Steve Scalise joined by lawmakers who helped save his life
On 'The Story,' Martha MacCallum sits down with GOP lawmakers who were attacked by shooter.
This is a rush transcript from "The Story," October 4, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, "THE STORY" HOST: Breaking tonight, we have brand new details about a potentially unarmed hero and a marathon interrogation today. I'm Martha MacCallum, and that is where the story kicks off tonight as far as Las Vegas is concerned. He was the first man to locate the shooter's room. He was a security guard and he may have saved many people's lives. His story, coming for you in just a minute. And Marilou Danley -- probably never expected to see her name flashed across the news all over this country -- she has just wrapped up six-plus hours of intense questioning by federal and state agents who are desperately seeking a motivate in this America's deadliest shooting. They want to find out what she knows, of course, about her now dead boyfriend and his twisted final days. Here's what her attorney just put out to us moments ago. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW LOMBARDO, ATTORNEY FOR MARILOU DANLEY: I am devastated by the deaths and injuries that occurred. It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: That is part of her statement. Today, as we saw, the president and the first lady went to Las Vegas to see for themselves the scene of the carnage and to commend the heroes. Men and women like these who moved forward while others ran for safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go that way! Go that way! Go that way!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're shooting right at us, guys. Everybody, stay down. Stay down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is it at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's out of the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: North of the Mandalay Bay out of a window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, get down! Get down! Go that way. Get out of here. There are gunshots coming from over there. Go that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go back! Go back!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back! Get back! I know you wanted but there are multiple people shot up there. Get in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get in there! Get in there!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Just unbelievable bravery. In his remarks today, the president singled out the police and the first responders. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are blessed to be surrounded by heroes. As one eyewitness recounted this week, while everyone else was crouching, police officers were standing up as targets. Words cannot describe the bravery that the whole world witnessed on Sunday night. Americans defied death and hatred with love and with courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So, the president sought today to console the grieving and to encourage the wounded, and to raise the spirits of this nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The mass murder that took place on Sunday night fills America's heart with grief. America is truly a nation in mourning. The example of those whose final act was to sacrifice themselves for those they loved should inspire all of us to show more love every day for the people that grace our lives. We will all have to wrestle with the horror of what has unfolded this week. But we will struggle through it together, and we will overcome together as Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Moving words today in Las Vegas. Trace Gallagher has been there all week covering this difficult story for us. And he joins us tonight as we get some late breaking details on what happened. Hi, Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. I want to touch to the breaking news coming out of Las Angeles, Marylou Danley's attorney coming out and addressing the media. It comes after she spent more than five and a half hours, almost six hours meeting with the FBI in their Los Angeles offices today. We have no idea what the focus of questions was but the attorney came out and he said that Marilou Danley had no idea about the shooting, that her heart goes out to the victims. And I want you to listen to what the attorney that she said about her boyfriend Stephen Paddock, watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOMBARDO: I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man. I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together with him. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And we have just learned that Stephen Paddock actually requested the exact two-room suite at the Mandalay Bay where he broke open two windows and from different positions, fired down upon the concert crowd. And there were three cameras that trained on the hallway so that Stephen Paddock could see when the police were closing in. As you mentioned earlier, Martha, the first person to close in was a security guard for the Mandalay Bay named Jesus Campos. Fox News has learned that he said the stairwell was actually blocked; he had to use the elevators.
And when he got to the room, he knew the gunman was firing. He fired on him; hit him once in the leg.
It is unclear if that security guard was armed at the time, but it's also unclear if that might have been the precise moment where Stephen Paddock killed himself because the police officers arrived about 10 minutes after the shooting all began, and when they arrived, they said the shooting suddenly stopped. After the security guard got there, the SWAT team arrived, and they waited one hour to go in that room because at that point it was no longer an active shooter situation, it was a standoff. They waited an hour, they went inside the room, and that's when they found 64- year-old, Stephen Paddock, had put a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Martha.
MACCALLUM: Trace Gallagher, great reporting from Las Vegas tonight. Here with more, Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, a CIA Trained Intel Operative, he's been in contact with his sources in law enforcement; and former CIA Officer, Buck Sexton. Welcome, to both of you tonight.
