Federal investigations examining Biden family business dealings

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Federal investigations examining Biden family business dealings

Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy gets the president-elect’s reaction on 'Special Report'

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report" December 11, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening. Welcome to Washington. I'm Bret
Baier. "BREAKING TONIGHT", President-elect Joe Biden's first reaction to
the latest news on federal investigations into his son Hunter's taxes and
overseas business dealings. Also, President Trump calls it the big one.

Many legal experts are highly skeptical, but his supporters see it as
perhaps the last best chance to change the results of last month's
election. Either way, the paperwork in the Texas case is before the U.S.
Supreme Court tonight. We could have a decision from the court about
whether the justices will hear that case at any moment.

But first we begin with the latest on the coronavirus vaccine. The White
House is putting serious pressure on the head of the Food and Drug
Administration to give its final approval tonight, so the process of
getting the shots to Americans can begin.

Let's begin with Kristin Fisher at the White House. Good evening, Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Evening, Bret. Well, even though
this vaccine has been developed in record time, this emergency
authorization process still is not moving fast enough for President Trump.
That is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration.

And today, President Trump compared the agency to a turtle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER (voice-over): President Trump made it very clear how he feels about
the FDA commissioner in a tweet Friday morning. He told Dr. Stephen Hahn,
"Get the damn vaccines out now" and "stop playing games and start saving
lives."

Then, a few hours later, The Washington Post was first to report that White
House chief of staff Mark Meadows gave Dr. Hahn an ultimatum. Authorize the
Pfizer vaccine today or resign. Fox is told that report is not entirely
true, while Dr. Hahn is describing it as an untrue representation of the
phone call with the chief of staff.

He claims he was simply encouraged to continue working expeditiously on
authorizing a vaccine as the daily death toll in the United States
continues to top three thousand.

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: At the end of the day,
what the American people needs to know is the FDA has and will only make
decisions based on their independent judgment of science, evidence, and the
law.

FISHER: Today, President Trump also pressured the Supreme Court to hear the
case from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which now has the support of
the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and 125 other Republican members
of Congress.

KEN PAXTON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS: But it's not some new thing that
state versus state lawsuits have to go to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's the
only place we can go, we have no other place to go.

FISHER: Paxton and 18 other Republican attorneys general are asking the
Supreme Court to temporarily block next week's Electoral College
certification in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Democrats say the president and his allies are trying to invalidate
millions of votes in four battlegrounds that Joe Biden won. And even some
Republicans like Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander have a problem with it.

SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): Texas is a big state, but I don't know exactly
why it has a right to tell four other states how to run their elections.
So, I'm having a hard time figuring out the basis for that lawsuit.

FISHER: This morning, President Trump asked the Supreme Court justices to
show great courage and wisdom and save the USA. But in the same tweet, he
also referenced a Biden administration that the president says, "will be a
scandal-plagued mess for years to come."

When asked if that statement should be interpreted as a concession the
White House deputy press secretary said this.

BRIAN MORGENSTERN, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: He is still
litigating his case in the courts and looks forward to that process playing
out. So, I wouldn't read too much into that or characterize it the way that
you did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: Now, the Supreme Court is under no hard deadline to issue an order
on this Texas lawsuit. But presumably, the justices are going to want to
act facts -- fast. Because remember, Bret, the Electoral College meets on
Monday, just a few days away.

BAIER: Kristin Fisher, live on the North Lawn. Kristin, thank you.

Coming up shortly, Mike Tobin in Kalamazoo, Michigan where the actual
Pfizer vaccine shots, the stockpile is right now to start rolling out to
your town very shortly.

Also, David Spunt wraps up our week-long series on the vaccine by looking
at how Operation Warp Speed really did live up to its name.

Also, tonight, President-elect Joe Biden's first reaction to the latest
news on federal investigations into his son Hunter's taxes and business
dealings. We'll also show you how Attorney General William Barr may be in
some hot water with President Trump over Barr's actions concerning this
matter.

We have "FOX TEAM COVERAGE" tonight. Mike Emanuel tells us where the
investigations are headed. First up though, Peter Doocy, who was asking the
questions today that prompted Joe Biden's reply. Peter joins us as he often
does, from Wilmington, Delaware. Good evening, Peter.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret. President-elect's
prepared remarks didn't have anything about the Hunter Biden investigation
in them and there is no formal Q&A set up. So, when he was ready to leave,
I used my outside voice inside the theater to get his attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY (voice-over): Fox News just got the first direct response from the
president-elect about the federal investigation into his son's tax affairs.

Did Hunter Biden commit a crime? Have you spoken to your son, Mr.
President-elect?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm proud of my son.

DOOCY: Biden's brother, Jim is caught up in a separate federal
investigation concerning a rural hospital business he's linked to,
according to POLITICO, which reports, Jim Biden's name has come up in
questions with witnesses.

The president-elect doesn't tell many detailed stories about his siblings,
but they were influential enough on his upbringing to be a major part of
his pitch.

BIDEN: It's all about ordinary people like my mom and dad, like my brother
and sisters -- my sister and my brothers who I was raised with.

DOOCY: As the Biden Cabinet takes shape, the Congressional Asian Pacific
American Congress is concerned, putting out a statement today, "For the
first time in over two decades, we are facing the possibility that there
might not be a single AAPI Cabinet secretary in a presidential
administration. Let us be clear: that outcome is unacceptable."

