>> how is your swagger, smitty? >> my swagger is all right. was my earring turned around the whole show? >> i didn't notice. i'll notice tomorrow. >> thanks for tuning in. "happening now" starts now. >> jon: the president headed to the state department. the first time he's headed there since making mike pompeo his secretary of state and moments from now, pompeo's swearing in ceremony. >> julie: the president telling the diplomatic corps that he wants to help them get their swagger back. while he's been on the job less than a week, he's been a busy guy. just getting back from a high profile trip to europe and the middle east with stops in belgi belgium, saudi arabia and israel. >> jon: he's been formally sworn

in, officially sworn in. what does mike pompeo bring to this job and this department, hogan? >> he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge about issues, conflicts across the globe. it was an outstanding pick by president trump. i got a chance to be in the room when the votes came in. it was a bipartisan effort. every member of congress took a look at the nominee. we picked up a few democrats, which is rare, considering how they have been so obstructionists in many of the president's picks. i went to the supreme court when they did the swearing in. but at a time when there's so many issues across the globe with the impending conversation with north korea, iran, the conversations with israel and other partners and allies, it's so important to have someone in

this position who is experienced, who has bipartisan support and can do the job. he has the president's confidence, near in lock step on the issues. it's vital. in addition, the president nominated someone with equal amounts of experience and a good reputation across party lines. that's gina haspel at the cia. we hope that moves through just like pompeo did. >> jon: he's going, mike pompeo is, from one of the smaller agencies, the cia, 6,000 employees to the sprawling state department. is he up to the task? >> absolutely. that's why you saw a lot of bipartisan support for him. this man has been in washington d.c. for a long time. being at the cia, as the highest levels of security in the world. someone that can -- knows how to protect this nation and knowing how to deal with so many other people. you get a good mix of that in

congress. his reputation is stellar. he's outstanding, this is a historic day. not just for the trump administration but for the american people. this is someone that will do a great job and work to bring about historic deals where no deals could have ever been done in the past. this man will be the forefront of making those happen. what the president wants, he can help implement that. that's what we need at this time in the world. >> jon: talking about deals. he made the secret trip to north korea. he met with kim jong-un when he was still the nominee. did that help in convincing senators that this is the guy that should give the president to be his top diplomat? >> it shows that he can keep his mouth shut and do his job. he referenced that in the conversation at the state department yesterday. he's already come in. people have said that he's taken the place by storm. he's got a stellar reputation. he has the gravitas to lead the state department.

that is important. as soon as he was confirmed, he immediately got on a plane and hit three different stops around the globe. this man hits the ground running because he's prepared and ready to go. that's what we need at this time. >> jon: he has told employees of the state department that he wants them to get their swagger back. >> right. >> jon: what does that mean? what is he talking about specifically? >> look, because of this president, we see respect, fear across the globe. now the president comes in and says here's what we're going to do on a global stage and has done it. across the world, people are now understanding that donald trump, the fears that people said, the democrats said the whole world would be in shambles, we would lose our allies, lose our partners, that's not the case. now we have someone that is in lock step the way the president thinks, mike pompeo. he can execute what the president wants. quite frankly, settles down the globe. they understand they have someone they can trust. they know you can't cross donald trump and get some type of sanction or ramification as

russia knows. you understand that he can build partners and allies when they do things like strike syria. pompeo will be at the forefront of the conversations. he has the gravitas to do it and we're excited about today. >> jon: is the proof of that of what goes on on the north and south korean peninsula? where kim jong-un is ready to meet with president trump and talk about denuclearization? >> absolutely. so many people are caught up in where is it going to be, what time is it going to be. the point is what is going to come out of it is important. we've heard rhetoric from north korea for a long time here that has never resulted in actions. the president wants irreversible, verifies denuclearization on the peninsula. no question that mike pompeo will be at the front of that to help assist those talks. that's what the president wants. we cannot have a nuclear north korea. it's dangerous to this country and the globe. we know that. we haven't given up anything. north korea has said that they're not going to say anything when south korea and

the united states engage in military actions and exercises. they are not going to launch any rockets and they're also going to denuclearize. now is the time for the action on the backhand and mike pompeo can make sure that happens. >> jon: so while the president is dealing with north korea and with syria and iran and the possibility of tearing up the iran accord and with russia and everything else on his plate, he's also dealing with the mueller investigation. we'll keep an eye on this state department event. when the president steps in, we'll go there live. i want to ask you about that, hogan. there's a report that the president's team was told in martha special counsel robert mueller was thinking about subpoenaing the president. what is the response there at the white house? >> look, there's a lot of rumor out there that don't add up. we've been cooperative and

