What can US do to stop migrant caravans?

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What can US do to stop migrant caravans?

President Trump vows to deploy troops to the border as migrants from Central America make their way toward the U.S.; insight from former ICE Acting Director Tom Homan and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," October 23, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington tonight. As the so-called caravan continues to swell in size, we're going to ask the questions are media brethren will not. Who is funding these efforts? How has it grown so quickly and what did the Democrats have to offer besides a bunch of cliches and bromides, and of course grandstanding? All those answers tonight.

Plus, after Trump declared himself a nationalist last night, the media have a case of the vapors. They are labeling him a white nationalist. And tonight, we're going to examine the disturbing trend of the left pushing race at every turn.

And we will bring you more footage from Raymond Arroyo's trip to Houston, this is so funny, and what he heard from women about Kavanaugh and the midterms might actually surprise you. Plus, Steve Scalise, Tom Homan, Corey Lewandowski, all here. But first, leftists aiding and abetting an invasion. That's the focus of tonight's "Angle."

If you have been watching other networks, which of course you shouldn't be, well you are likely to have a very distorted view of reality when it comes to the caravan of thousands making their way to the U.S. border. The sympathetic overwrought coverage of this invading horde, you know, calling it a caravan is a misnomer and frankly sickening. The networks have dispatched teams of embedded reporters, I mean, reporters enclosed -- who are not so much covering the horde as covering for it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see trucks full of freshly cooked tortillas, and incredible sort of Christian gestures of welcoming the stranger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a nation in the United States, we have to choose what kind of nation we are and treat them with respect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- up fear of the stranger is a tactic that's as old as politics. That's what makes the teachings of Christ to welcome the stranger, so radical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Who died and turned him into Joel O'Steen? Anyway, their biggest gripe is a president suggestion that middle eastern terrorist might be part of this peace-loving group of traveling mothers and children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take your camera, go into the middle and search. You are going to find MS-13, you're going to find middle eastern, you're going to find everything.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: He's ceasing on unsubstantiated right wing media reports that the caravan has been infiltrated by criminals and unknown middle easterners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reality here is, there is no specific evidence as far as we know.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Have you seen any evidence as to the president's claim there are middle easterners members of this caravan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, it turns out the president may be privy to more information than the bright lights at CNN headquarters and their reporters are ever privy to. Tonight, the spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the caravan includes "citizens of countries outside of central america, including countries in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia and elsewhere are currently traveling through Mexico toward the." And Vice President Pence said something else that is getting very little attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT: What the president of Honduras told me was organized by leftist groups in Honduras, financed by Venezuela and sent north to challenge our sovereignty and challenge our border.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now that by the way, to toot our own horn, confirms what we reported last Friday night. Now, rather than betting with this ever- expanding horde of people surging toward the U.S. to violate the immigration laws or at least gain the system, and laboring to humanize them, all these reporters, why aren't the journalists doing their jobs and investigating who actually organized this crowd, and who is financing them?

Now, the vice president just gave you a huge tip, run with it. Instead though, the media are strangely incurious about things like the arrest of Irineo Mujica. He's the director Pueblo Sin Fronteras, and the main organizer of the caravan that stormed the border last spring.

Mujica is a renowned activist with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship who you see here being arrested last week by Mexican authorities for allegedly attacking officials and resisting arrest when they intercepted the horde. Now, why was Mujica there in the first place?

And what about Bartolo Fuentes? Guatemalan officials arrested him last week when the horde entered their country. Fuentes is a former Honduran opposition party leader and yet another immigration activist. Now, he's reportedly the main organizer of this latest invader caravan.

Guatemala deported him back to Honduras and this all substantiates Vice President Pence's comment earlier today. But where are the journalists following up on this story? Who is funding Fuentes and Mujica? And what are their ultimate goals?

Rather than doing actual reporting and digging into this, it's easier to take up the mantra of the left, embed yourself with the migrants, actually, act like you are a migrant, emotionally manipulate the audience and then dismiss Trump. It's just a heartless fearmonger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump continues stoking fears over illegal immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's easy for these voices of fearmongering on the right to say, oh, look this. This is threatening all these people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see he is stoking fear and lies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is betting on this caravan vaguely for the midterm election to get people afraid and out to the polls. (END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Do they all read the same sheets in the morning? (Inaudible) marching order? Who do they get them from? They are all repeating the same lines. Do you notice there is no substantive solutions being offered? It's just a pejorative against Trump.

