Rosenstein pushes back against New York Times report

This is a rush transcript from "The Story," September 21, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank you, Bret. You too. Busy night first us to get it, though here two big breaking stories this evening. Will the president decide to fire Rod Rosenstein, based on these scathing stories in the New York Times? More on all of that in just a moment.

Also, this Senator Grassley situation this evening is a moving target. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says they'll give it until 10:00 tonight. But that, that is the final deadline. We have seen this pushed and pushed again.

They are saying 10:00 is the final deadline. If they do not here, that there is a plan, then they say they will vote on that nomination on Brett Kavanaugh come Monday. But there are some more developments coming through on that, that we're deciphering at the moment. So, we will give them to you just a moment.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Martha McCallum and this is "The Story" that is changing by the hour as we wait for word now from Ford's attorney. We're also waiting for the president of the United States who no doubt will have some comments on both of these stories this evening.He is obviously in Missouri tonight, where just can take you there in a second but he's going to probably weigh in which he did this morning for the first time really in a bold way with a tweet early this morning. And all of this is sure to come up as we get into this rally about 30 minutes from now.

As I said, in Springfield, Missouri. It's a rally for Josh Hawley who, of course, is running against Claire McCaskill, the incumbent senator there. And Kristin Fisher is live at the White House with the latest in any reaction that we are getting from there tonight on both of these stories. Hi, Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martha. Well, the White House has been waiting all day to see if Judge Kavanaugh's accuser would accept this counteroffer from Senate Republicans to testify on Wednesday. Now, the original deadline for that counteroffer had come and gone. It was close of business today.

But just moments ago, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee Senator Chuck Grassley, put out a statement saying that he had extended the deadline. I want to read it to you in full. He says, "I'm extending the deadline for response. Yet again, to 10:00 this evening." So just three hours from now.

"I'm providing a notice of a vote to occur Monday in the event that Dr. Ford's attorneys don't respond, or Dr. Ford decides not to testify. So, we've got to wait, at least, three more hours before we find out whether or not this hearing on Wednesday is going to be a go or not.

So, let's talk just a little bit about the terms of this counteroffer from Senate Republicans today. What they want is they wanted a Wednesday hearing. They want a female attorney to do the questioning and they say that Ford would have to testify first, then Kavanaugh.

But, Ford's teams wants a Thursday hearing, they want no outside attorney asking questions and they want Kavanaugh to go first. So, you know, the two sides still have quite a ways to go. But today, the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Mitch McConnell, he sure sounded very confident while speaking to conservatives at the Values Voter Summit here in D.C. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Friends, keep the faith. Don't get rattled by all of this. We're going to plow right through it and do our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: So, Democrats are blasting this counteroffer from Republican Senator Richard Blumenthal, says, "Their arbitrary and irrational deadline is a rush to silence a survivor. It has no basis in law or fact or simple humanity."

As for President Trump, you know, it's clear that he's running out of patience. Ever since the accusations first surfaced, he's been uncharacteristically restrained. But that all changed this morning with a series of tweets from the commander-in-chief.

He said, "I have no doubt that if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local law enforcement authorities by either her or her loving parents.

Now, that did not sit well with Republican Senator Susan Collins, a critical swing vote, she said that she was appalled by the president's tweet, she called it inappropriate, and wrong. She also said that she had no problem delaying this hearing for a few more days.

But Martha, it is very clear that both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and President Trump are tired of waiting, they want this hearing to happen. And we're going to find out in exactly three hours whether or not Christine Blasey Ford and her legal team agree to their demands. Martha.

MACCALLUM: That's right. Kirsten, thank you very much. Here now with more, Cleta Mitchell, a Republican campaign finance attorney. And Carrie Severino is the chief counsel and policy director of the judicial crisis network. Thank you both for being here this morning.

I know you been following this very closely. And tonight, the latest word, Cleta, from the Judiciary Committee is that they extended the deadline from 5:00 to 10:00 which might have indicated that they were getting closer. That there was reason to believe that they were coming to some kind of conclusion on the arrangements here.

But, at least, one source familiar with the situation tells me that that's not necessarily the case. Cleta.

CLETA MITCHELL, CAMPAIGN FINANCE ATTORNEY, WASHINGTON: Look, I believe that Senator Grassley is bending over backwards to try to accommodate this accuser. He's offered to have a hearing. And she said, she wasn't going to come, they'd offered to go to California. They didn't accept that.

