thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. that is it for this "special report." fair, balanced, and still unafraid. "the story" hosted by martha maccallum starts now. >> laura: thank you, bret. still breaking tonight, a better understanding now of this, from the first lady, on her africa trip. >> sources have told us, sources of the white house, that you are the gatekeeper appear to that you tell him who he can trust and who he can't trust. is that true? >> yes, i think i give him my honest advice. >> has been an office on most arco years, has he had people that you didn't trust working for him? >> yes. >> did you let him know? >> i let him know. to speak on what did he do? >> some people, they don't work there anymore. >> do you think there are so people there he can't trust? >> yes. >> still working out? >> yes. >> laura: so, as the story is it still emerging off a rift

between this advisor and mrs. trump, also over to the west wing, a judge has ordered a response from the white house to the lawsuit brought by cnn, hearing scheduled for 33rd tomorrow, all prompted by this memorable moment. >> president trump: that's enough. >> pardon me, ma'am. >> president trump: that's enough. >> if i may ask, on the russian investigation, are you concerned that you may have -- >> president trump: i'm not concerned about anything. the investigation -- it is a hoax. that is enough, put on the mic. >> laura: cnn claims the white house is violating acosta's first and fifth amendment rights by revoking his press pass. at the white house calls a grandstanding. he has a long history of contentious reactions with president trump, press secretary sanders, and our next guest, former press secretary sean spicer. a member this?

>> somehow, you seem to believe that you have all of this information, you have read in on all of these things. >> totally. no, no. >> hold on, just listen. let me explain the answer to you, calm down. >> laura: sean spicer joins me now on both of these breaking stories. sean, good to see you, welcome to "the story." you are a number those moments well. this lawsuit will the sermon -- or should determine, where the line is. what is a fair question, what is reasonable behavior, i guess, and what is -- what constitutes a reason for the white house to kick somebody out, or take away their past? >> i think we need to stay focused on what you just said, it is the latter, not the former. it is mr. acosta's behavior that is the problem. i wish we could come to a middle ground here, which is given mr. acosta has passed back. cnn denying the dash they have

five or six other reporters with hard passes. it is not a right to be able to go into the white house, it is a privilege. that being said, i think that it would behoove us all to take the temperature down a moment, say we are going to give mr. acosta has passed back, but agree with all of the reporters with credentials and say we will agree to these minimal standards of a decorum and professionalism. things that have usually gone on the side, but kept up over the years, and it wasn't until this before administration where you saw a lot of these people who wanted to not necessarily repors as stars. it wasn't the nature of the question. mr. acosta wasn't even asking a question, he was challenging him on the premise of his use of words and his definition -- >> laura: bud, sean, other folks who look at this situation, i was watching him talk about it just yesterday, basically said it, no, he's question -- he was challenging the president on the definition of this caravan. and whether or not they constituted an invasion.

their argument was that that was a legitimate question. if it was phrased rudely or was handled rudely or inappropriately, that is one issue that needs to obviously be dealt with. but they are contention was that the question itself was appropriate. do you disagree? >> not at all. any member of the media should be able to ask any member of the government anything that they want, and i don't think that is what is at issue here. i don't think the president made that an issue. it was his behavior. he asked and answered that question twice, that a series of additional questions. frankly, it was routed to the other reporters in the room who all deserve to have a question asked, themselves. this isn't about the nature of the question, and i think that is where the lines are getting blurred. this was about mr. acosta's behavior and lack of respect to the president. the president made it clear that mr. acosta's question was asked and answered it twice, went on to ask a series of additional questions. it was rude and unbecoming to

his fellow journalist. >> laura: that raises an interesting point, the white house correspondent is it standing by acosta. it is their responsibility, to some extent, to stay, is it unfair to the other reporters in the room? is it sucking up all of the oxygen in the room and making it all about him when there are lots of valid, important questions that need to be answered in the room? and i wonder how much, potentially, they get pushback on that. >> i've actually spoken to several reporters, both who cover the white house, some who are much closer or served on the white house communication association -- correspondent association, rather it -- and those that are just covering it. i don't think they speak for everyone by any means, but there is clearly a group of journalists that are disgusted and find mr. acosta's behavior out of line. but what happens, and i wrote about this in my book, there is a bunch of groupthink and fear about going against the

