living the dream sweet side. the ice cream shop is home. comes down twice a day for mini cones. her favorite choice of flavor vanilla with nuts. doesn't care about cholesterol. >> bill: good morning. fox news alert begins our coverage. accusations and warnings flying as russia and u.s. meet over syria. the white house accusing russia of trying to cover up assad's use of chemical weapons. putin warns the u.s. not to act again in syria. high stakes meeting here as we say good morning. midweek now i'm bill hemmer live. here we go, shannon. >> shannon: i'm shannon bream. president donald trump speaking out about the war in syria and his decision to retaliate. part of an exclusive interview with maria bartiromo on the fox business network. >> you see these beautiful kids that are dead in their father's arms, or you see kids gasping for life and you know it's over

for them. they're hosing them down. hundreds of them. when you see that, i immediately called general mattis. i said what can we do? and they came back with a number of different alternatives. and we hit them very hard. now, are we going to get involved with syria? no. but if i see them using gas and using things that -- i mean, even some of the worst tyrants in the world didn't use the kind of gases that they used. some of the gases are unbelievably potent. so when i saw that i said we have to do something. >> bill: quite a descriptive reaction there. kevin corke leads our coverage of the white house. at the moment rex tillerson sitting down with his russian counterpart. the president had strong words for russia and the support for the assad regime.

>> the white house continues to hit this drumbeat which is russia has to do something if they want to see a sea change of any sort in the middle east with syria. this will not end well certainly for the assad regime. that's the position of the white house. the president has been very specific in his conversations with vladimir putin. you are backing an animal, a man that he believes is a mass murderer. >> people just don't see this, the level of brutality and viciousness. but when they drop barrel bombs and bombs of any kind right on top of a civilian population, that's the worst thing. i've never seen anything like it. frankly, putin is backing a person that is truly an evil person. and i think it's very bad for russia. >> very bad for russia. the messaging there is you're backing not only a terrible horse in this race, if you want to do what's best for your

country and the region you'll get on board with the u.s. and allies. >> bill: sean spicer is in a bit of controversy. what is that story as of this morning now, kevin? >> at least right now there has been no change. sources tell me there won't be a change. sean spicer is fine. he apologized for being inartful or clueless in making the comparison. he was trying to draw the distinction between what assad has done to his people and what hitler did in world war ii to use the old expression the seven words you can't say on tv. modern day there are comparisons you can't make in the public square. that's one of them. here is what sean told me late afternoon yesterday. >> i was trying to describe the attack that assad made on his own people using chemical weapons. frankly i used mistakenly an

inappropriate and insensitive reference to the holocaust where there is no comparison. that is not what i was intending to do and i especially during this week regret using that term and apologize and hope that we can continue to focus on the president's decisive action that he took to make sure that we deal with situations here. >> heartfelt apology from sean spires. from that vantage point he should be able to move on at least quickly. >> bill: it did come quickly, too. leading our coverage there and a lot to cover at that from the white house already. thank you, kevin. >> shannon: it was a tight race but republicans win their first congressional test since president trump's victory. they kept control of the house seat in kansas. state treasurer ron estes defeated thompson. we're live from wichita, kansas and what a lot of folks thought

would be a nail biter. hello, william. >> the takeaway shannon is this. republicans last-minute rescue mission, the extra money, attack ads, rob owe calls from the president worked. the democrats are going to be energized not just here but around the country. kansas is a ruby red state. trump won by 27 points. pompeo by 31. estes only won by seven points. why the poor showing? some wanted the blame the president. i didn't hear that. he wasn't an issue in the campaign. what i did here is that estes ran a poor campaign. he is well-known and well liked but not a big campaigner and not terribly charismatic. as state treasurer he got blamed for governor sam brownback. he did win 16 of 17 counties. lost wichita. the farm belt where estes was

raised prevented a major upset. >> a chance for the democrats. they were motivated. there was a lot of angst against the president and they were going to fight back. we told the pundits tonight, didn't we? >> thompson is a political newcomer. found his voice. democrats last won the seat almost 25 years ago. if they can get this close in kansas imagine what they might do in a swing district. >> mr. estes may have won this battle but he has not won the war. and i will announce by candidacy for 2018. >> i was told this was more a referendum on the governor than it was the president. as for the mid-terms it is too early to draw conclusions from this. however, you can definitely say that democrats will be energized coming out of this

campaign. >> we know what happens in the mid-terms when you have someone new in the white house. >> bill: let's analyze that with chris stirewalt. >> we have to do something to stay in business. that's my line you're talking about there, brother. >> bill: i'm not taking it out on you. usually you get the elections after a national election and a referendum on the party in power. but usually that's based on like a major piece of legislation that has not yet happened. >> we're looking for core samples. think of the political nerd herd as taking core samples. how are people feeling? what's the attitude? these special elections and also the states like new jersey and virginia that have off year gubernatorial elections we'll look at this data really closely to see what it tells us about the condition of the electorate. what so far we've been able to see in two special elections. we have a doozy next week in

georgia and another one in montana later. the democrats are running 20 points ahead of their presidential nominee in these districts. in kansas that wasn't enough to take the seat. but if they do it in georgia next week they'll lose time price's old house seat in suburban atlanta. >> bill: that could be -- general james mattis made it clear yesterday at the pentagon regarding syria and the future use of chemical weapons. >> it was very clear the assad regime planned it, orchestrated it and executed it. our military policy in syria has not changed. our priority remains to defeat isis. if they use chemical weapons, they are going to pay a very, very stiff price. >> bill: he made it quite clear after waiting perhaps five days

for him to talk, he did not mince words, chris. >> not a bit. i think at the beginning when the president -- first when secretary of state rex tillerson said it, the president said it. mattis said it. critics say how can your syria policy stay the same. you dropped $100 million worth of tomahawks on assad's air foefrments as far as dealing with isis the priorities don't change. the use of chemical weapons is something the united states as the world's sole super power, the apex power of the earth the united states declared you aren't allowed to use chemical weapons period. when you do, we will -- we don't always want to play the policeman of the world. when people use chemical weapons you'll >> bill: we're accusing russia of a cover-up. see how the meeting goes in moscow today. thank you, sir. both fronts there today. chris stirewalt. you and i were talking yesterday at this time. no briefing from the pentagon

for five days over 59 tomahawk missiles dropped on another country. that was cleared up yesterday on behalf of james mattis as only he can in his style to take question after question after question and knock it down each time. >> shannon: as the meetings continue in russia interesting to watch the developments and comments there as well. as they continue to push back about having any foreknowledge and even questioning whether assad was responsible. we'll see. >> bill: putin is pushing for an investigation. good luck with that. that's his message from moscow already. wow. >> shannon: might not be a bad thing. investigate. give everyone the answers. the carnage in syria should never have gotten as bad as it is according the president trump. >> what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it. and you would have had a much better -- syria would be a lot better than off than it has been. >> shannon: president obama's

former state department spokesperson marie harf joins us next to react. plus this. >> we will secure this border and bring the full weight of both the immigration courts and the federal enforcement and prosecutors to combat this attack on our national security and our sovereignty. >> bill: jeff sessions says there is a new sheriff in town. it is donald trump. that was his message. but is there a new hitch in plans to punish that don't go along with new enforcement efforts by the white house? we'll check on that today. >> shannon: fox news alert following a travel warning from the state department. a terror plot targeting an american embassy foiled. what we're learning about the targets and which terror group was behind the plan.

