United states. The raid to take him out could boost President Trump whos faced criticism recently for his decision to pull back troops in northeast syria. And, of course, the president is under fierce attack here in washington as House Democrats pursue an impeachment inquiry against him. In a moment well discuss it all with Vice President mike pence. But first, lets get the late from kevin corke live from the white house. Kevin . Reporter chris, an extraordinary News Conference following the president s announcement about the death of the isis leader. He said he died a cowardly death, said he died screaming, crying, even whimpering before detonating a belt which took his life and a few children near him. U. S. Special Operations Forces executed a dangerous and daring nighttime raid in northwestern syria and accomplished their mission in grand style. The u. S. Personnel were incredible. I got to watch much of it. No personnel were lost in the operation while a large number of baghdadis fighters and companions were killed with him. He died after running into a dead end tunnel, whimpering and crying and screaming all the way. Reporter pretty powerful words there and a very descriptive News Conference by the president , chris. He also described the important cooperation with other nations to make this raid possible. Russia treated us great, they opened up we had to fly over certain russia areas, russiaheld areas. Russia was great. Iraq was excellent. We really had great cooperation. And you have to understand, they didnt know what we were doing and where where we were going exactly. But the isis fighters are hated as much by russia and some of these other countries as they are by us. Reporter the president , chris, ultimately said this is not just an important day for the u. S. , but for our Global Partners around the world, in particular those who have been battling terrorism including some folks that he said arent always our best of friends. Chris . Can. Chris kevin, during his speech and then a rather lengthy News Conference with reporters in the diplomatic Reception Room with him which went the better part of an hour, the president was asked about how this played into his new policy towards the middle east and which, as weve seen in syria and afghanistan, the president beginning to pull u. S. Troops out and create a much smaller footprint but also wanting to maintain a vigorous and, obviously in this case, deadly counterintelligence presence in the middle east. What did the president say about all that . Reporter very interesting that you pointed that out, chris, because what we heard the president say in effect, this is precisely what i have in mind, let ethos who are most impacted let those who are most impacted have a hand in the battle. He also bluntly pointed out the u. S. Has spent billions of dollars, if not more, in battling terrorism in that part of the world. His ultimate goal, he said, is to have strategic, specific strikes, take out the important targets and get American Forces back home. He said what happened in this particular cooperative which, obviously, he has known about for the past couple of weeks had nothing to do with the fact that he was convinced that pulling our troops out of that part of syria was the right things to do, chris. Chris now, this was obviously a great military victory and strategic victory for the u. S. , but politics is always present in washington, and towards the end of his News Conference the president was asked whether he had notified congressional leaders and specifically before the raid took place whether he had notified the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, and he interestingly said that he didnt want to do that because he wanted to make sure that we didnt lose any lives. The clear implication being that he didnt quite trust nancy pelosi with National Security information. Talk about that and what the fallout has been from those remarks. Reporter i think the rancor in washington was on full display in making those comments. Obviously, the speaker has been in washington for decades. Given her profile, given her position, if she among anyone cant keep secrets like this, were all lost. And so it did strike a great number of people as a bit of a surprise, to be honest with you. The gang of eight generally does get some notification, chris, when there are major operations like this one. But i think the calculus will probably be for the president and the white house moving forward there was no need as long as let the important principals know what was happening. He mentioned mr. Burr being one of the people that he had a chance to alert, he mentioned Lindsey Graham as well. And so he felt comfortable, chris, and he told enough people and the right people but not the speaker of the house. Chris and what about impeachment . Obviously, this was a military raid, important as part of the global war on terror, but you can never divorce anything that happens in washington from politics. The fact that the president was the commander in chief and ordered this remarkably successful, effective strike, is there any feeling inside the white house i assume youve talked to some white house aides about how this plays out at a time when House Democrats are pursuing inpeachment of the president . Reporter you know how my mornings go, they almost always begin with a series of phone calls, Text Messages at around six in the morning trying to get a sense of whats happening from their perspective so i can then relay that to the viewers at home. And i can tell you based on everything ive heard both prior to this operation and the announcement and even since then and listening to senator Lindsey Graham and others speak about it, the feeling among the white house certainly continues to be that regardless of what happens here in washington, whether its