Rick Scott on Nelson's call to recuse himself from recount

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Rick Scott on Nelson's call to recuse himself from recount

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson wants his Republican opponent Gov. Rick Scott to 'remove himself' from any role in the Florida recount process.

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," November 12, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, HOST: Also tonight, breaking news, and new developments from Florida.

Governor Rick Scott will join us here live in just moments. With that, and we are now into day four of this recount as the election goes on tonight.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Martha MacCallum. And in the Sunshine State, the ever-narrowing spread in this race for Senate is now down to 0.16 percent.

Today, former Governor Jeb Bush who hired the Broward County Supervisor Brenda Snipes, now says, "There is no question that Snipes failed to comply with Florida law on multiple counts, undermining Floridians' confidence in electoral process. Supervisor Snipes should be removed from her office following the recounts," says Jeb Bush.

Now, Snipes was caught adding nearly two dozen invalid ballots to his stack of valid ballots. Correspondent Doug McKelway has the backstory on all this for us from Tallahassee tonight. Hi, Doug.

DOUG MCKELWAY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Martha. Brenda Snipes was handpicked by Republican Governor Jeb Bush back in 2003 to replace another supervisor of elections who was deemed incompetent. But critics say, Snipes is just no better.

In her first year on the job, she falsely accused the U.S. postal service of losing 58,000 absentee ballots, later admitting that only 6,000 were missing. Then, the Saturday before the election, her staff dropped off 2,400 absentee ballots for mailing at the post office after mail cares had left for the day.

In a 2016 Democratic primary race, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's opponent, Tim Canova asked for an inspection of ballots, but Snipes had destroyed them prematurely. Failing to preserve them for the 22 months required by state law.

And in that same primary, a medical marijuana issue was missing from some of the ballots. Also, some election results were posted on the election supervisor's web site, while the polls were still open, yet another violation of state law.

As for the lawsuits that the Scott campaign has filed against her, here's what she said about those this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDA SNIPES, ELECTIONS SUPERVISOR, BROWARD COUNTY: I think the lawsuits as they are written certainly cast aspersions on my character, and I've worked here for about 13 years, and I have to say this is the first time that this office or I have been under such attacks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKELWAY: Snipes also told the Miami Herald just last week, and I quote, "Other places have the same problems. It's just that they are not spotlighted like we are." And there is a lot of truth to that, but the problem is in Florida, things are so closely divided between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, basically, split right down the middle at 50/50 that each ballot cast takes on added significance. Each irregularity becomes tremendously magnified.

Take, for example, this video which was shot today and posted on Facebook by Richard Denapoli. It shows a Broward County provisional ballot box sitting in an employee entrance of the Avis Rental Car Center at the Fort Lauderdale Airport.

It turns out that box contained only equipment, no ballots. But when asked why the box was there today, Brenda Snipes says, she didn't even know about it. Later, clarifying that she was told about it and that police were sent to investigate.

Still, that it end of itself does not engender a lot of confidence. And these kinds of irregularities, people are asking and questioning why they only happened in Broward and in Palm Beach counties and not to that extent in the 65 other counties of the state of Florida. Martha, back to you.

MACCALLUM: That's a good question. Doug, thank you very much. So, new tonight. Senator Bill Nelson urging Governor Scott to stay out of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL NELSON, D-FLA., SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE: He's using his power as governor to try to undermine the voting process. He is throwing around words like voter fraud without any proof. He's filed lawsuits to try to stop votes from being counted and to impound voting machines. Scott cannot oversee this process in a fair and impartial way.

And thus, he should remove himself from any role in the recount process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, joining me now to respond, Florida Governor Rick Scott.  Governor, welcome. Good to have you here on THE STORY, tonight. What's your response to what your opponent had to say there?

GOV. RICK SCOTT R-FLA., SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's pretty consistent for Bill Nelson. He is always confused. The governor does not -- is not responsible for recounts. We have separately elected supervisor elections in each County. They do the recounts, and then, the numbers are sent to the Secretary of State's office for tabulate -- you know, just to put out the statewide numbers. The governor is not involved.

Now, my goal is that we follow the law. And what we've seen is, you know, in the supervisor election in Broward and Palm Beach County, both of them, the courts have said, they haven't followed the law.

We know Brenda Snipes in mixed illegal ballots with legal ballots. We know they have let party officials in. The courts have said, follow the law.  So, what I'm trying to do is get them to do what we -- what we expect.

