right toward us. welcome back to " fox news live in our second hour, i'm jacqui heinrich are. griff: less than 12 hours to that potential shutdown on a busy saturday, i'm griff jenkins. we have aishah hasnie standing by on capitol hill, but first, i believe congressman matt gaetz is speaking. let's listen to him and see what we're hearing. >> -- he made another promise to president biden, he made a third promise altogether to house appropriators. so kevin's deal was if he made multiple con rah districtly promises and delayed as long as possible, he could push people up against shutdown politics in order to avoid the the program mat ific-level review that house conservatives -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] >> i can tell you, house democrats are about as interested in this question as all of you are, and they continue to ask me, and and i continue to give them the same answers i'm giving you with. i want to see the house of representatives fund this government not with one up or down vote for all these disparate agencies. that is why we are $33 trillion in debt, and it's the uniparty politicians that have allowed that to happen. >> [inaudible] >> well, who knows? because kevin mccarthy has made so many contradictory promises to so many people9 that the one thing everyone seems to have in common is no one trusts kevin mccarthy. >> do you see a path forward the working with kevin mccarthy -- [inaudible] is there any way that you can -- [inaudible] >> you know, that's a great question, and when i've been asked it all of this week and all of last week, i've said whether or not kevin mccarthy faces a motion to vacate is entirely within his control. because all he had to do was comply with the agreement that he made with us in january in putting this boor on -- bill on the floor and passing it with democrats would be such an obvious blatant and clear violation of that, we would have to deal with it. right now my focus is on averting a shutdown by passing these bills, and if we do have a shutdown which may be the case, i certainly want it to be as short and painless as possible. >> reporter: [inaudible] bipartisan support for ukraine -- [inaudible] griff: you've been listening to congressman matt gaetz there, tough words for speaker mccarthy and apparently very upset if, indeed, he cuts a deal with those democrats. let's go back to aishah of think on the hill following the latest. what can you tell us as we've been listening to matt gaetz9 there? >> reporter: well, he's been saying the same thing for quite some time. you just heard him basically say he's going to file a motion to vacate. i mean, if speaker mccarthy is going to move forward with this 45-day careen c.r. which requires -- clean c.r. which requires democratic help because the threshold is two-thirds of the entire chamber, then that is what matt gaetz says is completely, i believe he said obviously blatant violation of the promise that speaker mccarthy made at the beginning of the year when he was trying to become speaker. is so that's what i heard. matt gaetz is absolutely ready to move forward with the motion to vacate. and earlier this morning speaker mcthink was asked about this when he announced this new 45-day c.r., what happens if somebody files a motion to vacate, and he basically looked in the camera and said, bring it on, go ahead. he's not worried about it. he absolutely is not feeling the pressure. he thinks he's going to be just fine. so that might come right after this vote. we'll see. what's happening right now on the right side of your screen is we are sort of in a stand still. the democrats are trying to delay this vote any way that they can. they're trying -- they just tried to file a motion to adjourn. that failed. they were trying to go home until tomorrow. they might try another motion. they're just trying to a couple different delay tactics. i believe one of our producers told me that some of the democrats are lined up now with paper slips, they're going to vote that way to try to give some of their members some time to read this bill. they're frustrated because they got this bill just maybe over an hour ago, about two hours ago,ing rain they don't feel like they've had enough time to read over it. what i can tell you about the bill, what we've been told, is it's a 45-day clean consuming -- continuing resolution. no ukraine funding in this, no border security which is manager that republicans really wanted, but there will be disaster aid. and they're hoping to get this through. speaker mccarthy is basically now -- has basically put the ball back into the democrats' court, and and he's daring them to vote this down. because if he can get the majority of his conference to vote yes on this, but democrats don't vote yes on this, they vote no, then he can just put the blame on democrats and say the democrats shut down the government. griff? joey: -- jack: just talking to a couple folks on the hill, we're hearing, obviously, it's a 45-day c.r., so even the people who want border security and the people who want to see ukraine aid could probably get behind it because they want to avert a government shutdown. but we're also hearing some chatter on the democrat side that they would be inclined to support this so long as there is no funny business, and there's thousand this allegation that the republicans removed language that would block pay raises. raising some alarm bills -- bells about that. what are you hearing on the hill? >> reporter: so we just saw speaker mccarthy walk back into the house. anticipation as to what he's going to do. actually, he's not going back into the house, he's going around the corner. >> call him over. [laughter] >> reporter: yeah, there are accusations that there is