This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," April 17, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I’m Chris Wallace.
Two days before the next big primary, the candidates crisscross the Empire State.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: God bless the great state of New York.
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love being in Brooklyn. This is great.
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Throughout the world, no matter where you go, they love New York.
WALLACE: Today, a preview of Tuesday’s primary with Donald Trump's campaign manager.
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Our goal is to get 1,237 or more going into that convention.
WALLACE: Corey Lewandowski on the controversy over Michelle Fields.
LEWANDOWSKI: This is a huge distraction to the campaign and it should never have been.
WALLACE: And his evolving role in the campaign. It’s a "Fox News Sunday" exclusive.
Plus, the Democrats brawl in Brooklyn.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT., DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I question a judgment which voted for the war in Iraq.
CLINTON: President Obama trust in my judgment enough to ask me to be secretary of state.
WALLACE: We'll ask our Sunday panel how Sanders and Clinton's personal attacks will play with New York voters.
Then, growing concern the Zika virus is worse than we thought.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: The more and more we learn, the more and more you get concerned about the scope of what this virus is doing.
WALLACE: We'll get the latest from a government's point man on infectious disease, Dr. Anthony Fauci on what can you do to protect yourself.
And our power player of the week, the Navy's first admiral still breaking barriers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, hey, I need women four-star aboard. She goes, ah, there aren’t any.
WALLACE: All right now on "Fox News Sunday."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.
New Yorkers go to the polls Tuesday in the next big primary for both parties. Ninety-five Republican delegates and 247 Democratic delegates are at stake. And the two frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, are both counting on big victories there. We'll speak with Trump’s controversial campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, in a moment.
But, first, let's bring in chief White House correspondent Ed Henry with the state of the race on both sides -- Ed.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Chris, Donald Trump is still dominating the presidential race but hit some new roadblocks late yesterday in Wyoming, where Ted Cruz swept all 14 delegates while Donald Trump was shutout, raising new questions about his organizational strength and whether he can get the delegates needed to seal the nomination before the convention.
Trump repeated his charges the system is simply rigged but added a new threat for party leaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Republican National Committee, they better get going because I'll tell what you. You're going to have a rough July at that convention.
You better straighten out the system because the people want their vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: On the Democratic side, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are back in New York after two very different side trips. Sanders traveled to Rome for the prestige of pushing his anti-Wall Street message at a Vatican conference, then a surprise meeting with Pope Frances. The pontiff seriously downplayed by telling reporters it was a polite handshake.
Clinton was in California raising big money with George and Amal Clooney. She can't shake Sanders but is trying to look past him by attacking Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: (AUDIO GAP) hard and calls them criminals, that just sets people against each other. When he goes after women, that is also a signal to pay attention to. When he goes after Muslims, we know that he's playing to the basis of our instincts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Clinton up double digits in her adopted home state. She also put Sanders in mathematical peril.
A source close to Trump meanwhile tells me after what they expect to be a big win in New York, his allies want to start dubbing him the, quote, "presumptive Republican nominee" to inject an air of inevitability -- Chris.
WALLACE: Ed, thanks for that.
Joining me now from New York is Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Mr. Lewandowski, Corey, I’m going to call you that.
Let’s start -- because I guess we have to -- with the saga over your encounter with Michelle Fields after a Trump news conference back in March. Here's what she said, "Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground but was able to maintain my balance."
Here's what you tweeted to Fields, "You are totally delusional. I never touched you."
And here’s a video from that night which shows you clearly did grab her but not as violently as she said.
Do you now acknowledge that you did touch Miss Fields and that she is not delusional?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, no, what I acknowledge is the sum total of my relationship with Miss Fields was caught in that videotape. She's an individual I never met before. I had never spoken to her before.
And candidly, I didn't remember the incident. The whole incident lasted less than three seconds. There was me moving from one location to another location and I would have remembered if I tried to violently throw someone to the ground or if there was an incident which would have been memorable and there wasn’t.
And I tried to contact Miss Fields after I read on her boyfriend's Twitter feed that something took place that evening. But to this day, I never heard from Mrs. Fields or Miss Fields.
So, you know, I am happy that the Palm Beach County district attorney decided not move forward with any charges. I’m happy this is behind us. I’m happy to move forward with the campaign.
WALLACE: A couple points I want to make. One, first of all, she says that she has no record that you ever tried to reach her, doesn't have a record of your phone, doesn't have a message that was left. And in addition, as you -- we both pointed out, the Palm Beach prosecutor said there is not enough evidence and enough chance for success to actually go ahead and prosecute the case.
But on the other hand, Fields has left open the possibility of a civil suit for defamation against you and against Trump.
In the interest of avoiding unnecessary litigation, which I know Republicans don't like, are you prepared here and now to apologize to Miss Fields for touching her and for saying that she was delusional?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, you know, here and now, I would like to say is I never spoken to Miss Fields. So, you know, I turned over my phone records to the Palm Beach district attorney's office. It clearly shows I called her phone number that evening when I got back and read about this on the Twitter feed.
I'd be happy to have a conversation with her. But to apologize to someone I never spoken to and candidly don't even remember having any interaction with I think is something that is unrealistic right now. But I have said and be happy to say again, this is a person I never spoken. I'd be happy to have that conversation if we can put this thing behind us.
