Is Florida destined to be a concern in 2020?

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Is Florida destined to be a concern in 2020?

The impact the Florida recount could have on future elections; National GOP Senatorial Committee counsel Jessica Furst Johnson weighs in.

This is a rush transcript from "The Story with Martha MacCallum," November 19, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: Absolutely, I'm a sucker for the bringing in of the Christmas tree here in New York down in D.C., it looks great.  Good to see you, Bret.

So, breaking tonight, contested elections laying an unnerving precedent as we look forward to the 2020 election. While most candidates like Bill Nelson, and Martha McSally, and Andrew Gillum, ultimately accepted the will of the voters.

The Georgia candidate Stacey Abrams claims that there was voter suppression in that race. Although, there appears to be no evidence of that. Here is part of her speech that raised eyebrows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACEY ABRAMS D-GA., GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Of concession.  Because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true, or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith, I cannot concede that. But my assessment is the law currently allows no further viable remedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, impressed on why, yesterday by Jake Tapper, Abram said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Is he the legitimate governor-elect of Georgia?

ABRAMS: He is the person who won an adequate number of votes to become the governor of Georgia.

TAPPER: But that's not -- with all -- with all due respect, you're not using the word, legitimate. Is he the legitimate governor-elect of Georgia?

ABRAMS: He is the legal governor of Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, we're going to talk about that. And Florida always a powder keg of electoral messiness. Today, saw the resignation of the woman who became the face of that head-scratching voter insanity that we watched over the past couple of weeks. But as Florida destined to still be a big concern in 2020?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Rick Scott won. And he won by a lot. I don't know what happened to all those votes have disappeared at the very end. And if I didn't put a spotlight on that election before it got down to the 12,500 votes, he would have lost that election, OK? In my opinion, he would have lost. They were taking that election away from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, my next guest played a crucial role there. Jessica Furst Johnson, being called the GOP secret weapon in Florida. The 37-year-old Florida native is considered one of the foremost election law experts in the country.

Lesser-known than Democrat lawyer, Mark Elias, whose name is known to many as the Clinton attorney. He flew to Bill Nelson's side to push for the recount. Johnson was crucial to Governor Scott's outcome and is watching Florida and Georgia's matching laws ahead of the presidential race, and she joins me now.

Good to have you with us, Jessica, this evening. Thanks for being here.

JESSICA FURST JOHNSON, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE: Thanks for having me.

MACCALLUM: You say that as soon as you saw that Mark Elias was headed to Florida, you knew that you needed to head there as well. Why?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, as an election law attorney, I certainly recognized his name. And when I saw that he was interested in this race, and he was going to be a really big deal. I also knew that -- you know, Governor Scott was victorious on November 6th. He won by more than 12,000 votes.

So, I knew if Mark Elias was still interested in this race after a 12,000 vote victory, I knew that I needed to pay attention to it too.

MACCALLUM: So, in terms of the rules that needs to be governed or perhaps changed, what are they?

JOHNSON: Well, you know, I think that's a really important question. And I think, after the 2000 election, you know, Florida took a long hard look at these election laws. Obviously, they didn't want to repeat of that situation.

There have been subsequent changes since. There was another issue in 2016 regarding provisional ballots and the state took another opportunity to look at their laws there. So, you know, that's very important.

I mean, this state was not foreign to the concept of revisions to election laws, and these laws were in place for a reason. Certainly, when you have an opportunity to test them out like we did in this recount, there are going to be things that we want to review and see if we can do differently.

But these laws were in place and they had to be followed. Every single lawsuit that Governor Scott put his name on was intended to make sure the rule of the law was followed. Every single lawsuit the Democrats tried to bring forward was to do something about that law in order to make sure their candidate could win.

MACCALLUM: What about what Stacey Abrams said about the legitimacy of the Georgia race?

JOHNSON: Yes. You know, I think that's so interesting and unfortunate.  And I think the reason for her statement, perhaps, is that Democrats have shown that they're not willing to respect the will of the voters.

You know, Rick Scott, won on election night. You know, he was successful, it was -- you know, 12,000 vote margin. The voter spoke. They were incredibly clear on November 6th. But yet, the entire state was put through this long, prolonged recount process.

You know, lots of folks taken away from their families, from their jobs to volunteer, and it was entirely unnecessary. The will of the voters was clear.

