Thune on Trump's plans to end birthright citizenship

This is a rush transcript from "Your World," October 30, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHARLES PAYNE, GUEST HOST: Seven days out, and, across America, the push is on to get voters to the polls.

Welcome, everyone. I'm Charles Payne, in for Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

The president is planning a major blitz, with 11 rallies in the final stretch. One of those rallies will be for Republican Ron DeSantis. He's facing Democrat Andrew Gillum in a tough fight in the Florida governor's race.

Ron DeSantis will be here in a moment from now.

First, The Federalist's Emily Jashinsky on how things are shaping up.

Let's start with that Florida race, Emily. It's a tight one.

EMILY JASHINSKY, THE FEDERALIST: Yes, exactly. That's a really tight race.

Obviously, new ethical questions raised and respect to Andrew Gillum. And Ron DeSantis, of course, this is a state that's -- it's a battleground, right? And so this -- these things are always going to be tough in a state like this, but it's really coming down to turnout.

And that's why everything, everything on both sides is a push for people to just vote, right? Both sides right now are appealing to their basis because there's seven days left, and what they don't want people to do is stay at home, rather than getting out and supporting their candidate.

PAYNE: Why is it so ugly? I mean, did it start out the very beginning with the "monkey this up" comment?

JASHINSKY: Yes.

PAYNE: I mean, it feels, like as an outsider listening closely, I have heard little about the actual issues.

JASHINSKY: Yes, it has turned in one -- into one of those races. I think it's one of the tests also for how when we're looking back on what happens next Tuesday, how the progressive base is able -- and I think you can say a similar thing is happening in Georgia with the gubernatorial race there -- if the progressive base is able to muster all of its anti-Trump energy and win some of these key races, like this one in Florida and the one in Georgia, that will be a huge sign that they have been able to channel all of this that we have seen building for two years.

Can they actually turn it into something? They weren't in a lot of the special elections. And this is one of those races that will be a test of that, absolutely.

PAYNE: I think also it's going to be a test of different styles, if you will, Republicans talking about the economy, whereas -- and capitalism and pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, and Democrats going the other way sharply, some calling these candidates -- you referred to the Georgia raise
-- both of these candidates on the Democratic side as almost being socialists

JASHINSKY: Yes. Yes.

There's so -- both in Georgia and Florida, there's a lot of similarities, because both of those candidates are really far left people that are in states where the far left doesn't always do so well, but they're not necessarily running from that.

So that's absolutely, I think, the right thing to watch for next week, is if they're actually able to in these states -- Florida is battleground state, but it's a red state. If they're able to have any headway in these states with those messages, I think that's something important to watch for, not just in this election cycle, but for the future of the Democratic Party and the future of the country.

PAYNE: Yes, I think the postmortem on this will be a couple things. To your point, no matter how it shakes out, the Democrats doing extraordinarily well in states where they weren't expected to just a few years ago, and maybe reverse migration, migration patterns, particularly black Americans coming out of the North, being pushed out by gentrification, going back down South, and making a difference in some of these locations.

JASHINSKY: I'm interested to see how much of it is anti-Trump energy.

So to what extent is the success, if it happens, if either of these two candidates or candidates in other parts of the country -- I look at someone like Randy Bryce, who's running in Paul Ryan's -- for Paul Ryan's open seat in a pretty red district that voted for Obama in 2008, though.

If there's anti-Trump energy that's able to carry, but does it stay around in future election cycles, or is it just something about this president that energizes the left to the extent that it carries these people over the finish line?

PAYNE: We will see, because President Trump is coming. I have always been told people vote for something, rather against something. So we will see.

JASHINSKY: Right.

PAYNE: Emily, thank you very much. Always great seeing you.

JASHINSKY: Thank you.

PAYNE: Well, President Trump and the first lady in Pittsburgh this hour to pay their respects to those 11 victims of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

John Roberts is at the White House with more -- John.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Charles, good afternoon to you.

The president, the first lady, Ivanka Trump and Jared Trump, along with Jared Trump -- Jared Kushner, rather -- along with the chief of staff, John Kelly, all touched down at the Pittsburgh Airport just a short time ago.

There you can see them coming down the stairs. They got in the motorcade for a location that we know they're going to, but for the moment I have to keep under wraps until they arrive there.