The laws are set up there to prevent fraud, and for whatever reason, they don't want to do it. And let's all remember, 93,000 votes came in after election night. At this point though, I've won. I won on Saturday. There is no recount that's ever overturned when somebody has a 12,000 vote lead.

So, I'm headed to Washington tomorrow to start the process of becoming the next year Senator.

MACCALLUM: That's true. All right. Yes, I want to -- I want to ask you about that, but let me go back to the 93,000 votes that came in after. So, you're supposed to have the final count submitted thirty minutes after the end of the -- of the closing of the polls. Is that correct?

SCOTT: That's right. And there was such like --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: All right. But we all know that there's a lot of absentee, a lot of mail-in ballot. In fact, the numbers grow dramatically with every election. So, could that account for these 92,000 ballots that they just came in late, and they were sent in on time?

SCOTT: Well, first off, 65 other counties figure out how to do it right.  All right, these two counties couldn't. We don't know. We've been asking the questions. We still to this day, we don't know.

My goal is to make sure that this is done properly, that's why I've asked the FDLE to come in, and do an investigation. The attorney general are demanded that happened. I've asked the sheriff's to be vigilant. We want to make sure we have a free and fair election. But we're of over 12,000 votes.

MACCALLUM: Yes, you -- all right, 12,000 votes is corrected at this point.  You lost a court decision today to impound -- you wanted to impound the vote counting machines when they're not in the actual process of the recount. Did you want them physically removed and put somewhere? What did you mean by that?

SCOTT: No, the goal -- the goal is to -- is to make sure that we have law enforcement that's watching the ballots, and watching the machines all the time just to make sure there's (INAUDIBLE), right.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So, that's what Judge Tuter did. He added three more Broward County Sheriff's deputies in addition to the BSO officers and the private guard. So, are you satisfied now that, that is secure?

SCOTT: Well, it's happened in Broward. We're still not finished in Palm Beach County. So, I think -- I think there's going to -- there's a hearing tonight. But it's been done there.

You know, Martha, one thing people have said to me off for the last few days, they said -- they said -- they said, Rick, you know, keep your chin up, you're going to win. This is -- this adversity will pass.

When I tell people's I think about my dad, my adopted father who did four combat jumps in Second World War, that's adversity. I think about my mom living in public housing as a single mom struggling to take care of children, put food on the table, take care of a son that has significant disease, that's adversity. That's what I want to work on.

That's what I did in this state, help those families, that's what I'm going to do in D.C.

MACCALLUM: So, let me ask you, you talk about keeping your chin up. And you know, and that we've watched this number get -- you know, in a lot smaller so far by the day, and you just point it's 0.16 percent right now between the two of you, 12,000 votes.

Are you confident that this is going to go your way when all of these votes are counted in these very blue counties of Broward and Palm Beach?

SCOTT: Absolutely. The -- their -- so, they've report all the votes.  We're up 12,500 votes. The -- there's never been a change that would change -- when like that.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: But the recount goes on until Thursday, correct?

SCOTT: It's just a -- first off, they're just a machine recount, and then, there'll be a hand recount for the over-under ballots. That's all that's left.

MACCALLUM: All right. So you -- you're confident at this point. Let me ask you about the rules, with the 30-minute rule that it's supposed to all be done by afterwards. So, that, that was not adhered to. So, what's the penalty for that in Florida?

SCOTT: We1l, it's a violation law so they can be -- you know, fine for that violation. And I think, what's going to happen is the next legislature is going to have to go back and say, we've passed all these laws to make sure people comply so there's no fraud. If there's not tough enough penalties, we're going to have to increase the penalties to make sure this happened.

Every other County but these two counties could do it. Well, why these two counties can't do it? I have no earthly idea. But we're going to figure out -- we're going to get to the bottom of it.

MACCALLUM: All right. So, in terms of you said that Nelson -- that Bill Nelson's lawyers, the current senator, say that non-citizens should be able to vote. Do you have any evidence that, that any non-citizens did vote in this election?

SCOTT: Well, what we know is -- what we know is here's Bill Nelson's lawyer -- you know, complained when -- you know, the canvassing board said a non-citizen, they were going to throughout a non-citizen vote, saying they should be able to vote in this election.

So, it's something you -- we have to continue to be monitor. Every supervisor elections responsibility is to make sure that non-citizens don't vote. And so --

MACCALLUM: But you don't have any evidence that, that actually happened in this election? Do or do you?

SCOTT: Wel1, what happens is when you review this as much as you can. And then, after the election, you're able to do it again.

