This is a rush transcript of ‘Fox News Sunday’ on September 4, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MIKE EMANUEL, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Mike Emanuel.

President Biden takes aggressive aim at Republicans as it travels to political swing states to try and salvage his party's control of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.

EMANUEL (voice-over): The president's new midterm message delivered from Independence Hall, the birthplace of American democracy, and in his home state, battleground Pennsylvania, the site of a high-profile Senate showdown.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Two months from now, the people of Pennsylvania are going to fire the radical left Democrats.

EMANUEL: We'll discuss the prospects for November as Democrats see momentum shift in a favor and Republicans try to shift the subject from Mar-a-Lago.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I want an economy that's stronger. I want the nation that's safe. I want a -- I want a country that's built upon freedom.

EMANUEL: We're joined by both parties' House campaign chiefs, NRCC chair Tom Emmer, and DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney. Emmer and Maloney, only on "FOX News Sunday."

And our Sunday panel on the stunning lack of confirmed debates just two months from Election Day.

Then --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?

EMANUEL: School districts across the country face learning loss and teacher shortages, we'll ask National Governors Association chair Phil Murphy about his trip to Washington to sort out solutions.

Plus, one week until Shannon Bream takes the big chair.

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS HOST, MEDIA BUZZ: They're all going to try to stick to their talking points. How do you tackle?

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: That's the trick I think in Washington.

EMANUEL: All right now on "FOX News Sunday."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

EMANUEL: And hello again from FOX News in Washington.

Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the kickoff of the fall campaign season ahead of midterm elections. Republicans are focused on inflation, crime, and the border, as they aim to win back the majority in November, while Democrats are heading into the final weeks with renewed momentum. And President Biden heads to critical swing states revived by improving poll numbers.

In the moment, we'll speak with New York Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who chairs the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to the House. And we'll get reaction from Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP campaign arm.

But first let's turn to Lucas Tomlinson live at the White House with a look at dueling visits by the president and his predecessor to battleground Pennsylvania -- Lucas.

LUCAS TOMLINSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Mike, the president gave a speech Thursday night that the White House insists wasn't political. Many pundits disagree.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: MAGA Republicans look at America and see carnage and darkness and despair.

TOMLINSON (voice-over): President Biden in Philadelphia delivering what the White House dubbed a speech on the continued battle for the soul of the nation. Biden did not mention his Inflation Reduction Act or student debt relief.

Also absent, Pennsylvania's Democratic nominees for U.S. Senate and governor.

The commander-in-chief spoke while flanked by two U.S. marines, something he promised not to do while running for office.

BIDEN: I promise you as president, I will never put you in the middle of politics or personal vendettas. I'll never use the military as a prop.

TOMLINSON: Biden made two stops in battleground Pennsylvania last week and plans another on Labor Day. He will visit Milwaukee and Pittsburgh Monday. Later this week, Biden speaks of the DNC summer meeting outside the nation's capital. And then heads to Ohio.

Joining him there, Congressman Tim Ryan, who is running in a close Senate race against JD Vance. Ryan skipped Biden's previous trip to the state.

Former President Donald Trump also traveled to Pennsylvania near Biden's hometown Saturday night.

TRUMP: The shameful raid and break-in of my home, Mar-a-Lago, was a travesty of justice.

TOMLINSON: Trump spoke as the Justice Department continues its investigation into how he kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Many Republicans have called the FBI search unprecedented. The former president's attorney general responded.

WILLIAM BARR, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: People say this was unprecedented. But it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TOMLINSON: Bill Barr also said naming a special master for the Mar-a-Lago documents is a, quote, waste of time -- Mike.

EMANUEL: Lucas Tomlinson reporting from the White House -- Lucas, many thanks.

Joining us now is Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, who leads the House committee working to elect Democrats.

Congressman, welcome to "FOX News Sunday".

REP. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY (D-NY): Good to be with you.

EMANUEL: So, are Democrats going to hold a majority in the House?

MALONEY: Yes, we're going to hold the majority in the House because we have a plan to fix the problems our country is facing. The other side has only a ploy to win back power for themselves and ripping away our constitutional freedom, our reproductive freedom, has awakened millions of voters and we see that in the astonishing come back in a special elections in New York and elsewhere. We're on a roll and we're going to win this election.

EMANUEL: Even with inflation, gasoline prices, a crisis at the border, and crime in American cities?

MALONEY: Look, those are all serious problems and we are working those problems. Gas prices are down more than $1.20 a gallon in just about 70 days. That's because the president increased supplies, went after price gouging, and released the Strategic Petroleum Reserves.

So again, we are working the problem. Inflation will come down with those gas prices but it is still too high. That's right.

But the other side has no plan, of course, to reduce inflation. They have a plan to win power for themselves. And, of course, we're the ones that are lowering prescription drug costs by finally taking on big drug companies, capping seniors' out-of-pocket costs.