LT. COL. TONY SHAFFER, TRAINED INTEL OPERATIVE, CIA: Hey, Martha.
MACCALLUM: Tony, let me start with you. What do you make of the latest information on this individual, security guard, not sure if he was armed or not, but he put himself in the line of fire, for sure.
SHAFFER: He did an amazing job. And look, the indications are that his intervention, his going to the room may well have done two things: first off, give the police an exact location to go after, that's critically important in this case. And secondly, he may well have been the trigger that allowed for the gunman, for this guy to essentially take the coward's way out and commit suicide, which, again, may have well-saved lives. So, this is all good news.
My concern, still, is following up on what we talked about last night, Martha, regarding the very thing that Trace just talked about, the video equipment. My sources tell me that they've reviewed the information on that -- on those videos and there are things that do layout, some understanding of his motivation and his motives. So, you know, I've been told also they're holding back at least one portion of it based on some of the investigative leads they want to follow. And that's why -- that's the justification I'm being told for the delay in releasing this. But the bottom line, you know, my belief is based on what I've been told. There's a great deal that more information available to law enforcement, at least at this point, regarding the motivation. I think we should all find out about that very soon.
MACCALLUM: So, Tony, based on what you and I talked about last night.
SHAFFER: Yes.
MACCALLUM: I'm picking up in what you're saying that you think they're holding back on releasing some video or image that may point to a political bent in this crime?
SHAFFER: That's what I've been told. That's what I've been told. I've been told that there's a political angle of this, the people are concerned about. There is one legal law enforcement issue, according to my source. But you know, essentially, you saw already the political leaking -- there's been leaking of certain information regarding the guns. But notice, nobody leaked the video. So, this is where there's some concern behind the scenes about why certain things are coming out at certain times.
MACCALLUM: Buck, what do you make of where we are tonight on this?
BUCK SEXTON, FORMER OFFICER, CIA: Well, I think that to the point that just made, we can't really know much more than has already been said about, where the motivate stands, which is that it's going to be a work in progress to figure this out. We may have one bit of information that comes out the next few days that finally points us in a definitive direction. But I'm not even sure at that point because we're dealing with somebody who clearly was psychopathic, who was willing to engage in mass murder.
It may not be a situation where it makes sense even when we have more information to anybody, how anyone could go about this. And given his social media imprint online, given the footprint that he may have left behind, that will probably be useful in determining his mindset, but we don't know how much he was really putting online, to begin with. So, there's a lot that law enforcement is going to be combing through right now, and they're putting together a puzzle, they don't even know where all-- what all the pieces are supposed to be, never mind how they're supposed to fit together in the end.
MACCALLUM: So, based on what you know so far, you see him more as a psychopath, which is a word that the FBI used for his father who was a fugitive and a bank robber, than a terrorist -- and when I say terrorist, I mean someone who sought to terrorize people perhaps for some sort of political reason.
SEXTON: Yes. There's nothing that we can point to right now that would seem like a clear political agenda. So, that's why the term terrorism, I think, has not been used here and I think that that's correct approach so far. That could change very rapidly. This could, in fact, have been a terrorist attack. But that would be depending upon a definitive motive coming out of all of this. And yes, when you're talking about a psychopath, somebody who's a malignant narcissist -- I mean, I'm sure you've had a lot of psychiatrists on the show or on the network in recent days, looking at how you would diagnose that after the fact. But even that is not a perfect science, and I think that that's my inclination is that we'll find this was a deeply disturbed individual who was hiding it. I don't think his girlfriend knew much about or anything about his mindset. And I think he was hiding it from people and I think that he snapped.
MACCALLUM: All right. We'll see. Thank you very much, you guys. Tony and Buck, good to see you both tonight.
