Huckabee: Debt deal a smart move for President Trump

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Huckabee: Debt deal a smart move for President Trump

Former Arkansas governor says he's done with incompetent congressional Republicans

This is a rush transcript from "The Fox News Specialists," September 6, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

KATHERINE TIMPF, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kat Timpf along with Eboni K. Williams and David Webb. This is "The Fox News Specialists."

Well, hell has apparently frozen over in the nation's capital. A bipartisan deal between Republicans and Democrats has actually been reached. President Trump throwing a major political curveball today, siding with Democrats, yes, Democrats for a bill that will keep the government open and raise the debt ceiling into mid-December. It will also fund recovery aid for Hurricane Harvey. Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell addressed reporters this afternoon after the deal was reached.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMMER, D-N.Y., MINORITY LEADER: It was a really good moment of some bipartisanship and getting things done. No one is standing in their corner. We, Democrats, you know, some people urged us, don't help at all, particularly on debt ceiling. But we thought for the good of the country we should make the right offer, and we did, and we're very glad the president accepted it.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-K.Y., MAJORITY LEADER: His feeling was that we needed to come together to not create a picture of divisiveness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIMPF: The agreement helps clear the way for President Trump's big tax reform push this fall, with the president making the case in North Dakota a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're working together. We're going to restore America's competitive edge by passing tax cuts and reform that will make America the best place in the world to hire, invest, and to grow. We love our country. We love our people, and we want to create more jobs in America for Americans. Our tax code is a giant self-inflicted economic wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIMPF: So, is today's unexpected compromise a case study in the art of the deal from President Trump? Let's quickly bring in today's Specialists. He's a former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee is here. And she's a senior director of research and consumer insight for Bustle.com, Jessica Tarlov is here.

Governor Huckabee, I saw you laughing while Chuck Schumer was talking. So I thought you might want to jump in.

MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ARKANSAS: Well, I was wondering if Chuck Schumer is in the orthopedic ward, because I think he broke his arm patting himself on the back for this extraordinary moment. It's just funny to watch Chuck Schumer sit there and talk about what a bipartisan guy he is. And he is been one of the biggest stumbling blocks to getting anything done. But today was a smart move on the part of the president. This is something that was going to inevitably happen, the debt ceiling was going to increase. The Republicans don't have enough guts to not do it. The Democrats want to do it. Trump doesn't want to be bogged down with that battle while we've got two hurricanes going on. And really more important things like true tax reform, getting Obamacare repealed and replaced, and all the other things that should be on the agenda. So this was good politics. It gives Trump an opportunity to say I'm not the guy that just blocks everything. And he knows -- also knows this, Kat. He's dealing with a bunch of incompetent Republicans who are so completely impotent that a year's supply of political Viagra would not make them capable of getting something done.

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE: Look, I'm sick of the Republicans in congress. They are utterly worthless in getting something done. They have the house, they've got the senate, and they've a president that will sign the bills. They have the numbers to get something done, and they can't even get together on changing the doggone tax code. I'm done with them.

TIMPF: Do you think this was a good thing, David?

DAVID WEBB, CO-HOST: Yeah. Because, I think -- and by the way, for everything I'm about to say, I'll just add on to see the former speaker on the show. Look, it's the art of the deal. Here's what we have. They were going to do this no matter what. Governor Huckabee is right. They were going to have this debt ceiling raised. We were going to see the midnight vote, we're going to see all of this play out. Now that's taken off the table. Now they can focus on tax reform, and the president is out on this. Whether it's the three easy pieces initiative that just requires a 51 vote majority. That gives us three pieces that reforms taxes for Americans. Whether it's other issues. But when it comes to health care, they're not prepared. And now he has political capital because he has something else. He has Chuck Schumer patting himself on the back repeatedly. The most partisan hack, there is no other way to say it. In the senate, on the Democrat side is Chuck Schumer, the new Harry Reid. So Trump has laid this out. And I think we're seeing the beginning of a negotiation.

TIMPF: Do you think, Jessica, though, that this will actually matter when it comes to Democrats? Will they be more likely to compromise to President Trump because of that?

