Fox News Sunday 06-01-2025
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I'm Shannon Bream, live from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute. A fresh round of legal challenges threatening the president's signature agenda items, from trade to higher education.

There is a troubling and dangerous trend of unelected judges inserting themselves into the presidential decision-making process. The president is acting within his authority. He wishes judges would do the same. Another week, another round of judicial whiplash, this time putting the president's sweeping tariffs in limbo. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick joins us on the White House strategy to fight the trade war in the courtroom. And...

A blockbuster agreement that will ensure this storied American company stays an American company. All this as the president seals the deal on a critical merger between two giants of the steel industry. Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick joins us exclusively on what it all means for the president's economic agenda and the Keystone State. Then...

Harvard has to understand the last thing I want to do is hurt them. They're hurting themselves. To the escalating legal battle between the White House and one of America's most prestigious colleges. Coming as the State Department ramps up efforts to crack down on Chinese student visas. Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss, a Harvard alum, joins us live in Boston. We fight. We feel that loss.

We return home, we grow, and we lead new men and women in this modern world as modern warriors. How one veteran created a one-of-a-kind experience to share his and his fellow veterans' stories of life after combat. All right now on Fox News Sunday. ♪

Hello from Fox News in Boston. We are live inside the only full-size replica of the U.S. Senate in the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate. We're here ahead of the sixth installment of the Senate project, a joint partnership with the Kennedy Institute and the Orrin Hatch Foundation. The goal to foster bipartisan dialogue and especially important pursuits in these divided times.

The inspiration is the bipartisan bridge building done in the Senate by Democrat Ted Kennedy and Republican Orrin Hatch. They formed an unlikely friendship that transcended their partisan differences. Listen to the late Senator Hatch explain. We fought each other tooth and tongue all these years, but we found that we could find common ground. Whenever we found common ground, he would stand up even against the amendments of his colleagues and live up to the deal. If he gave his word.

He kept his word. And that meant a lot to me.

And that's what we'll seek to do here again tomorrow in a discussion with Pennsylvania's senators, one Democrat, the other Republican. The battleground is one of only three states with a split delegation. In a moment, I'll speak with one of those senators, Republican Dave McCormick, ahead of our conversation tomorrow with Democrat John Fetterman. But first, we turn to Fox News correspondent Madeline Rivera with the very latest on a week of ups and downs for the White House. Hello, Madeline. Sure.

Shannon, many of President Trump's tariffs are hanging in the balance as they face legal challenges, but he's doubling down on levies on foreign steel and aluminum. Steel workers

Steel workers are very happy. We did the tariffs. It's going to put them even, make them even more competitive. President Trump is increasing the tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25 to 50 percent. He's imposing the bump despite a blow from the U.S. Court of International Trade, which found many of his other levies unlawful.

The problem with Trump's approach is sweeping tariffs. It's not constitutional. An appeals court has paused their three-judge panel's decision for now, which ruled the president overstepped his authority when imposing country-specific tariffs like those on China, Canada, and Mexico. But the duties on steel and aluminum fall under a different authority. So the administration is moving ahead, just like its continuing trade negotiations. There's no plan B. It's plan A.

Okay? Plan A encompasses all...

strategic options. And when we move forward, we had a full view of what the battlefield looks like. Republicans are preparing for their own set of challenges on Capitol Hill, where the Senate GOP must work through its differences to pass the president's so-called one big, beautiful bill. The issue in the Senate will be, as I mentioned earlier, does it have sufficient spending reforms to get us on a more sustainable fiscal path? In the

the Middle East, Hamas and Israel have also yet to reach a compromise. The U.S. is rejecting Hamas's response to a U.S. ceasefire proposal. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff calling it totally unacceptable and only takes us backward, adding the U.S. framework is the only way to close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days.

Meantime, the president's patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be running thin. During a visit to Ukraine, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the Senate is ready to move ahead with a bipartisan bill to impose more sanctions on Russia. But the president, despite his more heated rhetoric, is hesitant. I think I'm close to getting a deal. I don't want to screw it up by doing that. And Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold direct talks in Istanbul tomorrow. Shannon.

All right, Madeline Rivera at the White House. Thank you very much. Joining us now, Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, member of the Foreign Relations Committee. All right, Senator, you're just back from Israel from meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. So I want to talk about what we heard there from Special Envoy Steve Witkoff saying the response from Hamas to the deal that's now on the table is unacceptable and only moves us backwards. Do you have any sense of how we get to a deal and get those hostages home?

Well, listen, we just came back and had an opportunity to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as the opposition. And everybody's unified that we need to get those hostages out and that the framework Steve Whitkoff put forward on behalf of the president is

seem to be a path for doing that. And Hamas, which has been an absolute source of pure evil in this since October 7th, appears to have refused to do that. Listen, we've got to keep the pressure on.

