Deep Dive
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Have I Got News For You is back for another season. Roy Wood Jr., Amber Ruffin, and Michael Ian Black are finding the funny in the week's biggest stories. Have I Got News For You returns Saturday at 9 on CNN and streamed next day on Max. I'm Shannon Breen. Tragedy on the Potomac as we get new details about the deadliest air disaster in this country in more than two decades.
It's indescribable in terms of like the loss that we had. What caused the collision? Still unknown as evidence is still being pulled from the Potomac and families mourn. And the fallout from the crash becomes a big test for the new Trump administration. We'll talk to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the latest on the investigations and what steps are being taken to keep travelers safe now.
Then, where the president's cabinet picks stand in the confirmation process. Did he say that the headquarters should be shut down? Mr. Chair. I don't deserve an answer to that question. I'll ask Senators Lindsey Graham and John Fetterman how they are planning to vote on the president's most controversial nominees. Plus, our Sunday panel on Americans' views of both parties now that the dust has settled on the 2024 election. All right now on Fox News Sunday. ♪
Hello, Fox News in Washington. We begin with a look at some of today's top headlines. Three more Israeli hostages are free after more than a year in Hamas captivity in Gaza, including one who has dual American citizenship. In exchange, Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is traveling to the U.S. today to meet with President Trump about the upcoming second phase of the ceasefire.
Investigators in Philadelphia are still sifting through burned cars, damaged homes and the charred debris of a medevac jet that crashed shortly after takeoff Friday evening, killing all six people on board and at least one person on the ground. Investigators have yet to find the cockpit voice recorder, which could hold important clues about what happened.
Now, that deadly crash happened two days after a commercial plane and military Black Hawk helicopter collided here in Washington over the Potomac on Wednesday, killing 67 people. And we learned last night that the federal aviation system's main online warning system for pilots went down. Technicians have been working for hours to fix the problem. A backup system is currently up and running. In a moment, we'll get the very latest from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. But first, we turn to Fox News correspondent Grady Trimble near that Potomac crash scene. Hello, Grady.
Good morning, Shannon. There are around 600 flight delays across the country right now as recovery efforts continue along the Potomac. Crews have pulled 42 of the victims from the river. Many of their families are here in the DC area after a horrific week for aviation.
NTSB investigators are on the scene of back-to-back transportation tragedies on the East Coast. On Wednesday night, the first deadly commercial plane crash in the U.S. in more than 15 years. An Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, seconds from landing at Washington's Reagan National Airport. All 67 people involved died. NTSB member Todd Inman has been spending time with the family members who lost loved ones. Some that want to give us hugs, some that are just mad and angry.
They're just all hurt. I don't want to have to meet with another set of those parents like that again. Not fair. Could be your family. With questions swirling over whether the helicopter was flying too high and whether staffing levels at the air traffic control tower were too low, Inman says there were five air traffic controllers working at the time of the crash, but only one communicating with planes and helicopters in the air. The black box from the plane, the most accurate measure of altitude, shows it was at around 325 feet at the moment of impact.
But preliminary data indicates the control tower saw the helicopter at the same time was at about 200 feet. And TSB can't yet explain that discrepancy. President Trump claims DEI hiring practices for air traffic controllers during the previous administration also bear some of the blame.
Are you saying race or gender played a role in this tragedy? It may have, I don't know. Incompetence might have played a role. Two days after the mid-air collision over the Potomac, a medical plane crash in Philadelphia killed all six Mexican nationals on board and one person on the ground, injuring 19 more.
Two of Reagan National's three runways remain closed, including the one that American Flight was supposed to land on, so the airport doesn't interfere with those recovery efforts. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is restricting helicopters from flying over the Potomac near the airport, with some exceptions, until the NTSB releases its preliminary report on the crash. Shannon? All right, great to tremble near the site of that crash. Thank you very much. We turn now to Lucas Tomlinson. He's in Florida. He's live there covering the president. Hello, Lucas.
Shannon, President Trump has slapped tariffs on the U.S.'s biggest trading partners, which some fear could spark a trade war. Canada, Mexico and China are already retaliating. Tariffs don't cause inflation. President Donald Trump's new tariffs will go into effect Tuesday. 25% on Canada and Mexico and 10% on China. 10% tariffs will be placed on Canadian energy. Trump acknowledged Friday that could raise domestic prices. There could be some temporary short-term disruption and
People will understand that. TD Economics estimates that Trump's tariffs on Canada could lead to an immediate jump on U.S. gas prices by up to 70 cents a gallon. Canada supplies about 60 percent of the crude oil the U.S. imports.
Trump says he wants to produce more domestically. They've treated us very unfairly in trade, and we will be able to make that up very quickly because we don't need the products that they have. We have all the oil you need. Trump's secretary of state in his first term defended the move. I think some of the risk of inflation that people talk about is likely overstated. Some of this will end up being absorbed by the producers.
On Capitol Hill, Trump's pick to lead the Health and Human Services, the FBI, and Director of National Intelligence received their confirmation hearings. Key Republicans voicing uncertainty about some of them. I've been struggling with your nomination. I have not made a final decision. The vice president taking to the airwaves with a warning to wavering GOP senators. You don't get to make these decisions. President Trump gets to make these decisions, and he already has.
