This is a rush transcript from “The Story with Martha MacCallum" September 15, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hey there, Bret. Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is unimaginable a few years ago, but with resolve, determination, a fresh look at the way peace is done, this is being achieved. Thank you, Mr. President.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: History at the White House today as two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain come to the table to sign agreements with Israel, isolating Iran as its neighbors join hands with Israel to forge a new economic future and embrace a vision of a Middle East potentially without war.
It is an agreement that nobody really saw coming, and one that has been called a huge achievement, even by those who are not fans of this administration. Here's this in The New York Times. What happened between Israel and two former enemies is an honest triumph in a region and a year that has known precious few. The last time we saw this kind of breakthrough was 26 years ago with the signing in 1994 of an agreement between Jordan and Israel and prior to that in 1979, when Egypt and Israel brokered peace.
We begin tonight with White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, who spearheaded this deal. Jared, good to have you here tonight. Thanks for being here.
JARED KUSHNER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: Thank you, Martha. Great to be with you.
MACCALLUM: So, when you started this venture and these discussions, a lot of people said that you had the audacity to think that you could make a difference in the Middle East. So, everybody has tried to broker these kinds of deals. How was what you did different?
KUSHNER: So, first of all, it's great to be with you. And what we did different was we showed up in the region and we started listening. The president's first trip was to Saudi Arabia, where he brought all the leaders together and said, these are not your problems. These are not our problems. Let's all focus on them as collective problems. And we studied everything that had been tried and that had failed. And he said, let's try to do it differently. And instead of trying to take on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and making that the panacea of everything, we took the steps that needed to be taken to show that there was real sincerity.
But we showed that the Palestinian leadership is not interested in making a peace deal at this time. And we showed that Israel was - that along with the efforts to bring everyone closer together, allow for us to make these historic breakthroughs. So, people in the Middle East are now seeing that they don't want to have their futures be held back by conflicts of the past. People want to pursue shared opportunities. They want to have better jobs. They want to do business together. They want to explore each other's countries. They want to get to know each other. And President Trump was able to take an unconventional approach to bring people together.
And I'll just say that again, for the last three and a half years, we've been very heavily criticized for the approach we took by the experts who have been doing this for the last decades for not doing it the way they did it, but their way didn't work. And so, President Trump took a different way, but he achieved a different result by doing it in a much more productive way.
MACCALLUM: So, it's interesting, and John Kerry made the Iran deal and now you have a situation where Iran is more isolated than ever, as we said in the introduction. So, what I'm wondering is, when you look at the Iran deal and the European countries that are still technically part of that deal, do you think this changes their calculus on that arrangement?
KUSHNER: Well, I think that it shows them that the world is moving forward. Look, the Iran deal is one of the worst deals ever made. And again, good deals will stand the test of time. This deal barely can make it past one administration. So, it was a terrible deal. It basically allowed Iran to have a pathway to a nuclear weapon. It allowed them to have access to $150 billion that they used to fund terror that led to further destabilization.
You would have thought on the day of the agreement they would have said, thank you, America. Instead, they were chanting in the streets, death to America, death to Israel. President Trump ended that deal. He also immediately wins the Middle East and destroyed the caliphate of ISIS and took back that land. And we've been working with Iraq is more stable now.
We've brought our partners that all felt very isolated by the previous administration's voyeurism going to work with the Iranians, whether it's Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain. They all trust President Trump because they know that when he says he's going to do something, he does it. And he's made peace by showing great strength in the region. So, Iran is definitely more isolated and while President Trump's president, they will never have a nuclear weapon.
MACCALLUM: I mean, this is very interesting to look at how this potentially changes the whole dynamic in the Middle East. So, one of the things that the president said today was that he thought that Iran would come to the table. They have terrible economy right now. But what I'm wondering is, what is the administration willing to do if the Iranian people want to choose a different future for themselves?
KUSHNER: So, it's very complicated because the situation with Iran is not - is one where they have an amazing people and amazing culture. They have an incredible country, very rich with natural resources and history, but they have a leadership that's trying to use religion as an excuse to divide people to maintain their power. And they want to cause destabilization as opposed to economic integration and allow people to have a better life.
