Student who helped disarm school shooter becomes US Marine
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This is a rush transcript from "The Story," October 8, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, ANCHOR: Hello there, Bret. Good evening everybody. Good to see you tonight. I'm Martha MacCallum.
What a story we have for you this evening. A lot of breaking news to go through tonight. So, first up, Fox News has learned that the inspector general examining the origins of the Russia investigation. You've been hearing all about his travels: Italy, Australia, with Bill Barr, the attorney general.
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Now, we know that he's requested more agents and more money because they're looking at a wider timeline now than they previously thought. Events going all the way back and then all the way forward to spring of 2017 when Robert Mueller was named the special counsel.
And speaking of Robert Mueller, administration officials are now confirming to Fox News that he was indeed pursuing the open FBI director post that was left by James Comey, something that he specifically denied under oath during congressional testimony this summer.
Now, the president has long maintained that, that did, in fact, happen. Tweeting, "It had been reported that Robert Mueller is saying that he did not apply and interview for the job of FBI director, and get turned down the day before he was wrongfully appointed," the president writes, "special counsel. Hope he doesn't say that under oath."
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But that looks interesting in the light of day this evening as well. All of this as the White House is taking the fight to Congress, issuing a scathing letter to Democrats calling the impeachment inquiry constitutionally invalid and essentially daring Nancy Pelosi to hold a vote to make it official. And until she does, the Trump administration says they will not cooperate.
Eric Trump, standing by with the reaction to all of these very big breaking news developments tonight. Including a report that there wasn't blower -- here is more, at the center of this whole thing.
According to these new reports in the Washington Examiner had some kind of professional relationship at some point with one of the 2020 Democratic candidates. So, that doesn't smell too good either at this point.
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So, first, let's go to Gillian Turner live in Washington with more on the White House's latest impeachment push back tonight. Good evening, Gillian.
GILLIAN TURNER, CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Martha. Breaking now, the White House sending a scathing letter laying out all their reasons for denying documents and witnesses subpoenaed by the House committees investigating President Trump.
The letter is from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and it's addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well as the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight Committees.
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The letter first lays out flaws in the Democrat's impeachment inquiry, then drops this bomb at the bottom of page two, quote, "President Trump and his administration reject your baseless unconstitutional efforts to overturn the democratic process. In order to fulfill his duties to the American people, the Constitution the executive branch and all future occupants of the office of the presidency, President Trump and his administration cannot participate in your partisan and unconstitutional inquiry under these circumstances."
Now, the core of the complaint Cipollone lays out is that House Dems are violating the rule of law, the Constitution, and past precedent set by impeachment procedures under Democrats and Republicans.
The letter lays out a whole laundry list of accusations including denying President Trump's fundamental rights to cross-examine and call witnesses, to receive transcripts of testimony, access evidence and have counsel present.
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Cipollone, then adds, "You have conducted your proceedings in secret and are actively threatening executive branch officials."
Now, this letter also singles out Adam Schiff, whose staff met with the whistleblower prior to them filing their complaint. The letter doubles down on President Trump's own criticism of Schiff, namely that he read a falsified version of the transcript of the Trump Zelensky phone call that's now at the center of this entire impeachment inquiry.
The letter wraps up, Martha, by accusing Democrats of doing all of this in order to undo the results of the 2016 presidential election. Martha.
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MACCALLUM: Gillian, thank you very much. Joining me now on set, on THE STORY here in New York, Eric Trump executive vice president of the Trump Organization. Eric, good to have you here. Thanks for coming in tonight.
ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: It's great to be here.
MACCALLUM: So, you know, let's go through this one by one. What's your reaction to the news that John Durham has asked to expand his investigation. He needs more agents, he has a longer time frame than they originally thought when they started this whole thing.
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TRUMP: Well, I'm reading it just like you are but that's never a good sign for them, right? I mean, you only need more agents if one thing happened and I've never seen dirtiness like this in my life. I've never seen corruption that they've been trying to impeach my father since before he even took office after he won the election.
I mean, you had 70 people before the Russia investigation even started. 70 members of Congress who were coming out and saying, we must impeach Donald Trump, right? Then, they went through the whole Russia investigation, and that fell on its face.
And then, they tried to do the same with Brett Kavanaugh, and that fell on its face. And, you know, then, they come out Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, right? Before they even released the transcript of the call and we must investigate based on this whistleblower. And then, they released a transcript and there's nothing in the transcript. And so, it's now we must call witnesses.
