chris: i'm chris wallace. it's one year til election day, and a bitter fight over the impeachment of president trump divides the country and congress. ♪ >> the resolution is adopted without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. >> democrats are trying to impeach the president because they are scared they cannot defeat him at the ballot box. chris: a party-line vote sets the stage for open hearings on impeachment and gives house intelligence committee chair adam schiff broad powers. >> i do not take any pleasure in the events that have made this process necessary. >> you can't impeach the president who did nothing wrong. chris: we'll discuss the democrats' plan and the white

house response with counselor to president kellyanne conway, and we'll get reaction from congressman jim hines, the number two democrat on the intelligence committee. then, how the impeachment timeline shape the 2020 democratic campaign for president? we'll bring you brand new fox polls and break them down with a special sunday panel. fox news political co-anchors martha maccallum and bret baier, pollster kristin solstice happenedder and analyst -- anderson and juan williams. plus, our power player of the week, mike rizzo, general manager of the washington nationals, brings the world series trophy here for a visit. all right now on a special democracy 2020 edition of "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪ chris: and hello again from fox

news in washington. exactly three months from today americans start voting in iowa's first in the nation caucuses. for democrats, it's a fight for the party's future. for president trump, it's a test of his base's loyalty as he faces re-election amid a bitter impeachment fight. today we kick off our democracy 2020 election coverage with brand new fox polls. almost half of all voters now think the president should be impeached and removed from office. that's down slightly from a month ago. 4% say he should be impeached but not removed, 41% oppose impeachment. meanwhile, 60% now believe mr. trump asked ukraine to probe his democratic rival, and 52% say he held up military aid to pressure ukraine. and while 91% of democrats think it's inappropriate for the president to ask foreign leaders to investigate his political rivals, there's more of a split among republicans.

53% say it's okay while 34% say, no. in a moment we'll talk with counselor to the president kellyanne conway. but first, let's bring in david spunt live at the white house with the latest. >> reporter: hi, chris, and good morning from the white house. the president spent the night in new york city. he'll be back at the white house in a few hours. meanwhile, his aides are preparing for impeachment in the house of representatives. >> a chorus of boos and cheers greeted president trump as he took his seat inside madison square garden saturday night to watch a mixed martial arts fight. it's the second time he's been booed at a sporting event in a week. this is his first visit to new york since announcing he changed his official residence to florida. before heading to new york, he stood his ground on impeachment. >> the republicans have never been this unified, and this whole impeachment scam, that's exactly what it is, it's a scam.

it's a hoax. >> reporter: the president says his phone call with ukraine president vladimir zelensky was, quote, perfect. zelensky was in talks to visit the white house late this summer, but it never happened. i asked the president if and when he would invite certificate eleven are sky to the white house given the current circumstances. >> i would love to have him come to the united states if he'd like to come. >> reporter: on thursday democrats voted to move forward with the impeachment investigation, but a final vote has yet to take place. >> this is about the constitution and how we go forward with this. and no decision has been made to impeach, that's what the inquiry's about. >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi promised public hearings this month, opening the curtain to a process republicans say has been closed. looking ahead, lawmakers hope to meet with energy secretary rick perry this week, also former national security adviser john bolton. i say "hope," because both men say they will only a appear

under certain circumstances. chris? chris: david spunt reporting from the white house, thank you. joining us now, counselor to the president kellyanne conway, and welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> thank you, chris. chris: now that the full house this week has voted to aa prove and continue the impeachment inquiry, will president trump stop blocking current and former administration officials from testifying? >> well, a little fact check here. the full house did not vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry, just democrats did -- chris: it takes a vote of the full house, and the majority -- >> fine, because the democrats are in majority in the house. this is not what nancy pelosi promised it would be, a quote, overwhelmingly bipartisan impeachment move. two democrats voted with the republicans. it was on political lines because the people in the house see this as a political exercise. chris: which leads to my question, will the president stop block officials from testifying before the house? >> we've seen a number of officials testify.

