face a test of wills. we'll cover the standoff from kiev to moscow to washington and ask former secretary of state mike pompeo about the huge political stakes. plus, 49 years after roe v. wade, the future of the landmark decision is uncertain as the supreme court weighs a case that could change the abortion landscape in america. we'll discuss with south dakota governor kristi noem who's pushing for even more restrictions in her state, only on "fox news sunday." ♪ shannon: then -- >> he absolutely is not predicting that the 2022 elections would be illegitimate. shannon: the white house pushing back on the president's comments that the fate of the midterms rests on democrats passing voting laws. we'll ask our sunday panel about new fox polls about the state of elections. all right now on "fox news sunday." ♪ ♪ shannon: and hello again from fox news in washington. president biden is huddled this weekend with his security advisers at camp david as he faces a full-blown standoff with russian president vladimir putin. in the middle, ukraine, the former soviet republic, along whose border moscow has massed tens of thousands of troops. in response, the u.s. and its allies ramping up supplies of weapons to ukraine as fears rise about the process prospect of what could become the biggest conflict in europe since world war ii. and breaking this weekend, the british uncovering a plot by the kremlin to be install a pro-russian leader in kiev as it considers an a invasion of ukraine. we'll get reaction from former secretary of state mike pompeo, but we begin with fox team coverage. lucas tomlinson at the white house, amy kellogg in moscow, but first, greg palkot in kiev. >> reporter: i would say that the folks here are concerned but expecting it as well. u.k. government claims that russian president putin's allegedly scheming to install a pro-russian regime here in place of the current leadership, even naming russian-friendly figures who would take over. our sources, shannon, say it is plausible that russia does this kind of thing, it sows disinformation and lines up folks to do its dirty business, but also they tell us, shannon, that a shadow government could only really be put in place during or after an invasion. ins -- if moscow does it and it succeeds. shannon: what's the latest on the ground there in the morning? >> reporter: we're watching that buildup of russian troops, said to number now 125,000. the new information that we are getting is that the latest deployments are now in a town that's southeast in belarus, that is 30 miles from the ukraine border. it's about 60 miles from where we're standing right now, and this weekend here saw the arrival of the first bit of u.s. military aid out of the $200 million commitment. that's about 100 tons of what they call lethal aid including ammunition for ukrainian troops who are duking it out with pro-russia fighters in eastern ukraine, shannon. shannon: greg, what is your sense of what the ukrainian people are thinking? >> reporter: they are worried, they are often brave, and when they speak to us, sometimes hopeful. the churches here this sunday filling up with folks saying prayers, lighting candles, and in the face of this ominous news, wishing for the best. the take a listen to a few who spoke with us.. i'm scared. i used to believe that russia was our friend. >> translator: i am scared. it is outrageous that russia's doing something like this. >> translator: we are praying and hoping that it's not going to happen. >> translator: oh, everything's going to be fine. >> reporter: or that last fellow -- [laughter] saying we hope everything's going to be fine. that one was our favorite. back to you, shannon. shannon: greg palkot in kiev, thank you very much. amy kellogg in moscow, amy, what is the kremlin's reaction to the news out of the u.k.? >> reporter: well, the ministry of foreign affairs here was very quick to respond, shannon, putting the story up on their twitter page covered with a big, blaring red stamp saying fake and continuing to comment that this just shows that nato, led by the, quote, anglo-saxons, is the one that is amping the pressure up and the tensions around ukraine, asking the west to stop, quote, disseminating nonsense, shannon. shannon: so, amy, what are putin's interests in ukraine at this point? >> reporter: well, i think nobody knows for sure, shannon, and a lot of people say that he doesn't even know what he wants to get out of all of this and that his strategy is a work in progress. many here say that despite ukraine's worst fears, putin doesn't actually want to claw back another part of ukraine. he is, frankly, very fed up with the anti-russian sentiment that you could argue he's responsible for in ukraine. he clearly does want some sort of partnership though. that we understand. and also he thinks that russia and ukraine are basically the same people, and he claims to be very worried that ukraine is fast becoming a tool of the west to be used against russia's interests. he also says that he worries that ukraine is being overrun by neo-nazis. now, opposition figures believe putin doesn't want democratic movements moving closer to his borders, and one thing that a lot of people here agree on is that the bottom line for putin is he does not want any more nato expansion. he has had it, he's reached a breaking point, he's also tired of feeling the west is on his case, that they're sanctioning him and squeezing him and, frankly, don't respect him anymore. he, for his part, doesn't appear to respect the west very much, and some say that he's playing the west at this point, seeing how far he can push it. one person who's very knowledgeable about these things said he's, quote, trolling