Rep. Bryan Steil on calls for the firing and arrest of officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake

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Rep. Bryan Steil on calls for the firing and arrest of officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake

Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil urges patience to allow for a thorough investigation to take place, stresses the importance of restoring public order in Kenosha.

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," August 25, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, we will. Thanks Bret. We'll see everybody at 10:00 o'clock for our special coverage of the RNC night 2.

So tonight we begin with the mother of Jacob Blake and her emotional appeal for peace today after another night of unrest that was sparked by the shooting of her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA BLAKE, JACOB BLAKE'S MOTHER: As I was riding through here, through this city, I noticed a lot of damage. It doesn't reflect my son or my family. If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes, the violence in the destruction, he would be very unpleased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Our heart breaks for Julia Jackson. She was so moving today, talking about what's going on and about her son. And on the screen you can see some of it. At least 30 businesses damaged or reduced to rubble overnight, including car dealerships, restaurants, family-owned stores that may never recover. Here's one local owner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's my father's legacy. I still don't go get it. He's been an icon in this town for decades and it's just horrible. He would be so ashamed right now. He would be so heartbroken if he saw all this. I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So in moments we will talk to a congressman who represents that district. He says help from the feds is necessary at this point in Wisconsin. And then we will speak with Acting Deputy Homeland Secretary - Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli. But first Senior Correspondent Mike Tobin on the ground tonight in Wisconsin. Mike?

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, I can tell you the presence of federal agents is very much real here in Wisconsin. We've seen ATF agents investigating scenes just like this one. This is an office furniture store. One of the many structure fires that let up last night during the conflict.

We can also tell you that Fox News has learned that Department of Justice is now joining the investigation into the shooting of Jacob Frye (ph). That conflict itself got started at the courthouse last night. A fairly typical scene. A line of police in riot gear were trying to prevent protesters from getting into the county courthouse.

There was a back and forth. The demonstrators threw things like metal and plastic, some of them glass. They fired fireworks at the police officers here. Some of them blowing up in the line of law enforcement that were there with the riot gear at the ready.

One of the new techniques that the demonstrators have been using really since Chicago is they use umbrellas. But we saw that the police officers fire the rubber bullets right through those umbrellas.

Eventually, the kids scattered, and they came to different areas and that's when they started setting the structure fires. They went around to car dealerships. They smashed out all the windows, they could. All of this overshadowing the shooting of Jacob Blake. His family held an emotional news conference today, in which they said Blake was a victim of deliberate indifference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB BLAKE SR., FATHER OF JACOB BLAKE: They shot my son seven times. Seven times like he didn't matter. But my son matters. He is a human being and he matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN: And let me give you a quick tour of this area at 11th Avenue and Sheridan road. We just show you this office furniture building that burned. As we move around the area, we take a look across the street here, we've got this car dealership. All of the windows are smashed out on the cars there as the kids ran around with what looked like pavers, smashing out the windows.

Just past that all those cars were set on fire. We look off in the distance here. Another structure fire that burned. It was an amazing senior last night with so many flames leaping to the sky. The National Guard was on the scene last night. Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin says there will be more guardsmen on the scene tonight. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Thank you Mike Tobin in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Joining me now Republican Congressman Bryan Steil style. He represents the 1st District of Wisconsin which includes the City of Kenosha. Thank you very much for being here, Congressman.

I want to get to the family first. Very sad, obviously, and so moving to listen to his parents who are so worried about him. He is said to be paralyzed from the waist down right now after this gunfire from these police officers and he's in surgery, I believe, still this afternoon or this evening.

Let me play you Benjamin Crump in terms of the response that they're looking for, their attorney. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN CRUMP, NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: We're demanding that the prosecutor arrest the officer who shot Jake brake. And we also are asking that these officers who violated the policies in their training be terminated immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So where do we stand with that, congressman?