groupthink that they all face in there. so right now, they all feel compelled to come out and say -- but privately they will tell you that they find his behavior unacceptable and it doesn't bode well for their industry. >> laura: moving on to the issue of mrs. trump, the first lady, and her office releasing this -- it really kind of unprecedented statement today saying that with regard to the exit of mira ricardel, with the national security advisor john bolton, saying the office of the first lady office position that she no longer has the honor of serving in this white house. is that unusual? >> yeah, very much so. look at, i think one thing you have seen from the first lady is that she chooses her causes, her statements, very deliberately. when she speaks, it is for a reason. and i think that she gives -- obviously she mentioned in the

interview -- she gives advice to her husband. she is an unbelievable political strategist, and for her to come out publicly and say this really says something about the relationship with this particular stopper that clearly house with the east wing. and i would think that this wasn't the first rodeo or encounter that they had, you have to really worn out you're welcome for the first lady to publicly -- >> laura: it disagreement on the africa trip, that makes the sound bite we just play from abc particularly pertinent, but also at this woman may have been leaking stories about her. this is the second person who is an aid it to john bolton to exit the white house, and apparently, the defense secretary mattis was also having issues with some of these individuals. does that signal to you that mattis' position is a strength and or bolton's is weekend, what can we take away from this? >> here is my take away -- don't

underestimate the first lady, ever. when she speaks, take it seriously. she has unbelievable political instincts, her husband takes her counsel very seriously. she is very savvy when it comes to the media and the political strategy of her husband, so i would never in my life across her, and the idea that it came to a public statement tells you this particular person clearly didn't get the hint. >> laura: very, very interesting. okay, sean, thank you so much, good to see you tonight good >> you back. >> laura: when we come back, we will take you live to broward county, florida, where the drama goes on tonight. reporters have been told to standby for news as election officials appear to be setting up for a press conference at the headquarters, where this is all going down tonight. we will be right back. ♪ >> we will complete the recount. there has never been a deadline that we haven't met. ♪

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democrat bill nelson. with arizona now in the loss column for the g.o.p., the president has turned his focus to the sunshine state, tweeting, when will bill nelson concede in florida? the characters are running broward and palm beach voting will not be able to find enough votes, too much a spotlight on them now. but nelson is not backing down, and senator chuck schumer is providing backup. >> he has been using his power as governor to try to undermine the voting process. he has tried to get the florida department of law enforcement to intimidate local supervisors of elections. >> trump and scott are attempting to bully the election officials in florida out of doing their jobs. in an attempt to win back the selection. it is just plain wrong. it is un-american. >> laura: phil keating live on the ground for all the action is. high, phil. >> hi, martha.

turns out, the florida recount deadline of thursday at 12:00, may not be so firm of a deadline after all. this afternoon, democratic senator bill nelson, who trails governor scott by 12,000 votes, found a new lawsuit hoping to avoid the deadline for any of the 67 counties in the state, which cannot and failed to complete their machine recounts by thursday afternoon, saying every legal vote cast must be counted. it deadline or not. looking live it tonight inside the broward county recount operation, significant news and progress today, all 300,000 early votes have now been recounted. workers are now getting to the mail in ballots in the election day votes. officials say broward is now ahead of schedule and likely to make the deadline. one of the races being recounted in palm beach county is the state house race, they their candidate leads the democrat by 37 votes, that is in recounted

territory. a leon county judge, democrat, today ruled for von sig., giving palm beach county and extra five days to repeat all of their recounts. expect that to be challenged or appealed up to a federal court, likely by republicans. the elections cheap in broward county, brenda sniffs , described by some -- she might step aside after the spare job bush tweeting that she should resign for the recount son, saying confidence in the recount process is endowed. the county with the most to recount is ahead of broward, and the deadline will happen. because unlike broward, miami beach started preparing and sorting ballots last week, last what it looked him in

