Inside look at one of Washington's most prestigious and most private homes

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Inside look at one of Washington's most prestigious and most private homes

Power Player of the Week: Matthew Wendel, Blair House general manager.

This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Sunday," July 14, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

CHRIS WALLACE, ANCHOR: I'm Chris Wallace.

The risk of life-threatening floods as Tropical Storm Barry moved inland, and President Trump's immigration raids start in cities across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: It starts on Sunday. And they're going to take people out and they're going to bring them back to their countries.

WALLACE: And the president insists he did not cave on using the census to find out whether people in this country are citizens.

TRUMP: Not only didn't I backed down, I backed up.

WALLACE: We'll discuss all this and more with the White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, who is just back from the southern border. Then --

TRUMP: There's nothing he can say. He's written a report. The report said no collusion and it said effectively no obstruction.

WALLACE: Robert Mueller's testimony on Capitol Hill delayed as Democrats subpoena new witnesses in the Russia investigation. We'll discuss House Democrats showdown with the president with Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan. It's a "Fox News Sunday" exclusive.

Plus, the very public feud between Speaker Pelosi and the left wing of her party. We'll ask our Sunday panel about the Democratic divide.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.

We begin with breaking news. The threat of disastrous flooding crossed to across the gulf closed as now Tropical Storm Barry brings high winds and drenching rain to Mississippi and Louisiana. After briefly becoming a category one hurricane, the first of the season, the system made landfall Saturday about three hours west of New Orleans.

Casey Stegall is there with the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY STEGALL, CORRESPONDENT: Barry continues to weaken as it pushes inland, but officials warn the threat is far from over.

GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS, D-LA: We still have a significant amount of rain coming our way.

STEGALL: While no major injuries or deaths have been reported, a handful of high water rescues were carried out across the region on Saturday.

REAR ADMIRAL PAUL THOMAS, U.S. COAST GUARD: About 20 aircraft and crew. We are standing by to bring more in, particularly as the storm moves north.

STEGALL: Alarm bells sounded when several private levees in Southern Plaquemines Parish and the Lafourche Parish began overtopping. Emergency repairs were quickly made, preventing a breach, according to engineers.

However, the federally maintained levees along the swollen Mississippi River held up just fine. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the federal government spent billions on a new hurricane protection system made up of floodgates, giant pumps, taller levees, and storm surge barriers.

Barry certainly tested and government leaders say it passed. But while the big easy was largely spared, now forecasters say the threat is shifting north to places like Baton Rouge, where American Red Cross volunteers have set up shop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEGALL: And President Trump called the governor of Louisiana last night saying that he once again sends his well-wishes to those impacted and also again pledging the federal government support when it comes to the recovery here -- Chris.

WALLACE: Casey Stegall reporting from New Orleans -- Casey, thanks, and stay safe.

There is other breaking news. ICE is launching rates today in cities across the country, targeting migrant families that have received deportation orders. A nationwide sweep is ramping up criticism from Democrats over President Trump's approach to immigration.

In a moment, we'll speak with Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president. But, first, Kevin Corke is live at the White House with the latest -- Kevin.

KEVIN CORKE, CORRESPONDENT: These individuals have been ordered by a court to leave this country but they have simply refused to do so. And so, now, federal law enforcement officials confirmed to Fox News they have begun the removal process beginning with raids in New York and elsewhere.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CORKE: From coast-to-coast, protests across America greeted the Trump administration's decision to conduct raids to remove thousands from the country, protests that included the raising of a Mexican flag over an ICE facility in Colorado.

At the southern border, Vice President Mike Pence insisted that despite some widely broadcast and unsettling pictures of detention facility conditions, most were well-managed despite overcrowding.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT: Every family that I spoke to told me that they were being well cared for, different than some of the harsh rhetoric that we are from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

CORKE: This as President Trump retreated from an effort to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census, announcing in the Rose Garden a new strategy to find out who's in this country by using a broad spectrum of federal agency records.

TRUMP: We will utilize these vast federal databases to gain a full, complete and accurate count of the noncitizen population.

CORKE: This in a week that's all the president lose yet another cabinet member as Labor Secretary Alex Acosta stepped down over his past involvement in a highly controversial plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein, who is now facing sex trafficking charges.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CORKE: More ICE protests are expected today around the country, Chris, as raids get underway and about a dozen American cities -- Chris.

WALLACE: Kevin Corke reporting from the White House -- Kevin, thank you.

Joining us now for an exclusive interview, White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway.

Kellyanne, welcome back to "Fox News Sunday".

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Thank you, Chris.

WALLACE: Well, you just heard the official news. I'm sure you already know it, coming out of the White House that the raids have begun.

What can you tell us? Where are the raids taking place? There was a potential population of a million people who are in the country illegally who have received orders to leave. How many is ICE going after?

CONWAY: I won't discuss operational details and I would push back on even your terminology of raids. ICE does this every single day, it's called enforcement actions.

Law enforcement in this country enforces the law. It's the tautological definition of their duties.

And this, of course, happened under President Obama. He was referred to as deporter in chief very harshly in 2012 and he pushed back on actually Telemundo, a Spanish language station when they criticized him, and he said -- they said you're deporting 184,000, quote, noncriminal, and he said, I'm not a king, I have to enforce the law.