spending that's been cut in this bill, which is why they're trying so desperately to buy time to be able to read it line by line before they take this up. and they're running out of time. but, yes, there are accusations being lodged -- speaker mccarthy was asked about this, and and he basically said this is a clean c. r., there's nothing, there's no hank key spank key in this, it's a clean c.r.. the only thing we've added is disaster relief. he seems to think that you don't need 72 hours or any amount of time to read through this, it's very simple. >> well, if you want to chase him down, maybe he didn't add anything, but the allegation is they took out the language that would block pay raises. so go ahead and track down that answer for us, aishah. you've got a lot ahead of you. thank you so much. all right. well, president biden is spending the weekend in d.c. as he has faced increased criticism of his handling of the migrant crisis at the southern border. lucas tomlinson live at the white house following all of that for us. anything new out of the white house that we're hearing? are they watching what's happening on the hill, responding to any of this criticism about the border, their handling of it and how much is factoring into this fight to get the government funded? >> reporter: the president isn't watching usc beating up on colorado or perhaps our broadcast on fox news, there's no doubt he's getting updates as looming government shutdown appears imminent if nothing is resolved by midnight tonight. what's also probably being brought to the president's attention is likely more criticism about the border as border patrol officials tell fox there's over 260,000 encounters at the southern border based on initial data this month, that's the highest recorded in hearn history. gop presidential candidate vivek ramaswamy speaking with neil cavuto says there are big problems on the southern border. >> and the right answer is we have a swiss cheese of a southern border. the wall has proven, neil, not to be enough. the cartels are building cartel-financed tunnels. trucks are able to drive underneath the wall. so i think it is perfectly legal, legally, earth think, morally justified to use our military the seal our own border. i'm also a pragmatist. >> reporter: white house officials are saying about the impact of a shutdown on the american public, taxpayers will be implemented, national parks will be closed, getting a passport could take longer, reaching the irs by phone won't happen, not sure how many people are calling them on the weekend, but americans who rely on food stamps could be denied and some government worker, like tsa agents, may call out sick in greater numbers potentially creating more chaos in the airports nationwide. president biden speaking at the retirement ceremony for the if u.s. military's top officer, general mark milley, issuing the following warning about a potential government shutdown: >> if if the house fails to fulfill its most basic function, if it fails to fund government by tomorrow, we'll have failed all our troops. our service members will keep upholding their oath, showing up for work, standing sentinel around the world keeping our country secure, but they won't get paid. it's a disgrace. >> reporter: now, white house officials say all government employees will get back pay once this potential shutdown does end but, of course, that's a tough sell for the american public who many of whom are living paycheck to paycheck. and we don't have to remind our viewers about the increasing cost of living, the price of the inflation crisis. they're reminded every time they're handed a receipt. >> all right. lucas tomlinson for us at the white house, thank you so much. all right, for more on the house's short-term spending bill with, we are joined by republican congressman from oklahoma, member of the house budget committee, josh breachen. thank you so much. >> appreciate you. i know that last name's tough. >> oh, i'm sorry about that, this is my first time talking to you, so i hope you'll not hold it against me -- >> no. it's a tough last name. [laughter] >> so, congressman, you're a member of the freedom caucus, and i understand you voted yesterday on the continuing resolution, so i would imagine that you probably support this as well. correct me if i'm wrong. >> no. yeah, you would be wrong. i supported a 30% cut yesterday, everything else out of veterans, homeland security. you know, my emphasis, you know, leaving the free market running for congress is we've got to turn the trajectory of the nation is headed forward bankruptcy. so what was on the floor yesterday was a 30% cut to everything outside veterans, homeland and defense. and it also included real border security. and so the vote before us here in a few moments is going to be a continuing resolution that i cannot support because it's not going to be inclusive of spending cuts and border security. we live in short term, and this country is facing long-term problems that have to be addressed. >> so with that position, sir, what does a government shutdown get you? >> well, in terms of the government shutdown, there's not anybody, i think, on capitol hill who enjoys a government shutdown. what we are asking for, you know, those of us who who have a shared position, is that we have the strongest hand going into a position with a that's-led, you know, senate-led democrats who want to spend more. they don't see that the average family of four is spending $1200 more per month right now to buy the exact same goods and services as the same family of four was spending in january of 2021. that's e the cost of inflation, that's the excessive government spending devaluing our currency, and that's almost $15,000 a year that every