McCarthy: Trump is the only one trying to find common ground in border security battle

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McCarthy: Trump is the only one trying to find common ground in border security battle

Trump to deliver State of the Union amid battle over border wall; House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy weighs in.

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," February 5, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, HOST: Breaking tonight, we are awaiting early excerpts of the president's State of the Union address. It to begin just a short time from now. We're going to bring you those as soon as they come in. Big guest lineup for you tonight ahead of the address. We will speak with Lara Trump of the 2020 campaign.

Former DNC chair Donna Brazile is here as well with the Democrats how they are looking at the possibility for negotiations and opening up to unity. Also, Representative Dan Crenshaw, congressman. Also tonight, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Plus, my one-on-one exclusive with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell where he stands on this whole issue of a national emergency at the border. Does he think that's a good idea?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Do you think that he should lay out a new offer tonight to the American people that includes the DREAMers, includes DACA?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: A big package, some kind of immigration reform to be laid out there. His answer to that in just a moment. But first, let's go to chief congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel. He's live on Capitol Hill as we await the president tonight. Hi, Mike.

MIKE EMANUEL, CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good evening to you. President Trump State of the Union address will be the big focus here on Capitol Hill and across the country tonight.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, says the main theme will be choose greatness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the point that the president will make tonight is when we work together, we can do great things. And we have a choice to make. We can either work together and fix big problems that America is facing or we can ignore them and do nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: On the other side, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sounds skeptical about the president's call for unity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: So, President Trump calls for a new era of bipartisanship. Forgive me, we're going to wait to see if he's serious this time. Because if he -- if passed States of the Union are prologue, the desire for unity will evaporate as soon as the headlines have gone to print.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: This comes as bipartisan lawmakers are trying to come up with a deal on border security. A close ally of this White House, says if Congress doesn't give the president the money, it's about finding the money elsewhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: I don't know why you need to declare it a national emergency, quite frankly. You're sending troops down to the border right now. There's no national emergency to do that. Obama sent troops, finding some money to build a barrier while the troops are down there to me is consistent with the reason they go. And I don't think you need to declare a national emergency is just fine funds. There's a statute pretty much right on point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: But there is intense pressure facing a February 15th funding deadline. And a Democrat who's expected to run against President Trump in 2020 says, she'd like a commitment from him to keep the entire government open.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: You know, on my way here yesterday, I spoke with TSA workers as I was going through security who wanted to know, is government going to stay hope? Or are they going to continue to get a paycheck? I have a federal employee coming tonight as my guess. We can't hold federal workers hostage for Donald Trump's political games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: Once the president is done, then it will be former Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, giving the Democratic response. Abrams lost the governor's race in Georgia in November. But Democratic leaders see her as a rising star as we've seen over the years, it is a high-pressure situation, and she will get a huge amount of attention. Martha?

MACCALLUM: That's for sure, and Mike, thank you very much. So, ahead of tonight's address, I sat down exclusively with the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to get his thoughts on what should happen tonight, what he is looking for. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: Senator Schumer said that he thinks that the State of the Union as far as the administration is concerned is in chaos.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER:

SCHUMER: The State of the Trump administration is embroiled in chaos and incompetence. In some, the State of our Union is in need of drastic repair.

MACCALLUM: What do you say, the State of the Union is?

SCHUMER: I think my friend, Chuck Schumer is not paying close attention. I mean, the country is in the middle of an economic boom. Unemployment is lowest it's been in 50 years. People are finding work who couldn't before, obviously. More money in your take-home pay these days. America is doing really quite well.

MACCALLUM: You said earlier today that you are praying for the conferee is to come to some kind of agreement that will avert a shutdown. Do you think -- how optimistic are you that that's going to happen?

MCCONNELL: I'm certainly hopeful that nothing good comes out of a government shutdown. We tried this a few times in the past. This wasn't the first time we've got to shut down. One of my favorite old Kentucky sayings is there's no education in the second kick of a mule. A third kick of a mule would be even less educating.

And so, I'm hoping the president will be able to sign the bill. Conferees are working hard.

MACCALLUM: Do you think they're getting anywhere?

MCCONNELL: Well, they're working hard to try to find a place here that -- you know, most of my party, virtually, all of us support the wall, we think, president's got a credible argument.