On Hamas, we've got to find ways to also bring humanitarian assistance. We met with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is which is trying to get food in the hands of the of the women and children. It's been hijacked by Hamas. So there's a number of things. But we need to keep the pressure on Hamas. There cannot be a military body from Hamas standing when this war is done.

So you mentioned the aid issue that has become very difficult and complex. There are reports overnight that at least 31 people were killed, dozens others, as they were trying to get to some food aid there in the Gaza Strip. The Associated Press says that witnesses are blaming Israeli forces. The Israeli military says they don't know of any injuries they caused. It's under review now. But what is your sense on getting our arms around what's become an enormous humanitarian crisis there?

Well, first of all, the crisis would end immediately if Hamas just gave the hostages back.

But what's happened over time is the humanitarian aid has been used as a source of manipulation by Hamas. It's been used to sell the humanitarian aid to raise money for the fighters. So what the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is trying to do is get the food directly in the hands of the families. They come and get a 40-pound box, which they take. It lasts for five days. It has water and food. And that's the key, is to get it into the hands of the people. I think this model has a lot of promise.

but we've got a lot of work to do. I don't know about these reports in the last 24 hours, but the concept to me, I think, was necessary to make sure the aid's actually going to the people who need it.

So I know that there are conversations, too, about Israel and the U.S., our communications that we're having about whether they are considering a strike within Iran. We're also getting news of this report by the U.N. watchdog saying that they are further increasing stockpiling uranium, Iran is, to enrich weapons-grade materials. We've sent a deal now, apparently the White House confirms, over to Iran for a potential nuke deal. Where do you see that going?

Well, this is an area where I think there's a lot of agreement. President Trump has said very clearly that the nuclear program in Iran has to be dismantled and there cannot be any enrichment. And that's the guidance he's given in Israel, again, across the political continuum from Netanyahu to the opposition leader, Lapid. Everybody agrees that there cannot be Iran with a nuclear weapon unless our nuclear capability works.

Listen, here's the bottom line. This is a country that says its goal is to destroy Israel and to destroy America, the great Satan. This is a country that has orchestrated attempts on President Trump's life. They cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we should treat any agreement with Iran...

with a great deal of skepticism. But I'm hopeful that these negotiations will ultimately result in a full dismantlement of the nuclear program. If that happens, that'd be a great step forward. But that's the necessary step. It can't be anything less than that.

Well, and we noted last week the Ayatollah has said he thinks the talks will fail. So you have to wonder what he's hoping for there. In the meantime, we've got talks going on with Russia and Ukraine. The president seems increasingly frustrated with Vladimir Putin. We know Ukraine is saying this morning that Russia has launched the biggest number of drones it has in this entire warfare in the last three years. They've done that today. The president has said in recent days about Putin, quote, something has happened to him, quote, he's gone absolutely crazy.

Is Putin the same person he's always been, but President Trump is just now seeing him for who he really is?

Well, listen, President Trump came into this with, I think, very clear eyed about who he was dealing with on both sides. And he laid out a vision, which is we have to have a ceasefire. We have to stop the killing. We have to give Ukraine protection of its sovereignty, confidence. And the way to do that is to have the Europeans stand up and and and play the role that they need to play. And an economic arrangement that both Ukraine.

help pay for the support the United States has given to Ukraine, but also create alignment of economic interest. This is a great framework. And the president's made progress on making that the source of discussion. Now, Putin needs to do his part. He was the source of aggression against Ukraine. There's a path here.

But both sides need to get in. And I think the president's been very clear about his feelings on this. And I think we need to put additional pressure on Putin. And there's a bill in the Senate by Lindsey Graham to do just that. I think that's going to be a great source of support for the president's agenda.

Well, and he and Senator Blumenthal were just on a trip to Kiev and said at least Senator Graham said he doesn't think that Putin actually wants peace, that he wants continued war. So we'll see as you guys work through that potential sanctions package as well. I want to make sure to ask you about tariffs. We've had a couple federal courts put the big, broad sweeping tariffs on hold.

Now, that decision went through an appellate court is on hold to the tariffs remain in place for now. But critics of what is happening here, because that international court said essentially this is the purview of Congress, that they have the tariff power and it's not to the executive branch.

But critics say a lot of GOP lawmakers have simply been ceding the legislative branch's power to the executive branch. The New York Times writing, the Republican-led Congress isn't just watching the Trump administration gobble up its constitutional powers. It is enthusiastically turning them over to the White House. So what about the long-term implications for ceding some of the authority that is granted to you as a lawmaker?

