Fox News "The Story" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Steve Scalise

Interview

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MACCALLUM: So, we are now one hour from President Trump's Oval Office address, one that could prove to be consequential in this dug in debate on both sides.

My next guest met with the vice president a short time ago. Here now exclusively House minority whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana who has been very involved in the bipartisan meetings that have happened so far and another one that is going to happen tomorrow. Congressman Scalise, good to have you with us tonight.

REP. STEVE SCALISE, R-LA.: Martha, good to be with you.

MACCALLUM: You know, any indication that Democrats are ready to negotiate in any way, shape or form at this moment?

SCALISE: Well, Martha, they haven't shown a willingness right now to negotiate in good faith. President Trump has been very clear in what he is trying to accomplish in keeping this country safe. And the vice president came tonight meet with our whole conference along with the secretary of homeland security Nielsen, to lay out just how bad the crisis is at the border and why the president is so committed to solve it.

Now the president has laid out a number of 5.6 billion. And that's a number that came from our security experts, the people who put their lives on the line every day to keep our country safe said that's how much it's going to take to secure the border.

Nancy Pelosi just last week kind of jokingly said her counter offer is a dollar.

MACCALLUM: So, we'll give you a dollar.

SCALISE: Laughing about this. Martha, this is a serious issue. They shouldn't be joking about it. If they believe in border security and they claim to then they ought to lay out exactly how much they think it should cost --

(CROSSTALK)

MACCALLUM: All right.

SCALISE: -- to keep the country safe.

MACCALLUM: So, you know, I had John Roberts on earlier tonight reporting from the White House saying that he -- that the word is that the president is very dug in on this. He has laid out the fact that he is willing to declare a national emergency if he can find a way within his power to do that and to move money around to do that. If there is no indication that Democrats are coming to the table, do you believe that tonight he will say if you don't, I am willing to do this?

SCALISE: I'm not sure just how much of that the president is going to get into. But I spoke to the president earlier today. And he is very passionate about this. This is something he campaigned and was elected president on, and that's a commitment to secure our border.

It involves building a wall, it involves other technology. Our border patrol agents who are under attack by a lot of these people that are criminals in the caravan. They need the protection and the proper backing too. So, the president is committed to securing the border.

If the other side is just committed to playing politics, I don't think the American people are going to stand for that much longer. So, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have to get serious about a counter offer on the table. They've yet to do that, they've yet to try to negotiate in good faith.

The president I think has been very clear on what he is trying to do. And he said he is willing to work on an agreement that brings the two sides together but that means the other side, Pelosi and Schumer, have to be willing to solve this too.

MACCALLUM: I mean, they have to think that it's politically advantageous for them to negotiate at all. Here's Steny Hoyer talking about the shutdown a little while ago. Watch this. It's a quote. "This is the third shutdown implemented to take hostage of the people's government and people who work for the government. In another context we would be calling that an act of kidnapping or terrorism," he says. What do you think about that?

SCALISE: Well, what he ought to pay attention to is the kidnapping, the sexual assault and the human trafficking that's actually going on, on the border today. We've got some alarming numbers and I'm sure the president will share of them, Martha.

But last year alone more than 17,000 people were stopped coming into our country from the southern border who had past criminal convictions. Those are just the ones we caught, Martha.

So, if you look at caravan, if you look at some of the women that are coming over. Doctors Without Borders estimates over 30 percent of the women that are coming over through the southern border are sexually assaulted. Is he concerned about those sexual assaults? What about the over 900 children that our ICE agents saved last year alone from human trafficking and sexual assault?

It's really going on. When over 90 percent of the heroin in America comes from across the southern border illegally, there is a crisis. They've got to get serious about solving this crisis. And if they think joking about it are just trying to divert attention is going to solve it, they are not serious.

MACCALLUM: The president has his work cut out for him tonight. Because all the polls that we see say that most people do not believe that we need to build a wall. And so, he is going to have to use this address the first one of its kind for him to look into that camera. There's not going to be a rally going on. It's just going to be him and the camera in the Oval Office to really lay out and articulate his argument in a way that's persuasive for people who don't agree with him right now.

SCALISE: Well, you know, it says a lot about how serious President Trump is to securing the border that he chose this issue for his first national address to the country.

And I think a lot of people will be watching who are undecided who just really don't know. You know, they are coming off the holidays, they've heard there is a government shutdown and they want to know what's happening. Here is the opportunity for the president to layout his case. Hopefully it spurs the other side to finally get serious.

MACCALLUM: Congressman Steve Scalise, House Majority Whip, good to see you, sir. Thank you very much for being here. That is THE STORY on this Tuesday night. We'll see you back here tomorrow night. Tucker Carlson is up next.

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