REP. BRYAN STEIL, R-WI: Wisconsin has a process where any police involved shooting or death of an individual requires an investigation by the Wisconsin Attorney General. That investigation is ongoing. We need to allow that investigation to play itself out so we have all the facts that we can allow justice to be played out here in Wisconsin.

MACCALLUM: Is there anything that you're aware of that we don't see on this video that happened prior to what we see on this video?

STEIL: There's a very thorough investigation going on here in the state of Wisconsin. I think we're going to see a lot of additional facts come out. We need to allow the investigation to play out in full. And I think we can go back and look at Jacob Blake's mother and her call for peace and tranquility in the City of Kenosha tonight. And how important that is that we restore public safety in the City of Kenosha tonight.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I was reading about Kenosha today, obviously, it was a huge auto manufacturing hub. A lot of those Chrysler auto companies have closed down over the last two decades and put strain on the economy of this area to be sure. When you see these businesses and the woman crying about her father's business that was there for so many years, what goes through your mind and what kind of federal help do you think is required here?

STEIL: The City of Kenosha is a tight knit, hardworking community. And like you said, they've seen hard times, was on his way back and we've seen some of the most challenging 48 hours that we have seen in a long time. I think it's important that we restore public safety.

I called on the governor that if he doesn't believe that he has the resources, he needs to reach out and ask the federal government for assistance. We need to make sure that we provide the resources that are needed in the community of Kenosha tonight to restore that public safety.

But your heart breaks. I've received so many phone calls, people reaching out. People that have lost their livelihoods, people that are scared, people that are concerned about what is going to play out in Kenosha. We need to make sure that we provide the resources to the community of Kenosha, so we can restore public safety, not tomorrow, not next week - now, tonight, here in the community of Kenosha,

MACCALLUM: So how quickly do you think you can get some answers in terms of what happened in this situation? And should that be accelerated so that you can get beyond, hopefully, some of the questions that are on this family's mind, first of all?

STEIL: We need to move as quickly as we possibly can in both respects. One, with regards to the investigation, so that we can get all the facts on the table and we can answer the questions that are being asked by Jacob Blake's family. That's completely appropriate.

At the same time, we need to act as quickly as we can to provide the resources to the community to Kenosha so we can restore public safety in the community. I've received so many calls today. I spoke with a woman whose business was ransacked, her livelihood. She was concerned about her personal safety, the safety of her family.

We need to make sure that we get those resources. We're going to see more troops, more law enforcement officers in the community of Kenosha tonight. I'm concerned whether or not that's going to be adequate. The governor needs to make sure that the community of Kenosha has all the resources they need so that they can restore order and reestablish public safety in our community.

MACCALLUM: Let me ask you about that, because Governor Evers, do you think that he will call for federal health? We've seen this become politicized in some situations across the country. And, what will his response be to that? Or will he try to get by without calling in for federal help?

STEIL: I've spoken with the president earlier today. He stands with me. We want to provide that resource and support to the community of Kenosha. It needs to be asked for by the governor. If the governor of Wisconsin does not believe that he has sufficient resources, it's incumbent upon him to ask the federal government for assistance. I stand ready to assist in getting that resource to Kenosha, because we need to reestablish public safety in our community of Kenosha now, not in a few weeks, now.

MACCALLUM: Let me ask you very quickly, because I got to go, congressman. When you look at this crowd, and these videos, are these people from Kenosha, or are they outside influences at work here?

STEIL: This isn't the Kenosha that. I know and if you look at where Kenosha is located, it's along the lake between Milwaukee and Chicago. I'm very concerned and I've heard from local law enforcement that they're very concerned.

Large numbers of people are coming up from Chicago and trying to disrupt the public safety in the community of Kenosha. All the more reason that we need to make sure that our community has the resources to be able to protect people's lives, their personal livelihood and their families now.

MACCALLUM: We've seen this situation too many times across the country, where protests are coopted when night falls by outside groups who are there for purposes that are, in many ways, far distant from the heart of what caused these people to be so upset.

