism. Its hard work with few returns, aside from the indispensable value of the work itself.

Her brother Ahmed couldnt handle the hopelessness. Sahra describes him as a shy but bright young man with ambitions for a future in engineering. When those dreams evaporated, he threw himself from the Washington Avenue Bridge.

V. Shots in the dark

St. Paul attorney Jerzy Guzior, who represents Mona, has a number of clients sharing Monas legal status, but none so willing to talk about it.

That status, withholding of removal, usually involves people whove committed crimes in America, but cannot be deported because their home countries are in such disarray theres a good chance they wouldnt survive. As a result, public sympathy runs thin for these people, even though many others are lumped in the same category for simply for missing the one-year deadline to declare asylum.

Mona was underage at the time, an absolute minor, who didnt have any influence over what was happening to her, Guzior says. They put her in a box, and the box is not really comfortable.... Shes a very smart, bright young lady. Shes very ambitious. She wants to go left, right, but she cannot.

An obvious solution might have been to petition for citizenship through her husband.

When she initially married, Mona says she resisted giving her husband the impression that she was only after papers. He never knew the full contortions of her immigration case.

Theyre now separated, and it hardly seems appropriate to ask for help.

D.C. attorney Jason Dzubow agrees it would never work. Spouses petitioning for citizenship have to show they have a valid marriage. If theyre legally married but no longer together, Immigration wont be moved.

If they were married and they had two children with birth certificates and a house and $100,000 in a shared bank account, they would have a five-minute interview, Dzubow says. But if they didnt have any kids or money or property, they would typically get separated, asked questions like, Who pays the bills in your house? How many bathrooms are in your house? Whens the last time you guys went out to dinner?

Even if Mona remarried, petitioning through a new husband would be potentially disastrous. The rules say shed have to voluntarily leave the country, get special permission to re-enter, and then reopen her court case.

Most lawyers wouldnt be bothered with it because her chances of success are too unpredictable, says Dzubow.

VI. Mogadishu, Minnesota

Meyran Omar, an actress and filmmaker who creates documentaries about the Somali diaspora, is Monas closest confidante and one of few friends who knows any part of her winding past. She has a soft spot for the unrepentant oddball who lives her life as something of a subverted expectation on legs, even though doing as she pleases comes with consequences.

She has a hard time in her life, to be honest with you, Omar says. Many times I sit with her, invite her to dinner, talk with her because she doesnt hang around Somali people because of the way shes treated, you know what I mean? They expect that she dress like a typical Somali girl.

It amuses her to watch Mona don a headscarf for their excursions at Karmel Square, a Somali mall in Whittier, only to throw it off as they leave.

But it was this irreverence for convention that landed her an audition for Somali-Canadian rapper Knaans HBO show, Mogadishu, Minnesota, where Omar met Mona.

The show, a drama about the Somali-American experience that touches on the threat of radicalization, would be produced by war aficionado Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker. Her involvement, along with the recent convictions of nine young men from Cedar-Riverside for planning to join the Islamic State group, led Somalis to conclude the show would exploit their pain.

Knaan, who filmed the pilot in various Minneapolis locations, defended the show, arguing that it would capture the complexities of being Somali in America.

Mona auditioned, acting out a short balcony scene for the nonverbal role of Big Mans Girl, a potentially recurring character. She is seen lounging on a balcony, smoking shisha tobacco out of a hookah beside a gangster who looks after his grandmother.

Her scene, no other Somali woman would have dared, says Omar, who also auditioned. Give her a million dollars, she would not do it. Nowadays, they say only bad girls use shisha, like street girls, not good girls. But Mona, she didnt care.

Auditioning inspired Mona to explore acting in hopes of earning money in creative ways that wouldnt be tethered to her annual authorization card.

Ive had to act my whole life. I had to act normal, relatively normal, American normal, pretending not even to be Muslim at times, she says. I like to think of myself as I can be whoever you want me to be, I can be that person. Inside it would be burning up, but you wouldnt be able to tell.

