Rudy Giuliani says New Yorkers are dying because of Bill de Blasio's incompetency

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Rudy Giuliani says New Yorkers are dying because of Bill de Blasio's incompetency

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani joins Martha MacCallum to discuss the violent crime surge in New York City.

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," August 17, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. 

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: President Trump soaking that up today in Minnesota as he works to rev up his base and launches a campaign blitz to counter the Biden Convention which kicks off tonight as the DNC 2020 gets rolling just a few short hours from now.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Martha MacCallum live in Washington D.C. coming to you from this perch across from the White House, the place that President Trump and his opponent Joe Biden each hoped to call home for the next four years. And this is very much the story of the night.

The president out on the trail today. And this week making multiple stops and speeches in the Midwest including battleground Wisconsin where delegates and the leaders of the Democrat Party were supposed to be gathering this week, instead Joe Biden is in Delaware. And the president took advantage of his absence there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: These are people that are seriously radical left. Joe Biden is nothing but their puppet. He has no clue what's happening. Biden is just a Trojan horse for socialism. Yes, he's a Trojan horse.  (END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: The virtual Democratic National Convention gets underway at 9 o'clock Eastern. The latest polls show that this race is tightening. But the CNN poll showing only a 1-point split in the battleground states. And this new poll shows 39 percent view Joe Biden favorably. A Democratic pollster telling The Wall Street Journal, this poll is a warning for Democrats and the Biden team that there is still a lot of work to be done. And Biden's running mate not faring much better. Public Opinion Strategies noting Kamala Harris has the lowest net positive rating of any VP candidate, when first put on a Dem ticket since 1992.

So, can a virtual convention help deliver the critical bump that they need. Joining me now, Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and former Republican vice-presidential nominee herself. Also, tonight her friend, Donna Brazile, former Democratic National Committee Chair and a Fox News Contributor. Ladies, great to have both of you with us tonight. Thank you so much for being here.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIR: Hello, governor.

MACCALLUM: Donna, let me begin with you. Good to see you. Donna let me begin with you. When you look at those polls and you see that they are tightening. What goes through your mind?

BRAZILE: I'm not surprised because we've said all along that the polls will tighten. We know that we have a very divided country, divided not only between partisans, but divided in terms of how we move forward. So, I believe that over the course of the next four days and of course over the next 79 days, you're going to hear a strong message that Democrats hope to deliver, a message that will resonate not just in Democratic households, but an independent swing voters and few Republicans who you will see tonight on stage.

Governor, I'm so surprised to see you this way, but I hope you well and hope your family is doing good.

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOP VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Thank you. Yes. You too.

MACCALLUM: So, Sarah - governor, good to have you here. As Donna just said, we just looked at some video of Kamala Harris coming in when she was announced as vice president. You know what it's like to be in those shoes. So, even though, you are a Republican. What are you - what's your message to her? What would you tell her out of the gate?

PALIN: Well, she needs to just be herself so that we can figure out what her record is, so that we know where she intends to lead the country if she were to be elected VP, because she'll probably be running the show before too long, if she were - if the ticket is to be elected. So, to be yourself, to be absolutely candid and honest so that there is no deception which seems like maybe that's the antithesis of campaigning and politics, but certainly to tell the truth.

You know what, even more important than that is because we can always expect that is for voters, do your homework. You're the ones who are going to have to be digging in there into records to make sure that you know what you're getting.

MACCALLUM: Donna, when you look at the voters from 2016, we saw a 7 percent decline in black voters participating in the election in 2016. So, tell me about the strategy in terms of getting them back and how important Kamala Harris is to that strategy, because we remember that in the days before she was selected, we heard from 100 black male leaders in that letter that it was a must. And it seems that beyond the historic significance, they were saying no, literally, it is a must if you want to win this election.