Thank you very much, Congressman Steil. Good to speak with you tonight. Good luck there.

STEIL: Thanks for having me on. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So Joining me now Acting Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Ken Cuccinelli. Secretary Cuccinelli, good to have you here tonight. What's your reaction to what is unfolding in Kenosha, Wisconsin now? It feels like every week we have another city that is looking like this city is looking sadly tonight.

KEN CUCCINELLI, ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DHS: Yes, well, I have a couple. One, to the congressman's point. You both the attorney general of Wisconsin and you have the Department of Justice at the federal level, investigating the underlying incident that began this - the police involved shooting there.

And, those investigations - I know Americans want things yesterday. We're instant folks, but investigations do take time to do correctly. And we have to let that play out or we're not going to have not only the right answer, but an answer through a process that everyone - everyone can have confidence in, including the individual's family involved. You heard from them earlier.

At the same time, the second point is the instant violence that occurs, wanton destruction, the violent opportunists that arise. This is a great cause for concern across America to be seeing this sort of latent mob violence right below the surface explode to the top.

Now, I appreciate Governor Evers putting out 150 National Guardsmen last night and we're looking at 250 tonight, I understand. I wonder is that enough? I appreciate him going immediately to the National Guard to establish order. But last night, it wasn't enough. So I just questioned whether he's doing enough fast enough.

But I will say this, given that we've been talking about, for instance, Oregon and Portland for three months, he's doing a heck of a lot better than they are in Portland. Governor Brown, who's sitting on 7,800 National Guardsmen and three months of violence without calling them out, is utterly irresponsible. At least Governor Evers is trying to deal with it using the tool meant for that purpose.

MACCALLUM: Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the country right now in a situation with rising homicides in 20 cities across America and the unrest that we see in all of these cities. And I was seeing today the data on Operation Legend, which is a cooperative effort between the FBI and ATF and other agencies.

CUCCINELLI: Yes, DHS is in that too.

MACCALLUM: --with local law enforcement and DHS, of course in that as well. Do you see a role for DHS - an expanding role with Operation Legend, or something that could provide support to places like Kenosha?

CUCCINELLI: Well, we are continuing to expand it. And actually, we have more Homeland Security investigators operating out of Chicago, so in that whole area, relatively near Kenosha, than anywhere else in the country.

Our agents are in five of the Legend cities. There are about 10 of them being addressed right now, and so far that's led over 1,500 arrests. Our expertise is the international gangs, things like MS-13 and Latin Kings, some of the most violent people in this country and that's what DHS brings to the table with our partners at DOJ.

But the key - the real key you mentioned is the cooperation with local law enforcement. It's working across all three levels of government cooperatively to achieve the same goal. And that goal is peace in every single community in this country.

MACCALLUM: Absolutely. Yes, I--

CUCCINELLI: That's what the president has us driving for.

MACCALLUM: --am looking at some of the data in Kansas City today, and the numbers have dropped dramatically of homicides and burglaries and crime. I just want to mention that Bloomberg is reporting that the President today has been briefed on the situation in Kenosha and on what they know so far about the shooting of Jacob Blake. So we'll have more on that.

With regard to - just totally a separate topic before I let you go. Here's what the president said about having sheriffs guarding polling places during the election last Thursday. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Are you going to have poll watchers? Are you going to have an ability to monitor to avoid fraud?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP (via telephone): We're going to have everything. We're going to have sheriffs, and we're going to have law enforcement and we're going to have hopefully U.S. attorneys and we're going to have everybody, and attorney generals, but it's very hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Well, there's been some pushback on that saying that the states are in charge of their own polling places in election. Is DHS going to play any role in making the polling places safeguarded?

CUCCINELLI: Well, he started with sheriffs for a reason, because it is there - first of all, there are so many precincts across the country where people vote. It is a state responsibility first and foremost. You heard him mention us attorneys. When civil rights violations take place in elections, U.S. attorneys are involved in that.

