'Fox News Sunday' on April 7, 2024

This is a rush transcript of ‘Fox News Sunday’ on April 7, 2024. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm Martha MacCallum in for Shannon Bream.

The White House under heavy pressure from state and big city leaders who are dealing with record-breaking numbers of migrants, walking across the southern border and now increasingly coming in on commercial flights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): It's an illegal program. They're bringing people in who don't have a right to be in this country.

MACCALLUM (voice-over): Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on a Biden administration program he says allows tens of thousands of immigrants to fly into the country, as the border crisis surges, blue cities with sanctuary status scramble to deal with migrants squatters, but get little federal help.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): The equivalent of the entirety of the population of New York City has come across the border illegally, just in the past three years. We don't have the ability to assimilate that.

MACCALLUM: We'll speak with Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott who's standing by his promise to continue to bus migrants from the Lone Star State to those sanctuary cities.

Then --

JOHN KIRBY, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER: We need to see certain changes and if we don't, then we'll have to consider changes to our own policy.

MACCALLUM: Frustrations between the White House and Israel boil over after a military strike kills humanitarian workers.

Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons joins us as Israel today marks six months since the Hamas terror attacks.

Plus --

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The election's going to be in now a little more than six months and it's going to be the most important I believe election we've ever had.

MACCALLUM: The former president on the offense to cut into the fundraising deficit he faces against President Biden as new polls show the GOP's presumptive nominee with leads in the critical battleground states.

Our Sunday panel joins us to break down the swing state battle ahead of 2024.

All, right now, on "FOX News Sunday".

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM (on camera): Hello from FOX News in Washington.

Good morning, everybody.

We begin with a FOX News alert. Israel has announced a major ground troop withdrawal from southern Gaza, this comes months to the day after Hamas's brutal terror attacks in Israel on October the 7th, which was the beginning of the war in Gaza.

So in a moment, we will get reaction from Delaware Senator Chris Coons who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But, first, team coverage with Lucas Tomlinson at the White House and Trey Yingst in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Trey, let's begin with you.

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good morning.

It's been months since the October 7th massacre known as Black Saturday. And this morning, Israel announced it's withdrawn all troops from southern Gaza. There is just one brigade of Israeli soldiers left in Gaza at the moment and we do understand this force will be used to secure a supply line. There are additional operations that are expected to take place including targeted raids that could happen in the future.

The announcement today clearly marks the next phase of this war and could be an indication that ceasefire talks are headed in the right direction. Looking back at the past 184 days, the numbers are staggering. Around 1,200 people in Israel were killed in a surprising attack on October 7th, more than 250 were taken hostage, including Chen Goldstein Almog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YINGST: What's going through your mind in that moment?

CHEN ALMOG GOLDSTEIN, FORMER HOSTAGE: Terrible fear, fright and shock. We got out in a line the boys were already going out and then Yam followed. Before that one of the terrorists saw Yam's uniform shirt he opened it like that. I remember his big green eyes and he screamed at me in Arabic, and I don't understand what he's asking me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YINGST: After the massacre and hostage taking, the Israeli air and ground campaign in response left around 33,000 people dead according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel does not dispute those numbers but says more than a third of the Gazans killed are militants from Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

The war between Israel and Hamas is the longest in the country's history and at the six-month mark, Israel is bracing for the possibility of a larger regional conflict -- Martha.

MACCALLUM: Trey, thank you very much.

Now, let's go to Lucas Tomlinson at the White House covering the Biden administration and their reaction.

Hi, Lucas.

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, it appears that the threats from President Biden worked. In his call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden demanded an immediate ceasefire and changes to how Israel conducts his war in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Did you threaten to stop military aid to Israel?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked them to do what they're doing.

REPORTER: Are you abandoning Israel?

BIDEN: Is that a serious question?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON: Biden called the situation in Gaza unacceptable and demanded Israel do more to protect civilians and deliver more aid while battling Hamas. Biden said his red line was Israeli forces launching an assault on Rafah. Some Democratic lawmakers said any large scale military action there would force them to condition aid to Israel. A spokesman for Biden described the recent conversations between leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRBY: Too many civilians have been killed and if we don't see those changes -- well, then we're going to have to make some changes and decisions of our own.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON: A botched Israeli drone strike Monday night seemed to mark a tipping point with America's closest ally in the Middle East. Seven aid workers were killed, including an American.

A similar drone strike by the U.S. military in Afghanistan during the withdrawal killed 10 civilians, including seven children. No one was punished. John Kirby downplayed the comparison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRBY: These are events that happened three years apart. Two different geographic locations, two different countries, two different sets of circumstances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOMLINSON: Israeli forces also carried out an air strike in Syria last week, killing a top Iranian Quds force commander. Iran has vowed revenge, putting U.S. and Israeli forces in the region on high alert.

Over 100 hostages remain in captivity in Gaza. Tomorrow, national security adviser Jake Sullivan plans to meet with the families. Some of them here at the White House -- Martha.