But as protests erupted over Mogadishu, Minnesota, Riverside Plaza turned down requests to film in the iconic towers where many Somalis live, and HBO has yet to greenlight the project. Facing increasing hostility in Minneapolis, Knaan considered moving the enterprise to Toronto.

If that happens, theres no way Mona could take part. She would be barred from re-entering the United States.

VII. Forging ahead

On St. Patricks eve, BMWs and Mercedes-Benz SUVs clog the streets surrounding Highlands Elementary in Edina for its annual Carnival, the schools biggest fundraiser of the year.

Highlands is transformed into a childs wonderland. Bounce houses fill the gymnasium. Cafeteria tables bear buffets of ring pops, gummy vampire fangs, and bubblegum tape. Waist-high students gallop through the halls, zipping in and out of classrooms that house karaoke stages and board game competitions.

The school set a goal of raising about $20,000 on this night. Mona does her part, spending 40 bucks on tickets for a Hot Wheels gift basket raffle and a pocketful of candy for her son Toddy. Mona rationalized that since they didnt celebrate Halloween a holiday rooted in paganism, which Muslims often sit out he could have this night to indulge his sugar cravings.

It was $40 she couldnt afford.

Discouraged by her job, Mona quit home care in November to focus on Toddy, whose digestive problems and difficulties focusing undercut his ability to keep pace with his peers.

In class, the 9-year-old was prone to frustration when he didnt understand something, and migraines when faced with bright lights, loud sounds, and difficult textures. Testing ruled out autism.

Mona wanted a new career, one with room for growth that would allow her to give more attention to her own child.

More here:
'I'm an illegal immigrant': Mona Ali is tired of hiding from the American dream - City Pages

The "sanctuary" policy implemented by the sheriff in Austin, Texas, has helped keep illegal aliens charged with robbery, violent acts and threats of terrorism from being apprehended by federal immigration officers, according to the watchdog group Judicial Watch.

A so-called sanctuary policy is a decision not to aid federal officials with requests to detain illegal immigrants so they can be apprehended for reasons related to illegal immigration. When an illegal alien is in the custody of a sheriff's office or police department, ICE can submit a detainer request. If the local agency cooperates with the detainer, it allows the federal officers the opportunity to arrange a transfer to take the person into custody before they are released.

Judicial Watch said in a statement that a review of the detainer requests for a total of 204 aliens, which were denied by the Austin sheriff, shows those people "were charged or convicted of 31 acts of violence, 14 thefts or burglaries, and three acts or threats of terrorism."

The statement also said that 44 of the denied requests were for "inmates originally detained by Homeland Security and temporarily transferred to Travis County (home to the state capital in Austin) for disposition of state or local charges."

The Travis County Sheriff's office has been in a public battle with Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has threatened to withhold certain funds from agencies in the state that enact sanctuary policies.

Continued here:
Judicial Watch: Sanctuary policy protected criminal illegal immigrants in Austin, Texas - Washington Examiner

Joseph Turner of American Children First filed a ballot initiative April 3 to prohibit illegal aliens from attending school in the Yucaipa Calimesa Joint Unified School District. The initiative requires 3,200 signatures to be put on the ballot.

Turner has been politically active for the past several years, and especially vocal on illegal immigration. He founded Save Our State in 2004 and lost endorsement of the San Bernardino School Distirct when he ran as a school board member in 2006 because of his anti-illegal immigration stance. He worked for San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors office writing press releases for Neil Derry in 2009.

He said in an interview with KABC that he specifically chose Yucaipa, almost 90 miles from his office in Torrance, because the community is (a) conservative community.

YCJUSD Superintendent of Cali Binks said, The Yucaipa Calimesa School District has not been contacted by Joseph Turner and was unaware of the press conference (with KABC) held in Yucaipa.

Clerk of the School Board Sharon Bannister also commented on the initiative.