So - but that's not typically a place for the Department of Homeland Security. That is really more of the Department of Justice and then local law enforcement keeping people safe. You and I've been talking about it day to day, but on a very particular day, that day being election day, which is a foundational part of our entire democratic republic. So that's something that we're focused on.

The run up - in the run up to the election days it's helping keep those infrastructure secure through CISA, one of our agencies. And we work with the entire not only law enforcement, but intelligence community to resist any steps that foreign folks may take to interfere.

MACCALLUM: Big job. Ken Cuccinelli, Homeland Security. Thank you, sir. Good to see you tonight.

CUCCINELLI: Good to be with you.

MACCALLUM: So Marc Thiessen and Juan Williams on the Republican outreach to African-American voters that we heard last night and whether it will prove effective for President Trump come November, that's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMBERLY KLACIK, MARYLAND REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: And yet the Democrats still assume that black people will vote for them, no matter how much they let us down and take us for granted. We're sick of it. We're not going to take it anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: We got a thunderstorm brewing here in Washington D.C. tonight. So as Michael Goodwin writes in "The New York Post" today, "Black power has arrived. For the first time in modern memory, both of America's major political parties are making an all-out push for the votes of African- Americans. Good for them, and good for our country."

Herschel Walker, Kimberly Klacik, Senator Tim Scott and Vernon Jones, among those, making the case for the Trump campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. VERNON JONES, D-GA: The Democratic Party has become infected with a pandemic of intolerance, bigotry, socialism, anti-law enforcement bias and a dangerous tolerance for people who attack others.

KLACIK: The Democrats have controlled this part of Baltimore City for over 50 years and they have run this beautiful place right into the ground. Abandoned buildings, liquor stores in every corner, drug addicts, guns on the street. We are not buying the lies anymore. You and your party have neglected us for far too long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Goodwin goes on to write, "Biden has refused to condemn the violence sweeping through the nation's urban areas, at least in part, because that would be tantamount to calling for the police to crack down. And that, in turn, would infuriate the Black Lives Matter movement, which is Marxist and anti-police."

"But that's not a problem," he writes, "on the GOP side. Speaker after speaker, including black ones," he writes, "applauded the police and condemned the violence."

Joining me now Marc Thiessen, American Enterprise Institute Scholar and Fox News Contributor and Juan Williams, Co-Host of "The Five" and a Fox News Political Analyst. Gentlemen, great to have both of you with me tonight.

MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good to be with you Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, Juan, let me start with you. Just to respond to what Michael Goodwin writes there, is that the reason that Joe Biden nary mentioned any of what we're seeing, and most recently now in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Is that why? Because he doesn't want to offend BLM?

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't think it's a core issue. I mean, clearly, the core issues at the moment are jobs, what's going on in terms of the COVID, and even racial justice in the country.

Most of the racial justice protests - oh, it's not even most, it's overwhelming with peaceful marches. You have some people who are anarchist up in Portland, and you have instances of violence in a small number of poor Black and Latino neighborhoods, gangs and drug dealers. But this is being exploited by the Trump campaign and so I don't think there's any reason that the Democrats would have talked about it.

MACCALLUM: You continue to say that it's just - it's just really not - it doesn't rate - it doesn't rate on the scale high enough for discussion, and that's fine. That's your opinion on that. Marc, what do you think and what did you think about what we heard last night from some of the individuals that we just played?

THIESSEN: I thought it was terrific. I mean, what - the difference between what the Democrats are doing and what the Republicans are doing is. The Republic - the Democrats are on defense. They spent their entire convention trying to fire up their base because they have lukewarm support.

Joe Biden's support right now - one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton isn't president is because the Obama coalition didn't come out for her. Joe Biden support among African-Americans is 14 points lower than Hillary Clinton's was in 2016. And among young African-American voters, it's 17 points lower. So, they have to energize black voters behind them.