Clearly, strong differences of opinion about that. I hope they'll split the difference somehow in the conference. Make that -- make it possible for the president sign the bill, prevent another government shutdown. And I know he's contemplating another option. So --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Yes, I want to ask you about that. But, he didn't sound too optimistic about the conferee is. He said, you know, if they come back with something that doesn't include a wall, I think it's a big waste of time.

MCCONNELL: Well, it could be. But my point is, by signing that bill, he will fund the remaining 25 percent of the government beyond just the wall. And he's got another option he's contemplating that may get the result that he wants on the wall.

MACCALLUM: That would be a national emergency. Are you -- but you're not in favor of that, are you?

MCCONNELL: Well, I want to wait and see what he does. All I've said to him is that there is a process where the Congress -- you know, could try to undo that. That doesn't necessarily mean that's an argument for not doing it. But it won't be without controversy.

MACCALLUM: But there's already been Senator Blunt and Senator Cornyn have both said that they don't want him to go down that route. Senator Graham, says he hopes that no matter what comes of this that the GOP will stand together in support of the president, so which do you think it will be? I don't think there are different opinions about it. And if he goes that route, we'll just hash it out.

MACCALLUM: So, what -- I mean, how do you think all this ends? Because you just laid out two different examples where -- you know, they don't get the funding for the wall in the deal that they come up with, but the national emergency is likely to be rejected by a lot of members of the Republican Party.

MACCALLUM: But the president could win anyway by vetoing the bill. And then, trying to get enough votes to sustain it. So, he may ultimately be able to prevail on the national emergency alternative. What I told him, just in giving him situational awareness is as you have stated, there is differences of opinion among Senate Republicans about whether that's the right thing to do.

MACCALLUM: Do you think that what's going on at the border is a national crisis, is an emergency of the country?

MCCONNELL: I think it's a -- I think it's a huge problem. I think the president is correct that fencing, it makes a difference. That's one of the reason the conferee is on the bill or bringing in professionals. Not political appointees, professionals who do border security.

Tomorrow to ask their advice about what works. I'm pretty optimistic they're going to say that fencing in certain places really works.

MACCALLUM: Back in January of last year, the president said in the State of the Union 2018 that he hoped that, that would be the Congress that would come up with immigration reform and border security and all of that.

And shortly, after that, he sat down at something called the cheeseburger summit with Senator Schumer. And they had discussions about 1.8 million DACA recipients being able to stay in the country, a path to citizenship. $25 billion for the wall. Should he pass that deal, so they have settled on that?

MCCONNELL: I think it's safe to say that neither side has been able to figure out how to pass something significant in this whole field. So, what the president's done is fall back here largely on trying to secure the border, something he thought and we thought would not be that controversial.

MACCALLUM: Do you think that he should lay out a new offer tonight to the American people that includes the DREAMers, includes DACA?

MCCONNELL: Well, I'm not going to give them any advice tonight. But, the fact that we're having a difficult time with immigration is not anything new, unfortunately. So, I wish we just focus on securing the border and worry about --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: But that sounds like he's going to have to go the national emergency route then. That's what I'm hearing that he would have to go the national emergency route if you want to get the wall bill.

MCCONNELL: Well, that's an option he is weighing. He's been talking about it publicly.

MACCALLUM: In terms of Syria and endless wars which the president has spoken about, you drafted a bill that opposed the pullout that the president has suggested. Why did you feel the need to do that?

MCCONNELL: Well, first of all, I don't think we're in endless wars. We've been in Germany since World War II, Japan since World War II, Korea since the Korean War. Sometimes, American presence overseas in troubled areas or areas that used to be troubled is very important.

The troops that were pulled out of Iraq in my view by President Obama prematurely led to the re-rise, the rise of ISIS, sort of another version of al-Qaeda. We don't want to make that mistake in Afghanistan. And we don't want to leave the Kurds to be slaughtered, our great allies in Eastern Syria.

So, in this area, I don't think we've been involved in endless wars. We're there because they attacked us on 9/11 and we're trying to prevent that again. It's better to deal with them over there than to have to deal with him here.

MACCALLUM: Your colleague Rand Paul, says that you and others are supporters of forever war.

MCCONNELL: Yes.

MACCALLUM: And that -- and the president has said, we've spent $500 billion on this mission. He said, you know, the Soviet Union -- you know, became Russia over sinking money and life, and loss of life into Afghanistan. And he feels that that's a lesson that we all should learn from.