family in america, that hidden tax of inflation. and so, again, i go back to short term versus long term, it's always the she were process that stops us -- short-term process that stops us from dealing with the long-term problems. inflation is just the tip of the iceberg. within five years we're going to spend her just to service our debt than we spend on defense of this country. griff: congressman, i understand your principle. griff jenkins here, thank you for joining us. i just came back from ten days at the border at eagle pass where they are dealing with a category five hurricane as described to me. reporting today, more than 260,000 migrants have arrived illegally at our border in the month of september, the highest month ever on record. and yet if the government shuts down, they must work, and they will not get a paycheck until the government opens up again. however, every member of congress will receive a paycheck during a shutdown. that's a constitutionally-protected amendment. are you okay with that? >> no. it's why i'm going to make sure that i suffer alongside anyone else. my office specifically is going to make sure that my salary goes into escrow so that the i, i believe that a good leader is a very haven't, and concern servant, and i want to experience whatever the consequences are. we're going to be running legislation, my staff and i have already talked it through. the 27th amendment prohibits us to do anything about our salaries in the current session but dun, you know, futuristically, and so we've already discussed it as of yesterday, how can we push this measure forward to make sure that it's not just byes crow, but it's actually -- by escrow, but it's something statutorily that we can do. my office is going to be doing this. on the border, fox does a great job of highlighting what very few people know. i'm not only on budget, i'm also on the homeland security committee. so week after week, i'm this those hearings along with mark green, and we're going a great job -- doing a great job of showing this real calamity. the human trafficking, 18 to 45-year-old, you know, that segment of death that is 70 to ,000 a year, 70,000 deaths, the leading cause of death for that age group. but it's more than that. the cost to our emergency services, our hospitals, education, fair says just the federal taxpayer dollar alone on an annual basis is $66 billion. most of that is health care for what's happening at the border -- griff: but, congressman, if you shut the government down, i don't mean to be rude here, but if you yo shut the government down, the men and women that are trying to stop that from happening that are overworked, underpaid and they're at a breaking point, have to do it without being able to tell their spouses how they're going to make ends meet, how they're going to pay the mortgage, buy groceries. the ones that have been triaged to other sectors because they had to go to eagle pass or el paso, they're going to have a government credit card with a bill due, but nobody's going to bail them out. >> so, griff, in 2019 what happened was the federal law changed. so this'll be the first shutdown since that has occurred where not only is it customary, now it's by law anyone who does not receive their paycheck on time is absolutely going to make sure they get paid. is there going to be some uncomfort if this thing goes past 15-30 days? i agree with you. the question many of us are asking is should we go to the senate with an ask that is so much in line with them that we end up getting nothing? we are asked to be a reflection of our voters. >> sir -- >> go ahead. >> one point about that. so if you vote down this continuing resolution coming out of the house, the senate sends over their own c.r. which is going to pass with 70 plus votes, how do you have more leverage then? your colleagues are saying you're going to be eating a s-word sandwich if that situation comes to pass. >> the ability for us to be able to have leverage in the house is getting 218 votes, and it's why some of us were leaning pretty heavily, believing the best way for that was to make sure we are highlighting what is the catastrophe at the border, the fiscal cost of that a border and what inflation is doing to the average american family. ask the american family that's spending $15,000 more per year right now than they were just to two years ago to buy the exact same things. what's the biggest real impact right now for what your government is doing to you by not being responsible. >> i'm reading text messages i'm getting from your republican colleagues. i mean, that was not my quote, that was someone else's words. but, you know, you have folks calling your caucus extremists. what is your response to that? >> i'm a reflection of the constituency that sent me to washington, d.c. that really sees that for every dollar we're spending, 37 cents is what we're charging to our kids and grand kids. everybody talks about it, but then everybody is a conservative until it comes time to do the conservative thing. and what i've been asked to do is, is to stand up for principle and say look out for my kids and grandkids. they deserve the blessing of liberty that i've experienced. and so, look, am i telling you that, you know, the perfect solution is only found within 20 or 30? you've got to listen to people. but what i'm trying to do is to find among the 218 where we can all rally around. yesterday we were really close to rallying around standing for border security and standing for cuts. that's my hope. i believe that's the perfection that conclude found -- griff: congressman, our viewers are watching the house minority leader, hakeem jeffries, no doubt railing on republicans. they see this as a victory for them, and they