You know, in the history of American politics, we have never had a recount overturn a margin of more than 1,200 votes. So, you know when we're sitting here looking at a margin of 12,000 votes, and 1,200 votes is the most we've ever seen overturn, you knew that this was going to go the way of the voters. Thank God.

MACCALLUM: What about the claim of voter suppression and the evidence?  Does it exist or not exist in Georgia?

JOHNSON: You know, I think that the Democrats look at elections these days as an opportunity for litigation. You know, they -- it's just like redistricting. They haven't been successful at the ballot box, and they're unwilling to believe that the same voters that could put Donald Trump in the White House would be the voters that would select their representatives now. They are unwilling to believe that.

And so, they are taking their fight to the courthouses. I feel like it's our job and we did this with Governor Scott's lead. You know, it's our job to make sure that these rules are followed.

And to protect the decision that the voters made on November 6th, you know, I don't think there was voter suppression. I think it was important to make sure the law was followed, and I was proud to be a part of Governor Scott's mandate to make sure that happened.

MACCALLUM: In terms of the matching laws, matching the name to what's on the ballot when people check in to vote, there's a lot of suggestion that, that was overly onerous for voters. Your thoughts.

JOHNSON: Yes. So, you know, this was something the state looked at in 2016. This is something they've looked at incredibly recently. And again, there, they put protections in place to make sure that it wasn't overly onerous for voters.

You know, the counties are required to provide notice to voters to tell them if their signatures not good enough, so they can go in and have an opportunity to correct that.

There are plenty of protections in place to make sure that -- you know, their votes are counted. I mean, Republicans want people to vote. They want their votes to be counted. It's Democrats that want to change the law, so that valid legal votes are worthless because they're bringing in a lots of illegal votes.

I mean are we to the place where, you know, if people are interested in Georgia, that they should start voting. Or, you know, if people really care about this race, their vote should count twice. I mean, it -- I -- you know, it's kind of seen sometimes but that's what Democrats are looking for here.

MACCALLUM: So, one last question. In terms of the laws that they tried to amend after the election was over, in terms of how long they could go ahead counting ballots. Are there challenges on that, that you're pushing against as you prepare for the 2020 presidential election?

JOHNSON: Absolutely. You know, I think the Democrats really showed their hand here. They showed what they're willing to do. You know, to throw out deadlines I have been established for years to require these new -- you know, requirements for voters in order to get their vote counted. I mean it's just quite ridiculous.

And so, yes, you know, I think the NRSC at Governor Scott's lead, and we're going to see what we can do about continuing to fight these battles.  Because I think it's incredibly important to make sure that when a person goes into vote, you know, they read on the rules, they understand what they have to do. They've done it correctly.

They need to know that their vote will be counted, they also need to know that people who haven't followed the rules, these rules that are designed to make sure people can vote they need to know that their votes won't be counted.

MACCALLUM: Fascinating.

JOHNSON: So, you know, we have to work really, really hard to make sure that happens.

MACCALLUM: Jessica Furst Johnson. Thank you very much. Good to have you here tonight.

JOHNSON: Thank you so much.

MACCALLUM: So, here now, Katie Pavlich, Townhall.com, Fox News editor, and Fox News contributor. And Juan Williams, co-host of "The Five", and a Fox News political analyst. Juan, I'm guessing that you take issue with some of what she just said.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the clear issue for me is she was saying, you know that people have to know that there is a procedure, you have to follow the procedure in order to vote. But I think lots of people, especially, I would point out in Georgia, did just that.

They apply, they registered to vote. And it's over 50,000, Martha, voter registration cards that were rejected by guess who? Brian Kemp, who was the Secretary of State, who was also the candidate for governor of Georgia.

MACCALLUM: So, are these -- are these 50,000 people -- you know, where is -- where is the outcry from them that their vote did not end up counting?  Because -- you know, a number of accounts of this say that they -- that doesn't seem to exist, that they're not seeing that.

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think we are seeing it. But again, what you're dealing with especially in the Abrams campaign is an effort to get people who were not participating in the election to come out to vote for the first time. Lots of first-time voters.

We're talking here about young people minorities who typically are not quick to participate in the midterms.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So, why did they?

WILLIAMS: I think, they lose interest. But the point here is I don't think that Brian Kemp should be running an election in which he is a candidate.

MACCALLUM: Is it right for Stacey Abrams to charge that there was voter suppression in the Georgia race, Katie?

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It is not appropriate for her to charge that there was voter suppression. And if you -- we can't cite something, if it doesn't exist as evidence of voter suppression, she's frustrated --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: The 53,000 ballots do, voter registration cards exist.