Well, I thought that first and I voted in support of this, that the president is exercising his emergency authorities appropriately. We have an emergency. We lost 100000 people last year to fentanyl. That's twice as many as we lost in eight years of war in Vietnam. We have a trade deficit that's beyond our wildest imaginations. We have huge supply chain challenges where semiconductors and pharmaceuticals are made outside the United States. This is an emergency.

And so I think the president's exercising his authority appropriately. And you see this across a number of different things. And Shannon, I want to point to one which is so important, which is steel, where the president just raised the tariffs on steel. But here is something that I know I hope we're going to talk about, which is this partnership between Nippon and U.S. Steel.

which was an incredible step forward for steel workers across our country. For the Mon Valley outside of Pittsburgh, it adds $2.4 billion of new investment, $14 billion of investment in places like Indiana and Alabama, Arkansas and Minnesota.

and not only protects the 10,000 jobs outside of Pittsburgh and the Mon Valley, but adds 14,000 new jobs building a new arc furnace. So this is a huge thing for our domestic steel industry, which is greatly aided by

by the tariffs that President Trump has put in place to make sure we have fair trade. It's also great for our national security to have this strong domestic industry. And President Trump, who I briefed him on or I talked to him about the deal, you know, months ago when he came to Philadelphia to see the NCAA wrestling championships,

And he pushed and he prodded. He wanted a better deal. He wanted to make sure that the U.S. kept control. And here we have a situation where we have a U.S. steel based in Pittsburgh, a U.S. management team, a majority U.S. board and government approval of key board members that protects America's interests. Great. Great for the steel workers. You could see him on a rally yesterday cheering on President Trump. And great for Nippon because they get access to the great U.S. market.

One of the United Steelworkers Union still has some questions and some reservations about that. So we will see how it plays out as the details are fleshed out. Senator, I look forward to seeing you here tomorrow. Thanks so much for just on that. Just all you all you had to do was see that screen of those steelworkers cheering. I think I think we know that this is a great thing for the working people of Pennsylvania and the country. So thanks for having me. Well, I.

Yes, and I hope we'll talk more about that tomorrow. We'll see you then. By the way, you can watch the Senate project conversation tomorrow with Senators McCormick and Fetterman live on Fox Nation, 9 a.m. Eastern from here in Boston tomorrow. So President Trump hoping his tariff plan is going to survive that pair of court rulings, finding them illegal. That battle is far from over. Up next, you're going to hear from Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick to discuss what comes next.

And Elon Musk formally leaves the White House in an Oval Office send-off. So where does Doge go from here? The panel's on that next as Fox News Sunday reports live from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston.

Save up to $50.

Here at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute with the board chair, Bruce Persilet, who is going to show us around this exact replica of Senator Ted Kennedy's office. We've got some special items here. Well, the office has memorabilia from decades, but there are some notable pieces. This one is quite funny. This is a book that Robert Kennedy gave to his brother, and it's what I've learned about New York politics.

The only unusual aspect of it is it's completely blank. There were lessons still to be learned. Apparently. And we have a special bust in here as well with its own message. Yes. The brothers were very, very close. And this was a bust on after Robert was assassinated. It has a

notch in the base, which is symbolic of the fact that Robert Kennedy's life's work was incomplete. And these are just a couple of the treasures here at the Institute that people can come and enjoy for themselves. Correct. So just to look at a couple of the many pieces of history in that replica office. And now back to the uncertain future of President Trump's vast tariffs. And what's next after a flurry of court rulings? Joining me now, Commerce Secretary Howard Letnick. Welcome back to the show. Great to be back.

Okay, so we want to start here with the Court of International Trade. This is a decision that went against the president days ago. They said because of the Constitution's express allocation of the tariff power to Congress, an unlimited delegation of tariff authority to the president would constitute an improper abdication of legislative power to another branch of government. Just to boil that down, they said he can't do it, but that decision is on hold for now. What is the backup plan?

Well, think about how silly that is, right? So Congress gives the president under this IEPA authority the ability to take on other countries who are creating a national emergency. And the $1.2 trillion trade deficit and all the underlying implications of that

is a national emergency. It's gutting our manufacturing base. The president takes that on and Congress lets him do it. Specifically, does not vote to take it away. Calls a vote and says he can keep it. So what's going to happen is we're going to take that up to higher courts. The president's going to win like he always does.

But rest assured, tariffs are not going away. He has so many other authorities that even in the weird and unusual circumstance where this was taken away, we just bring on another or another or another. Congress has given this authority to the president, and he's going to use it.