WALLACE: OK. Let's turn to something almost as important and that is the election of the next president of the United States.
Ted Cruz picked up 14 delegates in Wyoming last night while Donald Trump, your man, picked up zero. While Donald Trump still leads Cruz by 185 delegates, this might be the better way to look at it. Trump now has 744 delegates, all the non-Trump delegates combined total 890.
Corey, you need a majority, 50 percent plus one of the delegates to reach the magic number of 1,237 to cinch the nomination. At this point, you have 45 percent.
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, we do. Look, the best states for Donald Trump are in front of us. And when he started this race on June 16th, many people didn't take him seriously. Said he wasn't going to be a factor and he went to win in New Hampshire and South Carolina and Nevada and then he went and cleaned up in the sec and dominated against sitting senator in the state of Florida.
And what we know is on Tuesday in his home state of New York, I think Ted Cruz is going to come in third place most likely and Donald Trump is going to do very well in the delegate count there. Then we go to the Northeast where you have states like Connecticut and Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, it went very well there.
By the end of this month and the next two weeks, Donald Trump will add an additional 200 delegates to his total. He is the presumptive front-runner right now. He is the presumptive nominee going forward. And Ted Cruz is going to be eliminated from securing 1,237 delegates by next Tuesday. If that's the case and everyone has the same goal which is to put a Republican inside the White House for the first time in eight years, then they should unite behind Donald Trump to make that happen.
WALLACE: Well, you talk about uniting, but Trump has done his fair share of dividing inside the party. I want to talk to you about that. He's been complaining for the last couple of weeks about states like Wyoming and Colorado which did not hold statewide primaries or caucuses. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This is a dirty trick, and I'll tell you why. The RNC, the Republican National Committee, they should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this kind of crap to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: But RNC Chairman Reince Priebus fired back, quote, "Nomination process known for a year and beyond. It's the responsibility of the campaigns to understand it. Complaints now? Give us all a break."
Corey, aren't you and Trump blaming the RNC and Cruz for the fact that they knew the rules and played by them and you didn't and in fact, it's the blame on you and not the RNC and Cruz?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, here's the problem with the rules. These rules are so arcane that we're stopping people who want to go and vote.
WALLACE: But they are the rules. Would you agree, they have been the rules for months?
LEWANDOWSKI: They are the rules, but here's the problem with the rules. Here’s the problem with the rules, let me give you one example.
In the state of Florida, Donald Trump dominated and won by 23 points over all of his competitors down there. He was awarded 99 delegates under the party rules. Of those 99 delegates, the chairman of the party of Florida, who is an avid and outward supporter of Marco Rubio, gets to appoint 30 of those delegates.
Now, I understand those are the rules but Donald Trump won. And now, you’ve got a person who is supporting Marco Rubio who gets to appoint 30 of the 99 delegates.
That’s not what the rules should be. The rules should be that Donald Trump won 99 delegates and all 99 people, while they are bound on the first vote, we should have the opportunity to appoint those people.
So, those are the rules. I understand and we understand what the rules are. But the bottom line is, is Ted Cruz does well in places where party bosses get to set those rules and people don't get to go and vote.
Now I understand that that's the process but here's another example. In some places, those delegates are chosen based on how much money they've given to the party, whether they run for statewide office and how much volunteering they have done.
I understand that those are the rules. But there are people out there who don't have the privilege of writing a check to the state party or running for statewide office. But their vote should count just the same. They're precluded from being a delegate based on a scoring system, because they haven't been involved the last 25 years. That’s everything that’s wrong with the party system. That’s everything that’s wrong with the electoral system.
What we see is Donald Trump is bringing millions of more people out to vote. We see the lines, three, four, five hours long to stand in line so they can vote on Election Day. And when he is given that opportunity, people are given the opportunity to go vote, he dominates in those elections. That's what the rules should really be.
WALLACE: So, I’m going to ask you about the clip that Ed Henry just played. What did Trump mean last night when he warned the RNC that they could be in for, quote, "a rough July at the convention"?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, I think what he is saying is he's going to be the Republican nominee. Anything that they're going to try and do, potentially try to do to stop him from being that is going to be detrimental.
There is one person in this race that still is running that has not mathematically eliminated from getting 1,237 delegates and that’s Donald Trump. And the RNC should respect that, bring the people around him because the explicit goal of the RNC, and ours is the same, is putting Republicans in the White House for the first time in eight years.
WALLACE: But will you say a rough --
LEWANDOWSKI: And the only person -- the only person that can do that is Donald Trump.
WALLACE: But when you say rough July and Trump -- when Trump says that, and when he talked about riots, is that what we're discussing is the possibility of violence in Cleveland if he doesn't get the nomination?
LEWANDOWSKI: No. What we're talking about is a fractured party. What we're talking about is millions of people who turned out to support Donald Trump and now they're saying potentially they're going to try to take this away from Donald Trump at a convention.
That's not what we're about. We're supposed to be bringing the party together. We're supposed to be growing the party. We're supposed to be expanding the map. As you look at the electoral map, I challenge you and anybody else to tell me a state that Mitt Romney won -- that Mitt Romney lost that Ted Cruz can win. He can’t do that.