MACCALLUM: Thank you, Lucas. Lucas Tomlinson reporting from the White House.

Joining me now, Delaware senator and the Biden campaign's national co- chair, Chris Coons, from the Biden campaign headquarters in Wilmington.

Senator, thank you very much for being here this morning.

You hear these reports that we just heard from Lucas Tomlinson and Trey Yingst that Israeli IDF forces pulling out except for one brigade. What is your reaction to this very big development on the ground in Gaza?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Martha, first, it's important to remember how this all began six months ago, with a brutal, a barbaric attack by Hamas terrorists who massacred roughly 1,200 Israelis.

And in the six months of this campaign against Hamas in Gaza, thousands and thousands of IDF troops have done their best to carry out a campaign to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. There will still be several thousand IDF troops. That's what a brigade is in Gaza after this announcement this morning.

But I presume this is a tactical decision by the IDF and Israeli leadership in the face of a threat of a real attack from the north, from Hezbollah, or a direct attack from Iran. And it's important for all of us who support Israel to be clear that we will continue to defend Israel against Iran or any of its proxies in the region.

MACCALLUM: So you see this as a tactical regrouping, not as the end of the war?

Is this the ceasefire that President Biden clearly laid down his request for? He said we will not support you if we don't see changes. Are these those changes or not?

COONS: Well, I wasn't in that conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, but there are negotiations in Cairo today about a possible hostage release and ceasefire.

As you know, Martha, thousands and thousands of Israelis have been protesting in Tel Aviv and throughout the country about the lack of progress on the release of the hostages. You'll be hearing from a hostage someone who's been released soon.

I've met many times with hostage families. It is tragic that Hamas continues to use civilians as human shields, continues to hold these hostages and continues to terrorize them now for 184 days.

So it's my hope that the changes that were asked for, the delivery of humanitarian aid, the deconfliction of possible strikes into Gaza with where humanitarian aids being delivered, and a conduct of the future campaign against Rafah to finish the job against Hamas in a way that will minimize civilian casualties, I'm hopeful that we're going to see all of those changes unfolding here in the days ahead.

MACCALLUM: So why wasn't -- why didn't President Biden make it contingent that if you bring about a ceasefire, it will be in return for hostages? No ceasefire until the hostages were returned -- are returned completely has always been Netanyahu's goal. So it looks like we're seeing it in reverse and just hoping that it will result in the release of hostages, Senator.

COONS: Martha, I think we're mischaracterizing what's going on. There will still be thousands of IDF soldiers in the south of Gaza. I have not heard President Biden call for a ceasefire without the release of hostages. I think that is the direction that all of us are pressing for.

And I'll remind you that President Biden has repeatedly pushed Qatar and Egypt who have direct communications with Hamas, to press Hamas harder to release the hostages they are holding. I think that's what all of us have been hoping for.

In my last meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel, that's what I was encouraging was continued negotiations and I've also directly communicated with Egyptian and Qatari leaders on the urgency of a hostage release as a condition for any ceasefire.

MACCALLUM: So I just want to remind our viewers of the sentiment of protesters. This is from a few months ago. There were a lot of student protesters. We continue to see them all the time against the U.S. policy in support of Israel. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a whole generation of voters coming up who are going to be able to vote in this next election and if you don't stop this genocide now, you will not get these votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So we saw hundreds of thousands of vote uncommitted against essentially President Biden. We've heard for quite a while about the tensions that exist within the White House. The president initially said he was rock solid in support of Israel's efforts here.

Have the protesters won at the White House?

COONS: No, let me remind you what just happened. Two weeks ago, President Biden signed into law our annual appropriations bill that includes $3.8 billion in support for Israel. I think this is a tactical disagreement that began with Prime Minister Netanyahu insisting he would go into Rafah.

Let me remind you, in Rafah, there's more than a million Palestinian civilians who have fled from the north and the center of Gaza, they are now trapped up against the hard border with Egypt.

And what I have been saying and what I believe President Biden has been saying directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu is before you go in at scale and try to finish the job against Hamas, make sure that you allow for humanitarian aid and for those civilians trapped in Rafah to move out of the way before you conduct this last stage of the ground campaign. That's what I understand the disagreement to be about.

MACCALLUM: I want to ask you a quick question about Ukraine, but first I want to ask you this -- what do you say to those who say that this move is going to be music to the ears for Hamas and for Iran, and that their ultimate goal of eradicating Israel from the Middle East if they see the United States pressuring Israel to pull back will be exactly what they want?

COONS: Well, let's move on to the supplemental which helps answer that question. The Senate controlled by Democrats passed with a big bipartisan margin a supplemental that President Biden requested that includes aid for Ukraine, humanitarian aid, and $14 billion in additional support for Israel. It's been waiting for action by the House for weeks now, and it's my hope that Speaker Johnson will put it on the floor this week.

It will show Iran strong bipartisan determination to continue to support Israel in the face of Iran's threats if that supplemental passes the House this week.

MACCALLUM: All right. I'm just going to ask you one more question on this and that is do you believe that there is an imminent strike coming from Iran in retaliation for the killing of two top commanders in -- in the Iranian forces?

COONS: Well, what has been publicly released by our government is a concern that there is a likelihood of an Iranian strike. I can't get into classified material but I think it's important that we continue to show strong support for the defense of Israel, that we continue to support the Iron Dome and other ballistic missile defenses that we've jointly developed, and that we make it clear we will defend Israel against any Iranian proxy attack or any direct attack by Iran.

MACCALLUM: Well, let me ask one quick question before you -- 33 members of the House, including Nancy Pelosi, wrote a letter saying that they wanted to rescind even the current weapons delivery to Israel.

What do you say to them?

COONS: Look in the face of a possible attack from Iran, I don't agree that we should in any way constrain or stop the delivery of defensive material that is essential for Israel's defense.

MACCALLUM: All right. We will see where the U.S. support of Israel goes in the wake of all of these developments.

Senator Coons, thank you very much. Good to have you here this morning.

COONS: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So coming up next, as thousands of migrants continue to pour across the southern border, the cost to states and big cities reaching a breaking point. We'll speak with Texas Governor Greg Abbott who was in New York City this week, very controversial appearance and back and forth with the mayor.

And we'll get a live report from the border coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: America's border crisis making news on several big fronts this past week. The numbers are staggering. Border Patrol counts over 350,000 migrant encounters in January and February this year alone.

And those are the people that they actually counted. Over 8,000 pounds of deadly fentanyl seized in those two months. And over 1,000 miles away, the self-declared sanctuary cities are suffering.

New York City alone has spent over $2 billion this year supplying asylum seekers housing, food, medical care, schooling. In a moment, we will speak with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who was just in New York at a controversial moment with Mayor Adams. We'll talk to him about that.

But first, let's turn to Fox News National Correspondent Matt Finn, who joins us from the border. Hi, Matt.

MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. Right now we're standing at the base of Mount Cristo Rey in Sunland Park, New Mexico. And over the past couple of days, this area has been swarming with illegal migrant activity.

In fact, just yesterday, we saw men freely walk right around the border wall behind me. This is all happening a few miles from El Paso, where Governor Greg Abbott is bolstering his border.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FINN (voice-over): In El Paso, Fox News exclusively embedded with Texas military as it installs mile after mile of anti-crime fencing and concertina wire.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says Texas has now installed more than 100 miles of fencing and wire that's acting like a wall and deterring migrants.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): I told the National Guard, I don't want you to double down on the amount of wire we have on the border. I said, I want you to triple or quadruple.

FINN: Where are you from? In New Mexico, Fox News exclusively coming face- to-face with these illegal migrants as they easily cross into the U.S. on Mount Cristo Rey. A Border Patrol agent told Fox News it's lost control of the mountain to human smugglers.

These scouts saw our camera and were monitoring us while also trying to conceal migrants they were guiding.

We're outside of Sunland Park, New Mexico in the El Paso sector. We're walking along what's referred to as the Obama Wall and Border Patrol points out these holes in the wall. They say cartels cut them to smuggle humans through. They're referred to as doggy doors and Border Patrol says they're so overwhelmed right now they can't keep up with patching them.

FINN (Voice-over): Our camera also capturing these two men trying to climb through one of the holes but they took off running back into Mexico and then they screamed at U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us cross. Why are you so racist?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FINN (on camera): And this morning there is the ongoing legal battle over Texas State Bill 4 which would give Texas the right to simply arrest and jail illegal migrants. Martha.

MACCALLUM: All right, Matt. Thank you very much. Matt Finn reporting from the border.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who has bused thousands of migrants from Texas to the Big Apple, made a trip there himself this week. He has a very frosty relationship with New York's Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain who greeted the news that Abbott would be in the city to speak at a GOP fundraiser with this invitation to come stay in one of the migrant shelters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NYC, NY): I'm going to offer him a stay in one of the HERRCs so he can see what he has created and understand how we are treating people with the dignity and respect that he should have shown as well.

When we coordinate together, we should not displace problems to local municipalities. That is not what executives do. It is unfortunate that he made the decision to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: All right, that is the mayor's side of the story. Joining us now from Austin is Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

Governor, very good to have you with us. The event that I mentioned in New York City was a big GOP fundraiser. I'd like to begin with you by playing a piece of sound of you speaking at that event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We made clear by contacting his office and said, we're not sending them to New York. That's Joe Biden sending them to New York. But the criticism kept coming, kept coming, kept coming, despite our denial. So after a while, I figured, gosh, if I'm going to get the criticism, I'm going to get the credit. And thus began the busing of illegal immigrants to the sanctuary city of New York City.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Governor, welcome. You know, that comment and the actions that you have taken, which, you know, really changed the game in so many ways with regard to how the rest of the country views immigration. But the mayor said that because of comments like that, you're morally bankrupt and that you're using these individuals as political pawns. What do you say to that, sir?

ABBOTT: So the person who's actually using illegal immigrants as political pawns is Joe Biden. Joe Biden has created this open border policy that has allowed illegal immigrants into our country to appeal to and to appease the far leftists in the Democrat Party, the people like Ocasio-Cortez, and hopes of trying to win their support while at the same time destroying the country that he's in charge of. He is the commander in chief in charge of national security for our country.

Our country is being invaded in ways that put our country at risk because of the political games that Joe Biden has played. And Mayor Adams is just aiding and abetting that by having a sanctuary city status, welcoming in anybody from across the world to live there or stay there in New York City on the bill of New York City. And what Mayor Adams needs to do, he needs to stop talking boldly about illegal immigration and the migrants that Texas is sending there, and he needs to step up and do his own job because look at the dangers in New York City under his watch.

You have a police officer who is killed. You have the train system in New York which is treacherous for travelers. You've got police officers attacked in Times Square by illegal immigrants. He needs to step up and do his job as mayor and protect the people of his community as opposed to gimmicks about what's going on, on the border.

MACCALLUM: Well, the polling clearly shows that people are very unhappy with the President's handling of this issue. President Biden's job performance on immigration, 67% disapprove. The border numbers are similar as well.

But the President did get some good economic news this week, Governor. In the March jobs report, 303,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate in this country is at 3.8 and the jobs added number was over 100,000 higher than economists were expecting there. So take a look at this from Semafor's publication. This is what they are arguing. The border crisis might be a boon for the economy. The daily march of migrants across the southern border has been a political curse for Joe Biden -- President Joe Biden. But for the economy, it may have turned out to be a blessing.

By adding millions of new workers to the labor market, the immigration surge has lifted payrolls and growth and potentially helped keep a lid on consumer prices. What do you say to that, sir?

ABBOTT: I'm going to give you some facts, Martha, that completely debunk that notion. For one, one reason why the U.S. economy is doing so well is because the Texas economy is doing so well. The gross domestic product economic growth in Texas is going twice as fast as the United States.

We have the fastest growing economy of any large state in the United States. Job-wise, Texas ranks number one for the most new jobs added. So our economy and our jobs are growing faster at the very same time, Martha, while illegal immigration into the State of Texas is going down.

Illegal immigration into Texas has gone down 72% because of the resistance that we've put up. It's gone up, however, in the other border states. And so Texas is decreasing illegal immigration while at the very same time adding more jobs and growing our economy far faster than the entire country.

MACCALLUM: So give us an update on SB4 and where do you think this goes next? Because we heard you talking about quadrupling the wire at the border and you've just cited the numbers and the drop and that's one of the reasons that we've seen such a big rush over to California because Texas has become tougher to handle. What do you expect next on SB4, Governor?

ABBOTT: So oral arguments took place last week in the Fifth Circuit. There will be a decision come out, who knows when, from that court. And then there could be an appeal to the entire Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and eventually an appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

But candidly, I'll tell you this. We feel pretty good about this SB4, which is a law that authorizes Texas to make arrests. I feel good about us winning for this very simple reason.

What Texas is doing is not in conflict with the laws of the United States of America. They are consistent and uphold the laws of the United States of America. There are laws on the books passed by Congress that require the president and the country to deny illegal entry, to detain anybody who comes into the country illegally and to build border barriers.

While Joe Biden has abandoned that responsibility, Texas has embraced that duty and all that Texas is doing is enforcing laws through SB4 that the federal government has already said they want to have enforced.

MACCALLUM: So what do you think should be the ramifications for the president not enforcing those laws when it comes to the national security of the country, Governor?

ABBOTT: I mean, candidly, because he is in direct violation of laws passed by Congress, I don't know if it's criminal, but there's definitely a civil action that should be taken. But because of the dangerous threats posed to our country by his actions, this is reason for his job termination, which is exactly why he should be fired by the American people this November.

MACCALLUM: All right. Governor Abbott, thank you very much. Good to have you here this Sunday. Thank you, sir.

ABBOTT: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: We'll see you soon.

So straight ahead, President Trump last night looking to bring in big bucks at a glitzy, high-profile Palm Beach fundraiser last night. We'll take you there live and get a report of what happened behind those walls last evening. And our Sunday panel digs into the dollars of Trump vs. Biden next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Major Republican donors gathering in Florida last night at a huge event to support former president Trump, helping him shatter a fundraising record, according to the numbers that have come in.

Fox News national correspondent Madison Scarpino live in a windy Palm Beach this morning with the very latest on what happened last night at Mar-a- Lago. Hi, Madison.

MADISON SCARPINO, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Martha. Trump is calling it the biggest night in fundraising history.

The fundraiser at hedge fund billionaire, John Paulson's, home raked in over $50 million according to the RNC. That's up from early estimates of $43 million in nearly double what President Biden raised at his New York City fundraiser with former presidents Obama and Clinton.

This was the first major fundraiser for Trump and the RNC since he became the party's presumptive presidential nominee.

Trump said his supporters are contributing to a cause that will restore faith in our country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: People are just wanting change. Rich people want it, poor people want it, everybody wants change. The country is really doing poorly. We're a laughingstock all over the world. We want to get that change very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCARPINO: There were some big names and a lot of money at last night's event. High dollar donors paid anywhere from $200,000 to $800,000 to be at the fundraiser. And it was headlined by the former president and former first lady, Melania Trump.

Big Republican mega donors like oil tycoon, Harold Hamm, and casino mogul, Steve Wynn, were on the guest list.

Along with former rivals who have now endorsed him, Senator Tim Scott, Governor Doug Burgum and Vivek Ramaswamy.

The Biden campaign slammed Trump's high dollar donor strategy saying it's a way for Trump to pay off his legal fees and do the bidding of his billionaire buddies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a grassroots campaign of nurses and teachers, and firefighters, and cops, versus Donald Trump and a couple of billionaires looking for a tax cut.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCARPINO: Donations from the Palm Beach fundraiser will go to Trump's campaign, the RNC state political parties and a political action committee that helps pay his legal bills.

But a Trump campaign spokesperson says that PAC also covers other expenses as well. Still, Trump is behind his competition in terms of money.

Those fundraising dollars will help Trump close the gap with President Biden, who raised $90 million last month. Biden also has more cash on hand with $192 million compared to Trump's $93 million.

Now Trump has several more fundraisers this week, including one on Wednesday in Georgia, where he's facing election interference charges.

And meanwhile, President Biden has campaign events in Madison, Wisconsin, and Chicago. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Philadelphia tomorrow. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Yes. They are making the rounds in the battleground states.

Thank you very much, Madison. Madison, Scarpino in Palm Beach this morning.

And now it's time for our Sunday group, Olivia Beavers, "Politico" congressional correspondent. And Fox News senior political analyst, Juan Williams. Katie Pavlich, "Townhall.com" editor. And Roger Zakheim of the Ronald Reagan Institution. He -- Institute. He is the director there.

Welcome, everybody. Great to have you all here.

Olivia, let me start with you. Obviously, you hear a lot of back and forth between the teams on these numbers. And I just want to put up again the cash on hand number, because this is the combination of the campaign and the RNC in this case. And the DNC, $192 million for Joe Biden, 93 for former president Trump.

How much does this matter, really, in the -- in the game?

OLIVIA BEAVERS, POLITICO CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In presidential campaigns and campaigns in general, money is what makes the world go round. So that's how you get your name out there. That's how you market yourself, plus doing polling and having staff.

In this case, Donald Trump had some ground to make up about 100 million deficit. And it seems like he's starting to assuage some of those concerns last night. That will definitely start to help in this case.

But he's also -- you're seeing him trying to cater to some of the donors who were previously supporting some of his other primary opponents that have since dropped out, like the Ron DeSantis donors and the Nikki Haley donors. And this is his way of sort of trying to catch up with how the Democrats have been fundraising.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Katie, it's interesting, because when you look back at 2016, when Trump was victorious --

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Mm-hmm.

MACCALLUM: -- he spent the least amount of money --

PAVLICH: -- Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- that he has. In the next campaign in 2020, they talked a lot about how they were blowing the lid off of fundraising, and he lost in that campaign.

So in terms -- you know, and also these are two players who the American people know very, very well.

PAVLICH: Yes.

MACCALLUM: So, what's your take on the money issue?

PAVLICH: Your name ID is not exactly something that either one of them --

MACCALLUM: Yes. Exactly.

PAVLICH: -- needs in terms of where their money gets spent.

But there's been a lot of talk about whether Donald Trump would be able to bring home the Republican Party.

Last night, he started to prove that. Warren Stephens, who was a big billionaire out of Arkansas, was a big Nikki Haley supporter. He was not only at the fundraiser, but a co-chair donating the top amount. His name was on the invitation for this fundraiser.

They also have interesting players, like former senator Kelly Loeffler out of Georgia, who was at the fundraiser, also a co-chair.

So you're seeing this rallying around. It's not surprising that Donald Trump would be behind -- be behind in fundraising. After all, he just went through a primary. We're now in the longest general election, I believe, that we've ever seen.

And so he's bringing home Republicans who previously were question marks in terms of whether they would back Donald Trump that opens the door for other donors to have a safe place to go and get behind the Trump campaign.

MACCALLUM: So this is a quote from the Trump folks. We heard in Madison's piece, the Biden take on who the donors are and who they're courting.

This is what the Trump team says. "Republicans may not be the beneficiaries of the self-interested largess of Hollywood and Silicon Valley elites, but President Trump is proud to be supported by donations from voters who are the backbone of the nation."

That's from Trump campaign senior advisor, Susie Wiles, Juan.

This is a question, because this part of the money raising reveals how broad the support really is out there. What's your take?

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, just the numbers aren't not in favor of that statement. I think it's, you know, right now, you have like the Biden people saying 96 percent of their donors are giving $200 or less.

What we saw last night was big money coming behind former president Trump. But then it allows the Biden people to say, oh, you have -- you're backed by the oil money, an oil billionaire, casino billionaire, hedge fund billionaire, TikTok billionaire. You don't really have the people.

And when you think about the need to consolidate the base, what Kate -- the Republican base that Katie was talking about, it's striking that where President Biden is able to get former president Obama, former president Clinton, and all those people to gather in support of him.

What you get for former president Trump is Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina.

You do not see Nikki Haley. You do not see Mike Pence. You do not see George W. Bush, the former Republican president. You do not see Dick Cheney, the former Republican vice president.

That base is still eluding him. But, you know, I don't think there's any getting around. He raised a lot of money last night and his campaign is saying, it's enough for him to run.

MACCALLUM: So, Roger, I'm not sure how much the average voter cares who shows up at these things. I don't know that people across America and the battleground states, and let's put up the polls that we just got last week, are, you know, sitting around the breakfast table on a Sunday morning saying, well, you know, this person was there and that person wasn't there.

But the -- what we're seeing in these numbers, this was a very important poll, and it -- and it really backs up some of the numbers that we saw in previous polls as well, is that Trump is ahead in every single battleground state by a few points. Some of the margins are bigger than others, which you can see clearly here, and tied in the state of Wisconsin.

So what's your take?

ROGER ZAKHEIM, RONALD REAGAN INSTITUTE DIRECTOR: Well, it's up for grabs. And I think what you're seeing with these numbers here is that it's favoring Trump. It's going to require President Biden to get out there.

President Trump will be out there. Read a story that Kamala Harris is out in Pennsylvania. I'm not sure she's going to do what the Democrats need.

But what we're seeing with these donors is that they're making a decision to have a choice right now, where they're going to give their money if they're going to send their hands or give the money.

Voters are going to come down to the decision between Trump versus Biden. It doesn't really matter who else is out there. Everybody's recognized this down to two. And that's what you're going to see the emphasis on those -- on those states because everybody's got to recognize they got to pick one side or another does no good sitting on your hands.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Pennsylvania, North Carolina. Quick soundbite from Kamala Harris. And just to how effective she is or isn't for President Biden.

Let's watch this soundbite from her about what they're doing for folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But think about it. Soon, 30,000 more families will have the funds they need to replace drafty windows and install better insulation to keep their homes warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

And here in North Carolina, to help you lower that monthly Duke Energy bill. You're welcome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: You're welcome. Katie.

PAVLICH: Voting government program after government program. The White House also has really tried to ride on this jobs report when they don't talk about the fact that a third of the numbers are government growth jobs, especially in healthcare, which is not growth through the average person, which is why the campaign is having a very good time in the swing states when they got it.

MACCALLUM: I'm glad you brought that up. Put that screen up if we can. I know we're short on time.

But this is fascinating to me, 303,000 jobs created. Seventy-one thousand of those jobs are government jobs. And this is the kind of number that we've been seeing consistently.

So the government is getting bigger and bigger and bigger is, you know, clear takeaway, just based purely on the numbers that we see here. And how you feel about that is up to everyone to decide.

So we're going to be right back with more with our great panel. So stay with us.

Up next, America gets ready for a total eclipse of the sun in the middle of the afternoon as millions flock to the path of totality.

Are you going to be in that path this Monday? We're going to go to one of the best places to watch all this, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COONS: I presume this is a tactical decision by the IDF and Israeli leadership in the face of a threat of a real attack from the north, from Hezbollah, or a direct attack from Iran. And it's important for all of us who support Israel to be clear, that we will continue to defend Israel against Iran or any of its proxies in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Senator Chris Coons speaking with us earlier this hour after Israel announced a major ground troop withdrawal from southern Gaza.

And we are back now with our panel.

Olivia, I asked him if he supported this letter from 33 members of Congress saying that they wanted to pull back even the current military allotment that's on its way, planes, F-15s I believe, to Israel. Where is this going?

BEAVERS: Well, I mean, I think the Biden administration has been walking this very fine line. They've been seeing, especially with some of the core kind of voters that helped Biden win in 2020, the young voters, the young vote, taking issue with how he's been handling Gaza.

And I think that that's where you're seeing sort of this pressurized situation where President Biden is saying he wants to support Israel, but you're also having the Senate majority leader doing his - his speech, sort of going after President Netanyahu - sorry, Prime Minister Netanyahu. And that's where you're sort of having this whole conflict arise and Biden needs to figure out how he's going to navigate reattracting these voters.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

Roger, you know, it - are there good guys and bad guys between Hamas and Israel? And do we still see those lines clearly?

ZAKHEIM: Well, we must. I mean today's, you know, six-month anniversary since the tragic events on October 7th. Loss and the noise are three things, right? There are hostages - five American hostages.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

ZAKHEIM: Over 30 Americans were killed since October 7th.

Second, Hamas is a terrorist organization. Sinwar is holding these hostages reportedly around him.

And third, which the administration loses sight of, Iran is responsible for supporting these organizations. We've lost sight of that. If you keep those three things in mind, it would result in the U.S. supporting Israel, giving them the aid they need and allowing them to finish this fight against terrorism.

Hamas for Israel is what ISIS is for the United States. And we're seeing this change in tactical operations in Israel right now, but they're still going to go into Rafah. And that's not Bibi wants. It's what all of Israel wants.

MACCALLUM: Yes, it's a great point, Juan. You know, as Roger just said, ISIS is to America as Hamas is to Israel. And really there's only one outcome of that, and that was, in our minds, the eradication of ISIS and the elimination of the terror group, and victory. We're not hearing the president talking about victory for Israel.

WILLIAMS: I think we are hearing this week the president talking about Israel, you know, sadly killing those people from World Central Kitchen. And the man who is the head of that, the celebrity chef, Jose Andres, saying, Israel didn't do this as just a, you know, consequence of war, but it was tactical and intentional. And I think the president, from all we've heard in terms of reporting, was outraged by that murder.

MACCALLUM: Why wasn't the president outraged when we took out 10 people in the withdrawal from Afghanistan who were aid workers, including seven children?

WILLIAMS: He was - I think it was clear -

MACCALLUM: There was no - no one was ever reprimanded for that or fired.

WILLIAMS: That's - look, I think everybody - I think we've had generals testify on Capitol Hill just recently about how that was an error. But I think that what we're seeing on the ground in Israel is the president saying, listen, what we're seeing and going on in Gaza is really regrettable. People are calling it, you know, a massacre. So, people and innocents, people who are not involved with Hamas. And you've got to do a better job of protecting not only innocent people, you - I mean it really is heartbreaking to think about children dying, but also people who are humanitarian aid workers. And that's why the president is saying, let's get a deal that involves release of hostages and a ceasefire. And this week was the first time you heard the word "ceasefire" come from this White House because this White House is squarely behind Israel.

But Netanyahu, and his tactics, are clearly seeding Israel's standing in the globe. It's not just the United States. Israel has always been a paradigm of human rights, you know, given what the Jewish community went through.

MACCALLUM: Well, Israel has dropped leaflets, they have sent warnings every time they're - they're going after buildings.

WILLIAMS: (INAUDIBLE).

MACCALLUM: It is - war is horrific.

WILLIAMS: Right. Have you seen those images -

MACCALLUM: And no one wants to see that from either side, including what started with the Hamas invasion.

WILLIAMS: Have you seen those images of - of the devastation of Gaza?

MACCALLUM: Yes, I have.

Katie, I want to get you in here.

PAVLICH: I've also seen - I've also seen the footage from October 7th and Hamas recording themselves slaughtering children and families while they're sitting literally at their tables on a Saturday morning.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

PAVLICH: I will say domestically the politics of this, Joe Biden said that he ran against Donald Trump for the first time based on what he saw in Charlottesville. He is now capitulating to hundreds of thousands of people in Michigan, college campus activists who believe that October 7th was justified, which is really Charlottesville on the left on steroids, and yet he's getting away with that position and changing foreign policy as a result.

The bottom line - the bottom line -

WILLIAMS: Nobody believes it was justified.

PAVLICH: Let me finish. The bottom line - there are plenty of people in this country who really do believe -

WILLIAMS: Not me. I'm just telling you, it's an outrage.

PAVLICH: I'm not saying you do, Juan, I'm saying people in Michigan have justified it, including Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who refuses to fully condemn what happened.

Back to the issue of war.

This is a war. Hamas started the war. They held hostages. They're keeping hostages. They did two of those things. And everything that followed is a result of what they did on October 7th. There was a ceasefire on October 6th. If Israel doesn't get the job done now against Hamas, there will be another war, as there was in 2014 -

ZAKHEIM: That's exactly right.

PAVLICH: As there was previously.

MACCALLUM: Very quickly, Roger.

PAVLICH: And it will continue as we go on if they don't finish the job.

ZAKHEIM: And what the progressive left wants is an unconditional ceasefire. Unconditional ceasefire equals unconditional surrender to Hamas. Unacceptable.

MACCALLUM: All right, Hamas and Iran must be happy when they see the Israeli troops pulling out in very large numbers today. So, we'll see where this goes.

Panel, standby.

As we mentioned, we are just a few hours away from a total eclipse of the sun for millions of Americans living in the path of totality, which stretches from Texas all the way up to Maine across the country. Fox Weather's Robert Ray in Indianapolis to tell us what to expect.

Hi, Robert.

ROBERT RAY, FOX WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Martha, greetings from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You know, the Indy 500 begins next month. But before that, a blockbuster event tomorrow as Indianapolis is awaiting this total solar eclipse to hit.

At about 3:06 p.m., thousands of people have made their way into the capital city. Many of them have binoculars, like this solar binoculars, with these incredible filters, and the glasses. So, the mania of this solar eclipse has hit.

People are on the streets. They are selling t-shirts in memoriam, if you can, of the solar eclipse tomorrow before it even happens. There is dinosaurs at the children's museum with glasses on it. Folks are getting their telescopes ready.

And, indeed, we've been talking to a lot of people on the ground here, in the past couple days in Indy. One of them, an actual professor at Butler University who told us about the planetarium and their plans.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN MURPHY, BUTLER UNIVERSITY PLANETARIUM: If the weather cooperates, what they're going to see in those final five minutes before totality is the street lights come up. Venus starting to make an appearance. Then Jupiter. Then we'll see the diamond ring effect where that last speck of moon - or sunlight is coming through the moon's valleys. And then we're thrust into twilight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAY: And we look at this map of Texas, all the way up into Maine. And you see, Texas may be in trouble with the cloud cover and actually severe storms. But here in Indianapolis, we should be good, Martha, tomorrow at 3:06 p.m. when the sun and the earth and then the moon crosses in between and creates that total solar eclipse. We're ready. We've got all the gear to capture it on Fox Weather and the Fox entities. Tune in tomorrow for sure. Watch our coverage from sunrise all the way to sunset as America experiences this total solar eclipse. All 48 states (INAUDIBLE).

MACCALLUM: Watching. This is going to - I can't see anything when I look through these.

Robert, thank you very much.

So, panel, Olivia, where you going to be for this?

I - you can't see a thing when you look through these, can you?

BEAVERS: Don't - don't tell work but I might try to sneak out to Maryland to try to see if I can get a good view of the eclipse.

MACCALLUM: Roger, what about you? What's the plan?

ZAKHEIM: I'll be stuck in the office, I think, in the cloudy skies of D.C.

MACCALLUM: Stuck in the office. All right.

We'll be watching it live on "THE STORY."

Thank you, panel.

I will have complete coverage of this - of the eclipse on "THE STORY" at 3:00 Eastern. We'll - we will be watching it because it's going to be going over New York exactly during our hour tomorrow. You don't want to miss it.

Up next, Howard Kurtz joins us to talk about the rise of women's basketball and breakout college superstar Caitlin Clark, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, for years it felt like a one-sided show during March Madness with the men taking the vast majority of the attention. But with the rise of the popular female stars in the world of college basketball, women are now rivaling the popularity of the men's games.

Host of Fox News "MEDIA BUZZ" Howie Kurtz has more.

Hi, Howie.

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS "MEDIA BUZZ": Hi, Martha. So, it sounds -

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KURTZ (voice over): What Caitlin Clark did almost single-handedly carrying her Iowa team to victory over LSU in the NCAA playoffs was not just a sports event, it was a cultural phenomenon. It was the determination of one woman, through years of endless practice, taking 300 shots in each section, to transform herself into a leader without losing her midwestern niceness.

That event was the most-watched women's basketball game in history, 12.3 million viewers for ESPN, peaking at 16 million, as Clark took on LSU star Angel Reese. And that could boost the visibility of the low-profile WNBA, where both women are headed. But there is controversy as well.

"LA Times" columnist Ben Bolch apologized for calling the LSU team "dirty debutantes," while he dubbed UCLA "America's sweethearts."

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST: I asked all the panelists, if Caitlin Clark were black, would she be - would we be looking at this in a different way? And let's be honest, the answer from everyone on the panel was, yes, in some way or another.

KURTZ (voice over): Former NBA star Paul Pierce.

PAUL PIERCE, BASKETBALL HALL OF FAMER: We saw a white girl in Iowa do it to a bunch of black girls. And that gained my respect.

KURTZ (voice over): Angel Reese says she's felt under siege since trash talking Caitlin Clark in last year's championship game won by LSU.

ANGEL REESE, LSU BASKETBALL PLAYER: I've been attacked so many times. Death threats. I've been sexualized. I've been threatened. I've been so many things, and I've stood strong every single time.

KURTZ (voice over): LSU Coach Kim Mulkey also led her team off the court before the national anthem, leaving only Iowa to pay its respects. Mulkey claimed this was routine and she wasn't thinking about the anthem.

Clark, who this season broke the all-time NCAA scoring record for men or women, eclipsing Pistol Pete Maravich back in 1970, isn't one to brag, even after nailing nine three-pointers Monday night.

CAITLIN CLARK, IOWA BASKETBALL PLAYER: I've had games where I've been two for 16. I've had games where I've been nine of 15. Like, it all averages out.

It was nice to have a game where I - I got some - some good looks at three for sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KURTZ (on camera): Clark led her team to a nail-biting victory on Friday night. And she plays for the national championship against South Carolina this afternoon.

MACCALLUM: Yes, it's extraordinary. And that's a great package that you put together for us, looking at the history of all of that, Howie. Thank you so much.

KURTZ: Getting more attention than the men. Who thought? Who'd have thunk it?

MACCALLUM: It - I know, it's extraordinary. That's what talent will do, right? It's an incredible story.

Thanks for joining us today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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