I think that what it ended up happening is the Democrats keep moving the goalposts. And let's be very clear about this. Senator Feinstein had this letter in July. She didn't notify anyone. Not the chairman of the committee, none of her colleagues. She didn't raise these allegations when she met privately with Judge Kavanaugh.

She didn't tell any of her colleagues. So the 64 private meetings that they had with Judge Kavanaugh, they were not able to raise it. She did not even attend the private session where Senators can ask a nominee about more sensitive kinds of information. She didn't even attend that.

She didn't raise during the three days of hearings or the 1,300 questions posed to him afterwards.

MACCALLUM: Right.

MITCHELL: And this Monday, just of this one other thing. On Monday, after this -- after the hearing record had closed, that's when this allegation came forward from Senator Feinstein. In a redacted letter, that they still do not have a complete unredacted copy of.

And Brett Kavanaugh presented himself Monday, this past Monday for a transcribed under oath interview, and the minority staff, the Democrats did not even show up to ask questions.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I mean, that is so very interesting Carrie. You know, their lack of involvement and interest in the opportunities that were in front of them to pursue some of these details. And the other thing that I find highly questionable is the fact that they haven't even seen the raw form of the letter that she wrote about what happened that night.

So, they're going on the report that came in The Washington Post. But haven't seen it in her own words and don't know if any of those words were taken out of context or differently. Makes it pretty tough.

CARRIE SEVERINO, CHIEF COUNSEL AND POLICY DIRECTOR, JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK: Yes, and it's very irregular. I mean, for this ranking member to refuse to hand this over to the chairman of the committee, that is a gigantic breach of Senate procedure.

And you know, normally Senators are very courteous with each other in that way that sends a huge rift through the Senate Judiciary Committee. It's just another of Feinstein's -- I think, these steps is even understating. And she is -- she has mishandled this affair profoundly.

And I think it's interesting as Cleta, said -- you know, the Senate Judiciary Committee has already been interviewing and not even just Judge Kavanaugh, but the other people that they were able to determine were alleged to have been at this party, who have all the ones have been able to reach have said, nope.

And that Senator Grassley wanted the Democrats to participate in it in normal -- under normal circumstances, that would be bipartisan. The Democrats were simply too busy standing in front of cameras demanding an investigation to actually do it.

This whole affair just reeks of a circus and a media sideshow. This is not -- they're not taking it seriously. Senator Grassley is taking her allegations much more seriously than the Democrats who are simply treating it as a partisan football.

MACCALLUM: I mean, we've seen a copy of one of the outraged letters that was sent to someone who was believed to be at the party asking them if they could have a confidential conversation about what they remember from that night. And as you say, at least, at this point they haven't gotten responses on that.

Cleta, let's fast forward for a moment. If indeed, there isn't a response and they're not able to put together a hearing for Wednesday which is, is the proposed day here. It's -- obviously, this the story doesn't go away. I mean, I would imagine that Dr. Ford will find another way to get her story out and that Democrats will continue to go after Judge Kavanaugh even if he passes this vote, and try to undo it.

MITCHELL: Well, look, I mean, this whole thing is being carried out by people who announced their opposition to him the moment that President Trump nominated him. You have the minority leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer who announced that he would do everything he could to stop this confirmation.

And you have people like Tammy Baldwin, the Senator from Wisconsin who was hosting a fundraiser with the lawyers for this accuser. Until she was found out, and then, it was canceled. So, if you want to do something about Tammy Baldwin, send money to her opponent Leah Vukmir.

But honestly, this is all being carried out by people who have said that they are not going to support Judge Kavanaugh under any circumstances. And I just am appalled. But I will say this, this is actually in keeping with the feminist playbook that was started during the Obama years where colleges and universities nationwide were instructed to adopt procedures that where there is an accusation of sexual assault, that the accused gets no due process rights.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Well, that's true. And that -- yes.

MITCHELL: And the 6th Circuit last week said, that is not -- that is a violation of the constitution.

MACCALLUM: That those rules are starting to be unraveled and it is very interesting. You know all of this, the MeToo movement really began on college campuses with that initiative from the Obama administration. And it has been a long time sort of being corrected on college campuses. I think that process is just, just beginning.

I want to put up one of the tweets that President Trump said this morning. He was getting a lot of credit for being reserved on this issue and not speaking out, not vilifying her in any way.

This morning, he said this, "I have no doubt that if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local law enforcement authorities by either her or her loving parents. I asked that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn the date, time, and place."

Of course, you know, Carrie, everybody knows that, that doesn't exist. Was that helpful or unhelpful in your mind?