Donald Trump is the only person that’s going to be able to expand the map and beat the Democrats come November. If the party wants a winner, then they need to support Donald Trump.
WALLACE: All right. A couple of quick questions in the time we have left. One, are you going to sweep all 95 delegates in New York on Tuesday?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, I think that's a tall task. If you look at what Ted Cruz did when he was running the state of Texas, he took about 48 percent of the delegates there at the time. He took 48 percent of the vote there.
I think we're going to do much better than that. But I don't want to guarantee 100 percent. I think we're going to do very, very well in New York, though.
WALLACE: Finally, talk about fractures in the party, there are some fractures in the Trump campaign. He has, your boss, has in effect set up a parallel campaign structure here in D.C. with Paul Manafort, a longtime Republican operative. While officially he is in charge of delegate hunting, I got to tell you, a lot of people close to the campaign say that below Trump, and clearly Trump is the head guy, that below Trump, he's running the show, not you.
What's the story there?
LEWANDOWSKI: Well, let -- let me say this. I’m grateful that Paul is onboard. He's a proven -- he has proven track record of getting delegates. We’re bringing in a larger team and that's part of the natural maturation of a campaign. We have a great senior staff meeting yesterday. We brought on Rick Wiley who I’ve been speaking to for three or four or five weeks before he finally came onboard.
We're going to continue to grow our team. We’re going to continue to do outreach. We have run a small, lean, efficient campaign. We have done more with less than all the other candidates combined.
Now, it’s time to grow and make sure we have the best people available so that not only can we get the 1,237 and be the nominee but ultimately the goal here is to become the president of the United States on behalf of Mr. Trump. So, in order to do that, we need to grow.
And if you look at the size of these other campaigns, you know, Hillary Clinton has 700 or 800 people in her Brooklyn headquarters. We've been so small and lean. Now is the time to grow. We’ve got a great cohesive team and it's an honor to be able to work with all these people moving forward.
WALLACE: Corey, thank you. Thanks for your time.
LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.
WALLACE: We'll be tracking the results in New York Tuesday.
LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you so much.
WALLACE: Up next, we bring in our Sunday group to discuss the battle of New York in both parties and the war inside the GOP over how delegates are chosen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Lyin’ Ted Cruz talked about New York values at the debate and he talked about it with anger and really hatred.
CRUZ: The phrase "New York values" actually came from Donald Trump. You guys have been suffering under the misguided policies of liberal Democratic politicians a long, long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz continuing their running argument over New York values.
And it's time now for our Sunday group. Syndicated columnist George Will, Julie Pace, who covers the White House and campaign for The Associated Press, Laura Ingraham, editor of LifeZette, and Rebecca Berg from Real Clear Politics.
Laura, Trump has been complaining for weeks, and we heard some more of it today from his campaign manager about the delegate rules in some states. But I felt this week, he started to make an interesting pivot saying the fact that Cruz is beating him on the rules, somehow shows that Cruz isn't the outsider he says he is, in fact, he's an insider. Is that going to work to sort of say that the failure of planning by the Trump campaign really is a mark against Ted Cruz?
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST, "THE LAURA INGRAHAM SHOW": Well, I think both sides are playing the cards that are probably the smartest cards for them to play. I mean, you can make the case against what Trump is saying.
I mean, if you want to beat the establishment, if you want to win the presidency, you have to know the rules. Yet, you have to get in there. You have to have your slates delegates.
In places California, 53 districts there. You have to present your own slate of delegates in each district. It looks like there Cruz is really doing the work -- the groundwork.
Same time, I think it's smart for Trump to say, well, why are these people rallying around Ted Cruz if in fact he's the outsider that’s really going to turn Washington upside down as he claims?
I don’t -- I don't really blame Trump for making that argument, because that is -- this is the last stretch of this campaign and he is going to have an impressive win undoubtedly on Tuesday. He is poised to win Maryland. He's poised to win Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island.
WALLACE: Those are --
INGRAHAM: Well, they’re coming up.
WALLACE: Yes.
INGRAHAM: But he's poised to win a lot of states. But you look at California, that is the one that I’m focusing on. That’s 53 districts, three delegates in each district.
WALLACE: Congressional districts
INGRAHAM: Congressional districts. He has to have three really reliable good people in each district. Does he have that? I’m not sure. Cruz had a lot on the ground for a long time in California.
WALLACE: Well, let's take a look at that, Julie. As we pointed out, in the last couple of weeks, in these closed conventions, not statewide caucuses or primaries, Cruz has done very well and has basically shutout Trump in Colorado and in Wyoming.
But, as you look at the primary map, Trump is scheduled, it seems like he's going to do very well in New York and then the following week in Pennsylvania and other states along the East Coast.
Your sense, his prospect for getting to 1,237, the majority before Cleveland?
JULIE PACE, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: One advantage he has right now is he's the only one who can get to 1,237. So, that puts him in a better position than his rivals. He does have to have a very strong night in New York, not just in the popular vote but in the delegate count. If you look at the states later this month in the Northeast, he looks to be in a strong position. He needs to win in a state like Indiana that offers a big delegate hold next month.
