This is a rush transcript from "The Story," June 11, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, HOST: Hi there, Bret. Good evening to you. Good evening to everybody..
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Joe never got more than one percent, except Obama took him off the trash heap. But now, it looks like he's failing.
JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Four years of Donald Trump will be viewed as an aberration in American history.
TRUMP: He looks different than he used to. He acts different than he used to. He's even slower than he used to be.
BIDEN: I think there's a genuine threat to American democracy.
TRUMP: You see that with Biden, we would never be treated with respect because people don't respect him.
BIDEN: And he coach Kim Jong-un, saying, "I agree with him. He's right -- he's right about Biden." I think I'm either low I.Q. or slower. I don't know what I am.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACCALLUM: Now, oh, boy, you get the idea. Good evening, everybody. This is the big story of tonight. I'm Martha MacCallum. So, that is what the race could look like. And we have some brand new polls to show you that are just in tonight. But there was a lot of attention on this scrum today between these two men. Even in advance that it would be coming on the Biden side.
Perhaps the former vice president hoping that with everybody talking about all the ugly name-calling going around, perhaps his sizeable flip on the issue of China might get buried today. But here it is because you know what, it's very important more important than a lot of the other stuff that has been talked about today.
Here was the initial comment that got Vice President Biden, the former vice president in a bit of hot water. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: China is going to eat our lunch. Come on, men. They're not bad folks, folks. But guess what, they're not a competition for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: They are not competition for us, he said. And now the fix that came today. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: China proposes real challenges in United States and some ways a real threat to the United States. We should be rallying our friends to take on China's abusive practices around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So, more on this in the panel that is waiting. Great panel for you in just a moment. But first, let's go to correspondent Peter Doocy, who is live in Des Moines, Iowa tonight where the president is about to speak moments from now. Peter?
PETER DOOCY, GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER: Good evening, Martha. Joe Biden was looking to change the subject today. Because last week, he spent days trying to explain why his decades-long -- decades-long held position on federal funding for abortion changed, and then changed again seemingly hours later.
So, today, before dawn, the Biden campaign released an entire speech filled with blistering new attacks on President Trump that the former V.P. has been revealing throughout the course of the day like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: On the D-Day ceremonies, the D-Day ceremonies, there was astounding to me that he was tweeting attacks on everybody. From the mayor of London to Bette Midler.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: Joe Biden still has almost two dozen Democrats to beat in the primary, but he's focusing on President Trump who is also in Iowa tonight. It's a state where farmers have been feeling the effects of certain new agricultural tariffs and the president brought Air Force One to an event touting a new EPA rule change designed to help Iowa farmers, which for the first time allows the summertime sale of a biofuel made with more ethanol called E15.
The president never got physically too close to any of Biden's events, but he shrugged off any threat the Democratic frontrunner could pose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: No, I'd rather run against, I think, Biden than anybody. I think he's the weakest mentally. And I like running against people that are weak mentally. I think Joe is the weakest up here. The other ones have much more energy. I don't agree with their policies, but I think Joe is a man who was I call him one percent Joe. Because until Obama came along, he didn't do very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOOCY: There is not expected to be a competitive Republican caucus here in Iowa, come the beginning of next year. But the president is still rolling in his motorcade over to the GOP state dinner because Iowa could still be a swing state in the general. Martha.
MACCALLUM: Peter, thank you very much. Joining me now in studio, in New York tonight, Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director and author of Trump the Blue Collar President. Katie Pavlich, Townhall.com news editor, and Fox News contributor. And Mo Elleithee, former press secretary for Hillary Clinton and former DNC spokesman. Also a Fox News contributor. Welcome, all of you. Thank you very much for being here tonight.
(CROSSTALK)
KATIE PAVLICH, CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you.
MACCALLUM: So what about that? Mo, let me start with you. You know there was a lot sort of getting thrown at the fan today in verbiage and in mudslinging between these two men. But a pretty substantial flip-flop from Joe Biden on two very big issues, China and abortion this week.
MO ELLEITHEE, CONTRIBUTOR: Well, on the China thing, it's interesting. I think what -- we could hear the Biden people saying today is that this was maybe more of a clarification, right? And I sort of get it in a way. If you listen to what he was saying last week, I think what he was trying to do was compare himself or juxtapose himself to the president. President who comes out with American carnage and his inaugural address has painted a very stark vision of the future in many ways.