The Republican plan, to expire Social Security and Medicare every five years. No, there's a real choice in this election and we're going to win that. We're going to win that choice.

EMANUEL: The president Thursday night said MAGA Republicans are destroying American democracy. He tried to draw a line between MAGA Republicans and mainstream GOP, but he offended a lot of folks in the process.

Here's the president in an old tweet during the campaign saying, quote: We need a president who chooses unity over division.

What happened to unifying?

MALONEY: Well, there's nothing the president said on Thursday that has not been said by leading conservatives and Republicans. I mean, what the president said is exactly what people like Judge Luttig said. It's exactly what people like Vice President Mike Pence and John Bolton have said. If you listen to comments from previous presidential nominees like Mitt Romney.

In other words, this is not Republicans versus Democrats. This is mainstream Republicans and Democrats versus MAGA extremists. This election is about mainstream versus MAGA, and I'm proud that we have a president that knows right from wrong.

EMANUEL: There was a lot of discomfort about the president delivering a partially political speech in front of those marines in dress uniform. Democrats railed against President Trump when he made political remarks in nonpartisan settings.

How is this different?

MALONEY: Well, I wouldn't miss the larger point, and, of course, those critics didn't complain when Donald Trump literally staged the fourth night of the Republican political convention on the White House lawn. I mean, my goodness -- or use our military to clear peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park.

So -- but I wouldn't miss the larger part in the speech. The point of the speech is that mainstream Republicans and Democrats agree on things like it's wrong to attack United States capital, to spread a pernicious lie about the election being stolen, to steal our nation's secrets and keep them down there at the motel Mar-a-Lago.

I mean, Republicans and the Democrats are in large part in agreement. It's the MAGA movement that is extreme, that has ripped away reproductive freedom, that justifies the attack on the Capitol, that plays footsie with white supremacists and QAnon conspiracy theorists. That's what the president was talking about.

EMANUEL: Let me follow-up, though. The president attacked MAGA forces. That isn't political?

MALONEY: What I'm telling you is that the president has a duty to defend American democracy, and he is in agreement with leading conservative voices, the ones I just mentioned, that the attack on the Capitol was wrong, that it's wrong to spread a lie about the results of an election.

I mean, Bill Barr, for goodness sake, knows right from wrong here. So this isn't just President Biden. This is mainstream versus MAGA. And we have a duty to defend American democracy.

Look, we just lost 50 years of reproductive freedom because the runaway MAGA Supreme Court tore up Roe v. Wade. And every candidate -- your next guest is running for office -- supports tearing up Roe v. Wade. We're going to defend Roe v. Wade and reproductive freedom that all of us used to take for granted in America.

So that's the movement that will take away your political freedom. It just took away your reproductive freedom, and the president is sounding the alarm.

EMANUEL: Okay. So since Roe v. Wade has been overturned and it's becoming a state issue, should Democrats running for office tell voters whether they support any restrictions on abortion?

MALONEY: What Democrats support broadly is restoring the status quo, Roe v. Wade. We're for Roe v. Wade. The other side is going to ban abortion in all 50 states. That's your choice.

I will leave it to individual candidates to state their individual positions on any of the nuance, but I'm telling you right now, if you care about your reproductive freedom, if you think politicians shouldn't be making these decisions, that women and their doctors and their families should make these decisions, that's what Democrats support.

If you care at all about marriage equality, if you care about your reproductive choices like in vitro fertilization, or if you care about birth control, for goodness sake, these are the privacy rights we used to have in the Constitution that the MAGA -- MAGA Supreme Court just tore up and threw away. That's the choice this fall.

EMANUEL: Do you support any restrictions on abortion, any at all?

MALONEY: Look, there were always restrictions on abortion embedded in the original Roe v. Wade decision. Anyone who's read it knows that it meant there was a balancing test, it was a compromise between viability, early on in pregnancy, and later in pregnancy, and that was the common sense of that framework.

What the MAGA crowd has done is rip away that decision from women and their doctors, take it out of the Constitution, and now, every state in the country can ban abortion. And if they get control of Congress, they will ban it in all 50 states.

But the voters have another idea, and if you -- and if you disagree with me, well, I'd like you to meet Congressman-elect Pat Ryan in Upstate New York.

EMANUEL: Given the president's harsh comments on MAGA Republicans, how do Democrats justify running ads supporting Trump-backed candidates?

Let's play a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD ANNOUNCER: The Gibbs-Trump agenda is too conservative for west Michigan. DCCC is responsible for the content of this advertising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: You've said this is not putting party over country and you've said you're giving voters a choice in November. But the truth is, Republican voters had a choice in the primaries and you meddled with that.

How do you justify that?

MALONEY: Well, we just said what is true, which is John Gibbs is an anti- choice extremist who is too conservative for western Michigan. So we have a great candidate there named Hillary Scholten who is going to protect your reproductive freedom. She's going to beat him, and don't take my word for it, "The Cook Political Report" just moved that race to be much more likely one that Democrats will win.