SEVERINO: Well, you know, we do know that there are many cases where women don't come forward with stories for years. So, it doesn't actually go to the heart of the charges. But I think it goes to the question of these are very difficult allegations to even go back and verify because they are so old, they are so vague.

I mean, at the end of the day the Washington Post who really helped to break this story and really everyone else has gone forward with the story that's very, very thin on facts. Now, they're trying to railroad a process that turns a lot of rule of law principles on its head, where she's making demands -- it's the witness making demands of the Senators.

She is saying things like, well, the accused has to go forth testify first. That's never, in 800 years, that's not happened, so it's unreasonable. How can he respond?

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Yes, that would never happen. But first charge has to be laid out and then it has to be rebutted by the person who has an opportunity to clear their name after they've heard what he hasn't even heard specifically what he's charged of except for what he -- you know, might have read in the newspaper.

Cleta and Carrie, thank you very much. Good to see both tonight.

MITCHELL: Thank you, Martha. Appreciate it.

SEVERINO: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Thank you for being here. So another Fox News alert developing right now on who leaked memos to the New York Times claiming deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein wanted to invoke the 25th amendment to take down President Trump essentially saying that he's unfit for office and needs to be removed.

This is a big story coming into focus a little bit more clearly this evening now when we come back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rod Rosenstein?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does it make you more likely to fire Rosenstein?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you still have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You figure that one out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is pushing back tonight against a new report in the New York Times, came out late this afternoon, it is quite a blockbuster report. It claims that he suggested that he could wear a wire and talk about invoking the 25th Amendment in an effort to remove President Trump in early May of 2017. It was all shortly after the firing of James Comey.

So that report is based in part on memos from fired FBI official Andrew McCabe. He says he doesn't know how the New York Times got their hands on those memos, other people think that perhaps he was behind that. He is coming out with a new book come December. He's also under investigation by the Inspector General Michael Horowitz and there's a grand jury that's reviewing those charges right now. Trace Gallagher joins us now live from Los Angeles with the backstory on this and it's a big one. Hi Trace!

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hi Martha! Sources tell Fox News that meeting took place on May 16, 2017, one week after President Trump fired James Comey as FBI Director and one day before Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel. We're told there were five or six people at the meeting including Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, former FBI Director Andrew McCabe and FBI Counsel Lisa Page who had the affair with disgraced FBI Agent Peter Strzok. The New York Times says Rosenstein talked about secret (AUDIO GAP) president to expose the chaos in the White House and told Andrew (AUDIO GAP) Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to begin proceedings (AUDIO GAP) 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from office.

Sources tell (AUDIO GAP) in the meeting and both mention a heated moment between Rosenstein and McCabe where the Deputy A.G. asked McCabe if he wanted him to wear an effing wire. And when someone asked Rosenstein if he was serious, he responded yes, I'm serious. What do you expect us to do? Another person at the meeting says he believes Rosenstein was being sarcastic. Here's what Georgetown Law Professor Jonathan Turley said about that. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN TURLEY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Joking about recording the president or having him forcefully removed doesn't help your relationship either. I mean, you are now in charge of the Special Counsel investigation technically. Mueller reports to you. There's a lot of things you can joke about. That probably wouldn't be one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: But rod Rosenstein says the New York Times story is factually incorrect, "I will not further comment on a story based on anonymous sources who are obviously biased against the department and are advancing their own personal agenda. But let me be clear about this. Based on my personal dealings with the President there is no basis to invoke the 25th Amendment."

The story also touched off speculation that this could be the tipping point for the president to fire Rod Rosenstein. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said firing him would be corrupt enabling the president to hire someone who can interfere with the Special Counsel investigation. Martha?

MACCALLUM: All right, thank you very much, Trace. Joining me now Howard Kurtz, Fox News media analyst and host of "MediaBuzz," Sundays here at 11:00 on FNC and Jonathan Turley Constitutional Law Attorney and now a Fox News contributor. Welcome to both of you. Good to have you here tonight.

TURLEY: Hi Martha!

MACCALLUM: I mean, you know, this story as soon as it came out, there was a lot of buzz about what actually happened in the room. And the pushback from Rosenstein side was that he was newly hired, he had you know sort of just gotten to know the people in this room, there was an aggressive stance from Andrew McCabe about pushing back against the President, and that Rosenstein basically was annoyed by the way that McCabe was behaving in the room and said what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? You want me to wear a wire? Is that what you want me to do? Something along those lines.

Jonathan, when you listen to that and you think about the tension of that moment that James Comey had just been fired not only days before,4 you know, take a look at the activity in that room and what does it say to you?