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And Martha, this is going to backfire on these guys so badly. Because you know what? If they don't impeach, this whole thing is been a sham. And if they do impeach, then guess what? You know, if they get to call every single person, they need to get a call, Joe Biden, they get to call Hunter Biden, they get to call Rudy Giuliani, and they get to call the Ukrainian prosecutor, and they get to call every other person who is involved in this rampant corruption that's nonsense.
The Democrats know they can't win in 2020. All right? I mean, you see that with our fundraising numbers, you'll see it, you know, on Thursday in Minneapolis when there's 50,000 people in our arena.
They know that they can't win. They've already threw this whole hoax, knocked out their number one candidate which was Joe Biden. I mean, they've literally taken out their frontrunner.
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MACCALLUM: I mean, it's interesting because obviously, Nancy Pelosi's political instincts were against going down this road for a very long time. And it appears that she got -- you know, sort of nudge in that direction.
TRUMP: She's crap. She's crap.
MACCALLUM: And now, she -- you know, sort of has this thing that she has to decide what to do with. And I think it's perfectly reasonable -- you know, you saw the letter from the White House that the White House is saying at this point that unless you have a vote and you have an official impeachment inquiry that the precedent is set for that.
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Then, the Clinton situation, also in the Nixon situation, you can't expect us to do -- you can't just give us a letter and expect us to send our people in it, it wouldn't -- it wouldn't be doing justice --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And they know their people are can be cross-examined.
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MACCALLUM: Yes, you know, absolutely.
TRUMP: You know, there are people are going to be put on the stand. And, by the way, that's where the fraud is perpetrated. It's been perpetrated for years. How about -- by the way, why doesn't Joe Biden release every single call he ever had with the president of the Ukraine, or the vice president of the Ukraine, or any prosecutor?
MACCALLUM: Well, the president has been set for that to be requested, that's for sure at this point.
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(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And I think that's -- I think that should come out. I mean this corruption in D.C. is unbelievable. And again, my father said, we have the greatest economy in the history of this country. Our country is doing phenomenally.
Well, the Democrats are trying to do everything that they can to distract against the fact that we have 3.5 percent unemployment, the lowest unemployment in the history of this nation. He's done an unbelievable job, Martha, and this is -- this is -- I keep on calling it, it's an absolute clown show.
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This is a clown show because they know that they don't have any people left to run against my father in 2020. They know they're going to lose. Nancy Pelosi jumped the gun, she doesn't know what to do at this point, they're floundering in the wind, and honestly, I think if they keep this up, I think it's guaranteeing my father re-election. And that the fundraising numbers we have coming in right now were out of control.
MACCALLUM: Yes, and that we've seen on that and we've been reporting those numbers as well.
Just a couple of other things on these items that just broke tonight, Eric. So, Robert Mueller said, you know, we showed that on the way in. He testified that he was not interviewing for that position. Now, you've got this contradictory report that says he was and that Rod Rosenstein has spoken to him the day before he went in to speak to your father.
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He says he was talking to him sort of about the parameters of the job and giving advice on finding someone. But Rosenstein said, according to this report, he talked to the day before about becoming special counsel. So, on the one hand, he's interviewing for a new job, on the other hand, he's -- you know, if that doesn't work out, he's going to investigate the same person that he's talking to about the job.
TRUMP: Goes back to that corruption. And again, I've never seen anything like it. And by the way, if that was a Democrat, I mean, that was a Republican sitting in his spot, Mueller spot, that's called perjury.
They'd be going after the person, they would be trying to throw them in jail because they lied in front of Congress, and they did this. And you know what, I guarantee you, it -- they never even speak of it.
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And again, after this show, they'll probably never even talk about it. That was a (INAUDIBLE). That was me, sitting in that chair, you don't think I would be perjured for lying to Congress? This isn't exactly a small fact, were you or were you not?
Interviewing for the head of the FBI, right? They got that answer -- he got that answer wrong. Could you imagine if that was me, Martha? Could you imagine if I was Hunter Biden and I took $1.5 billion from the Chinese? Could you imagine if I got $50,000 a month from a Ukrainian gas company?
You know what else is going to come out, which I find this really interesting? Pelosi's son, he's also on the board of a gas company that did a tremendous amount of business in the Ukraine. Why isn't anything coming out about that?
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You know, it seems to me that all these Democratic kids are on the boards of all these gas companies, you know, which is really interesting because if you would look at the U.S., they won't let us drill for oil and gas in New York, they won't let us do it in Pennsylvania, and you need to try and stop it every turn.
So, it's OK to drill for oil and gas in the Ukraine, it's OK for kids to sit on boards of Ukrainian companies, but when we try and do it here in the U.S., it's the Green New Deal, it's all -- I mean, the hypocrisy is incredible.
