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Published January 10, 2018
This is a rush transcript from "The Story," January 9, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, HOST: Good evening, everybody. Breaking tonight, in a week when the president has been lambasted by claims that he is mentally unfit to be president. Today, the White House fought back in a particularly interesting way. They opened the doors. They let in the press. They basically gave the American people an opportunity to judge for themselves. The president worked to bring Democrats and Republicans together in a way that is rarely, if ever, seen. It went on for close to an hour. Watch this. If you didn't see in this afternoon, it was quite something. You will get the idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I really do believe Democrat and Republican, the people sitting around this table want to get something done in good faith and I think we're on our way to doing it.
SEN. DICK DURBIN, D-ILL.: We feel that we can put together a combination of the future of DACA as well as border security, that there are elements you're going to find Democrats support when it comes to border security.
TRUMP: President Obama, when he signed the executive order, actually said he doesn't have the right to do this, and so you do have to go through Congress and you do have to make. There was a temporary stop gap. I don't think we want that. I think we want to have a permanent solution to this.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF.: So, let's collectively at the table together. I'll be the first one to tell you, we're all going to have to give a little, and I'll be the first one willing to.
REP. BOB GOODLATTE, R-VA.: Well, you challenged us and we should step up to that challenge. And we're going to do it in a bipartisan fashion, but we have to put our best foot forward and we're going to do that with this legislation. It's going to address DACA in a permanent way, not a temporary, short-term thing.
TRUMP: Because this has been going on for years. And I just, you know, at a certain point, maybe I'll just lock the doors and won't let anybody out until they come and agree.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE, R-GA.: I agree with Dick, I don't think it's going to take long to get it done. We just lock ourselves in a room and make it happen.
REP. STENY HOYER, D-MD.: I think Dick and I agree with what Chuck Grassley just said.
TRUMP: Hard to believe. When was the last time that happened?
HOYER: We need to take care of these DACA kids, and we all agree on that.
TRUMP: I mean, normally you wouldn't have a president coming to this meeting. Normally, frankly, you would have Democrats, Republicans and maybe nothing would get done.
The system really lends itself to not getting along. It lends itself to hostility and anger and they hate the Republicans or they hate the Democrats. And I remember when I used to go out in Washington and not see Democrats having dinner with Republicans and they were best friends and everybody getting along. You don't see that too much anymore with all due respect, you really don't see that. When was the last time you took a Republican out to dinner? Why don't you guys go out and have dinner tonight? The country is doing well in so many ways, but there's such divisiveness, such division. And I really believe we can solve that. I think this system is a very bad system in terms of getting together. And I'm going to leave it up to you, but I really believe you can do something to bring it together.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: I don't know if the Republican and Democratic Party can define love, but I think what we can do is do what the American people want us to do. 62 percent of the Trump voters support a pathway to citizenship for the DACA kids if you have strong borders. You have created an opportunity here, Mr. President, and you need to close the deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Fascinating, right? Senator Graham, you just saw there, calling it quote after the meeting, "the most fascinating meeting I've been involved with in my 20-plus years in politics". So, is that the same Donald Trump as the Donald Trump the public heard described this way this week by author Michael Wolff?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WOLFF, AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTOR: The man doesn't read information and won't listen to the information that you give him, so literally how do you communicate? The people closest to the president, to Donald Trump believe that there is something wrong here. I will quote Steve Bannon, "he's lost it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Republican Congressman Mike McCaul was one of the key players at the today's meeting. He's Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and he joins me now. Chairman McCaul, welcome. Good to have you here today. Were you surprised that the cameras kept sticking around and sticking around and sticking around?
REP. MIKE MCCAUL, R-TEXAS: I mean, wow, the president was on top of his game tonight or today. It was unprecedented. We had a bipartisan, bicameral discussion substantive in the White House. It was carried on live national T.V. for almost an hour. I don't think that's ever happened before. It shows a transparency. And what I really admire about the president, he was like the CEO at the board room and he was working both sides of the aisle trying to get to a consensus to work out an agreement on this very, very difficult issue. And I give him a tremendous credit for what he did today.
MACCALLUM: I thought it was very interesting. He literally gave pretty much everybody at the table, I think, who wanted to speak, the opportunity to do that. So, as a result of that, we all have this video of all of you kind of hinting at what you're willing to do. And you look at this issue in the broader numbers out in the country, and people are willing to find some common ground on many of these things. There are areas that are difficult. So, now the onus is going to be on all of you to come up with some solution to this by early March, right?