The Democrats have no answers, zero answers to the immigration crisis. So, like their media enablers, they write it off as just Trumping, you know, he's just alarm as fearmonger. But that's not an answer. And just a few years ago they actually agreed with Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, D-CALIF.: The day when America could be the welfare system for Mexico is gone. We simply can't afford it.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y.: People who enter the United States without our permission are illegal aliens and illegal aliens should not be treated the same as people who enter the U.S. legally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Will the real Chuck Schumer, the real Barack Obama, the real Dianne Feinstein, step forward? Well that was the way they were then. But now they are out of power. And Democrats have immigration amnesia. There is no crisis. What's the big deal? Joe Biden telling a reporter, "Trump's making it sound like they're breaking through the border. This is hysteria on his part"

Well Joe, unless they take a hard left and go for a swim, where do you think they are headed? The president is sounding the alarm now because unlike your administration, Joe, he actually sees this looming danger and is trying to proactively shield the United States from it. The president saw what happened when the last so-called caravan swamped the border.

And this current horde coupled with a number of illegals streaming across the border daily, will overwhelm the infrastructure and cause another crisis that is entirely avoidable. But still, Democrats refuse to be part of the solution. Instead, they are demagogy the issue and were unwilling to work with the president earlier this year to craft sensible legislation that might have avoided this crisis.

Even when President Trump, think about this, offered amnesty to 2 million illegals in exchange for the construction of the wall and for some other common sense reforms about chain migration and so forth, the Democrats would have none of it. They didn't want to give Trump the victory. So, they ended up endangering the migrants and they ended up endangering the American people in opening this whole system up for further corruption.

But now my friends, it's up to the American people. They will either allow Democrats to continue to ignore the obvious and permit rank lawlessness of the border or you the voters will empower the president with the majority he needs to protect our country. And as for the invading horde headed our way, they must be intercepted and sent back to their countries of origin.

And the Justice Department should criminally and civilly prosecute if possible any NGO or individual organizing this crush on our borders. No one should be permitted to undermine our immigration laws, coach the migrants or destabilize the security and sovereignty of the United States of America, which is exactly the threat presented by this horde.

Whether it's reported by the media or not, I don't care, those are the facts. If this keeps up, well, this is the only blue wave that we're going to see in November. See it? It's the blue flag of Honduras waving. We'll see that in November perhaps. And that's "The Angle."

All right, joining us now for reaction, James Trusty, the former DOJ prosecutor and Eileen Blessinger is an immigration attorney here in Washington, D.C. Let's start with you James. Now, as someone who has worked on these issues at DOJ, what are the possible legal avenues for prosecuting these groups that are encouraging this lawlessness, coaching the migrants and basically assembling thousands of people on false pretenses?

JASMES TRUSTY, FORMER DOJ PROSECUTOR: Well, it depends on a lot of facts that I'm not totally certain on at this point, but the bottom line is, if they are organizing and financing and trying to encourage people to cross illegally, to cross outside the points of entry. It's at least arguable that there is alien smuggling and racketeering charges that could be investigated, a lot of practical difficulties with that, a lot of factual underpinnings that we don't know at this point, but that's at least an option.

INGRAHAM: Well, what about James, the idea of giving instructions sheets to migrants where things are written down on pieces of paper which is, you know, obviously tantamount to coaching a witness, but it is basically the instructions for gaining entry into the United States.

TRUSTY: You know, the problem ultimately it needs a political solution but the legal aspect of that is, you could argue that they are aiding and abetting false statements for immigration purposes. But actually proving up that they are encouraging false entry as opposed to entries at a point where they are lawfully turning themselves in and seeking asylum is definitely going to be a problem there.

INGRAHAM: Eileen, this is what Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State said today about the current situation. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The caravan will not cross our southern border illegally under any circumstances. If you seek to come here, go through the normal refugee process. If you apply for refugee status, a permanent solution is possible in Mexico or in a third country. But I can tell you with certainty that we are determined that illegal entry to the United States from this caravan will not be possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Eileen, domestic violence, a fear of gang activity in your hometown or your city or even your country are not any longer valid reasons for credible fear to claim credible fear as an asylee into the United States. So, aren't this really just economic migrants, people who want to come here to work or to be with family members who are already here. How is that typically either an asylee or possibly a refugee?

EILEEN BLESSINGER, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: Actually, gang violence is not necessarily not qualified for asylum. You have to -- the way you qualify for asylum is showing them someone is going to harm you for something you can't change or shouldn't have to change. A lot of these people, a lot of the migrants that were coming, the people that I've interviewed at least at the border were coming here for political reasons. So, that tied with the gang violence shows that they have a basis to come here.

INGRAHAM: When you -- I'm sorry to interrupt, but when they were interviewed, many of them by media types in Guatemala, they cited, well, you know, there is no work. If anything were saying there's no work. Then by the time they get to Mexico, you start hearing the stories changing as the NGO's like Pueblo Sin Fronteras and Casa (inaudible) and all these other groups end up in groups like them. I'm just paraphrasing because a lot if these groups have the same ultimate goals.