MCCONNELL: Yes, well, the loss of life for these more deployments now is very limited. It's designed to protect us from getting hit here at home. Remember the carnage associated with 9/11. How much did that cost, the aftermath of that? Not only in lives, but in cost -- financial cost in rebuilding.

Look, we can fight them over there or we can fight them here. I prefer over there. And we've done this in a way in which we're providing counterterrorism and training. The line share of the fighting has been going on, it's not being done by us.

In Syria was done largely by the Kurds in Afghanistan, large -- largely by the Afghan National Army. We're just sort of backing them up with our special expertise.

MACCALLUM: Quick couple of questions on Senate politics before I let you go. The discussion that you had with Senator Mike -- with Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State. You would like to see him become the Senator from Kansas or that was what you suggested?

MCCONNELL: I would sure like for him to think about it. Kansas had a very late filing date. Mike's doing a great job as Secretary of State. I don't see any particular urgency for him to leave that job. The president is obviously happy with him being secretary of state.

At some point, he might decide he wants a different job and I wanted him to know we'd all be behind him if he did.

MACCALLUM: And it was he receptive?

MCCONNELL: Well, you'll have to ask him about that.

MACCALLUM: I did ask him about. He said he's happy where he is right now.

MCCONNELL: He and -- you know, I think that's something to consider down the road. There's no urgency for him to make that decision. And we'll see what happens.

MACCALLUM: How about you, are you running in 2020?

MCCONNELL: I am.

MACCALLUM: All right. Senator McConnell, thank you very much.

MCCONNELL: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Good to speak with you today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: Well, there you have it. You heard it here first. Tonight on THE STORY, coming up, Donna Brazile, one of the Democrats who has chosen to boycott tonight's speech. And someone who will be seated there absolutely. Present with the first family tonight at the State of the Union, Laura Trump on the Trump 2020 campaign, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So we have seen some movement towards the Capitol moments ago. A short time, for now, the President will deliver his second State of the Union Address, the official version. And sitting in the audience before him will be many of us, 2020 challengers, out there. So what message will he have for them in what many are calling the "first major speech of the re-election campaign." Who better to ask than Trump campaign Advisor Laura Trump. Good to see you tonight, Laura.

LAURA TRUMP, CAMPAIGN ADVISER, DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Thank you very much for being here. So that's it's interesting. You know, you've got Kamala Harris, you've got Elizabeth Warren, you've got Cory Booker, all of these folks lined up in front of him as he gives this speech. How -- in what way do you think he will have a nod to this campaign and what he wants to say?

L. TRUMP: Well, I say every day that the President is his own best campaigner. And you know, we at the campaign will have an easy job in 2020 because he's doing such a great job now and really laying the groundwork for the -- for the campaign in 2020. I think tonight we're going to hear a message of unity. This is a man who from the beginning, from the beginning of his campaign in 2016, even 2015 has said that he wants to be the President for everyone in this country. And I think that's who were going to see there tonight.

I think he's really excited to deliver remarks to the American people, even people who didn't vote for him, even the Democrats who are obstructionists and stopped him --

MACCALLUM: What do you say to statement that he's going to be that outrage? You know, you talked about suburban women, you talked about some of these areas that crossed over and voted for President Trump. You know, how is he going to get those people back into the fold?

L. TRUMP: I think he's got such a great vision for this country. And I think he's going to lay out what his vision is over for the next two years and Beyond for this country and I think it's going to touch people like suburban women and really people all over this country. And again, I always say I think he's going to win by more in 2020 than he did in 2016. So whoever is challenging him --

MACCALLUM: I'm sure he likes to hear that. That's why you're working on the campaign. You've got a good message.

L. TRUMP: But it's true.

MACCALLUM: Look at -- look at this Monmouth Poll. Most Democrats don't care about issues, they want someone who they believe can be strong -- can beat President Trump. 56 percent say they want someone who can beat President Trump. You know, you're up against a lot obviously in this campaign and there's going to be a lot of candidates out there. Kamala Harris have said to have made a very strong open. Who -- you know, I guess who scares you the most is sort of what I'm getting at but who would you least like to run against?