>> shannon: nigerian security officials foiled a plan by the isis linked terror group to attack the u.s. and british embassy in the capital city there. officials say they broke up a ring last month and five suspects are under arrest. it all comes one week after the state department issued a travel warning for nigeria. boko haram has been terrorizing that country for years. >> when i see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons, which they agreed not

to use under the obama administration, but they violated it. what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it. and you would have had a much better i think syria would be a lot better off right now than it has been. >> bill: looking back 3 1/2 years, president trump sitting down with maria bartiromo. the chemical attack in syria revealing a deal between the u.s. and russia to rid syria of chemical weapons was a failure. marie harf was the state department spokesman during the obama years and fox news contributor now. welcome to america's newsroom. did you support what the president did in syria last week? >> i did. i thought it was a good response to president assad's use of chemical weapons. what i'm more focused on now is the strategy going forward and what happens next in syria. and i think you've heard pundits say this was a strong response and it sent a message

but that it hasn't fundamentally changed the course of what's happening in syria and we don't know what the strategy is and we'll see what comes out of the meetings in russia today. >> bill: was president obama offered the same option when he was president? >> in 2013. i was very involved at the state department at the time when assad used chemical weapons then, we did make a decision to use force. we went to congress and asked for their authorization to use force against assad and they did not give us that authorization. what my former boss john kerry did. so much talk about this including president trump in the interview with maria. we negotiated an agreement that got 1300 tons of chemical weapons out of syria. obviously either they -- >> bill: they would have had 1400. come back to the question. was president obama offered the same option that president trump took advantage of last week? essentially hitting an airfield in the middle of the night. >> we had drawn up military

plans that were in some ways more comprehensive for 24 to 48 hours of strikes against the assad regime. this is a really key point, bill, because when congress did not authorize that. you can argue we shouldn't have gone to congress. president obama should have just attacked. we were able to get 1300 tons of weapons out. you're right, either they hid some that we didn't know about or they've made more in the last 3 1/2 years. it was not a perfect agreement. >> bill: did russia do the job or keep their end of the bargain. they look at assad and syria as an ally. some people are calling it one of the worst kept secrets in global diplomacy and john kerry said this on camera on the 5th of january two months ago. >> i will acknowledge to you absolutely, i heard it all over the place, the perception hurt, yes. the perception hurt. but the perception came about despite the fact that we

actually got a far better result of getting all of the weapons of mass destruction out of syria without dropping a bomb. >> bill: in hindsight we look at that and hear president obama talk about the deal and susan rice as well. i don't know if they were duped. if we didn't look hard enough. i don't know if the russians pulled the wool over our eyes. i don't know if assad gave up his chemical weapons making ability. he may very well have done it in the past few months. the point is this was no way to check a man who is willing to use chemical weapons and a u.n. investigation already this year has shown that assad used chemical weapons eight times in 2017. i mean, that's one hell of a track record when you're trying to stop someone from killing women and babies along the way. >> i agree, bill. let me get back to the main point here. obviously the assad regime

either hid weapons we didn't know about or made more in the last 3 1/2 years. was it a perfect agreement? no. i really think we cannot -- we cannot say that getting 1300 tons -- that's 10 times the amount of chemical weapons that the c.i.a. thought saddam husain had. we took those weapons off. the u.s. military got them and destroyed them. was it a perfect agreement? no. i don't think we should say that today if we had let them keep those 1300 tons of weapons, either assad would still have those, which is a lot more than he has now, or they would be in the hands of isis who now controls a lot of territory where those were being stored. so i think that we can have an honest discussion about whether it was a good idea to make that agreement. my argument would be look, we didn't get congressional authorization. we wanted to strike and we couldn't. so instead we were able to get

a whole lot of really bad weapons out. >> bill: it appears that you could have sent a message militarily and you could have done it with the same level of efficiency that james mattis carried out last week. all those pieces are in place now than they were in 2013. this debate will continue. i appreciate your input because we're trying to figure this out together. whether or not assad does it again. if he does it again, what then next time around? thanks, marie. >> shannon: during that interview on fox business president trump giving a progress report on healthcare reform. >> president trump: i think we're doing very well on healthcare. it has been very much misreported that we failed with healthcare. we haven't failed. we're negotiating. we will save perhaps $900 billion. >> shannon: can the president and speaker really get it done? >> bill: a car going airborne. a woman driving drunk with her baby on board.

in a moment how the baby is doing today. the classes, the friends, the independence. and since we planned for it, that student debt is the one experience, i'm glad she'll miss when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise

>> bill: a mother behind bars. her baby was on board. check it out from englandment capturing the moment she speeds into a round about, traffic circle and goes airborne. that car landing on its roof sliding 150 feet trapping her and her 19-month-old child inside. the baby was found upside down in his car seat. mom is sentenced to 26 weeks in jail. they're both okay. the car seat may have saved her son's life. that's a poor decision. >> shannon: that's a bit of a miracle when you watch the trajectory of that car. listen, maybe the best thing in

the world for that baby to be away from the mom for 26 weeks. >> bill: looks like they'll get a break for now. >> president trump: healthcare has been going along in negotiations. and it is just a negotiation and it will take a little while longer but as you probably hear congress is coming along. we have great people in congress that want it to happen. we'll have no democrats, zero. that means we have to get close to 100% of the republicans. not an easy way to run a government. >> shannon: in his interview on fox business president trump saying republicans are still working on the plan to repeal and replace obamacare. it continues as the fight over subsidies to help people pay premiums works its way through the court system. we are joined from washington with peter doocy. does president trump have his heart set on obamacare repeal before tax repeal? >> yes. he says to pay for tax cuts later they would need to use

some of the money that the president says would be saved by repealing obamacare. >> president trump: even now as i came in here they are saying payments have to be made that weren't scheduled to be made on obamacare. if you don't make them, it fails. it's a mess. obamacare is a total mess. we're saving tremendous amounts of money on healthcare when we get this done, number one. most importantly actually we'll have great healthcare and all of that saving goes into the tax. >> he thinks repealing and replacing could save the treasury $900 billion. >> shannon: peter, what is the trump administration doing to stabilize insurance exchanges while the process plays out? that's been criticism, there is instability in the markets. >> they aren't going to stop paying insurance companies the taxpayer funded subsidies that started under obamacare even though republicans sued years ago to stop payments to those insurers because they never gave president obama permission to start making them.ealth and

department explains it like this saying quote, the president is that while the lawsuit is being litigated the cost sharing subsidies will be funded and earlier in the week one of the most conservative members of the house alluded to problems with payments like these in the plan. his leadership liked. >> it didn't repeal obamacare, it restructured obamacare. and didn't resolve any of the problems. and, in fact, many of the changes would have made obamacare even worse. >> as the speaker of the house said, the republican replacement bill, when the republican replacement bill was withdrawn obamacare will be the law of the land unless the gop can use their numbers as the majority in both houses of congress to put something else in its place. >> shannon: a lot of work to do. we know you're on it. thank you. >> bill: a lot more to come, right? new reports the f.b.i. obtained a warrant to keep tabs on a former advisor for the trump team. what did the f.b.i. find, if

anything? more on this in a moment. >> shannon: attorney general jeff sessions at the southern border talking real tough on illegal immigration saying border crossings are down and still falling but remind everyone america has a new sheriff in town. >> the most important thing for us is to send a message to the world that the border is not open. please don't come. you will be apprehended if you do come and you will be deported promptly. if you're a criminal you'll be prosecuted. if you assault our officers we'll come at you with a ton of bricks. you don't let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love.

ensure. always be you.