They're OK with drilling for oil and gas when their kids are on the board making millions and millions of dollars --
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MACCALLUM: So, what do you say to those and you know they do? I know you wrote an editorial about this just the other day that your family has made money since the president was elected, off of the Trump International Hotel in New York, there's an Indonesia project.
You know, people push back and say, well, you're also making money off of being the president's son. I mean, just --
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TRUMP: You know what, we got out of business when my father became commander-in-chief. The difference is, all these other kids were getting into business when their parents took positions.
I can tell you, we know all the hedge fund managers in New York. We know all these powerful people. China gives no-one any money. They're very, very -- you can't get two cents out of China.
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But yet, Hunter Biden, who gets kicked out the Navy, who has bad drug problems, who has a lot of other scandals falling around, gets a $1-1/2 billion from China? He's miraculously put on a board of a company and industry that he knows nothing about with no duties, he doesn't speak the language? Give me a break.
MACCALLUM: Well --
TRUMP: Right? The average -- the average income in this country is about $50,000 a year -- right average. He's making $50,000 a month, sitting on the board of a company not doing anything.
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You don't think people can read through it? And why do you think Nancy Pelosi's son is on the board of an oil and gas company? Come on.
MACCALLUM: Well, I mean, there is no doubt that there have been a lot of families who have benefited politically from their family member's positions in Washington, and end up on these boards, and I think it's a very legitimate question to raise about what their background was, and what constitutes their ability to advise these boards based on their background?
It's a very legitimate question. China, says they're not interested in looking into this whole thing. But as you rightly point out --
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Because they were paying people off.
MACCALLUM: If Joe Biden -- if this continues -- this impeachment process continues, they're going to be more questions about what happened in Ukraine, what happened in China than there would have been if they have in pursuits.
TRUMP: Let's put them all on the stand. Let's put -- let's put Joe Biden on stand. Did they're nowhere to be found?
MACCALLUM: Before I let you go, I want to put this up. This is one tweet that your dad sent out, the president, Mr. Trump, said, "I think that crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race and try to steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren. Only one condition, the crooked one must explain all of her high crimes and misdemeanors including how and why she deleted 30,000 e-mails after getting a subpoena."
And Hillary Clinton responded to that with this, "Don't tempt me. Do your job," she says.
TRUMP: It's interesting. I'd love to see her run again. I'd love to see her run again.
MACCALLUM: It sounds like -- it sounds like the president would like to see her run again too.
TRUMP: It's amazing. And by the way, another person who perjured themselves and created -- committed massive amounts of crimes who never answer for it, and believe me, if I delete 33,000 e-mails -- like delete a 33 -- and not being in government, I'd be in jail right now.
And it's a -- it's a -- it's a shame that there's a double standard in this country. And believe me, the people of this country see-through -- and that's why you're going to see 50,000 people in an arena in -- you know, Minnesota, in another couple days.
MACCALLUM: Oh, yes, that's another thing. Before I let you go, $500,000 for -- they're charging the campaign for security. How's that -- is that going to happen? Are you going to pay that money?
TRUMP: You know, it's interesting, the mayor of Minneapolis charged Obama.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
TRUMP: I think was $26,000, right?
MACCALLUM: $26,000, I look it up today.
TRUMP: For the exact same arena. So, I mean, these are the games that these people play. And people see through it and it's ridiculous, and we're going to fight it. And Martha, we are going to win. My father has done an unbelievable job for this country, he's going to keep it going, and this is a distraction. We're going to win this thing again and the American people are going to speak and this is just a pure act of desperation, to say the least.
MACCALLUM: All right. We'll be watching. Eric Trump, always good to see you here.
TRUMP: Thank you. It's good to be here.
MACCALLUM: Thank you very much for coming. Nice to talk to you tonight.
Coming up next, the administration today holding top-secret level briefings on the decision to pull back troops from northern Syria. So, is the president perhaps changing his mind or moving a bit on this issue?
MACCALLUM: General Jack Keane joins me coming up with where the White House may be headed next on this issue after this.
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MACCALLUM: So is President Trump rethinking perhaps the decision to leave the military zone near Turkey where our forces have fought alongside the Kurds from that area? Here is what he said yesterday.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: We've been in Syria for a long time, and it was supposed to be a very short hit and a hit on ISIS. There's going to be a time. We get out. We have to bring our people back home.
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MACCALLUM: And then this tweet from earlier today. "We may be in the process of leaving Syria, but in no way have we abandon the Kurds who are special people and wonderful fighters," he says.
