McConnell on getting Trump's nominations through, midterms

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McConnell on getting Trump's nominations through, midterms

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell discusses confirmation battles that face Trump's nominees and 2018 Senate races on 'The Story.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," April 25, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MACCALLUM: All right. So, breaking tonight on 'The Story,' the man who cracked the case of the Golden State killer today, making an arrest after searching for that man for more than 40 years. His unbelievable story is live here moments away. But first, 292 nominees are waiting for Senate confirmation and now the logjam may be starting to break. Good evening everybody, I Martha MacCallum and the story is that we expect Mike Pompeo to get his vote for secretary of state tomorrow. The White House wants him on a plane to Brussels on Friday for the NATO meeting.

So, they are nudging forward on him and his situation for secretary of state. Two men that helped make that happen are here tonight: one, eagerly; and one, somewhat reluctantly. We've got Leader Mitch McConnell, and then we will also speak to Senator Chris Coons who bought tears to Bob Corker's eyes when he agreed to get Pompeo a thumb's up to get him through the committee. But first, Chief National Correspondent Ed Henry live at the White House with the breaking news from there and the latest on Dr. Ronny Jackson. Hi, Ed.

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good to see you, Martha. Remember, President Trump gave Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson an out yesterday saying if it were him, he'd withdraw rather than take what the president called abuse from politicians about these allegations. Instead, Ronny Jackson decided to double down on his denials and now, tonight is facing a mountain of new allegations.

Breaking this hour, Jackson trying to fight back, insisting it should be pretty easy to prove that he did not get drunk and then smash up a taxpayer-funded vehicle as is now being charged. He said, he's moving forward on the nomination. Senator Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Vets' Committee, just released a summary of conversations with 23 current colleagues and former of Jackson, many of them still in uniform who charged misconduct including allegations he repeatedly drinks on duty and has an explosive temper.

This new report charging while Jackson had to be on call if the president had a health issue. "On several occasions, Jackson would reach for the medical bag while intoxicated to show he was in charge. On at least one occasion, Dr. Jackson could not be reached when needed because he was passed out drunk in a hotel room." The report also alleging, "at a Secret Service going away party, Jackson got drunk and wrecked a government vehicle."

Again, he's denying that, but it comes just hours after Press Secretary Sarah Sanders asserted there's no reason to believe the previous allegations that Jackson had been drinking on the job. She claimed the White House did a good job of vetting this nomination. Republican Jerry Moran, though, says the nominee told him he never had a drink on duty at all, and Moran was blunt today about saying he's not really sure what to believe as Democrats suggest this nomination could be dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel like he was forthcoming with you in this meeting about these new issues?

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R), KANSAS: I don't know any -- I don't have any sense that I was not told the truth until I have more information.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: They are serious, credible, profoundly significant. I see no realistic path forward for this appointment. And the administration has failed, abjectly and utterly failed to do proper vetting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The White House has been in the middle of a full-court press defending Jackson, citing glowing performance reviews by then President Barack Obama like this one, October 2016, "Ronnie does a great job. Genuine enthusiasm, poised under pressure, incredible work ethic, and follow through. Ronny continues to inspire confidence with the care he provides to me, my family, and my team, continues to promote ahead of his peers."

Now, White House aides here are particularly upset that Jon Tester, the Democrat -- top Democrat on the committee, came out and claimed that their allegations that the doctor was known as the Candyman for freely dispensing prescription drugs, they note here that on long overseas trip, typically not this White House staffer, but journalists as well, in fact, will be offered sleep aids, for example, to help deal with long overseas trips they say. Again, going back to the Obama administration, all of this was reviewed and he got a clean bill of health. We'll see, Martha.

MACCALLUM: We will. Ed, thank you very much. So, joining me now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Leader McConnell, thank you very much.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-K.Y., SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Glad to be with you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: It's good to have with us this evening. I want to start with Mike Pompeo. Do you believe that he will get a vote tomorrow and that he has the votes to pass in the Senate?

MCCONNELL: He does, indeed. We'll be confirming him tomorrow, and there are now five Democrats who come on board -- there should've been a lot more. This nomination, really, shouldn't have been so contentious, but nevertheless, we have the votes and he'll be confirmed tomorrow and be able to get started representing our country abroad.

MACCALLUM: And Rick Grenell, the Ambassador to Germany, is also going to be put through, do you believe he will pass?