So your next guest can explain what he lost a safe incumbent for about $400,000. We call that winning a seat, and protecting a woman's reproductive freedom by electing Hillary Scholten.

EMANUEL: There are Democrat groups trying something similar in New Hampshire.

Here's what Democratic Congressman Stephanie Murphy said about that strategy earlier this summer. Quote: Many of us are facing death threats over our efforts to tell the truth about Jan. 6. To have people boosting candidates telling the very kinds of lies that caused Jan. 6 and continues to put our democracy in danger is just mind-blowing.

What do you say to your colleague?

MALONEY: What I say is that your next guest (AUDIO GAP) results of the election with 139 other House Republicans, and I'll let those folks explain that. The fact is that the danger to our democracy didn't start with the Michigan primary. We're chockfull of people in the Congress who denied the election, who played common cause with people who attacked the Capitol.

My goodness, what we are talking about here, and "The Cook Political Report" agrees, is that we've got a much better chance to elect a strong, pro-choice member of Congress from that district in Michigan. That's doing our jobs.

And again, I'll let Tom Emmer explain why he lost a safe seat.

EMANUEL: The president's approval rating is up a bit in recent weeks. Should Democrats running for office welcome the president to their districts to campaign with them?

MALONEY: Well, you're seeing that in places like Pennsylvania and Ohio, so don't take my word for it.

And you better believe, we're going to stand with the president and say, we passed in a bipartisan way, better roads, better bridges, better health care for veterans that MAGA Republicans tried to obstruct, by the way, that we're going to negotiate with prescription drug companies, lowering those costs and capping seniors out of pocket costs. We've passed common sense gun legislation also in a bipartisan fashion -- better background checks, mental health and school safety resources.

EMANUEL: Right.

MALONEY: That's the kind of agenda that we're stand -- we're standing in support of and you see it working in the polls. The president is on the way back and so are House Democrats.

EMANUEL: But typically, after a major bill is passed, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, you see candidates rushing to presidential events all across the country, eager to tout the accomplishment. We didn't see that this summer.

MALONEY: Oh, you're going to see it this week. There's going to be a celebration on the White House lawn. You're talking about negotiating cheaper progression drug costs? My (AUDIO GAP) support that.

How about a cap on out-of-pocket expenses for seniors, closing the donut hole? That's in that legislation.

You're going to see finally on minimum tax on the biggest corporations that have been getting away with murder paying zero. That's in this legislation. And we're going to combat climate change, which is important to our future, and lead the world with green energy -- green energy jobs.

You better believe Democrats are going to celebrate that. So are the voters. And that's why we've -- we've been winning special elections from Alaska to New York.

EMANUEL: Congressman Maloney, thank you. Great to talk with you.

Up next, we will get reaction from the other side of the aisle. NRCC Chair Tom Emmer joins me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

EMANUEL: Political junkies saw a lot of headlines this week about Republican concerns about their plan to retake control of the House and Senate in midterms. Is it all overblown?

Joining us here in Washington, Congressman Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who leads the committee working to elect Republicans to the House.

Congressman, welcome to "FOX News Sunday."

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): Great to be with you, Mike.

EMANUEL: So, you heard your counterpart, Congressman Maloney. I want to give you a chance to respond.

EMMER: Well, this is a -- this election, Mike, can be summed up with one word: security. It's about Americans' economic security. It's about Americans' physical security. You didn't hear any of that being talked about.

On the economic front,, because of failed Democrat policies, Americans are struggling. They have to make difficult choices every single day about groceries and gas.

And on the security side, the physical security, Democrats pro-criminal policies have put -- have literally made our cities war zones. If you look at for instance the congressman's own state, New York City, they are experiencing a crime epidemic because of cashless bail, which he supports. You look at my city of Minneapolis. Minneapolis has already had 6,000 assaults were reported since the beginning of the year.

And look, it's about the southwestern border being run over by cartels who are terrorizing American citizens, about every community in this country having to deal with the fentanyl crisis and parents wondering if their child is going to be the one that dies next.

This is a security election. It's about groceries and gas. It's about being safe and secure in our homes and communities. Democrats have caused this problem, and they're going to pay for it at the ballot box.

EMANUEL: Let's talk for the battle of control of the House. House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy initially talked about maybe winning as many 60 seats. But that prediction has been quietly scaled back among some Republicans.

This week, Quinnipiac found more Americans approve of how congressional Democrats are handling their jobs than how congressional Republicans are handling their jobs.

Also this week, a "Wall Street Journal" poll has Democrats up three points over Republicans on the generic ballot. Republicans are up by five points in March. And the poll has independents favoring Democrats 38-35. In March, Republicans were up 12 points with independents.

Why are you losing momentum right now?

EMMER: I don't think we have. Certainly, I think, some people needed to understand that a year ago was not going to be today. As you know, I talked about getting past Labor Day weekend when everybody starts to engage, and I like where we're at, Mike.