BRAZILE: Well, Kamala Harris wasn't just chosen because of the color of her skin. She was chosen because of the quality of her ideas and the fact that she ran for president, she understands what this country is in terms of the COVID epidemic, in terms of the economy. So, I think she's going to be an asset to the team (inaudible) here we are, celebrating the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage that we know because Governor Palin was (inaudible) only had 44 female governors in over 245 years. We've never had a woman as president, a woman as vice president.  So, with regards to people of color, black people, young people, who they might be. I hope she will appeal to them. I hope that she will reach out to them in ways that we understand that she wants to lead this country, this great, diverse country of ours. And I do believe that she will make a terrific vice president.

MACCALLUM: So, Governor Palin, when you look at that, right, there's a lot of discussion about identity politics and I just brought up that question with Donna, with regard to Kamala Harris's background. But, in terms of being a woman, how significant, how important is that do you think, to women voters across the board? Do they care about that issue more than they care about some other issues or is that secondary?

PALIN: I think gender is certainly secondary. Smart, informed women voters want to make sure that we have the most capable person in office and with an agenda that that person would bring that is most reflective of the voters, voters are going to have to decide, do you want smaller, smarter government and more freedom and protection of our rights, or do you want to head towards socialism, which is what the Left ticket is representing and certainly has that intention of doing. So, no, smart voters, women, and men. Gender is not on the top of their agenda and looking at who to vote for.

MACCALLUM: Let's put--

BRAZILE: But it is true.

MACCALLUM: Call for sound bite here of Michelle Obama, a teaser of her upcoming speech tonight. Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: He was a terrific vice president. He knows what it takes to rescue an economy, beat back a pandemic, and lead our country. And he listens, he will tell the truth and trust science, he will make smart plans and manage a good team, and he will govern as someone who's lived a life that the rest of us can recognize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Donna, it's obviously so different to have these pre-recorded messages. I remember when Michelle Obama walked in the last time around when our president was running for re-election and it just - the doors blew out of the place. She was a huge hit that night. How much of a challenge is it doing it in this format?

BRAZILE: I watch live TV, I watch a lot of recorded TV, I watch a lot of recorded movies, and so tonight we're going to have a mixture. We're going to have live performances, pre-recorded performances. And we're also going to have the conversation from everyday people. Governor Palin mentioned the voters. The voters are looking for values, values that they can connect with, values that make them uniquely special.  We don't want the kind of leadership that divide us, that causes name, try to scare us about the future, the future that we all believe in. So, I think tonight's lineup, whether it's Michelle Obama or Governor Kasich of Ohio, the former Republican governor, we're going to hear from not just political leaders, but we're going to hear from first responders, the people who are now at the forefront of this epidemic. So, I'm looking forward to it. Some of it will be live, a lot of it recorded. But guess what, it still will be inspiring.

MACCALLUM: We'll see. I think that's one of the biggest challenges that they're going to be facing tonight and the Republicans next week. Governor Palin, when you hear that list of Republicans who will be speaking tonight, Meg Whitman, Christie Whitman, among them, John Kasich. What do you think about that?

PALIN: I think it's a shame because, two different parties have two completely different platforms, and for those who would claim that they are Republicans, meaning inherently they are to support the platform that being free enterprise and work ethic and an expectation for reward for work ethic and the sanctity of life in which they would protect standing on the Republican platform and pro-Second Amendment, all those things that everybody knows that a Republican would represent.

For these Republicans to be suggesting, if not outright supporting a platform that is so completely opposite and that would be supporting a ticket that is the most radically liberal ticket in the history of the U.S. and I'll debate anybody on that one. I think it's a shame that they would want to throw their name in the hat there as supporters of a platform that it takes me and most commonsense constitutional conservatives a back.

MACCALLUM: Governor Sarah Palin, thank you--

BRAZILE: Well, let me just say this, governor.

MACCALLUM: Go ahead, Donna. Real quick.

BRAZILE: Because I've read the platform. While it's not the Bible, it is a platform that most Americans would agree with because it's about the values that we all owe, dear. And let me say one last thing, I'm proud to see these Republicans at our convention because they want to embrace a country that can be united and not divide it simply because of their partisan background.

