how much of it there is china? >> will talk about how to keep law and order in space with the vice chief of the spaceports general david thompson. only on "fox news sunday". >> experts say the covid-19 cases continue to rise in the weeks ahead this winter. we need to be ready. chris: the president urges americans to get behind his plan to tackle the new covid variant omicron while still fighting the surgeon delta. will asked surgeon general the back murphy what it means for boosters, masks and mandates. plus our power player of the week. the man nancy reagan chose to make sure her husband's legacy lives on. all right now on "fox news sunday". ♪. chris: you're looking live at the air force one ronald reagan presidential library in simi valley california. welcome to a special hour of "fox news sunday" from the reagan national defense forum. each year key national security figures meet here to discuss threats the u.s. faces around the world. this week and the focus is on one challenge. vladimir putin's massive buildup of russian troops along the border with ukraine. u.s. intelligence warned of a possible invasion early next year. on tuesday president biden will hold a video call with putin trying to head off in international crisis. here at the form yesterday defense secretary lloyd austin address the situation. >> in terms of our concerns were very concerned. it is something we will remain focused on going forward. chris: throughout this hour will drill down to foreign-policy threats in ukraine and around the world. to start let's bring in david spunt of the white house with the latest on the standoff between the u.s. and russia. >> tensions between moscow go back decades but things appear to be coming to a head. now president biden is getting personally involved. >> president biden looking to press concerns russia could invade ukraine. more than 100,000 troops along the border. >> my expectation it will be a long road. >> ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said he discovered a russian plot that would take him out. [speaking in native tongue] >> what we have to know were in complete control of the border and fully ready for any escalation. >> some kind of escalation appears imminent, defense secretary lloyd austin saying the u.s. has helped sure up ukraine. >> we provided them with a number of different things over the years including lethal capability allotted nonlethal capability. >> russia is trying to block ukraine from joining nato. biden vladimir putin met face-to-face at the june summit. publicly putin has and continue to praise biden saying recently biden is a professional who doesn't miss a thing. but private u.s. officials admit flattery only go so far and president biden will tell putin to back off and recognize ukrainian sovereignty. >> the president will reportedly speak to his ukrainian counterpart. another way to lower the temperature and avoid a superpower confrontation. chris: david spunt reported from the white house. thank you. earlier at the reagan defense forum i sent them with republican senator joni ernst. the first female combat veteran elected to the senate who is now a member of the armed services committee. also michelle, former secretary of defense under president obama. we began with a growing crisis on ukraine's border. senator, michelle, walk in the "fox news sunday". senator, what do you think vladimir putin is up to here. do you think he intends to invade ukraine and what should president biden tell him on tuesday. were not going to go to war with russia over ukraine. >> it's hard to know what vladimir putin is thinking and what his true intentions are. we do see a very aggressive action on his part unmasking his troops on the ukrainian border. we must prepare for the worst, not knowing what the intentions are. i do think president biden needs to be very clear and very strong in his message to vladimir putin. he needs to say to vladimir putin, that we are no longer going to allow you to continue with the nord stream 2 pipeline, we need you to know and understand we will defend ukraine. we will provide them assistance. he needs to make that very clear. chris: here is secretary state lincoln talking about the threat of russia and ukraine. take a look. >> we made it clear to the kremlin we will respond resolutely including with a range of high-impact economic measures that we refrained from using in the past. chris: that's what we keep hearing from the biden administration and the european union talk of economic sanctions, political sanctions. pretty much it is obvious, not explosive the military option is off the table. that has never stopped putin before. >> i think with the administration is actively considering with our allies. an escalating set of sanctions that go beyond what's been done before. i'm sure they're looking at sanctioning the banking system in the energy sector and possibly cutting off russia from swift system which enables other international financial transactions. they're looking out serious means in my expectation would be on tuesday during the call. president biden will layout to president putin. these are the things you will face. much greater level of pain than anything over crimea or have you. ukraine is a sovereign nation. the invasion of ukraine in particular going on what putin did before would be very serious breach of international security and would merit a huge response, not just in the u.s. but europe and the international community. chris: i want to pick up on something that you said earlier. if there is one thing that vladimir putin really wants now. it is the completion of the nord stream 2 gas pipeline to germany. here is what senator tom cotton, your republican colleague had to say about that last week. take a look. >> were in a situation