L. TRUMP: You know, I -- to be honest with you -- have not seen anyone that I think can really take this President down. He -- again, I think he has delivered on so many promises that he made in 2016. He's delivering results for the American people. And despite what that poll says, I think that there are so many people out there, Martha, and I've always said this. I said this in 2016 who will never tell a pollster, who never tell even some of their friends and family --

MACCALLUM: So you don't believe the polls. When you see them in the low 40s, you don't believe that?

L. TRUMP: They were wrong in the campaign in 2016. I've never fully believed them especially when it relates to this President.

MACCALLUM: Take a look at this poll which is kind of interesting. It's a CNN poll on the vice president's favorability. 39 favorable, 40 percent unfavorable, 12 percent have never heard of the vice president. I mean, to me, that's a comment on our civics classes. There's something very wrong there with 12 percent, don't know what that is.

L. TRUMP: That's really bizarre. You know, it's -- it actually reflects the fact that I think we need to as Republicans may be you know, just in general as Americans do a better job of reaching out to people and teaching them about you know, our democracy and about you know what's going on in this country.

The sad thing is if you tuned in to CNN where you found that poll, you won't hear about any of the accomplishments or any of the great things this President is doing. You'll hear about Russian collusion and a lot of nonsense, and unfortunately, that's what the people are hearing.

MACCALLUM: I know you got to go because you got to head out to the building behind me, but I just want to put up this crazy picture from a D.C. art exhibit that shows Ivanka, your sister-in-law vacuuming crumbs and she -- so the people who go to the exhibit, they throw crumbs in front of this bizarre Ivanka looking robot thing and then she vacuums them up. As a family member, how does that make you feel?

L. TRUMP: As a family member, as an American, as a woman, I'm disgusted by this. You know, the supposed party of women, the Democrats and the far left, Hollywood, to do something like this -- by the way, a woman who has done arguably more for women in this country than almost anyone else, I mean, the things that she works on day to day and the major accomplishments we've seen in this administration, thanks to my sister-in-law Ivanka Trump are incredible. They really are amazing.

And this is sad to see and sadly it's not surprising because anyone with the last name Trump gets targeted like this. But I think it's disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves.

MACCALLUM: We know you got to head over to the Capitol. Laura Trump, thank you very much. Good to see you tonight. We'll talk to you throughout the campaign, we hope. Thanks for coming by.

All right, coming up next, former DNC Chair Donna Brazile on the controversial decision by some Democrats, not her, to boycott tonight's State of the Union Address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: I'm not looking forward to his State of the Union and I hope that people will turn the television off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Big night tonight. Tonight we are already hearing from some Democrats who are denouncing the State of the Union Address before it gets rolling in the Capitol. Here's the official party tweet in part. We know that Trump's State of the Union Address will be filled with blatant lies and broken promises.

At least six Democratic members of Congress have already said that they will boycott tonight's address, but California Congresswoman Maxine Waters took it a step further urging all Americans who turned their TVs off tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATERS: And I think he's putting us all in harm's way. And so he is not worthy of being listened to. I don't know why anybody want to pay attention to anything that he has to say. I just can't imagine what he's going to try and say. But since he is a great liar, he'll say anything because he's capable of saying anything without facts, without research. And so I'm not looking forward to his State of the Union and I hope that people will turn the television off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: She's always very shy with her feelings. Donna Brazile, another not shy person. Former DNC Chairwoman, of course, and co-author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics. Donna, welcome. Good to have you back.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER CHAIRWOMAN, DNC: You know, first of all, I would never miss the State of the Union. I love it. I love the pageantry. I love that when I was a congressional staffer. And during that time, we had President George Herbert Walker Bush, and then, of course, I was there for Bill Clinton and of course, I've been on T.V. for Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and now President Trump. I enjoy it.

MACCALLUM: So you know, obviously tonight there's always a response that comes from the Democratic Party. Tonight it's going to be from Stacey Abrams. And Bernie Sanders also says he will also be giving a reaction to the State of the Union. And that prompted this from Amy Siskind who spoke out.

She's a feminist who spoke out. She says, why is he talking over the black woman our party chose to speak for us. Disrespecting black women, the most important and reliable part of our base. And she goes on. This is Stacey Abrams' night. What do you think -- what do you say?

BRAZILE: It is Stacey Abrams'. The Democratic Party chose her along with the speaker and the minority leader in the Senate because she's the future of our party. She barely lost her race in Georgia. She over performed better than the last two presidential candidates. She fell short by two percentage points. She represents what Democrats hope to accomplish over the next five to ten years.