impeachment in the house, whether that happens to move forward in the senate or not, the president will continue from their perspective to battle whether its chasing isis, whether its chasing terrorism around the globe or doing what what he can for the American People. Thats their take. But, chris, i think you have to acknowledge that its not an easy slog especially when you consider sometimes when the pressure builds in a place like washington, it can get to you no matter what you think you might be willing to do. Chris . Chris kevin, thanks so much. And, of course, its extraordinary when all of us reporters and a lot of politicians are focused on whats right in front of us like the debate over policy in syria and the impeachment process, turns out the president for the last couple of weeks has been very involved in, first of all, getting intelligence, then planning and then finally ordering this strike that took down one of americas biggest enemies. Lets get reaction now and reporting from trey yingst who is in our middle east newsroom. Trey, whats the reaction there in the middle east to the takedown of albaghdadi . Reporter well, chris, many World Leaders were waiting until President Trump addressed the nation from washington to respond to reports about the death of isis leader Abu Bakr Albaghdadi. We have just gotten a statement from israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who congratulated President Trump on an incredible achievement. U. S. Allies across the region, more than ten countries participating in airstrikes and ground operations to destroy isis. So the death of baghdadi was not only a symbolic victory for the United States, but also very much a real military victory for those on the ground. Although he was operating many times in the shadows, calling the shots from behind the scenes, many countries in the region were concerned and are still concerned about the resurgence of the Islamic State and its offshoots. Baghdadi came to power as the leader of the Islamic State back in 2014 when he made that infamous video from a mosque inside mosul saying isis had planned to take over large portions of the middle east. Of he even described it as the takeover of rome, that he would go the whole way across europe. That was the messaging from the Islamic State. And when you heard the president speaking today at the white house, he wanted to make clear to other terror organizations in the region and other isis affiliates and those sympathetic to baghdadi that they have eyes on the ground and they are keeping an eye on many of those who could then fill the shoes of baghdadi. It is important, too, to rook at the resurgeons of isis resurgence of isis from the perspective of the global lens because we know sleep arer cells are operating around the world in places like algeria, libya and afghanistan. This is something the administration is certainly going to have to keep an eye on moving forward. And while the president has said in the past the isis caliphate and isis itself is completely destroyed, that is not true. Isis affiliates are still operating around the world, but as we know today, the leader of the Islamic State, albaghdadi, is dead. Chris . Chris and, trey, what about the possibility of retaliation . Often times when one of the leaders of these jihadi groups dies, there is talk about people striking back, theres a possibility of retaliation in syria, in europe and here even in the u. S. Are jihadi web site groups talking about this . Reporter well, this is certainly a major concern. What weve been able to see monitoring some of these groups on the internet and also reports indicating today that these isis sympathizers are certainly keeping an eye on what is happening. Early reports indicated that many said they didnt believe it was true, but we will continue to follow that, chris, certainly. Back to you. Chris trey yingst reporting from the middle east. Trey, thank you. Joining us now here in studio, the Vice President of the United States, mike pence. Mr. Vice president , thank you so much for coming in today to talk to us. Thank you, chris. Its a great day for america. Albaghdadi, the most wanted man in the world, is dead. And it is a tribute to the courage of our armed forces and to the decisiveness of our commander or in chief, the president of the United States. Chris take us in i know you said you were in the situation room, the president said that for several hours. Take us into the tichtion room. A the situation room. A couple of points. First of all, i remember when the u. S. Took out bin laden, most accounts was there was only about a 50 50 likelihood that he was in that compound. What were the odds that, in fact, it was baghdadi on the ground, and what kind of, what intelligence did we have, how good was it, and take us through that time . You said it was several hours in the situation room. Well, you heard the president this morning commend not only our special forces that took down albaghdadi, but also the extraordinary work of our intelligence agencies. You know, as the president said this morning, we had some indication in the last week that we had a location, but it was thursday afternoon that the president and i were informed that there was a high probability that albaghdadi was going to be in that compound at that point President Trump asked our Armed Forces Leadership to develop options. He was presented with those options on friday morning, and he made an immediate decision that as the information developed and it developed through the Morning Saturday morning eastern time that we would move forward with an operation against albaghdadi. So some indication a week earlier, strong confirmation that came on saturday. But to have been in the situation room, chris, to watch this attack unfold in realtime just made me so proud to be an american, proud