MCCAUL: Well, like the president said, he's going to lock the doors and make us work out an agreement on this. Showed very powerful leadership. It was very insightful, I think, for the American people to see what happens in the inner workings of Congress -- backroom deals they call it, but on live national television. That made all the difference.
And the productive thing, Martha, is we came to four general themes, four elements of this agreement. First was border security, which my bill, I think, provides that when we look at the drug trafficking, human trafficking, potential terrorism, why that's so important. Chain migration; we've heard a lot about. Doing away with this lottery system that's a random system that makes no sense and going to a merit-based system.
And I point out to the president, to the table, and to the others, let's not forget the two major terror attacks in New York, both in Halloween and December with the suicide bomber were the result of these failed immigration policies, and we need to fix that. And then finally, I think you had a broad consensus of people both left and right saying that we need a legislative fix to DACA as the president has directed us to do so.
MACCALLUM: Yes. Do you think you can get the things that you just mentioned which are step one as the White House termed them? Can that path, you know, because you did hear Steny Hoyer pipe up and say, well, I don't know there's a lot of controversial things that's been mentioned here. Dianne Feinstein said the same thing. Essentially, she wanted a clean bill and the president for a moment sounded like he would go for that, but his version of a clean bill, obviously, includes the border security which was clarified later. So, can it actually pass?
MCCAUL: I think so. In fact, tomorrow morning, Chairman Goodlatte and I, judiciary, are going to introduce a bill that addresses, you know, all of these issues. And I think, you know, we're going to have to come to terms with each of these. What we want to avoid is if we do create a legislative fix to DACA, we want the border secure, we want interior enforcement, so that we don't have to deal with another DACA situation say five years down the road. One of the mistakes in 1986 with Reagan, they grant amnesty but they failed to do the enforcement piece. We don't want to repeat their mistakes of the past.
MACCALLUM: Well, amnesty is a buzz word that has a lot of conservatives very upset. Ann Coulter tweeting about it tonight; she basically said that, you know, the Michael Wolff book was nothing to the president's reputation compared to what she sees as him being a proponent of amnesty.
MCCAUL: Well, I think, look, this is something that needs to be fixed. And, look, if conservatives can get strong border security, including the wall the president wants, if we can get interior enforcement, changing chain migration for generations, lottery system, changing asylum laws, fundamental legal wall, if you will, to change the system, that will impact a generation down the road, quite frankly, I think, even the most conservative ones in the Freedom Caucus support that idea.
MACCALLUM: Chairman McCaul, always good to see you. Fascinating day. Thank you very much for being here.
MCCAUL: Thank you, Martha.
MACCALLUM: So, back to sort of the larger decision that the White House made to do this all on camera and to have the president navigating this meeting for everyone to see, how did the press react to this? Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't think of an example of something I've seen like that in covering Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not -- this is not the Steve Bannon version of Donald Trump.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I have got to give the president of the United States a lot of credit. He allowed the T.V. cameras in there for this really remarkable meeting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Remarkable indeed. In fact, many of us who have covered politics for many years had a very hard time, including myself, remembering when I had seen this kind of scene. When I saw a president sit at the table at the White House with Republicans and Democrats, hashing out the parameters of a policy as weighty as an issue as immigration. In recent memory, the only one that was similar, run by a president that came to mind, is the health care meeting that was held by president Obama shortly after he became president. Do you remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: Remove all the special deals for the special interests and favored few, and treat all Americans the same under provisions of the law so that they will know that geography does not dictate what kind of healthcare they would receive. I thank you, Mr. President.
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just make this point, John, because we're not campaigning anymore. The election is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Remember that moment? Here now, Former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, and Marc Thiessen American Enterprise Institute Scholar and Former Speechwriter for President George W. Bush, both are Fox News Contributors. We went looking today, Marc, to find when, you know, there had been a similar meeting, and that's the one that we found. It's the only one that, you know, folks could find, and it had quite a different tenor. What did you think of what you saw in there today, Marc?
MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER SPEECHWRITER FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I thought it was a remarkable meeting, a remarkable decision by the White House to do this. And look, Martha, there were two big stories today, OK? The first is that Donald Trump masterfully led this bipartisan meeting that actually moved the ball forward on immigration reform in front of the eyes of the American people. And the second is it snowed in the Sahara Desert today for the first time.