MACCALLUM: Well, we'll see. You heard the president earlier tonight saying that Joe Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. He calls him. So, this conversation is going to heat up in the months and weeks to come. Governor Palin, thank you. Donna Brazile, thank you. Good to have both of you with us tonight.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So, President Trump warning New York City Mayor de Blasio that the Feds may step in after more than 50 people were shot in a single weekend, seven of them died. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who cracked down on crime when he was mayor of New York, joins me next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The Democrats are promising to elevate their Left-wing war on cops and to bring it up to the White House in the form of sleepy Joe Biden. I don't think that's going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This radical left, Mayor de Blasio has let our beautiful diamond, I left it four years ago and over the last year, especially over the last six months, crime has gone up hundreds. A percentage points, hundreds. We're going to do something; we're going to do something strong. They've just let it go to hell. And I don't know, is it because they're bad people or they have no common sense, or they just don't know what they're doing? But our beautiful diamond of this country has been let go to hell.  (END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: President Trump issuing an ultimatum to Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City, where there has been a staggering spike in violent crime this weekend alone, more than 50 plus shooting victims and seven fatalities. It's part of a disturbing trend, already more than a thousand shooting victims compared to more than 500 this time last year. And of course, we're seeing this in cities all across the country, Cincinnati, Kansas City, all across the country, Portland are having huge problems. So, joining me now, the former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, host of the new podcast Rudy Giuliani's Common Sense joins me now.  Mayor, great to have you with us this evening. I actually want to start by playing a quote, a soundbite that we have from Mayor de Blasio responding to President Trump and then hear your thoughts on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO.: The president blusters and the president tries to draw attention to himself and rarely has much to back it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: What would you say to Mayor de Blasio, mayor?

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: Mayor de Blasio is pathetic. He has - there are times in which a public official can be so incompetent, and he is that people actually die as a result of his being in office. And that's been the case with Mayor de Blasio. Both during the pandemic and now with the irresponsible Left-wing socialist actions that he's taken. He's driven by a ridiculously failed philosophy, which he somehow robs him of the ability to see reality.

So, how would you, in the middle of a crime wave disband the most effective part of your police department, the anti-crime unit? How would you let 8000 people out of prison during a period of time like that would not go crazy over the new bail law that he and Cuomo put into effect so that all the rioters that were arrested were put back out on the street within a day.

We've had people led out by him who within one day of getting out have raped somebody. He put 8000 prisoners out on the street. He doesn't consider drug dealers violent criminals. So, there's this great sympathy for the drug user who was treated harshly.

But there's a difference in the drug user and the drug dealer. The drug dealer is by nature a violent criminal. They all own guns and they all shoot people. He puts both of them out on the street. If I had this city for one month, one month, I could change it around in one single month, if I could be allowed to do what I had to do. And all of it would be legal. He is an idiot. He's an incompetent and he's a communist.

MACCALLUM: I have lived in New York and the New York area long enough to have seen it go up and down and to see what happened when you were mayor and to see how much better, how much safer the streets became then with the policies that were in place. But what we see now is and I want to talk about the broader scene across the country as well, but what I'm wondering is, it seems like there's two different viewpoints of looking at this. And I don't think at the Democratic National Convention this week, we're going to hear much about what's happening in these cities.

And I think that there's a lot of people who don't live in these cities who don't see it. They don't understand necessarily what is going on. But when I see it and I see the boarded-up windows, I see them here in Washington, D.C. behind me. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking what is happening. But there's so many people in the country, Mr. Mayor, who don't see it or aren't hearing about it.

GIULIANI: Well, Martha, I don't know any better way to describe it than it breaks my heart. I mean, I spent eight years as mayor and four years preparing to be mayor, 12 years of my life with the sole focus being how to reduce crime, which I was told could not be done. I was told it by my best friends that I shouldn't be mayor because I ruined my career by failing like people had failed 30 years prior to me.

