This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," January 22, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY., SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The opportunity to end all this is staring us right in the face. That's why we'll vote on this legislation on the Senate floor this week.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The president's proposal is just wrapping paper on the same partisan package in hostage taking taxes. You take off the wrapping paper and it's the same partisan, narrow, unacceptable package that cannot pass the House, that cannot pass the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: So it looks like votes Thursday on all of this. Let's bring in our panel, Guy Benson, political editor at Townhall.com, Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at "The Federalist," and Charles Lane, opinion writer for "The Washington Post."

All right, Guy, any hope that this gathers votes?

GUY BENSON, POLITICAL EDITOR, TOWNHALL.COM: Bret, first let me just say that it is a greater pleasure than usual to be with you here tonight. We are so pleased that you and your family are OK.

BAIER: Thanks very much. I appreciate it.

BENSON: It looks like what the senator is doing, Senator McConnell here, is setting up two bills to demonstrate what maybe cannot pass the U.S. Senate. He of course had counseled the president not to go this route from the get-go, but he is a realist and this is where we are now. And I think McConnell is very good at reframing an argument, and what he is trying to make clear to the American people is the Democrats say over and over again that their number one priority is reopening the government and getting these federal workers paid.

If that were truly their top priority, they would be seriously engaging with this proposal from the president, which I think was completely reasonable, over the weekend, trying to improve it, make changes to it, negotiating around the clock. And they are doing nothing like that whatsoever. And at some point, I think the Democrats have to answer for that, because they say out of one side of their mouth we have to get these people paid, it's an ongoing tragedy for these families, and yet they will not negotiate anything, including some of these provisions that the president has made that are concessions, including major elements of a bill from Senator Dick Durbin that he introduced in late 2016. So McConnell is trying to make some lemonade out of lemons.

BAIER: Obviously, the president said that he would take ownership of the shutdown in that moment in the Oval Office between Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi and the president. But like Guy, Tom Brokaw, Chuck, on MSNBC said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM BROKAW: I think the Democrats are as much to blame right now as the Republicans are. They've got control the House, but they're mostly just, yes, yes, yes, we're not going to do what you want to do. I haven't seen a grand plan. You have got the young people running through the halls who are the new members of Congress who are conducting pep rallies every day instead of getting together with the more moderate people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Looking for solutions, I guess.

CHARLES LANE, OPINION WRITER, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, I think that McConnell's step was, somewhat as Guy said, the first thing that moved the Republicans into a more tenable position, because the president had, as you said, owned the blame and given the Democrats a free one. He was doing that in concert, it should be said, with Jared Kushner, who has been pushing this DACA for a wall trade very hard for a while now.

But I think if there's going to be any movement out of this, it's going to have to come from the Senate, because the dynamic in the House is that the left, the new leftwing members of that body, seem to have kind of the energy and the upper hand, and the threat of anybody making a deal with Trump will get primaried in 2020, and I think that's one reason you see Pelosi taking the hardline she is taking, because there is no cost to her in just saying that and nullifying this within her caucus for the time being. And she can later on receive whatever if anything the Senate sends her way and then hold a vote on that. But for now I don't think she wants to risk being seen as overly compliant to Trump.

BAIER: Mollie?

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE FEDERALIST": When this whole shutdown began, McConnell sort of said, well, you guys let me know when you have got something for us to look at, and that just keeps not happening. So he is now taking matters in his own hands, working with the vice president, bringing forth this other proposal. It is actually kind of a ridiculously generous proposal, a lot of what the president and McConnell have been suggesting in a way that might even risk losing some of the support they have from the conservative base. All of this generosity with DACA and the temporary status and the Central American asylum status seekers, all of these things are very generous offers. And $5 billion for a wall is really very little money.

The idea that you're not going to see any movement for the other side, the reason why it might be a problem for Nancy Pelosi is her only talking point is we want to reopen the government. You have to act like, as Guy says, you have to act like you are serious about that if you really want to do it. If you're not offering anything, not putting anything on the table, not putting forth any realistic compromise and not accepting these really generous offers, it kind of hurts your own talking point.