Now, those two things should not be rare. I mean, why are we not -- why aren't we seeing this side of Donald Trump for the first time after the Michael Wolff book? This meeting was a complete repudiation of Michael Wolff's thesis in a single hour. Michael Wolff portrays him as stupid, uninformed, unable to absorb basic facts, bored, unengaged. Here we saw the opposite of that. Donald Trump was in command. He was informed. He was moving people together, taking on tough issues. So, you know, so the American people the question is, who do you believe? Michael Wolff or your lying eyes? But for the White House is why don't we see more of this side of Donald Trump?
MACCALLUM: Bill Bennett, why don't we see more of this side of Donald Trump and do you think we will now? And have you ever seen -- you know, compare this to your own history in the White House, Bill.
BILL BENNETT, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER EDUCATION SECRETARY: Yes, well, no. I think it's quite extraordinary and unique. Yes, you're talking about that meeting at Blare House with Obama, but that was much more staged than this. A lot of rehearsed remarks. I've been to a lot of cabinet meetings that were more rehearsed than this. But Marc put his finger on it. It's exactly right. You know, how do you know the difference between a straight stick and crooked stick? Put a straight stick next to a crooked stick. And Dr. Wolff, I refer to him sarcastically as Dr. Wolff practicing psychiatrist.
You know, when the members went in there they didn't see soft padded walls or Donald Trump pulling tea on a happy birthday with a big hat. I mean, the man is perfectly in control of his senses. This was a great exhibition of his sanity, of his leadership. And we even got indications from these guys sitting around the table of where they are. Often you don't until this final vote comes, and then you can't tell if they're hiding their own views in the bushes or not. So, it was a great day, a notable day, and I think historic day. And in terms of the questions you asked Marc and then me, I think you'll see more of this: president in control and command. The fact that CNN had the tit-for-tat. Well, what more can I say?
MACCALLUM: Let's play more of this from this afternoon when he talked specifically about what he was willing to do on comprehensive immigration, and I'll get your thoughts on it, let's play it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You're not so far away from comprehensive immigration reform. And if you want to take it that further step, I'll take the heat. I don't care. I don't care. I'll take all the heat you want to give me, and I'll take the heat off both the Democrats and the Republicans. My whole life has been a heat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: My whole life has been a heat. Marc?
THIESSEN: Yes. I mean, look at him. He wants to enlarge the problem and do a big deal. Donald Trump is all about big deals. And this came as a huge surprise to the New York Times and the liberal media that Donald Trump, you know, what he's talking about is legal status for most of the 11 million illegal immigrants who are in this country in exchange for a wall and border security. That came as a surprise to those people. Didn't come as a surprise to us, Martha because we've talked about this on the show before.
Donald Trump has campaigned on what's he called touch back, which is basically all the bad ones have to go, but all the good ones, all they have to do is they have to go back to their home country, get a special visa, and get expedited return and legal status. He's been for that from the beginning. So, if the Democrats were smart, what they would do is jump at that, and say yes, we'll give you your wall in exchange for that. Absolutely. And if you -- the only thing standing between Trump succeeding and getting that kind of a big bill is Democratic opposition to are they willing to build a wall? And why shouldn't they?
MACCALLUM: You know, I mean, two things that are going to tick off very strong conservatives, Bill, one is the suggestion of amnesty, that Marc just talked about, and also the president's suggestion, you know, why don't you bring back earmarks? I mean, I remember all of the debate over earmarks. Now, the question is: will you've sort of eradicated the element that allows people to bargain and now nothing gets done. That's the argument that the president was making to bring them back in a limited form. What do you think of this?
BENNETT: Well, we'll see. I remember the "Art of the Deal", which I have read in part. I never saw "The Apprentice" but look how comfortable he was at that table today. That's what he does. And by the way, less idiosyncratic than a Twitter or a tweet; sitting around the table trying to make a deal with a bunch of people who disagree. Look, starting points are not ending points. I'm reminded of the great distinction Tally Rand made between willingness on principle to compromise and a willingness to compromise on principle. Let's see where this thing goes. But this was an exhibition, I think, of leadership, public leadership, that is quite notable, quite unique, my guess is you'll be seeing more of this. More meetings like, this Mr. President, maybe a couple fewer tweets.