Here now, General Jack Keane, Chairman of the Institute for the Study of War and a Fox News Senior Strategic Analyst. General, good to have you with us. We know that your initial thoughts on this matter where that would be a huge mistake. How do you think this situation is evolving? What do you see here?
GEN. JACK KEANE, RET., SENIOR STRATEGIC ANALYST: Well, I think it is evolving. I mean, I think it's unfortunate that we will not only unequivocal with Erdogan and his regime about a military incursion into Syria, and particularly targeted against the Kurds, who are obviously our partners in defeating ISIS.
But clearly now, Erdogan is being told in no uncertain terms that the United States will unleash severe sanctions on him as a result of a military incursion that does harm -- and I don't know any military incursion that wouldn't do harm -- and so that's number one.
And also to Congress of the United States is going to impose that and I think NATO will have something to say about it as well. There's universal condemnation of the fact that right now, as we speak, the Turkish military is massing the Turkish-Syrian border. And clearly, the Syrian Kurds are going to be in the beaten zone here.
Two other concerns, Martha, is that one, we still have troops, obviously, in northeastern Syria, as do the Brits, and as do the French. And we're attempting to move them out of harm's way so they're not caught in between this conflict. And the other thing is not talked about too much, the thousands of detainees, ISIS detainees that we have. And they're not up against the border, they're further down south.
And the Syrian Kurds, if to defend themselves against a military incursion, are not going to stay guarding detainees, they're going to leave that and move to the point where they can protect their families and their way of life. And therefore thousands of these detainees and 200 of them are the worst of the worst, we run the risk of them being left back into the general population of eastern Syria, which would be an absolute recipe for disaster.
MACCALLUM: You know, I see that the President was frustrated with the Europeans for not taking some of these people back. He doesn't necessarily want the responsibility of overseeing these camps full of Kurds and, you know, read reports about bomb-making pamphlets that are making the rounds in these -- in these camps and very strong ideology, which has not dissipated at all. In fact, it's probably exacerbated in these camps.
So I guess you know, my question is, the President tweeted that he would not abandon the Kurds, what do you think that means militarily? What's your read on that? Are we going to stay or are we not going to stay?
KEANE: Well, I don't think we're going anywhere in the near term out of Syria. I don't believe the situation is really going to permit that to happen. And I do think there is a reflection on what the potential for Erdogan's military incursion could mean in terms of the Kurds. And I mean, just universal support for us, defending the courage if necessarily and so many supporting them, after they sacrifice so much and defeated ISIS.
And I know the President has a view that this is an endless war, we've got to get out of it. But 60,000 Syrian Democratic Forces fought ISIS, and took away the caliphate. The Kurds alone lost 11,000 in that fight. We just had advisors there who coordinated for airpower and for artillery support. We were not in that fight although we were in a combat zone, obviously.
And what we need to win now is the peace that's following the conflict. The post-conflict is what we need to win. And that takes still some advises helping the Syrian Democratic Forces keep their foot on the throat of ISIS so they don't reemerge. And they're trying to reemerge as we're dealing with this crisis with the Turks. That's an absolute fact.
If we have this military incursion, Martha, with the Turks, the Syrian Democratic Forces are going to take their eye completely off the ball dealing with ISIS, move to the sound of the guns, and ISIS they're reemerging will be accelerated. That's just a fact. That's not even a possibility. It is a fact.
And the Iranians also will reap the benefits of this with the Russians in taking control of eastern Syria, which should really be a tragedy. And certainly, the Israelis and I know the Arabs in the region have all expressed their concerns about what the implications are here of abandoning the Syrian Democratic Forces for what it means for the region.
MACCALLUM: Well, when you live in a vacuum, something fills it. We see that time and time again. General Keane, thank you very much. Good to have you with us.
KEANE: Yes. Good talking to you, Martha.
MACCALLUM: We'll see you soon. Thank you. All right, now joining me Republican Senator Martha McSally of Arizona, a member of the Armed Services Committee, and a 26-year veteran Air Force pilot who was deployed six times to this region so she knows it extremely well. Senator McSally. thank you very much. Good to have you here tonight.
SEN. MARTHA MCSALLY, R-ARIZ.: Thanks for having on, Martha.
MACCALLUM: So what's your reaction to -- you know, I know that that your folks are very involved in all of these discussions and listening to what's going on. Is this -- is this decision changing? And to what?