the west, shannon. shannon: well, a dangerous game to play. so what is his end game? >> reporter: well, a prominent journalist this morning told me that what he's very concerned about is the fact that this whole standoff has played out completely in the public eye. the accusations and demands have not been behind closed doors, they are out there in the public domain, and that makes it this much more complicated to come to a resolution that will make both sides look like they've come out on top. he said that sacrifices have to be made, concessions on both sides, but he told me that he's very worried that the west doesn't quite believe russia when it says that this and that is a red line. they don't see it as red, and that, he said, is cause for great concern, and he's very worried about where this is all going, shannon. shannon: amy kellogg live in moscow, thank you very much. let's turn now to lucas tomlinson at the white house. one of the biggest challenges the president has faced, lucas. >> reporter: one of the alleged plotter s named by the british government was sanctioned by the u.s. treasury department last week, the white house calling the plot deeply concerning and issued a fresh warning to moscow. >> if russia further invades ukraine, the united states will impose swift and severe consequences. the uncovering of the alleged plot comes as talks between top u.s. and russian diplomats in geneva failed to come to any agreement. >> this was not negotiation, but a candid exchange of concerns and ideas. >> reporter: the state department working on a written response to russian demands, something blinken said he would not do just a few days ago. the secretary of state hinting another biden-putin summit could be in the offering. the u.s. embassy in ukraine announcing the arrival of the first shipment of ammunition ordered by president biden. u.s. officials say javelin anti-tank missiles are expected to arrive any day now. in recent days advanced russian surface to air missiles, tanks and fighter jets deploying to belarus which now puts ukraine's capital city in the crosshairs. russia's foreign minister denies russia plans to invade. >> translator: our concerns are not imaginary. stuffing ukraine with weapons. >> reporter: u.s. officials say a decision to begin evacuating families of u.s. embassy personnel in ukraine could come as soon as monday. president biden tried to explain putin's actions. >> he is trying to find his place in the world between china and the west. >> reporter: last week marked the end of president biden's first year in office. year two could be marked with another potential evacuation of americans overseas with tensions the highest in europe since the cold war. shannon? han -- shannon: lucas tomlinson, thank you. joining us now, former secretary of state mike pom mike pompeo, now a fox news contributor. welcome back to "fox news sunday." >> good morning. great to be with you, shannon. shannon: let's start with the u.k. and its telling us that russia is trying to put a russian-backed or russian-sympathetic individual as the new leader in kiev. the is state -- the you ukrainian people have the sovereign right to determine their own future, we stand with our partners in ukraine. a number of russian officials calling this misinformation, saying this: we are resolutely calling on london to stop the stupid rhetorical provocations that contribute to the genuine diplomatic efforts aimed at insuring reliable guarantees of european security. given word of this potential plot which could be done short of force, how does it play out? where are we this morning? >> yeah. it doesn't surprise me, i assume that the u.k. reporting isal. vladimir putin has wanted to put russian-friendly leaders many control of the country for an awful long time through political gamesmanship and coercion, all the kinds of things, thels of state craft that are sub rosa, not overt. he appears to be massing troops not only inside of western russia, but inside of belarus as well, a short run down into ukraine from there, preparing a course of force, the capacity to change what the ukrainian people want from where they are today with president zelensky running an important country, a country that matters to the united states, and wants to put in someone friendly to russia. so he puts this in newspapers, this is russian propaganda. vladimir putin knows that ukraine is not going to attack russia. to suggest somehow that there is a threat from nato or from the ukraine is just propaganda and excuse for vladimir putin to do what he ultimately wants, which is to extend his influence, his authority, his power, his control into the former warsaw pact countries. shannon: you mentioned the number of fronts, our secretary of state anthony blinken with sergey lavrov, they've had conversations. we're told the next step is that the is going to provide written answers to some of russia's demands. they've included things like ukraine can never join nato. there are critics who think -- their worried that the u.s., whatever we put in writing, russia is going to use as a context for moving in. we're told there are now conversations about getting our diplomatic personnel out of kiev. this sounds like it's escalating. how do we bring it back from the brink? can we? >> san p non, it's awful late. the real hard work of deterrence would have happened a long time ago, a year ago, when president putin demanded that we give him a new s.t.a.r.t. treaty extension, we gave it to him for nothing. when they had russian cyber attacks and shut town the colonial pipeline, we told them you can only attack certain sectors, but 6 are off limits -- 16 are off limits. when we left