The president yesterday and over the weekend expressing condolences to the
11 people who were so brutally gunned down there at the Tree of Life Synagogue. And, yesterday, the press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, reminding that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are both Jewish as well, and that the president has Jewish grandchildren.

So this is something that hits very close to home for the president. There was some controversy about this visit as well. There was a group of people on the progressive wing of -- side of things, Jewish leaders who said they didn't want the president to come.

There was a petition with tens of thousands of signatures on it urging the president to not come. But the Rabbi Jeffrey Myers in the Tree of Life Synagogue said that he is happy to have the president there, and the president saying to Laura Ingraham yesterday in an exclusive interview that he really just wants to come to show his respects.

Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm just going to pay my respects. I'm also going to the hospital to see the officers and some of the people that were so badly hurt.

You can't let these people disrupt any more than they already have, which is disgraceful. What he did is disgraceful. You can't let it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Probably take the president another 10 or 15 minutes to get to his first location, Charles. We have live capabilities when the president does arrive, so keep watching and we will bring you those pictures as the president pays tribute to the people who died there, tries to comfort the survivors, and the family members of those who were killed in such a horrible and heinous act over the weekend -- Charles.

PAYNE: Thank you very much, John. Appreciate it.

Well, as troops head to the border, now President Trump says he wants to deter illegal immigration through executive order. How? By ending birthright citizenship.

So, how exactly what that work?

Former ICE official under President Obama, former ICE director under President Trump Tom Homan, he's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: As the migrant caravan heads north, the first 200 of 5,200 troops heading to the southern border today.

A U.S. official telling Fox an additional 2,000 are ready to deploy if needed.

Jennifer Griffin has the latest from the Pentagon -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER GRIFFIN, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Charles, the Air Force general in charge of overseeing U.S. troop deployments to the border, General Terrence O'Shaughnessy, just spoke to reporters here at the Pentagon.

He said that the 5,239 U.S. troops that have been ordered to the border is not the top-line number. He said there will be additional forces sent. He pushed back, however, on reports that 14,000 U.S. troops were being sent to the border. He said 1,000 U.S. troops have arrived in Texas. That number will rise to 1,800 by tomorrow.

He said that so far none of those troops have arrived at the border. They are still at Laughlin Air Base in San Antonio. The Pentagon, not DHS, will pay for this deployment of troops. The comptroller here at the Pentagon is working on those figures now, and Congress will expect an answer soon.
It's illegal to simply reprogram the defense budget without going to Congress.

In the past, DHS has reimbursed the Pentagon when troops were sent to the border. Bottom line is, it is expensive. Earlier this year, when the Pentagon since about 2,000 troops to the border, it costs $185 million.
When President Bush sent 6,000 National Guard to the border, it costs $1.2 billion.

A senior U.S. official tells me that in addition to the 5,200 or so troops ordered to the border, an additional 2,000 active-duty U.S. troops are in ready-to-deploy status. Most of these troops will be engineers.

U.S. Air Force plans to airlift 400 additional Border Patrol personnel as well. There will be three staging areas, we're told. The troops will set up temporary shelters for up to 2,400 Border Patrol. They are not building, however, camps for migrants.

General O'Shaughnessy added the U.S. military is currently putting the troops sent to the border through a training program on the rules for the use of force and what to do in the event of incidental contact with migrants.

Again, those U.S. troops will be allowed to carry weapons for self-defense, but are not supposed to be having contact with migrants -- Charles.

PAYNE: Jennifer, thank you very much.

Now to former acting ICE Director and Fox News contributor Thomas Homan.

Thomas, obviously, a lot of -- a lot a lot of folks calling this a controversial move. A lot of people making comparisons to how many military personnel we have deployed in places like Syria, saying or suggesting this is overdone. What are your thoughts?

THOMAS HOMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think it's overdone at all.

I think we need these troops down there. And for those people -- I read the same news articles that are saying it's a political move.

I want to remind people that President Obama had military troops deployed to the southern border to assist the Border Patrol. The difference is, President Trump's just doing much better and much bigger.

I mean, the caravans, everybody can see what's happening. I think that -- I think it was a good move on President Trump, and I think they're going to be needed.

PAYNE: Thomas, it's -- it's -- I think what we're seeing here, and then a lot of people believe cynically perhaps, but that this all was designed to coordinate right before the midterm elections.

And the visual aspects of this, the possible mistakes that could be made, particularly the more -- more security that we have at the border, the more likely that there is for any sort of accident to be -- to be mishandled or misplayed in the media.