TURLEY: Well, what it says is it's a matter of interpretation and that interpretation could have considerable consequences. I have a column in the Hill today talking about how Trump could use this as a way to fulfill what he has wanted along -- for a long time, not only to replace Rosenstein but ultimately Sessions. He could say that this is a case of insubordination, not obstruction and go ahead and fire Rosenstein and replace him potentially with a person he wants to become ultimately attorney general. If he followed that course, he would end up with an attorney general who had direct control over Mueller's investigation.

Now, that's a series of events that is going to be viewed very differently by both of these parties but it's ironic that this newspaper that the president loves to call the failing New York Times may have given him the ability to do just that.

MACCALLUM: Yes, that's great, isn't it? Let's talk about the New York Times and the way this story was presented, Howard, because there's also reports from people who were familiar with what was going on in that room that the notes and the memos are all typed up. They're not extemporaneous notes that were scribbled down. They're notes that were probably made later and that for one thing Lisa Page wrote very copious notes and that Andrew McCabe's notes were a little bit scratchier. She wrote all these notes and yet she didn't mention any reference to the 25th Amendment that was set in the room.

She said the only thing -- the takeaway is that the only thing that was discussed in the room was that wire moment and there's some suggestion about why the New York Times wrote both of those things together and whether or not they can really back that up.

HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, unnamed sources often have agendas. And the unnamed sources behind this explosive time story may be putting the wrong twist on it possibly or even probably in an effort to damage Rod Rosenstein because if the line was sarcastic, as sources have told Fox, Washington Post also has a similar account, then it may just be you know, they're having a heated exchange, Rosenstein and the former number two at the FBI Andrew McCabe and Rosenstein is pushing back.

But I do have to say that Rod Rosenstein's denial here leaves a whole lot of wiggle room. He says the article is inaccurate but he doesn't deny a specific detail in it. He says he doesn't now believe president should be removed through the 25th Amendment but doesn't say anything about whether he at least speculated about that or talk to others about that back in 2017.

MACCALLUM: Yes. And with regard to that anonymous New York Times editorial that everyone has been trying to figure out who it came from, it also referenced this idea of using the 25th Amendment and Donald Trump Jr. piped in pretty quickly with a tweet saying we likely have a winner in the search for anonymous. Anything to subvert a president who's actually getting things done for America for change. And now let's put up the actual piece of the anonymous op-ed back then which said, "given the instability many witness, there were early whispers within the cabinet for -- of invoking the 25th Amendment which would start a complex process of removing the president." Your thoughts on all that, Jonathan Turley.

TURLEY: Well, first of all there's no basis that I can see for starting a 25th amendment a process of removal let alone to have it be successful. It's just -- it is -- it is beyond really any sense of plausibility. But in terms of picking out who's the anonymous source here, I agree with Howard. There's a lot of very weird fingerprints that are likely on this story. Someone leaked these memos which may be classified. That could cause a serious issue with the special counsel or the Department Justice. I don't know what their status may be. But there was clearly an agenda here.

One possibility is someone wanted to trigger Trump to see if he -- this would push him to firing Rosenstein. I don't believe he should fire Rosenstein. I don't believe he should fire Sessions because I think that that would complicate this and it would be bad for the country. But this really does open up a pathway for him to say that this is really a case of insubordination, this fulfills the narrative I've been talking about that there are people that are really not supporting me and are seeking to undermine me and he could clean house and that, of course, would change a lot of things.

MACCALLUM: Howie?

TURLEY: Look, I mean, President Trump detest Rod Rosenstein because he's the guy who appointed by Mueller. He's the guy who oversees the investigation of the president considers an illegal witch-hunt. But even if we get past the irony of him using the newspaper he distrusts to do that, I mean it would set off an absolute political firestorm. So clearly I think at least some of these sources would like to prod the president in that direction but this would not be without a heavy political cost where he to get rid of the man, his own appointee by the way, who was overseeing the Mueller probe.

MACCALLUM: Yes, fascinating. I mean, Shakespearean in its complexity, really. I mean, all the different people who could possibly want to have put this story out there and the president is about to take the stage in a few moments and my guess is that we're going to hear something about this and he's also fired up about Brett Kavanaugh and speaking out about it in a whole different way today so we're going to watch that closely. Gentleman, thank you. Jonathan Turley, Howie Kurtz, always good to see you both.