And suddenly this narrative start changing. Then it is,oh, I live in incredible fear of XY and Z. But isn't this the case that the Central American countries are themselves, many of them are corrupt, don't run their economies all that well and so people feel like, god, I can come here, just credible fear, I get here, I get my foot in and I'm at the door and they put an ankle bracelet on and I rip it off. Isn't that really what's going on here in economic migration?

BLESSINGER: OK, so that's not completely what is happening, and a lot of these people do leave their ankle bracelets on. I think it's important to know that we do have a legal process in place. People can't just come here and say, I want asylum. They have to actually pass what you call the credible fear process and interview with an asylum officer that's going to show that there is at least a possibility of winning an asylum claim.

INGRAHAM: The asylum process however, James, is such that you claim credible fear and ultimately if you have those recited lines down, then you are driven to a bus depot or something like it, and you are basically released into the United States. Sometimes you go to a catholic relief services shelter, it's a Lutheran Services, and then you get, you know, sent all across the United States.

We have 700,000 pending immigration cases in the country. We don't have the facility to do this. We don't have the infrastructure to do this. So this is tantamount. Everyone watching this should understand, to catch and release, and these migrants are smart enough to know this. Correct, James?

TRUSTY: Well, I view it as a big problem for law enforcement. The longer lines you're saying. I mean, it's such a daunting task not just in terms of resources and numbers, but to not be able to instantly know whether any individual migrant is telling you a true story or a false one. There is absolutely people that have fear of gang murders and rapes and slavery taking place in their home country.

They come to our border and they could use our help. But there is also demonstratively false stories where people are coached up to say, I'm not in a gang anymore, or I'm afraid of x, y and z, where it's not true. So I look at it kind of from the lens of law enforcement. The Border Patrol people and I think this is just an impossible task for them to process all these people and figure out true from false on the fly in these kind of field interviews that they conduct and come to rationale decisions.

That's why the whole system needs an overhaul. It can't possibly be just a function of fine-tuning our border patrol or the resources that they have.

INGRAHAM: All right, both of you. Yes. both of you thank you so much. And this is obviously a problem that's going to continue unabated until we develop a solution, and James just referred to a congressional solutions necessary.

Former ICE acting director and Fox News contributor Tom Homan is with us and Louisiana Republican congressman and House majority whip Steve Scalise. Gentleman, thank you both for being here. Tom, I want to start with you given all your expertise in this matter. What is the one thing that could be done right now to help stem this tide?

TOM HOMAN, FORMMER ICE ACTING DIRECTOR: Well actually there are two things. First of all, raise the asylum bar. As the attorney said, they get (inaudible) by an asylum officer, 88 percent of them pass asylum interview because they are coached on what to say. But when they get to court, if they get to court, more than 80 percent lose their case.

So, we got to raise the asylum bar because the effect is too big. The second thing we do, look, if these families wanted due process, they have a right to claim asylum, there's only one way you can get to due process, Keep them in family (ph) residential center until they see a judge. Back in 2014, we first did this under Secretary J. Johnson.

We kept them until they see a judge, and guess what? Eighty percent more lost their case. We put them on airplanes, send them south. The numbers (inaudible) if we show the (inaudible) and where you get your due process when a decision is made and you lose, you're going (inaudible).

INGRAHAM: Congressman Scalise, we don't really have time to do anything before this midterm election. This is a national security issue and economic issue cost taxpayers billions of dollars to take all these people in, public school, health care, all of what we know. It's a health issue too because we don't know what people have coming in here. We have diseases in this country we haven't had for decades. What will congress do after the midterms to address the issue?

REP. STEVE SCALISE, HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: Laura, I think in the next two weeks you're really going to see this debate play out because ultimately that election in two weeks will help decide it. I am really glad that President Trump is putting such a sharp focus on this. Look, I mean, when you look at these -- it's like a parade going over. These aren't asylum- seekers.

I mean, you can see and you've talked about this. You've highlighted the people that are coaching them along the way so that at the beginning of this march, they are talking about coming over here looking for jobs and by the time they get closer, they are being coached about how to finally try to get in here legally even though this is not what the legal process is supposed to be like.

We need to change the law. We've had two different bills on the House floor. We've got actual votes to tighten these loopholes to actually close the loopholes that are allowing this.

INGRAHAM: So what's the problem? Why is it not getting traction? This is a national emergency. I would pull everyone back from midterm campaigning to deal with this frankly. That important that we have thousands of people --

SCALISE: Look at this.

INGRAHAM: -- maybe most of them are unarmed or all of them are unarmed for all we know. We don't know. This is an invasion into this country and the American people are seeing this play out they're like, this is like the phone is ringing and no one is home. No one is answering the phone here.