MCSALLY: Well, I hope so, Martha, as someone who's deployed to that region six times. I agree with President Trump's objective to not be bogged down in the Middle East, to bring our men and women home. And we really need to be looking at the rising threat of China. However, we have a generational struggle and fight against Islamic terrorism.
And I'm glad that President Trump took action against ISIS in an innovative way, unlike President Obama. We used a small number of people on the ground advising this force, the SDF with our airpower, and they were able to roll back the caliphate. So we cannot tolerate a NATO ally, now coming in and moving them down.
That is just not the right message and it's not good for the safety of America so I really hope it's reconsidered.
MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, the President, you know, talked about how there are -- there are areas of agreement with Erdogan. It's a very tricky situation. He's an ally, but they're buying weapons from Russia against our -- against our advice and concerns about that.
MCSALLY: Right.
MACCALLUM: Is he our friend in your opinion, or is he our enemy?
MCSALLY: Well, his actions with buying the S400 and now massing on, you know, on the border, I'm really concerned. And I think NATO needs to step up and we need to do our part in Congress. If we've got to put sanctions on them, whatever we need to do right now at this moment to deter turkey from continuing down this path that is destabilizing in the region, and again, go -- potentially going after those allies on the ground, the SDF, who suffered 11,000 deaths, in order to defeat ISIS.
Turkey needs to be deterred, Erdogan needs to change his course right now. And I think we need to stand with the Kurds with our amount of capability that we've had which has been very limited but not turn our backs on them.
MACCALLUM: So, you know, I mean, obviously, the Russians and the Iranians would love to fill all of these vacuums. So you know, I mean, it's easy to -- I mean, it's not easy, but it's understandable, I guess I should say, to say that we should leave. What would be their role if we left? Real quick if you can.
MCSALLY: Well, you know, again, we -- I was just over in the region, and we see Iranians continued aggression in the region. Now our sanctions are putting a squeeze on them. But I was out in the Straits of Hormuz. I was at the Saudi Aramco facility that they bombed at (INAUDIBLE) as they continue to escalate their terrorist activities and their destabilizing activities in the region. So they will look for opportunities here and in other places.
This is an existential threat to Israel, and regional stability is in our interest. So in a very innovative way -- innovative way, the Trump administration was able to defeat ISIS. The SDF was a critical part of that. Let's deter Turkey as well as Iran from any destabilizing action.
MACCALLUM: Senator McSally, thank you very much. Good to speak with you tonight.
MCSALLY: Good to see you too.
MACCALLUM: Coming up next, she is not even the Democratic nominee for president but Elizabeth Warren is already telling CEOs that she "expects them to get on board with her plan to restructure American capitalism or else there will be consequences for them. Marc Thiessen and Austan Goolsbee join me next.
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SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES: The rules of our economy have gotten rigged so far in favor of the rich and powerful that everyone else is at risk of being left behind. Great for Wall Street banks and hedge funds, it's just not working for anyone else.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: So, Elizabeth Warren being called King Warren of the Roundtable in the Wall Street Journal today. Last month as you may remember corporations said that they wanted to serve stakeholders in the country not just shareholders in their company, putting corporate responsibility before profits.
And now Elizabeth Warren is telling them to put up or shut up. She says, I write you, she wrote them a letter, for information about the tangible actions that you intend to take to implement those principles. She went on to denounce corporate profits and dividends, saying that she expects these executives to wholeheartedly support the reforms laid out in her accountable capitalism act.
So, joining me now to say exactly what that would mean for the economy. Marc Thiessen, American Enterprise Institute scholar and a Fox News contributor, and Austan Goolsbee, former chief economist for President Obama. Welcome, gentlemen. Good to have --
(CROSSTALK)
MARC THIESSEN, CONTRIBUTOR: Good to be with you, Martha.
MACCALLUM: -- both of you with us today. So, Austan, let me go to you first. That there's another story in the Journal today that says that Democrat donors are very concerned about this possibility and that some of them say they will sit out the whole thing or they might even back President Trump if some of these ideas go into play and if she is the nominee.
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yes and no. I mean, that report, as you know, was about leading Wall Street financial people that were Democrats saying they didn't want it and Elizabeth Warren's supporters basically took that report and made it an ad in her favor.
I think the thing that is kind of missing in this is Elizabeth Warren, I think, is perfectly correct to say Donald Trump cut taxes for big corporations by $2 trillion on the promise that they were going to have a massive increase in investment in this country that they were going to share those benefits with the workers and the growth rate was going to go way up.
The growth rate in this quarter is in the 1 percent. They didn't share it and there has been no big increase in capital investment. So, I think this issue is actually thus far is a big winner for her. Not an albatross.