Our mission is to provide an education for all members of our community from preschool programs, our elementary, middle and high school programs to our growing adult school program, she said. YCJUSD welcomes everyone to be a lifelong learner.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision with Plyler v. Doe in 1982, holding that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education on account of their immigration status. Turner is hoping to overturn that decision.

The reaction of local parents with children who have attended Yucaipa-Calimesa schools runs the gamut from support to anger to thoughts of the future.

Diana Grieco, who has had all five of her children educated by the local school district, supports Turners initiative.

I dont think we should pay for them if they are here illegally, Grieco said. I feel bad for the kids, but their parents should become citizens.

Debra Wagner, who also has children in the school district, agrees with Grieco.

I support the initiative because its not fair for us to support everyone who is here illegally, she said. Those who are here legally are already struggling, with cuts to school programs, like music. We need to take care of the people who are here before giving to others who are here wrongfully.

Other local residents have a different perspective.

It makes me really, really angry that someone who has never attended our school district or had his children go to our school district and is not part of our community is targeting us to serve his own personal agenda, said Kim Gopperton, who went to school in Yucaipa, as did her children. I dont like it and I really resent that.

Others consider what will happen if education to children who are already here is denied.

Children, legal or illegal, should have the same opportunity to get an education that will benefit not only their futures but also the future of every American, said Barbara Davis, another mother with children in the school district. Children, no matter what race or ethnicity, are the future of this country.

Here is the original post:
Ballot initiative seeks to ban illegal immigrants from school - Yucaipa/Calimesa News Mirror

A story published by The Hill last month about two studies claiming that immigrants commit less crime than U.S. born citizens misses the point that President Trump and other Americans are concerned over the crimes committed by illegal aliens, not legal immigrants. And the existing records on those crimes, like the murder of Kate Steinle in San Francisco in 2015, are truly shocking.

Ronald Mortensen points out some of the methodological problems with these studies in his recent piece in The Hill. But the problems are even worse. The Cato study concluded that legal and illegal immigrants are less likely to be incarcerated than natives and the Sentencing Project concluded in their report that foreign-born residents of the United States commit crime less often than native-born citizens.

Instead of using official crime data, these reports also use surveys. The Sentencing Project measures crime and related behavior based on self-reported accounts of behavior and Cato uses the United States Census American Community Survey (ACS). For obvious reasons, there is little incentive for anyone, let alone criminal aliens, to self-report their crimes. Many respondents will likely also fail to disclose that they are not a citizen out of fear of discovery and deportation.

These studies overlook disturbing actual data on crimes committed by criminal aliens. For example, the Government Accountability Office released two unsettling reports in 2005 on criminal aliens who are in prison for committing crimes in the United States, and issued an updated report in 2011.

The first report found that criminal aliens, both legal and illegal, make up 27 percent of all federal prisoners. Yet non-citizens are only about nine percent of the nations adult population. Thus, judging by the numbers in federal prisons alone, non-citizens commit federal crimes at three times the rate of citizens.

The findings in the second report are even more disturbing. It reviewed the criminal histories of 55,322 aliens in federal or state prisons and local jails who entered the country illegally. Those illegal aliens were arrested 459,614 times, an average of 8.3 arrests per illegal alien, and committed almost 700,000 criminal offenses, an average of roughly 12.7 offenses per illegal alien.

The 2011 GAO report is more of the same. The criminal histories of 251,000 criminal aliens showed that they had committed close to three million criminal offenses. Sixty-eight percent of those in federal prison and 66 percent of those in state prisons were from Mexico. Their offenses ranged from homicide and kidnapping to drugs, rape, burglary, and larceny.

Once again, these statistics are not fully representative of crimes committed by illegal aliens this report only reflects the criminal histories of aliens who were in prison. If there were a way to include all crimes committed by criminal aliens, the numbers would likely be higher since prosecutors often drop criminal charges against an illegal alien if immigration authorities will deport the alien.

The GAO reports also highlight another flaw in using survey data from a national sample. A key factor highlighted in the GAO reports is that criminal aliens from Mexico disproportionately make up incarcerations and that most arrests are made in the three border states of California, Texas, and Arizona.

