This is a rush transcript from "The Story," July 10, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS HOST: Hey, John. Good weekend to you, sir. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
GALLAGHER: I'm Trace Gallagher in for Martha MacCallum, and this is "The Story." Tonight we are hearing that at any moment President Trump could commute Roger Stone's prison sentence. We'll bring you more on that if and when it happens.
But first to a raging debate affecting more than 56 million students across the nation, reopening America's schools. There is fear and uncertainty over how to get kids back in their school safely and properly as questions about COVID-19 remain. But students staying at home comes with its own set of risks and challenges for parents who need to return to work.
CDC Director Robert Redfield saying, quoting here, "I'm of the point of view as a public health leader in this nation, that having the schools actually closed is a greater public health threat to the children than having the schools reopen."
The American Academy of Pediatrics, after strongly advocating for in-person learning is now joining with teachers' unions and superintendents in firing back against that notion, releasing a statement today that says, a one size fits all approach is not appropriate, and that recommendations should be made based on evidence, not politics.
Meantime, President Trump is doubling down on his threat to withhold funds if school doors stay shut. Tweeting in part here, "Schools must be open in the fall. If not open, why would the federal government give funding? It won't."
So where do we go from here? We begin tonight with Lily Eskelsen Garcia, President of the National Education Association, a union of 3 million members, most of them educators. Mrs. Eskelsen Garcia, thank you so much for coming on tonight. You say that what we need for the students in this time of COVID is more money. Why so ma'am?
LILY ESKELSEN GARCIA, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: Let's talk about what we need. We need to have disinfected schools and that - and we need to have hand washing stations, and we need to have the ability to distance those kids.
We need everything that the CDC guidance is telling us that we need to make sure our schools can open safely. And so, that's what we've asked for Congress to consider public schools in the same way they considered those business investments where they gave a lot of businesses money.
We actually supported that, because it's our students' families that were supported by that bill. And we said, now, time to open those schools safely. Here are things that are in no one's budget, and it's at a time when the local revenue that funds that public school has fallen off the cliff. So we're going to need some federal help.
We were just stunned to hear a Donald Trump say you're - I'm not going to give you any help. There's no help that we can get. We don't have the budget for disinfectants and hand sanitizers. We're going to need some help.
GALLAGHER: And you've made it clear, ma'am, that you're not a big fan of the President. You have come out against him a couple of times. I want to play this soundbite of what you said. It created a little bit of controversy this week and then get your reaction on the flip side of this. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESKELSEN GARCIA: We see what happens when they let bars open prematurely. This isn't a bar. We're talking about second graders. I have 39 sixth graders, one year, in my class. I double dog dare Donald Trump to sit in a class of 39 sixth graders and breathe that air without any preparation for how we're going to bring our kids back safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And yet ma'am, you have all these critics saying, you know, the teachers' unions the first thing they always want is money and there really is a safe way to bring these kids back and they're not paying attention to that. Your response.
ESKELSEN GARCIA: I had one reporter that said, why are you asking for money? What we need her Plexiglas. And I went, oh my gosh, tell me where they're giving away Plexiglas or hand sanitizer. Or where we're going to keep from laying off a million teachers when we need that many more?
Of course, for a business - and please, I just want - I want folks to understand, we understood why they gave a trillion dollars to help - in this crisis to help businesses. Nobody expected anything like this. It does take an emergency mindset.
But when we said OK, here's some things we don't have and our funding has fallen off the cliff. Donald Trump said, oh, it's dead on arrival when we got this HEROES Act out of the House and now it's in the Senate and no one is talking - no one is using the word safely. How do we open the world our schools safely?
GALLAGHER: Well, the President of the American Federation of Teachers says - they're saying there is a way to do it safely. I want to play this for you. This is the counter thought on this and then get your response quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: But teachers all across America, know that it's important to get our kids back to school, at least in a hybrid model, and my union is trying to do this every single day. We have people working on reopening plans.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I hear that. But let me ask this--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: A reopening plans, not asking for money. They're saying there's a way to do it. And the way to do it is now and money is just an excuse. Your final thought.