California is crucial. And to Laura's point, you can have an overall popular vote victory in California. You get 13 delegates for that, 13. This is a congressional district game that he needs to be playing.
WALLACE: Let me just quickly explain. This is true in New York as well. If you get 50 percent, you get the statewide delegates. In New York, I think it's 14.
But then there is a separate race in each congressional district. If you get over 50 percent, you get all three delegates in that congressional district. If you don't, if you get 49 percent, you get two and the second person gets one.
PACE: And if you're in a tight delegate race with Ted Cruz, that could be enough to allow Cruz to stop you. Trump's people have been saying they can get 1,265 which will put them over the top after California. That is going to be a real organizational challenge for them.
WALLACE: George, I want to ask you about the other aspect which I turn to Corey about at the -- I talked to him at the very end of our discussion and that is this duel campaign operation that seems to be going on in Trump.
Corey put the best face on it. But there is a sense of tension between the original group, like Corey Lewandowski and the team he put together and this new more establishment group like Paul Manafort, somebody who you and I have known since the Reagan years. And he's put together an operation here in D.C. and they're starting also to reach out to members of Congress.
Is it smart to set this up? Should he have done it a long time ago?
GEORGE WILL, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: It is smart and he's very late to the party, literally to the party. I mean, he became a Republican sort of on June 15th. Before that, he was a funder of Democrats and he had positions that were indistinguishable from the Democrats.
What’s puzzling about this is on the one hand, he's coming to Washington saying, "I want to get to know you. I want to deal with the leaders of the party." On the other hand, he says, "What happens in Casper, Wyoming, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, is too ruthless for me to handle."
This is a man who boasts that he has thrived in the cutthroat New York City real estate market, boasts that he has done so by paying off politicians. And he finds Casper, Wyoming, mysterious.
WALLACE: All right. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, they had quite a debate in Brooklyn this week between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Here's a taste of it.
CLINTON: I stood up against this behavior of the banks when I was a senator. I called them out on their mortgage behavior.
SANDERS: Secretary Clinton called them out. Oh, my goodness. They must have been really crushed by this. Was that before or after you received huge sums of money by giving speaking engagements behind --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Rebecca, your thought about the debate and where the race stands now?
REBECCA BERG, REAL CLEAR POLITICS: Well, I think that segment you just played, Chris, illustrates perfectly why it is damaging to Hillary Clinton that Bernie Sanders is staying in this race. Even as she is the likely nominee for the Democratic Party at this point, in spite of victories for him that are likely down the road, you're going to keep seeing these attacks on Hillary Clinton that would be very potent in a general election setting.
Republicans could very easily take that clip, use it in an ad in the general election, in the same way they can use his remarks about Hillary Clinton being unqualified for the presidency. These remarks can be very damaging for Hillary Clinton in the long term. So, I think that's why you see her now ratcheting up the attacks on Bernie Sanders. Not because she dislikes him personally necessarily, not because she necessarily feels threatened --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: She sounds like it.
BERG: She was a little annoyed.
But it's really not necessarily an issue of her feeling threatened by him in terms of losing the nomination to him. But he is now at a stage where he is becoming damaging to her in a general election context, and she's hoping to push him out of this race as soon as possible.
WALLACE: That's exactly what I want to discuss with you, Laura, because I wonder -- I think we would all agree, I mean she still has a lead. If just pledged delegates of 200, if you include the unpledged of super delegates of more than 600. So, the nomination doesn't seem in jeopardy.
But is he damaging her going forward to the general election, staying in, attacking her and also maybe most importantly pushing her to the left on some issues?
INGRAHAM: She's moved to the left clearly in a way that I think it's uncomfortable for what the Clinton legacy was, at least Bill Clinton's legacy on trade and all the other issues.
But when you look at the likability numbers for Hillary, that's where you really see the divide. So, Bernie is much more likeable. Hillary is leading in the delegate count and then you have those images that you had in New York last week, at NYU, at the arch, and that unbelievable rally for Bernie --
WALLACE: Washington Square, yes.
INGRAHAM: At Washington Square, this unbelievable rally for him, the reverberations to the city. You heard the echo of Sanders and the Democrats kind of attempt at populism and a populist message against Wall Street which, of course, Hillary has cozied up to for years and made millions and millions of dollars, from Clinton’s association with Wall Street. I think it really hurts Hillary.
And I think all the polls where people are saying Trump can never beat Hillary or Cruz is vulnerable -- I think Hillary is the one who is vulnerable. I think all bets are off on the projections about which Republicans can beat Hillary, given how I think damaged she seems in the whole process. I think she looks really tired. I don't think she looks inspired.
And I think Bernie Sanders is probably going to be the Republican's best friend when it comes to November.
WALLACE: All right, panel, we have to take a break here. We’ll see you a little later.
Up next, as public health officials sound the alarm over the growing threat of the Zika virus in the U.S., a new battle is brewing over government funding. We'll talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's point man on infectious disease, about what can you do to protect yourself from Zika.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Coming up, a co-chair of the congressional commission that investigated 9/11 calls to unseal pages of documents that may show a Saudi connection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remain deeply disturbed by the amount of material that has been censored from this report.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Our Sunday panel on how this could affect the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: This week, health officials here in the U.S. confirm the Zika virus causes severe birth defects in babies born to infected mothers. And they're asking for almost $2 billion to deal with the crisis, setting off a funding battle between the White House and Congress.
