Fox News "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript: Vice President Mike Pence on President Trump's offer to Democrats to end the shutdown stalemate

Interview

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CHRIS WALLACE, HOST: And hello again from Fox News in Washington.

And if things look a little bit different here today, that's because of the fact that we have a fire -- yes, a fire, in our building on North Capitol Street. And so we are over at our wonderful affiliate, WTTG, in northwest Washington. But we are going to put on a show today. We may not have a lot of the bells and whistles we normally have, but just take a little time travel and pretend you are back in the 1950s, and you will feel very comfortable about that.

The ball is now in the Democrats' court after the president made an offer yesterday, trading full funding for the border wall, $5.7 billion, in return for temporary protected status for the Dreamers and for refugees in this country, as well as reopening the shutdown. The disruption keeps growing after the standoff over the president's border wall reaches day 30 -- yes, we are into the fifth week of the shutdown.

And we are honored on this very irregular program to have the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence.

Mr. Vice President, welcome. Thank you for being with us.

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Chris. Good to be here.

WALLACE: OK. So, we were going to have a piece from Kevin Corke explaining everything that's in this plan, but I'm now just going to ask you, briefly, what did the president offer?

PENCE: What the president offered was a good faith compromise to address what is a genuine humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border and end the government shutdown. And the Senate leadership, Senator McConnell, have agreed to bring this bill to the floor. On Tuesday, Congress will begin its work.

But, really, what the president did over the last month, and notably over the last two weeks, was direct our team to meet with rank-and-file Democrats, to find out what they were looking for. You know the legislative process traditionally is Republicans would offer their solutions, Democrats would offer amendments, but the president said, look, we want -- we want to put it all on the table. In a very real sense, what President Trump did hear was he set the table for a deal that will address the crisis on our border, secure our border and give us a pathway to reopen the government.

WALLACE: OK, but, as you well know, house Democrats rejected the president's plan before he even offered it. Speaker Pelosi called it a, quote, nonstarter.

And I want to point out their specific objection. They say that it doesn't reopen the government first, which they insist on. They say that it doesn't provide permanent protection for the Dreamers and the TPS refugees, it's only three years. And they say that the full funding of the president is still demanding, $5.7 billion for the wall is a waste of money.

So I guess my question is, is the president willing to sit down and negotiate the differences, or it is what he offered yesterday his final offer?

PENCE: Well, there's a legislative process that is going to begin on Tuesday in the United States Senate and it was disappointing to see Speaker Pelosi reject the offer before the president gave his speech. I mean, look, the president is offering a solution and what we have from Democrat leadership so far is just some bites. And American people want us to work together to resolve these issues.

WALLACE: Wait, if I may, sir, when you say work together, does that mean that you are willing to negotiate from what the president said, or is that the final offer?

PENCE: Well, of course. The legislative process is a negotiation and up to this point, literally for the last month while the president and I have stayed here in Washington and been engaging continuously with Democrat leadership, and with rank-and-file members in the House and Senate, what we heard again and again is we will not negotiate until the president reopens the government.

Well, this bill would reopen the government.

WALLACE: Well, they are saying reopen the government first and then negotiate about border security and immigration. Are you rejecting that?

PENCE: Well, look, I think it was about a week and a half ago the president spoke to Speaker Pelosi in the Situation Room and said, look, if I gave you everything you wanted, if I reopen the government and gave you 30 days to work with us on homeland security issues, to address the crisis on our southern border, would you give me border security and funding for a wall? She said no.

So, the president said to us let's go to rank-and-file members and since that time, our negotiation team has been sitting down talking to House Democrats. We've been in contact with Senate Democrats and the president told us to listen.

And what the American people heard yesterday was statesmanship, was the president laying out a genuine compromise. Even this morning, even this morning, "The Washington Post" said make the deal --

WALLACE: OK.

PENCE: -- because they can see that both sides are getting what they want. The president has made it clear that we want border security, we want funding for a wall, a steel barrier on the southern border. We want money for additional technology, additional personnel, humanitarian assistance. We want changes in amnesty laws so that children can apply for amnesty in Central American countries.

All of those things coming together and the president added to that, three years of temporary relief for DACA recipients --

WALLACE: OK, but --

PENCE: -- of temporary --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: I'm not saying whether it's reasonable or unreasonable, I'm just saying that Democrats aren't going to accept that package.