afghanistan the way we did, those are the places where the administration had a chance to establish deterrence. putin saw this, and so these tactical things today about whether our families will stay in ukraine, we've got to do the right thing and take care of our families, but these tactical things aren't what causes vladimir putin to recalculate his cost benefit analysis. i think they don't see president biden as credible. i think they see all a this talking, these pieces of paper being exchanged as not credible. they don't protect the american people, establish deterrence and prevent, reduce the risk that a what president biden called a minor incursion, it reare minded me of when president obama called isis the jv. same kind of down canplaying of risk. it could cause an awful lot of lives to be lost not only in ukraine, but oh places in europe and energy prices to skyrocket across the world. shannon: when the president made that comment, it certainly got a lot of attention, the suggestion that it would invoke a lesser response from the u.s., potentially. we want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions, and small nations. if president biden made some attempts to clean that up. here's one of them. >> i've been absolutely clear with president putin. he has no misunderstanding. if any, any assembled russian units move across the ukrainian border, that is an invasion. shannon: so the earlier comment makes it sound as if the u.s. assumes russia is going to do something. is this lack of clarity hurting our ability to negotiate? >> >> shannon, if you listen closely even to president biden's attempt to clean it up, he said if there's any assembled units. we need to be unequivocal when one speaks in diplomacy, especially in the age of cyber and space and true capabilities that exceed what we had seen during the time of world war ii. if there's room for doubt, if there's space, vladimir putin will drive a truck through that gap. he will perceive any weakness and say, well, it was disorganized. these are the kinds of things that are listened to very closely. you could tell by the response of president zelensky, he listened very closely. we had deterrence for four years. vladimir putin didn't do these kinds of things. he didn't threaten, he didn't use coercive activity to try to push back on nato in the way he did. we made sure nato was focused on its mission, and when we did that, vladimir putin respected us. we had respect for him and his power. he's a very talented statesman. he has lots of gifts. he was a kgb agent, for goodness sakes. he knows how to use power. we should respect that. and if we did that, we could make sure we do the things that are right for the american people and reflect well on our country's history and traditions and pushing back and making sure europe and the western world stood together. shannon: so secretary blinken said just moments ago if one more russian force goes into ukraine in an aggressive way, that would trigger a significant u.s. response. what does that telegraph to you? what kind of response? >> that's a much stronger statement than the one that you just played for me from the president. i hope they're serious about this. i hope they are prepared not only to speak about this and that they have a plan, that they have an execution matrix so that they are prepared to actually do this in realtime and it doesn't take days of meetings and discussions with allies and friends, that there is a plan to execute a response. that is commensurate with the activity that the russians take. these are the kinds of things that reduce risk, shannon. it's how we prevent there to be a significant outbreak of conflict and war in europe. america can lead. we can't lead from behind, we have to be -- we should be flying weapons and systems into ukraine every single day making a demonstrable commitment to the iranian -- excuse me, to the ukrainian people who have demanded the simple thing, to have their own sovereignty and democracy in their country. shannon: just months ago a, we had a disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. people across the political spectrum agree on that. we lost an additional 13 lives because of the way that withdrawal was done. so, of course, there are many americans who are very wary about us getting involved in anything else. over at the cato institute, this piece says ukraine is, at best, a peripheral u.s. interest. the ukrainian people are entitled to set their own course but are unluckily. they are sharply divided and live in a bad neighborhood. this is not america's responsibility to set right. p so what is the proper u.s. role here? >> well, no one's suggesting that we send the 24th infantry division or the 82nd airborne. the suggestion is that america use its enormous capacity, its economic, diplomatic capacity, all the skills of state craft to prevent an incursion on a sovereign country like the country of ukraine. so the cato folks can say, gosh, we shouldn't send our military in, but no one's suggesting that. what we're going to do is, if we get this right, we're going to support governments. we protect our sovereignty at the southern border, that's what we did during our four years, other countries should be permitted to do that. and no rogue nation, like the russians, should be permitted to violate that sovereignty without a response from the western countries including nato. shannon: so there have been a lot of conversations between russia with iran, with china, there have been joint military exercises, all kinds of conversations going on with those individual countries, and they work together. how worried are you about china, them watching this knowing the air