SCALISE: And that's what you're seeing President Trump saying, look, we are not going to allow this. First of all, all the Latin American countries, all of those billions of dollars of foreign aid needs to be on the table. They need to be made very clear.

INGRAHAM: They are already out of the Central America.

SCALISE: If you do this, this is going to be a threat to your billions of dollars that you are getting.

INGRAHAM: They're gone.

SCALISE: But President Trump has already made that clear. This is going to be in jeopardy. And you saw Secretary of State Pompeo saying, we are not going to let you into our country. We have to treat this as an invasion but also you have to look at this as we are a nation of laws. We have said, just play by the rules. There are rules that you can play by but they are trying to gain the system. We have got to be very clear --

INGRAHAM: Have to be changed.

SCALISE: -- that these laws have to be changed, and there is going to be an election in two weeks, in just two weeks. There are people that -- look, Pelosi wants open borders. This is a real impact on Pelosi's whole idea of having open borders. President Trump has done a great job of making this an election issue because the country is going to ultimately decide.

INGRAHAM: They don't want --

SCALISE: Do we want to know from a national security open borders, I'm for it, national security. They are for open borders.

INGRAHAM: Tom, the groups that are facilitating this, they are co- conspirators in the gaining of the system and the mass rush on the border. What can be done?

HOMAN: What you describe is absolutely aiding and abetting and helping people make an illegal entry. That is a violation of a United States code 1324 which is alien smuggling. It's a felony. So HSI need to work with the partners in Mexico, identify these people and prosecute.

INGRAHAM: Gentleman, we can do a whole hour on this. Thank you so much for joining us and Congressman Scalise, we're going to have you back on this issue and so many others. I love having you both on.

And after he called himself a nationalist, President Trump is getting slammed all across the board. Guess what? They are playing the race card xenophobia, all the isms and the ifs. It doesn't. We're going to tell you why when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They have a word, it sort of became old-fashioned. It is called a nationalist. And I say really, we are not supposed to use that word. You know what I am? I'm a nationalist, OK.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

INGRAHAM: And that one line sent the media and Democrats into a fit of rage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is trying to do the America first thing and he's trying to lend a new vocabulary to it and now he's brought a nationalist and maybe it's a dog whistle to race as such.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are suggesting there is some kind of dog whistle there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. It is. It does provoke hate activity. It does provoke discrimination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Send me a memo when we're going to retire that phrase. (Inaudible) to others even dog whistle wasn't strong enough.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When Donald Trump dais he's a nationalist, that is not a dog whistle, it's a fog horn to his base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Merriam-Webster defines nationalism thusly, loyalty and devotion to a nation. In other words, loyalty and devotion to America. So where is the controversy? To examine that question let's bring in two of our favorites, Horace Cooper, senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research and Preston Mitchum, he's the chair of the Washington Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Preston, I want to start with you. Why is the notion of loyalty and devotion to country a "dog whistle?"

PRESTON MITCHUM, CHAIR OF WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION: Laura, we already know in this country what nationalism means. We've heard it used many times. We know that extreme nationalism is what catapulted Hitler to the person that he is and that we know (inaudible) be today and, though I won't go as far to call Trump Hitler, I will say that it smells very Hitler-ish.

The problem with nationalism as a concept is that not only are you attempting to say that America's better than any other country, which on a surface level is a harmless term, surface level. When we peel back the layers, when we really start to have a conversation about what nationalism means and how it's been used against people who are Muslim, people of color, other folks who may not necessarily be "patriotic" in this country. A lot of violence has ensued against many of those people, and that is the harm of nationalism.

INGRAHAM: One question about that is when Trump is talking about nationalism of the country, the country is very diverse. I mean, we have an increasing number of Latino Americans, African-Americans, people from Asia and Pacific Islanders. We have people from all over the world. He was referring to America, which is a very large, diverse population.

So, again, why -- I'm not following, you know, and then he says Hitler-ish. I mean, his daughter is Jewish, his son-in-law is Jewish. He has the strongest relationship of any modern day president to Israel. So, are you then saying like -- I don't see how that computes. Our policy was before described as two pro Israel. Now you are saying it's Hitler-ish?

MITCHUM: That's (inaudible) like I'm saying because someone is married to a black person that they can't be racist. Simply because their daughter --

(INAUDIBLE)

INGRAHAM: That's pretty tough.

HORACE COOPER, SENIOR FELLOW, NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH:  That's very hard. That would be hard.

INGRAHAM: That's pretty tough.