Coming up, do women support Dr. Ford or due process or is there a way to have both in the Kavanaugh allegations. My ladies' night panel ready to go on a Friday night after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Brett Kavanaugh is one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of knowing or meeting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: So about 2-1/2 hours to go until the deadline that was set by the Senate Judiciary Committee and Kavanaugh's accuser to agree to terms for hearing next week on allegations the Supreme Court nominee has sexually assaulted her 36 years ago. President Trump has been very careful with his words for a while this week on this controversy. He got a lot of praise for that. But then this morning that changed and he fired off two pretty explosive tweets about this writing, "I have no doubt that if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local law enforcement authorities by either her or her loving parents.

I asked that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place." And then, "the radical left lawyers want the FBI to get involved now. Why didn't someone call the FBI 30 years ago? Here now my ladies panel for tonight, Lisa Boothe, Marie Harf, and Jenna Ellis. Thanks for all of you for being here. Obviously you know, this has been such a difficult week discussing all of this, waiting for her attorneys to come forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MACCALLUM: We need to hear from her, which I think everybody really wants to do. It seems like the president kind of lost his patience on it a bit this morning. We all know that there was no FBI report that no one went to the police, that was part of the early facts of this case. Was that a political mistake for him, Lisa?

LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I certainly don't think it help. Same with Senators Flake, Murkowski -- Murkowski and Collins. That being said, I think he's tired of seeing his candidate or his nominee getting railroaded by Democrats and we know that they've been against his nominee from the very beginning and have been looking for any avenue in any way to try to derail them.

And they're clearly weaponizing these allegations to try to hurt Kavanaugh and to derail him. And also I don't think it is unfair for him to question the veracity of the claims that Christine Ford is making. Considering the fact she doesn't remember when it happen, she doesn't remember where it happen, she doesn't remember how she got there, she doesn't remember how she got home.

Yet, because of the Me Too movement we've been conditioned and so you just automatically believe her claims simply because she is a woman. And I think that is dangerous and wrong. We need to treat each of these things by looking at the facts.

And unfortunately, there are no facts and evidence here. And furthermore, after 30 years, the only evidence or anything written down was by her therapist that contradicts what she's saying now. And the witnesses that she has named have all said that this never or at least they don't recall any sort of incident ever happening.

So I think it is perfectly fair and actually I find it dangerous that more people aren't questioning the validity of her allegations considering the fact that there is nothing there. There is nothing to support which she--

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Well, I was amaze, you know, last night we played this video of all these Hollywood actresses saying, I believe you. I believe you. I'm thinking, how do you know that? I mean, everyone has sympathy for someone who went through an assault, but you do have to -- I mean, we don't live in a society where you jump to that kind of conclusion.

You have to wait, you have to look at what the facts are. But you know, politically, I want to get back to this.

BOOTHE: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Because the president's tweets, then you have Susan Collins of Maine saying that she was appalled by the tweet. And moments ago, Susan Collins came out and said, I need to look in the mirror -- I'm paraphrasing what she said. She said basically I need to look in the mirror and to know what I did was right. He could lose Collins.

JENNA ELLIS, CONTRIBUTOR, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Yes.

MACCALLUM: They could lose Flake with this kind of talk, Jenna.

ELLIS: Yes. And you know, I think that Lisa is right, that the president is probably reflecting the American people by saying that we're all very tired of this. And we understand that due process is in place for a specific purpose. And so this is just a delay tactic.

And what I think is really interesting as well is the New York Times and CNN both ran a piece today talking about Christine Ford's background and that she's scared of flying and that's why they had to delay. She did an internship apparently at the University of Hawaii. How exactly did she get there?

This is just a delay tactic, and so if Kavanaugh is not ultimately nominated - I mean, or he's not ultimately confirmed, this is just going to impact the midterms where I think the American families want to vote their values, they want to preserve and protect the Constitution. This is not the correct procedure.

MACCALLUM: Marie?

MARIE HARF, FOX NEWS RADIO HOST: So, the last time the American people thought that Republicans in Congress railroaded a nominee under the Supreme Court who was accused of sexual harassment, the very next election cycle a record number of women came out and voted, a record number of women were elected to Congress. It was the first year of the woman in 1992.

We are already talking about how this could be the year of the woman, record number of women are running in midterms, that is 45 days from now. The Republicans on the Hill have been so careful, Martha, as you mentioned, to walk a fine line to look empathetic, to try and give her ability to state her case. And judge Kavanaugh to defend herself.

Donald Trump, who has been accused by over a dozen women of everything from rape to sexual assault and sexual harassment, is not the person Republicans want on the Hill want coming out and stepping into this firestorm.

They are trying to walk a very fine line where women, independent women, are fired up.