ESKELSEN GARCIA: No, no, no. The AFT and the NEA, we are sister organizations on this. We are fighting for the HEROES Act together. And by the way, the NEA - 3 million - bus drivers, you name it. We are all over the country and always are serving children. And what we're asking for is what we need to do this safely.
There is no one - there is not an infectious disease professional. There is not an educator. And by the way, I don't think there's a parent - not a Republican parent, not a Democratic parent that thinks that teachers can pull out of their own pockets to buy these things. It will take a lot of money. Just for the face masks alone millions of dollars. But help us like they helped businesses, and we can do it.
GALLAGHER: Lily Eskelsen Garcia, we certainly appreciate your point of view. Thank you so much for coming on.
Also, here tonight, Rebecca Friedrichs, is a former teacher's union representative. And you say that the way to get kids back in school is to get rid of the unions, to get rid of the school board, stop listening to them. And your point on that is, is how exactly?
REBECCA FRIEDRICHS, FMR TEACHERS UNION REPRESENTATIVE: Absolutely. Thank you for saying that. So as I hear Lily Eskelsen Garcia, I was forced to accept her representation for 28 painful years.
You know, as a teacher who - I've been in classrooms with 40 children and loved every single one of them, and no, they were not full of germs. And all I can say is there's plenty of money. But what America needs to know is that Marxists are posing as teachers' unions, and they are greedy, and all they are is about themselves at the expense of children.
They are always pushing a radical leftist political agenda. And they are never standing up for teachers or for children. And I worked on the inside to try to make a difference and make a voice a voice for teachers. They brutalized me. They've spit upon my friends, people at the NEA. They have boot us off the platform, when we try to speak out for what's right for children. So I don't buy it.
GALLAGHER: Really, Rebecca, the question I wonder is, I guess that you are clearly not on board with the teachers' unions, the school boards and so forth. But what do you say to all those who say - even lawyers and so forth, that liability here is just so high that when you put these kids back in classrooms, if they get sick. If they get sick in the cafeteria and you're closing down cafeterias. What do you say to them when they say, we're just not quite ready.
FRIEDRICHS: Sure. Well, that's the same argument that the teachers' unions have been using to teachers like myself for decades. They terrified all of us and told us, oh, you need us because you need liability insurance, because everyone's going to sue you.
Well, I don't know any teachers who have been sued. I do know teachers who've been harassed and the unions did not protect them. So I think this is fear mongering. Parents care a lot and parents need to get back to work and kids need to get back to learning. Our parents do need to realize our schools are - if they're union controlled, they're not safe.
We do need President Trump's education reform package. I'm cheering for that so that parents can choose the right schools for their kids and those schools can work with parents. And I don't see all this all this soon coming if we can give parents a voice and give them choice.
GALLAGHER: Right. I want to point out that the United Teachers of Los Angeles - we don't have time to put it on the screen. They have come out saying, you know what, we're going to keep kids home. The first major union in the country to say we're going to keep kids home for at least the first part of the fall semester. Quickly your thought on that.
FRIEDRICHS: Yes, well, I'm not surprised, because during the middle of COVID that same union fought so that their teachers would only have to teach four hours a day, while they were being paid full.
Now, you need to understand the teachers in this country are wonderful, amazing people. But these unions have brought their activists into our profession and they're destroying us. Please America rescue teachers from these unions and rescue our kids too
GALLAGHER: Rebecca Friedrichs, good to have you on tonight. Thank you.
FRIEDRICHS: Thank you.
GALLAGHER: Well, any moment now we're hearing that President Trump may issue of commutation for Roger Stone, a longtime ally of the President who was charged for attempting to undermine Robert Mueller's investigation. A live report from Washington when "The Story" continues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER STONE, POLITICAL CONSULTANT: There is no circumstance whatsoever under which I will bear false witness against the president, nor will I make up lies to ease the pressure on myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALLAGHER: Breaking tonight, Fox News has learned President Trump is expected to commute Roger Stone sentence just days before Stone is set to report to prison for charges stemming from the Mueller investigation.
