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Published January 24, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," December 17, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MEGYN KELLY, HOST: Breaking tonight, just two weeks after a deadly terror attack on American soil, a bombshell hearing on Capitol Hill raise serious questions about how the Department of Homeland Security is or is not keeping track of potential terrorists right here within our borders.
Welcome to "The Kelly File," everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. Earlier today, the House Oversight Committee held a very charged hearing on terrorist travel. Confronting officials from the State Department and the Homeland Security Department about those in this country overstaying their visas and illegal immigration in general. What we found out is concerning at best. Since 2001, the United States has revoked some 9500 visas over terrorist concerns. But when asked where those 9500 people are, the Feds did not have an answer.
Lawmakers also pressed officials on why the social media accounts of those who want to enter this country are not routinely vetted, including the public. Social media of these people. Remember, the female terrorist in San Bernardino made her radical views known. But in fairness to the administration, she did post under a pseudonym and kept her account private. Still it begs the question, how many others could have been stopped at a simply look at their Facebook or by Twitter or by Googling them. What's more, we also learned about a number of investigations into Syrians who have overstayed their visas here in the U.S. All of this did not sit well with lawmakers today. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON CHAFFETZ, R-UTAH, HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: You have no idea how many of those people are in the united states, of the revoked visas, do you give those to the Department of Homeland Security?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. We revoke the visa and the information is --
CHAFFETZ: So Homeland Security, how many revoked visas are still in the United States of America?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, I don't have that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't have a clue, do you?
CHAFFETZ: You can see why we're scared to death that this administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, is not protecting the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: And there was much more. Chief Intelligence Correspondent Catherine Herridge reports tonight from Washington. Catherine?
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: Megyn, tonight. The State Department said it is up to Homeland Security to track down into foreign nationals whose visas are polled and there was no response from Homeland Security to FOX News' questions. Earlier today, the administration's claimed that the vetting is solid, especially for refugees was seriously challenged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TREY GOWDY, R-S.C., HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Well, if all of that was true, how did we miss the lady in San Bernardino? As the FBI director said, Mr. Gowdy, and I think is the fact that there were nothing in the system that we used that would pick that up.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
HERRIDGE: When the big take away is from today's hearing is that it is easier to enter the U.S. on a fiance visa as shooter Tashfeen Malik did than to enter as a refugee. Witnesses said today, there is no mandatory social media screening for fiancee visas but it is used for other applicants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON RODRIQUEZ, U.S. CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES: Social media is clearly something that we need to be talking about. It is something that we have been building and are going to continue to build. We have been focusing primarily on the refugee setting. We will going to be looking at also using it in non-refugee settings as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: Well, it's not public whether the San Bernardino shooters used inscription. A law enforcement source says, at least one operative in last month's Paris terrorist attacks did. With witnesses today saying, it's still a gray area.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN BERSIN, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: How far can we go with regard to social media? How far can we go into people's Facebooks and private chats? All issues that are legitimate need to be discussed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: We also learned today that last year nearly 120 Syrian nationals overstayed. Eleven were arrested. Most cases closed. But 18 are the subject of ongoing federal investigations. But no clarity tonight on whether Homeland Security or the FBI is driving these cases. This Congressional testimony today really seemed to reinforce a disconcerting intelligence picture. That the vetting system has not kept pace with technology which is now enabling terrorist groups as they did on 9/11 to use our systems and freedoms against us -- Megyn.
KELLY: Catherine, thank you.
HERRIDGE: You're welcome.
KELLY: That is not all. In the heated exchange today, Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz also accused the Department of Homeland Security of allowing violent criminals to remain in the United States.
Trace Gallagher has that part of the story from our West Coast Newsroom. Trace?
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Megyn, and today's Congressional hearing, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledge there are tens of thousands of people in this country illegally who have been convicted of crimes and could have been deported but were not. Most of the crimes they committed were minor. Many were also felonies. The way it works is DHS focuses on three priority groups. Priority group one, includes illegals engaged in or suspected of terrorism or those convicted of felonies. Priority group two, includes those convicted of things like sexual abuse. Use of a firearm. Drug distribution or trafficking. And group three are those who have been issued deportation notices. But regardless of what priority level illegal immigrants fall into, DHS allows immigration agents to use prosecutorial discretion to either arrest them or let them go. That discretion is a point of contention with the chair of the House Oversight Reform Committee. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: And then Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security puts out guidance and say, even if you prevent sex crimes, even if you do certain other crimes, don't necessarily need to deport them. They are here illegally. They commit a crime. And Homeland Security is saying, use discretion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: DHS strongly disputes Congressman Chaffetz's characterization that illegal immigrants who commit rape are being allowed to roam free. But according to the DHS Inspector General, it is difficult to know exactly who is roaming free. Because the Feds have not kept track of the number of times they have used prosecutorial discretion. In other words, DHS can provide data on the number of people detained or deported but there is no data on how many were released -- Megyn.
