Stephen Baldwin: Fixing ObamaCare will take time

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Stephen Baldwin: Fixing ObamaCare will take time

'The Fox News Specialists' react to news that Republican Senate leadership are postponing a vote on health care reform bill

This is a rush transcript from "The Fox News Specialists," June 27, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Eric Bolling along with Eboni K. Williams and Kennedy who is in for Kat Timpf today. We are "The Fox News Specialists."

A pretty wild day in Washington over the Senate health care bill, Republican leaders are now delaying a vote on the legislation until after the fourth of July recess. And underway, right now, Republican members of the Senate are at the White House meeting with President Trump about the health care after today's setback, President Trump addressing it just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're getting very close. But for the country, we have to have health care, and it can't be ObamaCare which is melting down. The other side is saying all sorts of things before they even knew what the bill was. This will be great if we get it done. And if we don't get it done, it's just going to be something that we're not going to like, and that's OK, and I understand that very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING: And that comes after six Republican senators indicated they would not back the bill in its current form, which would have left the bill, obviously, in a failure. You can only lose two. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell spoke out at the capital this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY., MAJORITY LEADER: It's an ongoing discussion, and members had -- several of them want more time. We have a number of different discussions going on. It's been going on for six weeks now and they continue. This is a big, complicated subject. If none of you have ever covered a big, completed bill, they're hard to pull together and hard to pass.

BOLLING: And Senate Democrats were quick to pounce on the new news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., MINORITY LEADER: The Republicans cannot excise the rotten core at the center of their health care bill. No matter what tweaks they may add in the next weekend and a half, no matter how the bill changes around the edges, it is fundamentally flawed at the center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING: All right. Eboni, I would disagree with the assessment that it can't be changed to the point where they can get the votes. But the reason why there was no vote today or this week is because they don't have the votes

EBONI K. WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Yeah, Eric, they're very, very far apart on this thing. And I think giving the senators only a week, we heard the president talking about the other side, but really -- this is really just the Republican side that's really far apart on this issue. I don't expect any Democratic buy in. And the good news is that the Republicans don't need it. Just like with ObamaCare they didn't need the other side here. But your friend Rand Paul, Senator Rand Paul, I think propose some pretty provocative legislation that said give us time to read the bill so this half a thing doesn't happen again.

BOLLING: Kennedy, I couldn't be happier that they sidelined this bill for a while. I'd love them to sideline it for -- I don't know, maybe even a year, get the tax reform, get to infrastructure.

KENNEDY, GUEST CO-HOST: Or perhaps eternity. The problem is for Republicans is they have tethered the idea of health care to tax reform. You and I both know how critical tax reform is for the economy and for families in this country. We've talked about in the past. Unfortunately health care is so divisive, not only between Republicans and Democrats, but obviously within the Republican Party. You have this razor-thin margin and concessions cannot be made to either side if the bill is going to survive the Senate and then move on to the house. But you're absolutely right, they have to figure out a way of doing tax reform, and forget about the midterms for a little bit. Get the economy on track because that equals victory.

BOLLING: Kind of even a win-win if you leave ObamaCare in place for a midterm election. This my two cents on that. But let's meet today's specialist. He is an actor, the author of the book the Unusual Suspects, and served on the presidential commission on civic participation for George W. Bush, and his specialty is cancer awareness, his mother's charity is the Carol M. Baldwin breast cancer fund, Stephen Baldwin is here. And he is a former public school teacher, he's co-chair of the state of California commission against hate crime, and he's a talk show host on 790 KABC AM Los Angeles, but his specialty is everything civil rights, Leo Terrell is here. Stephen, will bring you into this discussion. What do you think of the idea of letting ObamaCare live for another year or so? Go through that midterm election in 2018 with ObamaCare, so that the Democrats can't run on Trumpcare.

STEPHEN BALDWIN, ACTOR: I've got to slow down to go fast here, Eric, because I'm not as smart as everybody else on this table. I try to represent like the guys that had to become actors from Long Island, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: In a post-9/11.

KENNEDY: You and your three brothers.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Yes, Kennedy. But in a post-9/11, George W. Bush economy, etcetera, then comes ObamaCare. This is going to take time. This is going to take time. The struggle between the left and right about -- what's unfortunate to me is all you continue to hear in the messaging from those that oppose President Trump is negative, negative, negative, and that's just keeps helping him and hurting them. So if it's got to go a year, Eric, it's got to go a year.

BOLLING: It's got to go a year. Leo, I love playing the politics end of this, and letting ObamaCare fester for another year. Sorry, a lot of people, I get it, are going to pay a lot more. But then you don't lose the house in 2018 anymore because you keep tattooing the Democrats with ObamaCare, and then you work on it after that.

LEO TERRELL, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Eric, that's a political strategy. If you wait a year, you sign a death warrant to changing -- repealing and replacing ObamaCare. If the Republican Senates do not get this passage here it will never get past. You've got a majority in the house. You've got a majority in the Senate. For six years, Republicans talked about replacing ObamaCare. And you're telling me with this majority they can't do it. That tells you that there's a tension and a fight within the Republican Party. The fundamental question is simply this because the Republicans believe in assisting people with health care with government assistance. That's the war.