>> bill: attorney general jeff sessions touring the southern border yesterday and touting a reported drop-off in illegals entering the u.s. significantly. he says there is a reason for that. tough talk and action coming from the white house. >> i knew strong presidential leadership unlike the wishy-washyness we've seen in the past would impact the flow.

but not as much as we've seen already. the numbers are down 70% since president obama left office. >> meanwhile the trump administration suspending its weekly report on sanctuary cities amid questions about the accuracy of some of that data. chief correspondent jonathan hunt live in l.a. with more on that story as well. good morning. >> good morning, bill. after the attorney general's tough talk on immigration and sanctuary cities this is a setback for the trump administration with immigration and customs enforcement effectively admitting that its weekly reports on the number of illegal immigrants released from custody by sanctuary cities are inaccurate. the so-called declined detainer outcome reports were ordered to be made public by president trump in a january executive order. the reports were designed to highlight local jurisdictions and cities, new york and l.a. among them that refuse to cooperate with ice's detainer program. a number of sheriffs around the

country complained they were being wrongly accused of not cooperating with ice. for instance, one report said travis county, texas, had denied 128 detainer requests in one week. the sheriff's office said it declined on average just 1.8 requests per week. the reports were intended to pressure sanctuary cities by highlighting crimes committed by illegal immigrants. part of the trump administration immigration campaign highlighted by attorney general jeff sessions during that speech in arizona yesterday. >> for those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned, this is a new era. this is the trump era, the lawlessness and abdication of duty to enforce our laws and the catch and release policies of the past are over. >> ice says it is committed to

accuracy in those reports. it will analyze and refine its reporting methodologies. in other words, bill, those reports will be back. >> bill: over to shannon for more. >> shannon: let's bring in our panel. jessica tarlov and brad blakeman, a former deputy assistant to george w. bush. the attorney general referenced numbers. in march 2017, the last full month 16,600 individuals apprehended or deemed inadmissible at the border. a 30% decrease from february 2017. compared to the last month last year it's 64% down. jessica, is some of the conversation working? >> absolutely. i think on preventing people or scaring them off from coming towards the border i think that's where trump's rhetoric has been effective and none of us -- we are a nation of laws and i think that it is a smart

thing -- it's the first time ever. i glad we could share this moment. now i'll get to negative stuff, though. it's totally done. the real challenge going forward is what you'll do about the 11 million people here illegally in the country now. we know that popular opinion is moving towards a pathway to legalization and for most majority to citizenship. that's where the conversation is shifting. i think that yes, the rhetoric was effective. i still am not a fan of the language he used but it has had an effect. >> shannon: brad, he has talked about felonies and encouraged prosecutors to step up and have enforcements that prioritize those who are violent and come here illegally multiple times. we continue to hear about those cases. it's tough talk but critics like those from the national immigration forum that say it will sew fear and chaos. >> it should. if you're illegally here and commit crimes there are consequences. perception is reality. the perception is donald trump was going to be tough.

reality is, he is tough and he is doing exactly what the american people demanded, follow our laws. we're a welcoming nation. in order to come and stay here we want to know who you are, what you're doing here, how long you'll stay and that you've done it in a proper way. the rhetoric is matching the policy. by the way, we have enough laws. now we need to enforce the laws we have. >> there is a difference between having committed the initial crime, crossing the border illegally. that's a crime. and then having a felony on top of that. i think the concern for the majority of americans and those of us on the left and immigration advocates is that donald trump's rhetoric and even things that general kelly has spoken about has changed the way that ice is going after illegal immigrants in this country. a suspicion of a crime, going after them. picking up people not convicted of everything. that's not what the american public wants. they recognize 11 million people are paying back taxes. they want a better life for their children.

>> shannon: the policy changed in the other direction under the obama administration when there was direction from the white house and dhs t, it wound up ice agents saying we can't do what we are supposed to do. remove criminals from this country. >> law enforcement were the ones that had handcuffs on by the obama administration who said don't enforce the laws we have on the books. jennifer, i have compassion for -- jessica, i have compassion for the 11 million that are here because we were complicit in them coming here. we had porous borders and we had work for them to development we turned a blind eye to them coming in. there has to be a compassionate policy in which to deal with the 11 million here but we need to stop the flow of people coming here. let them know there is a new sheriff in town. laws have to be abided by and

you are seeing that right now in the effective policy without any legislation being passed. so let's agree that there has to be comprehensive immigration reform and it has to be compassionate, fair and equitable. >> shannon: we love how much you've agreed on. that's a lot. you are both smiling. what about the fact the attorney general talked about adding 125 new immigration judges over the next two years. one of the complaints if you do the massive crackdown you'll have so many people backed up delays of them getting adjudicated. if they go to be deported having that handled. do you think it will help speed up the system that they eventually work on immigration reform? >> i would love to hear from them that they'd work on immigration reform in a compassionate way. reviving the gang of eight bill for instance or coming up with something new. adding immigration judges. if you're deporting people that process should happen quickly. no reason we should hold thousands of people.

that's a huge taxpayer burden. i want to make sure we're doing it appropriately and compassionately considering the fact that they entered illegally but may not have committed crimes and we won't break up families. i would add this is a very different issue from the sanctuary city policy that we talked about earlier in the segment. we need to see accurate reports. police chiefs across this country are supportive of sanctuary city policy. >> shannon: i would say there are a number of them who stepped out and say they don't. okay. good to see you guys and some agreement and smiles there. >> bill: it started well, didn't it? >> shannon: there were some kumbaya moments in person. >> bill: jen brewer is live to talk about that and the white house new immigration efforts. that's coming up next hour. also there is this. let's get to it. a tense meeting between rex tillerson and his russian counterpart happening at the moment as moscow accuses the u.s. of conducting an illegal

attack against syria. fox business anchor maria bartiromo sat down with the president to talk about the air strikes and so much more. maria joins us live in a moment to break down the interview with president donald trump. >> president trump: you have the massive barrels with dynamite and drop them in a middle of the group of people. you see kids with no arms, no legs, in face. this is an animal. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox.

