Bloomberg campaign responds to allegations the former NYC mayor is 'sexist' and 'racist'

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Bloomberg campaign responds to allegations the former NYC mayor is 'sexist' and 'racist'

Bloomberg under fire for 2016 remark about farmers; Tim O'Brien, Bloomberg campaign senior adviser, weighs in.

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

ED HENRY, GUEST HOST: Great story, Bret, especially on Presidents Day. Good to see you. Good evening, everybody. I'm Ed Henry in for Martha MacCallum tonight. And this is "The Story." In just five days, the Nevada caucuses will give us a clearer picture of which Democrat will get the nomination to take on President Trump. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, there's no way any of them will lose come November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: I can't even envision the situation where he would be reelected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Sound familiar. Well, the same Speaker of the House made maybe the same prediction in May of 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: He's not going to be President. He is not - Donald Trump is not going to be President of the United States. Take it to the bank.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

PELOSI: I guarantee it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Guaranteed. But that prediction came just a few months before this infamous gaffe from Hillary Clinton, a moment many say changed the course of history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Well, Clinton later admitted she gave the President a political gift with that, she had poured so much money into her campaign far more than her opponent and so many Democrats thought she'd be the hero to save the nation from Mr. Trump. Sounds like establishment Democrats now looking at former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his even bigger war chest. He's the white knight ready to save democracy this time except just like Clinton, he may have just had a little deplorable moment of his own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Think about, the agrarian society lasted 3000 years and we could teach processes. I could teach anybody, even people in this room, so no offense intended to be a farmer. 
It's a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed, you put dirt on top, add water up comes the corn. Then we had 300, you could learn that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Add water, up comes the corn. You can learn that. Bloomberg Campaign Senior Adviser Tim O'Brien is here to react live in moments, so as Lara Trump. She's the Trump Campaign Senior Adviser of course. And ahead tonight, Andy McCarthy on claims the DOJ is again looking into James Comey, maybe others like Andy McCabe, plus Katie Macfarlane on brand new public comments from Ambassador John Bolton. What he just said about whether he would have testified in the impeachment trial.

Republican Congressman Steve Scalise talking about whether Democrats are considering another investigation of the President. But let's begin tonight with Tim O'Brien from Bloomberg camp. Tim, thanks for coming in.

TIM O'BRIEN, BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Hi, Ed.

HENRY: Good to see you. The mayor said, you dig a hole, you put some dirt on top, add a little water, out comes the corn. Basically, these farmers maybe you're not too bright sounds kind of elitist, no?

O'BRIEN: I think if you set it up that way and you know mischaracterize what his intentions were, what he was talking about--

HENRY: Well, we played the whole clip, just to be clear. We played the whole clip. You just said that I took it out of context. We played the whole clip.

O'BRIEN: I think you're characterizing his comments in a way that's useful to you, which is fine, but I'm going to have a different take on it than you. Mike Bloomberg has always respected and empowered working Americans, unlike Donald Trump. He is not going to make promises to rescue the farming community and then undermine him like Donald Trump has through misguided trade policies.

But what Mike was speaking about was the need that I think all of us share to make sure that all American workers get the training they need and have the access to the high quality education and training they need to help become competitive forces in a global economy.

HENRY: OK.

O'BRIEN: And I think he was putting the comments about farmers in a historical context.

HENRY: OK. That's your claim. Let's play the second part of what he said about gray matter. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLOOMBERG: Information economy is fundamentally different because it's built around replacing people with technology and the skill sets that you have to learn are how to think and analyze and that is a whole degree level different. You have to have a different skill set, you have to have a lot more gray matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So, right after saying the farmers, anybody - I could teach anybody that, you pour the water, up comes the corn, it's pretty easy. Now he's saying the information economy is really hard. It's tough to him. You need more gray matter in your brain. What's that about?

O'BRIEN: I think this is the challenge facing this entire economy and the technology and information age. We have a lot of manufacturing workers and agricultural workers and farmers who have been displaced in the service economy and in a technology revolution.

HENRY: I've got that. But please answer the question about gray matter.

O'BRIEN: We as a country need to make sure--

HENRY: Not smart enough to figure it out.

O'BRIEN: We have programs in place to empower folks and that's what the
Bloomberg--

HENRY: OK, he wasn't talking about empowerment, Tim.

O'BRIEN: Administration will stand for--

HENRY: Please answer the question. He said, you need more gray matter in the brain. What's that about?

O'BRIEN: I think as he said it, it requires an entirely different skill set which is true. It requires an entirely different skill set for anybody in traditional industries in an information age to partake in the benefits of an economy built around that.

HENRY: OK.

O'BRIEN: And that we as a community have to support those folks.