In one of his first acts as commander-in-chief, Trump says he ordered F-18 Super Hornets from the USS Harry S. Truman to strike ISIS targets in Somalia, killing a senior planner and other terrorists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is en route to Washington. He's going to be the first foreign leader to meet President Trump since he returned to the White House. Shannon? All right, Lucas, thank you very much. Lucas Tomlinson in West Palm Beach. Joining me now, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Mr. Secretary, welcome to Fox News Sunday.
Thank you, Shannon. I want to start by asking you about the notice to air mission system or the warning system for pilots that was down overnight. Can you give us an update on where you stand with that? You know, Shannon, before we do that, I just want to extend my deepest condolences to the families that lost loved ones this past week in these air disasters. And I want to say thank you to all the first responders who did such a heroic job on the
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last night.
THE BACKUP SYSTEM IS NOW UP AND RUNNING AS WE TRY TO GET THE PRIMARY SYSTEM ONLINE. BUT THIS IS AN OLD ANTIQUATED SYSTEM. IT HAS TO BE UPGRADED. THAT'S IN THE WORKS. IT HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR YEARS. WE HAVE TO RUSH THIS NEW SYSTEM ONLINE BECAUSE, AGAIN, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO YEARS IT'S GONE DOWN. YEAH, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU MENTIONED THE CREWS THAT ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK. LIVING IN THIS AREA, I DRIVE BY THAT SITE EVERY MORNING AND EVERY EVENING, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE WORKING AROUND THE CLOCK DEDICATED AND DOING EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO ESPECIALLY OFFER SOME
AMOUNT OF CLOSURE OR HELP TO THESE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS THERE. SO HATS OFF TO THEM, ABSOLUTELY. I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE SITUATION WITH STAFFING AND WHAT'S BEEN REPORTED ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER HERE IN WASHINGTON ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE "NEW YORK TIMES" SAYS THIS, STAFFING AT THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER AT REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT WAS NOT NORMAL FOR THE TIME OF DAY AND VOLUME OF TRAFFIC. THAT'S ACCORDING TO AN INTERNAL PRELIMINARY FAA SAFETY REPORT. CAN YOU OFFER ANY MORE CLARITY ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON THAT NIGHT WITH STAFFING?
So again, I'll take the FAA at their word that it wasn't normal. And so that's part of the review process that we have to do, Shannon. We have to look and there's a consolidation of air traffic controllers an hour before the
IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN DURING THE TIME OF THIS CRASH. WHAT WAS THE APPROPRIATENESS OF THAT? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO SURGE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS IN THIS COUNTRY? THAT'S A DIFFERENT STORY. WE HAVEN'T HAD ENOUGH AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS IN AMERICA FOR A VERY LONG TIME. WE'RE WORKING WITH THE FAA TO GO HOW DO WE SURGE THE BEST AND BRIGHTEST AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS TO GET INTO THE ACADEMY, GET TRAINED UP AND MAKE SURE WE DON'T HAVE THESE STAFFING ISSUES.
They're stressed out. They're tapped out. They're overworked. That's no excuse. It's just a reality of what we have in the system. So we have a plan that's going to come out to fix the problem. But the issue is you can't flip a switch and get air traffic controllers here tomorrow. It takes years to train them up. But that's one of the questions that we're going to ask is what happened in the tower? What was going on with the staffing? What should have been done and what was done? What was the language that was used by the air traffic controller? Was it appropriate? Did they appropriately...
CONSISTENT WITH PROCEDURES AT THE FAA. BUT ALSO WE HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT WAS THE POSITION OF THE BLACK HAWK? THE ELEVATION OF THE BLACK HAWK? WERE THE BLACK HAWK PILOTS WEARING PANTS AND BALLS?
night vision goggles? And if so, why would they find a mission at 9 o'clock at night through really busy airspace around DCA as opposed to flying that mission at 1 o'clock in the morning when there's very little traffic around DCA? I want our military to be trained up and ready to go, but I also want air travelers to be safe as well, and there's a time and a place to do it, not at 9 o'clock at night when there's heavy traffic.
Yeah, you mentioned this more broadly, the issue of air traffic controllers. New York Times reporting that more than 90% of the air traffic control facilities in this country are operating below the FAA's recommended staffing levels. We know last year when the Congress passed a massive FAA reauthorization, they said at that point we were down about 3,000 air traffic controllers. So first question, are our airways and our airports safe?
Yeah, they are. We have the safest skies in the whole world. Traveling by air is the safest mode of transportation. And just to that point, if it wasn't safe, if there was an issue with air traffic controllers or staffing that couldn't keep the system and the people safe in it, the FAA would shut it down.
So, no, and we have redundancies in place. It's not just air traffic controllers, but we do have technologies on airplanes to keep them separated. So, yeah, no, this is the safest system. Our system does need to be upgraded for sure, and I'll have a conversation about that if you want, but it is safe to fly. So what about, is it a funding issue for having more air traffic controllers? Is it, as you mentioned, the recruiting, the retention issue? Is it a mix of those things?
There's a number of issues. So during COVID, there was an issue where they shut down the academies. And then when the academies reopened, the class sizes were smaller. And then even though our graduates from the academy got out, they couldn't get into a tower to train up. That happened for two years. And so we saw a plummet of air traffic controllers.
There's a mandatory retirement age for controllers. It's 55 years old. So every year we have people cycling out of the business. We need more young people coming in. And again, you can't focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion when you try to hire air traffic controllers. You focus on the best and the brightest.