Donald Trump's bases fired up. He doesn't need to fire up his base. So that gives him the luxury of using his convention to expand his base and to reach into the Democrat's base and try to steal some voters. And that's what he was doing with African-Americans the other day.

He's taking advantage of the fact that Donald Trump - that Biden support is very low and on top of that, he's got a really good record to point to. He said in the 2016 campaign in speech in Charlotte, I'm going to fight for you whether you vote for me or not to Black Americans. He's done that. They didn't vote for him, for the most part.

He has unprecedented funding for historically Black colleges, permanent funding for the first time, criminal justice reform, the Opportunity Zones that Tim Scott passed - lowest unemployment before the pandemic, lowest Black unemployment in history. So he's got a great record--

MACCALLUM: Let's hear a little bit of what we heard last night. This is from Tim Scott.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM SCOTT, R-SC: Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime. And that's why I believe the next American Century can be better than the last.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: That was a very memorable moment from Tim Scott. And this is Nikki Haley. Last night. Let's listen to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: In much of the Democratic Party it's now fashionable to say that America is racist. That is a lie. America is not a racist country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So there were some who analyzed last night and thought that that was a very offensive combo, the two of them. And here's Nia-Malika Henderson talking about it. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Tim Scott, Nikki Haley are there to say, listen, maybe Donald Trump isn't as racist as you think he is, or as racist as he often sounds, because here is Tim Scott praising him, here is Nikki Haley praising him and there are a number of other African-Americans woven throughout tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Yes, Jennifer Rubin also scolded the two of them and said that they deserve no praise from the media. She want to make sure that nobody praised them. Juan, what's going on here?

WILLIAMS: Well, I liked Tim Scott's speech a lot. I think that it was really representative of Black aspiration and achievement. I thought the world of it. I mean, at the same time, it's clearly political. I mean, he's a future presidential candidate, I think.

But let me just say, it was political in the sense that President Trump has to deal with the fact that most Americans think he's racist. And this is especially true with white suburban women who are a liability for him in the polls right now.

The other thing is, I think he like to do better with Black men, there's almost no chance with Black women. If you look back to 2016, for example, he got 13 percent of the Black male vote versus only like 4 percent of the Black female vote.

MACCALLUM: Yes, great point.

WILLIAMS: So he would like to either increase that or see those people not vote. He's bragged about Black people not turning out.

MACCALLUM: It's interesting, Marc Thiessen, that we do hear more and more that argument being made that African-Americans should - obviously, like everyone else in this country should be free to vote for whatever party that they want to. I think back to Joe Biden's comment, you ain't Black, if you're undecided. Marc quick final thought if you would?

THIESSEN: Well, I mean, that's what - in order to get the African-American vote you have to ask for it, which is what Donald Trump did with the campaign last night, with the convention last night, with all those speakers.

And Juan has made an important point about the suburban voters. The Democrats did not do anything to try and win back the working class voters. But Donald Trump did go after suburban voters who were being told he's a racist. And he had Herschel Walker say I've known him for 37 years. He's not a racist. That's very effective.

MACCALLUM: Thanks, gentlemen. Great to see you, as always.

THIESSEN: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Juan, I'll see you later tonight. Thank you very much.

So coming up this, one lifelong Democrat was moved after watching the convention and he called into C-SPAN to say that he now plans to vote Republican in 2020. Here's this man who called in. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The people on the Democratic side on their convention act like they were pushing God right out of it, and that had a lot to do with changing my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Governor Mike Huckabee joins us on that and other things when we come back after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will not be taking the word God out of the Pledge of Allegiance.

(APPLAUSE)

Like they did a number of times at their caucuses, so they took the word God out. I heard -- I heard it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY DOLAN, ARCHBISHOP OF New York: We've only claimed to be one nation under God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You work hard, you honor God.