HENRY: What about this Washington Post story over the weekend suggesting that a business - as a businessman he made sexist comments. One woman claiming she was pregnant and basically Michael Bloomberg as a businessman said, kill it. Kill the baby because there is already more than a dozen other women on maternity leave. How does he explain that?

O'BRIEN: Well, he explains it by saying he didn't say that, and he has stood by that for quite a long time. I think there's two baskets of issues that have come out of that story. One, it relies on a gag book. He was given as a birthday present 30 years ago.

I think Mike Bloomberg over the last 30 years has evolved, some men evolve and don't change. Some men evolve and take action. Mike Bloomberg has evolved and taken action. Everything about him - let me finish, Ed. 
Everything about his policy positions in this campaign and the way that he's empowered women in his company and his philanthropy. And in this campaign speak much louder than those words.

What if Mike has ever said anything that are offensive to women.

HENRY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: He regrets it and is ready to apologize for that.

HENRY: You mentioned the book--

O'BRIEN: The other basket of issues here. There's this thing that dozens of women have accused Mike Bloomberg of sexual harassment. Those are corporate cases. Those were lawsuits--

HENRY: OK, I didn't ask you about that.

O'BRIEN: Bloomberg LP.

HENRY: OK, let's stick with what I asked you about.

O'BRIEN: Those were lawsuits against Bloomberg LP.

HENRY: OK, got it.

O'BRIEN: And he was away governing New York City as mayor when a lot of these cases came into the court.

HENRY: All right, moving on. You mentioned this book. It quoted Michael Bloomberg saying, if women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of Bloomingdale's. How was that?

O'BRIEN: As I told you--

HENRY: You just said it was empowering, he is empowering the women.

O'BRIEN: He didn't say any of those things. I just told you a moment ago. 
He has said, he did not say any of those things, that was a gift given to him as a birthday present.

HENRY: OK.

O'BRIEN: The things in that book were written by other people, but I think you know that. But let's go.

HENRY: OK. So, Hillary Clinton after this Washington Post story broke about alleged sex - countless sexist comments and whatnot. This story leaked that maybe Hillary Clinton will be his VP, what is the Clinton camp told you? Was that a distraction from the Washington Post story?

O'BRIEN: You know if we have the privilege to pick a running mate which we expect we will have the privilege of doing, there's a lot of wonderful candidates out there. We're focused right now on winning this primary and taking this battle to Donald Trump's doorstep.

HENRY: On the issue of race, last week, you were tweeting about how you think the President is flagrantly hateful, flagrantly hateful racist and that your boss is not in the same category and then we saw a whole bunch of other comments where your boss said 95 percent of your murderers and murderers and murder victims fit ammo, take the description, xerox it, pass it out to everyone, they are male minorities.

He also said, we put all the cops in minority neighborhoods. That's where all the crime is. How can you call the President a racist when your boss said that?

O'BRIEN: Because Donald Trump has a record of flagrantly bigoted and racist actions and comments going back to the 1970's. There is not anyone who's ever served in the modern presidency who is as openly bigoted and racist as Donald Trump and that's--

HENRY: OK, but I'm asking about your boss. Let's just put that aside for a second.

O'BRIEN: You asked me about the tweet and asked me how I was able to put it into context.

HENRY: Well, you went after him. But your boss--

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: So, is your boss less racist? Is your boss less racist?

O'BRIEN: No. Michael Bloomberg is not a racist. Michael Bloomberg is an honorable ethical public servant. And Donald Trump is not even in the same category as Mike Bloomberg. Donald Trump is a blight on the American dialogue and calling Donald Trump a racist and a bigot is merely stating the facts.

HENRY: All right, Tim O'Brien. Appreciate you coming in tonight.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Also, here, Lara Trump, as we mentioned, Trump's 2020 Senior Adviser. Good to see you.

LARA TRUMP, TRUMP 2020 SENIOR ADVISER: Thank you.

HENRY: What do you think, first let's start with the deplorable. You know I called it sort of deplorables 2.0. Tim O'Brien says that's not fair, what do you think about his comments about farming?

TRUMP: Well, it certainly felt like it was very demeaning, very condescending to farmers. Donald Trump has been the biggest champion of farmers and the agriculture industry as a whole. Industries that require you to work with your hands and it generally sounded like he was bashing all of them.

That said, I think he's got a bigger problem than not even. I think it's going to be really hard for people to get behind somebody in this party that it seems like he's buying their way into the Democrat nomination. You see that all of the energy in the party is very Far Left with Bernie Sanders. These folks do not want someone like Michael Bloomberg coming in who hasn't gone through the process as the rest of the people had. I really don't think they're going to--

HENRY: Well, he may have to go into the first - his first debate on Wednesday night. But let's go, let me push back on each one of these. On farmers, Tim O'Brien was just saying, you heard him a moment ago that the President hasn't always been great to farmers in the idea that the trade war. The President had to end up giving them money, give them aid because a lot of these farmers were hard hit in recent years.