MACCALLUM: All right. You want to go to Washington. Are you going to be on there on Tuesday for the picture with Senator McConnell? I know you said over the weekend with Chris Wallace that you weren't sure, you've had another 24 hours to think about it. Are you going to be there on Tuesday?

SCOTT: Yes. I'm going up there tomorrow, and I'll be part of the -- you know, elections for leadership. And so, I look forward to starting the process of opening up an office and getting started as a U.S. Senator.

MACCALLUM: What's the topic number one for you?

SCOTT: Well, the most thing -- the thing I've done here is to make sure you take care of those families that struggling for works. That would be the most important thing to me. But there's a lot of issues. I put out a very specific plan, a 10-point plan to make Washington work similar to what we've done in Florida where we've turned this economy around. We won the best economies in the world now. The great education system, and a 47-year lower in a crime rate. I'm going to try to do the exact, same types of things in D.C.

MACCALLUM: So, tomorrow will be one week since the election and everybody thought it was going to be over last Tuesday night but it's still going on.  Governor Rick Scott. Thank you very much for being here this evening. We did ask Senator Nelson, as well. And he is welcome here anytime. Thank you, sir.

SCOTT: Thanks, Martha.

MACCALLUM: You bet.

So, new reports suggest that Democrats are loading up the cannon and getting ready to fire 85 subpoenas that cover pretty much every aspect of the Trump presidency. Judge Andrew Napolitano, here to sorted out. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We are not scattershot, we are not doing any investigation for a political purpose but to seek the truth. So I think a word that you could describe about how Democrats will go forward in this regard is they will be very strategic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Former Speaker Pelosi insisting that her party will be strategic when Democrats take control of the House in January, but some new signs suggest that that may be not exactly the case. Axios reporting today that Democrats are readying a subpoena cannon, kind of like the one that shoots t-shirts into crowds at the games, boom, boom, boom all around, there's one for everybody. And the list when you look at it, I mean it really covers pretty much everything and everyone in President Trump's life. Look at this list. There's 85 things on here. It covers almost everything since day one and Jared Kushner is up there, I don't know, three or four times in the list and it goes on and on.

So as I said, it's comprehensive shall we say. Here now Judge Andrew Napolitano, Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst. Judge, good to see you tonight.

ANDREW NAPOLITANO, FOX NEWS SENIOR JUDICIAL ANALYST: Likewise, Martha.

MACCALLUM: What do you think of this stuff on that list?

NAPOLITANO: Well, I think the Democrats have two goals. One is to preoccupy him, the President, and the other is to run shadow investigations of what Bob Mueller is investigating because whereas Mueller must keep secret, matters he presents to the grand jury, the Democrats will be able to pick and choose what they want to leak and what they want to announce.  What is the goal of this? To wreck the presidency, to drive him crazy.  I've been talking to Democrats all weekend. They believe that they have a mandate from their base to attack the President to investigate rather than legislate.

You and I were together when you and Bret Baier on election night were interrogating Ed Rendell. A brilliant guy, a former governor of Pennsylvania, a mayor of Philadelphia, chairman the Democratic National Committee. He said it's a no-brainer. If they want to win in 2020, they have to legislate, not investigate. We're getting the opposite today.

MACCALLUM: That's interesting because the people have been around a long time learned that lesson the hard way during the Clinton investigations that it turned out not really working well for Republicans in the end.

NAPOLITANO: And Newt Gingrich will agree with you.

MACCALLUM: Yes, he will. And here's more sound bites from the weekend with regard to Matt Whitaker. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF.: There are serious constitutional arguments that as a principal officer, he cannot be appointed to this position.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: He's already prejudged the Mueller situation. If he -- if he stays there, he will create a constitutional crisis.

PELOSI: -- that he should never have been appointed and that it does violence to the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Violence to the Constitution. So -- and I should mention that Jerry Nadler, the incoming House Judiciary Chairman basically said that the first priority -- the first witness on January 3rd will be -- they will subpoena Matt Whitaker who has been put --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: He was not on the subpoena list but he's definitely and their sights.

NAPOLITANO: They're going to ask him. Did you ever discuss the Mueller investigation with the President before he made you Acting Attorney General? There's a very strong argument that he does not qualify for Acting Attorney General. The two controlling statutes say the next person in line when the Attorney General is gone is the Deputy Attorney General who would be Rod Rosenstein. If the President wants --

MACCALLUM: The witness potentially in this investigation.

NAPOLITANO: Agreed.

