White House goes silent on terrorism in California
Krauthammer on 'The Kelly File': 'Clueless' administration makes people feel insecure
This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," December 4, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MEGYN KELLY, HOST, "THE KELLY FILE": Breaking tonight, tough new questions for the commander-in-chief as the FBI confirms the worst domestic terror attack since 9/11 on U.S. soil. And President Obama remains silent.
Welcome to "The Kelly File," everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. And we have some major developments in the Christmas party massacre that left 14 dead and 17 wounded a little more than 48 hours ago. Tops among them, ABC News obtaining the first pictures of Tashfeen Malik, the 27-year-old mother, who along with her husband, murdered 14 innocent people in cold blood. The same woman, we have learned, posted a pledge of allegiance to ISIS and its leader on a Facebook account within moments of firing the very first shots in a conference room in California. As her husband's co-workers lay bleeding and dying. The same co-workers who threw her a baby shower six months earlier. And today, for the first time, the Feds describe this attack as terror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID BOWDICH, FBI-LOS ANGELES, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE: As of today, based on the information and the facts as we know them, we are now investigating these horrific acts as an act of terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Many in the country may now be waiting to hear from the commander-in-chief. They will need to wait a little longer. As of 4:40 p.m. Eastern Time, we received word that the White House had gone dark for the evening. Meaning, don't expect to see or hear from the president of the United States on this issue tonight.
In moments, Charles Krauthammer joins us on today's news. Plus, "The Kelly File" speaks with the director of the mosque where the killer husband previously worshipped. Brad Thor is here to react to that and the dramatic news conference today from the suspected killers lawyers. And Senator Marco Rubio weighs in on how this woman managed to come to America.
But we start with James Rosen at the White House tonight. James?
JAMES ROSEN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Megyn, good evening. The White House since says there was no disconnect between the refusal of officials here to label the San Bernardino case an act of terrorism and the eventual use of that term by the FBI. Aides to President Obama said that up until now the White House wanted the attorney general and the FBI director to have the lead role in the making of public pronouncements on the San Bernardino attack. What officials here told me tonight, President Obama will speak publicly on the case again and soon and will address it squarely as an act of terrorism.
Critics of the administration oversee a pattern where in the President or his aides have been slow to recognize terrorism or call it that. In 2009, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano famously labeled terrorists acts man-caused disasters. The Pentagon initially called the Fort Hood massacre an instance of workplace violence. And just this past July, the President declined to categorize mass casualty attacks at two military installations in Chattanooga, again leaving it to the FBI to call it terrorism. More broadly, the President has refused to use the words radical Islam, Islamist or Jihad in describing the greater challenge from terrorism preferring instead the term violent extremism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: The criticism is that as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama will always be handicapped in his ability to really effectively confront this threat precisely because he isn't properly defining it in his rhetoric or therefore in his own mind.
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I guess James, the fact that our harshest critics, that best criticism that they can come up with, is to criticize what the President says, I think is a pretty strong endorsement of all of the actions that the President has taken to keep the country safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: Bottom-line, the White House now does not dispute that the San Bernardino attack ranks as the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11th, 2001. And again I'm told President Obama will be addressing it again publicly and soon -- Megyn.
KELLY: Joining me now, Charles Krauthammer. He's a syndicated columnist, Fox News contributor and author of the book "Things That Matter."
Charles, thank you for being here tonight. Let's just start with the significance of what we have now learned which is a terror attack has hit the homeland. It has hit the homeland in the worst possible way, in a way that had been imagined by our security experts. For the first time in the worst way since 9/11.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: And happened just a couple of weeks after we had been assured that a Paris style attack was extremely unlikely to occur in the United States. Giving the people a sense that they were secure. I think one of the reasons for the true widespread and deep anxiety in the country, insecurity, reflected for example in the increase in the purchase of firearms. Is that people feel that the authorities, particularly the President, the White House, the ultimate authorities, simply are clueless about what's happening. Either that they have no idea what to do about it and thus deny its existence or its importance or its severity or that the President truly doesn't believe that this is major threat to the security of his own people.
And when you feel leaderless, when you have the White House an hour before the FBI says, it's terrorism, still refusing to call it terrorism, when you have the President saying that ISIS is contained, ISIS is not gaining strength and his own head of the Joint-chiefs-of-Staff says in testimony a few weeks ago, ISIS is growing, it's not contained. When you have every single indication of the highest authorities in the land downplaying the threat at every turn, starting from the jayvee team until right now, then you have a sense that this is not an administration to whom you can entrust your safety and the safety of your children.