In every poll, they are moving away from the Republican Party. From a political standpoint, Donald Trump is hurting his party.

(CROSSTALK)

ELLIS: But at some point--

MACCALLUM: You know, I mean, I think that Chairman Grassley has handled this as well as he possibly could. He's been very patient. He made a lot of offers. We'll come to you in California. You could be questioned by another individual.

BOOTHER: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Someone you feel comfortable when you come here. I don't know what her reasons are for -- I mean, obviously she says she had a lot of personal issues that she had to deal with in California with all of this.

But ultimately, you know, they -- you can't do this without hearing her story.

BOOTHE: That's right.

MACCALLUM: At some point, the American -- I don't that, you know, they are going to be frustrated with not being able to move forward on this. I mean, at some point, what about Brett Kavanaugh? Imagine, he's got to make it through another weekend of waiting and waiting and waiting to find out if his life is going to fall apart based on these accusations or if he's going to end up on the Supreme Court. Is it fair to him?

HARF: It's a very difficult situation for every single person involved in this. I will absolutely grant you that, and I think she should testify. I think if you are going to make these claims, you should testify and Brett Kavanaugh should have a chance to get his side of the story.

Martha, I also firmly believe if there are no other accusations and no other allegations that Brett Kavanaugh will tell his side of the story, she will tell hers and he will ultimately get confirmed.

So this is a tough process. And you have to give, though, this woman who has come forward with an accusation, the time to tell her story. And if it's Monday, or Wednesday or Thursday, they will get to it, he will get his side to the story and the Senate will evaluate that as part of their advising consent. That is the way the process should work.

BOOTHE: Senator Dianne Feinstein also said she can't say that everything is truthful in response to reporters' questions. So let's not—

Of course. Sure.

BOOTHE: But yet and you've seen the media and the left run rampant, already accusing Kavanaugh of doing something from 36 years ago, and again, I reiterate and restate the fact that the accuser herself cannot remember anything.

MACCALLUM: All right.

BOOTHE: So, clearly, there's not even enough honestly for an investigation.

(CROSSTALK)

ELLIS: I get that. What we do now--

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Listen to what she is saying.

ELLIS: -- is going to have a profound impact on whether or not if we are truly conserving the Constitution and rule of law in this country--

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: Or his life.

ELLIS: -- or when are setting any--

(CROSSTALK)

BOOTHE: I'm sorry! Both lives matter!

HARF: Exactly.

MACCALLUM: And you know, but this idea of people jumping on TV and saying, I believe you! Like why, how could you ever make that statement without hearing both sides of the story?

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: Because it becomes political question.

MACCALLUM: Because it becomes a political question.

HARF: On both sides.

MACCALLUM: Because of the Me Too ambush that where due process goes out--

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: Lindsey Graham last night said--

BOOTHE: But this is an unsolvable problem. If she has such little details, there is absolutely no way--

(CROSSTALK)

HARF: Vote for him! There is not enough for an investigation.

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: Perhaps you will. Perhaps they'll magically come together, they'll figure it out by 10 o'clock and we will see here on Wednesday.

(CROSSTALK)

ELLIS: They should be with Ford and (Inaudible)

MACCALLUM: Thank you, guys.

BOOTHE: I agree.

MACCALLUM: Good to see you all. Thanks for being here tonight. OK. Coming up next, we are watching the president's rally in Missouri. Basically because there are two huge stories we are that waiting for him to react to as the deadline, the clock is ticking for Kavanaugh's accuser to come forward. The president has been more vocal on this than he has throughout the course of this whole story and we expect we are going to hear more tonight.

Also what's he going to say about Rod Rosenstein. Plus, former President Obama back on the campaign trail today really facing off against President Trump in the past few weeks. This is getting very interesting. Some brand-new statements from former President Obama next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, D-FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This time the stakes really are high. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are far more dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: All right. We are watching a couple of big stories tonight. As you see the president has come out in Springfield, Missouri, where he is there to for Josh Hawley who is running against Claire McCaskill. This is one of the most watch -- closely watch Senate seats there.

Also we're keeping an eye on that 10 o'clock deadline as we wait to hear on the attorney for -- as we wait to hear for the attorney for Christine Ford. Let's go to Garrett Tenney, he's there in Missouri and get a feel for the action there. Hey, Garrett.

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Martha. A lot of folks very excited to see the president here tonight. And tonight's rally like last nights in Vegas, it's all about Republicans holding on to the Senate in the midterm elections. Possibly even adding a seat or two to their majority.