BOLLING: You're right.

TERRELL: That's the war.

BOLLING: How much? Yes, but to what extent? How much assistance is too much? How much assistance is not enough?

KENNEDY: And which people do you help? I mean, that is a fundamental question because the problem with ObamaCare is it seeks to help everyone with one-size-fits-all insurance. That is failing. There aren't enough healthy people in the system to prop it up. It's a pundit.

TERRELL: OK. OK. Then you had your six years, fix it. You've got the majority. The fundament problem again is this, do Republicans believe, like Rand Paul and conservatives, in any government involvement? I would submit to you that President Trump wants it and he's having problems with his own party. This is a Republican Party.

WILLIAMS: Leo, I think that's a very fair point. And I think it demonstrates just how far apart the GOP is on this. I say you've got certain people that are more moderate. They're constituents -- or they just need it, quite frankly. They need some of this government assistance that you're talking about. But then you have the more conservative, the more purist part of the base. The Ted Cruz, the Rand Paul that are not going to be satisfied. They can't go to their constituents and say this Obama-plus, Obama-lite, whatever you want to call it, is their answer. Their answer to what I'll say is a seven year promise that they made to their American base as well.

BOLLING: Let me throw one thing. I want to get to this sound bite because this will blow your mind in a second. But Stephen, if you're a Republican senator who may be against this bill, would you want to be tattooed with this moniker? Oh, so you don't want this Republican bill, therefore you want ObamaCare to stay.

BALDWIN: I'm going to keep it as blue-collar as I can in my mind. You know what I mean. It's a war. It's exactly like you just said. It's going to take time. Now either some members of this Republican Party are going to have to come around to avoid what you just said is the inevitable. You wait too long, it ain't going to happen. So I think you just have to -- President Trump is the kind of guy, he's talking directly to the American people now. So it's on them. It's on Rand Paul and these other people to do something.

WILLIAMS: If the president tables it, you know what, I think it was a mistake to move forward on this kind of first -- a month, the big policy challenges, let's do tackle -- is there a political cost to that?

BOLLING: I think there is, but not as great as it would be if you put the bill forward and premiums continue to rise. Democrats going to town halls all summer long prior to 2018 election going, look, this is worse than what we had for you. How can you not flip the house.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: But premiums are going to continue to rise this year, 2018, by 20 percent. And that's the CBO score on this. But, you know, you make a good point, Stephen. This is a war. And what are you fighting for in a war? You fight for freedom. So allow people to have freedom to get insurance across state lines. Allow people to make greater choices to have limited insurance if that's what they want. And perhaps that's what some of those 15 million want by opting out of government health care.

TERRELL: I have the ultimate question. I want to get Eric and Kennedy on this. Should the government be involved in health care?

KENNEDY: No.

TERRELL: See, there it is.

KENNEDY: No, no.

TERRELL: Eric, can I get you on the record on this?

BOLLING: You can get me on the record.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Leo, this is a purely libertarian point of view that you just heard. No government is better in all forms.

TERRELL: Right.

BOLLING: I would say I'm somewhere in between purely libertarian and conservative, where some government, some assistance, but certainly not to the extent that we're giving away the house on this. I don't like this.

TERRELL: And Eboni would agree that's called vague and being.

WILLIAMS: No, no, no. My question is can you talk about the going across state lines. And a lot of people who said that it is indeed the solution -- or a solution. But it is mysteriously absent in both the house and the Senate versions of these bills. Can someone understand and tell me why.

BOLLING: Because it hurts the insurance companies.

WILLIAMS: No, that's why.

BOLLING: Because they have to compete. When you compete, prices go down. When prices go down, the profit margins get skinnier.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: That's why.

KENNEDY: In all three forms, whether it's the ACA, the AACA, or the Senate version, it's all crony capitalism. It's all a big entitlement not for Americans, not those most in need, but for these gigantic insurance companies. And they are in a death spiral. They are desperate. And that's why you're seeing companies like Anthem saying in a desperate last stand, OK, we like this version. We'll stay on some of these exchanges.

BOLLING: I want to get to this, Kennedy, and Eboni, and the panel. Here's what. So in order for this to work, I think you need bipartisan support. I think you need Republicans and Democrats.

TERRELL: Don't count on it.

BOLLING: I'm not counting on it.

WILLIAMS: But it would be nice.

BOLLING: It would be nice.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BOLLING: When you listen to something like this, you realize that's asking a whole heck of a lot. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT.: I know this is a sensitive issue, so I'm going to raise it. And that is that the horrible and unspeakable truth is that if this legislation were to pass... thousands of our fellow Americans every single year will die.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., MINORITY LEADER: We do know that many more people, hundreds of thousands of people will die if this bill passes.

SEN. AL FRANKEN, D-MINN.: One to 2,000 people will die if you cut 750,000 people from Medicaid. So that means you're killing 1,000 to 2,000.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

BOLLING: All right. Eboni, how are we going to get to the middle here and fix this problem? If we have Democrats, Pelosi saying hundreds of thousands of people will die if you go with the GOP.