In sum, it has not been proven that illegal aliens commit crimes at a lesser rate than either native-born or naturalized American citizens. In fact, existing data may support the opposite conclusion.

But even if it were true, it would be irrelevant to the point being made by President Trump that none of the millions of crimes committed by illegal aliens would occur if they were not in the country in the first place or were deported when they were caught instead of being turned loose to repeatedly prey on other victims. That is a simple truth that too many American families know from personal experience.

Hans von Spakovsky is a Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation. He is the coauthor,along with John Fund, of Whos Counting? How Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote at Risk and Obamas Enforcer: Eric Holders Justice Department.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

See original here:
Crimes by illegal aliens, not legal immigrants, are the real problem ... - The Hill (blog)

This is a rush transcript from "The First 100 Days," April 5, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, "THE FIRST 100 DAYS" HOST: Breaking news in Washington tonight. The president changes his tone as he takes on serious challenges on the world stage. With this changing guard at the White House, what does the staff moves really mean and how will they together tackle a brutal chemical weapons attack by a leader that the prior administration vowed would be gone by now, as North Korea brazenly fires off another banned missile test, the president gets ready to challenge the Chinese President this weekend on why he has done nothing to stop them. And at home, new questions about the legality of unmasking for American officials. President Trump today, stood side-by-side in the Rose Garden as he welcomed the King of Jordan and made this promise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I have to just say that the world is a mess. I inherited a mess. Whether it's the Middle East, whether it's North Korea, whether at so many other things, whether it's in our country, horrible trade deals -- I inherited a mess. We're going to fix it. We're going to fix it. OK.

MACCALLUM: I'm Martha MacCallum. Welcome to a jam-packed day 76 of the first 100. Later tonight, I will discuss what could be a massive policy shift on Syria and the latest in the efforts to bring former top Obama official, Susan Rice, in front of a Congressional Committee for questioning. As Senators Tom Cotton and Senator John McCain joined me.

But first, earlier today, I sat down with Vice President Mike Pence, where we spoke about the attack in Syria, whether the U.S. is prepared to go it alone on North Korea, the National Security Council shakeup that happened today and the recently resurrected health care bill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: Mr. Vice President, thank you very much for taking time with us today.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: We appreciate it. There's a lot to talk about so I want to dive right in. I know that you've been very busy trying to get a second round of this health care bill, up and running, speaking with people on Capitol Hill. And the latest word is that the talks aren't going that well. That the moderates are unhappy that you've brought the conservatives a little bit more on board, the Club for Growth, and they like the way that this bill looks right now. Is that an accurate reflection? Is it falling apart?

PENCE: Well, first let me say, Republicans are united in our commitment to keep the promise we made to the American people years ago, to repeal and replace ObamaCare. And President Trump and I couldn't be more grateful with the determination that the men and women serving in the Congress under the Republican banner are bringing to this effort. But, clearly, few weeks back, Congress wasn't quite ready to take the first step to begin the end of ObamaCare, but conversations have continued since then. I think -- I think we've made good progress, and I've seen good faith on all sides.

MACCALLUM: There has been some talk about having something put together by Friday. It doesn't sound like you're there.

PENCE: Well, we'll see. Actually, we don't want to put any timeline on it, but I can tell you that there are good faith discussions underway. And the president and I are encouraged. Not that it will get done in any particular period of time but that it's going to get done.

MACCALLUM: You've put yourself on a line with this, and said "I'm going to lead the charge on this," and many believe that's why you were, in some ways, brought on to the ticket that you were the person with congressional experience, that you are the man who can do that. Do you feel any concern about that responsibility?

PENCE: It's the greatest honor in my life to serve as vice president for President Donald Trump in whatever way I can be helpful in advancing the president's agenda. Either on Capitol Hill or around the country, or occasionally around the world, it's my great privilege to do it.

MACCALLUM: So, let me ask you about the leadership in the White House. This morning, it was announced that Steve Bannon would no longer be on the principals committee for the National Security Council, and that's being called a "shake-up". What's going on with that?

