Grandfather of 11-year-old victim of gun violence says a lot of people 'do not value life'

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Grandfather of 11-year-old victim of gun violence says a lot of people 'do not value life'

Davon McNeal's grandfather John Ayala, founder of the D.C. chapter of the Guardian Angels, joins Trace Gallagher with reaction on 'The Story.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," July 6, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TRACE GALLAGHER, GUEST HOST: Good evening, everyone. I'm Trace Gallagher in for Martha MacCallum, and this is "The Story."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY LAWSON, GRANDFATHER OF DAVON MCNEAL WHO WAS SHOT DEAD: He was a good kid. I mean, his life gone. 11-years-old, he hadn't lived his life yet, 11- years-old. We got to stop killing each other. Stop it. Put the guns down,"

CRYSTAL MCNEAL, MOTHER OF DAVON MCNEAL WHO WAS SHOT DEAD: They shot my baby in his head. He got shot in his head! It hurts so bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: The devastated family of this little boy. 11-year-old Davon McNeal senselessly gunned down this July 4th weekend in Washington DC. The sixth grader had dreams of playing in the NFL and his assistant principal says he was such a hard worker in school, he asked Davon to encourage his classmates to be more like him.

He was shot dead on his way to a cookout Saturday organized by his mother Crystal as a way to bring the community together and combat violence. Tragically, Davon's death this weekend was not an isolated incident. These children also fatally shot in a violent weekend across the United States.

In moments Davon's grandfather John Ayala will join us exclusively. And we will also speak to former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik for a broader look at the crime surge in America tonight as major cities continue to see spikes in violence amid calls to defund the police.

But let's begin tonight with Davon McNeal's grandfather John Ayala. He is also Founder of the DC chapter of the Guardian Angels, an organization that works with police to prevent crime. Sir, thank you so much for joining us and our hearts go out for the for the loss of your grandson Davon.

JOHN AYALA, GRANDFATHER OF DAVON MCNEAL: Thank you for having me.

GALLAGHER: I'm curious, sir, I know that your daughter-in-law Crystal McNeal spent - literally spends her life trying to settle these disputes between hardened criminals. And in the end, it cost her the life of her of her young son. What are your thoughts on what's happening in cities these days?

AYALA: I think in cities you have a lot of people that just do not value life at this time. They don't realize that when you take a life that life is not coming back. It's not like TV, you take a life and the guy shows back up in another television show, or another movie. It's not a video game.

People feel that if they have a dispute, the only way to handle it is with gun violence. I think we got to get out here and educate young people. More about why they shouldn't be picking up guns, why guns are so violent.

And then, when you use a weapon and you actually take somebody's life, you're really not hurting that person emotionally. That person is gone. He's dead. The person that you're hurting is the family members that belongs to that person that you decided to take their life.

GALLAGHER: Yes, I think it's a very strong point, sir. And you know, it's interesting because Davon's football coach, he was quoted as saying this. He said, you know, these kids, their lives are being robbed over nothing. And he's right, because last year, Davon's classmate - a classmate of Davon's last summer was also shot and killed. These children in these neighborhoods have got to be afraid to walk outside, sir.

AYALA: Yes, I mean, not just last year. We have so many death of young people here in DC. We had another one that was high profile, Makiyah Wilson. She was a 10-year-old girl shot, I believe it was July 22, 2018. She just came out of her house to go get ice cream cone, and five guys jumped out of a vehicle and just started shooting. And she was shot and killed.

And then a year later, there was another young man that was not too far away from that distance that was also shot and killed, and he was only 11 years old. And then you got Davon. You know, he gets out the car in front of his aunt's house. And the purpose for getting out the car was to get a charger, just to charge his phone, because the phone was dead. That's how he stays in contact with his other cousins.

And he gets out the car. Shots ring. He hits the ground. Crystal's looking, saying get up man, he don't get up. So she goes - see what's going on and realize that he was hit with one of the bullets that were being shot, going in that direction, and she didn't realize it until she got over there.

GALLAGHER: Yes, I mean, and these types of heart rending stories, sir, you know, there are at least five other families going through the very same thing right now. I want to put up this quote from Black Lives Matter DC and get your opinion on their side, because I know you're also in law enforcement.