Are you concerned about that?

HOMAN: Look, I'm concerned every day for the 20,000 men and women of the Border Patrol.

I mean, they're standing on the front line. And I started my career on Border Patrol. It's a dangerous job. These folks are standing in the middle of nowhere in pitch black. And a sensor goes off, you don't know -- you don't know what's coming down that trail.

Is it just a migrant looking for work or is it a heavily armed drug smuggler? You don't know. But those Border Patrol agents are going to stand on that post and they're going to take it on.

So it's a dangerous job. But I got to remind people the National Guard and the armed forces are going down there. They won't be performing law enforcement duties. They're simply going to be there helping build infrastructure, backing the Border Patrol up with supplies, moving Border Patrol assets around, assisting with medical emergencies and so forth.

But they won't be encountering illegal aliens and making arrests.

PAYNE: What happens, Thomas, if there's a large move to go between ports of entry, to illegally infiltrate the country?

Griff Jenkins had a great interview this morning where one of the men he spoke with said that was indeed his intention. And I don't think he was the only one.

HOMAN: Well, they're going to be arrested.

And I think they should be charged with illegal entry in the United States. If you go between the ports of entry, that's illegal entry in the United States. That's in violation of United States Code 1325.

And we ought to be prosecuting them. Look, if you want to claim asylum, there's a way to do that. You show up at a port of entry, and you claim asylum. You get the same protections, and you get -- you will get your due process.

But I do think, if you're going to come in this country and claim asylum, I think we need what we can to detain them until they see a judge, because many of them will be released until they see a judge. Many of them won't show up in court.

And even if they show up in court, they won't -- and ordered remove, they won't leave.

PAYNE: Right.

HOMAN: I mean, the facts are the facts. Less than 5 percent of family units coming in this country last few years have been ordered removed by the immigration judge have not left. They become fugitives.

PAYNE: Thomas, we have got some breaking news here, a statement out by Senator Grassley on birthright citizenship, of course, the big news this morning.

Perhaps President Trump will use an executive order to stop the practice of birthright citizenship. So far, we have had Lindsey Graham saying he would present legislation to push that forward in Congress. Paul Ryan said that he would be opposed to an executive order.

And Grassley saying that: "As it pertains to illegal immigrants, I will closely review President Trump's executive order. As a general matter, this is an issue that Congress should take the lead to carefully consider and debate."

Where do you stand on this?

HOMAN: Well, I don't know if -- I'm not a constitutional lawyer. I don't know if the president has the authority to sign an executive order that will...

(CROSSTALK)

PAYNE: But do you think ultimately this is a key issue here that could curb the illegal entry into this country, make it a smoother process, and just as a deterrent, would this be something you would like to see done?

HOMAN: Absolutely.

I have been around. I have been doing this job for 34 years. It's served as a magnet. It entices people to come to this country. If you enter this country illegally, in violation of federal law, and you stay here illegally, in violation of federal law, I don't think, because you give birth in this country to a child, it should be a U.S. citizen.

I mean, that is what the biggest hit ICE took this past year. Why do your arrest somebody who has been 10 years, has two U.S. citizen children?
Well, he was ordered removed. He went into hiding. He chose have to two U.S. citizen children. He put his family in that position.

Now all of a sudden he should get immunity and get to stay? No. I mean, it's been an enticement for as long as I have been doing this job.

PAYNE: Right.

Thomas Homan, thank you very much.

HOMAN: Thank you, sir.

PAYNE: Well, tempers flaring in the Sunshine State, as one of the closest watched races for governor grabs the national attention. What made Democrat candidate Andrew Gillum just call his Republican opponent, Ron DeSantis, and President Trump pigs?

And how is DeSantis responding? He's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON DESANTIS, R—FLA., GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We're working very hard to make sure that we bring home a big victory on November 6, which is what we need for the state of Florida.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

ANDREW GILLUM, D, FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Are you all ready to flip Florida blue?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

GILLUM: I'm not convinced. Are we really ready to flip Florida blue?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: The race for governor heating up in Florida.

The latest RealClearPolitics poll showing Democrat Andrew Gillum up by three points over both Republican Ron DeSantis.

And, well, as this race tightens, the battle is getting nastier.

Now, we have invited Andrew Gillum to appear on this program. He has yet to respond.

With me now, his opponent, Ron DeSantis.