MCCONNELL: I certainly hope so -- well, we believe. We'll be voting on him tomorrow as well and we look forward to confirming him because Chancellor Merkel is making a U.S. visit shortly, and we'd like to have the ambassador to Germany in placed before then.

MACCALLUM: Well, how do you respond, Leader McConnell, to the criticism that there are still so many nominations that need to get through the Senate? When I sent out a tweet earlier today that was going to be speaking with you, a number of people said: please ask Senator McConnell why he is not scheduling more time to push through these nominees? He said he would work weekends, he would make people stay weekends, and then that would break the logjam with Democrats and that this 30-hour rule, would probably go out the window pretty quickly.

MCCONNELL: Well, a number of times when we've threatened to that, they have collapsed. We've actually gotten a lot of nominations this year, but the president has a very legitimate complaint. I've had to file cloture -- that's the device by which you stop debate -- 88 times in the Trump administration, that's more than the last six presidents in the first two years together. So, the Democrats do have an opportunity to slow the process. We're working hard to try to truncate that. For example, we're having the two votes tomorrow because they've decided not to use all of the time that they could have used, and we're continuing to put the pressure on. It's a legitimate complaint.

MACCALLUM: You know, so, in terms of the August recess and the circuit court judges that are still out there, because there are some who are concerned -- they're concerned about whether or not the Republicans can hold the House, and now there's some increasing concerns, potentially, about the Senate, and I want to ask you about that in a moment. But they think that you really need to put the pressure on these circuit court judge, and to hold that August recess over the senators' head to get that done. Will you commit to doing that?

MCCONNELL: Well, look, the circuit judges have been my top priority. We confirmed 12 last year which is a record for the first term of any president going back to 1891.

MACCALLUM: How many are still outstanding right now?

MCCONNELL: Well, there's five more there on the calendar which means they're out on the floor. We'll be taking those up shortly. I've processed the circuit judges as rapidly as they've come out of committee. It's been my top priority. So, we're not behind on circuit judges, we're way ahead. The Democrats are complaining because we have confirmed -- well, they're complaining because we've confirmed so many circuit judges.

MACCALLUM: I got you. But you wouldn't hesitate to use -- to make people work over the weekend, or potentially, over the August recess if you don't get the progress that you see? Is that true?

MCCONNELL: Yes, we're going to confirm these judges; I don't care what tactics they employ. And we're going to confirm the other nominees, the president has. There've been completely unreasonable delays. And we're going to ground through it, we're going to get them all.

MACCALLUM: Do you support Ronny Jackson for -- at the V.A.?

MCCONNELL: That's the decisions the president has to make. I mean, he has to decide, obviously, whether to go forward with this nomination. The Chairman of the Veterans' Committee, Senator Isakson, postponed the hearing. Obviously, there's a lot of discussion about whether this nomination will go forward. I'm going to wait and see what the president wants to do.

MACCALLUM: OK. I want to talk you about the Senate races because there's now increasing concern from Steve Law, who you know well, at American Crossroads; he saying that he believes that we do have a more defensive train to hold. Then, when the cycle started, and targeted Democratic incumbents have been over performing in terms of their early fundraising activity. There are those who would like to see a lot more urgency on the part of Republicans on Capitol Hill when it comes to these midterms. What do you say about that?

MCCONNELL: There's plenty of urgency, I can tell you that. I mean, the left is obviously fired up. They have been doing great on fundraising. The left turnout in place like the Virginia governor's race, was stunning. So, there's no question, I would say to all of our Republican supporters across the country. We need to be turning out in big numbers this fall because the Democrats are fired up, they want to take the Congress back. We think we have an excellent chance to hold it, but it does require a lot of enthusiasm. The Democrats are fired up, but no question about it, but so are we. And we're going to be really fired up come November.

MACCALLUM: As you may have heard, in the promo earlier, we're going to be in West Virginia at the Senate Primary debate on Tuesday night. I want to play this for you, this is what one of the candidates, Don Blankenship said about your wife, Elaine Chao.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON BLANKENSHIP, SENATE CANDIDATE FOR WEST VIRGINIA: I have an issue when the father-in-law is, you know, is a wealth Chinaperson and, there's a lot of connections to some of the brass, if you will, in China. I don't have anything against his wife. I mean, I'm just saying that it's her father that is well-connected in China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: What do you have to say about that, sir?