Just this week, you saw massive protests at Joe Biden's Philadelphia headquarters. His campaign headquarters, and those people are angry that he was complicit in the Obama-Biden deportation. So, this is a regular enforcement action.

Let me make clear, I agree with DHS secretary under President Obama, Jeh Johnson. He says these are not extraordinary exercises when in fact, as is the case here, Chris, your appeals have been exhausted. Your rights have been adjudicated. These are final removal orders for people who are here illegally, and ICE is going to do what they do every day, which is go ahead and enforce the law.

I also have to say, since ICE is in the news in a different way right across there in the Capital, you have these radical Democrats now calling for the elimination of ICE. They are ridiculing them, mocking them, doxxing them, publishing, asking people on Twitter and elsewhere to publish their home addresses, their contact information. This is a disgrace.

You have some of the loudest mouths over there, denying $4.6 billion in humanitarian aid, all but four Democrats voted for a form of that package, all but 95 Democrats voted for the actual $4.6 billion in aid. They have no moral authority to then say let's eliminate all of DHS, we'd eliminate FEMA, the people helping out, the Secret Service, ICE, Customs and Border Protection. I was at the border two days ago with the vice president and senators.

WALLACE: I'm going to get --

CONWAY: And those are brave men and women trying to do their job. They're tired of being discriminated against by people in their perches here in Washington.

WALLACE: I'm going to get to the visit to the border in a moment.

I want to ask you one more question about the ICE actions. I think the president may have called them raids. I'll have to check on that. He certainly made a big deal about it.

What provisions are being made specifically about separating families, especially the possibility of separating parents in this country illegally from children who may have been born in this country and therefore would be U.S. citizens, and what is your pushback to local Democratic officials who are openly advising people in this country illegally how to avoid getting rounded up by ICE?

CONWAY: Sure, but actually, that includes Speaker Pelosi, who is telling people how to avoid ICE enforcing the law in some places. She should go spend a little bit more time in her hometown of San Francisco where you now have more people are addicted to drugs than you have enrolled in the public schools, I read in one report this morning.

So, it's really outrageous for people who take the oath of office and are elected to uphold the law, to then tell people how to flout and abuse and in fact evade the law. That is not their job and that -- I mean, look at what -- the upshot of that, Chris, is you have people in rural Colorado tearing down Old Glory, tearing down the American flag and putting a Mexican flag in its place, these protesters at the ICE facility. They don't deserve that.

And the people on Capitol Hill who won't do their jobs, I put it -- it made it so easy, I've been talking about a for a long time, but it made it easy for them, fix Flores, fix asylum laws, fix TVPRA. It's on an index card. I actually put it on a Post-It for them to say it.

WALLACE: OK, let me ask about -- what about the family separation --

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: They won't act. All they do is scream and scream.

So I'm against separating families, let me make that clear. I think I was the first person in need administration to go on the show on Sunday and say that. I think you can enforce the law without separating families.

And I know firsthand had my boss and our president been told ahead of last year's zero-tolerance policy by people who are no longer in the administration that the net effect of that would have separating children from their parents, while the parents' claims are being adjudicated, the idea was to protect the child so the child is not --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: I'm not talk about that.

CONWAY: No, I'm talking about all of it.

WALLACE: I'm talking but today, the possibility of parents who are in the country illegally being separated from the children. What are going to do about that?

CONWAY: So, I was briefed yesterday on this by the officials in ICE, and I will tell you that -- and DHS, I will tell you that there's every measure taken to try to not separate families as the law allows, and that's important. If I were put in jail today, my four children would not come with me, nor would I want them to.

So, we are often protecting the child as well from not being detained, not being put in these circumstances.

Let me make very clear, I think there are ways to enforce the law without separating children, young children, from their parents. I'm against separating children from their mothers in the womb and I'm against I'm against separating children from their mothers outside of the womb.

WALLACE: OK. I want to get back to what you raised, which is the trip to the border with Vice President Pence on Friday. Eleven days ago, President Trump seemed to play down the problems that these detention centers. I want to put up his tweets.

Many of these illegals are living far better now than where they came from. No matter how good things actually look, even if perfect, Democrats will act shocked and aghast at how terrible things are. How would you describe the conditions you saw on Friday at the detention centers?

CONWAY: Well, two things, and I was glad to make that trip because you can't get the same vantage point and vista unless you're there. First, we went to the Donna processing facility. That is where -- this is all in Texas, Chris. That is where families are being held and they won't be held for long. You know, under Flores, they won't be held for long.

I witnessed no overcrowding. The -- we had two senators there. I was there with seven Republican senators. Lindsey Graham, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, organized the CODEL. I was part of that. He invited all of the --

WALLACE: I'm to try to move you along.

CONWAY: No, no, he invited everybody, but no Democrat came which I think is a shame because all they have to do are the same things --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: OK. What's your view of McAllen?

CONWAY: Here's my view --

WALLACE: McAllen.

CONWAY: Here's my view of what I saw. I saw a lot of supplies, I saw diapers, I saw food, I saw endless supplies of water. Two of those senators speak Spanish fluently and were speaking with the migrants. They won't be there for long, because under our law we can't hold them.

And I think nobody really understands the tens of thousands of UACs, unaccompanied children and family units that have been released into interior of the United States just this year. But also, what I saw is what happens when Congress gets its act together, passes humanitarian aid, so now we have more money for consumables, for transportation, for processing and for housing --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: The reason I want to ask --

CONWAY: And then I went over to these facilities with the men.