SHAFFER: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: So, coming up next, breaking news details about the gunman's girlfriend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOMBARDO: I have not made a statement until now because I have been cooperating with the authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So, the authorities, from what we can tell, spent more than six hours grilling Marilou Danley. The biggest question: why didn't she report him? Did she see the arsenal that he amassing, the explosive, all of this, at the home that they were in and at his other homes? So, up next, an expert on female extremism looks at this relationship from what we know so far and sheds some light on it. Also, tonight, more on President Trump's huge day in Las Vegas. On the ground, speaking with people, Bill Bennett will join me and will give us his take on how the president is handling this tragedy for America.
Plus, for the first time since the June shooting of House Majority Whip, Steve Scalise, the congressman reunites with three of his heroes for an exclusive story that is coming up. Their thoughts on that day and if it's changed anything for these men when it comes to gun control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Second amendment, any change of heart on this on this in this group?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Breaking tonight, just into Fox News, we now know that the FBI has wrapped up a six-plus hour interview with the Vegas gunman's girlfriend, Marilou Danley. She was met by federal agents when she arrived back in the United States at LAX this afternoon from the Philippines. Fox News chief intelligence correspondent Catherine Herridge, live Washington with what we are learning about all of that tonight. Hi, Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Martha. Fox News has learned that Marilou Danley was located overseas using sophisticated law enforcement tools that tracked her movements for several days once her relationship with Stephen Paddock was confirmed. Danley flew back to the United States last night and voluntarily agreed to the FBI interview today in Los Angeles. The lawyer said Danley's last minute trip to the Philippines was Paddock's idea. He had found a cheap ticket and then he wired a hundred thousand dollars to her. Taking together his client thought, Paddock was breaking up with her and the cash was meant to soften the blow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOMBARDO: While there, he wired me money, which he said was for me to buy a house for me and my family. I have not made a statement until now because I have been cooperating with the authorities and I have voluntarily flown back to America because I know that the FBI and Las Vegas Police Department wanted to talk to me. I will cooperate fully with their investigation. Anything I can do to help ease suffering and help in any way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: The statement from Danley's lawyer sinks up with what he sisters told the Australian television that Paddock sent her away for a reason.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that she doesn't know anything as well. She was sent away. She was sent so that she will be not there to interfere with what he's planning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: There was really nothing in the lawyer's statement tonight about the weapons. More 33 purchased by Paddock since October last year, and at least 18 at the home he shared with Danley in Mesquite, Nevada, along with several thousand rounds of ammunition, Martha.
MACCALLUM: Catherine, thank you very much. Catherine Herridge, reporting from Washington. Here now with more, Mia Bloom, a Professor at Georgia State University who has written several books about terrorism and violent extremism, including a book about women and terror. Mia, good evening, good to have you here tonight. So, you know, prior to the statement from the attorney, we knew zero, really, about this woman and whether or not she may have been involved in any way or aware of what he was planning. What's your take on it after the statement?
MIA BLOOM, PROFESSOR AT GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: I think there's a big difference between -- we have for example, before Baraklan, Ahmed Guluvaali sent his wife/live in girlfriend away and she ended up in Islamic State. So, we have a contrast with someone like Haya Bumi Jan, who was also sent away in the days before the attack. She didn't come back to cooperate with authorities. We also saw the Tsarnaev, the wife of Tsarnaev brothers --
MACCALLUM: Catherine Tsarnaev, yes.
BLOOM: Catherine Russell. She wasn't cooperating with FBI. So, I think in this particular case, the fact that Marilou came back, she's working with the FBI, I think I actually -- I'm inclined to believe her unless there's evidence otherwise.
MACCALLUM: Yes. You know, initially, there were questions about the Philippines, there's an ISIS group there, ISIS twice declared responsibility for this -- which I think was fairly unusual given their history, right, Mia?
BLOOM: More than twice. Yes, they can't stop declaring responsibility, and it's kind of pathetic because you look at the story of the individual's life, and you see that Stephen Paddock was a drinker, they've even tried to justify his drinking. But you know, as my friend and colleague, Paul Cruickshank said, there's no justification for turning the gun on yourself. If you want to be a martyr, you let those other people shoot you, you don't shoot yourself.
MACCALLUM: So, there doesn't appear, at least at this point, to be any link. And your take is that they're falsely accepting some responsibility here to take credit for this, which we haven't seen them do all that often but it does look like that may be what happened here, right?