So, look from President Trump's point of view, he's willing to meet with people. He's willing to talk. We'll brainstorm. We'll come up with ideas, but he's willing to be creative to help them form a better future.
But you see this deal, which again, really is a watershed moment and just for me personally, was an honor to be a part of it. And a very emotional day here at the White House watching something happen that nobody thought would be possible. All these leaders getting together, signing a peace agreement, it makes you realize that anything is possible if we have the courage and the vision and the determination to try to move forward.
So, the hope that we have is that Iran will stop their opposition to progress. We'll see that they should be modernizing their society, giving their citizens more rights, more freedoms, and helping build a brighter future for their next generation.
MACCALLUM: That would be amazing. That would be fascinating.
KUSHNER: And we can help them do that.
MACCALLUM: I want to learn more about that as we go forward. The Palestinians obviously were very unhappy with this deal. They called it a very deep stabbing in the back of the Palestinians. It is a free offer for the Israelis to continue their occupation on our land. Your response?
KUSHNER: So, I saw the other day that they were launching a campaign against normalization. What they should be doing is launching a campaign to make the lives of the Palestinian people better. This rhetoric is tired. The people are tired. The people want to live better lives. You have a government that's in the 16th year of a four-year term. The whole experiment, their democracy has proven that it is not working in that form. And so, look, Bahrain is a sovereign nation. United Arab Emirates is a sovereign nation. Israel is a sovereign nation. They have the ability to do what's in the interests of their country and come together in that regard.
And you have old, tired rhetoric by people who have a big track record of failure and making progress. That quite frankly is not allowing the Palestinian people to live a better life. We hosted our economic conference in Bahrain. We built an economic plan which actually would work very well. We studied Poland, Singapore, the Palestinians only 5 million people. It's not that hard. It's a $50 billion plan that would create a million new Palestinian jobs, reduce their poverty rate by 50 percent, double their GDP.
And the leaders wouldn't even show up to a conference and try to talk about it. So, what we've been trying to do is figure out how do we improve the lives of the Palestinian people. But the old way of doing it was a dead end. So, we said, let's try a different way. And obviously that achieved a great result.
And I'll just say one final thing on the president is that there has been a lot of people who basically are saying the president's bad. All these things. These people have been saying that if President Trump was elected, he would start World War III. And what we saw today was instead of World War III, he achieved the first breakthrough in Middle East peace in the last 26 years. And again, he does things in a different way, and he puts up success.
MACCALLUM: Well, as I said, there has been lot of kudos, I think from all sides. But here's the other thing everybody's asking when is Saudi Arabia going to be a part of this deal? The president suggested today that he thought that that was something that could develop fairly quickly. But the Saudi statement today is this. The kingdom stands by the Palestinian people and supports all efforts to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. So that doesn't sound like they're very close.
KUSHNER: Right. So that's a cliche. It's an old cliche people have been using for a long time. The countries that made the deals today, they've used the same cliche. But at the end of the day, people realize that the Palestinian leadership just isn't getting there to make a deal and they want to move forward. So, I think people are running out of patience. And again, in deal making, politics is politics, but in deal, everyone's at no until they're yes.
So, and by the way, in Saudi Arabia, King Salman, the crown prince, they do very genuinely care about the Palestinian people. They want to see them live better lives. They've given a ton of money, a ton of aid to them over time. But I think that there's just a lot of frustration in the Middle East and throughout the world with the Palestinian leadership in the way that they've conducted themselves these last couple of years. But our line is open. We do have a lot of respect for them. And we have discussions when they're ready for peace, we'll be a great partner to help them achieve it.
MACCALLUM: Progress in that area. I want to ask you two quick questions before I let you go, Jared. The first one is about COVID and the Nevada rally the other night. After Tulsa and we saw what happened to Herman Cain that was so sad and tragic after that. He died a couple of weeks later. So, I'm wondering, is there a lot of internal debate over whether or not it makes sense to do these things inside? I think the outside venues, everybody feels is a great alternative. But doesn't it scary a little bit doing these things inside?
KUSHNER: Right. So, our preference is to do them outside at this point in time. I mean, first of all, we have seen cases going down. Death is going down. Test positivity is going down in the country. So, we're seeing a lot of very positive signs with the virus. People are much more knowledgeable today. They know their comorbidities, like I have a friend today who really want to be at the ceremony, but he said, he has some comorbidities. So, his wife said, let's wait till after the vaccine comes, which is coming very quickly.