And I was convinced I could do it. I had very good Police Commissioners Bratton, Schaefer, and Bernie Kerik. I had great programs from James Q. Wilson, the broken Windows theory, which he did away with four years ago. Terrible mistake. He really is an intellectually strong enough to understand it.

I mean, you have to understand, the man is limited. He's not that smart. He is a silly Left winger, meaning he went on his honeymoon to Cuba and he supported the Sandinistas. Now, if you're that silly, you really shouldn't be running a government. And in my view, and I know this is a very broad one, Democrats don't know how to run cities, they're too impractical.

Every city you're talking about is a Democratic city, Chicago, even more murders than here. This weekend, it was a murder field in Chicago. Same thing with Philadelphia, with a district attorney who doesn't - district attorney put in there by George Soros, who doesn't prosecute property crimes, or you want to look at Atlanta, you want to look at some of the other Democrats.

MACCALLUM: I wanted to show everybody this horrible, look at this horrible video from Portland. It's just unbelievable. Watch what happen to this man. He gets pulled out of his truck.

GIULIANI: This is a war.

MACCALLUM: He gets beaten and then he's on the ground and everybody walks away. They tell him he's not allowed to move and then he gets roundhouse kicked by this guy in the head. I mean, it's unbelievable and I can't understand why everybody in the country isn't talking about this. I can't understand it.

GIULIANI: And I can't understand why major American corporations are giving money to Black Lives Matter, which is run by three communists who are avowed terrorists. The money that they get comes from a terrorist named Susan Rosenberg, who was convicted and sent to prison for 58 years for being involved in a conspiracy to kill cops. She's funneling the money to them.  If you just spend 10 minutes Martha--

MACCALLUM: I know.

GIULIANI: And read--

MACCALLUM: And it's not--

GIULIANI: The end of our government and they don't care about black lives.

MACCALLUM: If you watch the founders, you can get - you can put these videos very easy. They talk about their Marxist background. I was down in the street the other night and there are people out there with Klansmen, a hung, effigy of a Klansman, and it says that cops are Klansmen. And then right on the corner here in D.C. are 25 peaceful police officers standing there protecting their right to do that.

So, I mean, these are the things that people have to consider as we look ahead in this coming election. Just decide where they stand on it. So, Mayor Giuliani, final thought, sir, if you could.

GIULIANI: My final thought is the president really should consider very carefully declaring Black Lives Matter a domestic terrorist organization. Just today they had four or five beatings they took part in. They've been recorded saying the police officers should be murdered and killed. And one of their members just this weekend defended looting as people are entitled to do it because they have no bread. Of course, they were taking televisions. They were taking dresses.

MACCALLUM: They said it was reparation.

GIULIANI: They were taking liquor. They were - basically engaged in stealing. So, this is an illegal organization and their intent is to overthrow our government. The president should declare them a domestic terrorist organization. And then maybe we could stop Soros from giving them $150 million. Soros' intent on destroying our government for some sick reason of his that goes back to his sick background.

MACCALLUM: Mr. Mayor Rudy Giuliani with his thoughts on all that tonight. Sir, thank you. Good to have you here tonight.

GIULIANI: Thank you. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So, the massive mood shift among Democrats that would likely follow in the country if their candidate, Joe Biden, is victorious come November. We're going to talk to also tonight Mollie Hemingway and Byron York, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: The White House firing at Democrats tonight for what they call baseless conspiracies about cuts to the postal service. House Democrats have labeled the issue a matter of life or death with an emergency vote set to take place this weekend but others call the claims overblown similar to past controversies that were raised by the president's adversaries.

Matthew Hennessey writes in the Wall Street Journal, quote, "Can we be honest about the dishonesty of the past four years? If the Republicans in mortal peril only until the next fellow moves into the White House, it isn't in mortal peril. And those who insisted it was are themselves guilty of the charges they've leveled at Mr. Trump, subverting faith in the constitutional system."