BLOOM: You know, my perspective has been -- and you know, there are a lot of people who work on ISIS. I do a lot of research and I've talked to you on your show about the stuff that I'm doing on their encrypted acts. And we see them trying to take credit, but the fact remains as if this is the wrong individual to be a soldier of the caliphate. But also, they provided no evidence. There's no last will and testament. They keep saying it's coming, it's coming. But the fact is that, you know, if they hadn't made this bogus claim, we wouldn't be talking about ISIS at all. And it's the equivalent of what they call in psychology: "the fear of missing out."
They want to be part of the conversation. And if they repeat it enough, they think that they will get some credit. And we see in some areas Breitbart or Infowars, some of the conspiracy theories, they want to believe that it's ISIS, but I personally don't think so. And I also think anyone who's cooperating with the police, I give them a great deal of credit. She's got to be under an enormous amount of pressure, and, you know, getting hate mail, people thinking that she's done something that, you know, whether she's done it or not. We have to let this play out and see what the FBI says.
MACCALLUM: Yes, we absolutely do. Mia, thank you very much. You're a great voice on all of this. Good to talk to you tonight.
BLOOM: Thank you so much for having me, Martha. Great to see you.
MACCALLUM: You too. So, coming up next, more of the president's message from Las Vegas today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We cannot be defined by the evil that threatens us or the violence that incites such terror.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: What an awful week for this country. Bill Bennett is ready to join us moments away with his take on President Trump's response to this tragedy and a line of tragedies that he has had to deal with in this still young presidency.
Plus, why did the secretary of state decide to make a statement to the press over a headline that surfaces this morning? Strange happenings today, Chris Stirewalt, with his unique explanation of what is going on here, coming up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I serve at the appointment of the president. And I'm here for as long as the president feels I can be useful to achieving his objectives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Live look tonight from Las Vegas. We do expect that Sheriff Lombardo who has really been so outstanding through the course of this week in handling all of this news conference. He's going to give his first update of the day on the very latest information that they have. So, when that gets underway, we will take you there. Also, right now, President Trump back in the air, coming back from Las Vegas at this point, expected to land in Washington at any moment tonight after meeting with these very brave individuals.
You could just tell that being on the ground and be close to these folks and hear their stories was moving, really, to him and to everybody in the room today. There were people that he talked about, like Officer Tyler Peterson, who's on the second day on the job, jumped in front of flying bullets to save other people. He's now in the hospital recovering. They were all pulling for him. Officer Charles Hartfield, a veteran, husband, and father, who lost his life while he was there off-duty enjoying the concert that night. So many stories, so many personal tragedies that, really, we're just getting the full sense of as you learn these human being's stories. And you hear what their families are going through, it's just awful. The president, and those around him were clearly touched by all of this today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Many families tonight will go to bed in a world that is suddenly empty. The people they so dearly love were torn away from them forever. Our souls are stricken with grief for every American who lost a husband or a wife, a mother or a father, a son or a daughter. We know that your sorrow feels endless. We stand together to help you carry your pain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Joining me now, Dr. Bill Bennett, Host of the "The Bill Bennett" podcast, and a Fox News contributor. Bill, good evening. Good to have you with us.
BILL BENNETT, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND HOST OF THE BILL BENNET PODCAST: Hi, Martha, thanks.
MACCALLUM: Boy, quite a string of events that America has dealt with in recent weeks, and the president has had to try to manage.
BILL: Yes, and I think he's managed very well. You know, just one word about the earlier segments may turn out to be unfathomable, may turn out with all our expertise, we may not know. There is the line about not even the devil himself knows the mind of man. I'm thinking about the president and first lady, some wonderful things that he said: we are surrounded by heroes, he said. Brings to mind Henry V, that actually -- can't remember we few, we happy few, the band of brothers. But this last sentence that we just heard: "people will go to bed tonight, some people will go to bed and their world has been emptied."