KELLY: Typically, we look to our president as commander-in-chief and at a time like this, as comforter in chief. And I don't mean to say that this is the same as 9/11, but this is a terrorist attack. The FBI tells us it's so. So where is he and why isn't he coming on camera tonight to address the nation?
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, where is he, as I just learned from your staff a minute or two ago and I just heard you say, he's meeting with former Congressman Gifford to talk about gun control. What was his reaction to the news of the shooting and all of the circumstances which has suggested to just about everybody in the country? That this is the work of radical Islam. He came out with a statement and this is the only time he shows passion on gun control which is a totally irrelevant when it comes to international terrorism. The problem of ISIS is not a gun control problem.
The French have the strongest gun control laws in the world and they even hit three times now in this calendar year by acts of mass murder. So he preferred to or he is interested in gun control far more than this issue and when you look at it, you weigh the threat of one against the threat of the other, what's happening in the Middle East, happening in Europe, and now has reached our shores, it's nearly incomprehensible. But it is that sense of absence, I don't need him to comfort me. I just need him to give the country a sense that he knows what the threat is and that he is alerting himself, his administration, to put out the maximum effort. But every time he speaks about this, every time, it is either to downplay or distract to another issue.
KELLY: But you know, after the Paris attacks, which were very jarring even here in America, he swung and he missed in an attempt to talk to the American people. And he was criticized for it. Not just by his political opponents, but by Democrats saying, hold on. You have a different role here. And that is that of comforter in chief. Even though the Dr. Charles Krauthammers of the world may not need it. And he got it a few days later, he came out and gave it another try. And now here we are on the day the FBI is saying this was a terrorist attack on the day we learned this woman pledged her allegiance to al-Baghdadi, before she shot 14 of our fellow citizens. And he is missing it again. There have been some suggestions he might say something about it in his radio address this weekend, Charles.
Not good enough!
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, on the controller in chief thing, remember, there's a reason I left psychiatry. But on the main issue here, remember what he did at the press conference in Turkey. Right after the Paris attack. I mean, the dead had barely been buried and we all saw what he did. He spoke in very measured terms about what happened in France. He called it a setback. The President of France called it an act of war. And then he showed his only passion in that hour of the press conference, in denouncing Republicans on what, on admitting Syrian refugees. As if that was the issue. And not the rise of Islamic terrorism in the heart of the west and obviously accelerating and strengthening in these seven years of his administration. And now hitting American shores.
KELLY: Charles, is this the new reality of living in America?
KRAUTHAMMER: It's the new reality of living in America when we have spent seven years, abdicating our role in the Middle East, withdrawing from Iraq unilaterally and allowing the influence of Iran to rise with the growth of ISIS. ISIS has become, under this president, the largest semi- sovereign terrorist group in the history of the world. The wealthiest resources of income that are untold in the history of terrorism. And with obvious skill and reach. And he acts as if it remains a jayvee team and a minor nuisance.
KELLY: Charles, thank you.
KRAUTHAMMER: My pleasure.
KELLY: Well, it is not just the White House taking heat tonight. Senator Marco Rubio is here to talk about Attorney General Loretta Lynch and what she is calling her greatest priority right now.
Plus, we have new details on the terrorist couple and what really happened in the run-up to this attack. Trace Gallagher is live in San Bernardino with the breaking news on that right after this break.
Also, in the years before Farook became a cold-blooded killer, he attended this mosque on a daily basis. And tonight, "The Kelly File" speaks to the director of the mosque about a warning he shared on Farook's wife.
Plus, Brad Thor is here on what we learned from inside the mosque.
When he decided to get married, probably he had started some contract over the internet with a young woman in Saudi Arabia, she is from a Pakistani origin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Breaking tonight, we are learning new details about the killer couple behind the worst terrorists attack on U.S. soil since September 11th. And what they did before, during and after, killing 14 and wounding 21 innocent people in San Bernardino. Including a new report that directly challenges this suggestion this could have been some sort of workplace violence.
Trace Gallagher live in San Bernardino, California for us to night.
Trace?
