Fox News Sunday 12-15-2024
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Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. Recently, I asked Mint Mobile's legal team if big wireless companies are allowed to raise prices due to inflation. They said yes. And then when I asked if raising prices technically violates those onerous two-year contracts, they said, what the f*** are you talking about, you insane Hollywood a**hole?

So to recap, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 upfront payment equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes per detail. I'm Jackie Heinrich in for Shannon Bream. Senate Republicans face mounting pressure to get behind Trump's nominees with 36 days until inauguration.

All of the conversations have been great and constructive. We're meeting with Republicans and in this case, Democrats. Trump's cabinet hopefuls aim to shore up support from the key lawmakers who will decide their future as hesitant Republicans face growing pressure from the president-elect's allies. Do you feel like there's a pressure campaigning? I do. Senator Tom Tillis on how the more controversial picks are faring in the upper chamber. Then...

We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat. Don't look up. That's no plane. The White House facing increasing pressure to answer questions on those mysterious drones. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on House Intel, joins us as calls for an investigation rise. Plus, it's completely out of dust. It's in dust. The

The brazen murder that captivated America now sparking a debate over the nation's health insurance industry. Our Sunday panel discusses the impact as the crime sparks surprising divisions across the country. All right now on Fox News Sunday.

And hello from Fox News in Washington. Here's a quick look at some of your top headlines this morning. ABC News has agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation suit brought on by Donald Trump. Trump filed the suit against the network and its top anchor after George Stephanopoulos incorrectly asserted 10 times in an interview that Trump was found liable for rape in the civil suit with E. Jean Carroll. As part of the settlement, ABC News published an editor's note expressing regret over the statements.

South Korea's parliament voted to impeach President Yun Suk-yool on Saturday over his decree of martial law earlier this month. For now, all presidential powers are handed over to the prime minister. The court has up to 180 days to determine whether to dismiss Yoon as president or restore his powers.

And Army-Navy faced off Saturday in the 125th edition of the game at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland. President-elect Trump attended the game with members of his upcoming administration as well as nominees. Navy upset Army 31 to 13. Let's turn to Fox News correspondent Alexandria Hoff live at the White House with the details on the guest list for Trump's suite. Hey, Alex.

Hey, Jackie, good to be with you. Yeah, it was quite the guest list. And, you know, President Biden, he attended the Army-Navy game several times while vice president, but never in office. It was President-elect Trump's sixth appearance at the storage showdown since 2016. And this year he was doing some political quarterbacking of his own.

Just 15 miles from the White House, President-elect Trump was greeted at Northwest Stadium by cheers and chants. Offering a salute as the national anthem played. The impressive records of both Army and Navy boosted anticipation for what would take place on the field. But the formation of Trump's proposed national defense team provided similar intrigue.

Trump was joined by Vice President-to-be J.D. Vance, along with nominee for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Department of Defense Secretary-Pick Pete Hegseth. Both are requiring extra effort by Team Trump to shore up the support needed for confirmation. We had a meeting, and we had a conversation, and that's what happened.

There really is no new news after after that conversation. There's 53 Republicans. All of us got there by the strength of our own character, our campaigns and our ability to make decisions regardless of where the pressure points may be. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's attendance at yesterday's game added a twist. Fox News sources confirmed Trump had once considered questioning.

calling up DeSantis to lead the DOD after allegations involving Hegg says personal life came to light. Marine veteran Daniel Penny was invited to the suite as Vance's guest just five days after he was acquitted in the New York subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

At President-elect Trump's side, you may have also spotted incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune and also House Speaker Mike Johnson. He is also a Naval Academy dad. Jackie. Alexandria Hoff reporting live from the White House. Alex, thanks. Joining us now is North Carolina Senator Tom Tillis. Senator, thank you so much for being with us.

Good morning, Jackie. Good morning. Senator, the president-elect's team is sending pressure through various emissaries, get on board with his nominees or you will be primaried. Senator Lisa Murkowski said the message was like this, we got you here, and if you want to survive, you better be good. Don't get on Santa's naughty list here because we will primary you. Heritage Action is already pressuring yes votes on these nominees in an ad campaign targeting you and eight other senators.

But Trump only won your state by 3.2 points in a year that was good for Republicans. And you've got a general election to worry about. You're one of the top two Republican senators that Democrats really hope to unseat next cycle. So what is your message to Trump over these primary threats?

Well, it's not to Trump. I have a great relationship with Transition Team, and I'm working to try and make sure that every one of his nominees get a fair treatment and committee. A lot of this are third parties that are making money from the fundraising campaigns to put some ads in there. But double digit percentages are going into their pockets. Here's what I would tell them.