That is to bring about a more inclusive America, an America that embrace everyone regardless of their background. I'm looking forward to Stacey's address tonight.

MACCALLUM: So here's a tweet from you back in 2014. You talk about all the years of covering this. And you wrote, the GOP and the Tea Party are split more ways than the last biscuit on a life full of castaways. And I guess now you know when you look at all of these responses, couple of responses and then all the people who are said to be running on the Democratic side, are you worried that your own party might be split more ways than the last --

BRAZILE: Oh, no. Look, one year we had the official Republican response and then Senator Paul did a response. So no, I'm not afraid that Bernie Sanders who was an Independent, he's not registered as a Democrat. I'm not afraid of Bernie Sanders given a response. We also have Xavier Becerra who will give a response in Spanish. In my judgment, the more the better. The more voices out there the better.

But I do believe tonight and I'm not putting a lot of money on it but I think Stacy is going to top everybody.

MACCALLUM: So we'll be watching of course. You know --

BRAZILE: She's a daughter of a preacher. I mean, come on, the girl -- she has a long -- she has a voice, she's a presence, but you know what, I think the American people just want to hear the president and they didn't want to hear the response. They're going to go to bed tonight wake up tomorrow morning hopefully just believe that we can come together at some point.

MACCALLUM: So apparently you know, that's a big part of the President's message tonight. He wants to bring people together and I think there's a huge hunger for that in America. They want to see some compromise. What do you think Democrats should compromise on?

BRAZILE: Well, we have a long list. Let's start with healthcare. The majority of people still want us to lower prices and give people more access, infrastructure. That's another area where I think Democrats will stand up and applaud the president.

MACCALLUM: Let me just stop you there, right there, because I just want to put something up this is from The Intercept. And it goes to the question of Kamala Harris' and others who are talking about Medicare for all. And according to this headline today, top Nancy Pelosi aide privately tells insurance executives not to worry about Democrats pushing Medicare for all. So, which one is it?

BRAZILE: Well, we are going to have a big policy debate on single payer, Medicare for All, Medicare Extra. In fact, I wrote down the other day Medicare for All, Medicare Extra for all, Medicare Advantage for all. These are all legislative proposals.

We have a long conversation throughout the Democratic primary process where these candidates will have to explain what they mean. Will this -- will this, you know, remove some of us from having our own private insurance? Will this expand Medicare? Will it allow people over 55 to be able to have access to Medicare? What about private plans?

This is a Canadian plan? Australian plan? I have read so much about healthcare I'm thinking about going to medical school. It is so confusing. I should have gone to medical school.

MACCALLUM: Before I let you go, is there an agreement for border security and DACA, something similar to what was talking about at the beginning of last year that Chuck Schumer was in favor of?

BRAZILE: And the Democrats were ready to compromise in December and everything got, you know, tore apart.

MACCALLUM: Are they ready now?

BRAZILE: I hope so. And I hope that we can avoid, you know, declaring a national emergency. I do believe that we can find common ground it takes leadership. Get rid of all of this name-calling. Let's come together, let's find common ground. I do believe, first of all, I think we all agree no more government shutdown. But I do believe we can find common ground.

MACCALLUM: Including border security.

BRAZILE: Democrats have always been for border security.

MACCALLUM: For the -- a barrier, some kind of barrier.

BRAZILE: Well, I don't get into the semantics of the wall, the fences, the slats whatever.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Yes. Or whatever that stops people from coming over illegally.

BRAZILE: Whatever it is that prevents people from coming here illegally. But we need to have broader conversation about immigration reform and all the other steps we need to take to protect not just our border but protect those who have come here seeking asylum but now they cannot reunite with their families.

MACCALLUM: Donna, thank you. Good to see you.

BRAZILE: Always a pleasure. I hope you enjoy it tonight.

MACCALLUM: Absolutely. We always do, right?

BRAZILE: Absolutely.

MACCALLUM: Pomp and circumstances you say.

BRAZILE: You know what? I'm looking forward to the day --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: It's a special night.

BRAZILE: I'm looking forward to the day when a woman can deliver the State of the Union.

MACCALLUM: Me too.

BRAZILE: There you go.

MACCALLUM: Me too.

BRAZILE: I will come back with you. OK?

MACCALLUM: I look forward to it.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Thanks, Donna. Good to see you tonight.