MACCALLUM: But why do anything inside like Nevada., I mean, why not? Why do that?
KUSHNER: Yes, so the preference is to do it outside. We had several outdoor venues that we were planning to use, but the governor intervened and would not allow that to happen. So, we were forced to use an indoor venue. But again, people wanted to assemble, and they want to be together. We encourage people to wear masks. The masks were available, hand sanitizer, and again, we encourage people to do what's right, but also to know their risk profile so that people can take the appropriate action for them.
MACCALLUM: OK, last question is on TikTok. Senator Hawley has come out and said that this is an unacceptable deal in terms of national security grounds because it looks like the Oracle deal is going to go through, which would allow China to still have some control over that company rather than the Wal-Mart deal and the Microsoft deal, which would have bought them outright. So, he's saying this is a deal that should not happen. What is the president - what is his take on this? And why would he be OK with that, given the fact that in the beginning he said that was not what he wanted at all?
KUSHNER: Well, Senator Hawley is a very smart senator and somebody who the president talks to and listens to. So, if he has that point of view, I'm sure that's something that the administration will listen to and take into account. But the latest that I know is that an application was submitted. I have not seen the structure. Our interest in this is a national security interest. We want to make sure that the data and privacy of American citizens is protected.
MACCALLUM: And so, if that's not the case that deal won't go through?
KUSHNER: No. If it's not adequately satisfied, I don't believe they'll be approved. But we have a proper process with experts who will look at it and then make an adjudication on the proper grounds. And then once they have the recommendation, they'll take it to the president.
MACCALLUM: All right. Jared Kushner, thank you for your time tonight. Good to have you with us.
KUSHNER: Great, Martha. Great to be with you.
MACCALLUM: Thank you. So, we are awaiting Joe Biden right now in Florida. 49 days to go until the election. This is his first campaign trip to the Sunshine State since he was becoming the nominee to an outreach with Hispanic voters there, Raymond Arroyo and Juan Williams, when THE STORY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Breaking tonight, another terrible situation where an officer was shot in broad daylight outside the courthouse in Phoenix. The FBI now confirming that an arrest has been made in this case. No word on the identity or the motive of the suspect. You see the scene there. The officer was wearing a vest and thankfully is expected to survive. So meanwhile, the manhunt continues tonight for the gunman who ambushed these two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in their patrol car.
This is the newer video that we're seeing now just released surveillance video shows you what a hero. These two officers are and this young woman who put a tourniquet around her partner's arm, they were both critically wounded, and they got out of the car. They were waiting for backup to arrive at this point. The 31-year-old mother of a six-year-old boy was radioing for help as she was providing aid to her partner in this image.
Your heart just breaks for these hardworking police officers who were ambushed out of nowhere sitting in their car. The New York Post editorial board is now calling for an end to the anti-cop rhetoric in the country, writing this, As long as our leaders refuse to condemn the hate and violence of this rhetoric, the movement will keep tossing up even more, ignorant lunatic extremism.
Joining me now, Deroy Murdock, contributing editor of the National Review Online and Fox News Contributor. Deroy, good to have you with us tonight.
DEROY MURDOCK, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Martha, great to be with you.
MACCALLUM: Just watching these stories, this other officer now in Phoenix. I can't imagine having the courage to be a police officer on the streets of any of these cities right now, knowing that you're a sitting duck for some of this abuse and violence. What it goes through your mind as you look at all of this tonight?
MURDOCK: Well, I think the appropriate word or phrase to use in this case isn't just shooting, these officers are not shot in the crossfire in the middle of a bank robbery or something like this. This is an assassination attempt. This is an attempt by somebody to come up and assassinate these two officers, not while they were out fighting a crime in a very dynamic situation. They were just sitting in their cars.
And unfortunately, we've got people in Black Lives Matter and these other groups have been using vicious, nasty, horrible, hateful rhetoric. You may remember them saying things like pigs in a blanket prime, fry them like bacon. You see graffiti all around saying ACAB, all cops are bad or worst words than that and kill the cops.