It says quoting here, "That's our neighborhood. Your $533 million budget should be defunded, because you can't keep us our families safe. DC Police Department was around when this happened, as usual. We're beyond fed up with the blood in our streets. How dare you ask Mayor Bowser for more money meant for prevention?"

And I know we mentioned the top that you're had been involved in law enforcement and policing for much of your life. What do you respond to Black Lives Matter when they say things like that, sir?

AYALA: OK. And you're right, most of my life I've been a Guardian Angel. I started doing this at the age of 14 in New York City. I came to DC and started the group when I was 19. I'm now 50. And 11 years ago I started a special police company called Archangel Global Security Special Police in Washington DC where we have full police powers. We are law enforcement on the properties that we work.

Now for that response. I don't agree that we can't take money from the police department. We need the police. You take the police from there and we wind up having less police officers in the street, less detectives, it's not going to work. The crime is going to get worse.

You need police to run those calls. So you just start having less police officers who are going to come when there is a need for police services. But what I will say, we have to find money for the additional services that everybody would like to have.

There are calls that come into the police department that should not go to the police. These certain calls to go to other agencies that can deal with maybe mental health, or one of those calls when it comes to ticketing here in DC we have property where officers call - police call - special police or security are called for ticketing instead of calling the police. They can call a company that comes out and ticket cars.

The money should go to those different agencies. Where can you get that money from? We have millions of dollars that are generated through red light cameras, speed cameras and other ways we receive money in, in the DC metropolitan area. Why can't we get money and just put it to those agencies?

But to remove money from the police department, I think is not good. And also they spoke about taking police and some security out of the schools. That is a big mistake. I'd tell you that one time - I think, a couple of years ago they were talking about let's arm the teachers in the schools and these guys have no good training.

But then now you want to take the police officers out of schools. I'm like, Are y'all serious?

GALLAGHER: Yes.

AYALA: What's going on? So we have another tragedy in the school, you're going to want to put the police back.

GALLAGHER: And last thing, sir.

AYALA: --You should not take the police out. The police need the funding.

GALLAGHER: And I think it's a fair assessment. Lastly, you see, you hear about these crimes. And I know that there have been ceasefires in these neighborhoods over and over again, but they never hold. And you talk about the national spotlight on black crime. Do you believe, sir, that it's getting enough attention in this country?

AYALA: I believe it is getting enough attention, it really have. But what I think we still need more organizations and more of us - when I say us, people in the black communities, to start going into the communities and talking to people to prevent the violence that are occurring.

We are - also we need to go into the communities after there is something tragic as a shooting and mentor and talk to other young people in the community as well, so we can prevent it from happening in the future. Not just protests when a police officer hurts someone that looks like me.

I agree we have to voice our opinion on it, because that's not right. That person should be arrested if he did something wrong. But there's always one bad apple in every organization. But we're going to go after the police officers when they hurt someone that look like me, we need to go after the people that look like me that hurt people that look like me, if you understand what I'm saying.

GALLAGHER: I do. Very well said. Mr. Ayala, again, our hearts go out to you and your family for the loss of your grandson. We thank you so much for joining us tonight, sir.

AYALA: Thank you for the opportunity.

GALLAGHER: Also here tonight Bernard Kerik, former New York Police Commissioner. And Commissioner, I just want to put up this tweet that you sent out today and then you can kind of expound on that, if you would for us.

You said, "Look at their photos. Look really good." Speaking, of course of the five children who lost their lives around this country. "Where are the black lives matter Marxists thugs and extortionists? They are funding the Democratic Party and DNC and those overseeing the cities where these kids were murdered." You want to expound on that for us, sir?

And there is the picture. And we should look at these closely, because this happened this weekend - five. And there were six or seven, we believe, we are still working in getting their pictures up as well, sir. But your thoughts on what's happening across the country?

BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: You know what, Trace, the black lives matter really matter to Black Lives Matter, the organization. You had seven - close to 80 people shot and 14 dead in Chicago. We had 44 shot, six dead in New York. 28 shot, four dead in Atlanta. 20 shot, three dead in Cleveland. I don't see no marches there. I don't see no protest. I don't see no screaming and yelling. I don't see anything for Black Lives Matter.