That from a broader opinion piece in the opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. But we want to talk about the post office first here with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan who joins me. She's co-chair of the Democratic policy and communications committee.

Congresswoman Dingell, good to have you with us as always.

This is from David Partenheimer who is the spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service. He said, we are not slowing down election mail or any mail. Instead we continue to employ a robust, proven process to ensure proper handling of all election mail. So, what is the concern here?

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL, D-MI: You know, Martha, I'm going to tell you why the election mail matters to me greatly, because it is about our democracy. I'm immediately concerned about the veterans that aren't getting their medicine, the seniors that aren't getting their social security checks.

And I will tell you for a fact, long before all of this started, I have been working with my post offices, the post -- postal workers and people in our community. I have gone into them. And since they have cut overtime, back is backlogged, people aren't getting mails for days, they're two weeks behind.

And if you were on the ground really looking at what's at me, this is just categorically not true. Mails is being backed up, machines are being moved, mailboxes are being eliminated and there is a problem, and I hear about it every minute that I am out there.

MACCALLUM: Social security checks are electronically delivered.

DINGELL: No, they are not.

MACCALLUM: If they're not electronically delivered, they go on to a person's credit card.

DINGELL: First of all, that's not true for everybody. That's what you don't understand. Not all seniors are lucky enough to even be able to afford to be able to have money wired, they are still old-fashioned. And the older you are the more likely that that is still coming in the mail.

And I -- so, and I'm talking to a lot of seniors who are scared and experiencing problems with the mail. That's what I'm hearing about. I'm getting it every day, Martha.

MACCALLUM: OK.

DINGELL: I was on the hospital on Saturday and people were screaming at me.

MACCALLUM: So, I want to clarify actually something that I said earlier about a Michigan election because they had thrown out more than 10,000 absentee ballots for various legitimate reasons, because they weren't signed or all of the reasons that they get thrown out. Eight -- more than 800 of those votes had come in from people who passed away after they voted, and to correct myself, those were also eliminated so there's no sign of foul play in that vote.

But in the big picture when you look at nine states handling this by mail in, a universal mail-in ballot where it just gets sent out to everybody who is on the voter rolls, doesn't that concern you and wouldn't it make more sense for people to apply for an absentee ballot if they think, if they say, you know, I'm not comfortable going into vote.

DINGELL: You know, many states long before we've had this crisis in the last couple of weeks where people are actually paying attention which they should have been doing a long time ago, states started to mail to encourage greater participation in the democratic process and it wasn't a Republican or Democratic issue, it was encouraging more people to participate.

And like what you just talk about in Michigan, we do not have universal, you have to ask, you have to request the ballot. But he fact of the matter is, secretary of states are watching for fraud like that. They are prepared.

And by the way, if you want to have a discussion, we know that Russia is trying to interfere with the elections and that's one of the ways that we've got to pay attention.

MACCALLUM: Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thank you very much. Always good to see you. Thanks for coming in tonight.

DINGELL: Good to see you. Thank you.

MACCALLUM: You too. Take care.

So, come concerned parents in California now taking Governor Gavin Newsom to court over restrictions on sending their kids back to school. Their story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: All right. Expect to see more lawsuits like this. In the state of California, about a dozen parents are suing Governor Gavin Newsom, many say that their children are falling behind because of restrictions on going back to the classroom.

Under the governor's guidance, an estimated 90 percent of California's more than six million students in both public and private schools expected to start the school year with distant learning. A move the lawsuit says contradicts the recommendation of experts.

Two plaintiffs in this suit, Christina Ruiz and Jesse Petrilla joined me now. Good to have both of you with us.

JESSE PETRILLA, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: Thank you, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, Christina, you have two students in the public-school system, do you have any option for them where you could, you know, use school choice and you could look at other options that you could potentially send them to?

CHRISTINE RUIZ, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: Currently I do not, I have my two boys are both diagnosed with autism, one severe, and chiro (Ph) functioning. Still our program choices are very limited, our schools have very limited to where we can go. We found an excellent program within our own school district that works perfectly which they didn't since they were three years old. So that's a program that they need to be in, that's the program that needs to open for them.