I mean, again, some people may like to have this conversation around equity, but if it's your pilots or if it's your air traffic controllers, you want the best. You want the brightest protecting yourself and your family. That's what we're going to do at the department for every air traveler, getting in the great students to make sure our skies are safe.
Yeah, and at this point, as you mentioned, we're very early on, so we don't know if any of that had an impact on either of these situations. We'll talk about Philadelphia, too. But Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, a Democrat out of Virginia, said, talking about that right now, she says, it's irresponsible to blame anything or anyone right now that does a disservice to the lives that were lost. Has this conversation about DEI become a distraction in the middle of this whole thing?
So, Shannon, the mission of DOT and FAA is safety. That has been the historic mission of this agency. And over the last four years, when they're having a conversation in the last administration about changing names from cockpit to flight deck or notice to airmen to notice to air mission because it's too gender-specific, they're focused on social justice and the environment, racist roads, and
and EBEs, they've lost sight of the mission of this department. And so we have no place for anything other than the best and the brightest. And so when you look at what went wrong, you got to look at the people that you have in place at the DOT and the FAA and the leadership and the direction that leadership gives them. And it's been misplaced over the last four years. We're back on mission. We're focused on safety and having the best people delivering that safety. And I don't care your race, your religion, your sex, your sexual preference. That doesn't matter. Just the best and the brightest.
I WANT TO PLAY SOMETHING FROM THE NTSB. TOM INMAN SAID THIS LAST NIGHT ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT COME FROM THAT AGENCY. UNFORTUNATELY, AT SOME POINT, ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO BE GONE. WE'RE STILL GOING TO HAVE THE INVESTIGATION OPEN. WE'RE GOING TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS. WE GO TO EAST PALESTINE, A COMMUNITY THAT GETS DEVASTATED. STILL NOTHING IS HAPPENING. WE HAVE SEVERAL HUNDRED RECOMMENDATIONS OPEN FOR AVIATION. YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? ADOPT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE
YOU'LL SAVE LIVES. HE SOUNDED VERY FRUSTRATED. SO WHEN HE SAYS NTSB RECOMMENDATIONS NEED TO BE ADOPTED, WHO DOES THAT MEAN? DOES THAT MEAN BY CONGRESS, OTHER AGENCIES? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? SO IS PARTNERSHIP, RIGHT? IT'S PART OF THE DOT, THE FAA, AND IT'S PART OF CONGRESS. AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS THERE. I'VE TALKED TO THE NTSB. WE WANT TO PUT A LIST TOGETHER OF THE TOP 10, 15 RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY'VE MADE, FOCUS ON THEM, AND START TO IMPLEMENT THEM.
SHANNON, OUR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM, A LOT OF THE TECHNOLOGY DATES BACK TO WORLD WAR II. WE DEVELOPED THE BEST TECHNOLOGY IN THIS COUNTRY AND OTHER PEOPLE USE IT, BUT WE DON'T IMPLEMENT IT HERE. SO WE HAVE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH CONGRESS, GET THEIR BEST MINDS, THEIR BEST RESOURCES TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO UPGRADE THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. IT WILL MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT, IT WILL MAKE IT SAFER. IF I HEAR DONALD TRUMP TALK ABOUT THIS ONCE, HE'S TALKED ABOUT IT TEN TIMES, THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK IN AMERICA AS EFFECTIVELY AS OTHER PLACES IN THE WORLD. LET'S UPGRADE IT. WE SHOULD BE THE BEST.
And so, again, I need Congress's help on that one. Which Manning brother will win the FanDuel Kick of Destiny 3 on Super Bowl Sunday? Peyton or Eli? Watch the showdown live on Super Bowl Sunday. Plus, new customers bet $5 and get $200 if your bet wins. Only on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook.
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So we've got senators from both sides of the aisle here to weigh in on the fate of President Trump's latest round of cabinet nominees with razor-thin margins expected. Are they ready to announce their votes? I'll ask. And up next, we're bringing our Sunday panel with their thoughts on the president's moves to slash the federal workforce. How that's going down. You know, people have been trying to reduce federal government now for 40 years, 45 years.
And they haven't been able to do it. And this is a way of doing it, I think, very nicely. It's sort of a buyout, too. I think we're treating people very good. But if they don't show up, we've accomplished a very serious goal. We're trying to reduce government. So President Trump talked about his buyout plan offering millions of federal workers eight-month salary if they agree to leave their position. They've got to decide this week. It's all part of an aggressive push to shrink the federal workforce. Time now for our group.
Outkick columnist Mary Katherine Hamm, Josh Holmes, former chief of staff to Mitch McConnell, Fox News senior political analyst Juan Williams, and Josh Kraschauer, editor-in-chief of Jewish Insider. Welcome, everyone. So you know the deal that is on the table. There are millions impacted. Here's the fork in the road.
DESIGNATION THAT HAS COME OUT IN E-MAIL BUT IS ALSO ON THE OPM GOVERNMENT WEBSITE. IT SAYS THE FEDERAL WORKS FORCE IS EXPECTED TO UNDERGO SIGNIFICANT NEAR-TERM CHANGES. AS A RESULT, YOU MAY WISH TO DEPART THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON TERMS THAT PROVIDE YOU WITH SUFFICIENT TIME AND ECONOMIC SECURITY TO PLAN FOR YOUR FUTURE AND
Josh, they add, have a nice vacation. Have a nice vacation. Very kind. Very kind. Look, I think you're looking at a Trump administration that had four long years to think about what they would do differently. Clearly, they've had a mandate since the first Trump administration to try to reduce the federal footprint. And now they figured out how to do it. And I think, look, according to the Trump administration, 6%.
