Sen. Graham on North Korea, Putin and Trump's SCOTUS pick
Senator Lindsey Graham joins 'Fox News Sunday' to discuss Pompeo's talks with North Korea, Trump's upcoming summit with Putin and the looming battle over a new Supreme Court nomination.
This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," July 8, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DANA PERINO, HOST: I'm Dana Perino, in for Chris Wallace.
President Trump prepares to announce his Supreme Court nominee before he heads to the NATO summit where he faces rising tensions with European allies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to tell NATO you've got to start paying your bills. The United States is not going to take care of everything.
PERINO: Plus, the divide with Europe over terrorists, withdraw of the Iran nuke deal and improved relations with Russia.
TRUMP: I'm meeting with President Putin next week and getting along with other countries is a good thing, it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing.
PERINO: We'll preview the summit in Brussels and Helsinki with Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. ambassador to NATO.
Then as a list of possible replacements for Justice Anthony Kennedy narrows the Senate awaits President Trump's Supreme Court announcement.
TRUMP: If you tune in Monday at 9:00, I think you're going to be extremely happy with this pick (ph), right?
PERINO: We'll discuss President Trump's possible picks and handicapped their chances of getting confirmed with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. It's a "Fox News Sunday" exclusive.
And we'll ask Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, with the vacancy means for the future of Roe v. Wade.
Plus --
MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We had many hours of productive conversations. These are complicated issues, but we've made progress on almost all of the central issues.
PERINO: North Korea takes issue with the latest round of talks following the first formal meeting since the Singapore summit. We'll ask our Sunday panel what it means for getting rid of nukes on the Korean peninsula.
All, right now, on "Fox News Sunday".
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PERINO: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.
President Trump is gearing up for a high-stakes trip to Europe this week which includes a likely tense summit with NATO allies and potential concessions to Russia in a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin.
But, first, he'll announce his Supreme Court pick, a move that could reshape the high court for decades to come.
Kevin Corke is live at the White House with the latest -- Kevin.
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Dana, White House sources insist this will not be a nomination by committee or by congressional lawmaker input, this will fall on the president and the president alone, but that hasn't stopped competing voices on both sides of the political spectrum from trying to influence his choice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE: Jurists believed to be in the president's final four are thought to be safely conservative, but there's increasing pressure on Mr. Trump to nominate someone who won't draw the ire of pro-choice Republican senators. That could complicate Judge Amy Coney Barrett whose Catholic faith has led some critics to opine without evidence that she'd vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
But selecting a judge with a fairly limited paper trail just to avoid a fight in the Senate is risky. Such was the case with David Souter, former justice, who despite being nominated by a conservative president, George H.W. Bush, proved to be anything but.
TRUMP: In choosing Justice Kennedy's replacement, my greatest responsibility is to select a justice who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written.
CORKE: Monday's pending Supreme Court announcement comes just ahead of the president's trip to Europe for the NATO summit and a pair of bilateral meetings with Britain's Theresa May and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the latter of which could prove pivotal in shaping Mr. Trump's vision of U.S.-Russian and U.S.-European relations. This as the president's top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sailed into decidedly choppy waters in his ongoing bid to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions, with the North describing the U.S.'s tone in the latest talks as "regrettable" and "gangster-like".
POMPEO: We had good faith, productive conversations which will continue in the days and weeks ahead. In the meantime, sanctions remain in place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORKE: Meanwhile, the president's top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, not only sailed into choppy waters, he is a way as there are new developments on this conversation between the president and Bob Mueller. Have you heard about this? The special counsel now getting new conditions set by Rudy Giuliani who told The New York Times he'd have to see how the basis of that sit-down would go, Dana, so that the Trump team could assess the Mueller team's objectivity.
Very interesting, indeed, Dana.
PERINO: Indeed. Kevin Corke, thank you, reporting from the White House. We appreciate it.
And joining me now from Brussels, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Ambassador Hutchison, listen to what President Trump said about NATO on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to tell NATO you've got to start paying your bills. The United States is not going to take care of everything. And we're the schmucks that are paying for the whole thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: And then The Washington Post reported Trump for his part frequently tells European leaders how much he dislikes the E.U. and how it is worse than China.
Ambassador Hutchison, what do you make of those comments, and is it possible for the president to convey a sense of cooperation? Because there has been significant progress that NATO has made.
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: NATO really is making progress and they are doing it really at President Trump's insistence and I think that it's very clear, and he's been very direct about the Europeans needing to do more for their own security. You know, Dana, I've worked for probably three presidents, all of whom have said the same thing.
Now, I think for the first time, we are releasing the Europeans actually start going in the right direction. Every ally is now increasing defense spending. We've had the largest increase in defense spending since the Cold War. And in the year and a half since President Trump has been in office, it has doubled since 2014.
So, I think he is making an impact and I think that the Europeans, including Chancellor Merkel just recently who has said we are going to do more. It we need to do more, it's the right thing to do and she is encouraging her Bundestag, her parliament, to increase the defense budget so that we will be more fit for purpose in NATO for the fights that we want to deter.