TRUMP: Well, I mean I think in the very, very short term that is true. But whenever you're looking at long-term for this country and what long-term is going to work for farmers and for the United States as a whole, Donald Trump knew that somebody had to do this. This should have been done, Ed, 30 years ago. But of course, it took Donald Trump to finally get this done.

And listen at the end, we hope that it works out for everybody and farmers are going to come back and say, thankfully, somebody stood up for us and stood up for the United States.

HENRY: On the issue of race, when the President told several Democratic women of color go back to the "totally broken and crime infested places" 
from which they came. Was that racially sensitive?

TRUMP: Well, I think that is also a little bit out of context the way he said that. And I think--

HENRY: Well, no, he was pushing back against the squad.

TRUMP: Well, of course, he was pushing back against the squad. But maybe he was talking about go back to their constituents and where they're from. 
Listen, you can categorize Donald Trump anyway you want, but when you look at the results, he has delivered for the black community in this country. 
You see that we have the lowest African American unemployment in the history of this country. We have more people than jobs to fill them even, Ed.

You look at things like the most funding for HBC use. You look at Opportunity Zones, lifting communities that have been forgotten and left behind out of poverty and giving people a shot.

HENRY: Yes.

TRUMP: You know, historic criminal justice reform--

HENRY: President has made that case.

TRUMP: With the first step back. These are all things that anybody that - you claim that Donald Trump is racist, a racist would never do these things, it's ridiculous. Donald Trump wants all Americans to succeed including Black Americans.

HENRY: Finally, on women. When I pressed Tim O'Brien on this Washington Post story, does this now mean that the Access Hollywood tape and other matters that were litigated in 2016, are they fair game for the President to deal with in 2020.

TRUMP: Well, I think the people of the country opine on that and they voted for Donald Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and obviously that didn't affect their judgment of this President. He has delivered results for people of this country, and if they want to drag out old tapes, I'm sure they'll be happy to do that.

HENRY: But last thing on that, pardon me, on Tim's point, he was saying look, Michael Bloomberg said some things that he may have regretted. He's learned from it. He suggested the President hasn't. Your response.

TRUMP: I mean I think everybody learns every single day as they go along. 
Donald Trump certainly has never been a politician before. He's learning every step of the way. But I ultimately think that when people go into a voting booth on November 3rd, 2016, they're going to be looking at is this country working for me and is Donald Trump the reason it is I think they're going to say yes and I think they're going to vote for him.

HENRY: Lara Trump, appreciate you coming in.

TRUMP: Thank you.

HENRY: Thank you. In the meantime, Joe Biden seeking to gain ground after that Iowa gut punch. But is he doom for disaster as his support among African Americans starts to crater? Karl Rove and Chris Hahn up next on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I have had historically overwhelming support from the African American community. You can't win in my view without that happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENRY: Joe Biden heading into high stakes contests in Nevada and South Carolina touting his support among African American voters, a key voting bloc of course. They could make or break his campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Every time I run, whether it's - take Carter or Clinton or Barack, they've had overwhelming support from the African American community and overwhelming support from minorities. I have overwhelming support from - you can't win, you can't take it for granted. Last time, we run, it was basically take it for granted. I'm the only one who has the record and has the background and has the support. They know me. They know who I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: But that support among African American voters has taken a nosedive down 22 points for Biden since the end of last month as every other candidate makes some gains.

Here now live, Congressman Steven Horsford. He's from Nevada - he has endorsed Joe Biden for President ahead of this weekend's caucuses. 
Congressman, we appreciate you coming in.

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD, D-NEV.: Thank you, Ed.

HENRY: I heard another interview where you said look, your state wants someone with character, somebody who cares about health care and housing and all these important issues. Do the people of Iowa and New Hampshire not care about those same issues?

HORSFORD: Well, what's different about Nevada is that we reflect the diversity of America. We have a broad base of diversity from African American, Latino, Asian American, strong middle-class support, obviously Joe Biden is very strong among labor, with firefighters, with operating engineers, with the iron workers, with IBW.

These are the hard-working men and women who make our city and our state strong. And its why Joe Biden's agenda for working people is so strong and why he's going to do so well here in Nevada.

HENRY: But Congressman, my question really is, there are unions and there are middle class people and all the groups you just laid out in predominantly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire and Joe Biden was soundly rejected. So, what is going to be the difference maker for him? 
What's going to save his campaign?