where all western europe is flipped on german gas and vladimir putin is about you invade ukraine. the best we can get stern words. chris: what do you think of the chances that congress could override the president and block the pipeline and you can get democrats and republicans joining together to override president biden. >> recently cannot speak for the house but i do believe there is a coalescence around these types of actions in the united states senate. democrats are concerned and republicans are concerned. what we don't want to do is allow president putin to continue with the pipeline. especially as he's preparing perhaps to invade ukraine. we do have to push back on that. i think there is a large group of united states senators that will push back on vladimir putin. chris: this is an ongoing fight in the senate. president biden is trying to stop congress from blocking the pipeline. is it time in the situation you talked about taking sanctions that haven't been taken so far. is it time for president biden to reverse course and threatened to block the pipeline? >> the combination that are being considered are more powerful than the signal of blocking the pipeline. what putin is trying to do, one of his objectives is to divide the united states and europe. if we are going to maintain unity to implement very severe sanctions. we have to work with european partners. that includes germany. i would urge the senate to think about that. if you get satisfaction on nord stream 2, i undermined the effectiveness of the sanctions the president is threatening to put in place against boom. chris: there's other foreign-policy threats. senator ernst, china is involved in a huge military buildup now, both on the ground and also in space. the hypersonic missile. how should we deal with the growing threat from china. >> there are so many ways we should be dealing with the threat in china, whether it's a cyberspace, cyber domain, whether it is disruption to the belton road initiatives all around the globe. certainly there buildup of man-made islands in the south china sea. they're encouraging taiwan and taiwanese airspace. all of this we can do in a number of manners but of course militarily making sure were maintaining freedom of navigation is extremely important. make sure that were encountering any cyber threat to our system spanking, our utilities and so forth, pushing back on that. also a very clear message to president xi jinping would be extremely helpful. we had a lost opportunity when president biden requested to visit it with president xi jinping and president xi jinping is the one that took center stage and maintain his dominance. we have to be very strong and clear to china that while we want to engage you in trade and other activities, we cannot allow any nefarious types of activity. chris: finally, iran senators, you made it clear, you think it's a big mistake for the u.s. to get back in the iran nuclear deal. michelle were talking about a situation that's changed so dramatically since president trump pulled out of the deal. iran is up to 60% of enrichment and uranium. is it too late to go back to the deal. has the genie already left the bottle and it's impossible to put it back inside? >> the mess were seen today is a result of the withdrawal which started iran. but we are where we are. i wish i could say it was optimistic to get back to the deal but all indications are coming out of negotiation that that remains remote possibility. now in the situation of having to figure out with her allies how do we deal with in iran that is positioning itself with a clear weapon and continuing to support terrorism throughout the region. iran will reassert itself or a bigger problem. chris: does it come down to letting israel handle the problem for us? >> i don't think we should have israel, this albeit israel shoulders, the united states and other partners along with israel need to come up with a new approach. chris: do think it's reversible or do you think iran -- >> is always reversible, how do you really affect their calculus i think the regime has dug in his heels. hoping to split us from her allies and get others to compromise with them. i'm not hopeful in the near-term. >> michele flournoy and joni ernst. thank you very much. it's a busy and dangerous world. chris: up next from the reagan library will bring in the sunday group to discuss the escalating standoff between joe biden and vladimir putin. in the potential political fallout that the supreme court decides the biggest abortion cases in years and overturn roe v. wade. ♪ ♪♪ helping them discover their dreams is one of the best parts of being a parent. one of the most important is giving them ways to fulfill them. for over 150 years, generations have trusted the strength and stability of pacific life. because life insurance can help protect and provide for the financial futures of the ones we love. talk to a financial professional about pacific life. a mountain of toys to fulfill many wishes must be carried across all roads and all bridges. it's not magic that makes more holiday deliveries to homes in the us than anyone else, it's the hardworking people of the united states postal service. let's go walter! after you. walter, twelve o' clock. get em boy! 