to see our special forces, their extraordinary courage and professionalism. And also i want to say very proud to be Vice President to a president who acted so decisively to take down a man who was a threat to this country and a threat to the world as the leader of isis. Chris the president talked about watching it. He said almost as if it were a movie. I mean, were you did you have video on the ground and youre able to see whats going on in the compound and then as the forces go into that tunnel chasing albaghdadi . I think its important that we dont talk about our capabilities, but let me say that we had, we had eyes on what was happening p in realtime. And the president in the situation room was able, in addition to reports coming in from the field, to know exactly what was taking place. It was truly extraordinary. And again, to literally witness in realtime our potential forces, their our special forces, their professionalism, the swift manner in which they got on the target, executed the operation and moved out in just a matter of a few short hours was, it was deeply inspiring. Chris now, the president sounds, made it sound as if you, u. S. Forces, u. S. Military, u. S. Intelligence had a really good sense of what the situation was inside that compound, even the idea of these tunnels and one of them was an exit, most of them were dead end. Again, obviously, being careful not to give away sources and methods, how did we know so much about that compound . Well, it was a combination of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and just outstanding, outstanding work by our team in the field. But what President Trump demonstrated here is even while were bringing our troops home from the safe zone on the border of turkey, this president and americas resolve to defeat isis and to hunt down and destroy any terrorist organization in the world is unrelenting, and thats what the world woke up to learn this morning. Chris yeah, i want to pick up on that because the president has come under a lot of fire from both republicans and democrats about pulling u. S. Troops out of syria. Not all, but the vast majority of them. Hes also talked about trying to draw down in afghanistan, and he has said thats what i campaigned on, to put an end to endless wars. Here is what he said just this last week about pulling back from the middle east. We didnt agree to protect the kurds for the rest of their lives. Supposed to be a very quick hit and lets get out, and it was a quick hit except they stayed for almost ten years. Let someone else fight over this long, bloodstained sand. Chris mr. Vice president , what do you think this raid shows about the u. S. Posture in does it base basically say, yes, well be in the mideast forever but not necessarily with big forces . Maybe with a more targeted, smaller footprint counterintelligence . What does it say . Well, as you just said, what the president said today, what this shows the United States remains committed to the total defeat of isis and any terrorist organization that threatens our country. But this is a president also, and i say this as the father of a United States marine with real gratitude in my heart, the president doesnt want our forces anywhere other than where they have to be, making fights that we know they have to make in our rightal national interests, chris. And at the end of the day, the president looked at the mission. We sent troops into syria in combination with Syrian Democratic forces, our allies. We went in, the territory of the isis caliphate was totally captured and destroyed in march of this year. But what happened was an evolving mission that ended up with a small number of u. S. Troops essentially positioned on the border of turkey between traditional kurdish syria and the turkish military. And the president said were bringing our troops home. P but the minute that Turkish Forces entered syria, the president imposed punishing sanctions, sent our team to ankara, turkey, to negotiate a ceasefire. We were able to create a fiveday window where our allies, the Syrian Defense forces, were able to safely withdraw, and now the International Community will be working with, to certify, to create that safe zone. But, again, thats all about making sure that we create stability in the region, we call our European Partners to that task as well. But what the American People woke up to this morning, what the world woke up to this morning is the resolve of the president of the United States and the armed forces of the United States to use force whenever is necessary to confront those who threaten us or our people. Chris near the end of the News Conference the president was asked specifically whether he had informed the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, about this raid last night. And he said, no, and then he added, i wanted to make sure that no American Forces were lost. The implication seeming to be that he was worried that pelosi or members of congress would leak this. Does the president not trust the speaker of the house with sensitive National Security information . Chris, i dont think that was the implication at all. I think from the time that we got actionable intelligence, the president s total focus here was on a Successful Mission and the safety of american troops chris why didnt he tell nancy we maintained the tightest possible security here. And when we got the confirmation on saturday that albaghdadi was on site and our troops began to move into the region, as the president said, our aircraft were moving over some very potentially hostile areas. We wanted them to be able to get in and get out. Its a Dangerous Mission on the ground. They went with the resolve, the determination of this president to bring albaghdadi to justice, but they also went with our prayers. And i just couldnt be more proud. When they were