Okay, so you know that these two federal courts have so far said the use of that law and those emergency powers is not proper. It is on appeal, so we'll see what the potentially Supreme Court has to say about it. But in the meantime, it sparks this question about whether if other countries think that our court system is potentially going to shut down these bigger, more sweeping tariffs, you're losing some kind of advantage in negotiations. Reuters quotes an EU official saying this, quote, the uncertainty as to the legality of the reciprocal tariffs certainly gives us...

meaning them, extra leverage. Here is how Jonathan Turley put it. Trump has been using these tariffs like a gun to the head of these other countries, and the court just removed the bullets. So have you lost leverage? And where are we on the talks with the EU?

All right. So the president said he was going to put a 50 percent tariff on the EU. And as I said, not only does he have this authority under IEPA, but he has many, many other authorities. The European Union sent in after this their first offer. So they are

at the table. They are negotiating. You can't listen to silly people making silly comments. All of the countries that are negotiating with us understand the power of Donald Trump and his ability to protect the American worker. And so what they're doing is they're negotiating with us.

I think it cost us a week, maybe cost us a week. But then everybody came right back to the table. Everybody's talking to us. You're going to see over the next couple of weeks, really first class deals for the American worker, opening their markets and setting on tariffs to make sure that we are treated fairly around the world. Well, I know you and Secretary Besson are talking to a lot of these countries trying to get those deals across the finish line. He has said talks with China are stalled. What's the latest?

Well, I think what happened is Secretary Besant and Ambassador Greer went to Geneva. They made a deal with the Chinese. And really, the right way to say it is they're just slow rolling the deal. So I think slow rolling is the right way to say it. And I think Donald Trump is on it. We are taking certain actions to show them what it feels like on the other side of that equation. But my view is Donald Trump is—

And President Xi, you know, our president understands what to do. He's going to go work it out. And and I am confident that this is going to work out either way. The president understands the power of our economy. He said it over and over again. We are the consumer of the world. We are the consumer of Chinese goods. If we don't open our markets to them, they're ours.

economy is in really, really tough shape. So I think I love having all of this power in the president's hands. He knows how to wield it correctly for the benefit of the American worker. OK, quickly, because we got to go. The 90 day pause on the major tariffs is due to expire at the beginning of July. You got a lot of deals to get done. Will the president extend that pause?

I think we're going to get a lot, a lot of deals done. I think they're all being set up. We could sign lots of deals now, but I think we're trying to make them better and better and better. And as the president said, or he'll just set rates and it'll set the terms of the deal. So I don't see today that an extension is coming. In fact, I think that's the deadline and the president's just going to determine what rates people have. If they can't get a deal done, President Trump is going to determine what deal there's going to be.

Okay. Secretary Letnick, great to see you. Thanks for your time. Great to be here. All right. It is time now for our Sunday group. Meredith McGraw, Wall Street Journal White House reporter. Fox News contributors Guy Benson and also Marie Harf. And legal commentator Horace Cooper, chairman of Project 21. Welcome to all of you from Boston. Let's start with this. There's a lot of unknown about the...

about the economy at this point, the tariffs, how that's all going to settle out. But Investors Business Daily actually had some good news for the White House. They are celebrating this weekend. I want to put that up because I don't have my notes in front of me. I've lost them. So I'm going to read it off the screen for you. The Federal Reserve's primary inflation rate, the core PCE price index, fell in April to its lowest level since March 2021. So good news there on inflation. But they also went on to talk about earning power, saying...

Aggregate wages and salaries rose 0.5% for the third straight month, reflecting a combination of job gains and wage growth. Guy, they're taking a bit of a victory lap on that.

Yeah, it makes perfect sense for them to do so because we've had all this doom and gloom from a lot of people in this town where we are saying that the pain was going to arrive immediately. It was going to be very acute across the board. And at least so far on the most recent employment report and then the numbers that you just recited, especially on wages, this is really good data for the administration. Now, whether that lasts month after month remains to be seen. But certainly some of the people who are most negative thus far being proven wrong.

Well, part of this whole conversation in the economy, of course, involves what's happening with Doge, Elon Musk formally leaving his role as expected on Friday. But there are questions about whether or not what he did gets folded into what Congress is trying to do. Here's the president talking about that Friday.

We're totally committed to making the doge cuts permanent and stopping much more of the waste in the months to come. We want to get our great, big, beautiful bill finished and done. After that, we're going to be we put some of this into the bill, but most of it's going to come later.

And Meredith, this is one of the things that that Elon Musk had been critical of thinking of a lot of work that that Doge had done wasn't going to actually get codified anywhere. The president says it's going to the hills got to cooperate. What are the odds you think?

Well, I know from a White House official that a rescissions package is going to be going to the Hill this week. It's going to be about $9 billion, and it's going to be focusing on NPR, on PBS, on some of the foreign aid cuts. And House Republicans have been talking with the White House about this rescissions package. It's still not done.

nearly close to the $1 trillion that Elon Musk has said that he was trying to target with the work of Doge. But I think the big question now for House Republicans is what sort of appetite there is on the Hill. We've seen how some of these cuts that Elon Musk made face some real backlash, even from people in Trump's own party.