6% of the federal workforce shows up for work on a day-to-day basis. There is not an American taxpayer anywhere in this country that thinks that's acceptable. This is one way to remedy all of that. Well, Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat out of Virginia, says not so fast. Here's his warning. My message to federal employees who receive this is, yeah, the president has tried to terrorize you for about a week and then gives you a little sweetheart offer if you resign in the next week.
We're just going to pay you for doing nothing for the next seven months. Don't be fooled. Josh, he's warning them, and we know a lot of people are considering it around here. Well, look, the big question is, do you take on the federal workforce with a scalpel or do you do it with an axe? And this has got Elon Musk's fingerprints all over the changes that are taking place in the federal government. Look, I think a lot of people support a lot of the wasteful initiatives, the DEI executive order. That's been a frustration even for people who are not involved.
particularly conservative. But I think there's going to be some challenges because Congress needs to appropriate the money for the buyouts. And it could cost billions of dollars if enough people take these buyouts. And it may prove to be legally dubious to be able to just cut as much of the workforce as Elon Musk and Donald Trump want to do. So I think this is going to have some serious legal challenges to it. And it may prove that to actually take on the workforce and take on the federal government, you have to do it a little more carefully. And you also want to be careful that you don't lose some of the more
essential people like air traffic control staffers that are essential to run the government. Well, and we do know that there are exceptions carved out, military, those who are involved with public safety. The FAA says they're still onboarding people. So we'll see. But in the meantime, this is all coming as President Trump is getting good news, feeling emboldened about all these things, which are caught up in a lot of legal wrangling. Quentin Payak poll this week says President Trump is starting his second term in the White House with a job approval rating 10 points higher than at the start of his first presidential term, Juan.
Well, I think it's a honeymoon right now. The question is how long does the honeymoon last you? And what we've seen with recent presidents is that the honeymoon does not last very long. First 100 days we saw, I think it was Bill Clinton went down 17. Obama went down. And of course, Trump went down, I think, eight plus points in his first 100 days in his first term. But I think that what you have to understand is that
For this moment, when you look at Trump's behavior in the past week, we talk about these federal job cuts. Well, what happens if -- People don't like government. Everybody says, you know, "Don't 6% show up." Okay, that's terrible. But then what happens when you have FBI,
What happens when you have questions about what's going on at the Secret Service at air traffic control? Oh, so we have fewer people. Does it mean less security for us as Americans and for our families? Does it mean that there are going to be consequences? Does it mean the stock market?
suddenly has a reaction to the tariffs. What happens if the stock market goes down? So I think that you have to keep in mind two things. Honeymoons don't last in two. Trump's approval is higher than it's right now than it ever was in his first term, but it's still not as high as most incoming presidents. Well, he's done a lot of things, some of them controversial, some of them stuck in legal wrangling, like we said, the birthright citizenship order, you know, the fact,
federal hiring freeze, all kinds of things like that. But he's feeling very emboldened because the Quinnipiac poll shows a lot of support for other things that he does want to do or he's trying to do, things like troops to the border, that kind of thing. But the headline for The New York Times is this. Trump's flood the zone strategy leaves opponents gasping in outrage. This time the flood is bigger, wider, and more brutally efficient. I'm kidding.
Right. I think that's part of the plan. And honestly, when you see things like the rescission of the one memo on the freeze of federal spending, it's out of character from the rest of it, which is going pretty smoothly. I think it's a different tack than last time. Also, oh, to be terrorized like a federal worker with an eight-month severance package. Will someone please terrorize me? I have never been terrorized in such a way before. Federal workers, civil service workers have protections that
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DON'T KNOW ABOUT, HAVE NEVER BEEN FAMILIARIZED WITH. ONE OF THE GOALS OF, I THINK, THEIR COMMUNICATION PROCESS HERE IN DOING THIS IS TO ADVERTISE THE WAY THAT FEDERAL WORKERS ARE TREATED DIFFERENTLY THAN NORMAL AMERICANS IN THEIR JOBS. THEY'RE BEING ASKED TO COME TO WORK. TO A LOT OF AMERICANS THAT DOES NOT SEEM UNREASONABLE. JUAN HAS A POINT, OR YOU GUYS HAVE A POINT, IF YOU DON'T DO IT WITH A SCALPEL MAYBE YOU HAVE SOME DISRUPTIONS.
THE LEVIATHAN IS GOING TO RESIST THE HARPOONS BEING THROWN AT IT. I THINK THAT FEDERAL WORKERS DO RISK A LITTLE BIT OVERPLAYING THEIR HANDS BY THINKING THAT THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DEMOCRACY. MANY PEOPLE IN AMERICA WHO ARE WORKING FOR THEM, THEY ARE WORKING FOR THEM.
differently than federal workers do, do not see them as the pillar of the democracy that they see themselves at. They see them as federal employees who work at taxpayer expense. Well, they have to make a decision by February 6th, so it'll be interesting to see how many numbers decide to pursue this route. Panel, do not go far because the president's most controversial nominees were grilled on the hill as the president and his allies lean on GOP senators to swiftly confirm his nominees, or some say face the possibility of a primary. We're going to ask Senators John Fetterman.
and Lindsey Graham how they plan to vote. They're just ahead. The Senate has already confirmed eight of President Trump's exceptional cabinet nominees. We expect the Senate to continue quickly confirming the remainder of President Trump's well-qualified nominees in the days ahead. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt feeling optimistic about the rest of President Trump's cabinet nominees making it through the Senate, but the toughest are still to come, and our next guest may hold one of the key votes. Joining us now, Senator John Fetterman. Welcome back to Fox News Sunday.