You know, it's interesting when Donald Trump does this and reads from a prepared speech. It's not the smooth kind of cloying delivery that you get from somebody who, you know, has practiced and practiced. He's kind of a rough and ready guy, you know, kind of a gruff New Yorker. You can see how comfortable he is, you know, just talking off the cuff, throwing paper towels out at the crowd as he was doing in Puerto Rico. But there's a real charm and I think a real attraction to what he did today because what he's doing, he's taking the personality and bordering it, boxing it in with these words. And you can almost see him thinking, I'm not going to get this wrong, I'm not going loose, I'm not going to off text because --
MACCALLUM: Yes. I always watch the people in the room around. You know, and their response when he walked through the group, and, you know, you can see him talking to people and I watched the faces of the people up on that stage with him or behind the podium. And you could tell that they were all feeling the same thing. These guys are exhausted. They have been out there all week trying to make sense of this horrific, sad situation. And you know, you just -- you've felt it there today. And you know, it's sort of -- it's not written anywhere that, that's the president's duty or it's in the job description, but we have come in modern times come to expect it. And you know, sometimes it works better than other times and its tough business.
BENNETT: And listen, think about this. I'll only go to once mention this: the president and first lady -- they have been to Texas, they have been to Florida, they have been to Puerto Rico, they have been to Las Vegas. They have seen misery. They have seen the suffering of human beings. They've held their hands, they've have seen misery. They have seen suffering of human beings. They've held their hands. They've hugged them. They've seen the carnage and its consequences in Las Vegas. When they go to bed tonight, what affect does this have on them? I remember a book I read in college and it was a theology book, and said if you have ears attuned enough to hear all the suffering of the world at once it would overwhelm you.
Well, the Trumps have had a pretty good portion of the suffering of the world, at least in America, in the last few weeks. And they have absorbed it very well, and presented themselves very well. I'm one American is very proud of them. I admire what they have done. I admire their composure. And I imagine this is drawing them closer, but I cannot fathom what they are thinking about. What effect this will have. The cumulative effect of all they have seen. People should have some real empathy for them such as the empathy they have shown to the people in those four places.
MACCALLUM: There's always a lot of criticism to go around. That's some strong words from you tonight, Bill Bennett, about all of that. Thank you very much. Always good to see you, sir.
BENNETT: You bet.
MACCALLUM: So coming up in Washington, it's safe to say that you do not see this every day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Could you address the main headline of this story that you called the president a moron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Wow, right? So how does the secretary of state respond to that claim? We're going to show you what happened there. Chris Stirewalt joins us with his take on what's really going on behind the scenes with all of that in D.C. And also, tonight, part two of our sit down with Congressman Steve Scalise reunited with these three guys behind him, also members on the hill, and they were there that day on the baseball field. What the lawmakers think about being targets because of their political affiliation, when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So you all got a look at the shooter at some point during this. When you heard that he had a list of Republicans, that he was out there specifically seeking Republicans, (INAUDIBLE) what went through your mind?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Some troubling breaking news tonight, U.S. Special Forces ambushed in the African country of Niger. U.S. officials telling Fox News that a squad of eight to ten U.S. special ops troops were attacked in the western part of the country near the border of Mali. Right now it is not known if there are any fatalities, U.S.-Africa command confirming the joint U.S.-Niger patrol did come under fire, but we are working to confirm details. We're, obviously, stay of that. And we will bring you more information as soon as we get it.
So bizarre moment today in Washington, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson gathering the press to refute a report about his relationship with the president, it all started with this NBC headline saying, quote, Tillerson's furry at Trump required an intervention from Pence. Tillerson read from a prepared statement, and then he fielded questions leading to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Could you address the main headline of this story that you called the president a moron?
REX TILLERSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I'm not going to deal with petty stuff like that. I mean, this is what I don't understand about Washington. Again, I'm not from this place. But the places I come from, we don't deal with that kind of petty nonsense. And it is intended to know nothing but divide people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Oh, boy. Here now, Chris Stirewalt, Fox News politics editor. Chris, good evening to you.
CHRIS STIREWALT, FOX NEWS POLITICS EDITOR: Ouch.
(LAUGHTER)
MACCALLUM: That was uncomfortable. What do you make of all that?