too would see a motion to vacate kevin mccarthy as speaker as a victory as well. just a little while ago outside the capitol matt gaetz was talking about that, essentially saying that if indeed this deal is cut with democrats and they pass something with this c.r., this bill that's just been drop, that he's all but assure to do, to put forward that motion to vacate. is that something you would support? >> griff, i -- i'm thankful that you all let me put this earpiece in. i got to catch his interview just by watching on your screen here, and i heard him say that have not his focus. i think matt is wise not to headache that his focus. -- make that his focus. >> but you don't think it's coming? he's been saying he was going to motion to vacate since the beginning of time. >> look, nobody knows anybody's heart and mind. that's a question for him. what i heard him say a while ago is he needs to stay focused on this -- >> i heard him say the speakership is on tenuous, shaky ground. we don't have to have this debate on live television. you know, i appreciate you bringing your perspective and appreciate you outlining your principles here and the reasons behind your votes. thank you for your time, sir. griff: absolutely, congressman. thank you for coming in. if you get any breaking news, please, or we'll have you back. we appreciate your time. >> and i won't screw up your name next time. >> thank you. [laughter] god bless y'all. >> thank you, sir. for more on this we are joined with a -- well, actually, we're going to drop in and listen to what the minority leader, hakeem jeffries, is saying on the floor of the house. >> -- tried to potentially use some loopholes within the electoral count act to effectively tale the election. steal the election, undermine the principle of free and fair elections, halt the peaceful transfer of power. and so we held a commission, committee under the leadership of chairman bennie thompson who did an incredible job of presenting the stakes to the american people. [applause] >> all right. we will continue following that as it develops, but let's go back to our political panel to weigh in on what we've been watching transpire today. former d.c. democratic party chairman scott bolden and faith and freedom executive direct orer tim head. thank you both, gentlemen, for joining us. top line thoughts on the, what we've sort of witnessed. the last interview, i think, was a pretty good encapsulation of where things stand on capitol hill right now. and the, you know, question is in the enwho ends up taking the -- end, who ends up taking the blame for a shutdown if it happens. i'll start, you know, just by asking is this an issue that the president at all is going to bear any responsibility for? you're seeing some republicans try to make that case now. >> yeah. from the democratic side let me just say this, i don't see how biden gets blame because with mccarthy and biden cut a deal in march and may, and all the democrats are saying honor that deal in regards to spending and keeping the government open. i get even -- ironic as it sounds, i get the maga's concerns, those republicans, i get their concern about this. what i don't get whether it's the democrats or republicans, you've got to keep the government open. and a clean continuing resolution keeps the government open and keep keeps the dialogue going about moving forward. you don't want the deal you cut with biden in may or march? let's start those discussions over. but the men and women of our military and those lost and left out have got to continue to be serve by this american government, the greatest country in the world. and this leverage point by the maga republicans, i get their point, but it's not going anywhere, and it's hot going to keep the government open. that's patriotism over politics, and we need the republicans and democrats to choose patriotism and keep the government open right now. >> tim, do you want to respond to that? >> you bet. well, a couple of things that we always have to keep in mind when we're talking about any kind of bringsmanship, one is -- brinksman ship, one is fox does an excellent job covering the weeds on these things but, frankly, most of the media right now is not going to tell a fair and balanced, we'll just call it, story here. and usually what happens in brinksmanship and shutdown politics is the side or the party that's more unified comes out looking, quote-unquote, looking and sounding better. the one that is less unified ends up suffering and, frankly, as we've just see in the last two or three interviews on this very channel, there is not unanimity on the right and there clearly is on the left. so when you have more channels telling the unified story and fewer channels telling the more nuanced, less unified, that's where republicans end up being in a little bit of a political pickle. >> i want to bring up on our screen if the control room can bring up the tweet from a congressman about being afraid of a government shutdown. if we can get that up on our screen for our panel to see. he's basically saying, scared of a shutdown? these remain fully funded and functional, social security, medicare, medicaid, veterans' programs, military activities, diplomats, law enforcement, postal service. less government isn't a bad thing. that is pretty stunning, to have a member of congress saying that a shutdown wouldn't be so bad. i mean, their fundamental job really is to keep government operating. that's why they were, you know, elected, presumably, to do that. tim, is that an okay narrative, i guess, for -- to be within the republican conference right now that you've got some people who are saying this isn't a bad thing, calling to shut it down? does that help republicans especiallies in 