There is a systemic slaughter of black on black members of communities all over the country that are led by Democrats. Those cities are led by Democrats. And if you go - and here's my point to the funding issue.

If you go to the Black Lives organization website, and you donate money, it goes to ActBlue. And if you look ActBlue, it's a 501 3(c) that basically gives tens of millions of dollars to the Democratic Party. Where's that money going back to the communities where they oversee these cities that there's this systemic slaughter of blacks. It's got to stop.

You know, you were talking to John about policing. The problem we have today, there ain't enough cops. There just aren't enough cops in these communities like Atlanta, like Chicago. There's not enough enforcement as it stands today, that's why you have these crime numbers. They need more resources. They need better manpower, more manpower, that's what they need.

GALLAGHER: And we should know the city that you oversaw, crime recently up 205 percent and you have Mayor Bill de Blasio saying that this is part and parcel because of the coronavirus. Saying, quoting that "the effects of people being cooped up too long." Your thoughts on that?

KERIK: Delusional, that's what my thoughts are. He cuts 600 men and women out of the plainclothes anti-Crime Unit. That unit solely works on taking guns off the streets, responding to hot jobs, jobs in progress, violent crime in progress. That's what they were designated for. That's what they did. They're like chameleons in plainclothes where they can go into communities and look for guns and real bad guys. He took them off the streets and it's only going to get worse from this point forward, far worse.

GALLAGHER: And Commissioner, I'm running low on time. But I think - I want to show this video, because I think it's worth it. This is surveillance video. It captured the moment a man was fatally shot while crossing a Bronx street on Saturday. He was hand in hand with his six-year-old daughter. He died, of course, the daughter is fine. But just, when you see something like this, it is unbelievable to have this happening on the streets of New York City.

KERIK: Trace, this is broad daylight, number one. And number two, you know what, 30 years ago Rudy Giuliani and I and other police commissioners turned New York City into the safest large city in the world.

Bill de Blasio has knocked it back 30 years - 30 years. Somebody - some things has to change. And I would urge the governor to wake up, stop washing his car or do whatever he's doing in Albany and get to New York City and fix it.

GALLAGHER: Former NYPD Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik, good to see you, sir. I appreciate it.

KERIK: Thank you.

GALLAGHER: Well, a short time ago, Vice President Pence leading a Coronavirus Task Force meeting in the Situation Room as COVID cases rise in 32 states. Dr. Scott Atlas says the rising numbers are no cause for panic. And he's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GALLAGHER: Vice President Mike Pence convening a White House Coronavirus Task Force meeting late today amid a spike in New COVID-19 cases in 32 states. Texas and Florida, especially hard hit. Both hitting record case numbers over the holiday weekend. And Texas now setting a new record in hospitalizations as of tonight.

White House Correspondent Kevin Cork is following the latest from Washington, Kevin?

KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Evening Trace. There is little doubt this is an administration effort to show that, yes, it is paying attention to this latest spike in cases by having more taskforce meetings.

But it's also clear that at least for now, it is not on a wartime footing that should keep the country from reopening the economy, because as we've also heard the President say on a number of occasions, positive cases doesn't mean a spike in the death rate, and ultimately that is what is important.

The Vice President talking about it in a tweet he said, there was a very good meeting of the White House Coronavirus Task Force today. He said, "As we see cases rise in some areas, we are ensuring states have exactly what they need to respond to the increase. We'll continue to put the health of the American people first and we'll get through this together."

That tweet, of course, coming after a barrage of tweets by the President today in which he described the expanded testing in our country is one of the principal reasons for the recent spike in cases. Also noting that the mortality rate continues to fall. Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany who was actually asked about that today at the White House press briefing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So what the President was pointing to, and I'm glad you brought it up, was a factual statement. One that is rooted in science and one that was pointing out the fact that mortality in this country is very low. No one wants to see anyone in this country contract COVID, which is why the administration has fought hard to make sure that's not the case with our historic response effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORK: And while it is true that the death rate continues to fall, the increase in hospitalizations, as you mentioned, is of great concern. In fact, so much so, that some states, including Texas, Florida, and Arizona had begun to roll back some of their relaxed restrictions. Trace?