transparent with the special investigation. the president has been clear this is a witch hunt. there's zero evidence of any collusion. that's where this started. now they're trying to move to obstruction and the president has been clear there, too. there's no obstruction to speak of. out of respect for the process, i can't comment. i have to turn you over to the president's personal attorneys. >> jon: they're still talking about doing a presidential interview. is that fair to say? >> that's what i understand. i was in the room when he was asked, the president himself was asked, would he do the interview. he said he would. this is the not reported part of that, by the way. he said he would defer to his attorneys. he would listen to his attorneys. sadly this has been going on over a year. we've given over a million documents, man hours to boot, have interviews, fully co- cooperative and transparent. it's time to get on governing the american people. >> jon: one more thing to touch

on before we wait for the swearing in ceremony for mike pompeo. texas and six other states are suing to overturn the daca decision that then president obama put into effect. what is the white house view on that? >> look, it's of course that daca was unconstitutional. it was created out of hole cloth. one of the arguments is that barack obama is the president. he has the right to do it. we disagree. if that was the democrat's montra then, because democrat was the duly elected president he can create something, wouldn't it apply to us? if donald trump is the duly elected president that he can get rid of the daca deal? the fact is this president went miles further than barack obama did by offering three times that of what barack obama offered when he was talking about 1.8 million people with a pathway to citizenship. democrats weren't anywhere to be found.

they are siding with hundreds of thousands of people that are here illegally as opposed to millions of american citizens. that's a problem. they'll have to answer for that sooner or later. >> jon: it's odd that president obama said time and time again that he couldn't with the stroke of a pen allow the so-called dreamers to stay. and then one day he took his pen and said they can say. >> one day he said we're going to do it. that's the problem with this. this is about protection for the american people. this president has said i'll deal with daca but i also want the safe guards to protect the american people, too. we want to end chain migration. we want to build the wall. we're building portions of the wall. it's important. this has to be a solution that doesn't put us on the same path to be back here in five years and say this is the same problem that was created years ago in addition to decades of bad immigration policy. reagan gave amnesty but he wanted border security.

the border security never comes but the amnesty gets ushered in with praise. that's part of the problem here. we have to secure the border for the american people. we have to put us on a pathway of long-lasting solutions so we're not faced with them again. that's what this president wants and that's what he's going to do. >> it's my first chance to talk to you since we've watched the video of the border and the caravan members arriving. some of them have climbed on top of the border fence there. some dropped down to the other side. there's been a dozen or so arres arrests. i wonder what they're doing is helping the president make his case about the wall. because when you see people from guatemala or honduras just climbing a fence and demanding to be let in to the united states, does that make the president's case for him? >> it proves exactly what we've been saying all along. our borders are porous.

we're not a sovereign nation when you can't control your borders. what it also does, it exposes democrats for the lies they've been talking about regarding this issue for a long time. they used to be for border wall in the 90s when it was bill clinton. they used to be for protecting the american worker. no longer. they decided to jump in line with folks that are here illegally, trying to cross our border, drive down wages for the american people and makes us less safe. when you can't vet people that come in, you don't know why they're coming here. this caravan had the proof that there was someone from an ms-13 gang coming in trying to use the credible fear claim to get into this country. credible fear is something that has gone up 1,700%. that claim is a loop hole. we have to close the loop holes. these people in other countries know that, want to exploit that. it's a magnet to come in and they use it every day. it's a serious problem. >> jon: a number of the folks

have been meeting with lawyers during the journey and they know exactly what to say to american entry officials. >> it's shocking, right? when you have such an exposed law, a longstanding law that clearly has a major loop hole in it, it's no wonder the credible fear claim asking for asylum in this country has gone up 1700%. because they know it works. if it didn't work, they wouldn't use that. our loop holes have to be closed. it allows drug dealers in here, allows ms-13 gang members in here. let's not pretend we're the most generous country on the globe. we let in 1.1 million people a year for permanent residency. 500,000 student visas, hundreds of thousands of green cards every year. we don't turn people away if they do it the right way. the problem is when they try to

break our laws, come over fences, slip in through the dead of night, run drugs into the country, bring opioids in the country. mexico, for example, is the largest creator of crystal meth. used to be the united states. they run them across our borders. not because they love the country but because they want to make money and hurt the american people. they do it every day and this president is the first to say i'm exposing it. >> jon: hogan gidley, thanks for spending time with us. >> thanks, guys. >> jon: so the big box there now full screen is foggy bottom, the state department. that's where the president is going to be participating in the swearing in of mike pompeo. we'll take you back there as soon as it begins. playing a little hide-n-seek. cold... warmer... warmer... ah boiling.