WALLACE: I want to ask about that, because this is what came out of the Inspector General for the Department of Human Services -- of Homeland Security, they issued a report on July 2nd with this warning, and I want to put it on the screen. This is DHS Inspector General.

Management alert -- DHS needs to address dangerous overcrowding and prolong detention of children and adults in the Rio Grande Valley.

I want to show -- because the reporters were able to take pictures of the McAllen, Texas center that you visited with the vice president. They're up on the screen. This was the full report.

Almost 400 men were in caged fences with no cops. The stench was horrendous. Some of the men were sleeping on concrete. They began shouting and wanted to tell us they had been there 40 days or longer.

I understand --

CONWAY: I was right there.

WALLACE: I understand that President Trump is trying to stop the flood of people across the border, which contributes --

CONWAY: Also trying to accommodate those who are here.

WALLACE: Which contributes to the overcrowding.

But how does it help for the president, to minimize the situation and say it's much beer than what they had, or for Vice President Pence and Kevin Corke's piece to say they are all being well-treated when your own -- I mean, you can look at the conditions there, it's a disaster.

CONWAY: Well, let me just say a couple things that are facts. First of all, not every facility is the same. And so --

WALLACE: But I'm talking about that one.

CONWAY: OK. Well, I'm talking about the one of the media who were on the same trip is asked completely ignored in all of their coverage. They're also completely ignoring the briefings they received from the brave Customs and Border Protection folks.

WALLACE: What to say about McAllen, Texas, Kellyanne?

CONWAY: What I would say is this, that that facility was meant to be -- this is what I was briefed on. That facility was meant to be a 72-hour holding facility. It's not equipped to keep single males who have broken the law by coming here and were apprehended. If you just want to let them go, and then say that we're just for open borders.

Let's all be honest at some of those Democrats raising her hands --

WALLACE: But does it help for the president to say the conditions are pretty good and for Mike Pence to say they are pretty good?

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: In plenty of facilities, they are -- they have improved, including the one that we saw with the families. I saw the House Oversight Committee tweeted out a picture --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: -- the mistreatment of these people?

CONWAY: -- under Obama, Biden and Jeh Johnson.

WALLACE: Shouldn't we be judged on that?

CONWAY: Oh, yes, and let me explain to you -- I want people treated humanely. That's why when I received a briefing with the senators and the vice president with the media in the room, but they didn't publish any of this, as far as I can see, those men get three hot meals from local restaurants. They now have access to showers. There were no shower facilities there to accommodate that many people in the past, but there are now. There's a bank of showers in the back.

They have access to deodorant, they have to access to hygienic products, they have access to toothbrushes. And so, we don't want that, but that's why we also don't want people to come here illegally, and I would again quote the words of President Obama. He thinks that having the ICE enforcement action was, quote, a deterrent from other people coming here.

WALLACE: OK.

CONWAY: You know, listen, we are a nation of laws and we are a nation of immigrants.

Come here legally.

WALLACE: I've got one last question for you. Excuse me, you know, we got to try to cover the news, and we're going to get way over.

The Congressional Hearings with former special counsel Robert Mueller was supposed to happen this Wednesday. They have been delayed to the following Wednesday, July 24th.

On Friday, President Trump said Democrats are just playing politics. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: How many bites of the apple do you get? We've gone through 500 witnesses, 2,500 subpoenas. I've let them interview my lawyers. I've let them in -- because I had nothing to do with Russia. Now, that's come out. There was no collusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Does the president think that Congress has a legitimate oversight role as part of its constitutional function? And what does he hope -- and I -- you've got less than a minute for this, what does he hope comes out of the Mueller hearings?

CONWAY: I expect that very little will come out because Director Mueller himself said that his report is his testimony and he told the whole country within the last six to eight weeks that he's retiring to private sector. This is over. And he has nothing further to add.

Now, they are subpoenaing him. They'll have him go. Republicans and Democrat were both pleased with the delay, it allows an additional hour for questioning, but that means Republicans will be able to question also, confirming under oath with Director Mueller, did you issue 2,800 subpoenas? More than 500 witnesses? How much did this cost to taxpayers?

The Mueller report was presented before people didn't like what was in it. That it was going to be the definitive, authoritative, final word on this investigation about Russia collusion in a campaign that I ran to successful conclusion.

Nobody's ever apologized us. They should apologize to the taxpayers for wasting money. Sure, oversight -- oversight has a function, but I think Americans are watching the wasted taxpayer dollars --

WALLACE: OK.

CONWAY: -- with a bunch of comb-over is doing a big do-over that we don't need.

WALLACE: Okay. Comb-overs and do-overs.

CONWAY: Sure.

WALLACE: That's pretty good.

CONWAY: Some were.

WALLACE: Just another morning with Kellyanne Conway.

CONWAY: By the way, it's on a Post-It. All Congress has to do, it's a Post-It. You fix Flores, you fix TVPRA, fix our asylum laws and --

WALLACE: Kellyanne, thank you. Thanks for your time.

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: We'll continue this in the post-show show. Always good to talk with you.

CONWAY: Thanks, Chris.

WALLACE: Up next, House Democrats battling with the president and each other. One of their leaders, Assistant Speaker Ben Ray Lujan, joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: House Democrats have made a lot of news this week, hammering the president's immigration policy, delaying the Robert Mueller hearings, and breaking into open warfare inside their own party.