Right now, we are almost seven points better on the generic ballot than we were just two years ago. In fact, on Election Day in 2020, Democrats on the generic were a +6.5, and I will remind her that we not only held ever Republican incumbent for the first time since 1994, but we picked up 15 seats in an environment where it was productive we were going to lose 15.

The other thing you should look at is my counterpart announced a huge media buy last week. He is spending millions of dollars defending Democrat incumbents who are in seats that Joe Biden won by double digits.

Look, money talks, and money is painting pessimistic future for Democrats at the midterms.

EMANUEL: Congressman, "Washington Post" reports, quote, at least nine Republican candidates have scrubbed or amended references to President Trump or abortion from their online profiles in recent months.

Has the NRCC recommended to candidates to back off their strong antiabortion views?

EMMER: Well, I'm not going to repeat the way "Washington Post" reports things. I trust our candidates to know their districts and know how to appeal to their voters, the voters who are going to turn out in November and elect them to the next Congress.

That being said, if Democrats want to make abortion the main issue when every poll we have seen says that the economy and the cost of living is the number one issue, good luck to them trying to defend their extreme position. Every one of them voted for what I call the Chinese genocide bill, which would allow abortion up to moments before a child takes its first breath.

I think our candidates know how to message that and they'll be just fine in the midterms.

EMANUEL: Let's talk abortion. This week's "Wall Street Journal" poll says more than half of voters are more likely to head to the polls because Roe v. Wade was overturned. Can you say definitively that this will not cost Republican seats?

EMMER: I think it's helped to narrow the enthusiasm gap but if you look at the enthusiasm gap, every measure up there, Republicans still lead Democrats in enthusiasm to vote in this next election.

Plus, the number one issue in every single poll, I'll say it again, is the economy, and rising cost of living. Everything is more expensive because of failed Democrat policies.

And, Mike, the one question ever voters going to have to ask when they go to vote in November, am I better off today than I was two years ago? And it is a resounding no. Eight out of 10 Americans believe this country is in the wrong track and that is why they're going to vote for a change and elect a new Republican majority in the House.

EMANUEL: Does former President Trump being in the news hurt your candidates because then you aren't hammering inflation, gasoline prices, the border crisis, and, of course, crime in major American cities?

EMMER: Look, the American intelligence agency and this it administration has been after Donald Trump since day one. In fact the intelligence agency has been after him since he started running for office.

And now, the White House has prioritized going after anyone who disagrees with them. In fact, the White House press secretary last week said that anybody who disagrees with the Democrats and the White House, with the Biden administration, is an extremist.

The raid on the former president's home is not only unprecedented, it's outrageous. And by the way, this double standard is why so many Americans are pissed off about this, Republicans, Democrats, independents, because while they go after Donald Trump and suggest that he's de something which they've been doing for years, I would say that they lost their credibility six years ago with the Russian collusion hoax.

And while they're doing all this, Hunter Biden is still out there being able to peddle influence all around the world, and they do nothing to him. Americans are pissed about that. They're going to show up in November and Democrats are going to answer for it.

EMANUEL: Have you or your team at the NRCC recommended to any Republicans that they distance themselves from former President Trump?

EMMER: Absolutely not. The president has been a fantastic ally of ours, especially when it comes to fund-raising. And our candidates, again, what we tell them is you know your districts, you know how to run to the people that are going to be voting for you in November.

And I am convinced that when people vote, they are going to ask the question, am I better off today than I was two years ago? And they're going to say overwhelming, no.

Prices are out of control, my security is in jeopardy, it's time for a change. And they're going to vote in a new Republican majority.

EMANUEL: Republicans have been highly critical of President Biden's student debt giveaway. Some have suggested it's even unconstitutional.

If you win back the majority, should Republicans in the House sue or take some other action to block the president?

EMMER: Well, I'll let the future Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy tell you what the plan will be on that, but when it comes to this unilateral move by the president, it's not only illegal, it's unfair, and it's wrong. If you think about it, every American who either chose to go into a trade or go to work, or went to college and paid off their debt like a responsible American is now going to pay $2,000 for someone else's debt.

So, blue-collar American and responsible Americans are going to pay $2,000 for somebody else's college debt. They're not happy about it.

Bu the way, look at a poll in New Hampshire in the past week because I know there's been a lot of mixed messaging about this. Two-thirds of independents in this poll are upset by the president's action. I think that's going to be consistent across this country and Democrats are going to answer for that in November as well.

EMANUEL: You made reference to Leader McCarthy. Are you convinced he's the next speaker, and do you expect any challenges from your colleagues?

EMMER: I am convinced that Kevin McCarthy will -- we'll not only be in the majority come the next Congress, but Kevin McCarthy will be our speaker.

EMANUEL: What about the possibility you are seeking if you guys win the majority -- you are seeking to be the House majority whip, do you expect any challenges there?