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>> julie: and this is a fox news alert. we're going to the president participating in the swearing-in ceremony of mike pompeo at the state department. let's listen in. >> good morning, your excellency, ladies and gentlemen and distinguished guests. as chief of protocol, it's my pleasure to welcome you in to the state department for the swearing of the secretary of state. it's our honor to have the

president of the united states to officiate the ceremony. i'd like to introduce mary ann glendon for the invocation. >> lord god, creator of the universe and ruler of all, we ask your blessing and guidance today for our brother, michael, as he begins to serve our country with other lands and other governments. give him an ear open to our needs and the needs of others. sharpen the fine mind you have given him to discern truth from falsehood, appearances from reality. give him compassion for the oppressed and wisdom to see the way ahead even when all looks dark. give him the joy that comes to those that spend their lives in the service of others. we ask these blessings, lord, with thankful hearts and

gratitude for the countless blessings you bestow on our lands. we ask you to forgive us when we have fallen short. hold our brother, michael, close, lord as he embarks on this new service to our country and give him a share in your own unbounded compassion and goodness. amen. >> ladies and gentlemen, in his first visit to the state department, it's my honor to introduce the president of the united states. [cheers & applause] >> thank you. [applause] >> i must say that's more spirit

than i've heard from the state department in a long time. many years. we can say many years and many decades. it's going to be a fantastic start a fantastic day. that spirit will only be magnified. only with this man right here. i know that for a fact. so thank you all for being here. it's great to be with you. the extraordinary men and women of the state department. we're profoundly grateful for everything that you do for our country. you'll be doing things that you don't even know about. right now they're not even a glimmer in your eye. we have a couple going, mike, right now that a lot of people don't know about that are very, very encouraging. i also want to thank vice president pence and the many members of my cabinet for joining us this morning. we're here to celebrate the swearing in of america's new secretary of state. mike pompeo. [applause]

this day is a testament to your exceptional skill, mike. a skill and service that's been honed over a lifetime, no matter where you went. we're joined by mike's wife, susan and his son, nick. i want to thank you both for sharing this wonderful moment with us all. thank you very much. [applause] mike is a true american patriot. he's devoted many years of his life to defending america, beginning when he entered westpoint. as you all heard, he entered at 18 and ended up graduating first in his class. i heard that rumor a long time ago. i thought it was a rumor.

[laughter] you know, i've heard it so many times, i also heard i was first in my class at the wharton school of finance. sometimes when you hear it, you don't say anything. you let it go. but i heard it. and being first in your class at westpoint, because i know, these a big deal. i said is that true? yeah. is that true? yes. so i started bringing it up. i brought it up four weeks ago. right, david? after that, everybody brings it up. i don't have to say it anymore. he's actually first in his class at westpoint. soon he was deployed to germany where he served a cavalry officer prior to the fall of the berlin wall. after leaving active duty, he graduated harvard law student with great honors. he was elected to congress in 2010 by the people of the fourth district of a great state, kansas. right? [applause]

it is. the house he distinguished himself as a member of the intelligence community. for the last 15 months, mike served as our nation and served as the director of the central intelligence agency where i can tell you they have such respect for him, it's unbelievable. they may be the only people that are not very happy right now. but they'll be happy. they'll be happy with our gina, who is here today. his exceptional leadership of the cia earned the admiration of his colleagues in the cabinet, to congress, the intelligence community as well as our foreign allies and partners. mike has earned my deepest respect and admiration and truth and you'll see why over the coming years. probably the coming months. i have absolute confidence he will do a great job as the 70th secretary of state. as mike travels the world, he

will carry out the greatest mission and highest duty of the state department to represent the interests of the american people. this mission includes overseeing more than 13,000 foreign service officers, who act as our representatives to the world. 12,000 officers and administrator of just an incredible immigration system. a system that we're going to be changing and fixing and making better. a system that is under siege right now. but a system that will in fact hopefully be the talk of the world by the time we're finished. we have 3,500 security personnel and thousands more diplomats, embassy staff and administrative personnel, all of whom play a vital role in advancing the safety, liberty, prosperity and all good things of the united

states. very important people. great people. as president eisenhower said in 1953, make no mistake, the reason we have representatives around the world is to protect america interests. for nearly 230 years, the men and women of the united states state department have skillfully and proudly answered this call. and now at this moment in time, i can think of no better person to lead these dedicated public servants than our new secretary state, mike pompeo. secretary pompeo, congratulations again. i have no doubt that you will make america proud as our nation's chief diplomat. you're an exceptional guy, a great friend and somebody that truly loves our country. we are really, really proud of you. i speak on behalf of everybody

in this room and also on behalf of your family. thank you very much, mike. congratulations. [applause] now i'd like to ask vice president pence to administer the oath of office. thank you. >> raise your right hand and repeat after me. i mike pompeo do solemnly swear

that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, and that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that i take this obligation free ly, without any mental reservation for purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which i'm about to enter, so help me god. congratulations. [cheers & applause]

>> this is truly humbling. thank you very much, mr. president, for those kind words. thank you, mr. president, for being here today to honor me by swearing me in. thank you ambassador glendon. i used to work for her for $7.50. it is a great honor to have so many distinguished guests here, including many of my fellow cabinets secretaries and former colleagues in congress. thank you for coming today. i was glad to see mark green. i look forward to working with you. i want to first thank god for this opportunity. for the many blessings he has granted to me in my life. my wife, susan and my son nick

are my number 1 fans most days and have shown unyielding support to me throughout my confirmation process and every other stage in my public service career. i love you both very, very much. [applause] i want to thank john sullivan, deputy sullivan. john, thank you. thank you for your service in this interim period. [applause] mr. president, i also want to say thank you to you. you have entrusted me with a weighty and awesome responsibility to serve the american people. first as the director of the cia and now as the secretary of state. this responsibility becomes more sobering when we consider the many threats to american

security and prosperity and our liberty. mr. president, i promise you, my team and i will be unrelenting in confronting those threats. we will deploy tough diplomacy to put the interest of the american people first. i will preserve their rights and to defend their values. i will make sure america is always a respected and principle leader on the world stage. [applause] we are but 15 months in this administration and we have already made outstanding progress by speaking the truth about the challenges we face, by confronting them head on, but partnering with strong nations to make america and the world more prosperous and secure. we put a hurt on the isis caliphate in iraq and syria. we're confronting all types of

iranian hostility and deciding on the next steps for the flawed jcpoa. we have imposed real consequences on russia for their acts of aggression and we will soon move our embassy to jerusalem years ahead of schedule. [applause] we are bringing fairness and reciprocity with china and protecting our intellectual property as well. and we saw in your meetings last week with president macron and chancellor merkel, we continue to uphold our alliances with them. there's one more thing. right now we have an opportunity to change the course of history on the korean peninsula. i underscore opportunity. we're in the beginning stages of the work. the outcome is certainly yet unknown. one thing is certain.

this administration will not repeat the mistakes of the past. our eyes are wide open. it's time to solve this once and for all. a bad deal is not an option. the american people are counting on us to get this right. we're committed to the dismantling of north korea's nuclear program and to do so without delay to my colleagues. when i say "we're going to do this", this is a team effort around the whole of the united states government. mr. president, when you offered me the job to be the director of cia, i was honored to lead the world's finest intelligence corps and i'm incredibly honored and humbled by the opportunity to lead the world's finest diplomatic corps now. [applause] mr. president, you read one of -- a great quote from the

greatest president ever from kansas. it was a historic quote. frankly things haven't changed much since then. i've been an army officer, a congressman, director of the cia and now here head of state. we have much to do. in every position i've had, i've witnessed the skills, expertise and patriotism of our foreign service employees. you all lay it on the line to make sure that american's safe and prosperous and free. thank you for that. [applause] as i have said and i'll elabora elaborate more, i want the state department to get their swagger

back. we need our men and women on the front lines to represent the finest nation in the history of civilization. we should be proud of that. i'm counting on you all to help communicate every corner of the world. mr. president, i have full confidence in my team here in washington and around the world under your leadership can and will execute that mission for the benefit of the american people. i'm eager to work with you all to get that job done. you all know this is essential work. that's why you're here. that's why i'm here. i look forward to doing this together. thanks for the warm welcome i've received in the first days. i can't wait to get after this with you. thank you again, mr. president, for your truth and leadership and faith in me. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> julie: there you have it. mike pompeo sworn in now as secretary of state and getting high praise from the president himself at his swearing-in ceremony there on the great contribution he will add to the state department. pompeo already spent his first unofficial week as secretary of state pretty much being the anti-rex tillerson. experts think that pompeo might bring back some normalcy to the state department, specifically changing the course in north korea. pompeo saying this administration will not repeat the mistakes of the past. let's bring in tom rogan who covers foreign policy and politics for "the washington examiner." thanks very much. short and sweet. i believe he wants to get to business. what did you make of his swearing in? >> yes, through the excitement there -- that was noticeable -- the state department staff as

much as they tend towards the center left of american politics, are excited about the prospect of having a secretary of state who has the president's here and also has this determination to use the determine to get people out into the field. the specificity there when pompeo talks about pushing people out on to the front lines, it's not just rhetoric. we've seen that at cia. that he unleashed the operations division at cia, to get officers out, collecting intelligence. in the same way, i suspect he will push that to the state department, to tell middle management, and all the officers, to get ahead, to do the best work, you will have my support if you go out into the field and take risks like people like christopher stephens, the libyan ambassador. >> he's already done that. after his official confirmation, pompeo went out right away. he hit the ground running.

he set out on a trip to the middle east starting april 26 in brussels. he met with nato leaders and reaffirmed america's commitment to the decades old alliance and pushing back against russia, which is interesting that he made that as it's first initiatives. >> yes. from his work at cia, again, you know, director at operations, the pushing against russia, he knows full well the kind of activities the russians are engaged in. and yet at some point, he is -- you can understand why president trump wants him there. as much as he can sit down with european leaders, he has the argument to say to them in the same way, spent more on defense. this is what we expect. we expect realist outcomes as was the case with john kerry, being played by sergey lavrov

and rex tillerson, floating around doing nothing. so there's that constructive counter point. >> julie: i found it fascinating that he made one of his first points on how this might change the course when it comes to north korea. mike pompeo has been praised for possibly bringing talks to the table. rex tillerson was for that, but then seemed to back off. that seemed to be a major bone of contention between the president and the former secretary of state. so these talks that could happen between kim jong-un and president trump, very much could be accredited to mike pompeo even though he was just confirmed a week ago. >> if they work. if they work, he goes down as one of the finest because of the nature of the threat. if they don't work, not so much. obviously -- and the devil will come in the details. we're about to find out. i suspect -- one of the things that is striking that pompeo shows this sort of confidence

that echos trump. he has clearly -- they have information beyond what we have seen that the north koreans are actually somewhat more serious about this than perhaps those more skeptical observers will say. we shall see. the test in the few days following the president's meeting with kim jong-un, the inspectors are allowed in. if that happens, pompeo is on his way to a peace prize podium. >> and he's also, by the way, i have to go but he's more welcoming to journalists than rex tillerson was. he invited them on the oversees trip. he has his own twitter account now. it's @realmikepompeo. he has about 6,800 followers. that number will climb rapidly. thanks, tom. we appreciate it. >> thank you, julia. >> jon: now a fox news alert on a subpoena threat in the russia

investigation. this one directed at the president. we spoke about it earlier with the deputy press secretary, hogan gidley. the special counsel's team reportedly mulling the possibility of ordering mr. trump to testify under oath in front of a grand jury. john roberts live with more on that. john? >> good morning, jon. shouldn't be surprise that there was a talk of a subpoena. a few weeks ago, we reported sources close to the investigation had told fox news that negotiations were contin continuing on a possible sit-down interview despite michael cohen's office, home and hotel room had just been raided. a source telling fox news, what is the alternative to an interview? a subpoena before the grand jury? so we do know that there's a little more granularity. john dowd confirming to fox news that he told mueller "this isn't some game. you're screwing with the work of the president of the united

states." according to dowd, mueller responded said that he could issue a subpoena. there is a historical precedent for that. former president bill clinton was subpoenaed in the monica lewinsky investigation. he did end up giving a voluntary interview to that investigation. former mueller assistant michael zeldon talked about it this morning. listen to what he said. >> i think what we saw was a breakdown in communications between former attorney dowd and mueller where mueller and dowd were trying to work out a deal for the voluntary testimony. dowd wouldn't budge. mueller said if you don't budge, i'm going to subpoena you. that subpoena is something that i think i will prevail on. so make your choice. >> that confrontation in that meeting did appear to break something loose. a week later, mueller's assistant provided the

president's outside legal team with a list of some 52 questions that mueller wants to ask the president if they do sit down together. so some cooperation there from the mueller side. handing over those questions. alan dershowitz, the noted constitutional attorney that had dinner at the white house with president trump, weighing in on this this morning saying he thinks the president should respond to the questions with some written answers but shouldn't get anywhere near the special counsel in person. listen here. >> i think he would be in a better position challenging this legally than sitting down with the special counsel and answering that list of 40 some odd questions that are so open-ended, so vague and so general. >> the president weighing in on this this morning writing "there was no collusion, it's a hoax and there's no obstruction of justice. that is a setup and trap." the president goes on to talk about all the other things that are going on in the world, jon, that people should be paying attention to as opposed to the

mueller investigation. >> jon: as we swear in a new secretary of state, that's been made pretty clear. john roberts there at the white house. >> julie: so republicans in west virginia vying for a chance to unseat democratic senator joe manchin. what they said about him and each other during the gop debate last night. >> joe manchin is on the chuck schumer team. he's sitting there with elizabeth warren, bernie sanders. he has a 70, 80% voting record with them. that's not west virginia. "small business," never owned a business. there's nothing small about it. are your hours small? what about your reputation, is that small? when you own your own thing, it's huge. your partnerships, even bigger. with dell small business technology advisors you'll get the one-on-one partnership you need to grow your business. because the only one who decides how big your business can be, is you. the dell vostro 15 laptop, with 7th gen intel® core™ processors.

>> in west virginia, gop senate candidates debating ahead of next week's primary there. fox news hosting last night the three leading candidates looking for a chance to unseat senator joe manchin in november. all showing strong support for president trump who won this state quite handily. here's some of the highlights.

>> patrick morrisey grew up in jersey, made all of his living and his money and millions lobbying washington d.c. then he went back to jersey to run for congress. he did on his jersey values. >> of all the candidates on the stage, i'm the only one with a conservative record of results. >> it's funny that pat says the only conservative on the stage. conservatives weren't popular in west virginia until i caused them to be after investing $5 million of my own money. >> larry is our guest right now. you have a flavor of it there. it was a pretty negative debate. >> yes. whenever you see one like that with a lot of negative charges, you know the stakes are high. indeed they are. west virginia is one of three states along with indiana and north dakota where republicans

have the best chances of knocking off democratic senators. >> jon: and the talk was which is mostly aligned with president trump. >> yes, they all cozied up even if their records don't support it. and jenkins is seen as the most electable. morrisey is the most conservative and also electable. the republican leadership in d.c. is very concerned that don blankenship, who is the most like trump, they're worried he will grab the nomination. he would have a tough time in november probably. >> jon: so blankenship is the wild card? >> you could tell in the debate. when mitch mcconnell was brought up and they were asked whether they would support him for majority leader again,

blankenship ducked down beneath the podium. he's given to those sorts of theatrics and that appeals to many trump voters. this was a state that trump won by 42 percentage points. >> jon: sometimes these rock'em sock'em debates give one party's party ammunition. you see that happening here? >> it's inevitable. there will be excerpts from this debate even if prohibited. they'll put it in ads. you have the tv ads being aired by the candidates themselves. very competitive primaries do produce the strongest nominee. it's almost worth going through the misery to get a better candidate for november. >> jon: it's going to be fascinating to see what happens. larry sabato, thank you.

>> thanks, jon. >> julie: a growing number of democrats calling on nancy pelosi to step aside. that's right, a group of democrats want her to step aside. she's not listening. as they look to take back the house in november. how is she responding? i'll tell you next. i never thought i'd say this, but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. always discreet boutique. hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel. so i feel protected... ...and pretty. always discreet boutique.

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>> julie: well, this just in. nancy pelosi pushing back against some of her democratic colleagues who say it's time for the california lawmaker to step aside from the leadership as the party looks to retake the house in november. pelosi telling the "boston globe," we will win. i will run for speaker. i feel confident about it and any members do, too. it's important that it's not be five white guys at the table.

no offense, i have no intention of walking away. jessica tarlov, the senior director of research, a fox news contributor and authors of "america in the age of trump." and alexa smith, former national chairman of the college republican national committee. thanks for talking to us. >> thank you. >> julie: if the democrats need to do at all, bring in new blood. if you look at a coach on a football team and they lose every single year and they never make it to the super bowl, you get rid of the coach. why doesn't she step aside? is it's not selfish of her to do that? is she's not causing more damage to her own problem? >> nancy pelosi has made it clear if hillary had won, she would have stepped aside then. what's going on now, and she's looking back at a big career where she raised tons of money and getting obamacare passed and she sees a lot of progress under

her leadership and feels like she's a strong hand with a lot of experience to take people forward. that's the perspective she's coming from. she does have a lot of support from the moderate leftist block. when tim ryan challenged her, a white guy, working class ohio, rust belt, states that we need to reclaim if we're going to be successful, you can see the real division there. she'll have a tougher challenge than she expects. i think she pulls it out in the end. >> julie: she's the most senior female role as a democrat. >> yes. >> julie: like you mentioned, if hillary clinton had been voted in, she would have gone out. i personally don't see that nancy pelosi is ever going to go out. i don't care if it's a female president or not. she's in control and loves that control. she's losing control of the

democratic party. that's the problem. >> look, i think a lot of republicans woke up and saw that headline and make sure it wasn't december 25. this is christmas early for republicans. they're looking at this announcement and they're doing to look at every targeted race in the country and make candidates take a position on nancy pelosi. look at brad ashford in nebraska. these are people that supported pelosi in the past and now they're running in competitive districts, they're hedging and saying i don't know. they're going to be forced to take a position based on this announcement. >> never look good when members of your own party want you out. you're saying she has a lot of support. but she has a lot of those in her own party that don't want you there. if people in your own party want you out, you need to listen. i feel -- i go back to the selfish part. she wants to be at the part. there's other democratic women, are there not? >> tons. >> julie: that are in power. there's plenty. why doesn't she decide to for the good of the party to make

some changes before the mid-terms? >> i expect she will be considering that, especially looking at paul ryan making an exit now. there will be a vacuum. we'll need a new leader on the republican side there. but i would point out, this is an issue with leadership across the board. it's not like mitch mcconnell is popular and chuck schumer is popul popular. this is a thankless job. you look at how divided the parties are. you have the freedom caucus and mainstream republicans and trump trucks. finding somebody to unite everybody is difficult. i don't disagree with you. we're getting exciting new candidates. take conor lamb that went against nancy pelosi when he won pennsylvania. that is the future of the party. >> julie: you don't agree? >> he did say he didn't support her. >> there's not many democrats that can fire off a semiautomatic rifle. that was a very conservative district to say you can be

against nancy pelosi. democrats run through districts that are different than the pa-18. >> if we're going to take back districts that have republicans, we lost 1,000 seats in nine years. >> under nancy pelosi's leadership. >> i'm not disagreeing with you. i'm saying there's more centrists to take back districts we have lost. >> they're still ahead. but what i'm saying, they lost their edge. they were further ahead. if you look back to december and january, there were 12 percentage points -- >> got up to 15 from the politco record and now 8. but the special elections have been kind to us. in arizona, we lost by 6. that was a trump district by 20. >> speaks about the leadership, which is why paul ryan decided it's time. anyway, jessica, alexandra. thanks very much. jon? >> jon: drafting articles of impeachment against the justice department's number 2 guy. that's what republicans are up to now. deputy attorney general rod

rosenstein is firing back. the message he has for those that want him out. your hear't only belong to you. child: bye, grandpa! and if you have heart failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading heart failure medicine. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto. and help make more tomorrows possible. entresto,

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>> jon: a fox news alert. a southwest plane on the ground in cleveland for a main minute very view of window panes. they apparently held. >> julie: thanks for joining us. "outnumbered" starts right now. >> fox news alert. president trump taking on allegations of russian collusion. he's taking them head on as we get new reports that special counsel robert mueller raised the possibility of forcing the president to testify before a grand jury. the president's former lead lawyer confirming to fox news that the special counsel broached the topic of a subpoena if the president refusing to sit down for an interview. president trump weighing in on twitter suggesting this may be a "setup and trap." this is "outnumbered." i'm sandra smith. here today, host of after the