WILLIAMS: Well, they obviously all read their talking -- the DNC talking points memo this morning. Also, quite frankly, I think Senator Sanders would be better served worrying about his own legal impending problems, quite frankly, and really shouldn't be the messenger on this.

BOLLING: Thousands of people, Bernie Sanders said. Pelosi said hundreds of thousands, Kennedy. Schumer says 1 to 2,000.

KENNEDY: You know what? At least they're not employing any hyperbole at all. No exaggeration. No hysteria. You know what? The crazy thing is we're all going to die. And they can't predict -- there's no way. And unless they're absolutely psychic and have a party line to heaven, they don't know who's going to die or when or how many people. I mean, that is such a fool's errand trying to quantify something that serious and grim.

BOLLING: They even, Leo. They even dusted off that old commercial, throwing granny off the cliff. They re-run that, again, with granny being toss -- granny is not going anywhere. Granny is not getting pulled off of health care.

TERRELL: Eboni is absolutely correct. These are talking points. Democrats should sit on their hands, closed their mouths, let the Republicans fight this among themselves, and that's what happening.

BOLLING: I would not argue with that political strategy. Your thoughts, Stephen, on the hyperbole here, can hundreds of thousands of people are going to die.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I mean, if pushing granny off the cliff again isn't a sign -- again, isn't a sign of these folks having to like -- kind of rehash some old videotape, you know, just to try to make their point? Listen, the more they oppose this president, negatively bash him, try to create all kind of news that's going to scare people, Americans now know the truth. They're seeing through it. In time, all of this forward motion by President Trump is going to come to fruition. Over time.

BOLLING: And Eboni, sometimes the saying, the phrase, is when your opponent is digging themselves in a hole.

WILLIAMS: Just let them.

BOLLING: Just let them.

WILLIAMS: Just let them, yeah. I think, Leo, the advised is being well serve right now. Democrats are doing more harm than good to themselves by coming out in this kind of desperate, obviously, pathetic, quite frankly, way. Let the GOP fight this internally. Hopefully they come up with something that's better for the American people. If they don't, then I think Stephen is right, it just won't get done. Because if it doesn't get done I think in the next year and a half, I think it's going to be very, very difficult because that's -- and Obama, right? I don't think he seriously took the advantage that he had that first two years to heart and he paid -- I think his presidency paid the price for it.

BOLLING: Yeah. And pushing it through, unanimously, with zero Republican votes in the house and the Senate. Your thoughts before we go? Ready to go?

KENNEDY: No, I mean, it just shows how hyper-partisan this is. I don't think Democrats and Republicans will ever work together, not on health care.

BOLLING: But maybe on tax reforms. And maybe on.

KENNEDY: Infrastructure.

BOLLING: . infrastructure. We can only hope. All right. A new showdown in Syria, the White House said Bashar al-Assad is preparing another chemical weapons attack, may be on his own people. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: The Trump administration issuing a blunt threat to Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, over chemical weapons. U.S. intelligence has uncovered potential evidence that the Assad regime may be preparing for another chemical attack. The regime is believed to have most recently used chemical weapons on its own people last April, leaving dozens, including children, dead. Earlier today, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley delivered an explicit warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: The goal is, at this point, not just to send Assad a message, but to send Russia and Iran a message. If this happens again, we are putting you on notice. And my hope is that the president's warning will certainly get Russia and Iran to take a second look, and I hope it will caution Assad from the fact that we don't want to see innocent men, women, and children hurt again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: OK, Eric, so we hear Nikki Haley there putting them on notice, being Russia and Iran, particularly, she's calling them out. But this gets back to this kind of tense triangle, rectangle here between us, Russia, Iran, and Syria. And I want to say that you said on this program before, we have to mind of prioritize defeating ISIS on this issue, but then some people who love the American first platform that president ran on are not happy with seeing this intervention in a Syrian civil war.

BOLLING: I'm glad Nikki Haley, U.N. Ambassador Haley, said heads up, Russia and Iran. We may be doing this if Bashar al-Assad kills some more of his own people with mustard gas or whatever gas he's using, we might attack him. This is such -- the Middle East is such a mess right now, especially Syria. So what happens? So Bashar al-Assad does this again for the 100th time, kills more of his own people, now we're supposed to bomb Syria again, maybe implicating Russia because they're already there. They say don't bomb Syria. And then North Korea is doing the same to his -- that crazy dictator in North Korea is doing the same thing to his own people. So then we're going to go get involved there? I do believe that North Korea is our issue. I don't think Syria is our issue. Humanitarian reasons, listen, there are so many humanitarian atrocities around the world.

WILLIAMS: Right.

BOLLING: Are we're going to get involve in every one of them will be spread -- I'm sorry, finite resources, we'll have none left.

WILLIAMS: So Leo, when Eric said this and a lot of people feel the same way, you know what, we can't save the world, we cannot be the world's police. Then they see the pictures and they get very emotional, and they feel there's a compelling reason to intervene. But does that intervention potentially undermine our ability to defeat and destroy ISIS with a Russian component and cooperation?