2024? >> i worked in congress during a shutdown a handful of years ago and, let me tell you, while what he's saying is factually and legally true, can i tell you how many times i as a senior congressional aide had to explain that to several hundred people in the course of about three days? the problem when you're explaining, as the adage goes in politics, you're losing. [laughter] and the reason why these things don't usually go very well, again, for the more knew wanted -- there are perfectly legitimate reasons to be having policy disagreement. the challenge is, again, they're very nuanced, and the short version of this, the twitter, the x version of this shutdown is going to be a real challenge for us this a are marginal, tiny sliver of kind of a marin for error in 2024. -- margin. >> we're over time but, scott, i want to give you a chance to very, very quickly, less than 10 seconds, respond to that. how are democrats going to frame this? >> if you're explaining, a politician's losing. and i've got to tell you, the republicans are going to be going for this shutdown, and america's going the lose on this. we've got to get this fixed and keep the government open. >> all right. thank you both for joining us, tim and scott, appreciate your time on this saturday. >> of course. god bless. ♪ ♪ griff: we are seeing record numbers of migrants arriving on our shores as a lawmakers are expected to vote soon e on a temporary spending bill preventing a government shutdown that would leave border agents without a paycheck. our senior correspondent casey stegall is in eagle pass where i want to go back to so people understand what's at stake. these men and women in green down there, casey, are just overwhelmed and overworked. >> reporter: that's right. and they could be working, as you point out griff, soon without a paycheck. and there are so many out here on the front lines working, putting their blood, sweat and tears into their jobs, and that is of great concern. and it comes on a day when according to cbp sources more than 260,000 migrant encounters have been recorded here at the southern border for the month of is september. it's a staggering number and a new record, the highest monthly tally ever recorded. the previous record was last december when some 252,000 migrants were encountered here at the southern border. let's get you right to the fox flight team drone video we have been watching all day long here on the ground as people have been crossing the rio grande river. cbp sources say roughly 50,000 a migrants were encounter ed in just the last week across the entire southern border. as we know, a large majority of them have been here in eagle pass which is part of the del rio sector, and all a day so far fox news cameras capturing images of group after group crossing including a larger group of about 250 or 300 in size, mostly venezuelan. meantime, as the people who live in this smaller border community put up with the constant flow, they say it's putting them in danger. >> we're the ones that are here, we're the ones that have to deal with, you know, illegals in our backyards. i live a block away from the if river. my kids don't even know their neighbors because there's always illegalses all over the place. the streets. >> reporter: as we know, drugs also continue coming across. this past week agents in nogales, arizona, discovered more than 611,000 fentanyl pills and 24 pounds of raw fentanyl powder seized in two separate bus and -- busts in vehicles at the port of entry there. later today over in the rio grande valley, sheriffs from 28 different states and at least 100 state legislators are going to be meeting to discuss the border crisis and how each state can help better manage it. griff, as you though, a lot of representatives now saying that every state in the country is now a border state not just the ones that share a physical border with mexico. griff: yeah. such a great point. casey stegall live in eagle pass, great work, thank you. let's bring in for more insight national border council president art del cueto. our government is headed towards a shutdown. those members of congress, by the constitution, will get a paycheck. but your colleagues, the men and women in green, the border patrol agents there in eagle pass where casey is, where i just spent the last ten days, will go without a paycheck. what is your reaction to that, and do you see that as a fair option for the people on the front line? >> i mean, obviously, it's very frustrating. it's scary at the same time for a lot of the individuals that are out there. yeah, they're putting their life on the line. and i know eventually they're going to get paid, right this many but i've yet to find a gas station that's going to take ious for these agents. it is frustrating. hopefully, they can come to a good resolution. griff: art, we were also seeing this casey 's report there -- in casey's report there the miles of razor wire put there by the state of texas, governor abbott's operation lone star which he stood up in the spring of 2021 to try is and get it under control. you're looking thousand at something i shot which was the cutting you see here, the border patrol having to let e these e people through because what happens is these migrants, most of them venezuelan, have crossed the river and are on u.s. land. they are in the country, they're just on the other side of the wire with. and out of the humanitarian crisis of not just single adult men, but women and small children stuck in 100 plus heat, the border patrol agents have is no choice but under law to get them into custody and keep them in the worst case she far -- scenario from dying. but border patrol agents are being vilify for having to do that. your reaction. how frustrated