EMMER: You've got to win election first, Mike. I'm concentrating on the next 65 days. Once we get done with the election, once we perform and win a new majority in the House, then we can talk about the future.

EMANUEL: Okay. On the Mar-a-Lago search, some have said this response from Senator Lindsey Graham crossed the line. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I'll say this: if there's a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information after the Clinton debacle which you presided over and did a hell of a good job, there'll be riots in the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: He later softened that comment and condemned violence. But is that rhetoric over the line?

EMMER: I'm not going to get into other people's words, that would be like me talk about Maxine Waters telling Americans to confront Republicans in public places, and I think that's wrong.

So on this one, I would say he's just echoing what I told you just a couple minutes earlier, going after Donald Trump repeatedly with nothing, trying to impeach him based on nothing more than emotion, and now continuing this charade and invading his home when Hunter Biden is allowed to skate and not have any consequences for his behavior -- Mike, this is what the American people see, this double standard.

And I'm going to say it again -- they're pissed off, and they're going to show up in November. And I'm confident that they will vote in a new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

EMANUEL: Congressman Tom Emmer, thanks so much for your time.

EMMER: Thank you, Mike.

EMANUEL: Up next, there was major outcry this week from parents as we saw new data on how COVID school closures impacted student learning loss. We will ask Governor Phil Murphy about the fallout and we'll talk a little bit about his potential 2024 plans, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

EMANUEL: It is one of the biggest questions of the pandemic era, were schools closed too long? We're starting to see the data just as kids head back to school again. And as governors are pressed to take stock of how they handled school closures, all of this as we see a shortage of teachers around the country. New Jersey's Democratic governor, Phil Murphy, just met with the White House about how to keep more teachers on the job. I sat down with him this weekend to discuss.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMANUEL: Joining us now, Governor Phil Murphy of the great state of New Jersey.

Governor, welcome back to "FOX News Sunday."

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D), NEW JERSEY: Good to be on, Mike. Thanks for having me.

EMANUEL: Governor, you have praised President Biden's executive action on student loan debt. But what would you say to the millions of New Jerseyans who paid their bills, made sacrifices, even made more affordable education choices who are not getting any money back?

MURPHY: Yes, by the way, I'm one of those guys. I paid my student debts off into my mid or late 30s. I would say this, Mike. It's not either/or. I think it's probably a combination and/both.

This program gives relief to over a million New Jerseyans. I like the fact that the Pell Grant grantees get double the amount because finding some way to means test this, I think, is important. That's what we do a lot of in New Jersey.

But on the margin when you do the cost-benefit analysis, I think this is a really smart and good move.

EMANUEL: What can be done in your view to address the big-picture issue, the underlying issue, the soaring cost of higher education in this country?

For example, is it time for an institution like Princeton to tap into its $37 billion-plus endowment to help deserving students?

MURPHY: Yes, I mean, you've got a lot of programs out there. Some of them are done by us. Some of them are done by the institutions themselves.

We have something called the Community College Opportunity Grant that if you're -- it's a last dollar program. And if you qualify, again, means- tested by income, you go to community college free of charge.

We now have something called the Garden State Guarantee that could tack that onto years three and four if you're getting a bachelor's degree.

I'm sure institutions themselves can take steps. You see a lot of needs- blind admission programs increasingly.

But listen, we need to continue to make higher education more accessible and more affordable, because the premise of your question is right on the money, it has gotten too out of control and too out of reach.

EMANUEL: OK, let's talk COVID. You've promised a postmortem review of COVID since April 2020. When you were asked about COVID last week you said, quote, "We have just under 1,000 people still in the hospital. It is clearly something that we're living with, which is a good thing. But we're also clearly not out of the woods."

Does that mean if there's still COVID in New Jersey there's no review?

MURPHY: No, it does not, Mike. I think -- I don't have news to break today. But I think we're -- within a matter of weeks of coming up with a comprehensive program. I think I was asked that question in the context of long-term care.

EMANUEL: OK.

MURPHY: We've already taken, back in June of '20, a deep dive with an independent firm. But we're going to do the entire COVID response, including long-term care.

I want to make sure it's effective, not just in teaching us what went right, what went wrong, but also that it can be a tool for future governors, future administrations.

I hope, frankly, it's a trigger for Congress to take a similar step to look at the national response. But no, COVID, sadly is still with us. It will continue to be with us.

But we can't wait until the last case to do that review, and we won't. We'll be doing something, starting something soon.

EMANUEL: On school closures, national test results show a real drop in learning. Fourth graders' scores falling by the biggest margin in three decades.

In New Jersey, in-person learning wasn't restored until last September, about a year-and-a-half into the COVID pandemic. Question, were schools closed for too long?

MURPHY: Listen, I think that's going to be one of those things that folks debate forever and for always. We knew learning loss -- we know it's real. We know the mental health stress on everybody, kids in particular, educators, families.