Joining us exclusively here in Washington, Assistant House Speaker Ben Ray Lujan, who is the highest ranking Hispanic in Congress.

And, Congressman, welcome back to "Fox News Sunday."

REP. BEN RAY LUJAN, D-N.M.: Good to be with you again, Chris.

WALLACE: Well, you just heard Kellyanne Conway say that these raids that have now started, the ICE raids, she doesn't like to call them raids, are a normal enforcement effort. They are for people who entered this country illegally and have been ordered by the administrative process to leave the country. They've gotten a deportation order. They've had their day in court.

As she points out, President Obama did it, why can't President Trump?

LUJAN: Well, Chris, just as Congressional Hispanic Caucus and members of the Democratic membership have been saying all along is, we would just want the president to simply use his time to go after criminals and felons, not children and families. And that's the concern that many of us have. Many American-born children are terrified that they may come home from church today or if they go to school tomorrow, that they come home from school and their parents are gone.

WALLACE: In fairness, their parents did come illegally and have gone through a process and they've received a final deportation order.

LUJAN: But again, the president should be using his time to go for the criminals on the felons as opposed to the children and the families, and that's what we're talking about here. I'm terrified as to the fear that the president is instilling in families. The impact that this is going to have on small businesses across America. People whose only decision may have been to come to the country and the way that they did, but are working in restaurants as chefs, they are teaching our kids in schools, they're serving in our military defending the United States of America. I think that the president should concentrate his time on the criminals, not on those families.

WALLACE: I want to switch to a related subject, Democrats celebrated when President Trump decided he was not going to try to push to have a question on the census about whether or not people are citizens. But here's how the president described your party's opposition to that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They probably know the number is far greater, much higher than anyone would have ever believed before. Maybe that's why they fight so hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Question, why is it wrong in a national census, accounting of all the people in the country, to ask, are you a citizen or aren't you?

LUJAN: Chris, I believe that the Founding Fathers envisioned getting an accurate count of everyone that's in America and there should not be questions being put on this information gathering initiative that's going to discourage people from answering their doors to answer that very question. And the concerns that many people have, or most people have, not just Democrats, but Republicans, especially coming off the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that gerrymandering is allowed based on partisanship advantage is President Trump recently even admitted that the reason for him gathering this information was for partisan gerrymandering, but also to cut programs from communities. And so, if our Republican colleagues want to cut access to food programs, school programs, housing programs, they should just put their vote up or down on the House floor and the Senate floor as opposed to trying to hide what they're trying to get done.

WALLACE: Let's talk about the delay in the Robert Mueller hearings as I discussed with Kellyanne Conway, from this Wednesday, July 17th, to the following Wednesday, July 24th. That will only be two days before Congress leaves Washington for six weeks for the August recess. Isn't that going to make it pretty darn hard for Democrats to build on anything that Robert Mueller should say? I mean, one of the points here was to try to build momentum to pursue the president in whatever he did or didn't do, but if you have this big hearing and then you leave two days later for a month and a half, what does that accomplish?

LUJAN: While I support the work of Chairman Nadler and the members of the Judiciary Committee, the Special Counsel and his report are only one part of this. Now, I want to encourage everyone across America to read the report, make sure you get your eyes on those 438 pages, but also to tune in, because the Special Counsel will be answering questions associated with what's in that report. And I want to make sure the American people tune in. But, Chris, make no mistake, there are many other investigations that are being looked into. The importance of understanding the allegations associated with tax evasion, with money laundering as well, the importance of getting financial documents from Deutsche Bank, or even understanding the president's tax returns, even those that have been made available at the local level in New York even.

So, look, there are many areas that have to be looked into. This is one area and two days of important tuning in by the American people into the questioning that will be taking place.

WALLACE: Tensions inside the House Democratic Caucus went very public this week. Speaker Pelosi dismissed these four freshman congresswomen who are the so-called "squad" this way. All these people have their public whatever.

This is Pelosi talking about "the squad": All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world, but they didn't have any following.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded: The persistent singling out -- it got to a point where it was just outright disrespectful -- the explicit singling out of newly elected women of color.

Is Speaker Pelosi losing control of the Democratic Caucus?

LUJAN: Chris, look, I'm always a believer that -- well, the answer to that question is no. Second, I've always been a believer that when you have disagreements with your colleagues, you have a conversation with them. You sit down, you talk. I mean, that's what we should be doing.

WALLACE: But you didn't have that. I mean, you had Nancy Pelosi dissing "the squad". I can't believe, this sounds like high school. Dissing the squad in a Maureen Dowd column in "The New York Times," and then you had AOC firing back in an interview in "The Washington Post." They're not sitting down and talking.

LUJAN: Well, this week, the Speaker was very clear that if numbers' of a difference of opinion or if they had questions of even the speaker, that they should take the time to sit down and talk, and that's been my approach all along. I think it's something that I've learned from predecessors and even my colleagues, and even Speaker Pelosi.

And, look, as a person of color, as the highest ranking Hispanic in the Congress, I can tell you that Nancy Pelosi has lifted up my voice to make sure that I've had opportunities and that my voice has been heard as well, and I continue to look towards her leadership for the good of the country.