wheels up, out of country, no american casualties, and albaghdadi is dead. Chris we all applaud that. I do want to ask you though, i mean, its my job, sir, respectfully, why didnt the president notify the speaker of the house . Chris, i just, i just want to emphasize the president s focus here throughout particularly the last several days was on the mission to bring a man who was the most wanted man in the world, a man who had brought unspeakable violence through the isis caliphate, who was exporting violence around the world to justice. And that, combined with insuring the safety of our forces coming in, executing their mission and moving out was the president s direct i have throughout this effort. And i directive. And i know it animated every decision he made along the way. And let me also say what a privilege it was for me to be a small part of this and in the situation room because with we mourn with those who mourn and grieve with those who grieve. Our hearts are with Kayla Mueller s family, steven sotloff. But as a hoosier, i will tell you that i remember when peter cassick was killed. It broke the heart of the people of indiana. I spent time with his participants. And for me to be with his parents. And for me to be sitting alongside the president who brought the man responsible for that to justice will be something i cherish the rest of my life. Chris i have a couple of questions i do need to ask you because, obviously, the world goes on even after this extraordinary achievement by the president and the u. S. Military. The military success comes at the same time that democrats are pursuing an impeachment inquiry to remove this president. Do you see a conflict there . I dont, i dont know that i, i dont know that i really understand the question. The democrats in congress have been pursuing an impeachment, by and large, for the last three years. And i think what the American People have seen in the last 12 hours, what theyve seen in the last three years is President Donald Trump has never stopped fighting to keep the promises that we made to the people in the election in 2016 chris i guess what im asking is do you think in some way the president conducting this military operation in any way invalidates or counters the argument by democrats about the need to pursue impeachment . I think what, what counters the democrats latest effort to pursue impeachment is the president s record. The facts in this particular instance, people can read the transcripts, see there was no quid pro quo. The president did nothing wrong. But i think the totality of the last three years weve rebuilt our military, the largest increases in our National Defense since the days of ronald reagan. Weve revived the economy. 6. 5 million jobs. More than 160 conservatives to our federal courts. And whether it be the action the president took with 58 cruise missiles in syria or the successful efforts of our Armed Forces Last night at the direction of this commander in chief, america is more secure this morning, america is more prosperous today, and were just going to keep fighting for that agenda and taking that agenda to the American People. Chris mr. Vice president , thank you. Thanks for standing by with us as we watched the president s speech. Thank you so much for coming in today and congratulations to all the u. S. Military forces, intelligence, the whole crew involved in this great day, this Great Success for america. Thank you very much for being here with us today, sir. Thank you, chris. Chris up next, well get to the takedown of albaghdadi if democratic congressman Eric Swalwell of the House Intelligence Committee. So i can buy from enterprise car sales and youll take any tradein . Thats right great here you go. Well, it does need to be a vehicle. But i need this out of my house. vo with fair, Transparent Value for every tradein. Enterprise makes it easy. Heresthe itchy ones. Y ones. The black, brown, red, and grey ones. The ones grown by dad. The ones grown for dad. cos whatever you grow, will save a bro learn more at movember. Com my twhe didnt have anyas an autisfriends as a result it broke my heart. Brother let me be your shelter that was the inspiration behind my nonprofit score a friend go educating people to include the people with differences is so important because when jacobs included he feels like he can succeed in life and he feels like he actually has a purpose. Chris House Democrats are in the middle of impeachment hearings that could lead to the remuscle of President Trump removal of President Trump. But as youve seen this morning, the president announced a successful military raid that took out one of this countrys biggest enemies. Here to discuss both is congressman Eric Swalwell, a democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, welcome back, sir. Good morning, chris. Chris your reaction to the raid, the takedown of baghdadi, what it means for the u. S. , what it means for stability in the middle east. A good and just day in america, and i thank the Intelligence Community for the role they played, the men and women who were part of the combat operation and also, it sounds like the kurds did play an assisting role here which i think goes to the value of the kurds. Ill say to your question earlier, the Vice President , it is unfortunate that the speak speaker of the house and the gang of eight at least on the democratic side were not notified. As you remember, before the Osama Bin Laden raid, the gang of eight was read in by president obama, and i hope that doesnt go to other chris youre saying that none of the gang of eight, youre talking about the intel head and the ranking minority member in each party as well as the leaders in the house and senate, none of them were informed about this . On the democratic side. And i was told that just before came on chris not chuck schumer, not