So, let me ask you a couple of specific questions.

PENCE: Well, I'm not sure that's true, Chris. I'm not sure that's true. We've had a lot of dialogue.

WALLACE: Well, all right, let me ask you -- let me ask you a question, the Senate is going to take this bill up this week. Do you have the seven Senate Democrats that you're going to need to break the filibuster, yes or no?

PENCE: Well, as the president often says, we'll see.

WALLACE: But you don't have them right now.

PENCE: You know, I think when the American people have an opportunity to look at this proposal, which is truly a balanced, good faith compromise, when they reflect on what is a real humanitarian crisis on our southern border -- I mean, we have 60,000 people a month attempting to come into this country illegally. If 2,000 people a day, and for the first time, Chris, ever, the vast majority are families and unaccompanied children being exploited by human traffickers and cartels that take cash to have them take the long and dangerous journey. It is overwhelming our system, and in the midst of that, narcotics, criminals are coming across our borders, 17,000 apprehended last year.

The American people want action on our southern border. They want border security, 800,000 federal workers want us to find a way to open the government. We --

WALLACE: You could open the government tomorrow. You could open the government tomorrow.

PENCE: We can do all of that -- we can do all of that --

WALLACE: You could open the government tomorrow. The House has passed bills to open the government tomorrow, why don't you sign them and open the government and then you can negotiate about this?

PENCE: Well, because -- I mean, you know, frankly, Chris, what the American people want us to do is to work on the priorities and the American people want us to secure the border --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: No. I mean, isn't it really that you just want to leverage and that you figure if you don't keep the government closed, that then they are going to go nowhere?

PENCE: Well, again, I was sitting there, I was sitting right next to the president when Speaker Pelosi said if we reopen the government and took 30 days to negotiate --

WALLACE: OK.

PENCE: -- that she would not give the president funding for --

WALLACE: I want to ask you one --

PENCE: -- border security or the wall. So, what we want to do is go into the legislative process.

The president has now embraced and said he is willing to sign a three-year extension, temporary relief for DACA, three year extension for people with temporary protective status. These are priorities the Democrats have had. The president has embraced them.

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: They say they want it to be permanent.

Let me just ask you one more question and then we'll move on.

PENCE: Now, people will start voting and we'll see where they stand. But the most important thing is for the American people to let their voice be heard.

WALLACE: OK, there are immigration hardliners letting their voice be heard and they say what the president offered goes too far and that its amnesty. And Ann Coulter, one of those immigration hardliners, that we voted for Trump and we got Jeb.

Isn't this -- if it's three years, I understand, but they say it's a three- year amnesty and you don't even get a full wall, you get part of a wall?

PENCE: The president made it clear earlier this year that he was open to resolving the issue of Dreamers. We are talking about 700,000 people who were brought into this country as children, the average age was first grade at the time. And the president has shown a willingness to address that issue.

But let's be clear, what he put on the table --

WALLACE: So, is it amnesty? What do you say about the amnesty issue?

PENCE: It's not amnesty. We are asking for $5.7 billion for funding on a wall --

WALLACE: I'm talking about the Dreamers and the TPS.

PENCE: And the president has said that we will support temporary relief for three years for DACA recipients and those who are in temporary protected status.

This is not amnesty, there's no pathway to citizenship. There's no permanent status here at all, which is what amnesty contemplates.

What is this is, is a good faith effort to address the issue, bring relief to DACA recipients. Democrats have proposed in the Bridge Act, a three- year reprieve that could be renewable. The president has embraced three years temporary relief.

And again, I think is the American people look at this, Chris, they're going to see this for what it is, President Trump said bring me all the ideas from both sides, let's put them all on the table. The president has made it clear what he would support.

WALLACE: OK.

PENCE: Now it's time for the Senate and the House to start voting to secure our border and reopen the government.

WALLACE: I want to talk to about a couple of other subjects. The "BuzzFeed" report that came out on Friday that the president directed his former fixer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress. The special counsel made a rare public statement saying it isn't true.

What does that tell you about Robert Mueller, special counsel, who the president keeps accusing of conducting a witch hunt, that he came out, one of his where statements to say this attack on the president is not true?

PENCE: Well, the president expressed his appreciation to the special counsel for clarifying that that report was inaccurate. But I think what it says more about is the obsession of many in the national media to attack this president for any reason, for any allegation, for any report in the media.