I would say this, particularly early on, but frankly when the variants -- the Delta variant and others kept coming back, when we had so little knowledge about this pandemic and about this virus, we had no other choice, sadly. But we will be laser-focused on closing those gaps which we know exist.

I've just become the chair of the National Governors Association. My Chairman's Initiative is focused on the mental health of our students for this very reason.

So it's real, we know it. It's up to us now to close those gaps.

EMANUEL: Like many places, New Jersey is dealing with a shortage of teachers. You were just down here in Washington in your role with the National Governors Association meeting with the education secretary and the first lady.

What concrete steps are you bringing to the table to fix the teaching shortage?

MURPHY: Yes, it was a -- very good discussions. New Jersey is short, I think the entire country is short. Some of the things that we've done, I think flexibility, Mike, has to be the name of the game.

For instance, we've done something which allows retirees to come back in without upsetting their pension reality. We've made it easier for substitute -- qualified substitute teachers to come in.

We're trying to get that common ground of making certifications more streamlined and easier without giving up the quality, the high quality. We are blessed with the number one public education system in America. That begins with educators. We don't want to mess that up.

We had a great discussion with the first lady and others on apprenticeship programs. I want to see us do more of that in New Jersey. We've got a grant program for diversity and extending diversity among our educators, but I'd love to see a broad-based apprenticeship program like exists in places like Tennessee.

So there's -- we're doing stuff, but there is still more work to be done.

EMANUEL: Here we are at Labor Day weekend. We're heading into campaign season. The president in recent weeks has blasted what he calls the MAGA philosophy, saying it's like, quote, "semi-fascism."

Does that make you uncomfortable, sir?

MURPHY: You know, listen, I'm the former U.S. ambassador to Germany. So I, sadly, have seen the history of the 20th Century up close and personal.

Listen, I think the president has had a heck of a run here. I saw him the other day and told him that. And whether it's Congress getting stuff passed that he has signed, his own leadership, sadly, for the wrong reasons of what the Supreme Court did with reproductive freedoms, there's no question about it, the Democrats have momentum.

And I would say, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican in this case, as Americans we have to call out extreme behavior; we have to call out behavior that undermines institutions; that we need to trust, not undermine -- like our Justice Department, FBI; that needs to respect results that we see in elections.

So I think that's more of an American reality than it is one party or the other. I think reasonable people in this country, and thank God there are hundreds of millions of them, would come to the same conclusion.

EMANUEL: Let's talk 2024. The folks at NJ.com note your skill at being a proud progressive and yet threading the needle, marching with Black Lives Matters protesters and yet never saying defund the police.

You want New Jersey to run off 100 percent clean energy by 2050, but you don't talk about the Green New Deal. What about Murphy for president in 2024?

MURPHY: Well, I appreciate that, Mike. I've said this publicly and I said it to the president privately. He says he's running. I take him on his word. Assuming he does run, he'll have no bigger backer than yours truly. And I think that's really the base case right now.

And in the meantime, I'm going to have my nose pressed against the Jersey glass. And hopefully, whether it's through the NGA or the DGA, pick up some good playbooks from other states and other places in the nation, and try to give a Jersey flavor to them and, again, keep moving forward.

EMANUEL: More from the folks at NJ.com, quote, "Maybe you've heard him put more of a national spin on his speeches, declaring the American dream is 'alive and well' in New Jersey. Maybe you've seen him in TV ads touting his record, even though he constitutionally can't run for a third straight term in the Garden State. Or you may have noticed he just made his fourth trip to Israel -- a must-visit for presidential wannabes."

That sounds like potentially laying the groundwork, sir.

MURPHY: I appreciate that, Mike. By the way, it was my eighth trip, fourth as governor. It's a place that I relish going to.

Listen, I think we're based -- we're focused on the kitchen table morning, noon, and night. And I think part of that is we want New Jersey to be affordable, number one. We want it to be the state of opportunity.

And I'm proud to say that the American dream, that's our goal. That's the reality, that the American dream is alive and well in New Jersey. And that's what -- that's literally what we're focused on morning, noon, and night. And we'll stay that way.

EMANUEL: OK. So we'll see what the president ultimately decides about 2024. Have you met with donors to talk about 2024? And what if your friend, Senator Cory Booker, decides to jump in? I mean, I'm from New Jersey, but how much is too Jersey on the national stage?

(LAUGHTER)

MURPHY: Never mind somebody, perhaps, from the other side of the aisle who could run from Jersey.

EMANUEL: Right.

MURPHY: And Cory is a -- Cory is a dear friend and a great leader. I have met with no donors about my personal ambitions in that respect.

We do have a couple of political vehicles that I'm thankful are well-funded that focus on, frankly, mostly getting the word out in terms of what we've done here, drawing a line.

We inherited a state that in many respects was broken. And so, we've gotten ourselves back up on feet. I don't ever want to see us go back.

So a lot of the focus of our political operations, if you will, is to get that megaphone out there and say, this is now accepted behavior in New Jersey, no matter who the governor is.