PERINO: Do you anticipate that there might be any additional conversations within the NATO meeting about the tensions regarding trade and tariff?
HUTCHISON: One thing I will say is that in all of the disagreements that we have seen at the G7 and with allies with whom we are now having trade talks and negotiations and tariffs, that has not come up in the NATO context. Our diplomats are professional and they are staying on our NATO issues, where we are 100 percent allied.
PERINO: You said recently that NATO's main concern now is Russia, that the U.S. has beefed up its troops in NATO countries that are next to Russia like the Baltics and Poland. The president reportedly has said Crimea should go to the Russians since most people there speak Russian.
Does that concern allies like those in the Baltic States? And is it still the position of the United States that our NATO allies have reason to be concerned about threats from Russia?
HUTCHISON: Oh, I think definitely we are hardening our defenses as a deterrence against the invasion of any outside influence. It is most certainly Russia, which has had much-maligned influence that has been an attempt to destabilize our alliance and our allies. It's also counterterrorism. We have a major effort, and it was President Trump's request that we prioritize at NATO more in the counterterrorism area, which we are doing.
And I think it's very important that we support the Ukraine and the illegal invasion of Crimea and the also still tensioned area in Eastern Ukraine. Ukraine is trying very hard to be a strong and sovereign nation, and NATO is committed to helping them do that with the reforms that they are seeking. So, I do think that we are allied in that and I know that all of us in the United States is right there too want to assure that we have the mutual defense against any kind of malign influence that Russia might attempt and most certainly the export of terrorism from Afghanistan and other countries that is in our interest to do.
PERINO: Let me ask you about another NATO ally, and that is Turkey. Tomorrow, President Erdogan is going to be sworn in. He will continue his 15-year rule. He now has expanded powers because of that election. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is going to attend the inauguration. Our U.S. ambassador post to Turkey is still open. We have charge there.
Do you have any concern that Russia is trying to flip Turkey?
HUTCHISON: Oh, yes. I do think Russia is trying to flip Turkey. They are trying to flip many of our allies. They want to destabilize the strongest defense alliance and a history of the world, and that is NATO. And every effort that we can make that strengthens our alliance as well as the partners that we have is very helpful, very productive and very necessary.
And Turkey is one of our alliance's most strong members. They are a framework nation helping us in Afghanistan. They have been an ally for a long time and we will continue to work with them and we know that Russia is trying to move into that, but they are strong and they are a NATO strong member.
PERINO: I know that Turkey is thinking about or trying to explore the idea of purchasing an S-400 system. That's an antiaircraft system that Russia builds and that the United States is opposed to that.
Do you think that President Trump will address this with Erdogan at the meeting this week?
HUTCHISON: Dana, President Trump has addressed it with President Erdogan. We have addressed it at every level. We are very much against that because it will affect the interoperability of our NATO forces in Turkey. We can't have a Russian-built defense system with F35s going into Turkey.
So, we are working with Turkey in every way not to put this Russian system in the middle of their country when they are such a strong ally of NATO, as well as the United States.
PERINO: Let me ask you about Germany. You've said that there is no discussion regarding U.S. troop withdrawal from Germany, but I understand the Pentagon is undertaking a cost analysis of the 35,000 U.S. troops that we have there.
How do you describe within NATO or even to the president the rationale for keeping U.S. troops in Germany?
HUTCHISON: Well, the U.S. troops in Germany, which there are in the neighborhood of 30,000, are there for many purposes, part of which, of course, is our ally Germany, but also, they are a forward basing presence. They are hospital focus for us that helps when we have injured soldiers that need immediate care. They fly to Germany. They are a basing operation, and they're going to be part of our military mobility in NATO.
So, of course, we want to make sure that we are getting help with the cost of troops in Germany when it is in our interest to have them. That is a negotiation that we always have with countries where we have basing, but I will say that Germany has been a very solid partner in having our troops there and it has a long-standing support basing both for us as well as for Germany.
PERINO: And let me ask you about Poland. I understand Poland is lobbying for more permanent presence, possibly the Baltic States as well. Is the United States considering that, putting our troops there in Poland?
HUTCHISON: Well, we do have troops in Poland. It is a rotating force, part of our enhanced forward presence and we have a great relationship with another great ally of ours in NATO, Poland, and they have offered permanent basing. Certainly, we look at all offers made like that, but no decision is being made right now.
But looking at it, yes. In fact, Congress has asked that our Defense Department look at the cost involved in new basing of any kind, wherever it might be.
PERINO: All right. Ambassador Hutchison, thank you for joining us today, I hope you have a good meeting this week.
HUTCHISON: Thank you, Dana. It's great to be with you and glad that you have the Sunday show while Chris is gone.
PERINO: Thank you so much.
All right. Up next, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praises progress on his first trip to Pyongyang since the Singapore summit. But the North Koreans strike a different tone. Senator Lindsey Graham joins us next.