are you about this? >> extremely frustrated that no one has spoken up on behalf of these agents. the line of demarcation is not where this or wire is set, so the agents are actually performing their duties. these are individuals that are already in the u.s. -- [inaudible] arrest these people because they're already in the united states. they're doing everything within the law and, obvious, we have a lot of individuals that are trying -- [inaudible] more followers on their social media, they're using words like treason and everything el. they're pretty much talking about issues that they know nothing about. they don't know the law. at in this point i think system of these citizen reports -- reporters or followers don't even understand the three branches of government, to be honest. and it is frustrating because the agents are not doing anything against the law. they're just following orders -- [audio difficulty] that are being made to them and -- [audio difficulty] it's very frustrating. the agents are doing everything within the law. they're not violating the law. they're not attacking these individuals. they're doing what needs to be done. they're coming across, they're already in the and they're doing their duty by detaining them and getting them over and getting them processed. if the finger's going to be point at anyone, it should be at this administration because this administration is the one that has caused these individuals to come across, ask for asylum, ge- [inaudible] and then get released. the finger should be pointed at the administration, not the men and women out there putting their lives on the line. griff: and doing so were -- i've not seen the morale this bad. i haven't seen you guys at a breaking point like this. how do you see it? >> you're exactly right. the morale's in the dumps, and it doesn't help when you have individuals that are just waiting for that gotcha moment so they can make the agents be the villains. my a heart goes out to each and every single one of those individuals out there getting falsely blame or accused just because somebody else wants to make a better name for themself. thank you for telling the truth. griff: art del cueto, thank you. to the men and women in green, hang in there. >> well, griff, a few gop presidential hopefuls are spending their weekend campaigning in california. we'll have is a live report, and bill melugin at the golden state's republican convention. that's next. ♪tic ♪ my scooter broke down. i went into a depression. (how do you feel about that?) pretty sad. i posted it to show that kenny's not always happy. within 24 hours people had donated over $5,000. no, you're kidding. (we set up the patriotic kenny foundation) (to give mobility scooters to veterans.) it has changed my life tremendously. (none of this would've happened without tiktok.) ♪ griff griff republican presidential candidates are gathering at the california gop convention this weekend including former president and front-runner donald trump. bill melugin is live in anaheim with more. hey, bill. >> reporter: hey, griff. well, this ises day number two of the gop convention out here in california. california has 169 delegates up for grabs on super tuesday. that's a bigtime prize, and these candidates want in on it. some of them slamming california in their speeches. take a listen. >> california that first elected public office republican presidents, how about that? richard nixon and ronald reagan. [cheers and applause] both. but while california was once a symbol of americaning success,ed today under the radical-left fascists, the marxists that run your state -- that's who's running your state, bad people -- it's becoming a symbol of our nation's decline. gavin newsom and the far-left communists in sacramento -- [background sounds] he did a great job as mayor of san francisco, didn't he? >> just since casey and i have been many southern california, we've run into, like, six or seven people that have gotten mugged k if they're telling the stories about getting mugged because people in california, these district attorneys in san francisco and listening concern los angeles, they get elected usually with funding there people like george soros -- [background sounds] and they decide that they are progressive, and they don't agree with all the laws passed. and so they let the inmates run the asylum, and it puts the people of their communities at risk. >> yes. i want californians to know that all things are possible in this nation, and i have four basic principles. thurm one, if -- number one, if you're able-bodied in america, you work. [applause] number two, if you take out a loan, you pay it back. [applause] number three, if you commit a violent crime, you go to jail. [applause] and, number four, if god made you a man, you play sports against men. >> reporter: and the convention comes as the california gop is finalizing a delegate rule change that would transition california to the potential winner take all state. critics say that would benefit trump. here's why. under the new rules, whoever gets more than 50 president of the vote -- 50% of the vote would get all 169 of california's delegates. if nobody got above 50%, the delegates would be divided up. as you can imagine, the desantis campaign is blasting that change while donald trump's campaign openly supports it. still to speak today out here, vivek ramaswamy within the next hour or so. we'll send it back to you guys in d.c. where you've got a busy day. griff: i imagine it's going to be fired up when vivek gets there. gop candidates getting riled up. bill melugin, thanks. >> new jersey senator bob menendez has been indicted on federal bribery charges as prosecutors say he used his position as the chairman of the