President's secret trip to Afghanistan?

This is a rush transcript from "Fox News Watch," May 5, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Watch the latest video at FoxNews.com

JON SCOTT, HOST OF "FOX NEWS WATCH" (voice-over): On "Fox News Watch" --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One World Trade Center is a symbol of liberty and pride for our entire country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT: This week, a symbolic of our nation's strength and resolve, One World Trade Center rises as the tallest building in Manhattan. The news media giving proper coverage of the historic event.

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PRESIDNENT OBAMA: A year ago, we were able to finally bring Usama bin Laden to justice.

(CHEERING)

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SCOTT: Also this week, President Obama marks one year since the death of bin Laden and takes a super secret trip to Afghanistan. Is this another portrayal of our nation's strength or a calculated political maneuver to get votes? And how did the media react?

Is the economy still the most important issue in America? New unemployment numbers show a minor uptick in jobs but are the media playing it as a major success for the administration?

And Newt Gingrich calls it quits in his bid to be the GOP's pick. Was it too soon?

(on camera): On the panel this week, the former president of Women's Media Center, Jehmu Greene; Jim Pinkerton, contributing editor, the American Conservative magazine; National Review editor, Rich Lowry; and Justin Duckham, Washington correspondent for Talk Radio News Service.

I'm Jon Scott. "Fox News Watch" is on right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Over the last three years, the tide has turned. We broke the Taliban's momentum. We've built strong Afghanistan security forces. We devastated al Qaeda's leadership, taking out over 20 of their top 30 leaders. And one year ago, from a base here in Afghanistan, our troops launched the operation that killed Usama bin Laden. The goal that I set to defeat al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach.

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SCOTT: President Obama from the Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. He secretly flew this and signed a deal with the Afghanistan government on how the United States will proceed from this point forward. Mr. Obama also took the opportunity to mark one year since the death of Osama bin Laden. Critics accuse the president of politicizing bin Laden's death, as did Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's not make the capture or killing of bin Laden a politically divisive event. There are plenty of differences between President Obama and myself, but let's not make up ones based on, well, he may not have done this.

(LAUGHTER)

It is disappointing and it's unfortunate.

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SCOTT: That was based on an ad that the Obama administration released questioning whether or not Mitt Romney might have done the same thing in ordering the bin Laden raid.

So, how did the media cover it this week?

JIM PINKERTON, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE MAGAZINE: They jumped all over the Obama campaign on this. They thought it was inappropriate and impolitic for them to do it. And I think the Obama administration, the Obama campaign -- there is a difference, I think -- will face a quality control issue on the videos. We will get to that in another segment. They seem to have a little operation out there in Chicago cranking out stuff which blows up in their face. They are not paying attention to what they're putting out. And they're just as responsible for online videos and TV commercial but they are paying less attention to the online videos, just like this one.

SCOTT: Justin, even the Huffington Post, which is fond of the Obama administration, was critical of the release of that ad.

JUSTIN DUCKHAM, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, TALK RADIO NEWS SERVICE, Arianna Huffington was actually critical of the entire nature of using foreign policy strength in campaign ads, and not fair in my view. This was all ridiculous. We just came from a presidential administration that, as a lot people pointed out, campaigned on an aircraft carrier. And now, suddenly, it is inappropriate? I don't think people buy it.

SCOTT: Jehmu?

JEHMU GREENE, FORMER PRESIDENT, WOMEN'S MEDIA CENTER: Well, they gave the writer of the "Daily Show" a lot easier time. They were probably able to take time off because it's so easy to take the clips from the Bush administration and basically show the exact opposite sentiment coming from many of the top conservative talkers, and all way up to the vice president. And you can compare the ad. So it's a lot of bother for those would want to say, well, you are holding Democrats, you're holding President Obama to a much different standard.

And I agree with Mark McKinnon in the Daily Beast. It would be absurd for him not to tout his greatest foreign policy achievement.

SCOTT: But -- OK. But, I guess, the question, one of the national security council people, Rich, said this trip took months of planning and there was no way to know in advance what the political atmosphere would be like on the day of this trip. But, you have to know that a speech that is given before dawn in Afghanistan would seem to have political overtones?

RICH LOWRY, EDITOR, NATIONAL REVIEW: At a superficial level, it was brilliant media management because they have this ad a week or so ago that's going to inherently be controversial because it takes a cheap shot at Mitt Romney, chum in the water. You get everyone debating Afghanistan and the death of bin Laden and, boom, next thing you know, the president is in Kabul saying, I am commander-in-chief and I will stand in front of these hulking armored vehicles and give a speech that everyone will cover, and there is nothing you can do about it.