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PERINO: North Korea is accusing the U.S. of making gangster-like demands and the most recent round of talks since the Singapore summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who just wrapped up two days of meetings in Pyongyang maintained his visit produced results but said sanctions would remain for now.
Joining me from Clemson, South Carolina, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham just back from a trip.
So, we're glad to have you here.
If we could start with North Korea, the obvious improvement in relations because you have Kim Jong-un used to say that President Trump was a dotard. Now, he's actually engaging on policy, but it probably doesn't surprise you that much that the North Koreans issued a statement yesterday saying that the meeting was regrettable, saying they were robber-like and really pouring cold water on it.
What do you think of it?
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-SOUTH CAROLINA, SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I see China's hands all over this. We are in a fight with China. We buy $500 billion worth of goods from the Chinese. They buy $100 billion from us. They cheat and President Trump wants to change the economic relationship with China.
So, if I were President Trump, I would not let China use North Korea to back me off of the trade dispute. We've got more bullets than they do when it comes to trade. We sell them $100 billion, they sell is $500 billion, we can hurt them more than they will hurt us. And all we're looking for is for them to stop cheating when it comes to trade.
There's no doubt in my mind that it's the Chinese pulling a North Koreans back. And to our North Korean friends, can't say the word friend yet. You asked Pompeo, did he sleep well? If you knew what I knew about what we could do to the leadership of North Korea, you wouldn't sleep very well.
PERINO: I thought that was -- I actually really enjoyed reading about that exchange where the North Korean general asking Mike Pompeo twice, surely you couldn't have slept well last night and our secretary of state said, oh, I slept just fine.
Meanwhile, President Trump will meet one-on-one with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki next Monday. "Bloomberg" reports the Kremlin is working with the U.S. to have a deal that the president will except, they say Putin has agreed in principle to U.S. and Israeli demands that Iranian-backed forces in southern Syria be kept away from Israel's border, replaced with troops loyal to the government and Damascus. That's according to two Kremlin advisers.
Would you recommend the president agreed to that deal?
GRAHAM: Given Russia's behavior, absolutely not. Russia was supposed to make sure that Assad had no chemical weapons. The last thing you can rely upon is the Russians to take care of American-Israeli interests.
There is ideal to be had in Syria. Our troops in northeastern Syria working with the Syrian Democratic forces, Arabs and Kurds, have demolished ISIS and if we stay there, we have about 2,000 troops, ISIS won't come back. If we stay in northeastern Syria, Iran can't march from Tehran to Beirut.
I don't trust the Russians to implement any agreement when it comes to the Iranians, but there is a way to break Iran from -- Russia away from Iran, but no way can it be achieved about us staying there. Our presence in northeastern Syria is an insurance policy against Assad taking over Syria and ISIS coming back and the Iranians owning the whole region.
PERINO: How do you balance the cooperation that we need with Russia right now on something with the concerns that we have with Russia on many other fronts? And how would you recommend President Trump approach that meeting next Monday in Helsinki? It will be his first one-on-one with Putin.
GRAHAM: Well, first, when Putin denies that he was involved in our election in 2016, reject the denial, challenge him. Don't let him deny the obvious. They are still trying to disrupt the 2018 election cycle.
When it comes to Syria, we need to be partnering with Turkey to make sure that we can maintain the presence in northeastern Syria. At the end of the day, Iran is a weak economy. They've got problems in their own backyard. What we need to do is partner with Turkey and Russia and break Iran away.
Iran has a different reason for being in Syria than most everybody else. Israel cannot tolerate Hezbollah and Iranian presence in Syria. If you leave Assad in power, the Arabs will never accept him, nor will the Syrian people.
There's a way to get Russia pulled away from Iran, but we've got to have a presence in Iraq and Syria to be successful. In 2007, we lost 900 soldiers fighting in Iraq and the last three and a half years, we have lost 14.
President Trump has done a good job of destroying ISIS and countering Iran. Our soldiers in Iraq and Syria are insurance policies against Iran domination and the rise of ISIS. If we keep this configuration in place, we've got some leverage regarding Russia and Iran.
PERINO: You mentioned Turkey. I wanted to ask you about that. You were just on a trip we spoke to the President Erdogan.
GRAHAM: Yes.
PERINO: He is going to be inaugurated for I think the fourth term tomorrow. And while Turkey has been somewhat helpful in Syria as you mentioned and Ambassador Hutchison just said, are you concerned that Turkey is an ally adrift, and is there a strategy to get them back on track?
GRAHAM: Yes, they are definitely an ally adrift but there's a new chapter in Turkish history. Erdogan won big and he's going to have a long time to serve in Turkey and we need to come to grips with that. We need to push him when it comes to the way they treat the press and some human rights abuses. They have Americans in captivity for no good reason.
But having said that, we need to assure Turkey that the Kurdish forces we are partnered with in Syria will not present a threat to Turkey. That's a legitimate concern. Turkey has no interest in Iran dominating Damascus.
At the end of the day, their economy is better off hooked up with us versus Russia and Iran. They are a NATO ally.