TERRELL: Absolutely. And I'm confused by what I just heard. So we're going to take action. So we sent 59 cruise missiles. Now we're going to send what, 61, 62? What is the endgame? You honestly believe that Assad is not taking action without Russia's approval? And the ultimate question, the elephant in the room is we're not going to do anything because Russia is supporting Assad. Assad is getting stronger every day. Thank you, Russia. That's the problem we have right now. The problem is Russia, not Syria.

WILLIAMS: Yeah. Do we need to pick our battles on this, Kennedy? Because we know that a regime change, removing Assad, that's not going to happen.

KENNEDY: You're absolutely right. Because what happen, you create another vacuum in the Middle East where yet another terror group can thrive. We couldn't conceive of something like ISIS when we were in the throes of al- Qaeda dominance in the Middle East. But then, you know, out of the ashes of the war in Iraq. But look what's happened in Yemen. Look what happened in Libya. Look what happened in Afghanistan. All of these places where we have intervened -- Afghanistan is our longest war. Is Syria going to be the next stop on that express? But I think Eric is exactly right. It's very difficult coming up with convincing reasons why we should continue intervening specifically in Syria, but more generally in the Middle East.

TERRELL: I'm blown away. So if you're saying no action, then play out the scenario. Assad stays in power and then what else happens in the Middle East? Let me hear the conclusion because I haven't heard it yet.

KENNEDY: OK. Let's say that Assad is removed from power, then what happens?

TERRELL: You and I know on this program Assad is not going to be removed as long as Russia is there. You know that and I know that.

BOLLING: We continue to focus on ISIS. We eradicate ISIS. It pops up something else by ISIS -- ISIS 2 somewhere else. But we don't have an involvement in rebuilding Syria. What are we going to do, rebuild Syria now, too, if we do remove Assad?

KENNEDY: We can't afford health care in this country, so we're going to go rebuild Syria because we've done such a bang up job in Afghanistan?

TERRELL: So you're saying do nothing. I'm just to make sure we're on the record

WILLIAMS: Let's get Stephen in here, your thoughts on this because this is the debate going on across the country.

BALDWIN: I'm probably going to get in trouble for this one, but I'm a little too old-school. When I stole money for my mother's purse, first it was a dollar, then it was three, then it was five, right? You don't stop guys like Assad, you don't stop a Kim Jong-un, you know, these boys go out and -- give an inch, take a yard, peace through strength. Do I want 61 tomahawk missiles to be send over there again? Yeah, if that what it takes.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: . to let him know every time he throws a temper tantrum, we're going to spank him.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: In North Korea we have 30,000 troops in the DMZ. I understand that's an issue for us. We have an ally in South Korea.

BALDWIN: Eric, I agree. We shouldn't be the world's police. But in these instances, these guys are whacked. We've got to keep them in check.

BOLLING: But Assad is not threatening any U.S. persons nor allies.

BALDWIN: So if he bombs -- he uses the gas and kills 50,000 people, we do nothing?

TERRELL: Eric, your position is inconsistent with the White House.

BOLLING: Clearly, guess what else. I don't like the health care bill from the A-block either.

WILLIAMS: Eric is all band, Leo.

TERRELL: All right.

WILLIAMS: Coming up, how America first is shaking up the world's view of the U.S. And later, Eric Bolling's new book, The Swamp, comes out today. We're kicking it off in grand fashion. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KENNEDY: Welcome back. President Trump's America first policy apparently rocking the boat for the rest of the world, a new study from Pew which polled 37 nations across the world found that 49 percent of people now have a favorable view of the U.S. compared to 39 percent unfavorable. That's down from 64 percent who had a favorable view, compare to 26 percent unfavorable during the final phase of the Obama administration. But, of course, we know how well things went globally during the Obama era. Now, additionally, 22 percent of those surveyed said they have confidence in President Trump. So if you're raffling this many feathers across the globe, is this an early sign of success that his America first policy are actually working. All right. So Eric, it seems like this could be bad news for the president, but is there a silver lining in these dark.

BOLLING: It's beautiful news. We want everyone to say around the world, oh, we can't stand them anymore because we're kicking their butts. That's what they're saying.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Domestically, America first, stock market making record highs, not today, but yesterday, and the day before. Unemployment of 4.3 percent, consumer confidence at 15 year high, producer confidence at 15 year high, business confidence ratcheting up, home prices hitting 15 year highs as well, so America first, he's doing pretty darn well. You look at the -- take the average Americans, see how they 41-K looks at the end of the year. You tell me put that up against that 49 versus 39 percent outside the U.S., I'll take America first.

KENNEDY: We've got a number of indices, Eboni, that are certainly on an upward trajectory, and that is great news. Credit scores are going up. Lending is improving. Eric has already touched on the markets. So does this mean that there are other countries who may be in the -- of their own various recessions and they are just jealous of the United States of America.