JESSICA TARLOV, BUSTLE.COM SENIOR DIRECTOR: Absolutely not. It's just another win. I mean, the Democrats for being in the minority, completely, right? House and senate. No presidency. Have gotten an incredible amount done, or at least stopped an incredible amount. With health care, the tax reform, plus that he had going, I think it's smart to be out there with Heidi Heitkamp. And that's something she needs to do and nine other Democrats in red states that Trump took. Also needs to be talking to him more, or at least appearing to be willing to compromise. But the Democrats have completely and utterly game the Republicans time and time again.

And that's the frustration you see with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. They have the numbers. They can't get it done. Tax reform, I think more likely, numbers wise, because they all want a tax cut for individuals and corporate rate. But then you have President Trump out there talking about a 15 percent rate when Paul Ryan is actually 25 percent is what's reasonable there. And I think that you are also continuing to see the fact that Donald Trump has no interest in being part of any party. He is a party of one. And his base, that 30 or 35 percent, they don't have an allegiance either. They just go with Trump. And I don't know what that means for the Republicans in 2018 and 2020.

(CROSSTALK)

TIMPF: Eboni, what's your take? I want to get Eboni in here.

EBONI K. WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Well, I'll piggyback off what the governor just said. I think your frustration speaks to that of many of my Republican friends, governor. What is the GOP? What is it exactly that Paul Ryan wants? What is it exactly that Mitch McConnell wants? And what are they willing to do? What type of political capital are they willing to spend to make it happen? And I think it's very, very unclear to all people looking. In terms of what the president did today, Kat, I think -- look, pick your battles has never had more meaning. This was not a smart battle to pick. This was going to get done anyway. That one is already articulated.

I do think Jessica is right. I don't think it makes the Democrats more likely to compromise. But optically, politically, to the outsiders looking in, I think it gives him a little bit more goodwill, him being the president. To say, you know what, he did give them something. He put something on the table. He deserves to get something back in tax reform. Who doesn't want it. Who doesn't need it. This is the single issue that my mother, a lifetime Democrat, went to that booth and voted for President Trump around. She is one of those Americans that want that relief particularly around the individual and small business tax rate.

TIMPF: Yeah. Politically speaking, he could say, well, I compromised with you guys. You won't compromise with me. That I'm not sure it will go beyond that.

TARLOV: It will make some difference when you have a congressional approval rating of like 9 to 13 percent depending on what pollster you're looking at. And nothing is going to make them seem like decent human beings. So the governor initial point there. And I don't use the word hack, but certainly we use the word partisan when we're talking about any of the leadership and, frankly, most of the foot soldiers. I mean, people line up and they vote with their party, and that's getting to be an incredibly complicated approach when we have 40 percent of Americans identifying as independent. As Eboni well know, I mean, you usually lean one way or the other because you came from one of the parties. But Americans don't speak in just language of Democrats or Republicans anymore. And I don't know where you go from there. What parties that only talks that way?

(CROSSTALK)

HUCKABEE: The language of their parties, I think that's the problem. They're not speaking the language of their parties. They're speaking the language of their D.C. donors. This is the problem.

TARLOV: The representatives themselves?

HUCKABEE: Exactly. They're not answering to the people. If they were answering to the people, we would repealed and replaced Obamacare. We would already have tax reforms. We would have had multiple things that would have already happened. Why wouldn't it happen? Because they don't want to offend their handlers, the people who handle the money into their campaign coffers, and that's what's killing.

(CROSSTALK)

WEBB: By the way, I'll add to this. You know why we really need a border wall between K-street and every building where there is a congressman? Look, Democrats shouldn't do a victory lap on this either because we know what will happen next. What we have are the optics of it. Trump has the opportunity to turn the optics because the one thing about Donald Trump that I love this about him, no matter what you say about him, he's not the whinny, squishy fish Republicans who would run for corner and say, no, I'm not, and screams about it. He stands up, looks you right in the eye, looks the nation right in the eye, and Chuck Schumer may do his pat on the back routine but he better get his arm fixed because he's not going to do that much longer.

WILLIAMS: Let me make this point about, you know, these representatives. It's about who they're afraid of. And you're exactly right. They're not afraid of their constituents putting them out of office. They're afraid of those donor's checkbooks, or ink pens, rather, drying up and shriveling up, and not being able to run for reelection. And that's the problem. I think the minute that the constituents have the power again, we'll see a different Washington.

TIMPF: Yeah. And I also think that it needs to be said because no one says it. I am concerned about the national debt. And I don't think that congressional GOP really is. I don't think they care. I think that -- I don't even really know what Republican is anymore. It's not seeming to be a very fiscally conservative type thing if this is just no big deal. At some point.