And that's what we'll continue to focus mostly on.

EMANUEL: Governor Phil Murphy of the great state of New Jersey, thanks for your time. Enjoy the holiday weekend, sir.

MURPHY: Thanks for having me, Mike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

EMANUEL: Up next, what former Attorney General Bill Barr says about the FBI search of his former boss's Mar-a-Lago home. We will bring in our Sunday group on the FBI raid next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: When the president speaks tonight at Independence Hall, the first lines out of his mouth should be to apologize for slandering tens of millions of Americans as fascists.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology. I know, because I've been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy saying the president insulted millions of Trump voters and President Biden saying he's only blasting the extremists. And it's time now for our Sunday group: USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers; former State Department spokesperson and FOX News contributor Marie Harf; former Chief of Staff for Vice President Mike Pence Marc Short; and host of "Media Buzz," Howie Kurtz.

Welcome to all of you. So, Howie, the president gave a feisty speech in prime time, the broadcast networks did not take it. Who did he reach?

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "MEDIA BUZZ": Well, he reached his base. But, you know, this was billed as an official White House to vent, non-political. Even after the speech White House officials insisting it was non-political. And it was blatantly partisan, attacking Trump by name and I lost track of how many times he attacked MAGA Republicans. And at the same time though, Donald Trump is out there talking about, for example, blasting Biden now as the enemy of the state, which is interesting. Enemy of the people, we usually -- journalists have that distinction.

Also talking about he should be reinstated, there should be a new election. He's thinking of pardoning January 6th people convicted in the Capitol riot. So Trump keeps making it about himself and 2020. Biden would love to make it about Trump. And even some of Trump's advisers and former advisers tell me this is not helping the GOP because the GOP wants to move forward and not relitigate the 2020 election.

EMANUEL: Marie, the president went after MAGA Republicans. He had the marines standing behind him. Democrats were not happy when President Trump was political non-partisan settings. Why is it different now?

MARIE HARF, FOX POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I do not think that this should be viewed as a partisan speech. Joe Biden went out of his way to say this isn't all Republicans, this isn't about Democrats versus Republicans, this is about a former president and his supporters saying, as Howie just mentioned, he will pardon people that attacked our Capitol, just blocks from where we are sitting today, Mike, who he said that his political opponents were enemies of the state. He has used this kind of language for years. And we have seen the repercussions. He has encouraged political violence. He has undercut the legitimacy of our elections.

And so this isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. President Biden has a duty to stand up on those stages, to use his platform to say American democracy is worth defending. A lot of Republicans agree with him. And that this election coming up isn't about parties, it's about our democracy and those principles. And a lot of people I think on both sides of the aisle are happy that President Biden is finally willing to step up and say very clearly that Donald Trump and his supporters are a threat to our democracy, period, full stop. And that's what's at stake here.

EMANUEL: Francesca, we had former Attorney General Bill Barr come out on Friday saying he's not sure that a special master is needed for going through what the FBI took from the Mar-a-Lago search. Here is more from the former attorney general on President Trump declassifying documents. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BARR, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I frankly am skeptical of this claim that I declassified everything, you know? Because frankly, I think it's highly improbable. And second, if, in fact, he sort of stood over scores of boxes not really knowing what was in them and said, I hereby declassify everything in here, that would be such an abuse that -- and show such recklessness that it's almost worse than taking the documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: So what's the political impact of the former president's former ally saying this?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, USA TODAY: Well, in terms of the political impact in the midterm elections of the Mar-a-Lago search, you could expect that that would be negligible compared to issues like the economy, inflation, or abortion rights. But certainly, and we heard this from a former president last night, it is something that would be a central focus of any 2024 presidential campaign. And he again suggested last night that he could run again.

Now whether or not even then this is an issue that would propel most Americans to vote for the former president of United States, we saw him focus on those kinds of grievance political issues in 2020, and that just wasn't enough for him to be able to beat Joe Biden.

EMANUEL: All right. So, Marc, there was a big dustup this week between Dr. Oz and John Fetterman, the Democrat in the Senate race there in Pennsylvania, about whether they will debate each other. There's plenty of spin out there from each side. The reality is so far there are zero confirmed debates in any of these big Senate races. What's the political impact for voters?

MARC SHORT, FORMER MIKE PENCE CHIEF OF STAFF: Mike, I think that this will resolve itself. I think often there's a lot of this jockeying and they will end up having debates. I think usually it's an untenable position not to. And i think it's important for Pennsylvanian voters to know whether Fetterman is up to this task physically as well. And so I think there will be plenty debates in the process moving forward.

EMANUEL: Howie, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has complained about a candidate problem, candidate quality issue in some of the Senate races. Senator Rick Scott, who is leading the Senate Republican campaign committee, firing back very publicly saying, quote, "When you complain and lament that we have bad candidates, what you're really saying is that you have contempt for the voters who chose them. Much of Washington's chattering class disrespects and secretly or not so secretly loathes of Republican voters." Have you ever seen this kind of spat?