PAVLICH: She's frustrated and are making this argument because the Secretary of State Brian Kemp, cleaned up the voter rolls eight years ago that somehow he was suppressing the vote. But the problem is that when we don't clean up voter rolls, A, it's illegal to do that. And B, that is breathing ground for voter fraud.

And so, it is the Secretary of State's job in every single state, not just Georgia to make sure that those rules are cleaned up. And I just have to say, you know, in America, we pride ourselves on the peaceful transition of power.

And this continuing -- that's continuing -- you know, refusal to accept the legitimacy of elections when you just don't like the outcome, we keep hearing all about attacks on democracy, the delegitimization of our elections. Not accepting a result just because you don't like it without any evidence to back up your claims of voter suppression or voter fraud, even that causes real problems about undermining democracy.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: I mean, people do have to have a confidence in the system. And that it -- and that the system works on all sides. You know, when you look back into this idea of voter suppression, it was a law that was passed in 1997 under a democratic legislature and Democrat Governor Zell Miller, to make sure that people who had died and people had moved out of Georgia were not on those voter rolls.

Because they didn't want anyone to abuse those lists of dead and moved away in order to, to have to create vote fraud. Isn't that a good thing?

WILLIAMS: That's a great thing. That's a great thing, but here is the thing. There is no evidence of any voter fraud. We're not discussing that. We're talking about people who filled out a registration form and saw it thrown out.

We're talking about people who are absentee ballots being discarded. We're talking about polling places, Martha being closed and being told, "Oh, the toilets don't work. Oh, it's a black neighborhood that's why we're closing those polling places."

PAVLICH: OK. Well, that was a lot to unpack there. But I want to go back to your claim about there is no voter fraud here. That is exactly the point. The reason why the Secretary of State goes through the rolls and make sure that there are not eligible people on the rolls is to prevent those kinds of voter fraud.

And this idea that you're arguing that there were suppression in polling places closed purposely in black communities to keep them out of the voting places is a pretty serious charge to make, and we haven't seen evidence of that happening.

WILLIAMS: No, we have seen, because we know about those polling place being closed. Let's go to Florida for a second --

(CROSSTALK)

PAVLICH: But it wasn't -- but, Juan, it wasn't because they were close, (INAUDIBLE) keeping African-Americans from voting.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Last stop from you, from Juan. Last stop from (INAUDIBLE) Juan, and then, I got to go.

WILLIAMS: OK, so, I think that what you're seeing here is a situation where Republican candidates say we're going to choose our voters rather than have voters choose the candidates. And they do that by focusing on suppressing voters who they think are young, minorities, and oftentimes women, Martha, who they think are not going to vote Republican.

MACCALLUM: All right. Katie and Juan, thank you very much. Good to see you tonight. Coming up right here, homeland security officials now warning the hundreds of criminals are part of the migrant caravan that is gathering at the southern border.

Part of the response, new razor wire fencing that is covering miles of the border now. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol of San Diego director here to explain the barbed wire whether or not it's working, and why they didn't do it a long time ago? Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Fox News alert, Police responding to the scene of an active shooter at Mercy Hospital in Chicago. Reports of several casualties including a police officer. Mike Tobin joins us now live from the scene with the latest breaking news on that tonight. Good evening Mike.

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Martha. And we're waiting for an update from police particularly about the condition of that police officer. Lots of indications that were not going to get good news about the condition of that police officer. He was taken away from Mercy Hospital here in critical condition and we're waiting for an update from police. We know that the gunman is dead now through official police channels. Some reports that he was shot in the face, some reports that he shot himself.