foreign relations committee to push favorable policy to the egyptian government. joining me thousand in studio to analyze all this, seth -- [inaudible] can you just tell me your last name? i had a very long morning, and i really apologize, sir. >> [inaudible] >> who is the most gracious guest we've had on the set all day today. thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> so you have a lot of experience in this realm in terms of talking about business and compliance law and how egregious some of these violations might have been coming from the senator. he is refusing to resign. is that that going to serve him well? do you think that he in any case ends up serving out the end of his term with what's alleged against him? >> well, it's going to be a really tough, long haul for him because this indictment, which was recently unsealed, reads like an international spy novel on steroids. one of the things that you set this up perfectly for is to understand that we have to look at this case through the lens of his role as the chair of the senate foreign relation ares committee. that had -- relations committee. that had huge power. he was able to directly affect and influence disbursements, financing, arms to egypt. and what he did was he allegedly turned this rare and powerful role into a high-end atn machine. and he did all of these things aelevenned -- alleges ledged alongside his wife nadine in exchange for cash, gold, mortgage payments, and that really scratches the surface. he's going to be finding himself under a crushing mountain of ed. >> let's hear his explanation for some of this, if we can play that sound bite. menendez. >> reporter: why won't you resign, sir? >> because i'm innocent. what's wrong with you guys? >> reporter: why were there gold bars there? >> he says he's innocent, and he also gave the explanation that this was money that he withdrew himself over a personal savings account because he didn't trust the banking system. but then you've got this line in the indictment that there were the fingerprints of his driver and one of these egyptian with businessmen on those bank notes. so, like, how can you claim both things? [laughter] you're the expert, tell me. >> well -- >> what am i missing? >> you're probably not missing very much, but he is presumed innocent. and in that respect, he's true. but the problem with menendez is they have direct connections and common trait beyond a reasonable doubt -- demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt, i believe, that these are connections that don't just go legitimately where he decides basined on -- based upon my culture and heritage, i feel the need to grab some gold. we have demonstrated allegations where these are payments that are not only from these illicit sources, but also in the background show deleted messages and avoided con -- confrontations where he and nadine are deleting e-mails, deleting evidence. there's one point where she said to him i'm upset the money's not coming in, and he suggested we really shouldn't have this conversation in writing. so this is a mountain of evidence. it's going to end up crushing both of them. i have a very hard time seeing how they're going to be able to crawl out from from under this. >> of course, he is presumed innocent, so we'll watch the case. seth, thank you very much for joining us today. i really appreciate your time. >> you bet. griff: great conversation. meanwhile, pressure building on governor gavin newsom to appoint the late senator dianne feinstein's replacement after her death yesterday. we've got more on that coming up. ♪ur ♪ m ngth and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪) icy hot. ice works fast. ♪ heat makes it last. feel the power of contrast therapy. ♪ so you can rise from pain. icy hot. been offered a beauty campaign when i was in my twenties or my thirties or my forties. it wasn't until i was 48 years old, when i thought that was way behind me. here you come along and ask me to join you on this journey with meaningful beauty. announcer no matter what your age, now is the perfect time for beautiful, younger-looking skin with meaningful beauty. join ellen pompeo and millions of women who use the age-defying super treatments that have kept supermodel cindy crawford looking so youthful for over 20 years. look at cindy's skin at age 31, and at age 52. there's hardly any difference! and it's doing the same for ellen. ellen pompeo my skin looks better today than it did 5 years ago. that's a great feeling! we can be such an inspiration to women. to embrace aging and to celebrate it, to show other women this isn't necessarily a bad thing. cindy crawford i'm so passionate about meaningful beauty because i'm able to share with women everywhere. ellen pompeo so, make the call or go online now and put yourself on the path to the most beautiful skin of your life. trust me, it's worth it! announcer meaningful beauty is normally $139, you'll pay only $49.95 for all five concentrated super treatments. plus, we'll include free shipping and a 60-day money-back guarantee. and now for 2023 and beyond! be among the first 500 orders now and we'll add cindy's new radiance recovery duo, a $110 value, free. you'll get sixty of cindy's favorite revive & brighten eye masques, the celebrity secret that visibly smooths, awakens and restores. and our legendary dark spot treatment. you'll be amazed as you watch the appearance of sunspots, brown spots, and dark patches diminish. this is a limited time only special offer. only $49.95 for everything you see here. call the number below or go to meaningfulbeauty.com right now. my little family is me, aria, and jade. just the three of us girls. i never thought twice about feeding her kibble. but about two years