nancy pelosi, not adam schiff thats correct. But it sounded like from the president s words that he had consulted at least with richard burr who is the, you know, republican lead on the senate side. And, again, that just goes to larger concerns that, you know, the president is, you know, abdicating, you know, the responsibility to Keep Congress informed. And president obama did do that before the Osama Bin Laden raid. Again, this is a big day for the person that was taken down, and it means a lot to the people who were victims of what albaghdadi has done, and i dont want to take away from that. Chris does this success in taking down one of the countrys greatest enemies at all and this is a question i asked the Vice President at all weaken the case, if only politically, for the impeachment of President Trump in. We still expect the president to carly out his duties as president carry out just as president nixon did when he underwent an impeachment inquiry and just as president clinton did. And were going to continue to make sure hes held to account. This can be compartmentalized. Chris so despite the success, despite all the other things the president is doing, impeachment goes full steam ahead . Were not concerned about what he did with this isis raid, were concerned about the extortion scheme that it looks like he led with the ukrainians. Chris one of the big complaints that you hear from republicans and from the president is that democrats are conducting these hearings behind closed doors. When are you going to go public . In short order. When were done. Were meticulously moving through this happened last month. We got the whiting blower complaint last whistleblower complaint last month. The arrows continue to point in the direction of the president even with his own words and Mick Mulvaney signing off on those words led a shakedown scheme with the ukrainians. It would be bad enough if all he did was ask them to investigate his political opponent, itd be worse if he leveraged a white house meeting and it looks like he has done all of that, but were going to give him a fair process, and this will move to a public proceeding soon. But nearly 50 republicans are invited to participate in all of these. They get equal time to ask questions, an unlimited amount of time ask questions. But, chris, youd be shocked how few of them actually show up and participate. Chris the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, adam schiff who is, in a sense, leading this investigation even though there are three committees involved says you may not even call the whistleblower to testify. As a matter of basic fairness, shouldnt republicans, shouldnt the president get a chance to at least hear and even to confront the accuser who set all of this this in motion . The whistleblowers not the accuser. The whistleblower pulled the fire alarm, First Responders show ised up, they saw flames, smoke, a collapsing building and the president holding a gas, you know, canister and matches in his hand. So the evidence is there. What the whistleblower alleged has been largely corroborated and not to mention the president has threateninged the whistleblower who does have rights to be and remain anonymous. Chris but there are at least two issues, it seems to me, that are important about the whistleblower. One, which even the Inspector General raised about potential political bias and, two, there are also kind of a confusion about his contact with democratic staff the of the House Intelligence Committee before he filed his report. Shouldnt that be questioned by both democrats and republicans . Let me clear up the issues about, you know, contact with the staff. First, the chairman has never met the whistleblower, does not know the whistleblowers identity and did not know what the complaint was going to say. When the staff received the complaint which happens often, our staff receive a lot of whistleblower complaints they directed the whistleblower to proper channels which the whistleblower went through. If the whistleblower had new evidence that has not been corroborated or implicated, i would agree to your first point, that the whistleblower would be relevant. But it seems this is just a punitive attempt by the president and republicans to go after somebody they believe is an enemy. Chris finally, congressman, you have made a number of statements over the last few weeks, ever since this story broke, about your feelings about the allegations against the president and ukraine. Here are just a couple from this last week. In america if you confess to a crime, you still get a fair trial, and we have a confession, we have a crime. Whether its by the president or those obstructing on his behalf, theyre doing this because this is what the guilty do. Chris question how can you be considered an impartial factfinder when you seem to have come to the conclusion that the president is guilty before youve heard a single witness defending the president . And as i said, obstructive acts in our law, you know, in our system of laws are considered consciousness of guilt. When people try and obstruct the proceedings, jurors are told you can use that chris maybe another side to this story . Well, i would like to see that side. I havent seen it yet. But as ive said, the president is entitled to a fair hearing. If this was donald trump justice, donald trump would be impeached and removed by now. He jumps to conclusions, doesnt rely on facts. Were giving him a fair process that he is allowed to participate in chris well, hes not allowed to participate because you havent allowed him to have a counsel present or to ask questions of the witnesses, so he has not been able to participate hes allowed to participate. We have subpoenaed witnesses who he has told not to come forward, weve asked for documents that he has refused to turn over, and i