z286oz zwtz y286oy ywty

>> bill: rex tillerson meeting with sergei lavrov in moscow. the meeting fueled by tension as the top diplomat accuses the u.s. of conducting illegal air strikes. putin saying don't do it again. mattis saying if you use chemical weapons again we'll hit syria again. he said last week's air strike was something the u.s. should have done a long time ago. >> president trump: we're not

going into syria. but when i see people using horrible, horrible chemical weapons, which they agreed not to use under the obama administration, but they violated it. >> they said they got rid of them. >> president trump: what i did should have been done by the obama administration a long time before i did it and you would have had a much better -- i think syria would be a lot better off now than it has been. >> bill: that interview with maria bartiromo. she is with me live in d.c. congratulations, maria. you got a lot of information out of that interview. the thing i keep coming back to that's common about we're not going into syria. he said it two or three times? >> he was making the point. he wanted to make sure we understood. i think he wants to make sure that people are not expecting some long entanglement that he is beginning here. the issue is what do you do if assad comes back and hurts his

people again with more chemical weapons? what do you do? that might mean that perhaps another military strike happens. but he wanted to make it clear he is not considering ground troops right now in syria. he is not considering in and having a long entanglement battle there. you can say that. if assad keeps crossing the red line what happens next? it is an open question what the strategy is longer team. >> bill: the u.n. concluded assad used chemical weapons eight times in 2017 alone to varying degrees and what james mattis described yesterday as chlorine attacks. but now you get to this question about whether or not assad does it again. if he does, what does president trump do? did he make that clear to you? >> he kept saying we aren't going in. but the debate about this strategy and what the u.s. wants over the long term is happening and people are just wondering if he does have a

plan b if this happens again and the u.s. has to strike again. look, i think the open question is when you take one dictator out, the open question is who is going to fill that vacuum. because let's say assad leaves tomorrow, the open question is who is going to fill that vacuum? it is likely iran, al qaeda, perhaps isis. so sometimes you get rid of one and you get a worse monster on your hands after that. so that's why this debate is firing now. >> bill: from overseas domestic issues at home. two things it appears that he and republicans want to get done in the next 12 months. that's healthcare and that is tax reform. you asked him about that as well and he said this. >> president trump: most importantly we'll have great healthcare and all of that savings goes into the tax. if you don't do that, you can't put any of the savings into the tax cuts and the tax reform. >> have you moved off the soft deadline your team put in place of august to get it done. are you looking at later in the year?

>> president trump: i don't want to put deadlines. healthcare will happen at some point. if it doesn't happen fast enough i'll start the taxes. tax reform and tax cuts are better if i can do healthcare first. >> bill: the important thing, i believe, for people to understand, is that if they get healthcare reform, that helps with tax reform. this is your business, money. how does one help the other? >> very simple. they are interlocked because president obama instituted several huge tax increases, or fees within obamacare. and as a result of those fees and taxes in the affordable care act, that's almost a trillion dollars. president trump feels like you need to overrule -- you need to reverse that trillion dollars in taxes so that you can use that as part of the way to pay for the tax cuts. it's as simple as it is. it is up to $900 billion that you leave there in terms of

taxes that is $900 billion less for the money you need to pay for the tax cuts. this is the issue to focus on. people are upset that tax reform is being held hostage to healthcare reform. this morning we heard from mark meadows from the freedom caucus who told a group that maybe they are getting close on the house side for healthcare bill. if they can't get healthcare done, i suspect later in the year president trump cuts taxes. he doesn't do a large tax reform taxes but cuts corporate taxes. we'll see. >> bill: interesting. he is fun the interview. he is a politician but he doesn't come from politician world but he doesn't filibuster, right? it's back and forth the entire time. well done, maria. we'll look for more. good to have you. shannon, what's next? >> shannon: united airlines facing more questions and backlash for dragging the doctor off a plane including questions over the flight was actually overbooked. that is next as united ceo

issues yet another apology. >> the expression of apology and specific to folks i mentioned before is an important part of a conversation like this because, again, that shame and embarrassment was pretty palpable. heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, heart healthy california walnuts. so simple. get the recipes at walnuts.org.

>> the first thing to say is apologies to the doctor and his family, people on the flight, customers, employees, that's not who our family at united is. and you saw us at a bad moment and this will never happen again on a united airlines flight. that's my promise. >> shannon: united airlines ceo apologizing again as the global

uproar continues after the viral video of a passenger being dragged off a united flight. we'll expect more outrage. that flight wasn't overbooked as initially reported. we have more. just a distinction there. >> it was sold out. not overbooked. they had to get the four employees to kentucky so that is a pretty important distinction to make. we recently heard munoz in the interview we played. he also made some important points going forward in that interview. he didn't apologize sooner because he wanted to get the facts straight. no more law enforcement agents will be able to remove a passenger from a flight going forward. he is putting a complete end to that. he also said something pretty interesting. he said that the reason the situation?

escalated quickly he thought his employees didn't use common sense. he blames himself for that. they may have followed protocol and right procedures but didn't think outside the box or problem solve to make the situation better. united stock opened slightly higher this morning. good news. >> shannon: maybe the apology tour is working. we talked about the fact they have a lot of flights that go into important areas of the world that are upset having seen in video. >> the passenger's name is david dow reportedly born in vietnam. a lot of people in vietnam and china are extremely outraged over this viral video. some people say that he was targeted because of his race. now, it should be mentioned that united has the most direct flights to china than any other u.s. airline. so this guy has lawyered up this morning. >> shannon: not surprising. there has been a lot written about his background and

journalists are having a debate saying it has nothing to do with what happened to him on the flight. he was in paying customer in his seat. is it wrong to dig around in his background for unrelated items or helpful? >> he lost his medical license for a pretty long period of time. a lot of people said even that magazine or newspaper that published it received a lot of backlash from people saying they may have been trying to blame the victim there. so it's not really helping them. >> shannon: exactly. carly, always good to see you. >> bill: friendly skies, ladies. was the f.b.i. now keeping tabs on a former trump campaign advisor? new details on a bombshell report plus president trump speaking with the president of china over the issue of north korea late last night. did the president make progress as tensions to continue to build in koreas?

that's next.