MACCALLUM: Now, that seems like a pretty logical reason for it not to be happy him.

NAPOLITANO: If the President wants to bypass him, he may, but he can only go to someone who has a job in the Justice Department that was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate and Whitaker does not fall on either of those categories.

MACCALLUM: OK, so Noel Francisco would fit that bill?

NAPOLITANO: Yes he would.

MACCALLUM: Why wasn't he chosen?

NAPOLITANO: I don't know and he would be a superb choice, who would be welcomed by both sides -- both sides of the aisle. It may -- he may be there before Christmas because the heat from Whitaker maybe heat the President doesn't want to deal with.

MACCALLUM: And -- but there is one line in the statute that says it can be someone who has worked closely with the Attorney General for some time.

NAPOLITANO: Yes, which is not --

MACCALLUM: And this is the Chief of Staff. It would --

NAPOLITANO: Which Matt -- which Matt Whitaker has but the two absolute requirements in both statutes are Presidential appointment, Senate confirmation. He had one ten years ago but he has to have one at the time of his designation which he doesn't.

MACCALLUM: Judge, thank you.

NAPOLITANO: You're welcome. All the best.

MACCALLUM: We'll see what happens. Thanks. Judge Andrew Napolitano, always good to see you. So still ahead tonight, a story exclusive with the wife and parents of American Hero Major Brent Taylor, a devoted husband, father of seven children killed in Afghanistan earlier this month.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIE TAYLOR, WIDOW OF MAJOR BRENT TAYLOR: Brent may have died on Afghan soil but he died for the success of freedom and democracy in both of our countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JERRY BROWN, D-CALIF.: Managing all the forests in every way we can does not stop climate change and those who deny that are definitely contributing to the tragedies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So that was California Governor Jerry Brown firing back of President Trump and climate change deniers after this tweet from the President claiming with proper forest management we can stop the devastation constantly gone in California. Get smart, wrote the President.  Those fires have claimed the lives of 31 people. There are 200 people still missing out there, thousands of homes and businesses have been leveled. Those numbers are expected to grow as the new fire and high winds threaten the region and some celebrities have also lost everything among the other people who've lost everything, and they say that now is not the time for finger-pointing.

Jonathan Hunt has "The Story" tonight from our West Coast newsroom. Good evening, Jonathan.

JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Good evening Martha. It's important to remember the vast majority of people affected by these terrible fires are perfectly ordinary folks. But this being the L.A. area, the plight and voices of celebrities are always magnified. And many of them have been doing their best to help however they can. The actor James Woods, for instance, transformed his usually acerbic politically charged Twitter account into an informational one for people looking for missed loved ones and providing advice and information for those caught up in the fires.

Other big names helped in other more practical ways. Sandra Bullock, for instance, donating $100,000 to the Humane Society of Ventura County to help provide care for animals.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LADY GAGA, SINGER: I love you and you're going to get through this and we're going to get through this together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And Lady Gaga you see there, she evacuated her own home in Malibu and showed up to help out last night at a Red Cross shelter as seen in that TMZ video. And while it's easy to think of Malibu is a city of multi- million dollar mansions, it is much more than that. A lot of the homes destroyed for instance in the Point Dume area were old ranch-style homes owned by families who have there for generations. Others were part of a mobile home park in all hundreds of homes have been destroyed across an area of dozens of square miles and it's not over yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL OSBY, CHIEF, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We're still on a red flag. The weather right now as mentioned earlier, we're expecting up to 40 mile-per-hour of winds through Tuesday. Our primary focus right now for our firefighters in this incident is first life, then property protection, and then line containment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And up north in the Camp Fire near Chico, California at least 29 people have died, around 200 are still listed as missing and more than 6,000 homes have been destroyed. And Martha, you mentioned the political spat over this at the top, I can tell you directly from friends of every political stripe caught up in these fires, they don't care one bit about politics right now, they just want to get home, they want to pick up the pieces of their lives, and they want to thank the firefighters who continue to risk everything on the front lines of these devastating fires. Martha?

MACCALLUM: No doubt. They are heroes, so true. Jonathan, thank you very much. So coming up, Hillary Clinton, is the third time the charm?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'd like to be President.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, D-FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I'd like to be president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

CLINTON: I'm not going to think about it till we get through this November 6th election about what's going to happen after that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So here we are right now. And the speculation whether or not Hillary will run in 2020. Getting a little bit more interesting now. One of her former senior advisors predicted that not only will she run again, but that she could easily capture the 2020 nomination.