So, I came away from my meeting somewhat encouraged that we can start over with President Erdogan in a win-win fashion, securing the northeastern part of Syria in fashion acceptable to Turkey, and they can be a better ally when it comes to pushing back against Iran and ISIS.
PERINO: Did you talk to President Erdogan about this idea that they would want to buy and S400 antiaircraft system?
GRAHAM: Yes.
PERINO: And do you think that he wants to go forward with it? And if he does, will the Congress vote to put sanctions on Turkey since that's allowed under the Russian Sanctions Act?
GRAHAM: We're not going to sell Turkey the F35, our most advanced fighter, and allow them to buy the most advanced Soviet antiaircraft system. It will just be a matter of time before the S-400 would be used in a fashion to undermine the F35.
They have to pick. I would like them to buy the Patriot missile battery made by the United States and our partners. They are a NATO partner. They need to release Pastor Brunson, who has been held in my view way too long, very much illegally.
But you've got to remember that President Erdogan was under siege two years ago, there was an armed coup. I left that meeting believing that we can do business with Erdogan. You can't have the S-400, we'll find a substitute for that. If you release the prisoners that are caught up in the coup, that helps us enormously.
There's a win-win situation in northeastern Syria. I think Turkey understands their future is better with the West economically, and I'd like to do a free trade agreement one day with Turkey when they get their house in order and that would neuter Russia and Iran's influence vis-a-vis Turkey better than anything I could think of.
PERINO: I wanted to bring up Pastor Andrew Brunson. I think we have a photo of him here. He's been held for two years. This is of great concern to the president and the vice president.
Did you get any indication that he will be able to come home soon?
GRAHAM: I met with him. Here's what was interesting. President Erdogan met with Senator Shaheen and myself. The next day, he let us go see Pastor Brunson who is doing well physically but has been in jail now way too long.
He's lived in Turkey for 24 years. He has nothing to do with the coup when it comes to what happened in 2016. He got caught up in a net and he is not a threat to the people of Turkey. That is the defining issue between us and Turkey.
But I'm encouraged. I don't believe he would let us go see Pastor Brunson if they were not looking for a way to end this and they have some other embassy personnel in Turkish prison and we need to get this issue behind us.
I left Turkey thinking that this new -- after Erdogan's election, we've got a chance to do business with him better than in the past, and I hope he'll take it, because we need Turkey and they need us.
PERINO: Sounds like a worthwhile trip. Let me ask you one question back on domestic policy. The timing of the Supreme Court nomination seems to not be better for Republicans. You're on the Judiciary Committee. You've been around before for Supreme Court nominations. How much different like this one be and do you feel confident that the Republicans will be able to confirm one of President Trump's nominees before the midterms?
GRAHAM: I think I've got two words and I heard Supreme Court and confidence. So, we've got a technical problem, but here's my answer. Republicans are holding four lottery tickets and all of them are winners. If you are a conservative Republican, the four people named, particularly Thomas Hardiman, I'm glad he is on the list, are all winners and every Republican should embrace these picks.
Here's the truth. Donald Trump could nominate George Washington or John Marshall and they couldn't get through. It may be a handful of Democrats will vote for a Trump pick because they have to politically. I've never seen at this dysfunctional.
There's nobody that President Trump could nominate from a conservative bent that will get many Democratic votes. But this is a nightmare for red state Democrats to oppose a highly qualified nominee and all four of these people are highly qualified, been on the court, know what they are doing, mainstream judges.
So, red state Democrats are going to have a very hard decision and I hope every Republican will rally behind these picks because they are all outstanding.
PERINO: All right. Senator Graham, thank you for reading my mind since you couldn't hear me and for joining us today. It's always good to talk to you, sir.
GRAHAM: Thank you.
PERINO: Up next, what could a conservative replacement for Justice Kennedy mean for Roe v. Wade? Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, joins us when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Coming up, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo downplays North Korea's accusation of gangster-like demands by the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POMPEO: We had good faith productive conversations which will continue. In the meantime, sanctions remain in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: We'll ask our Sunday panel about the current state of negotiations, coming up.
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PERINO: The president is set to announce his nominee for the Supreme Court Monday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and much of the focus has been on how a new justice could join with the high court's conservative bloc to overrule the court's Roe vs. Wade decision.
Joining me now is Ilyse Hogue. He's president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, an organization working to keep abortion legal and assessable.
Thank you for being here with me.
Take a listen to Leonard Leo last week on "Fox News Sunday." He's currently on leave from the Federalist Society, and he put together the Supreme Court list for President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARD LEO, TRUMP ADVISER ON JUDICIAL SELECTION: I don't think, at the end of the day, it's about Roe v. Wade. It's about -- it's about having judges on the court who are going to interpret the Constitution the way it's written. And part of interpreting the Constitution is taking into account major precedents, and that's going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Ilyse, conservative say the concern about Roe v. Wade is more of a scare tactic than reality.
How do you see it?
