If the election were held today, Democrats would be ‘in trouble’: Rep. Jake Auchincloss
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., weighs in on the growing calls to delay the virtual nomination of Biden during an appearance on ‘Fox News Sunday.’
This is a rush transcript of "Fox News Sunday" on July 21, 2024. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Shannon Bream.
The intense pressure from Democrats calling for President Biden to pull out of the race may be reaching a breaking point.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): I have concern that Mr. Biden will fall short. This isn't about him. This is about America's future.
BREAM (voice-over): As President Biden recovers from COVID in Rehoboth Beach, he can't escape the growing chorus of Democrats pressuring him to drop out.
The president's supporters dwindling.
REP. JIM CLYBURN (D-SC): I've made it very clear that I'm riding with Biden and that's not going to change.
BREAM: We'll talk with Congressman Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Lindy Li, a member of the Biden-Harris national finance committee, who says money for the president is drying up.
Then --
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got an opportunity to win a lot of races up and down the ballot.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Less than four months from now, we are going to win Michigan. We are going to take back the White House with a monumental landslide.
(CHEERING)
BREAM: Energized by the party faithful in Milwaukee, team Trump-Vance hit the road in battleground Michigan, just a week after the attempted assassination.
SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Bottom line, we need public hearings. We need a full and thorough investigation.
BREAM: Tomorrow, Congress is set to grill Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on how her agency failed to protect the former president.
We talk exclusively with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer about the demand for answers and with our Sunday panel on the director's freeze out with lawmakers at the RNC convention.
SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): This was an assassination attempt. You owe the people answers.
BREAM: All, right now, on "FOX News Sunday".
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BREAM (on camera): Hello from FOX News in Washington.
Newly official as the 2024 GOP ticket, President Trump and Senator Vance are speaking out for the first time together in a sit-down interview since wrapping up the RNC convention in Milwaukee, talking with Jesse Watters about the assassination attempt on Trump's life just eight days ago in Pennsylvania and the investigation's now underway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: The FBI is doing an investigation on the assassination attempt. Do you trust the bureau?
VANCE: I don't trust the bureau leadership, but I certainly think there are a lot of good field agents, guys on the ground. But what the hell was going on? How was that guy ever allowed to be there in the first place? I think somebody, whether it's higher up or somebody else involved really did screw up.
TRUMP: There's some things going on with our government that we have to really worry about. Did we have enough people? Why didn't we have enough people? Somebody said that a lot of people would put on Biden's detail. The problem is Biden doesn't draw anybody. He draws flies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREAM: We got some breaking news on that overnight, and we'll have more of Jesse's interview later in the show. You can see the full conversation this Monday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, on the FOX News Channel.
Now, on the other side of the ticket, a growing number of Democrats urging President Biden to step aside for the good of the party, fearing a major defeat up and down the ballot if he remains on the ticket.
In a moment, we'll get reaction from Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss who's not publicly called for Biden to drop out.
But, first, let's turn to FOX News correspondent Kevin Corke in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, near the president's vacation home. He's recovering there.
Hello, Kevin.
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Shannon.
There are competing Democratic narratives surrounding the Biden campaign at this hour. It's either Joe must go, or we're not unanimous, but we are united in our support of the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE (voice-over): But that tug of war continues amid growing concerns among Democrats about the health of the Biden campaign, and increasing calls for the president to step aside and leave the race, with nearly three dozen Democrat lawmakers insisting time's up.
CROWD: Pass the torch! Pass the torch!
CORKE: Worse yet, the drumbeat for Biden to leave the top of the ticket really hit home Saturday, with large protests outside the White House itself from self-proclaimed Democrats urging him to end his run for reelection.
Summing up the rift, Virginia's Gerry Connolly who told "The New York Times": We have to cauterize this wound right now, and the sooner we can do it the better.
A sentiment shared by many in party leadership privately, who continue to insist publicly that they're riding with Biden for now.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Look, Joe Biden is our nominee and he has a really big decision to make. But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up, to unite the party.
CORKE: This as a detailed update on the president's condition from White House physician Kevin O'Connor shows the president completed a sixth dose of Paxlovid on Saturday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE (on camera): The 81-year-old said to be experiencing hoarseness and a persistent cough but his symptoms, Shannon, apparently are improving steadily.
Back to you.
BREAM: That is good news. Kevin Corke reporting from Rehoboth Beach, thank -- thank you very much, Kevin.
Joining me now, Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss.
Always great to have you with us. Thanks for your time today.
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): It's good to be back.
BREAM: So you've, it seems, remained sort of neutral on this idea of what happens with the ticket. Do you feel like you're getting access to the information you need to know about what is happening moving forward? Is that still your position?
AUCHINCLOSS: Well, the information is public and that's the polls and the battleground states. Ultimately, my opinion is much less important than the opinions of Pennsylvanians and Michiganders and Wisconsinites who are going to be the critical swing voters in this election. And the Democratic Party is having a deep debate about how we best win because we are absolutely aligned on the imperative to win.
Come what may on Labor Day, the party is going to be united behind the top of the ticket. We're going to be rolling and rollicking behind a strong and sharp contrast on rule of law against the lawless Republican Party, and the Republican Party is going to be going in the opposite direction.
I know right now, Shannon, they seem united coming out of Milwaukee. I've had a front row seat to these folks for the last four years. I've seen them divided on certifying the election results, on abortion, on supporting Ukraine.