GALLAGHER: Yes. Indeed, they are. Kevin Cork live for us in Washington. Kevin, thank you.

With us now, Dr. Scott Atlas. He's a Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and former Chief of Neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Atlas, always good to see you. I'm curious, when you come out and you say that there is no reason to panic. What what's the premise for that, sir?

SCOTT ATLAS, MD, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTION: Well, first of all, there's no reason to panic by any public official were they're disqualifying themselves from their position. But the data is what I want to talk about.

And when we see this focus on more cases, it doesn't really matter how many cases. It only matters who gets the cases. Because we know the infection fatality rate for people under 70 is 0.04 percent on the latest analysis, that's less than or equal to seasonal flu. The cases themselves should not be and we're never the focus. It's only the tragic consequences of the cases.

So when we look at these new cases in every state, the overwhelming majority are younger, healthier people. I think in Florida the median age is 36. In Texas, it's something similar or maybe 40. And that's really what we're thinking about here. Is that it only matters if we cannot protect the high risk people, which we are protecting.

We're protecting - how do I know? Because the death rates are not going up. Actually, we realize we have to wait to have the story play out here. But right now, the cases have been going up for three weeks. We have no increase. In fact, we have a decrease in death rates. So, it doesn't matter if you get the illness if you're going to fully recover and be fine from it and that is what people must understand. For younger, healthier people, there's not a high risk from this disease at all.

GALLAGHER: And it's interesting to me, because, you know, you talk about the death rate. And, you know, I know it's a lagging indicator, but a lot of these tests are lagging indicators. Some people are not getting their test results for 7, 8, 9 days. And so, these death rates are only lagging by a few days.

In consistent, when you say the more cases that if they're getting younger people, it's a good thing. When the CDC comes out and says, 10 times the number of people who are - who have been confirmed to had COVID-19, that's probably the amount that had it. We applaud those numbers like that's a great thing, because that lowers the case fatality rate. But when we talk about new cases, everybody tends to panic a little bit.

ATLAS: Well, and that's true. And I think that there's something else that goes on spoken. That is that when you have a lot of low risk people get the infection, that's how you generate population immunity. This is the so called herd immunity.

People have been really mistaken about the number of people by the way that have had immunity, because immunity is not just based on antibodies. It's based on a larger number of people who had something called T cell immunity.

But I do want to comment on the hospitalizations, because when you look more than superficially at data, which is necessary and should be demanded from our public health officials. When you look at Texas, for instance, yes, they have a lot of people in the hospital.

But when I looked at every single hospital area in Texas today, 15 to 20 percent of people in the hospital as in-patients are COVID positive patients. That means 80 to 85 percent have nothing to do with COVID-19. And the same thing goes for some of these other states. There are people hospitalized a large number, because they're tested as COVID positive, somehow they're categorized as COVID hospitalizations. That's a problem.

GALLAGHER: Yes. I'm it's interesting, because you're exactly right. When you see headlines in the Los Angeles Times, the Riverside County Hospital is 99 percent capacity. Then you read into the article, only 30 percent are COVID patients, it's a little misleading.

I want to put these numbers on the screen, the Gallup poll, because it says that people are concerned. If you look at this, you get 19 percent are very worried about the lack of social distancing totaling 54 percent, because 35 percent are moderately worried. The case numbers go up, Dr. Atlas, and you say not to panic, but clearly we're doing something wrong.

ATLAS: Well, what we're doing wrong is we have the wrong people in charge of our states, because they don't seem to understand it's not the superficial analysis that counts. And when they make the error that they should be beyond now of not consolidating the data in a critical manner, they need to communicate to people what the facts are. It's not a time to panic. It's not a high risk disease for people under 70. It's certainly not a high risk disease for people under 30 or 40, who almost all recover. So we have to look at that.

And by the way, these policies of slight reopening in some of these states that does not even correlate time wise to these new cases. What correlates to the new cases, if it's from social mingling is the large protests that were in these large cities, somehow that goes unspoken. It's not the guy getting his hair cut in the barber shop that created all these thousands of cases. That's ridiculous.