Missouri is one of their top targets to make that happen. Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill is in one of the toughest re-election battles in the country against state's attorney general Josh Hawley.

Now President Trump won Missouri by 19 points and he's hoping his popularity will help energize voters to get them out to vote for Holly in November. McCaskill is a moderate Democrat in an increasingly red state. She's one of 10 Democratic senators up for re-election in states that president won. He's hoping to get voters out to support Holly six weeks from now. Martha?

MACCALLUM: Garrett, thank you very much. We're watching the president as he kind of walks around the podium area here before he gets ready to speak. As Garrett was saying, this is one of 10 Senate seats that we're watching very closely because it is a red state.

Claire McCaskill has been in office there for some time. She's hoping for another round in the Senate. Josh Hawley, her attorney general, is hoping that he can get that seat from her and build on that Trump momentum from the 2016 election where as Garrett said he's ahead by 19 points.

This race is pretty much neck and neck if you look at most of the reads on it, it is going to be a tossup at this point as most of those 10 states are.

So Democrats would need two states to flip the Senate in their direction. They would need to clear two states.

And the GOP hopes that they'll make big gains in the Senate in order to increase their lead, which the president has said it so tiny small makes it impossible to get a lot of things done.

So he is there to ramp up the crowd. And of course one of the main reasons, that we want to listen to some of his comments tonight is because he has been really a lot more out there on the issue of Brett Kavanaugh today in terms of his strident take in his tweets this morning towards Brett Kavanaugh's accuser asking why she hasn't come forward with her FBI files.

(CROSSTALK)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our country is respected again, remember that.

MACCALLUM: All right. Let's listen to the president for a moment here.

TRUMP: We're respected again. Hello, Missouri. I'm thrilled to be back in the American heartland. I love you, people.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: With thousands of crowds, hardworking patriots. This is an incredible time for our nation. We have the best economy in our history today.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Today! In fact, the stock market, which, to me, is jobs, the stock market hit an all-time high again. Think of it.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And that would mean that 101 days, we hit an all-time high in the stock market. Believe it.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And I don't say me, I say we, because it's about we. Amazing people.

We are bringing back our factories. Reopening are our mines. You know those mines, they are reopening. We love our miners and we are restoring our industrial might like nobody can believe.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Nobody believes what's happening. After years of rebuilding other nations, getting a little tired of that. Right? We are finally rebuilding our nation and we are doing it with American grit and skill and ad pride!

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Right? Our military -- do we love our military?

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: Do we love our law enforcement?

(CROWD CHEERING)

TRUMP: Do we love ICE? They are tough people. We need tough people to protect. They are dealing with tough people. That's the only thing, if you look at it, that's what they respect. They respect strength. They respect strength.

Our military will soon be more powerful than ever before. And just today, I signed a new bill. Fully funding veterans' choice for our great veterans.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: America is winning again, winning like never before. And America is being respected again because we are finally putting America first.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And it's all going to start with Josh Hawley. We love Josh. We love Josh! He's a star. And he just said it -- I didn't say it. He just said it. He said, this place broke every record they've ever had. Look at this place.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Now, the fake news will never say that. They'll never report it.

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: They will never report it. But that's OK. Because we all know it. By the way, obviously, look at what happened in 2016. Obviously -- remember all the phony polls, the states we were supposed to lose? And then 8 o'clock, the state closes. Donald Trump has won make the State of Texas! Donald Trump has won -- remember? Remember?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Remember, for months, Texas was too close to call. You know, to call, remember? By the way, I have to tell you, Missouri was never too close to call. So that's good.

But remember, Georgia was too close to call? Remember Utah was too close to call? OK, so now it's o'clock. They close in Texas. The polls have just closed in Texas. Donald Trump has won the State of Texas. Donald Trump has won the State of Utah. Donald Trump has won the State of Georgia.

I said, wait a minute, I thought it was so close. It shouldn't go all night, n. We won in, like, in two seconds. Do you know why? Because they are phony polls! They have phony polls.

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: They are called suppression polls. What they do is, you know, you are with your wife. You say, Alice, I love Trump, but he can't win because the polls have -- and he just can't win. Suppression.

So let's go to a movie. And then sadly, we'll go home and watch what turned out to be the most exciting night in the history of politics. Right?