I mean, it was remarkable what we saw happening for 24 hours in the media on the basis of the report that appeared in "BuzzFeed" and I just think it's one of the reasons why people are so frustrated with many in the national media and the constant obsession on this -- look, this administration --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: If I may because I really want to move along here, what about the house Democrats, some of whom would say if true -- but if it's true, we need a resignation or impeachment?

PENCE: Again, the media's obsession on this issue --

WALLACE: I'm talking about of Congress.

PENCE: And frankly, the reflexive willingness of the president's critics in the Democratic Party to accept the worst facts and the worst interpretation. Look, the American people expect better. This administration has fully cooperated with the special counsel, produced over a million documents, the special counsel will complete his work and we will have all the facts.

The president has maintained he's done nothing wrong. The American people -- the American people ought to be confident that our administration is cooperating and frankly -- this was a week where I think the American people saw the hyper partisanship among Democrats to assume the worst about this president and many in the national media's willingness to assume the worst about the president.

And the reality is what the American people want us doing, with the president sought to do yesterday with layer framework for where we could work together, let's start talking to one another.

WALLACE: Even though we are in a different studio, I'm going to try to move you along.

President Trump has just announced another summit meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea for late next month. This week, the president said we have made, quote, tremendous progress with North Korea. On the other hand on Wednesday, you said we are still waiting for them to make, your words, concrete steps.

So, which is it? We made tremendous progress or since the Singapore summit last June, are we still awaiting any concrete steps? They don't seem to go together.

PENCE: Well, they go perfectly well together. Look, think about where we were two years ago. When the president and I took our oath of office two years ago today we had a regime in North Korea that was testing nuclear weapons, that was firing missiles over the Sea of Japan, making menacing statements against the United States and our allies.

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: But U.S. intelligence says they are still continuing to make more nuclear fuel and more missiles.

PENCE: No testing. What the president talks -- refers to, no -- because of his strong stance, and because of his engagement with Kim Jong-un directly at that first summit in Singapore, no testing of nuclear weapons, no firing of missiles. I had the great honor of being in Hawaii when the remains of our fallen heroes in the Korean War --

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: But they are not denuclearizing.

PENCE: -- home.

But to the point, and other president will be announcing details in the days ahead, the meeting that took place this week confirmed. There will be a second summit and at that summit, we will be laying out our expectation for North Korea to take concrete steps to begin to make real the denuclearization that Kim Jong-un committed to.

And, again, the president is very optimistic. The communications that I've seen between him and Chairman Kim have been truly remarkable.

WALLACE: I've got one last --

PENCE: The president believes that we can make real progress and we are going to continue to strive forward.

WALLACE: I got one last question for you. This week, you defended the president's decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and here's the quote. Normally in these circumstances, we'd have a sound bite.

We are bringing our troops home. The caliphate has crumbled and ISIS has been defeated.

But you were briefed before that statement about the fact that there had been this horrific suicide bombing that killed four Americans.

Is that with the defeat of ISIS looks like?

PENCE: Chris, first and foremost, our hearts go out to the families of those four American heroes and we are praying especially for them yesterday as there remains returned to Dover Air Force Base in presence of the president of the United States.

But look, the progress that we have made against ISIS since this president came into office has truly been remarkable. After President Obama withdrew American forces from Iraq in 2011, we literally saw this ISIS caliphate rise up and overrun vast areas of Syria and Iraq that had been won by the American soldier. President Obama began the process of a bombing campaign two years later.

But President Trump changed the rules of engagement. He told our military, his commander in chief, to go after them, and our soldiers and the Americans in the fight along with our allies have literally crushed the ISIS state.

Now, as I also said in that same meeting, the president made the decision as commander-in-chief to hand off the fight against ISIS in Syria to our coalition partners. We are working, in the process of doing that.

The president wants to bring our troops home, but recognize there are remnants, there are ISIS fighters still in the region. But we've taken back 99 percent of the territory that the caliphate had claimed. In a very real sense, the ISIS state has been defeated, but we will not rest or relent until we drive ISIS not only from the region, but from the face of the earth.

WALLACE: Mr. Vice President, thank you. Thanks for talking with us and thank you especially for switching signals, instead of going to one place, coming here.

PENCE: You bet, Chris.

WALLACE: You really saved our bacon, thank you, sir.

PENCE: Good to see you.

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