Nancy Pelosi referred to federal law enforcement agencies, storm troopers. So, you've got this kind of language and some people take it to heart, think, well, I guess these are really the worst people in the world. They're like the KKK in blue. And so, let's take them out.
And the rhetoric goes on. The Left continue to say this sort of thing. Democrats here and there will condemn it, but nowhere near as energetically and consistently as forcefully as they should. And so, the basically the messages that cops are evil and it's OK to wipe them out. And some people take that rhetoric to heart and two people got shot in the face. And another one, as you mentioned, got shot in Phoenix. And this just goes on and on and it will continue until the Left calls this rhetoric. The Democrats need to step up and denounce this sort of thing and maybe then you'll see some peace and quiet, until that happens, probably not.
MACCALLUM: So, an effigy of a police officer dressed in a Ku Klux Klan outfit had the white - with a white hood, hung in effigy in front of the White House not too long ago. And those images are obviously something that resonates with some people and has driven that to some--
MURDOCK: I believe in Wisconsin, somebody running for state Senate was outside of the head of the police officers' union, just bashing this pinata, which I think portrayed the police officers' union head and his wife. And this is again, a guy running as a Democrat for state Senate in Wisconsin. This isn't some crazy college kid. This was the Democratic nominee for state Senate and--
MACCALLUM: The senator from Massachusetts calling for police to basically be have all of their weapons taken away. This is the L.A. County Sheriff, Alex Villanueva, calling on LeBron James to also care about these victims. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX VILLANUEVA, LA COUNTY SHERIFF: This challenge to LeBron James. I want you to match that and that double that reward, because I know you care about law enforcement, you expressed a very, very interesting statement about your perspective on race relations and on officer involved shootings and the impact that has on the African American community. I appreciate that.
But likewise, we need to appreciate that. Respect for life goes across professions, across races, creeds. And I'd like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Do you think there's any chance that will happen, Deroy?
MURDOCK: Look, a lot of these celebrities, people look up to these folks, they've got all sorts of financial resources. You've seen the NFL and the NBA and even Major League Baseball get involved in this whole Black Lives Matter movement. These people need to step forward and said, look, enough is enough. There are bad cops and they need to be disciplined or punished if necessary. But there are a lot of good cops, a lot of people out there who are just trying to maintain law and order and keep people safe in their homes and safe in their schools, safe in their businesses.
And we need to respect those people. And these folks who have huge audiences and platforms and followings need to step up and say this sort of thing. I mean, I could say this here as myself, but I'm not an NBA star. I don't have millions of followers. I don't have people buying my sneakers, et cetera, because I don't have any sneakers to sell. And these people who do this can be very influential. And they ought to say, look, this has to stop. This is ridiculous. And if they would use their celebrity for good in this sense, I think it would be very, very helpful.
MACCALLUM: We need those voices that people look up to the athletes, the politicians, also religious leaders, to lead the way across the country and standing up for all human beings, including police officers who put their lives on the line every day to protect families all across this country.
Deroy, thank you. Very good to have you here tonight.
MURDOCK: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: So, we are waiting for Joe Biden in Florida. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as that gets underway. It's running a little bit behind schedule. We'll be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: So, we're moments away from Joe Biden in the battleground state of Florida. 49 days to go. Wow, that's getting close. This is his first trip to the Sunshine State since he became the nominee. The former VP is currently ahead of President Trump by just under two in the latest. Well, that's even closer than that. That's the latest RCP average. He's making a big push to hang on to his advantage among Latino voters tonight, focusing on Puerto Rican support in Kissimmee, Florida. But the other crucial bloc will be Cuban-Americans.
The Washington Post pointing out this. There are about a million Cuban Americans in Miami-Dade County, according to the Census Bureau, in a state that Trump won in 2016 by 113,000 votes. If Biden does substantially worse with that group in 2020, it becomes less likely that he'll turn the state blue.
President Trump won Florida's 29 electoral votes in twenty sixteen by less than one percent. Joining me now, Raymond Arroyo, EWTNews managing editor and Fox News Contributor, and Juan Williams, Fox News Political Analyst, and co-host of The Five. Great to have both of you with us tonight.
So, Raymond, let me start with you. Those numbers are why the Biden camp is getting a little bit nervous about how they're doing with the Hispanic vote, even though he is ahead considerably in the Monmouth poll. Joe Biden, he's ahead by less than Hillary was at this point.