White House Correspondent Kevin Corke live for us in Washington, Kevin.
KEVIN CORKE, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Evening, Trace. As the President left the White House en route to Florida for a series of events today, he was actually asked about the prospect of issuing that pardon to Stone who, as you know, was convicted in a trial last year of lying to Congress and witness tampering. He is 67. He now faces three years, four months behind bars.
The President has been talking a lot about this topic recently. And here's what he told reporters today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'll be looking at it. I think Roger Stone was very unfairly treated as were many people. And in the meantime, Comey and all these guys are walking around, including Biden and Obama, because we caught them spying on my campaign, who would have believed that one?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORKE: President was actually pushed further on this topic last night in an exclusive interview here on Fox.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via telephone): I am always thinking. So you'll be watching like everybody else in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORKE: Speaking there to Sean Hannity. Now for his part, the Attorney General of the United States, Bill Barr, has according to sources, asked the President to tread lightly with respect to Stone. After all, in his opinion, there was nothing wrong with the 40-month sentence handed down and in his case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We left it to the judge, and she imposed the sentence that I actually thought was reasonable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORKE: Now, the President, for those of you're keeping score, has actually issued nine commutations during his time in office, including four of them in February, among them, Rod Blagojevich.
And Trace I can tell you, we've just actually received word that Stone's appeal has been denied. His appeal that is to push back his reporting date to jail. Right now he's supposed to report to the prison on July the 14th. That is, of course Bastille Day. He was hoping to push that back because of COVID concerns maybe to September. That request has been denied. We'll see if or when the President decides to issue a commutation, Trace.
GALLAGHER: We will indeed Kevin Corke live for us in Washington. Kevin. Thank you.
Let's bring in Robert Ray. He joins me now. He's a former federal prosecutor who was also a member of President Trump's impeachment legal team. Mr. Ray, you kind of heard there. Kevin Corke breaking the news, saying that, that it does not look like Roger Stone is going to get relief from the courts. He does have to go to prison or at least he's scheduled to go to prison on Tuesday. Though, it looks like the President will pull up short of a full pardon, but may commute Roger Stone sentence. Your thoughts on that, sir.
ROBERT RAY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: You know, I think that's right. I think it's reserved for those rare cases of commutation that is where the President with some justification believes that Roger Stone was singled out for a political persecution rather than a fair prosecution.
It's not a pardon, so that I expect that you'll see the President act not later than Monday, and it will preserve Roger Stone's right to pursue his appeal on the merits. He has a significant issue with regard to the - I think the foreperson of the jury. But it presents a particular problem for the Justice Department, because it involved obstruction of justice, false statements and lying to Congress.
I think that Bill Barr probably has zeroed in on the, the correct tone here, which is to tread lightly. The sentence was fair, I think, in his estimation. And I think he believes that this prosecution, unlike some others, had merit.
GALLAGHER: It's interesting you say it could happen as late as Monday and we're hearing worse it could happen any moment right now. If it does, of course, we will break in with the breaking news.
Roger Stone, whether it's a pardon or commutation, he doesn't care. And he says, and I'm quoting here, "Either one obviously would have an effect, in my opinion, of saving my life. I have deep concerns about going to prison where there absolutely is COVID virus and therefore, either one would have an effect of saving my life. If I should be fortunate enough to get a commutation, I would continue to fight for vindication."
Yes, the COVID argument didn't work. And a lot of people thought that it might. You go before a judge, 67 years old, has maybe some underlying conditions, and some thought the argument, at least temporarily, would work. Is your - are you surprised it did not in the courts?
RAY: No, I'm not surprised. I mean, some of those applications have worked and some others haven't. He's certainly in the target group as far as his age and his overall health, I suspect. But, look, if mercy needs to be tendered here - and it seems like that's what this is being set up to do. It's the appropriate a prerogative of the President to do so. And I think he can walk away from this, somewhat similar to what George W. Bush did in connection with the Scooter Libby case.