TARLOV: Certainly not small government.

TIMPF: Certainly not small government. At some point, we'll need to balance the budget.

(CROSSTALK) WEBB: Jessica, you're simplifying it. It's nice to do as a Democrat. But when you look at some of the structural things that are being done in D.C., reducing the size of the EPA. The 500 people sanctioned or fired at the V.A. The fact that the 700 people in the Pentagon that were transition from under Obama from political appointments to jobs positions that are now being considered how to get rid of them. Trump is also innovating. He's looking for ways to bring government into more efficiency. You fix the tax code. You simplify the tax code.

(CROSSTALK)

WEBB: No, Jessica, it's not that simple. Look, it's easy talking point, but unfortunately.

TARLOV: I'm not using a talking point, David.

WEBB: I've spend a lot of time every week, actually, looking into policy, not looking into the quick points. And the fact is that, you've got to take time to do this. And over time, I think you will really see a reduction in the government size and its scope, and you will see more efficiency based on what's being done by the different bureaus and departments.

TIMPF: Right now, we're still spending too much, more and more on wars and all the stuff that we shouldn't be getting involved in. All right, up next, congressional leaders delivering some big talk over DACA today. But will they act? Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: The political storm around DACA escalating today with 15 states and Washington, D.C., announcing a lawsuit against the Trump administration and its plan to end the program. During a meeting with congressional leadership this morning, President Trump was pressed about his decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No second thoughts.

(INAUDIBLE) TRUMP: I hope they do. I certainly hope they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: And now with the ball in congress' court, top lawmakers are speaking out about DACA's potential fate in the house and in the senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN, R-WIS., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: So President Trump was right in his decision. He made the right call. I'm also encouraged by the fact that he gave us time to work out a consensus. We will not be advancing legislation that does not have the support of President Trump.

SCHUMER: But let us say this, and I think I speak for the leader as well, if a clean dream act does not come to the floor in September, we're prepared to attach it to other items this fall until it passes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Governor, OK, we see Paul Ryan applauding the president's decision and his timeline, that he gave us time. I don't know. Six months doesn't seem like an awful lot of time for this congress to get anything done. What is your prediction around their ability to do it?

HUCKABEE: Well, it's just six year. This is a congress that hasn't done a thing in eight months. Look, I think six months is incredibly generous. I found it interesting that the states are going to sue Donald Trump because he's done this about DACA. What are they going to sue him for? Actually, respecting the constitutional separation of powers? My Lord, this is a man who actually decided to live by the law, rather than by his emotions. I'm so tired of people in all three branches of government who apparently failed ninth-grade civics. I applaud the president for having having at least exhibited some respect that the executive branch cannot just act unilaterally. Thank God for that.

What happened to the other two branches? And again, I'm just baffled what the lawsuit would look like.

WILLIAMS: Yes, well, it probably wouldn't have very good legal legs. And also, I'm a big fan of three government branches. But Governor, what is your take on executive orders in general?

HUCKABEE: Well, I think if they do something that orders within the executive branch, that's what an executive order rightfully does. I did dozens of them, hundreds of them as a governor, but I never legislated with them. Lord, I took an oath, and I said that I would uphold the Constitution both of the U.S. and the state of Arkansas.

I would love to have done some things without a 90 percent Democrat legislature I had to work with. It would've been wonderful if I could've just said, "Guys, go home. I'm going to do it with a phone and a pen."

WILLIAMS: That's not how we do things.

HUCKABEE: That's not how it works. Is it hard to get things done? Yes. But you know what? Instead of being on vacation, these guys should have had their butts back in D.C., working through the night...

WILLIAMS: Yes.

HUCKABEE: ... rather than going out and pretending that they're just overwhelmed with the hard work.

WILLIAMS: It's so hard being an elected official, Jessica Tarlov. Certainly, we've seen that and heard that.

Let me ask you this. A lot of people giving President Obama heat for the way that he went about trying to protect the DREAMers, this executive order. We all know it was a bit flaky, because we know DAPA did not survive judicial scrutiny, and certainly, if DACA had been subjected to that same scrutiny, it likely would have failed, as well.

TARLOV: Absolutely. I've heard that argument, certainly, since I think it's 12 lawsuits now are coming, and they gave President Trump a September 5 deadline...