>> shannon: a bombshell report revealing president obama's justice department had a court order to monitor a trump campaign advisor. well, welcome to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." >> bill: the story keeps on going. >> shannon: new facts every day. >> bill: good morning. f.b.i. keeping tabs on carter page, a one-time short-lived foreign policy advisor for the trump team last summer. "washington post" reports the f.b.i. obtained a secret court order to watch page while looking for ties between russia and the trump team. he has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing stating there had been prior reports. i was so happy to hear that further confirmation is now being revealed that shows how low the clinton/obama regime went to destroy our democracy and suppress dissidents, end quote. chief intelligence correspondent catherine

herridge picks up the story from washington what does it suggest? >> government sources confirm to fox news the f.b.i. was tracking carter page and his communications as early as the summer of 2016. and because page is an american citizen the f.b.i. request went through a special national security court called the fisa court. the bureau had to make the case that page might be acting on behalf of russia. >> as part of our counter intelligence mission, is investigating the russian government's efforts to interview in the 2016 presidential election. and that includes investigating the nature of any links between individuals associated with the trump campaign and the russian government, and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and russia's efforts. >> reached last night page stood behind his interview with fox news where he denied working with russia or sharing

information with russia to help candidate trump and hurt hillary clinton's campaign. are you the subject of the f.b.i.'s counter intelligence investigation? >> i do not talk about ongoing -- any investigation. >> do you believe your communications were collected? >> i have no idea. i would be quite comfortable for them to be collected. >> we expect to hear more from carter page later today. >> bill: a report this morning that republicans and democrats looking into the white house documents and surveillance may amount to nothing illegal. what have you learned about that, catherine? >> these records were first reported by the republican chairman devin fsh naoun yes, sir. he saw no evidence the law was broken but it showed the unmasking of trump campaign

associates and no value connected to russia. it implies the unmasking was not out of the ordinary but a congressional source pushed back hard against that idea emphasizing what other national security advisor asked for political opponents to be identified in intelligence reports before and after an election? if the intelligence reports were so run of the mill, the congressional -- the other thing that's not clear to us today based on our reporting is whether everyone is talking about the same records. there are two sets of records here, one at the white house that was not connected the russia and then another set of records that's been made available to lawmakers over at the nsa which has to do with the unmasking of american citizens. that is the problem ultimately with a lot of reporting that has anonymous sources. >> bill: not a justification

for repeatedly requesting those names as well. that question is out there. thank you, kathryn. >> shannon: let's bring in the columnist for the "washington post". fellow at the american enterprise institute and also a fox news contributor. quite a resume. mark, good to have you with us this morning. how does it play out. page is saying he is this and h about it and wants to testify in front of congress. he has done nothing wrong. some on that side are saying they feel vindicated this proves there was monitoring. carter page says they'll find nothing. >> first of all if you are looking for a smoking gun of a trump/russia collusion to subvert american democracy. you'll be disappointed. carter page described himself as a junior member of the informal all-volunteer foreign policy group. the reports he asked for

meetings with donald trump and each time was turned down. he attended a total of three dinners with the foreign policy advisory group. none of which trump attended. never got a meeting with trump or white house job. he is a peripheral figure. there is no there there. here is the kicker. the post reports page is the only american to have had his communications directly targeted in 2016 as part of the russia probe. there is the full story. there is nothing there. if you look for a big story showing that there is some collusion between the trump campaign and russia, this certainly isn't it >> shannon: some on the left are saying to get a fisa orders takes a lot of work. comey said when you go in for one of these, the application for the warrant is as thick as your wrist and something that only three senior doj official

s could okay it to go to the point itself. they point to the fact he had contact with a known operative in 2013 and tried to recruit him as an intelligence person. >> self-described junior figure who never met donald trump. there may be truth to it. no idea what was in that fisa warrant request. whether there was there there will have to remain to be seen as the investigation goes on. he is a peripheral figure in the trump universe. moreover, the whole notion that donald trump is putin's man in washington and putin handpicked president has completely destroyed by the strike on syria. if you look at the "washington post" today. let me hold up the front page. the carter page story. over here the story that's sub head is officials slam moscow. a story in the post today about

tillerson's trip to moscow where russian officials are quoted as saying the relations between the u.s. and russia are at the lowest point since the cold war. there is no -- if vladimir putin was colluding with the trump campaign to get a pro-putin guy elected president it backfired, hasn't it? >> shannon: we'll continue to follow this reporting. the confirmation of the fisa order is a big development in the story. thanks for joining us to break it down. >> bill: apparently there was a fiery start to talks about today secretary of state rex tillerson and his russian counterpart foreign minister sergei lavrov giving tillerson an earful over the air strike at an air base in syria last week saying that moscow has questions about the administration's foreign policy calling it ambiguous and contradictory among other things. however, here at home at the pentagon defense secretary james mattis saying the mission in syria could not be more clear.

>> our priority remains the defeat of isis. isis represents a clear and present danger and immediate threat to europe and ultimately a threat to the united states homeland. the syrian regime should think long and hard before it again acts so recklessly in violation of international law against the use of chemical weapons. >> bill: he was stern yesterday. benjamin hall in turkey near the syrian border with more. benjamin. >> a strange calm seems to have come over syria since the major events last week. the gas attacks, the tomahawk strikes. people waiting to see if any real change will come from those. of course, all eyes now focused on tillerson and his visit to russia. in syria things are back to normal. exchanges of prisoners gets underway. it has been a long strategy of

the assad administration to surround and starve towns in this way. often been called his greatest weapon. hundreds of thousands of civilians are in this position and frankly it's been called the crime against humanity by many. we spoke to a military strategist. if you remove assad does it create a vacuum that jihadis will fill? >> we're not planning to take over the whole regime. we are talking about assad and his security forces. they are like a gang. i used to be an officer and i know how it works from the inside. we aren't talking about removing the civil society. we're talking about removing the head. >> assad is in a good position at the moment. yesterday russia was saying at the end of the week they'll host both iranian and syrian leaders there a couple of days after tillerson's visit. a clear indication they aren't planning on changing their policy towards syria very much.

but still right at the moment all eyes focused on the meeting between tillerson and the russians. very interesting to see what comes out of that and if there is any effect on the brutal battle going on in syria. >> bill: thank you in turkey near the syrian border. we're all waiting to see what the body language is. what the words are. what the tone is. and we'll see that press conference in moscow coming up in the next several hours. >> shannon: tricky sometimes with the translation. you can read the other two. maybe see how this meeting went and where we go from here. >> bill: we await. >> shannon: new details about the bomb attack on a german soccer team after two police raids this morning. what investigators are saying about a possible motive. >> bill: china wants to help president trump disarm north korea. this happened during a phone call late last night. apparently there is a catch. ralph peters will break that down in a moment. >> shannon: attorney general receive sessions pulling no

punches in his first trip to the u.s./mexico border. jan brewer joins us to weigh in on his talk. >> the border is not open. please do not come. you will be apprehended and deported promptly and if you're a criminal, you will be prosecuted. tech: when your windshield needs to be fixed...

trust safelite autoglass. our exclusive trueseal technology means a strong, reliable bond. at safelite, we stand behind our work... because the ones you love, sit behind it. (parents whisper jingle) safelite repair, safelite replace. today, it's the dawn of a new lawn. that's because new roundup for lawns has arrived. finally, there's a roundup made just for your lawn, so you can put unwelcome lawn weeds to rest. draw the line. with roundup for lawns, there is no better way to kill lawn weeds to the root without harming a single blade of grass. it's a great day to be a lawn. draw the line with roundup for lawns.