That kind of pressure doesn't seem to register with Biden, who recently
spoke about civil rights groups lobbying him.

BIDEN: Look, it's each one of these group's jobs to push, push their
leaders to make sure there's greater diversity.

DOOCY: And the president-elect himself is highlighting his hiring of
Katherine Tai to be U.S. trade representative.

BIDEN: If confirmed, she'd be the first Asian American and the first woman
of color to serve in this position.

DOOCY: Today, Biden also officially introduced Susan Rice as director of
the Domestic Policy Council, a job that doesn't require Senate
Confirmation.

SUSAN RICE, FORMER UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: We are here to
get hard stuff done.

DOOCY: As Obama's national security adviser, Rice infamously blamed the
deadly Benghazi terror attack on a YouTube video. Today, nobody mentioned
that.

BIDEN: And she knows that I'm really thrilled, she was willing to come
back, be at my side in the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: Right before Biden spoke, the transition team hosted a briefing via
Zoom. Five reporters were called on for questions, zero asked about the
Hunter Biden investigation. Fox News has still never been selected to ask a
question at one of those zoom briefings or at the more formal Q&A press
conferences during the transition. But as we saw today, he still hears our
questions. Bret.

BAIER: So, you're saying there's a chance. All right, Peter. We'll keep
trying, thanks.

Also breaking tonight, we take a look at just how much was known concerning
the investigation into Hunter Biden before last month's presidential
election. And the report raises questions for the president's attorney
general. There's also new information about exactly what is being
investigated.

Senior political correspondent Mike Emanuel has specifics tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MIKE BRAUN (R-IN): Sure, we'll hear more about it. I think Hunter
Biden will have to stand on the merits of his case.

MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At a
time when many lawmakers are concerned about China's influence on the next
administration.

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): What other connections do they have into China?
You know, we may only just have really been looking at the tip of the
iceberg.

EMANUEL: Former Hunter Biden business partner, Tony Bobulinski, claims he
had two face-to-face meetings with Joe Biden in 2017 after his time as vice
president.

Bobulinski says Joe Biden was trying to convince him to go into business as
CEO of a venture with a Chinese energy company.

TONY BOBULINSKI, FORMER ASSOCIATE OF HUNTER BIDEN: Why at 10:38 on the
night of May 2nd, would Joe Biden take time out of his schedule to sit down
with me to have a discussion about his family and my family, and business
at a very high level?

EMANUEL: The Wall Street Journal reports, Attorney General Bill Barr, knew
about the numerous investigations looking into Hunter Biden's business and
financial dealings since at least the spring, and worked to keep the probes
out of public view during the election.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general declined to comment, Barr signaled
in May, he wanted the criminal justice system to stay out of partisan
politics.

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: It is critical that we
have an election where the American people are allowed to make a decision.
We cannot allow this process to be hijacked by efforts to drum-up criminal
investigations of either candidate.

EMANUEL: A key ally, President Trump says that was unfair.

REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): A.G. Barr -- I mean, the excuse will be, hey, look,
we didn't want to influence the election. Well, you know, what you did, you
influenced the election by suppressing very important investigations.

EMANUEL: A Biden campaign surrogate says the attorney general acted
properly.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): He was following the rules of the Department of
Justice. Did he follow the rules? That's a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: Some Republicans are already calling for a special counsel to
investigate these Biden family business dealings, expressing concern the
next president's attorney general won't be able to do it fairly, and
worried that U.S. attorneys digging into these matters could be replaced.
Bret.

BAIER: All right, Mike, thank you. More on this with the panel.

Coming up this weekend, Tucker Carlson talks with former associate, Tony
Bobulinski. You can see that special coverage, Saturday, 5:00 p.m. Eastern
and Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

Republican lawmakers are calling for a closer examination of Chinese
influence on members of Congress. This comes ahead revelations of ties
between a California Democrat and a woman accused of being a Chinese spy.

Correspondent Gillian Turner has tonight's update. Good evening, Gillian.

GILLIAN TURNER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Bret.

Democrat Eric Swalwell is under fire tonight for allegations that he may
have been compromised by a person who is suspected of being a Chinese spy.
Someone who is known to target politicians and may have been a honey trap
planted by Chinese officials.

This incident is highlighting just how ubiquitous Chinese spying operations
inside the U.S. have become in recent years. There are potentially
thousands, thousands of operations currently underway.

Take a listen to former CIA station Chief Dan Hoffman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN HOFFMAN, FORMER CHIEF OF STATION, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: If you
think about Chinese intelligence officers, they're operating in Washington,
D.C. and at the consulates in San Francisco, in New York, and Chicago, and
Los Angeles. We call the Trump administration for good reason, close
China's consulate in Houston. They are, you know, ruthlessly focused on
conducting espionage in this country.

TURNER: Tonight, GOP Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, filed a complaint
with the House Ethics Committee, urging the panel to immediately open an
investigation into the Swalwell matter.

The threat from China is one that lawmakers say is real and growing more
dangerous.

REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): Look, this is the tip of the iceberg at this
point. That's been a year on the China task force, and it is in our
universities' students, its research institutions. We really need to get a
handle on this.

TURNER: Swalwell himself is maintaining innocence. He insists the
accusations about his ties to alleged spy Christine Fang are a political
hit job.