WILLIAMS: Right.

TARLOV: ... to do this.

Where I think the issue is, is the argument that Donald Trump then took this up, because he wanted to make sure that the DREAMers got protected. I mean, that's not it. Immigration, hardline immigration is his bread and butter with his base. And he's up against not having health care, no tax reform bill yet. He's facing two hurricanes, making sure that people are taken care of in this country. And he's going back to rally his base.

Jeff Sessions was also handpicked for this reason. This is his bread-and- butter topic. He's been talking about it his entire career. Kat and I before the show were talking about that new audio that came out of his interview two years ago, radio with Breitbart, where he was praising the 1924 immigration law, which was written by a eugenicist.

So I think that when you say -- and I understand I've got to hand it to President Trump and I know that we're politically not aligned there. I'm glad to have these six months, and I do hope that we get a clean DREAM Act. I don't think that we will. The Democrats will then attach it to everything that they can.

But the real conversation should be where is the comprehensive immigration bill that includes refuge for these 800,000 DREAMers and looks at a plan forward for dealing with these 11 million and whoever is coming in now.

WILLIAMS: Way to exercise restraint, David Webb. I saw you. You were over there doing some gymnastics. Go for it.

WEBB: First of all, for all these people suing President Trump, why don't they sue the United States Constitution, because it's Congress that makes the laws. Back to the civics lesson that's needed.

Look, President Trump did exactly what's right. Obama said it himself. He repeated it from all the way from 2009 through 2011 about the fact that he could not do this, and then he did it. He gave no protection to the DREAMers.

The Democrats, with all due respect, Jessica, have used illegal aliens or any form attachment to that as political ponds and, basically, they use them as political prostitutes when it comes to what they do with issues...

WILLIAMS: All right.

WEBB: They don't pass laws.

WILLIAMS: David.

WEBB: They do. They don't pass laws. They bring them...

WILLIAMS: David, political prostitutes?

TIMPF: I think it's fine to have the argument that this obviously should've been done by Congress, not an executive order.

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes.

TIMPF: And it's -- I'm fine to have the argument. I completely agree that this would have been struck down by the Supreme Court anyway. But Congress needs to do something. Congress...

WEBB: And now it's been given to them.

TIMPF: Well, they're still talking about it. Just do it. This isn't even hard. These people didn't do anything wrong, A. And, B, they're beneficial to the economy. Why can't we all agree? If you want to talk about political capital, get it done. Why not do that?

WILLIAMS: I think I have an idea as to why. I think because when Jessica talks about President Trump's base and the hardline immigration stance that's appealing to them, that seems a bit different than some of the traditional -- and I want you to address (ph) this, right, because to me it looks very different than the establishment Republicans that do seem to be in favor of some type of DACA protection. Am I right or wrong on it?

WEBB: You're wrong on some of this. First of all, hardline. Let me tell you something: we enforce our laws the same way, say, Mexico enforces their laws on immigration. It's not hardline. It's border security.

WILLIAMS: Nobody is demonizing hardline.

TARLOV: No, no, no. I am, actually.

WEBB: DACA as part of our national security and our domestic security. We've got to cut this off, and that's...

TIMPF: I don't think they are security risk. People who came here as children? They're not a security risk.

WEBB: If their parents don't get through a porous southern border, we don't have the DACA issue.

WILLIAMS: We're not going to figure it out in this moment. But when we get back, shameless fear tactics from the left over the DACA decision. My goodness. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TIMPF: President Trump's move to end DACA is sparking uproar from the left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW, JOURNALIST: But for a long, long time the Republican Party has been declaring war on Hispanics in this country.

It's hard for me to see the big picture from a Republican point of view, Joe, going forward. And just giving the back of your hand to people who have Hispanic surnames.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He might -- he might do away with DACA, which is another moral line that he would be crossing, which is something that would be enforcing, advancing a white supremacy agenda and also against what the majority of Americans want.

CARLOS GUTIERREZ, FORMER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: There are people who feel threatened by immigrants, and they're using this concept of unconstitutional as a key (ph) word.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIMPF: Jessica, I want to go to you first on this. What did you -- what did you -- what did you think about that? Because I think it's normal to freak out about something like this if you are one of these people whose whole lives might change, or this or that. But this is something that the basis, constitutional basis, and the statement that it would've been stricken down anyway, those are just true things.