If they really support President Trump's nominees, they should stand down and let the nominees win on their own merits. And I think most of them will. President Trump had a good experience in his first term as president in terms of enjoying the support of Republicans. He should expect it again. But if people want to play the outside game, then they run a lot of risk. Four votes are all it's going to take to kill a nomination here. So they should take pause. Do the work.

build a compelling case. Pete Hedgeseth had a good week this week on Capitol Hill. I'm working with Kash Patel. The members are not really swayed by these. If anything, they could create a structural problem for future nominees if they overreach. But I don't believe that it's coming directly out of Mar-a-Lago. I think it's coming out of groups. Sometimes they have good behavior. Other times they're out there to make some change and get their name out there as a

as an activist organization i think that that's not doing the president a very good service but that seemed like the president elect is frustrated with the prospect of some of these nominees not even getting to a full hearing because the way that they see it is if these senators are allowed to essentially pocket veto some of these nominees take them down without ever having to put their name on the board opposing them then the senators avoid scrutiny when they're running for their re-elections and it looks

to some like Trump might not have control of the conference. But how do you navigate looking over both your left shoulder and your right shoulder with every vote that you have to cast?

I think you stay focused on the facts. There are some nominees that are going to have to ask some legitimate questions coming from Republican members. They're also are going to have to answer. They're also going to have to deal with unfair questions coming from the Democratic side. Just take a look at the confirmation hearing for General Hyten. Take a look at which I...

participated in when I was on Senate Armed Services. Take a look at Brett Kavanaugh's hearing. Everyone who is coming before the Senate, every nominee needs to be prepared to go to the level that they're going to have to go to to answer some tough questions in some cases and many unfair questions. We've made it that the Democrats have made it very clear in the Kavanaugh hearing. Nothing is sacred.

family, past experiences, personal experiences, high school yearbooks. The nominees need to get ready and they need to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the Republican members minimally. And then there are going to be many nominees that I think will get significant Democrat votes.

I believe Marco Rubio will. Doug Collins over in the VA. We're not talking about all the nominees that are moving through quickly. We're talking about three or four that have legitimate questions they have to answer. Well, the base pressure does seem to have had an effect on Senator Joni Ernst. She's a combat veteran herself, sexual assault survivor. She went from being publicly lukewarm on Trump

Trump's defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth to asking for a second meeting with Hegseth and then saying that he should have a full hearing. And it followed a veiled primary threat from Iowa's attorney general. She wrote in an op-ed, in recent days, it's become clear that D.C. politicians think they can ignore the voice of their constituents and entertain smears from the same outlets that have pushed out lies for years. When voters select a president, they're selecting that president's vision for a cabinet that will enact his agenda.

So is this sort of about face from Ernst a sign that maybe Hegseth and the other controversial nominees are going to ultimately make it through? Joni's a very good friend of mine, and she is a war -- she is a soldier, a patriot, and a fantastic member of the Senate. Anyone who wants to challenge her in a primary for being thoughtful needs to be held accountable for that sort of garbage.

The reality is Joni and all of us are just looking for a good, solid case to carry forward to the floor. And Joni asking questions and appearing to be objective with Pete is just fine with me. At the end of the day, there's a lot of time. What's amazing to me is how people were not even in the new administration.

And we haven't even seen the background checks, which I know the administration is sending our way. So there's a lot of information that needs to be gathered. And these folks who are making primary challenges, running ads, they seem more like political opportunists than me, than thoughtful members of the Republican Party. Real quickly, because you said you think most of these nominees are going to make it through. Which of the nominees is going to have the toughest fight, do you think?

Well, I think, you know, I believe that Cash is going to enjoy Cash Patel, who I'm working with because he's on my committee of jurisdiction, is going to enjoy solid Republican support on the Senate floor and coming out of the committee. I think that Pete Hedgeseth is going to have to go to the committee and answer some questions about

organizational experience, some of his past marriages, those sorts of things. All of that's fair game when you're running for a cabinet or sub-cabinet position. And I think that Gabbard, I just simply don't know. Tulsi, she'll be on the...

on the intelligence committee what i've said as any confirmation that comes with a strong republican base of support i'm generally going to support uh... and committees where i don't have your where i'm not in the committee of jurisdiction where comes the veterans banking finance

and judiciary, then I'll be on the front row and I'll be doing everything to get the members through and to force them to answer tough questions. We shouldn't avoid tough questions because the Democrats are going to go further and they're going to be unfair in the process. Okay. I want to get to the agenda before we run out of time, because the

President-elect campaigned on promises to lower costs for Americans and solve the border crisis. The only way to get around the Senate's 60-vote threshold is to use the budget reconciliation process. And this week, the House speaker adopted the Senate's plan of doing multiple reconciliation packages and theoretically going with the border first. But also theoretically, if you eliminate the border, if you take that up with the first package and you don't include

the tax cuts extension as part of it, it could become very difficult to get all of the Republicans on the same page when you've got deficit hawks that are fundamentally opposed to some of the same requests that the New York Republicans want, for instance, on increasing the tax deduction for state and local taxes. So are you concerned that if the tax cuts don't make it into the first reconciliation package that it won't get done at all?

because you could have a situation where the largest tax increase in history comes under unified Republican control.