Meanwhile, one of her potential Democratic rivals Elizabeth Warren looking a bit worse for the wear of the midterm election. See this headline here in the Wall Street Journal?

Here now Charlie Hurt, opinion editor at Washington Times and Fox News contributor, and Juan Williams, co-host of "The Five" and a Fox news political analyst. So, Mark Penn basically coming out and saying, look, when you look at the rest of this field, Hillary Clinton could absolutely win this nomination again, Juan.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CO-HOST & POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think this is speculation of a rank kind. I think he has some resentment against Hillary Clinton. But it delights some people, I think the right wing, which is looking for somebody that they can--

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: So you think he is being mean to her?

WILLIAMS: I do. I don't think there's any basis for it. I don't think there's any chance that she comes out of this. But what he said was it's possible that because you are going to have a thousand flowers blooming and so many people running that if she sees in the middle of it that there's a problem -- maybe she would emerge or maybe offer herself.

MACCALLUM: Yes, but she's saying. Charlie, she is saying, he said, you know, she has good approval numbers. A lot of people feel like this was, like she was robbed in 2016. And might very well rally around her to right the wrong that they see.

CHARLIE HURT, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: And the person who thinks that she was robbed the most is Hillary Clinton herself. And if you look back over the 25 plus years--

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: She is going back there.

HURT: -- that the Clintons have been on the national political stage, they -- all of their decisions are not based on what's best for the party or what's best for other people, it's always based on what's best for the Clintons.

And so, I do think -- there was a poll I think last week conducted about all of the people that they are being talked about running for the Democratic nomination and the number one spot was none of the above.

That's not a knock-on other people running, it's just that there are so many people running that the number -- that the number two person was Joe Biden. Anybody, any major party figure at this point can be guaranteed to get 30, 35, 40 percent of that vote and that's -- that could be very dangerous.

MACCALLUM: On name recognition alone, which she hasn't turn up right now.

HURT: Yes.

MACCALLUM: So, Juan, Elizabeth Warren, there's piece at the Wall Street Journal wrote, basically said that she had planted all of these, you know, people that she supported around the country, she is writing a book, she is kind of going through the steps that you do to create support around the country and that it didn't really go well for her. Her candidates didn't succeed and that puts her in a bad spot.

WILLIAMS: I disagree. I mean, just looking at the numbers, again, Joe Biden tends to be the number one. But in some polls now, Elizabeth Warren is number one among Democrats in terms of who they like. And also, it's interesting, and I think given what we know about Donald Trump, that you would have a woman.

So it's possible that people like Kamala Harris, not only Amy Klobuchar, the senator, but also Elizabeth Warren. And I think there are lots of people who see her standing up for sort of kitchen table issues with regard to financial communities, too big to fail, health care, those are issues that work so well for Democrats this year in the midterms.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, I thought it's kind of interesting, Charlie, that the president had Mike Pence stand up and say, yes, you are going to be my vice presidential running mate, right? And I thought, you know, it is going to be a question of whether or not, you know, perhaps they might want to have a woman on the ticket.

HURT: Yes.

MACCALLUM: I mean, I'm not suggesting that anyone has indicated it's not going to stay the same, but you know, that's going to be an issue for them.

HURT: Yes, absolutely. But you know, I do think that one of the interesting things out of these midterms is when you look at races like Richard Cordray in Ohio who is a big fan favorite of Elizabeth Warren and you look at some of these other places, and I know we have not made a decision about Andrew Gillum, but those are very progressive candidates and they didn't do as well as everybody said that they would and I think it's because of the issues and a lot of -- you know, that sort of strain of Democratic politics isn't a winner this time.

MACCALLUM: Thanks, guys. We'll see you next time.

HURT: Thank you.

WILLIAMS: You're welcome.

MACCALLUM: Good to see you both.

So, when we come back, the man everybody is talking about tonight, veteran and newly elected congressman, Dan Crenshaw perhaps the only person in D.C. earning praise on both sides of the aisle for what he said on Saturday Night Live. He will talk about that in a moment and what he plans to do now that he's going to Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN CRENSHAW, CONGRESSMAN-ELECT, R-TEXAS: Americans can forgive one another. We can remember what brings us together as a country and still see the good in each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: Are you going to watch the show on Saturday night to see how they respond?

CRENSHAW: Maybe I will. Maybe I will. I usually don't but I will this time.

MACCALLUM: Maybe this time you might, right?