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defense forum previewing president biden's tuesday call with vladimir putin. it is time for our sunday group here in simi valley. gop strategist karl rove and fox news national security correspondent jennifer griffin. welcome. how worried are they at the pentagon about the massive buildup of russian troops on the ukraine border. do they really think vladimir putin my invade ukraine or do they think he's using the buildup as a bargaining chip. >> are taken very seriously. i've had conversations with senior leaders at the pentagon that a principal meeting at the white house in the situation room on friday to discuss how to respond. there taken extremely seriously. i've been told this is qualitatively different buildup than last spring. there is more troops expected, 114,000 now we think there could be up to 175,000 and the start of the year. remember the ground is very soft so the tanks cannot go into ukraine but when the ground hardens there is a belief that battery under vladimir putin is really serious this time different from the reserve buildup. chris: ukraine is not part of nato, what doesn't fall under article five in an attack against one is in an attack against all. were knocking to go to war, and land were in ukraine with russia, are we? and assuming we don't, what can we do short of the military response to stop putin from an invasion. >> wave economic tools in the administration say has a vast tools array including cutting off international banking system. let's be clear if russia invades ukraine and takes ukraine, sovereign nation in the center of europe, this is a grave setback for the united states in its interest and also message. if this happens and the administration fails to stop it then what will stop from taking the politics and what discouragement and what is the signal to china in regards to north korea to south korea. there will be great consequently down the line. chris: when you say there is enough will there be enough to stop it. >> how good how varnado allies done and sure enough the ukrainian military so it can provide a strong response to any attempt to take over the country. chris: i want to turn to a big story this week. that was a supreme court hearing. the mississippi abortion case in the conservative majority of justices seem to indicate there was a possibility that they might severely restrict roe v. wade were overturn it entirely. the reaction was immediate and intense. >> for nearly half a century every american deserves access to healthcare including reproductive health care. >> there are dozen states on the books today that this case the mississippi is upheld those states get to defend life immediately in ways that they were prior to today. chris: because of the fact that abortion is legal now. at least in the early months of pregnancy. it's more of a mobilizing issue for the pro-life movement then has been for the pro-choice. if that were to change. if roe v. wade is severely restricted or completely eliminated by a supreme court ruling in june or july. what's a political impact are to head to the 22 midterms. >> we don't know what the decision is. if it returns it to the states which is the most likely outcome whether restriction that undermines roe v. wade total. it'll go back to the states. at the battle fought out to the state legislative races. there will be victories for pro-life and defeats if it goes to the states given the nature of legislatures. let's remember this we don't know how big this will be. virginia became a big issue. terry mcauliffe said if you liked youngkin as governor this will undermine it. only 8% in the example said this was their voting issue and they vote 58 - 41 for youngkin. we had texas, woman who ran for governor in 2014 who made the entire issue abortion and she lost the governor's race by 20 points. we do not know how would a play out but there will be winners and losers on both sides because it will be at the state level. chris: republicans seem headed for a very good midterm election night. likely taking back the house. possibly taking back the senate. if you get a big change in roe v. wade does have the possibility of flipping the political equation. >> i think it does. let's think about what happened on friday they took an initial vote in the supreme court. they probably already know how this is decided the take the next nine months, the decision will come on june that is months before the midterm election is likely to deepen the divide between red states and blue states. there's one very important number, 21 states have abortion bands on the books. if roe v. wade is overturn for those abortion bands will affect 65 million women and three of those states are michigan, arizona, wisconsin that were decided by single digits in 2016 and 2020. this is one issue that could issue the democratic base unit will be a shot of adrenaline for the democratic party. chris: let me pick up and push back a little bit. karl i'm gonna give you a chance to respond if you will. one of the things we saw with youngkin victory in virginia. the suburban women who moved away from trump and to biden came back for the republican youngkin who is more moderate. i wonder, i wonder what do you think about this. it energizes the swing voters if they lose if there pro-choice. they lose the option by supreme court ruling. >> i think you have to look at suburban women and if you look at the statistics the poll shows 60% is pro-choice. this is one issue that could really motivate suburban women and independent voters that you have to look at. >> 65% of the ap poll said they believe abortion should be restrictive in the second trimester and only 19% say abortion should be allowed most or all abortions in the third trimester. were not the character of probe and beside or no abortions at all. were somewhere else in between and the question will be how is it thought out. the idea that somebody stands up and says we unrestricted right to abortion in the moment the child is born. his neck would be accepted by the american people. chris: i completely agree but that's not what were talking about. what were talking about the possibility the supreme court might say there is no protection that constitutional protection for women, the state based the issue at all. there is no constitutional right to an abortion at any point. >> that leaves it up to the states to determine the medical procedure. will this have an effect on the election, yes, i think it will impact individual races for governor and state legislature. far more than the united states senator in the u.s. house. let's not kid ourselves were not a country that wants an unlimited right to abortion. 