And when they underperform an election day, those fractures are going to blow up into the open. Donald Trump is going to try to pull them back --
BREAM: Well -- AUCHINCLOSS: -- into the big lie, and that speaker's fight inside the Beltway is going to be a national affair.
BREAM: Are you worried though about Democrats underperforming because speaker -- former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has apparently shared privately with President Biden? She's very worried about what's going to happen to the House, that you all may lose the opportunity to flip it.
So do you think if President Biden stays at the top of the ticket, how worried are you about that?
AUCHINCLOSS: I'm concerned right now. If the election were held today, Democrats would be in trouble. I think there's no empirical way to say otherwise. But the election is four months from now, and we have not just very strong candidates at the House and the Senate level, we also have strong surrogates.
We've got Kamala Harris who can prosecute a case, which is good, because Trump's a convicted felon. We've got Pete Buttigieg who can talk about infrastructure and the economy for swing state voters. We got Gina Raimondo, a successful governor, who's now leading the strategy to out- compete China.
And I'll take any of those folks up against J.D. Vance who is a MAGA shapeshifter and whose only consistent track record is denigrating women. This is a guy who --
BREAM: Okay, wait a minute. Well, I know your full-throated support for the Democrats and definitely the issues that you have with President Trump and Vance.
But I want to talk about who ends up on your ticket because you mentioned a lot of different names there, it seems like the DNC is moving forward with this virtual roll call that looks to be slated between August 1st and 7th.
Do you think the party will be coalesced around a solution at that point? Do you think they should delay that?
AUCHINCLOSS: That roll call should happen at the convention. I've been publicly clear about that because the party needs the time and the space to have this debate. And I don't think that's a sign of weakness actually. Parties are meant to have vigorous conversations about who best can win an election in order to effectuate policy for the American people.
Unlike the Republican Party, which right now is a mosh pit on a human hand grenade. They call it unity, I call it an impending disaster because they are going to underperform and he's going to try to steal the election again, and they are going to fail to meet the moral -- moral moment.
BREAM: Do you think the -- do you think the polls are wrong?
AUCHINCLOSS: No. No.
BREAM: For Republicans? Do you -- do -- well, when we talk about the swing states, you talk about underperforming, do you not think there will be a victory for President Trump if the ticket remains as it is on the Democrat side, with the polling you have now?
AUCHINCLOSS: Well, predicting politics is not a very fruitful affair four months out. You and I both know how much can change between now and then.
If the election were held today, we are in trouble. The elections are not going to be held today. They're going to be held in November.
And we're going to have a big opportunity after Labor Day to talk to the American people about Trump's record as a lawless chaos agent and about Vance's record because he is under-known in the electorate as somebody who voted against exceptions for rape and incest for abortion, as somebody who does not want safe and legal in vitro fertilization for women trying to start a family, and yet calls women without children miserable cat ladies. This is not a guy --
BREAM: OK, I think --
AUCHINCLOSS: -- that is going to architect a country that women are going to be respected in.
BREAM: I think he would -- he would take objection with a lot of that, including the IF -- IVF position which he says he's in support of, access to that for everyone. But --
AUCHINCLOSS: His vote record does not support that.
BREAM: OK.
AUCHINCLOSS: And this just goes back to the -- to the fact that you can't trust him. He's a shapeshifter. He's going to do what's best for him as he did in 2016, and as he's done now.
BREAM: But who's going to be making this argument against Trump and Vance? Do you think if President Biden steps off the ticket, it is a natural progression that Vice President Harris would take up the mantle? Or do you believe as your colleague, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, says there should be a mini-primary?
Here's what she says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Maybe a vetting hosted by former presidents, including Obama and Clinton would be helpful, and help focus the attention and whoever emerges, including Kamala Harris, would be a stronger candidate than if we tried to exclude a transparent public process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREAM: Do you think that that's a good option for Democrats?
AUCHINCLOSS: It's -- it should certainly be a transparent and accountable process, and it can immediately put the GOP on the defensive because 70 percent of Americans have said they don't want frankly either Joe Biden or Donald Trump at the top of the ticket.
If there were to be a contested convention, Democrats would say, we listened, we're passing the torch. Republicans meanwhile are furthering their cult of personality that puts self before country.
BREAM: But what about Democrats and the issue that there have been 14 million or more votes for people who voted in the Democrat primaries and now they're being told, we don't think our candidate can win, so we're just going to have the party bosses or others sort of do an internal coup in the Democratic Party and pick someone else, what do you say to those voters?
AUCHINCLOSS: To be clear, it would not be a coup. I've witnessed a coup up close and personal on January 6. I know what that looks like. This is a party having difficult conversations about how best to win an election.
Your point about 14 million voters is absolutely valid, which is why I am wrestling with this -- with this question because I represent 800,000 people. A lot of them went and voted at a contested, free, fair primary election and said they want Joe Biden to lead the ticket. I'm going to walk humbly before contravening their will.
BREAM: Okay. So this idea of whether or not President Biden is able to win the election is a different conversation about whether he should be governing now.
The Federalist says this: Whether Biden is -- primaries -- Democrats' best bet or not, primary voters already chose him. The only acceptable excuse for rejecting those voters' decision is if Biden is constitutionally unable to serve as president.
I know you've talked about as many of us have this op-ed by your colleague Seth Moulton who said President Biden didn't recognize him when they talked in Normandy. There are other questions and conversations that have surface where people tell the similar story.
So is he just not good enough to win or should he even be governing now?