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Remember the eyewitness report, Megyn, was that on the morning of the Christmas Party, Syed Farook walked into that party, he got into an argument with one of his co-workers, and then he stormed out, and came back with his wife and opened fire. Well, now there are reports that the police are very skeptical. In fact, they doubt that that ever happened. Meantime, the FBI has insisted that ISIS did not direct these attacks. But we have known for months that ISIS have been directing its followers to attack their homeland and now it turns out the wife is an ISIS follower.
Take a look at the first picture of her from ABC News. We now know that she went on to Facebook and her pledged to Abu Bakr, the leader of ISIS. And as the attacks were about to happen, she praised the group. She later tried to delete the post but the federal government now has recovered that post. We do not know how. The FBI says, there is also evidence that one or both of the killers made telephone contact with some here in the United States that was under investigation by the FBI for terrorism and also made contact with somebody outside of the United States also being investigated for terrorism. The couple tried to erase their digital footprint, smashing cell phones, smashing hard drives. But the FBI has salvaged them. Listen now to FBI Director Comey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: We are going through a very large volume of electronic evidence. This is electronic evidence that these killers tried to destroy and tried to conceal from us. That we now have and are exploiting to trying to understand them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Meanwhile, they are still investigating those weapons, Megyn. There were two handguns and two assault rifles, they were all but legally two years ago. But Syed Farook only bought the handguns. Another man believed to have been a former roommate, apparently purchased the rifles. The FBI says, they know who that man is. He has not yet been arrested. But they want to find out exactly why he bought them -- Megyn.
KELLY: Uh-hm. Trace, thank you.
Joining me now with more, James Kallstrom, former FBI assistant director in-charge and former counterterrorism senior adviser to the governor of New York State.
Jim, good to see you tonight. And so, the investigation will now focus on for the moment the electronics, the phones, and the computers, which they tried to destroyed. Which in and of itself is some suggestion of possible terrorism.
JAMES KALLSTROM, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN CHARGE: Yes. Full- court press on all of the electronics, all of the phones, all of the connections. I wish NSA was back in the picture. Because we would have a spider web of connections prior that we can act on right away. And that's the importance of that program, really.
KELLY: Uh-hm. Which we got rid of.
KALLSTROM: Which we got rid of. Which was really stupid, really, let's face it. Also interviews, I mean, they are doing neighborhoods, they're doing every place, all of the people that worked there.
KELLY: Let me ask you something about that. Because one of the things we learned today is that Syed Farook's mother lived with these two.
KALLSTROM: Yes.
KELLY: She was helping take care of the six-month-old baby. And today we will going to play this in a minute, these two lawyers suggested she didn't know anything. She knew nothing. Even though she was there when they left in their gear to go shoot up the place.
KALLSTROM: That's bogus.
KELLY: What do you think the FBI doing with her right now?
KALLSTROM: Well, interviewing her, right? Finding her.
KELLY: They've got her.
KALLSTROM: They've got her. Okay. Good.
KELLY: But she says, I know nothing.
KALLSTROM: Yes. Well, she will have intense interviews. And, you know, it will be geometric in how that goes.
KELLY: They will get to the bottom of it.
KALLSTROM: We will get some information.
KELLY: How good are they with the electronics? We like to think they can do anything. Can they?
KALLSTROM: They are very good. I mean, the FBI laboratory, the forensic guys are really, really good. The question is, do you have enough of these people, you know, to deal with this immense geometric puzzle that rapidly grows, you know. But yes, they will do a great job and they will bring other people in, and other agencies will help, no question about it.
KELLY: What did you make of the messaging we heard today from Director Comey who did call it terrorism? Loretta Lynch, his boss, the Attorney General who didn't use that word?
KALLSTROM: Jim Comey is a good man. And his final analysis, you know, we will going to get the truth out of Jim Comey.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
KALLSTROM: You know, he is walking a little bit of a tight rope, although he has a ten-year term, which is a powerful thing. But he is a good, good man. So, I think even the FBI is doing a good job. You can see how the gymnastic semantics are kind of frustrating to hear this thing. But I think in the final analysis, you know, we will know exactly what happened, no question about it.
KELLY: We saw that extraordinary press conference last night where the cops said, we've taken a beating lately and it's been hard.
KALLSTROM: Yes.