WILLIAMS: They might be hating, Kennedy. I will say, though, the markets, the credit scores, the housing crisis going up, up, up all to it. I like that we are all collectively acknowledging the positive news of this increased unemployment number that's been going up for quite a while now. And everybody seems to acknowledge it, so here's the thing.

BOLLING: Is this a shade of my comment about the unemployment?

WILLIAMS: A little low-key. A little low-key shade, Eric Bolling.

But no, here's the thing. I remember when Obama ran in 2008. And one of the things that many people liked about President -- or then-candidate Obama was they felt that he would improve our international presence and demeanor coming off of George W. Bush.

I don't know that that matters at all, because you're going to be the president of these United States, not the president of the world. So yes, of course, we have to do certain things internationally, but I'm OK with a president who's not winning the popular vote across the globe.

KENNEDY: Yes, you're absolutely right. And he was a bit of an apologist for the United States.

WILLIAMS: I never saw it that way. Some people did say that, Kennedy, but...

KENNEDY: He -- I mean, he literally apologized.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: ... manners.

KENNEDY: That's true, and I'm going to humbly throw it to you, Leo.

TERRELL: Thank you. Thank you. I've been chomping at the bit. Let me make sure I understand this. Eric talked about domestic issues. You know what the No. 1 issue in American's mind? Security, national defense. Reagan had Thatcher. Bush had Blair. Trump has no one.

BOLLING: For what? For what?

TERRELL: For security. You're talking about international? You just talked about it. Middle East. North Korea.

BOLLING: We have a travel moratorium that's going to be in place, and we're going to have a border wall on the southern border.

TERRELL: We want countries -- we want countries next to us to support us when we do our international politics, especially on national security.

KENNEDY: "No, I want to be liked."

TERRELL: Yes. Yes, I do.

KENNEDY: It's really interesting, because 42 percent of respondents across the globe say they have more confidence in Angela Merkel. Twenty-seven percent have confidence in Vladimir Putin. And only 22 percent in Donald Trump. How do you explain those numbers?

TERRELL: I'll tell you, when I go to war, I want some allies. I want some allies, and right now we don't have any allies standing next to Trump, like Thatcher and Blair.

KENNEDY: Is it, because people like Vladimir Putin better, we should be allies with Russia?

BOLLING: Which one do you speak of, Leo?

TERRELL: Eric, you articulated we've got...

KENNEDY: I think he's talking about the cola (ph) wars.

TERRELL: We are talking about North Korea. We're talking about the Middle East. We're talking about the war. That's what I'm talking about. We want allies.

KENNEDY: Let's bring Stephen Baldwin into this. Stephen, are you tired of winning yet?

BALDWIN: I'm so sorry I've been so polite on this program, but I think, again, it goes back to everything everyone has been talking about. But for me, I don't agree with you, Leo.

I think the bigger problem is money. When people are hurting for money, they're worried about putting food on the table more than their security internationally. That's my opinion. That's just -- again, that's that kind of grassroots kind of mentality.

I don't look at the numbers like you guys do. I go with the field. That's why in July, I said I think President -- I think Donald Trump is going to be the next president of the United States.

When it comes to international alliances, we have, yes, not the big three necessarily, Leo, but we have very positive alliances happening right now with countries who have been waiting for this knock at the door...

TERRELL: I don't want America...

BALDWIN: ... from America saying this. You know, we have Saudi Arabia, "We've been waiting to help you all and pay you for your help and blessing us and..." That's all coming now.

TERRELL: You would -- you would agree that you don't want America to be the Lone Ranger of international affairs. You don't want us to be the Lone Ranger, because that's what we are right now.

KENNEDY: And speaking of which, we're going to have to settle this with our fists and horses.

Straight ahead, three CNN journalists are out following a botched report on Russia and a top Trump associate. And President Trump is striking back at the network and mainstream media. It's all happening right here on "The Specialists." Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... harder it's going to be to pass some kind of a health care bill.

MCCONNELL: I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your take?

MCCONNELL: Well, certainly, we spent a lot of time on this over the last seven years. And our members are increasingly familiar with the various moving parts. It's a very complicated subject. I had hoped, as you know, that we could have gotten to the floor this week, but we're not quite there. But I think we've got a really good chance of getting there. It will just take us a little bit longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... town halls over recess? Your fellow Republicans.

MCCONNELL: Some members have town halls. Some don't. We'll see what happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, is the president getting involved in the details of negotiating? Is he getting into the details of the bill that might, you know, bring some of these wavering senators on board? And what is his message overall to people?

MCCONNELL: Well, I think the main thing is, as I've said, the status quo is simply unsustainable. It will be dealt with in one of two ways. Either Republicans will agree and change the status quo, or the markets will continue to collapse, and we'll have to sit down with Senator Schumer.

And my suspicion is that any negotiation with the Democrats would include none of the reforms that we would like to make, both on the market side and the Medicaid side.

So for all of those reasons, we need to come up with a solution. The American people elected us to do that, and we're working hard to get there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... talking about the bill being mean, sir?