and for weeds in other spaces, turn to roundup weed & grass killer products. parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what? you could apply for a medicare supplement insurance plan whenever you want. no enrollment window. no waiting to apply. that means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. medicare doesn't cover everything. and like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide. it could help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that works for you. these types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. rates are competitive, and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. remember - these plans let you apply all year round. so call today. because now's the perfect time

to learn more. go long. ♪ to err is human. to anticipate is lexus. experience the lexus rx with advanced safety standard. experience amazing. >> bill: pretty good mystery

germany now. investigation centering around two suspected islamic extremists, one player injured in explosions near the team bus last night. a letter at the scene suggests terrorism but they're considering now a range of motives and have not yet signed the true answer here. we're trying to figure that one out. from germany. >> shannon: china promising to work with the u.s. to end north korea's nuclear program. xi jinping assuring president trump in a phone call they want the same thing to end north korea's nuclear program but it must be a peaceful solution. the president tweeting had a good call last night with the president of china concerning the menace of north korea. ralph peters is a fox news analyst. good to see you this morning, sir. what do you make about this? there was a lot of talk about the president putting pressure on china when the president

visited mar-a-lago carrying out the strikes in syria when he was here. how do you think their relationship is coming along on their discussion on north korea? >> dear president trump, don't get suck erd. china is making the right noises. they've done it before. promised they'll take economic sanctions. beijing and president xi will not do anything meaningful to stop north korea. they will not confront north korea. this situation is to their benefit and the regime in beijing sees north korea as an ally in a potential future war with the united states. it could tie an enormous range of u.s. asset. china has been a betting and looking aside -- away from the north korean nuclear program. china won't help. >> shannon: where does it leave us? the national security advisor

general mcmaster said the president wants everything on the table with regard to dealing the north korea? if we can't count on china, are there good options with respect to north korea? >> no, only less bad ones. drill sergeant used to say we're in deep kimchi. even before the obama administration we allowed the new york regime to push its nuclear program so far a surgical strike that our carrier battle group could launch in the western pacific wouldn't take out their program. it could hurt it. wouldn't take it out. north korea is different than syria. north korea you hit them, hit their nuclear program militarily and they are apt to respond with ratcheting up the violence intensely and a real war breaks out in the korean peninsula. putin is bluffing in syria. he is a rational actor and knows his limitations. in north korea, whether or not

he is whacky isn't the issue. the real issue for me is that kim jong-un may not have a reasonable sense of his limitations, of his military's limitations. his generals won't tell him we can't fight the united states. >> shannon: they have some key anniversaries and celebrations coming up this weekend. a lot of times it's when they like to trying will some trouble. south korea is expecting to see more from north korea. the threat if the u.s. acts north korea will pull out all the stop. catastrophic potentially nuclear war. here is what the president had to say about how it is developing and our military's role. >> president trump: we're sending an armada, very powerful. we have submarines, very powerful, for march powerful than the aircraft carrier, that i can tell you. and we have the best military people on earth. i will say this.

he is doing the wrong thing. >> shannon: even knowing that and his generals wouldn't necessarily tell him you're outmatched he could do damage in south korea and potentially other spots of interest to the u.s. before he figures that out. >> the threat we can discount for now is the threat against the continental united states or alaska. he can't do it yet. we have breathing space on that one. the danger is a war on the korean peninsula. if we decided we absolutely had to hit north korea preemotion actively it would have to be a massive strike. truly massive using virtually all arms of service. and so my feeling is this. keep the pressure on. we do have a little time with north korea. one crisis at a time. let us resolve as best we can the issue of weapons of mass destruction in syria. once we're convinced we have

that under control and assad won't use them again, then we can turn more attention to north korea. we can't spread our military too thin. again, repeating myself but one crisis at a time. >> shannon: there are plenty of hot spots and fires to put out. thank you, sir. >> bill: interesting there. i think it's important they spoke again last night with the chinese president. >> shannon: keeping the communication going. the president says they have great chemistry. not good, great. >> bill: underscore that point. >> shannon: they'll need it. >> bill: president trump laying out two major campaign promises and the timing and trying to get them done. >> president trump: i don't want to put deadlines. healthcare is going to happen at some point. now, if it doesn't happen fast enough i'll start the taxes but the tax reform and the tax cuts are better if i can do healthcare first. >> bill: so that's the strategy. more on that in a moment as to what the next step will be. shannon. >> shannon: a car plunges into a swimming pool. how the driver ended up taking

a very wrong turn. hum. ♪ ♪ you have access to the right information at the right moment. ♪ ♪ and when you filter out the noise, it's easy to turn your vision into action. ♪ ♪ it's your trade. e*trade. start trading today at etrade.com e*trade. the whole country booking on choice hotels.com. four words, badda book. badda boom... let it sink in. shouldn't we say we have the lowest price? nope, badda book. badda boom. have you ever stayed with choice hotels? like at a comfort inn? yep. free waffles, can't go wrong. i like it. promote that guy. get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. when you book direct at choicehotels.com.

book now.

but we've got the get tdigital tools to help. now with xfinity's my account, you can figure things out easily, so you won't even have to call us. change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. add that premium channel, and watch the show everyone's talking about, tonight.

and the bill you need to pay? do it in seconds. because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. go to xfinity.com/myaccount >> shannon: a 19-year-old said a lack of sleep led him to this. a car being pulled out of a swimming pool. he fell asleep if he wheel. missed a turn. crashed a fence and drove into the pool. he was able to escape without serious injuries and passed every single field sobriety test. >> bill: no excuses. >> president trump: we're going to have a phenomenal tax reform but we have to do healthcare first. we'll have great healthcare and all that saving goes into the tax. if you don't do that, you can't put any of the savings into the tax cuts and the tax reform.

>> bill: more from maria's interview earlier today. president trump setting the record straight for his priorities. healthcare comes before tax reform. john, how are you doing and good morning to you. does it make sense healthcare first, tax reform second? these are two monster issues. what did you think when you heard that? >> i think he is right. he is saying if you reduce the deficit by reforming healthcare, you have more money to play around with in lowering tax rates. that is true. it remains a big effort, big lift to get healthcare done. the same problem exists, paul ryan's bill is losing people on the right in the freedom caucus and on the left. if you make concession to one side it makes people on the other side want to pull back. they say they're making progress now. the leader of the house freedom caucus says they're close to a deal. >> bill: do you believe it?