WALLACE: You talk about doing this quietly, doing it in private as a family. Friday night, your House Democratic Caucus issued a tweet, a public tweet, couldn't have gone more public, going after AOC's Chief of Staff. I want to put this up.

He had attacked -- the Chief of Staff had attacked a Democratic Congressman for, quote, enabling racism.

Here was a tweet from the official Democratic Caucus: Keep your name out of your mouth. So much for in-house talking.

Are some members -- honestly, are some members of your caucus losing patience with AOC and some of the other freshmen shooting inside the tent?

LUJAN: Well, first, saying those things about Congresswoman Sharice Davids is absolutely wrong. As the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, I got to know Sharice. I actually had a big role to play in that important race where Sharice won and flipped this important district as well.

But again, I'm of the approach that you need to sit down and have a conversation and bring people into that room to do that. I think that this week and into next week, you're going to hear more from our Democratic colleagues about the importance of that.

But again, the tone of what was included in that specific message to Sharice Davids, a Congresswoman from Kansas, was wrong. It's something I did not support.

WALLACE: I finally, I want to talk -- the president, surprise, has been tweeting this morning, and I want to put up a tweet, because he specifically has been calling out progressive Democratic Congresswoman who come originally from countries, his words, whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe.

And he says this: Why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came, then come back and show us how it is done.

Your thoughts about President Trump saying to duly elected members of Congress, go back to your homes?

LUJAN: Chris, that -- that's the first I'm hearing of that. That's a racist tweet. Telling people to go back where they came from? These are American citizens elected by voters in the United States of America to serve in one of the most distinguished bodies in the U.S. House of Representatives. I think that's wrong.

And especially with all that's going on across America, for the president to spend time saying such racist things this morning it sounds like?

WALLACE: Yes.

LUJAN: Look, the horrendous detention facilities that we have across the country, that Vice President Pence brought attention to, that even he said smelled horrendous, that the inspector general has called out, that the commissioner on human rights from the U.N. has said these facilities are in horrendous condition, the price of insulin, which has increased over a thousand percent --

WALLACE: Right.

LUJAN: -- that's what the president should have his attention on, not picking these fights and especially sending out racist tweets.

WALLACE: Congressman Lujan, thank you. Thanks for sharing part of your weekend with us. Please come back, sir.

LUJAN: I look forward to it, sir.

WALLACE: Up next we'll bring in our Sunday group to discuss the ICE raids and the president's change of course in trying to find out if people in this country are U.S. citizens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Coming up, President Trump says he'll find ways other than a census question to count whether people in this country are citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have great knowledge in many of our agencies. We will leave no stone unturned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: We'll ask our Sunday panel about the administration's new strategy, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are really specifically looking for bad players, but we're also looking for people that came into our country, not through a process, they just walked over a line. They have to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: President Trump defending ICE raids that have started today to round up immigrants with orders to leave the country.

And it's time now for our Sunday group. Former Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz, columnist for "The Hill," Juan Williams, director of the Woodrow Wilson Center, former Congresswoman Jane Harman, and Senator Mitch McConnell's former chief of staff, Josh Holmes.

Well, Congressman Chaffetz, let me start with you, any problem with these ICE raids, which as Kellyanne pointed out, these are people who are in the country illegally, who have been through the process and have received a final deportation order?

JASON CHAFFETZ, CONTRIBUTOR: I don't like the advance notice. I want ICE to be able to do this on a regular basis. And I would hope that the locals would actually cooperate because these are people --

WALLACE: But they're not doing that.

CHAFFETZ: They're not. They're not cooperating. They're --

WALLACE: They're -- they're -- they're -- they're actually telling people how to avoid getting rounded up by ICE.

CHAFFETZ: Where are the Democrats on this? How in the world -- when you've gone through the final adjudication and a judge has ordered you to depart the country, how can we not all be united in say, then you have to leave? We're not a nation where you just ignore a judge's order. But that's the position Democrats are taking and it is fundamentally wrong.

WALLACE: Well, we happen to have a Democrat and a former congresswoman here, Jane Harman.

I mean it is a fact, whether it's Nancy Pelosi, whether it's the new Democratic mayor of Chicago, there are a lot of Democratic officials who not only have said these raids are wrong, but have openly advised people who fall into this category how to avoid getting picked up.

JANE HARMAN, DIRECTOR, WILSON CENTER: Well, first let me applaud what Kellyanne Conway said about the use of the term "raid," which is unnecessary, and she also said family separations are bad. So, good for her.

I don't think it's a binary choice between enforcing the border, which I am for -- I'm a Democrat, I'm for it -- and humane conditions, which we don't have. I mean why not plan better for this? Administration is doing quite well --

WALLACE: But I'm asking about these ICE enforcement.

HARMAN: I know, but I'm about to say this, is doing quite well with the floods in Louisiana and -- and Mississippi. Good for them. They can do this. So you're asking me about enforcement actions. I think it's fine to do proper enforcement actions, but have a process that is humane to people. Seeing those men stand up in the smelly quarters that we just saw and that Vice President Pence saw, and said this is rough, this is not acceptable. Congress has provided money. That money should be used before this happens, which is what senior DHS staff recommended.

Also, we should be doing more to shore up the governments of the northern triangle, something Vice President Prince was for a couple years ago so that the push factor is reduced and we should be helping Mexico, not just forcing Mexico, helping Mexico, police at the southern border the flow of immigrants. There are lots of things we could do better, and let's do them and enforce the law and have a secure border.

CHAFFETZ: Deport the people that a judge has ordered to leave the country?

HARMAN: Fine. Do it according to a humane process.

CHAFFETZ: But don't work against -- right, don't work against ICE and make their job and put their lives in danger.

HARMAN: I -- I --

CHAFFETZ: That's what Democrats are doing.

HARMAN: Well, some Democrats are doing it. This Democrat thinks that ICE has a responsibility to carry out the law, but it should be done humanely.

WALLACE: Let's talk about another issue, and that is the census, which got a lot of attention.

The president seemed to flip on the census. He had been pushing very hard to put a question on the census questionnaire, are you or are you not a citizen? He backed off that.

Here was Mr. Trump's defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Not only didn't I back down, I backed up because -- anybody else would have given this up a long time ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Josh, did the president back down? Did he cave, which is what a lot of his conservative supporters that he did?

JOSH HOLMES, FOUNDER, CAVALRY: Well, in terms of what he's trying to accomplish he didn't cave because he's not going through the departments to try to gather this information from a separate process.

WALLACE: Which incidentally was suggested over a year ago and he turned down at that time.

HOLMES: Sure. I -- I think his hands were tied because obviously the conducting of the census itself requires this questionnaire to be out there and to begin almost immediately if you're going to have to get this in place to actually count the citizens. We know that no matter what he would do, if he tried to put a question on that questionnaire, it would have been locked up in court for months. So in order to do the -- the census itself, he had to -- he had to do this.

One thing I think he did succeed on, which I --I -- I find it amazing how every time he does this, he was able to get the entirety of the Democratic Party to somehow take the position that it is irresponsible and inappropriate to count the number of Americans living in this country. I don't know how he does it, but literally almost every time he takes a position, he gets his political opposition to -- to embrace a position that is so far out of the mainstream of the American electorate, it's almost laughable.

WALLACE: Well, let me -- you -- you look troubled about this, Juan. I mean the fact is --

JUAN WILLIAMS, POLITICAL ANALYST: I am -- I am baffled by what Josh just said.

WALLACE: Well, no, no, but -- but I mean I just talked to Congressman Lujan --

WILLIAMS: Yes.

WALLACE: The top Hispanic in the -- the Congress, and he seems to think that there's something wrong with asking a question on the census, are you a citizen or not? I think to most Americans that seems like a pretty reasonable question.

WILLIAMS: Well, first, to Josh's point, I think everybody wants everyone to be counted, that's the point, not to intimidate or scare people who are here undocumented -- on an undocumented status that they're not counted.

What the Constitution, what the founders said was, an enumeration of the population. That's everyone.

But I think what we know is --

WALLACE: But is it -- is it unreasonable to -- as part of that --

WILLIAMS: It's not un --

WALLACE: I mean -- wait, they -- they -- we ask a lot of questions in the census --

WILLIAMS: Sure.

WALLACE: About race --

WILLIAMS: Sure.

WALLACE: About -- about income, about gender. What's wrong with asking citizenship?

WILLIAMS: Nothing. In fact, it's on the long form. What we're talking about is the short --

WALLACE: No it isn't. No it isn't on the long form.

WILLIAMS: Yes, it's on the long form. I think there have been -- historically there has been in the past a question about --

WALLACE: There -- there is one for the -- when it goes up to 3 million people. Right.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. That's what I'm talking about.

WALLACE: Yes. OK.

WILLIAMS: OK. So -- but on the short form, not. And I think this is an effort by this president and his administration, as part of stirring anti- immigrant fervor, to say to the immigrant population, don't participate. If you participate, there's a risk to you, to your family.

Nancy Pelosi said this week, this is an effort to make America white again. I think that's what's going on because we know that Republican operatives wanted to depress this count in order to limit congressional districts that were run by Democrats. And the Supreme Court said the --

WALLACE: Let -- well, let -- let -- let me bring Josh back in.

WILLIAMS: The Commerce Department's rationale of doing this was contrived.

WALLACE: No, they --

HOLMES: It's -- Juan, I think it is beyond irresponsible to suggest the asking of whether or not you are an American citizen is somehow racist and has roots in trying to exclude people of color from this country.

WILLIAMS: Well, you should look at the documentation put out by Republicans that said just that, Josh.

HOLMES: No, it -- look, this is a pretty straightforward issue. And my point was, it is amazing how this president can get folks, Juan, like you, who are eminently reasonable on a whole range of issues, to embrace a -- embrace a discussion that actively says we should not know how many Americans live in this country. That is wild (ph).

WILLIAMS: No, I want everybody -- I want everybody counted. So I want not only Americans -- every -- because what the Constitution and the census is about is how many people live here.

HARMAN: The Supreme Court didn't say never. The Supreme Court said the way this was being handled was contrived.

HOLMES: That's right.

HARMAN: There will be a chance, if the Trump administration wants to handle it responsibly, for them to come back in ten years, oh, my God, not Trump will be president, but for people who want to do this, to come back in ten years and do this responsibly if -- if there's a good goal in mind.

HOLMES: And I -- and I --

HARMAN: No one is saying it is terrible to know who's a citizen. And the president's executive order directing something that was happening -- that's been happening for a year, which is having the departments collect information -- or share information they already have on who the citizens are, is -- is a valid order.

WILLIAMS: That was a face-saving maneuver by a president who folded.