just assume that if those documents could exonerate him or witnesses, he would send them forward. If hes going to obstruct our efforts, were going to put that in the bucket of a consciousndness of guilt consciousness of guilt. Chris thanks for coming in. And despite all the rancor in washington, this is a good good day, a very good day for america, one of our biggest enemies has been brought to justice. Thanks, chris. Chris up next, well ask the sunday panel about the president s announcement of the takedown of Abu Bakr Albaghdadi, what does it mean for the u. S. War on terror. light musical cords as commander in chief of the United States, we obliterated his caliphate 100 in march of this year. Todays events are another reminder that we will continue to pursue the remaining isis terrorists to their brutal end. Chris President Trump announcing the Successful Special forces raid that has taken out the leader of isis, and its time now for our sunday group. The cofounder of the federalist, ben domenech. Moe elleithee, Jonathan Swann from axios and fox news correspondent gillian turner, a former member of the National Security council under president s bush 43 and obama. Gillian, let me start with you. What are you hearing from your sources about the raid and about concerns in the Homeland Security community about possible reprisals for the takedown of baghdadi e . So quick note on this counterterrorism mission, its one of those rare operations that really is a tactical victory for the United States, but its also a strategic victory for the United States meaning its great news today, its going to continue to pay dividends for the months and years ahead, so thats great. What im hearing from my sources in the National Security community is that the fbi and state and local Law Enforcement are already, at this hour starting last night, beefing up protection because theyre worried about the risk of reprize a reprisal attacks meaning folks who are sympathetic to isis, who follow their ideology are going to be very upset about the death of albaghdadi and are going to amp up their plans for an attack here at home. So thats kind of the outlook, thats the next worry that americans need to start thinking about now, not to be a fear monger, thats just the reality on the ground. Chris now, the president talked about several james foley being one of them americans who were so brutally slaughtered by isis back when they had their caliphate, but there are still some american hostages being held by isis, is that correct . Yeah, theres still up to a dozen american hostages being held by isis in syria in the region. Question may or may not intelligence doesnt exactly know what he is today, but big fears about when Development Means for those american prisoners. We cant speculate about what it will mean, but intelligence sources are very worried about that. One quick last note, for folks that are following, you know, the trump Foreign Policy doctrine, this fits perfectly within what he said he was going to set out to do. Were going to retreat militarily from the region but stay focused on fighting terrorists. So from that perspective, this is President Trump fulfilling another commitment. Chris jonathan, thats exactly what i wanted to pick up on with you, because the president under a lot of fire for pulling drops out of syria, a couple of thousand troops out of afghanistan. What does this say for his policy of a much smaller and more nimble foot print in the middle east . And i know you just came back from iraq. Do they like this or are they concerned about it . So a couple things there. One is this raid shows the value of having a u. S. Presence there. Of course it wouldnt have been able to collect the intelligence required to execute this raid, we wont have had the partners on the ground, and we wouldnt have been able to execute the mission. Trump has said going into the middle east, you know, was the biggest mistake in american history. He said that on the record, and thats where it gets contradictory, because he is pulling out. Hes saying, okay, were going to keep a few to secure the order, but if we had done a total drawdown, we wouldnt be able to execute a raid like that. I interviewed the president of iraq on monday in baghdad, and hes very concerned about the u. S. Drawdown and an incident like today would show why people want the u. S. To stay engaged in the region. Chris ben, i was talking a little bit with the Vice President while we were listening to president , and one of the things that always strikes me is that we, whether its the politicians in town or the reporters in town, were all focused on now, whats right in front of us, and that was what was going on in syria, what was going on in, with impeachment. And then the it turns out that for three weeks theyve been involved in this extraordinary intelligence operation and then a military raid to take down one of our biggest enemies. The president , any president always has a lot of weapons, a lot of intelligence, a lot of resources at his disposal. I think what we saw in the past couple of weeks is a clear message about what the United States will do under a President Trump and what its unwilling to do under a President Trump. You know, jonathan just got back from iraq, i just got back from hong kong. You saw the Vice President s speech this week at the Wilson Center talking about their approach to china and some pretty harsh ways, but it was also a speech that the president notably did not give himself. They make those kinds of decisions because they want to send a message to the world about the kind of things that this president is willing to do and not willing to do. He is willing to send people into harms way to achieve a clear goal, in this case the death of a clear threat to america over the years. Hes not willing to have these kinds of foot