It wasn't a full pardon initially. It was a commutation. Ultimately, he was pardoned, later by President Trump. But I think that's the appropriate exercise of discretion here. So I think that's a - it's an appropriate resolution of this where I think the President and the Attorney General may differ about what the end result should be. But I think probably all are in agreement, that there's a measure of mercy should be extended.
GALLAGHER: Right. And that's what I was going to ask you there. You know, you have the Attorney General saying, you know what, look, I think he was - this prosecution was justified. President saying, that sounds like he's going to complete the sentence. Are you surprised at all that the President so quickly decided, you know what, I think I'm going to do this with the Attorney General saying maybe you should just kind of tread lightly?
RAY: Look, it's ultimately the President's decision. No one is questioning that. Bill Barr, I'm sure has weighed in and made his recommendation and I'm sure the President will listen. Whether he decides to agree with it or not, obviously, is the President's choice.
GALLAGHER: Yes. Robert Ray. Good to see you, sir. Thank you for coming on.
RAY: Thanks very much. Have a nice weekend.
GALLAGHER: You too. And again, the breaking news, we just mentioned there is that Roger stone went to the courts. He was hoping for relief. They didn't give it to him, so he does have to report to prison on Tuesday. If the commutation comes down during this hour, we of course will break in and bring you that news.
Meantime, China lashing out tonight after the U.S. imposes sanctions against the Communist Party for the mass detention of Muslims. And the World Health Organization sends an envoy to investigate possible wrongdoing at the outset of the pandemic. Congressman Guy Reschenthaler is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALLAGHER: A team from the World Health Organization making its way to China to set up an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. President Trump and Secretary Mike Pompeo have both said evidence suggests the virus originated in a Wuhan lab, an allegation Chinese officials have vehemently denied.
With me now is Congressman Guy Reschenthaler, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, good to see you. Are you curious about timing at all? Why now? Why is the World Health Organization sending a team to China now? Have anything to do, do you suspect, with the President pulling funding away from W.H.O.?
REP. GUY RESCHENTHALER (R-PA): Trace, thanks for having me on? First of all - first off, think about it, less than 72 hours ago, the President pulled funding or at least told the UN that we were going to pull out of the World Health Organization to the tune of $400 million being directed by the United States, not the World Health Organization.
So I think this investigation is a little too little, too late. And at the end of the day, we know what's going to be in this report. The World Health Organization is going to report exactly what the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, allows it to report.
GALLAGHER: Yes, and here's the here's the deal. The way this goes down, they're telling us that, the W.H.O. team will actually work with some Chinese scientists. And the question becomes, will the Chinese just guide this thing? Will they cooperate? Is it open?
The Chinese Foreign Minister says this, quoting here. "China took the lead in inviting W.H.O. experts to investigate and discuss the scientific virus tracing. The purpose is to contribute to a more effective global epidemic response and a global public health cooperation. It demonstrates that China takes on its responsibility as a major country in contrast to the U.S., which keeps shirking its responsibility for the incompetence of its epidemic response."
So they have a statement and they take a swipe at the U.S. here. The question that everybody's asking is, the evidence of that Wuhan market is gone. There's no evidence. So how do you conduct a study when you do not have the evidence to conduct it with?
RESCHENTHALER: Well, Trace allowing the World Health Organization to investigate China is like having El Chapo investigate the Mexican drug cartels. It's absolutely laughable. And let's get one thing straight.
They they're saying this is going to be an envoy or a team of scientists, the World Health Organization is sending to two scientists. They're going to be supervised by the Chinese Communist Party the entire time. They're in Wuhan.
And we do know that the Chinese have not handed over documents. A lot of the evidence has gone missing conveniently. And so, I think that again, at the end of the day, the World Health Organization is going to report whatever the World Health - whatever the Chinese Communist Party tells them to report.