WILLIAMS: All right. There seeing Senator Mitch McConnell essentially say, "We need to get it together as a GOP party, because the American people elected us to do this." And I think he's absolutely right. Eric, correct me if you feel differently, that it will be easier.

As far apart as the GOP is on this issue, it will be far easier for them to get on the same page than trying to get Chuck Schumer and the Dems involved in that process.

BOLLING: They're not going to get involved in the process. They want to see the Republicans flailing in the wind there.

By the way, John Cornyn, brilliant comments. I love that.

WILLIAMS: It was like a shrug and bounce. Right?

BOLLING: It's all (UNINTELLIGIBLE). By the way, that's the first time a senator pushes away from a microphone. At least in the 15 years I've been doing this.

KENNEDY: There's a live gaggle right there. But you know, I think Mitch McConnell may be a little politically wounded here.

I think the margin is so much more narrow in the Senate. I don't know that they can go back and do what the House did.

WILLIAMS: Yes, and Paul Ryan at that point, Kennedy, coming out with a vote of confidence this morning, may be a little premature, you know. Because obviously, this is just not going the way they intended.

TERRELL: Well, when you have senator saying, "We're not going to allow a procedural vote, that sends a loud message." And Susan Collins has taken the lead on this, and she came out this afternoon and said under no circumstances can she see this bill getting past.

WILLIAMS: Well, she is obviously feeling the heat.

KENNEDY: Paul Ryan also said the Atlanta Falcons were going to win the Super Bowl.

WILLIAMS: So we know about his predictions. That's a very good point.

So we will continue the conversation on that note. President Trump firing a new broadside against the mainstream media. It comes after CNN announced the resignation of three of its journalists involved in a Russia-related report that's now been retracted. The president tweeting earlier today, quote, "Fake news CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!" So they caught fake news CNN cold, but what about NBC, CBS and ABC? What about the failing @NYTimes and @WashingtonPost? They are all fake news!"

And this afternoon the White House followed up on that, and this was what was behind the president's tweets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's the constant barrage of fake news directed at this president, probably, that has garnered a lot of his frustration.

You point to that report. There are multiple other instances where that outlet that you referenced has been repeatedly wrong and had to point that out or be corrected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: All right. Stephen Baldwin, this feeling very much like an obvious win. Look at that smile on your face.

BALDWIN: I told you so.

No, it's just how much more proof, evidence, do you need for people to just kind of start understanding that, bottom line, everybody should give this president a chance to succeed? If it's not crystal-clear at this point, there is in opposition to to what he's doing. There's evidence of it. People have resigned. It's just -- it's just tragic.

WILLIAMS: Now Stephen, for those that say they want accountability from the president, is there such a thing in your mind as holding him accountable but not necessarily opposing him?

BALDWIN: Absolutely. America wouldn't be America if we didn't hold him accountable. But, you know, like it -- so President Trump won because of his Twitter account. That's how wounded our media is. That's a sad state of affairs.

WILLIAMS: A searing indictment, Leo, of the mainstream media.

TERRELL: Stephen may be surprised. I agree with him 100 percent. CNN, MSNBC, and the other networks are angry. They're mad because they were wrong. And Trump beat them at their own game. He got the news out through his Twitter account. And what CNN has done is lost credibility. And yes, they have the right to cover the news but not to go to a point where they show their vendetta, and that's what it is right now.

BOLLING: But can we just maybe recognize that this might be a turning point? So the mainstream media has been like rabid animals, attacking Trump on everything to the point where they haven't even closed the loopholes on basic research, basic journalism any more.

Now maybe this will send -- a big siren saying we've got to stop now. Now, we have to take a step back. You can't accuse Anthony Scaramucci of collusion with the Russians when you don't have it. And just like, you know, every news story that they decide to put in the paper or to put up on screen, they'd better be checking their sources.

WILLIAMS: Kennedy, I want to be optimistic around what Eric is suggesting here. Maybe this is a full stop and a reset. But "The New York Times" came out after the election and apologized and said they would do better. But they've been the same. Nobody has really shown improvement.

KENNEDY: No, it's really interesting, because you know, when people start to lose their jobs and, you know, you see numbers erode, you have to realize there's a big segment of the population who feels underrepresented, not only by politicians in Washington but also by the media. And that's why it's an effective punching bag for the president.

But to your point, Leo, you know, you look at some of these other networks and their long faces on election night. You thought they would turn those frowns upside-down. They haven't been able to do that. It's almost July, and you want to say, "You know what? She lost. She's not going to be president."

Someone has to remind her. They've got to remind some of her friends at MSNBC, and we have to move on and get this country continuing in the right direction.

WILLIAMS: Look at the all -- off election. That means, again, the sad faces. It looks like election night all over again. I mean, it's ridiculous.

TERRELL: And those individuals at these other cable stations, they do not represent America. This is inside the Beltway rhetoric, targeting against Trump. And that's where the disconnect. And sooner or later, they're going to get it, that the people in America do not buy into their Kool-Aid on attacking Trump day in and day out without facts.

KENNEDY: Very soapy bubble.