AUCHINCLOSS: First of all, I do think Joe Biden could win the election in November. Whether he's the strongest candidate to win the election in November is an open question I also think he is fully fit to be commander- in-chief right now and frankly his track record over the last three and a half years shows that.
This is the first president in American history who came into office and had to defend democracy at home and abroad simultaneously. Lincoln had to do it at home, FDR abroad, Joe Biden has had his hands full with both.
And he has done so. He has helped heal the soul of this nation. He has put this economy back on track after it was flat on its back, and he has upheld U.S. global leadership.
BREAM: Well, we will see what your party does in the coming days.
Congressman, we always appreciate your time.
AUCHINCLOSS: Nice to be with you.
BREAM: Thanks for coming in.
Okay. Joining me now, Biden-Harris National Finance Committee member, Democratic fundraiser and Biden delegate, Lindy Li.
Great to have you with us.
LINDY LI, BIDEN-HARRIS NATIONAL FINANCE COMMITTEE MEMBER, DEMOCRATIC FUNDRAISER AND BIDEN DELEGATE: Thank you so much.
BREAM: Okay. So, you're a delegate. There are decisions to be made at this point. What would you do if this roll call starts August 1st?
LI: Well, it's not my place to tell President Biden what to do but if he were to step aside, Vice President Kamala Harris would be an excellent candidate. She's a consummate prosecutor and she's out there every single day effectively prosecuting the case, litigating the case against convicted felon Trump.
And just because there was a heinous assassination attempt, it doesn't erase the fact that he faced 88 criminal charges, four indictments, two impeachments and a guilty verdict.
BREAM: But again, the conversation is about who will be making that case. I know that you were on a call with major donors. You've done a ton of fundraising for the party. You've said it's dried up when it comes to -- respect to President Biden.
But you were on this call with major donors. The vice president stepped in on that call for a bit on Friday.
We just have reporting from NBC out this morning talking to people who were on the call and I know you were as well, saying it was a total -- total failure. It was damaging. It was poor planning and it was ludicrous.
What was your sense of that call?
LI: I got the sense that some people were getting antsy on the call. She didn't take any questions and I think she spoke for about four or five minutes. I think people are expecting more of a interactive conversation, but I understand that she's busy. She just raised $2 million just yesterday.
So -- but yeah, I think the call was marketed as more of a news-breaker as -- as in she would give us things that she hadn't yet said on the campaign trail, but --
BREAM: Okay, and because you've done so much fundraising successfully and you say it's gotten really difficult at this point, the "A.P." reported this yesterday that David Letterman will headline a fundraiser with President Biden in 10 days with Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a sign that his campaign is forging ahead despite continued calls for the president to bow out of the '24 race.
The campaign has at least 10 other fundraising events over the last 10 days of July.
Will people show up? Are they going to give? Are you surprised by this news?
LI: I'm not. Well, I also am privy to the fundraising calendar, so I saw that it was coming.
But let me tell you just some a personal experience and I'm not here to gaslight anybody or you deserve the truth, and I would lose my credibility if I withheld that from you.
Fundraising has -- big money fundraising has slowed. People -- major donors who have pledged massive amounts of checks, and I'm talking six, seven -- seven-figure checks have suddenly disappeared, fallen off the face of the Earth, rescinded their pledges.
It's just hard because a lot of these people are successful business people and they see the election as a business proposition. And they would only bet on a campaign if it's a winning prospect. But it's just -- I wish I had better news, but I'm also not here to give you talking points. This is just the truth.
And it's just excruciating -- excruciatingly difficult for me to say this at all.
BREAM: Well, I know that you're supportive of President Biden and have been very full-throated. You're one of the people who when we said we had a really hard time trying to book anyone to come defend him, you reached out because you've wanted to do that for him.
I want to ask you about this question. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez did a live event on social media the other night. And she said, if you think there's consensus among people who want Joe Biden to leave, that they're going to support Kamala Harris, the Vice President, you'd be mistaken.
She says a lot of people who want President Biden off the ticket want the entire ticket wiped out. So are -- are Democrats risking something completely unknown if they do support efforts for President Biden to step down?
LI: Well, I think, speaking to our point, skipping over Kamala Harris would be political malpractice. Full stop, end of story. The base -- our base, black Americans in particular, is why we defeated Trump at all.
And we owe our base, the respect that they deserve by not sidelining an eminently qualified vice president who's out there every single day, who's ferociously fighting for our reproductive rights, which would be even more imperiled under a second Trump term. It would be a catastrophic mistake to skip over her.
BREAM: Interesting too that we got some reporting from "NBC" yesterday that former President Bill Clinton -- this is on social media from one of their correspondents, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have privately been supportive of President Biden's decision to stay in the race and have been actively encouraging donors to stay with him. That's according to people close to the Clintons. Does that surprise you at all, knowing what you do about the fundraising situation?
LI: And then they added an addendum. They were differential, not to him in particular, but to the process. And so I think they're kind of adopting the Pelosi line of, we just got to give the President time to make a decision again.
So I think everyone realizes, everyone sees the polling data. I'm from Pennsylvania. I see it firsthand every single day. The blue wall is crumbling, unfortunately. So we got to do -- this is a break glass in case of emergency moment.
BREAM: What happens though, if you guys do start to this virtual roll call, which DNC Chair Jaime Harrison says is going to start probably August 1st, what will you do as a delegate? Could groups of delegates go rogue?