MACCALLUM: All right. Marc is chuckling so I guess you don't agree with that, Marc. Go ahead.
THIESSEN: I don't. Well, first of all, who died and appointed Elizabeth Warren general secretary to tell people, tell private businesses how to function? It's not the role of the president of the United States to do it.
But, second of all, this campaign of class warfare is not going to work. This message doesn't appeal to the American people because Elizabeth Warren's entire economic message is based on the idea that capitalism is working for the fat cats on Wall Street but it's not working for ordinary Americans.
Well ordinary Americans disagree. Marist did a poll this summer, asked ordinary Americans is the economy working for you personally? Two thirds of Americans said it was. Including 64 percent of those without a college education, 61 percent of nonwhites, 62 percent of independents, 66 percent of rural voters, 72 percent of suburban voters.
So, it's kind of hard to run on this message of the economy is not working for ordinary Americans when an ordinary Americans say it is.
GOOLSBEE: I mean, the president is now underwater on the economy when they ask him do, they think he is doing a good job? As I say we gave $2 trillion in tax cuts to big corporations. That's not about class warfare. That's what President Trump did. And just look at the polls. This is an area of is susceptibility to the Republican Party --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Well, there's no doubt that if people start to --
GOOLSBEE: -- that the president budget proposed cutting Medicare.
MACCALLUM: -- if people start to feel like the economy --
GOOLSBEE: At the same time, he is to cut taxes.
MACCALLUM: I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt. If people start to feel like it's not working that's definitely going to be an issue for President Trump's campaign.
Let's have a little light moment. This is from Saturday Night Live. This is Kate McKinnon playing Elizabeth Warren. Watch this.
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KATE MCKINNON, ACTRESS: You're kidding me, what? The billionaires don't like me? No.
I'm not taking big checks from Wall Street worked out great for the last lady running for president. Let me just skip Wisconsin and change my name to e-mail's Benghazi while I'm at it.
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MACCALLUM: I mean, you know, the big issue though, I think is that, that what you are hear percolating around a lot of Democrats right now, Austan, is that they are afraid that if she is the one, you know, you have this Biden issue which no doubt, however you split this impeachment question, it keeps coming up Biden and questions about all of that and you have Bernie Sanders who has health issues. He is back out there but is dealing with some personal stuff.
GOOLSBEE: Well, look. The Democrats have got -- we have yet to have any of the contests. They have got to sort out who is going to be the nominee. I think it's absurd to think that the person who is going to get tagged from this impeachment discussion is Joe Biden. It's going to be President Trump.
I think these issues if Elizabeth Warren were the nominee than President Pence is going to have to deal with that when he seeks re-election in the next campaign.
MACCALLUM: Very quick thought. I've got 10 seconds, Marc.
THIESSEN: Yes. Look, Elizabeth Warren is going to have the Democratic Party -- I feel sorry for Austan because is he going to have to spend a lot of time defending Elizabeth Warren which I'm sure he doesn't agree with a lot.
She is going to run this party so far to the left that they are going to help reelect Donald Trump because they are giving people tired of the Trump chaos but like the way the economy is going. They are giving them no safe harbor. They are giving them no place to go.
And so, they are going -- she is going to push voters who don't like Donald Trump into Donald Trump's arms and that's great for the Republican Party.
MACCALLUM: Thanks, guys. We will see you next time. Thank you very much.
THIESSEN: Take care.
MACCALLUM: All right. Good to see you. Coming up, Brendan Bialy is one of three hero students who sprang into action and stormed a school shooter and saved their classmates. Now, he is a hero again. He is now officially a United States marine and he joins me exclusively with his personal story tonight next. Don't miss it.
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BRENDAN BIALY, HELPED DISARM STEM SCHOOL SHOOTER: My thoughts on becoming a marine were nothing but reinforced after the shooting. What I saw that day was complete and total malevolence bad overcome by good.
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MACCALLUM: So earlier this year two armed students entered a STEM school in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. They pulled out guns and they told their classmates do not move. Without hesitation these three brave young men Kendrick Castillo, Joshua Jones and Brendan Bialy jumped and lunged at them.
They risked their own lives to tackle and disarm the shooters so that countless other students we've seen this over and over again. And it doesn't usually end this way. But in the end one of them died a hero that day, Kendrick Castillo. But his friend Brendan, then a marine recruit vowed that he would always honor Brendan's legacy. Watch this.
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BIALY: I got to see two heroes, two high school kids, two really awesome people jump into action without any hesitation and I was more than lucky to join them. Kendrick Castillo died a legend. He died a trooper and I know he will be with me for the rest of my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: That was one day after the shooting. And this is a picture of Brendan Bialy now. He just graduated from boot camp and he is now officially a United States Marine. And he joins me exclusively.
Brendan, thank you so much. It's good to have you here. You know, so many people followed your story and I think a lot of people just are very proud of you tonight. They were proud of you then and proud of you tonight.
But when I look back at you talking about what happened the next day, I wonder what it was like for you in the days and weeks that followed at school, you know, when the cameras left and when you start to sink in what you had actually done and what your friends had done.
BIALY: That's a really good question. Well, interestingly enough, we were, for the seniors like my whole friend group, we were three days from being done. Like we were done that Friday. We were done with the testing and everything.
But since I was so close to leaving for Marine Corps recruit training it was basically hey, it's time to now take this whatever comes along with it and move onto the next step which is at that time was becoming a United States marine.
MACCALLUM: So, what came along with it. I know you were close to Kendrick. I have seen interviews with his parents. They are just such lovely people and they handled it all with such grace and such courage. Just a quick thought on that before I ask you a little bit about where you're headed after that.
BIALY: Absolutely. It was when I look back, it's really interesting. For me, primarily everything that came along with it was thinking about Joshua and Kendrick. And for whatever reason I was the one thrown into the limelight and that's fine but I'm going to use whatever platform I'm given to make sure not only Josh Jones' name is remembered but Kendrick Castillo's forever. No matter where I go, he will be with me and that's not going to change no matter what.
MACCALLUM: You said in one of the interviews that you did right away that you are glad that you responded the way that you did, that you went into that line of fire and you stopped them and knocked them down with Kendrick and Josh. How does that feel now that you have been through boot camp?
BIALY: I think for a lot of people hat hope of -- let's be honest, a lot of people have ideas especially students like what if it happens in my school? What -- somebody walks in with a gun, right? And everybody is like, I honestly hope and picture myself acting heroically.
And in my case and for Kendrick's case and for Josh's case, that brings about a new level throughout life where you are no longer questioning what will I do? It's I now know how I will act.
And with that comes kind of level with a level of responsibility now but a type of weight is taken off your shoulders. You are now clear on, OK, now I have the confidence to know how I will respond in a situation like this again.
MACCALLUM: Good for you. And you responded amazingly. And heroically. How was boot camp and how do you like being a marine and tell us what's ahead for you?
BIALY: Well, boot camp was boot camp. It wasn't bad at all.
MACCALLUM: It wasn't?
BIALY: There were ups and downs. Yes. You know, it was boot camp. It's something new that every single person, I mean, you have to be there to really go through it. I mean, it's hard to explain. It's a hard thing to explain.
But, to all the police out there who are for the Marine Corps, everybody who's never been in the military, their family has never been in the family, it's something very hard to explain that will push you to your limits, you'll make a lot of close brothers. You will meet a lot of awesome people.
At the end of the day you will earn that title. It may feel like you won't but you will earn that title. And now that I'm a marine, it feels good. Now, once I've reached the top of that hill, I earned the EGA, right? But now that you have this new perspective this new vantage point you realize well, dang, I a lot more hills to climb. I got a long way to go and I'm excited for it.
MACCALLUM: Well, we are excited for you too. And we are grateful for your heroic act and all those students who were saved by it are, too. And we, with you, keep Kendrick Castillo's memory alive, he is a hero too --
BIALY: Absolutely.
MACCALLUM: -- and Josh as well. And we wish you all the best and we thank you very much for making a stop here at “The Story –“
BIALY: Absolutely.
MACCALLUM: -- as you go on your way. Thank you so much for your service. Good to meet you tonight, Brendan.
BIALY: Thank you very much.
MACCALLUM: Be well.
BIALY: Have a good one. Thank you.
MACCALLUM: You too. Thank you. So, when we come back, back to the topic of the night here, interesting to take that moment with Brendan though, the rush to impeach. What is this really all about?
What does Victor Davis Hanson see behind what's going on? He is always good at taking a look back at the big picture and helping us see it from 30,000 feet. He is going to explain, coming up next.
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MACCALLUM: So, there are a lot of breaking headlines tonight in the impeachment story. The White House is pushing back saying that this effort is illegitimate and that they do not plan to cooperate with it at the level that it is at right now without a vote in the House.
And earlier today Bill McGurn at the Wall Street Journal wrote this in the op-ed -- on the opinion pages. Why the rush, he writes. Maybe because in addition to concerns about 2020 there is an itch to punish Trump voters for what they did in 2016. In other words, it isn't enough that Mr. Trump be defeated. His whole presidency must be delegitimized. Also, along with the people who voted for him.