Ron, thanks for joining us.

It's a pitched battle. It was ugly right out of the gate. Explain to the audience how it seemed to get off track right away and what's happening now to sway the voters with one week to go.

DESANTIS: well, look, Charles, we're focusing on our vision to protect Florida's future, in particular protecting Florida's economic momentum.

I mean, we have had a great run in Florida. And the reason is, is because we have had good leadership and good policy, with a commitment to lower taxes. I think we're poised to do better than ever.

Andrew Gillum is running on a 40 percent tax increase, which would cost jobs in Florida. It would cause businesses to leave, and it would prevent the flow of investment from coming into Florida.

So it's a very, very critical decision for the people of Florida. I think we need to build off the success we have. Andrew wants to mimic policies that have been tried in other states and have not worked anywhere else.

PAYNE: Why do you think, at least so far in the polls, that they seem to be resonating, the idea of higher taxes? We have always thought of Florida as a low-tax state.

DESANTIS: Well, I mean, Charles, they go up and down. I mean, one poll had me down. The other one the other day had me up a few.

I mean, I think at the end of the day, it's, are you able to turn out the voters that you need? And so far, we have done better than we traditionally have of turning out voters in the mail and in the early vote.

And if we continue that, we're going to be really, really tough to beat.
It's also the fact that we just had two debates last week, and so voters I think just in the last week or two you are really starting to see the sharp differences. And I think that that's benefited me, as more people realize what's at stake.

PAYNE: A lot of people pointing to the nastiness of this race.

This is from Andrew Gillum. It's from "The Daily Show." Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH")

GILLUM: My grandmother used to have this saying. Never, ever, ever wrestle with pigs, she said, because you both get dirty, but the pig actually likes it.

And that was important for me, because what I realize is, what DeSantis and Trump want to do is to drag me into the gutter with them, right, because they can survive getting dirty. I can't survive getting dirty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAYNE: Of course, he says you and President Trump are trying to him into the gutter. What's your response?

DESANTIS: Well, Andrew Gillum, he may be a third-rate mayor, but he is a first-class demagogue.

And I think he's been doing this stuff throughout the whole campaign. The fact of the matter is, he is being held accountable, because he was not honest with the people of Florida about receiving thousands of dollars in illegal gifts from lobbyists and including an undercover FBI agent that had visits before the government.

He turned around and gave the lobbyist a $2 million contract for a restaurant in Tallahassee. And so he's not been able to answer those questions. I held him accountable at the debate. There's a bunch of documents that have come out to show he's not telling the truth.

And he says that that's mud, but I just think that that's accountability.
When I was in the Congress, I declined all the perks. I declined the health care, the pension. I fought pay increases. I put taxpayers first.
He's used office to feather his own nest, and that's just the fact.

PAYNE: What do you make of all the outside money? This is one of those campaigns where we're seeing millions of dollars pour in from outside donors.

Obviously, they think this is an opportunity for them, but what are your thoughts about that?

DESANTIS: Well, they are pouring -- the radical left donors are pouring millions and millions of dollars because they want to take over Florida and really use that as a beachhead for left-wing policies.

Obviously, they would like to use that in 2020 for the presidential campaign. So, there's huge implications for this. But I don't think you have ever seen this much hard-left money coming into a single race than you have now.

It's been millions and millions of dollars.

PAYNE: It certainly has.

Earlier, you talked about getting -- getting the vote out. And, obviously, President Trump, his role is to energize the voters in Florida. He's got an amazing following. His rallies are energetic, almost like conventions.

And yet, at the same time, Rick Scott, who's running for Senate, there been many reports that he's sort of deliberately keeping his distance from President Trump. Why -- why do you think that is?

DESANTIS: Well, I'm not sure.

I mean, I think Rick has had the hurricane to deal with. He's just not been campaigning as much because he's helping those folks out. I do think he's going to be at the rally with us in Fort Myers tomorrow. It's going to be sold out. It's going to be a capacity thing.

And I think that's really going to help energize voters to come out. I mean, as you know, Charles, the president brought a lot of new voters to the table in 2016. And I think, for Republicans, if we convert them into habitual voters every midterm, that's a huge new source of support for us.

And I think there are signs that we are doing that this year with the Republicans in Florida. And if we can do that, then I feel very good that we will have a good election night.

PAYNE: Immigration is a -- is an important issue in your state.