Joining me now is the government's point man in fighting Zika, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Fauci, welcome back to "Fox News Sunday."
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: Good to be with you.
WALLACE: I want to put up the CDC, the Centers for Disease Control, map to show -- and let's put it up on the screen -- the states across the country where their -- the mosquitos that carry the Zika virus have previously been found. How serious is the threat in that blue shaded area, basically the southern half of the country, this summer and -- this spring and summer?
FAUCI: Well, it is likely we will have what’s called a local outbreak. Right now we have intercontinental USA. We have over 350 imported cases, namely people who have traveled to a region, gotten infected and come -- came back. The concern is, once one comes back, would a mosquito, which you saw on that map, bite someone and then locally transmit it to someone who’s never left the country? It would not be surprising at all, if not likely, that we're going to see a bit of that because we’ve seen similar types of things with other similar types of infection, like Dengue. We've been able to control it so that it doesn't become sustained or widespread. But the threat of at least having some local outbreak is -- is -- is likely, I would think. It's up to us now to make sure when it happens we contain it.
WALLACE: Now, you’ve used a couple of words in that answer that -- that -- that struck me. A bit of an outbreak. Local outbreak.
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: So are we talking about hundreds of cases?
FAUCI: Yes.
WALLACE: Are we talking about thousands of cases?
FAUCI: No.
WALLACE: And -- and -- and also, is there a threat -- because I read somewhere this week that there can also potentially be a threat of brain damage to adults.
FAUCI: Right. Exactly. So there are a couple of issues you brought up that are important. When we say local, we talk not about thousands of cases, we're talking about scores of cases, dozens of cases at the most that historically with Dengue were able to be contained. The other interesting thing that’s important is that it is sexually transmitted. And that’s another added dimension to it that is well documented now that it can be sexually transmitted. So there’s an issue there of someone who can transmit it who has absolutely to someone who’s not been bitten by a mosquito.
Now, the other thing you mentioned, very quickly, is that in addition to the Guillain-Barre (ph), which is kind of a hyper sensitivity reaction following the infection, we see that with things like influenza, we're also seeing some disturbing indications that there are only individual case reports of significant neurological damage to people not just the fetuses but an adult that would get infected. Things that they call meningoencephalitis, which is an inflammation of the brain and the covering around the brain, spinal cord damage due to what we call myelitis. We're starting to see them. We don't know how frequent it’s going to be. So far they looks unusual, but at least we've seen them and that’s concerning.
WALLACE: One sensitive issue I know for public health officials like yourself is whether to advice women to delay pregnancy --
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: In areas of the country where we may see an outbreak, even if it's a localized outbreak --
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: Of the virus. What should women do?
FAUCI: Well, right now in the United States this should not be that concerning. We do not have local transmission here. So I think the idea about people in the continental United States delaying pregnancy is not -- is not even an issue for discussion at this point. The issue is, when you're dealing in countries in which you have outbreaks like in South America, particularly Brazil or Puerto Rico, is a concern about what you might advise women. Right now the recommendation from the CDC are consult your physician about the kinds of options you might have. But a direct recommendation to delay has been given by countries. For example, El Salvador has actually said you should delay if you could. The confounding issue, Chris, about that, that's in countries in which you may not have good access to birth control, and that's one of the things that confounds that question.
WALLACE: If -- if we begin to see localize outbreaks here in the United States, besides birth control, what can men and women do to protect themselves?
FAUCI: And that's a great question. Protect yourself against mosquitos. And that -- you can do that. The government and local authorities can do it by cleaning up the environment to not allow mosquitos to breed. They breed in still water, pots, pans, tires or what have you. But the critical issue is, if you're in this country, and we do have that, stay indoors if you can with air conditioning and screen. When you're outdoors, dress in a way that covers most of your body, but use DEET containing insect repellents. DEET at 30 percent, it’s safe. It's safe for a woman that’s pregnant. It’s safe for babies older than six months old. We shouldn’t hesitate to use insect repellant.
WALLACE: Now, there’s quite a battle here in Washington, and we really began to see it this week, over government funding. You and the administration, public health officials have asked for $2 billion to do what?
FAUCI: Well, the -- it's $1.9 billion, $1.5 billion for HHS, which involves the Centers for Disease Control, particularly the Centers for Disease Control, about $800 million for Puerto Rico, for international but particularly for domestic. And that's a variety of things, insect control, mosquito control. We at NIH are developing a vaccine which is very important. Public health measures. Educational campaigns. So it’s been delineated, the kind of things to do. And it’s divided among different agencies within HHS, as well as USAID and the State Department.
WALLACE: OK. Now as I say, you’ve asked for $1.9 billion as back -- as far back as February. This week the administration announced it is transferring almost $600 million that were mostly in Ebola funds to go address this. But you're asking for the full $1.9 billion --
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: And there's a sharp disagreement about the rest.
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: Here, take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is going to be leading all your news broadcasts. This is going to be on the front page of newspapers across the country. And I don't know what Republicans are going to say that they did to prepare for it.