SEN. TIM SCOTT, R-SC: God bless you. And father, please continue blessing the United States of America. God bless.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So, the embrace of faith and God were prevalent among Republican National Convention speakers last night, appealing to voters at home and a lifelong Democrat from battleground Ohio got into phone and called into C-SPAN. And this is what he said to the folks at C-SPAN last night. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the heartfelt way they came across to the American people. And I was really touched by the number of times they used the word God. They put God into everything. And the people on the Democratic side, on their convention act like they were pushing God right out of it and that had a lot to do with changing my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Just one voter but an interesting take to be sure. Joining me now is Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas Governor and Fox News contributor. Governor, great to have you back on. It's good to see you.

And you know, it's interesting. That man is from a district in Ohio that Hillary Clinton won by 200 votes. By a very slim margin. What do you make of what he said? And the more free-flowing references that we hear to faith in the Republican convention as compared to the Democrat convention?

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you might say one down and a few million more to go. But, you know, I think he was very honest and sincere. And what I sensed that he recognized something. But a lot of us did. The Republicans sound and speak as if they are going somewhere that everybody really wants to go.

And the Democrats last week sounded like a group of people that we're sorry that they've been where they have been. And I think that that contrast in message is dramatic. And the people who are looking for hope and vision they heard it last night.

They heard it with Tim Scott, they heard it with Nikki Haley. They heard with that wonderful speech by Mr. Alvarez of Miami. It brought to my tears. I mean, how can you hear that and not --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

HUCKABEE: -- well up with a tear with the power of his personal story. And so, you have these magnificent moments with Herschel Walker and others. And you think, you know, these are the kind of people I'd love to sit down at waffle house and have the star special with. Get a double order of hash browns with these folks.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: I don't know -- I don't know if a lot of the folks who watch the Democrat convention would agree with you. They talked about how dark they thought it was all day long today.

But I saw struck, you know, I saw Cardinal Dolan speak at the very beginning last night. And we did hear from Father James Martin --

HUCKABEE: Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- at the Democratic convention at the beginning of the evening. But it made me think, you know, there's -- the Democrats have really drawn a line on pro-life. You know, Tom Perez has basically said, anyone who is pro-life is not welcome. You know, we're not going to embrace those candidates.

HUCKABEE: Yes.

MACCALLUM: It just doesn't work for us. So, I thought there really has been a line drawn. When I was growing up you would see, you know, Catholic pro-life Democrats. Lots of them. But the line on religion has become clear despite the fact that Joe Biden says, you know, he is a practicing Catholic and President Trump is not a churchgoer.

HUCKABEE: I think that the contrast is dramatic. And it's genuine. It's real. Joe Biden has gone from a practicing Catholic who was at one time pro-life to a person who now has even gone so far to say that taxpayers should fund abortion.

Let's remember that the Democrats once were for champions of pro-life in many ways. JFK, RFK were pro-life.

MACCALLUM: Absolutely.

HUCKABEE: You know, it was consistent with their faith, their faith and their politics were not so divergent. And now people say, well, my faith has nothing to do with how I'm going to vote. I find that strange. If faith is nothing more than a sweater that we put on Sunday where it's comfortable in church but then we take it off and we live our lives as if it means nothing else to us. I don't understand that kind of faith.

What I thought we saw last night and I hope we see it the rest of the time, is that as people talk about their faith they speak about it with comfort and authenticity.

MACCALLUM: Right.

HUCKABEE: That's powerful. If it's just a word thrown in, it means nothing. But we saw it with authenticity last night.

MACCALLUM: Governor Huckabee, thank you. Great to have you on.

HUCKABEE: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Good to see you, sir.

HUCKABEE: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So next up, our very own Bill Hemmer has been crunching the data. Nobody does it like he does. And there is an unmistakable pattern he says in three battleground states involving COVID-19 and what it might mean for 2020 in November, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Seventy days to go, folks, and an election dramatically reshaped by COVID-19. Hard hit battleground states of Florida, Arizona and Texas have been able now to drive cases down.

