Fox News "The Story with Martha McCallum" - Transcript Interview with Bryan Steil

Interview

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MACCALLUM: Thank you Mike Tobin in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Joining me now Republican Congressman Bryan Steil style. He represents the 1st District of Wisconsin which includes the City of Kenosha. Thank you very much for being here, Congressman.

I want to get to the family first. Very sad, obviously, and so moving to listen to his parents who are so worried about him. He is said to be paralyzed from the waist down right now after this gunfire from these police officers and he's in surgery, I believe, still this afternoon or this evening.

Let me play you Benjamin Crump in terms of the response that they're looking for, their attorney. Watch this.

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BEN CRUMP, NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: We're demanding that the prosecutor arrest the officer who shot Jake brake. And we also are asking that these officers who violated the policies in their training be terminated immediately.

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MACCALLUM: So where do we stand with that, congressman?

REP. BRYAN STEIL, R-WI: Wisconsin has a process where any police involved shooting or death of an individual requires an investigation by the Wisconsin Attorney General. That investigation is ongoing. We need to allow that investigation to play itself out so we have all the facts that we can allow justice to be played out here in Wisconsin.

MACCALLUM: Is there anything that you're aware of that we don't see on this video that happened prior to what we see on this video?

STEIL: There's a very thorough investigation going on here in the state of Wisconsin. I think we're going to see a lot of additional facts come out. We need to allow the investigation to play out in full. And I think we can go back and look at Jacob Blake's mother and her call for peace and tranquility in the City of Kenosha tonight. And how important that is that we restore public safety in the City of Kenosha tonight.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I was reading about Kenosha today, obviously, it was a huge auto manufacturing hub. A lot of those Chrysler auto companies have closed down over the last two decades and put strain on the economy of this area to be sure. When you see these businesses and the woman crying about her father's business that was there for so many years, what goes through your mind and what kind of federal help do you think is required here?

STEIL: The City of Kenosha is a tight knit, hardworking community. And like you said, they've seen hard times, was on his way back and we've seen some of the most challenging 48 hours that we have seen in a long time. I think it's important that we restore public safety.

I called on the governor that if he doesn't believe that he has the resources, he needs to reach out and ask the federal government for assistance. We need to make sure that we provide the resources that are needed in the community of Kenosha tonight to restore that public safety.

But your heart breaks. I've received so many phone calls, people reaching out. People that have lost their livelihoods, people that are scared, people that are concerned about what is going to play out in Kenosha. We need to make sure that we provide the resources to the community of Kenosha, so we can restore public safety, not tomorrow, not next week - now, tonight, here in the community of Kenosha,

MACCALLUM: So how quickly do you think you can get some answers in terms of what happened in this situation? And should that be accelerated so that you can get beyond, hopefully, some of the questions that are on this family's mind, first of all?

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STEIL: We need to move as quickly as we possibly can in both respects. One, with regards to the investigation, so that we can get all the facts on the table and we can answer the questions that are being asked by Jacob Blake's family. That's completely appropriate.

At the same time, we need to act as quickly as we can to provide the resources to the community to Kenosha so we can restore public safety in the community. I've received so many calls today. I spoke with a woman whose business was ransacked, her livelihood. She was concerned about her personal safety, the safety of her family.

We need to make sure that we get those resources. We're going to see more troops, more law enforcement officers in the community of Kenosha tonight. I'm concerned whether or not that's going to be adequate. The governor needs to make sure that the community of Kenosha has all the resources they need so that they can restore order and reestablish public safety in our community.

MACCALLUM: Let me ask you about that, because Governor Evers, do you think that he will call for federal health? We've seen this become politicized in some situations across the country. And, what will his response be to that? Or will he try to get by without calling in for federal help?

STEIL: I've spoken with the president earlier today. He stands with me. We want to provide that resource and support to the community of Kenosha. It needs to be asked for by the governor. If the governor of Wisconsin does not believe that he has sufficient resources, it's incumbent upon him to ask the federal government for assistance. I stand ready to assist in getting that resource to Kenosha, because we need to reestablish public safety in our community of Kenosha now, not in a few weeks, now.

MACCALLUM: Let me ask you very quickly, because I got to go, congressman. When you look at this crowd, and these videos, are these people from Kenosha, or are they outside influences at work here?

STEIL: This isn't the Kenosha that. I know and if you look at where Kenosha is located, it's along the lake between Milwaukee and Chicago. I'm very concerned and I've heard from local law enforcement that they're very concerned.

Large numbers of people are coming up from Chicago and trying to disrupt the public safety in the community of Kenosha. All the more reason that we need to make sure that our community has the resources to be able to protect people's lives, their personal livelihood and their families now.

MACCALLUM: We've seen this situation too many times across the country, where protests are coopted when night falls by outside groups who are there for purposes that are, in many ways, far distant from the heart of what caused these people to be so upset.

Thank you very much, Congressman Steil. Good to speak with you tonight. Good luck there.

STEIL: Thanks for having me on. Thank you.

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