STIREWALT: Well, anytime you've got to hold a conference to say that you don't think your boss is a moron, but you don't in that same press conference say, and I never said so either, but instead you do what he did there which is then Washington thing where you buckle under one knee and you say we want to focus on the serious matters here. That's not a great day. And it comes at the end of a long period of push me-pull me strain between Trump and his secretary of state. This has been a fraught relationship almost from the beginning, complaints from Tillerson about staffing. Complaints from Trump -- well, you read it on twitter, Tillerson wasting his time in North Korea. Being publicly rebuked by your own president on twitter is not a great day.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. So there is that history. There's also the moment when Rex Tillerson said on "Fox News Sunday" with Chris Wallace that, you know, the president's words stand for themselves. When it came to Charlottesville, he didn't really rush to defend the president in that instance. So there's obviously some friction here. Whether or not they can work through it is really the question. Here's Rex Tillerson denying the NBC report. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TILLERSON: The vice president has never had to persuade me to remain as secretary of state because I have never considered leaving this post.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: What do you think about that, Chris?
STIREWALT: I'm sure that he is telling the truth in a sense that he has never seriously considered, but I bet he has woken up many days. Look, we have to remember the period of time when this occurred, this was an administration in turmoil, turmoil, turmoil, the Charlottesville thing, the Boy Scout jamboree thing. Tillerson used to be the head of the Boy Scouts of America, and Trump goes there a makes a whole scene at the jamboree. And this was a period of time where a lot of people in this administration, even people I talk to say I don't know if I can take this. Now things are calmer. Now things have gotten more on an even keel now that John Kelly is in as chief of staff. But for Tillerson, now he's got to eat the words he said months ago when the administration was in crisis.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. I mean, you know, people call each other stuff. You know, these are tense times. I'm sure that there have been plenty of presidential histories where there's a lot of name slinging around when people are dealing with serious situations, and maybe they don't like where the other person stands on this or that. This though from Bob Corker today, some pretty strong words, and he's pretty much -- he can say whatever he wants now, right? I mean, he's not going to run again, he's announced. So here's what Bob Corker said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB CORKER, U.S. SENATOR: I think Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Mattis, and chief of staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos. I see what's happening here. I deal with people throughout the administration. And he, from my perspective, is in a incredibly frustrating place. They act in a very -- they work very well together to make sure that the policies we put forth around the world are, you know, sound and coherent. There are other people within the administration in my belief that don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Ten second reflection on that, Chris?
STIREWALT: It's going to be a heck of a time watching Bob Corker as he goes out the door because I think he's got a lot of hot sauce left in his bottle.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. There's a lot of pen up frustration in there. All right. Thank you, Chris. Good to see you as always.
STIREWALT: You bet.
MACCALLUM: Coming up next, our exclusive with Congressman Steve Scalise and friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Tonight, this story exclusive for you, still dealing, of course, with the awful killing in Las Vegas, but it's nearly four months since another madman open fire on a congressional baseball practice and nearly killed Congressman Steve Scalise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: You look over and you see the guy standing there with a rifle shooting through the fence, two more rounds go off, the second and third round, one of those hit Scalise, he goes down in the grass. You've saw the dirt or the infield.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: I was the first out to Steve. And then, Brad, another member from Ohio who is a physician came out and we applied pressure on the wound.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: I did feel a little bit like I was back in Iraq, but without the same assets around me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So yesterday, The Story met up with those lawmakers and friends. Three of Scalise's heroes who helped to save him. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So this is the first time that you all have been back together since June 14th in the same room. Steve, what goes through your mind when you see these guys?
STEVE SCALISE, U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Oh, man, it's great to see them all here together. We've had a lot of individual conversations, but each one of these guys had a role in helping me be here. Obviously, Brad had the background to help make sure to stop the bleeding enough to where I could make it to the hospital alive.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. I mean, all of you played such an important role. And Mike Conaway, I want to start with you because when I heard Steve talking about that the other day and saying he was down but he was conscious and he heard you whispering to him, what were you saying to him?