MACCALLUM: And I think you just gave us our quote of the night. Bill, thank you very much. Good to see you both. Thank you, Marc Thiessen.
THIESSEN: Thanks, Martha.
MACCALLUM: So one of the most influential Democrats in the Senate makes a bold move to combat what she calls fake news. The only problem, the documents that she released raised even more questions now. Like, did the FBI have a source inside the Trump campaign? And did the Russian dossier get someone killed? Congressman Jim Jordan fired up about this. He joins me with his story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Breaking tonight, the plot in the Fusion GPS case thickens tonight as Senator Dianne Feinstein of the Judiciary Committee made a unilateral decision to release the transcript from closed door interviews with Fusion GPS Co-Founder, Glenn Simpson. Feinstein said that it would clear up "misinformation in the news", so did it? Chief National Correspondent Ed Henry live at the White House for us tonight with more. Hi, Ed.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good to see you. Senator Feinstein justifying this unilateral release by saying that there's been misinformation out there, and that Republicans are beating up on Fusion GPS to distract from the Russian collusion stories but allies of President Trump here at the White House tonight saying there's still no evidence of Russia collusion with the Trump Camp, and actually this transcript raises new questions about Fusion GPS and some of its allies like Christopher Steele, that former British spy who helped gather the unverified dirt on the president. Last week, Republican Charles Grassley, who's furious that Feinstein released this transcript, sent a criminal referral for Steele to the Justice Department suggesting he lied to federal officials about his contact with the media.
Now, in his private testimony, the Senate Judiciary panel last summer, Fusion GPS Co-Founder Glenn Simpson said Steele went to the FBI in July 2016, the same month that the Russia probe began with some info. Simpson though suggested the FBI had a human source inside the Trump world to back up some of the claims in the dossier saying, "They believe Chris' information might be credible because they had other intelligence that indicated the same thing and one of those pieces of intelligence was a human source from inside the Trump organization. Unclear whether that's the meeting that Trump Campaign official, George Papadopoulos, who has pled guilty to lying about his Russian contacts in the special counsel probe had with an Australian ambassador.
More important, perhaps, Simpson's lawyer testified that at least one person wound up dead when some media organizations published info from the dossier, "Simpson wants to be very careful to protect his sources, somebody's already been killed as a result of publication of this dossier and no harm should come to anybody related to this honest work." That may explain why the FBI Director Christopher Wray has been very careful talking about this. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HANK JOHNSON, D-GA.: The House Intelligence Committee has requested documents from you and other government officials from the so- called Steele dossier. Why have you failed to produce these documents?
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: In many instances, we are dealing with very, very dicey questions of sources and methods which is the life blood of foreign intelligence and for our liaison relationships with our foreign partners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: As for Simpson and Fusion GPS, he and a colleague wrote a recent New York Times op-ed highlighting the Republican's fake investigations saying that they were all about transparency. Yet these new transcript shows Simpson declined to answer questions about how he was paid. Since last summer's testimony, Republicans have gotten bank records showing that Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the DNC paid for this dirt through an Intermediary Democratic Attorney, Marc Elias. Yet when Simpson was pressed by the committee in private about whether he was a Democratic linked firm, he said, he didn't think so. Martha?
MACCALLUM: Ed, thank you very much. Here now, Congressman Jim Jordan, he sits on both the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees. Congressman, good evening. Great to have you here tonight.
REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO: Good to be with you.
MACCALLUM: What did you think, first of all, of Dianne Feinstein's decision to unilaterally release the Simpson transcript?
JORDAN: I leave that up to Senator Feinstein and the Judiciary Committee in the Senate. But what I do know, and what I found most interesting about, what I've been able to read thus far is the fact that Glenn Simpson said Christopher Steele told him the FBI had another source. How did Christopher Steele know that? Did the FBI tell him? And if they did, why is the FBI telling Christopher Steele, the guy who was paid by Fusion, who was paid by the Clinton campaign? Why is the FBI telling Christopher Steele they got another source on this whole Russia investigation? I think that is interesting and something we need to get to the bottom of it.
MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, it goes to the larger question of whether or not there was a coordinated effort between these intelligence agencies and, perhaps, including the FBI and the Clinton campaign to dig up dirt on Donald Trump, right?