incursions they've had, for instance, into taiwan air defense zone? how closely do you think these other nations are watching this particular dispute to make their decisions about what they think about u.s. foreign policy? >> shannon, they're watching very closely. they watched our administration when qassem soleimani threatened the united states. we took a strike. when we were under assault from different places in the world, we responded in a way president trump said if you use chemical weapons in syria, we'll respond. we did. we did it without sending thousands of soldiers or creating a war any place in the world, shannon. so they're watching closely to see if this administration has the resolve and the steel to use with all of its tools to preserve sovereignty for a nation like ukraine. i promise you not only are xi jinping and chairman kim and ayatollah watching, but so are the people of taiwan, the iranian people and the chinese people as well. the whole world watches how america leads, and when we fail to do so, we create instability. and the costs, the risks to people in iowa, nevada, in kansas, my home state, are real. we have to get this right. we have to establish detenderness -- deterrence in the model of reagan and the model we had for our four years. if we do that, america will be safe and prosperous, the world will be more stable, and we won't have so many of the challenges confronting us as we sit here this morning. shannon: secretary pom fay owe, thank you for your time this weekend. >> yes, ma'am. thank you, shannon. shannon: up next, we'll bring in our sunday group to discuss the critical test ahead for the biden foreign policy. ♪ ♪ and there you have it. woah. wireless on the most reliable network nationwide. wow. big deal. we get unlimited for just 30 bucks. sweet, but mine has 5g included. relax people. my wireless is crushing it. that's because you all have xfinity mobile with your internet. it's wireless so good, it keeps one-upping itself. take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. >> diplomacy that can lead to peace and security or the path that will lead only to conflict, severe consequences and international condemnation. shannon: secretary of state blinken saying russia as that -- has a choice to make. it is time now for our sunday group. resident fellow at the american enterprise institute, marc thiessen, julie pace and mo elleithee, georgetown constitute of politics and -- institute of politics and public service. great to have you all with us this morning. >> good to be with you. >> good morning. shannon: marc, i mentioned this with former secretary pompeo, this back and forth between lavrov and blinken, this idea that the u.s. is going to provide written answers to the russian demands, should we be doing it? >> no, we should not be doing it. what we should be doing is laying out in very specific terms what the consequences will be if russia does, in fact, invade, which we have not done. look, what biden doesn't seem to understand is weakness is provocative. when you project weakness in the world, your adversaries are more likely to test your resolve, and putin thinks biden is bluffing. he remembers in 2014 when he invaded and annexed crimea, the obama/biden administration refused to impose any real costs. it caused -- the sanctions cost him about 1% of gdp, and he was willing to pay it for crimea with. the question now is are we going to impose the kind of costs on him that deter him, that would be too high. to do that, you have to sanction oil and natural gas which are the only exports that russia cares about and put massive sanctions on russian banks. europeans depend on russia for 40% of their natural gas. they're not eager to do that, and biden has not laid out the specific sanctions that he would impose. he needs to show putin that the costs will be enormous and specific. he needs to name the banks that he's going to sanction. he needs to make clear what the sanctions on russian energy exports are going to be and show him that the costs are going to be too high for him to bear. shannon: so, mo, senator ernst is among the republicans who say that the president has emboldened vladimir putin. she's a veteran herself. she says the president has not maximized his options for defensive weapon sales to ukraine, and putin knows it. he also knows the biden administration lobbied democrats to vote against nord stream 2 sanctions, necessary aptions -- actions to prevent the handover of the energy if sec or to the russian regime. we've got a brand new news poll that shows 54% disapprove of how he's doing on foreign policy, 41% approve. what does the white house do now? >> well, look, i think, you know, and you hear coming out of the white house, you hear this coming out of the state department that they're being very clear that, you know, there's two paths moving forward for putin. we can either continue to negotiate and pursue diplomacy, or there can be swift consequences if you don't pursue diplomacy. so i think they're making that case. and, look, marc and i actually don't disagree on this point, that strong economic sanctions and strong and very clear ramifications are critical. but when you look at something like nord 2, if we can go ahead and sanction it now to the bill that senator ernst was referencing and take away our leverage in this, right now the pipeline isn't operational. so putin doesn't have any if leverage with it. we do. and so if we sanction it now, we lose our leverage. if we make it clear that any sort of action by the russians could shut down this thing that putin wants more than anything, we've got some leverage. shannon: julie, mo mentioned nord stream 2. that puts