RAYMOND ARROYO, EWTNEWS MANAGING EDITOR: He is indeed. And they're also very worried about that other poll, that NBC poll that shows Trump at 50 percent among Hispanic and Biden with only 46 percent. By the way, he only got 32 percent of the vote. Trump among Hispanics versus Hillary. That's a big reversal. They've got to watch it.
Look, Martha, I was just down in Florida. I cannot tell you the number of Cubanos, Venezuelans who came up to me personally and said we have had it. They were out picketing Kamala Harris's event. We saw that today as Joe Biden approached his event. And they're all carrying these signs. No socialistista, no communista. They believe the Biden campaign.
MACCALLUM: I think we have a video--
ARROYO: Institute a socialist. Yes. Socialist agendas.
MACCALLUM: Yes. There were a lot of Trump folks outside the Biden event tonight spread out along the street here. This is - I've seen this kind of thing out of the campaign trail. This is typical. You do usually see these groups with big Trump flags outside of all of these events. So, Juan, what's your take as we listen, as we wait for Joe Biden here tonight? He's got some work to do here.
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLTICAL ANALYST: I think that's the bottom line, remember let's put everything in context. Biden is still winning Latinos nationally. As Raymond pointed out, he's within the margin of error in Florida. But in both cases, from my perspective, Martha, he's underperforming with Latinos, especially as compared to what Clinton did in 2016.
The distinct argument here, I think is that Trump has been able to reach out to about a third of the Latino electorate in Florida, which is Cuban- American, with those cries of socialist. I just don't think most people think Joe Biden is a socialist or a communist. But let's leave that alone for a second. I think that you're going to see an increased effort by the Biden campaign outreach aimed at the rest of the Latino community in Florida along the I-4 corridor, Tampa, Orlando, you reach not specifically is in the case of Kissimmee tonight to Puerto Ricans. Puerto Ricans who have, you know, not a very strong positive feeling about Trump, given what happened with hurricane Maria back in 2017. You also have Mike Bloomberg putting in $100 million --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM,: A hundred million dollars.
WILLIAMS: -- to help with advertising.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
WILLIAMS: And then have you good messaging on DREAMers, on pathway to citizenship. On Trump's emphasis on the wall that stuff is not going to play well.
MACCALLUM: You know, I just want to play, this is Trump at the Latino round table yesterday in Arizona, another place where is he trying to make some headway with Hispanic voters. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Many of you or your family, your mothers, your fathers, they left countries that were very, very bad. We have tremendous support in Miami from Venezuelans and Cubans. We are not going to let that happen to our country. Nobody wants it. And you know who wants it least is Hispanic-Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Raymond?
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That's correct, Martha. And I think that's resonating. And you know, to pick up on something Juan said there, when I talk to these voters over the weekend in Boca Raton in Miami, they all said safety and security and the economy were the two big issues for them. And these were all Hispanics.
The other factor here that I think is getting lost in all the polls and we watch all of these events, you know, one by one. At the end of the day, I have a simple rule of thumb. Independents and voters in general, they move toward the more vivacious, the more vibrant candidate. The one that has strength. Whether that was Obama versus McCain, Obama had the glow. He had that strength and power.
I think when Hispanic voters look at Donald Trump next to Joe Biden, every time he is out of the basement, these public performances are tired and these events with six people around the table, it looks like visiting day in the memory care unit.
MACCALLUM: Gosh
ARROYO: I mean, it's not exactly the greatest, you know, show of strength and force. So, you've got to take all those visuals mean a lot particularly to Hispanics.
MACCALLUM: Well, a couple of stumbles today with Kamala Harris --
ARTROYO: Yes.
MACCALLUM: -- and Joe Biden reversing the ticket. Just play this really quick and then I will get Juan's reaction and then we have got to go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Administration together with Joe Biden as the president of the United States, the Biden- Harris administration.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Harris-Biden administration is going to relaunch that effort and keep pushing further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Oops, Juan, thoughts?
WILLIAMS: Well, I think it's a slip of the tongue. But you know, at best you can say they see themselves as partners in this. I will say this. You know, in Florida you see the seniors suddenly going for Biden. I think that's the key issue on coronavirus.