KELLY: Trace, thank you.
As you've been seeing, Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz was incensed over the idea that criminals including those guilty of sexual assault apparently are not a top deportation priority for this administration. Here is just a little more of the tense showdown between Congressman Chaffetz and officials from Homeland Security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Do you think that's terrorism if a woman is raped? Do you, Mr. Bersin?
ALAN BERSIN, CHIEF DIPLOMATIC OFFICER FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Do I think that that is terrorism?
CHAFFETZ: Yes.
BERSIN: No. But it is an egregious horrible crime which is the father of -- I think is a horrible crime.
CHAFFETZ: It is for that woman. It is for that family. And you don't deport them. How do you do that? You give them an excuse to make a decision --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I may. If a woman is raped and the perpetrator is convicted of rape, that is a felony. That is a serious crime. That is a top priority for removal.
CHAFFETZ: It is not the top priority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Marc Thiessen is a Fox News contributor and former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush. Marc, so what we are learning is we have identified people who have overstayed their visas. We think they might be terrorists or tied to terrorists. We have no idea where they are. And we have identified a bunch of criminals in the country who have committed major crimes, including sexual assaults, and they are allowed to stay too. And we may or may not know where they are.
MARC THIESSEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It's amazing. Our system is just so badly broken. The Obama administration wants to let in 10,000 Syrian refugees but they have lost track of 10,000, almost 10,000, suspected terrorists that they granted visas to enter the United States with. I mean, think about what that means. First 9,500 people penetrated our defenses. Beat our screening system. And actually got visas to legally enter the United States.
KELLY: Post 9/11. Post 9/11.
THIESSEN: Post 9/11. I mean, this is in 2001. Second of all, the officials when they caught their mistake, when they revoked their visas, they lost track of them. We don't know where they are. We don't know if they're in the United States. And then third, those 9,500 are the ones we know about. How many people are there out there who we don't know about? Who they didn't catch their mistake and revoke the visas? I can name one, Tashfeen Malik. She never have her visa revoked. We didn't figure out that she was a terrorist until she killed 14 people. So this system is fundamentally broken. And it is no wonder the American people don't trust them.
KELLY: And you know what, in some of these cases, it appears a simple Google search might provide them with the information they're looking for. I mean, maybe they should make a list of 9500 public and we could just put some citizens loops on it and I bet you we find most of them.
THIESSEN: They do a better job from the State Department. I mean, here's a stunning statistics that puts that 9500 into perspective. Justin Lang is a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute. He went and look at the State Department's visa figures, and according to the State Department's own visa office, since 2001, they have denied visas to a net 2,231 people for ties to terrorist activities or terrorist organizations. Two thousand and two hundred and thirty one. We have allowed in 9,500 people who now we later figured out were tied to terror. That means our system is so broken, we are letting in four times as many people as we block to keep out.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
THIESSEN: I mean, it's just -- it is so fundamentally broken. That would mean, if an NHL goalie let in 400 times more goals than he stops, he would be fired. But the State Department -- people never get fired.
KELLY: And what they're saying is, will we prioritize deporting those illegal immigrants who are engaged in terrorism? Well, you may prioritize, I get about almost 10,000 loose right now who you didn't prioritize. But is the second tier priorities are those who commit crimes, sexual assault, burglary, DUI, that's in a second tier. But if you can't even get the terrorists in the first tier, what does that say about all the people who commit second tier crimes? That's what Chaffetz was going for in a second diatribe we saw there.
THIESSEN: Absolutely. And that's an amazing thing. I mean, in the last two years, the Obama administration has released 66,000 criminal aliens into our communities. People who have been convicted of crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping, those are not people we lost track of.
KELLY: They're not supposed to release felons. Convicted felons. That's why he was taking issue with the word rape, convicted rapist are supposed to go.