And Trace, we know the World Health Organization is continuing to perpetuate these lies. They're still - they still have information on their webpage that the Chinese reported this disease first. That's not true. They learnt about it from American webpages. The World Health Organization continued to parrot Chinese talking points, saying this didn't spread person-to-person for months.
GALLAGHER: I'm wondering if you look at big picture - the whole thing, the totality of our relationship with China and the acrimony that appears to be building in. And now China comes out and says, they want nothing to do with the trilateral talks with Russia, and with the United States, concerning maybe limiting nuclear weapons.
What do you make of the relationship going forward between the United States? Are we inching toward another Cold War?
RESCHENTHALER: Trace, we're already in a Cold War with China. China has overtly said they want to be the world's superpower, and they want to do it by 2049. They've escalated that timeframe to be 2029. We are already in a Cold War, whether we like it or not.
But the fact that we're having these negotiations on nuclear weapons without China is foolhardy. We know that China is our adversary right now, Russia is certainly too, but China is our main adversary. And to limit ourselves bilaterally with Russia to tie our hands when China is projected to double - double the amount of nuclear weapons they have within 10 years, we can't tie our hands. We've got to take the threat from China seriously. And if we're going to limit our nuclear weapons, China has to as well.
GALLAGHER: And then you toss in the Chinese crackdown of Hong Kong and it gets a little bit dicey going forward. Congressman Reschenthaler, thank you for joining us, sir. We appreciate it.
RESCHENTHALER: Thank you, Trace. GALLAGHER: Well, attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell file new court papers today arguing their client, quote, "is not Jeffrey Epstein" and requesting that she be released on bail. Women's rights attorney Gloria Allred represents one of Epstein's accusers and says Maxwell helped groom these women. We'll have more on that when The Story continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALLAGHER: Breaking tonight, two arrests in the murder of 11-year-old Davon McNeal who were shot to death at a July 4th cookout in Washington, D.C., police have now arrested 18-year-old Daryle Bond and Christian Wingfield and are searching for a third suspect all with gun related criminal histories.
Police say Carlo General, he is the third suspect, and Christian Wingfield had both been arrested for felony firearms possession but released back into the community on probation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER NEWSHAM, POLICE CHIEF, WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE DEPARTMENT: The fact that we had two guys that were arrested that had previously been convicted, had subsequently gone out and picked up illegal firearm in our community and were back out on the street is very troubling and scary to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Yes. We have heard this story over and over again, Wingfield was reportedly released from jail because of the COVID-19 threats.
And developing tonight, attorneys for Ghislaine Maxwell, former girlfriend and longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein arguing today for a $5 million bail ahead of her arraignment on Tuesday. Citing her risk to COVID-19 exposure in prison. Maxwell who was arrested last week is accused of recruiting and trafficking underage victims for Epstein, and in some instances allegedly abusing them herself.
Her attorney denying the charges today saying, quote, here, "sometimes the simplest point is the most critical one. Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein."
My next guest represents Epstein accuser Alicia Arden who was shamed when she reported her attack in 1997.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA ARDEN, JEFFREY EPSTEIN ACCUSER: I told the police that I did not ask or give permission to be touched or to have Epstein start taking my clothes off. I thought I was going to a legitimate audition for Victoria Secrets. And he took advantage of me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Women's rights attorney Gloria Allred joins me now. Gloria, it's always great to see you. I just want to clarify here. We heard the last part of that. What your client is saying is that she thought she was going to see Jeffrey Epstein for an interview to become a Victoria Secret model. Instead she was sexually abused.
And your allegation is, you know, the bottom line here is that Ghislaine Maxwell groomed these girls, these underage girls so that Epstein could do just that.
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR WEINSTEIN ACCUSERS: Well, that's the allegation in the indictment of Ms. Maxwell. My client Ms. Arden was not underage when she went to see Jeffrey Epstein and it was arranged by someone named Kimberly according to Ms. Arden who spoke to Kimberly on the phone but she doesn't know if that person who said she was Kimberly was in fact Kimberly or someone with a different name saying she was Kimberly.