PAUL RYAN, R-WIS., HOUSE SPEAKER: We will address this situation through the regular appropriations process as the need arises and our appropriators are looking at how to do just that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Now, congressional Republicans say that the plan that the administration has submitted so far is basically an outline. It's not a detailed plan. And the head of the House Appropriations Committee, a fellow named Hal Rogers, Republican from Kentucky, he says that basically it's a slush fund.
FAUCI: Yes. Well, obviously, we disagree with that. I mean when we put together what we would be doing, and we’d be more than happy to go over even in more detail with them, but we have put together a -- essentially a project by project approach of what we would do. I can tell you with regard to what I am responsible for, namely the development of a vaccine, we know exactly how we're going to spend that money and hopefully, if successful, development of an -- of a Zika vaccine.
WALLACE: So when Speaker Ryan, as we just saw in that clip, talks about, well, we'll look at it in the regular appropriations process --
FAUCI: Right.
WALLACE: Is that satisfactory or do you need it to be dealt with more urgently?
FAUCI: Well, the reason is, we have to act now, Chris. And the regular appropriation process, a good process, is one that takes time. So we have to move now. I can't wait to start developing a vaccine. We have to do it. And in order to do it, you need money. And that's the reason for the urgency of getting that money.
WALLACE: Now, you have said that when the president called for $2 billion, $1.9 billion, that you need the $1.9 billion. What’s -- what do you see as the fallout? What if you don't get that money? What if Congress doesn't appropriate it?
FAUCI: Well, if we don't get the money, then what we'll have to do is to take things away from other very important areas and move it here, because we can't stop. We can't just not address this. This is really a very important thing. So we’ll have to be moving money around.
WALLACE: What's your sense of this virus because, frankly, you've been a little bit more reassuring today than -- than -- than some of the conversations that I've seen in the media? How serious of a threat? How serious should -- how seriously should people be worried about it and what is the prognosis?
FAUCI: Yes.
WALLACE: Is this something that’s going to be with us for years or --
FAUCI: If it acts like a similar infection called Dengue, which is transmitted by the same type of mosquito, exactly the same type of mosquito, and you look what’s happened in Brazile and in the Caribbean, Dengue has been around for several years now. I don't predict that this is going to be a one off and be gone. That's the issue.
The issue of being concerned and how concerned we are, you have to be prepared for something like this. It may be something that may be a small chance of a wide outbreak, but as long as there is the chance, if you get caught without being prepared, then you have a real problem. And that's the reason why we emphasize the need, not for concern, but the need for preparation.
WALLACE: Dr. Fauci, thank you. Thanks for your time today. We'll stay on top of this story. It’s an important one.
FAUCI: Good to be with you.
WALLACE: Thank you.
Up next, we'll bring back the panel to discuss the saber-rattling as Russian attack jets buzz a U.S. warship in the Baltic Sea.
Plus, what would you like to as the panel about that provocation and the threat posed by Vladimir Putin? Just go to Facebook or Twitter @foxnewssunday and we may use your question on the air.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: Alarming video this week of Russian attack jets buzzing, repeatedly buzzing, a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Baltic Sea. The Russian war planes flew 31 passes over two days, coming at least on one pass within 30 feet of the ship.
And we're back now with the panel.
Well, we asked you for questions for our Sunday group and we got a bunch of questions from you for the panel on these provocations.
Jan PC sent this on Facebook. "Why wasn't Putin given a message that if this happens again he will be looking in the ocean for his planes? We're so weak."
And William J. Smith tweeted this. "What would Putin do if we buzzed one of their ships?"
George, how do you answer William and Jan and what do you make of the Russian actions and the U.S. response?
WILL: Well, that's a very good question because the -- the destroyer Donald Cook was further than 70 nautical miles from Soviet Russian territory. So there’s no question about this being a provocation. During the Cold War, I think it was Henry Kissinger, likened the Soviet Union to a burglar that goes down a hallway in a hotel trying all the door knobs to see if he can find one that’s unlocked. This is that kind of constant probing we got used to.
Astonishingly, to me at least, Secretary of State Kerry said under the rules of engagement, this would have justified our shooting down that plane. I would love to know what those rules of engagement are because this is pertinent to what’s going on daily in the South China Sea where the United States is testing, we're sort of in the semi-aggressor role here and should be, we're testing the claims made by the Chinese about their rights over territorial waters surrounding the items they're manufacturing and militarizing. So this is a -- this is a new sphere of superpower, three or four superpowers, confronting one another.
WALLACE: What should we have done?
WILL: I think we should have elaborated on what Mr. Kerry said, that if this is -- if the rules of engagement say we can shoot this plane down, the Russians should know that.
WALLACE: Let me ask you, Julie, because as George just pointed out, you got Kerry taking a very strong stand about what at least we could have done, not what we did do. And then you had the White House spokesman, Josh Earnest, saying that this raises serious safety concerns and basically strong letter to follow to the Russians. Any second thoughts at the White House about how they handled this?
PACE: I don't think second thoughts about how they handled this particular incident. It's a very difficult situation because, on the one hand, you see this video and to actually see how close the planes are getting, it's -- it’s very unnerving. Yet, you're --
WALLACE: And -- and, honestly, you know, I mean we can sit there and say, well, it was a provocation. You didn't know as that plane is heading over the horizon what was -- what its intent was.