Biden has this entire campaign been trying to portray himself and come across as the aspirational figure. I think what he was trying to say in that first statement or, at least, what they are saying he was trying to say was China can't beat us. That China -- that if we put our minds to it, and we as the American people do the right things and do the things we're supposed to do, we can beat China.
MACCALLUM: But I think when you listen to that, I think that a lot of people is with that and say, yes, that's what we've heard for decades and now we know the truth. We know that they want to be globally dominant in the world. That perhaps we have been naive about just how deeply they are working against us economically, militarily, and geo-politically.
(CROSSTALK)
ELLEITHEE: Which is not -- Yes, and I think that's what you heard him say today. Well, I think you heard him try to do today was come out and say, look, yes, they are a threat. Yes, they can't -- they are trying to compete with us economically and militarily. If we do the right things though we can beat them because we are the United States of America.
This president is not doing the right things. And that's where he wants to be.
MACCALLUM: All right.
ELLEITHEE: He wants to be talking about that.
PAVLICH: Well, that is where he wants to be because he could be having this debate in Iowa, which is a place that's having some trouble with the current tariff situation that could be a long term position or a short term one. And if Joe Biden can make the argument that I'm going to be the president who gets this done for you. Or he can say, this is a president whose putting a very difficult position, you need to vote for somebody else, he could be making that argument.
Instead, President Trump is able to say, look, I'm still fighting for you, we're still working for a deal with China. And you have Joe Biden completely changing his narrative. And not just saying that China's competition but saying that they're beating us, he said today that China is investing in technology that we're not investing in.
We're not investing in technology, they're stealing our technology. They're using it against us. And the reason why he's soft on China is because his son inked a billion-dollar deal with the Bank of China, which is part of the Communist -- the Communist Party in China. That's why he was so soft in that. Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Yes, we have definitely heard those stories, Anthony.
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: So, (INAUDIBLE). I think it's less about China and it's more about the debate between the two people, Vice President Biden, and President Trump.
And I think that unfortunately for Vice President Biden, he is falling into the same conventional trap that the other conventional politicians fell into with the president. And so, he mowed down 18 people. 17 on the Republican side, and the Clinton Empire.
And right now he's bowling against Joe Biden and he's doing very, very well because he's got Joe Biden on his back foot, and that's what he does to everybody.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: I -- Could -- he's in Iowa.
SCARAMUCCI: That was very inoffensive by Joe Biden for him to respond.
PAVLICH: Point of the matter is Iowa.
MACCALLUM: He is in Iowa right now.
(CROSSTALK)
ELLEITHEE: Right, yes, but I can take a look differently. I mean, I take it a little bit differently. I actually think, if I'm the Biden people, this is a friend I want to have right now. I want to be in Iowa arguing over the president's trade policies in China. Today, if I'm any of the other Democratic candidates that are up against Joe Biden, I'm wishing I was in the middle of this fight.
SCARAMUCCI: You look stronger stylistically.
ELLEITHEE: I look, I think that they both. I think --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: You know what, I think there's more of a bottom line here, and that has to do with the farmers in Iowa.
ELLEITHEE: Yes.
MACCALLUM: You -- you've said yourself that you have some reservations about the way the president is handling this tariff issue, and we're seeing in some of these national polls that -- and I know national polls don't matter at this point. But that Biden is very, very strong and beating President Trump in some of these places.
ELLEITHEE: That's right.
MACCALLUM: OK. So I'm -- look, the president, I will disagree on the tariffs. I'm a capital manager and the tariffs are ultimately attacks on the American people, and they're the least representative tax because we don't -- that he --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: He said they weren't. He said they subsidize the companies in China, and they don't pass it along.
SCARAMUCCI: No, I'm talking about representation. Remember we broke from the U.K., no taxation without representation. OK? You're supposed to go through a legislative body to get a tax increase like that.
The president is using on our cane law from the 1960s based on national security and he as one person is making the decision on a tax increase of a very large magnitude that's hurting people. Hurting my cousin. My cousin Auggie is in the auto-class business, pay $10,000 in tariffs last month. A couple more months like that, you're going to knock him out of business. And so, the president is got to be very, very careful with that.
Now, they don't like me saying it, but he should have more guys around him saying that. But that's not the issue tonight. Tonight is who looks better on T.V.? Who looks more muscular? Who looks more powerful? And it's President Trump. And he's -- and Joe Biden, if you've -- with all due respect, he's falling into the same conventional trap where he's letting the president guide the narrative as opposed to ignoring some of what the president's doing and counteracting them in a different way.