germany in the middle of this whole thing. of they're a key ally but, obviously, because of nord stream 2, they're in a different position than many other countries who are parties to this conversation. germany's blocking estonia a from being able to export certain weapons and equipment to the ukraine. there's talk about whether president biden is, what kind of relationship he's got with the new chancellor there. what do you make of where we are with germany on this? >> well, this is why the situation is so complicated because, yes, it is a conversation about the u.s. and russia, but it's also about the u.s. and europe, and europe and russia. as you mentioned, nord stream 2 is so crucial to the germans and europe's energy supply as a whole at a time where we're seeing an energy crunch on the continent. it's a question about not only how biden is going to negotiate with senators in the u.s. congress about sanctions, but also how he's going to negotiate with the brand new chancellor of germany, someone he doesn't have a longstanding relationship with and what the climate in europe will be when it comes to trying to stave off russian aggression versus dealing with very real energy, a very real energy problem that will directly impact a lot of the people that european politicians will need for their support. shannon: so, marc, the putin situation with iran and china is concerning at best. we know that putin met with his counterparts this week, and they talked about this. putin told him apparently it's time to take on the power of the americans with an increased synergy between our two country countries. we know that naval exercises have been held with russia, iran and china. pleasure to -- pressure to change the economics of who cooperates with the west, who cooperates elsewhere with maybe these three. about that concern -- what about that? >> this is why this is such a crucial standoff. a lot of people and americans say what do i care about ukraine, what does it matter what happens in ukraine. ukraine isn't las vegas, what happens there didn't stay there. the reason we're having this crisis is because of the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan which projected weakness. the last time we had this crisis in ukraine was after president obama refused to enforce his red line in syria. if we now do not stand up to putin in ukraine and force him to back off with massive, specific sanctions and military aid to ukrainians, guess what? china is watching, and they're going to look at it and say, well finishing putin can invade -- if putin can invade ukraine, we can invade taiwan. iran is watching, north korea is watching. this could spin out of control and cause conflagrations across the world, so we need to start projecting strength in ukraine. we should immediately, immediately president biden should announce that nord stream 2 is over. we've proven if, russia's proven that it cannot be trusted to hold ukraine's energy supplies hostage, and he should lay out specific sanctions. what are the energy sanctions. the reason we haven't done that is because the germans don't want to do it. he should lay out those sanctions. he shoulding lay out the specific russian banks that will be sanctioned and show the cost to putin, that the costs will be higher than what he's willing to bear. shannon: all right, thank you, panel. we will see you later in the show. up next, states move to the front lines of the abortion battle with the supreme court soon to decide a blockbuster case. we will talk to south dakota governor kristi noem on plans to pass new rickses texas' controversial six week abortion ban to remain in place while the legal battle plays out. >> we believe that a post-roe world is in sight. >> reporter: texas state senator brian hughes authored the ban. >> this law, unlike others we passed, was not blocked, and it's been saving lives is sin day one. >> reporter: but a separate case poses a greater threat. shannon: joins i -- joining us now, governor kristi noem. >> thank you so much, shannon. shannon: you've made it clear you'd like to see roe shut down. 63% say let it stand, 31% say it's time to overturn it. are you out of step with the american people on this? >> not. in fact, 71% of americans believe there should be some reasonable restrictions on abortion. when i ran for governor, i talked about being the most pro-life above in the country. science has proven to us that life begins at conception, and the bill that i'm bringing this year to our legislature says that when a heartbeat is detected, then abortions should not be an option for people, that we need to protect those babies. and i think what's interesting in south dakota is we've proven this issue doesn't have to be divisive. last year i brought a bill that protected babies upon the diagnosis of down's syndrome, and it unanimously passed my legislature. republicans and democrats together believe that when parents get that diagnosis of down's syndrome, the baby shouldn't be aborted just because of that diagnosis. shannon: so the new measure that you're working on this year is very much like texas' s.b. 8 which is the one that's been back and forth at the supreme court. essentially says that people who aid a woman getting an abortion after the time that a heart beat is detected, they can actually as private citizens bring a case against these women. so week the supreme court had some dealings with that particular bill out of texas, and justice sotomayor said: it's a complicated, private bounty hunter scheme that violates nearly 50 years of this court's precedent. she went on to talk about the case about the law. she said: it's a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to