KELLY: You know, as a guy who devoted his life to law enforcement --
KALLSTROM: You know, of all the times to have demoralized cops that are going to be like hands off, don't want to be called this, don't want to be called that, that's the worst time. Look what's happened. Look what they've done to the morale and the ability of police. And I'm not standing up for bad cops or bad FBI guy. I mean, there's a few. But that 99.9 percent of guys are patriots. They want to help you. They want to support you. They want to make sure you don't get shot. Just like that cop told those group leaving. But now is not the time to have guys not get out of their patrol cars. Not, you know, not report something. Just like that neighbor that said she didn't call it in because she didn't want to be called a bigot or, you know, that is a very harmful thing. We need the opposite of that now.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
KALLSTROM: We need people calling in. We need good Muslims, they claim to be, you know, not part of this, and don't support this terrorism, they need to be telling us.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
KALLSTROM: Look, this guy is changing. I've seen different things. If they want to be part of America and they want to, you know, live in our culture and assimilate, they have to help us with this problem.
KELLY: You heard Jim Comey saying exactly that today, saying, if you see something, say something. What we've really mean it. If you get that feeling where the hair stands up on the back of your neck, call. Jim, thank you.
KALLSTROM: Thank you.
KELLY: Well, there was a remarkable 40-minute news conference this afternoon. When the family of Syed Farook sent attorneys out to argue that he has no real ties to terror and that was just the start.
Plus, "The Kelly File" tonight goes inside Farook's mosque to speak with the man who says he knew Farook better than anyone else. Brad Thor is here on what the mosque director told us about the wife involved here. That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MUSTAFA KUKO, DIRECTOR OF THE ISLAMIC CENTER OF RIVERSIDE (on the phone): He was born in America and she was born overseas and she lived overseas. So that was one of his concerns that he talked to me about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Breaking tonight. In the years before Syed Farook and his wife committed mass murder, Farook was heavily involved in a mosque in Riverside, California. And perhaps no one there knew him better than the center's director. Earlier he spoke to us about the man he knew before Syed Farook married Tashfeen Malik and the pair turned into killers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY (voice-over): This is the mosque Syed Farook attended from 2012 to 2014. He and its director were very close. Discussing everything from Islam to Syed's love life.
KUKO: When he decided to get married, probably had started some contact over the internet with a young woman in Saudi Arabia. She is from a Pakistani origin. He was born in America and she was born overseas and she lived overseas so that was one of his concerns that he talked to me about.
KELLY: Syed asked for Dr. Kuko's blessing. Kuko said he gave it but with a caution.
KUKO: Check on her background. Check on her family background. Things like that. Those are things we talked about, I remember.
KELLY: Kuko says, he only remembers one time Syed's wife Tashfeen Malik attended the mosque. And shortly thereafter, Syed stopped attending.
KUKO: After he got married, he continued to coming to our mosque almost like I would say three months or so and then after that he stopped coming because he move out of Riverside to Redlands. And I understand that he started going to some mosque over in that area.
KELLY: When he heard Syed was behind Wednesday's deadly attack, Kuko said he was shocked.
KUKO: I was little disbelief because I know the guy. How can he do something like this? It was awful.
KELLY: Kuko said the man he knew seemed incapable of committing mass murder.
KUKO: It's kind of hard for me to rectify someone who's so quiet and peaceful and someone who has, you know, the audacity to commit such horrendous crime.
KELLY: He also said Syed never told him about any office conflict.
KUKO: He never told me about anything that related work problems.
KELLY: After his wife's reported pledge of allegiance to ISIS.
KUKO: I'm not sure about this report. And I haven't seen it and I have no way of saying it's true or false.
(END VIDEOAPE)
KELLY: Joining me now, Brad Thor, former member of the Homeland Security Department's Analytic Red Cell Unit and bestselling author of "Code of Conduct." Brad, thanks for being here.
BRAD THOR, FORMER MEMBER, DHS ANALYTIC RED CELL UNIT: Thank you, Megyn.
KELLY: So now we have it coming together. He goes to the mosque. He leaves, he goes to a different mosque. In the meantime, we find out that his wife is pledging allegiance to ISIS before they walk into that conference room and the latest reporting is, guess what, there was no argument between this guy and his coworkers on the morning he shot them to death.
THOR: Right. We would have heard about that long ago. And I'll tell you, this is the first time I'm hearing this interview with the director of his previous mosque in Riverside. And one of the things that immediately pops into my head, Megyn, is what if the wife radicalized him.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
THOR: What if this woman from Pakistan who grew up in Saudi Arabia and came over here, what if she was the force behind making him a more pie assed Muslim and forced him in this direction. Because I'm finding it hard to put together in my head that he can get her trained up and passionate enough to commit to this kind of attack. We may never know but boy, isn't that an interesting supposition potentially.