I am, Jackie. I mean, just take a look at it. When President Trump came in in 2017, we tried to move quickly on reversing the damage that Obamacare was creating. We came up a vote short. What we don't want to do is burn too much time, because if we don't get the tax provisions in place and make it very clear to the markets and to the American people that it will be in the August or September timeframe, the markets are going to price in that cost, and then it's going to make it more difficult.

And here's the last thing I'll leave you with. I think a lot of people are assuming that we can't convince Democrats, eight or seven or eight of them, to vote with Republican policies. I think that's being lazy. And I think that that will produce less results than I believe President Trump wants.

Let's get in there and do the hard work. Let's have the border package through reconciliation as an option. But why don't we get together and start having discussions right now about border security and immigration reform that President Trump supports? He's already said he thinks there should be a path for DREAMers and DACA population. We could actually get some big stuff done, I believe, even with 60 votes to take pressure off that timeline that we need to get reconciliation done for tax reform. And we're having those discussions.

And I believe that we can be very, very productive in our first six or eight months in office next year. Just to clarify, are you saying that you think the tax cuts should go into the first reconciliation package?

I believe that we've got to pull it forward. So whether it could be the mechanics of the tax package and some border, it could be dual track where we're working on 60 vote threshold for border while we're trying to get the package done. Mike Crapo is doing yeoman's work as our incoming finance chair. But it is complicated and it is difficult. And we have to get it done because we cannot afford to have a four to five trillion dollar tax increase

over the next ten years hit the american people they need just the opposite they need a good work the president prompted with tax reform and two thousand seventeen back and renewed this year senator tom tell us thank you so much for your time thanks for being with us this morning thank you reports of drones in the sky across the east coast prompt more questions than answers about the flying mystery objects house intel committee ranking member jim hines joins me next to discuss the search for answers

Fox News Sunday is sponsored by Pacific Life, creating financial security for nearly 160 years.

Fox News Audio presents the Fox Nation Investigates podcast, The Baden Files. A person's final story can be told through their bodies in an autopsy. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden covers three incredible cases where he helped change the course of the investigation. Sometimes it takes more than one look.

to put the pieces together. Listen and follow starting January 7th at foxtruecrime.com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Mysterious drones over New Jersey are sparking concerns as officials and residents question where they're from. In a moment, Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes will join me live. But first, Fox News national correspondent C.B. Cotton is live in Elizabeth, New Jersey, tracking the recent sightings. Hey, C.B.,

Hi, Jackie. Well, during a call with reporters this weekend, a senior Defense Department official confirmed there have been mysterious drone sightings over two military facilities here in New Jersey. He said the military is frustrated by what he described as irresponsible drone activity, while admitting that at this point, the U.S. government doesn't know much about who was operating the drones in those cases, saying, quote,

But I just got to simply tell you, we don't know. We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin. Other officials from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and FAA said during the weekend call that the ongoing investigation revealed most of the sightings.

are planes being mistaken for drones and that there's no public safety threat, national security risk or foreign actor. And FBI officials say most of the reported sightings across the entire northeast region match the approach pattern of some of the busiest airports in the New York area. Adding later in the call, quote, I think there has been a slight overreaction.

Our Fox flight team took this cell phone video of what looks like it could be a drone with the naked eye. Then our team shot video using a drone with thermal imaging, and you can clearly see the outline of the plane. Still, there's growing frustration. New York Governor Kathy Hochul sounded off about an airport temporarily shut down Friday night. She's now calling on Congress to pass legislation to strengthen the FAA's oversight of drones and

and give more authority to state and local agencies to investigate the drone activity, while people take to social media like this Facebook group to share photos and videos. No doubt whatsoever. I've shown it to other people. My wife was home last night, and she saw the video, and there's no doubt they're drones. Everybody's got their own personal theories, but nobody really actually knows what's happening.

An FBI official said the agency has received about 5,000 tips, but of those, he said less than 100 were deemed credible for further investigation. Jackie. CB Cotton live in New Jersey. Thanks, CB. Well, the mysterious sightings leading to bipartisan calls for answers. Joining me now, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Jim Himes. Thank you so much, Congressman, for being here.

Thanks for having me, Jackie. So, Congressman, contradictory statements can erode public trust, and it appears that that's already happening within the government. Here's Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis. I believe that the United States of America, with its military capabilities, does not know what these objects are. And what I'm asking, and what we're all asking, is for you to be straight with us and just tell us what is going on.