>> i don't know. >> bill: i only say it because they said they were making progress a couple weeks ago, a month ago. when it came to do it everybody balked. >> they've said it before. the idea they're coming around to now is giving waivers to the states to figure it out themselves. they have the really complex arcane rules and so obamacare itself is a series of interlocking mandates. if you out one date you can mess up the insurance market. they're saying hey to the states, you want to get a waiver. if you show you can cover pre-existing conditions better than obamacare did have at it. you have to show us you can do it. whether both sides can come to an agreement where they are comfortable, i don't know if that will happen. that seems where things are heading. >> bill: you wonder what's going on during the break. the head of omv said this earlier today. >> the house has some

difficulties. we learned that the house has some internal challenges now that this white house can't help them fix. they have to work through that themselves. i think that's what you are seeing in this two-week recess. >> bill: can the white house offer an assist on that or is it entirely up to republicans in the house as he suggests? >> i think they could. if the white house gave more guidance on exactly what they want and more involved in coming up with solutions that would help in the house. i hate to break it to the budget director if he thinks the house has problems, just wait to see what happens when the bill makes it to the senate with 52 republicans and they have a margin of two that they can lose and they have all these arcane budget rules that are going to make this bill even harder when this goes before and they give it a once over. >> bill: i think six months minimum away would you agree or disagree with that, six months? >> i don't know. to get past the house. the house could happen quickly. in terms of a bill.

obamacare itself you'll recall, they worked on that thing from the moment obama won election in 2008 and not signed until march of 2010. i think if republicans think they'll get it done in the next few weeks entirely that's crazy. >> bill: my feeling is within a year. you can't run for reelection and maintain the sizeable majority you have unless you get healthcare done repeal and replace and tax reform done. yes or no on those points? >> most important thing is a bill that actually works. republicans right now are obsessed with passing something. they will be judged based on whether this things protect people with pre-existing conditions. >> bill: that's called addition. john mccormick, thanks for being here today. 28 past the hour now. >> shannon: brand-new show of force by russia president putin sending huge bomber jets to the sea of japan amid escalating tensions of north korea. new details on that just ahead. >> bill: president donald trump handling syria differently from

president obama. what newt gingrich argues the strategy of leading from behind is now over. >> frankly unlike barack obama who kept telling us how he was going to lead from behind by accomplished nothing, donald trump is a guy who is it's time to lead he is going to lead.

>> shannon: russia raising the stakes in the stand-off over north korea. the kremlin ordering nuclear capable bombers to go near japan. it comes with secretary of state tillerson meeting with moscow. the first official visit by a member of the trump cabinet since president trump took office. >> i don't think he wanted to be drawn into these kind of problems this early. he wanted to focus on job creation. eight years of barack obama being afraid to act decisively just got replaced in one evening by a donald trump who

is quite prepared to take decisive steps. >> bill: the former house speaker newt gingrich talking about president trump leading the country in a new direction. dramatic change from his predecessor the speaker argues. martha maccallum making a special appearance here. you did the interview with gingrich last night. he makes the point clearly if you act with a decisiveness that shows the world where you are coming from, you can get results. that's the point he is making. >> absolutely. we had maria harf on talking about the fact there were so many reasons why the obama administration couldn't act. last night when i spoke with her she listed a number of reasons it wasn't the right timing and too difficult for them to intercede in syria. >> bill: have to go to congress. >> absolutely. all of those were -- you can look at it two ways. built-in excuses not to act or they are procedural. the president has the right to

do what president trump did last week and ask for permission later. that's how the war powers act works. gingrich was very isolationist in his own language during the course of the campaign and we have a sound bite from president trump, then candidate trump on the campaign trail talking about the wasted money in the middle east and how he wouldn't do the same thing. >> the people opposing us are the same people who we've -- think of this -- who have wasted six trillion dollars on wars in the middle east. we could have rebuilt our country twice. >> bill: familiar theme from the campaign. did you see maria bartiromo's interview with the president? he said we're not going into syria. i think it goes along with the same thing he has been saying for some time. i think the question then becomes what happens next in syria? what's assad's move? what is putin's move?

we're waiting to see on both of those. >> there is a chilling effect in these countries from this message and i think that they made it clear that if there is more saber rattling and more chemical weapons those other five bases that weren't taken out become vulnerable and he is not afraid to do these kind of strikes. he will find his own way to have a trump doctrine and send messages as he sees fit. >> bill: i've known you a long time and i know you like the intrigue as do i. we always try to figure out the personalities and how they either mesh or clash in the west wing. now there is a conversation as to the future of steve bannon. michael goodwin, "new york post" had the following quote on screen now. i like steve, meaning bannon. you have to remember he was not involved in my campaign until very late. i had already beaten all the senators and governors. i didn't know steve. i'm my own strategist and not like i was going to change

strategy because i was facing hillary. is there another change in the west wing soon? >> i don't know but you listen to that language, i like steve bannon but. that is not a full throated endorsement of a person who has been extremely close to this president through the course of the early term of this presidency. we heard similar language from kellyanne conway and sean spicer. we aren't hearing that full throated endorsement. steve bannon is not going anywhere from any of these people. it may not mean he is going anywhere immediately. it's clear the people with the front seat at the table in the past 10 days to two weeks are the military voices. we've seen mattis very close. mcmaster close and kushner close. we know the president likes to have the input of his family. people he trusts 100%. people who have known him and he has known since they were born in some cases. and that appears. he has always said that in

business. he worked with his brother, he works with his children. he likes to have the people that he trusts 100% closest to him and i think it's clear that bannon is somewhat vulnerable. >> bill: two points. your point with the military is well taken and his time in military academy when he was a teenager, donald trump. he had a load of generals on the list at the white house. many people would argue bannon was the trump connection to his pop you lift message. trump is arguing i had my own strategy the entire time. which is it? did bannon help trump funnel his message or did trump have the message from the very beginning? >> i think he gave him a harder edge to that message and gave him the support of being behind that message 100%. go out there and say what you want to say. they like the sort of brash donald trump, the candidate on the campaign trail and beyond. but with some of these things

you look at extreme vetting. we haven't heard anything about that in a little while. those are bannon-esque policies he pushed hard. i would look for things like that. do you see extreme vetting back on the front burner any time soon? it tells you something about where the priorities are right now. >> bill: we'll see you later tonight, okay? >> see you later tonight. >> bill: long day for you. first 100 days 7:00 eastern time with martha here on the fox news channel. >> good to see you, bill. >> shannon: attorney general jeff sessions delivers a powerful message to would be illegal immigrants from mexico. >> this is a new era. this is the trump era. the lawlessness and abdication of duty to enforce our laws and the catch and release policies of the past are over. >> shannon: former arizona governor jan brewer joins us live to weigh in on the so-called new era along the southern border.

>> bill: also in a moment a cat crashes a marlins game. sounds like the beginning of a joke. not the kind of fish he was expecting to find. tell you about this in a moment.

i'm only in my 60's. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] that accepts medicare patients.l plus, there are no networks,

and virtually no referrals needed. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now.