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: That was some night and all those gusy they may not like us. But you know what, about six months before the election -- not this one coming up. Please go out and vote! Please go out.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But in 2020, about six months before the election, every single one of those haters is going to endorse us because without us they have nobody watching television. They have nobody.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: They have nobody reading their phony papers. Nobody. So they are going to -- we expect endorsements from everybody. We'll get the New York Times. We expect to get the Washington Post--

MACCALLUM: All right. We are watching the president. He is going back over the victory in 2016. We are waiting and we're listening to see if he reacts to the two big stories that we have been covering for you tonight.

One of which is the Kavanaugh story of course as we wait to see as the clock ticks down to 10 o'clock this evening see if there is any agreement made for a hearing next week in Washington. If not, we are told that on Monday there will indeed be a vote.

Also, the Rod Rosenstein story which is really catching fire out there as
well.

Let's talk about those and let's bring in Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner commentary writer, and Jessica Tarlov, Bustle Digital Group.com senior director of research and a Fox News contributor. Good to have you both here tonight.

JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Obviously, this is a key Senate race. The president has a pretty tight schedule. He is basically going to as many of these places as he can.

Jessica, when you look at the possible impact on the midterms, of the Kavanaugh story, potentially even of the Rosenstein story if the president were to decide that was enough to fire him, how does it look to you?

TARLOV: And look, I think largely the same that it did before which is that I think the Democrats who have a very good chance about 75 percent of taking the house back. But you really see a tilt in focus to that. Thirty percent chance that they take the Senate back, and I hear that from a lot of Republican who are saying that what's going on with Dr. Ford is just a delay tactic so that maybe we can get the majority back in the Senate and have the possibility of getting a liberal justice down the line.

I personally don't see us winning the Senate. I think it's going to be very tight margin as the president said, you know, if someone has a cold, we won't get our votes through.

But it definitely the Rod Rosenstein story, it's not -- it certainly feeds the president's argument that he's been making all along, even though Rosenstein has categorically denied that's even said today I never said anything about the 25th amendment nor do I think that he should be removed.

But the president has a lot of fodder for this rally tonight for sure. And a lot of legitimate things than he can talk about. He spoke on the economy more than insulting alleged victims of sexual abuse like he did this morning, I think that would be the preferred path to take.

MACCALLUM: Hey, Tom, I want to get your thoughts on this Rosenstein story and the suggestion that he said that he would wear a wire and perhaps he could get John Kelly also looped in and also Jeff Sessions looped into the idea of removing the president with the 25th amendment.

You know, and it's also brought up earlier today that Rosenstein was a couple of weeks in the job at this point, haven't worked with John Kelly, new with Jeff Sessions, highly unlikely, according to one source I spoke to today that he would be suggesting that in this room.

TARLOV: Right.

MACCALLUM: What dynamic, who is going after him, what do you see in the story? How do you break it down.

TOM ROGAN, COMMENTARY WRITER, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well, yes. Well, I think the clear point here is that we are going to need an investigation. I had a piece about this, this afternoon, I mean, the relationship because of the power of the deputy attorney general, especially in relation to the Russian investigation and the importance of having a judicial branch that can command the respect of the American people that has to be an investigation.

But critically there are a lot of questions here about political modification and perhaps leading the story. Andy McCabe must obviously, former FBI acting director under investigation. Others in the Department of Justice, perhaps leaking this as a way to delegitimize Rod Rosenstein, and perhaps play into the president's hand in terms of giving an excuse to get rid of him.

We don't know, we need to know. I think the fortunate thing here is unlike so many of these investigations when we do get a look into this because I think we well, because it is such a powerful allegation, it would be resolved relatively quickly because the DOJ, the Department of Justice, will know exactly who's in that room the New York Times reports on because they take a list of all those names.

So, one way or another, we will get to the bottom of this I think quite quickly.

MACCALLUM: Yes. Matt Gaetz from Florida has already called for an investigation tonight saying that he wants to talk to every judiciary committee to convene hearing to discuss with every person in the room to get to the bottom of what was said in that room since there are some serious suggestions in that story tonight.

So, you know, quick thought, Jessica on that before we go to the break?

TARLOV: Well, I totally agree with you that somewhat ridiculous to think that Rod Rosenstein seriously said that they should be wearing a wire to do this. And people who where there are suggesting that he said that sarcastically, and he's quite a sarcastic person.

But again, as I said before, this feeds into Trump's narrative as Matt Gaetz. I'm sure we'll hear from Devin Nunes within a few minutes and we'll have another investigation.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: What a story. That is "The Story" for this week. We'll see you back here on Monday as "The Story" goes on at 7 p.m. on Monday night. Tucker Carlson takes it over from Washington, D.C. Thanks for being with us, everybody. Have a great night.

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. 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 CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.