chris: but that's over the objection of the president. >> the president has every right to exert executive privilege for a number of administration officials, current and former. but we've seen different people going up there and testifying. what we haven't seen is the fullness of the 8 or 10 hours each of them has spent testifying because i guess adam schiff's growing mushrooms in the dark in a secret process, which is unfortunate because you cannot put that toothpaste back in the tube now. you cannot cure what has been a flawed process from the beginning where the president has not been afford due process rights. chris: i promise, i'm going to get to that -- >> what i think is unfortunate -- chris: i promise i'm going to get to that, i promise i'm going to get to that, i'm going to specifically ask congressman jim hines, the number two house -- >> who should probably be overseeing the whole process, because schiff has no credibility. chris: will the president tell john bolton, who is scheduled to testify this week, not to appear? >> well, ambassador bolton publicly and his lawyer said

he's not sure he'll appear. that has nothing -- chris: but i'm asking you, what does the president -- [inaudible] >> i'm not sure the president has talked to ambassador bolton. but we as a white house will continue to exert executive privilege where we feel that it is necessary. chris: the house vote doesn't make any difference. >> the house vote doesn't make a difference in terms of a flawed process somehow becoming open and transparent, and they should have done this from the beginning. six weeks ago tuesday nancy pelosi said we're going to move toward an impeachment inquiry. chris, it took them five weeks to hold a vote. why doesn't she just hold the vote on impeachment? where is the substance? on what basis are we impeaching a democratically-elected president of the united states where essential governing principle of this country is the rule of law? on a phone call? here's the transcript. go read it, everybody -- chris: it isn't just a phone call. we're going to get to the merits in a minute, but -- [inaudible] let me ask you about that. the president complained about the house conducting the

investigation behind closed doors so far. but when the house, when republicans had control of the house in 2017 and '18, they conducted the investigation about russia and interference in 2016 behind closed doors -- >> alleged. chris: -- when republicans did the benghazi investigation, they conducted it behind closed doors, and here's what the chairman of that inquiry said about this. take a look. >> people act differently when there aren't cameras in the world, trust me when i say that. they're very constructive interviews when there is no camera. chris: why is it okay for republicans when they're in charge to conduct hearings, depositions, interviews behind closed doors, but it's unacceptable for democrats? >> respectfully, chris, this is about impeaching a president of the united states -- chris: well, benghazi was about four americans who died -- >> because of the negligence of the woman who got -- [inaudible conversations] >> lied about a videotape being the reason.

chris: wouldn't you say benghazi was pretty important? >> i would say it's extremely important, and i will always be sad that -- chris: -- so why is it okay finish -- >> chris, the president has no due process right. he's had no due process rights afforded to him in this whole process, and i'm told by my lawyers internally -- i'm a fullly-recovered lawyer, but those who still practice, there'll be third rounds. the -- three rounds until the president's lawyers can cross-examine, present ed or challenge evidence. this is not the way that our rule of law, our m of justice should work for the president or for anyone else. and respectfully, i think there is no analogy to the ultimate result here, the ultimate goal here which is to impeach a president and remove him from office as any other type of congressional hearing. this is an extraordinary event that should be undertaken in the most extraordinary, proven circumstances. and we're nowhere near that. and, yes, they thought, nancy pelosi thought based on cable news pranks and twitter trolls

that there were quid pro quos in this call. those of us who read the transcript -- chris: okay, let's get into the merits. >> -- she should have waited a day, read the transcript and then decided. chris: the president said this week that he wants republicans to focus on the substance of the case. here he is. >> i'd rather go into the details of the case rather than process. process is wonderful, but i think you ought to look at the case, and the case is very simple, it's quick. chris: so let's look at the case, because over the last two weeks fiona hill and william taylor and lieutenant colonel alexander vinman, all of them top foreign policy officials for this president, have all testified about repeated instances where they saw that support for ukraine was dependent on ukraine investigating the bidens. isn't that the definition of a quid pro quo? >> the fact is that ukraine has that aid, they're using that as they sit here. under president obama they got

pillows and blankets -- >> [inaudible] >> no, that's important. chris: the way the aid withheld -- >> the ukrainian president said he, quote, felt no pressure. what does it matter that the two presidents who were involved in that conversation -- somehow it doesn't matter -- chris: the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine, currently the acting ambassador, william taylor, said that there was a quid pro quo. does it matter -- >> that's his interpretation. chris: does it matter that lieutenant colonel vindman, who was actually on the call, was so upset about it afterwards he went to see the nsc lawyer? >> yes, and -- by the way, i'll never question his patriotism. his interpretation was rejected and, in fact, "the washington post" and new york times this week, chris, said what lieutenant colonel vindman suggested be added or crepted would not -- corrected would not, quote, affect the ellipsis

center there. so we cannot impeach a president of the united states based on the interpretation of any staffer, vindman, me, anyone else. we impeach presidents of the united states sparingly in this country because it has to be such an extraordinary moment that 67 united states senators say that president who's been democratically elected and likely will be again in a year -- chris: let's just for the sake of the argument say, because it wasn't just a phone call. there was a long campaign by rudy giuliani and others like kurt volker before the call and those same people after of the call. this went on from the spring of 2019 up until september of 2019. let's just say that president trump did condition giving the military aid, withheld it and said it will be given out only if i investigate joe biden. is that an impeachable offense? >> i've seen it -- you're giving me is it a high crime or misdemeanor? i wouldn't think so.