WALLACE: OK. I'm glad we settled that.

All right, panel, we have to take a break here.

When we come back, race, what we're talking about, becomes the new flashpoint as Nancy Pelosi struggles to control her caucus amid a feud with freshman progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE SPEAKER: An offensive tweet that came out of one of the members offenses that references our blue dogs and our new Dems essentially as segregationist.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think she has racial animus? Is she a racist?

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y.: No, no, absolutely not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi trying to move on from a public feud with freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other progressives in her own party.

And we're back now with the panel.

Well, Congresswoman Harman, I think it's fair to say you had your own problems with Nancy Pelosi when you were in Congress.

Has she finally met her match with AOC?

HARMAN: Well, let's separate Pelosi one and Pelosi two. I was in Pelosi one. And, yes, I --

WALLACE: Her first time as speaker.

HARMAN: That's right. And, yes, I think she should have been much more tolerant of people who were blue dogs, that would be me, and people who were staunchly bipartisan, that would also be me. I was disappointed not to become chair of the House Intelligence Committee. No one missed that.

But then, she lost the majority in 2010. And who lost? The people in the center. I -- I won, actually, but a lot of people lost.

In -- in Pelosi the sequel, I think she's much more cognizant of the need to build the broader tent.

I actually think "the squad," whom I don't know, bring a lot of energy and creativity to the caucus. And I think the challenge is not to dismiss them, but to embrace some of their ideas, some from the center, and -- and the blue dogs, and really build not just a bigger tent in terms of people getting along, but in terms of a showcase of ideas. If she can do that, she's keep the majority, which will be a gigantic legacy for the only person, who happens to be a woman, who has been elected to a complete second tour as speaker. And I think she might be able to pull it off.

WALLACE: Josh, things are much more orderly in the Senate than they are in that unruly lower chamber, as it's known, the House.

What do you think's going on with the House Democrats?

HOLMES: Well, I mean, for those of us who have watched Nancy Pelosi's leadership over the last ten years, and -- and -- and really Democratic leadership in general, I think they've been very reckless at accusations of racism for a long time now, so it's really difficult for a lot of us to shed a tear about watching them reap what they sow with AOC and the rest of them in this latest clash.

I will say it -- she is in a more tenuous position than John Boehner ever was. And --

WALLACE: She, Pelosi?

HOLMES: She, Pelosi. And -- and I think --

WALLACE: Why? Be -- I'm a little surprised you say that because the House Freedom Caucus had a lot more members than "the squad" does. I love "the squad." We're going to make -- it's "the squad."

HOLMES: "The squad." It's "the squad" from here on out.

WALLACE: Yes.

HOLMES: The first opportunity that they had in a legislative function to sort of show these rifts is right before the Fourth of July. And I think if you back up and look at the timeline in 2010 for when John Boehner's problems started, these are accelerated. These are much, much quicker, in a much, much more aggressive way and personal way that House Republicans ever were at that stage.

What is equally hard for me to figure out is how she can ever repair it. I mean we're talking about extreme differences that are manifesting themselves on the national stage in extremely personal attacks with two sides of the conference, never the two shall meet. And so the governing at this stage looks to me to be very, very difficult.

WALLACE: All right, I'm going to turn to another subject.

We were gearing up this week for the big hearings with Robert Mueller, this Wednesday, July 17th. All day coverage on Fox. And then they were delayed to July 24th, a week from Wednesday.

Here's one of the House Democratic leaders, David Cicilline, on the Muller hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DAVID CICILLINE, D-R.I.: It's very important that the American people have the opportunity to hear from Robert Mueller, that he have the opportunity to convey to the American people all the evidence he collected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Juan, one, what do you make of the delay? And, two, the same question I asked Congressman Lujan, with the delay, the hearings are now going to be on Wednesday, and two days later Congress leaves for six weeks. Doesn't whatever -- if there are -- is anything that they can build on, doesn't that really end the momentum on that?

WILLIAMS: I don't think it ends the momentum. In fact, I think the entire intent of this, given that Mr. Mueller has made it very clear that he issued his report, he's not going to say much beyond the report, is to give the American people, from the Democrats' perspective, a chance to hear what Mueller has said. And I think a lot of people didn't read the report. And so for them to have televised coverage of Robert Mueller sitting there saying what his findings were, not listening to the attorney general, Bill Barr, spin it, but actually get to the point, and the largest point would be the criminal process is not the place to go after this president, we should go after non-criminal, and that means, guess what, impeachment.

WALLACE: I understand that, but then to have everybody leave town for six weeks --

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think it's going to stop this argument over Russian interference and over the participation of this Trump campaign with that Russian interference and whether or not there was any effort to obstruct the Mueller investigation. I don't think that's going away in six weeks.

WALLACE: Congressman Chaffetz, Mueller has made it very clear he is a reluctant witness, he does not want to do this. He's also made it very clear he is going to stick to what was written by him and his team in the 448 page report.

What are the chances these big hearings turn out to be a dud?

CHAFFETZ: I think highly likely. First of all, I think there's still about a 50/50 shot as to whether or not we actually even have the hearing. I mean you had the attorney general say out loud that he would support Mueller should he decide not to attend.

I think Mueller's concerned about his long-term presence and tenure and he doesn't want to go out having -- you know, ignored a subpoena. But, at the same time, he has nothing new to say other than what Republicans are going to ask him about all the things that Mueller didn't do.