CRENSHAW: That's a good point.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACCALLUM: He sure knows how to keep a secret. Lieutenant commander Dan Crenshaw recently elected to represent Texas' second district in Congress got his chance over the weekend to fire back at Pete Davidson on Saturday Night Live after Davidson mock his war injury the prior week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE DAVIDSON, COMEDIAN: I'm sorry.

CRENSHAW: Thank you, Pete. I appreciate you saying that.

DAVIDSON: So, we good?

CRENSHAW: We're good. Apology accepted. It sounds like my phone is ringing.

DAVIDSON: That's cool.

CRENSHAW: This is Pete Davidson. He looks like if the math from "Breaking Bad" was a person.

DAVIDSON: Not bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: That was pretty funny. Crenshaw earned universal praise for what he said next though. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRENSHAW: But seriously. There is a lot of lessons to learn here. Not just that the left and right can still agree on some things, but also this. Americans can forgive one another. We can remember what brings us together as a country and still see the good in each other.

This is Veterans Day weekend, which means that it's a good time for every American to connect with a veteran. Maybe say thanks for your service. But I would actually encourage you to say something else.

Tell a veteran, never forget. When you say never forget to a veteran you are implying that, and as an American you are in it with them. Not separated by some imaginary barrier between civilians and veterans, but connected together as grateful, fellow Americans. Who will never forget the sacrifices made by veterans past and present. And never forget those we lost on 9/11. Heroes like Pete's father. So I will just say, Pete, never forget.

DAVIDSON: Never forget. And that is from both of us!

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Amen to that. Joining me now exclusively, Texas congressman- elect and former Navy SEAL, Lieutenant commander Dan Crenshaw. Dan, you lied to me! Did you know you are going to Saturday Night Live?

CRENSHAW: I knew that was going to be your first question. I come here for my reckoning and my apologies. I'm sorry. I may have known.

MACCALLUM: Yes. You had to keep a secret.

CRENSHAW: I may have known.

MACCALLUM: I know.

CRENSHAW: They made me a promise.

MACCALLUM: I get it. You had to keep it a secret. You know what our executive producer that's a pretty smart guy and he figured it out. And he texted me on the way home. I said, wait a minute, I know why he's in New York.

So, how did you like being out there. You're pretty good actor, too.

CRENSHAW: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. You know, Steven Spielberg was behind the scenes and he gave me a compliment as well.

MACCALLUM: Really?

CRENSHAW: Yes.

MACCALLUM: May be there is movies in your future after you are through with Congress.

(CROSSTALK)

CRENSHAW: I don't know, I don't know.

MACCALLUM: So, when you met Pete Davidson, how did you guys get along? How did it go at first?

CRENSHAW: Pretty well. You know, my take on it was that they genuinely didn't really mean it the way it came out. I think they were sincerely apologetic and wanted to make it right. They really wanted to do it that weekend because it was Veterans Day and because it was an opportunity to send a message about veterans and unity. What we can actually still agree on as Americans. And so, I think it was really good.

MACCALLUM: Well, I think it's great that you are forgiving and I love that to talk about the importance of being able to forgive each other. I feel like we live in this society where everything is, you know, a viable offense, and there's nothing that fall short of that and you can't say you are sorry and be sincere.

So now you're going to D.C. and I do want to ask you a couple of quick questions about what you plan to do there. I know one of the things you want to do you said is to make more people young Republicans. How do you plan to do that?

CRENSHAW: Well, it's not easy. It's not easy. But I think it starts by explaining our values and may be different ways, ways that aren't necessary sloganeering or talking points but explaining what we mean by a limited government, OK. Where do you want your problem solved? You want it solved by a local representative who you can go down the street and knock on their door or do you really want problems solved by a federal bureaucrat in Washington.

We have to explain what we mean by things like limited government, by responsible government, sustainable government, can we really afford all the things we are talking about doing or spending on? You know, the answer is no, we can't. And my generation should take a special interest in that because we are the one who's going to be paying that debt down. We have to wake up and look at the hard problems, and the increasing debt, the entitlement reform issues and all of these things because it falls on our generation's shoulders.

MACCALLUM: You know, maybe you and Pete Davidson should do a college tour. It will be really interesting to hear both of you because I think on college campuses, there is just sort of one point of view and that's one of the problems. So then you know, you graduate a lot of people who are all thinking exactly the same thing and i just makes it difficult for people to have, you know, an understanding of what each side is all about.