HORSFORD: Look, let's be clear. Don't count Joe Biden out. 99 percent of the black vote still has not cast their decision. 99.8 percent of the Latino vote has not cast their ballot. That's why Nevada and the states to follow are so important.

Iowa, New Hampshire, they've had their time. Now it's time for Nevada voters and what I can tell you is what I have seen on the ground here in my district with Vice President Biden. We had a huge rally in my district. We had more than two hours of line up to vote in support of Joe Biden in that one of our highest voting precincts in the African American community at the Doolittle Community Center.

He attended church with me on Sunday and everyone who came up to him said, we believe in you, Joe. We know you, Joe. We're standing with you, Joe. 
We're voting with you, Joe because we know you and we know you're fighting for our families.

HENRY: Congressman, I've got 30 seconds. I'll let you make the case there. 
Washington Post had a big piece today quoting a Democratic aid to one of the presidential campaigns saying that your state is "making it up" as they go along and it claim that various Democratic officials are afraid, the caucus chaos in Iowa is coming to Nevada.

HORSFORD: Absolutely not. We have a very smooth-running caucus. I've been to several of the sites I was just at 1 this afternoon. Our state party knows what they are doing, and we are prepared and actually have had historic turnout already. So, I don't know who those pundits are, but they're not on the ground here in Las Vegas. We are and people are turning out every single day and we want them to - encourage them to continue to turn out until Election Day next Saturday.

HENRY: You were there on the ground. We certainly appreciate you coming and give - making the case for the Vice President tonight. Thank you, sir.

HORSFORD: Thank you.

HENRY: Also, here live, Karl Rove, Former Deputy Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush, a Fox News Contributor. And Chris Hahn, Former Aide to Senator Chuck Schumer and a syndicated radio host. And he's got a podcast. Gentlemen, good to see you both.

KARL ROVE, FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Evening.

HENRY: Karl, where are you with Joe Biden in terms of make or break?

ROVE: Well, we're at the make and break stage. He's got to do better in Nevada than he did in the two previous contests. And he has to win South Carolina. And I don't want to make Congressman Horsford nervous, but I sort of agree with him. The African American community at least in Nevada has not - they're not necessarily going to go for Bernie. None of the others have seemed to make an inroad with them. And I think Biden is probably going to do better in Nevada as a part of that.

The other thing that's going on here is remember who Horsford is. He is a protege of Harry Reid. And in addition, you'll notice Congresswoman Titus of Las Vegas who's also a protege of Harry Reid has endorsed Biden and Biden himself has been really a recipient of very kind remarks by Reid within the last 48 hours.

So, I think he's going to do better there. South Carolina is an interesting thing from my perspective because there he does have a little bit of competition for the black vote from Tom Steyer, who's spending enormous amounts of money, has hired a very large staff from entirely within the state includes a lot of young aggressive African American organizers. And while Biden I think is going to do well there, he'd be doing better if the star hadn't been in there tossing around literally millions of dollars.

HENRY: Chris Hahn, we'll give you a fair shake. Where do you see it?

CHRIS HAHN, FORMER AIDE TO SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: I mean he said basically what I was going to say. I don't know what you're talking. Karl, we agree too much on this show sometimes.

Yes, I think absolutely what Karl just broke down was correct. The former leader's machine in Nevada should not be trifled with. They are a very serious machine. They could bring it home for Biden, if they come out in force. And if Biden does well in Nevada, he will likely do well in South Carolina. I agree with Karl. He's got to do better in Nevada. But he's got to win South Carolina. It's make-or-break time for - if he wins South Carolina, two days before Super Tuesday. All bets are off.

HENRY: Karl.

ROVE: He doesn't need to win Nevada; he just needs to do strong there. Bernie had a lot of adherents there, last time around and they're going to
- the Sandernistas are going to be coming out again as long as they can get themselves away from the gambling tables.

HENRY: Chris, this weekend, Hunter Biden and whether or not he's played a major factor in this campaign came up when the former Vice President sat down with NBC. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: My son's brilliant honorable guy, who is - he feels so guilty this being put in a spot that he put me in a spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Chris, he was also pressed on the idea that while there's the clear understanding, he loves his son that this has done real damage, the questions about Burisma did real damage to his campaign?

HAHN: I think that there's no question that all this talk about Burisma has done damage to his campaign. I don't know if it's fair or not fair. I mean there are a lot of unqualified people who have nepotism jobs. I mean they're a couple of them sitting in the West Wing right now. So, I think that's something we all have to consider. I would like to ban nepotism altogether in this country and move on from it, make sure people earn their jobs no matter what. But that's never going to happen.

