'Special Report' All-Star Panel on Texas elementary school shooting

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'Special Report' winners and losers of the week

'Special Report' All-Star Panel reacts to the fallout from the Texas elementary school shooting and shares this week's winners and losers in the Lightning Round.

This is a rush transcript of "Special Report" on May 27, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRET BAIER: Stunning news conference today. Different information than we received at the beginning of this school shooting from authorities on the ground.

Let's bring in our panel, Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for Reuters, Morgan Ortagus, former State Department spokesperson, and Doug Heye, former Republican National Committee communications director, former deputy chief of staff to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

It was stunning, Doug, to hear the about face kind of about the open door, about the police not going in, and most of all, obviously, about the kids' 911 calls, calling for help over that hour.

DOUG HEYE, FORMER REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE SPOKESMAN: Yes, it was devastating to listen to. And it's come not just with the trauma of the week of what we saw with what happened in shootings and to the children, but also in just how we get information. We are all trying to process this, and it's incumbent on the governor, it's incumbent on local law enforcement to do this in an orderly way and be as accurate as possible.

And the reality is, Bret, if you don't have an answer, you say you don't have an answer and you say you will get an answer as soon as you can and return with that when you do. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing all credibility, which is exactly what happened today.

BAIER: Yes. Morgan, in the meantime in Washington, there is a serious renewed effort, and we say this every time, but it does seem a little different this time. "Politico" writes this about "The GOP's two favorite Dems try to turn their cred into a guns deal. Bipartisan bids to legislate on guns failed repeatedly in the past decade mostly due to GOP opposition to stricter gun laws. But Republicans acknowledge because Senators Manchin and Sinema preserve the filibuster, they need to at least listen to Democrats who are desperate for an agreement to reduce gun violence." Chris Murphy even saying I will take some good, not the whole loaf. So is this different, maybe?

MORGAN ORTAGUS, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Potentially. I think that this will now be something that happens quickly, but I think that this is what Americans are actually asking our legislators to do, which is not to take perhaps maybe a massive step that's going to fix school shootings for the rest of our lives. We all wish we could do. But perhaps there's some practical steps that they can take and find some bipartisan solutions.

The problem will be, the reality is, as devastating as this is, we are still in an election year. And so I don't want to be skeptical, but I guess I am a little skeptical that this will get done in an election year.

BAIER: It's OK. We are skeptical in Washington. That's where we are years after years.

Jeff, after Sandy Hook, the massacre there almost 10 years ago, our late colleague Dr. Charles Krauthammer, I had him on the panel, and he talked at length about this. This is just a piece of that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I understand this reflexive move to do this. In principle I'm not opposed to it. The problem is that we have some history with this. We had a decade of that assault weapons ban from the mid-1990s, it lasted for a decade, and if you look at the studies had no appreciable influence on gun violence or the lethality of individual attacks.

And there are three elements here. Again, it's the shooter, it's the weapon, it's the environment. And all that liberals and mainstream media want to look at, of course, is the weapon. But there are other ways of looking at this. If you look at the shooter himself and the mental health issue, the fact that you cannot get a commitment on these kinds of people, I'm thinking most of Jared Loughner, the shooter in Tucson, Arizona. Everybody knew he was a grenade about to go off. Anybody who knew him, was in class with him, said that. But you could only stop him after he killed. And we have moved so radically the last 50 years to making it difficult to commit people who are dangerous that there has to be a shift in the other direction. So that has to be on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: He went on, and went on to after that night write a very detailed column about it. I have tweeted it out and put it on Facebook if people want to read it, from "The Washington Post." But, Jeff, it's complicated here. But, again, to my point with Morgan, is this a different dynamic now that you are seeing develop in Washington?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "REUTERS": Well, Bret, you asked, or mentioned Sandy Hook. It certainly felt like there was a different dynamic then, and that was roughly 10 years ago. I remember President Obama's emotional speech at the service or the tribute to those children. And the Democrats really coalescing around effective, for what they viewed as effective gun control measures. And then they didn't get what they wanted.

And this has been another awful, awful school shooting. It leads to conversations, it's leading to, as we were just discussing, conversations between Republicans and Democrats. So, yes, there is a sense that maybe something different or new will happen this time. But it will depend on what they can work out and it will depend on whether that momentum that unfortunately sometimes comes after these mass shootings actually continues.

BAIER: Yes. There's a lot to follow here, and we will continue to do it and talk to all those lawmakers who are in the midst of that conversation. That's a growing list.

OK, let's do Winners and Losers. Doug, first to you, winner then loser.

HEYE: Yes, the Republican governors and who are in the governing coalition that starts in Georgia. And also, I would add Mike Pence who stuck his neck on the line and got a big win for himself politically.

BAIER: What about loser?

HEYE: It's Donald Trump. He endorsed and went all in Georgia and obviously lost by large margins. Also was reported today, Bret, that he wanted to cut a deal on guns, wanted to do something on the shootings and was talked out of it by Mick Mulvaney. The Donald Trump that cuts deals on guns and immigration and infrastructure not only wins massively in reelection, but everybody he endorses wins reelection as well.

BAIER: All right, Morgan, winner and loser.

ORTAGUS: Winner of the week is my friend in Georgia, Herschel Walker, won that primary by 68 percent. It was a big night, very big turnout. That's going to be one of the races I watch most closely in November.

Loser of the week for me is the Iraqi parliament, Bret. They voted -- they made it illegal to establish any sort of normalization or peaceful relationship with the state of Israel. And that is certainly not on trend with what's happening in the rest of the Middle East thanks to the Abraham Accords.

BAIER: All right, Jeff, winner, loser?

MASON: My echo what my friend Doug was just saying. Brian Kemp in Georgia, a big win there with over 70 percent of the vote in that primary, beating David Perdue who had former president Donald Trump's support. It's really big win for him and less -- and certainly not for trump.

BAIER: OK. Quickly, loser?

MASON: David Perdue. I had David Perdue as the loser.

BAIER: Oh, got it, got it. You added it.

MASON: I balanced those two out, Bret, yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BAIER: There you go. OK, panel, thanks so much. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

HEYE: Thank you.

BAIER: All right, it's Friday. You know what that means, "Notable Quotables."
 

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