THIESSEN: They're not people we lost track off, they are people they had in their custody and they released them. I mean, this is just so fundamentally messed up. It is amazing how anyone trust the screening system.
KELLY: Uh-hm. And many, many do not. Marc, good to see you.
THIESSEN: Thanks, Megyn.
KELLY: Well, we are learning disturbing new details tonight the close friends and neighbor of the San Bernardino terrorists. Now under arrest on charges of conspiring to help them.
Dr. Sebastian Gorka is here next on what we just learned. Also, the news out of Disney on what they are doing now. Wait until you hear this.
Plus, as the President prepares to visit San Bernardino more than two weeks after the terror attack there, Charles Krauthammer joins us live to talk about the President's effort to reassure this country and what he thinks is behind it.
Plus, a football coach suspended for praying at games. To himself privately. Is now fighting back for the right to profess his faith in his own mind. And he joins us live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Breaking tonight, the close friend and former neighbor of the San Bernardino shooters is now in custody. Charged by the FBI with conspiring to provide support to these terrorists. Also inside this criminal complaint, frightening new details on some previous attack that the terror couple had discussed with this guy but never carried out.
Adam Housley is live at the courthouse in Riverside, California with more. Adam?
ADAM HOUSLEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Megyn. Hearing day, at about six minutes or so, Enrique Marquez appeared in a beige or gray shirt via closed circuit television, the media was kept in a different room, he replied yes after hearing the charges against him. And he will be back here on Monday for a bail hearing. That 37-page affidavit that you alluded to, that was given to us by the DOJ today, it was pretty damning in a lot of ways. First of all, tells us that Marquez for ten days, has basically confirmed FOX reporting in this sense, for ten days, he's been waving his Miranda rights and talking to the detectives every day. He also says that he called 911 after the attack and basically said that Syed Farook had done this killing using the long rifles he provided. Unknowingly he says for these attacks.
But as to those terror attacks that go back as far as 2011 they say they planned, everything from attacking the 91 freeway here in the empire of Southern California to attacking Riverside Community College. Throwing in pipe bombs and as students run out basically shooting and killing them. Some pretty intense ideas that these two had. It's also interesting to note, they didn't have a lot of information there about the wife of Syed, Tashfeen Malik. We hope to hear more about that. And the last thing, Megyn, they also didn't say much about the international connections, trying to say it is more of a lone wolf type attack. Which doesn't make sense because they followed the magazines on-line that were put there by al Qaeda. So, a lot of information that wasn't totally answered here, Megyn. We will of course hear more as the cases goes forward -- Megyn.
KELLY: Uh-hm. Adam, thank you. Well, and as though we needed another reminder of the worries around this country, we are getting new details on how the happiest place on earth is now stepping up security. Disney World is one of several major theme parks adding metal detectors now among other precautions in the wake of recent terror attacks like those in San Bernardino and Paris.
Joining me with more, Dr. Sebastian Gorka. He provides counterterrorism training to the FBI, and Special Forces and services to Major General Matthew C. Horner, distinguished chair of Military Theory at Marine Corp University.
Great to see you, Doctor. So, Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studios, all adding metal detectors to their facilities. Disneyland as well. I don't know, there's something -- there's just a psychological switch that feels strange about that. You're going - look, I mean, as I've said, the happiest place on earth and you have to walk through to make sure no one is going to shoot you with a gun before you go in.
DR. SEBASTIAN GORKA, MARINE CORPS UNIVERSITY: Well, yes. But this is exactly the kind of thing that we should have thought of a long time ago. If you go to Israel, if you go to Cairo, people there have got used to this and have been living with this for years and years and years. You can't walk into a shopping mall in Tel Aviv without going through a metal detector. Likewise in Cairo, you can't go into a hotel without being screened. So, we know from the --
KELLY: I know, but you know how people feel. This is America.
GORKA: Yes. But we know also that there is a war and that jihadist want to kill us. And if you read their magazines, it is now clear that the San Bernardino shooters were taking their play book from "Inspire" magazine.
KELLY: Uh-hm.
GORKA: If you read Dabiq the ISIS magazine, it is explicitly instructive there. You will find soft targets with a high density of civilians because you want to cause as much damage -- as much carnage as possible. This is one very simple way to limit the accessibility to soft targets by jihadist.