the women many texas -- in texas who have a right to control their bodies. how do you respondsome -- respond? >> well, that's her opinion. that is not a legal defense of what that decision was, and the texas law has been upheld three times now. the south dakota law is different. it is modeled after the texas law and says when that heartbeat is detected, that then abortion is not an option. and, or frankly, since we got the texas law in place, lives have been save ised. you know, in south dakota there's a private right of action clause that is different than texas model, but we think that really gives people the option to really not insert the state into that relationship, but make sure that people have the opportunity to go after those doctors that do perform abortions and save those lives so that we can continue to be bold in doing that. i was very clear when i ran for golf and since i've been governor that we wanted to get up every single day and look for ways to protect every single life, that equality truly does come from valuing every single life. and that is what we've done by putting an unborn child advocate in the governor's office a. i saw glenn youngkin just did that as well, and i was so grateful to see him at that job -- add that job description to the governor's office there. and we'll continue to advocate for showing exactly what science has proven over and over over the years, that this truly is a life and it needs to be defended. shannon: pro-choice advocates say lack of access to abortion is most detrimental to women of color, to people who are struggling for financial stability. we know that just over half of the women who have sought abortions there in say that they had a financial interest or a struggle, not thinking that they could actually have this child. so what kind of resources, what kinds of efforts is the state making to help these women if you're telling them they can't have an abortion? where is the assistance otherwise? >> and that's one of the things that we need to do a better job of across the country, is taking care of mothers, letting them know that there is options. we had about 120 abortions in the state of south dakota last year which most people would say isn't very many, but it's 120 too many. and we do have amazing centers and people that wrap their arms around these mothers and these families and let them know that there are options for that child, that there is adoption, that there is ways that they'll come alongside them and mentor them so that they can teach them how to be parents and help them through the struggles that come with raising a child right here in sioux falls, the alpha center is a fantastic organization that's been doing it for years. and they constantly champion supporting mothers can and making sure that they know there are other options rather than abortion. shannon: let's talk covid-19. you've gotten a lot of attention for the way it's been handled in south dakota. not surprising that you would have critics on the left, but let's talk about your critics on the right. they say you considered or actually carried out a number of things they had a problem with, potentially an executive order that would have required some people to stay at home, proposing legislation that would have given your state health secretary the power to shut down both public and private places, powers that would have been granted to the counties to do similar things, and using the national guard to do contact tracing. so at what point did you pivot away from those policies, and why? >> so those were not executive orders, those were bills that were brought in the legislature that were never put into action and never utilized. the national guard was used to support our covid response, and everything was voluntary and an option that people could utilize if they wanted to. so what we did was partner together with our people. i think there'll always be critics, shannon, we've realized that people in this day and age they hear their leaders talk about division and trying to create anger and fear when really we should be talking about letting people have personal responsibility, letting people make the best decisions for their families, have flexibility and get through this together. we did that here in south dakota, and i think there are people outside the state that certainly want to criticize. i guess i can take it. i've been taking out for a while now. we'll do that, but we'll keep our focus on what's best for our state. shannon: well, and some of this comes from state lawmakers who say they were the true conservatives and actually taking place so some of these things didn't take place. at last check on your state health department web site, the positive cases are at 41 percent. what are you doing in south dakota to get that number down? >> we are doing exactly what we've been doing the last two years, and we're right in the middle of where all the states rank right now for cases. but, shannon, in south dakota we haven't focused on cases. we focus on hospitalization rates. we know that we can't stop this virus, but we can slow it down, but that we need to focus on hospital capacity, taking care of people should they get very, very sick. so we've been partnering with our hospital systems to continue to do that. nothing's changed in south dakota. this is our priority. we're working together to take care of those individuals. but there are cases, we know that people have been vaccinated and some people haven't, but regardless we're going to give them as many options as possible to get through this and to be healthy again. shannon: so a topic that has made a lot of headlines for you, the ncaa talking