Witnesses say the incident started just before 3:30 this afternoon local time when a man and a woman were walking here near Mercy Hospital. They had a conflict. The woman ended up on the ground and the gunman stood over her and discharged multiple shots then continued into the hospital. Again, that is according to witnesses from the scene here. One thing we heard very clearly from the witnesses is the amount of chaos and terror that was here at the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard six shots, six or seven shots, pop, pop, pop.  I dropped my grocery bags on the sidewalk and told the man let's see cover and so we sped off to the side. I kept recording I heard six more shots.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TOBIN: Now, the local ABC affiliate is reporting that the gunman is a former fiancé of one of the victims so indications that the motivation here was a domestic conflict. But one thing that is very apparent is the kind of danger that police officers face every day rather routine duty at a hospital turned deadly in just a matter of moments and police are about 45 minutes late giving their update on the scene out here and on this officer’s condition. We're watching that very closely. Every indication that the news we get from the police will not be good news, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Awful. Mike, thank you very much. So tonight, after years of watching migrants climb over the border fences at night and sometimes in broad daylight, one of the newer low-tech devices being used is enormous amounts of barbed wire more than 12 miles of it. Now, stretches from the beach in California to the San Ysidro Port of Entry and around that port of entry in places. Today they shut it down for several hours there to lay concrete barriers and new wire to keep order there where there are reports that migrants may attempt to rush the port to gain entry. They're being pressured by some Tijuana's to go back to Honduras.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do know of incidences here in Tijuana and in other cities that some of these people that are coming into these with these caravans are committing crimes and so we are protesting. I am protesting that we want the government to take control. We want them to stop them at the border and register them, check who they are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Spanish)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Joining me now, Pete Flores Director of the San Diego office for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Pete, good evening. Thanks for being here tonight. You know, you look at all that razor wire that is being laid down across the tops of those walls that we've seen people climb over in the past, why wasn't that done before?

PETE FLORES, DIRECTOR, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, SAN DIEGO:  We've always had wire in our inventory of what we did at the border across the southwest border, so it's not something new. I think based on the size of this caravan, based on the violence and the force that we had seen used by this caravan, we really thought that it was in our best interest to take a look at our vulnerabilities and some of the gaps we had at the border and quickly make those assessments and do what we could to put up some additional infrastructure on our borders, at our ports of entry to ensure we didn't have mass incursions.

MACCALLUM: All right, the understanding is that there's about 6,000 people across the border and that they are near the port of entry in San Ysidro and that the people in Tijuana want them to go back to Honduras. How do you think this is going to end?

FLORES: Well, I think you know, from the very beginning this caravan has been -- has been different not only just because of its size but because of the violence, the criminal elements in the caravan, the use of force and then the messaging of the individuals in the caravan. So I think in Mexico as they -- as they went through Mexico and now have arrived in Tijuana, we have individuals who are waiting in line and orderly waiting in line for a process of asylum to come through the ports of entry and make their request.

MACCALLUM: Yes, I understand it's about a 100 people who are being processed every day through the typical procedure that is expected to be carried. You know, I'm just curious. There's a lot of people who said that this was ridiculous, that this was all overstated, that it wasn't -- you know, that there's no invasion going on, and that this is simply not a big deal, that it was used for election to put fear into people before the election. What do you -- what do you say to that?

FLORES: I think from we see in Tijuana, the 6,000 that we have, the 6,000 plus we have in Tijuana, the other 1,200 to 1,300, potentially more now that we have in Mexicali, the caravan and those numbers just amount of what we see in those caravans is real and it's problematic for us as they look to potentially avoid or try to circumvent the normal process coming through our ports of entry in a legal way.

MACCALLUM: Yes, there's a lot of talk about Kirstjen Nielsen being removed from her post. Do you think there's a need for new leadership?

FLORES: I think what we're doing right now I think under that under DHS and what we're doing today we have we have great leadership in what we're doing and how we're taking this problem set that we have. This is a big issue and there are gaps in how we handle immigration, the process of loopholes that we have in the law. So there are gaps that need to be closed in order for us to be successful.

MACCALLUM: I just want to ask you one more quick question before I let you go. The President pointed out that he thought it was interesting, ironic was his word, that a lot of the people coming through in the caravan are waving the flags of the home country that they say is persecuting them and making it impossible for them to live in that country. Do you find that surprising?

FLORES: Well, I find that -- we have seen that in the past but when Mexico has offered these individuals, they they've offered them asylum status, they have off of them work permits, they've offered them workshops on how to how to obtain asylums and work permits in Mexico. So the Central Americans that are passing through Mexico if in fact they do have fear of - - or fear to be in Central America, they have an option. They've been provided that option and they should take advantage of it.

MACCALLUM: Thank you very much, Pete Flores. Good to have you here tonight.

FLORES: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: So did you see this? New profile of Nancy Pelosi where she's quoted as saying no one gives you power, you have to take it from them. So how will that play with Democrats already wary of giving her the gavel?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I like her. Can you believe it? I like Nancy Pelosi? I mean, she's tough and she's smart and she deserves to be speaker.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Nancy Pelosi's bold claim on the cover-up of this magazine that no one gives you power you have to take it from them, maybe inciting a bit of rebellion in our own ranks. 16 Democrats have written an open letter opposing her for speaker saying, our majority came on the backs of candidates who said that they would support new leadership because voters in hard-won districts and across the country want to see real change in Washington. We promised to change the status quo and we intend to deliver on that promise, they wrote. But the president wants her to win. So could Republicans help Pelosi keep the gavel?