KELLY: What is your understanding of what we are doing when it comes to mosques in America right now.
THOR: Well, I'll tell you, I have to compare to what we are doing against the French. The French are very, very -- I'll use the word liberal, but it's not right way to do it. They will do wiretapping. They will do all sorts of stuff. Microphones in mosques. They want to record all the sermons. I think about what the NYPD did with their Commissioner Kelly with the demographics, that Bill de Blasio didn't like as far you know, they have to have probable cause but they wouldn't let things stop at threshold of a mosque. If they thought there was planning going inside. And traditionally the mosque is more than just a house of worship.
You can store things there. You can plan things there. It happens in the Middle East. There are rules of engagement that allows us to go into the mosques in the Middle East for a military. So, these, I don't think we are doing enough here. You know, Listen, I'm a big guy about civil liberties. I know you respect them, particularly as an attorney. But we have to find that right balance between security and liberty in this country and if we get a lead that stuff is going on in a mosque and hate is being preached or Jihad is being encouraged, I think that all to be enough probable cause to go to a judge for a warrant to start doing more aggressive surveillance on that mosque.
KELLY: It opens up a dicey, you know, area though legally.
THOR: I don't think the Catholics, the Amish, the Protestants, it is not like we have a problem across the board religion wise.
KELLY: Well, it's interesting you raise that point. It's interesting you raise that point because this is contrary to the point raised by the attorneys for the family, which I'm going to play next. I'm holding you over. So stay right where you are.
Coming up, Senator Marco Rubio, still ahead tonight, with a warning about what we learned today. As well as lawyers coming up for Farook's family who called a news conference this afternoon to argue that religion had nothing to do with this crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CHESLEY, ATTORNEY FOR FAROOK FAMILY: The motive is very unclear. It could be a disgruntled worker.
MOHAMMAD ABUERSHAID, ATTORNEY FOR FAROOK FAMILY: At this point, since the investigation is ongoing, it could be a disgruntled employee. It could be an information that's coming gal about their connections to different types of groups. We're still waiting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PATRICIA STARK, FOX NEWS REPORTER: Live from America's news headquarters, I'm Patricia Stark. A funeral today in Southern California for the only known American victim in the Paris terror attacks last month. Friends, family, and officials attended the funeral of 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez.
The California State University Long Beach student was described as a shining light. The Islamic state group has claimed responsibility for the November 13th gun and bomb attacks that left 130 dead and hundreds injured.
Well, rough weather in South Florida holding up a critical space launch for a second day in a row. The Orbital ATK mission is to send 7400 pounds of supplies to the International Space Station. Now NASA normally likes to have a six months stash of food aboard at the space station, but it is down a couple of months of the three failed flights.
I'm Patricia Stark. And now back to The Kelly File. For all your headlines log on to foxnews.com
MEGYN KELLY, THE KELLY FILE SHOW HOST: Breaking tonight, attorneys for the family of suspected terrorist Syed Farook gave a press conference just hours ago. In a series of rambling and lengthy exchanges, attorney David Chesley and Mohammad Abuershaid insisted their clients knew nothing of the terrorist radical activity and ask the media to leave religion out of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CHESLEY, SYED FAROOK'S FAMILY ATTORNEY: There hasn't been any clear smoking gun evidence that they were part of any particular cell or group. They're pointing to things that they saw on Facebook under different account names in the case of Tashfeen Malik.
There was information about the fact that his co-workers kind -- has kind made fun of him, for example, and his beard. He was a very isolated introverted individual with really no friends.
So, I guess what we would say is that when an incident happens like this, when a Christian goes to shoot up a Planned Parenthood or extreme Catholic bombs an abortion clinic, all the headlines don't say, extremist radical Christian Catholic.
I have so many Muslim friends and so many people that I work with that are Muslim, and no one -- every Muslim community around the world has been in a state of remorse and condemnation of these acts. No one supports it.
MOHAMMAD ABUERSHAID, SYED FAROOK'S FAMILY ATTORNEY: They thought Syed's hobbies and which they still -- they still were was building cars. You know, this was the thing, he like to go in his garage and he like to work on things. They never used to invade his personal space. That was his man cave of sorts. He used to go into the garage and work on things.