How are you? OK, I'm great. Let's start with our FK Junior. He's been through his hearing. This is what The Washington Post says. His confirmation hearings were even worse than expected. The HHS nominee's answers to senators questions were absurd and dangerous. Now I know that you've had multiple conversations with him. Where are you this morning?
I have. I've invested a lot of time to really understand his background and to learn more about the man. And I've sat down with him twice in my office to have a conversation. So whatever the vote does comes down on, that's going to come, it's going to come an informed view. And I approached with an open mind and I watched the hearing. And that's how the process works. So have you made a decision?
I, well, I've been following it and I talked to my colleagues on both sides and I've said this on the record. It's like, you know, it's been challenging for sure. Absolutely. It's certainly not a slam dunk for the nomination. Will you reveal your vote before you get to the floor or is this going to be like a game time decision for you? No, no. I mean, it's like, you mean right before I stick my thumb in the door? Yep, are we going to know before that?
It's just part of an ongoing, it's part of the ongoing dialogue on where we are at this. But I've made an investment to really understand and talk to all of the nominees. And I treated everyone with respect and I took the time to listen. And that's been part of my commitment. Okay, so you've also met with Kash Patel. He's been tapped to lead the FBI. There are reports that after your conversation, you said he assured you he would not go after a so-called enemies list. Have you made a decision on him? No.
I THINK THAT'S THE ONLY PROCESS. I THINK I'M THE ONLY DEMOCRAT OR MAYBE ONE OF THE ONLY FEW THAT HAVE ACTUALLY MET WITH ALL OF THEM. I'VE APPROACHED ALL OF THEM WITH THAT OPEN MIND TO HAVE A CONVERSATION. I DON'T TRUST AND CERTAINLY NOT MANY OF THE THINGS THAT WERE WRITTEN OR SAID ABOUT ME WEREN'T TRUE. SO I ASSUME THE SAME MIGHT BE THEM AS TOO.
And that's part of, you know, if our job is to consent, to consent. And that is part of the process. And there are some along out of all of them. I have voted for them and there's some that I won't vote for them. But it's going to be about an open process that I've maintained throughout the entire time. And I know that includes meeting with Tulsi Gabbard as well. I mean, she's got concerns from both sides of the aisle. Can you tell us more about your conversations with her and if you've landed on a decision regarding her?
No, it's again, I just really pretty much the exact same as the two that you just brought up. OK, now you have, as you noted, voted for some of President Trump's nominees in this process, and you were one of the only Democrats to vote for the Lake and Riley Act. We saw you as part of the signing ceremony for that with her family, with President Trump this week.
Now, there's been some blowback from the left about voting for that act, about the ice raids that are going on now across the country. I want to get your reaction to some local officials who say either they're not going to cooperate, they're going to actively block these, or in some cases they're just going to give people advice on how to avoid the raids. Here are some local officials reacting in the last few days.
Our police officers will not be cooperating with federal law enforcement around federal immigration law. Being a welcoming city just simply states that our local police department will not behave as federal agents. We have a sanctuary ordinance, a state law SB 54 that generally prohibits our police department from participating in immigration enforcement. So what obligations do or don't you think local officials have with respect to the feds and these deportations?
I HOPE EVERY LOCAL OFFICIAL WOULD AGREE THAT ANY OF THE MIGRANTS THAT ARE HERE WITH CRIMINAL BACKGROUNDS OR ENGAGING IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, I THINK THEY SHOULD SUPPORT THAT. NOW IF ICE COMES TO ROUND THEM UP, I HOPE THEY WOULD PROVIDE THAT KIND OF SUPPORT. I CERTAINLY WOULD NEVER SUPPORT
otherwise innocent migrants in those kinds of situations or kicking in a door at a school. But I think we can all agree that every migrant here with a criminal background or engaging in criminal behavior should all need to go.
OK, so you also were the only Democrat vote in trying to move together a measure pushing back against the ICC. Specifically, it seems, for their decision to go after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among others. This illegitimate court counteraction act was supposed to impose sanctions with respect to the ICC engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies.
Why do you think you were the only Democrat to vote on moving that forward procedurally? Well, I said that on social media, that I was incredibly disappointed. I absolutely disagree with that. I can't really understand why my party hasn't joined me in voting to sanction the ICC when you've equivocated the Democratic leader of our special ally with the rapists and cowards of Hamas, especially after what you've seen, after terrorizing that poor hostage.
you had hundreds and hundreds of people you know the chaos you know it's like and they've equivocated that with with the prime minister it's vile i mean my colleague that's going to be next up on your show we've had a long-going uh conversation in order to sanction the icc and i was absolutely supportive of that and i don't really can't defend why my party chose not to so the prime minister
The minister is going to - he's on his way to Washington to have meetings here, including at the White House with President Trump. Do you think that there will be a different relationship between the U.S. and Israel with a Trump administration versus a Biden administration?