LI: I think while there are group chats already, there are a lot of group chats around. People are applauding, people are anxious. And I think it would be another catastrophic mistake to have it on August 1st.
Like the Congressman said, I think it should be at the convention because in politics perception is reality and we ought to do everything we possibly can to make it as democratic and as inclusive as possible.
BREAM: All right. Lindy Li, we appreciate your time and for you coming on to state that position. And we'll watch and see how it plays out.
LI: Thank you.
BREAM: All right. Tomorrow marks the very first hearing into the security failure that led to the assassination attempt against President Trump. The man overseeing those hearings, House Oversight Chair James Comer joins us for an exclusive interview next.
But first, Fox News is live on the ground in Michigan where Trump and his new VP pick held their very first joint rally last night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BREAM: Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle is expected to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow. House Oversight Chair James Comer is here to preview the highly anticipated hearing and exclusive interview.
But first, we've got team coverage. FOX News Correspondent CB Cotton is on the ground in Butler, Pennsylvania with the latest on the investigations into the assassination attempt.
But we start with FOX News Correspondent Alexis McAdams in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where the Trump Vance ticket rallied supporters last night.
Hello, Alexis.
ALEXIS MCADAMS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Shannon, good morning from Grand Rapids, Michigan, where we can tell you the mood inside of that arena here in Michigan was absolutely electric as soon as J.D. Vance took the stage. And then people just kept clapping and waiting for the former president to get up there.
Now, he really didn't skip a beat, Trump, because, as you know, he was nearly assassinated a week ago in Butler, Pennsylvania, but he got up there, reflected on that shooting.
And one thing we did want to point out was that he had a different, smaller bandage on his ear, but he stayed focused on his message. And J.D. Vance and Trump are trying to connect with working class voters. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Republican Party is now the party of the people. We're the party of hardworking Americans of every race, religion, color and creed.
The other side's going around trying to make me sound extreme, like I'm an extremist. I'm not. I'm a person with great common sense. I'm not an extremist at all.
VANCE: And there's nothing radical about stopping the poison and the gangs and the criminals from taking care of our country. We're going to shut down that border.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCADAMS: That was the first rally with these two together on stage, and that was their message. Look at those long lines, though, Shannon. Thousands of people wrapped around that Grand Rapids arena for blocks. People even camped out overnight.
The capacity of the Van Andel Arena is 12,000, and it looked like every seat was full, plus they added more seats on the ground there right in front of Trump speaking. Each person went through airport-like security as federal, state and local authorities stayed focused here.
People we talked to out here said they weren't really worried about their safety. They just wanted to hear from the former president and believe Michigan's going to turn red. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When, in 2016, I traveled the state, and I would see these Trump signs all across state and the farmlands. And I said, wow, he's going to win way before. And I'm starting to see it now from people that never put a sign out there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Joe Biden has shown what he can do for the country. Obviously, gas prices are higher. Food prices are higher.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Michigan is going to turn red. Yeah!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCADAMS: So, there's that excitement out here in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And you just have to look at where the former President and J.D. Vance are having their rallies to figure out a little bit of their game plan, right, Shannon?
So, they're having it here in the swing state of Michigan in this battleground area, hoping they can flip this and win it again like they did in 2016. And then J.D. Vance is going to be back in his home state of Ohio tomorrow, so they're going after the working-class voter.
Shannon.
BREAM: Yeah, that belt area is very important. Alexis, thank you so much, reporting live from Grand Rapids.
MCADAMS: Thank you.
BREAM: We turn now to CB Cotton Live in Butler, Pennsylvania, with the latest on this investigation into the attempted assassination.
And CB, news just keeps breaking.
CB COTTON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Shannon, that's right. And we're told by a federal source that whenever former President Donald Trump's security detail was denied access to more resources or manpower, it was because the Secret Service was too thin. But we're told last Saturday's rally was not one of those instances.
In fact, U.S. officials insist that security detail was enhanced because of an Iranian assassination plot against Trump's life.
So, Shannon, now the question is, how was a 20-year-old gunman able to get past, droves of law enforcement?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Take a look at what happened -- oh.
COTTON: Lawmakers, briefed by the FBI, are now demanding answers as to why former President Donald Trump was allowed to take the rally stage when law enforcement had been looking for a suspicious person nearly an hour before. The former president telling Jesse Watters he wonders the same thing, too.
TRUMP: When you had Trumpers screaming, the woman in the red -- in the red shirt, she was screaming, there's a man on the roof. And then other people said, there's a man on the roof who's got a gun. And that was quite a bit before I walked onto the stage. So you would have thought somebody would have done something about it.
COTTON: Thomas Crooks quickly identified as a person of interest for his strange behavior near the metal detectors. A little more than 30 minutes before the shooting, Crooks is then spotted with a golf range finder and officers begin circulating this photo in an effort to track him down.
But by the time rally goers spotted Crooks on the roof of a warehouse building, it was too late. A federal source says investigators believe Crooks hid his father's AR-15 style rifle near an AC unit that he used to climb to the roof. A local officer assigned to traffic detail was lifted to the roof by a fellow officer but had to retreat once the gunman's weapon was pointed towards him.
Moments later, Crooks fired, leaving Trump bloodied, two people injured and retired firefighter Corey Comperatore killed. Hundreds of first responders turning out for a solemn farewell in Pennsylvania on Friday. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks with what a source calls a quote, "one in a million shot."