Reports out, of course, President Trump on Axios, on HBO suggesting maybe he will use an executive order to handle birthright citizenship, pointing out that very few developed countries allow that to happen.

Would that be good or bad for you in the final stretch here?

DESANTIS: Well, I don't know that it would have a huge impact. I mean, I think the idea that if somebody comes illegally, and that the child is automatically a U.S. citizen, that's a questionable policy that leads to more illegal immigration. It's almost an enticement.

And so I don't think that that's good policy. At the same time, the way the courts have ruled on it, I think there's a question about, can you do an executive order, can you do legislation? Do you need an amendment?

And so I think that that would be something that we will have to look at if he does come out with something. But I don't think it's going to have a huge impact on the race.

PAYNE: Down the stretch, the top issues specifically to Florida? Because, today, we got a consumer confidence number out, the best number in 18 years. Corporate profits are at record highs, seven million job openings.
We have never seen these kind of numbers in this country ever before in the history.

It would seem like that would be the rocket ship for all Republicans to win these -- these tight races.

DESANTIS: And I think that's what will happen.

Florida has never been better positioned. Our economy has never been better, but we have not reached our potential. Because we have low taxes, our competitive advantage with high-tax states has never been greater.

We can build a real strong financial services sector, technology, manufacturing. That will be an economy built for the long haul. There will be high-paying jobs, and Florida will continue to prosper. But you got to have good leadership and you got to keep taxes low.

PAYNE: And before I let you go, it's been a wild week -- a wild month, rather for the market, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

PAYNE: Good day today, but it's certainly not reflective of the economy.
Some people thinking we have peaked.

Could this have any sort of implications or impact on next week?

DESANTIS: I don't know.

I mean, I think the underlying strength of the economy has been good. I think you -- as you said, Charles, there's a lot of job openings. People are able to get a job. We have a tight labor market. So you're seeing higher wages.

So I think, by and large, the overwhelming majority of Floridians are happy with the state of the economy. We just need to keep it going.

PAYNE: Ron DeSantis, thank you very, very much.

And I also want to remind the audience we did put a call out to Andrew Gillum. We have yet to hear back.

Meanwhile, President Trump and the first lady are in Pittsburgh to pay respects to the victims of the synagogue shooting -- the latest there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: We would like to make a brief correction and clarify a graph shown earlier in the show.

The number on the right side was supposed to say billions, not millions.
As you can see, we have made that correction. Those are your troop deployments 2006 and 2018.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: President Trump and first lady in Pittsburgh right now, where they will pay their respects after the mass shooting at a synagogue there.

To Fox's Garrett Tenney, who is at the Tree of Life Synagogue with the latest -- Garrett.

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And, Charles, it appears the president and first lady and their entourage will be making their way here to the Tree of Life Synagogue.

You can see the Secret Service is here. They have cleared the road where over the last few days thousands of people have been coming to this vigil, bringing flowers and cards, along with those 11 Stars of David with the names of victims, to express their condolences and offer their support for the Jewish community here in Pittsburgh.

The president's visit does not come without controversy, though. The city's mayor, along with other local leaders, have said they would like the president to wait until after the funerals have been completed. The city has been beefing up security at Jewish schools, as well as at synagogues and at funerals that started today.

And so police, the resources are stretched thin. And city officials wanted the president to wait, so that they were not further stretched in that time, but -- and I apologize, Charles. I'm just keeping a lookout here for the president, what we anticipate will be his arrival here.

But amongst this controversy, there are also those here who say they are glad the president is coming to be able to express support on behalf of the entire nation.

And that's what the president hopes to do with this trip. We do not -- we're not able to report the full details of his visit. But we do know the president has said he plans to visit a hospital where several survivors of the shooting are still recovering, including several officers.

And we are also told he plans to meet with local Jewish leaders to express condolences on behalf of the nation for them as well. The president, though, says this is a time the nation needs to heal. That's the message he wants to bring.

A lot of folks here though, say, given the president's history and some of his rhetoric, they don't feel comfortable that him coming here is going to have that unifying message that they hope to hear -- Charles.

PAYNE: Garrett Tenney, thank you very much.

Again, President Trump and first lady Melania are in Pittsburgh to expressing their condolences on behalf of our nation.

More right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAYNE: Shares of Facebook up around 2 percent in after-hours.