MIKE CONAWAY, U.S. CONGRESSMAN: I was about 20-yards away, so what whisper per say. But Steve was crawling. I was telling him to lay still, lay still, because I didn't want the shooter to catch that movement and engage him again on the ground. And so I wanted him to lay still so that the shooter would go somewhere else and he did. And Steve heard it and stop crawling, and I was -- I just didn't want him shot again on the ground. And so it was just a reaction to seeing him crawl and I did not want the shooter to catch that movement and reengage.
MACCALLUM: I can't even imagine what it must been like for you, guys, to not be able to run out there. And to see him lying there because you're all the kind of people who want to do that. Jeff -- senator, what was that like for you?
JEFF FLAKE, U.S. SENATOR: That was the toughest part. I went to the dugout, and then one of the staffer was shot right in front of the dugout and manage to crawl out. But there were several of us there. And another staffer came in and we have to put a tourniquet on his leg. So we were busy doing that. But looking out periodically to see Steve out there and not be able to do anything. Everytime you put your head up there's gunfire. And so, that was the longest wait. And finally, as soon as somebody said shooter down, then I think a number of us ran out there. I got out there first, but I didn't know what to do. I'm glad Brad did.
(LAUGHTER)
FLAKE: It was just basically batting glove and trying to plug up the wounds. So it was just terrifying, and just awful not being able to get out to Steve. That was the worst part.
CONAWAY: It was a real just position between the time -- it seems like it was taking -- I was able to borrow a phone at 7:22 to call my wife and tell her that I was fine. And the other side it was either 7:06 or 7:09, so 13 minutes all of that went on, and it seems like a life time when it was happening. But it was a short period of time on elapse basis.
MACCALLUM: So you're were whispering to him, you're talking to him, he's hearing it like a whisper, but those encouraging words for you. You said, when you came too, that was one of the first things that you brought up, right?
SCALISE: Yeah. I knew, you know, my colleagues said -- came out to help me. And it really did give me, you know, a really good sense of calm and strength to know they're taking care of me and getting me ready. You know, you could hear paramedics coming and, you know, figured help was on the way and hoped I'll get to a hospital quick.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. Congressman Wenstrup, what was your signal when you knew you could get out there? And you have the skills as a combat surgeon to do something.
BRAD WENSTRUP, U.S. CONGRESSMAN: By the grace of God, I was in a position that the second I saw the shooter go down I took off. As I was running, Jeff was on his way out there with a few other people, and they've already their shirt off and put it on at Bryan Kelly's shirt, put that right on the wound over his pant. I get out there and I knew there was more that we needed to look at and we're able to take it down. I saw the entrance wound but no exit wound, that when I knew Steve was in greater trouble than we might have imagined. And that's when we get a tourniquet put on him and try to stop any bleeding we could internally, as well as bandaging what was external.
SCALISE: And that really did saved my life because the doctor said, when I got to the hospital, I was almost out of blood then if I would have lost even more. They said that tourniquet was applied perfectly and really did saved enough of my time to make it to the hospital alive, otherwise I wouldn't have.
MACCALLUM: So you all got a look at the shooter at some point during this. When you heard that he had a list of Republicans, that he was out there specifically seeking Republicans, Congressman Conaway, what went through your mind?
CONAWAY: When I first heard of the list, Trent Kelly was talking to Jeff Duncan, and told Jeff that the guy had -- that Jeff told Trent that he had talked to in the parking lot, immediately before the guy asked him are these Republicans or Democrats? And Jeff said they were Republican and the guy says, OK, and just wondered off. And then later when I was talking to Jeff, he has Jeff's name in his pocket, and I asked Jeff how he felt and he's start shaking all over.
But, you know, it's a time -- you know, we've got a couple of guys out there who's on that list and it was a bid deal. And I have never been shot at in anger. I did army training, low crawl through a bunch of machine gun fire but they're not shooting at you. But to be shot at is real surreal. I remember thinking as soon as the first volley went off and turn to run and seeing bullets pitch off the gravel, and I just remember thinking, us, you know, here? How could somebody look out and see a bunch of middle aged men playing baseball and see the enemy?
FLAKE: Perhaps both of these guys getting killed is that we won't be able to know why.