Joining me now, Jason Chaffetz who once ran for House Speaker himself and Richard Fowler syndicated radio talk show host, both are Fox News Contributors. Welcome gentlemen, good to have you with us this evening.  So the Democrats right now are at 232. That number could increase if we just show the balance of power, undecided is for right now as some of those races are continuing to be decided. And then we have the list of 22 who are now in the House who promised that they would oppose Pelosi when she -- if indeed they were they were elected. So Richard, how do you think this is going to go and how do you think she's going to navigate this?

RICHARD FOWLER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, listen, one -- in another Network, Nancy Pelosi said it best that she -- one thing her father taught her, the former mayor of Baltimore's how to count and she is a quite a tactician. So I think she's counting the votes and she's talking to her folks and she's trying to figure out you do it. Don't get me wrong. I think that you know, Pelosi is going to have to make some changes and some concessions. One of that is going to -- she's got to come for the concession plan -- concession a plan when she's no longer the speaker. I think she probably have one more term. And I think two, we're going to have to do the Republicans at a long time ago and that some chairman -- have some you know, term limits on chairmanships and some other things, and also diversifying her leadership team so it looks more like her caucus. So I think you'd have to make those changes --

MACCALLUM: So it sounds like you think she's going to survive despite the fact she can't lose 18 votes and she's got 22 people who just sign this letter but you're pointing out some of the possible negotiation tactics which she may be able to employed it to hold on to it? She might get GOP votes Jason Chaffetz, is that -- is that a possibility do you think?

JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEW CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Is really hard for Republicans to do that but there is no greater foil than Nancy Pelosi. If you're going into 2020, you'd much rather be out there talking about a Nancy Pelosi than say a Beto O'Rourke or so new fresh face that suddenly the speaker juxtaposed that person against say, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. But I don't think the Democrats are going to go there. Nancy Pelosi has raised more money than anybody in the history of the United States Congress, Democrat, Republican, House, or Senate. She rules with an iron fist. She's not going to let it go and that's why they don't have the votes today. They would have had their vote this week as they normally and customarily do, but she doesn't have the votes right now.

MACCALLUM: So, let's take a look at the Senate balance of power. The Mississippi race is still out there. That's going to be right after Thanksgiving. Currently, they are at 51, 52, rather. And if they lose Mississippi, they could go to 51. Remember this moment from Lindsey Graham talking about the balance of power in the Senate. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM R-S.C.: This is the most unethical sham since I have been in politics. Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Obviously, that was during his most impassioned moments during the Kavanaugh hearing. But the question, Richard, is whether or not Maxine Waters has spoken very forcefully about wanting to impeach President Trump, whether or not Democrats, if they do continue to gain power on the Hill will go down that road and whether or not Nancy Pelosi will be able to hold them back.

RICHARD FOWLER, SENIOR FELLOW, NEW LEADERS COUNCIL: Listen, I think impeachment is very, very far off. I think there a handful of members that want to talk impeachment. But I think that's far off.

I think what you are going to see the Democrats do in the next -- in their first 100 days in running the House is, they are probably going to pass the Voting Rights Act. They are probably going to find a way to ensure that people with pre-existing conditions get healthcare.

They are probably going to find a way to pass a bill to make prescription drugs lower. They are going to do exactly what they promised the voters they were going to do. And Jason is right. Republicans can use Nancy Pelosi.

(CROSSTALK)

CHAFFETZ: You changed the subject. You didn't answer the question, Richard. You did not answer the question.

FOWLER: I did answer the question.

CHAFFETZ: You changed the subject.

FOWLER: Let me make this one point. The one point is that this idea--

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: I think his answer was he doesn't think it's going to happen.

FOWLER: Yes.

MACCALLUM: You know, you sound like you do not think impeachment is going to be on the table. Last quick thought, Jason, you disagree?

CHAFFETZ: They have an insatiable desire; the Democrats do to juxtapose themselves against Donald Trump and prove to their base that they are going tough on Donald Trump. They've already preannounced 86 different investigations. They have already presupposed the outcome of those investigations and they are not going to be.