Yeah. Horace, what about that? Because it is a heavy lift to get anything through the Hill at this point. There's been all this talk about the rescission package. And there are people that are frustrated because they say, you know, doge whatever work it's doing. It's not over, according to the White House and Elon Musk. But they want to believe those who are supportive of the work that's been done, that it's going to have some permanency to it.

Well, the tax cutting side has always been the easier part. Coming up with the reductions or offsets has always been the difficult part. I watched and I've been watching Senator Johnson explain that we're not having a large enough offset.

I think it would be constructive for those members, and he says there are many, to get together and maybe sign a letter saying, here are 40 votes in favor of D.

doubling the number of offsets or whatever this amount is. At present, I think we're going to be fortunate to get the $9 billion. It is my hope that what we do is we have another recisions package later this year and then another one at the beginning of the year, and that can sort of build momentum.

All right, we'll see if they're taking their advice from Horace Cooper this morning. In the meantime, Elon Musk on his way, sort of, we think, out the door. Marie, I actually think Democrats are going to miss him. They've really, he's been a good foil for them, a good target of criticism. Are you sad to see him go in that respect?

Well, look, I think politically he will continue to be a problem for Republicans. And let's talk about what these offsets are morally and politically. These are very tough things for many Republicans to defend. Slashing Medicaid. It's not just waste and fraud here. Millions of people who deserve legally to be on Medicaid will get kicked off of their health insurance.

When we're talking about the Doge cuts, Elon Musk did not find widespread waste, fraud and abuse. He did not reach his big one trillion number. What he did was get a lot of veterans fired. He cut he's shut down USAID, which around the world helps the most vulnerable people. And by the way, you know what country is doing that now that we're not China. They are filling that vacuum. So Elon Musk standing up there with a chainsaw.

Talking about the average patriotic Americans who have served their country in the federal government across the country, not just in Washington, working for national parks, working for the Veterans Administration. That is a political message Republicans are going to have to continue defending. And that is a very difficult one, Shannon. And that's part of why Elon's leaving. But they're going to have to keep owning that all the way through the midterms.

Well, and for the record, they say that they will not cut anyone who desperately needs and is vulnerable and actually qualifies for things like Medicaid and SNAP. It's about making sure able-bodied people, they say maybe gaming the system, would be cut off. And it would be millions of people potentially. So there is impact.

We're going to track it all. Panel, thank you. The president is in an escalating battle with higher ed. Now, the center of that, just a few miles up the road from here at Harvard, Congressman Jake Auchincloss, he's an alum. He's here to weigh on both the legal and the PR battles and the administration's new effort to crack down on Chinese student visas as well. He's live with us here in Boston next as Fox News Sunday reports live from the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate.

Does he have a concern that we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all people? That some 60,000 people a year die because they don't get to a doctor on time? The answer to America's problems, Senator Sanders, is not more socialism.

One of the exchanges during the first installment of the Senate project right here in Boston. Next, we're going to turn to the debate raging between the White House and the elite Ivy League institution just miles from here in Cambridge. We'll discuss with Harvard alum Congressman Jake Auchincloss. He's live with me here in just a minute. But first, let's set the table with Lucas Tomlinson in Washington, who was the latest on the showdown between the university and the White House. Hey, Lucas. Sure.

Shannon, commencement season is normally one filled with hope and optimism, but that does not appear to be the case at Harvard, where President Trump says he wants to rein in the school by cutting funding and banning foreign students.

I don't think Harvard's been acting very nicely. The Trump administration has launched at least eight investigations across six government agencies and has pulled or frozen nearly $4 billion in grants at the elite school with an endowment valued at more than $50 billion. Trump wants to halt Harvard's ability to enroll international students.

On Thursday, a federal judge extended a temporary order blocking the Trump administration from enforcing the ban. More than a quarter of Harford students come from outside the U.S.,

Many require little or no financial aid. And the president threatened to take $3 billion away from Harvard, which he called very anti-Semitic, and give it to others he thinks are more deserving. I'd like to see a lot of money going into trade schools. We probably found our pot of gold, and that's what's been wasted.

at places like Harvard. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced the U.S. will start aggressively revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to China's Communist Party. Rubio's spokesperson says students should feel safe on campus. The Jew hatred, the anti-Semitism, the vandalism, the taking over of buildings, the interrupting of education, that is not what you are allowed to do if you are here as a guest.

Over 9,000 students gathered at Harvard Yard for graduation. The university's president received a standing ovation when he spoke. Members of the class of 2025 from down the street, across the country, and around the world, around the world, just as it should be.