He used to build shoe racks for his sister instead of -- her making buy one.
(OFF-MIKE)
CHESLEY: I guess what I would say is that this is just so -- this is just the stereotypical situation of what takes place. Every time there is an event like this. Most of the time no one knows that much about the shooter. And the same thing was here -- was the case here.
The mother stayed to herself. I think she stayed upstairs and so she would have been separate and not really known much about what was taking place in the rest of the house.
They are the FBI and they're damn good at getting this information. They asked everything they could. They had the mother under pressure for what, seven hours or so. They basically took her into custody and at one point they had the mother in custody and they said, we're not letting your mother go.
They said this to Syrah, the sister of Syed, we're not going to let your mother go until you, your brother and sister, Eva, come in for questioning. And I got the feeling that that was a really traumatic experience because their son just died.
The motive is that there is a - the motive is very unclear. It could be -- it could be a disgruntled worker.
ABUERSHAID: At this point, since the investigation is still ongoing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Mark Eiglarsh, he's a former prosecutor, now criminal defense attorney. Arthur Aidala is a New York trial attorney and Fox News legal analyst, and Brad Thor is back with us as well.
Mark, I mean, she was very upset because her son has just died after he killed 14 people and was shooting at cops. He died by a police officer's bullet. The one that he was shooting at.
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right. Yes. Shame on them for questioning her. Listen, they made some good points and they made some points I took exception to. Let's get away -- let's out the good points. And that we should all avoid bigotry discrimination and stereotyping.
Because not every Muslim supports murder and not everyone was involved in this. That's important to note. However, I think they went to great lengths to try to suggest erroneously, there's no evidence of any terror link whatsoever.
Two things I would say it that. Number one, your client's family members destroyed a lot of that evidence. And number two, we saw there was a lot of evidence left in the house for the media to rummage through, including but not limited to, shredded documents which should be in the hands of FBI, shredding those, so that we could find out what it is they didn't want us to know.
KELLY: Mark is making a reference to it, an incredible scene earlier today where the landlord of the home let the media in and they had their hands all over what evidence is says left in the house.
Arthur, these lawyers come out and say, first of all, every Muslim community in the world has been in the state of remorse over this. Well, that's not true. The radical Muslim communities are celebrating, right?
ARTHUR AIDALA, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Right.
KELLY: So, I mean, that's number one. He loses some credibility. But he talks about how the mother didn't know her own son? She stayed upstairs. And this tiny -- she stayed upstairs, she never saw the pipe bombs. She didn't see when he came home, put on the vest, pulled down the ski mask with his wife, left their baby with the mother and ran out to commit mass murder. She didn't see any of it?
AIDALA: Megyn, let's talk about a dose of reality here. Mark and I represent criminal defendants all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
EIGLARSH: Minor and innocent.
AIDALA: And even though they're not vetting -- and even though they're not representing a criminal defendant, the family here is being colored with the horrible acts, that horrendous acts, that their family members did.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: Because they have been in and out of this house so many times.
AIDALA: OK. But here is the bottom line. The message they gave out, because I agree with Mark said, they did make some good points and they didn't make some not good points.
They came out, we brought our clients into the FBI. Four hours for the siblings. Seven hours for the mom. And we're still available for them. We are cooperating a hundred percent. That was point number one. Point number two is, they did whatever they did.
But all Muslims should not be painted with the blood that's on the hands of those two individuals. I think those were the two main points they wanted to make.
BRAD THOR, SHADOWED A BLACK OPS TEAM IN AFGHANISTAN: Who's painting them?
KELLY: Go ahead.
THOR: Megyn, who is painting them? I have had enough of these apologetics from the Muslim community. We get it. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But we're wasting time passing that up.
I want to know who's paying these attorneys is it care? Because what we're seeing here is a public relations Jihad. It is amazing.
You and I talked about how quick they got here up and got the press conference. This is all an attempt to get us not to talk about Islam and Islam is key to this.
KELLY: These lawyers today came out and said we need to protect the Muslim community. In response to which, many Americans who are saying, you need to protect the entire community.
THOR: Other way. Yes.
KELLY: The ones who were being shot to death when they go to the Christmas party, Mark.
EIGLARSH: Yes. Megyn, I agree with there and I want to respond to the other point. Who is paying the attorneys? Follow the money. Money comes typically through banks. Oh, yes, media, holding bank records that were left behind.