LANE: I was going to say that there is an interesting difference in tone between Pelosi on the one hand, and Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn on the other. Clyburn is a legislator, a dealmaker, that is what floats his vote, those are his instincts. And you can see in his statement just now, he's like, yes, this opens the door a little bit. And that's why I say I think that Pelosi is trying to hold the whole, because she is responsible for the whole thing, hold the whole caucus together and speaking on behalf of the more defiant people --

BAIER: We have been talking a lot about Republican breaks, but there are Democrat cracks as well. In the meantime, the State of the Union address scheduled from a week for tonight, still kind of in limbo. Here is Hogan Gidley how will give way at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOGAN GIDLEY, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: We have no announcement at this time, but Nancy Pelosi does not dictate to the president when he will or will not have a conversation with the American people. The State of the Union address is set up so the present can explain just what's going on with our government and just what is going on around the globe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Guy, Homeland Security says Secret Service can handle the security. They are saying that we should go forward. Obviously, there is pushback from the House. Where do you think this is going?

BENSON: Nancy Pelosi said after using this as the fig leaf, she said she doesn't care what the Secret Service has to say when she came up with that ridiculous and bogus excuse. There was a lot of silliness and pettiness last week. The president participated I think enthusiastically in those things, but since then he has made two very smart plays in a row. His speech on Saturday was very good. His offer was completely reasonable and has amped up new pressure on the Democrats. And then for the White House to come out today, sort a bluff calling, and saying we intend to accept the speaker's invitation as it was offered during the shutdown to show up and give the speech, your move. That puts her in a little bit of a bind. We'll see what she does.

BAIER: Mollie?

HEMINGWAY: Pelosi does have the right, though, to determine whether the president can come and address her chambers. She is in charge of that. She has given some conflicting messages. And the Constitution does require that an update be given, but it doesn't stipulate exactly how. So Trump can do it any number of different ways. He can deliver the paper and go give the national address somewhere else. But she does have the right. Of course, the Senate could also invite him to give an address, too.

BAIER: And that would be something if President Trump delivered the address from the Senate chamber for the first time.

LANE: It will be a sad symbol of the fact that partisanship in this country has reached the point where the president can only be welcome in a chamber that his party controls. On the other hand, there are some of us who have long thought that the State of the Union under presidents of all parties has kind of gotten out of hand.

BAIER: I said our colleague Brit Hume is very happy about the prospect of the State of the Union pomp and circumstance to disappear.

LANE: Lots of liberals, lots of conservatives, lots of people think this was a mistake to do this in the first place. To me it wouldn't be the end of the world if he just handed in a paper. It was good enough for Abe Lincoln. It was good enough for Ulysses S. Grant. And then he could go off to Michigan and give a speech there.

BAIER: I do not know if the TV friendly president we have wants that lack of TV time.

LANE: So he could do it as a YouTube video.

BAIER: Yes, we'll see. Panel, thanks.

Next up, she's making a pretty big splash in her first week in Congress. What do Democrats think of all that? We will talk about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the party, next.

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REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ, D-N.Y.: Millennials and people in Gen Z and all these folks that come after us are looking up, and we are like, the world is going to end in 12 years if we don't address climate change.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we allow in a moral world that allows for billionaires? Is that a moral outcome in and of itself?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: No, it's not.

I don't think that necessarily means that all billionaires are immoral, but I do think a system that allows billionaires to exist when there are parts of Alabama where people are still getting ringworm because they do not have access to public health is wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez getting a lot of attention. We are focusing attention on her now. But Democrats are focusing attention on her as well. NBC news writes "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez already has more Twitter followers than Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more interactions than Barack Obama. Democrats want to learn from her, Republicans want to destroy her, and many in Washington fear being dumped on by her. Democrats were not exactly thrilled when Ocasio-Cortez ousted the veteran lawmaker in line to be their next speaker in a Democratic primary last year, and marked her first day on Capitol Hill by joining a sit-in in Pelosi's office. But increasingly, if begrudgingly, they seem to have concluded if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

That's a change from January where "Politico" cited an unnamed Democrat saying "She needs to decide, does she want to be an effective legislator or continue being a Twitter star. There is a difference between being an activist and a lawmaker in Congress." What about AOC-mania? Back with the panel. Mollie?

HEMINGWAY: I think Democrats have a little bit of a problem. They have this very aging class of lawmakers who aren't very exciting. And then they have some that are so young they don't have very well-formed ideas. They might have a lot of enthusiasm, but they are saying things like billionaires shouldn't exist and that global warming will kill us all in 12 years.

The problem is that is where the enthusiasm is, and it is clear that it is attracting a lot of her fellow colleagues. I'm not sure how much that will work when you are trying to run a national election or when you're trying to grow the party. The more extreme, yes, she is getting very favorable coverage from the media. The more extreme you are, the more you alienate the coalition that you need to have a successful party.