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: Well, let's, let's take it down a step further though. Because we're getting ahead of the Democratic primary here, you know, Joe Biden versus President Trump could happen based on the polling we know today.
Voters in Democratic Party say they want someone to beat Trump, that's their number one issue. But Joe Biden has to get through a primary which is exactly why you saw him flip on the Hyde Amendment this week because the left is pushing him that way.
They're not pushing him on China. That's a Trump issue. But he does have to get past Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, and the 19 other candidates that were in Iowa over the weekend making their case to those voters.
MACCALLUM: All right. Yes, I just want to pull up this on Kim Jong-un. Because Joe Biden went after him for what he said in this sound bite. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just received a beautiful letter from Kim Jong-un. I can't show you the letter obviously, but it was a very personal, very warm, very nice letter. I appreciate it. And I'll say it again. I think that North Korea has tremendous potential.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any plan, any thought about another meeting with Kim Jong-un?
TRUMP: Well, it could happen but I want to bring it further down the line. Look, in the meantime, he's kept his word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Anthony, this man is a cold-blooded killer. He is working on nuclear weapons and the president you know likes where we are right now in terms of the testing. He said you know him well, you worked with him. What's going on here? What's the mission in that said sound bite?
SCARAMUCCI: Look, So that -- I love that part of him because he's breaking from tradition and he's trying to get a deal done. And the guy is a cold- blooded killer. But guess what, there are many cold-blooded killers on the world stage.
And so, if you can get him to denuclearize and create an economic opportunity on the northern side of the DMZ, that will be a Nobel Prize- winning event. And so, I like the fact that he's staying on it, and I like the jawboning there. And again, it looks very, very presidential. Right now, it's 1-0, 2-0, President Trump versus vice president --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: All right. I got to leave it there -- amount of time. Thank you very much, guys. Great to see you all.
SCARAMUCCI: Maybe it's 5-0 going to be, (INAUDIBLE), 5-0.
MACCALLUM: Coming up next.
REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: Who does this president think he is? He cares on like a dictator or crime boss. In the United States of America, no one is above the law.
MACCALLUM: Congressman Matt Gaetz respond to the pro-impeachment Democrats are pressing forward here in an even bigger way today towards impeachment. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Democratic Party is a mess. They're doing everything they can to win the election in 2020 and all they do is waste time on these investigations where there's no obstruction, no collusion, no nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: The President took a lot of questions this afternoon on the lawn at the White House before heading off to Iowa. That was part of it. So Donald Trump Jr. is going to be back on the Senate side tomorrow to answer more questions tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the House has authorized lawsuits now which take this to another level against Attorney General Barr and former White House lawyer Donald McGahn. So the push to impeach is intensifying on Chairman Nadler's side but he may be running into a wall with Speaker Pelosi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the Democratic caucus wants to go for with an impeachment inquiry, would you go for it?
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE SPEAKER: It's not -- it's not even close in our caucus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But eventually -- yes.
PELOSI: But if there's -- you know, why were you speculating on hypotheticals? Nothing as divisive in our country on my view than impeachment. But it's not off the table. You can't -- I don't think you should impeach for political reasons and I don't think you should not impeach for political reasons. It's not about politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So here now, Democratic Congressman Harley Ruda of California, a member of the House Oversight Committee. Sir, thank you for being here today. Good to have you with us.
REP. HARLEY ROUDA, D-CALIF.: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: She says that on the House -- in the House -- on the Democratic side, it is not even close, that there is just not momentum for impeachment.
ROUDA: Well, I think she's looking at the overall caucus, the Democratic caucus. And certainly, when you look at the overall caucus, there are people at different places in time. There are those who believe impeachment should start immediately, those who believe proceeding should start, those who believe investigations need to continue to get to the truth, the underlying facts which is what I believe in, and those who even want to pump the brakes further than that.
So it's a process that we're going through. But first and foremost we need to make sure that these investigations continue.
MACCALLUM: All right. So that's what Jerry Nadler is doing. He wants it as quickly as possible he said in court, for the witnesses subpoenaed. He's going after Bill Barr, as we know Don McGahn, as we mentioned. It's interesting you know, when you look at the campaign trail and we talked a lot about Joe Biden.
Joe Biden back in 1995 said this on the Senate Judiciary Committee about this same Attorney General. He said as you know -- as I know you know but others should know too, I truly enjoyed working with you when you were Attorney General. You were one of the best I have ever worked with and there's been a lot of Attorney General since I've been here. And I mean that sincerely.