The social networking giant beating on their earnings estimates, but actually missing on revenue. Investors, so far, they like the beat. We will be watching that, of course.

Meanwhile, President Trump, well, he's got an explanation for all the wild swings and the recent drop in the market, uncertainty over the midterms.

The president tweeting out today: "The stock market is up massively since the election, but is now taking a little pause. People want to see what happens with the midterms. If you want your stocks go down, I strongly suggest voting Democrat. They like the Venezuela model, high taxes and open borders."

Does the -- does the president actually have it right on the midterms and the markets?

Well, let's ask market watcher Dan Geltrude, Jonas Max Ferris, and FOX Business Network's Susan Li.

Dan, what do you think? The president onto something here?

DANIEL GELTRUDE, GELTRUDE & COMPANY: Yes, actually, I do think he's onto something, because if we look at what's shaping up here in the midterms, if the Democrats take the House, I think that Trump's entire economic agenda disappears.

We already know this market really likes the president.

PAYNE: You can't unwind what he already has in place, though.

GELTRUDE: No, that will stay in place. But what are we talking about?

Everything comes to a screeching halt. We're back to just stagnant business as usual.

PAYNE: We're also probably ratcheting up the circus too, with impeachments and whatever else.

SUSAN LI, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.

So, historically, heading into midterms, markets have actually underperformed. But over -- after the midterms, over that six months -- six months afterwards, they usually outperform, up 15 percent or so on average.

And that -- it doesn't matter who wins the House at that point, because that overhang has been removed, and the market has some relief.

PAYNE: Jonas?

JONAS MAX FERRIS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think this stock market is 100 percent currently gyrating because interest rates went a little too high and people are worried the tech stock bull market is over.

However, the president is being brilliant bringing this up now, as he always is, on Twitter related to elections. He knows there's a lot of moderate voters out there who might not be motivated, are leaning maybe left, and they don't want to see this money they just made disappear.

They don't necessarily believe in his politics, but, at the end of the day, they're scared of this whole going further left, it's further left than Clintonian. It's not -- it's not Obama. You're talking about Democrat socialists. He brought up Venezuela to kind of remind people who's running this time.

And that is where you start to scare people who are normally not that conservative, but are conservative when it comes to their 401(k) not falling 50 percent.

PAYNE: Yes. It was only maybe a decade or so ago when Venezuela was spreading socialism throughout the entire South America, right?

They were going to -- Chavez was getting all of these other nations to follow along, and then it looked like all of South America was going to be socialist. Then you had this big election victory for a pro-American, pro- growth candidate in Brazil, other countries also in South America.

All of a sudden, a big pushback. So I think that's to the president's point. Around the world, they're choosing pro-business, pro-growth, if you want to help people out.

GELTRUDE: Yes. And I think that's why we're seeing the stock market performing the way it has since the president has been elected.

Look, what happened when in Venezuela was basically, with the cost of oil dropping, they got caught. And when that happened, you could really see socialism doesn't work. It can't really withstand the long-term economic up and down. And they have been down for a long time.

LI: I think Venezuela...

PAYNE: Hold on one second.

I want to go back to Pittsburgh and go back to Garrett Tenney for breaking developments -- Garrett?

TENNEY: Yes, Charles, the presidential motorcade has just arrived here at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

He's joined by the first lady, as well as his daughter Ivanka, her husband, Jared, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, all three of them practicing the Jewish faith, so this visit especially impactful for them.

They are also joined by Chief of Staff John Kelly. And as they come here to the synagogue, they are going to be walking past this vigil that has been growing over the last few days that we mentioned.

It's thousands of people who have been coming at all hours of the day and night to come by with songs and prayers, a lot of tears being shed, as they remember the 11 people who lost their lives. You can see the first lady and the president exiting his motorcade.

We will take that in for a moment here.

And, Charles, as the president arrives, we can report that he and the first lady will be going into the vestibule of the synagogue. The actual synagogue, of course, is still a very active crime scene that is being processed.

They will be going into there. They will be accompanied by the Tree of Life Synagogue's rabbis, who the president has been in constant touch with over the last few days. We're told that the president and first lady will light a candle there with the rabbis, as well as Israel's Ambassador Dermer, for the 11 victims who lost their lives in this attack.

And after that, we're told they will be coming back out here to this vigil, which has been growing. And they will lay stones, which they have brought from the White House, part of a traditional custom in Judaism. And they will leave white roses at the Stars of David for each of the 11 victims who lost their lives in this attack.