imminent that a recount would come on saturday. hours later, 15 hours before broward. senator nelson appeared to today in washington with minority leader chuck schumer. >> we have a rerun of 2000. when bullying and intimidation ruled, and created a rush to judgment so that, to this day, many americans believe that election was unfairly decided. that cannot happen again. >> the next court hearings and the florida recount battle happen tomorrow. one is to force the governor to recuse himself from the entire recount operation, since he is not only the acting governor of the state, but his future is involved in the outcome. either he wins or his political life is over. the other two cease to allow all provisional ballots where the signatures do not perfectly match the signature on file with

the county. not be tossed out, but instead recounted. they say that is unconstitutional, and they should be counted after all. still a lot of action to happen in the courts around the state, and meanwhile in south florida in particular, most of the population of these three counties, recount and continues around the clock >> laura: bill, thank you very much. here, now, florida g.o.p. chairman joined us exclusively tonight, and candle coffee, lead attorney for the campaign for the 2000 recount. good to have both of you with us tonight. you heard it chuck schumer, senator schumer, saying we are not going to have a rerun of 2000 when bullying and intimidation ruled and created a rush to judgment so that comment to this day, americans believe that the the election was unfay decided. is he trying to say that this is what is going to happen, floridians can't trust to this outcome?

>> i think floridians cannot trust the process, we learned a lot since 2000. there is a fair issue about whether more time is needed. wouldn't we agreed that voters in palm beach county shouldn't somehow lose a right to a manual recount, simply because of their election officials don't get it done on time? that kind of equal protection challenge, standard need to be the same from county to county, was a legal strategy that republican lawyers used successfully back in 20001 it was argued successfully that different standards of manual recounts in florida made the process unconstitutional. that part of it, i think is a fair point to democrat, but otherwise, let's give this system a chance. because i do think election officials are working tirelessly to get this done on time into get it done right. and if they need a little bit more time, let's give it to them. let's make sure, this time florida has the right -- >> laura: it is interesting, phil keating's reporting that we just heard, he talked about the fact that other counties, as soon as they thought that a

recount was a possibility, kicked in and started their process right away. he started sorting everything. but broward county didn't do that, so why were they dragging their feet, and if that is the case, why do we keep giving them concessions? >> that is a great question. >> laura: i will come to you in a minute, that question was for blaise. >> that is a great question, a supervisor in broward and the only one who can answer that, but we have had problems with supervisor snipes, not just the selection, but previous election, also. look at miami-dade, they had a lot more voters and a lot longer ballot, but they were still able to do what they needed to do, because they did it in advance. they were thoughtful, they knew that this was coming. unfortunately, you have the supervisors in palm beach and broward counties basically starting the process late, going home early, not doing what they're supposed to be doing, and unfortunately, this is a situation we are in right now.

>> laura: i said it would give you the chance to respond to that, go ahead. >> i mostly agree with bob. but the real question is that a report card for election supervisors, who are the real parties of interest? it is the voters. voters in palm beach county trying to vote made markings on their paper ballot that are legally sufficient, should a supervisor, for whatever reason, be subject to the nightly vote or a right to have their vote -- ballot vote counted? >> laura: i did my ballot at home, right, and there are all of these instructions on it. you have to be very careful filling it out, you have to fold it, do everything perfectly, and you have to make sure it is in on time. this question of a voter intent, which has been raised, marc elias said we had federal courts to ensure that guidelines for determining voter intent do not disenfranchise thousands of lawful ballots. your thoughts and your interpretation on what is meant by voter intent? >> well, i'm going to diverge

off of that, i think what is more important than voter intent is what the democrats are doing when they filed the lawsuit the past couple of days, asking for all of the vote by mail ballots to be accepted after the tuesday deadline. we have a law in florida that says you cannot cast a ballot -- a ballot cannot count -- if it is received by the supervisor of elections after 7:00 p.m. on election day. but the democrats have now filed a lawsuit saying that they should accept them if they are received up to ten days after election day. so while we are struggling with the voter intent, we have to deal with that lawsuit, i think one of the bigger issues from our perspective is that the democrats clearly are trying to steal this election. now they are trying to change the law after an election to try to get the outcome they want because they did not like the results on election day. >> laura: real quick, valid question. the pilot have to be in by election night, you can't change