(CROSSTALK)
AIDALA: Mark -- Mark...
EIGLARSH: They were left behind. I'm totaled by this. I can't believe it.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: You can't get over the fact that what is a crime scene was make -- was opened up to the media today?
AIDALA: Yes. I agree with Mark on that.
EIGLARSH: Somebody make me OK with that.
THOR: It is a colossal mistake.
KELLY: Go ahead.
THOR: It's a colossal mistake.
AIDALA: Megyn, number one, I would not be surprised in the least if these two young attorneys are doing this for free to be standing in front of national audience for the whole night, number one.
Number two, the fact that the media was allowed in there. I scratch my head. I heard today another analyst, the CIA or the DEA analyst saying this was planned by federal investigators so that citizens like us right now watching this would see clues and we would come forward to the FBI tonight and...
(CROSSTALK)
EIGLARSH: That what?
THOR: Megyn.
AIDALA: And, yes. That's what someone is trying to say with a straight face.
THOR: I agree. I spoke with a recently -- recently retired very high ranking FBI member this afternoon from the criminal division out of the Washington headquarters, who told me this was a colossal break down in his opinion.
He doesn't know exactly what happened.
EIGLARSH: Well, of course.
THOR: But he said, look at colossal breakdown in communication between San Bernardino County sheriff and the FBI. There should have been somebody posted outside that apartment. The fact that there wasn't, we need to find out what happened there because even the...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: Last question. Last question. They found pipe bombs galore inside that garage. That's where he was making all the stuff. And now they want us to believe when the family members came over, they went into the garage and he just working on cars and they had play dates in there with their 6-month-old baby. I mean, you tell me, Mark, did this -- did this pass the smell test? Quickly.
EIGLARSH: Megyn, I'm not convicting the family. I want to see evidence that they knew. They should absolutely continue to be investigated.
AIDALA: Yes, they pass in the smell test.
EIGLARSH: But what if they didn't? What if they didn't? It doesn't necessarily pass the smell test.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: They're talking to all of them.
AIDALA: They -- let me, Megyn, you think they would leave bomb-making material out evenly bomb-making material just outlaying around. Next to the car oil and the...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: Who is to say he wouldn't? Who says he wouldn't? Got to go. Good to see you all.
Just ahead, we spoke to the husband of a woman who was shot in that attack and who saw her friend killed. He'll share her story.
Plus, it not just the White House taking heat on the response to terror. Senator Marco Rubio is here to speak about Attorney General Loretta Lynch and what she is calling her greatest priority right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORETTA LYNCH, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: And my message, not to just the Muslim community, but the entire American community is, we cannot give in to the fear that these backlashes are really based on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Break tonight. New backlash to how the administration is reacting to the San Bernardino attack. Well, the FBI has now labeled this massacre terrorism. The White House has not yet done the same.
And just last night, with 14 people dead in California, Attorney General Loretta Lynch spoke to a different fear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since the tragic attacks in Paris three weeks ago, there's been a decidedly disturbing uptick in anti-Muslim rhetoric. It's been very divisive and many of us, frankly, feel that the rhetoric is the worst that it's ever been.
LYNCH: The fear that you just mentioned is in fact my greatest fear as a prosecutor. As someone who was sworn to the protection of all of the American people, which is that the rhetoric will be accompanied by acts of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Joining me now, presidential candidate and Republican senator from the State of Florida, Marco Rubio. Senator, thank you very much for being with us tonight. And so, your reaction to how the White House has handled this so far.
MARCO RUBIO, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Inexplicable, really. First of all, from the very first instances after this happened, they like most people on the left immediately jump on this whole gun control argument, without knowing any of the facts about this case, just immediately jumped on that and it continued banging the drum of gun control.
Up until today, when as every hour went by, the indications were greater and greater that this was a terrorist act. And we know that it was irrespective of whether or not the White House or not has acknowledged that yet.
It continues to be the case, but as evidence comes out, we know it's a terrorist attack. They didn't even wait. They immediately jumped on it. It's just another example of another mass killing and this is why we need gun control. Completely ignoring that none of the laws that they are proposing would have done anything to prevent this shooting, or any of the previous shootings that they've cited or pointed to.
KELLY: What do you make of the Attorney General, Loretta Lynch who comes out today, doesn't even call it a terrorism investigation. It took the FBI director sitting next to her to say that.