MCCONNELL: Well, my father-in-law is an American who lives in New York, works in New York. And I don't have any comment about ridiculous observations like that. You and Bret are going to be doing the debate, we'll look forward to seeing who the Republicans of West Virginia choose to nominate. I hope it's somebody who can actually win the general election.

MACCALLUM: Who do you support there?

MCCONNELL: I'm not in that race. But I hope they nominate somebody who can actually win the general election.

MACCALLUM: All right. One last question, there's been a suggestion that you are reluctant to push through a second round of tax cuts to put the individual cuts to make them permanent. Is that something that you're hesitating to do?

MCCONNELL: No, I'm all for making all the tax cuts permanent. Unfortunately, a lot of red states Democrats could vote for that and we still wouldn't get the outcome we want. But no, I'm very much in favor of making all of that.

MACCALLUM: But you're not against people come -- bipartisan vote in favor of tax cuts?

MCCONNELL: Yes, if we can win, we get 60 votes and actually do it? I'm all for it.

MACCALLUM: All right. Senator McConnell, thank you so much, good to see you as always, sir.

MCCONNELL: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So, here now, Democratic Delaware Senator Chris Coons, a Member of the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator Coons, thank you for being here tonight.

SEN. CHRIS COONS, D—DEL., MEMBER OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Thanks.

MACCALLUM: With regard to the Mike Pompeo, I just want to play a moment from Senator Corker who was on with us last night. Here he is reacting to your decision to help get that through committee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Did you feel like it wasn't going to pass? Until Coons said, OK, I'll vote present. It sounded like there was, you know, a lot of last minute wrangling.

SEN. BOB CORKER, R—TENN., CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, there was, but we were always going to vote him out. The question was: was he going to get a positive recommendation or a negative recommendation? We were able to work in the matter of what -- it worked out very favorably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: In fact, in one moment, he was kind of choked up by what you did, Senator Coons, your thoughts?

COONS: Well, I was grateful to have the chance on Monday to make a small gesture of friendship and support for Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia. I knew that Johnny had, had an exceptionally difficult day. He delivered the eulogy at his best friend's funeral. And we were in a place where we'd already the vote on foreign relations, every Republican voted in favor, every Democrat voted against. And Chairman Corker put to the committee the question: are we really going to make Johnny come up here at 11:00 or later tonight and reconvened just to cast exactly the same boat with exactly the same result. Or is there a Democrat who will change their vote? So, I changed my vote just to accommodate Senator Isakson, it didn't change the outcome.

MACCALLUM: But that (INAUDIBLE) does not go forward in terms of your -- you're going to vote against Mike Pompeo for secretary of state tomorrow afternoon?

COONS: I am. And Martha, if I could, I'd love a moment to explain that part of what I was doing was paying it forward. Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota, last year when my father died, unexpectedly, and I was on the floor looking and feeling miserable, he came across the floor and said to me: if you need to leave and go be with your family, I'll pair with you and work it out so that it doesn't change the outcome of the votes, so you can go be with your family. That meant the world to me and it really touched my heart. And I think we need to do more things like that -- care with each other.

MACCALLUM: I think everybody that's listening would agree with you, senator, for sure. That gestures like that are meaningful between friends and certainly on Capitol Hill as well. But given the fact that there was such a, you know, nearly unanimous vote for John Kerry, for Condoleezza Rice, for Rex Tillerson -- who got, I think, 54 votes -- why is this such a sort of statement that is being made against Mike Pompeo who has worked with you all for years and who has a very good reputation?

COONS: Martha, you know, in the debate on the Foreign Relations Committee, that same question was pressed. Why aren't there Republican nominees for this position that would get 70 or 80 votes? And I said to a number of colleagues that if Bob Corker were the nominee, I think he'd get 75 votes, 80 votes. I think if it were Nikki Haley, if it were Steve Hadley, these are Republican senior leaders.

MACCALLUM: So, what is your objection to Mike Pompeo?

COONS: The Democrats on the committee have uniformly said that things that he said and did as a congressman and as a candidate in terms of statements about Muslim-Americans, about the LGBTQ community, about how he conducted portions of the Benghazi inquiry left many of us the trouble to that, how he would be.

MACCALLUM: I understand that.