the law after the fact. you can maybe change it the next time around. >> there was a lot of litigation on votes, last time, this time, but the real parties in interest, the simple matter, are the voters. the voter's intent, if it is a valid ballot, ought to be heard. the supervisor of election -- of the division of elections, which has been republican dominated for the last 20 years, has put up pretty specific guidance on how to judge the markings in a manual recount. it allows people to be imperfect, to write the word yes by a candidate name instead of filling out the oval, or to circle a name rather than doing anything perfectly. that is what we have to get to. >> laura: thank you very much, good to have you with us tonight from a gentleman. we will see where it goes. thank you. so, coming up tonight, nancy pelosi and new york meeting with former mayor and potential presidential candidate mike bloomberg today, and she is also pushing back on anyone who questions her right to the speaker's gavel. >> i take some, for lack of a

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claiming the lives of 44 people since breaking out last thursday, at least, now, we also know at least 200 that are still missing out there. the wildfires burning across more than 125,000 acres of land, and reducing nearly every structure in the town of paradise to rubble. that is where correspondent claudia cowan is standing by with us tonight for the very latest. claudia? >> martha, no question, the people of paradise at face a very long road to recovery. six days later, many still don't know if their loved ones survive, let alone their homes. a coroner search teams visiting dozens of addresses that belong to people reported missing since the fire. the sheriff is also bringing in cadaver dogs, portable morgues, and even anthropologists, because in some cases, the only remains our bones or bone fragments. that they are also using a rapid dna analysis system so that relatives can provide samples

and help identify bodies burned beyond recognition. it is all a very grim task. the only other people in paradise or law enforcement watching for looters, and utility crews clearing away damaged goals and a down power lines it to secure the area and restore power because only then can the evacuation order be lifted. among those who lost their homes, 90 of the city's first responders, and the entire town council, including the mayor. >> i've seen these things on tv before, and it'll be maple hood, but in our town, it is the whole town, just everywhere you looked, there is nothing. >> even so, the mayor is making a promise that this city will rebuild. the president has declared a major disaster in california, freeing up federal funds to help with the recovery, and interior secretary ryan zinke will visit communities affected by the fire spirit he will be in

southern california on thursday. quick note about the winds, much colder today, good for the fire fight, but for the air. on one hand, fire crews now have the campfire contained by 30%, martha, but toxic smoke is literally affecting millions of californians, and even affecting school closures in the san francisco bay area from 180 miles away, the winds in this case, they really do cut both ways. martha? >> laura: claudia, thank you very much. claudia cowan in paradise california tonight. coming up here on "the story," a u.s.-french battle over translation, essentially, what does it mean to be a nationalist? the president fires back and threatens french wine tonight. bill bennett represents the u.s., and steve hilton, the allies, when we come back. >> president trump: i said the other day, i'm not a globalist, i'm a nationalist. and they say, that is terrible. ♪

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>> president trump: you know, 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, okay? >> laura: two world leaders in a war of words over the meaning of the word "nationalism." president trump saying it is about putting america's interest first, but french president emmanuel macron boldly disagrees. >> patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism. by saying our interest first, who cares about the others. >> laura: hmm. you can see why that would have rankled president trump a little bit paired i'm joined an american and a brit. bill bennett is former secretary of education, as you

know, and author of "the true st. nicholas," which we will have him back to talk about later, i don't talk about christmas before thanks giving. and author of "populism." bill, is nationalism white supremacists? that that is the suggestion here at home, and in europe, the suggestion is that is some sort of version of totalitarianism. >> yeah, i will leave the europe part to steve, he knows that europe better than i do come a much better travel than i am. but i can tell you i nationalism -- look, when donald trump says nationalism, he is right and what he is angry the left criticized him and said he is a white nationalist. he didn't say he was a white nationalist, he said he was a nationalist. you change the meaning of a word when you add a word it to it. if i say that is a nice tomato in your garden, the person should react and say you call that a rotten tomato?

