'Special Report' on Democrat negotiations on spending agreement

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Democrats work to finalize scaled back spending agreement

All-star panel joins ‘Special Report’ to discuss Biden’s climate change agenda ahead of G20 summit.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report" on October 26, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D-NY) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It's worth the sleepless nights. It's worth the long weekends. This is our job. And this is a moment. It may be a moment that doesn't come back again. I believe a final deal is within reach.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN, (D-WV): The reason I said maybe we should take a strategic pause and reevaluate what we are doing, a lot of the things that are in this reconciliation bill, a lot of the things there we had covered in the ARP, American Rescue Plan at $1.9 trillion.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R-KY) SENATE MINORITY LEADER: They do not have a mandate to do this. This is a 50-50 Senate, a three-seat majority in the house. The American people are not asking for any of this.

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BAIER: A lot is up in the air tonight up on Capitol Hill as far as how this is all going to come together for Democrats. Republicans are not playing ball on these two pieces of legislation as of yet. And we have to see what's going to develop this week. It's been changing by the day, really.

Let's bring in our panel, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for Reuters, and Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com, host of "The Guy Benson Show" on FOX News Radio. Guy, it's been interesting to watch. These pay-fors have changed. We just learned of a new minimum corporate tax today that was rolled out as part of this plan. It's anybody's guess whether this is going to get across the finish line.

GUY BENSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM: And what it will look like if and when it does. There are all sorts of noises coming out of leadership today on the Democratic side on Capitol Hill that they were getting really close, 90 percent there, hours away. And then we had reports coming out of internal meetings that the Democrats were holding suggesting that there was some really big ticket items where they still did not have a resolution.

And so I sort of wonder if they were trying to manufacture momentum here and eventually force the hand of recalcitrant members to say, all right, we have to do something, we have set arbitrary deadlines, we are not going to set another one, although I don't know if that's actually going to work.

I ultimately think that this dance is going to continue for a little bit longer. When the music stops, I would be shocked if they didn't pass something out of a sense of political necessity. But what it looks like, what it entails, how much it costs, my guess is as good as yours.

BAIER: Yes, and one interesting signal is that Speaker Pelosi walking through the hall, followed by reporters as she often is, was asked if progressives signed off on the deal to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill even though, Jeff, there is just a framework perhaps on the reconciliation bill. I know we need a white board to follow at home, but there are these two bills. And she said, I think there is, I think there is enough momentum and sign-off.

Meanwhile, the head of the Progressive Caucus said no, we have dozens who are going to vote against us if they don't have a deal in place. There's a lot of mixed messages coming from Capitol Hill.

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "REUTERS": There are. There is another piece to calculus. There's a possibility that if Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Pelosi, went ahead with that vote on the infrastructure bill, even if some Democrats didn't vote for it, that some Republicans might. I was speaking to a Republican source, or listening to a Republican source last night who said there was actually significant Republican support for that infrastructure bill as long as it's not tied to the reconciliation bill.

So there is a big political calculus there. But obviously, the larger issue for President Biden and the Democrats is he is going to Glasgow this coming weekend for a global climate change conference and wants to have a victory in hand because a big chunk of both of those bills has to do with climate change. And if he arrives there without a deal and without something that he can show the rest of the world, this is what the United States is doing, it will undermine him on the world stage.

BAIER: Bill, they keep on talking about that, and the president is flying, I think, 12 cabinet members and some other staff over to Glasgow for this climate summit?

BILL BENNETT, FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY: Yes, this is a huge issue for the Democrat Party, but it's not as if people in the other countries don't read the newspapers, and they will realize that whatever effort here is made is a last ditch effort. I don't know what's going to happen, but I can tell you if something does pass, it's not likely to be workable.

Look, this is a falling and failing presidency, and the people in Glasgow are going to know it. The polls are terrible for president Biden, and with good reason. Look what's happening outside the ocean at Long Beach, the Taiwan confusion, the border. How about this for science? If you fly in from Europe and those people in Glasgow, a lot of them are going to be from Europe, you have to be vaccinated. But if you're an undocumented alien coming across the border, you do not. In what way does this make sense? Inflation, on and on it goes. People in Glasgow know this, and some victory that is going to be implausible on its face is not going to save the day for the president.

BAIER: Meantime, the president tonight, Guy, will be campaigning for Terry McAuliffe who has had luminaries on the Democratic side coming in to really try to help him because it's very tight. The latest poll is a Suffolk poll out, and we thought we would tick through these. It is McAuliffe 46-45. Do you approve the job the president is doing, 52-42 underwater there. Should parents or school boards have more influence on a school's curriculum, parents 50-39. And what about right track, wrong track for the country -- wrong track, 66 percent. All those numbers not a good sign for McAuliffe.

BENSON: And This is the fourth consecutive public poll that shows this race tied exactly. I have heard through the grapevine that the Youngkin people on the Republican side, their internal trackers show roughly one or two points ahead, at least as of a few days ago. We'll know one week from tonight what actually happens in Virginia.

It strikes me as a clash of fundamentals. On one side the fundamentals of the electorate in Virginia absolutely favor McAuliffe and the Democrats. It is a blue state. All the other fundamentals about elections, the national atmospherics, the president's unpopular, Virginia's Hispanic, the momentum in this race, those things favor Glenn Youngkin. Something is going to prevail, and we will find out soon enough.

BAIER: Jeff, is it a canary in a coalmine? Is this race, is it fair to put it in that category about looking very closely at a broader picture for 2022? Jeff?

MASON: Is that for me?

MASON: I'm sorry, Bret. I didn't hear you say my name. The White House doesn't think it is. They are trying to play it down, or at least they are not saying that they think it is. But broadly, everyone is going to be looking at that, of course, and that's one reason why this race is so significant. It's really important to the Democrats and to the White House to say, look, our neighbors down the street here from the White House are supporting somebody who shares the same vision and the same agenda that President Joe Biden does.

BAIER: Bill, I have got to run. We heard the "it is." Noted. Thank you very much.

When we come back, using golf to help American military veterans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, as we near Veterans Day, the PGA of America is helping the nation's heroes using the game of golf to salute those who serve their country. It's part of the charitable arm of the PGA of America, PGA Reach. The veteran's part of the program is called PGA Hope. Lucas Tomlinson shows us this evening.

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LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Veterans from across the country traveled to our nation's capital last week to play a round of golf at a historic congressional country club. The PGA Hope program helps veterans improve physically and mentally through golf.

SR. AMN JARED FOREST, U.S. AIR FORCE (RETIRED): I have been shot at. I've hit IEDs. When you are going through, obviously you are scared to death. PTSD is a real thing.

TOMLINSON: Chief Warrant Officer Two Gabrielle Potter was introduced to PGA Hope after a motorcycle accident.

CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER TWO GABRIEL POTTER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Everything was kind of taken away. I couldn't walk. PGA Hope gave me the opportunity to compete again.

TOMLINSON: Retired Master Sergeant Christina Olivarez says her last assignment in the Army left her in a dark place.

MSGT CHRISTINA OLIVAREZ, U.S. ARMY (RET): We were giving the families closure.

TOMLINSON: Olivarez worked as a legal death investigator in the mid-2000s, focusing on soldiers who died in combat.

OLIVAREZ: I also had my best friend come through, and we did the autopsy on him. And that became very difficult.

TOMLINSON: Olivarez turned to the PGA Hope program, and week by week began to feel herself again.

OLIVAREZ: After all this time, I'm laughing again. I'm smiling. My cheeks are.

TOMLINSON: The 20 veterans will now serve as ambassadors for PGA Hope.

SGT. FC DEBORAH MARTINEZ, U.S. ARMY RESERVES (RET): It's a lot easier when you say hey, there is someone out there that looks like me. If she is doing it, I can do it.

TOMLINSON: With the goal of helping other veterans through golf.

FOREST: The camaraderie is something that doesn't go away. I don't care what branch you were in, when you served, what you went through. There is something there that we all share.

TOMLINSON: At the Pentagon, Lucas Tomlinson, FOX News.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BAIER: Full disclosure, I'm on the PGA Hope board.

Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT, Attorney General Merrick Garland testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. We'll have all of that. It could be fiery.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "FOX NEWS PRIMETIME" hosted by Brian Kilmeade starts right now. Brian?


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