19% one out of every five americans say we ought to have a right to an abortion in the third trimester. two out of three say we ought unlimited in the second trimester and the number goes higher in the third trimester. >> i think politically this is a shot of adrenaline for the democrats. i think the oc ballot initiatives and states and it will take a lot of air time and there will be talk about expanding the core among democrats. chris: it really is. i know it is dangerous to predict what the court is going to do with the justices asking during hearings. it did see that justice roberts was talking about incremental change, some of the other justices were talking about a bigger change maybe eliminating roe v. wade. i know it's a guess how big of a ruling to expect from the court. >> i think there is likely to be restrictions on the standard in kc. the questions largely were about where in the constitution a right to abortion. from where does this drive. what the court is attempting to do is stopping the monitor of abortion laws in america and leave it up to the people through their elected representatives at the state level. chris: that would pretend a bigger ruling. thank you will see you back in washington next week. up next a week after south africa sounds the alarm about a new covariance prude omicron has spread around the world and here to the u.s. will ask surgeon general vivek murthy about new plans to fight the virus would become back for the reagan presidential library. and you have thinkorswim mobile- -so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. you two are all set. choose the app that fits your investing style. ♪♪ autism is really not just one condition. it really is an umbrella term that describes... many different individuals with different types of symptoms and different types of challenges. when we think about how many people we need to answer the hundreds of questions that we all have about autism we need tens of thousands of individuals... because we are all so different. each person really needs to be able to represent their experience with autism so we don't leave anyone behind. join us today. go to sparkforautism dot org. chris: welcome back to the reagan national defense forum. now the latest on the developing story. the highly mutated covid very omicron has now been detected in 44 countries and spread to 16 states here in the u.s. health officials are racing to learn more about the new variant. were also dealing with another surge of the delta virus. joining is now u.s. surgeon general vivek murthy. doctor, it's been a little bit more than a week since the world first learned about the omicron variant. i would go over some of the initial findings so far. the variant is spreading more than twice as fast as delta. it is three times more likely to cause reinfection's among people who have had covid. it shares genetic code with the common cold. compared to a week ago when we first learned the name omicron, how much more how we learned about the transmissibility about this disease. the severity of the disease from omicron and the potential that it could invade and beat the vaccines that we now have. >> we continue to learn a lot about omicron we have seen there is spread around the world and in our country, we see this with other variants prude we've been in close dialogue with her colleagues in south africa and frequent basis to understand what they're seen. even though they're seen cases go up they see an increase in hospitalization. they have cautioned us as we have tried to caution others. not to draw immediate conclusion with a initial data sets and antidotes that you hear. to the question whether the increase spread is being driven by greater transmissibility or being driven by different sensitivity to the vaccine protection or prior infection. the mix of contributors is not known. the bottom line this is what we know, the majors that we take to protect ourselves in the spread of covid including wearing masks in indoor space and well ventilated spaces those work and will work against omicron. also vaccines, were trying to figure out the vaccines against omicron. every case they're better off and were protected against hospitalization and death in the unvaccinated. were urging people to get vaccinated and boosted. chris: briefly on this you talk about masks, are you saying if you're with people, that you don't know that we should go back routinely to wearing a mask indoor? >> what we've been seen since the summertime if you vaccinated unvaccinated and gathering with people outside of your household in indoor spaces, wearing a mask is a recommended step to take. to reduce the potential for spread and protects you and protects the people around you. chris: i know you're a scientist and you want to play this very carefully. people are following this awfully closely. let me ask you this. i hope you can give us some transparency. what you learned so far as compared to a week ago. are you more or less worried about omicron? >> i certainly am concerned about the possibility that this will spread more easily than other variants that we seen today and we have to get more data to understand the extent of them. but i think it's a reason to not necessarily panic that the more vigilant and recognize ever caution we've been talking about for the last year or so are all more important than ever. we are