but you're giving me a hypothetical. chris, no i'm just saying, i think it's a clarifying question. >> [inaudible] let's have these hearings. chris: is it impeachable or not? >> we're going to remove a president of the united states based on the fact that a couple of news outlets insisted -- they still had -- have their jobs, unfortunately -- that there were eight quid pro quos in here. maybe you can circle it for me. about 2020, about biden and his political rival, about holding up aid, about quid pro quo. zelensky is talking most of the time about how he took, he learned so much from donald trump, drain the swamp. he's complaining about merkel and macron, he knows he's getting more aid -- chris: one of the things that you and other white house officials say, well, the aid was given anyway -- >> that's important. they're using it right now as we speak. chris: okay. let's talk about the timeline for giving the aid. let me put this up. the aid was held up all summer, and it was finally released on september 11th, a month and a

half ago. here's the timing. two days before the inspector general informed the house intelligence committee about the whistleblower complaint. kellyanne, the president didn't release the aid until the story was out. >> you're trying to make that causation where it may be -- chris: i find it an awfully interesting coincidence. >> they got their aid, and that's what's important -- chris: no, no, no, it was held up all summer until the 11th of september, and the only reason it came out -- >> no, don't say that, don't go there. you have no idea that's why -- chris: so you're saying it's coincidence that the whistleblower complaint comes on the night the aid is -- you're suggesting that's a quips dense? >> i'm suggesting that you don't know what you were just about to say to be true, that the only reason it came out -- chris: do you know it's not true? >> -- was nefariously colluding -- adam schiff was colluding with the whistleblower, apparently.

chris: "the washington post" reports that a growing number of republican senators are concerned about the evidence that's come out and are suggesting perhaps they will say that, yes, the military aid was competent on ukraine -- dependent on ukraine investigating the bidens, that it was a quid pro quo, but that that is not an impeachable bl offense. would president trump accept that as a way to get out of this controversy? >> you act like someone's giving a plea bargain for a lesser offense. of what crime is he being accused, and when will he have a chance to face the judge, jury and executioner? those republican senators are broadcasting to you and the rest of the world. i'm not going to be one of the 20 republicans who goes with the democrats and removes a democratically-elected president of the united states just because the democrats -- chris: well, according to the report they're concerned that the evidence doesn't look good for the president. >> well, i think the reason you saw every single republican vote against the impeachment inquiry is because they have not seen evidence of a high crime or misdemeanor, so much so they

couldn't even vote to have the inquiry go forward because it's -- by the way, the frustration in the senate was also articulated by none other than democratic senator chris coons on fox news two short days ago. i watched him on your network. he said there's concern in the senate that they're not taking the up pieces of legislation, that they're to not doing the people's business. this is a man who has joe biden's former senate seat, who has endorsed him for -- chris: we can talk about this during the -- >> you're not doing -- chris: if you want to stick around, you can watch with, i'll be can asking a lot of your very good questions -- >> they're wasting your money and your time. chris: thank you. >> thank you for having me. congratulations, nationallings. chris: okay. on that we can agree. >> thank you. [laughter] chris: up next, reaction from a top democrat on the committee leading the impeachment investigation. i'll ask him all of kellyanne conway's questions including when will those public hearings finally get under way? ♪ ♪ sh)

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♪ ♪ chris: house democrats set new rules for impeachment and the inquiry this week, but republicans say it's not nearly enough with president trump still not getting due process. joining us now, congressman jim himes, the number two democrat on the intelligence committee, which will conduct open hearings and, congressman, welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> good morning, chris. chris: ever since president trump took office, speaker pelosi was very clear about what she thought needed to be the basis for impeachment. here she is. >> impeachment is, to me, divisive. again, if the facts are there,

the facts are there, then this would have to be bipartisan to go forward. chris: it has to be bipartisan to go forward. now, house democrats have been investigating president trump over ukraine for about a month and a half on it. there have been all kinds of damaging leaks of testimony that was hurtful to the president, and yet when the big vote came this week, you did not get a single republican vote. didn't you fail nancy pelosi's own test it has to be bipartisan? >> well, it is very sad that this is not a more bipartisan thing, right? in principle, nancy pelosi is right. but as you just experienced with kellyanne conway for 12 minutes of some of the most ludicrous tv and unfactual statement by a white house official i have ever heard, the republican party has now fully given itself over to being a personality cult for donald trump. and for good reason -- well, not

for good reason, but for understandable reasons. every one of my republican colleagues understands that if they do what they know is right and, by the way, i hear them say they know it's right in the halls of the congress. if they do what they know is right, the president lights them up on twitter, and they lose a primary election. so very sadly, unlike the nixon or clinton investigations, this is going to continue to break down along partisan lines. it doesn't need to be that way and it shouldn't be that way, but my republican colleagues are unwilling to look at the facts here. chris: but if you do impeach on a strictly partisan line or largely partisan line, it then goes to the senate where you would need 20 republicans to remove the president. so if this is going to be a strict partisan exercise, we're going to end up spending a lot of time and to no effect. >> well, i disagree with the no effect. chris, we are looking at abuse of power and a level of corruption here that makes the nixon impeachment look like child's play. remember, nixon wasn't the guy

who actually broke into the democratic national committee headquarters. he just knew about it. nobody died in ukraine because nixon held up aid to a very vulnerable nation. nixon didn't fire any ambassadors because giuliani didn't like that ambassador. the abuse of power that we are seeing -- and i agree with kellyanne conway on this point -- read the transcript, read the language around do us a favor though. understand that in that moment ukraine was at war with russia, and the president had himself decided that no aid would flow. these are abuses of power by any stretch of the imagination. chris: okay. let's -- >> that require a response. chris: let's do some housekeeping. you know, whenever i ask people like you in your positions when are the public hearings going to start, i hear "soon." how about not being coy and telling me, when are the public hearings start? >> my best guess is sometime in

the next two or three weeks. you can't be precise about this because we need to interview a few more witnesses before we're in a position to do public hearings. my best guess is in the next two or three weeks there will be public, televised hearings. by the way, with all of the protections that republicans have demanded -- chris: we're going to get to that in a moment. another simple process question. foreign national security -- former national security adviser john bolton is scheduled to testify this week. has the house, has your committee, have the democrats subpoenaed him, and have you gotten a response from bolton or his lawyer? >> well, i believe john bolton has been subpoenaed. i'm not 100% shire about that, but i believe -- sure about that. but remember, john bolton is no longer an employee of the white house. so theoretically, the white house telling people that under their employ you can't show up doesn't apply to john bolton. john bolton is very important because, remember, john bolton -- hardly a friend to the democrats -- john bolton is reported to have said when he

heard about the whole donald trump giuliani thing, he called it a drug deal that he didn't want to be any part of. so i think it's important for the american people to know what john bolton's concern was with this holding up of aid to ukraine, the holding up of a white house meeting and all of the other stuff that happened. chris: right. let's talk about the rules that the house approved this week. i know house democrats say, well, now the process is going to be very open, very transparent. one of the rules you passed says that once it gets to open hearings in the house intelligence committee that you're a member of, that the republicans will have the opportunity to subpoena any witnesses they want at -- but subject to the approval of the chair, adam schiff. i asked one of your republican colleagues on the committee about that this week. take a look. do you think that schiff will block gop subpoenas? >> oh, i'm certain he will. i know that there's some witnesses that we want to hear from that he certainly doesn't want to hear from.

chris: can you promise, congressman, that chairman schiff will not block any republican subpoenas? >> well, first of all, i'll promise to make sure the facts are understood. it's not chairman schiff who blocks it. under the rules that were passed, the republicans -- and, by the way, this has been true in the hearings to date -- they can ask the committee to approve a subpoena. if they don't like chairman schiff's answer, they can call for a vote -- chris: yeah, but it's a democratic majority. if chairman schiff says no, the democrats on the committee are going to fall in line, you know, big democratic majority, and they're going to say no as well. can you promise that adam schiff -- >> well, i would say two things about that, chris. first of all, these are the rules that we've had for 240 years. in the benghazi hearings, the impeachment of clinton, the minority party can ask for a vote. if they lose, they lose. the rules have never said that

the minority party can just subpoena some conspiracy theorist -- chris: let me ask another question. >> -- have always been in place. chris: met me ask another question. will the house democrats release the transcripts, the full transcripts of all the hours of interviews that have been done with all the witnesses so far? >> yes, we will, and what the american people will see despite what coloradan and others say -- kellyanne conway and others say, they will see what i've seen, which is the president's most ferocious defenders -- mark meld does, jim jordan -- hammering these witnesses in the hearing. so what the american people will see will be a process afforded exactly the same amount of time and access to witnesses to republicans as was afforded to the democrats. chris: congressman himes, thanks for your time and we'll, of course, follow developments in the house this week. thanks again. >> thank you, chris. chris: up next, we'll bring in our special democracy 2020 sunday group to discuss where

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>> yesterday the democrats voted to potentially nullify the votes of 63 million americans, disgracing themselves and bringing shame upon the house of representatives. >> i don't know why the republicans are afraid of the truth. chris: president trump and house speaker pelosi with their competing narratives for what the house impeachment investigation really means. and it's time now for our special democracy 2020 sunday group. fox news political co-anchors bret baier and martha maccallum -- a little star power on the panel told.

[laughter] bret has also written new book, "three days at the brink." fox news political analyst juan williams and pollster kristin solstice anderson who is now a fox news contributor. bret, i'm intrigued by this washington post report that i asked kellyanne about that a growing number of senate republicans can considering some kind of acknowledgment the president did engage in a quid pro quo with ukraine but that it doesn't rise to the level of an impeachable crime. can you see that as a possible way out of all this in. >> possibly, i mean, because they are getting to the point where they decide we are going to stand with the president, but you have to figure out how you're going to do that. i think this next couple of weeks is going to be crucial as you talked about with the congressman. these public hearings are the time the democrats have to convince the american people that this is what has to happen. we're coming up against an election. that really is is the removal, because the reality is there

probably won't be 20 senators who move over to say donald trump should be out of office. chris: martha, you know, the senate republicans -- or at least some of them -- may be looking for a way out of this controversy. you know, yes, the president did something, but it's not impeachable. house republicans don't seem to have any interest in getting out of this. i mean, to a man and woman, every one of them voted against this impeachment inquiry. i mean, they are standing firm. and you heard jim himes, the number two democrat on the house intelligence committee, in effect saying we're i kind of giving up on bipartisan support in the house. >> and that's the problem when it comes to selling the impeachment process on the american people. about 2-1 americans felt bill clinton's was a fair process. so if they can't sell this idea that the president was engaged in a quid pro quo, they're going to have a very hard time. it could potentially turn out to be something that's beneficial to the president heading into the election cycle. you know, selling this -- that's

the public stage of this. when we watch vindman sit at that table, some of these individuals tell their side of the story, maybe vindman fills in some of those blanks, and maybe that's a moment that resonates with the american people. i think the public stage is extremely important if you're going to give this a bipartisan feel that starts to peel off any of these republican members and make any difference in the story. chris: kristin, i want to go back to some of those fox news polls that we showed at the top of the hour. 49% support impeaching and removing the president. and while 53% of republicans think it's appropriate for president trump to ask foreign leaders to investigate his political rivals, 34% -- fully a third -- do not. so what do you make of that, and do you see, particularly i'm fascinated by that republican number. it seems there is at least some slippage in terms of republican support for the president. >> you have about a third of republicans thinking that it is not appropriate for a president to do what president trump is

alleged of done, but that's still not a majority. it still means that many of these republican senators will face enormous pressure in primary context, from within their own party if they were to even come out and say they thought what the president did was inappropriate. so that's why the open phase is going to be so crucial. the numbers on impeach and remove, 51% last time it was asked, 49% now, it's stagnated because there hasn't been a lot more that the sort of average voter is hearing about this. a big change in early november -- pardon me, early october, but since then things have plateaued. does that move, that 49% number. chris: we asked you for questions for the panel, and on this issue of the continuing partisan divide over impeachment, we got this on facebook from jeffrey wyrek. why do the democrats say it is such a sad day when they have finally succeeded after three years to get an impeachment vote? if i've been trying to do

something for three years and finally was successful at it, i'd be happy. juan, does all the talk you heard, it's a sad day, there's no cause for joy, does that ring a little hollow? >> not to me. i think it's a solemn duty, constitutional responsibility -- chris: but one would argue, as he seems to argue, they've been trying to do it for three years. >> no, i don't think they've been trying to do it for three years. i think that there was an investigation into russian interference in the 20163 campaign. if that's what jeff referring to. i think this is a different animal because i think now, asen asen -- as an equal branch of government, the congress and nancy pelosi view this as a solemn responsibility because they're looking into whether the president and his e aides conducted a campaign to have a foreign government help in digging up dirt on a political rival. and in the fox polls that we have out this morning, chris, 60% of the american people think that's just what took place. that's 60% of our country.

so for the congress then to ignore its responsibility, it seems to me that would be a matter of negligence. when the president says it was a perfect call, well, i mean, it's a perfect call if you're saying, okay, we're going to deny americans free and fair elections. and remember, i guess this'll be the third time. so you have going back to bill clinton -- chris: nixon. >> -- nixon and andrew johnson, and nixon resigned first. so it's really the second time. that is a very serious note our history as an american people. chris: bret, i want to go back -- we have about a minute left in this segment -- to the issue of the open hearings because, yes, it'll be a big deal. i suspect we'll all be here around the panel and talking about it e when they happen. on the other hand, we kind of know what they're going to say, because we've gotten the opening statements. we don't know everything they said in ten hours, but one assumes we know the worst they're going to say. how big a deal is it going to be if they say on camera what we already know they've said? >> here's why i think it's a bigger deal, is because the

public hearings for the russia investigation fell flat. the mueller hearing, essentially, was the air went out of the balloon. and i guess, juan, what i'd say is that after that time where many democrats won over their seats on making the case for russia and what the president or his administration did, that's why this they have to be laser focused and convince the american people that this is the one, because they've been down this road before. chris: all right. panel, we have to take a break here, but when we come back -- interestingly, a promo for our coverage of the live hearings. [laughter] when we come back, we'll bring you new fox polls on the state of the 2020 race. plus, with elizabeth warren now one of the democratic front-runners, she faces heavy fire for her new medicare for all plan. ♪ people left behind in the attic. well, saving on homeowners insurance with geico's help was pretty fun too. ahhhh, it's a tiny dancer. they left a ton of stuff up here.

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♪ ♪ >> america is a special place. it's a place where we work for what we want. we have the power to change the course of our nation and the world. every four years we make a choice for ourselves, for our families, for our future. we to something most -- we do something most people across the globe only dream of. democracy 2020, it's in your hands. fox news, america is watching. chris: and america is, indeed, watching. you'll be seeing a lot more of that on tv and billboards across the country as fox news covers this dramatic election. as we kick off our democracy 2020 coverage, we have new fox polls on the state of the race one year from election day. joe biden remains the front-runner for the democratic nomination at 31%. that's unchanged since march.

elizabeth warren is at 21%, up 17 points since this spring. bernie sanders is in third mace at 19%, and pete buttigieg is fourth at 7%. in head e to head matchups, president trump trails biden, sanders and warren with joe biden performing best, winning by a margin of 12 points and, yes, hillary clinton outperforms some of the declared candidates, although she and buttigieg are within the margin of error. and if you're thinking about someone new entering the race, half of democratic primary voters they'd definitely vote for michelle obama. 27% say the same for hillary clinton. but former new york city mayor michael bloomberg gets just 6%. and we're back now with the panel. well, kristin, as our polling expert, what stands out for you in these new fox policy polls in the democratic race? >> the fact that joe biden still remains in that front of runner -- front-runner position

after so much attention has been focused on elizabeth warren over the past month or so is pretty extraordinary. nobody on the democratic side, save perhaps pete buttigieg who, you will notice, that had a slight uptick as well, has really tried to challenge for that more moderate wing of the party. the entire rest to have field seems to have been focused for going for the more progressive side which is not really being fought over by elizabeth warren and bernie sanders. as long as no one challenges joe biden for that piece of the party, he's going to stay in that position. chris: but in some state polls, elizabeth warren now is the front-runner, and she came out friday with her new plan for how to pay for medicare for all with federal spending of $2 trillion over the next two years to be paid for by hefty new taxes on the wealthy and businesses, and here is how is she explained it. >> i have a plan that shows we can have medicare for all without raising taxes one cent on middle class families.

and it's all fully paid for by asking the top 1% and giant corporations to pay a fair share. chris: bret, how do you think that will play not only with republicans, but also with a lot of democrats? >> i think you're say seeing it play out right now. when you have speaker nancy pelosi from san francisco coming out and saying she has concerns about medicare for all and how it's going to be paid for, you know that that's a red alert in the democratic primary. that is why mayor pete buttigieg is going down that road, and he's trying to confront biden as the alternative to be against what they say might not be able to be paid for on the proifg side -- chris: medicare for all, who can afford it in or all who want it. right. but, you know, on the other hand, there's an awful lot of that field -- sanders, warren and a bunch of others -- who are all in on medicare for all. >> right. and the question is how are you going to get it passed?

and when reality hits the wish list, donald trump potentially is the beneficiary in an election where he says that's ridiculous. chris: martha, it isn't just medicare for all, because elizabeth warren is pushing huge new programs, trillions of dollars in new spending, trillions of dollars in new taxes. is she in danger of leaving herself wide open if she becomes the democratic nominee to attacks from president trump? >> yeah. if you could imagine a head to head between donald trump and elizabeth warren, that is the most tnt combination that we could possibly see when all of this comes down to a head to head race. i just also think about when she said the other day, well, don't worry about it if you lose your job in the health insurance industry, you can get a job as a car insurance person or maybe a home insurance person. she's shouting this as she's walking away. the impact on corporate america if you tell them that they're going to foot the bill for this medicare program is also going

to be a very difficult hill to climb for elizabeth warren who has, basically, not ingratiated herself to any part of the business community of the united states of america. so i think that if, indeed, you know, she ends up being the nominee against donald trump, it will be the most clear-cut, divisive possibility. pete buttigieg is finding middle ground, and i think iowa's going to be very interesting to watch. he's opened a lot of new offices in iowa, has a lot of broadened operations, and i think he's in the best position to rise -- chris: while he's in single digits in our poll, in iowa he is really up there along with warren, sanders and biden. they're all around 20%. so that race is wide open. let's talk about bind, because i find it fascinating, juan, he has been hammered certainly for the last month, as kristin suggested, hammered for his performance on the trail, in debates, hammeredded for his poor fundraising. and, you know, people -- poor joe, and now i understand it's

national, it's not state, he's leading by 6, 8, in our poll 10 points. so is he in trouble or isn't he in trouble? >> his rivals say he's this trouble because he's now fourth in iowa. he used to be first in iowa. and the question then becomes if he doesn't win iowa, if he doesn't win in new hampshire, if he has to go towards south carolina, nevada and he has stronger support there, will it be the case that dominoes start to small people lose confidence if he's not doing well in iowa and new hampshire specifically. i would just say there are substantial questions at this juncture about his age, about the dust that's been kicked up by president trump's attacks on his son's relationship with the energy company in the ukraine. but the hard fact, and i think this goes back to what kristin was talking about in the polls this morning, the extraordinary reality that he remains ten points ahead nationally is because voters see him as the safest bet to defeat donald trump. and he does not scare white

voters in states like michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin that are so critical to maintaining that solid blue wall. >> chris, can i say one thing about the other candidates? the reality you have to get on balance. some of the deadlines are within the next two weeks to get on ballots. some of them you just sign up and pay a fee, others you have to get people to sign a list to say you can be on the ballot. so for michelle obama or michael bloomberg or hillary clinton, if you're getting in, you better move fast. chris: that's exactly where i wanted to take this conversation, and let me ask you about it, kristin p. you see the numbers about someone else getting into the race, 50% of democratic primary voters in our poll said they would definitely vote for michelle obama. what does that say to you, one, about the dissatisfaction with the current field, as big as it is, and is that really realistic, that somebody not only balloting questions, but just getting into the race so late? >> i don't think michelle obama is likely to run for president,

and i don't think democratic voters' love for her necessarily implies they don't like the slate they have. on the democratic side, there is still quite a bit of confusion because there's still so many people in the field. i think for a lot of democratic voters who may not be in iowa, new hampshire, they may be waiting for the field to shrink down a little bit before they really commit themselves to someone. but as we've seen as well, with everybody else -- and about 2% of four candidates -- the field is beginning to shrink. you just saw beto o'rourke of texas drop out this weekend. chris: briefly, martha, we would love it, do you think somebody else new gets into this race? >> i think at this point it doesn't look like it. and it remains to be seen how well biden holds up when some of these people fall away. watch kamala harris, cory booker at this point. when he has a longer period of time to talk, is that going to end up being good for him or is it going to detract? [laughter] chris: my time is up.

thank you, panel. see you next sunday. up next, a special power player of the week. after making history in houston, the washington nationals are back in town, and d.c. is bursting with pride over their world series title. nats' general manager mike rizzo joins us and, guess what? he's bringing the world series trophy with him, next. ♪ ♪

>> one more time, your world series champion washington nationals! chris: well, players and fans celebrating the nats' first-ever world series win with a rally here in washington, is and what has become the team anthem, which is infectious and sometimes maddening, baby shark. the nationals go to the white house for a ceremony tomorrow, but we get them first. we're delighted to welcome mike rizzo e who brought along his new best friend. oh, my gosh, this is beautiful. the world series trophy. good morning to both of you. >> thanks for having me, chris.

chris: so after four playoff appearances and four losses, how much does it mean to washington and to you, finally, to win it all? >> well, i think it means so much to the area of d.c. and to the dmv that we pulled this off. they're a rabid fan base since we arrived here in 2006, and we've had some disappointments recently. but this kind of makes up for everything. it was a great run, kind of -- it was a miraculous run, a historic run, if you will, because of the way we did it. chris: now, you arrived here today without guards, without security, with this. i mean, you just walk around with it? >> i just carry it around with me, you know -- [laughter] chris: conversation starter. >> conversation piece. chris: so baseball these days is all about analytics and metrics, but you're known as a, yes, you look at numbers, you're known as kind of an old school baseball guy who, yes, does the analytics, but also thinks about things like team chemistry and

character. the nats have the oldest roster in baseball now at an average age of 31. did the mix of what some of the players call the viejos, the old guys, as well as the younger players, did that make a difference, that mix? >> i think that was the difference, is that we added some savvy veterans that have been through the process before, that had not only great character in the clubhouse and that type of thing, but it was -- their skill set was great still, but their effect on our young players especially and learning how to win, i thought, was the tipping point of our season. chris: do you think team chemistry is understated, underestimated by a lot of people in baseball now? >> i don't know if it's understated or underestimated, it's just, it's just not a tangible thing to kind of, kind of go after in the off season. it's something that is difficult to put your finger on.

so i think it happens organically. this team happened organically, and it just took off and swept us off. chris: okay. so baseball never stops. you get about two days, maybe not even that, to enjoy. and then next season starts. and the fact is that last night the mvp of the world series, stephen strasburg, exercised his option. he's now a free agent. you've also got some of the other stars, they're free agents. are you going to resign them all? >> well, we're going to sit down, we have our off-season plan put together, and we have mapped this thing out, and we're going to, you know, we're going to, you know, whatever makes sense for us to build ourselves -- construct ourselves a roster that can win again is what we're going to do. we've always had the ownership support both financially and in every other way to put a good team on the field, and since 2012 -- since 2012 we've been as

successful as anybody in the game. chris: two of the hottest free agents in the market, can you afford both of them? >> that's a possibility. we're going to have to be very strategic about how we allocate our resources. but they're two players that are near and dear to my heart. we drafted, signed both of them, and we certainly would love to see them in a nationals uniform long term. chris: your dad, phil, who's 89, is a lifetime baseball guy. he was a scout, he's now on your staff. what have you and he said to each other -- [laughter] since wednesday night? >> well, since wednesday night it's been all beautiful things. he's, he calls me after every game, win, lose or draw throughout the season, and we discuss that game's happenings, and, you know, he's been a great mentor of mine and person i love and respect very much, and he knows the game. i often say that he's forgotten more about baseball than i'll ever know.

chris: finally, is winning one enough? >> there's never been a season that we've went in not wanting to win. it's something that we're extremely focused in on,, it was such a crazy, wild ride, and we feel we're going to take a pause here and construct some of the roster that's going to give us the opportunity to do the same thing again. chris: is this a dream come true to have -- you talk, i'll slide. >> it is a dream come true, chris. it's something we've wanted for a long time here. we've got a 94-year-old owner, a 90-year-old special assistant to the gm in my dad, phil rizzo, to it's for them, it's for the fans of d.c. who have been great for

us and it's for everything good about the game. chris: mike, thank you for joining us. and my little friend here -- [laughter] thank you. that's it for today. have a great week and we'll see you next "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