FOWLER: That's what you want to happen, Jason. We want to fix the problems for the American people.

(CROSSTALK)

CHAFFETZ: They've already announced it, Richard. That's already in the rear-view mirror.

FOWLER: You guys need to investigate but we are going to work tirelessly to ensure--

CHAFFETZ: They've already announced it.

FOWLER: -- that folks with pre-existing conditions get protections.

MACCALLUM: We'll see what happens. The pre-fall be and exactly what happens. And we are about to see it unfold. Thanks to you guys. Great to see you tonight.

CHAFFETZ: Good to see you.

MACCALLUM: So, we have a Fox News alert for you. We mentioned this before. And Fox News can now confirm that police officer shot at Mercy hospital in Chicago is now dead. We are awaiting a press conference, a horrific afternoon of violence once again in Chicago. We're going to bring you there live in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, is California Governor Jerry Brown acquiescing that President Trump may have been right about errors in California forest management?

The president was slammed by some for this tweet. "With proper forest management we can stop the devastation constantly going on in California. Get smart." Exclamation point. Now it turns out the governor is looking to push back on environmentalists and ease the rules in order to clear more trees and build more roads.

Claudia Cowan live in Chico, California with the full report tonight. Claudia?

CLAUDIA COWAN, FOX NEWS REPORTER: Good evening, Martha. That's right. Outgoing Governor Jerry Brown now talking about relaxing the rules a little bit as they pertain to logging. Of course, he is going to have a big fight on his hands from environmental groups.

But the politics of forest management policy really the last thing on the minds here for thousands of fire survivors. This disaster recovery center that opened at the Chico mall is their first stop on the long road to recovery and rebuilding and this center has been buzzing with activity since it opened on Friday.

Here people can register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, to apply for federal aid. They can also access supervisors like the DMV and mental health counseling, they can even pet a therapy dog. Several dozen agencies are at this one-stop shop that will stay open until it's no longer needed likely sometime next year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HANNES, FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER, FEMA: Well, it's devastating and going to be grief and we will all go through those different parts of grief. It's also really encouraging to see this community come together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COWAN: Over the weekend, President Trump surveyed the damage in Paradise. This is a conservative district and a deep blue state and many residents here appreciated the president's visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am grateful for all the support that he is giving us. He didn't have to come here the way California is treating him and he did. And for that I'm very grateful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COWAN: Joe Florence and his family were among the hundred or so who gathered for a vigil last night to mourn those who perished and find strength to face the days ahead. Evacuees said being around others who've also lost everything provided a measure of comfort as did the banner on the altar proclaiming "We will rise from the ashes," hash tag, Paradise strong, hash tag, Butte county strong.

With rain in the forecast for tomorrow, recovery teams are intensifying their efforts to find bones or bone fragments before the ground and ashes turn to mud.

The fire, the Camp Fire is now almost out, having burned an area roughly equivalent in size to the city of Chicago. Another victim was found yesterday increasing the number of those killed by the Camp Fire to 77. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Awful. Thank you very much. Claudia Cowan in California tonight. And this Fox News alert as we await a press conference in moments from Chicago. Fox News confirming the police officer shot there today is dead.

And chaos on the streets of Portland as dueling protests turn very ugly leading to confrontations like this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Very ugly scene on the streets of Portland other the weekend when Antifa activist clash with protesters from a new group that calls themselves him, too movement. The skirmish led to multiple arrests and this altercation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, let her do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let her do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you guys see that? Let her spit, that's all good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead. Hit me. Hit me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Unreal. Trace Gallagher has this story for us from our west coast newsroom tonight. Hi, Trace.

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. These dueling rallies lasted about six hours in Portland beginning with the Me Too rally of some 200 people supporting victims of sexual assault. Then to counter the Me Too crowd some conservative activists held a Him Too rally of about 40 people aiming to raise awareness for men who are falsely accused of sexual misconduct.

But in recent months the far-left anti-fascist group Antifa has become very prominent in Portland. The group has repeatedly promised to use violence to defend the city and repeatedly lived up to that promise.

On Saturday, Antifa member Hannah McClintock was captured on video confronting both police and conservative protesters. At one point, with Me Too supporters chanting, quote, "we believe survivors." McClintock waves on some of the Him Too demonstrators apparently hoping to gin up a physical altercation. Now watch McClintock spit and shout obscenities followed by Him Too protesters unwilling to take the bait. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, let her do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let her do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you guys see that? Let her spit, that's all good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead. Hit me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Yes. Hannah McClintock was arrested and charged with harassment. Five others were also arrested mostly for interfering with police. And investigators say these images could lead to other arrests.