JORDAN: Exactly. And I think when you couple what Senator Feinstein released today with the story, John Solomon wrote this morning on additional text messages we have now reviewed, where they talk about planting stories. Peter Strzok and Lisa Page in their text message exchange talk about planting stories with the media to further their narrative. And what was their narrative and what was their plan? It was the insurance policy that was designed to make sure that we can't take the risk the American people are going to elect Donald Trump president. So, now this all fits together. So, that's what I found most interesting today is those text messages that John Solomon wrote about, along with what Senator Feinstein released and how it fits this idea that the FBI was actively planning and orchestrating in a systematic way, this idea we are going to generate stories that further our narrative and the plan we have.
MACCALLUM: Yes, it's remarkable. We reported on those text messages last night. We can put them up on the screen so people can see them at home.
Lisa Page says, "the article is out but hidden behind the pay wall. Can't read it."
And Peter Strzok goes on to say, "Boy, that was fast." "Wall Street Journal? Boy, that was fast. Should I 'find' it?" in quotes as if to suggest that he already knows where it is and tell the team?
With regard to the other revelations here that someone died as a result of the exposure of this dossier, and that perhaps sources were uncovered, and that someone got angry about that, and perhaps someone was killed as a result. What do you make of that information, congressman?
JORDAN: I don't know. What I -- and if that happened, of course, that's terrible, and I hope it didn't. But, what I do know is on January 6th, the intelligence community went to Trump Tower and briefed President Trump on the dossier. If you remember, Clapper told James Comey to stay around after the briefing and further brief the president on the dossier. Shortly thereafter, it was leaked to the press and CNN talked about it and BuzzFeed printed the entire dossier.
I think what happened in that meeting was when this FBI director briefs the president-elect, it gives the dossier legitimacy and someone leaked out the fact that oh, the FBI director thought it was important enough to tell the president-elect, and then it's out there. So, we hope this didn't happen. But if it did it seems to me it was because the, you know, then Obama administration briefed the president and somebody leaks it to BuzzFeed and to CNN.
MACCALLUM: So, what did you make of the fact that Glenn Simpson says in the transcript that he didn't know anything about the Trump Tower meeting because Fox News reported over a month ago, I think, I don't know the exact date, up top of my head, that Glenn Simpson saw Natalia Veselnitskaya before and after the meeting that she went to at Trump Tower. But he claimed in the transcript that he was not aware of all of a that meeting. In fact, he read about it in the New York Times and he was stunned.
JORDAN: Yes. Well, I mean, look, who are you going to believe? Glen Simpson whose whole business is about taking opposition research, turning it into stories and --
MACCALLUM: Unfortunately, we just lost the feed. You see it looks like Congressman Jordan froze on the screen there, and unfortunately, we don't have the feed anymore. So, it will be great if we can get it back. If not, we'll move on and come back to him at a later time.
All right. So, North Korea is going to the Olympics and they are bringing two skaters, that's the team so far. They also say they're going to bring some cheerleaders along. So, does this opening to South Korea really signal as Kim Jong-un -- what does it signal as he makes a move that everyone is trying to figure out. General Jack Keane on the military working behind all of this. He joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Breaking tonight, the dear leader has signed off on two North Korean figure skaters, those are the lucky two who get to leave the country and go to the Olympics. They will also reportedly send cheerleaders to cheer them on at the games. For the first time in two years the two countries met near the demilitarized zone. So is North Korea trying to drive a wedge between the United States and our allies to their south with these talks? And it comes as the White House weighs the possibility of answering any further nuke tests with a limited military strike. Big question, who better to answer them than General Jack Keane, chairman of the institute for the study of war and a Fox News senior strategic analyst. General Jack, always good to see you, thank you for being here tonight.
JACK KEANE, FOX NEWS SENIOR STRATEGIC ANALYST: Good to see you, Martha.
MACCALLUM: First of all, what's the significance of this Olympic move?
KEANE: Well, I think it's an indication that we're finally doing some talking and that's a good thing. I mean, we have to be very clear-eyed with the North Koreans because of their track record here. They've always used negotiations to buy time to advance their program, and also to gain some goodwill. But I also think something else is going on here. I do believe the U.N. resolution, three of them now, via international community that does business with North Korea has pretty much cut off business and trade, not all of them for the same degree, and our state department is enforcing that compliance. And there's some signs in North Korea that it's impacting, gas stations are closed, the ones that are open there's long lines.
MACCALLUM: Is that being picked up by our intelligence satellites seeing these lines?