prohibits and to spend as footprints and to spend as much money in a lot of the regions that people would advise him its a lot better to do those sorts of things as opposed to going back in the future and losing more american lives, perhaps, if things split more and more towards chaos. Chris were going to talk more about impeachment in the final segment, but i just want to talk about the intersection between impeachment and thissed raid, because if it follows past events, at least in the short run, there will be a rally around the flag, rally around the president for the tremendous success, and he was the commander in chief during this raid. Does that the hurt, will it get in some sense disenfranchise the idea of impeachment of the president . First, i think youre going to see a lot of democrats praising the military, praising the special forces and even praising the president for making the decision, and rightfully so. Youre right, this will be a rallying around the flag craig craig rightly is so. Rightly so, 100 . Im proud of our special forces told, and im proud of the president today for making this decision. Its interesting though how this plays out politically. We dont know, the most recent example weve got really is president obamas Approval Ratings after the Osama Bin Laden killing. He got a bump in the polls by about six points. People rallied around him, and it lasted for all of about two months before his Approval Ratings settled back down to where it was. So how this plays out in the minds of the voters is a completely different question. But today we should all be very happy about what happened. Chris hear hear to that. All right, panel, we have to take a break. The battle over impeaching President Trump goes on. Whos winning that argument . Well ask our sunday group when we come right back. The republicans have to get tour and fight. I think the democrats are lousy politicians with lousy policy. But two things they have, theyre vicious and they stick together. Chris President Trump rallying republicans to step up their fight against the democratic impeachment investigation, and were back now with the panel. Ben, who do you think forget the raid, as important as that is who do you think is winning the argument at this point, republicans complaining about the process of impeachment or democrats focusing on the evidence they say that theyve heard, excuse me, from some of these National Security officials . Well, i think mistake at this juncture. I think that they should have really barreled ahead we the clear with the clear message that they got in reaction to president s phone call with impeachment proceedings that were very public and that engage the public in a clear way. This past week we saw the new poll data coming out from the New York Times and cnn, respected for their work, in shipping states across the swing states. And it shows impeachment and removal is upside down in a number of key states going into the elections of next year chris would you argue that we havent had any public hearings at this point . We havent, and i think democrats should have started with those. I think this whole process allows the republicans to complain about things happening behind closed doors, and i think that the democrats should be confident with their case. They should bring this into the public and try to win over a lot of independent voters who, as much as they dislike the president , may not be onboard with removal, and frankly, theyre running into a time crunch. Theyre admitting this is something that drags closer to christmas, and that means the trial happening in an election year. Chris yeah, i want to ask you about that, moe. You could argue, well, its better to find out what these witnesses are going to say in private before you interview them in public, but you heard Eric Swalwells talking in short order, most people think that means mid november, that means you dont get impeachment until probably around mid december or christmas, and then you have a senate trial, the removal of the president in 2020 during the middle of an election when people may be voting in iowa and new hampshire. Thats very complicated Iowa Caucuses are the first week of february, so theres a chance that you could have both those things happening at the same time. Look, i dont really see how the democrats could have done it much differently, and the precedent shows that they should be doing it the way that theyve been doing it by having these private conversations first just like they did in watergate, just like they did, you know, in the benghazi hearings. Trey gowdy, you know, republican, chaired before going to more public hearings. Thats pretty much been the procedure. And i think both sides are kind of doing what they want to do and need to do right now. Republicans still dont see a lot of republicans out there defending the president on the substance. The process is the only thing theyve got. So what happens in a few weeks when democrats do Start Holding public hearings . What will the pushback be then . Because they sure havent shown much of an interest in defending the president , his actions. Chris all right. Let me talk about the white house strategy in all this, because theres a lot of talk, as you know, jonathan, in washington. People rending garments because this white house has not put together, it seems, much of a legal strategy, much of a communications strategy, what people refer to as the clinton war room. There seems to be some indication that theyre now beginning to beef up the legal and communications team. What do you hear about that, and how much confidence do they have that whatever they do President Trump will stick to that . So i reported this week that they are holding almost daily meetings now with almost every part of the white house. But, so about 10 a. M. Every morning in