Next to Crooks' body, a cell phone and remote transmitter were found. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told "ABC News," Crooks fired from a building outside the security perimeter, an area she says was delegated to local and state law enforcement. But local and state police say that's not true, as federal investigators dig through Crooks' encrypted social media accounts with servers based overseas.
A federal law enforcement source tells Fox News a local sniper team was positioned inside the building Crooks fired from. But Shannon, now there are conflicting reports that say that sniper team was actually in a nearby building. Lawmakers hope to get some transparency at upcoming hearings.
We know that bomb-making materials found inside Crooks' home are now at the FBI's lab in Quantico. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BREAM: All right, CB Cotton reporting from Butler, Pennsylvania. CB, thank you very much.
Joining us now, Kentucky Congressman and House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer.
Congressman, welcome. We know yours is the first hearing in this investigation to start off tomorrow. Do you have assurances that the Secret Service Director is indeed going to be there?
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Well, she told us yesterday that she was going to be there. We fully expect her to be there. I subpoenaed her, so she's going to have to honor that subpoena or she's going to pay the price.
The American people have lots of questions and they deserve answers. And this hearing tomorrow will serve as the beginning of that process to get answers for the American people as to what went wrong with an agency that has a no-fail mission.
BREAM: Well, so last week, when we were still on the air Saturday night reporting on this as it was all unfolding, there were some outlets, one in particular, "The Federalist," said they had sources telling them that the Trump group had asked for more assets, more resources, and they were denied or unanswered.
The next day, we got this from the Secret Service. "There's an untrue assertion that a member of the former president's team requested additional security resources and those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false." They go on to say, they added protective resources and technologies and capability.
But then overnight from the "Washington Post," we get this report talking about agents who were protecting the president said that they asked for more magnetometers, more agents. There were all kinds of things they needed for these large gatherings and that they were sometimes denied. So where does the truth lie?
COMER: Well, we're going to find out tomorrow with the Director, but it's my understanding that the Trump campaign did ask for more resources, and it's my understanding that the Secret Service denied those resources.
Now, days after the -- the assassination attempt, a spokesperson for the Secret Service denied the Trump report that they had requested more resources. But then, as you noted in the "Washington Post" story, it was confirmed that, in fact, the Trump campaign did ask for more.
Look, the Secret Service has a budget of $3.1 billion. They have thousands of employees. There aren't that many people that require Secret Service protection. There aren't that many events that the Secret Service have to secure.
So the budget is more than enough to provide adequate protection for the presidential candidate. So we have a lot of questions as to how they're managing their money.
But if you look at the history of the House Oversight Committee, dating back to when Jason Chaffetz was chairman of this committee, there have been lots of investigations of the Secret Service. There have been lots of reports issued that they lacked proper training, that they did not efficiently spend their funds. So our question for the Director Cheatle is, are you competent to run the Secret Service?
We want to know who's at fault for what happened.
Every American can tell that there should have never been allowed anyone on that roof and the fact that there are videos showing that people were trying to notify the authorities, that there was a person on the roof with a gun and nothing was done about it and that shooter was allowed to get that many shots off at President Trump. That's unacceptable.
We think not only do we need answers, but people need to be held accountable and that's what the director is going to have to answer tomorrow. She's going to have about a six-hour hearing and she's going to have hundreds of questions that she's going to have to answer and the American people will be watching that hearing.
BREAM: We know for one of the other committees and there are multiple committees here in the House that have started these investigations.
One of them has now, Homeland Security, they have subpoenaed Secretary Mayorkas because they said he's declined to show up. They're asking for documents and other information.
Is the House prepared to take action against Secretary Mayorkas if he defies that subpoena?
COMER: I hope so. We've already impeached even the House and in the Senate just turned a blind eye to the debacle at the southern border.
If you look at all the agencies under the Homeland Security banner, FEMA, the Secret Service, Border Patrol, I mean, Mayorkas clearly is not up to the job. I mean, Mayorkas has been a disaster for the American people.
You just -- you name the agency and there are 19 agencies under Homeland Security that Homeland Security was created after September 11th.
You made a bunch of bureaucracies even more bureaucratic. And then you have a leader like Mayorkas who I have zero confidence in.
I think the Republican Conference has already expressed our confidence level in Mayorkas by the fact that we have already impeached him.
So it's not surprising that when the assassination happened, our committee communicated quickly with Director Cheatle and the Secret Service.
But then days later, the Homeland Security stepped in and tried to cut off that communication. Homeland Security tried to block Cheatle from coming to testify to our committee when she had already agreed to testify.
That's when I issued the subpoena. Now she has to come, but we shouldn't have to issue a subpoena.
Director Cheatle should want to be transparent with the American people.
This is one of the darkest days in the history of America. This was a huge debacle. And yet, the American people, one week later, have no answers to the many questions that we have. This has been a public relations disaster for the Secret Service.
Tomorrow, hopefully, we'll begin to get answers, but not only do we need answers and not only do we need to hold someone accountable, we need to make sure that this problem is fixed.
BREAM: Mm-hmm.
COMER: And that we have President Biden, President Trump, their family members, that they are protected throughout this campaign and into the next term.
BREAM: I want to ask you quickly about the issue of whistleblowers because it's something that Senator Josh Hawley, Republican, on the other side of the Hill, has brought up.
He has a lot of questions. And he's asked Secretary Mayorkas to answer these as well. He says the detection canines were not used to monitor entry and detect threats in the usual manner, according to whistleblowers.