MITCHUM: Yes, absolutely. You've lived in this country longer than I have so I'm surprised you would say it's hard, that we see it --

COOPER: Wait, wait --

(CORSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: All right, Horace, I want to play -- Horace, I want to play -- this is what President Trump followed up, after he heard all of the, he's Hitler, he's pulled (inaudible). He's like everyone bad who ever lived because he's a nationalist. This is what he followed up with today. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All I want for our country is to be treated well, to be treated with respect. For many years, other countries that are allies of ours, so full of allies, they have not treated our country fairly. So that said, I'm absolutely nationalist and I'm proud of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: You know, I mean, so that's his latest.

COOPER: This president loves this country. I watched during Hurricane Harvey when he went out and was a volunteer helping to distribute goods and services. If you watched the camera and you weren't paying attention to what the commentators were saying, what you saw was a person that liked the people that they encountered.

This president is devoted to this country. Now, it's the strangest form of racism that I've ever seen that black Americans, Latino Americans and even Asian Americans have done better in this country relative to every other population.

The Civil Rights Act was passed because blacks and minorities couldn't get work. Now, you've got five records of unemployment achievement for black Americans. It is the weirdest form of racism almost as weird as saying, you can be a racist while being married to a black person.

MITCHUM: What does that have to do with nationalism?

COOPER: He is working diligently to make it better for people who live in this country.

MITHUM: Ask the people in Puerto Rico and what is he making it better for them because Puerto Rico, contrary to what many conservative --

COOPER: That's not what the government says.

MITCHUM: It's part of (inaudible) of the United States.

INGRAHAM: Guys, let's keep this focused.

MITCHUM: -- and act like it was.

INGRAHAM: OK, well, the Puerto Rican infrastructure was a disaster during eight years of Obama. It wasn't that -- it's been difficult for a long period of time. But that having been said, there's another issue I want to quickly get your take on, Andrew Gillum of course is the up-and-comer in Florida running against Ron DeSantis for the governorship. He said this on Hill T.V. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW GILLUM, DEMOCRATIC GUBERNTORIAL CANDIDATE, FLORIDA: I definitely think we are held to a different standard. And you know, I try not to spend a lot of time on what that is, rather focusing on what my contributions are and how we push past it. They don't expect much of me to begin with. They certainly didn't even expect me to be there. And now they are having to wrap their heads around what it means to have someone like me on the state and the national scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Preston, how is this not playing the race card to divert attention from the FBI investigation? And the new thing is that got tickets to Hamilton and kind of lied about that.

PRESTON MITCHUM, WRITER AND RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE: We're considering that playing the race card when Ron DeSantis called him the equivalent of a monkey and a chimpanzee?

INGRAHAM: He never said that. That's a complete lie.

MITCHUM: He absolutely said that.

INGRAHAM: He said monkey around. Monkey business.

MITCHUM: So monkeying around is different between calling somebody a chimpanzee? Laura. Laura.

INGRAHAM: I have heard so many people say that phrase. And to say that that -- Ron DeSantis, if that's what you're going to try to beat Ron DeSantis --

MITCHUM: We're not being historical. Ron DeSantis --

INGRAHAM: But why do you have to argue race? Precisely. If that's the case then why argue the race card?

MITCHUM: Because there's a specific impact that black people experience in this country that many people are just not believing. That is not our fault that people are not believing --

INGRAHAM: So when Barack Obama wins reelection and get the majority of white voters was that racism, too?

MITCHUM: And 57 percent of white women voted for Trump, that doesn't mean.  You don't see that connection there?

INGRAHAM: No, I don't.

MITCHUM: That is a problem.

HORACE COOPER, CO-CHAIR OF PROJECT 21: We have a problem in this country when you can see how much progress black Americans have made. We own more houses, we have more cars, we have more income, we have more billionaires than we have ever had, ever. You cannot say it's worse. You can say that we have made substantial. Those comments deny that progress, and they imply that this country is in fact opposed to the interests of --

MITCHUM: He's running for a governorship in Florida --

COOPER: And you can't win.

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: Just win on the merits. And he's ahead in the polls, so why is he complaining about it? He's ahead in the polls.

MITCHUM: Because that is a fact of his lived experience.

INGRAHAM: OK, gentlemen, great to have you on, love the panel, as always.

What Raymond Arroyo heard from women voters about Kavanaugh in the midterms might surprise you. Another debate, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way that Democrats use women and sexual assault to get a delay, that is a total turnoff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one has ever been treated like they treated him.  And it was just hard to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We loved Kavanaugh. We believed what he was saying.  I hate to say it, I didn't believe her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The lady seemed as if she was being used by politicians. And I think the Democrats, it will be their downfall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: That sounds awfully different from the narrative Democrats wanted us to believe. And that's not all. Thanks to a strong economy, labor force participation among prime age U.S. women aged 25 to 54 has actually risen to 75.2 percent from 73.3 percent three year ago. And unemployment among that group is at the lowest level since the 1950s.  Between the backlash to Kavanaugh and the great economic fortunes, should Democrats be taking the female vote for granted?