WILLIAMS: Well, look, I look at the updates on my phone from some of these news organizations, and they are so petty, y'all. It's just like, really? You're looking for any and everything at this point to bring him down. I think bring him down on policy, if you want to attack him on the merits of things that you feel you have a problem with politically or otherwise; but the pettiness, I feel like, is playing in his favor, for sure.

BALDWIN: And the positive thing for me is President Trump's strategy here is working. It really is working. Just do your best to speak the truth directly and let all these other news agencies just keep stepping in the dirt and stepping in the poop and slinging mud. And Americans are now seeing the truth.

BOLLING: And then you make them even crazier -- even crazier by pulling some of the press briefings and making them use sketch artists to sketch out Spicer's figure, instead of listening to him or watching him on TV. Brilliant strategy.

TERRELL: Trump -- Trump's Twitter account has made news -- cable news irrelevant.

BOLLING: Hey! Hey, hey.

TERRELL: Except Fox News.

WILLIAMS: Hold on now.

TERRELL: Except Fox News and "The Specialists." Except Fox News and "The Specialists."

WILLIAMS: There you go. Nice.

Up next, it's a huge day for Eric Bolling. His book, "The Swamp," is hitting stores everywhere. So a big bash kick-off we had -- is coming up next. And a special monologue from Mr. Bolling himself. Just moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLLING: Well, pretty exciting day here at "FOX News Specialists." I'm very thrilled to share with you my new book, "The Swamp," officially out today.

Now, things got wild this morning. I appeared on "Fox & Friends" to talk about the Trump win at the Supreme Court and health care. And then we chatted about "The Swamp" a bit. After that, you know what hit the fan.

The president retweeted "The Swamp," and then The Drudge Report posted "The Swamp" on his homepage, which is probably the most influential news site on the web. Thanks to those two things, "The Swamp" has skyrocketed to -- get this -- No. 2 now on Amazon...

WILLIAMS: Amazing.

BOLLING: ... best-seller list. Thank you all for the support.

Now, speaking of support, my family, friends, and colleagues came out last night to support and celebrate the launch of the new book. And we had a blast. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST, "THE FIVE": I'm here with Eric, and I want to say congratulations.

BOLLING: Thank you, K.G.

GUILFOYLE: With another must-read, fantastic book, "The Swamp."

WILLIAMS: I am really thrilled for Eric. I've been working with Eric on and off for, gosh, over five years. So to share a stage, so to speak, with him every day, five days a week, is incredible. I'm super proud of you, and I know "The Swamp" is going to be a No. 1 Times bestseller very, very soon.

DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Eric is -- combines brilliance, practicality, economic wisdom and insight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eric Bolling, great hair, great book. Tell me about the book.

BOLLING: You tell me. Did you read it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got it. I just got it right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm telling you, the thing I'm excited the most about is getting an autograph from Anderson Cooper. I heard this was his book party. Eric Bolling? I've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eric, congratulations. There's a reason the president loves you. He wants you to drain "The Swamp."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congrats, boss. Two down, many more to go.

BOLLING: "The Swamp" started with when Donald Trump said, "I'm running for president," and then it turned to drain the swamp. And there was a visceral connection between Trump and us: people, real people.

When I started the project, I thought it was going to be difficult to fill a book on it. I could do 10 books on crime, corruption, cronyism in D.C. It's insane what's going on.

ADRIENNE BOLLING, ERIC'S WIFE: I want to say, I am very proud of Eric. The first book was amazing. The second book is even going to be better. He's worked hard on it; he deserves it. I hope -- I hope it does amazing.

BOLLING: Let's have a cocktail and raise a glass. Donald Trump, drain the swamp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLLING: What a day. Thanks for having me. Thank you, guys. So now we had a blast last night.

And it was crazy. This morning, so I get up. I get to "FOX & Friends," almost missed the hit. The driver is in traffic. He takes a turn. And I was literally 2 minutes, ran right to the set, talked about "The Swamp" a little bit towards the end of the hit. And Donald Trump retweeted the tweet.

KENNEDY: Wow.

BOLLING: And all of a sudden, you know, things started to take off.

KENNEDY: Do you have to give him royalties?

BOLLING: Matt Drudge put it on "The Drudge Report." I mean, that was incredible. And we went from something like 387 to No. 2.

BALDWIN: Hey, Eric, a lot of people love you. In case you didn't know. You're terrific.

BOLLING: I just think a lot of people love Donald Trump, and a lot of people love to watch "The Drudge Report" every morning, which I do.

WILLIAMS: You cannot guy that kind of publicity.

BOLLING: No, no.

You know something really cool, Leo?

TERRELL: Yes.

BOLLING: So I wrote the book, and I'm trying to figure out what would be a good cover for the book. And while I'm looking, I found this picture. Check this out. This is a picture of the D.C., Washington -- the Capitol building being built on a literal swamp...

KENNEDY: Wow.

BOLLING: ... in the mid-1800s, 1860s. And -- and so what they did in D.C. -- here's another one -- what they did in D.C. is they drained the literal swamp, Stephen, but left the metaphorical swamp to sit and fester and grow and grow.