TARLOV: Oh, they're absolutely true things. And that the average age of someone who is on this program, they're in their mid-20s. I think it's 24 years old is the average age. They are not 3-year-olds who are going to be chucked back somewhere.

WILLIAMS: Right.

TARLOV: These are young adults. They're young adults who are contributing $460 billion to our economy, paying 24 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes. Donald Trump loves money. He said he's going to get us great deals. I mean, what's he going to do with that revenue that will be gone if you kick these people out of the country?

I think the hysteria is -- it's hysterical, obviously. I think that that's a mistake. I think it's a good sound bite.

But I did see a number of articles talking about the number of people who would be affected by this. By -- you know someone who is related to someone who's hurt (ph) on this, on this program. The parents, the family members going to school. These are kids who only know America. And I think that's what they were trying to get at.

TIMPF: Absolutely. What's your take? You're shaking your head a lot.

WEBB: Well, I'm just wondering how many of the Hispanics in America have Stockholm Syndrome. After all, there are many Hispanic Republicans. According to what we just showed of that file tape, it's ridiculous. The hyperbole needs to go away. We have a real issue to deal with here. And we have the demonization of an entire group of Americans as white supremacists. Do I qualify? I'm not quite sure. I didn't bring my white hood today. But this is ridiculous.

And sometimes I mock the left and the idiocy that goes on out there, when I agree. I think we can all agree there is a serious issue about how we fix this thing in a pragmatic way. Fix the other legs of the immigration issue to actually begin some -- by the way, I take issue with the idea that if we take them out of the economy, when you have so many millions of Americans out of the workforce, or Henry Cuellar's district in Texas, which has 26,000 people out of work. There are people there that need jobs, and they will fill these jobs.

TIMPF: Eboni, I'm OK with mocking anybody who will not cover this issue honestly and not mention the things that we discuss on this show all the time.

However, I'm not going to say that -- judge anybody who will be affected by this for being upset about it.

WILLIAMS: Of course. I mean, I want everybody to just take a deep breath, like across the entire country around it, frankly. And let's put a lens on that lets us look at it in a way that's going to be solutions oriented. Look at who's affected economically. Look at who's affected from a personal level. Look at what makes sense for the well-being of America. First of all, define what that really looks like from an economic and otherwise standpoint.

And then talk about solutions that are both constitutional, make economic sense, and get us closer to something that feels like a respect of our laws but also, again, providing for the long-term best interests of these -- This is a bad situation. OK? A lot of things have happened to get us here. So now how do we get out of it? That's what we should be focusing on.

TIMPF: Right. Exactly. I agree. Governor Huckabee, why doesn't Congress just do something? And why isn't the commentary, "Hey, Congress, do something"? Because that's the actually helping part.

HUCKABEE: One of the things that does not contribute to a solution is when you hear people like Tom Brokaw, who make a blanket accusation impugning the motives of every Republican. This is counterproductive. It's one of the reasons that things are so polarized. They're not getting solved. It's because people are assuming that, if you're a Democrat, you are a demon. Or if you're a Republican, you're a demon. You cannot resolve a problem if you don't think the other person is a decent human being and honorable enough to deal with.

WEBB: Real quick point on this, by the way, on the economic impact. States like New York gave benefits, taxpayer benefits, taxpayer-funded benefits to DACA participants. So there is an economic impact on the other side of this. Also in DACA, in 37...

TIMPF: There's also the economic impact of deporting them, which would be $60 billion.

WEBB: I'm going to urge -- all right, but I'm going to urge everyone to look at, for another lie (ph) in of the regulations, 3701, which allows the secretary discretion to give gang members in DACA a chance to stay here...

TIMPF: All right. Well, I am anti-gang members, everyone. I don't think that's fair.

WEBB: ... if you're a gang member. No, but let me finish. This regulation is written in there, in 3701, that the secretary can have discretion to give you a chance to stay here if you're a gang member and you're convicted. That's wrong.

TIMPF: I'm against gang members.

WILLIAMS: We can all agree.

(CROSSTALK)

TIMPF: Coming up, Mike Huckabee entered hostile territory today with a contentious appearance on "The View" along with his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. He'll debrief us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Our Specialist today, Governor Mike Huckabee, entered the lion's den this morning, appearing on ABC's "The View," alongside his daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. As you might imagine, the reception, well, not particularly friendly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, ABC'S "THE VIEW": The things that he says about women are just horrendous. And we all know that, so let's not pretend that he hasn't said some horrifying things about women. OK, we know that. Just nod. I'm just saying, just nod, because you know it's true.