PENCE: Well, with H.R. McMaster as our National Security Advisor, I think the president's action adding the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, adding the Director of National Intelligence, and moving a couple of our senior personnel off the National Security Council, just simply represents a very routine evolution of the National Security team around the president.

MACCALLUM: So, it's not a demotion for Steve Bannon.

PENCE: Well, not for Steve, not for Tom. These are very highly valued members of this administration. They're going to continue to play important policy roles. But I think with H.R. McMaster's addition as our National Security Advisor, a man of extraordinary background in military, this is just a natural evolution to ensure the National Security Council is organized in a way that best serves the president in resolving and making those difficult decisions.

MACCALLUM: One of the issues that keeps hanging around is this Russia's story, and it doesn't look like it's going to go away anytime soon. One of the most recent developments is Susan Rice being named as the person who unmasked names of the Trump administration. She said she was just doing her job. Do you believe that?

PENCE: Well, I think the American people have a right to know what was going on. And we have every confidence that the intelligence committees in the house and the senate will get to the bottom of all of these allegations. Our focus is on the agenda, it's on moving this country forward.

MACCALLUM: You think she should testify?

PENCE: I think that's a decision for members of Congress, but I would say that the American people have a right to know if there was surveillance of any private citizen in this country, and the identity of those citizens who has revealed, people I have a right to know why. And the fact that it involved our campaign and our transition, I think is -- should be deeply troubling to anyone who cherishes civil liberties in this country.

MACCALLUM: So, you believe there was a political motivation? Do you think there was reverse monitoring as that has been suggested?

PENCE: Martha, I would hesitate to speculate because these issues are so serious. But, we think it is -- it is within the jurisdiction and the purview of the intelligence committees in the house and the senate to get to the bottom of this.

MACCALLUM: All right. I want to turn your attention overseas because we have all seen the horrific pictures of what happened in Syria. A chemical attack that took the lives of families, of children, who does the administration believe was responsible for that attack?

PENCE: All evidence points to the Assad regime in Syria. And I know the president and I, and our entire administration, condemn this chemical attack in Syria in the strongest possible terms, it cannot be tolerated. Yesterday, President Trump joined leaders around the world condemning this heinous attack. And will continue to do so.

MACCALLUM: But the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, recently said that Syria -- the Syrian people will determine their own future. And that removing Assad is not necessarily the top priority, in terms of foreign policy anymore. Some believe that this chemical attack was in response to that.

PENCE: Well, first, let's remember how we got here. Back in 2012, President Obama said that if Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people, that that would cross a red line and there would be consequences. There were none. We were told that there was an agreement by the Russians and the Syrians to destroy their chemical weapons, and that the threat to civilians from a chemical attack had been eliminated. It wasn't. And yesterday's horrific attack, which grieves my heart, not just as an office holder but as a dad. I can't -- no American can look at those images and not be heartsick. It is a reflection of the failure of the last administration to both confront the mindless violence of the Assad regime, and also whole Russia and Syria, to account for the promises that they've made to destroy chemical weapons.

MACCALLUM: People would agree with you on that. But then, they would say "Now, we're in a new administration --

PENCE: Yes, we are.

MACCALLUM: -- and President Trump during the campaign said that safe zones had to be set up in Syria." Is it time to renew the call for Assad to be ousted and to establish those safe zones for these people?

PENCE: I think you saw Ambassador Haley at the United Nations today expressed the very strong position of the United States of America. We are hopeful that there may well be action in the United Nations Security Council. But let me be clear, all options are on the table.

MACCALLUM: Do you hold the Russians responsible as well?

PENCE: Russians are in a close-working alliance with the Assad regime in Syria. And the time has come for them to keep the word that they made, to see to the elimination of chemical weapons so that they no longer threaten the people in their country.