Joining us now to react, Harmeet Dhillon, an attorney and RNC chairwoman from California, and Sarah Badawi, a Democrat strategist and senior lobbyist for Progressive Change Campaign Committee. Sarah, I want to start with you on this. Look at these numbers, just economic numbers for women.  More women in the labor force really since the 1990s, record number of people earning a good living, wages beginning to go up, you look at the chart there, since 2000, of course at the height of the tech boom and so forth. These are just staggeringly good economic numbers for women.

SARAH BADAWI: Sure. So those economic numbers are good, but having a job and being a part of the labor force is the bare minimum for women. When suburban women go home and talk to their families, they are thinking about health care. And when Mitch McConnell is on television promising to vote to repeal the ACA again, taking health care coverage away from millions of Americans, that matters. And when he promises to cut Social Security benefits for millions of seniors, that matters.

INGRAHAM: When did he do that?

BADAWI: Just the other day. He was saying to make up for the deficit we're going to have to cut Social Security benefits.

INGRAHAM: How does the Progressive Change committee, committee for change advocate for reforming Social Security, how do you guys think we should?

BADAWI: I think Democrats up and down the ticket all across the country are fighting tooth and nail in stark contrast to not only to protect Social Security, but --

INGRAHAM: You know it's not sustainable. You probably know math better than I do. I'm not very good at math, but the numbers obviously are not sustainable. You've got to make changes to Social Security at some point.  Nobody wants to.

BADAWI: Actually I think it's perfectly sustainable because what you'd do is you just raise the cap on income tax so people can see the solvency of the Social Security fund for generations to come. But regardless, I think what we are seeing is a stark contrast between what one party is offering and the other --

INGRAHAM: You guys, the left, Harmeet, cares about really a couple issues.  Health care, definitely they are pushing the health care issue. But I pay for my own health care. It's gone up I think 60 percent since Obamacare.  And that was when you pay for your own as a small business owner. So I had health expenses before Obamacare but it's like through the roof. It's like a joke. It's a complete joke. That was after Obama. So with that, what is it with the suburban female voter, though? Is it uncomfortable with the tonality of some of what they are hearing in the Trump administration?  Because the economic news is great, and some of these other issues, they don't seem like they are bubbling up to the surface as they would normally like in a presidential election.

HARMEET DHILLON, ATTORNEY: I just heard Democrats want to raise taxes.  Raising taxes is the solution to every problem. But I think women are more complex than that. And I think that for each of these women who like to have a job, some of them also like to have the choice of working at home and being moms, and that's a perfectly legitimate choice. And they want their husbands and their want their families and they want their kids to have futures that are bright and have a lot of opportunity.

So these numbers are coupled with amazing opportunities for Americans. And we saw the lead of the story about how women reacted negatively to the caricature of them as only caring about one side of an issue. We care about all sides of the issue. We own businesses. We provide for our employees. We don't like paying taxes, and we like to have a bright future. So I think Democrats are taking us for granted as a cookie-cutter approach.

INGRAHAM: And I think that one of the interesting things I think you saw when Raymond was interviewing all these people, and it's a self-selecting group, people that go to a Trump rally. But I've noticed this with folks who are not all that political. The ability to separate some of the tweets they might not like from the president and the way America is, outside of the bubble of metropolitan areas where everyone is attacking each other in restaurants, most people just want to go home and live their lives. And they have more money in their pocket. They are able to go on vacation.  And they feel more optimistic about the future. That's not a FOX News poll, though those are great polls. These are polls that are Pew Gallup, people are more confident about the future, women and men. And you can't say it's nothing to do with Trump. It's something to do with Trump. He is the guy who is in charge, and if it were going badly, Democrats would be saying, it's horrible, and Trump is a reason.

BADAWI: That maybe true for some women, but I think the electorate of women engaging with this midterm election is going to be completely different than what we saw in 2016, especially in the suburbs. They're more diverse that ever, they're younger than ever.

INGRAHAM: What do they want? Tell me what they want that they are not getting in the greatest economy that I have ever experienced in my lifetime, and I'm a lot older than you.

BADAWI: I think some people just look at the landscape of politics, and they are appalled by what they are seeing. And some are going to vote that moral conscience.

INGRAHAM: What specifically are they appalled by?

BADAWI: I think seeing the majority party try to strip health care from millions of people, to try to cut earned benefits for seniors, not doing anything about the rising costs for drug. But I think something that is really important here --

INGRAHAM: They're doing more for drug prices than Obama ever did. Leave the politics out of it. I'm not a big --

BADAWI:  We see it in the way suburban women are turning out in record numbers in special elections. Suburban women --

INGRAHAM: Won the two Democrat districts in their special election.

BADAWI:  Doug Jones, historically from a red state -- I'm happy to see Democrats pick up seats.

INGRAHAM: Doug Jones is going to lose the next election.

BADAWI:  Same thing with Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania. We also saw Ralph Northam. All of these people in historically red and purple places being carried into office by energized suburban women voters.

DHILLON: You know what women don't like? They don't like to hear things like Kyrsten Sinema say that women who stay home are bloodthirsty leeches.  And so we don't like caricatures, and that's what the Democrats are painting us as.

BADAWI: I'm a Democrat and I don't agree with that either.

DHILLON: You just said we're all single issue voters which we aren't.

(CROSSTALK)

BADAWI: Retirement security, health care, it's many different issues that come at it from a variety --

DHILLON: You actually assumed that because this political system is going on that everyone is going to vote a single way, and they aren't, and we are seeing that. And the women I know, the women who work in the professional world, the women who own businesses, and the women who want futures for their kids, they are looking at the whole panoply, and they're saying I like having more money in my pocket. I like having choices in my health care, and I like my government not going bankrupt because of dumb Social Security policies.

BADAWI: Or tax policy.

INGRAHAM: Guys, this is such a great -- can I say guys? Is that even allowed? I never know what to say.

BADAWI: I'm OK with it.

INGRAHAM: Ladies, what do you say, people, existence, whatever.

DHILLON: Persons.

INGRAHAM: Great to have you both on. Thanks so much.

And Corey Lewandowski is here to react to the latest leftist mob tactic, and the caravan, his first reaction to stories of some physical altercation between himself and White House chief of staff John Kelly. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: If you thought the aggressive tactics of the left were going to die down after the Kavanaugh confirmation, well, think again. Congressman Kevin McCarthy's California office was vandalized. Someone threw a boulder through his window, that very subtle, and robbed the office on Saturday.  And this was right after Mitch McConnell was heckled by "ditch Mitch" protester while having dinner with his wife in Kentucky. The attacker threw McConnell's food out the door. Oh, my goodness. Chuck Schumer only pointed out the vandalism, of course, in McCarthy's office, but they only noted that a pipe bomb was found, or something resembling a pipe bomb was found in George Soros' mailbox.

Corey Lewandowski, co-author of the new book, "Trump's Enemies," and former Trump campaign manager joins us here in the studio. Corey, it feels a lot like -- we say this a lot, but why are these confrontations going so crazy out there?

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Because you've got people like Eric Holder saying when they are down, make sure you kick them.  You've got people like Maxine Waters calling for incivility. You're making sure that people who are working in government service, whether it's Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a restaurant, Kirstjen Nielsen, the secretary of Homeland Security, or others, Ted Cruz, are being asked to leave restaurants by these mobs that are being encouraged by the Democrats and the left because they have no message for where they want to take the country. Their only message is incivility and chaos and bedlam, and that doesn't play well in the midterm elections.

INGRAHAM: In Morning Joe, that's what my name for them is, they were on today, basically saying whatever was found in the mailbox is Trump's fault.  Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: We heard the name George Soros brought up by the president of the United States. We've heard the name George Soros brought up by backbenchers in the Republican Congress, blaming him for funding these caravans, blaming him for funding one fake conspiracy after another. We've got to point the finger back to the president and these Republican members of Congress that have just been spreading these conspiracy theories that have anti-Semitic overtones to them towards George Soros.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: I don't even know if George Soros is Jewish. I have no idea.  But the idea that this president with the closest relationship, I said this earlier, with Israel, Jared, Ivanka, I don't get that line of argument at all, but that's where they are.

LEWANDOWSKI: He literally has a daughter that is Jewish. I would not call that anti-Semitic. You can't become more the antithesis of anti-Semitic when your own daughter --

INGRAHAM: Bibi Netanyahu.

LEWANDOWSKI: And you grandchildren are Jewish, by the way. But on top of that, right, what Joe doesn't want to talk about, what the left doesn't want to talk about is the guest you had on earlier tonight, Steve Scalise, a man who has actually assaulted, attacked, almost murdered in cold blood by a man who was a Bernie Sanders supporter, a self-proclaimed Bernie Sanders socialist who wanted to go and kill Republicans. That is what the real crimes are. That's what the left is perpetrating here. But the mainstream media, that doesn't fit their narrative.

INGRAHAM: All right, Corey, just because we love you, this was the montage that the media was running with today about you and John Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As breaking news goes, this is certainly something. An argument between Chief of Staff John Kelly and former senior campaign official Corey Lewandowski turned physical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN has learned White House chief of staff John Kelly and President Trump's former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski got into a heated argument in the West Wing, this back in February.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief of Staff John Kelly grabbed former senior campaign official Corey Lewandowski by the caller.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

INGRAHAM: What happened?

LEWANDOWSKI: I'm a senior campaign official. I thought I ran the campaign. Can't I get a little credit from CNN at least? Just a campaign manager may be the right thing. I can't even get the credit.

INGRAHAM: What happened?

LEWANDOWSKI: John and I have a great relationship. We are both on the Trump-Pence agenda, and that's where it was. What may or may not have taken place ten months ago, eight months ago, is completely irrelevant to where we are today. This is a story that no one talked about because it wasn't a big deal

INGRAHAM: A near brawl, it's a near brawl.

LEWANDOWSKI: It didn't come to a near brawl by any stretch of the imagination.

INGRAHAM: What was it about.

LEWANDOWSKI: John and I have had very passionate views about making sure the president's team was ready for the midterm elections. This has now gone on, and I've been very candid that early in the administration, I wanted to make sure they were ready for what is about to transpire in two weeks. And we've come to the resolution that he's got a great team. We're all on the same team, and that's the Trump-Pence agenda.

INGRAHAM: Kelly's chief of staff, things are going pretty well. The president is up at 47 percent approval. People are in a great mood. It looks like we're maybe turning about some of these more difficult elements in the midterm election cycle. You know what I said, we come from an ethnic family. If you are not fighting, you are not getting anything done.  I'm sorry, I thought this was a big snore. It made it more interesting for me.

LEWANDOWSKI: It's amazing, John and I are both from Boston, just north of Boston. We're both guys who are very passionate. And the bottom line is, we are moving somewhere and we're going to set a historic precedent where we're actually going to gain seats in the Senate, hold the House majority.  That's because of the leadership of the Trump-Pence team.

INGRAHAM: I wouldn't want to wrestle neither of you. You are both very strong. I want no part of it, but you could do something for charity. I would turn this into a charity thing. Corey, it's always great to see you.  Thanks so much.

LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you.

And Cory Booker, we are going to get into that tonight. John James, why isn't he a household names? While the media obsesses over Democratic challengers like Beto O'Rourke, we'll ask James why he thinks the media --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you, too. Thank you all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a rock star.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, it's just so many great people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really you are. You can't go anywhere --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's really gotten kind of a rock star reception last night in Des Moines. You could really feel that electricity among about 500 people who showed up to see her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Media types gushing about Democratic rock stars just in the last 24 hours. I kid you not. Let's play a little game. Republican John James has closed the gap to seven points in his challenge against Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow. Beto O'Rourke likewise trails by seven in his race to unseat Ted Cruz. But according to Google news, a Beto O'Rourke search 2.68 million results. John James, 82,100. Here to react, Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Michigan, John James. John it's great to see you, as always. Any guesses as to why you're not the subject of these glowing media profiles? Because a lot of people out there I've talked to do think you are a rock star, by the way.

JOHN JAMES, R-MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, I'm not a rock star. I'm just a servant. But I can guess that the liberal media is dealing with me the way they deal with a lot of issues. They're ignoring them and hoping they will go away. Well, they can't ignore me and I won't go away just like the issues that are facing Michigan that Debbie Stabenow has ignored for decades. We are surging in the polls. We went from 23 to 18 to nine, and now seven. We outraised Debbie Stabenow by double last quarter. And we just had a rally last week that got 4,000 people when Bernie Sanders struggled to get 1,000 last week. We really love the momentum, and if you'd like to learn please go to JohnJamesforsenate.com. We'd love to have you on board.

INGRAHAM: This is a big deal. Stabenow is a fixture in Washington. She's part of the swamp. And you represent something, again, that the American media don't want to recognize, a conservative African-American. And when we come back, we're going to talk about what's happening in another state that I want your reaction on. This is Andrew Gillum's incendiary comments earlier today that African-American politicians, namely liberal, are treated differently. John James will stay with us. When we come back, we'll address that. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Your reaction to Andrew Gillum's comments I just mentioned that black politicians are treated to a different standard. John?

JAMES: My father was raised in the Jim Crow south, and he taught me to never make excuses and to do everything that I could to excel. That's why I made it to West Point, deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and brought all my men back home as a Ranger qualified Apache pilot, and grew my family business. I believe in a red, white, and blue message, not white or black message. And that's why my message is resonating, because we're all Americans and we need to push past the identity politics, make sure we bring people together. And -- yes.

INGRAHAM: John James, Michigan voters are watching tonight. I really appreciate you're joining us and thank you for your service to this great nation.

And coming up next, of course, the great Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team have another phenomenal show and I can't wait to get home to watch the whole thing.

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