about how it will assess or allow who can assess which transgender athletes will be able to participate in which particular sports. you're pushing a new bill that would ban transgender women and girls from participating on sports teams for girls, women or females in your state. the last time a piece of legislation came through, you vetoed it. you did put out a couple of executive orders that a number of conservatives thought were too weak on this. so what has changed and what will you do to get this across the finish line? will you sign it? >> welsh shannon, that's simply not true. i did not veto a bill. i asked my legislature for changes, and they rejected it. so immediately, that very same day, i put executive orders in place to protect girls' sports. and this is about fairness. this is about fake making sure that our girls have a chance to be successful and to compete, to win scholarships, potentially go on and play professional sports beyond that. we want people to have the opportunity to do that. title ix fought for that years and years ago, and i've been doing this for years which started, man, almost five years ago now in the sport of rodeo where we've protected girls' events. now i'm bringing a bill to the legislature that will be the strongest bill in the nation in protecting fairness in girls' sports, and i'm hopeful that my legislators will support it. shannon: you're facing a primary challenge from a former seek seek speaker of the house there, the statehouse. this is what he says about you ask your profile nationally. he said we need a full-time governor who's focused on south dakota, not on washington, d.c. who makes decisions based on what's best for their constituents, not what's best for their career. how do you respond to his critique? [laughter] >> i think the people of south dakota are doing very well, and i'm not going to criticize steve at this time. but we are doing very well. we're focused on our race. we've got a lot of work to do here in south dakota, and i'm looking forward to talking about these issues and really how well we are doing in our state preparing for the future and defending our freedoms. shannon: what is the scenario, what are the conditions that you would view as a call to you to run for national office in 2024? what's that scenario? >> i don't think there is a call for me to run for national office. you know, i've been running for re-election here in south dakota to be governor, and i'm hoping that the people here will support that. and allow me another opportunity to continue the good work that we've done. we've got more to do. we've got the strongest economy in the country. we're, we've got historic revenues. we've put more money into reserves than ever before. we've got -- we're investing in long-term infrastructure projects. our people are doing very well. so we're going to continue to focus on that, but there's more opportunities ahead. shannon: well, if any of those opportunities involve 2024, feel free to come back and join us on "fox news sunday" to make any announcements, governor. thank you for your time, we appreciate it. >> okay. thank you, shannon. shannon: when we come back, brand new polls on what voters think about electing president biden to a second term. ♪ ♪ that's aat's a pretty tight s. watch this. of course your buick parks itself. that's so you. it's just up here on the right. ourse you know where we're going. that's so you. i kinda got a sixth sense. and a head up display. [whistle blows] [horn honks] they're here. hit the field. warm up. you brought all these players in your buick. -yup. -that's so you. it is. there's a buick that fits your life. because at the heart of every buick suv is you. this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. >> i did not anticipate that there'd be such a stalwart effort to make sure that the most important thing was that president biden didn't get anything done. shannon: a potential glimpse into democrats' midterm strategy as president biden takes a shot at republicans during a rare press conference wednesday. we are back now with the panel and a little bit more of our fox news polling brand new, fresh out this morning. mo, 2024 vote, if it were held today, election today, reelect president biden, 36%. vote for someone else, 60%. that someone else number is higher than it ever got for president trump, so what does the white house do now? >> yeah, look, those numbers aren't great. i also, though, think you need to take them with a little bit of caution. i remember in 1999 4 -- 1994 and in 2010 when barack obama and bill clinton lost their midterms big, and everyone was writing their political obituaries, and they both came back and won re-election. so there is time here. but, you know, joe biden has done -- did very well in the first half of his first year as president with a clear message that showed results. shots in your arms, getting money many your wallets, referencing -- in your wallets, referencing the relief package. and was about to roll out the third part which was jobs in your neighborhoods, talking about the infrastructure bill. and then that got slowed down. and then it started to feel a little less like results in the national conversation, and that's when you started to see his numbers take a huge downturn. there's an a opportunity to go back, talk about those three pillars of success so far, but then do what he did in his press conference the other day and say we've laid the foundation, but it hasn't been enough yet. here's what's next. and demonstrating that he and democrats have a path forward to deal with people's anxieties over covid and over inflation and that republicans don't. that's got to be the framing