Individuals without proper designations were able to gain access to backstage areas. Department personnel did not approximately police the security buffer around the podium. And we're also not stationed at regular intervals around the events security perimeter.
Have you heard from any whistleblowers? What can Congress do to protect people who, you know, may still want to come forward but are very fearful?
COMER: We've heard from a lot of whistleblowers. They're coming forward and I think they're the sources of a lot of the press stories that have come out.
Look, the morale at the Secret Service has always been low, but it's gotten lower. We're going to talk about that in the hearing. We have a lot of specific questions.
You know, why weren't drones used? There are reports that the shooter had a drone just a few hours before the event, scoping it out.
There are reports that there were Secret Service in the building where the sniper -- where the shooter was on the roof, but they didn't go on the roof because it was too hot. We have lots of questions.
And look, this director has done nothing over the past seven days to assure the American people that she's able to lead the Secret Service and that the problems have been -- have been resolved.
I think we've got an agency in peril here. The American people are restless, whether you're a Republican or Democrat. Every American is outraged that we have a Secret Service with a budget of $3.1 billion with thousands of employees that failed to identify this threat to President Trump.
BREAM: Yes.
COMER: How many other threats are out there? And will this trigger more events where there are copycat shooters and people like that?
We've got to instill confidence in the American people that we have a Secret Service that's up to the job. And right now, I don't think we have that.
BREAM: Well, we will be watching, everyone will. This hearing tomorrow, we know that there are scores and scores of good people who work in Secret Service who are risking their lives every day.
COMER: Yes.
BREAM: And you need answers from leadership.
COMER: That's right.
BREAM: So we'll watch. Chairman, thank you.
COMER: Thank you
BREAM: Amid speculation that the Democrats could soon be making big changes to their ticket, the question becomes, how would a Trump-Vance campaign pivot to that?
We'll bring in our panel to discuss that and how it may force a change in strategy, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SHONTEL BROWN (D-OH): So for me, it is, he is the nominee. He has said it multiple times and he said it with his chest. So now, it's time for us to stop worrying and to start working.
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): I am concerned that Mr. Biden will fall short. I know that he wants to beat Donald Trump. The problem is all the data is pointing in the other direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREAM: There is this public growing divide between Democrats who think the president should stay in the race and those who want him to leave so the party can figure out what to do next.
It's time for our Sunday group. Maybe they'll figure it out.
"USA Today" White House correspondent, Francesca Chambers. American Enterprise Institute fellow, "Washington Post" columnist and Fox News contributor, Marc Thiessen. Fox News contributor and former State Department spokesperson, Marie Harf. And legal commentator and Project 21 Chairman, Horace Cooper. Welcome, everyone.
HORACE COOPER, CHAIRMAN, PROJECT 21: Good morning.
BREAM: OK. Let's dive in here first with what's happening on the D side of the ticket.
DNC Chair, Jaime Harrison, not happy about those who are still out there making public hay of this saying on X. "I'm going to say this as clearly as I can. If you are a Democrat Party elected official, pundit, et cetera, focus your time, especially T.V. time, talking about how disastrous Trump- Vance, your opponent, if you have one and Trump's project 2025, will be to the nation. Full stop. If you are not, then you definitely aren't helping."
Marie, how does this get resolved?
MARIE HARF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I knew that was coming to me.
BREAM: Surprise.
HARF: I think we have been doing that for a long time. And the polls for Joe Biden keep getting worse.
BREAM: Mm-hmm.
HARF: I think two things are true. Number one, he's dug in. That is very clear. And number two, I think that's not sustainable. Right? Polls aren't perfect, but this amount of data doesn't lie.
We have a new poll out from Michigan this morning that Biden is down even further.
So we know there are a lot of voters who don't want to vote for Donald Trump. We see that in poll after poll after poll.
And so if Joe Biden were to step down from the -- from the ticket, there is a process for this. You know, some of us will be at the DNC. There is a process to do this.
We know that a lot of voters want to vote for a Democrat. They don't want to vote for Trump. They're nervous about Biden, but they would vote for Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris, they would vote for Wes Moore, Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly.
So as a Democrat, this is messy. And this has been a difficult few weeks. I think the writing's on the wall that we need a new candidate because that's what voters want. And there's a process and, you know, we will get there at some point, I think.
Well, as I talked to Congressman Auchincloss, this is about getting a new candidate or also a new president at this point because "Federalist" says, if Biden's unable to continue his presidential duties, an attempt to undermine him by party leadership, and if he's able to continue, and other Democrats amounts to nothing less than a coup attempt.
So, Mark, either they're saying he's well enough to stay in this now and govern now or they're undermining all of the millions of voters who voted for him in the primary.
MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hundred percent. And also, all the people that Marie just named have zero votes in the primaries.
Joe Biden got 14 million votes and 57 primaries and caucuses. He got 3,900 delegates. If you're saying democracy is on the ballot, how do you just install somebody like this to a Soviet General Secretary elected by the politburo?
And the problem they have is, also, that Kamala Harris is less popular than Joe Biden. And she doesn't do any better than him -- than him on the polls. So, why would you push Joe Biden aside for Kamala Harris? He doesn't do any better.
And then if it's not going to be Kamala Harris, because I think a few months ago, everybody, every Democrat was terrified at the idea of Kamala Harris being president and somebody else. Why would anyone challenge her? Why would anyone?
If Donald Trump, if he wins, is going to be a one-term president. So you just got to wait four years in 2028. It's an open seat. If you're a rising star of the Democratic Party, why would you get to become the captain of the Titanic just before it hits an iceberg?