The State Department has stopped interviewing applicants for student visas to study here in the United States, which affects all colleges and universities nationwide. Shannon. All right. Lucas Tomlinson in Washington. Thank you. Joining me now here in Boston, Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss, also a Harvard alum, as we've mentioned. Great to have you in. Morning, Shannon. OK, so let's start here. Harvard is scoring legal wins, that's for sure. But they've got this PR issue as well, where you've got everyday students.

average Americans who are taxpayers who say, why are we giving billions of dollars to this university that has an enormous endowment? They've got these anti-Israel protests on campus. They don't see a representation of any kind of conservative viewpoint. Dr. Mehmet Oz, also a Harvard alum, he has said, listen, I think this school is still going to be training the best and the brightest, but they've lost their way.

What do you think about that comment from him? I've said the same myself over the last several years, that universities need to be truth-seeking institutions that bring together diverse ideological viewpoints to arrive at the facts and inform policymaking.

Right now, Harvard does do a good job of that with science, and Americans benefit from high-quality science. I'll give you an example. The Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK, just issued a report on making America healthy again. Well, that report was riddled with made-up scientific citations. It was written probably by Gen. A.I.,

And it's completely useless because it wasn't based on science. Well, Harvard is actually doing world leading science right now on the molecular basis of autism. Wouldn't that be useful to inform what RFK is trying to do to address the surge in autism across the United States? But the two are divorced because instead of promoting Harvard science, the university is canceling contracts for autism researchers. How does that make Jewish students safer?

Well, to that point, Ben Sasse, former senator who has been president of two universities, he talks about that funding issue and says, you've got this huge endowment. So why not pull from that to fund some of that research? But he also says this. Harvard isn't owed in perpetuity the discretionary billions of federal funding it's received in the past.

There's a massive gulf between finding new cancer treatments and funding campus wackiness between developing digital technologies to enable synthetic biology and subsidizing activist professors Hamas advocacy. He cites Gallup polling that shows Americans confidence in higher ed has really been dropping off. He says the only way forward is for schools like Harvard to, quote, acknowledge they've screwed up.

Shannon, I agree with the senator. You didn't mention in that op ed. He also said that this administration is not doing a good job of making the distinction between cracking down on anti-Israel unhinged protests and canceling science grants that return five to eight dollars for every taxpayer dollar put down and help create evidence based policy.

Right now, we have a system in place for time, place and manner restrictions on protests that disrupt a suitable learning environment or are targeted harassment against students. The administration should be pursuing that under the Office of Civil Rights, not taking it out against cancer researchers.

OK, to this point on free speech on the campus, you talk about efforts there. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has named Harvard the worst school in the country for free speech for two years running. Alan Garber, the president we saw a moment ago, he told NPR this. We've been very clear that we think we do have issues. And I would particularly emphasize the speech issues. He went on to say with regard to the lack of conservatives on campus or to welcoming their viewpoint, he said that is a problem we really need to address.

Agreed. I've said the same thing. I think Harvard was 270th out of 270 for individual expression on campus. That needs to change.

That is not going to change by Harvard, though, ceding to authoritarian bullying from the right, nor will it change by Harvard giving in to progressive orthodoxies of the left. Harvard needs to be independent. All universities should be independent, truth-seeking institutions that do research and that train the next generation of leaders. Senator Sasse is right that training the next generation of leaders is a public trust. Harvard needs to earn that trust. But it's not going to earn that trust by giving in to politics, right or left.

Is there something to be found, though, in the model of what's happening with Columbia? They've acknowledged that there are major problems on campus with anti-Semitism and that they haven't handled those protests well in the past. They've had this back and forth with the Trump administration, have come to some kind of understanding and agreement that has resulted in them putting together concrete action steps. They don't think they're ceding to, as you said, a bully on content with regard to curriculum. It's about making sure that universities receiving federal funding do have a

place that is open and not hostile to any particular viewpoint. Yeah, what the administration is asking of Harvard, though, is pedagogical and curricular control over its different departments. That's totally unacceptable. I don't care if it's a Democratic president or Republican president. They don't get to control the curriculum of our universities.

In what way, though? Because if they're talking about we want information on the students that are on campus, they've requested that through DHS. We want you to crack down on anti-Semitism. How is that getting to curriculum? Well, they want higher and higher oversight over the different departments within Harvard. And that's just not something that you're going to give to a politician. What you can say is through the Office of Civil Rights, we're going to look at suitable learning environment. We're going to look at targeted harassment. We're not going to allow that. And we're going to pursue legal cases through OCR as necessary and as they have done.