KURTZ: I've seen jabs, I've never seen this kind of open tribal warfare between two Republican leaders. I mean, Rick Scott wrote this blistering piece in the Washington Examiner essentially while not naming McConnell but everybody knew he was talking about, essentially saying that this was treasonous, McConnell should shut up. It's really quite a spectacle.

If I could just circle back for one minute to the DoJ investigation of Donald Trump, and that is everybody in the press now is saying, well, he's going to be indicted, he's going to go to jail, you know, lock him up. I think he may well not be indicted unless -- just unclassified documents unless Merrick Garland has something else showing overt actions to harm national security. So I think it's very difficult for him to bring charges just on the classified documents given leniency in the past towards some prominent Democrats.

EMANUEL: Interesting. OK, so back to McConnell v. Scott. Is it helpful when Republicans are bickering with each other, Marc?

SHORT: Well, Mike, I don't think it is but I'm not sure that a lot of Americans can concentrate on that. I think that in 65 days we are going to have a decisive victory if we are talking about crime in Joe Biden's America, if we're talking about a crisis at the border, 200,000 illegals crossing every month, if we're talking about inflation, if we're talking about the reality that we are going into a deeper recession and will be by November. If instead we are about -- taking AOC talking points about defunding law enforcement or pardoning criminals, then that's going to get us off message.

If we are talking about Joe Biden, which I think he did with that terrible speech the other night that certainly was political, then I think certainly in my mind, remembers the notion of Hillary Clinton calling millions and millions of Trump-Pence supporters "deplorables." That in essence is what he's done again by calling us semi-fascists, then I think that's going to rally a lot of Republicans in November.

EMANUEL: Do think he will be forced to apologize for the "semi-fascist" comment?

SHORT: Whether he apologizes or not, I think it's a rallying cry and I think that Republicans are going to have a decisive victory in 65 days if we're talking but Joe Biden. And what his speech did is it put him right back in the center of the debate to make it a referendum on Joe Biden.

EMANUEL: Francesca, FOX News Digital reported this week that there's Republican frustration on how little money former President Trump is sharing of the money that he's raising, the millions and millions of dollars he's raising with other Republicans. One GOP strategist telling FOX Republicans will remember who helped and who did not.

Is there a risk of Mr. Trump burning more goodwill in the Republican Party?

CHAMBERS: Well, he is certainly expending political capital, as we saw him do in Pennsylvania yesterday evening. But when it comes to advertising, any -- there's no amount of money that you can spend to essentially introduce candidates to voters in the amount of time that they have between now and Election Day who are politically inexperienced. And that's an issue that Republicans are running into this cycle when they are competing against Democrats who have a record, who have run statewide. In Pennsylvania, for instance, the Democrats on the ballot this year outperformed President Joe Biden in 2020.

And so sometimes those records can work against Democrats for sure, but at the same time, that is something that Democrats see as working in their favor this election cycle.

EMANUEL: Marie, there's a broader midterm theme here, Republicans want to make it about President Biden, Democrats want to make it about former President Trump. Is there any issue overlap here or are the parties in their separate lanes?

HARF: Well, I think increasingly Democrats want to make it about what President Biden and Democrats in Congress have gotten done. You heard Sean Patrick Maloney say that earlier. The infrastructure deal, burn pits and health care for veterans, for example, negotiating prescription drug prices. And so I think Democrats want to say, look, this is what we've done when we've been in charge.

And in all the states, whether it's Herschel Walker in Georgia or Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania or J.D. Vance in Ohio, these are extreme candidates. And for Republicans who have spent so much time calling my party socialist, communist, anti-American, anti-Christian, to suddenly be clutching their pearls because Joe Biden says democracy is worth defending? That's a message Democrats are willing to take to every state, especially when it's extremist candidates on the other side in all of these states. Democrats feel good today, Mike.

EMANUEL: All right, panel, thanks very much.

KURTZ: We (ph) feel good too.

(LAUGHTER)

EMANUEL: See you next Sunday.

Up next, an important note for next week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

EMANUEL: Before we go, you may have heard our colleague, a tremendous journalist, Shannon Bream will take over this chair permanently starting this coming Sunday, September 11th.

Shannon sat down with Howie Kurtz for a "Media Buzz" interview on her life, her career, and how she approaches newsmaker interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: They're all going to try to stick to their talking points. How do you tackle that?

SHANNON BREAM, INCOMING "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" HOST: That's the trick I think in Washington. I love getting some personal time with people to just kind of talk to them about their family or their interests. And you kind of disarm them a little bit in that you find out what really motivates them and kind of what lights their fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: You can see the full interview on "Media Buzz" today on FOX News Channel. And you will see Shannon right here next Sunday morning. Congratulations to my dear friend.

That's it for today. I'm Mike Emanuel. Have a great week and we will see you next "FOX News Sunday."

END

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