COONS: I also was impressed with his military background and how he has been a CIA director. I am hopeful that he will end up being a strong secretary of state and really serving the department and the country well. But I did not have a settled heart about it, and so I joined many of my colleagues in voting against him. And we'll do so again.

MACCALLUM: All right. You've spoken in favor of the president's progress with the North Korea issue, and he feels that Mike Pompeo is the person that he wants assigned in that. So, we will see where it goes. Senator Coons, thank you very much, good to see you tonight, sir.

COONS: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Breaking news, just in on President Trump's longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, and the Stormy Daniels case, he is going to plead the Fifth. Constitutional Attorney Jonathan Turley on what that means. And 12 murderers, 51 rapes and now, a police officer, 72-years-old is in custody in one of the longest cold cases in U.S. history. The chilling details of his rampage, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY RACKAUCKAS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF ORANGE COUNTY: Joseph James DeAngelo has been called a lot of things by law enforcement. Today, it's our pleasure to call him defendant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Just breakings news, moments ago, Michael Cohen, President Trump's personal attorney, will plead the Fifth in a California defamation suit that was brought by adult film star, Stormy Daniels. In the filing, Cohen says he is evoking his right against self-incrimination due to the ongoing criminal investigation against him by federal authorities -- a probe that is setting off wild speculation about everything from Cohen flipping on Trump to presidential pardons. Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge live in Washington with this late-breaking news tonight. Hi, Catherine.

CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Well, thanks, Martha. In this two-page declaration for a California court, the president's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, says he will take the Fifth. California litigation, as you mentioned, is with Stormy Daniels and her attorney over a nondisclosure agreement as what the negotiation and payment of $130,000.

Cohen cites the recent raid on his New York offices, his family apartment that's under renovation, as well as a hotel room. The declaration signed and submitted in New York City earlier today, reads in part: "Based on the advice of counsel, I will assert my fifth amendment rights in connection with all proceedings in this case due to the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York."

And within the last few minutes, this tweet from Daniels' attorney, Michael Avenatti: "This is a stunning development," he writes, "never before in our nation's history has the attorney for the sitting president invoked the fifth amendment in connection with issues surrounding the president. It is especially stunning to see as M.C., Michael Cohen, served as a 'fixer' for Mr. Trump for over ten years." Cohen wants the civil suit filed by Daniels put on hold. The judge in that case wanted to hear from Cohen directly before making any decision, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Catherine, thank you very much.

HERRIDGE: You're welcome.

MACCALLUM: Here now, Jonathan Turley, George Washington Law professor and constitutional attorney. Jonathan, good evening, always good to have you with us. And obviously, you wrote a piece about Cohen and whether or not the president should pardon him. And now, this breaking news, what do you think?

JONATHAN TURLEY, CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY AND LAW PROFESSOR FOR GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Well, it's a rather low moment. You know, the taking of the Fifth Amendment is something that most attorneys would not relish. You should be able to speak to your representation without invoking your right to remain silent. And so, it's going to be a bad moment for him, it's going to be a bad moment for the president. It's like being represented by Luca Brasi, you know, it's not a -- they are not good. Having said that, most attorneys would not want their client who's the subject of a very significant criminal investigation to be going into a deposition or any types of proceedings in a defamation case.

What's interesting is that Michael Avenatti, who I should say is my former research assistant, has really created quite a mess for Cohen. And in many ways, it's a mess of Cohen's own creation. Cohen has really fallen into every trap that Avenatti has set for him. And it's proven to be his own doing. The problem, I think, for the president is that many of us said -- some of us said a year ago, that he should've severed his ties with Michael Cohen. Cohen, to be as polite as possible, is rather reckless as an attorney. He has hopelessly shattered, I think, the attorney-client privilege that would protect the president. That leaves only the Fifth Amendment. As the last line of defense, absent of pardon.

MACCALLUM: You know, in terms of the defamation case, and he says, you know, he's sort of protecting himself because he's also under investigation by federal authorities. Would you assume that he would do the same thing in that case?

TURLEY: He might. I have to say the profile of that New York case looks very bad. I'm a criminal defense attorney and it is a very bad situation. They're looking at him for different types -- supposedly of fraud, they've connected some of the allegations to his taxicab medallion business. These are the types of investigations that can easily tripwires into an indictment. He also --

MACCALLUM: So, you think any of them tripwires with regards to the president?

TURLEY: It could. The danger that is Michael Cohen is that he did not maintain clear lines between being a lawyer, a fixer, a friend, a business associate, and that left the attorney-client privilege in tatters. So, he destroyed in my view the greatest protection he could afford the president. And now, he's sitting in some evidence vault, they're all of his files, including possible recordings. It could not be worse. And so, the question is confining the damage here for the president.

MACCALLUM: All right. I want to ask you one question about the travel ban because what we're hearing from the questions that were asked with regard to the president's travel ban in the Supreme Court is that the members of the Supreme Court appeared to be somewhat hostile to the arguments that the president had acted outside his power to protect the country. What are you reading into this in terms of how they may decide in this case?

TURLEY: Well, I've said all along that I believe the president had the law in his side on this issue, unless they're going to change major precedent. I believe that he will prevail before the Supreme Court. What the lower courts did in my view is highly problematic, and some of them I think were unfair to President Trump. All of the use of these tweets in these cases was rather surprising and unprecedented. It's not that they have never cited these comments by politicians, but the amount of emphasis that they put on his tweets. I have never seen another case and I don't think the Supreme Court is going to follow their lead on that.

MACCALLUM: They don't seem particularly interested in them. All right. Great. Thank you very much. Jonathan. Good to see you tonight.

TURLEY: Thanks.

MACCALLUM: Coming up...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We found the needle in the haystack and it was right here in Sacramento.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: What a day in this case. For more than 40 years, the ex-police officer now believed to be the Golden State killer has been living peacefully in California. But last night, the police closed in in. Detective Paul Holes has been tracking him for 24 years. And he's here with his story, moments away.

Plus, Kanye West apparently shed about nine million followers today because he supports President Trump. And now, his wife Kim Kardashian is trying to stop the bleeding. Candace Owens is no stranger to backlash for her beliefs. She joins me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: He was known as the Golden State killer, the east area rapist, and the original night stalker. Detectives eventually realized that it was all being done by one man. For ten years, in the 70s and 80s, he terrorized California -- sneaking into women's homes, raping them at knifepoint, and murdering 12 people. And then, for some reason, he stopped. And now, Joseph James DeAngelo, former police officer, is behind bars. In moments, we're going to talk to Paul Holes who worked this case nearly 25 years. But first, Trace Gallagher, live in our West Coast newsroom with the extraordinary back story. Trace.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, what's astonishing is this investigation has been open and active for 42 years, and Joseph James DeAngelo was never a suspect until six days ago. But now we know the 72- year-old DeAngelo has lived in the Sacramento suburbs for more than 30 years. And while the majority of these rapes and murders were committed, DeAngelo was a police officer in both Central and Northern California. In 1979, he was fired from law enforcement for shoplifting a hammer and a can of dog repellant and never contested his termination apparently to avoid a deeper investigation.

In 1976, the suspect was initially dubbed the east area rapist, after a series of sexual assault in East Sacramento that all followed the same pattern, prying open a window, shining a flashlight in the victim's eyes, raping them, and in some cases, later taunting them by calling them on the phone.

Then in 1979, the same year, Joseph DeAngelo left law enforcement in Northern California, a string of rapes and murders began happening in Southern California. Police called that suspect the night stalker. In 2001, with advances in forensic technology, investigators found the DNA from crimes committed by the night stalker matched the DNA from the east area rapist. Then, last week, police found their needle in a haystack. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNINDENTIFIED MALE: We did a lot of exclusions of other folks. We've got this person who looks like he might be our guy. And then, we're able to get -- at least an initial -- discarded DNA sample that gave us more confidence that this was our person, and we're able to continue and get a better -- more workable sample of DNA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: The sheriff woudn't clarify exactly where the discarded DNA came from. Experts said it could be anything from trash to a piece of clothing. And there was no explanation for why, after 42 years, police finally narrowed the search to DeAngelo. The sheriff said only that they surveilled him and developed a planned to arrest him.

A bestselling book about the Golden State killer by the late crime writer, Michelle McNamara, renewed interest in the case, but did not offer new evidence. For now, Joseph James DeAngelo is facing two counts of murder. Those charges are expected to quickly multiply. Martha.

MACCALLUM: Incredible. Trace, thank you so much. Here now with more, Paul Holes, newly retired Contra Costa County cold-case investigator who worked on the Golden State killer case for the last 24 years, 10 years of that exclusively on this case. Paul, tell me what this means to you, this apprehension?

PAUL HOLES, RETIRED CONTRA COSTA COUNTY INVESTIGATOR: It's absolutely huge, after nearly a quarter of a century trying to find this guy, to actually see him after all these years of wondering who he was, it's an amazing moment. I think it's an amazing moment for all the victims to finally know that this guy who's been out there all this time is in custody. He won't ever get out. And they can now feel safe.

MACCALLUM: How did they find him in the end?

HOLES: In the end it was leveraging new DNA technology, and using that DNA technology that can produce leads that allowed gum-chew investigations to follow up on. And ultimately, that led to a smaller pool of suspects, and that he emerged as the number one priority.

MACCALLUM: You know, did you know when you were looking at his profile, did you know that because he was so good at covering his tracks, did you suspect that he might be law enforcement?

HOLES: You know, there have been theories over the years that he could have had law enforcement and/or military training. You know, for my assessment, I always saw him as a sophisticated and intelligent offender, but I didn't necessarily think that it meant that he had to be law enforcement. Now that we know he was law enforcement, and then taken a look at the details in the case file, it adds up. He had training, he understood law enforcement techniques.

MACCALLUM: And that they say that he would change his routine. So, when there was an article in the newspaper that said he only attacked women who are alone, he read that. And then, the next attack, he did when a man was in the house, right? I mean, he constantly kept changing his game.

HOLES: Exactly. And in part, he was changing his game to try to, you know, throw off law enforcement by making misleading statements or doing certain types of behaviors or actions that would makes us think he's somebody different than what -- who he was, but he also was somebody that responded. And so, that instance if he reads an article in the newspaper that he only attacks when there's no man present, he's feeling challenged. And so, he took that challenge, and upped the ante and attacked when a man is present.

MACCALLUM: You know, the other thing that fascinates me is the dog repellant, he stole that. Was he using that to, you know, fend off a dog when he was trying to get into a house, and could that have been a bigger clue back then?

HOLES: You know, we have no instance in which he knowingly used dog repellent. He most certainly could have, you know, either ahead of time to try to sensitize these dogs to who he was and fear him, so they would not aggressively come after him when he attacked. He had some kind of unusual uncanny ability to control the dogs in these residences, whether it be in the yard or inside the house.

MACCALLUM: Two last things, when you look at potentially the motive, why you think that he was doing this? And, also, were you told anything about what his reaction was when the police closed in on him yesterday or last night?

HOLES: Well, in terms of his reaction, he was taken into custody very rapidly. He was stunned. And he most certainly understood the gravity of being in custody, and I directly observed that. The motive of why he was doing these crimes -- these horrific crimes, it is unknown at this point in time. There's a lot we don't know about him right now and there's a lot more investigation into him, his background, and where he was during the various attacks through Northern California down to Southern California.

MACCALLUM: He called one of his victim 20-something-years later on the phone. I mean, he obviously is a twisted individual, which is apparent from all of these. But congratulations to you, Paul, and everybody else who've worked this case. This is a huge -- a huge finding here tonight, and we thank you very much for talking with us. Good to see you, sir.

HOLES: Thank you. Good to see you.

MACCALLUM: All right. You too. Paul Holes, thanks for being here. So, coming up, you remember these socks that President George H.W. Bush wore at his wife's, Barbara, funeral? Wait until you hear the full back story about the company that made them. But first, Kanye West called Donald Trump his brother today. It's got the media in a frenzy that even Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to address. Candace Owens on deck with her reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know they've met during the transition, that's the only meeting I'm aware of that's taken place or conversation before everybody has a meltdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, Kanye West shedding some followers on Twitter because of the love that he's shown for President Trump and for my next guest. This morning he called President Trump his brother. You don't have to agree with Trump, he wrote, but the mob can't make me not love him. We are both dragon energy. He is my brother. I love everyone. I don't agree with everything anyone does, that's what makes us individuals, and we have the right to independent thought.

To which, President Trump replied, "Thank you, Kanye, very cool." It seems Kanye is OK with two terms for the president, but he also twitted a look into the future, in his own run, with his cryptic 2024. And it seems that it all started after the pushback Kanye got for writing I love the way Candace Owens thinks. Here now is Candace Owens, communication director of Turning Point USA. Candace, good to see you tonight. Thank you very much --

CANDACE OWENS, COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR TURNING POINT USA: Thank you for having me.

MACCALLUM: -- for being with us this evening. I want to put up a tweet that you wrote. You've said, 'the masters control everything. Including who blacks and even are allowed to like -- or even allowed to like. Kanye tweeted seven words, seven words, and they jump up and told blacks that they must immediately revolt. How many of you jumped up and did that? How many of you had your minds enslaved?' Tell me about writing that?

OWENS: It's just the truth. It's what I've been preaching about long before Kanye wrote this seven word tweet that broke the internet is that -- and once they've enslaved our bodies, Democratic Party. But say they have enslaved our minds they have told us who we must love, who we must hate, what we must think, what ideas are unacceptable.

In the long run, it just doesn't add up. Listen, I think differently. Kanye West thinks differently. I can guarantee he and I get in a same room, we will have a lot of disagreements. The one thing that we will celebrate is our right to think differently. I don't understand what's so controversial for the left to understand this. They have demonized him in the last 72 hours. It's almost sickening. But at the end of the day, it's going to have adverse effects. I can guarantee you that.

MACCALLUM: Well, Kim Kardashian seems to be concerned about it. She tweeted to the media trying to demonize my husband, let me say this, your commentary on Kanye being erratic and his tweets being disturbing is actually scary, so quick to label him as having mental health issues just by being himself. He's always been expressive, it's not fair.

I want to take a look at John Legend, too, because he's very upset. I love that great brilliant artists have the power to imagine a better future, but artists can't be blind to the truth. Candace?

OWENS: Well, first of all, John Legend has me blocked on Twitter. He and his wife made some very vicious attacks against me before Kanye ever got involved. They've said some very nasty things to me because I support President Trump. That's the only reason.

At the end of the day, I think that -- there's just a sort of foot in your mouth syndrome with John Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen. They've been disgusting. They have led the pack and hate against President Trump. In so much that President Trump blocked his wife because she basically said if you don't agree with me, I have a right to bully you. These are the celebs that say that preach love. They don't preach love.

Well, Kanye West is preaching right now is love, and Kim Kardashian is going to stand beside her husband and the father of her children. I'm proud, very proud to say that I stand with both of them.

MACCALLUM: So, when you look at how the African-American community has been treated by President Trump versus President Obama, you know, in terms of support, in terms of economic encouragement, in terms of empowerment, who do you think did a better job -- have done a better job?

OWENS: I think President Barack Obama did a better job at creating a facade. That's exactly what it was. It was a facade. It was a mirage, and we were all dying in the desert is what really happened, OK. He had tons of hip-hop artists. He had Jay-Z and Beyonce there all the time.

At the end of the day, what was going on in Chicago? Nothing got better in the black community. In fact, things got worse from the black community. He sat down in the office and the country had never been more divided. I never felt this way about blacks and whites when I was growing up in school. But I feel this way now because that's what Barack Obama effectively worked on. It was a way to enslaved us to the Democratic Party.

MACCALLUM: You know, do you think he wasted an opportunity, President Obama?

OWENS: No, I think that he never really had power at the end of the day. He never really had any power because he borrowed a lot of money to get into office. At the end of the day, if you borrowed money, they're the people that control your strings.

On the other hand, we have President Donald Trump, he's completely free because he walks in there as a billionaire and they've tried to demonize that. He became a billionaire because of capitalism and free market, things that we should be celebrating in this country. That is what America is all about, the American dream and anybody can do that. I'm so happy, again, to see that Kanye West is giving the American dream black -- back to black America.

MACCALLUM: All right, Candace, thank you very much. Very interesting to talk with you, and I'm glad you're here tonight. Hope to see you again soon. Many thanks.

OWENS: Thank you so much for having me.

MACCALLUM: You bet, anytime. So, coming up, at Barbara Bush's funeral, her loving husband, Bush 41, as he's affectionately known, wore these socks as a tribute to her devotion to fostering literacy in America. But there is more to this story. John and Mark Cronin are the men behind those socks and they have the support of Bush 41. They're here next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I like a colorful sock. I'm a sock man. This is a modest pair here today. It's a doozy they might say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Back to the great story tonight, and we're also happy to report at the top of this that President George H.W. Bush has been moved out of intensive care. He is now in a regular recovery room where he is, according to his spokesman, Jim McGrath, joking with folks at the hospital and saying that he's more concerned about the upcoming Rockets playoff games than anything that's going on with him or his health.

According to his son, Jeb, he said dad is stronger than an ox, and he plans to return home by Friday. We also know that he wants to get to Maine this summer. We certainly hope that he is able to do that as well.

But all of that brings us to this great story behind the colorful socks covered with books that everyone noticed at Barbara Bush's funeral, because he wore them as an homage or tribute to the first lady's passion for fostering literacy And a gift to him from my next guest who is now selling hundreds of those socks and all the proceeds are going to the Barbara Bush literacy foundation.

Here now is 22-year-old John Cronin, chief happiness officer of the very special business call John's Crazy Socks, which he cofounded with his father, Mark, who also joins me. Mark and John, good to see both of you. Thank you so much for being here.

MARK CRONIN, JOHN'S CRAZY SOCKS FOUNDER: Thank you very much, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Tell me the story, John, about how you -- how did you make this connection with your business and President Bush 41?

JOHN CRONIN, JOHN'S CRAZY SOCKS FOUNDER: Last year, we're with him -- I've sent some socks to George W. Bush.

MACCALLUM: Because you know he liked crazy socks.

CRONIN, J.: He likes wearing my pretty socks. And then, back then --

CRONIN, M.: In the beginning of March, his office called and asked for some more socks. So, you sent him some more socks, right?

CRONIN, J.: I did.

CRONIN, M.: And what did he send you?

CRONIN, J.: He sent me a sock. They --

CRONIN, M: USO.

CRONIN, J.: USO and he gave me back the letter, pretty touching.

MACCALLUM: How did it feel to get a letter from the former President of the United States?

CRONIN, J.: I felt so happy. I feel he is proud of me (ph). He was a really good guy. He's amazing.

MACCALLUM: He's a really great guy and he's amazing, and you're a great guy and you're amazing, so it's no surprise to me that you get along so well. And you gave him -- you created the Down syndrome superheroes.

CRONIN, J.: That's right. I was trying to point out I drew socks -- superhero socks. First, I got -- I drew (inaudible) socks. I drew the picture. I drew the superhero. Who they have done it? It's me.

(LAUGHTER)

MACCALLUM: I like you.

(CROSSTALK)

CRONIN, M.: And President Bush wore these on World Down Syndrome Day.

MACCALLUM: Oh, that's wonderful.

CRONIN, M.: And sent out tweets --

CRONIN, J.: He tweeted on World Down Syndrome day --

MACCALLUM: Yeah.

CRONIN, J.: -- and he tweeted and say I'm amazing --

MACCALLUM: You're a very accomplished. You're in the Special Olympics. And you started this business with your dad. We know that President Bush 41 --

CRONIN, J.: Right.

MACCALLUM: -- did the American Disability Act, he's very interested in the kind of business that you're running. And, Mark, I know that you try to employ people with different abilities. And how many employees do you have?

CRONIN, M.: Well, our mission is to demonstrate what's possible and do it every day. One way is by creating jobs. We've created 33 jobs, 15 of those are held by people with different abilities. And the key is not altruism, it's good business. These people are terrific, and we succeed because of the work they do.

MACCALLUM: And, John, you're the boss?

CRONIN, J.: I'm kind of the boss. I'm good at him and myself.

(LAUGHTER)

MACCALLUM: So, what is your message? You must be happy as I think everybody is, that President Bush seems to be recovering in the hospital. Do you want to send him a message?

CRONIN, M.: We want him to get better, right? Get better, President Bush.

CRONIN, J.: I want him to get better, and I hope he's OK. And thank you for wearing my socks.

MACCALLUM: And he's been so supportive. And we thank you, too. And we know that he probably would love another pair of socks. John and Mark, thank you so much. Good to see you both.

CRONIN, M.: We've got to tell people.

MACCALLUM: Quick follow up, go ahead.

CRONIN, M.: Where can they get great socks?

CRONIN, J.: They can get the best sock (ph) (inaudible).

MACCALLUM: All right, we've got it right on the bottom. Thank you so much, John, good to see you. Mark, thanks for coming.

CRONIN, M.: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Today is World Malaria Day. I have supported the work of Malaria No More since 2000 when I've interviewed Laura Bush on this subject. Malaria's deaths are now down by half, but still a child dies every two minutes. Go to malarianomore.org. I'm Martha. This is The Story.

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