In fact, Andy Ngo, the independent journalist who shot all the video you have been watching says he was victimized by Antifa members at the rally claiming he was assaulted by a mob of masked individuals dressed in black who went after his equipment and called him a fascist and an Islamophobe.

Antifa members in Portland have also been involved in other violent incidents in recent months including back in August when they attacked a liberal who supported Bernie Sanders and voted for Hillary Clinton. The young man had just taken American flag away from a conservative prayer group when an Antifa member struck him in the head with a metal rod. Apparently, his crime was carrying the flag which Antifa calls a fascist symbol. The man needed four staples to close the gash on his head. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Unbelievable scene. Thank you very much, Trace.

So that fight over Me Too and Him Too coming just hours after huge announcement was made by the Trump administration that will dramatically change the way that Me Too cases are handled on college campuses. Encouraging true due process for the accused and for the accuser.

Critics say that it will discourage victims from coming forward and it's going to be a very hot topic going forward on college campuses.

Jason Riley is a Wall Street Journal columnist and he joins me now. Jason, thank you very much for being with us this evening. You know, in many ways the college campuses went through the Me Too movement before the rest of the country did. And they were given rules by the Obama administration that were very strict. In essence saying, if you are not tough enough on these people who are accused, we could potentially take away your federal funding?

JASON RILEY, EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, yes. And they didn't do enough to protect the rights of the accused. You know, first thing I would say about Betsy DeVos, the education secretary is that last year she said that she was going to promulgate some new guidelines to make the process more balanced and she has delivered on that promise.

And I think she deserves a lot of credit for that. But you're right. The issue here is due process. And the accused were not getting the due process that they should get. If the process is going to have any integrity whatsoever, and even the courts have started to recognize this.

There have been a number of state and federal decisions that have said that the accuse have had a right to cross-examine the accuser and that is not happening in a lot of college campuses.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, everyone wants accusers to be heard. And you also want the other side of the equation to also be heard. And we did a documentary about this a couple of years ago. And talked to a few different young men whose lives had been dramatically altered by this and young women would say that their lives were dramatically altered in similar situations as well.

But in some of these cases not all the time is the accused guilty. And this is just one story to give you a sense of what we are talking about here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a phone call from the school's title nine department telling me no uncertain terms that I had to pack up my stuff and leave my dorm immediately.

MACCALLUM: To John, it had been a sexual encounter of a type not uncommon among young people. Even Jane Doe had not called it assault at first. He still members their long discussion the day after.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've talked for nearly -- nearly three or four hours and we chock it up to a drunken mistake.

MACCALLUM: But now here he was the campus rapist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: A lot of times this young man were, you know, kicked out of class.

RILEY: Yes.

MACCALLUM: They are not allowed to be in the same room with, you know, young women. So, your thoughts on where this was?

RILEY: Being accused of something is not the same thing as being guilty of. And again, the case was stacked against the accuser or against the accused person under the Obama guidelines. I think some balance was need there because you want the outcome to have some support, some legitimacy on both sides.

And I think these guidelines put in place by DeVos will do that. They will give the whole process more integrity and more satisfying conclusion I think will come from having a more fair process in place.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I think it also divides which cases are possible to adjudicate on campus. And just so everyone knows the panels that make these huge decisions affecting people's lives are usually three professors--

RILEY: Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- who has been picked sort of somewhat randomly--

RILEY: Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- to listen to this case and decide upon it.

RILEY: And under the new guidelines all of the evidence that they gather will now be able to be accessible by both sides. A lot of people might not realize this but under the Obama guidelines that is not what happened.

MACCALLUM: You couldn't even hear what she was accusing you of or he was accusing you of.

RILEY: Exactly. So, again, the fairness of the process should be the goal and I think this puts us on track for that.

MACCALLUM: Yes. We are going to watch this very closely. Jason, thank you very much. Good to see you tonight.

So, a Fox News alert for you this evening. Another story that we have been following tonight, police news conference expected any moment as we can now sadly confirm that a police officer in Chicago is dead tonight after a shooting at Mercy hospital.

Also, President Trump's sit down with our own Chris Wallace making waves this Monday night, Benson and Harf direct from their studio next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would give myself, look, I hate to do it but I will do it. I would give myself an a-plus. Is that enough? Can I go higher than that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Did MBS lie to you, sir?