BAIER: Guy?

BENSON: When it comes to her Democratic critics, I believe she just told Stephen Colbert that she does not give a flying word that I cannot say even here on cable -- I guess I technically could, but I won't.

HEMINGWAY: Don't do it.

BAIER: We could beep you. Just give us a little heads up, we can beep you.

BENSON: I will not say it. I'm just going to play it a little bit safer there. But she is making it clear that she doesn't really care what her critics inside her own party have to say about her. The point is she said in the interview with Stephen Colbert, I think there was a story in "The Onion" this week about how our network was going to devote a second network only to covering her utterances, which is sort of funny, but this idea that the right wing invented her just to attack her. She is a creation of the left-leaning and mainstream media. She has feed on all of these programs and all these shows, she is a superstar, she does have definitely some personal appeal. But if she is going to be treated that way and given that type of amplification soapbox, her ideas should be countered and addressed.

BAIER: Is there a sense that her ideology, or her policy beliefs, are gaining attraction in the Democrat Party?

LANE: We live in a world where a person who doesn't have very much experience in government and doesn't know very much about policy or government, can come out of nowhere and become president in the United States. Not surprisingly, we also live in a world where such a person can become a member of Congress in New York City.

And I would not underestimate her for the same reason it was silly to underestimate to Donald Trump. She is calling for a 70 percent tax rate on the top earners, which a lot of people say is crazy, too extreme, and so forth and so on. It polls really well. It may not be a great idea, but it is a simple idea, and it is a popular idea. She is dynamic, she is energetic. You saw on your segment she has got people putting Post-it notes up on her office. I don't think a lot of other members of Congress can say people react to her that way.

And so I think she is formidable, and you shouldn't underestimate her. At the same time, I've got to say, she is her own worst enemy at the same time, because she would be so much more effective if she did do her homework. Just in that segment she was referring to the outbreak of ringworm in Alabama. Ringworm is not even a serious illness, it is a minor fungal, it is like a rash. And she must have -- it is not a parasite.

HEMINGWAY: Is it worth killing billionaires over?

(LAUGHTER)

LANE: I don't know. But I'm just saying that I think the thing that AOC fans should find frustrating is that if she just listened to her critics a little bit more and did a little bit more homework, she would be the bomb, as she herself might say.

BAIER: That Dr. Krauthammer seat is just there, it is all medical, Yes.

Mollie, as you look at the declared 2020 Democratic candidates, the exploratory Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand, will AOC be a kingmaker in this eventual field?

HEMINGWAY: I saw a poll today that showed that 74 percent of Democrats would vote for AOC if she were old enough, which of course she is not according to the constitution. I do think she absolutely is where that excitement is. And where she decides to put her chips will influence a lot of people.

BAIER: Do you agree?

BENSON: Yes. I think that every single person running for president on that side would be delighted to have her endorsement.

BAIER: Panel, thank you. Some final thoughts, I referenced it at the beginning of the show, why I am very happy to be here, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BAIER: Finally tonight, I don't usually give advice, but I think everyone should count your blessings. My family is tonight. My wife Amy and sons Paul and Daniel went skiing in Montana this weekend. We had a fantastic trip. It was a lot of fun, gorgeous snow, a lot of quality family times, some safe, fun skiing without incident, which is always nice.

I drove the family Monday morning to the airport in Bozeman, and it was snowing, and the roads were icy, and approaching an intersection just two miles from the airport I hit a big patch of ice and I could not stop our SUV. We slid into the intersection of a busy road and into the path of a big pickup truck which slammed into our driver side door. The airbags deployed, the windows shattered, we careened into a ditch and flipped sideways, and I started to try to push open the passenger door to get us out.

Then a man held open the door so we could climb out. Zach Black was driving by. He just stopped to help us. We climbed out. The driver of the pickup truck, David, had called the police and the EMS, and was concerned about our family first and foremost. Montana Highway Patrol quickly arrived, EMS paramedics from Belgrade and Bozeman arrived quickly too, and we escaped with minor injuries, a concussion, 14 stitches on a chin, a jostled tooth, and a sprained ankle. We are very blessed. Thank you, Zach Black, and for all the Zachs across the country who stopped. Thank you, David. Thank you, Montana Highway Patrol and EMS personnel who were all amazing.

As we were released from the hospital, I tweeted this.

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