milk, a tomato, not a rotten tomato. look at the beautiful iv, poison ivy, when you add a word, you change the meaning. it donald trump about nationalism. nationalism is love of country, putting the interest of your country above the interest of other countries, it is as american as it can get. abraham lincoln said the principal object and the struggle -- in the civil war -- was the preservation of the union. there is no more nationalist figure in the american presidency than abraham lincoln -- may be donald trump. and remember, lincoln in 1862, some of my favorite words, he said to congress, we shall nobly save or meanly lose this last best hope of earth. last best hope of earth he was talking about was america. we don't thing "my continent to's of the" ," "my hemisphere 'tis of thee."

nationalism appropriate, the president is dead right on this. >> laura: steve, what do you make -- >> that is music, not lyrics. >> laura: nationalism in macron's definition? >> i think you can tell that macron has no real argument here because he didn't engage in a real argument, he set up a strawman. because of the way he put it, he said it is about putting your country first, and who cares about the others, but that is not what it means. no one is suggesting that. president trump hasn't said who cares about the others? putting your country first it doesn't mean it doing down anyone else, is a question of priority. if you look at president trump's actions, he has cared about other countries that america, intervening in syria with chemical weapons attacks, for example. the huge aid program we have. it is the american taxpayer that pays for nato, those are not the reactions of a country that --

who cares about anyone else? but still, it is valid to put your own country first. what you are releasing here from macron, frankly, is a rather pathetic attack -- totally unwarranted -- purely to deflect from his own domestic woes. this is entirely about pandering to the domestic audience by attacking donald trump. >> laura: we will leave it there, but macron, as you say come approval rating at 26 percent. obviously filing, politically, right now in france. and he thinks it will be safer for him to be on the side of those who want to form a more of a collective in europe and be more supportive of the e.u. the president, perhaps people in italy, hungary, new leadership more on the same page that he is. it is going to be fascinating to watch how this plays out. thanks, you guys, good to see you both. coming up next, and update on the catholic sex abuse scandal and why some u.s. bishops are choosing or considering to defy a direct request from the

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♪ >> laura: so the vatican wrangling some american catholics by seemingly trying to delay the u.s. bishops from it taking a stronger stand on how

to handle child sex abuse. at this week's annual meeting of catholic bishops, a very big deal, especially in this moment, it wasn't suddenly announced that the vatican was asking them not to vote on two key proposals to address the sex abuse within the church here in the united states. this comes on the heels of a bombshell, pennsylvania grand jury report, uncovering 300 abusive priests and more than 1,000 victims. since then, at least 12 other states have open to their own investigations. more coming. and the department of justice is also now doing an investigation peer trace gallagher come alive with our west coast newsroom with the story tonight. hi, trace. >> hi, martha peered all of the u.s. bishops that came to the assembly in baltimore were eager to address the sexual abuse crisis because they thought it would send a message to angry catholics around the country, that bishops are taking this matter seriously. so in the vatican sent a letter forbidding bishops from talking or taking action on sexual abuse, there appeared to be a collective "what now."

watch. >> we seem to be moving in the right direction, to say all of a sudden, you can do everything but actually end up with an action item at the end. it is frustrating for us. >> clearly, the bishops are frustrated, but survivors and their advocates are furious because the primary goal of this conference was to make sure that bishops are also held accountable for complaints addressed against them. back in july, then cardinal theodore mccarrick resigned after being accused of abusing an altar boy decades ago, and critics accused the vatican of slow walking reform. listen. >> what they are telling catholics and the american public is basically, we care more about our organization and our princely titles and positions, then we care about children and we care about catholics. >> so far, the vatican hasn't commented, but cardinal,

archbishop of the galveston houston diocese, receive the vatican letter, and broke the news to the bishops, says they just want to wait until the global summit in february, so bishops worldwide are on the same page. here he is. >> we are dedicated to it. we absolutely want it. the bishops i've spoken to are of one mind, depending on any of their points of view, they are all on one mind of this. so, to my mind, where is that to go? >> despite no action this week, the chair for the national review board for the protection of children and young people is it still asking bishops to conduct a thorough review of their dioceses files dating back to the 1950s. attorneys general in adoption states have already launched investigations, but u.s. bishops and pope francis have continually clashed on how to address this issue. martha peered >> laura: trace, thank you very much peered here with mark, fox news religion