JIM SCIUTTO, CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Are you concerned
that you shared any information with this person before you were notified
by the FBI?

REP. ERIC SWALWELL (D-CA): Well, I know that I didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Chinese recruiting of U.S. lawmakers is a story really came back to
light back in 2018, when POLITICO broke that the Chinese intelligence
services have recruited a staffer who worked at of Dianne Feinstein's
offices based in California. Bret?

BAIER: All right, Gillian, thank you.

The U.S. Senate has now cinched up with the House to approve the final
version of the defense policy bill. The vote was 84 to 13, well above the
two-thirds threshold needed to override a potential and threatened veto by
President Trump.

It will now have to be sent to the White House to get signed or vetoed.
We're told tonight it's not there yet. The COVID relief talks are stalled.
Tonight, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, says Democrats are pushing
for state and local government rescue money, instead of funding for aid
distribution networks. The negotiations have really fallen apart in recent
days.

The Senate has passed a one-week government funding bill to avoid a
possible shut down of some government services at midnight tonight. The
House passed that measure on Wednesday.

Stocks were mixed today. The Dow gained 47. The S&P 500 dropped five. The
NASDAQ lost 28. For the week, the Dow was off a bit, more than a half
percentage point. The S&P 500 was down almost a full point, the NASDAQ lost
two-thirds.

Up next, we'll take you live to the center of the coronavirus universe
right now. The place where all of the vaccine is being stored, at least one
of them, and prepared for distribution.

First, here is what some of our Fox affiliates around the country are
covering tonight. Fox 12 in Portland, as a gentrification protest that has
blockaded several city blocks continues despite police orders to shut that
down.

The street behind the blockade in the neighborhood of homes, coffee shops,
restaurants, laced with booby traps, including homemade spike strips, piles
of rocks, and thick bands of plastic wrap stretched at neck height across
the roadway there.

Fox Five in New York as prosecutors and lawyers for movie producer Harvey
Weinstein agree to postpone efforts to send him to California to face
sexual assault charges there. Weinstein appeared via video from prison
today before a judge who set a new date of April 9th for his extradition
hearing.

And this is a live look at Seattle from Q13 Fox, our affiliate out there.
One of our big stories there tonight. For the first time in the 30 years,
the Tacoma Police Department makes changes to its shop with a cop program
because of COVID-19.

This year, children will not be running down the aisles of Target with
officers. Instead, officers will bring the toys and clothes directly to
those kids.

That's tonight's live look "OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY" from SPECIAL REPORT. We
will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Almost 107,000 people in this country were hospitalized as of
yesterday with the coronavirus. That's up at least 18 percent in the past
two weeks. Another 2,900 deaths were reported Thursday. The U.S. fatality
count now stands near the 300,000 mark, globally. It's approaching 1.6
million.

A top coronavirus adviser to President-elect Joe Biden says there should be
no Christmas parties this year. Michael Osterholm, also says Americans are
facing a COVID siege for weeks to come despite the progress on a vaccine.

Speaking of that right now, the center of the coronavirus universe when it
comes to the vaccine is Kalamazoo, Michigan. That's where Pfizer's giant
manufacturing plant is, and it's ready to roll out the first batches of
that vaccine to the American public.

Senior correspondent Mike Tobin is there tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the walls of
Pfizer's massive facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan could be the beginning of
the end, millions of doses of a vaccine for COVID-19. Once the FDA approves
the emergency use authorization, shipments can begin in 24 hours.

AZAR: We could see vaccinations beginning on Monday or Tuesday, depending
on when FDA gets everything signed.

TOBIN: The vaccine must be kept super cold, almost negative 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, requiring a sophisticated cold storage chain. Each shipment
will have GPS enabled thermal sensors to report location and quality of
each shipment. Shipping giant's UPS and FedEx are in charge of getting the
vaccine to their points of use.

JIM MAYER, SPOKESPERSON, UNITED PARCEL SERVICE: We've informed all of our
drivers across the country what's in those boxes and how important it is
and so our goal is to have 100 percent accuracy in delivering those.

TOBIN: By air and ground, the vaccine is headed to 636 distribution points
across the nation. Kits with syringes and saline for administering the
vaccine have already arrived at places like Methodist Medical Center and
Parkland hospitals in Dallas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we receive that vaccine that morning, we're
planning to begin vaccinating that afternoon.

TOBIN: Priority for the initial vaccines will go to health care workers and
at-risk populations like people in nursing homes. As approvals are expected
for vaccines produced by companies like Moderna and Johnson and Johnson as
well, the White House testing czar says hundreds of millions of doses will
become available in December and January.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are
very confident by the May, June, time period that any American who wants a
vaccine will have a vaccine available. So, this is going to be extremely
rapid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN: One of the concerns with distribution of the vaccine is a potential
for theft. U.S. marshals will accompany some shipments, six states are
enlisting the help of the National Guard. Colorado, Kansas and South
Carolina to name a few are keeping cold storage locations secret for
security reasons. Bret, back to you.

BAIER: Mike Tobin and Kalamazoo. Mike, thanks.

The development of the COVID vaccine, several of them, really was warp
speed compared to other development efforts. In tonight's final segment of
our special look at the vaccine, we examine how it was done so quickly, how
it was achieved, and whether this sets a new standard for American science
in the future.

Here is correspondent David Spunt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's called Operation Warp
Speed.