KEANE: Yeah. We can pick all of that stuff up. There's malnutrition and starvation as we've known for years and it's gotten considerably worse. So, that may be a factor as well as to why he wants to talk. And listen, even though not much will come of this, I mean the fact of the matter is we all want something good to come out of it, and I think the administration feels the same way. But we've got to be somewhat skeptical about what their intentions are.
MACCALLUM: Yeah. So in terms of this potential and the debate that is reportedly going on at the White House about whether or not a limited military strike is even possible in this kind of situation or does it set up something much larger if you try to take out one of their facilities if they try another missile test?
KEANE: Sure. I mean, the president has been briefed many times on a range of military option he has, you know, for our viewers to understand everything from a naval blockade to absolutely shut everything off in North Korea, to shooting down a launch testing vehicle that comes close to our allies. Taking out a launch site before a missile is fired or taking out missile storage facilities and test facilities. There's a whole range of options to include taking all this artillery down and that's really a war like endeavor regime leadership targets. There's incredible amount of planning that goes on with the details of these options.
And, yes, any military strike against North Korean property itself, not necessarily a missile that's off the mainland, but anything on the mainland itself, North Korea has -- has committed itself that they would look at that as an act of provocation of war. And as a result of that they would unleash all of their capabilities on South Korea. That is what their stated claim is. So, certainly, any discussions of a preemptive strike that the administration is taking, what is happening is somebody like H.R. McMasters and his team would lay out to the president likely with all the other principle involved, secretary of state, secretary of defense, director of the CIA, what all the options are and what the risks are associated with every one of those options. And the fact is there may be some disagreement about what is the course of action.
MACCALLUM: What is that General Mattis would not be in favor of any military option, and that H.R. McMaster -- or using it. And H.R. McMaster feels that it is a viable option that might produce a positive outcome that wouldn't lead to them unleashing all of their capabilities as you say.
KEANE: That's reported to be the case. You know, but I don't know if that is the case. But, look it, these are complicated, difficult issues. And this is a very capable national security team that surrounds the president. The fact that there's disagreement is not unusual. In fact, I think it's actually good government. The president deserves to get the range of options and also a very healthy discussion in terms of what people believe the risks are associated with that.
MACCALLUM: I want to ask you about Iran because we haven't had a chance to talk about this since this latest round of protests. Interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal today, there have been a lot of them arguing that it's different, what we're seeing now. It's much wider spread geographically and it's targeted really against the regime. Is that what you're seeing and do you think we're witnessing something really significant here?
KEANE: Yes, I do. I mean, while the numbers, the last time at 2009 with 3 million strong focused largely in the capital city, urban elite college students, et cetera, it was a single issue. It had to do with a rigged election. This cut across the political and social contours of the entire nation, 80 cities are involved in it. It's really a rejection of the regime's policies. The regime is squandering the money that came from sanctions. We'd had $100 billion plus, plus, of the money, and they're spending it on their foreign policy national security objectives. What are we really talking about? The civil war in Syria. The civil war in Yemen. Ballistic missile development. At the same time, unemployment is sky high and the people are having huge issues in terms of benefits being deprived of, other taxes that are coming their way. So their economic plight has changed.
And interesting, and you mentioned it, they are attacking Rouhani and also attacking the supreme leader, and to the degree that is going on we have not seen before. I think there is actually a fissure there now that they're going to have difficulty recovering from. It doesn't mean that we're on the doorstep of a regime change here. But this regime is clearly in disfavor with the majority of the population now to be sure. There's no doubt about that. And I think it's going to be very challenging for them as they go forward.
MACCALLUM: Fascinating. Thank you so much, general. Always good to see you.
KEANE: Yeah. Good seeing you, Martha.