I think you know this raises a question. This was a person who got through the process quite easily. Is there really momentum and you know energy behind this procedure now that has gone to lawsuits against these individuals?
ROUDA: Well, this isn't about Attorney General Barr's personality or previous performance. This is really about the American public's desire to get to the truth of the Mueller report, the underlying investigation, but more importantly, making sure that the administration and the officials in the administration meet their constitutional obligations to provide witnesses and provide documents pursuant to constitutionally correct subpoenas. And that's not what we're seeing.
We are seeing a complete unbridled attempt by the administration --
MACCALLUM: But you know the argument -- you know the argument against that, right? You know that Democrats wanted Robert Mueller. They wanted a special counsel. They wanted a thorough investigation. They got a team of lawyers that people who are on the Republican side felt were very unfair and yet those lawyers did not find anything in their two years of investigating.
ROUDA: Well, first of all, that's patently untrue. Let's start with the fact that Mueller is a Republican. He was appointed by a Congress held by --
MACCALLUM: I don't think that anyone thinks that he's a big fan of the president, though. So it puts him in a good position because he's unbiased.
ROUDA: He's a fan of justice. I think he's a fan of justice. And the fact that he is a Republican appointed by a Republican who was appointed by a Republican, and the fact that --
MACCALLUM: So you think he was unfair?
ROUDA: Excuse me?
MACCALLUM: Do you think he was unfair, is that what you're saying? Because he's a Republican?
ROUDA: No. I think he's been completely fair. And to suggest that he has been somehow influenced by Democratic individuals --
MACCALLUM: No, I'm not suggesting that. I'm saying, given all that -- given all that, and given the two years, I think a lot of Americans, in fact the CBS poll says that 53 percent of Americans say with regard to this continuing investigation drop it and move on to other issues. I think they would like to see the focus -- you know, I mean, those 53 percent clearly according to that poll would like to see the focus move to other things. They feel like it's been done already, not a redo.
ROUDA: Well, the good news is that we are focused on other things. So to date, 260 pieces of legislation have been passed by the House, the vast majority of them bipartisan, and only 13 of those bills have passed the Senate, less than five -- exactly five percent. So we know we've got an issue with the Senate doing the work of our country in our communities in following suit and supporting bipartisan legislation coming out of the House.
MACCALLUM: All right, I do have a little bit of breaking news. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is reporting tonight that Robert Mueller despite the fact that he said very clearly that he thought that would be the only time that he spoke to the public, Nadler says he will testify before the end of the summer. And I don't know whether that will be in open testimony but a quick reaction to that, sir, before I let you go.
ROUDA: I think that's excellent news because both Republicans and Democrats wanted to see that outcome and I'm thrilled that it's going to occur.
MACCALLUM: All right, Harley Rouda, Congressman, thank you very much. Good to have you here tonight.
ROUDA: Thanks, Martha.
MACCALLUM: You bet. Hear now, Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Congressman, good to see you this evening as well. I guess, the first-year reaction to this breaking news that Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee says that Robert Mueller will testify before the end of the summer.
GAETZ: House Republicans have a lot of questions for Robert Mueller. And if he comes before our committee, you can expect that will probe into how he assembled his team, why he included people as prosecutors who had previously represented the Clinton Foundation against Freedom of Information Act requests.
I think we'll also ask why he didn't probe deeper into the bias of Peter Strzok. When Robert Mueller fired Peter Strzok from his team, he never asked him you know, what it meant to talk about an insurance policy or OK we'll stop him regarding the president the United States.
And so I think that there will be many members of the committee from the right and the left who have questions for Mr. Mueller and I would only hope that if he's going to give testimony, let's do it in public. Let's not do the behind closed doors and then both sides come out and you know, it's very frustrating to the American people where it looks like both sides have seen different things.
MACCALLUM: Yes, I don't know yet. It's not clear which way that is going to go at this point. And if you know in the control room, I know this is breaking as we're talking so please let me know. You know, with -- it is - - are you surprised though?
I'm a little surprised because when he came out and gave that statement, he said you know basically this is my last public statement. I'm going off into private life. What do you think might have changed that?
GAETZ: Look, it is obvious that the Mueller team was always very in tune to the media's perception and the public perception of their work. As a matter of fact, media sources were cited over 130 times in the Mueller report. And it seems as though the last statement from Mr. Mueller came when he didn't believe that the public was maybe reacting to his report in the way that he would have liked.
I don't think that there's any additional work or factual development beyond the four corners of the Mueller report, and I don't think that there's going to be a change in the legal analysis that you know, the president was using Article Two powers which are very robust in our constitutional system that he acted in public and that there was no underlying Russian collusion criminal offense.
MACCALLUM: All right, we're getting a little more information here which you know, sort of makes it a little less clear if Robert Mueller has agreed because Nadler, Chairman Nadler is saying that he believes that it will happen by the end of the summer. But he added to that, we will subpoena him if necessary. So --
GAETZ: We shouldn't -- we shouldn't --
MACCALLUM: You know, it doesn't sound like Mueller has agree to anything to me.
GAETZ: Yes. We shouldn't buy it too hard. Let's remember also, Jerry Nadler made public statements before Robert Mueller press conference saying that Mr. Mueller had agreed to testify but wanted to do so behind closed doors. And so it wouldn't be the first time we've seen a misrepresentation from the Chairman regarding Mr. Mueller's preference.
MACCALLUM: All right, you got into it a little bit with John Dean yesterday of Watergate fame, the former attorney for Richard Nixon. Let's take a look a little bit of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAETZ: Here we sit today in this hearing with the ghost of Christmas past --
JOHN DEAN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: Mr. Gaetz --
GAETZ: -- which is here as a prop. You are functionally here as a prop because they can't impeach President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You expect the hearing as contentious as it was?
DEAN: I did, actually. I know the players. I've watched them before. I watched them badger Hillary Clinton. They're all flame throwers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: He said you're a flame thrower. Well, I never had the chance to question Hillary Clinton but I sure would like the opportunity. It is obvious that John Dean had nothing to offer regarding illuminating facts in the Mueller report. He was there merely to raise the specter of impeachment and the specter of Richard Nixon.
And I just think that when you've got a sitting President of the United States calling the ghost of Christmas past up to talk about how that the Nixon days' work, they don't really derail what I think is the greatest political movement in American history for the president.
MACCALLUM: All right, let me ask you this because Chairman Nadler has certainly upped the ante today with this lawsuit now for this -- to subpoena -- to subpoena rather Bill Barr and Don McGahn. How serious is that and what recourse do they have? You know, legally what -- how does that play out?
GAETZ: No court will uphold the subpoena as to Bill Barr because the subpoena seeks to enforce something that is unprecedented in the House and that is the Attorney General answering questions from members of staff in the absence of an impeachment proceeding. It has literally never happened before in the Judiciary Committee's history outside of the scope of impeachment.
So these are unenforceable you know, actions legally and I think it's largely because Nancy Pelosi is trying to feed her conference something to show momentum even though it's not her desire to impeach.
MACCALLUM: I got to go, but is she going to be able to hold off those who want impeachment? You know, she started --
GAETZ: No.
MACCALLUM: You don't believe so.
GAETZ: I don't believe she will because I think that ultimately so much of the media that the Democratic caucus is responsive to is calling for impeachment each and every day and I just don't think they have the courage to stand up against that.
MACCALLUM: We'll see. Congressman Matt Gaetz, thank you very much. Good to see you, sir.
GAETZ: Thank you.
MACCALLUM: So we are awaiting President Trump set to speak at a dinner for the Republican Party of Iowa. Also tonight, how Elizabeth Warren is moving up in the polls against the president. We're going to show you these numbers. Also, she's talking about radically transforming the American economy and she's got a plan for that. Andy Puzder coming up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They're ready for change and I got a plan for that. How about a wealth tax on the top one- tenth of one percent? Make them pay two cents. They can afford it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: OK. This breaking just moments ago here is the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler on his plans to have Robert Mueller come back and testify this summer before Congress. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JERROLD NADLER, D-N.Y.: Well, we are counting on conversations with him and he will come in. And if we have to subpoena him, we will.
ARI MELBER, HOST, MSNBC: Will that be say by the end of the summer if he doesn't come in?
NADLER: I would think it would be way before that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: Way before the end of the summer, he says. Whether Robert Mueller agrees is a whole another question. He was pretty emphatic about the fact that this was his last public testimony. We've seen a lot of people refuse subpoenas from Congress. Whether or not he will be able to do that remains to be seen.
So we stay on that story as it moves forward.
All right. Also tonight, President Trump and Joe Biden as we mentioned are both in Iowa, both getting ready to speak moments away. But there is another 2020 contender who has sort of silently been climbing up the ladder in a number of these polls.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren now trails Biden by only single digits with 15 percent in the latest CNN poll. That's her strongest showing yet. And tonight a story that shows what Warren's plan to remake the U.S. economy really looks like.
Correspondent David Spunt has the details from Washington tonight. Hi, David.
DAVID SPUNT, CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martha, good evening. Elizabeth Warren certainly has seen her star rise recently. Just two months ago she was polling significantly lower. Now she is getting a lot of traction in the field of two dozen Democrats.
Warren was one of the first to announce her intention for the White House. She did so back at the end of December of last year. Senator Warren, no stranger to standing up to large corporations. She proposed the idea of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 12 years ago.
Now a New York Times profile looks at Warren's economic proposals and argues that Warren's positions are forcing her rivals to push the same or similar policies on the trail.
One example, a 7 percent corporate tax for every dollar of profit above $100 million. And a 2 percent annual wealth tax on family fortunes above $50 million. Now, the Times credits Warren with releasing the largest number of detailed plans out of all the major candidates in the 2020 race. Now here is just a sample of her rallies from the last few months. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: The rich and powerful seem to break the rules and pay no price no matter what they do. They grow richer and more powerful.
We need a government that says you are rich. Good for you. But pitch a little back in the kitty so everybody else gets a chance.
Let's make gazillionaires pay a fair share.
Who do we want government to work for? If we are content with government working for the rich and powerful keep voting Republican.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SPUNT: Very common at Elizabeth Warren rallies, Senator Warren also focusing heavily on student loan debt. She just talked about it two days ago. Martha, in Iowa, Senator Warren wants to cancel student loan debt up to $50,000 and propose tuition-free college. Sound familiar that's a plan Senator Bernie Sanders pushed back in 2016 and was criticized heavily for, Martha.
MACCALLUM: Sounding more popular now on the Democratic side. Thank you very much, David Spunt. Good to have you with us.
Here now Andy Puzder, author of the "Capitalist Comeback" and former CEO of CKE Restaurants. Thank you for being here.
ANDY PUZDER, FORMER CEO, CKE RESTAURANTS: Good to be here, Martha.
MACCALLUM: So what does your plan look like? Obviously, you're a big fan of capitalism and she is a big fan of government sort of taking on -- taking off the burden from people which she has made very clear. What do you think the economic impact of that would be?
PUZDER: I think her policies are surreptitious socialism and socialism doesn't work whether it's over -- or surreptitious. Look, she is going to reduce the incentives for work, for investment and for growth and then she is going to discourage innovation and risk-taking.
If you liked the slow growth no growth economy of Obama and you don't like the economic surge we are experiencing under Trump, you should support Elizabeth Warren. I mean, her policies would take everything that's been achieved in the last two years and reverse it. So, we'll be back to as bad a place as we were in coming into the Trump presidency or worse.
MACCALLUM: She definitely wants to tax the rich a lot more. Raise corporate taxes. Is there an economic impact from that though that would affect people in the lower income brackets who probably look at that and say sure, they should pay more.
PUZDER: Well, let's a take a look just for one minute at a number. Elizabeth Warren loves to think she understands the numbers. But I think they confuse her. We -- if you look at fiscal year 2017 tax receipts through the first seven months, so that's through April and compare. That's the last year before the tax cut, so you had higher taxes. Taxes for this fiscal year through April are 6 percent higher.
We significantly reduced taxes. Businesses went out and invested. We have more people working than we've ever worked in the history of the country. We keep hitting historic highs on job openings on top of the people that are hired. People are making more money. Three percent wage growth for 10 months and they are taking home more of what they earn because of the tax cuts.
So, you've got incredible economic growth. The benefits are going to low wage workers. What she wants to do would take those benefits away from low wage workers. It would bring everybody down, not just the rich. It would bring everybody down and send us back to a stagnant economy where people are wondering where the next job was going to come from or how they were going to do better than their parents.
MACCALLUM: Well, she is definitely resonating more with voters. We are seeing increase in her polls. She always has plan, you know, policy plans for the things that she talks about which I think is helping her to get some traction here as well. Just switching gears for a moment. Some headline --
(CROSSTALK)
PUZDER: By the way, if she keep --
MACCALLUM: What?
PUZDER: If she keeps getting traction I'm going to make a contribution. I think she'd be a -- I think she'd be a great candidate to run against --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: You would like her to run against President Trump.
PUZDER: I'm ready to write a check.
MACCALLUM: Give me just one quick thought on this here.
PUZDER: Sure.
MACCALLUM: Because I'm just watching and hearing all of these buzzing headlines that are coming into my computer. And a lot of them are on Mexico. And the foreign minister, Ebrard, is now saying that the deployment of National Guard will begin on Mexico's southern border with Guatemala down in the region. That's going to begin on Wednesday.
So he is confirming that he is also adding towns to the list of towns that will be accepting asylum seekers. You know, how do you think this deal is coming together? Because this morning, I woke up to a lot of skepticism people saying there is not even a signed agreement. This will never happen.
PUZDER: Look, those are the anti-Trump people. You can't -- don't listen to them. He cut a very good deal. He used the only tool he had to get a good deal. He cut a very good deal. The Mexicans want to go forward with this. The Americans want to go forward with this. This will be fine.
You will -- he will never get credit for it. Just like they won't give him credit for the economy.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: Well, as I say --
PUZDER: He won't get credit for it but it's great.
MACCALLUM: You know, he got 132,000 people crossing, a 100,000 people crossing, so the proof is going to be in the numbers here.
PUZDER: Exactly.
MACCALLUM: If those numbers start to drop substantially we will know that there is a difference happening at the border. Andy, thank you. Always good to see you.
PUZDER: Good to be here, Martha. Thank you.
MACCALLUM: You bet. So, President Trump's motorcade has arrived on the scene in Des Moines where he will speak at a dinner for the Republican Party of Iowa.
Also tonight, very interesting testimony from Jon Stewart who called out Congress for forgetting about the heroes who responded on 9/11. This is quite something. Stick around to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, COMEDIAN: Sick and dying. They brought themselves down here to speak, and no one. Shameful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Very angry and eye emotional Jon Stewart today fought back tears while advocating to save the 9/11 victim compensation fund. The fund provides benefits to those who have illnesses related to being at the World Trade Center site and it is at risk of quickly running out of money. And today he lashed out at lawmakers for being apathetic and absent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: Behind me a filled room of 9/11 first responders and in front of me a nearly empty Congress. Sick and dying, they brought themselves down here to speak, and no one. Shameful. It's an embarrassment to the country and it's a stain on this institution. And you should be ashamed of yourselves for those that aren't here but you won't be. Because accountability doesn't appear to be something that occurs in this chamber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: When look the faces of those 9/11 responders and you think about how many of them have died from these related injuries. We did take a look at the committee that he spoke before today according to the spokesperson for that subcommittee, despite the appearance on TV, they say there were only two members who did not attend today.
One was Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, who I believe is a sponsor of the bill, he is obviously a presidential candidate as well and Republican Guy Reschenthaler.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MACCALLUM: Are you leaving because you are disenchanted --
JONATHAN MORRIS, RELIGION ANALYST: Yes.
MACCALLUM: -- with the hierarchy of the church? Have they blown it? Because a lot of people are having that struggle right now with their own decisions?
MORRIS: Yes. There have been disasters that have happened in the hierarchy and all along. But let me tell you there is a lot of great men and women out there leaving. The church has been in much worse situations in the past, much worse. It's going to get through this, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACCALLUM: Fox's Jonathan Morris who made the difficult decision to leave the Catholic priesthood addressing the crisis of sexual abuse within the church, an issue that has America's Catholic bishops kicking off a very high stakes four-day meeting as attorney generals in more than 20 states that are hunting down previously secret files in the churches that chronicle abuse.
Trace Gallagher live in our West Coast newsroom with an update on the story tonight. Hi, Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. The National Sex Abuse Review Board which was set up by the bishops to look for answers has made it clear that bishops can no longer police bishops and that lay experts must be brought in to hold the clergy accountable.
But a major point of contention has long been just how willing the bishops are to hand over the reins to outsiders. The man who chairs the sex abuse review board said this. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCESCO CESAREO, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL REVIEW BOARD: We find ourselves at a turning point, a critical moment in our history which will determine in many ways the future vibrancy of the church and whether or not trust in your leadership can be restored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: The deliberations during this four-day bishop conference are the first under the new policy Pope Francis issued last month requiring priests and nuns worldwide to report sex abuse as well as cover-ups by superiors to church authorities. And if a bishop is involved, the report would be filed with the Vatican.
A national survey released today by the Pew Research Center says almost a quarter of Catholics have scaled back church attendance and donations and only 36 percent think the church has done a good job responding to the crisis.
The bishop's conference is happening while prosecutors in numerous states are going through clergy sex abuse files. And the goal isn't just going after priests.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel says if the evidence warrants, prosecutors will use state racketeering laws normally reserved for organized crime to go after dozens of diocese including bishops and other church leaders.
Monsignor G. Michael Bugarin who handles sex abuse allegations for the Detroit archdiocese says whatever the charges they will cooperate. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONSIGNOR G. MICHAEL BUGARIN, ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT: We sign the documents to say we're willing to, you know, bring you to where all the documents are located. We have nothing to hide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: It's notable in the past few years many states have also launched telephone hotlines to report clergy abuse and there have been thousands of calls. Martha?
MACCALLUM: Trace Gallagher, thank you very much. Coming up next, 2020 Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand compares being pro-life to being racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Imagine saying that it's OK to appoint a judge who is racist or anti-Semitic or homophobic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Back to the campaign trail. Today, 2020 Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand compared being pro-life to being a racist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GILLIBRAND: I think there are some issues that have such moral clarity that we have as a society decided that the other side is not acceptable. Imagine saying that it's OK to appoint a judge who is racist or anti- Semitic or homophobic. Telling -- asking someone to appoint someone who takes away basic human rights of any group of people in America I think that we are -- we've -- I don't think those are political issues anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACCALLUM: So here now Charlie Hurt, Fox News contributor and Washington Times opinion editor, and Chris Hahn, host of the Aggressive Progressive Podcast and former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer.
Chris, let me start with you. She says I think are some issues that have such moral clarity that we have as a society decided that the other side is not acceptable. So that, she is saying that to about half of the American public.
CHRIS HAHN, HOST, THE AGGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVE PODCAST: Well, first I want to say I don't think she was calling people who are pro-life racist. She was saying that for her this issue is of paramount importance and she will not choose a judge to sit on the federal bunch that is not sharing her view.
I think conservatives should find that refreshing that she is being completely open and honest on who she would appoint to the federal bench. And she is saying this issue is important to her and it is --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: She said imagine saying that it's OK to point a judge who is racist or anti-Semitic or homophobic.
HAHN: She was saying that all --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: She's clearly drawing a parallel between that and appointing a judge who is pro-life. She is clearly drawing a parallel.
HAHN: What she was making a point that in America we would never do that and for her this issue is as important, it is as divisive, it is as proven to be the right choice because it is about women's health and it is about discriminating against women and their right to choose what to do with their body.
MACCALLUM: Chris, I mean, Charlie?
CHARLIE HURT, CONTRIBUTOR: No, it's absolutely astonishing. I don't know whether she is being -- she is evil or ignorant here. But either way the idea that somebody is concerned about the human rights of a human that is developing in a womb that that is akin to racism is just absolutely shocking and stunning.
But, the real alarming thing here is her complete misunderstanding of what it means to have a constitutional republic and the idea that you are going to pick judges for the court based on the outcome of how they are going to decide on cases as opposed to their fidelity to the Constitution is not Constitution -- is not a constitutional republic, it's the opposite of that. It is anti-constitutional republic and it proofs that obviously she does not belong in the White House.
HAHN: Yes.
MACCALLUM: But you know what? I think in a way, listen --
(CROSSTALK)
HAHN: Sure. There are lot of pro-choice judges on that federalist society list, Charlie, please. Let's be real.
HURT: OK. So let's not forget there are lot of liberal --
(CROSSTALK)
HAHN: The president had a list that somebody gave him --
HURT: -- judges out there.
HAHN: -- to be on that list.
HURT: There are a lot of liberal justices, judges out there who all agree that Roe v. Wade is an absurd concoction that it was wrongly decided even people who are --
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: All right.
HURT: -- these are judges who are perfectly in favor of abortion.
HAHN: No, there aren't. There's no liberal judges like that.
MACCALLUM: Let me say this. You know what, this is what, Chris, this is what the process is about. She has made her feelings known today to everyone in America.
HAHN: Yes, she did.
MACCALLUM: And then they have an opportunity to decide whether or not they want someone who believes that people who are -- you know, there used to be a lot of pro-life people in the Democratic Party. But now they have been banished.
(CROSSTALK)
HURT: They are racist, apparently.
MACCALLUM: All right. We got to leave it there.
HAHN: Look, I think it's not about pro-life, it's about pro-choice.
MACCALLUM: More of The Story next. See you guys next time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACCALLUM: Everybody run a little bit behind schedule tonight. President Trump just took the stage in Des Moines about a half hour behind. Still waiting on former Vice President Biden who is supposed to be out an hour ago. We just got the two-minute warning there. That is THE STORY on this Tuesday night as 2020 campaign continues. We'll see you back here tomorrow night at seven o'clock. Tucker Carlson up next in D.C.
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