BALDWIN: The ghosts of the swamp.

BOLLING: Ghosts of the swamp.

KENNEDY: Great stories in there, including the true story of what happened on that bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne and...

BOLLING: Isn't it insanely sad?

KENNEDY: ... former Senator Kennedy.

BOLLING: So -- so what I investigate -- I'm sorry, researching the book, I realized that -- found that Ted Kennedy went into the drink with Mary Jo Kopechne, left her sitting there. He sat on the side of the water and thought about his political career for a time. Waited, then went back to the party he was at, had another cocktail, goes home to a hotel and complains that the hotel is too loud to the manager. He needs his sleep. Falls asleep. His friends come the next day, and say, "You've got to get back over there. Your car's in the water." He goes back.

They found out -- the coroner found, Stephen, that she was alive for a period of time prior, and she would have been saved if he had just gone back. And he was a great swimmer. He was, like, a competitive swimmer at the time.

TERRELL: Amazing. Just sad to hear that. And that's disturbing to read.

BOLLING: Can you drain the swamp, Leo?

TERRELL: You know what? I'll tell you right now, the one thing I'm interested in, you mentioned your -- in the book about term limits. I heard a guy named Newt talk about term limits in Contract with America. I'm asking you, is that possible? Term limits?

BOLLING: So they'd have to vote themselves out of their own jobs?

TERRELL: Yes.

BOLLING: Is that what you're saying?

TERRELL: I'm asking you.

BOLLING: So look, here's the thing. People ask me, when is he going to start draining the swamp?

TERRELL: Right.

BOLLING: So he's getting all of this political capital with these great economic numbers. I think he turns that around and, if he gets health care, if he gets tax reform and he gets infrastructure, then he goes, "I've got all this capital. It's time to start doing things like term limits." Doing things like treating -- getting rid of people. You know? Just get rid of -- get rid of everyone who's not producing in D.C.

WILLIAMS: I think that makes a lot of sense. For those that, you know, were on the fence, didn't really like either of the candidates because they were both, you know, kind of hugely unpopular, that was the tilting point for many towards Trump, right? Is the ability to feel like, you know what? Things are really bad, and if there's a shot in you know where that there can be some improvement, we've got to go with Trump. Because at least he's somebody if you're not producing, is you are not making sense, businesswise, you're out of there.

BOLLING: treat the Oval Office like a board room.

TERRELL: And you know, honestly, I think -- and I'll say I hope you're listening and watching, Donald. I think Trump has the potential to be one of the great presidents if he does what you just articulated.

BOLLING: Now did you hear that? Leo.

TERRELL: You hear that? That's a quote.

BOLLING: Leo Terrell, Trump could be...

TERRELL: On the record.

BOLLING: Donald. All right. When we return, we "Circle Back" with our specialists, Stephen Baldwin and Leo Terrell. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KENNEDY: Welcome back. It's time to "Circle Back" with our specialists, Stephen Baldwin and Leo Terrell. Look at you two. So Stephen, do you enjoy being in New York City? We're just a stone's throw away, your brother. He reprises his role...

BALDWIN: Lex Luther. You know?

KENNEDY: ... as Donald J. Trump. Do you get in fights around the Thanksgiving table about your politics?

BALDWIN: I don't know what you're talking about.

KENNEDY: Because of the Trump impression?

BALDWIN: Listen, I'm making up a new bumper sticker. I'm putting it on the back of my car. It says, "He won. I'm done." That's it. OK, people?

But no, things around the household are -- they're OK.

KENNEDY: Does politics come up at family gatherings?

BOLLING: Can we just expand it a little bit, that your brother plays Donald Trump. Trump has a Russia problem, but now you are having a Russia good thing going on in your life? What's that all about?

BALDWIN: Yes, see? This is so cool. The Russia thing is kind of, like, proving itself to be, like, totally false.

So an old buddy of mine named Max Kaiser, who does a show called "The Kaiser Report" on RT, he and I are partnering together and producing a new program that I will host, a little road show, Eric. Me going out there on a tour bus, on an RV, going to state fairs, going to picnics, going all -- talking to all walks of American life about what is America to you? What has happened? How did we arrive here? Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

I just want to take that Twitter mentality, the direct idea, hear directly from Americans about who they are, where they're at, and what they believe America is about.

KENNEDY: Who is Leo Terrell?

TERRELL: Yes. Hi.

WILLIAMS: I have a question.

TERRELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You used to be a public school teacher.

TERRELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And I want to know, what do you think about kids going to school year-round? We talked about this...

TERRELL: I taught at a year-round school, and I thought it was great. I think it's very good. And I'm very happy to be here. Glad to be here.

WILLIAMS: I liked it.

KENNEDY: Well, it is -- fantastic evening for all. Thank you to our "Fox News Specialists" today, Stephen Baldwin and Leo Terrell.

My thanks to everyone here for letting me sit in for Kat Timpf today.

We thank all of you for watching. And make sure to follow the show on social media, @SpecialistsFNC on Twitter and Facebook. Five o'clock will never be the same. "Special Report" is next.

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