of the conversation for the next year out of the white house. if they want to be in the game, the election, and in '24. shannon: but, julie, there hasn't been a pivot or a reset. in fact, democrats spent a lot of political capital pushing these bills that they knew weren't going to pass, trying to nuke the filibuster. why do that? especially in a week that has not been good for the white house the last few days, losing at the supreme court on the osha mandate? why swing for the fences like this when democrats knew none of that could succeed? >> i think this is the big question for the white house. any president wants to be able to go out to the american people and show what they've actually done in office. the problem for biden is that he keeps running into the same opposition, and some of that is coming from within his own party. yes, he has a majority, but it is extremely narrow, and he does not have the full democratic majority in the senate on his side to pass many of his priorities, so how's he going to get through that. as you say, on voting rights in particular, i do think there was some political imperative for biden to show this was a priority, to show that he was going to try to take some action even if he knew it wasn't going to pass, but it didn't pass. so now what is the next step. they are caught in a little bit of a bind right now. they're always going to have this blockade unless biden can find a way to change the names of two very important democratic senators, and right now i think there's very little indication that he's going to be able to do that. shannon: so they didn't get these voting change bills through. a number of democrats have talked about they now have worries about the legitimacy of the next round of elections. the president was pressed on this in a number of ways during his press conference, and a lot of folks felt he could have been more clear by the way he answered those yet -- questions in this film of doubt. "the wall street journal" editorial board asked what's worse than a president who claims elections are a shamsome two prime ministers. two shams -- are a sham? two presidents. marc, where do we go from here? >> it's shameful. it was shameful when trump did it, and it's shameful when president biden said it. look, this is indicative of the big problem biden has with his presidency, he was trying to ram through partisan elections, federal takeover of the elections through a senate using, by getting rid of the filibuster. the worst thing that happened to joe biden was winning those two senate seats in georgia because it allowed the left wing of the democratic party to convince him to abandon his promise to be a unifier, a uniter who reaches across the aisle, brings the country together and convince him he could be fdr, he could pass this transformational left-wing agenda through congress. and the reality is americans didn't elect him to do that. that's why there's a 50-50 senate, a couple of votes' majority in the house. it was a mandate for compromise, it was a mandate for unity, it was a mandate for reaching across the aisle. and now's the time for him to fulfill that mandate because, come november, he's going to have to. when republicans take over at least one house in congress, there's not going to be any democrat-only reconciliation bills. better start now. shannon: so, mo, there have been questions about why the president has seemed to, in some issues, align with the progressives in his party knowing he doesn't have the big majorities to get this stuff done. he had to say i'm not bernie sanders, i'm not a socialist. there are all these pieces flying around the chat or in washington that the chief of staff, ron klain, has pulled the president further left than the moderate he campaigned he would be. >> you know, look, one of the biggest -- when i'm sitting around talking to my friends in the democratic operative world, one of the biggest concerns i hear about this white house is we need to hear him out there talking more about the twin anxieties of inflation and of, and of people's anxiety around covid not. -- covid. not so much the public health part of it, but the impact it's having on our lives, the prospect of another shutdown. he needs to be out there aggressively talking about those two pieces. the thing that they've got going for them is as much as the president's numbers are getting battered, republicans aren't talking about those issues in any real way yet. and so there's an opportunity for him to take the lead on that and turn things around a. shannon: we know our polling also shows that the american public has lost confidence in his ability to handle covid as well. a lot of tough issues for the white house. thank you, possible. we will see you next sunday. up next, a final word on the week ahead. ♪ do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. ♪. shannon: that is it for us today h today. i'm shannon bream. keep it to fox news channel and your local fox station for the very latest on the conflict between ukraine and russia. see you for fox news tonight, midnight's east coast, 9:00 on the west coast on fox news channel. have a great week. we'll see you next on "fox news sunday." again and i'e you next time on "life, liberty & levin". steve: breaking tonight major developments in the russia ukraine story within the last hour or so. here's where we stand tonight, after being presented with options at camp david, president biden is now considering sending up to 5000 u.s. troops to nato allies in eastern europe in a show of support for countries bordering russia and ukraine. the white house is looking into deploring naval vessels to make visits to nato allies in the region