All right. Coming up next, police facing off with hundreds of migrants who were trying to enter the United States. Look at this scene. This is the south of the border. These are Mexican police lined up all along that border as the president gets ready to deliver his State of the Union tonight.

Griff Jenkins is live there with the story for us this evening. And Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw on how to convince the skeptics that this is a crisis, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So, tonight's State of the Union to shed some light on President Trump's next move on border security which could be any number of alternatives from what we're hearing.

Earlier today, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stating, quote, "Illegal entry will not be tolerated and we stand ready to prevent it," which is what she has been saying all along. Her comments were in response to this rising tensions that we're seeing in Mexico.

Armed police in riot gear have lined up to greet a caravan of nearly 2,000 migrants at the border city near a Texas port of entry.

Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins has the inside story from Mexico tonight. Good evening, Griff.

GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Martha, just two miles to my north, if I was one of these 2,000 migrants and got outside of this fence, I can make it right to the Rio Grande, the river that separates Eagle Pass, Texas from Piedras Negras but as you can see a robust show of force Mexican federal, state and local authorities as well as the military police coming out.

The mayor here of Piedras Negras telling me that they wanted to contain the migrants because of the fear that they might get out and try go to the U.S. or they might try and blend in to the community here.

The mayor's concern for the safety of the community as well as you see the immigration officials taking some of the migrants out and they're taking them to do quick run to the store, some are families. They need milk. They need diapers. The various necessities but they are by and large being held inside of here.

The governor of this northern state, Coahuila, his name is Miguel Riquelme, he says that the migrants that have already applied for the temporary asylum in Mexico that was offered a few weeks ago, they are OK. They have identification. They can stay here for up to one year come and go as they please.

But the ones that have no identification are forced to stay inside here and they are investigating whether or not they will apply, succeed in applying for the Mexican asylum or they will be deported immediately and it's caused restlessness amongst the migrants here who fear that they could be ultimately deported.

Meanwhile, across the border in Eagle Pass, Texas the border patrol officials there the chief Matt Hudak of the Del Rio sector says they are taking every measure possible to be prepared should some of these more than 2,000 migrants get outside of this gate.

There was a rare appearance a little earlier today from the sheriff of Maverick County. He said he wanted to talk to his partners in the relationship that we have between the border cities to ensure that they are doing everything they can in a humanitarian sense to help these people but, also, the great concerns that obviously the U.S. has about some of these folks coming out.

A quick note, you also see amongst them a few people in white coats in the Red Cross. There is a significant health risk as many of them on this long journey have respiratory infections, gastrointestinal conditions. At least one confirmed case of AIDS. And a few people showing symptoms of what they believed to be swine flu, they have isolated them. But for now, that's the situation inside the shelter in Piedras Negras. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Griff Jenkins, thank you very much, Griff.

So here now with more, Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw of Texas. Congressman, welcome. Good to have you back on The Story tonight. Thanks for being here --

(CROSSTALK)

REP. DAN CRENSHAW, R-TX: Thank you for having me.

MACCALLUM: -- on State of the Union night. What's your reaction to what you see there?

CRENSHAW: Well, it's an indication that we need to be working with Mexico on this issue. I have written about this in the past where they need to be our partners on this. They have just as much of an interest in securing their border as we do.

I was down on the border this past weekend and one thing I noticed was the secure fencing on our side but also on their side because border security matters to every country. It's how we -- it's how we implement our rule of law. It's how we maintain our sovereignty.

MACCALLUM: Yes. He was talking about the Rio Grande area which is really where the majority or the plurality, I guess, 40 percent of the illegal traffic comes right through that area. And you say there's always been a plan for that area.

CRENSHAW: Right. Border patrol agents have been putting forth their requests on where they believe they need additional fencing, where they believe they need additional technology. Drones, sensor technology and more personnel.

This isn't some new plan. This is what I want everyone to understand. President Trump didn't just make this up out of the blue that $5.7 billion came from somewhere. It came from experts at the Department of Homeland Security. It always has.

And I think that's the big miscommunication that's occurred in the public discourse about this. It's more than just laws. It's also additional technology. It's additional detention facilities and additional immigration judges. This is a multifaceted approach.

There are three prongs to this. Infrastructure, personnel, technology but then the legal side too. All right? Can we adjudicate these cases quickly and turn them around so there is no incentive to bring kids across the border and stay here?