The White House is saying that there's no evidence of a national security or public safety threat, no sign of criminal activity or malicious intent or foreign involvement. But also, they don't know what these systems are. They don't know who is operating them or why or what they're capable of. And those messages are inherently incompatible.

So do you believe the relevant federal agencies are really unable to answer these questions or are they just unwilling to answer them? And do you think the government actually knows what they're dealing with here?

Yeah, Jackie, you know, there's a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now. You know, the answer we don't know is not a good enough answer. When people are anxious, when they're nervous, and this has been true, you know, since we've been a species on this planet, people will fill a vacuum with, you know, their fears and anxieties and conspiracy theories. And, oh, my God, there's an Iranian mothership hovering off the coast of Asbury Park or it's the Russians or it's the Chinese.

And so my frustration is that the FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction for our domestic skies, ought to be out, you know, Saturday morning saying, let us show you a picture of the number of aircraft, commercial and private and military, that go over

New Jersey in any 24-hour period. And when people see that, they'll be like, oh, my God, I cannot believe how many aircraft. And then the FAA should say, you know, we've got about 800,000 registered drones in this country, and there's probably several million more that aren't registered. And, you know, so just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful. So we haven't seen that.

And so as a result, you know, you've got Senator Andy Kim going out with the state police in New Jersey, filling that vacuum hopefully with truth. Now, let me say something that I know with confidence. It is not the Iranians. It is not the Chinese. They aren't Martians. I know that's very unsatisfying for people who want a Hollywood movie out of this. How can you say that, though? Look, in the absence of good information –

I can say that because I spent all my time as the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee watching what the Iranians and the Chinese do. And you know what they don't do is put a bunch of drones that we could easily recover over the continental United States. The Chinese learned that lesson, of course, with their spy balloon. And you're right. I can't say with 100 percent probability. But to Nicole's point, yes.

You know, it's just the military is amazing at what they do. An aircraft carrier has 6,000 amazing people on it who will defeat the Iranians. What they're not very good at doing is identifying if there's 12 teenage boys in Montclair, New Jersey, flying Walmart drones. The military is not very good at identifying that and dealing with that. So again, it's a deep breath moment. But you're right. The federal agency has got to be putting a lot more information out there about the

nature of the problem, even if they don't know what any given specific blinking light over Asbury Park is this morning. Well, to your point about information that is being put in the public domain, the White House held a briefing this week and appeared to make a series of false statements. Take a listen.

The analysis thus far in an investigation that is ongoing has not revealed any national security or malicious intent or criminal activity. There has been no evidence of any of this activity in or near restricted spaces. We know that there were incursions in restricted spaces. They later had to walk that back.

Military officials confirmed this week on the record at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earl in New Jersey, plus Langley Air Force Base last year and the nuclear test site in Nevada before that. And in Europe, the military also confirmed incursions at four U.S. bases in the U.K. last month and Ramstein in Germany last week. There also appears to be evidence of criminal activity because these drones are not operating on the FAA system as required by law. They're

functioning on an undetectable frequency, we're told by investigators. Do you think that this mixed messaging invites a credibility crisis for the government that could be could have a real impact on the American people?

Well, I mean, what I heard Kirby say in that clip was that there was no evidence that what's been reported in New Jersey was contrary to the law or designed to observe a military base. That doesn't mean, by the way, and don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that drones can't be enormously dangerous, right? And there have been case after case of people flying drones into restricted airspace. You know, one of those things gets sucked into a jet engine of a plane on LaGuardia approach,

That is a very, very serious thing. And yes, there have been cases. We don't know the full outlines because the cases haven't been tried of people who have flown drones over military bases. And we suspect that they may that may have been for observation. So, yeah, look, you know, 10 years ago, none of us ever had heard of a drone. And now it is a very powerful piece of technology that can be misused. I guess what I'm saying is let's not jump immediately to Iranians, to Chinese, to Martians,

And the government has a real responsibility to put more information out there so people better understand what the real dangers are. This week, White House called on Congress to expand counter drone authority. The New Jersey governor, Phil Murphy, wrote in a letter to the president, it's become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity. This week, the FBI testified in a joint subcommittee hearing before Congress that the federal government alone cannot address unidentified aerial systems.

Why is this Congress's problem to solve? Is it really possible that the federal government is not in a position to address a potential threat over the homeland? What would happen if one of these was carrying a weapons payload? Yeah, Jackie, well, look, like everything else, it's a division of labor, right? It is absolutely the federal government's job to make sure that nobody is flying a drone over Edwards Air Force Base or the CIA headquarters in Virginia to do surveillance or worse, right?

That's absolutely the federal government's responsibility. But look, I've got two 20-something daughters, right? Either one of them could walk into a Walmart, spend a little bit of money, get a drone, fly it next to somebody's window with a camera and start taking pictures of what's happening inside that house. Or worse, by the way, that's probably not going to be a Department of Homeland Security responsibility.

problem to solve. And so, you know, look, we're all sort of dealing with this new technology and we'll figure out what is the federal government's responsibility, what should be handled by the state police and what should be handled by local forces. But yeah, look, this is a new technology and it's going to present new challenges. And all I'm saying is we should be sober about it.

and not start worrying about Iranian motherships or the Martians landing, you know, as New Jersey so famously had happened with the old Orson Welles thing of many, many decades ago. So is there no concern in your mind that this could be potentially a Pearl Harbor moment, like with the Japanese submarines surveilling in the waters off Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack? Do you really have no concern this might be a state actor preparing for some kind of an event in the future?

No, it's not. And frankly, Jackie, we shouldn't look. Our adversaries that will that would wish us harm, you know, have billion dollar satellites over our heads right now that are capable of, you know, doing what we do to them, which is observing. You know what they're not going to do? They're not going to put technology over Newark, New Jersey that could fall out of the sky and we would capture it. Believe me, it was not happy for the Chinese when we got there.

spy balloon. So, no, I really don't. I mean, there's lots of things to worry about. Don't get me wrong. And we worry about Iran. We worry about China. But no, they are not going to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor that is preceded by drones. Now, does that mean that they're not going to use it to try to spy on our sensitive facilities? Of course they might. But no, this is not the predecessor for an attack on

on the American homeland. I can promise you that. Well, I hope that people can take some solace in your confidence there, Congressman, because it's been a wild week or so and it's been going on for several weeks now. So thank you so much for being here. Congressman Jim Himes, appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.

Bashar al-Assad's ouster is raising concerns about the future of Syria and the wider Middle East. Trey Yinks is live on the ground in Damascus with the latest. Plus, our panel breaks down how uncertainty in the region will shape foreign policy for the Trump administration. That's next.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says American officials are in contact with the rebel group that led to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as the world watches to see how the transition will unfold. Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yinks is live on the ground in Damascus, Syria for us. Hi, Trey.

Jackie, good morning. It's been nearly a week since the fall of Damascus, and the Syrian people are still uncovering what was left behind by the Assad regime. On the outskirts of the city, we're getting a firsthand look at the aftermath and destruction from the civil war. Assad's barrel bombs and missiles destroying these communities, reducing them to rubble, and the people living here speaking out about their conditions and hopes for the first time, now unafraid.

God willing, it will be so much better. It's been a week without Assad. Our life flipped 180 degrees, and that's just after one week. Hopefully, it will continue to get better. God willing, it will definitely get better than this.

Slowly, international organizations will trickle back into this part of Syria. The UN envoy arrived today to start determining the needs of the Syrian people. And today, Syrian Christians attended their first church services since the fall of the Assad regime. They are both optimistic and fearful about what comes next. We do continue to investigate following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. So much information here in the capital city and so many missing people. Jackie. Trey Yings for us in Damascus. Thank you, Trey.

Well, the end of Assad's regime, of course, is sparking questions about how the incoming administration will address the wider situation in the Middle East. And it is time now for our Sunday group. Julia Manchester, national political reporter for The Hill, former Biden White House special assistant Megan Hayes, Mark Thiessen, resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, and Jewish insider editor-in-chief Josh Krausauer. Thank you so much for being with us, guys. Thanks.

Thank you. Thank you. Mark, I want to start with you. As Assad's regime was falling,

Trump said on Truth Social, Syria is a mess, but not our friend. The United States should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight. The group that's poised to take power in Syria is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., and there are 900 U.S. troops on the ground in Syria fighting ISIS. Is it really possible to stay out of it, as Trump said? We don't want to get involved in combat in Syria, but

We do have vital interest there. First of all, Syria is a good news and a bad news story. It is a good news story in the sense the Assad regime was a brutal, murderous, tyrannical regime. It's good news for the Syrian people. It's a victory for Israel because they were the chief sponsor of Iran. It's a defeat for Iran. It's a defeat for Russia, which went in several years ago to prop up the Assad regime and has failed. So these are all good things. The problem is the new regime is headed by a guy named Jalani, who was radicalized by the 9-11 attacks to go to Iraq and fight the Americans.

So he saw 9-11 and said, I'm going to go join that fight. He went to Iraq. He became a leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which became ISIS. And then he was sent by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of that group, who Trump killed like a dog, if we all remember, to Syria. And he had a break with him. And so he is an al-Qaeda figure. Al-Qaeda had two goals.

to get control of a nation state and get control of weapons of mass destruction. Well, they've just gotten taken control of a nation state that has chemical weapons. So we have a vital interest in making sure that those chemical weapons stockpiles are destroyed. Right now, Israel and the United States are launching strikes to take those out, but we have to make sure we get them all so because they could end up in New York or Washington one day if we don't. Trump's incoming national security advisor gave a preview, it seems, of his approach to the region. Take a listen.

President Trump was elected with an overwhelming mandate to not get the United States drug into any more Middle Eastern wars. Josh, do you think that that's a sign that Trump could withdraw troops from the region? What would be the impact if he did and how would the rest of the region react?

Well, it's a test of Trump's isolationist instincts versus the realities on the ground. And I agree with Mark that the Trump administration and he's got a lot of very traditionalist, hawkish foreign policy advisers that don't want to see ISIS reestablish itself in northeast Syria. In fact, you know, there's a prison where many of the most hardened ISIS terrorists are being housed. The Kurds are allies in that part of the country. And I think Trump and his advisers do realize that there are national security interests there.

for the United States. I think what he doesn't want to get is involved in taking sides and kind of, we don't know sort of the long-term intentions of HTS, the rebel group. We hope that they will be friendly to American interests and provide peace in the region, but we know that hope isn't the substitute for what often happens in the Middle East.

I think Israel and Iran is also another big hot spot. And Iran is very vulnerable. They lost one of their big proxies in Syria. I think a big question for the Trump administration is would they support the U.S. or Israel going after those nuclear facilities? That's a very good question. I want to turn to health care because the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO,

continued to dominate headlines this week. Senator Elizabeth Warren called the murder of Brian Thompson a warning, and it stirred some very strong reactions. Here was her quote. Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far. This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands that will ultimately be a threat to everyone. Warren was later forced to sort of walk back

her comment and make clear that this was not a justification for murder. But that is exactly the argument that's all over social media right now. So what does that say about the state of the country, Julia? Look, I think we see on social media so much loud noise about this, almost this glorification of Luigi Mangione, which has been, I think, disturbing for a lot of people to watch. And it's also turning away from

the nuance really of the discussion or the feelings that Americans have about the health care system. Look, there is certainly unhappiness and discontent with the health care system in the U.S. There was a recent Gallup poll that found what roughly 23 percent

of Americans said they were unhappy with the current health care system. However, those numbers change when you look at their own personal health care situation, when 60, 65 percent of Americans say they're actually happy with their coverage. Now, that can also change if they themselves go through some sort of a catastrophic health incident. They're forced to confront, sort of deal with the health care system in a more negative way. But

I think, unfortunately, we have lost that nuance of this conversation going forward, talking to Democrats. They don't feel particularly optimistic about, you know, changing how they would say improving health care in the U.S., particularly with Republicans in the House and the Senate and the Trump administration. But overall, I think it's just been disturbing to see the lack of nuance in this conversation. Megan, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez found herself in somewhat of a similar situation. Here's what she said.

And this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them. The suspect in this murder was not even a customer of this insurance company. Do you think that lawmakers need to...

think twice about using current events to advance a policy discussion? Yes, absolutely. Full stop. This person is alleged of committing cold-blooded murder in broad daylight on video. It's disgusting that there isn't anything but conversation, like Elizabeth Warren's tweet saying, but it's offensive to everyone. Full stop.

That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be a health care conversation and a policy conversation separate of that. But this should not be the catalyst to have that conversation. And we should not be saying, oh, watch out. People are going to commit murder because they're unhappy with their health care. That is...

completely disgusting to me, but I do think there does need to be a healthcare conversation. There's a lot of things. Drug affordability, the way we get access to healthcare. We are the only first world country that does healthcare in the same way. But two things can be true. It is disgusting that they are equating this to having that conversation. Panel, stay with us. We've got much more on this coming up next. Business leaders are changing their tune on Trump as the economic outlook grows more bullish for his second term.

how it will impact both Wall Street and Main Street, coming up next. Believe me when it comes to...

President-elect Trump ringing the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange as Wall Street leaders grow increasingly optimistic about his second administration. And we are back now with the panel. So, guys, a year ago, Trump was politically dead. And now he is Time magazine's person of the year. He posted on Truth Social how it started, how it's going with a photo of his 2023 mugshot there on the left.

His inauguration is obviously poised to become a global event, even though Xi Jinping is not coming. The Chinese are sending a delegation to attend. What does this reflect, Mark? So it's the greatest political comeback in American history. The last president to lose the White House and then win it back four years later was Grover Cleveland in 1892. And he didn't have

to overcome the Mueller probe, the two impeachments and 91 charges at the federal, state and local level. This is the comeback for the ages. And what's happening now is Trump is getting something that he didn't get the first time around, which is a political honeymoon. Because in 2016, everybody thought he was a fluke. He didn't win the popular vote. Hillary was unpopular. And so they immediately went to attack him to say he was an accidental president, not my president. The resistance started. They launched all these attacks. And it's

utterly failed. He won the popular vote, he won the electoral college, he's got complete unified control of government. He's now got a chance to have the honeymoon and a chance to push his agenda that normal presidents get. Companies are really pouring money into Trump's inaugural fund. You've got Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, OpenAI's Sam Altman all donating a million dollars each. An opinion column from The Hill says Silicon Valley CEOs have been falling all over themselves to herald his win and positioning their companies to garner business from his administration.

Zuckerberg didn't even congratulate Biden in 2020. So why is he scrambling to go to Mar-a-Lago in 24? Well, I think a lot of these CEOs are looking at someone like Elon Musk, who has literally turned into Trump's right-hand man in many ways. Elon Musk is on calls with foreign leaders. You have Trump attending the launch of SpaceX.

You have Trump slowly somewhat warming to the idea of X, even though he has truth social. They say they see the influence that Elon Musk is having. And I think a lot of these CEOs say, I sort of want to have a slice of that as well. Well, meantime, as as Trump is getting this honeymoon, Democrats are distancing themselves from Biden. The party really has no heir apparent after he leaves office. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro sounded off on Biden.

Biden commuting a sentence of a former Lucerne County judge who was embroiled in this kids for cash scandal, accepted kickbacks for wrongly imprisoning kids in a for profit prison. Here's what Shapiro said. I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania.

This was not only a black eye on the community, the Kids for Cash scandal, but it also infected families in really deep and profound and sad ways.

Josh, what do you make of Biden's decision here? You know, he's a son of Scranton. Why would he upset his legacy in his hometown with this pardon? Yeah, I mean, this is quite a way to go out. It feels like the end month theme of the Biden administration is commutations or pardons for pretty corrupt individuals. Started out with Hunter Biden. The Fox News poll that came out this past week showed about two thirds of Americans disapprove of that decision.

And now he's choosing to pardon or commute the sentences of some of the most corrupt politicians or judges in the country. There was an Illinois comptroller who embezzled over $50 million who got her sentence commuted.

The Pennsylvania judge we just saw, the Governor Shapiro, thought this was unconscionable. That's someone who sent juveniles to jail as part of a pay-for-play scheme. I don't know what Biden is doing. I don't think he's getting the best political advice. And it's certainly going to harm his legacy going forward. On that point, you know, Anita Dunn, who is one of the president's

closest advisers publicly spoke out against his decision to pardon his son. She said the argument is one I think many observers are concerned about, a president who ran to restore the rule of law, who's upheld the rule of law, who's really defended the rule of law, kind of saying, well, maybe not right now. You know, it's one thing for Shapiro, who might be positioning himself rightfully,

to run in 28 to speak out against Biden. But Anita Dunn is not running for any public office. So why is she, Megan, speaking out against her former boss? I mean, I think that there is a lot of inside baseball here with the lawyers and her husband, Bob. But I do think that she what she also said was the timing wasn't right. And I don't think she was criticizing the president. I think she was criticizing the timing of this.

And I think that that a lot of Democrats feel that way. Why did you do this first? Why was this not the very last thing you did in office if you were going to pardon your son? I don't think that anyone can fault the president for pardoning his son. He's already lost two children and, you know, keeping Hunter out of jail or keeping Hunter's legal problems, you know, to a stop where he is. I think no one can fault him for that. I don't think Americans people actually really do care if he pardons his former drug

drug addict, addicted son who had these crimes when he was an addict. But I don't think Anita was criticizing the president's decision. She was criticizing the timing. You can fault him for lying about it. He said he told the American people that he wasn't going to do it repeatedly and did it. And also the other thing he did is he validated Donald Trump's critique of the Justice Department because he said, this is the quote, Hunter was singled out because he's my son. Raw politics has infected this process and led to a miscarriage of justice. That's exactly what Donald Trump says. He's saying that about his own Justice Department.

about Merrick Garland has allowed raw politics to infect the justice process. Donald Trump will say, I agree. Let's clean it up. Two things can be true here. And also, I also think that when the president was saying he wasn't going to pardon his son, he was running for president. The circumstances were different. I actually don't think the president was lying when he said that. I don't think he had an intention to. I think the circumstances changed. He saw some of the people that were being nominated, like Kash Patel, like, you know, before it was Matt Gaetz, before Bondi. But I do think that

He was afraid that these people were going to continue to come for his son. And I think he thought that he could put a stop to it and did that. So I don't necessarily think he was lying at the time he said those. I guess we will see the fallout and whether any Democrats sort of take a step back from giving the president a bear hug as he exits his term. Thanks, panel. We will see you next Sunday. Up next, a look back at the life of a legendary courtroom sketch artist whose work you definitely have seen, even if you didn't realize it.