Having said that, how can you let your daughter defend him?

HUCKABEE: Well, he's also empowered a lot of women. I mean, he's given my daughter an incredible opportunity.

BEHAR: Anecdotal.

HUCKABEE: No. Look at the women he has hired, not only in the White House but also the women that he's hired in the private sector.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Well, jeez, Governor, I hope you at least got a nice SWAG bag.

HUCKABEE: I did not give a gift bag out of the whole thing.

WILLIAMS: No, nothing?

HUCKABEE: No, that's OK. Look, this is going to surprise you. I actually like the women of "The View." I've been on that show many times. Whoopi Goldberg, I think, is lovely. She's an amazing actor. I get along with Joy, who calls me her favorite Republican.

Do I think they're left-wing and sometimes utterly irrational in their hatred toward Donald Trump? Yes, but most of the people on the left are irrational in their disdain of Donald Trump. It's irrational. There's no logic to it; there's no thought.

But here's the thing I think they're forgetting. When they make the kind of comments that they made today, it's not an insult to me. It doesn't bother me, and it doesn't bother my daughter. I'll tell you who it bothers. It bothers 53 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump, and these are people who, in their bubble world of New York, Washington or Hollywood, are making it sound as if people who voted for Donald Trump are a bunch of stupid, uneducated hicks who have been taken for granted. And I'm going to tell you, they're only elevating the...

TIMPF: You know what's ironic, though, is when they said, "How do you let your daughter defend this guy?" Like -- like, she's an adult, actually.

HUCKABEE: She's 35 years old. I think she can kind of make her own career decisions.

WILLIAMS: And I would tell you, it also offends those that not only voted for President Trump, Governor, but I think as women in general who have done everything we can to educate ourselves and put ourselves in a position to choose, to elect to work in whatever capacity that's legally available to us. This is what your daughter has chosen to do. There've been, I think, a handful of women to be elevated to the national press secretary.

HUCKABEE: Three.

WILLIAMS: Three, exactly. Count them on one hand.

HUCKABEE: And she's the first working mom to ever do this ever.

WILLIAMS: Yes. That is remarkable. And whether you like President -- same thing about Kellyanne Conway. Whether you like Kellyanne, you don't like her, Trump, whatever, that is phenomenal that she has made history as the first woman to successfully put someone into the Oval Office.

HUCKABEE: Why don't the feminists defend her? Why don't the feminists come around and say, "We admire the fact that she, as a woman, is in a place of power and position"?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Rather than to say, "How dare you work for this man"? I just find that amazing.

WILLIAMS: Well, that's ridiculous. I call myself a feminist, probably, and I compliment your daughter every time I can on WABC, as well as Fox News, because it's not that I agree with everything she says, but she's doing a damn good job.

HUCKABEE: Thanks.

WEBB: The idea -- the idea here is that she didn't do it, and you had to give her permission.

TIMPF: Yes, exactly. How feminist. How'd you let her do that?

WEBB: It is just -- first of all, that's -- I'll tell you why that's offensive to me as a Republican, especially. Because the suffragette movement, women's voting rights, the advancement of women in this country, the advancement of blacks, the first blacks in Congress since Reconstruction, who were they? They were Republicans. Republicans have fought and won these battles.

WILLIAMS: Before -- before Reconstruction. The blacks in Congress before...

WEBB: The blacks in Congress, I'm sorry.

So but look at women's rights. Look at Calvin Coolidge. Look at Grace Coolidge. Look at who fought for this. Look at the Henrietta Wells Livermore. Look at Susan B. Anthony. Look at all these women and look at their affiliations. Because the Republican Party is a party that believes in the rights of the individual and the Constitution; has stood up for people's rights all along. And to be demonized that way is insulting, period, to those millions of Americans around the country.

TARLOV: OK, there's a lot here. And as the only lunatic liberal on the panel, I will start with the fact that I completely agree that phrasing the question that way, "Why would you let your daughter that," it undercuts your own point.