MACCALLUM: In terms of North Korea, the President of China is about to arrive in the United States, and they are saber-rattling again with another missile launch. It's being said now by experts in the field, General Jack Keane and others that we need to go after the underground nuclear sites there, the areas where these missiles are launched from, that the military option may be the only one left. Do you agree?

PENCE: But let me say, I know that President Trump is very much looking forward to welcoming President Xi to the Southern White House this weekend. I think they are looking forward to a productive discussion on our economic relationship. But our expectation is that North Korea will also be a part of that conversation. And as the president said this weekend, if China won't deal with North Korea, we will.

MACCALLUM: But I think the tone of this meeting in Florida will be when -- we know the president wants to change trade practices, he spoken out about that for decades. And you've got this expansionism that China is exhibiting and their reluctance for years and years to crack down on North Korea. That makes as a pretty tough meeting, doesn't it?

PENCE: Well, the president has described it as maybe a difficult meeting. But our expectation is that both of those leaders are going to have an opportunity to get to know one another, have an opportunity to sit down. What they're going to find in President Trump is a strong leader, who's going to put America first, and he's going to be willing to talk about the hard things. The fact that we lose $500 billion a year and a trade deficit to China, that we've seen manufacturing leaving this country and going to China, the fact that we see China constructing bases in the South China Sea far beyond and well into international waters and other areas, I'm sure will all be topics.

MACCALLUM: So, on THE FIRST 100 DAYS, we often ask our guests what grade they would give the administration for the week. So now that you're about three quarters of the way through that first 100 days, what grade do you give the administration so far?

PENCE: I give us a very solid A because you look at the fundamentals, you look at the fact that the latest job report, more than -- more than three quarters of a million jobs created since the beginning of this year. President's been keeping his promise to roll back the avalanche of regulations that was stifling jobs and growth in this economy, has taken decisive action to end illegal immigration, and as Secretary Kelly testified today, we seen a dramatic reduction of illegal immigration at our borders. We see America standing tall in the world again, companies are reinvesting in America and creating those good-paying jobs, and what the American people see every single day is a president who is keeping his word to the American people.

MACCALLUM: Vice President Pence, thank you very much. Good to see you today.

PENCE: Good to see you, Martha.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: So, my thanks to the vice president for sitting down with us earlier. We're going to bring you some bonus clips from the interview coming up later in the show, but first still ahead on a very busy day, 76 in Washington, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton is here with his unique take on the Susan Rice question, on whether he believes that she will testify before his committee.

Plus Senator John McCain is here with his reaction to the language that we heard in the Rose Garden this afternoon, as President Trump signals a shift on the Syria policy, after that horrific chemical attack in the country.

And House Intel Committee member, Eric Swalwell, is here. He claims that the investigation of Susan Rice would be just another distraction. We will ask him why, straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC SWALWELL, D-CALIFORNIA: Well, Wolf, I'll just say this, we have agreed on our witness list. I'm excited that that's showing the American people we're going forward. And if they want to put a hurt a lot like bringing Susan Rice in, that's fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Breaking tonight, Republican lawmakers continue to call for investigations into potential unmasking of Trump transition team members. All at the request of President Obama's top security official, Susan Rice. Experts from across the intel community are now urging Americans to think twice before they take Rice's brush-off of this at face value. A two- decade CIA veteran, Fred Fleitz, cautions this, quote, "Rice's denials don't add up. It is hard to fathom how the demasking of multiple Trump campaign and transition officials was not politically motivated."

Joining me now, Congressman Eric Swalwell, he sits on the House Intel Committee, and says that Rice's appearance in front of any panel would represent an unnecessary hurdle, he said earlier. Congressman, welcome. Good to have you today.

SWALWELL: Yes, thanks for having me.

MACCALLUM: Why would it be an unnecessary hurdle?

SWALWELL: Because there's no evidence that there was any wrongdoing. But if the Republicans think that this has to be on the witness list, we'll clear that hurdle and we'll make it to the finish line, and we're determined to do that.