And then on top of that, why would you try and knock the first black woman nominee of a major party off their ticket and earn the enmity of Clyburn and the -- and the Congressional Black Caucus for the rest of your career?
So there's no incentive for anybody to try and take out Kamala Harris.
BREAM: Well, an interesting piece in "The Atlantic" was written by a former Harris campaign staffer talks about that she shouldn't be coordinated. That's their terminology. It says an automatic coronation of Harris would be a grave mistake. Primary campaigns are tests, and Harris, who ultimately dropped out before the Iowa caucus, failed hers.
Francesca, I know you've got to piece out on this. What does the party do with Vice President?
FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: So as my colleagues and I wrote in "USA Today," the reason that supporters and allies of Vice President Kamala Harris believe that she would be the most logical person to replace Joe Biden on the ticket, if that were to happen, is because some polling does show that she could beat a former president Donald Trump. She could also potentially inherit the war chest, although there would be legal challenges to that, by the way.
There is a belief that she could energize women, black voters, as well as progressives down (INAUDIBLE), even if in the polling right now, it doesn't necessarily show that she would do better. That Democrats believe that what's needed is a shock to the system that would potentially help her.
And as far as whether Democrats would rally around her or not, in terms of being a logical choice, this would keep it from being a messy, open convention. And the Democrats who would have to oversee this process be involved in it at the convention, they say that this would be the choice that would make that easier.
BREAM: Well, and then the question becomes, if she does rise to the top of the ticket, what did that do for the Trump-Vance campaign?
"New York Times" reporting on that issue said that, quote, Liam Donovan, who's a former NRSC aide saying this, "Being the front-runner against another history making candidate would introduce new risks for a campaign hoping to reap historic gains among black voters."
So, how does the calculus change on the R side of the ticket if she does rise to the top?
COOPER: Look, to describe this as messy, sort of does a disturbance to a hurricane coming through and destroying your town.
This circumstance that they find themselves in, is a seriously terrible circumstance. I wouldn't be surprised if the sitting president of the United States announces a Stop the Steal rally because he is insisting that what is happening violates democracy, violates the democratic process.
As Marc just explained, there was a process in place. Placing a very unpopular vice president in his stead will look ugly. Yogi Berra said, it's getting late early here. If they don't do something soon, I don't know how they fix this.
BREAM: Well, and if they -
CHAMBERS: If I could just jump in.
BREAM: Quickly.
CHAMBERS: There is actually - so, there is, actually, by the way, a process for how this would work at the Democratic National Convention -
BREAM: Yes.
CHAMBERS: Were this to take place. And Elaine Kamarck, who is one of the longest serving -
BREAM: Right.
CHAMBERS: One of the longest serving members of - of the DNC rules committee, laid this out in a call for delegates on Friday, not because they're trying to push Biden out, because they believe it's (INAUDIBLE).
HARF: (INAUDIBLE) well -
THIESSEN: The - the politics (ph) (INAUDIBLE) -
CHAMBERS: No, no, no. No, no, no.
BREAM: Well, but if the DNC chair - if the DNC chair, though, launches their virtual roll call vote August 1st-ish, that is a different conversation. You won't even get to the convention then. But -
HARF: That's a different conversation.
BREAM: Yes.
HARF: The reason the conservatives on this panel and in the country want Joe Biden be the nominee is because they know he's easier to beat.
THIESSEN: Oh, my God. I -
BREAM: Yes, they -
HARF: The Trump campaign wants to run against Joe Biden. They're (INAUDIBLE) campaign is fed up against Joe Biden.
THIESSEN: They'd love for the (INAUDIBLE) against Kamala Harris.
BREAM: Of course they do because that polling looks very good for them right now.
HARF: Exactly.
BREAM: OK. Panel -
CHAMBERS: OK, but in case he steps aside, they believe that there is a -
BREAM: There's a plan.
CHAMBERS: It's prudent that - to lay out that there is actually a process for how this would look.
BREAM: All right.
CHAMBERS: It would involve getting signatures. There is a whole -
BREAM: There is a whole thing.
CHAMBERS: There's a whole process. There's a whole thing.
BREAM: We'll see if they get to that. OK.
CHAMBERS: OK.
BREAM: Our next topic, one week after the deadly shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania, President Trump takes the stage with his new VP pick and speaks out on the investigation into what went so terribly wrong. We dig into that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Mistakes were made. They are monitoring this guy for an hour beforehand.
TRUMP: Yes.
WATTERS: No one told you not to take the stage?
TRUMP: No, nobody mentioned it. Nobody said there was a problem. And I would have waited for 15 - they could have said, let's wait for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 5 minute, something. Nobody said - I think it was a mistake.
How did somebody get on that roof and why wasn't he reported because people saw that he was on the roof.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BREAM: Yes. Well, President Trump telling Jesse Watters that he was left in the dark and allowed to take the stage last Saturday as law enforcement was still in the process of investigating sightings of the attempted assassin who wound up shooting him.
You can see that full interview with Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance, on "JESSE WATTERS PRIMETIME" Monday, 8:00 p.m., on Fox News Channel.
Back now with the panel.
I want to read something from "National Review" that talks about just how bad this was. "The agency's failure is total: A man is dead, two others were injured, the president was injured, and the social fabric of the country came within one lucky head-tilt of being rent asunder. And nobody is being held accountable for it. President Biden cannot bring himself to fire the Secret Service director, even amid the escalating revelations of professional incompetents surrounding the worst and most fatal presidential security failure since the days of Dealey Plaza and the Ambassador Hotel."