the situation room or the roosevelt room theyre sitting around. Its a messaging coordination meeting. Two its are risks. One, the lawyers arent involved, the white house counsels office, and the subtext sorry for the subtext, its been widely reporting now Mick Mulvaney has been complaining that the white house counsel, Patsy Maloney, has been hoarding information, not sharing, and this is a wide amount of frustration. So Patsy Maloney has a direct relationship with the president. Theyre talking oneonone very frequently, and hes developing a legal strategy. There is a common strategy coming together. Chris, youre never going to see the type of operation that you saw with the clintons because youre working for a principal, donald trump, who practices his open instincts, believes hes his own best messenger, and hes never going to be directed or shaped by his staff. Theyre always going to be reacting to him and playing catchup to him. Thats just the reality. Chris and then there was the news this week that the Justice Department has decided to turn its probe, it was an administrative review of the involvement of the fbi and the Justice Department in the investigation of the russiatrump alleged collusion, discrepted by the Mueller Report in 2016, has decided to turn that administrative review now into a criminal investigation. Heres what the president said about that. Investigate the investigators. Whether its strock and page, when its clapper and whether its comey and all of these people, because terrible things went on for our country. Chris gillian, how big a deal that this has now moved from an administrative review in the Justice Department to a criminal probe, and in addition youve also got hanging out there and we think, weve been waiting since, i think, last spring for the Inspector General, michael horowitz, whos been investigating also some of what the Justice Department did in 2016 and especially the fisa warrant to you are vail carter page, thats going to come out sooner rather than later. How does all this play into the impeachment process . Well, john durham over at the doj is a very big deal because it means they can impanel witnesses, they can subpoena documents, and they can also file criminal charges on the other end of this if they feel thats warranted. My sources in the administration all say the durham probe going criminal is part of what jonathan just laid out which is the president s own strategy on peachment which is to double down on counterattack. Investigate the investigators, run, excuse me, substitute the oval office and his twitter handle as if that is the war room. So from that interspective perspective, if President Trump had any say or influence over the probe going criminal, it goes hand in glove together. I just that put a big asterisk there which is john durham has a very serious reputation, and i dont think that at this point that decision, he thinks that weve reached a threshold that we can open a criminal investigation. My guess based on his reputation is that was based on facts. We dont know what that criminal aspect is. It could be a leak investigation, it could be something to do with classified but also bill barr, the attorney general, could have also been a big factor in that decision. I think we shouldnt jump to conclusions about durham and that decision. Chris and this further complicates and, let me is can you this specific question. Ive got one minute left. And a very busy day. Does it make democrats look bad when theyre pursuing the issue and what they say is just the abuse of seeking foreign intervention in politics in 2020 by ukraine and the president to now be so upset at the idea of a criminal investigation of what may have happened with the Justice Department and conceivably the Clinton Campaign in 2016 . I mean, i think thats the president s hope. I think the president s hope is to try to muck all this up and confuse the conversation. Democrats need to be very focused and disciplined here. They, right now, i mean, i take bens point about the battlegrounds district polling that shows its upside down, but it also shows that its less upside down than it used to be. People are still moving in favor of impeachment, and were seeing that across the board. Chris thank you, panel. See you next sunday. And well be back with a final word. It was a life changing moment for me. I had no idea that my grandfather was a federal judge in guatemala. He was an advocate for the people. A voice for the voiceless. Bring your Family History to life like never before. Get started for free at ancestry. Com copd is a disease that affects millions of americans, and it is believed that there are millions more who dont know that they have it. Talking to the doctor is the first step to getting diagnosed. Dont wait to Say Something if youre experiencing shortness of breath. Dont wait to Say Something i want some more whats he doin . Please sir. I want some more more . He has asked for. Thank you well he did say please yes he did and, thank you all boys thank you, thank you, thank you. Stay tuned to the station and Fox News Channel for the latest on the successful u. S. Military raid that is taken out the leader of isis. That is it for today. Have a great week. We will see you next fox news sunday. Maria welcome back, fox news alert, breaking news we are covering all morning, the leader of isis is dead this morning, we have learned that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr Albaghdadi is dead, President Trump spoke about this earlier that baghdadi died in a tunnel whimpering and screaming as special forces cornered him. Many Islamic State fighters were also killed along with baghdadi the president did not immediately notify congress as a fear of leaks, he killed himself and every one of his children in
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