MACCALLUM: So, you're saying that you don't believe that there are, sort of, two sides to this investigation? That there is the side of the unmasking issue and whether or not there was an effort by the prior administration to observe or surveil the incoming administration to damage them? And the other side of it, which is whether or not there was any collusion between Trump team folks and the Russians?

SWALWELL: What I believe is Russia attacked our democracy.

MACCALLUM: So you don't believe there are two investigations to do?

SWALWELL: Not with unmasking. I don't think there's any evidence yet, and actually, you know, the attack doesn't --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Someone says there's no evidence on the other side.

SWALWELL: Oh, there's a lot of evidence. I mean, I'm just on the unclassified side. We've seen, you know, Roger Stone talking with Guccifer 2.0, who receives his information from Russia. Carter Page going to Russia years after years, recruited by Russia, and a month after, it was revealed that Russia was attacking us. But here, this seems to be a pattern of obstruction.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: But investigators who've looked into this (INAUDIBLE) have said that so far, there is no evidence that there was collusion between the Trump team and the Russians. No evidence, so far, and I think everyone agrees that that is an ongoing investigation and as it should be. But I don't know how you can say that there's no evidence on the other side of the equation, and accept that that's true in terms of the Trump side of it.

SWALWELL: But it's your only evidence that Donald Trump said it. Because he also said that Russia didn't interfere in our election. That was proved wrong. He said that President Obama wiretapped him. That was proved wrong. So, I think he has a credibility problem on Russia, which is unfortunate. We need him to be credible because North Korea is firing ballistic missiles and Syria is unraveling.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: But why -- Congressman, why you don't have curiosity to find out why there would be unmasking of American officials. Shouldn't this concern you and any American citizen, just to understand? And if there's nothing there, there's nothing there. But why not bring her in and ask the questions?

SWALWELL: Because we don't have time to have curiosity on what Donald Trump makes up. And actually, Martha, what's interesting, he's the only person in the world who has the ability to actually show us the documents. So if the evidence is there he'd show us.

MACCALLUM: It's been separately verified by a number of sources that the unmasking goes back to Susan Rice. Now, there is a division in the intel community of whether or not that's normal, or whether or not that's very unusual. So I guess, I just don't understand. If the shoe were on the other foot, wouldn't you want to know if someone had unmasked your name, whether or not they did it illegally, or whether they had good reason to do so?

SWALWELL: The shoe was on the foot of the Trump team right now. They're under an investigation and this seems to be another tactic to avoid, you know, finding the truth.

MACCALLUM: That seems very partisan, Congressman.

SWALWELL: No, you know, I think, people at home and Republicans and Democrats, they say this country is worth defending, and they see a president who continues to want to obstruct. And I'll just say this --

MACCALLUM: So, the privacy of American citizens isn't worth defending?

SWALWELL: So, Susan Rice, if she sees that foreigner A is talking to foreigner B about U.S. person C, she can request to see who that is and it only goes to her eyes. But I think --

MACCALLUM: That's right. The question is was the reason for requesting it, political in nature, was there a compelling national security issue that compelled that? And I don't understand, you and your position, not at least being curious enough to want to know the answer to those questions.

SWALWELL: I do. But the president won't show me and we have asked to be able to go over and see those documents. He, actually, is the only person (INAUDIBLE) --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Keep pushing. Maybe you'll get them.

SWALWELL: Oh, I am.

MACCALLUM: OK.

SWALWELL: And I hope he does because -- we will -- we'll clear this hurdle and this isn't going away, and people want us to get to the bottom of it.

MACCALLUM: I wish you'd have an open investigation of anybody who could potentially pertain to any of this. But I thank you for coming in and we'll be watching. Thank you, Congressman. Good to see you tonight.

SWALWELL: You, too.

MACCALLUM: All right. So, President Trump tends to light up Twitter at night, as you know. But last night, the fireworks came from our own political analyst, Brit Hume, jousting with Ben Rhodes, the former top foreign policy advisor to President Obama, at issue -- the media's near blackout of the Susan Rice revelations.