I would also say that bullying foreign students is not advancing the cause of ideological diversity. I think if you take the best and brightest Chinese students, you have a choice between whether they can do their research in America or do that research in China. I'd rather them do that research in America. Right now, we're going to send them back to China to go cure cancer there or develop the next missile system there.

thanks to the State Department. They have now said they want screening of applicants coming in, foreign students coming into Harvard for any hint of anti-Semitism. And this issue of Chinese student visas, the State Department and Secretary Rubio have said we want to crack down on those who have concrete ties to the Communist Party or studying in sensitive areas. Senator Tom Cotton talked about this and he said it is it's time that we do that. We know that China has

they have potential to spy on American researchers and others by coming into the country on these student visas. I know you've had concerns about China's influence as well. I was on the Select Committee on China last term. It was a bipartisan, long-term oriented committee in the House focused on exactly these questions.

And I would say these concerns are largely hot air in terms of our ability to outcompete China. Right now, China has 1.3 billion people and all their students are scoring higher on math and science than American students are. We've got 25 million American students who are behind grade level on reading, writing and arithmetic.

We should worry a lot less about Chinese students and a lot more about American students. I'm going to disagree with Senator Cotton about accepting Chinese visas. One thing I hope I could agree with him on, though, is let's surge one-on-one tutoring to every student in America. Let's build a thousand trade voc schools, excuse me, technical vocational schools, so that American students are ready to out-compete Chinese students. Because right now, we're just kicking out the best and brightest from around the world, and we're not helping our own kids. Well, maybe you and President Trump agree on more money for trade schools. If you could

find anything to agree on and certainly in tackling our major education issues here. Congressman, thank you for coming in. Great to be with us. OK, next up, more on the House and Senate investigations into President Biden's cognitive decline. Who was really calling the shots during his final years in office? We're going to break down the political impacts as Fox News Sunday reports with a live look now at Boston Bay.

You know Harbor Freight for a... We're here at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute, where there is the only existing exact replica of the U.S. Senate. Bruce is back with us to tell us about this specific special desk.

So this was Ted Kennedy's desk. It also was John Kennedy's desk. He chose to sit here because he could grab a senator coming in who he might need to twist their arm a little bit about a piece of legislation. It was easier to do it here than down there.

Very strategic. And there's another very special desk we want to show people as well. So I have visited this desk in the U.S. Senate, and I got to tell you, yours is even better. Show us what we got in here. So this is known as the candy desk. And this tradition was started in 1965 by Senator Kennedy.

George Murphy from California, he had an insatiable appetite for candy. And he stocked the desk, it is not permitted to eat in the U.S. Senate chamber, except in this instance.

So whenever a senator comes and goes, they grab candy. It is now occupied by Senator Mark Wayne Mullen from Oklahoma. And it is his job and whoever sits there to keep it stopped. Should we have a sample? I think so. Okay, I'm going for Snickers.

OK, a tasty, sweet tradition, by the way, just back over there. OK, now on to former President Biden. He served in the Senate for decades. Now he's back on the scene for his first public appearance since his cancer diagnosis. We're back now with the panel. OK, I want to play a little bit of the back and forth he had with a reporter at the end of the week. Here it is.

And there's also been a lot of discussion recently about your mental and physical capabilities while you were in office. You can see that. I'm mentally incompetent and I can't walk. You might beat the hell out of both of us. All right. He is back, Horace. Do Democrats feel happy about that? Are they ready to close that chapter?

I was wondering why he was making any appearances. He reminds me of the Jason Voorhees of the political arena. His party is in dire straits. And rather than give them the space they need to sort of collect themselves and to get better out.

Out comes President Biden meandering and wondering and reminding people of exactly why the party is in such poor repute.

Well, it sparks all these conversations now about the House and Senate both have investigations because of revelations in these recent books like Original Sin. We had Alex Thompson on last week talking about, you know, people within his own administration being shocked at times when they saw him during that last year or so having real questions about who was actually running the show. Here is House Oversight Chair James Comer on what his questions are.

Who gave the authority for the low-level staffers to take that document, put it in the auto pen, and press power to sign Joe Biden's name? Because many of those documents were signed on days where Joe Biden wasn't anywhere near the White House. There's no evidence of any email communication between the president and these staffers. Marie, why is it not fair to ask that question?

Well, he can certainly ask any questions he wants. There is no evidence that Joe Biden was unable to mentally do the job or that anyone was making decisions on his behalf. That's just not anywhere in the evidence we've seen. Was he physically getting older? Of

Of course. Do I think he should have run again? No. And Democrats are going through that process right now. But, Shannon, what I will say is he gets the grace to decide how he wants to live out the time he has left on this planet. I think what Democrats are focused on, if you look at South Carolina, the Clyburn fish fry this weekend, Westmore, other young Democrats ready to take the mantle and run in four years. That's what we're focused on. And let Joe Biden live his life.