PACE: Exactly, as it’s -- as it’s flying over 30 times. So, on the one hand, it’s very unnerving to see this happen. You also, though, don't expect that the U.S. military is going to take action and shoot down these planes. And Putin knows that, that he can probably get away with this. So it's a bit of a catch 22 for this administration.
But to George's point, when you talk to military experts and foreign policy experts, yes, they'll raise ISIS, yes, they’ll raise Iran as big concerns, but what’s happening in these waters around the world between Russia, the U.S., and China, it is potentially a really scary situation.
WALLACE: When you talk to your sources, was there any discussion about, let's put more troops in the Baltics to at least say, hey, look, you know, you want to be provocative with us? We're going to show you that we're not going to be (INAUDIBLE).
PACE: It doesn't seem like this provoked that kind of response. I think that Putin could use this as a tactic, that he could keep pressing to see how far he could go before he does get some kind of response, but no sign that this -- this -- what we saw is the last couple of days is going to provoke that response.
WALLACE: Rebecca, there’s also a political component to this because Hillary Clinton was one of the architects of the Russian reset when she was secretary of state. Our effort, apparently -- and at least in the long term having failed, to improve and warm up relations with Russia. Do you see this -- just not only the Russian issue, but the whole -- her whole record as secretary of state being a problem for her, not necessarily just an unalloyed success for her as we get into the general election?
BERG: Well, Republicans certainly hope to make it so. She -- her campaign and Republicans really see her experience as secretary of state on foreign policy as potentially her greatest asset in a general election because it’s something that none of her Republican rivals could potentially match. But if Republicans are able, and they’ve already been trying, to take this asset for her, turn it into a liability by pointing to her record on Russia with the reset, Libya, Syria, Iran, these countries where she was hoping, and the president was hoping, frankly, to make them more stable and instead they in -- veered more into instability and Russia have veered more into provoking the U.S. as opposed to the opposite, which was the goal of the Russia reset. Republicans, by highlighting these issues and highlighting Hillary Clinton’s referments (ph) on these issues could turn her experience into a liability potentially.
WALLACE: Laura -- Laura, I want to turn to another hot spot. President Obama travels to Saudi Arabia this week and there was a fascinating story in The New York Times yesterday that top Saudi officials had said that they are prepared to sell off hundreds of billions of dollars in Russia -- in our -- in their assets that they have here in the United States if Congress goes ahead and passes the law that basically says that Saudi officials and Saudi government could be libel in any suits involving 9/11 and the role they might have played in 9/11. You're thoughts about that?
INGRAHAM: Well, it's dangerous for the United States, frankly, to go into so much debt where we're borrowing money, and we’re printing these Treasury bills, borrowing money, obviously huge amount of money from China, but obviously Saudi Arabia. $750 million, you know, isn't a drop in the bucket. Some three quarters of a billion dollars.
Now, whether Saudi Arabia will do this or not, we don't really know. It would actually hurt them to do it. However, the more interesting thing about all of this is what's come out of those redacted 28 pages from the 9/11 Commission when we -- we find out for sure that in San Diego, two of the 9/11 hijackers were facilitated out of the Saudi embassy. There were -- there was a flurry of phone call. That information has been leaked out of the report. I think the American people need to know. Those 28 pages should be released.
WALLACE: OK, let -- let me just briefly explain. Actually, it wasn't the 9/11 Commission, it was the congressional --
INGRAHAM: The -- yes, Joint Terrorism Task -- yes.
WALLACE: It was a congressional probe. In 2002, there was a congressional probe about 9/11, the year before. And 28 pages of that are still classified all these years later and that reportedly may link some Saudi officials, individual officials, to support for the 9/11 hijackers which makes this especially interesting is the 9/11 Commission, a separate group from the congressional probe, said this. It found, quote, "no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization," meaning al Qaeda.
I’ve got to say, Julie, that looks like it was written by a lawyer and couldn’t be more narrowly worded.
PACE: Yes. Absolutely. And when you look at the complex relationship that we have with Saudi Arabia right now -- President Obama’s going to be there this coming week, his fourth visit as president. This has been a question that has hung over this relationship for a long time, where you will have officials that will say things like, well, we know there was money or guidance emanating out of the kingdom, but they always stop short of saying that it was actually orchestrated by the government or senior people within the government. And when you know that there are 28 pages hanging out there that will clarify, presumably, what the ties were, I think that it could put the administration in a difficult spot if they're taking action to try to hold off on releasing that.
WALLACE: So, Laura, I mean just to go back to you.
INGRAHAM: Right.
WALLACE: I mean on the one hand you’ve got members of Congress who want to pass this law --
INGRAHAM: Right.
WALLACE: That would make the Saudi government libel in court, and what we're particularly talking about here are families of the 9/11 victims who want to sue the Saudi government, which obviously has deep pockets, and then you've also got this kind of ticking time bomb, these 28 pages in a separate investigation conducted that may have evidence about what the Saudis did. And up to this point the administration has refused to declassify.