contributor. what is your reaction? >> the cardinal is saying, we are set to go, meaning we are going to make some serious policy changes that would actually have oversight of the bishops, about how they are dealing with sexual abuse cases. that is a radical policy change. i think the bishops were on the right track for this. the question is why would pope francis intervene at the last moment and say, don't do this. let me tell you, there may be two possibilities here. i think those who would be defending pope francis' action, would say it, actually, pope francis want that to happen for the universal church, and that is why he has called international meeting of presidents and vice president of bishops conferences from all over the world to meet in rome, and he wants a universal policy. on the other side, others would say, no, that is just a stalling

tactic, because of bishops in africa and asia and other parts are not ready to do what the bishops in the united states are ready to do. so we will find out in february if pope francis is actually saying well done, bishops of the united states, we want to make that universal, or is he saying, no, no, no, not let's not give up so much control to laypeople over what would be defense -- >> laura: here's what strikes me, it is the participation of anybody outside the church making a judgment on what is going on inside the church, that there is tremendous resistance to, right? >> laypeople are inside the church, and that is an important thing. >> laura: but they are not making judgment. >> i think laypeople should be making judgment. >> laura: absolutely, but that is what there is resistance to, the idea that you are going to have an outside board that is going to want to see the investigation, want to see what

you are doing. >> laypeople are in inside board. they are the church. we are the church. we are all the church. and we need -- we need mothers and fathers and professionals and law enforcement to be involved and make sure this doesn't happen. what is this all about? there have been thousands of children over the last 70 years, i'm talking about the time basically that some of these reports have studied, thousands of children that have been abused by clerics. what is wrong with that? and why has there been cover-up? thank goddess since 2002, basically the problem of actual abuse by priests has been eliminated. statistically. but the cover-up has not been dealt with, and that is the issue here. >> laura: at there were lot of bishops at this meeting who spoke out very strongly, saying that perhaps we should refuse to participate in what the vatican

is telling us. maybe we should go our own way, which is revolutionary. >> i think they should go their own way in deciding what they believe they should do, and then they should try to propose it to the universal church. that is the way to go. >> laura: father jonathan, always great to see you. >> we've done a great job on the story, martha. >> laura: coming up here, changing gears a bed, calling for female empowerment in her quest to reclaim the gamble. >> of course i want women to see that you do not get pushed around, but you don't run away from a fight. ♪ e same. but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments.

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>> none of us is innocent, but some of us are just better at other jobs than others. >> laura: democrat nancy pelosi on a mission to become the house leaders once again. it appears that she is using gender a bit win or battle paid listen to what she had to say about that over the weekend. >> you cannot have the four leaders of congress, the president of the united states, these five people, and not have

the voice of women. especially since women with the majority of the voters, the workers in the campaign, and now part of this glorious victory. >> laura: joining me now, congressman adam kinzinger, republican from illinois who served as deputy houseware. good to have you here tonight. is she right about that, would it make sense for her not to be the speaker? >> how very altruistic of her, she is doing it for everybody else. a look, if you could talk to any democrat, they will tell you off the record, because they're actually kind of scared of saying on the record, that if she has actually kept leadership development down, and you look at the democrats, they let people stay on the committee position for infinity, basically, we hold them to six years, we allow new leaders to emerge, and she has always really kept new leaders, anyone seen as a threat to her gavel or power, way. they are going to elect her. at this idea that they're going to be people who aren't going to vote for her, they will not vote for her in confidence and then vote on the floor and make a