They will be accompanied by the rabbi, who will then lead them in prayer here at this vigil -- Charles.

PAYNE: Garrett, we do -- you mentioned earlier about some resistance to President Trump's visit.

We saw some protesters. Tell us about the size and scope?

TENNEY: Yes, we're still trying to get a hard number on those protests in terms of their size.

At this point, it appears to be maybe a couple dozen. But that is taking place just a couple of blocks from here. Of course, this area has been very secure over the last few days, even that much more so throughout this afternoon, with the president coming in and Secret Service really tightening that.

PAYNE: Right.

TENNEY: But those protests at this point have been a bit subdued.

PAYNE: Yes.

And we were right now showing folks who are moving along. I'm not sure they're all protesters, seeing signs "Never again." These could just be people there in support of what happened, support of the community Squirrel Hill.

"Love thy neighbor, heal thy neighbor." "Enough." Support of the victims of what happened in this massacre over the weekend.

And we're looking at some of the -- some of the signs there, "Disarm hate."

I don't -- but it's obviously more than a dozen people here, right there, that we're looking at right now.

Garrett, I do also want to ask you about Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, who said that he welcomed President Trump there. He is the president of the Tree of Life Synagogue.

What do you make of him being the one saying, no, we want this, we welcome this visit by the commander in chief?

TENNEY: Well, it's a sentiment we have heard from a number of folks here, is, they have said, when the president comes, he really brings the focus of the nation to any location.

And by coming here in the aftermath of this attack, he's really highlighting the horrific nature of it and the need for change that needs to happen at a presidential level that really no one else could bring in terms of focus and calling attention to that.

And we have heard from number of Jewish members here that say that means a lot to them, that the president is taking the time out of his schedule, especially with the midterms coming up. He has a lot of campaign rallies going on.

The fact that he's here, they feel like it makes a big statement to him.
Others feel like the timing, they don't like it. They wish he would have waited a little bit longer.

But it's something for many here in this community that is meaning a lot, as they try to process this and work through the grieving and remember those who lost their lives. A lot of them for some people were just names.

PAYNE: Right.

TENNEY: But, for most of this community, which is very tight-knit, these were friends and family members here.

And, Charles, one other thing I want to point out. We just saw a few minutes ago the FBI special agent in charge who is leading the investigation into this attack. I saw him walking into the synagogue shortly after the president and first lady entered there.

And, of course, this is a very expansive investigation they are undertaking into this shooting. And we're told this crime scene, he described it as the most horrific crime scene he has seen in his over 20 years at the FBI.

So with him being there, I'm sure he's going to be giving an update to the president on where things stand and possibly how things played out here when that attack happened on Saturday.

Of course, though, the president and his entourage will not be going into the actual area where that attack took place, because it's a very active crime scene, a lot being processed.

PAYNE: Sure.

TENNEY: Charles.

PAYNE: Garrett Tenney, thank you very much.

Again, President Trump and the first lady at the Tree of Life Synagogue, the site of the massacre on Saturday.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, R—WISC., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order. We didn't like it when Obama tried changing immigration laws via executive action.

And, obviously, as conservatives, we believe in the Constitution.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PAYNE: House Speaker Paul Ryan pushing back on President Trump's plan to end birthright citizenship, which he announced in an interview with Axios released today.

Here now to discuss, Senate GOP Conference Chairman John Thune.

Senator Thune, thanks for joining us.

It feels like this -- this potential move ruffling a lot of feathers within the party.

Lindsey -- Senator Lindsey Graham saying he will push -- present some legislation there. Just moments ago, Senator Grassley releasing a statement suggesting he's going to see how this goes.

What are your thoughts on this potentially explosive move?

SEN. JOHN THUNE, R—S.D.: Well, first off, Charles, I think that the clip that you played -- played from the speaker probably gets it about right.

I think that it's going to be very difficult, from a constitutional perspective, for the president to attempt through executive order to address this issue.

There have been bills introduced in the past that have attempted to prospectively deal with this. And I think that's what Lindsey Graham is talking about. That may be a more appropriate way to do this.

But I just think that the executive order path is something that conservatives basically attacked Democrats for doing and President Obama for doing when it came to the issue of immigration. And I think we need to -- we need to have that discussion in Congress.