(LAUGHTER)

So you have to admire the technical proficiency. But it just -- I don't have any problem with the president touting foreign policy accomplishments. He should. These are important questions. But even Mark McKinnon, who you cited, said he went over the line. You can do it subtlety in a way that does not grossly criticize it.

SCOTT: Even Bill Clinton makes an appearance in this ad.

PINKERTON: Right. There's two issues here. One is do presidents showboat about victories or perceived victories? The answer is, as Justin said, yes. Bush was on the aircraft carrier nine years ago and Obama is in Afghanistan. That is one thing. Any incumbent will do that. It's another thing to say my opponent would not do the same thing. That was the thing that got him in trouble. And part of it that got him in trouble was impugning Romney that he would not have the wisdom or the -- to do the same thing. You will never know that. Bush did not do that, as I recall, about John Kerry in 2004.

SCOTT: Is that a difference, Justin?

DUCKHAM: I think Bush did do that to John Kerry in 2004. We saw a lot of ads that question whether Democrats would have been on the offensive. We saw that famous ad, which is now a famous part of political lore. And I think we are too quick to subscribe the Afghanistan trip to solely politics. If the media had been doing its attention and not focusing solely on the campaign, more Americans would know we are at a pivotal point in Afghanistan right now. We are about a month away from the NATO meeting. That trip happened on the same day where a new report, really detailed progress that was happening right now. And I think it is not fair to say the American president can't --

(CROSSTALK)

LOWRY: Well, it's true the agreement -- there's no doubt the agreement is important, but it just happened they took a pen and randomly stuck it on a calendar date that happened to be the day that bin Laden died, and they had no awareness that this ad was taking credit for the death of bin Laden, would be running right before hand? That takes incredible naiveté to believe all those things.

GREENE: But like you said, it was brilliant media management. But at the end of the day, going back to 2004, not only did the Bush campaign do the same thing; Vice President Cheney said if John Kerry was elected, we would be attacked. He said it would make it worse, that they would come after us in a much harder way. This is, I think, a perfect example where you are watching the media hold this president to a different standard than they ever did for George W. Bush.

(CROSSTALK)

GREENE: And it is unusual for him -- it's unusual for him to pat himself on the back.

(LAUGHTER)

That's a --

(CROSSTALK)

LOWRY: -- compare himself to Lincoln.

Look, President Obama had 9/11 footage in one of campaign ads and there was a huge uproar over it, so the idea there is a different standard --

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: We're going to have to --

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: We will get into this more in the next block. Does anyone think the war on terror is over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We broke the Taliban's momentum. We devastated al Qaeda's leadership. The goal I set to defeat al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild is now within our reach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: The president paints a positive picture in Afghanistan. And a nameless government official claims the war on terror is over. Could that be true? And are the news media buying it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm suspending the campaign.

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ANNOUNCER: Newt Gingrich finally throws in the towel, making his exit from the GOP race. Did the media let him going quietly? Details next, on “News Watch.”

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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JOHN BRENNAN, ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: I am certain of one thing; we are at war against a terrorist organization called al Qaeda that brutally murdered thousands of Americans -- men, women and children -- as well as thousands of other innocent people around the world. In recent years, with the help of targeted strikes, we have turned al Qaeda into a shadow of what it once was.

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SCOTT: That's John Brennan, the assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, sounding like he is saying there still is a war on terror.

Rich, this came up because a senior State Department official told the National Journal that after the Arab Spring uprisings and the defeat of al Qaeda, the war on terror is essentially over. So what is the media do with that?

LOWRY: There's quite a disconnect. You had the anonymous comment at the same time you had other counterterrorism officials saying; watch out, there could be a retaliatory strike on the anniversary of bin Laden's death.

Jon, what I am struck by, I think, from the perspective of history, when everyone looks back at this era, it will see a much more bipartisan effort, the war on terror, than it seems to any of us caught up in the day- to-day debates. There's been different emphases between the two administrations, but the basic thrust of it, that it is a war that you have to win on the ground, that you have to kill a lot of people has held true through both administrations.

SCOTT: How are the media treating this notion, though, that the war on terror, according to some parts of the administration, is over?