GALLAGHER: And the data is starting to lean that way. Dr. Scott Atlas, good of you to join us, sir. Thank you.

ATLAS: OK, thank you.

GALLAGHER: Well, President Trump tweeting today, "China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the world." He's now weighing executive action to hold Beijing accountable for COVID's toll in the U.S. White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We got hit by the virus that came from China. China secrecy, deceptions, and cover up allowed it to spread all over the world 189 countries. And China must be held fully accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: With more than 130,000 Americans lives lost and millions of others struggling to survive financially, President Trump could soon take action to hold China accountable for COVID-19 spread in the U.S.

With us now on what that might look like, White House trade advisor, Peter Navarro. Sir, it's always good of you to join us.

PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: Good evening, Trace.

GALLAGHER: We see the president and the administration placing a lot of blame on China and people are beginning to wonder when the finger-pointing will stop and the consequences will start. Your thoughts?

NAVARRO: Well, let's give it some historical context to understand what can and should be done. For the last 20 years, China has cheated in trade and Americans lost their jobs. Millions and millions and millions of jobs.

President Trump was the first president to stand up to that and one of the primary ways he has been able to recover some of those damages and defend American workers is through his tough tariff policy. So, we got China cheats, American lose their jobs.

In this case, what we have is the Chinese Communist Party line going back to November when they first span the virus in December and January when they hit the virus. December, January, February, when they were sending the virus around in aircraft to this country. So the CPP lied and so far over 130,000 Americans have died.

GALLAGHER: Right.

NAVARRO: And I think, Trace, what's really important is we've got a lot of anger, anxiety, and fear because of the China virus out there. It's being directed against each other but there is no -- there is no party affiliation on the death certificate. This is not a domestic battle.

GALLAGHER: Right.

NAVARRO: What we need to understand is that it's China, the Chinese Communist Party that is doing this to us. So what we do about that.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

NAVARRO: Well, first of all, let's take Hong Kong as a microcosm of that. For years, for years, we allowed China to use Hong Kong as a way to basically exploit our financial markets and steal our jobs by using it as a platform for trade practices.

Soon, President Trump has already announced in May 29th in the Rose Garden we're going to strip every preferential treatment of Hong Kong away which will essentially eliminate China's ability to use Hong Kong to harm us --

GALLAGHER: Right.

NAVARRO: -- even as we're standing up for the great people of Hong Kong --

(CROSSTALK)

GALLAGHER: If we can -- if we can --

NAVARRO: -- who are seeing (Inaudible)democracy --

GALLAGHER: -- sir, get back to the consequences part of this whole thing. I'm curious as the consequences. Because White House --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Well, it has a big consequence.

GALLAGHER: -- chief of staff -- hold on one second, sir.

NAVARRO: Yes.

GALLAGHER: I apologize.

NAVARRO: Sure.

GALLAGHER: White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying the president is going to, you know, implement some executive orders this week dealing with China, dealing with immigration and prescription drug prices. Will that executive order with China have an impact on the trade deal?

NAVARRO: The trade deal remains intact according to Ambassador Lighthizer and Secretary Mnuchin. We're watching very, very carefully to see whether they fulfill the items there. And to be honest right now, the purchases are lagging but we believe that they will catch up by the end of the year if they keep their word.

But this is, Trace, this is about a lot more than a trade deal, it wasn't merely a trade deal. It was about getting China to stop stealing our intellectual property, forcing technology transfer and things like that. And we know now that even as we speak, they're trying to steal the intellectual property for vaccine development for the China virus.

So, again, I don't want to get ahead of the president or the chief of staff but there will be a series of actions taken over the next several weeks that will hold China accountable for the damage that it is doing to the American people. And don't forget, even as we speak, they are waging information warfare against this country trying to --

(CROSSTALK)

GALLAGHER: I got to go, sir.

NAVARRO: -- sow these divisions.