DAVID SPUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Within one year,
Americans learned of a pandemic and began receiving a vaccine for that
pandemic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And a little feeling of pressure?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE: I'm not a big
fan of the term, Operation Warp Speed because it gives the impression that
the safety trials are being rushed. They're not.

SPUNT: Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine developer with Baylor College of Medicine
began tracking a vaccine 11 months ago.

HOTEZ: My first response was we got this. We can do this. Because it was
similar enough to all the research and development we had done for other
coronavirus vaccines.

SPUNT: The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines tout efficacy rates of 95 and 94.1
percent respectively.

CRAIG SHIRLEY, HISTORIAN: I think honest historians will look back at this
time with astonishment.

SPUNT: Historian Craig Shirley, says this moment is our industrial
revolution of the late 1800s.

SHIRLEY: America has always led the world in the development of new ideas
on human rights and new ideas in technologies, new ideas on (INAUDIBLE)
research.

SPUNT: The record pace of the vaccine according to experts will no question
up the ante for future vaccine development. But next time, Dr. Hotez wants
to see better communication to keep the public informed and confident.

HOTEZ: Too much of the communication's been left to the pharma CEOs, and
that communication's not been as strong as I would like. So, I think we
have to pick that up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPUNT: Expect the communication strategy to change when President-elect Joe
Biden takes the oath of office next month behind me. He's appointed Dr.
Anthony Fauci as his chief medical advisor on COVID-19, as millions of
Americans become inoculated in the coming months. Bret.

BAIER: David, thank you. Good job this week. Still ahead, our "WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO" segment on a very explosive event. We'll explain.

But up next, charges that the mainstream media and big tech conspired to
bury the Hunter Biden investigation story before the election. We'll take a
look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I think it's very outrageous that the fourth estate would choose
to ignore facts when they are uncovered by Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: The mainstream media and social media both playing catch-up tonight
on the Hunter Biden federal investigation. Those institutions are being
called out for what appeared to be a censorship campaign in the waning days
of the presidential campaign. Details now from Fox News media analyst and
host of Fox's "MEDIA BUZZ", Howard Kurtz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS MEDIA ANALYST (voice-over): When The New York Post
broke the story about a Hunter Biden's laptop, many news outlets either
ignored or played down the allegations.

NPR's managing editor even said, "We don't want to waste our time on
stories that are not really stories." Others dismissed it as medley by
Moscow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rudy basically functioning as a Russian asset by
pushing Russian disinformation.

TIFFANY CROSS, HOST MSNBC: You have said this entire thing is so obviously
a Russian plot. It is to me, and I was never even ambassador to the Russian
federation.

KURTZ: Fox News took flack for following up including with an ex-Biden
business partner on an attempted deal in China. Bobulinski spoke at great
length with Fox's Tucker Carlson about his alleged face-to-face
interactions with Joe Biden. And when a reporter asked candidate Biden
about the story --

BIDEN: Another smear campaign right up your alley.

KURTZ: The tone was far different than the saturation coverage after
allegations involving Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, or Jared Kushner.
Now, the press is taking Hunter Biden's foreign deal making more seriously
after he confirmed in a Biden transition statement that preempted an
inquiry by CNN that the Justice Department is investigating his taxes. The
President-elect son says he acted legally even after some history of unpaid
taxes.

But even now the story getting very limited air time on MSNBC and CNN. Some
news organizations are being more aggressive. The New York Times said
today, this is a no-win situation for Joe Biden that could range from a
distraction to legally perilous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: One important distinction to question during the campaign was
whether Joe Biden was involved in his son's business dealings. And The Wall
Street Journal and Fox's News division found no evidence of that. But as
the probe intensifies, the media's challenge is to hold the Biden family to
the same journalist standard as with President Trump and his children.
Bret?

BAIER: We'll see. Howie, thanks.

In tonight's "Whatever Happened To" segment, the New Zealand island volcano
eruption that happened a year ago, but, believe it or not, the effects are
still being felt tonight. Here is senior foreign affairs correspondent Amy
Kellogg.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MATT UREY, SURVIVOR: I remember every single detail. I remember the
burning, the blackness, the pain.

AMY KELLOGG, FOX NEWS SENIOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Matt and Lauren
Urey had been on a Honeymoon cruise when they took an excursion to New
Zealand's White Island. They were among those horribly burned when the
volcano erupted a year ago this week. Lauren can't perform her lab
technician job anymore because her right hand has lost mobility. Matt has
burns over more than half-his-body.

M. UREY: As tragic as this event was, we are 100 percent one of the
luckiest -- two of the luckiest people on that island. We still have each
other.

KELLOGG: Twenty-two people died from their injuries, remembered in a solemn
ceremony on Wednesday. The government safety regulator has laid charges on
13 entities, including tour operators and the National Geological
Monitoring Center, charging they should have known the danger given the
seismic activity ahead of the eruption. Paul and Mary Singh from Georgia
died, leaving behind a 12-year-old and seven-year-old twins. Their family
and the Ureys are suing Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for failing to
discourage or cancel the excursion to White Island, as the Ureys continue
to search for silver lings.

LAUREN UREY, SURVIVOR: And truly, as cheesy as this may sound, he and I
have grown closer together because of this. Our love for each other, I
didn't think it could get like any stronger. But each day I fall more and
more in love with him, and he is truly my best friend.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

KELLOGG: And New Zealand's prime minister had a message this week to those
lost and grieving the tragedy on White Island, saying you are forever
linked to this place and our nation, and we will hold you close. Bret?