Joining me now, Victor Davis Hanson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, has written similar sentiments over the past few days and he joins me now. Good to see you tonight, Victor. So, what do you make of that notion that that is perhaps more what it's about and what it has always been about for the past two and a half years?
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTE: Yes. I think Bill is right. He is being empirical not theoretical. He is saying that if it's about a alternate vision we've had a rich array of issues voiced on the Democratic primary platform and debates. And why don't House members say you know what, I'm introducing a bill for reparations, Green New Deal, I want to get legislation passed getting Medicare for everybody or healthcare for illegal aliens.
We don't see that. Instead, we are in to about the 10th iteration now. We had the voting machines lawsuit, 25th Amendment. Logan Act. Emolument clause. Mueller. Remember, we even had psychiatrists declaring Trump unfit.
So, in that sense this is just another version of an effort to delegitimize the president. And he is right also about his supporters. It wasn't just Hillary Clinton that said irredeemables and deplorables of the Trump voter. There was Joe Biden said that they were the dregs of society.
I think Peter Strzok was caught in a text message just saying basically they were smelly. We had CNN people say that Trump -- at Trump rallies people had no teeth. You saw that Jussie Smollett when he had that hoax, he deliberately made the villains people with Trump hats. Same was too with the Covington kids they were demonized because they had these red hats.
So, you put it all together and it's an effort to say this person had no political or military experience. He should not have won. He was out fundraised. All the experts said he didn't have a chance it couldn't happen and it did. And it's illegitimate and we are not going to stand for it.
I think, Martha, the only mystery is what's the end game with impeachment? Is it just a primal scream to get this emotion out or is it just to have an inquiry and create enough chaos and smears and leaks that maybe you can drive his polls down like we've already seen in the Rasmussen poll today or is it to actually have a vote and impeach him and then have an asterisk behind his name for the 2020 election?
Or maybe they believe that they can flip three or four senators in the Senate and while that's not enough constitutionally to result in a conviction and removal from office, the Democrats can say well, we had a majority vote to impeach him and we had a majority vote in the Senate.
If we flip three or four Republican senators, except for that stupid old Constitution, we would have removed him. It's like the Electoral College --
MACCALLUM: Yes.
HANSON: -- they stopped this. Or finally on a more (Inaudible) fashion, Martha. This is kind of scary. I think that they are trying to wear down the physical and mental resilience of Donald Trump. We saw what happened to Bernie on the campaign trail.
It's not an easy thing for a septuagenarian to run or be in office. And we know what happened to Richard Nixon during the ordeal, he got phlebotomy bites and pneumonia and almost died.
And I think people think you know, at some point the legendary Trump physicality is going to crack. And each one of these assaults, whether it's Mueller, the 25th Amendment or whistleblower it's like an invisible little crack in an egg shell and at some point, maybe this whistleblower or Ukraine business, the final tap will just implode everything.
MACCALLUM: Yes.
HANSON: And he will be gone and we won't have to worry about it anymore. But they all have one thing in common, they don't believe in a constitutional referendum in 2020 as a Constitution states --
MACCALLUM: Yes.
HANSON -- to have an up or down vote on their president to see if he should be reelected or not.
MACCALLUM: Victor, you laid a lot of option us out there. So, we're going to see which and how many of them turn out to be where all of this is headed. We thank you as always. Great to see you tonight Victor Davis Hanson joining us this evening.
HANSON: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: Thank you. So, coming up, “The Story” continues next. Watch this.
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MACCALLUM: Sometimes this show is so packed that we don't have time for the quote of the night. But tonight, it is back and this one is from Ellen DeGeneres.
Simple message in response to the backlash over her having the temerity to sit next to President and Mrs. Bush and enjoyed Dallas Cowboys football game together.
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ELLEN DEGENERES, COMEDIAN: but just because I don't agree with someone on everything doesn't mean that I'm not going to be friends with them.
When I say be kind to one another I don't mean the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone. Doesn't matter.
(APPLAUSE)
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MACCALLUM: What a great idea, right? A Bush family spokesperson has since responded saying, "President and Mrs. Bush really enjoyed being with Ellen and Portia and appreciated Ellen's comments about respecting one another and they respect her."
Civility and mutual respect. What a radical concept, right? That's a nice moment. And that's “The Story” on this Tuesday, October 8, 2019. “The Story” goes on tomorrow. We'll see you then. Have a good night, everybody.
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