ago, i realized she was overweight. she was always out of breath. that's when i decided to introduce the farmer's dog to her diet. it's just so fresh that she literally gets bubbles in her mouth. now she's a lot more active, she's able to join us on our adventures. and we're all able to do things as a family. ♪ get started at betterforthem.com ♪ ♪ charlotte! charl! every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, delicious fage total yogurt. griff: pressure mounting on california golf gavin gavin newsom to pick the late senate deanne feinstein's replacement after her death was announced yesterday. alexandria hoff has the latest. >> reporter: hi. yeah, with the vacancy the passing has left, democrats now have a withering majority. appointing someone to serve out senator feinstein's remaining time in the senate isn't something that governor newsom wanted to do. he was close to the senator, but he did make plans which are currently complicating the matter. back in 2021, governor newsom vow ised he would appoint a black woman to the job. that's because he had ato pointed california's other senator as a latino, and the seat had wronged to thousand-vice president kamala harris. but newsom also sayses he won't be selecting someone who's currently running for feinstein's senate seat, so that rules out prominent congresswoman barbara lee. here's newsom speak toking to that earlier this month. -- speaking to that. >> it's my responsibility, if we have to do it, we'll do it. >> are you going to abide by your pledge? >> interim appointment, i don't want to get involved -- >> you would not appoint anybody that has filed for -- >> it'd be completely unfair to the democrats who have worked their tail off. that primary's just a matter of months away. i don't want to tip the balance of that. >> reporter: congresswoman x wrote, quote -- wrote on x, quote, the idea that a black woman should be appointed to check a box is insulting. the naacp is pushing somehow in -- newsom to stick to his promise. griff: alex, thank you. >> record-setting rain bringing severe flooding to new york city. more on that coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ every day, businesses everywhere are asking: is it possible? with comcast business... it is. is it possible to help keep our online platform safe from cyberthreats? absolutely. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues? we can help with that, too. with the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. it's not just possible. it's happening. severe flash flooding, meteorologist, jay minard has more on your fox with the forecast hey james mckay my goodness, we're going out, and still record amounts of rain, the fell across parts of new york city metro, seven - 9 inches in some of her top reports and it all begin and thursday night, a by the time we opened up the morning commute on friday, before the sun was up, n across new york city metro and from there, the continued to get worse funding began to overtake the streets new york city subways were closed and no service and about we did have flooding in the homes and into the suburbs and all of the way up across portions of the valley this rain continued to push his way eastward from overnight on friday and as we continue on into the weekend, slowly seeing some improvements, but what is the airport and seven decades, 8.15 inches fell into the 24 hour. another totals across the rest of the country and good news is as far as continuing into the net and the rest of the week and the storm system present and were looking at a much more brighter and even warmer forecast for the week ahead and this a bigger story on fox whether were going to talk about the not so fall like temperatures, baking the rest of the country this week. >> well i think the folks in the big apple will be looking for sunshine and you can see there on your screen, how you can follow thanks and download the fox weather app, as long he can follow along and thank you very much, for that update hindi to, and that is just about to going it for us although, you know, how want to say jacky, as we watch house minority leader, king jeffries continuing to speak on the house when we do not know how the stable go, the one thing is for sure, having with the border, high just feel for these poor patrol agents who may have to stay in the biggest fight of the life, to get the border secure without a paycheck. >> that was the point, that they made when he was interviewing with us earlier, the listen, these are the people that you know the folks in the right say that we need to protect the border secure the border in order to defend the government then that's her hard nine and you shut down for that and there's a lot of debate among within the conference to get this done but i think the question is if they can passes in the house and what happens senate and they have their own see her with ukraine funding units of do they pass that and and there's a battle between the chambers, the republicans of there, lockdown and then wait in the house, dissent bill and the future of ukraine funding is going to be, difficult for them to swallow in but i think. >> will thank you of the government - and ten, republicans will take a lot of heat for it will be an interesting development in this offer us today, "fox news" live will continue with eric in our fell and it's great to be with you. >> and jacky and thank you so much for watching, see you next time. airline, but our network connects global businesses across nearly 160 markets. ♪ we're not a startup, but our innovation labs use new technologies to help keep your information secure. ♪ we're not architects, but we help build stronger communities. ♪ we're not just any bank. we are citi. ♪ >> saturda