BAIER: Amy, thank you.

We have breaking news right now out of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme
Court has rejected the Texas led effort to toss out election results in
four key states that Joe Biden won. Again, that is a rejection to take up
this case. The Supreme Court just issuing that statement. This was, as
President Trump called it, the big one, the case that was going to wrap in
everything Trump supporters holding out hope that this could be the case
that the Supreme Court would take on its merits and actually argue before
the court. That is not happening.

FOX News chief legal correspondent, anchor of FOX NEWS AT NIGHT Shannon
Bream tells us what's the decision by the justices. Good evening, Shannon.

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening, Bret. We just have a couple
of paragraphs, and this is how they spell it out. They say "The state of
Texas' motion for leave to file a bill of complaint, this state-by-state
controversy they wanted to bring to the court directly, it says it's denied
for lack of standing. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable
interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections,
saying Texas was claiming here the way that these four other states
conducted their elections and changed things at the last minute, they --
Texas accused these states of exploiting the pandemic to change things like
witness verification, signatures, voter I.D., those kinds of things. The
court here basically is saying they don't have a cognizable interest, a
legal challenge that we can weigh in on here.

There's a statement by Justice Alito. Justice Thomas joins him in this and
says in my view we do not have the discretion to deny the filing of a bill
of complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction. So very
few of those cases that go straight to the Supreme Court, but state versus
state is one of those things that happen there. They say they grant the
motion to file the bill of complaint but wouldn't grant other relief and
don't express their views on other issues.

Essentially what it means here for Texas is that they don't get to move
forward. This case is done. You are don't have enough. You would have
needed five justices to move this thing forward. So, Texas' last ditch
effort to go after those four states and nullify, which essentially would
have been I think about 39 million votes of other people in those four
other states, it's not going to happen. The states et all, said Texas has
no right to do it. And for now, the Supreme Court says this is the end.
That case is going nowhere. We're not going to get involved. And Texas
essentially does not have what they need here, which is a cognizable
interest. And they have a lack of standing. So, the case is done. This is
it, Bret.

BAIER: That was the big one.

Let's bring in Jonathan Turley, professor at George Washington University
Law School. Shannon, stand by, if you would. Jonathan, we talked earlier
this week about the Pennsylvania case that the Supreme Court did not take
up and decided to not move forward, to essentially hear that case,
forecasting, perhaps, that they really were not in this on these cases.

However, how it's written does not foreclose any other pending or future
election case coming before them. There are a few more irons in the fire.
But the electors vote on the 14th.

JONATHAN TURLEY, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Right. And so, we're right
on the eve of that vote. This is very similar to what happened in the
Pennsylvania case. The White House was only able -- Texas was only able to
secure two justices. And that was primarily on technical grounds, that they
had to really hear this case, not because of the merits but because of how
it came before the court. Obviously, the other justices, seven of them,
disagreed even on that point.

And so, this is as dead as Dillinger. And the question is, can these other
remaining cases still have a chance to make a difference? Tonight, we also
had word out of the Wisconsin Supreme Court that they will review a
challenge in that state. But that is just one state. And we are now not
only running out of runway, we are running out of time.

BAIER: Yes. Shannon, bring you back into this conversation as well. Running
out of time, but also, as Jonathan points out, you need to have multiple
states for the president to essentially take those electoral votes away
from Joe Biden, and they are going to vote on Monday, they are supposed to.

BREAM: And that was the whole goal with Texas, going after big ones that
would have really helped the president, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
and Wisconsin. So, it was very targeted. It was very smart to go after
those states, which all of those electoral votes, had they flipped to
President Trump obviously would have changed everything.

So now we do have these state level challenges. There is one in Georgia
that was filed in state court that folks think has some life to it. But,
again, that takes a lot of time to proceed through the state court system.

Wisconsin Supreme Court has announced that they are going to hear -- they
are skipping the appellate level there in Wisconsin. They will actually
hear oral arguments tomorrow, noon local time there in Milwaukee, to move
forward with a case in Wisconsin. So those are two critical, key states.

But as for Texas trying to go after four states at once, that math is not
going to happen because this case, as Professor Turley has said, this is
the dead end for it. So now we're left with these collection of state
cases. They're also running out of time and out of landing space, as
Professor Turley has said, but they are still active.

BAIER: Yes, let's bring Kristin Fisher at the White House. Kristin, the
president had put a lot of eggs in this Texas basket. He talked about it a
number of times, including at a Christmas party at the White House, saying
this was the big one. Your thoughts about what is going to be the reaction
out of the White House? He has tried the state legislatures. It has not
worked. The cases seemed to have stopped. There's a few more, as we
mentioned, but this was one that he talked about a lot.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, as you just said, this is the
one that he called the big one. Bret, I'm really watching the president's
Twitter feed right now, because he has tweeted at least twice today about
this case, really putting a lot of pressure on the Supreme Court, and,
perhaps, particularly, those three Supreme Court justices that he appointed
to the high court. He said, he tweeted to them today, to do the right
thing, to have courage, have wisdom. He even told them to save the United
States of America.

