BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): So, governor, no doubt about it, the president, I think, if you were doing a honest analysis, he's having a superb trip. His -- from one country to another, reaffirming relations with him, then he says they're going to have substantial gains announced as early as Wednesday in terms of trade and alliances. However, people are focused on what he did on a whim. We were -- evidently his plane was being delayed an hour because they were there early, and he decided to go back and talk to a few reporters. And he said, oh, by the way, I talked to Vladimir Putin a couple of times, at which time, again, he emphasized that he thinks that he did not meddle in the election. So he said he is under the belief, I believe that he sincerely believes he didn't meddle in the election. And then all hell broke loose. What is your take on the president's handling of this?
MIKE HUCKABEE: Well, it's interesting, Brian, because the people who are actually there with him -- for example, Fox's John Roberts, Major Garrett from CBS -- they all said, look, you guys have missed this. He was very expressly clear, not in saying that Putin -- that I believe it, he said, but Putin believes it. And if you listen to what Donald Trump said, which actually was played on air, and it's available online, he never said I believe Putin. He said Putin believes Putin, but I believe our agencies. And I believe the people who work for me in those agencies, and they tell me something different. It was very clear. But, this is what Donald Trump has to deal with every day, a press that will find a way to twist the story so they have a way of making it totally negative. It's just --
AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): Yeah, the quote -- the quote that the president said was, “He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times. I just asked him again, he said he absolutely did not meddle in our election. He did not do what they are saying he did.” Now, [former CIA Director] John Brennan was on one of the Sunday shows yesterday saying the president is saying this and trying to get this message out because he's fearful of Vladimir Putin. Listen to this and let's get your reaction.
[BEGIN VIDEO]
JOHN BRENNAN: I think Mr. Trump is, for whatever reason, either intimidated by Mr. Putin, afraid of what he could do, or what might come out as a result of these investigations. So it's very worrisome. It's either naiveté, ignorance, or fear, in terms of what Mr. Trump is doing vis-à-vis the Russians.
[END VIDEO]
EARHARDT: Do you think he's scared of Vladimir Putin?
HUCKABEE: No. That guy that just talked, he's a tool. I mean, come on. Donald Trump is not afraid of anybody. Look at him. This is a guy who talks straight to the faces of anybody he wants to, and he's pretty clear about it. I think it's absurd, and it's one more way in which the media has discredited themselves. Guys like that basically validate Donald Trump's moniker for them as fake news. I think Trump has had a remarkable trip. He's gone to these various countries, he's shown his ability to negotiate with the world leaders in a way that we have not seen in decades. He's straightforward with them. We're renegotiating trade deals. I think his conversations with China will result in a different kind of approach to North Korea. I don't know what they're missing here, but, boy, they're missing a lot.