You know, in terms of veterans, you say, you are really proud to be part of 15 veterans who are going to be members of Congress when you get there on January. What's your message in terms of service and the way the nation needs to approach it and to be better to our veterans?

CRENSHAW: Well, I would say the good thing about veterans in Congress is that when we look at each other on different sides of the aisle, we can at least assume that we started in life serving before politics, right? So, there is an element of trust there. What can we do for veterans.

You know, let's start with never forget, right, let's start with being a team, let's start with knowing that we are all on the same side and we never forget each other's sacrifices and never forget why veterans do what they are doing, why our current active duty service members are still doing what they are doing, we can trace this back to attacks like 9/11.

MACCALLUM: We will never forget your service and we thank you for that and we have a really special story coming up along these lines as well. Dan Crenshaw, thanks a lot. Great to see you again. Don't be a stranger.

(CROSSTALK)

CRENSHAW: Thanks for having me.

MACCALLUM: Great to have you back on.

CRENSHAW: Absolutely. You bet.

MACCALLUM: Co coming up next, we honor Major Brent Taylor, beloved mayor, soldier, husband, father of seven, killed last week in Afghanistan. His family speaks out here tonight exclusively and they share their story and what they want every American to know when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: What a beautiful scene there in the small community of North Ogden, Utah, they came together over the weekend to honor our veterans by standing and singing the national anthem at the local high school football game. That tremendous show of support attribute to one of their own, Major Brent Taylor, the mayor of North Ogden who was killed in an insider attack in Afghanistan. His wife Jennie, mother to their seven children met his casket when it arrived back in the United States at 4 a.m. on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIE TAYLOR, BRENT TAYLOR'S WIDOW: The price of freedom surely feels incredibly high to all those of us who know and love our individual soldiers. But the value of freedom is immeasurable to all who know and love America, and all that she represents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Major Taylor was buried in his hometown on Sunday, that same day before the sun came up, dozens of local volunteers hike more than a mile up the side of this canyon that overlooks their hometown and carrying what would soon be known as the world's largest free flying flag. And it was on their backs, as you can see. They were careful not to let the 400- pound 150-foot flag ever touch the ground. They unfrilled it ceremoniously just before dawn.

It was a surprise tribute to the Taylor family and they join me now. Major Taylor's wife Jennie and his parents Steven and Tammy, welcome to all of you on this Veterans Day.

First off, we thank you so much for your service and for the enormous, enormous sacrifice that all of you have made and are making. Jennie, let me start with you. What goes through your mind when you look at that beautiful flag waving down over your home of North Ogden?

TAYLOR: Just God bless America is all I can think, staring at that beautiful flag, the beautiful people that work so hard to be able to make that happen, and that great symbol of the country that we love, and the freedoms that my husband so bravely fought for. Just true, true gratitude.

MACCALLUM: Jennie, you have been so strong. When I watch that video of you speaking in the dark there on Tuesday morning, you were so composed and so focused and you spoke so beautifully about our country and about your husband. How did you do that?

TAYLOR: I like to say Brett was telling me to say. He was never one to be shy with words and I feel him very close to me. When they said I might have an opportunity to share a few thoughts after watching the dignified transfer, because the flight was delayed. I had a couple of extra hours in the middle of the night in my room in Dover and I just sat down with my laptop to think and collect my thoughts and think what would Brent want to say, what message would he want to share.

As a conversation he and I had had for 15 years this love of country and a desire to serve was nothing new, it didn't start in January with his deployment to Afghanistan.

His love for the country certainly didn't start when he met me. I always say long before I knew and I love Brent Taylor I already loved America too. So that was one thing we had in common and still share and hope to pass on to our children, and family, friends, and a great, great legacy.

MACCALLUM: There's no doubt in my mind that you are doing that every day. Tammy and Steve, you raised your family the same way. And Tammy, I read this morning that you, your patriotism really inspired both of you, inspired your children, several of them, to join the military. How did you do that for them, and what made you do that from the start?

TAMMY TAYLOR, BRENT TAYLOR'S MOTHER: Well, first of all, just to be clear, I never set out to do that. I just love history in particular our American history, I am always proud of our country, and our heroes, you know, they gave us the freedoms we do. And so, I just shared that naturally with our children.

A lot of times we would go to museums or whatever just to talk about that and if I found a great story about a hero, I would share that with them just so that they were learning these great principles of standing up for what's right and being strong and courageous. So that's what we intended to do, is to help them to be good people in the matter what they were doing. Somehow, they really listened and became, you know, American heroes, really. All signing up, so.