But I understand the president's frustration. We have got a broken immigration system. We have got way too many illegals coming across the border. He's expressed a great frustration with that and is trying to do what he can to address the issue.

But I think, in the end, it's going to require Congress to engage on this, and hopefully to once and for all put a solution in place.

PAYNE: So, perhaps, at the very least, maybe this will spur Congress to take action, because this has been a frustrating issue for all Americans for a long time.

THUNE: It has. And I hope you -- I hope you're right.

This, if nothing else, the caravans coming this direction, some of these other events that have happened of late, I think, point to the need and hopefully will apply pressure on Congress to deal with this issue in a meaningful way.

In the past at least, there have been some attempts, but, in every case, there haven't been sufficient votes to get it across the finish line.

PAYNE: Right.

THUNE: And it seems to me at least that the president is doing what he can through -- trying to do through -- what he can executively.

But I think we need to help him. Congress needs to get engaged on this.

PAYNE: Meanwhile, we are dealing with a brewing potential powder keg, as more than one migrant caravan heading toward our southern border. We may deploy as many as 5,200 troops to help the National Guard there.

How do you see this playing out?

THUNE: Well, first off, I mean, I think people need to understand that they're not going to be able to come to this country and be here illegally.

And the president has made that very clear. His secretary of homeland security, Kirstjen Nielsen, has made that very clear. And I think that we have to -- it's -- we have got to send a message to people who want to come to America that there's a legal way to do this.

And even if you're seeking asylum, if you're a refugee fleeing persecution, there is a way that you can make your case and do it legally.

But the idea that we could countenance having just thousands of people streaming across the border is just -- is crazy. And it's something that we can't -- we can't accept.

PAYNE: Right.

THUNE: So, I hope at least that, again, what comes out of this is strong action taken by the president and by the administration that makes it very clear that you're not going to be able to come to this country illegally.

That's been part of the president's agenda from the very beginning. We support him on that. And we support the wall. And we support strong border security. It starts there.

And this is a very concerning development with respect to the whole issue of immigration, when you have got this many people headed for the United States.

PAYNE: It certainly is.

Senator John Thune, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

THUNE: Thanks, Charles.

PAYNE: President Trump and first lady at the Tree of Life Synagogue to pay their respects to the 11 shooting victims.

John Roberts joins me from the White House -- John.

ROBERTS: Charles, and it was a little bit of a surprise as well that the president and the first lady, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, as well as the treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, went to the Tree of Life Synagogue.

We were told earlier today that he likely wouldn't go because it's still a crime scene. Investigators are still there.

And, certainly, it can be very disruptive when the president comes to visit.

But Rabbi Jeffrey Myers of the Tree of Life Synagogue wanted to have the president there. So he is paying his respects to the 11 people who died in that horrific shooting on Saturday morning.

It was interesting to note that, as the president's motorcade pulled up, they pulled up right in front of those 11 makeshift stars Of David that had been placed out front the Tree of Life to honor the 11 people who died inside.

From here, the president said that he is going to go to a hospital -- we're not sure which one at this point -- to visit with law enforcement officers who were wounded in that shoot-out when they responded to the shooting on Saturday.

They managed to keep the shooter inside the synagogue, prevented him from getting outside, and took him down. And in the process, four officers were wounded.

So the president is going to come in and thank them for the heroic work that they did. He will also meet with a few survivors of the Tree of Life Synagogue who were wounded, some of them gravely wounded, in that shooting on Saturday.

His visit still the subject of some controversy there in Pittsburgh. The Democratic mayor, Bill Peduto, said that he is not going to go meet with the president at the synagogue or at the hospital.

There were 11 progressive Jewish leaders who said they didn't want the president there unless he went further in denouncing white nationalism.
There was also a petition that was signed and sent to the White House.

But the president and the first lady, the first daughter and her husband and Steve Mnuchin were determined to go out there today and pay their respects.

Interesting to note as well, Charles, that the first funeral was happening today as the president touched down there in Pittsburgh.

But, for the president, it's a very important moment. He hopes this will be a unifying one for the country as well -- Charles.

PAYNE: Yes, John. And thank you very much.

And, to your point, we do see some signs out there, including one sign saying, "President Trump, you're not welcome in Pittsburgh."

So, a mixed reaction there, but John Roberts pointing out that the rabbi, the president of the Tree of Life, Rabbi Myers, invited President Trump.

That's it for now.

"The Five" starts now.

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