Our very own Bill Hemmer, anchor of Bill Hemmer Reports breaks down how that might impact the 2020 election. Good to see you, Bill.

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hi, Martha. Nice to see you, too. It's a really good question as you try and figure out what the question is between COVID and your votes in 70 days. Right?

Here's the what if calendar here. We have 13 states in gray that are toss ups. You mentioned it, Martha. Florida, Texas and Arizona. Republicans would argue Texas is not a toss-up. But I'll help explain that in a moment here.

This is our heat map for COVID. This shot -- the deeper the red the more trouble your state has had going back to March. And you think about Florida, that's in that zones, so is Texas and so as Arizona. But here is what we are seeing over the past five weeks in each of those three states.

I'll pull up Arizona for you first, right? On July 6th they hit their peak, Martha. So, they're right around here. And look what they have done in cases ever since. It has all gone in the right direction. They've really done an excellent job in Arizona.

Here's Florida. Their peak came on July 17th and they slowly and steadily have taken that case line down as well. Remember, flatten the curve going back to March and April. This is Texas. Their peak hit on the 22nd of July. They too are headed in the right direction. Not as dramatically, I would say as a state like Arizona which is really down the bottom here.

But pretty significant too and somewhat impressive for the break out happens, Martha, it's about a 14-day period. That infection goes throughout the community and then you start to lock things down for the next four weeks or so.

I could show you that example in New York and New Jersey going back to the spring as well. It seems to follow a similar pattern in so many of these states. So why do we think about this? President Trump won Florida by 1 percentage point four years ago, 29 electoral votes. He won Arizona by 4 percentage points, 11 electoral votes. Both are considered toss ups.

Texas, he won by almost 10. And again, we'll debate whether or not over the next 70 days Texas is truly a toss-up. But those three states right now are headed in the right direction. One final point. Schools are starting to open up again at the university level, the high school level. We'll see whether or not the trend lines stay where they were where I showed you a moment ago, but they are headed in those three states in the right direction. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Very interesting. And I will be curious to see if these universities have the same kind of 14-day curve and peak that you talked about and then, you know, sort of have to tighten the lid so that they can get back to school.

HEMMER: Something to watch.

MACCALLUM: Bill, thank you very much.

HEMMER: Sure.

MACCALLUM: Great to see you.

So, he is one of most speakers at tonight's Republican National Convention. He has been dubbed a rising star within the party. And tonight, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron joins us exclusively ahead of his address to make the case for President Trump. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: First Lady Melania Trump set to headline the night this evening of the second night of the RNC which will also feature two of President Trump's children. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and a rising star in the Republican Party, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron. We'll talk to him exclusively in just a couple of minutes.

But first to chief White House correspondent John Roberts with a review of some of the surprises in store tonight.

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Hi, John.

ROBERTS: Martha, good evening to you. And let's first of all start with the first lady speech, this is going to be her second speech to a Republican convention. Her outreach of course to women voters who the president needs if he wants a second term in office. She will give her speech from the newly renovated and just watered Rose Garden outside the Oval Office. Here's her chief of staff Stephanie Grisham with review.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY: It's very uplifting. It's very positive. It reflects on her time as first lady and some of her favorite moments. There are a couple moments in there that I think will be really key. And then it's really, really forward looking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: It's the first time a convention speech has been given from the White House, the location drawing some criticism but the government's Office of Special Counsel saying it is absolutely legal to do it from here.

Also, controversial, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speech to the convention from Israel to night, Democrats complaining that as the State Department representative and the bipartisan support for Israel that the Congress has, it is improper for Pompeo to be giving a political speech.

In a statement, though, the State Department saying, Secretary Pompeo will address the convention in his personal capacity. No State Department resources will be used. Staff are not involved in preparing the remarks or in the arrangements for Secretary Pompeo's appearance.

And the president with two appearances at the convention tonight. In one tape earlier at the White House, the president issuing a pardon to Jon Ponder. He is a bank robber who founded the charity Hope for Prisoners. The president gave a commencement address to graduates of that program back in February.