MACCALLUM: So, on tomorrow show, I will sit down exclusively with Vice President Mike Pence, and get his take on all of the things we talked about this week including the president's fitness to serve, and also a big trip that the vice president has coming up to the Middle East, and the legislative agenda as it is presented for the coming year. So all of that is a question that a lot of people -- a lot of questions on people's minds that we will speak to the vice president about tomorrow. Looking forward to that. And how about this? No one in the government wants to answer this question, did Elon Musk, the billionaire who privatized space travel lose one of our most expensive and intricate secret spy satellites?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: A top secret U.S. spy satellite mysteriously vanishing? A lot of speculation tonight following a launch courtesy of Elon Musk, the billionaire who privatized space travel, his company SpaceX and the corporation that built the satellite refusing to confirm a successful launch in a highly classified mission codename Zuma. So where did it go? Trace Gallagher joins me live from our west coast newsroom with this space oddity tonight. Hi, Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey Martha, information is still very lean tonight because the company that built the Zuma satellite, Northrop Grumman, isn't talking, and the company that built the rocket that carried the satellite said it was not their fault. SpaceX released a statement that read in part, quoting, Falcon 9 did everything correctly on Sunday night. The data reviewed so far indicates that no design, operational or other changes are needed. SpaceX went on to say that future launches won't be affected. But when a multibillion-dollar top secret government satellite apparently crashes and burns, congress tends to want answers. And in this case, the answer likely lies with the problem during separation. And there is videotape for investigators to examine. The launch of the satellite was broadcast in real time on the SpaceX website but because the government didn't want anyone to see the satellite itself the public broadcast was halted right before separation, but we're told there's ample video of the actual event.
And amid the secrecy and the finger pointing, there are also allegations that this satellite was rushed in to space. It was initially scheduled to launch in November, but SpaceX scrubbed it wanting to play it safe and get a better look at all the data. Remember, it was just 16 months ago Facebook's $200 million internet satellite went up in flames atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Though it's also fair to note, SpaceX has had numerous successful missions and is now competing against Boeing, Lockheed for a share of the so-called national security launches, meaning the launches of other secret government satellites. Those contracts, as you know, worth billions and billions of dollars, which is why literally and figuratively SpaceX had a lot riding on Sunday's mission. Martha?
MACCALLUM: They sure did. It's amazing. You know, when you talk about the numbers, you know. And I know Elon Musk says you have to make so many mistakes -- you know, things happen. Not that he was saying this was a mistake on their part, but when you're in that business and you're trying things and we've seen it all through the history of the space program, these are very expensive mistakes but it takes them often to get where you're going, so where they're going next?
GALLAGHER: Well, they're going next to manned missions. I mean, as early as next month they are working on the, you know, the ancestor, the follow up to the space shuttle, right? So they're building that, Boeing is building another spaceship. And the hope is to bring astronauts up to the international space station to begin with, and then who knows from there beyond. But the first test of this new ship could be in February. And the first manned test could be as early as this summer. So, beginning next year we could have Americans being shuttled back up to the international space station by Americans instead of by the Russians, which has been the case since the shuttle was retired several years ago.
MACCALLUM: Whole new age in space, amazing. Thank you very much, Trace. Good to see you tonight.
GALLAGHER: Sure.
MACCALLUM: So earlier you saw the president sat down with Republicans and Democrats. Everybody is talking about this meeting this afternoon. He vowed to bring them together on an immigration bill, really no matter what it takes. He said he would like to sign something if they can present him with something. So moments ago, he doubled down on that promise with specific demands for both sides. Whether or not they will work, we'll talk about it when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know at a certain point maybe I'll just lock the doors and I won't let anybody out until they come and agree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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MACCALLUM: So just moments ago, the president tweeting this, a follow-up to what we saw today. He said as I made very clear, our country needs the security of the wall on the southern border, which must be part of any DACA approval. Clear message to both sides following a bipartisan sit down earlier in the day, the president kind of forced Democrats and Republicans to look each other in the eye, and in some cases he was told why it can't be done, at least not in this time frame, Mr. President. Watch.
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UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you know, we tried for comprehensive immigration reform in the senate and then the house didn't take it up.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Those of us that have been through comprehensive reform that was six, seven months of every night negotiating staff on weekends. I don't see how we get there before March 5th.
TRUMP: That's why we make it a phase two. We do a phase one which is DACA and security, and we do phase two which is comprehensive immigration. And I think we should go right to it. I really do.
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MACCALLUM: I think we should go right to it, he says. But what do voters think when they watch how the sausage is being made on these issues of the wall, immigration, amnesty. Kayleigh McEnany is an RNC spokesperson and author of the brand new book, The New American Revolution, the making of a populist movement, she went across the country and spoke to people, the forgotten men and women of America that the president has talked so much about. Leslie Marshall is a radio talk show host and a Fox News contributor, who you know well as well. Great to see you both. You know, Leslie, it really struck me, that little back and forth there, there's a moment where the president who we know just says you know, get it done. A couple of times he said get it done. You bring it to me, and I'll sign it. And you start to hear the laundry list of, oh, we tried this before. It takes so long. We even had to work on the weekends, God forbid, and we just can't do it in that time frame.