MACCALLUM: Jesse, you know, we hear a lot about the science. And it seems like every one has sort of their own interpretations. But one of the things that seems pretty clear is that this impacts children far less than it impacts older adults. What -- why do you think that this decision is being made in California, do you think it's political?

JESSE PETRILLA, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT: Well, I think I can tell you what we are seeing in, I mean, shenanigans aside, I think that this is unfortunate that the anxiety and fear is more contagious than the coronavirus. And I think some enemies of freedom are exploiting that fear and creating chaos for their own gain, and I think we need to stand up to them.

I mean, this is I can tell you from my personal experience. I'm the father of two boys including a 6-year-old that's starting the first grade, and we're worried about his lifelong negative effects that can continue if these schools remain closed.

I mean, distance learning for a kid that age is nonsense. A kid needs the social interactions.

MACCALLUM: Yes. So true.

PETRILLA: They need the structures, in person learning and experts warn that distance learning doesn't even meet the current educational standards. Students will unquestionably fall behind. I mean, this affects the working class the most, the lower income and rural students are far less likely to have access to the needed technology, hospital are seeing an increase in child abuse cases. And so many cases are going unreported.

Also, students who rely on school meals are going without proper nutrition.

MACCALLUM: Yes. There's million reasons.

PETRILLA: I mean, so many working families.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

PETRILLA: Yes.

MACCALLUM: You have to outweigh the cost and benefits of these decisions - -

PETRILLA: Absolutely.

MACCALLUM: -- and as you just listed the benefits are very strong. Christina, in terms of the lawsuit to, do you have good standing, what are you hearing about how strong your cases and, you know, how do you expect that it's going to impact your kids who want to be in school in a few weeks?

RUIZ: Well, the impact for my children is they will actually get an education. Starting our schools closed March 13th, March 16th, we woke up to this bizarre crazy world of no education. My children need a structured setting, they need their team of specialized professional and the videos professionals who need -- who educate them.

They need hands-on learning. They need their teacher who specializes in special education, speech therapists, occupational therapist and when you take them out of that setting all it's doing is making them languish, they are not getting any type of education --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

RUIZ: -- and we are actually suffering here. We are regressing profoundly and dangerously. We're seeing behaviors that we never saw while they were in school. And so, if we could get my children back into school that would be a saving grace.

There's actually schools in California that have opened that should be an example to all, especially Marin County had 375 special education students, just because we are in L.A. County there is a blanket sorry, no, no school for anybody and that's not fair. Our children cannot learn online.

MACCALLUM: Well, a lot of people are looking into different options. Pod schooling and school choice and we've heard President Trump say that he thinks your money should move with you, your tax dollars if you want to make a different choice --

PETRILLA: Right.

MACCALLUM: -- to send your students to a different school, you should have that option because it's your money that goes into these public-school systems.

So, Jesse and Christina, I wish you both well. I know how hard it is --

PETRILLA: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: -- to go through this with their kids and we wish you well. Good luck to you both. Thank you for being --

(CROSSTALK)

PETRILLA: And those that want to help can check out OpenCaliforniaSchools.com. Thank you very much.

RUIZ: Thank you so much.

MACCALLUM: Thank you.

RUIZ: Yes, thank you so much for making this a national topic. I really appreciate that.

MACCALLUM: You bet. Thanks you, guys. All the best to you.

Coming up, after a bitter primary season, Senator Bernie Sanders will rally progressives behind the Biden-Harris ticket tonight. Former Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver talks about what's important to them tonight coming up. Also, Mollie Hemingway and Byron York weigh in when we come back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, D-VT: Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Tonight, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will make the case for Joe Biden. Sanders the last candidate standing against the former vice president in the primaries, dropped out of the race in April after a bitter primary face-off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bernie has labeled himself, not me, a Democratic socialist. I think that's the label that the president is going to lay on every one running with Bernie if he's the nominee.