stand and be unified. they have a right to pick what they want, but i don't think she is doing this because she hasn't some altruistic means. >> laura: it is not going to be comfortable for her, take a look at this. >> this is not about me. this is not about the dynamics of any personalities. this is about the voice and the message and the fact that we need a green a new deal, need to get to 100% sustainable, because our lives depend on it. >> laura: that was a ocasio-cortez's birthday on the hill, and she chose to join a protest outside of nancy pelosi's office about climate change. your thoughts? >> i'm sure her colleagues are not very happy with her right now. i think of nancy pelosi does have a threat, this is kind of sad, a sad commentary where the democratic party has gone, it is going to be from the left. they're going to be people that say she is not far left enough, not aggressive enough, and that is the place she will have a threat. this is the party, they will unify to put her in power, and then i think over the next couple of years, they are going to have a real problem showing

unity, because remember now, they can't just resist any more. now they're going to produce legislation, and were going to have people further left than pelosi say that is not far enough left, and you have a few moderates left in the democrats say that is too far left, they will have the same dynamic that frank the republicans have struggled with for the last of six or eight years. >> laura: we will see. a lot of moderate democrats it did win in places like michigan and wisconsin. we will see. thank you very much, congressman. always a pleasure, thanks for being here tonight. joining me now, rnc spokesperson, and former state department spokesperson. what do you think about the idea of nancy pelosi saying, i deserve -- she doesn't say i deserve -- i've earned it, she says. and because i'm a woman, a woman has to be here to represent women, who are now over 100 represented on capitol hill already. >> well, she certainly did a good job raising money and

helping get democrats elected, including a lot of women in the cycle. but i think -- and i also agree, by the way, that the argument that women should be in house leadership is a good one. nancy pelosi may not be the right person to make that argument, because it sounds very self-serving, quite frankly, but she put her finger on something very important here. women voted for democrats and by the largest majority that they voted for them since 1982. women ran as democrats, they came out for democrats, they voted for democrats, women should be part of our leadership team. and look at, if there is anyone who can bring together the moderates that just won that help to get the democrat leadership of the house, with the progressive wing that you just showed with ocasio-cortez, nancy pelosi may be the person that can actually hurt all of those cats. martha, she doesn't have the votes as of right now, though. this is going to be a pretty intense leadership fight coming over the next few weeks, as it democrats try to figure out who is going to lead the next congress here. democrats have the progressives,

alexandria oh because oh's of the world, but all of these women, particularly who won in the midwest, moderates like an -- we have a challenge in my caucus to bring these people together. >> the problem with that argument is the women you just named, abigail spanberger, for instance, said she would absolutely oppose nancy pelosi on the house floor if it went to a vote. you have a elissa slotkin, who has said she would oppose her, the list goes on, these are the new democratic women coming in, and the problem for nancy pelosi's argument, saying "i deserve to be here, in part by virtue of my gender," she is assuming that the 100 women coming to washington are going to want her there by virtue of their gender, and women think as a monolith, vote is a monolith, and want nancy pelosi there is a monolith. it is a really flawed argument, and honestly, verging on sexism, by putting her leadership. >> i wouldn't say the first

woman to hold the speakership of the house is engaging in sexism here. but to assume that women think this way at -- >> she is going to have to make an argument to my caucus, to my party's caucus, but why she should be the leader. i think part of that argument, she is going to have to promise to empower younger moderate and progressive democrats, because she is facing a lot of headwinds right now, and she will have to tell the caucus why she deserves another two years. >> martha: she happily went against barbara comstock, mia love, it is not just wanting women to rise up, it is about wanting democrat women to rise up. >> that is her job. look, i have been critical of nancy pelosi, and i think the democrats have to decide whether the negative way if she is used by the other side is worth the fact that she is a really good vote counter and can keep the caucus together. that is a political calculation we have to make him as democrats. she is going to face a

challenge, though. it will be an interesting a few weeks. >> she has a 49 percent approval rating, she lost -- >> martha: that is "the story" on tuesday night. it is tucker carlson up next. ♪ >> tucker: a good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." the latest florida recount, this generation's florida recount is continuing across that state tonight. the president is alleging floord in florida, and meanwhile the lawsuit from both sides is coming up the court. just breaking a moment ago, a florida judge has now ordered that palm beach county be given a five day extension to complete a three count. democrats bill nelson and andrew gillum were down by a lot a week ago tonight. now a week later they say they're being robbed. >>