>> bill: marlins had an non-paying customer last night and it made the highlight reel. >> terrific stuff by the cat. outstanding. >> oh my. >> bill: he has skills, right? the crowd was getting into it cheering as the cat figured out how to get off the field. game was delayed. john carlos and security guard tried to help him out but marlins players named him the rally cat. marlins won the game. it worked. >> shannon: they might have to find him and get him back in there. the poor thing was terrified and national pet day yesterday. so they got their own -- their

new pet. the rally cat. we'll see if he comes back. attorney general jeff sessions saying a new era has begun along our southern border. >> international cartels flood our country with drugs and lead to death and violence in their wake. we will secure this border and bring the full weight of both the immigration courts and the federal enforcement and prosecutors to combat this attack on our national security and our sovereignty. >> shannon: former arizona governor jan brewer joins us live. good to have you with us today, governor. >> thank you, shannon. nice to be with you. >> shannon: this is the kind of thing you would have liked to have heard from president obama when you were overseeing things in arizona. it's a very tricky situation. >> absolutely.

we were just so grateful to have jeff sessions here once again at our border and to have him pronounce what he is going to do moving forward was such a relief to myself and certainly to the people of arizona. certainly should be a relief to the people of america. law and order is back. >> shannon: he is talking about felonies, talking about for people who come here multiple times who get into fraudulent marriages and encouraging prosecutors to go after identity theft and document theft and all these things that some say it will gum up the federal court system if you come down with this level of enforcement. it will be a bottleneck that we can't sustain. i want to read a little bit from a congressman from your state saying mandating federal prosecutors to focus on immigrants instead of focusing on crimes means valuable resources will be tied up achieving political goals instead of keeping america safe all the while the human of

impact split apart -- you know that's the line from the left. how do you respond? >> well, we need to enforce our laws. they need to be enforced the way that they are written and jeff sessions and this president is going to do that. they'll keep us safe. we need to get our borders secured and as we have seen the results of last january and february the numbers have stopped because they know we aren't playing games anymore. arizona has one of the busiest borders with drug traffickers and sex trafficking in the country. and they are coming across our border and breaking the law. and we need to enforce the laws and then we don't need to catch and release. we need to arrest them and then they need to go through the process and deported right back into the countries they came from. i think that we're seeing that. bold. we need to be bold.

>> shannon: what do you think about the conversation about funding for the border wall. the administration asked for 1.4 billion to help them get started with that. the attorney general says he thinks they'll get it. my skeptics on the hill and for democrats a non-starter to include the money. how do you think it goes down on the hill? >> it will be difficult. that's a lot of money. i think that after they debate it and they look at the budget that they can at least begin. the border wall is important. that's what donald trump campaigned on. we need a barrier. i don't know if the wall will be possible clear across all the 2,000 miles of the border but we need technology, boots on the ground and that's what donald trump is going to do. that's a responsibility, shannon, that the federal government is to keep us safe. we have just been run roughshod all over our country by illegal criminal elements and until we get rid of that, we won't be able to deal with the 11

million or 14 million people that are here that are illegal also that are part of our communities today. that's a subject matter we'll have to deal with after we get rid of the criminal element. but we are relieved that they are paying attention to the border and to the criminal element. people ought to feel safe in their state and country. >> shannon: i would like to ask you about something we talked about before. it is now this month is the month of the military child. military families do a lot of sacrificing and serving along those who are out there on active duty service. i know one of the things you are pushing for is to make sure they have access to good education like every other kid. >> absolutely. it is so important. i grew up on a military base and i know how difficult the kids have it because their parents are being transferred from one base or being deployed and going to another country even. but here in the united states when they move from base to base they need to have

comparable academic standards. so that they know when they move to a school that they can still continue to perform. either they go and are way behind and can't catch up or they're way ahead and wasting their time. particularly for our military families for the men and women that defend our country and make these sacrifices they don't want their kids to make the sacrifices with their future. as a mother and a citizen of this country, we need to really, really look out for those children and that comes with education. so they, too, can be successful. the only way we can do that is to have comparable standards so that they won't deny themselves an opportunity to get promotions because they're fearful their kids won't get their education. we've seen that. you know, with education, between six and a million kids in the military that move. they move six to nine times during their school years. that's a lot of times, a lot of moving. we've got to help them out and

be stabilized with them. >> shannon: we should all want that for these children. governor, thank you for your time and advocacy on that issue as well. good to see you. >> bill: 11 minutes before the hour. jon scott is coming up next quick preview of "happening now." >> tensions with russia continue to ratchet up as the secretary of state meets with the russian foreign minister. we're awaiting a joint news conference minutes from now. a new interview with president trump making some headlines including thoughts on healthcare, the f.b.i. director james comey and syria. we'll have that for you. new signs of a shake-up in the works at the white house. details on that ahead. >> bill: thank you. we'll see you in 11 minutes. top of the hour there. the stakes are high in a special election being held in a republican stronghold. there is a battle for the seat to replace tom price now secretary of health and human services. live from that district to find out what is going on on the

ground next.

>> shannon: that will be stuck in our head all day. john warren giles, jay giles guitarist has passed away. the band was started in 1967. the 71-year-old giles was found unresponsive at his home near boston tuesday. dead at the scene. he died of natural causes. that is way too young and that sound track takes me back a long time. >> bill: the folks in boston,

massachusetts, they really claimed jay giles to be their own even though he was born in new york city. a big loss to all the folks and fans out there, our best goes out to his family. age 71. early voting now underway in the nation's most closely watched special election. the north atlanta suburbs. tom price leaving congress to become the head of hhs. democrats see an opportunity and think they can score a major upset with top candidate dominating the race. that's what they hope. jonathan is live is sandy springs, georgia. a solidly republican district for decades. why is this race so tight, john? >> they call this a jungle primary because all of the candidates are on the same ballot. if you were among these early voters here you open up the ballot and you would see a total of 18 candidates, most of them republicans. because of the crowded

republican feel that's fuel negative ads and testing exchanges in the same party. he doesn't see this election as a litmus test for donald trump but sees the president playing a huge role in georgia's sixth district congressional race. >> some are running as his loyalties and there is a democrat running called a make trump kur yos campaign. >> he raised more than $8 million topping other candidates. it's unlikely but not out of the question he could top the 50% plus one threshold needed to win tuesday's election outright. if none of the candidates passes that 50% threshold, then the two leading vote getters will face each other in a runoff on june 20th.

>> bill: we analyze these a lot. what issues are most important there in sandy springs? >> everything from healthcare to tax reform. here is a sampling. >> key issues that i see for our state namely the sixth district transportation, education, infrastructure improvement. putting people back the work. >> i keep hearing we need to put money here and there from both sides. i didn't hear anybody saying where this money comes from and i think that's kind of at the core of the issue. >> this country is so divided now. it would be great to see somebody that could work across the aisle. >> election is on tuesday. as you can see behind me early voting is already well underway. >> bill: thank you, keeping track of it there in georgia. thank you, sir. >> shannon: a big meeting in moscow amid rising tensions over syria. tillerson meeting with his russian counterpart. a news conference is ahead

shortly. we'll bring it to you live.

>> big meeting happening right now in moscow. >> we look forward to the presser. >> in minutes. we have to run. have a great wednesday. bye-bye. >> jon: a fox news alert from moscow where east is meeting west. each side lobbing accusations at the other. we're awaiting a joint news conference with rex tillerson and his russian counter part, sergey lavrov. good morning. i'm jon scott. >> i'm jenna lee. it's not just about what they say but body language here as well. >> jon: going to be fascinating. >> jenna: the top two diplomats could step to the podium any minute now. this comes after a high week of tension over syria. russia accusing the u.s. of an unlawful missile strike and the u.s.a. ledging that russia trying to cover