KELLY: It also shows you how with, you know, granted the best intentions, you know, our government I'm sure does want to keep us safe, but here this guy is sitting back in 2006 and later, up to 12, with his buddy, his neighbor, plotting mass murders at a community college and on a U.S. highway. They were going to drop pipe bombs down from a bridge and then run into the highway and shoot to death all of the people driving their cars. And then they will going to get the first responders. They were looking forward to that. This plot happens at the same time this guy is bringing over his bride from Saudi Arabia. This Pakistani woman from Saudi Arabia who goes to a radical mosque. Nothing, nothing is detected.
GORKA: Nothing. And look at the details that we're heard so far. It sounds like the community college plot they had was going to be the exactly the same as the Bataclan Theater attack in Paris recently. They were going to stand above the cafeteria, throw the grenades into the cafeteria and then shoot down on to these students. And look at the details of the highway plot. He actually admitted, the man who is on the doc today, admitted that after they throw the improvised explosives devices on to the highway, vehicles stop, he was going to shoot at the EMS workers. He was going to shoot at law enforcement. So, this is a heinous plot and even years before the recent Paris or San Bernardino attacks.
KELLY: Very disconcerting, especially in light of the story we did in our A block tonight. Doctor, great to see you. Thank you, Dr. Gorka.
GORKA: You too. Thank you, Megyn.
KELLY: Well, the White House today announced that President Obama will head to San Bernardino this weekend. Some 16 days after the terrorist attack there. Charles Krauthammer is next on what he makes to the visit. And the President's attempt today to reassure Americans on the issue of terror.
And as free speech sparks protests on college campuses across the country, a filmmaker puts Ivy Leaguers to the test. Brian Kilmeade explains how it's a scary sign of things to come. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate that. Because they want microaggressions should not be protected and making fun of people is not cool. And it sucks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: At this moment our intelligence and counterterrorism professionals, do not have any specific and credible information about an attack on the homeland. That said, we have to be vigilant. Anyone trying to harm Americans need to know, they need to know that we're strong and that we're resilient. That we will not be terrorized. We have prevailed over much greater threats than this. We will prevail again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Well, President Obama offering some pre-holiday assurances. His critics said platitudes to the American people today. Suggesting in a PR stops of sorts today at the counterterrorism center that the administration is doing everything it can to learn from the attacks in San Bernardino and Paris. But we did not hear much in the way of specifics. The President's critics raising doubts about the commitment and about Mr. Obama's visit to San Bernardino tomorrow suggesting he's only making the stop because conveniently it is on the route to the first family's annual trip to Hawaii.
Charles Krauthammer is a Fox News contributor and author of the book "Things That Matter," which is now out in paperback and would make a great Christmas present.
Charles, it's great to see you. Wow, just the tone. Just the tone of those remarks. Like, and we're making progress. I mean, is that meant to encourage us? To calm us?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: You know, that's been true of just about every one of these. This is the second or the third mulligan at doing this. And this problem in part is a substance, because he's not offering anything new. But a large part of it is simply the tone, it is mechanical, like he is reading from a phonebook. Some of them are like a hostage tape where he is, you know, he is being told he has to say this and he is reading this. There's no passion. Where he talks about Trayvon Martin, there's passion. He talks about climate change, there's passion. When he talked about in Turkey, when he talked about the hardiness of Republicans who seek refugees, he cares about that. He clearly is doing this because he has been told he has to do it and it's not working.
KELLY: And the problem is, we're talking about something really important to the American people. Which is keeping us safe from terrorism. And whether we're winning the fight against ISIS. And his poll numbers, after the Oval Office address he gave, four days after we were attacked in San Bernardino dipped in the American public said clearly, we are not impressed. Sixty percent disapproved of his handling of ISIS after that. Fifty seven percent said they disapprove in the management of overall foreign policy. And so now as put in an article today, posted on Real Clear Politics by Richard Benedicto (ph), he says, the President would force to go on an upbeat confidence-building tour this week, making various stuff to give that speech that we just ran an excerpt of.
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, look, his problem is, I understand that he has a view of the Middle East. Where he doesn't want to involve us. He thinks that in the long run, it will be worse. I don't agree, but that's why he's not proposing anything new on the ground. That's why he is not going the John McCain route. Fine. But what he could be saying, is we obviously have holes in the system by which we admit people into the country. For example, we have now discovered that we do not require our agents who do the interviews abroad to look into the social media --
KELLY: To do a Google search.
