The Pulse exclusive: Rogers discusses receiving endorsement from Democratic Rep. Stevens

Fox News is your home for politics, and that's why we're here tonight. Welcome back to a special Sunday edition of The Pulse. Here to dive into Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens' endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, and State Senator Mallory McMurrow, who, of course, ran for Senate as well. And we thank you both for joining us here tonight. I want to begin by asking Congresswoman Dingell the question. You were on the network just the other day saying that it was me who called and said, you know what, Haley, it's time to step aside. How did that call go and what exactly happened? So look, I'm gonna be really honest here. This was my idea. Haley had been telling me all week she was gonna be part of the Democratic ticket. And I worry about all my girlfriends, anybody will tell you that. I know she had worked hard and she was close to Jim Clyburn. I knew he was coming in and I said, let's all do this event together. By Friday, one, the national press had turned it into whatever it had turned into. And I was worried about Haley by Friday. There clearly was a lot of stress on her. I've spent a lot of time talking to her. So I'm the one that said to her Friday night, Haley, this has become a distraction. You should not come. Jim Clyburn was coming in to campaign with Abdul to talk to the black voters about why it's so important that they vote for Abdul. But Congresswoman, there's 67. 67% of the people in the city of Detroit who voted for Haley Stevens in that primary against Al-Sayed, 67% of the people that could have heard her stand shoulder to shoulder with Clyburn and others. Wouldn't that be good? Let me be very blunt. What you saw today is part of what I was seeing all week. I think she has been emotionally, look, I, what. I want to focus on what the issues are, and that's all we're gonna do from now until Tuesday is to do that. And we'll get to the issues in a moment, but I do want to ask you, I mean, she's very publicly engaged to someone named Jason Turkish, who is now a Roger supporter. There was some reporting in Gonger that indicated that former Governor Blanchard was sitting with them at a dinner just a few days back saying he was working her over. Then Governor Blanchard went on to say something snapped in her. People are concerned about her. And her state. Are you concerned, Mallory? I am. You know, I've known Haley for a long time. And I don't know her fiancé. I don't. But to see... Him out there so publicly, I mean, I can only speak for myself, but my husband and I talked about this, and my husband said if he ever tried to speak for me the way that we see happening now, he's like, you would leave me. Sure. Yeah. It's hard to watch. It is. Is it hard for you to watch as well, Congresswoman Dingell? And we'll get to the issues. I just want to- Yeah, it is. It's very hard. Haley Stevens told me at midnight last night this was all a rumor and was not true. That she would go with Rogers. Correct. And then five hours later- Correct. She's standing shoulder to shoulder. She texted me at 7:45 watching you on MSNBC. Hard, hard, hard. And by the way, I talked to, look, I'm just upset. I'm very concerned. It's sad, but I don't want to be distracted anymore. But what I said on CNN, she scripted with me and approved last night. Let's talk about the issues because they are awfully important. The personality clashes and all the other things that we're talking about. Media folks and politicos are more interested in than the people at home. You heard Mike Rogers just a minute ago running for the seat that you all so vied for. What concerns you and what do you think Al Sayed could do better in your mind? So it's been a fascinating day because I think to Congresswoman Dingell's point, This has become a distraction. My phone was buzzing all day from reporters from all across the country asking about this. And we were at church this morning in my district, and I spent a few minutes before the service started talking to one of the elders who, you know, she said to me, and she was really scared about it. She said, what do we do to stop this president? Gas prices are through the roof, groceries are through the roof. He's trying to take away our rights to vote. You see him and the DOJ already laying the groundwork, whether it's in Alaska or in California, to try to disrupt or challenge or block. The results if they don't like them, that's what's on the line. That's what I'm hearing from people. My district is the most diverse Senate district in the state. It's Northwest Detroit through Birmingham. And no matter where I am, people are concerned about can I afford to stay in my house? The number of calls to my office with people who are facing eviction have gone up. We're about to see 200,000 Michiganders lose their health care. That's what I'm hearing, not about this. Congresswoman, you are literally in the chambers where it all happens all the time. You know that one person can't pass Medicare for all. One person can't lower prices for all. And one person certainly can't end a war even if they wanted to. One person can't. 99 other people in that room. Does it concern you or at least give you reason to pause when you hear some of the aspirational messaging from Abdul El-Sayed's camp about? What the world should look like and how you know it actually goes in those hallowed chambers? I believe that if you don't have a vision, you're never going to get there. And when you're talking about one vote, I'm going to go to, I agree with everything. Mallory just said, I want to talk about the Supreme Court. One vote. We are likely going to have two openings on the Supreme Court for the next two years. This is a Supreme Court that is denying black voters. They're trying to make it difficult for black people to vote. They have gone in and done redistricting. They've eliminated minority seats. And who do you want voting on Supreme Court nominees? Mike Rogers or Abdul El-Sayed? The connections that the Rogers camp has made to Al Sayed and the Muslim Brotherhood, widely published, he has disavowed it, even if so quietly and perhaps not broadly enough. Does it concern you at all that that could be a distraction in this campaign, and do you believe that people should care about that? It's beyond a distraction. They are running the most bigoted, hateful, Islamophobic campaign. I've ever seen. I got a mailer to my house, which first of all, the fact that it came to me means their targeting is abysmal. But it was just a picture of Abdul next to a picture of the Twin Towers. The message just seems to be, don't trust this guy because of his name, because he's brown, because he's a different religion. And I'm in an interfaith marriage myself. We deal with a lot of these conversations. It's disgusting. It is disgusting in a state as Beautifully diverse as Michigan to say that. Everything you're going through right now is because you should be afraid of somebody. It is repulsive, and we have to reject it. It's been fascinating to watch Mike Rogers point out health care costs are too high, but this guy's a Muslim, as if there is some kind of a connection. Congresswoman, health care costs are too high. 30 seconds left. Medicare for all. I know that's a big thing he's running on, so I'm asking you the question. Is it feasible? I'm the sponsor of Medicare for all in the House. We first introduced universal health care in the 1940s. We got Medicare in 1965. I believe that if you live in this country when you're sick, you should be able to go to the doctor when you need to go to the doctor and get the medicine you need. And if you don't figure out how you're going to fix a broken health care system, you're never going to fix it. We asked Abdul El-Sayed to join us here tonight, and we weren't able to get him when we got Mike Rogers. And so because of that, we have Mallory and Debbie with us. We want to mention Congresswoman Stevens will be on Detroit Talk City with Charlie Langton tomorrow at 4. That is the pulse for tonight. Our election coverage is not done yet. Scan the QR code on the right of your screen to go to fox2detroit.com slash live. Our election coverage continues from 7 to 10 on fox2detroit.com.