By the way, I do represent 17 accusers of Jeffrey Epstein. Including some who were underage victims of Jeffrey Epstein.
GALLAGHER: Yes. And what's the -- what's the theme here, Gloria, what's the pattern that these women are telling you that it involves Ghislaine Maxwell. Is there something that you're saying a common denominator that all these victims share?
ALLRED: Well, I'd rather not comment on what they told me because that would be attorney-client privilege, confidential information. I will say that those of my clients who were underage have spoken to law enforcement, have spoken to prosecutors in the Southern District of New York who are prosecuting this case, law enforcement and so they have disclosed what they allege in reference to not only Mr. Epstein but anything that they might have known if they came into contact with Ms. Maxwell.
And it's also possible that in the future that the government will amend the indictment potentially add more charges against Ms. Maxwell. So, I don't want to comment on what the evidence might be or if they will do it because only they know if they will do it what evidence that they have that they might present and who, if anyone, they might add as potential victims.
GALLAGHER: And what about the prospect of Ghislaine Maxwell cooperating with federal authorities and may be turning on some of Jeffrey Epstein's inner circle, with that, you think, lead to --
(CROSSTALK)
ALLRED: Well, that's --
GALLAGHER: Go ahead.
ALLRED: Well that's really important point that you raise because what if she decides that she would like to try to make a deal, and of course that would require the government, the Justice Department to say that they will offer a deal, to lesser charges than she is charged with right now and she's charged with very serious felonies which if she were convicted, she could end up potentially being sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.
If she wants to make out a deal she's going to have to be a cooperator as well, she's going to have to sit and answer all the questions that the FBI and prosecutors asked her. She's going to have to answer them truthfully. And that might mean answering questions about powerful men --
GALLAGHER: Yes.
ALLRED: -- who were in the circle, the orbit of Jeffrey Epstein and Ms. Maxwell. Of course, we know that Ms. Maxwell introduced Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein, that Prince Andrew actually stayed at the Manhattan residence of Prince Andrew -- of Jeffrey Epstein and at some other properties that he had and of course there was that Ms. Maxwell's home as well in London.
GALLAGHER: And Attorney General Bill Barr have said he would like to speak with Prince Andrew. He doesn't know that he will speak to him or would like to speak to him, but regardless is going forward. The last word for you, ma'am.
ALLRED: Yes. And I think that Prince Andrew needs to speak to the FBI before Ms. Maxwell does. It would be essential and it's time for a Prince Andrew to stop dragging his feet and making excuses, he needs to just step up to the plate as many other people have until everything that he knows sooner rather than later. The victims deserve it.
GALLAGHER: Yes. It's also notable that Ghislaine Maxwell is under suicide watch, there is great concern that she may take her own life.
Gloria Allred, thank you for coming on. Great to see you.
ALLRED: You too. Thank you.
GALLAGHER: Well, Senator Kelly Loeffler is now part owner, well she has been part owner of an NBA -- WNBA team and strongly opposed to a plan for the words black lives matter on warm up jerseys. Now her quote, "race- baiting is a ploy to gain votes in a tight Senate race." The senator is here to respond to that next. And then reaction from Victor Davis Hanson, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALLAGHER: One Republican senator's stance on the black lives matter movement inspiring swift and ongoing backlash. Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler is part owner of the WNBA team the Atlanta Dream and spoke out against the plan for players wearing warm-up jerseys with black lives matter and say her name on them. Even doubling down by calling BLM a, quote, "radical movement that seeks to destroy American principles."
Critics now say her stance is a political ploy to gain votes in a tight race to retain her Senate seat. As one Washington Post op-ed puts it, quoting, "she betrayed the WNBA using its support of black lives matter to manufacture a strawman for her political pandering."
Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia joins us now. You are against the WNBA players -- Senator Loeffler, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it. You are against them wearing black lives matter on their warm-up jerseys because you disagree with black lives matter as a political movement, is that a fair assessment?
SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): Well, thanks for having me on, Trace. That's right. Look, there's a big difference between the statement black lives matter. Of course, the life of every African-American matters, we have to root out racism where it exists.