MACCALLUM: Yes. We have spoken with Leader McConnell earlier. And he was talking about the fact that these experts are going to come in and talk to the members of the conferees and, you know, give them the very latest on this as well.

And then there is news this evening that Mick Mulvaney the chief of staff is potentially meeting with some Democrats at Camp David this weekend. You know, what's your sense of your Democratic colleagues and how they are really feeling about this situation? Are they with Nancy Pelosi or are they starting to think that maybe there is some sense here?

CRENSHAW: Well, they're split. You know, in private I have many, many Democrats who said when I showed them the plan that we were actually talking about not some 2,000-mile wall but the actual plan. You know, they would say I'm not against that but we don't want to talk about it while the government is closed. OK. Fair enough in the government is open now.

And so, let's actually talk about this and explain to us why you might be against this because really what we are talking about with this additional fencing is just -- it's an ongoing operation that's been going on ever since the Secure Fence Act of 2006. So, there is a lot who should be on board. If they said they were. Let's vote that way.

MACCALLUM: So, there's always a lot of guests in the hall --

CRENSHAW: Yes.

MACCALLUM: -- on State of the Union night. People bring people who represent a cause that they are very interested in. Who are you bringing?

CRENSHAW: Well, you know, everybody is free to bring whoever they want to make a political statement. I am making a big statement as well, that I want my beautiful wife to be there. So, it's our first State of the Union together.

MACCALLUM: She is a cause you believe in.

CRENSHAW: Absolutely. I better. Yes.

MACCALLUM: That's great. We will be looking for you and your beautiful wife as everyone files in. Thank you very much, Congressman Crenshaw.

CRENSHAW: Thanks for having me, Martha.

MACCALLUM: Good to talk to you again.

So breaking news tonight that we are just absorbing here that has crossed a few moments ago on Elizabeth Warren, a document that has just surfaced that will potentially complicate her campaign as she thinks about a 2020 presidential run, when we come back, don't miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: We are just getting this breaking news story coming in moments ago. It is a report by The Washington Post that has uncovered something from Elizabeth Warren's past that could be a little bit of a complication in her run for president especially given all the attention that this has gotten recently most of it coming from her.

This is a registration card for the Texas bar. It's dated May 6th, 1986. It is signed by Elizabeth Warren, according to this The Washington Post report. It lists her, quite clearly as her race American Indian.

Earlier today, Warren had issued another apology for taking the DNA test to prove her Indian heritage and, again, insisted that she never used her ethnicity to further her career.

But just a few hours later this surfacing through an open records request that was made as I said by The Washington Post. So, we will wait to see if there is reaction from Elizabeth Warren on this and we will bring you more on this story as it develops this evening.

So that's the State of the Union music. It means we are just an hour away now from President Trump's address to a divided Congress tonight.

Chief White House correspondent John Roberts is live with new details on what we can expect from the president tonight. Hi, John.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Martha, good evening to you. I don't believe the president will use this new news about Elizabeth Warren tonight though reserve that for future use.

The president will basically break his State of the Union down into six main themes. Immigration will be first and foremost among them as well as infrastructure, healthcare and drug pricing trade, deregulation and foreign policy, national security, including North Korea.

The president may, I'm told, announce a date and a country for his next meeting with Kim Jong-un that probably wouldn't nail it down to a specific city. He might not even go there at all tonight. The sources I talked to weren't quite sure about that. Da Nang, Vietnam, by the way is one of the top contenders for the city.

Stephen Biegun who is the special envoy for North Korea is in Pyongyang. It's just now 8 o'clock in the morning there to have meetings to nail down all of the final details. We'll see how quickly he gets that done.

Of all the topics tonight immigration, no question, will be the most divisive but, among some of the other topics that we laid out there for you, Sarah Huckabee Sanders told our Bret Baier earlier this evening she believes there is plenty of room for bipartisan cooperation. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We know we can do it because we have done it. Even in the last several months if you just look at criminal justice reform, I think it's a perfect example of Democrats and Republicans seeing a problem, working together to find a solution, and the president led that effort.

We can do that again and there are a number of fronts that we agree on and the president is going to lay out that case tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Hanging over all of this, of course, is that February 15th deadline to reach an agreement to keep the government open or face either another shutdown or an emergency declaration by the president.