ILYSE HOGUE, NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA PRESIDENT: You know, we take the president at his word. He's the president of the United States. And he is certainly the first major party nominee who went on to be president to put a litmus test on Supreme Court justices. And that was to actually overturn Roe v. Wade.
So, we believe him. He's got a vice president who committed to, you know, throw Roe on an ash heap of history. So we think that's the mind-set that many Americans are actually going into this with because it was such a vocal talking point for him. And the -- we also know that the backpedaling that's happening now from people who have long been critics of Roe v. Wade is partially because they know what we know, which is most American people actually, regardless of how they feel personally about abortion, believe that legal access is core to our country's precedence (ph).
PERINO: In fact, I have some polls, and I think that we could put them up here. Public opinion certainly has shifted since 1973. It's been 45 years. And 67 percent of Americans say they do not want to see Roe v. Wade overturned. Though there is some variation by degrees.
In another poll, 50 percent say it should be legal under certain circumstances, 18 percent say it should not be legal at all.
So if -- with 68 percent of people saying some or no -- all restrictions or some restrictions, how do you plan to go forward? And is it a situation where you might let the states decide if there is this public opinion change?
HOGUE: Mmm, yes. Thank you, Dana. I'm from Texas and so I'm very familiar with what happens when the state decides. It's, you know, similar to other freedoms and protections of people we've seen in this country without a federal guideline that affirms the fact that Roe should be legal. Many states already have decided that abortion should be criminalized. In fact, there are states with laws on the books right now that would make abortion the criminal act the minute Roe falls. And that makes women and doctors criminals.
And so we think that the federal protection is necessary. We also know that that number of people who say, in some circumstances, of course, right? It's a complicated issue. But when you poke (ph) out a little bit further, what we find is that people are very, very uncomfortable sitting in judgment. Every individual has a story and that most people are compassionate and recognize that allowing people to make their own decisions about their families is that compassionate and healthy choice.
PERINO: So back to the Supreme Court nomination. I take your point that what President Trump said in the campaign and then what he says now is that he's not going to ask the people that he's interviewed for this possible position.
But I want you to listen to two recent Supreme Court nominees and how they answered questions in Senate hearing about Roe v. Wade.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me whether Roe was decided correctly?
JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH, SUPREME COURT: Senator, again, I would tell you that Roe vs. Wade, decided in 1973, is the precedent in the United States Supreme Court. It has been reaffirmed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In your opinion, is Roe settled law?
JUSTICE SONIA SOTOMAYOR, SUPREME COURT: The court's decision in Planned Parenthood versus Casey reaffirmed the core holding of Roe. That is the precedent that the court and settled in terms of the holding of the court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So those two seem very similar to me. They're different from the ideological perspective. And if the new nominee actually were to answer it in that way, would that be satisfactory to you?
HOGUE: Because President Trump changed the rules of the game when he put a litmus test on the Supreme Court nominee, we think that there is actually -- we need an affirmative declaration, right? We need -- and I think even Susan Collins said this when she said she needs to see a nominees demonstrate their commitment to upholding Roe vs. Wade and keeping abortion legal.
PERINO: But even Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her hearing that she shouldn't be asked -- that she would never answer that because she would -- it's a hypothetical that she wouldn't answer.
HOGUE: Yes, and, actually, Dana, she did answer that. She declared affirmatively that she believed that Roe should be upheld. But she was speaking to what we now call the Ginsburg rule, was speculation on future cases that had not yet come before the court.
So we believe that actually what Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- and we have the clips -- said is, in fact, perfect, which is that women should be afforded this right to privacy, to make their own decision. It was decided in Griswold. It was decided in Roe. And it is absolutely what most Americans want.
PERINO: So I want to have people take a look at the ad that you have created. This is a full-page ad. I think it's running in many of the cities all across Maine because of pressure that you want to put on Senator Susan Collins. What other strategies and tactics are you going to try to use? And what -- at the end of the day, there will probably be a vote. How do you think it will go?
HOGUE: We are really trying to channel our members and the flood of calls we're getting into our office from people who aren't even our members into the senator's ear, which is basically to take President Trump at his word, don't vote to put someone on the court that will but Roe, overturn Roe and criminalize abortion. And we think that's a very compelling message for folks.
Do we think Susan Collins is the only person that needs to hear it? Absolutely not. I mean I think this is a real be careful what you wish for a moment for Republicans who have spent decades being able to campaign against abortion but are reading the same polls that we're reading, which is why you have Leonard Leo backing off, which is, most Americans actually really support this rule (ph).
PERINO: So what about red state Senate Democrats who are up for re-election? Will you be trying to, you know, run ads in their states as well?
HOGUE: Yes. I mean, absolutely. I think you're going to see a lot of constituents talking to their senators over the next couple of months, and that includes Democrats and Republicans. We don't actually see this as a partisan issue. We see it as an issue of constitutional human rights. And I think that when they hear from their constituents and when they look at the numbers in their states, be it on criminalizing abortion or on, you know, health care, which has become very popular, I think these senators are going to have to really do their job and listen to their constituents.