But the political organization Black Lives Matter is very different. It has Marxist foundations and it's important that people understand what their goals are because sports should be about unifying.
Look, I grew up playing sports. All of us around the country wanted our sports during the pandemic, they have the power to unite us like nothing else and in fact, you know, this is the opportunity.
But this political platform, black lives matter, is funded through ActBlue which raises money for liberal organizations and Democrats. It has the objective of defunding the police, of defunding the military, destroying the nuclear family, it's anti-Semitic, it promotes violence in our cities and I think it's very important that Americans know this.
GALLAGHER: Yes. You say we need less politics in sports. The journalist Roxanne Jones wrote this, saying maybe you're not doing exactly that. Quoting here, "she's playing to her crowded and likely hopes her race- baiting message will resonate in November when she faces a tough special election among a field of 20 other candidates for her U.S. Senate seat.
The Republican senator was appointed back in 2019 by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and ironically or perhaps intentionally, the senator appears guilty of the very thing she's accusing the WNBA of doing, injecting politics into sports." And your response?
LOEFFLER: It's outrageous. It's absolutely outrageous because guess what, free speech applies to all Americans no matter what your political party is and the threat of being canceled because you don't toe the line with a message with a political message is dangerous. That's not what this country is about.
I mean, look, China does that when Hong Kong protests, but America doesn't do that when someone speaks out. And I have always supported my players when they have different views, I've never suggested that anyone shouldn't be on the team for having a different view.
We all love to come together and welcome, that's what makes us free as the diversity of views. And so, I find it outrageous to suggest that protecting free speech is political. It's for all Americans and I've received a tremendous support from so many saying thank you for standing up, thank you for having a backbone for our country.
GALLAGHER: What do you make of some of the -- your former players coming out against you, I mean, your opponent, clearly, Congressman Doug Collins says that you're trying to just boost your conservative credentials.
But then you have former Dream point guard Layshia Clarendon saying, who now by the way is with the New York Liberty, saying that she's kind of ashamed that she went to your house for dinner, your thoughts on that?
LOEFFLER: Well, look, Collins is always pandering to the left, to the fake news, to the liberal media. Look. This is not about me, this is not about the team, this is about the right of all Americans to be able to express themselves, whether it's a religious speech, free speech, political speech, anything, and not be canceled for it.
You know, this is what's happening across the country. You hear small businesses, large businesses saying we are being boycotted because we spoke out --
GALLAGHER: Yes.
LOEFFLER: -- about a candidate or a cause, that's just wrong. That shouldn't happen in America.
GALLAGHER: Senator Kelly Loeffler, thank you for joining us. Thank you.
LOEFFLER: Thank you, Trace.
GALLAGHER: Also, here tonight, Victor Davis Hanson, he is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of "The Case for Trump." Victor, always great to see you. What do you make of the backlash that Senator Loeffler is facing now?
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, AUTHOR, THE CASE FOR TRUMP: It's pretty protectable by now, I mean, it's kind of the psychological act of projection, whatever you do, that is you weaponize the debate, you call people racist, you deny people of free expression, then when somebody pushes back then you - then you accuse the people of doing what you're doing.
One thing, Trace, that characterizes this entire cultural revolution is, how fragile these woken people are. I mean, it's really amazing, you see these demonstrators get in the face of police and yell and scream at them and when the police pushed back, they scream as if they are in the fetal position.
And then we have this Harvard graduate who, if you remember, she made a video saying she was going to stab anybody and she did all these histrionics, melodramatic acts on film if they dare to say all lives matter and then when somebody her future employer said, you know what, we better not have you, she gets into the fetal position and starts crying that the world is unfair.
We have 150 people on the left, celebrities, artists, writers who wrote a letter saying let's not have a cancel culture, let's have freedom of expression, whatever your views on the left went nuts.
And so, they can dish it out but they can't take it and that tells you something. That if people like the senator who very bravely and strongly stood up to them, they don't have an argument. And the more that people do that the faster this cultural revolution will dissipate and we'll get back to living under a Constitution that ensures free speech.