A lot of people get their jobs based on who they know. It doesn't make it illegal, but it's been blown out of a proportion for this kid and it may have hurt his father's political chances.

HENRY: Karl, I'll give you a chance to weigh in on that, but also Michael Bloomberg in terms of how he's waiting in the wings on Super Tuesday with these various comments on race, on the farmers. Where are we?

ROVE: Yes. Well, first of all, on Hunter Biden, it was a stupid thing for him to take the job and I will never understand why Joe Biden who has been around politics for a long period of time did not understand it was creating a problem for him in 2014 and 2015 for him to be in charge of Ukrainian anti-corruption efforts and have his son involved in Ukrainian corruption. This is a self-inflicted wound and it's not just the son. The father had a big role to play in this.

He should have either said, I'm not going to be involved in Ukrainian efforts or he should have said to his son, son, I know you're getting paid a huge amount of money 50, 60, 70, $80,000 a month for doing nothing. Get the hell off of that board. But it's self-inflicted and it's going to damage you. It's damaged him in the Democratic primary. It'll be an issue in the general election.

Michael Bloomberg. My God. He's spending gobs of money, but I'm not certain, the money he's spending is going to necessarily be enough to undo all of the damage that's been done to him by these recent revelations and by the problem of his support for stop and frisk. But we're going to see on
- my sense is, it's not going to go away.

HENRY: Let's give Chris the last word. Go ahead.

HAHN: Karl, you saw the numbers. He's number two among African American voters. And all this stuff has been coming out in the last couple of weeks and they know about it. Here's the thing. He's got a lot of money. You and I both know, money is the mother's milk of politics, he's going to spend that money. He's got a brilliant team working for him. I think they put a lot of this stuff out themselves frankly to get past it before Super Tuesday which was a smart move something you would have done, Karl. So, let's see what happens. Let's see where it goes.

ROVE: I agree with a lot of what Chris had to say except for one thing, most of the polling that goes into that average of black support for the mayor came before the events of the last week or so, we'll see in the next 10 or 11 days, how much it goes. But Chris, next time we're together, let's not agree so much.

HAHN: Yes, we've got to fight more.

ROVE: Please, this is embarrassing.

HAHN: Come on, it's much more fun.

ROVE: Look, I'll attack you viciously in the next time, so to repair the damage of your reputation among other Democrats.

HENRY: It's nice to have a reasonable debate sometimes, but Karl, I just wanted to clear.

HAHN: Please, please.

HENRY: You agreed with the part where Chris said you were super smart as a strategist, you agreed with that part.

ROVE: I modestly didn't reply to - on that at all.

HENRY: Karl and Chris, appreciate you coming in. Thank you.

ROVE: Thank you.

HENRY: In the meantime, days after the DOJ dropped its case against former FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe, reports tonight of an entirely new probe into key players of the deep state. Andy McCarthy has details next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But at the top of the FBI, you have dirty cops Deep State sabotage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENRY: A former member of Robert Mueller's special council team is claiming the DOJ may have dropped its, quote, unquote, "loser case" against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe. But that the department will continue to investigate him and others like James Comey and Peter Strzok, by way of an outside prosecutor tapped by Attorney General William Barr to look into the case against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Our correspondent Kristin Fisher has the story tonight from Washington. Kristin?

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ed, just one after the Department of Justice announced it would not be pressing charges against former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, we also learned that the department would be reviewing the case against Michael Flynn, the president former national security adviser and Attorney General Bill Barr is tapping an outside prosecutor to do it.

Jeffrey Jensen is a federal prosecutor in St. Louis who will now be working alongside the case as lead prosecutor just one month after Flynn told the court that he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea which came from former special counsel Bob Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

A Justice Department official says Jensen was brought on board to get a complete and thorough understanding of the facts and the record in a complicated case.

But one of Mueller's former top prosecutors Andrew Weissmann says Jensen selection is simply a ploy to investigate a few notable former FBI employees like James Comey, Peter Strzok, and Andrew McCabe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW WEISSMANN, FORMER DOJ OFFICIAL: So, they did a swapped out a loser case --

CHUCK TODD, HOST, MSNBC: Yes.

WEISSMANN: -- for starting an investigation that is going to be of Comey, McCabe, Pete Strzok.

TODD: So, what you're saying is, yes, they're not investigating Comey, but guess what, they're really investing Comey.

WEISSMANN: Exactly. And McCabe and Pete Strzok.

TODD: And that's what the U.S. attorney from the Eastern District of Missouri really is doing.

WEISSMANN: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: Now Andrew Weissmann was a long time DOJ attorney and a top prosecutor in the Mueller case, but keep in mind he is no longer with the department so he may not be quite as in the loop as he once was on cases like this. Ed?