CONAWAY: I mean, what triggered -- he had been at practice the day before. One of our guys have seen him sitting in the bleachers. He's been there since March. That was our last day to practice on that field before the following year. What was it -- what triggered that cause to go get his -- pull out those weapons and come shoot us? Same thing with this guy. By not being able to analyze that, it made it harder to figure out just what went through the mind to say it's not OK for me to try to take somebody's life for whatever reason.
MACCALLUM: So your colleague, Gabby Giffords, went through a similar situation. And I saw her husband, Mark Kelly, speaking out very forcefully about this. And saying if anybody thinks that the gun laws in this country are strong enough, they need to look again. When you look at Las Vegas -- and now I'm continuing with my own question about his comment yesterday, the machinery that appears to have been used, semiautomatic converted to automatic, which is illegal in this country but accessible, accessible on the internet that parts that you need to make -- to turn that gun into an intense killing machine that spray all those bullets across that crowded Las Vegas. Second amendment, any change of heart on this in this group?
CONAWAY: Second amendment is supported as collecting guns and target shooting and hunting all those to all of us. The second amendment is not about that. Second amendment is about arm people to stand up to tyranny from a government that they would be opposed to. As so, we've need to cast the second amendment in its proper light, as we have this debate let's not lose sight on why the second amendment is most important to us. Yes, it's collecting and hunting. And yes, there's going to be time where, you know, automobiles are used improperly, and guns are used improperly, and drugs are used improperly, but let's be careful about what we do to ourselves in an attempt to try to stop people who aren't sane from doing things that they might otherwise do. So just be careful.
MACCALLUM: Senator, I think a lot of people look at Republicans on this issue and say that you're heartless. That you look at what happened at Sandy Hook, you look at what happened to Steve Scalise on the baseball field, and then Las Vegas, that we need tougher laws. What do you say to those people who claim that Republicans have a tin ear on this issue?
FLAKE: I think we'll have discussions now about, you know, what was found in that hotel room in terms of accessibility of, you know, the ability to turn a semiautomatic into an automatic weaponry is illegal, per say. But he's seems to have access to material to change it. In terms of mental health, the ability of those with mental health -- and issues in terms of documentation and sharing of information between states and the federal government, there are areas of agreement that we can have and I think we can move ahead on.
MACCALLUM: And you're unchanged on the issue?
SCALISE: You know if you look at what happen in my case, you had people onsite with guns to immediately encounter the shooter and take him down. And that happens every day in America where regular citizens that have their own guns because of the second amendment protection are able to defend themselves against criminals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: My thanks to them with their time yesterday. We're going to take a quick break. We have some breaking news we want to bring to you. We'll be right back?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Update for you now on the U.S. Special Forces ambushed in the African country of Niger. There are reports now that three green berets were killed and two more injured in the West African nation. Fox is working to confirm these reports. We're told it was a squad of 8 to 10 special OP's that were attack in that area near Mali. So stay with us for any update on that throughout the night. So the president now back on his way as he gets this news to Washington. On the left, some of the images from his visit to the hospital today. On the right, Marine One as he lands at Andrews Air Force Base this evening. So we'll keep a close eye on those movements as well. And tonight before we go, we leave with you this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: All right. So it's fall now. Baseball season is a little bit of a ways away. You guys -- you both play outfield?
FLAKE: First base.
MACCALLUM: First base?
SCALISE: Center field.
MACCALLUM: You guys are outfield.
CONAWAY: Second base.
WENSTRUP: Second base.
MACCALLUM: Second base. I said earlier who's going to take your spot this year?
SCALISE: Nobody.
(LAUGHTER)
SCALISE: I'm fighting to keep my starting job. You don't have any guarantees. You've got to earn it every year. But I've got something to work towards and I've got, you know, about 10 months to get there and that's going to be one of my motivations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: We'll be cheering him on. We'll see who is on second base, and hope he throws out the first pitch at that congressional baseball game. Lots to come throughout the night. Lot of breaking news. Thanks for being on The Story tonight. We'll see you tomorrow.
END
Content and Programming Copyright 2017 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2017 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