And so, you see it's a dynamic race and Biden is going to have to make an effort to get by, you know, those kind -- I think low ball attacks, you know, he looks like he is in the healthcare -- you know, the mental health unit or something. I just don't think that's fair. And I certainly don't think he is a socialist or communist.
MACCALLUM: All right. We're going to leave it there.
ARROYO: The voters will decide, Juan.
MACCALLUM: Juan and --
(CROSSTALK)
ARROYO: Their eyes don't lie to them.
MACCALLUM: -- Raymond, thank you guys.
WILLIAMS: I stay well. I agree.
MACCALLUM: We are still waiting for Joe Biden here at the podium in Florida. Thank you, gentlemen. Good to have you here tonight.
So, we are waiting for Joe Biden to take the stage. In the meantime, have you heard about this show called ""Cuties""? It's about 11-year-old girls in a dance group. Critics are outraged about what is actually in this show.
Republican Senator Mike Lee says the depiction he believes could be criminal and may warrant an investigation from the U.S. Attorney General. He is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Some customers are bailing on Netflix in the wake of the new film of "Cuties". The coming of age film is under fire for its sexualization of 11-year-olds. Watch this clip and decide for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So, you get the idea.
My next guest is one of the senators who is calling on Netflix to pull the plug, saying that the film could be criminal and writing to the CEO, quote, "the film's sexualization of young girls - if not itself the sexual exploitation of the child actors - will certainly contribute to child sexual exploitation by others. At a minimum, it is certainly inappropriate and morally wrong to sexualize minors regardless of whether the depiction is fictional."
Senator of Utah, Mike Lee, joins me now. Senator, good to have you with us today on this.
SEN. MIKE LEE (R-UT): Thank you.
MACCALLUM: I just want to read a quote from the director. Because everybody should, you know, watch this for themselves and see what they think about it. She says, she's Senegalese, and her name is Maimouna Doucoure. She said, I saw so many things and so many issues around me lived by young girls that I decided to make this film and sound an alarm and say we need to protect our children. It's bold, it's feminist but it's so important and necessary to create debate and try to find solutions, for me as artist, for politicians, and parents, it's a real issue. Your reaction?
LEE: Look, it's really cute, it's really fun and nice to be able to characterize it this way. And in fact, this isn't exposing child sexual exploitation. This film actually embodies that. It profits from it. It normalizes it and that's wrong.
Netflix needs to take it off of its platform and people shouldn't watch it. The fact is that children as young as 11, one of the actors portraying these 11-year-olds was actually 10 at the time it was filmed. We're made to act this out. This was itself an act of child sexual exploitation.
MACCALLUM: You know, it's trying to make a point about things like TikTok and the way that young girls are sexualized by social media by the things that they see everywhere they go and this is a young girl who is, from a conservative, Senegalese family and she breaks away from them and she wants to, you know, join this dance group.
And you know, it turns into them sort of looking at these videos of all these things they see online. And you know, I understand the desire to speak to the larger problem which I think every parent in America understands. The oversexualization of children in this country. And what they are exposed to on social media and the pressures on these young girls.
You know, but I'm not sure that this hits the mark with showing how gritty and ugly and awful that is. It glamorizes it to a great extent.
LEE: And I agree completely, Martha. That this is a problem. That it does need attention drawn to it. But, the way in which this draws attention to the problem is by glamorizing it, by normalizing it, and by profiting from it.
If you read the -- if you watch the movie, and you take the movie as a whole, what you'll see is that this is not something that's undertaken delicately. There are all kinds of assaults against children that are depicted in movies without highlighting them, without focusing on them obsessively without glamorizing or normalizing them. This movie doesn't do that. This movie is wrong. And it needs to be taken off of Netflix.
MACCALLUM: What is it that you think it could be potentially criminal?
LEE: Well, look, a movie like this doesn't make itself. These are not computer-generated images. Nor are they adult actors portraying minors. They had to use minors in order to produce this material. And they blatantly sexualized manner in which these little girls had to perform in order to do this itself makes the case. It does amount to child sexual exploitation on its face.
MACCALLUM: Senator Mike Lee, thank you very much. Good have you with us tonight, sir.
LEE: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: So, as we mentioned, we are waiting for former Vice President Joe Biden. He was supposed to take the stage at 6.30. It's now a quarter, almost a quarter to 8 Eastern Time. This is Hispanic heritage event and it looks like it might be getting underway. We just have a podium shot here. We don't have any wide shot to show you of anybody who is watching or participating in this event. But as soon as he gets there, we're going to take you there live.
Also, the latest polls show that most Americans are OK with athletes taking a stand for racial equality on the sports field. But Sunday night's football ratings suggest otherwise.
Heisman trophy winner and former NFL great Herschel Walker joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: So, week one of the NFL is in the books and the ratings, not so good. Eight million fewer people tuned in to the league's nationally televised games this weekend. It's a drop close to 10 percent from 2019. Eighty-six million to 86 million.
So, while the match-ups may have been part of what happened there, themes of racial injustice replaced most fans in the stadium. And in one city where fans were allowed into the stadium. Kansas City, this is what happened during the moment of unity.
(CROWD BOOING)
Some booing in the small crowd there that you can here. Here now Herschel Walker, former NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner. Herschel, great to have you on tonight. Thank you for being here. So, what goes through your mind as you listen to boos and you both of those teams standing with their arms linked on the field.
HERSCHEL WALKER, HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER: Well, first of all, it's great unity but as I said early on, there shouldn't be politics in sports but since the commissioner sort of gave in and decided to let politics come into sports, I don't think the team, the league, the owner, the commissioner has decided what do you want? You are going to protest but to not putting out what is the solution? What's the end game?
And if you do the players do have a right to protest but they must realize the fans have a right to protest as well. So, if they boo, you can't be upset.
MACCALLUM: It's a good point.
WALKER: If they don't watch the show, you can't be upset.
MACCALLUM: So, this is a poem video that was made by the Miami Dolphins. This is just about 18 seconds of it. But this is their description of why they were staying in the locker room during our nation's anthem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you fight for prison reform and innocent lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you repair the communities that were tossed to the side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you admit you gained from it and you swallowed your pride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when greed is not the compass but love is the guide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when the courts don't punish skin color but punish the crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until then, we'll just skip the long production and stay inside.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: We'll stay inside. What's your reaction, sir?
WALKER: Well, that was a beautiful word. A beautiful filmed commercial, but what is the end game? You know, are you going to stay inside? But what is the end game? What do you want? How are you going to achieve this? Because all I see is protest and all I see is words, but there is no actions behind those words.
And I said it early on, instead of everybody having their folded arms or closed fist, why don't we have an open hand, we all come together. And I love to go with you. The NFL, all Major League sports let's go to Washington, let's get the Democratic, let's get the Republican people together because that's the reason we're in this point right here because they don't seem to want to get together because with Tim Scott's bill that he wanted to offer on the police reform. Because remember, he mentioned that in the commercial.
Well, he wanted to do a police reform but the Democrat didn't want to meet about it. So, that's what we need to do is let's go make those groups get together and let's meet about some of these things.
MACCALLUM: You know, I mean, it's a great point. Tim Scott put forward a bill and there was about 80 percent agreement on almost everything in the bill. He said that he would do as many amendments to the bill as people wanted.
And, yet, it was clear that the other side of wanted to keep this issue out there. They didn't want a solution. They didn't want actual change to happen in police reform and tactics, you know, to take away this issue.
WALKER: Well, they don't want to change right now. They don't want to change right now because they want the people upset.
MACCALLUM: I think it's bad.
WALKER: They want the people to go to the voting booth upset.
MACCALLUM: You know, these -- the polls look like people do support this as I said. But the numbers don't. Look at this one. Should pro-athletes use their platform to express views on national issues? Sixty-two percent say yes. Is it appropriate for will athletes to kneel during the anthem to protest racial inequality? Fifty-two -- 56 percent say yes. And those numbers have gone up and up over the recent months. Why do you think that is?
WALKER: Well, I think the reason that it is because you don't want to be called a racist if you don't support it. Now, if you talk against something you are called a racist. No one is going to stand up and say what they really want to say because of the names they are going to be called.
My thing is on your job. I don't think you need to have any political statement made, you know, after your job, after you leave your work, I think you can. People love to watch sports. They don't want to watch sports where you're trying to tell them who to vote for and you're trying to tell them what to do and what is going on in the country. why don't -- you just -- and I hate to say this. Let's just play sports and then win this (Ph). When the game is over, we go home. We can talk about those things. But you know what? We have got to put actions in it. I mean, we can't just talk, we hot to do something about it.
MACCALLUM: And as you say you'd like to lead the way to Washington and after the season is over get players together to actually push for some action for the things that they say they care so much about.
Herschel Walker, thank you so much. We did a podcast together that's going to come out on Thursday that I hope everybody will listen to because it's excellent and he's a smart man. Herschel, thank you. Great having you here tonight.
WALKER: Thanks.
MACCALLUM: So, we're still waiting for Joe Biden. There's a couple speakers before he comes out. And we'll bring that you in just a second. And then coming up next, an extraordinary scientific discovery on the planet Venus could point to extraterrestrial life beyond this Earth. And sometimes that sounds like a good idea. NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine calls it the most significant development yet in building that case for life outside of our planet. This is amazing. He's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: An extraordinary astronomical discovery pointing to signs of possible life on Venus. Jane Greaves, a professor of Cardiff University in the U.K., the lead author on this report explains it this way.
We have detected a rare gas called phosphine in the atmosphere of our neighbor planet Venus. And the reason for our excitement is that phosphine gas on Earth is made by microorganisms that live in oxygen-free environments. And so, there is a chance that we have detected some kind of living organism in the clouds of Venus.
Venus' surface temperature of nearly 900 degrees is too hot to sustain life but researchers have speculated that life could survive high in the planets' atmosphere where these molecules were found.
Nasa administrator Jim Bridenstine joins me now. Jim, always good to have you with us.
JIM BRIDENSTINE, ADMINISTRATOR, NASA: Always.
MACCALLUM: Tell me your excitement over all of this.
BRIDENSTINE: So, look, about 10 years ago, NASA found microbial life at about 120,000 feet in Earth's atmosphere. In other words, we know that microbes can live at those altitudes here on Earth. Why would we believe that they couldn't live at those altitudes on Venus? And when we think about Venus, at 240,000 feet the temperature and the pressure of Venus is a very similar to the temperature and pressure of the Earth at sea level.
So, I'm not saying that phosphine on Venus is a guarantee that there is life there. But here on Earth the only way we know phosphine gets created is through biology. We don't know any other way that it happens naturally. Not to say we could make a discovery but this is a significant discovery of phosphine in the upper atmosphere of Venus.
MACCALLUM: So, what kind of life exactly are we talking about here?
BRIDENSTINE: We are talking about microbial life, single celled life. Life that could actually live in, you know, may be water, water droplets, tiny little water droplets. The other thing that's important right now under the Trump administration, we are going to Mars.
And in fact, as we speak, we've the Perseverance rover heading to Mars for the first time ever to do -- to do an astrobiology mission. We are looking for the signs of life on other worlds all the time and we've made amazing discoveries on Mars already. Again, we haven't found a life but the probability of finding life on another world keeps going up.
MACCALLUM: It's amazing. And now President Trump is going to want to go to Venus. But in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Gay writes this. And this is a note to all of us from Venus. Let's take a look at it.
So, hi. It's Venus. Congratulations on your discovery. Now leave us alone. No missions to Venus, no exploratory spacecraft, no sleepovers. That goes for your space crazed billionaires, as well as your governments. Earth looks like a mess. You've got a health crisis, environmental crisis, political crisis. You keep fighting about face masks, you haven't figured out how to deliver French fries without having them go soggy and disgusting. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Browns continue to stink. Sincerely, Venus.
So that message to you, Mr. Bridenstine.
BRIDENSTINE: So, know this. Space has this amazing ability to unite us. When we make discoveries in space it's a celebration not just for Republicans and Democrats. It's a celebration for all of humanity.
MACCALLUM: I love that. So true. Jim Bridenstine, thank you. Always great to see you.
BRIDENSTINE: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: So, as we mentioned, we were planning to bring you Joe Biden in Florida, he was going to take the stage at 6.30, now it's now almost 8 o'clock. So that is THE STORY for today. We'll get you there next time. See you tomorrow. THE STORY continues. And we will be here with you. Have a great night. Good night, everybody.
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