GALLAGHER: And what do you make of Mayor Bill de Blasio in New York. I want to play this sound bite for you and then get your take on the other side.
HANSON: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY): We understand at this moment in history, people are talking about the need for historic changes. I mean, today in New York City, you know, recognizing the power and the meaning of the message black lives matter which we did in front of Trump tower today, this is a historic moment of change. We have to respect that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: He's banning all gatherings except for black lives matter protests, your thoughts?
HANSON: Well, he's dressing up Jim Crow, because that's what we got rid of in this country in the south 60 years ago, the idea that we were not going to assimilate, integrate, intermarried and be one people and judge ourselves on our character rather than our appearance.
So, he's going back to Jim Crow and he's not the only one. And Oregon County issued an edict and it was withdrawn that only white people or non- black people should wear masks, we have for these training sessions for white people only so they get into sort of a reeducation camp and confess their sins.
So, this revolution as it keeps accelerating, it's devouring liberalism, it's devouring its own, it's becoming illiberal as all cultural revolutions do and the irony is it's going right back to the pre -- it's going to the pre-civil rights neo-confederate days.
And by that I mean, they are saying segregation is OK, our race defines who we are, we want to separate from different groups and that's not what America was about, that's not why millions of people come to this country, they come here to escape all of that, not to recreate it here in the United States.
GALLAGHER: Yes. And I've only got 15, 20 seconds left, Victor, but I want to get your thoughts, as you are talking, they were showing the black lives matter, you know, the paint putting on Fifth Avenue. What do you think about that and what would happen if a Democratic mayor put -- or a Republican mayor put something like that maybe MAGA in front of Joe Biden's house or neighborhood?
HANSON: Well, we know what would happen. You can deface the street and American approve of it but if you just said all lives matter which some people have done and alter the slogan, then it's a felony. And the whole mysterious thing about this cultural revolution is these people think they are in the majority because nobody has pushed back but they have no idea that most people are not -- don't want this and are getting angrier about it every single day.
GALLAGHER: Yes.
HANSON: It's Orwellian lunacy and everybody knows it.
GALLAGHER: Victor Davis Hanson, good to see you. Thank you, sir.
HANSON: Thank you.
GALLAGHER: Well tropical storm Fay is now barreling up the East Coast with heavy rain at this hour. A live report on its path and whether it will last throughout the weekend, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALLAGHER: Breaking news, Roger Stone breathing a huge sigh of relief tonight because the White House has just announced the president will commute his sentence. He was set to go to prison on Tuesday, and now Roger Stone will not go to prison because President Trump has commuted his sentence. Short of a full pardon but still, it means that Roger Stone will stay out of the hoosegow. More on that as it comes in.
Tropical storm Fay has officially made landfall on the East Coast and will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding to many areas across the northeast through tomorrow.
Let's get to our Fox News chief meteorologist Rick Reichmuth with more on that. Rick?
RICK REICHMUTH, FOX NEWS CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Trace, this is our sixth named storm and we are just into July. Amazing activity so far. That said, none of them huge troublemakers for us. This is kind of the closest to it. You see tropical storm warnings in effect anywhere you see that yellow. It's a lot of populated areas, one of the problems.
But the rainfall totals are going to be maybe three to five inches. That is going to cause some localize flooding but it will be out of here pretty quickly. In fact, by tomorrow for the most part it's going to be gone.
It did made landfall, as you said in Jersey, it's going to trek up towards the north and by say, two to three tomorrow afternoon, Trace, this will be in Canada and we will be done, getting ready for the seventh named storm which will likely come pretty quickly. Trace?
GALLAGHER: It has been a busy year. Rick Reichmuth live for us in the Fox News extreme weather center. Back to you as the news breaks.
That is The Story of Friday, July 10, 2020. But as always, The Story continues. And we'll see you back here Monday at seven o'clock.
Content and Programming Copyright 2020 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2020 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox