'Special Report' on infrastructure vote falling apart

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Biden agenda suffers blow as infrastructure vote falls apart

'Special Report' All-Star panel reacts to House Democrats pushing back the vote

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report" on October 28, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BAIER: Dan Springer in Roma, Texas. Dan, thanks.

Up next, the panel on the latest in the spending negotiations and the Virginia governor's race. First Beyond our Borders tonight. Moscow enters a new coronavirus lockdown as cases and deaths there surge to record numbers. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a nonworking period for most businesses because of coronavirus. Restaurants can provide only takeout or delivery service. Some venues are limited to those showing proof of vaccination or recovery from coronavirus.

And South Korea's spy agency estimates North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has lost 44 pounds. The National Intelligence Service says Kim remains healthy and is trying to boost public loyalty to him amid worsening economic problems. Spy agency with the weight update there.

Just some of the other stories Beyond our Borders tonight. We'll be right back to Capitol Hill, as you look at the steps here. They are going to wrap up this second interim bill, a band-aid bill to re-up the highway programs because they can't vote on the infrastructure bill tonight. Once that vote is done you'll see a max exodus on these stairs from House members. It's all punted to next week. The panel analyzes, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Well, up here on Capitol Hill, we are waiting for the mass exodus after the vote we just talked about because there is not an infrastructure vote. There is not one happening tonight. They have pulled the plug. It's going to happen, they say, next week, but that's not locked in because there are a lot of moving parts. You had the president pleading with Democrats to get together and give him a vote as he is on Air Force One heading to two big summits over in Europe. And he wanted that. He is not getting it, at least not tonight.

Let's bring in our panel, Jason Riley, "Wall Street Journal" columnist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, Leslie Marshall, Democratic strategist, and Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com, host of "The Guy Benson Show" on FOX News Radio. Guy, I'm sitting here with Congressman Dean Phillips. We are getting word that it's all falling apart and they're not voting, and he is disappointed and can't believe that they went through all this today and didn't finally get the vote.

GUY BENSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM: This is an embarrassment for the Democrats. There's no getting around that. They were raising expectations at the leadership level. We heard the president making a direct appeal. There was talk about a vote today, giving him a victory in hand as soon as he lands in Europe. And that's not going to happen. It's not going to happen tomorrow, it sounds like. Maybe it will happen next week.

And one piece of this, Bret, it's all a Democrats show. They run Washington right now. The one thing that might help Nancy Pelosi in the coming days is a handful of Republicans in the House who want to vote for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. I think that conservatives across the country would urge those Republicans, even if on the merits you support the infrastructure bill, it has been linked inextricably by the Democratic leadership to this monstrosity, the Build Back Better plan, and to throw a lifeline to the Democrats when they clearly still don't have the votes within their own caucus, I think would be a massive miscalculation. But it was another rough, ugly day for the Democrats in Washington.

BAIER: Yes. The House just voted to pass that interim until December 3rd for the highway programs as expected. But obviously no big vote, Leslie. What about what Guy just said there, the linkage of those two bills and the progressives who said we are not voting until we see the text, until we know that it's going to pass, until we know that Senators Manchin and Sinema are not going to block some elements of it. That linkage caused the vote on the infrastructure bill to fall apart.

LESLIE MARSHALL, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Listen, I have said from the beginning you just can't have all of this. You need to have this separate. Infrastructure, that's a bipartisan win for the president, win for the country, win for our abyss mall infrastructure system, when you have so many Republicans saying we are on board of with this.

I'm a centrist, I'm a moderate Democrat, you guys all know that. And I kind of feel like the progressive faction is holding the party hostage, especially when a lot of their demands or requests have been met. You heard Speaker Pelosi say and you said rightly as well, Bret, they wanted to know the text. They've got the text. They wanted to have these two together. They have these two together. They wanted to have climate change. They get climate change.

I think really who is leading the march on this Bernie Sanders because he doesn't like what is happening with the lowering of prescription drug prices. And you just can't have -- President Biden is accurate. I think we all know that when you are in a meeting and you're in a negotiation, everybody walks away from the table getting something they want, but everybody also walks away leaving something on the table. And I just don't think the progressives realize this.