dealing with the delta challenge right now we have the delta variant which is causing on average 100,000 cases a day. as winter approaches and people go indoors it is possible those numbers may go up and thus we take the precautions like getting vaccinated and wearing the masks. >> this is more vigilant not to panic. chris: let me pick up on that, president biden announced several new measures this week to fight covid in all of the variance. i want to put it up on the screen predict tougher testing protocol for international travel. an extension of masks on public transportation. in insurance coverage for at-home test. but a doctor that works with you on the biden transition task force, doctors elaine gonder said she wishes that president biden had been tougher, especially on domestic air travel when it comes to the vaccines in masks. your thoughts about that? >> i think international and domestic travel are different. international as you mentioned, there's a number of measures we have taken with vaccine requirements requiring testing before people get on the fights. from domestic standpoint. we've seen it people do wear masks, well fitted masks, good quality mask they can reduce the risk on domestic flights. keep in mind this. we taken a number of measures, domestically to ensure that we increase vaccination rates which are key to ending the pandemic whether the requirements of workplaces or whether that is availability of the vaccine which is unprecedented. will continue to do that. last week the president announced we are getting pharmacies more spots and reminders to millions of americans of the importance of getting vaccinated and were setting up hundreds of family clinics like kids and adults to get vaccinated at the same time pre-these are strong majors in the way that we have continually shown a desire for every effort with had to make sure people are protected and vaccinated and we get to the into the pandemic as quickly as we can. chris: president biden has been aggressive about vaccine mandate on government and healthcare workers in the military and companies that have more than 100 employees. but i don't have to tell you, the courts have blocked a number of those. here's what the president said announcing his new set of covid fighting majors this week. take a look. >> while my existing federal vaccination requirements have been reviewed by the courts. this plan does not expand or add to those mandates. chris: why did the president feel the need to say number mandates, is he backing off of them, there were no new mandates when a lot of people expected they would be. >> i think he feels very strongly that the measures that he put forward will meaningfully move us forward in the requirements that we have in place will continue to do that. we know this effort is about more than requirements, it's about making sure people have the information that they need to get vaccinated and they have access to the vaccine. that's why you see a focus on some of the areas doubling down other areas in his plan. but putting this all together i think the majors he announced are going to help us for the winter and i want to make sure people understand this very clearly. were not back in march 2020 despite the prospect avenue very omicron on the horizon and despite the fact that we found cases here. we have more tools and knowledge to protect ourselves. it's why the holiday this year will be an early has been very different than the holidays in 2020. i've been able to take my kids trick-or-treating and i've gotten together with families for thanksgiving million of americans have done the same and gathered safely. these measures will help us to the same. chris: how do you feel about the fact that the courts are blocking the mandates. what is the potential fallout, the vaccine mandate. along the same lines, up to 19000 members of the navy and the marines have not met the november 28 deadline for getting vaccines. their cases are going to be reviewed on an individual basis. we are talking about the crew that would be needed covid-19 thousand to staff for aircraft carriers. we cannot afford to lose the 19000 marines and sailors because of the mandate, can we? >> i'm glad you asked. what we are committed to doing is working with every federal employee in military and civilian to make sure there vaccinated and the information they need to be vaccinated and this is not a cliff people don't make the deadline, we will work with them to figure out how we can get them there. i want to keep in this perspective. vast majority over 90% of the federal workforce is vaccinated and in compliance. that includes a military uniform service, the united states public health service in the surgeon general. chris: were going to have to leave it there. thank you for your time. it's always good to talk to you. when we returned to the reagan national defense forum. my conversation with one of the leaders of the u.s. space force on the security challenges on the new frontier. chris: this week the biden administration laid out its approach to space policy with a focus on national security given provocative actions by countries like china and russia. earlier i discussed those threats with david thompson the vice chief of operation for the u.s. space force. general thompson, welcome. >> great to be here. >> your boss general raymond compares space to the wild west. just how wild is the situation in space. >> for civil let me say it's an incredibly growing and dynamic domain and some of that contributes to the wildness of space. in the past two years alone the number of satellites has doubled. a lot of energy is in the commercial investment that we see but there aren't really agreed to international set of standards and norms of behavior expected in space. chris: if the space force is a new sheriff in town, how to keep law and order in the situation and what constitutes an active war in space. >> the answer, what constitutes an active war in space is not really clearly defined or understood and perhaps less thinking than in other areas and other domains. what we are not, we are not the sheriff in town, where a military force but we firmly advocate for regulation and conduct a behavior the everybody should follow and we should follow as well. chris: does anyone especially china and russia, do they listen to us. >> there are conversations ongoing, they put forth proposals as well. things have not proceeded very far in the recent past. we tried to facilitate it. it's into the leadership of the department of state. the secretary of defense outlined five tenets of responsible behavior that we apply to that everybody else should conduct. the state and space operations in the safe matter. don't create harmful and interference, communicate your intention and operate safely in the vicinity of others. those with expertise or expectations that we should all here too but they are commonly accepted or here to yet in space. chris: china is putting up satellites at twice the rate the u.s. is now. at that pace by the end of the decade, they will replace the u.s. as the preeminent power in space. when you look at the hypersonic missiles. when you look at satellites with robotic arms. just how much of a threat is china to the u.s. in the rules inroad in space. >> china is a tremendous threat as you noted. i don't think it's a foregone conclusion that they will be the leader in space by the end of the decade but there on incredible pace. were the best in the world in space, capabilities of the best in the world in space but they're moving aggressively and quickly and we need to adapt our approach and we need to adapt of what we do and how we do it to keep pace and outpace them. they are a threat, they can threaten us kinetically like you said. the russians on the 15th of november conducted a constructive antisatellite test, the chinese conducted a similar test in 2007. they have robots in space i conducted and they can conduct jamming attacks and laser attacks and cyber capabilities. absolutely in a credible threat that we have to address now and in the future. chris: talking first of all about china. if they continue putting satellites up at the speed that they are. they have a satellite with a robotic arm. could they eventually get to a point where they can take out u.s. sensors and thereby have a first strike offensive capability. >> i would say that is a potential. that's one of the reasons in space force was created. to understand the threat, to design tactics and techniques and design counters to the threat. to design a system that provides for intelligence collection and awareness and understanding so just as we do in other domains, we know the capabilities and tactics and systems and re-create counters. it's our job to ensure, should they propose taxes with a space robot or other things, then we have countermeasures and tactics in means to employ to prevent that attack from being successful. chris: you talked about russia in the last few weeks they launched initial that took out one of their own satellites and created 1500 pieces of debris in a very crowded neighborhood. how threatening is that? >> it was incredibly dangerous hen irresponsible as. they conducted an altitude over the north pole for years to come that will be pressed and it filtered down and reenter the atmosphere. as it doesn't have the potential to threaten every single satellite at altitudes below that including the international space station in the international space station. in that sense it is a dangerous behavior that threatens her use of the domain. what we also need to do is design new space systems that recognizes the possible threat and make it less productive. chris: let me ask about one aspect. one of the things that we are doing is putting lower cost satellites up. the idea that you create a swarm of satellites and you create too many targets in space. >> exactly right, the term we use is resilience and make it such too hard and too expensive into likely that they'll create the likely that they want. in the past we've had a small number, very sophisticated and capable satellites. we now intend to feel more and more lower cost and capable that provide an aggregate same capability therefore there is not as much value in attempting to attack them in space. chris: some of the most innovative work being done in space is by private companies like spacex and virgin orbit. what kind of partnership does the space force have or hope to develop. >> we both have partnerships and will develop more. as the new commercial services come online, if their value to the space force in the joint force, were going to use them directly for our benefit. the second innovation and creativity in the technology and the way that they operate. if we can leverage and apply them to military missions will do that as well. the third piece, we are partnering and sharing information on mission requirements and mission design and cost interests and we are asking them to develop their own solution to our problem as we do as well to create a new relationship that says here's a problem, here's a potential solution employ the power and innovation of your ideas alongside ours with the best source of space capabilities for the nation. chris: finally, when president trump directed the pentagon to start the space force back in 2019. it became the butt of some pop-culture jokes. i want you to take a look at some of that. >> tonight there is big news about space force. >> wow, space force, it is the plaintiff today. chris: how do you react to that and how