HENRY: Kristin, thank you. Here now with more, Andrew McCarthy. He is a former federal prosecutor and of course, a Fox News contributor. Andy, good evening.

ANDREW MCCARTHY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good evening, Ed.

HENRY: You're skeptical about what Andrew Weissmann is claiming here that there is some bigger broader probe of the deep state.

MCCARTHY: I'm not skeptical about it, I think it's idiotic. You know, look, there's already an investigation into the origins and the conduct of the Trump in Russia investigation. So if anybody is looking at McCabe, and Comey and Strzok and all those guys, that's the Durham investigation.

HENRY: Right.

MCCARTHY: In the Flynn investigation you have a situation where there's been all kinds of funky stuff that's gone on in the case. Flynn has asked to get his plea back and it's under circumstances where now a federal court has found that the underlying, not in Flynn's case but in the FISA stuff, a federal court has found that there were all kinds of misrepresentations made to the district court.

So, given the totality of the circumstances it would be irresponsible for the Justice Department not to look into the -- you know, the -- whether Flynn's plea is something that the government should fight against --

HENRY: Right.

MCCARTHY: -- him getting his plea back or --

HENRY: Sure.

MCCARTHY: -- whether they should just, you know, come take some other position.

HENRY: Andy, real quick on the Andy McCabe case, what happened there, because the Republicans kept saying, look, we've got them on lying under oath multiple times, and yet we then find out late last week no, there's not going to be a prosecution here. And reasonable people wonder why is there no accountability?

MCCARTHY: Well, look, I think the case against him in terms of whether he made false statements is clear, and his intent to make them is clear but the case had lot of problems. You have main government witnesses who were sympathetic to McCain and hostile --

HENRY: McCabe.

MCCARTHY: -- McCabe, rather, and hostile to -- hostile to the Justice Department. It looks like there was some bungling in the U.S. attorney's office and you have this whole issue of the president tweeting against McCabe under circumstances where that gives fodder to his claim --

HENRY: Yes.

MCCARTHY: -- that he's being singled out for political retaliation. And given that the Justice Department had to weigh all that --

HENRY: Yes.

MCCARTHY: -- and the possibility of getting him convicted in Washington which is very anti-Trump --

HENRY: Right.

MCCARTHY: -- I think they decided the chance of acquittal was too great.

HENRY: We shall see if the Durham investigation which you mentioned will get to the bottom of some of this. Andy McCarthy, thanks for coming in.

MCCARTHY: Thank, Ed.

HENRY: In the meantime, John Bolton, the former national security adviser whose book manuscript alleges that the president was directly tied to -- tying Ukrainian aid to an investigation of the Bidens made a rare public appearance tonight. The breaking details about what he just said, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENRY: Former national security adviser John Bolton making some rare public comments tonight in the wake of President Trump's acquittal.

White House correspondent Kevin Corke is live in Washington with the breaking details. Kevin?

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Always great to be with you, my friend.

You'll recall the president made it pretty plainly obvious that things didn't end terribly well between the two men. And so, as you can well imagine, it was a great deal of anticipation tonight at Duke University as the former national security adviser decided to have a lecture, and of course, people wanted to know what he might have to say.

Now as anticipated, Ed, the speech was comprehensive. It touched on a variety of topics including Iran, North Korea, and China, ranging to his experience working for the president himself.

Now he's also asked what he might do in the case of a congressional subpoena. Of course, a lot of people have been talking about that. He said this. "I felt I had to make a resolution what my obligation was and what I will do if I get a subpoena. Biden said he would go if he got a subpoena. 
If I got one, I would go. Mr. Impeachment power, Mr. Executive privilege, meet Mr. First Amendment."

As you know, Bolton was the third of four national security advisors. As you see right there, Messrs Flynn, McMaster, Bolton, and O'Brien.

Now the speech was billed as a national security threat lecture. And what that basically means, Ed, is he wanted to talk about the threats facing America and indeed, the world moving forward. But as you saw there in that comment, he wasn't afraid to broach some political topics. He mostly did stay however on topic. Ed?

HENRY: Kevin Corke, we appreciate you being on tonight.

CORKE: You bet.

HENRY: Joining me now, K.T. McFarland, former national security adviser in the Trump administration, author of the upcoming book "Revolution: Trump Washington, and We, the People." Katie, thanks for coming in.

K.T. MCFARLAND, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's a pleasure.

HENRY: What do you think is the significance of John Bolton tonight saying Mr. Impeachment power and Mr. Executive privilege, meet the First Amendment. As if the really wanted to speak out at that trial?

MCFARLAND: I think he very much did want to speak out. He made it pretty clear. And what he was going to say presumably is what's in his book. Look, Ed, I don't want to get in the middle of the tweet storm between two 70- year-old men who were kind of having it out over each other.

But the bottom line is when John Bolton took a job with President Trump, I think you take those jobs because you agree in general terms with what the boss wants to do. You like those policies. You make your case in private. 
If the boss doesn't agree with it, fine, you go and follow the orders of the boss and his decision. He has the right to make that decision for 63 million people.

I asked him to make those decisions and if he disagree then you resign. You don't wait to get fired and then go out squabbling with each other.

HENRY: Right. And then people sometimes get upset when you leave the administration and write some sort of a tell-all.

MCFARLAND: Sure.

HENRY: But we don't know yet what's really in that book for a number of reasons. Number one, the leaked reports during impeachment seemed time politically to try and hurt the president --

MCFARLAND: Yes.

HENRY: -- but it was unclear whether John Bolton really did allege that there was a quid pro quo.

MCFARLAND: Yes. You know, by and large when you go through these processes and I have just gone through it myself, where you submit a manuscript to the White House or the National Security Council. They are not looking necessarily for political angles and to suppress free speech as John Bolton implied, they're looking for classified information.

And the process is a very congenial one. It doesn't happen quickly. It takes a couple of weeks, a couple of months in my case, and I think part of what John Bolton is trying to do is he wants to get his book out there. He wants to -- he wanted to testify, he wanted to be part of impeachment.

HENRY: Yes.

MCFARLAND: That didn't work out but he still wants to be part of that conversation.

HENRY: But there's a report, as you know, NBC News, I believe reported it, that Bolton's book is still held up now. You suggested a moment ago --

MCFARLAND: Yes.

HENRY: -- with your book and others this can be a relatively quick process. 
Might this lead --

(CROSSTALK)

MCFARLAND: Not that quickly.

HENRY: But you said within weeks or couple of months.

MCFARLAND: Or couple of months.

HENRY: Not a year.

MCFARLAND: Not a year. Right. Not -- no.

HENRY: That was my point.

MCFARLAND: No, certainly not a year, it will be a couple of months.

HENRY: So, to be clear --

MCFARLAND: And he's -- yes.

HENRY: What are the chances that we never see his book or that it's going to drag on?

MCFARLAND: I think that's unlikely.

HENRY: So, you think this is going to get out?

(CROSSTALK)

MCFARLAND: I think that's very unlikely. Yes, I think it will get out there but I think the classified information it will be probably have to be changed. Like here's what he exempts. They'll look at a paragraph and say, you know, I think you've got that from classified information. Can you cite a public source? So, then you say, sure, you cite a public source, that paragraph is agreed to.

It's those kinds of things. Nobody is looking at that and saying, gee, I don't think you should criticize the president, I want you to take that part out.

HENRY: Right.

MCFARLAND: You have the right to criticize the president, as John Bolton says he got his Frist Amendment rights. This is not what that fight is over. The fight is over revealing classified information --

HENRY: Right.

MCFARLAND: -- and that should take a couple of weeks, a couple of months and then John Bolton's book will come out and he'll say whatever he wants to say.

HENRY: So, in the meantime, the intrigue continues. We appreciate you weighing in on, and we are anticipating your book coming out as well, K.T. 
McFarland. Thanks for coming in.

MCFARLAND: Thank you, Ed.

HENRY: Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi now saying the president was not really acquitted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: He's impeached forever, branded with that, and not vindicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Wait until you hear what else she said in that interview. Republican Congressman Steve Scalise is a leader on the Hill, he's here next up to react.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: This is an abuse of power that the president is again trying to manipulate federal law enforcement to serve his political interest. And the president is what he is. He thinks he's above the law. This all must be investigated.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Something egregious like this demands that the inspector general investigate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Abuse of power investigating political opponents. Now Democrats are not talking about the impeachment trial. Those latest comments are in reference to the Roger Stone sentencing with the growing number of Democrats now assisting the president tried to improperly influence it.

Now reports are emerging that some of those Democrats are going so far to consider yet another investigation and maybe even another impeachment.

Joining me now, House minority whip, Congressman Steve Scalise. 
Congressman, I appreciate you coming in tonight.

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA.: Great to be with you, Ed. Thanks.

HENRY: During the impeachment you and other Republican leaders said, you know what, no matter what happens here, even if there's an acquittal it's going to go on and on beyond the impeachment trial but maybe even beyond the next election.

SCALISE: Yes. You know, ed, they are the party of impeachment. The Democrats have been talking about this since the day that the president and Melania Trump came down that escalator, they said they would impeach him. 
They didn't think he would get elected president. They tried to stop him.

If you look the FBI had people within, embedded within the FBI, trying to stop him from getting elected. That's where the investigation, by the way, ought to be if Pelosi really cared about uncovering anything. The fact that you had an agency -- and it was only people, a small group of people there that were abusing their power.

But why aren't they looking into that? That concerns me and a lot of people. We don't want that to happen again to any president whether it's
2020 election or ever again. But then you look at real abuse of power.

In fact, it was one of the Democrats star witnesses, Professor Turley who said the real abuse of power is Democrats impeachment a president with no crime. There was no crime. They look for crime, they hope for a crime because they dislike this president.

And you can see that with Speaker Pelosi. She's made it very personal. It's a vendetta. That's the abuse of power what Speaker Pelosi is doing. Wasting Congress' time, not working with the Republicans and the president to lower drug prices --

HENRY: Yes.

SCALISE: -- or getting the infrastructure package but instead to go after the president every single day because she doesn't agree with the 2016 election results.

HENRY: And now Speaker Pelosi may be going further. Remember when she said he'll be impeached forever. Now she's suggesting he was never acquitted. 
Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: There was no acquittal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By the Senate.

PELOSI: You can't have an acquittal unless you have a trial. And when you have a trial, you have witnesses and documents. So, he can't say he's acquitted and the headlines can say quitted but he's impeached forever. 
Branded with that and not vindicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now Democrats spent all this time early in the administration saying this president about alternative facts, he's not telling the truth. And now you have the Speaker of the House claiming to the American people there was no trial, there was no acquittal.

SCALISE: It's really sad when you watch it. You know, she -- it's like again, the personal vendetta comes out. That we should putting our political or personal differences on the side. You fight passionately for things you believe in but you shouldn't make things personal. And clearly, she's crossed that line.

But again, the president was acquitted for life and go look at the vote it really did happen. But ultimately, it was her case. You know it was the House case, the witnesses they brought. They didn't let us bring our own witnesses, by the way, Ed. We had a list of witnesses. We were guaranteed under House rules an entire day of hearings for the minority and Speaker Pelosi shredded that rule like she ripped the State of the Union address.

That's how little respect she had for witnesses being brought in the House and then it turns out they didn't make their case. The public didn't buy it because they saw through that it was a personal vendetta. There was no crime.

And instead of just recognizing and moving on they talk about impeachment again because it's all they've got. Look, there's an election coming up in a few months. The people of this country will decide.

I know they're disappointed in their field. You can see it. They know that no matter who comes out in that socialist, Democrat primary nobody is excited about the field. I was in Iowa. I was in New Hampshire. The Trump voters are passionately excited, and frankly, in larger numbers than we've ever seen. And the Democratic side is depressed. But you don't just keep harassing the president because you're disappointed in your presidential field.

HENRY: But Congressman, I hear you also saying on the impeachment question it's time to turn the page, it's time to come together, but one of those votes for acquittal was from Republican Susan Collins who you know said that she believe the president had learned a lesson from the impeachment drama.

And what we started this segment was talking about the new Democratic investigation on Roger Stone and whether the president intervened. On the question of learning, do you really think the president learned anything from that drama?

SCALISE: Well, I think the president learned just how corrupt some people in the deep state are. I mean, you look at some of these people literally within federal agencies like the FBI abusing their power to try to stop him from getting elected. That ought to frighten every American --

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: But, Congressman, pardon me, but what about his own behavior, though. I get what you're saying about the deep state and that's been out there, and that's going to continue to be in question. But what about his own actions? Did he learn anything?

SCALISE: Look, the president made it very clear when you look at these Zelensky phone calls and ultimately that's what this was about. It was a call between two people, President Trump and President Zelensky.

Both people have been asked about this call multiple times and said it was a great call. The president talked about and it's a perfect call. Zelensky appreciated President Trump's help and things like selling the javelin missiles to defend themselves against Russia, which by the way, President Obama and Joe Biden wouldn't do.

They wouldn't help the Ukraine stand up to Russia. So, Zelensky was very fine with the call. In fact, thanked President Trump for the help that he's given Ukraine. I wish President Obama had done that much.

HENRY: All right.

SCALISE: But again, the two people on the call both said it was a fine call, and yet their answer was to impeach the president because they're afraid he's going to win again in 2020.

HENRY: Congressman Steve Scalise, we certainly appreciate you coming in tonight.

SCALISE: Great being with you, Ed. Thanks.

HENRY: And "The Story" continues, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HENRY: That is "The Story" for Monday, February 17, 2020. But as always, the story continues at foxnews.com. I'll see you again tomorrow morning on "America's Newsroom" with my co-host Sandra Smith 9 a.m. Eastern. We'll be expecting to see you. Until then, good night.

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