Fox News is told that officials from Customs and Border Protection are going to the Hill tomorrow to talk to the conferees about what they see is a need for a border barrier. I don't know if that will fly with them. But the conferees have to come up with something pretty quick, Martha. Otherwise the president is going it pull the trigger on one of his two options.

MACCALLUM: Indeed. John, thank you very much. John Roberts at the White House tonight. And when we come back, House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: Live look tonight at Capitol Hill where things are buzzing as everybody is getting ready for the big address this evening.

Here now House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Good to see you this evening, Leader McCarthy. Thank you very much for joining us.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF., MINORITY LEADER: Thank you for having me, Martha.

MACCALLUM: So, I just want to get your reaction to this breaking news that we just reported. I'm not sure if you had a chance to look at this yet. But Elizabeth Warren who has apologized several times for, you know, suggesting over the course of her career that she was part American Indian and apologizing for a DNA test that she took as well as early as today.

This is the - her application for the Texas Bar where she put as race American Indian on this card. How much of a problem do you think that is for this potential candidate?

MCCARTHY: Well, I have watched the senator's roll out for president probably one of the worst rollouts. She has probably had one of worst months and when you came apologizing after you rolled out numerous times and going to have to continue, it looks as though I wonder how long she will even be able to stay in this race. It may have passed her by already.

MACCALLUM: We'll see. Official rollout has been underway and expected soon. So, definitely a tricky evening for Elizabeth Warren. We are waiting for her response to this and we are going to report it as soon as it comes in.

With regard to the situation over the border, a potential second shutdown that could be in the works here. Do you have to have some kind of agreement by Friday essentially in order to avert a shutdown?

MCCARTHY: In concept, you do have to have it by Friday. You have got to get the legislation work together to be able to post it for the next week and go forward. The real challenge here is there is one person that's trying to find common ground and that's the president. Think about what he has offered. He listened to the experts. He put forward a bill that would have common ground, common sense, but he also offered something more to deal with the DACA situation.

And, remember, when Speaker Pelosi just a year ago this month was Leader Pelosi, she gave the longest speech in the history of Congress, all on one issue, DACA. This is an opportunity,

America understands that the way our government worked is we are supposed to find common ground. No one can get 100 percent of what they want. But Speaker Pelosi is just trying to have status quo where nothing happened. You don't solve the DACA problem. You don't solve the border problem. And that is not a success.

That's why the president has really leaned in. We brought members together where we could find a solution and there are about 60 Democrats on the other side who said they would fund part of the wall and a lot of them happened to be in her leadership.

MACCALLUM: Yes, but it doesn't sound like the president is going to offer any kind of broader immigration suggestion tonight that would include those things again. It sounds like it's mostly going to be about his commitment to getting a wall. Is that correct? Is that your understanding?

MCCARTHY: I was talking to the president this morning. He is very committed to making sure he gets the wall. But what I really hope listeners listen to the president's speech, look at the families.

You know the number of Angel families I've met tonight from across the country that have lost a loved one based upon the failure of this border? Let's listen to them. Let's put people before politics. Let's take the emotions out and find common ground. We can do this. We have done it on bigger issues before. We can do it again.

MACCALLUM: Word is that the chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is going to gather some House Democrats at Camp David over the weekend. What do you know about that and who is included?

MCCARTHY: Well, Mick was just left my office. It's really the conference committee. This is made up of Republicans and Democrats. They are in the Senate and the House. And they have only met once. But I think it's a very smart idea.

Get a little outside of Washington. Put the individuals together. And they will be -- everybody on the conference committee get them together for a weekend and don't let them leave. You know, take the suits off. And sit in there --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: I think that's a great idea.

MCCARTHY: -- in comfortable clothes and talk about the real problem. It's a great idea.

MACCALLUM: I think Americans love that -- love that idea. Lindsey Graham has suggested that you don't need a national emergency. All you need to do is just put those members of the military to work and have them start building a wall while they are already assigned there. Could that work? Fifteen seconds I've got.

MCCARTHY: It could work. But wouldn't it be better if we legislatively fixed this problem that we rose to the occasion? That when the president talks about the exceptionalism of America, we show it one more time right now that we come together? Look, I will work with anyone that wants to put America first and move forward and we can make this happen.

MACCALLUM: All right. We'll be watching. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, thank you very much, sir. Good to have you with us. I will be seeing one hour from now, 9:00 Eastern live coverage.

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