INGRAHAM: Everyone should read Paul Sperry's piece in today's "New York Post" from the Hoover Institution. He goes through all of this meticulously. And Prince Bandar, good friend of the Bushs, obviously on September 13th shared cigars on the Truman Balcony after 9/11, Prince Bandar, from one of -- some of the $130,000 from then Saudi Ambassador Prince Bandar’s family’s checking account to yet another of the hijacker's Saudi handlers in San Diego. This is -- this stuff that’s already come out of those 28 pages. We have to know what was in those. And if there is facilitation, which it certainly looks like, from some of these Saudi officials to the handler who are helping the hijackers in San Diego, San Diego’s where it looks like it happened, this is devastating. And why -- why were we in such a rush to get these people out of the United States after 9/11? That's all in the piece. People should read it. It's -- it’s complicated, but it’s worth reading. Because if we’re -- if we're engaged in this cover-up, then, you know, this goes back many, many years.
WALLACE: George, we have less than a minute left. Your thoughts about the Saudi role in 9/11 and what -- because it is a -- it's a complicated issue. What should the U.S. do? What should the administration do?
WILL: Well, the United States should release this information as the 9/11 Commission unanimously requested that they released. When the investigations into 9/11 began, the primary question was, was it just a weird coincidence that 15 of 19 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia? The answer is, of course, not. First by funding Wahhabism, the radical Islamic doctrine, and by, it's now clear, out of -- probably out of Los Angeles Saudi consulate they were helping these hijackers.
WALLACE: Well, it will be interesting to see what come up in the president's trip this week.
Thank you, panel. See you next Sunday.
Up next, our "Power Player of the Week." A trailblazer in the Navy keeps breaking barriers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: The military has traditionally been a man's world. But one woman has broken the brass ceiling and wants to help future generations follow her path. Here’s our "Power Player of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHELLE HOWARD, U.S. NAVY ADMIRAL: I'm a defacto role model. When you're the first, there’s obligation that -- that go with that.
WALLACE (voice-over): Michelle Howard knows all about firsts. She was the first African-American woman to command a ship. The first female four star in the Navy. And now the first woman to be vice chief of naval operations, the branch's number two job.
HOWARD: For any women in any occupation where there hasn't been opportunity before, it's the belief that you can get -- get to it. You can succeed.
WALLACE: Howard's journey started when she was 12. After watching a show on the military academies, she told her mother that's what she wanted to do. Her mom said girls weren't allowed.
HOWARD: And she said, but I'll -- I’ll tell you what, if -- when you're older and you want to -- you still want to go, go ahead and apply. And then if you get rejected, we'll sue the government.
WALLACE (on camera): Really?
HOWARD: She did.
WALLACE (voice-over): But by 1978, women were attending the Naval Academy. And Howard was in the third co-ed class to graduate.
WALLACE (on camera): Do you feel that you kind of hit it right, that you entered the military just at the time doors were opening?
HOWARD: Oh, absolutely. I have often said, my parents were smart to birth me in 1960.
WALLACE (voice-over): She served in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. And after the law changed in 1993, she was on combat ships. But there were still some rough waters.
HOWARD: An officer said, you need to get out. You need to go where women are accepted. No, I’m -- I'm an officer. I want to serve my country. I want to defend the Constitution.
WALLACE: In 1999, she was assigned to command the USS Rushmore. And 10 years later, she took over Task Force 151, fighting pirates in the Gulf of Aiden.
WALLACE (on camera): How long were you in that job before --
HOWARD: Oh, Captain Phillips was kidnapped.
WALLACE: Yes.
HOWARD: About three days.
WALLACE (voice-over): Howard ran the operation to stop the Somali pirates and rescue the captain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
HOWARD: Yes, thank God he's safe.
WALLACE: But even when she was named a full admiral two years ago --
HOWARD: Protect and to serve the Constitution of the United States.
WALLACE: There were still obstacles.
HOWARD: I said, hey, I need women four stars shoulder boards. And she goes, ah, there aren’t any.
WALLACE (on camera): They never needed one before.
HOWARD: These are all secretaries of the Navy.
WALLACE: And how many women are there?
HOWARD: Oh, there’s never been a woman secretary of the Navy.
WALLACE (voice-over): As vice chief, Howard makes sure the Navy can meet its war fighting requirements now and in the future.
WALLACE (on camera): Is part of your responsibility the role of getting women more integrated into command?
HOWARD: It's part of who I am.
WALLACE (voice-over): And she's come to a conclusion, women need to be a quarter of the unit to turn them from tokens into part of the team.
WALLACE (on camera): Twenty-five percent?
HOWARD: Yes. Once you get to a sort of critical mass, then your organization sort of reflects the larger society at whole.
WALLACE (voice-over): Women now make up 19 percent of the Navy. Howard says she'll keep pushing.
HOWARD: I want to continue to be in leadership roles where I can serve my sailors and make a difference in their ability to be effective war fighters and in their ability to succeed as individuals.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Admiral Howard has a few years left if her military career. And there are reports the president is considering her to lead Navy forces in Europe. When she retires, she says she looks forward to trout fishing back home in Colorado.
Now this program note. Be sure to tune to Fox News Channel Tuesday for full coverage of those big New York primaries.
And that's it for today. Have a great week. And we'll see you next "Fox News Sunday."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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