GREENE: Are we talking about a slogan, the war on terror, or what has come from the administration that we are at war with al Qaeda? We are now even more focused on being at war with al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula.

I think it's astounding to many people to have this conversation and parse about these words when, at the end of the day, the administration has been very clear about who our enemy is, who attacked us on 9/11, and approaching this in a more strategic and specific direction. Slogans don't matter, whether it's the war on terror or the war against al Qaeda.

SCOTT: There is a Rasmussen poll just out that asked people whether they thought the war on terror was over. 11 percent said "yes," and 79 percent said "no."

In the world of polling, Justin, you don't often see results like that.

DUCKHAM: That's true, and they shouldn't think it's over. And no one really is seriously saying it is over. We're just seeing a change in optics. We're seeing it go from the usual hallmarks of the war on terror, which were boots on the background and a land invasion, and now we are seeing a sleeker, easier form of germ (ph) warfare.

PINKERTON: Somebody in the Obama administration seems to think it is over, according to the National Journal. That quote, and the reason why it resonated, is there are three different strains of thinking in the Obama administration. One is there is a politically correct thought process that Secretary Napolitano, on the record, said, it is an overseas contingency operation, no long this war on -- so that sounds like disaster relief. And second, the Obama administration is not interested in the liberation and transformation of the Middle East the way the Bush administration was. And the third point is they want to pivot back to domestic policy. They want to declare as much of as -- to be over as possible so they can get back to the domestic economy. So that is what I think, quote, "shocks" the people because it does speak to where their mindset is.

SCOTT: Some of the documents released from bin Laden's lair suggested that even he was concerned about his media image. He was thinking about changing the name of the group, al Qaeda, and he was chastising those who had killed too many Muslims in al Qaeda's name.

And, then, this, American al Qaeda spokesman, Adam Gadahn, discussed al Qaeda's media strategy and said, "In general, and no matter what material we send, I suggest we should distribute it to more than one channel so there will be healthy competition between the channels in broadcasting the material so that no other channel takes the lead. It should be sent, for example, to ABC, CBS, and NBC, and CNN and maybe even PBS and the Voice for America. As for Fox News, let her die in anger."

(LAUGHTER)

LOWRY: Well, you wonder, do these guys go to some school where they come out with this flowery language, "Let her die in her fire." This guy obviously -- if the terrorism does not work out, can be an intern at Media Matters.

(LAUGHTER)

They have basically the same take on the media as they do.

GREENE: There's a lot --

(CROSSTALK)

GREENE: -- in that statement but they also said that Keith Olbermann was an amazing journalist. Seriously?

SCOTT: Yes. He's out of several jobs now.

More "News Watch" ahead. If you see something that you feel shows evidence of media bias, e-mail us at newswatch@foxnews.com.

Up next, are the media spinning the most important issue in America?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: It's still about the economy and we're not stupid.

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ANNOUNCER: The economy, still the most important issue for Americans and still a key factor in the voters' pick for president. But are the media telling the whole truth or spinning the numbers to fit their agenda?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: We are now going to put down the role of candidate and candidate spouse and take back up the roles of active citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Newt Gingrich bows out of the GOP race. Was it too soon for the media? Find out next, on "News Watch."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STUART VARNEY, FOX HOST: The economy is showing sure signs of slowing. That is, it is weakening from an already tepid expansion. To describe this unfortunate trend, the White House used the word "encouraging." You can tell this is an election year and spin is in the air. So here's my take on the big economy number this week, the jobs report. When that jobs report is released, anything less than a quarter million new jobs will be bad, not good, not OK, and definitely not encouraging.

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SCOTT: Well, we got only 115,000 new jobs in the jobs report out on Friday. That was Fox Business network's Stuart Varney with his take on the economy.

On Saturday, Jim, the Washington Post was talking about the 2.2 percent GDP growth in the first quarter under the headline, "The economy continues on a path of growth."

PINKERTON: Path growth at a third of the rate of the Reagan recovery in 1984, for example. Sure, it's -- look, they got a bad hand and they are playing the best they can, including their friends in the media.

SCOTT: And, Justin, New York Times with the same statistic and here was the headline, "Economic growth slows unexpectedly to 2.2 percent."

DUCKHAM: It still doesn't change the fact that there are optimistic economic indicators still out there. We have seen 26 months of uninterrupted job growth. And it is just a matter of perspective. And it wise for the White House to portray it in that light.