SANDERS: The differences, if I might say, between Joe Biden and myself is that Joe bailed out the crooks on Wall Street who nearly destroyed our economy 12 years ago.

BIDEN: With all due respect to Medicare for all, you have a single-payer system in Italy, it doesn't work there. It has nothing to do with Medicare for all, that would not solve the problem at all. People are looking for results, not a revolution.

SANDERS: Joe and I have a very different vision for the future of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Bernie Sanders 2016 campaign manager Jeff Weaver joins me now. Jeff, thanks for being here tonight. Good to have you.

JEFF WEAVER, SANDERS 2020 SENIOR POLITICAL ADVISER: My pleasure.

MACCALLUM: When you look back at those moments and the progressive cause and there was a lot of discussion from the Sanders campaign talking about corporations and how that was really one of the biggest problems that the country faces, how do you feel tonight as the Democratic National Convention begins and Joe Biden is the person that was selected at the all end of all that?

WEAVER: Well, look, I feel good. You know, this country is in a dangerous place, we cannot allow this president to get re-elected. This was a guy who said he would stand with working-class people, he's abandoned them, he tried to strip 30 million plus people their health insurance. He said he would drain the swamp. He's put more billionaires in a cabinet than any other president before him.

So, I feel quite good. You know, this party is really coming together. I think that progressives and centrist in the party have good hard since the end of the primary to build common ground. I think there is common ground in a number of core economic issues that will uplift working people in this country. And we are going to beat this president in November.

MACCALLUM: So, you know, early in the process, Joe Biden said that he would be in favor of Medicare for all. And Kamala Harris said that she would be in favor of the universal coverage, then, you know, she got a lot of pushback. What about the 180 million people who are going to lose their health insurance, then she said, no, that's not what I meant.

I -- now, you know, I would do some sort of public, private partnership. Then, you know, it's -- it came to fracking and there was a -- we are going to eliminate fracking. Now the discussion on fracking is nowhere actually going to let the leases that is still out there continue.

So how do you feel about the move to the middle on a number of issues that I know are very important to you and to Bernie Sanders?

WEAVER: So sure, but let me say this. Let's talk about the issues where the party has moved in a much more progressive direction over the last few years. The issue of the minimum wage, the $15 minimum wage. You know, that's an issue that Secretary Clinton did not support until April of 2015.

Joe Biden has been for raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour from the very beginning of his campaign. That's something that we'll give 40 million Americans a raise and lift the wage standard for everybody else.

Joe Biden is for universal pre-K for three and 4-year-olds. Joe Biden is for 12 weeks of paid family leave. Joe Biden is for making massive investments in our infrastructure and dealing with climate change. So, you know, the glass is either half empty or half full depending on how you look at it.

MACCALLUM: Well, climate change is, you know, I mean, you've got to talk about fracking if you're going to talk about climate change and he wants to leave those leases in place for now. But I can't help but think when you talk about all those things, you know, about the minimum wage, and the rest, that we are in a totally different moment right now.

And when you look at the polling on who people think is better on the economy that's the one area where President Trump seems to than Joe Biden and that people seem to think, at least according to these polls and percentages that he is better equipped to turn it around.

WEAVER: Yes, well, there's not a lot of evidence for his ability to do that. I mean, let's be clear. You know, his negligent leadership led us into this economic decline. We didn't have to happen as badly as it did. And let's not forget that --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So, you think we shouldn't have locked down the country? Are you against -- are you against that?

WEAVER: We should have been more aggressive in trying to prevent this virus from spreading. You know, the president with his quackery -- medical quackery, with his constant attacks on scientists and doctors within his own administration, his refusal to act boldly to make sure that medical professionals have the personal protective equipment that they need.

You know, an issue after issue with respect to COVID, this president has been an absolute disaster because he did not want to acknowledge the fact that this pandemic was happening.