PERINO: Or -- or to may try to pass other laws, because if the Supreme Court justices can't find that in the Constitution, they would probably look to Congress as well.
HOGUE: Absolutely. They're -- they're going to have some tough decisions to make.
PERINO: Right. Ilyse Hogue, thank you for being with us today. We appreciate it.
HOGUE: Thank you, Dana.
PERINO: And all eyes will be on the president's announcement. That's tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m.
Up next, we'll bring in our Sunday group to preview that selection and what the president hopes to achieve in his upcoming summit overseas.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've spent the last three days interviewing and thinking about Supreme Court justices. Such an important decision. And we're going to give you a great one. We're going to announce it on Monday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: President Trump building suspense for the announcement of his second Supreme Court pick in two years.
And it's time now for our Sunday group. Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume. Columnist for "The Hill," Juan Williams. Fox News correspondent Gillian Turner. And former Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz.
Brit, it's a pleasure to have you here today. And wanted to ask you about Senator Mitch McConnell. He's taking a bum rap, right, for being this obstructionist, but don't the Democrats deserve some of the blame for the polarization on judges? If you go back to Bork, all the way through Harry Reid getting rid of the filibuster in 2013.
BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It has been hardball politics on Supreme Court nominations at least since Bork, and arguably you can go back before that. And that is a function of the fact that the Supreme Court has been the source, and the other courts as well, of so many of the victories that the left has claimed on policy for decades now. And a result of that had been, of course, is there's this huge premium now on the Supreme Court nominees and everybody on -- in the political branches has pulled out all the stops to see that they can get their nominees confirmed, or in the case of some blocked. And that's where we are and that is what Mitch McConnell has dealt with, that's what Harry Reid was trying to deal with. But when you get down to it, it is hardball politics all the way and has been for the longest time.
PERINO: And, Juan, conservatives have been galvanized around judicial issues for a really longest time. Democrats, not so much.
Look at what Brian Fallon, who is now with Demand Justice, said in the Washington Post yesterday. He said, if Trump succeeds in this confirmation fight, progressives will learn the hard way of the importance of the courts. It's unfortunate it might take that for the left to realize the courts are an institution worth fighting for.
Is the concern about a rightward shift in the court about to change that?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: I think so. I think even now you can see that the perception of a court -- and I think that's largely at stake here because you are going from Justice Kennedy, who was a swing vote. He's like a guy standing in the middle of the road, especially on social issues. Certainly a conservative. But when it came to social issues, I'm thinking here in specific of abortion rights, I'm thinking of gay rights, Justice Kennedy was open to this discussion. And I think the public could see that while he could be persuaded one way or another.
The potential here is for a very conservative justice to be put in place by President Trump that would really say to the public, no, the court really is a rubber stamp for a conservative social agenda. And I think that would be not only harmful in terms of public perception of the court, which people want to trust, but I think it would suggested that, to your point, liberals, or Democrats, have to -- would suddenly realize, they have to get as activated on this issue as conservatives have been in the past. Remember, the list that President Trump is choosing from is basically set by the Federalist Society. You had Leonard Leo, a clip from him on earlier. He's a key player in this. There is no such person on the left.
PERINO: And, Jason, as the midterms approach, I wondered what you thought about the energy around this. So it could be that Democrats decide to turn out to vote, but conservatives turn out to vote in this case as well. But a lot of this attention will be on the Senate. Do the Senate -- House Republicans run any risk of losing some focus and energy in that regard?
JASON CHAFFETZ, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN (R-UT): I think the enthusiasm gap goes the Republican's direction. One of the best things that Donald Trump did is put out that list of 20 plus nominees before he was elected. And that gave a lot of enthusiasm to a very conservative base that knew that the court has made critical decisions. And Republicans, notoriously, have made mistakes in this in the past. They've put up some nominees who didn't turn out to be quite so conservative.
So even though it's a House seat, they don't get a vote. It's the same base of voters that gets enthusiastic and actually shows up to vote, even in a midterm election.
PERINO: Well, we're going to continue to follow this, obviously.
I just want to ask, any of you, advice you would give to the Senate Democrats who are running for re-election? Vote early with the president or wait and see if Schumer presses them to not vote?
HUME: I think the key for them is what the two potential Republican no votes do. If Collins and Murkowski break against the nominee, that will give political cover to Democrats who were in tight re-election races to possibly do the same. If the Republicans hold, then I think the heat is really on those people to seat (ph) Trump's picks (ph).
PERINO: Yes, and then you can see like a 54 --
HUME: Yes, you'd probably get some extra votes, as was the case with Gorsuch.
WILLIAMS: But I would add that I think the Democratic base that we were just talking about, for the first time being activated on this issue, is pretty intense. So you get someone like senator -- I think -- Senator Hirono of Hawaii who said she's going to vote against every Trump nominee for any court as a result of this vote.
HUME: But she can -- she can do that because she's from Hawaii, which is a -- which is an absolutely outright blue state.
PERINO: Right.
WILLIAMS: Right, but I'm saying --
PERINO: But you can't do that from Indiana.
WILLIAMS: Even for red state Democrats, and here we're talking about like Joe Donnelly in Indiana, right?
HUME: A little bit.
WILLIAMS: I think that right now the previous vote on a Supreme Court, from a Trump nominee, OK, you guys go ahead, we understand, said the Democratic base, said Democratic leadership, like (INAUDIBLE).
PERINO: Right. I see what you mean.
WILLIAMS: On this one, I don't think that holds.
PERINO: They're not.
GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: There are no safe bets in this go-round.
WILLIAMS: Right.
TURNER: There's -- there's going to be a fight from Dems no matter which of the three or four, depending on how you're looking at it. There's no --
PERINO: It's going to be an interesting summer. Haven't they all been the last three years.
TURNER: All right, Gillian, I'm going to turn to North Korea with you on -- Secretary Pompeo gets back yesterday. He says, look, I slept very well. There's progress.
Do you see the North Koreans coming forward and saying it's regrettable, they treat us like gangsters, as just a bump in the road or a derailment of the process?
TURNER: I was thinking it's interesting you asked me that question because in my mind, earlier, what I was thinking to myself is, OK, is this -- is this a bump in the road or does this constitute a crisis? And I don't think anybody knows the answer yet. I don't think the administration -- I don't think Secretary Pompeo knows the answer yet. And not because he's not knowledgeable, but because I don't think -- it's going to take another few weeks for that to become apparent.
But one thing the administration is doing now is really circling the wagons. Everybody from Secretary Pompeo, the president, Heather Nauert, the State Department spokesperson, to Ambassador John Bolton, now national security adviser, they've got a message, and the message is to stay cool, calm and collected in the face of this, whatever -- whether it's a bump in the road or a crisis and to emphasize that it's a process and the process is ongoing and the process is on track.
The first thing that Secretary Pompeo said yesterday when asked about the foreign ministry comments from the North Koreans was, they can say whatever -- basically, they can say whatever they want to the press, but the process is ongoing.
Look, we've already got our next meeting set up.
PERINO: Yes. Yes.
TURNER: It's on July 12th. So this is going forward.
HUME: Somewhere along the way, early in this process, Mike Pompeo's over there and he's talking to these North Korean leaders and he get the idea that something is really different this time. He may be right. He may be wrong. So we get -- we move forward. We get to this point. The North Koreans come out with all of this bluster. Pompeo seems serene about the whole thing.
So the question, it seems to me, the way to access this is, who do believe? Do you believe these North Korean spokesman, or do you believe Mike Pompeo? In this case, in terms of how this meeting went, I'd be inclined to believe Pompeo, which is by no means to say that all of this is going to end very well and they will denuclearize.
TURNER: Right.
HUME: I think that still remains a long shot.
PERINO: I think they're very clear-eyed about what they're dealing with.
Juan, let me ask you about another meeting happening this week. President Trump will go to a NATO meeting and then he'll have a one-on-one meeting with Putin. What do you think the president wants to accomplish in that meeting?
WILLIAMS: Well, with Putin, I think Syria's the number one issue, Dana. And the question is about how the Russians play a role in the Middle East. Are they, in fact, in -- linked inevitably with Iran?
And you heard some of this from Senator Graham in your earlier interview, where the idea is that you have to be quite clear with President Putin that the United States sees him as an antagonist and someone who's stirring the pot and indirectly supporting Iran's support of terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East.
So this is not in our interest. The question is, how do you get him -- how do you break that linkage? I think that's what Senator Graham was coming to, making it clear to them.
And the second part of it -- and I was surprised to hear Senator Graham say this, you've got to be quite direct with them about interference in our elections. And we can't get President Trump yet to say directly, hey, Putin, stop it.
PERINO: We'll see what he says.
What did you make of the questions about Turkey and what the Congress might do? The frustration, as I understand it, on The Hill is very high.
CHAFFETZ: No, it is, because, look, on the one -- one hand, we've delivered, I believe, it's two F-35's on their way to nearly 100. But at the same time, Turkey is now signaling that they may want to purchase those S-400s, which is -- with, you know, the interoperability in interacting with our NATO allies is pivotal to this.
So Erdogan is going to be there for a long time. I'm glad Senator Lindsey Graham was there.
But this all comes -- it's multidimensional chess here. And going back to Juan's point, I want to make this really quickly, about -- about Putin. I do think Donald Trump is right, the president needs to have a good working relationship. But people on both sides of the aisle want to see President Trump take a much tougher stance with Vladimir Putin and say, you can't meddle with our elections, you can't be doing what you're doing in Syria and we are going to stand our ground. And right now you've -- all you've seen from Donald Trump is acquiescing to Putin and saying, well, you know, you can take Crimea because, you know, they speak Russian. That makes no sense to a lot of us.
PERINO: Brit, presidents go on foreign trips. They usually -- it's high-stakes. My theory is, there's always something happening at home that then you have to try to deal with so you're working overtime. But how important is this trip for President Trump at this point in his presidency?
HUME: Well, it's a big deal both for the first part of the trip and for the Putin visit. All eyes will be on the Putin visit because of the suspicion held to this day in many quarters that he really has a -- has a -- has a desire to really snuggle up to Putin and permit -- and he thinks Putin can be a great ally and partner of his.
I've -- I've long thought that's fanciful, but I think he believes that.
PERINO: Right.
HUME: And -- and his behavior toward Putin on this and the body language and all of it is going to be very interesting to watch.
And the other thing, of course, is, will he have a smooth and harmonious meeting with the -- with the allies ahead of that? That's an open question. So it's a big deal.
PERINO: Gillian, we have 30 seconds left. What do you think, on that point, do you think that this -- I think -- my -- I believe that it will probably be smoother than we think, but who knows.
TURNER: Same issues are on the table as the last -- as the same -- the last time we have this conversation a year ago. It's the Syrian civil war, like Juan said. It's election interference, cyber warfare and start two (ph).
PERINO: All right.
TURNER: Those are the issues they've got to talk about.
PERINO: Well, thanks, panel. We'll see you next Sunday.
Up next, our "Power Player of the Week." The rising star in the Republican Party bringing new ideas and leadership to Congress.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Millennials have become the largest segment of our workforce and are becoming the largest segment of U.S. voters. And while they are very negative about Washington, as we told you last November, one of their own is trying to change that.
Here's our "Power Player of the Week."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. ELISE STEFANIK, R-NEW YORK: No, I wasn't scared. I wanted to get some accomplishments under my belt.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX ANCHOR (voice over): That's Elise Stefanik, explaining why she turned me down for a "Power Player" profile three years ago, when at age 30 she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
STEFANIK: I wanted to make sure that my first impression to my colleagues is that I am a workhorse, I invest myself in learning about the policy issues and I add substantive ideas to the discussion.
I rise today in strong support of the conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act.
WALLACE: Representing Fort Drum in upstate New York, Stefanik is a member of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. And as a Republican, she wrote a change to Obamacare that President Obama signed.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There you go.
STEFANIK: I wrote and passed the largest fix to our health care law and my first term.
We need a new direction.
WALLACE: Running on the slogan new ideas and new leadership, Stefanik campaigned on people's frustration with Congress.
STEFANIK: I would ask every group that I met with, raise your hand if you think Washington is broken. Every hand would go up.
WALLACE: Part of her answer, use technology and transparency to make Congress more accountable.
STEFANIK: I use the example of posting votes on FaceBook. That's using a new tool to reach out directly to constituents and hear back from them on every single vote. That something every member should be doing.
WALLACE (on camera): Is there any pinch me quality of that you are a United States congresswoman?
STEFANIK: There are pinch me moments every day when I walk in and see the Capitol Dome.
WALLACE (voice over): Stefanik started in politics a while ago.
STEFANIK: I ran for student council secretary in sixth grade and I ran on the platform of bringing a snack machine. And that is very popular among --
WALLACE (on camera): I was going to say, I figure you won.
STEFANIK: I won.
WALLACE (voice over): She worked two years in the Bush 43 White House on domestic policy.
STEFANIK: And that's the approach I'll bring to Washington.
WALLACE: Then in 2014 she ran for Congress.
WALLACE (on camera): How much pushback did you get? You're too young, you're too inexperienced?
STEFANIK: I got a lot of pushback initially. Very few people took me seriously. Paul Ryan actually was one of the individuals that encouraged me and gave me great advice. You have two ears and one mouth, use it in that ratio. Listen to what voters concerns are.
WALLACE (voice over): Stefanik won her swing district by 22 points. And in 2016 was re-elected by 35 points.
WALLACE (on camera): Is it true that when he first got here you got stopped a lot?
STEFANIK: I did. And I still get stopped about once a month going back and forth to the floor to vote. And if I wasn't wearing my pen, there would be many votes that I would have missed.
WALLACE (voice over): Stefanik is not just young, she's a maverick, often bucking the party line. She voted against the GOP tax bill in November because it eliminates the state and local income tax deduction important to New Yorkers. And that's not all.
STEFANIK: I've introduced the Republican resolution that climate change is happening and we need to find a solution.
WALLACE: While Stefanik has had an impressive start in Congress, she doesn't plan to be there forever.
STEFANIK: I do think institutionally Congress benefits from having a churn of new members and new ideas. So I don't see myself being here for 25, 30 years.
WALLACE (on camera): But maybe 15 or 20?
STEFANIK: I don't know. I'm thinking, you know, every two-year cycle. I need to go out there and make sure that I continue to earn the support from my constituents.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PERINO: Now Stefanik is trying to get more women to run for Congress. As the head of recruitment at the NRCC, she has worked to nearly triple the number of female Republican candidates running for office this cycle.
And now this for a programming note for you. Be sure to tune in next week as "Fox News Sunday" heads to Helsinki. Chris will kick off Fox News coverage from their ahead of the summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
And that's it for today. Have a great weekend and we'll see you next "Fox News Sunday."
END
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