SCOTT: But the point I make -- try to make time and time again is you are supposed to have job growth just to keep up with population growth, right? The media does not necessarily make that point.

DUCKHAM: That is certainly true. But, at the same time, there are some economic indicators and the White House would be wise to play to that strength. One of the numbers they have thrown out repeatedly is that, under the Bush administration, the average amount was about 67,000 new jobs a month. And that is something I am sure they will hammer on as the election continues.

SCOTT: There was a Bloomberg piece that ran this week, Jehmu, entitled "Obama fails to stem middle class slide he blamed on Bush," suggesting he campaigned three or four years ago on a charge that the Bush administration failed the middle class. And the middle class actually is doing worse now than it was at the time.

GREENE: Well, I think we have heard that consistently from the administration from 2009 until now, that the policies that have been flatly rejected by the Republicans in Congress are disproportionally affecting the middle class. And we shift more into the general election, we will continue to hear him pushing the message that the middle class is suffering because, guess what, the Republicans in Congress have not allowed my agenda to move forward.

SCOTT: So whose fault is it here? Who's getting the blame?

LOWRY: Well, this is the big problem they have. They would prefer a 1984 morning in America-style campaign if the conditions and the facts were this but they are not. And Jehmu hits on the point why you have David Axelrod going on a Sunday show a couple weeks ago and saying, we need to re-elect President Obama because we cannot afford to stay on the course we are on now --

(LAUGHTER)

-- which makes zero sense.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

SCOTT: Speaking of -- speaking of re-electing the president, the president's campaign trotted out this cartoon character, Julia, this week. Who is Julia?

LOWRY: Julia is a woman who is entirely dependent on government every step of her life. And they created this slide show that shows how she will thrive under Obama's policies and be devastated under Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney. To me, a couple of things most interesting about this. One, it is a sign of how important Twitter is to the political conversation. If you did not know about this thing about 15 minutes after it came -- went like, you were not paying attention. Two, it's a sign how the super cool Obama campaign continues to create these things that are easily mocked on Twitter and online.

GREENE: They're easily mocked if you do not have an attachment to the fight for equal pay that is clearly articulated in this animation. And that is not about the government paying equal pay, it's just giving these individual women the right to be paid the same as men. And they --

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: We're going to have to take --

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: -- one more break. But when we come back, Newt Gingrich calls it quits.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST OF "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY KIMMEL": Not that it's any of my business, Mr. Gingrich, but why are you waiting until Tuesday to drop out of this? Just do it now. It's -- it's time to Mitt or get off the pot.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT: Comedian Jimmy Kimmel at the White House Correspondents Dinner last weekend poking fun at Newt Gingrich for his prolonged exit from the GOP race. Kimmel was not the only funnyman taking aim at Newt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST OF "THE TONIGHT SHOW": The Secret Service has withdrawn its protection of Newt Gingrich in advance of him formally announcing suspension of his campaign. He was going to drop out tomorrow. Now he is dropping out Wednesday. His Secret Service protection was costing us $44,000 a day.

(BOOING)

LENO: And I guess they figured it wasn't worth any more to protect Newt from all of the people trying to ignore him. You know.

(LAUGHTER)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST OF "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": Newt Gingrich dropping out the Republican race.

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: And people will say what will Newt Gingrich do? He will catch up on napping (ph). That's number one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course.

LETTERMAN: And right now, he is working on a half-hearted endorsement for Mitt Romney.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED LATE NIGHT HOST: Pro, he looks like a team player for conceding defeat to Mitt Romney. Con, he also looks like Susan Boyle.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED LATE NIGHT HOST: Wait a second.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT: Well, on Wednesday, calling it a truly wild ride, Newt Gingrich suspended his campaign, ending what some in the media called his turbulent rollercoaster attempt to be his party's pick for the White House And in typical Gingrich fashion, he took nearly 25 minutes to do so.

Jim?

PINKERTON: Well, Gingrich had all the problems that these comedians were laying out there, but he had an upside to him. I think the press, the media; the chattering classes didn't understand that he was talking a language of technological transformation and possibility that is sort of out of fashion in today's environment. Someday, they will be a lunar colony, owned by the United States hopefully, and hopefully it will be called Newt Gingrich.

(LAUGHTER)

SCOTT: That is a wrap on "News Watch" this week.

Thanks to Justin, Jim, Rich and Jehmu.

I'm Jon Scott. See you next week.

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