Well, there's going to be some situations where I absolutely support some of the decisions with Israel that Joe Biden made. And I'm going to agree with some of the decisions with President Trump, or I'm going to disagree with them as well. But that's why my vote and my voice is going to follow Israel through all of the situation. I'm going to disagree with either of the presidents, but I'm going to stand with Israel, just like that vote against the ICC. And I absolutely was supporting blocking
the ban on the 2,000-pound bombs as well. I fully support bringing those back. All right, Senator, we will watch for your votes on all those critical nominees, but you can always let me know if you decide to before you press that button. It's always great to see you, sir. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me. Okay, so joining us now is your colleague, Senator from South Carolina, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham. Welcome back, Senator.
Thank you. All right. I want to ask you about something, by the way, that you and Senator Fetterman have worked on a few things, but you also have both signed on to this resolution with regard to Iran's nuclear program. Part of that resolution says that all options should be considered. You and I have had this conversation about whether you mean a U.S. military strike in Iran. What do you mean? What are you urging President Trump to keep open as an option?
WE'RE TRYING TO DEFINE THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE IN ACCURATELY. SENATOR FEDERMAN HAS BEEN A CHAMPION FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL. I WENT TO HIM AND ASKED HIM, WOULD YOU WORK WITH ME TO DO A SENSE OF SENATE RESOLUTION SAYING THAT OVER DECADES IRAN HAS BEEN TRYING TO ACQUIRE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, NOT A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, THAT THEY'RE THE LARGEST STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM, THAT THEY WOULD BLOW ISRAEL OFF THE MAP IF THEY HAD A NUCLEAR WEAPON, THEY WOULD COME AFTER US. AND HE SAID, I WOULD BE GLAD TO.
It lays out the case against Iran's nuclear ambition. Bibi and the Israelis are going to have to make a decision relatively soon what to do about the Iran nuclear program. This is not an authorization to use force, but I'm here to tell you and the audience in the world that I think America should support an effort by Israel if they decide to decimate the Iranian nuclear program because I think it's a threat to mankind.
Israel is strong. Iran is weak. Hezbollah, Hamas have been decimated. They're not finished off, but they've been weakened. And there's an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven't seen in decades. And I think it would be in the world's interest for us to decimate the Iranian nuclear threat while we can. If we don't, we will regret it later. And Senator
And Fetterman has been a champion on this and every other issue regarding Israel. Okay, so it sounds like you're saying it's more about supporting Israel if they decide to strike versus us having a U.S. military strike? Yes. Okay. Yes, they need some assistance, but it would be their actions. Okay, now I want to try to get some answers from you on some of these nominees. Let's start with RFK Jr.
You've been one of the most pro-life folks in the Senate for a long time. The National Review has this warning. Pro-lifers should be especially wary of a man who publicly advocated legislation to codify Roe v. Wade in 2023 and affirmed in 2024 that he supported legal abortion, quote, even if it's full term. Given your dedication to that topic, is it something you're willing to compromise on?
I am now OK supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing, he's committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump's pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy, dealing with chemical abortions. So I will take him at his word. I'm comfortable with what he said.
on the pro-life issue. He has been radically pro-choice as a person, but I do believe that as secretary he will implement a pro-life agenda that will be pushed by President Trump. So I will be a yes. - Okay. - But I'll also watch every move he makes. - Okay, I'm assuming you're a yes on RFK Jr., assuming you're a yes on Kash Patel. What about Tulsi Gabbard? - Yes.
Yeah, I'll be yes on her. I was waiting to see what she said about 702. That's the ability to attract foreigners overseas who may be involved in plots against the country. I actually served in a reserve unit with Tulsi. I've always liked her. I think a lot of her criticism against her has been really mean and off base, but I'll be a yes now. She's shown her understanding of how vital 702 is. So I'll be a yes on RFK Jr.,
Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel knocked it out of the park. He's the antidote to Crossfire Hurricane. He's going to go in and clean the FBI out to make sure it's never abused like it was in the past. And Crossfire Hurricane was one of the saddest, dangerous, most dangerous chapters in FBI history. He's the guy that helped exposed it. And he'll be the solution, not the problem when it comes to the FBI, in my view. You know that much of what he faced in questioning was about...
retribution about what he's going to do within the FBI. He's not there yet, but my colleagues at FoxNews.com report this. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emile Bove sent a memo to the acting FBI director Friday evening directing him to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to January 6th in Hamas cases for an internal review. Now, Senator Blumenthal, your colleague, says...
I'm appalled by this vile retaliation against agents who sought to hold accountable people, who stabbed cops with flagpoles and crushed officers until they broke bones. The silence from my Republican colleagues is disgusting and deafening. Your response.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. NUMBER ONE, AS TO CHANGING PERSONNEL AT THE FBI, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD PLACE TO START. HOW DO YOU EXPECT THE FBI TO CHANGE IF YOU KEEP EVERYBODY IN PLACE? THAT'S BEEN PART OF THE PROBLEM. I'VE BEEN OPEN ABOUT THE JANUARY 6 PARDONS OF PEOPLE WHO COMMITTED VIOLENT ACTS AGAINST COPS.
THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT IS NOT GOING TO GIVE THEM ANY TIME. THE FEDERAL COURT
YOU KNOW, YOU SHOULDN'T BE PUNISHED JUST FOR DOING YOUR JOB. THIS IDEA OF KEEPING EVERYBODY IN PLACE IN THE GOVERNMENT AFTER TRUMP WON THE ELECTION IS INSANE. I THINK HE SHOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO PUT PEOPLE IN MANAGEMENT POSITIONS THAT SHARE HIS VISION OF HOW TO
move forward on the American first agenda. There's nothing unusual about that to me. Okay, I want to ask you quickly about the tariffs. Mexico, Canada already saying they will issue full retaliatory tariffs in exchange. China's going to the World Trade Organization. Your colleague Senator Coons put out this statement when they became official yesterday. He says, you know, President Trump said he was going to drive down prices to make America more affordable. Then on day 13 of his presidency, quote, he imposed tariffs that will send prices skyrocketing. Is it a good move?
Well, I think it's 3,000 Americans die every two weeks from fentanyl poisoning coming across the Mexican border. They make the drugs, fentanyl, produce them in Mexico. The precursors come from China. We've been overrun in terms of 11 million illegals coming across the Mexican border.
If you want tariffs to go away, Mexico and China, stop poisoning Americans. Stop sending fentanyl into America to kill Americans. If you want to have a better relationship, Mexico with the United States, do your part on the other side of the border. To our friends in Canada, I really appreciate what you're doing on the northern border. I think these tariffs are designed to get these countries to change their behavior.
I am glad that we're pushing back against China and Mexico when it comes to fentanyl poisoning of America. I am glad we're putting everybody on notice that the old way of doing business is over. There's been a 60 percent drop in illegal crossings in 10 days. So these tariffs, I think, are designed to bring about change. And if the change comes, I think the tariffs probably go away. All right. Senator Graham, always great to have you. Thanks for the time today. Thank you.
All right, well, the DNC electing a new chairman as historically bad. New poll numbers show how Americans are feeling about Democrats. Will the new boss be able to unite a divided party? Our panel tackles that. There has never been a Native American in leadership at the DNC. I don't think it's a good idea to do a Muslim caucus if we're not going to do a Jewish caucus. Will you pledge to appoint more than one transgender person to an at-large seat? Raise your hand if you would commit to what she just asked.
Okay. ♪ When your gun is doing you wrong ♪ ♪ You fight on, oh, you fight on ♪
Okay, those are some of the candidates battling it out to be the next Democratic National Committee chair. Ken Martin was selected for the position on Saturday. He's going to be tasked with helping the party to reset after big election losses. We are back now with the panel. And Juan, this comes after the Quinnipiac headline was this. It says, on Wednesday, a stunning finding. Negative views of the Democratic Party outpaced positive ones by 26 points. 31 favorable, 57% unfavorable, and that's the highest ever.
ever in Quinnipiac's polling dating back to 2008. So Ken Martin's got a big job ahead. No question. I mean, the polls are a wake-up call for Democrats. Right now, they don't have a clear message in response to Trump other than that they don't like Trump.
And secondly, they don't have a clear leader. And so the selection of Martin is very interesting to me in that he is no radical. I mean, there were protests out there yesterday, Sunrise Group, some environmental group. They're pushing for leftist positions, especially on climate. Kent Martin and the Democrats right now, the Democratic leadership, the people who voted,
clearly they're moving toward the middle. They are still in the Biden mode in terms of what they want to present as a face to the American people. So what Martin had to say yesterday was we're not Elon Musk. We're not radical and crazy on the right. We're not trying to impose tariffs or do anything. We want to make things work. We want to make cities work. We want to make your social safety net, your Medicaid work. We're not going to take it away. That's the Democrats' best message at this moment. It's all they got. Yeah, well, third,
way has written a memo to quote every Democrat pondering a 2028 presidential run about staying away from the more radical ideas saying this this election conclusively proved that a Democrat cannot embrace the far left groups to please the activists in a primary and then simply pivot to stances that voters actually like in the final months of a general election campaign if you want to best position yourself for 2028 publicly distance yourself
from far left losing ideas. And Mayor Catherine, they talk about abolishing the police, wiping out every single student loan, declaring climate emergency. I mean, they were very clear on what they were telling future Democrat candidates to stay away from.
Yeah, the Democrats, I think, were culturally dominant for a very long time, backed by a lot of cultural forces for many, many decades and got very hubristic about their positions. And now they have lost the pitch that we can make things work because they demonstrably did not. A perfect example of this and why I think the Democrats are so disoriented in this position at the moment is that they lost a generation-long double-digit lead on trust in education from 2020 to now.
It will persist because, as you saw, the national report card, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, came out this week with devastating results showing that students are not coming back from the learning loss that some of them incurred starting in kindergarten, who's being tested right now. That kind of thing is a marker in many areas of governance that Democrats have lost ground on, and gaining trust back will take a long effort, I think. Well, and they, as we talked about in the last...