seriously is the space force being taken by your adversaries now. >> i think as people will fully understand exactly who we are and what we are and how we contribute to the security of the nation, absolutely they're taking us more seriously we see energy and desire out of the young people to participate. i would say humor is a fundamental society in american culture if we can't take a joke and except some of the humor and were probably not prepared to face the greater challenges that we need and were absolutely up to the challenges. >> i gather from what do you say china and russia are not laughing. thank you so much for talking with us. >> let me say speaking for myself and general raymond i'm speaking for 15000 guardians every made an honor and privilege to serve the nation and its people. >> thank you server. up next the power player of the week. man behind the mission to preserve and promote the legacy of her 40th president. ♪ superpowers from a spider bite? i could use some help showing the world how liberty mutual customizes their car insurance so they only pay for what they need. (gasps) ♪ did it work? only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ spider-man no way home in theaters december 17th bye mom. my helpers abound, i'll need you today. our sleigh is now ready, let's get on our way. a mountain of toys to fulfill many wishes. must be carried across all roads and all bridges. and when everyone is smiling and having their fun i can turn my sleigh north because my job here is done. it's not magic that makes more holiday deliveries to homes in the us than anyone else, it's the hardworking people of the united states postal service. ♪ chris: it's been our honor and pleasure to once again come here ott reagan library -- to the reagan library. it's not the largest and most visited of all the presidential libraries. over the past decade, there's been one man who's responsible for maintaining its preeminence, and he's our power player of week. ♪ >> there's a whole lot of people that just so admire ronald reagan. they come here,st somewhat of a mecca. chris: john highbush on the lasting relevance of the reagan library. >> we're about promoting what ronald reagan stood for, and that was less taxes, less government, less regulation, more freedom, strong defense. >> government is not solution to our problem, government is the problem. [applause] chris: in 2009 nancy reagan chose highbush to lead her husband's foundation. >> every time my phone rang, my heart would jump in my throat a bit, because i knew she was going to ask for me maybe not to do the impossible, but some big things. chris: how dramatically have you revamped the library over the last 12 years in. >> these presidential libraries, in my mind, they're a bit like sharks, you know in you're not moving forward and constantly in the hunt for new and interesting things to do, you're not going places. chris: the library is the final resting place for both reagans, but highbush has found inventive ways to keep the president alive. >> you wouldn't mind if i told you one more story, would you? [laughter] chris: how do visitors to the library react to the sonogram? >> oh, they just love it. they really do. from kids 6 to 96 and hear and see as best as you can president reagan almost right there in the flesh. chris: but there were unforeseen challenges like massive wildfires in 2019. can you get out? in an interview then, his concern was clear. >> i stood on a hill with a dozen firemen who literally stopped names about 100 yards from the president and mrs. reagan's grave site. chris: how close did you come to losing the librariesome. >> chris, we came within an inch. the reagan library was surrounded by a wall of flames. they saved the reagan library, there was no doubt about it. chris: highbush has kept finding ways to advance the reagan legacy like an institute in washington to push his conservative principles. >> as republicans, we need to free ourselves from the quicksand of endless grievances. >> thank you. please be seated. chris: you have started a speaker series, a i'm for choosing -- a time for choosing. what is the debate inside the republican party odd? >> i think he would be far more willing to compromise than we find today. people seem to be the at each other's throats, and i think that would really concern president reagan. [applause] >> thank you. god bless you and god bless america. chris: highbush is stepping down at the end of this year but feels he's accomplished his central the mission. >> listen, ronald reagan doesn't need my help to be one of the best prime ministers in the history of -- presidents in the history of this nation, but maybe he and mrs. reagan need a little help to insure admiration for the president would never cease. so i think we've held the flame high and made name of ronald reagan as relevant odd the as it was many years ago -- today the as it was the many years ago. chris: highbush promised nancy reagan he would give her at least five years here at the library, but in year four he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. he beat the disease and kept building the library these past 12 years. and that's it for today. have a great week, and we'll see you back in washington next "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪ ♪ maria: good sunday morning, everyone. welcome too "sunday morning futures," i'm maria bart romo. today texas thrives in the face of challenge. the state a magnet for technology and innovation with another major tech company opening shop despite joe biden's wide open borders. new data this morning on the hundreds of thousands of gotaways gross -- crossing the southern border this year as businesses invest tens of billions in the lone star state. coming up, texas governor greg