GALLAGHER: I got to go. But I want to quickly get your -- you're taking this on June 22nd you told this show the trade deal was over. You are asked, is it over? You said it's over. Is it over?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I did not -- I did not say that, what I said that Trump in the Chinese Communist Party with respect to them was over so it's a case where we trust but we verify. And unfortunately --

(CROSSTALK)

GALLAGHER: Let me just --

NAVARRO: -- that was as far spending went out on --

GALLAGHER: Let me just play this for you, sir and then -- let me play you exactly what was said.

NAVARRO: Well, as you play the tape --

GALLAGHER: Let me play you exactly what was said. Go ahead, I'm going to play it back for you --

NAVARRO: Sure.

GALLAGHER: -- and you can listen to it and then respond.

NAVARRO: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you think that the president sort of -- I mean, he obviously really wanted to hang onto this trade deal as much as possible. And he wanted them to make good on the promises because there had been progress made on that trade deal. But given everything that's happened and all the things you just listed, is not over?

NAVARRO: It's over, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: What --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Clearly, was that the trust in the Chinese Communist Party is over. Going forward in this relationship, they cannot be trusted. We have to hold them accountable. And that's what we are going to be doing with this president, the toughest president on the Chinese Communist Party that we have ever seen.

GALLAGHER: White House trade advisor, Peter Navarro, always good for you to join us, sir. Thank you.

NAVARRO: Thank you, Trace.

GALLAGHER: Well, Karl Rove and Chris Hahn on whether Kanye West presidential bid could spell bad news for Biden. Next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Can you answer this question? You're in the Oval Office.

KANYE WEST, RAPPER: I'm here.

TRUMP: How does it feel to be in the Oval Office?

WEST: It is good energy in this.

TRUMP: You feel good energy?

WEST: It's a good energy.

TRUMP: It's a great place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GALLAGHER: Well, Kanye West taking to Twitter on July 4th to announce he is running for president. It's at least the third time the rapper has done so over the past five years. And while the nearly impossible feat could be a publicity stunt, there is also speculation it's a plot to help President Trump get reelected.

National correspondent Jacqui Heinrich has the story. Jacqui?

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Trace, there's speculation over whether this is a legitimate run or a broader ploy to help either President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden win. It's not the first time Kanye has floated the idea. In 2015 at the MTV Video Music Awards he said he would run in 2020. Then last year, he said he'd run in 2020 for possibly under the name of Christian genius billionaire Kanye West.

But since his tweet Saturday Kanye has reportedly not filed with a federal election commission or created the campaign committee. Kanye has a friendly relationship with President Trump. He's been invited to the Oval Office where he said his MAGA hat makes him feel like superman.

In 2018, he tweeted his love for the president defending his right to independent thought and saying they have dragon energy. And this past April he implied he would vote for the president. And there's been criticism Kanye's run would help President Trump's campaign like it's been argued Jill Stein's candidacy cost Hillary Clinton the election in 2016. Pulling significant enough support in swing states, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Critics also say he could siphon support away from former Vice President Joe Biden who is broadly supported by black voters. A YouGov/Huffington Post poll from 2015 showed 25 percent of black Americans said they would consider voting for Kanye.

But a second poll from the same company three years later after Kanye began praising Trump showed a shift in public opinion with 9 percent of black American saying they had a favorable opinion of Kanye versus 20 percent of whites and 34 percent of Republicans. Lending credence to the converse theory that a Kanye run could pull support away from President Trump through possibly white and Republican supporters.

But his first obstacle will be getting on the ballot. Kanye is also about to release a new album so there's also speculation that this is just a publicity stunt. Trace?

GALLAGHER: Yes. Jacqui Heinrich live for us in New York. Jacqui, thank you.

With us now, Karl Rove, former deputy chief of staff under President George W. Bush and Fox News contributor, and Chris Hahn, former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer and a syndicated radio host. Gentlemen, thank you both. Karl, I guess it's a point to be had. I mean, critics are saying look, any vote not for Joe Biden is a a vote for Donald Trump. So, there is a something to the whole Kanye West thing. Agreed?

KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, there's not. This is a stunt. Look, he can't be on the ballot in North Carolina, Indiana, New Mexico, Texas. Those deadlines have already passed. In order to be on the ballot in Nevada he has to submit 9,608 signatures of Nevada voters by next Monday -- or excuse me, by Friday.

Next week he has to get 160,000 signatures in Delaware, Florida, and Illinois to be on the ballot. In Michigan and New York by the end of the month he's got to get another 42,000 signatures.

This is a stunt. He will not be filing this way with the Federal Election Commission. The only states that he runs a chance of being on the ballot are Oklahoma if he puts in $35,000 in cash by the 15th of the month or in August when he can pays -- he could pay $500 to get on the ballot in Louisiana and $1,000 to get in Colorado. This is a stunt and we are wasting people's time with it.

GALLAGHER: Chris, you know, Karl makes a good point, Chris. Because the truth is, you know, he has spent zero time collecting signatures but a lot of time promoting this album and promoting his clothing line. Your thoughts?

CHRIS HAHN, FORMER AIDE TO SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: You know, it's been a couple of weeks since Karl and I have agreed fully but he is absolutely right. I even enjoyed watching him with his white board tonight which I don't normally do. So good work, Karl. I agree with you a 100 percent. This is a complete stunt.

Kanye should stick to doing when he does best of making art. He is an artist. We've all enjoyed his work over the years. I don't enjoy his politics, and quite frankly, I think we are wasting time talking about it and it is absolutely a stunt. And we'll see how the album is, it might be pretty good.

GALLAGHER: It might be pretty good. I mean, some of them have been fantastic. So, we have kind of taken off --

HAHN: Yes.

GALLAGHER: -- Kanye West for president. Let's move to vice president. Susan Rice as the V.P candidate gaining momentum, Karl?

ROVE: Well, this is the point in which we talked about people and they gain momentum because we talked about them. Interesting from two angles, my perspective.

One is in 20 -- in 2008, Joe Biden was sold in part as the vice- presidential running mate for Barack Obama because he had experience in foreign policy. Now we're talking about Susan Rice. Is she being talked about because she has experience with foreign policy that Joe Biden needs on the ticket? Interesting question.

Second thing is, she's an accomplished individual. She is a serious person. And if she were chosen, she'd meet that standard that hard to define standard of, we think she's capable of doing the job if something bad happened to Biden. But she will inject, reinject a familiar issue into the race. She was the national security advisor for President Obama when Hunter Biden went on the board of Burisma.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

ROVE: And that same year Joe Biden was put in charge of anticorruption efforts on Ukraine. I've discussed this issue with her.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

ROVE: And she does not have a good answer. Did they know about Hunter Biden going on the board?

HAHN: Well --

ROVE: Did they have the White House any discombobulation? Did she have a conversation with Joe Biden and say you better do something about it? No good answer on any of this stuff.

GALLAGHER: Right. And then there's Benghazi, Chris. The answer going on The Five the Sunday morning show saying it was all about an internet video. And then there's the Oval Office meeting in January of 2017 that involved Joe Biden and Comey. A lot of other questions at stake here. Your final thoughts, Chris?

HAHN: There will be -- there will be nothing that stop Donald Trump from trying to bring Hunter Biden into this campaign. It will fail like just his campaign is going to fail. Just like he's failed America, just like he's failing on coronavirus and the economy.

Look, whoever the Democrats pick our Joe Biden picks to be his running mate, they are going to be under serious attack by the right. So, buckle up. I think Susan Rice is a very accomplished person who would be an excellent vice president but there are a lot of people out there who would be an excellent vice president. And by August, we'll know.

GALLAGHER: We will know. Chris Hahn, Karl Rove, gentlemen, good of you both. Thank you.

HAHN: Thank you.

ROVE: You bet.

GALLAGHER: Well, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declaring a state of emergency tonight after more than 20 people were shot and five killed in a single night including this little girl. Secoriea Turner, just eight years old and now her father is asking didn't her life matter?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SECORIYA WILLIAMSON, SECORIEA TURNER'S FATHER: They say black lives matter. You killed your own. You killed your own this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Jack Brewer and Wendy Osefo when THE STORY continues. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GALLAGHER: Up to 1,000 National Guard troops are being deployed to keep the peace in Georgia where the governor has declared a state of emergency in response to a dramatic rise in violent crime. And the holiday weekend that saw more than 30 gunshot victims. One of them killed. Eight-year-old Secoriea Turner shot while in the car with her mother. And here is her father speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMSON: They say black lives matter. You killed your own. You killed your own this time. Just because of a barrier. They killed my baby because she crossed a barrier and made a U-turn. You killed a child. She didn't do nothing to nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Joining me now, Jack Brewer, former Minnesota Vikings player now CEO of the Brewer Group, and Wendy Osefo, founder and CEO of the 1954 Equity Project and professor of education at The Johns Hopkins University.

Welcome to you both. I mean, that father sound bite is about as heartrending as it gets, Jack. You say -- you say that President Trump needs to get more involved in protecting the inner cities. How exactly, sir?

JACK BREWER, CEO, THE BREWER GROUP INC.: It's time to federalize the National Guard. I mean, Eisenhower did it in 1955, JFK did it in 1962. I want every American to step back for a second and think about your town and city and think if you had 100 of your citizens, children, women, men, killed in shot on weekends.

We knew this was going to happen. This has happened in Chicago in inner cities across this country and every Fourth of July. At what -- at what time is it? When is enough, enough? We call ourselves conservatives but then we just point a finger at poor Democratic leadership. We know they have poor leadership. We know they passed demonic satanic policies. That doesn't matter. Those are our brothers and sisters that are sitting in those communities. It's time for us to take a stand, and President Trump needs to do something now. This is a national crisis.

GALLAGHER: Though critics point out that he got a lot of pushback when he talked about sending the National Guard and then militarizing after the protests. Wendy, I want your take on this. Because you say that, you know, black lives matter means that all black lives matter. And I'm curious if you think that the organization should have a bigger presence in places like Atlanta and Chicago where the black on black crime is growing exponentially at times?

WENDY OSEFO, FOUNDER & CEO, 1954 EQUITY PROJECT: Black lives does matter, but you know, Trace, I want to be very clear and when you say black on black crime. Black people, yes, absolutely. When it comes to murder, they are more than likely to be killed by their fellow black man.

However, white people when it comes to murder are more than likely to be killed by white people. So, if we are going to talk about black on black crime let's also talk about white on white crime because black on black crime is used as a strawman to deviate from the issue here.

So, yes, black lives does matter. Black lives do matter, absolutely. But we cannot start to pull away from the movement by now trying to use black on black crime as a basic narrative. That little girl, that eight-year-old girl, her life mattered. What is going on in Atlanta cannot continue to go on.

But those are two separate issues. America has multiple pandemics going on. We have people dying from police officers, we have coronavirus, and we have crime that happening amongst our citizens. But let's not conflate the two because black lives do matter.

GALLAGHER: Yes. And you make a very fair point with a white on white crime as well, Wendy. And I want to bring in Jack on this. Because, Jack, you say the left has succeeded in manipulating the realities of our politics. And now it's time for conservatives to spread the word of God, to start spreading the word of God in this. And what do you mean by that, sir? Quickly, we're running low on time.

BREWER: Amen. If you look, we've lost our fear of God that's why if you can go out and kill each other like we are seeing as a police officer roughly can step on the man's neck. We got to get back to spirituality and hold ourselves accountable. We keep talking about race. We need to be talking about one blood. That is what we celebrate here in America.

And so, we all need to stand up against this. Again, look within ourselves. Conservatives, it's time to stop preaching hate and start talking about love. Even though we disagree with people who abort so many babies they don't protect the unborn, they don't protect the born, let's pray for them. They are our brothers and sisters too, that's the only way that we heal and move on as a nation as if we truly become one nation under God in Jesus name.

GALLAGHER: Thank you. Wendy, the last word to you about 25 seconds.

OSEFO: We have to make sure that whatever we're doing is going to move our nation forward and it's inclusive of all people. That means black people, that means trans people, that means the LGBTQQIA plus community. We have to move forward absolutely as one nation.

GALLAGHER: Yes. Wendy Osefo, Jack Brewer, good conversation. Thank you both. More of THE STORY coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GALLAGHER: Well, that is "The Story" of Monday, July 6, 2020. We hope you had a great holiday weekend. As always, "The Story" continues. We'll see you again tomorrow night at seven. I'm Trace Gallagher in Los Angeles.

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