PANEL ARE SORT OF OVERWHELMED BY EVERYTHING THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS ARE THROWING AT THEM RIGHT NOW BUT CONGRESSMAN JERRY CONNOLLY DEMOCRAT OUT OF VIRGINIA SAID THIS THEY'RE GOING TO STUMBLE THEY'RE GOING TO SCREW UP AND WE'RE GOING TO POUNCE WHEN THEY DO IN THEIR HASTE TO REMAKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT THEY'RE GOING TO MAKE BIG BIG MISTAKES AND JOSH THEY'RE POINTING TO SOME OF THAT HAPPENING THIS WEEK WITH AT LEAST THE BACKTRACK ON THAT OMB MEMO YEAH LIKE
Cuts can be popular, but when you're cutting essential services, Head Start, Medicaid payments potentially, that can also lose you support. It's often very important to not spend your capital too fast because you want to, you know, a lot of the stuff that Trump has been doing, as we've been talking about, is quite popular. But when you generate a backlash, you give Democrats something to run on.
The one thing about the Democrat, the poll, the Quinnipiac poll that was so notable, the image of the Democratic Party is the lowest in the Quinnipiac polls history. So I'm not sure if it's automatically going to be a backlash against Trump. Democrats actually have to have a positive message and they have to run away from some of this identitarianism that you saw in that forum. Yeah. And I think Republicans are at a high in the Quinnipiac poll for based on where they've been to. So as for that OMB memo, quickly, New York Times says that President Trump was
angered by the media coverage. They were caught off guard at the White House. They were furious they weren't read into the process over there.
Yeah, I think Mary Catherine hit the nail on the head on that and that it stands out, right? I mean, the first time around, there was a whole lot of trying to figure out how these executive orders would actually be implemented. This time around, it is sort of in a category of one. Everything else has been relatively smooth. They've had to juggle this one a little bit. I will say I love my friend Juan in trying to sort of wish cast the Democrats have gotten to the middle. If you watch that DNC situation for like two minutes,
the middle was not to be seen. Yeah, but I think if you look at DEI attacks this week from Trump, you understand how the Democrats might have a chance to come back.
Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates podcast, Evil Next Door. Exploring the life and crimes of five serial predators from across the United States. Follow and listen starting February 25th at foxtruecrime.com. Gotta go. More in pay-per-view during the commercial. Okay, panel, thank you very much. We'll see you next Sunday. Up next, two colleagues with very different political viewpoints offer a roadmap for finding common ground in our Sunday special.
Princeton professors Cornel West and Robert George have a unique friendship, ideologically opposed on most major issues, but determined to bridge divisions through honest conversations. In their new book, Truth Matters, they explore how we can work to understand each other better and find truth in a deeply divided time. Here's part of my chat with them. Dr. West, you say that Dr. George is a truth seeker. He's willing to engage. And right now, people can't even agree on what the truth is. So how does this work?
Well, I think it has to do with a quality of character that my dear brother, who I have deep love and respect for, he says what he means, he means what he says, he speaks from his heart. But he has a sense of humility, and that's the benchmark of spiritual maturity.
And he said some really nice things about you, too, and talking about that you're very strong in your opinions, but not so much that you aren't willing to engage in this conversation about trying to find truth. In our discussions and our dialogues, even where we deeply disagree about some issues, we have in common a desire to get at the truth of the matter. What do you think people can take from this book, from those principles and that conversation about truth,
you know, if it's a family member or a friend or somebody you've become completely cut off from because you do have such ideological differences, them learning the value of this kind of friendship and conversation. The lesson should be a person, an honest, decent person who disagrees with you, has an honest disagreement with you, is not your enemy. He's to be engaged with in a truth-seeking spirit, understanding that although I may have something to teach him,
I may also have something to learn from him. Do you agree to disagree? I mean, that sounds simplistic, but what do you do? I've already learned so much from him in our dialogue anyway. But I think also as Christians, we deeply believe in Imago Dei.
Each person made in the image and likeness of a loving and almighty God, and therefore that's not reducible to politics. Love, never reducible to just politics. It's always so easy to interpret what your critic or challenger is saying in its worst light. Don't do that. Interpret it in its...
very best light. Have we lost some of those skills? I mean, how do we redevelop those as a society? Oh, no, we've lost a lot of those skills. Are we concerned with integrity, honesty, and decency, and compassion, and openness, or are we manipulating, transacting, and dominating? You know, Shannon, there is a beautiful part of the liturgy in the Jewish tradition for
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. And the congregation goes through the various sins from the Ten Commandments. And then one is added that I find so fascinating. We have been zealots for bad causes. Now, nobody is ever a zealot for a bad cause deliberately. They become zealots. We become zealots for bad causes because we don't recognize the cause as bad. We think the cause is good. We think we're warriors for justice, for right, for truth.
but we need to be self-critical enough to realize that we frail, fallible, fallen human beings can make mistakes, not only about minor, superficial, trivial things, but even about the big, great issues. So we always have to keep that self-critical spirit, maintain that intellectual humility. Well, congratulations to you two on the book and to your continued conversation that are an example for the rest of us and certainly for the country as well.
Thanks to them. By the way, it is Groundhog Day in Gobblers Knob in western Pennsylvania. Big news this morning. Punxsutawney Phil did in fact see his shadow predicting six more weeks of winter.
Huge crowd there putting her own Janus Dean in attendance. Having a good time but not real happy with the results. It's not me or to heads up. Fox News Sunday is going on the road. We're going to be in New Orleans one week from today. Live from the Superdome ahead of Super Bowl 59. We've got some really cool behind the scenes scoop. We cannot wait to show you that is it for today though. Thanks for joining us. I'm Shannon Bream. Have a wonderful week. We'll see you next Fox News Sunday.
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