So President Trump has really made it no secret that he thought the Supreme
Court should take up this case, but now this is definitely another legal
blow for the president, his legal team, his campaign, and his effort to
overturn the outcome of this election. And now you have the Electoral
College meeting on Monday.

But, Bret, it really remains to be seen how much further President Trump
intends to go, because, as of today, he has tweeted multiple times about
this. So, we will see. But as of now, no response officially from the White
House, the president, or his legal team just yet. But we are watching it,
Bret.

BAIER: Yes. And obviously the politics of all this, as the Georgia runoffs,
there's still the Senate control hanging in the balance on January 5th, and
how that plays, all of this, in that is very important.

Last word, Jonathan Turley, on this. It seemed like these legal challenges,
some of them constructed in a way that the judges, some of the judges at
least when they looked at them said I need more meat on the bone, as far as
evidence that the votes were stolen or fraudulent.

TURLEY: That's right. This Wisconsin appeal to the Supreme Court, which is
skipping an appellate stage, does look at these concrete allegations, about
221,000 ballots that are being challenged in two largely Democratic
counties. But with this decision it's hard to see if that was successful
that it would make any difference, obviously, with the balloting coming.

Part of the problem that I think that we are seeing is that many of these
cases are being thrown out on standing or procedural grounds. And there are
a lot of voters out there who believe that this election was not fairly
done. And they don't feel like the evidence has been scrutinized. So, I
think the Supreme Court decision is going to fuel that objection, because
this was made as a threshold procedural issue. Texas simply cannot sue to
get other states to change their view of their own laws or practices.

BAIER: Jonathan, the fact that they are not even moving forward to hear it
suggests that, does it not, that the Supreme Court is kind of laying down a
marker, that you have to get over this certain point in order not just on
standing for Texas but on the Pennsylvania case as well?

TURLEY: That's right. These were not close calls for the Supreme Court. The
Pennsylvania case didn't have a single dissenting justice. It was dismissed
had 40 minutes after that last brief was filed.

So, these are really troubling developments for the Trump legal team. They
have never if he would terra firma in any of these cases. They have never
been able to really move this litigation forward. But this is a huge blow,
because the president obviously has been talking about it. There are six
conservatives on the Supreme Court, three Trump appointees. And they are
not -- they don't have animus towards the president. A majority, obviously,
does not have that animus, the Republican appointees. Three of them were
appointed by him. They just don't see the law here. They don't see the
credible legal argument. And that's why this came out the way it did.

BAIER: OK, stand by, if you would. Let's bring in our panel early. Charles
Hurt is opinion editor for "The Washington Times," Jeff Mason, White House
correspondent for "Reuters," and Bill McGurn, columnist for "The Wall
Street Journal,"

Jeff, I want to start with you. Kristin mentioned it. We are obviously
watching this Twitter feed very closely for reaction. You cover the White
House every day. You've heard the president talk about this election that
he won and saying, again, that this was the big one, the Texas lawsuit.
It's not moving forward. Where do you think the president goes from here?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Well, it's a significant
blow, for sure. And he did not win the election. It's important to clarify
that, but he has been fighting to overturn the election. And this was -- he
had put a lot of hope in this, and I think Kristin was right to emphasize
the fact that not only has he been putting legal resources into this, but
he has been verbally pressing the justices via Twitter and via his public
remarks to help him out.

And three of the justices on the Supreme Court, it's also worth noting,
have been appointed and nominated, I should say, and confirmed via this
White House and from President Trump. And I think he clearly thought that
maybe that was going to help him, and it hasn't.

BAIER: Yes. Charlie, there were 18 state attorneys general, 126 in the end,
Republican House members who signed on to this effort with amicus briefs to
the court. That did not sway these justices.

CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "WASHINGTON TIMES": Yes, a couple things. One
thing that I think is very important is that it cuts both ways. This also
puts a lie to the charges that a lot of Democrats levied against President
Trump that he was trying to put people on the court who were just going to
rubber stamp whatever he wanted. And it proves that President Trump, when
he selected the people that he put on the Supreme Court, he selected people
who were independent-minded and willing to look at things from a legal
standpoint and not from a political standpoint. So, I think that's a really
important thing to remember at this moment.

Certainly, this case was the best, biggest case that the president was
holding out hope for. And it ends this legal wrangling of this case. But it
doesn't end the political wrangling of this case. And the president still
has a lot of political -- a lot of political room, and he will continue to
make the argument that there were real problems with this election. The
pandemic -- exploiting the pandemic to start this mass mail-in voting
drive, which raises lots of concerns, and I think probably caused a lot
more opportunities for fraud in the election than in a regular election.
All of that is going to continue. And we're going -- and that's a very
healthy, important political fight to have. It's just that that is now
going to be in the political realm as opposed to the legal realm.

BAIER: Right. I guess the question is where is the judge that said, yes, I
agree that all of this happened and, yes, I'm siding with the Trump
campaign on everything that they're laying out here? He the legal battles
met and end when they made it up to the top. Obviously, he's got, as we
mentioned, a few irons in the fire, but the Supreme Court has not taken up
any of this as of yet.

Bill McGurn, you are a former speech writer. You've -- if you're looking at
the situation now, and you're President Trump ahead of this January 20th
inauguration that is moving forward, the electors meet on Monday, what are
you doing? And how are you phrasing this for, perhaps, the good of the
country, even though a lot of your supporters believe they were somehow
gypped?

BILL MCGURN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: We don't know what President Trump is
going to do. He has earlier suggested if the Electoral College went against
him, he would accept that. So, the question is, is that what he is going to
do? Or is he going to continue to complain that the election was stolen?

Look, from the beginning, I didn't dismiss the allegations of
improprieties. I think things like mail-in voting were a problem. I think
that states like Pennsylvania changing their ballot deadlines, I believe
unconstitutionally, because it's supposed to be by the legislature, they
should have been taken seriously and examined. But I also had believed from
the beginning it wasn't going to affect the outcome, and that's what we
have now.

And it is telling that a Supreme Court with six pretty orthodox
conservative justices on it didn't even take the case. You could make an
argument maybe they should have taken the case and dismissed it for
standing, but the fact that they felt comfortable not doing that I think
tells you that they really didn't see any merits to the case.

Charlie was right about these justices. One of the big differences, I
believe, between the more liberal and more conservative justices is that on
the conservative side, we take process arguments very, very seriously. We
don't just go to what outcome we want and then find the reasoning. And I
think this was dispositive for the justices in not taking this case.

BAIER: I want to go back to Shannon Bream for a second. Shannon, we talked
about the Pennsylvania case that was really dismissed -- wasn't taken up by
the Supreme Court. There was one element of Pennsylvania that was really
never resolved, and that was the delay of the ballots after receipt, after
Election Day that Justice Alito wanted separated and counted separately. We
weren't sure whether all of the places actually did that. Where does that
stand tonight? Is that done?

BREAM: As far as we know, that's still sitting at the Supreme Court. That
has had filings from both sides. You rightly note that order that came out
from Justice Alito a few weeks back after the election, because that case
was filed before the election because already the secretary of the
commonwealth there had said we're going to accept ballots that come in
after 8:00 on election night through Friday. She did that unilaterally
without the state legislature, which the Constitution says they are the
ones to make the decision.

Well, the state Supreme Court there in Pennsylvania actually signed off on
what she did. They upheld that. So, it went to the Supreme Court. Along the
way, they were supposed to be separating those ballots, keeping them secure
and not counting them. Well, word got to Justice Alito that that wasn't
happening, and he sent out a blistering order, like, hey, we expect you
guys to respect this while we still have not ruled on the merits of this.

Now, a lot of folks think the Supreme Court again will eventually close up
that case and not get involved because there's probably not enough of a
high enough number of ballots that fall into that category to actually
affect the outcome, the overall outcome in Pennsylvania. But it's still
sitting there at the Supreme Court at this hour.

BAIER: Charlie, to your point, there are issues here that have to be
resolved before the next election. This is one of them, mail-in ballots and
how they are dealt with. But whether there is enough to overturn enough
electoral votes before Monday, boy, it's going by the wayside now.

HURT: Without a doubt. The window has been closing for weeks now,
obviously. And it's a tall order, without any doubt. But I do think it's
interesting that the Supreme Court declined to hear the case on standing.
That doesn't address the merits, necessarily. And, the other issue that I
think you just brought up with Shannon about the way in which some of these
alterations were made to the different state elections, and the federal
government, the Supreme Court does have an interest in those cases where
states changed the rules of the election in a way that disenfranchises
certain voters without disenfranchising other voters, and it becomes a
matter of fairness, and whether or not the legislature itself made those
changes or were those changes made my fiat, by governors, or by other
actors in the state government.

And those are all very important issues. And as you point out, I think it
is fertile ground for President Trump and Republicans to continue this
fight no matter what happens in the next couple of weeks.

BAIER: Jonathan Turley, is it, though, is it, when you look at the good of
the republic, where we are, you have Republican governors signings
certification. Doug Ducey in Arizona, a Trump ally, getting a lot of heat.
Obviously, Brian Kemp in Georgia, the Republican governor taking a lot of
incoming down there, certifying that election after several recounts in
Georgia. At what point is -- there aren't that many avenues as you talked
about. Your thoughts?

TURLEY: Well, first of all, some of these officials have been treated
really quite poorly and unfairly. They are trying to do their job. And they
have been upheld by judges and now justices, including Republican
appointees. I think people need to understand that the political and legal
convergence here is obvious, that the president could well accept the
results, obviously, of the Electoral Colleges, as he said he would, and
still say that he believed that the election was stolen.

Part of the problem is that many of these have been threshold decisions,
like tonight, that you simply don't have the standing to bring the case.
That's not going to relieve the concerns of millions of Americans who felt
that the election was unfair. And we're going to see it playing out in the
future regardless of what happens. It seems exceptionally unlikely that any
change in this election is going to unfold in the next few days. There have
been discussions of having a fight in Congress and getting these
legislatures to stop their certification. All of that is even less likely
than this case, which was exceptionally unlikely to succeed.

But I think we should also keep in mind the heavy burden here. Judges did
acknowledge that be they were legal orders. They did find votes that were
not counted. They did find problems in how this was done. The biggest
problem other than standing was the relief being sought. Some of the
judges, including the one in Pennsylvania, said these voters make a
legitimate claim their vote should have been counted. I just can't get from
there to the point of saying my relief will be not to count millions of
other votes. And that has been one of the biggest problems that they have
faced.

The other problem has been something called laches, which is basically
saying you waited too long, that as many of the complaints that are raised
in this last effort in front of the Supreme Court involved changes that
occurred many months ago. And a lot of these judges have said, why now? Why
are you bringing this to us now after the election has occurred?

BAIER: Jeff Mason, just trying to get into the mind of the president as he
looks at this result. You have the electors voting on Monday. You have
January 6th, accepted in the House and the Senate, the official, official,
and then obviously January 20th. The word was that he's going to announce a
reelection bid possibly on Inauguration Day or somewhere around it. Do we
have any more granular details about next plans?

MASON: I think they're still in flux, Bret. You laid it out well in terms
of those dates, but I don't think, despite how big of a blow this will be
and is to the president, that that means he is going to give up. And I
think that's true with the Electoral College vote on Monday as well. He did
say he would leave the White House if the Electoral College votes for
Biden, but he did not say he would concede. And there is a difference.

So I think he will continue to keep up this challenge. As far as whether or
not he announces a reelection bid, I think they're still sort of figuring
that plan out. And it wouldn't surprise me. As someone who has covered
President Trump for four years, I think that he will certainly not leave
this White House saying that he feels like he lost -- that he lost the
election, and instead he'll say it was rigged and that he is going to want
to come back. But that decision hasn't been made, to my knowledge yet, and
that's is something that we will be watching closely.

BAIER: Bill McGurn, for Trump supporters, obviously this is a major
disappointment. But they have seen several major disappointments. One that
they didn't see the Durham investigation come to fruition before the
election. They didn't see it delivered. Now they're finding out more
information about Hunter Biden and all that we covered here ahead of the
election. However, it wasn't picked up by a lot of the media before the
election, and now there are questions about why the investigation didn't
move forward before the election.

So, where do you think that all stands as you get ready for this next
administration, starting with an investigation of the president-elect's
son?

MCGURN: I feel sorry for the poor soul who is named A.G., because that's
going to be a challenge, a Biden Justice Department investigating Joe
Biden's son. That's a real problem for people going ahead. So we'll see how
Joe Biden handles it.

I hope it means that he'll finally be asked serious questions. You
mentioned earlier, this is not just people that missed the story. This was
people that deliberately turned their backs on the story. We had, I think,
50 will national security officials, former officials say this was Russian
disinformation. "The Post" ran their story and then it was suppressed on
Twitter.

I'm hoping some of them come around, because one of the reasons they do it
-- Joe Biden just this week avoided a question, they stepped in front of
the cameras and prevented her from having to answer a question about
Hunter. One reason they can do that is because they know the rest of the
press corps won't follow up. They'll let them get away with it. So we'll
see if that's going to be a luxury Joe Biden enjoys once he's sworn in.

BAIER: Charlie, we had the transition team put out the statement of Hunter
Biden about acknowledging this federal investigation on transition
paperwork. And, yet, there were zero questions besides Peter Doocy yelling
from afar to Joe Biden today.

HURT: Yes, that's got to be historic first. And all of the questions that
we are talking -- the legal questions we are talking about today about what
happened during the election, none of that even touches on these very
important issues that you're talking about here, which is the months and
months before the election, in terms of whether or not this was a free and
fair election, it's kind of hard to, when you look at the behavior of the
media and the way they treated a lot of these stories, it's pretty hard to
say that the whole system was made for a free and fair election.

One final point that I think is also important is, people talk about
President Trump, whether President Trump will concede or not or whether he
will continue to claim that the election was stolen from him. And people
grasp their pearls and get all upset about it, and they say that it's bad
for democracy. I could not disagree more. I think it's a very healthy
debate. And if you look around and you listen to some of these affidavits,
read some of the affidavits and listen to some of the accusations that have
been made against election officials in these states, it's clear we have a
very big problem.

And granted it's probably not a problem that just started this time. We've
had a problem for a long time with these elections. And for every vote,
every illegal vote that gets counted, that disenfranchises another voter
somewhere else who had a legal right to vote. And so I totally disagree
that somehow this is somehow a bad thing for our country, debate for our
country to be having. President Trump should be making this argument. He
should be making it forcefully. And we should make real changes to the way
we do elections in response to this debate.

BAIER: OK, Jonathan Turley, I just want to turn back and hear your thoughts
about the Hunter Biden investigation and the challenges for the incoming
A.G., whoever that may be. And obviously we don't have that will person's
name. We heard Doug Jones, former Alabama senator, was possibly one of the
people, Merrick Garland, who was not put on the Supreme Court because of
the Senate action. Your thoughts about the challenge there as this federal
investigation plays out?

TURLEY: Well, I think either Jones or Garland would be a wonderful choice.
They bring stability. I think Sally Yates would actually make the case that
Trump is looking for for a self-pardon. That could trigger a self-pardon,
at least an excuse for one.

I had lunch with Bill Barr yesterday. And with all of the drama swirling
around him, he remains the only immovable object in this swirling universe.
He is quite resolute and confident about his position. I think history will
be very kind to him. I think it will vindicate the actions that he has
taken. It's notable there was no leak about the Durham special counsel.
There is no leak about the Hunter Biden investigation. He did exactly --

BAIER: But it also didn't come to fruition.

TURLEY: Well, we now have an investigation, though, that's going forward,
and he thus far has kept it out of the news.

BAIER: Yes. Jonathan, thank you. Everyone, thank you, breaking news
tonight.

Thank you for inviting us into your home tonight.

END

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