Stalemate or Progress? Conflicting Messages from AWOL Wis. Democrats' 'Secret' Meeting

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Tonight: A secret meeting. Did you hear about the secret meeting in Wisconsin? Now, it was called on the state line, right between Illinois and Wisconsin. How many of the defiant Senate Democrats tiptoed across the state line and back into Wisconsin? And what happened at this secret meeting? Well, tonight, you're going inside that secret meeting. Plus, Wisconsin's lieutenant governor is here with the latest.

But first, the only Republican called to the secret meeting tells you what happened. Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald joins us live from Madison. Good evening, sir.

WI STATE SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SCOTT FITZGERALD: Good evening, Greta.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, so who went to this meeting?

FITZGERALD: I got a phone call over the weekend that started a conversation about what did we need to do to get the Democrats back into the chamber at the state senate. And we decided that it was time for us to have a face-to-face meeting.

So I was invited down to speak to a number of Senate Democrats, and we had about a two-hour meeting. It was very cordial. We talked about a number of different issues, including the budget repair, and then beyond that and the way we conducted ourselves once they made their way back to the capitol. And it got the conversation moving, I thought. And we went back and forth with some ideas, and I think it was a good meeting.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK, now, I noticed it was in Kenosha. I know the state of Wisconsin, so that's just essentially right over the line into Wisconsin. Was there some sort of negotiation? Why were you able to lure the Democrats into the state? And how come they couldn't lure you into Illinois?

FITZGERALD: No, no. We just found a place that was convenient. There was no talk of trying to trap the Democrats or capture the Democrats, no. It was more of just a convenient place for us to get together and talk.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. Who went?

FITZGERALD: Well, I myself was there, and there were a number of Senate Democrats. And certainly, they -- it did not include the minority leader, Senator Miller, but some other Democrats that I think expressed the idea that there are probably eight or nine Democrats in the caucus that are ready to come back to -- ready to come back to Wisconsin and go to work. They've been out -- out there for a couple weeks now and have had enough and think it's time to come back. So I'm hopeful that that'll happen very soon.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, and now, this is the third time I'm trying, so you know, who was there? Why would it be -- I mean, I take it that you don't want to answer it, now that I'm having to go a third time to ask it. So what's the big secret as to who attended? I mean, you know, this is supposed to be sort of an -- I mean, I'm assuming it was a democratic process, voting, you're complaining because they won't come home and vote. I mean, like, you know, why not -- why not tell us who went, how many went, and how much -- you know, what's the big secret about that?

FITZGERALD: Well, I promised the senators that I wouldn't tell exactly who was there or how many were there. I think they were kind of concerned that they were doing something behind their own leader's back. And it wasn't intended, I think, to certainly circumvent or undermine the leader. I think it was just a couple of senators that I've known over the years, and it was -- it was a way of kind of breaking the stalemate. And I think it did. I think it -- it was a good discussion that may have moved us beyond this gridlock that we're experiencing right now.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right, I won't ask you a fourth time. I'll just take it that you're not going to tell me who was there, so I'll leave it at that, but...

FITZGERALD: Right. Thank you.

VAN SUSTEREN: ... You say that you -- you say you think that it broke the stalemate. The fact is, the 14 are still in Illinois, so it doesn't look to me like it really broke the stalemate. You might have had a nice conversation, but I don't see any -- I don't see any of them coming home right now.

FITZGERALD: Well, the whole thing was prefaced on the idea that we will not negotiate on the budget repair bill. That was clear. And I made that very clear to them before I even drove down to Kenosha. It was more about beyond that, that bill, in the governor's full budget, which he announced today at 4:00 o'clock, which I think was significant in that it demonstrates exactly what the governor's been talking about and what we in the assembly and in the senate have been discussing, which is the governor's going to make significant cuts in education and in shared revenue, the money that makes its way to the local levels of government. And because of that, you know, I think people are starting to see with clarity what Governor Walker was talking about.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, that's one issue, but there's also the whole process issue. And it looks like -- it looks like now there's a lot of gaming going on. I mean, you've still got the Democratic senators out. You've now moved on to the next budget. You've had a secret meeting. You won't name who it is. Nobody'll come home. You say a stalemate is -- that the stalemate is broken, but I don't see any part of that. So it actually doesn't seem to me -- and I'm a thousand miles away, but it doesn't seem to me like there really is progress. I mean, I don't see -- you haven't convinced me there's progress on this.