MACCALLUM: All right. Well, there are a lot of governors in between some of those actions as well who don't seem to get painted with the same brush. But we'll see. You know, the voters get their chance to decide in a few months --

WEAVER: Of course.

MACCALLUM: -- and we'll see how it goes. Jeff Weaver, thank you very much for coming in tonight. Good to see you tonight, sir.

WEAVER: My pleasure, my pleasure.

MACCALLUM: So, also here tonight, Mollie Hemingway, senior editor of The Federalist, and Byron York, chief political correspondent for the Washington Examiner. Both are Fox News contributors. Good to have you both here.

Mollie, it's pretty clear that Biden-Harris is sort of seeking that more moderate ground than the progressive ground that they pushed for when they were both in the primaries trying to sort of out-left each other along the way. But the president tonight said this about what Joe Biden represents. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: These are people that are seriously radical left, Joe Biden is nothing but their puppets, he has no clue what's happening.

Biden is just a Trojan horse for socialism. Yes, he's a Trojan horse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Interesting to see President Trump out in the campaign trail clearly in Wisconsin in the place where we were supposed to be starting a DNC convention tonight but there's nobody there to do that. Mollie, your thoughts?

MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the Democratic Party has really lost the center part of it or the moderate part of it, it's now mostly just on the left and so the debates are all over there on the left. And as you noted, during the primary, Kamala Harris and -- Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were trying to out-left each other along with the other candidates.

By picking Kamala Harris Joe Biden signified that he didn't want to attack to the middle. He wanted to keep trying to pursue those voters who are increasingly going toward the left. And so, this is a concern, not that he's going to get progressive voters, of course he's going to get them, but what's going to happen in all those battleground states that Hillary Clinton lost where moderate voters are needed.

Biden decided to go for a far-left running mate with Kamala Harris but this leaves open all the moderates who couldn't find Hillary Clinton acceptable and are going to wonder about the direction of the Democratic Party.

MACCALLUM: So, Byron, Bernie Sanders will get his moment tonight. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will literally get her moment, she's getting 60 seconds on tape. What does that tell you about this process?

BYRON YORK, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it tells you that they are getting this sort of minimum that they can be given to give this appearance of unity. It's kind of interesting in what we just heard President Trump say combining a sort of sly attack on Biden's age with the leftism of the Democratic Party. In other words, saying that Biden is tired, he's old, he's lost a step and the people who will really be in charge are those radicals in the Democratic Party.

And clearly, what the Democrats want to present on television tonight is this image of a unified and a centrist center-left party.

MACCALLUM: So, Mollie, we'll also hear from Michelle Obama tonight. And you know, in terms of Kamala Harris there's a lot of debate over what her role would be. Some people say, you know, it's Joe Biden, he's the one who's running for president, others say, no, look for her to have a stronger role because of the circumstances that Byron just mentioned.

HEMINGWAY: And also, you know, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders just put out a unity document not a month ago --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

HEMINGWAY: -- where they put forth a progressive policy structure for the environment, health care, immigration, you know, criminal justice issues, so they don't even really have policy disagreements there. So I'm not sure how much it matters except that Biden could have signaled that he wanted to move the party in a different direction and he is saying no, we want to take a California left-wing Democrat as his wing man, so that will be interesting to see how that resonates with voters.

MACCALLUM: Big night tonight as we get ready for the Democratic National Convention, we are going to see what it looks like in a virtual way. I think we're all waiting to see how that looks. I see you guys virtually right now.

Byron York, good to see you as always. Mollie Hemingway, great to see you. Thanks for being with us tonight.

HEMINGWAY: Thanks.

MACCALLUM: Of course, there's a lot more coming up. That is ‘The Story’ for Monday, August 17th 2020. ‘The Story’ continues. I will see you back here at 10 p.m. tonight Eastern Time for our live coverage of the speakers of the Democratic National Convention and analysis -- all of that coming up as you stay with Fox News throughout the night for your latest in Democracy 2020. See you soon everybody. A couple of hours away.

END

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