LESLIE MARSHALL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUROR: Well, I think, honestly, left and right, they are correct in telling the president about the reality of the gridlock, if you will, within both the house and the senate. Secondly, I think the president was right to break it down to two parts, especially as a Democrat, because I don't think we're going to see part 2 come into fruition the way he would like being that wall all being built. Look, the majority of the American people want these dreamers to be secure and not deported. Both sides, left and right, want to come to an agreement before the deadline, so I think having a two-part discussion where first you address DACA and these dreamers so they're not left behind literally or put back into a country they're not aware of is essential.
MACCALLUM: I have got to say this whole idea of close the door and let's get the work done and, you know, I think people watch this and they listen to the excuses that are made. They heard about immigration reform, you know, half their lives, most of us, right? And they listen -- oh, no, here is why we can't do it. Here's why we can't do it by that time frame, Kayleigh. It's really frustrating I think for most people and I'm glad they got to see it today.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, RNC SPOKESPERSON: It's really frustrating. What happened to the Obama phrase of yes we can, let's get that attitude back here because voters are frustrated. They want to see action. They don't want to see excuses. And let's look at this DACA deal specifically. It's really the tale of two presidencies. When Democrats were in control, Obama said 22 times I can't do this without congress. He unilaterally, unconstitutionally did this, putting DACA recipients in a horrible situation. Now you have a president, President Trump, great negotiator, calling everyone into the room and said unlike Obama which gave you a bad deal, let's get this together and have a permanent fix and we're seeing movement on those fronts. We have an optimist and on the other side the party of negativity and party of no.
MACCALLUM: I mean, Leslie, we all know that Hillary Clinton, President Obama, Dick Durbin, the whole list, they all were on board with building essentially a wall, a technological barrier, something along that border that is truly secure. Why are they not for it now?
MARSHALL: Well, there are a few reasons. One is the cost and many Republicans are concerned about this as well. Two, what we're looking at, as of late, just this morning, we're hearing that the president wants to do away with some things like increased border patrol agents which both left and right agree that we need more of. And three, when you just look at the pure data as to security in our country, the terrorist attacks are not coming over the Mexican border. Illegal immigration is at its lowest level and it's been on the decline for 10 years. So that is not the issue. Here in southern California, I am in a border state in Los Angeles. And where we have the fence now, where we have a wall, if you will, in portions of the border, it really hasn't helped. And what has, quite frankly, is people not offering jobs to these individuals who are.
(CROSSTALK) MACCALLUM: Hop over the wall. They climb up the wall. They climb over the wall. I want to get your thoughts quickly before I let you guys go on this Roseanne Barr issue, because that show is coming back -- every show is coming back now, apparently. Will and Grace and so is Rosanne. She talked about the fact that on the show her character, which we all remember well, is going to be a Trump supporter because basically she believes that her character would be a Trump supporter. This is controversial apparently, Kayleigh.
MCENANY: It's going to be controversial because -- Rosanne would have been a Republican and a Trump supporter because we know President Trump won more working class voters than any presidential candidate since the 1980;s. She would have been a Trump supporter. Polling verifies that, so where is the controversy?
MACCALLUM: Leslie, is Rosanne a Trump supporter in your mind? The character that you knew and love.
MARSHALL: Yes, the real Roseanne and the character Roseanne which was originally based on her before she was a big star with a lot of money. Look, she follows me on twitter. I see her tweets all the time. She is very pro-Trump. This character was modeled and fashioned after her. And definitely, the Roseanne that we see on TV on the Roseanne Show she is in the demographic of Trump supporters.
MACCALLUM: She's back. All right. Thanks, ladies. Great to see you both. Coming up next, quote of the night.
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MACCALLUM: Our thanks to Charlie from Ringwood, Illinois, he sent the quote of the night who pointed out this photo that was taken of a plaque in President Ronald Reagan's Oval Office on his desk, it read, there's no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he does not mind who get the credit. Much as the president -- the current president looks up to Ronald Reagan, I'm guessing he probably wants a little bit of the credit for what we see.
We want to know your story. Send us your quote if you have them. Also, tomorrow, I will be in Washington, D.C. interviewing Vice President Pence. Send me your questions.
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