The White House says that is the way that he views the successful rehabilitation of criminals. It's almost like, an education that you graduate from. Ponder will be speaking tonight as will Richard Beasley who is the FBI agent who arrested him.

In the other event that you see here the president attending a naturalization ceremony for five people from Sudan, Lebanon, India, Ghana, and Bolivia. Watching as they became American citizens highlighting legal immigration.

In addition to Melania Trump, two other Trump family members will be speaking tonight, Eric Trump, as well as Tiffany Trump. And Law and order will be on the agenda tonight. The former attorney general from Florida, Pam Bondi, will be speaking tonight along with your next guest, Daniel Cameron, the attorney general from the great state of Kentucky. Martha?

MACCALLUM: And that brings us right there. John, thank you very much.

My next guest is set to deliver a highly anticipated speech hours from now, laying out his case for President Trump's reelection. Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron joins me now. General Cameron, thank you very much. It's good to have you with us this evening.

One of the things that's obvious on everyone's minds --

(CROSSTALK)

DANIEL CAMERON, KENTUCKY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you for having me.

MACCALLUM: -- thank you -- on our mind tonight is what's happening in Kenosha, Wisconsin, obviously the people there want to have an answer to what happened to Jacob Blake. You are overseeing the Breonna Taylor case in Kentucky. And I know that you are under pressure to bring justice in that case as well. Is there any update you can give us tonight on that on what the timeframe might be?

CAMERON: Part of the reason that I was up here was to meet with the FBI and the Department of Justice and obviously had good constructive conversations there. We continue to await some key information from the FBI as it relates to a ballistics report. Once we get that, we'll be able to assess that information and then make conclusions from there and then notify the public, which we've intended to do from the beginning. We will do that in short order after we've had some time to analyze that information.

MACCALLUM: You know, I know that you are also upset about what you see happening in the cities across the country in reaction to some of these cases. Is that going to be a focus of your speech tonight, sir?

CAMERON: Well, you know, I hope to outline a few things. One, I'm 34 years old, and an African-American who it is the first African-American to hold the role and office of attorney general in Kentucky's history. I want to talk about the great history that we have in the Republican party in Kentucky.

I also want to talk about the difference between President Trump and Joe Biden on immigration, on criminal justice reform, on the economy. I'm also going to highlight the promise of America and just some good old common sense that my mom has instilled in me about this country not being divided into separate parts, but being one family of many faces.

And so those will be the things that I discussed this evening. Again, the import of my remarks is to say that we need to reelect President Donald J. Trump for another four years because he is a forward thinker, not a backwards fifty-year inhabitant of Washington, D.C. like Mr. Biden.

So, I hope my remarks are something that people will recognize as the way that Kentucky and Republicans all across the country view this country in terms of the responsibility that we have two promote law in order, to reign in chaos, but also to also make sure that there is a positive view of this country as we move forward.

MACCALLUM: Just in the few seconds that we have left, you know, there has been criticism of some of the speakers. Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, that they are sort of put on stage to appeal to certain voters and that they are there to show that the president isn't racist. What do you think about that before I let you go?

CAMERON: Well, look, President Trump has been good for me, I've had several occasions to be with him. I honor and respect the role that I have as the attorney general in Kentucky and he certainly has made it a priority to check in on what's going on in Kentucky as it relates to the attorney general's office.

I'm proud to be a Republican and proud to be a supporter of Donald J. Trump.

MACCALLUM: Daniel Cameron, we are all looking forward to hearing from you tonight, it's not going to be a typical situation with a big crowd, but we know that you and everybody else will do a great job. So, we thank you for being here tonight. All the best to you.

CAMERON: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: That is “The Story” of Tuesday, August 25th, 2020. The story does go on, though and just in a short time from now at 10 p.m. Eastern. Bret Baier and I will take you through night two of the Republican National Convention. Coming up.

END

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