MACCALLUM: They absolutely are American heroes. This is a quote, Steve, from your sons' last post on Facebook and he was talking about how proud he was of the Afghan people, four million Afghans bravely came out to vote in the elections, and he said, "The strong turnout despite the attacks and challenges with the success for the long-suffering people of Afghanistan and the cause for human freedom."

A lot of people look at that battle, we've been there for 17 years and they think it's a lost cause. But your son did not, and his words make that very clear, sir.

STEVE TAYLOR, BRENT TAYLOR'S FATHER: It was almost like he wrote his own eulogy. It was so almost prophetic. He was always positive. He always upbeat looking forward, seeing progress being made. Yes, there's some setbacks or has been some setbacks. But he's just always upbeat. I think he's been that way his whole life and it's just in his makeup, so that was very touching to read those words and I've read them several times to end.

MACCALLUM: It's easy, very easy to see where he gets all of this from the three of you, his wonderful parents and his wonderful wife. Jennie, when you heard that it was an insider attack, somebody that he had trained and he was so close to all these people that he was training there and obviously felt so strongly about it, what was your reaction to that?

J. TAYLOR: Kind of shock and disbelief, just to think several times when you talk through his deployment, are you safe, are you well, are you guys being careful, are you protected, and he would always reassure me that they're very careful, they're following all of the protocol and all of the rules, and making sure that they are doing their job but with safety in mind.

So, I'm in shock. I can't think of another word. I think we are still in kind of shock to have heard that and think someone there -- it had to have been someone there that close that could -- that could get to him and penetrate him in that state.

But I know he loves the Afghan people. He frequently spoke of the men he served with and show he would spend as much time with as he could. He had his official advisory jobs that he do and the task, whatever they were, I don't know because he can't give me details.

But he would often speak of what they would do in their off hours. They would have, you know, they throw him a birthday party in July, or they would get together and celebrate Columbus Day with the Spanish, or watch the World Cup with the Spanish when Spain was playing.

They played basketball, or you know, there are different hikes and things, and just talk of the great love that he had for these people. He was not just there on assignment because he had to be here, because he's obligated to be. He loves the NATO allies he served with, the Americans he served with, and he loves the Afghan people. He truly does.

MACCALLUM: I just--

(CROSSTALK)

T. TAYLOR: I really felt like he was making a difference with them.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Talk to me about your seven children. Eleven-months-old, your youngest daughter. What were you, how were the older ones holding up, and what would you do, Jennie, or Steve or tammy, all three of you, help them remember your son and their dad?

J. TAYLOR: You know, I think that's the million-dollar question that way is heaviest. Brent and I made every decision together regarding his service to our country, his service to our city and our community and the different services he did.

And I do in the back of my mind wonder that these poor children have kind of just gotten drag along, they're too young to have been in on these decisions. But Brent has left a huge legacy. There are many people who know him, who loved him, who have stories about him, his own Facebook page for his duties as mayor is a wealth of resources of his Facebook live videos.

His posts, his sentiments, he's got journals, he's got books that he has read and mark in the margins. There is no shortage of his own words and teaching to share with our children and we will just have to make sure, especially for the little Caroline, she has one a week. My first thought was she will never know her father. And I think I was very quickly corrected in my mind. Yes, she will. She absolutely well.

MACCALLUM: Thank you.

T. TAYLOR: One of the blessings of Brent being in such a public position and for actually for many years being in different positions where he was pretty in our high school where he was the student body president and several things were filmed about him, but we've got a ton of video and photos from him that we can just over. You know, hopefully we'll have to be able to put them into a nice video of some kind that we can just watch together sometimes and when the kids are over here visiting or whatever, so that we can just share memories with them.

J. TAYLOR: Definitely.

MACCALLUM: Well, I know, Jennie, you said you feel so full of all of everything that has been coming your way in terms of the love and support of your family, your wonderful family. And we thank all of you for the service that you've given to America on this Veterans Day and for sharing his story with us.

And I hope maybe you'll share that video with us and we will share it with everybody who watches because that would be an honor for us. Thank you so much to all of you for being here tonight.

J. TAYLOR: Sure.

T. TAYLOR: Thank you.

S. TAYLOR: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: I want to thank the Taylors on this Veterans Day. It was our honor to have them with us this evening. All right, you may have seen on the bottom of the screen breaking news that Kyrsten Sinema has secured the Senate seat in Arizona. We'll see you tomorrow night. 
 
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