I would also say that I'm not sure how many Trump voters are necessarily watching "The View," which is for a particular audience. It's for a coastal audience, a liberal audience, more often than not. Though Jedediah Bila is there. I know she's Libertarian and a "never Trumper," but she is there.

What I would say, and I think the most important argument that the hosts of "The View" could have made is that working for Donald Trump and working for an administration that doesn't advocate for policies that help women, like raising the minimum wage, like protecting our right to choose in our health care options, that's where I see the real issue.

Going -- he obviously has said incredibly disparaging...

WEBB: Tax reform helps women.

TARLOV: David...

WEBB: Fixing the economy helps women.

TARLOV: That helps everyone. I'm talking about women.

WEBB: Because women's issue are not women's issues; they're American issues.

TARLOV: There are a lot of women, millions of them, in fact, who disagree with you. They say, yes, of course, women's issues are human issues. Everyone's. But there are specific issues only to women. I don't see a lot of men walking around...

WEBB: What has he done that's actually against women? Tell me what he's actually done, in office, legislatively, against women.

TARLOV: Well, he put someone on the Supreme Court who -- I don't think Roe v. Wade is getting back there -- but would definitely go to overturn that.

He doesn't want to raise the minimum wage, as I mentioned, which is a huge...

WEBB: Ask Seattle how raising the minimum wage worked out.

(CROSSTALK)

TARLOV: ... everyone. Not protecting Obamacare is something that will hurt women.

WEBB: How?

TARLOV: Closing Planned Parenthoods down will hurt women. Lower-income, minority women.

WEBB: No, what we don't want to do -- first of all, factually correct. What we want to do is use taxpayer...

TARLOV: David, I use facts.

WEBB: ... taxpayer...

TARLOV: You say I don't and I do. We don't fund...

WEBB: No. We don't want taxpayer funding going to Planned Parenthood.

TARLOV: We don't? There is a wall.

WEBB: That is the argument, not closing them down.

TARLOV: OK.

WILLIAMS: Well, not much to discuss here today at "The Specialists." We've got to say goodbye to our specialists, Governor Mike Huckabee and Jessica Tarlov. Thank you both so much for joining us.

Stay with us, because up next it's "Wait, What?"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WEBB: For our last segment today, it's time for...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Wait, What?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEBB: And I'll kick things off. And let me tell you, first of all, it's great to be here. So there's no "Wait, What?" when it comes to you two.

WILLIAMS: That's sweet.

WEBB: But -- but how about the left going absolutely nuts with horror movies and tying a horror movie to Donald Trump? I've got to tell you, this is where we go back to the earlier segment of the hyperbole. We can get it on the news. We can get it in media. I say that without Donald Trump, a lot of them wouldn't have careers, Kat.

TIMPF: Yes, probably. Absolutely. And it really kind of takes away the legitimacy of some of their arguments when you see them go that crazy.

WILLIAMS: So crazy.

WEBB: And by the way, he loves it. He loves a good joke.

WILLIAMS: Pop culture.

WEBB: He knows how to take a good joke. Pop culture.

TIMPF: I'd love to be the subject of a horror movie. Give me -- give me a couple years.

So I wanted to talk about Dennis Rodman's comments today about Kim Jong-un. He came out and said, "I basically hang out with him all the time. We laugh. We sing karaoke. We do a lot of cool things together. We ride horses. We hang out. We go skiing."

And he's a friend of yours, which is why I want to bring it up. Did you talk to them about this at all?

WEBB: Yes, I actually talked to Dennis a couple of hours ago...

TIMPF: OK, perfect.

WEBB: ... before I came on set, and I actually wrote down notes. I wanted to make sure I got it right.

You know, Dennis says he's open -- he's trying to open things for sports. That Piers Morgans took -- Piers Morgan took it way out of context. The people in North Korea don't hate Americans. I think we actually see that a lot, where the government is the problem.

WILLIAMS: That's great.

So I -- my "Wait, What?" is I'm really excited. I have a live signing at my apartment this evening. You can go to PrettyPowerfulBook.com and literally talk to me. You can ask me to call you. It's an online live signing, and I'm really excited about it. Taking your questions. We'll talk "Pretty Powerful," talk about press secretaries, including Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It's going to be great.

WEBB: All right, thanks. That's all the time we have today. We thank you all for watching. Make sure you follow us on social media, @SpecialistsFNC on Twitter and Facebook. Remember, 5 p.m. will never be the same. "Special Report" next.

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