At the same time, she's sending a message to Muslims groups last night saying she will make sure that any hateful rhetoric against Muslims is looked into. I was like, she's all by the way, you know, and we do have the First Amendment, but I'm going to look into that.
RUBIO: Well, first of all, the problem that we have them is they refuse to acknowledge that we are at war with radical Jihadists. Second, is they have this narrative going. It's the same thing that led to the lies about Benghazi.
This narrative that somehow this problem has contained that we don't have anything to worry about, that terror, that ISIS is the JV team, that we're not in any danger. And so, they continue to want to pretend that this is not a major issue the way it is and they refuse to acknowledge that we're engage in a war on terror.
And so, that is my problem with the apart from all the policy mistakes that they're making is that they continue not to call these things for what they are, because it counters a political narrative that they are trying to further. Which is that there is no war on terror here?
KELLY: How much danger are we in?
RUBIO: So, we have two major issues that we're facing. One is they are inserting foreign fighters. They're inserting fighters into Europe. I think Jordan is going the target -- the target they're going to target here very soon from some large scale attacks.
And they would like to use the refugee crisis to insert fighters here in America and terrorists here in America. But there's a second problem, and one we would never really face before up intil the last few years. The homegrown violent extremists.
The individual, perhaps born and raised in the United States, who has never exhibited any sort of ideological leaning towards terrorism...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: That's this guy.
RUBIO: ... and then suddenly they become a rapidly radical. Well, exactly. He became rapidly radicalized and turned that into action. And this is why they put out magazines, like Dabiq, their online publication; they are looking to inspire attacks in the West.
Individuals, they don't necessarily coordinate with them but they are telling them how to attack and they're inspiring them to attack. And those are the hardest ones to find because you just don't see them coming.
KELLY: It's -- but it's like you have to find a direct communication between al-Baghdadi who is running ISIS and the individual here in the United States now in order for the administration to say this is clearly terror. There doesn't have to be that direct link, does there?
RUBIO: Right. There doesn't. And that's the point. There is a homegrown violent extremists. They're not individuals that are receiving an order to attack this certain place at a certain time in a certain way.
What they are doing is they are getting mass information through propaganda online and other methods that inspire them not just to attack, but suggest ways to attack. They talk about targeting service men and women, military facilities.
But they've also talked about targeting soft targets. Anywhere you can get away with the killing of maximum number of people. And that is the threat that is continuing to grow. The homegrown violent extremists, there are active investigations open in virtually every field office that the FBI has in this country.
It is a threat unlike anything we have ever faced and it is rapidly growing. And each one of these attacks makes the next attack even more likely because of copy cats that are inspired to try to do the same thing.
KELLY: Senator, thank you.
RUBIO: Thank you.
KELLY: Up next. Meet a woman shots three times in that conference room, Wednesday. And hear how she managed to survive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Among the wounded yesterday, Anice Kanduker (ph), an environmental engineer who works for the county, was inside the conference room. She was shot twice in the hand and once in the stomach but survived. And we had the chance to speak with her husband by phone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's just returning from the restroom and going towards the conference room, that's when all the bullets started flying through. You know, they started hitting her, going above her head. Then she and a few other people then ducked down themselves and, you know, crawled them into the bathroom.
Until then she realized she was bleeding. Then the -- her jacket had blood wound, you now, blood hole through the jacket and she was bleeding.
Her friend told her that, you know, there was a couple who was with, you know, with ski masks shooting at the people and until, you know, they found out. Police found out then they know who these people are.
They all work together in the same team. And this guy is working there for five years, with the same team. Nothing unusual. Nobody ever suspected anything unusual. That's what I'm hearing from her and some of her co- workers.
She is crying still, she can't believe that her best friend who she worked with being shot and killed. Nobody can comprehend how that something can happen. You know, this is definitely something, you know, beyond understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Our best to Anice and all those recovering right now in the hospital as a result of this dastardly act. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: A final note, Ms. Lynch is right. That we must be wary of anti-Muslim backlash. We also must be vigilant as director Comey said. If you see something, say something. Someone's life could depend on it.
Having said that, remember, you have a much better chance of getting hit by lightning than of dying in a terrorist attack. There's a big Christmas tree in New York right now, go see it. Go shopping, be free. That's what we do. Good night.
Content and Programming Copyright 2015 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox