Fox News "The Story with Martha MacCallum" - Transcript: Gowdy and Scott on Mueller Probe

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MACCALLUM: Ed, thank you very much. Joining me now: Congressman Trey Gowdy and Senator Tom Scott, both from South Carolina, of course, and authors of the new book: 'Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope for A Divided Country." Gentlemen, it's great to have both of you here. Thank you so much for being here.

SEN. TIM SCOTT, R-SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you.

MACCALLUM: Just a quick thought, you know, coming off of Ed's report, first of all with regard to the McCabe's who have both spoken out now in editorials. They believe that they were wronged by this investigation. Any thoughts on that?

REP. TREY GOWDY, R-SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, let's wait and find out what the inspector general -- you know, people are not inherently objective about themselves, so I get the desire to defend yourself. But let's let a neutral investigator, in this case the inspector general, issue his report and then that we'll know exactly what Mr. McCabe did or did not do. As for Ms. McCabe, that was a couple years ago. I don't hear that many Republicans talking about it, so I get the desire to defend yourself, but I don't know what anybody's accusing her of right now.

MACCALLUM: What about the timeline in terms of she said we've got the money from my campaign long before her husband was involved in the Hillary Clinton investigation?

GOWDY: That may well be true. He was not disciplined for a failure to act in the Hillary Clinton investigation, he was disciplined for a lack of candor, which could be a lie or it could be a material omission.

MACCALLUM: Senator Scott, in terms of the widening of this investigation and how far back they're going, it feels like this is largely an effort by Paul Manafort's attorney to say, you know, you shouldn't be looking into this part of my past. They may have an argument for doing that, right?

SEN. TIM SCOTT(R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Certainly, it seems like the investigation has expanded, and perhaps it expanded back in August where we're now finding out that the definition of the footprint was extended. But the reality of it is if you're Manafort's attorney, you're looking for a way to dissect the case and find a way to get your client in a better position. The fact of the matter is that to be able to investigate Ukraine did not seem like it was connected unless it's a connection of intent with Russia.

MACCALLUM: All right. We will see. So, the book is called, 'Unified: How Our Unlikely Friendship Gives Us Hope for a Divided Country.' And I want to read the dedication because I thought this was particularly touching, and I want to share it with everybody. Two artists were, Tim's grandfather, who grew up in a segregated south in a polarized world, but who learned to love everyone. His faith and his perspective were transformational. And to Jesse Lee Evans, Trey's grandmother, who shared with artists a love of South Carolina and a profound faith in God. In a segregated age in which they lived, the two never met, but two generations later, their grandsons became the best of friends.

SCOTT: Yeah. It really is a story of progress. So often, we find people criticizing the south and south plants, specifically the start of the civil war. The truth of the matter is that the southern heart has come so far in such a short period of time. And when we were born, we would not have been able to play together, lunch together, drink out from the same water fountain, but 50 years later, the good Lord and the good people of South Carolina have transformed who we are, and that has provided an unlikely friendship to start and to blossom. So much so that after the church shooting, Emanuel, another church shooting, the first person I turned to was Trey Gowdy, a white guy from the very state that has a provocative, and yet, rich history on race. And it's just a testament on how far we can come if we focus on the things that we have in common. And in 'Unified' we try to help people understand though we differ on some parts of law enforcement, some part of education, spiritually we're in different corners at times, the fact of the matter is if you focus on the things you have in common, our country as polarizing as it's seems today, could still be one nation under God, indivisibles with the best and brightest days of our future ahead of her.

MACCALLUM: Congress is not that all popular, but people seem to like you two, because when I tweeted that you're both coming on the show tonight, I got an enormous response. So, I think there's going to be a really genuine embracing of wanting to read this story. Why was this story important to you to write, Trey?

GOWDY: For a lot of the reasons Tim just said, but also -- I'm worried about that divisiveness. I like contrast. I like the fact that we don't root for the same sports teams, eat at the same restaurant on the same night, same time, but conflict is debilitating. And I just feel our country being torn apart such that we're not even willing to have a conversation. And Tim and I don't agree on lots of things. It's never interfered with our friendship. We mention Democrats by name in the book that we have wonderful personal relationships with. My 21-year-old daughter doesn't agree with me on anything, politically, literally on anything.

(LAUGHTER)

GOWDY: But they're still our family. So, you still have the conversation. And I don't want us to get to the point where we kind of retreat to our own corners, questions one's other motives, and then forget the fact. We have a lot in common if we just listen to each other.

MACCALLUM: A lot of people, senator, believe that the president has led to this divisiveness in the country. What do you think?

SCOTT: They're two points of reflection that I think are incredibly important. After the Charlottesville situation, he and I were on very different pages as it relates to the provocative history of race in this country. He invited me to the oval office to have a conversation about it. One of the things that came out of that conversation was legislation that I was pushing. It was investing in opportunity to focus on distressed communities. President Trump said yes, let's find a way to work for those folks who are stuck, who lack the same opportunities that he had and that I have had. That really has had a major impact and I think we'll have a ripple effect throughout this country for years to come.

Number two, African-American unemployment has not seen this level, 6.9 percent, in probably two decades, if I'm right, maybe three decades. So, the economic policies of this administration have led us to a level of prosperity that we cannot -- we would not have imagined two years ago. So, the truth of the matter is, the president had said some things that I totally disagree with on a racial perspective, but he's also done some things from a policy perspective that is undeniably in the best interest of this country long term, and I think a good economy makes a lot of things possible.

MACCALLUM: Thank you so much, gentlemen. Congratulations on the book. I look forward to reading the rest of it, and good to have you both here. Don't be strangers, come back anytime. Take care.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

GOWDY: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source