BAIER: That is exactly what the Virginia Democratic nominee for governor said about this whole thing and about what's happening over all. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN YOUNGKIN, (R) VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: Let me tell you what is happening right now, because I just happened to see a new FOX poll. Are you ready? Youngkin, 53, McAuliffe 45. That's Virginians coming together.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, (D) VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We are going it win this race. "Compromise" is not a bad word. They just need to do their job and quit prancing around. Get in a room, get this passed. We need help here in the states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Yes, and they are not getting in a room, Jason. And as mentioned, in Buena Vista, sorry for the mispronunciation earlier, in Virginia, Glenn Youngkin referencing that poll, and let's so he it. And it is a massive shift in just a number of days, and that is Glenn Youngkin on top 53-45. We will put it on the screen. And then the president's job approval rating is also upside down in that race in Virginia. And all of this, Jason, is contributing to this problem for Terry McAuliffe right next door to the capitol that is dysfunctional.

JASON RILEY, COLUMNIST, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes, it is, Bret. The democratic playbook these days is to try and turn your Republican opponent into a stand-in for Donald Trump. I don't know that it's going to work in Virginia. It might. Virginia has not elected a statewide Republican in a long time, so it could work.

But Youngkin is not a Trump-kin. He is not someone who has embraced the former president's tactics and language and persona and so forth. So we will see if it plays out. But I think he has tapped into something, Youngkin has, that Republicans would be wise to replicate nationwide. This issue of education was being taught to our children, it's something that is resonating with a lot of voters, particularly those suburban voters that Republicans are interested in bringing back into their ranks.

And so I think even if this is a close race, even if Youngkin doesn't pull it out but is close in pulling it out is something that a lot of Republicans should pay attention to, how he is running this campaign and what is resonating with voters all over the country.

BAIER: Guy, just to come back full circle here to Capitol Hill, it's hard to overstate this moment today. We are watching the Biden presidency struggle, struggle to get the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate to do what they want them to do, anything before he goes on this trip. He pleads with them and says my presidency, the midterms are on the line. And those were his words.

BENSON: Yes, and then this happened. It all sort of fell apart. I still think they are going to get something done here. It would be such a cataclysm for them politically not to. But it has been a very bumpy, rocky road. It doesn't seem like the president really has the juice. And the Democratic congressman that you just spoke with there on Capitol Hill, he actually referenced back to Virginia and the polling over there where in our new poll, double digital lead for Youngkin among independents, parents, on the economy, on crime, up eight on education, even up one on COVID. If those numbers are anywhere close to reflective of the electorate on Tuesday, it would make sense that Glenn Youngkin sounded so confident today on my radio show, and Terry McAuliffe has seemed so bitter and desperate the last week or two.

BAIER: Good plug for the radio show there, by the way, Guy.

BENSON: Got to get it in there.

BAIER: And he said, by the way, the president, "I don't think it's hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week." We will see what happens next week.

When we come back, tomorrow's headlines with the panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, a look at tomorrow's headlines with the panel. Leslie, first to you.

MARSHALL: Arizona Democrats confirm they didn't vote for Senator Sinema to ignore constituents, vote against free community college, and have photo- ops with Republican senators like Mitt Romney. They're fed up. They've had enough. And they're strongly seeking her replacement.

BAIER: All right, how about that? Jason?

RILEY: Crime in New York city increases after vaccine mandates for police are implemented. I think we could see a real backlash here in these vaccine mandates for first responders, police, firefighters, and so forth. Cities have already seen uptick in crime, problems in recruiting, and so forth. And I think these vaccine mandates could only exacerbate that situation.

BAIER: All right, Guy?

BENSON: Mitt Romney breaks the Internet with his Halloween costume as Ted Lasso. This is A-plus content. It's very on brand for Mitt Romney, from Jason Sudeikis, who once played Mitt Romney on "SNL."

BAIER: It all comes full circle. It is pretty funny to look at.

All right, panel, thank you. Tomorrow on SPECIAL REPORT, we will cover the president's trip, the European trip, and what all this means on Capitol Hill, for all of that. It's been quite a day.

Thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. That's it for the SPECIAL REPORT, fair, balanced, and unafraid. "FOX NEWS PRIMETIME" hosted by Brian Kilmeade, and I'm standing outside Capitol Hill. Brian?

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