Horace, why has no one been fired?
COOPER: Apparently they haven't read Dr. Seuss' book, "Marvin K. Mooney, Please Go Now." She needs to go. She needs to be gone. I don't understand why she would even put up with this hearing this week and go through this excruciating pain.
Here's what we know. She is at DEI hire. And as a DEI hire, she's done an excellent job at being at DEI hire.
What she isn't good at is being the Secret Service director.
BREAM: No, I would say, I don't know that she's a DEI hire. I mean, she's a woman who's in this position. But -
COOPER: Oh, she chose - she chose to - to make her mark on - instead of getting more funding for her agents and seeing that the qualifications were increased, she chose to make sure that it looked more like America. We don't need the Secret Service to look more like America. We needed to look like the number one security force on the planet.
BREAM: She'll have a lot of questions to answer.
I want to get to some other topics, but, Marc, you have a quick comment on that. I see you nodding over here.
THIESSEN: So, there was an active plot by the Iranian regime, this most sophisticated terrorist state in the world, to - to kill Donald Trump, that the U.S. government was aware of, and they let a teenager shoot him. I mean what is wrong with this - with this - with this administration? This - they - Donald Trump said in the debates, in this presidency nobody gets fired for anything. No one was - no one was fired for Afghanistan. No one was fired for the border chaos. And now nobody's getting fired for allowing the president to be shot? I mean, you know, your job, as the head of the Secret Service is to protect the president. The president got shot. It's - it's a two minute decision, and the first minute's for coffee. You should be gone.
BREAM: OK, I - there's so much more we could say about that. We're going to watch all these hearings play out this week. But I want to make sure we have this, because Bibi Netanyahu, Israel's prime ministers, is coming to town this week. He's going to speak to this joint address of Congress. And also, if the president is well enough and not contagious with Covid, me with him as well.
"New York Times" says that might have something to do with President Biden delaying a decision about his future, saying this, "advises believe that Mr. Biden would not want to do it before Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel visits Washington on Wednesday at the initiative of Republicans to address Congress, unwilling to give the premier the satisfaction given their strained relations lately over the Gaza war."
How big is this visit this week, Francesca?
CHAMBERS: Well, the White House says that President Biden still intends to meet with Bibi Netanyahu this week provide that he's able to do so. But Bibi Netanyahu's visit could not come at a worse time politically for President Joe Biden right now, when he's already facing pressure from Democrats to step aside in this race. There'll be progresses who plan to boycott this. His position on Gaza has been the major dividing line in the Democratic Party at this point. And certainly he has not want to host Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House his entire presidency. Indeed did so in New York previously during UNGA. But based on what I'm hearing now, that is the plan for him to do that this week as they continue to sort out the hostage and peace negotiation deal.
BREAM: Final word to you, Marie.
HARF: Yes, I mean, I was just in Israel and talk to Israelis across a poetical spectrum. Bibi is under a ton of pressure at home. He hasn't brought the hostages home. The way he's prosecuting the war, many of them feel like is hurting Israel's security and is on in the long-term security interest.
Bibi is coming here looking for a political lifeline. And he has made clear he wants President Trump to be president again.
So, this is a political visit. I will be very curious to see what he says to Congress, if this will be partisan, like he did before in 2015, or if he tries to be a little different now. We will all be watching it together.
BREAM: We will, to see if there's a walkout or boycott or a combination of that.
Panel, thank you very much. We will see you next Sunday.
Up next, as we mentioned, the prime minister is headed this way to Washington to meet with Congress and we think President Biden amid a very tense relationship juncture for them. We're going to take you live to Israel next for a preview.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BREAM: Israel launching strikes against the Iran backed Houthis Saturday in response to the attacks against Israel.
Fox News foreign correspondent Trey Yingst is live in Israel with the very latest.
Hello, Trey.
TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Shannon, good morning. It was a busy weekend for the Israelis on the battlefield as the country's prime minister prepares for a visit to the United States. You can see in this video here, a fire raging in Yemen after Israeli fighter jets targeted oil tanks and a power station belonging to Houthi rebels. These strikes were meant to send a message of deterrence an Israeli defense official told Fox News, and came in response to a drone attack against Tel Aviv early Friday that killed one person and injured ten others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOAV GALLANT, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): The fire that is currently burning in Hodeidah is seen across the Middle East, and the significance is clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YINGST: Already the Houthis have responded to the new Israeli action, launching a surface to surface missile towards the southern Israeli city of Eilat this morning.
Now, developments on the front against the Houthis come amid hopes of a possible cease-fire deal in Gaza. Nearly 300 days into the war, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that negotiators are at the 10-yard line to get a deal together. With a focus on Gaza, Israel is still actively fighting Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Now, the group launched nearly 70 rockets into Israel on Saturday, as Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed organization continue.
With no concrete plans for peace on the horizon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves Israel on Monday. He will meet with President Biden on Tuesday. Now the hope is that this visit will facilitate a ceasefire deal and bring dozens of hostages home that have been held in Gaza by Hamas since Black Saturday, October 7th.
Shannon.
BREAM: Trey Yingst, we appreciate it. Thank you so much.
And that is it for us today. Thank you for joining us on FOX NEWS SUNDAY. I'm Shannon Bream. Have a wonderful week and we'll see you next FOX NEWS SUNDAY.
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