So, what does he think of all this today? Brit Hume joins us now. Brit, good evening to you. Good to see you tonight.

BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Martha.

MACCALLUM: You know, we've read with great interest, your back and forth with Ben Rhodes, and we have some of those that we'll put up on the screen because it goes -- it goes right to the topic that I was just discussing with Congressman Swalwell. And it starts by, you know, "This is amazing. The story is clearly news," you say, "and refusing to report it is not the behavior of a news organization." That came off of Don Lemon's at CNN saying that they were just not going to cover this at all. And Ben Rhodes comes back, "Bullying people into covering routine work of any senior security official as news is a clear effort to distract from questions about Trump and Obama." And you say, "Bullying? Please. If this was so routine, why did Rice falsely claim on PBS that she knew nothing about it?" That's the set up. I mean, it's an interesting question. It's the one that the Congressman and I were just talking about, the lack of curiosity.

HUME: Well, it's certainly been a lack of curiosity in the part of a lot of news media. I noticed that it finally made news on a couple of mainstream outlets today because members of Congress were calling for Susan Rice to be called to testify. But the revelation that she was involved in unmasking requests had not previously been news to them. So, this is one of the reasons why Fox News was formed, to cover the stories that others will not. And the result of this, Martha, I think it's unmistakable. Your previous guest is grumbling about it, notwithstanding is that these Congressional investigations, and possibly, the FBI investigation as well, will now proceed along two tracks, simultaneously. One of them will be to determine whether there's any collusion between the Trump team and the Russians in an effort to get him elected, and the other will be whether the intelligence involving Trump campaign officials and associates was improperly gathered, perhaps, improperly unmasked, and then possibly improperly distributed.

Those seem to me to be both relevant questions. I think it's pretty well acknowledged now that that's the case, although, Democrats seem so afraid that this hope that they have, that Trump can be brought down by being found of collusion with the Russians, that -- they're so afraid that that investigation will go off track. You heard the congressman say "We don't have time for that." Of course, we have time for that. There's always time to do an investigation, and it appears were going to do one and it's going to proceed on two tracks.

MACCALLUM: Yes. You know, Brit, given your time spent in this town and the presidencies that you have watched, what is your gut tell you about this investigation? About how long it's going to hang around and about how serious it may be on both of those tracks that you mention?

HUME: Martha, once you get into these Congressional investigations and you have, you know, you have staff preparation, and you have questioning in advance of witnesses, and then you have public hearings, and sometimes they go on for days, we're looking at this being with us for the foreseeable future. This is going to be with us a while. And this is proceeding very much along the lines of many Congressional investigations that I've covered in the past, where one party has its list of witnesses it wants to call, to elicit the facts that it wants to see brought out.

And the other party is moving in a different direction, trying to get the witnesses it once called, to elicit the facts it wants to see brought out. And out of that, sort of, competitive and even adversarial process, the public often finds out quite a lot. That's how these things work. We have an adversarial system in Congress. We have two competing parties. They conduct these investigations. They are rarely nonpartisan, sometimes they are bipartisan, but normally, they're fairly partisan, and that's not a bad way to get into facts. That's what happened at Watergate. That's what happened in (INAUDIBLE) country. That's what happened in innumerable other investigations and that seems to be where we're headed now. It's going to take a while.

MACCALLUM: Brit, thank you. Good to see you tonight.

HUME: You bet, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Still ahead, Senator John McCain joins me to discuss the devastating chemical attacks in Syria, and his reaction to what seemed today to be a policy shift on this from President Trump. So, we'll ask John McCain about that coming up.

But up next, as more and more members of Congress call for investigations into Susan Rice, Senate Intel Committee member, Tom Cotton, joins me up on the roof of this building to discuss what the chances are of that. Plus, what did he mean by this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON, R-ARKANSAS: Susan Rice is the Typhoid Mary of the Obama administration foreign policy. Every time something went wrong, she seemed to turn up in the middle of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Go here to read the rest:
VP Mike Pence talks health care reform, surveillance claims and Syria - Fox News