Big news from my home. I'm switching his take on the nation's hot button topics on this show. We always want to set the record straight. You can't miss Hannity weeknights at nine.

Some sad news to report this morning. Earlier this week, legendary courtroom sketch artist Bill Hennessey passed away. He was known for bringing to life what happened behind closed doors where cameras were not allowed, whether it be at the Supreme Court, the Clinton and Trump impeachments, or other pivotal legal moments in the nation's history. Hennessey's career spanned decades. He passed away on Monday, which was also his birthday. Shannon sat down with Bill last year at his studio in Virginia.

I want them to feel as though they're there. I'm not trying to shade it in any particular way. That's my responsibility. That's my job. You don't know his face, but you do know his work.

In a city where courtroom drama drives news, but cameras are rarely invited in, artist Bill Hennessey is there with his pencils and paper. I try to more than just statically record what's there, but actually kind of catch the energy and the emotion of what's there. It's a profession he stumbled into as a young art student. Our department got a phone call. The woman at the door said, hey, there's a TV station on the phone. Would anybody be interested in drawing in a courtroom? And I jumped at it.

And much to my surprise, it's been over 40 years. At what point did you transition to this is going to be the work that I do? It was crazy. The whole concept of it was basically, you know, it's like, imagine just wherever you are walking into a room full of, you know, 50 people and say, quick, we need a drawing of this. And it's like, what do I draw here? I really had to think like a journalist. I finally got a grasp on it and said, okay, I can, I can do this.

Today, his sketches are a staple of television news, telling the story of the nation's most consequential cases. You've been in celebrity trials, terrorism trials, a lot of big Supreme Court cases. What are some of the standouts for you? Oh, my gosh. You know, that's almost impossible. He sketched former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

The D.C. sniper case, the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation trial, and a young woman who interned in the Clinton White House. Rumor was there was no blue dress. There was she wasn't going to testify. And it's like we've been waiting for.

months and nothing's going to come of this. And then the word was, oh, yeah, there is a blue dress. They have it. Oh, actually, Monica is going to testify. He also sketched that intern's former boss. The first impeachment that really struck me because I had this sort of front row seat in the press gallery looking down on all that. I remember being just overwhelmed by that. And I remember this from government class. This never happens. It's so rare. There have been three now.

Do you feel pressure when it's somebody that is a recognizable figure? Absolutely. That weighs heavily. When it's someone they know, they're looking to make sure you get it accurately. But at the end of the day, you've got to finish. You're done. It airs. And that's the best you can do, and you move on to the next case. His pencils have seen a lot. Are there moments when you're sitting in a trial and something shocking happens, and you stop where you're at and think, this is going to be a very different sketch? There's a lot of things happening.

Happen that you don't expect. And that's what you really got to be ready for, because that can be the story. Sometimes that story is outside the courtroom. I heard a commotion from the floor above. And this shirtless guy comes flying down the escalator. I mean, he's like going eight, 10 steps at a time. And he was moving and he's being pursued by like four court marshals.

It was crazy. The amazing thing about that is if you look at that sketch at the bottom, there's a woman standing at the bottom of the escalator. She put her foot out and tripped him. Inside the courtroom, Hennessy has perfected the speed of his craft. I see you in the courtroom. We're listening to arguments. I'm furiously scribbling my notes. You're there working in real time on these sketches. It is going as the case is going. Right, right. I mean...

That's what's kind of cool about it, but also what's kind of crazy about it. We are an institution. You walk into these courtrooms and people know Bill Hennessey is here. This is a trial of import, and he's going to make sure that the public gets to see what's happening in here. Well, I appreciate that.

I do have a lot of friends and got to know a lot of really great people over the years. This is what I was talking about. I've seen Hennessy over those years in my time covering the court's most historic cases. And that case at the top there was a really big moment in history. That's the Dobbs case that ended up overturning Roe v. Wade. That's right. That's right. That was Dobbs.

And actually, there's a reporter in there, as you might recognize. I was so excited to find out I made it into a Bill Hennessey sketch. In today's world of instant digital news coverage, sketching might seem old school, but Hennessey says otherwise. It has changed. Now, 24-hour news is...

They want it immediately. It's fast. Almost as soon as the gavel strikes, court's adjourned. It's like, how soon can you have that? My method of working lends itself to this because I draw fast and I like that kind of energy. Now it's more demanding than ever. Do you ever think about the legacy and these moments in time that you've captured? No camera could ever be there, but your artwork is going to be what we have today.

I haven't really dwelled too much on that. Yeah, that is pretty special. And in that regard, I'm going to let my kids figure out what the heck to do with all those historical images. A wonderful look back at his career. Bill Hennessey was 67 years old. He will be missed. That's it for today. Thank you for joining us. I'm Jackie Heinrich. Have a great week and we'll see you next Fox News Sunday.

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