OK, we'll get to that in just a second. But Guy, to this point that there wasn't evidence of how he was doing. I mean, this book quotes a couple of cabinet secretaries who didn't think he could take a 2 a.m. emergency phone call.

Exactly right. So this was someone who was deeply diminished in his abilities. It was a massive scandal that they tried to cover it up, even though we could all see it. And one thing that stuck out to me, Shannon, you mentioned that book that's getting a lot of attention. The authors mentioned in one of the interviews that they've done, many interviews, but one of the specific things that stood out to me was they were asked...

You know, these these sources, these people in the White House, the administration, do you regret this? And they said there was no expression of regret for this presidency by cabal unconstitutional scheme that they were running. It's outrageous. They don't regret anything except for the fact that it didn't work and they lost an election. That, I think, is the real takeaway here.

OK, so Meredith, to the point about 2028 and looking to the future of the Democrat Party, a lot of folks out there making the rounds, Tim Waltz, Wes Moore, others. Quick final word to you.

Well, Shannon, I feel like the 2024 election just ended and now we're already pivoting to 2028. Lots of buzz this weekend in South Carolina with Democrats, big names going out there. I think it's interesting to see Democrats also going into some red states. But at the same time, there's still a lot of work that the Democratic Party needs to do in figuring out leadership and its new way forward in the aftermath of the election that they just lost.

Yeah, Tim Walsh said he was asked what he would do differently. He said we would have won. So we'll see how that turns out in 28th panel. Thank you very much. We'll see you next Sunday. So one veteran sharing his own journey from returning from combat in the hopes of connecting with others and supporting other veterans through a one-of-a-kind stage experience. That's next. But I find a new toughness in this vulnerability. And for the first time in a long time, I feel as though I'm once again becoming part of something bigger than myself. ♪

48% of America. There are some areas that we disagree, but I think the point of working together is figuring out where we can compromise. There are differences between the parties on how we arrive at that final goal or objective, but the debate is so important.

A quick flashback from the 2023 Senate project discussion with Senators Jean Shaheen and Joni Ernst here at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate. Now to our Sunday special, giving veterans the opportunity to share their experiences through music and visual storytelling. That's the mission of the nonprofit Modern Warrior Live. I sat down with the veteran behind it all.

Why is it the case someone that survives cancer is considered stronger, while someone that survives combat is considered damaged or a liability? From the battlefield to the stage, veteran James Poling, who deployed three times, shares his journey of life after combat.

Something that can be very much a part of the veteran experience or soldier experience before or after service is this idea of isolation that many people will feel. For me, it was isolating. I know for a lot of my friends, it was isolating. James narrates his most vulnerable feelings aloud, from heart-wrenching goodbyes before deployment to the devastating loss of fellow soldiers, to his struggles with alcohol and self-destructive behaviors after returning home. My phone starts ringing again.

And I can't talk to anyone today they'd never understand. While battling his own mental health challenges, James recognized how his story could empower other veterans to open up about their issues. It initially kind of felt like an obligation. But then once I started sharing my story and getting out talking to veterans around the country, it quickly became a passion.

It's hard to explain to someone how it is to be in the military and even harder to explain to them how it is to be in combat. And so seeing the show of Modern Warrior Live was like, it did this speaking for me.

The multimedia experience pulls together personal storytelling with music and projections. Those two mediums of storytelling and music are incredibly powerful when they come together because they give the audience, I think, different ways to interpret, different ways to feel the story. It was like listening to a soundtrack. If you've been in the military or you've been in the combat, you know,

Some way, somehow you can relate to this experience. Modern Warrior says it has connected 4,000 people with resources and says two-thirds of audience members are more likely to seek help after attending the show. At all of our shows, we have resources in the lobby.

So we can do things like drive enrollment at the VA or get people connected to local resources that we know can help them on the ground after we leave. The organization also has a workshop event that gives veterans the space to tell their own stories. We get to work with veterans, bring them in, help them flush out their story through interviews and writing. And then from there, they collaborate with our musicians and really build out the show. As someone who experienced military sexual trauma...

And a lot of PTSD comes along with that. So this will be my first time telling this story ever in my life. So I'm excited. And I believe that it will really help a lot of other veterans who've experienced that kind of trauma. So for more information on the touring show and workshops, visit modernwarriorlive.org.

And a reminder, tomorrow we'll be moderating a discussion right here between Pennsylvania Senators Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Dave McCormick, who you heard from earlier in the hour. It is going to be the latest installment of the Senate project. You can watch it live on Fox Nation tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. Eastern. That's it for us today from Boston. Thank you for joining us. I'm Shannon Bream. Have a wonderful week. We'll see you next Fox News Sunday.

Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy, host of the Trey Gowdy Podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at foxnewspodcast.com. Listen to Fox News Sunday ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime membership or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.