So, Democrats, they can't seem to put this hearing together. It's been a couple of months now since the report initially came out. That should be their first clue that, hey, this thing is not going well. They -- the Democrats just seem to want to have it read aloud because they're frustrated that, oh, my gosh, how come nobody's listening over here? Because there's nothing in there that's going to prosecute anybody in the Trump orbit in any way, shape, or form. That thing is over.

WALLACE: Congresswoman Harman?

HARMAN: You know what is -- it's a teachable moment for everyone, not just Democrats. There will be three hours of Judiciary Committee hearings, two hours of Intelligence Committee hearings, all public. And if the members on both sides ask serious questions, I think we'll all --

CHAFFETZ: Oh, come on. When's the last time Congress asked serious questions?

HARMAN: I -- you know, actually --

CHAFFETZ: They -- that is going to show the bumbling idiots that are on that committee that are going to show that they have nothing else to do except re-read a report they've had for a couple of years -- or for a couple of months.

HARMAN: I -- I -- I -- wrong (ph), there -- there's always hope. There is always hope. I live in hope. And I think Congress could have a really good day on the 24th.

WILLIAMS: I would say this. I just -- I worry that what Mr. Chaffetz just said is absolutely right, that you're going to see now an effort by the White House, the president describing this as Democrats seeing another bite of the apple, to discourage Mueller from ever testifying. And we know that the Justice Department has stopped two of Mueller's top aides from testifying. So I -- and -- and they're going to go after the credibility, oh, why did this investigation start? It was based on phony documents.

HARMAN: Yes.

CHAFFETZ: Your right!

HARMAN: But --

CHAFFETZ: And that is where they're going to go.

WILLIAMS: That's why were --

CHAFFETZ: That's absolutely right. That is what's going to happen!

HARMAN: Let --

HOLMES: I think we can all agree, it's a wonderful opportunity to Congress --

HARMAN: Yes.

HOLMES: For Congress to humiliate itself once again.

HARMAN: Oh.

WILLIAMS: Oh.

HARMAN: You're all pessimists.

WALLACE: Well, and the other thing, which I have to say I find discouraging, is in fact that instead of giving all of their time to the chairman or one member or to a staff member and let him, for an hour and a half talk, they're going to each get there five minutes, and that means no consistent questions.

Thank you, panel. That's my comment. See you next Sunday.

Up next, our "Power Player of the Week," an inside look at one of Washington's most prestigious and most private homes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: There are some landmarks in Washington people rarely get to go inside. And last fall we got to wondering about one famous building here that's off limits to all but a few.

Here's our "Power Player of the Week."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW WENDEL, GENERAL MANAGER, BLAIR HOUSE: We recently had Korea visit.

WALLACE (voice over): Matthew Wendel is talking about heads of state visiting Blair House, the presidential guest mansion across from the White House. The general manager gave us a rare look behind-the-scenes there.

WALLACE (on camera): Mr. Wendel.

WENDEL: Hello. Welcome to Blair House. Come on in, Chris.

WALLACE (voice over): Over more than seven decades, Blair House has been Washington headquarters for visitors like Winston Churchill and Queen Elizabeth, Nikita Khrushchev and Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Emmanuel Macron.

WENDEL: Total rooms is about 119. The square footage is close to 70,000 square feet. And full-time staff of 15.

WALLACE (on camera): In effect, it's a hotel.

WENDEL: We consider it a quasi-hotel-home-bed and breakfast.

WALLACE: It's a heck of a bed and breakfast.

WALLACE (voice over): France's Preston Blair, a member of Andrew Jackson's kitchen cabinet, bought the house in 1836 for $6,500. But that's just the start of its place in history.

WENDEL: Chris, this is the Lincoln Room. It's called that because when Lincoln was president, he often came over here to get advice from the Blairs.

WALLACE: Blair House took on a new role in 1942 during World War II when Churchill used a stay at the White House.

WENDEL: He would be up late at night having a drink or two, waking up the president, and Mrs. Roosevelt just was -- had had enough.

WALLACE (on camera): So they bought Blair House?

WENDEL: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So now the Truman's arrive at their new home, ready to set up housekeeping. In Washington, the presidential address is the Blair House.

WALLACE (voice over): Starting in 1948, Harry Truman lived here four years while the White House was under renovation.

WENDEL: This is what's called the Lee Dining Room. Back in Truman's days, he used this table and these chairs as his cabinet room. It was also where we made the decision to join the Korean War.

WALLACE: But in 1950, two Puerto Rican nationalist tried to shoot their way into Blair House and kill the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Truman continues to take his daily walks. Two quick shooting White House guards were wounded in the fury of gunfire that marked the phonetic assault.

WALLACE: In 1977, Jimmy Carter gave Blair House a new role. Every president-elect since has spent the night before his inauguration in what's called the Principal Suite with two separate bedrooms. But the main role of Blair House is what it's been for 76 years, to extend the nation's hospitality to presidential guests, no matter how short the notice.

WENDEL: The house is always ready no matter what. If one showed up this morning, or tomorrow, we're always ready for a visitor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: In December, President Trump walked across the street from the White House to meet with former President George W. Bush at Blair House. The former first family stayed there before George H.W. Bush's state funeral here in Washington.

And that's it for today. Have a great week and we'll see you next “Fox News Sunday.”

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