TRUMP: I don't -- I don't know, you know. Who can really know.

WALLACE: Do you just live with it because you need him?

TRUMP: Well, will anybody really know? All right. Will anybody really know? But he did have certainly people that were reasonably close to him and close to him, that were probably involved. But at the same time, we do have an ally and I want to stick with an ally that in many ways has been very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: President Trump making a lot of news in an extensive and wide- ranging interview with our own Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday” this weekend.

Here to react and now, Guy Benson and Marie Harf, co-hosts of the Fox News radio show, Benson and Harf. Him guys. Good to see you tonight.

GUY BENSON, FOX NEWS RADIO CO-HOST: Hi, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Marie, let me start with you. What did you think of that answer?

MARIE HARF, FOX NEWS RADIO CO-HOST: Well, we now know that the CIA has concluded in their assessment that Mohammed bin Salman directed the Saudi government to complete this killing. That is the CIA's assessment with high confidence, Martha.

So, President Trump has been hesitant to accept the conclusion of the CIA on a number of issues. We know he wants to work closely with the Saudis but really, it's disappointing that he seems to be overlooking the intelligence assessment because he has made some calculation about what's in the national security interest of the United States, vis-a-vis, Iran or the oil prices or whatever.

I would argue that letting the Saudis get away with this and making excuses for them is actually very much not in our national security interests and he can decide whether or not he wants to side with the CIA or the Saudis, that choice should not be hard.

MACCALLUM: You know, unfortunately, Guy, we have a long history of looking the other way with Saudi Arabia, it's not just this president, previous president do the same thing.

BENSON: Yes. I just wish he could be more up front by saying, the CIA believes this with a high degree of confidence as Marie just said. It's unacceptable and there will be consequences, there already have been some consequences.

MACCALLUM: Right.

BENSON: But and make the pivot to what he said directly, there are strategic interests of the United States so not just several ties with the Saudis. They are an important player in the region we have work with them and have work with them on some important issues, we can do both of these things at the same time.

And I think that he tried to strike that balance. I would like a little bit more of an overt condemnation of MBS because I think it's pretty clear based on our intelligence and what we know now what they've concluded.

HARF: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Good point. Let's watch this one on Admiral McRaven.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Bill McRaven, retired admiral, Navy SEAL 37 years, former head of U.S. Special Operations--

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton fan. He's a Hillary Clinton backer and an Obama backer, and frankly--

(CROSSTALK)

WALLACE: He was a navy SEAL.

TRUMP: -- wouldn't it have been nice if we got Osama bin Laden a lot sooner than that? Wouldn't it be nice--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Marie?

HARF: Yes. I just hate the way the president makes this off-the-cuff sort of snide remarks solely because someone criticized him. Bill McRaven is not a Hillary Clinton supporter, he's not a political person. He led the most successful raid of recent years, you know, under the U.S. military to get Bin Laden which they did as soon the CIA had found him. They moved immediately, they put together a plan.

And for the president on Veterans Day week to go after a highly decorated nonpartisan military hero like Bill McRaven, it shows how petty the president can be and I just, I really don't like it, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Guy?

BENSON: Yes. I mean, look, I think that the implication at the end of that answer was, if McRaven had been better at his job maybe we could have gotten Bin Laden sooner. I don't think there is a shred of evidence behind that.

And to me, I defer to Rob O'Neill on this one, the trigger man on Osama bin Laden, who has been very critical of the previous administration and relatively supportive of the Trump administration he fully backed up McRaven on this one which I think is the appropriate thing to do.

HARF: Yes.

MACCALLUM: He has an excellent reputation and a long record of service. So, Condoleezza Rice, can she save the Cleveland Browns? Real quick. Marie?

BENSON: No one can.

MACCALLUM: I know.

(CROSSTALK)

HARF; I agree. Not even Baker Mayfield.

MACCALLUM: Watch our (Inaudible).

HARF: Not even Baker Mayfield although Condoleezza Rice is a true football fan which I love.

MACCALLUM: She is I think--

(CROSSTALK)

BENSON: NFL commissioner maybe one day.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

BENSON: I think that would fit.

MACCALLUM: I think we're all -- we're all pulling for that. Great to see you guys.

BENSON: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Guy Benson and Marie Harf, thanks a lot. All right. So that is THE STORY for this Monday night. Tweet me at Martha MacCallum using hashtag #thestory. We will see you back here tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

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