KRAUTHAMMER: Which is very simple. I'm going to fix that. As of today, I'm ordering that every agent et cetera, et cetera. You could do that. You could offer at least a step or two to say, we understand there are problems. The vetting. And we're going to address them. He could have done that. He didn't. I don't understand why.
KELLY: Well, you get the feeling in listening to the tone that he feels like, it is tea spoons in the ocean. You know, this is a daunting task. And in that same article of that I referenced referred to him today as Lyndon B. Obama saying, he's sounding an awful lot like another president, war time president who was losing a war but had very similar messaging to what we are getting from this president. We have cut a little clip. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback. There has been progress being made.
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, 36TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking. Overall, we're making progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: And the question is, whether President Obama is suffering now from the same credibility gap that Lyndon B. Johnson suffered.
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, the one parallel that struck me is that in one of these speeches Obama went through a list of all of the ISIS leaders that we had killed. And saying that we have attacked here and so many have been lost, have been killed. This is exactly the metric, the absurd metric that we use in the Vietnam War. It's called the body count and our geniuses had decided that if the ratio is high enough, that would be a measure of whether we are winning the war. It turned out that when you're fighting insurgence, that never works. They will stay with their losses for a lot longer than we will because it's not our homeland. We're abroad. And when Obama did that, it was very reminiscent and little bit worrying --
KELLY: Charles, stand by. We have much more for you.
When we come back with Charles in a moment, we will ask him about reports suggesting the Republican presidential field. Is that a critical crossroads right now? And Charles will explain what's at stake.
Plus, this coach was told, there is no place for prayer at his football games. Even if he did it silently on his own. Tonight, he will join us to detail how he is now fighting back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE KENNEDY, COACH SUSPENDED FOR PRAYING: Me thanking God for what they just did -- how that could possibly be wrong in the eyes of society, the courts or anybody?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Form the world headquarters of Fox News, it's "The Kelly File" with Megyn Kelly.
KELLY: Well, in a fiery and substantive debate on foreign policy two days ago, one thing became clear. The Republican Party is at a crossroads, a fight for the soul of the party, with disagreements over how aggressive the U.S. should be in fighting terror. Whether the U.S. should depose ruthless dictators who nonetheless keep terrorists under control, and whether America should be a leader in these conflicts or if isolationism is the better way.
Back with us now, Charles Krauthammer, and you could see the merging Charles, as you listen to Cruz, Rubio and Trump who have very different views of, with the Republican Party and the country is going on those issues.
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I actually think that Rubio and Cruz on the issues are far less opposed than most people imagine. I think the big difference, if we're looking at sort of the top three candidates right now, is the two of them with trump. Look, Cruz is a traditional down the road, very strong conservative. Rubio, if you had to make a decision of where he is on the spectrum, he is slightly more centrist, but on the major issues there is not a lot of difference between them. The real difference, even though Cruz is usually lumped with Trump, opposed of the so-called establishment, that's more a measure of tactics. But if you compare Rubio and Cruz with where Trump is, Trump has been called by some commentators with some accuracy, probably one of the least conservative leading republican candidates in many years. He is a populist. His appeal is strength. His appeal is, "We're not going to take it anymore" and his appeal is, "you trust me and I'll get it done, because I can do big things." It's not in any way ideological. If you look at his positions, sympathy for universal health care, a guarantee. He said he wants to insure everybody. I mean, his position on eminent domain, can the government seize your private property.
KELLY: Right.
KRAUTHAMMER: In a public good. So in these issues.
KELLY: When you say he's a populist, he said that explains how --
KRAUTHAMMER: It's not conditionally concerned.
KELLY: He's all over the board on some of these issues. One day he says.
KRAUTHAMMER: Right.
KELLY: We should let the Syrian people in because it is a humanitarian issue, and the very next day, (inaudible).
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: The very next day he said, "We shouldn't, we can't." But I want to get to this, because I think a lot of these republicans are trying to decide between these candidates to say, OK, you know, who can win? Who do I like and who can win? And there's a line being pushed by Ted Cruz and Others, which is, "You got to motivate the conservative base" which they suggested don't come out from Mitt Romney. Karl Rove wrote an article recently saying, "That's not true. The conservative base did get out from Mitt Romney." It's huge. They got up from Mitt Romney. The ones who that didn't get out were the moderates, and those are the ones the republicans need to motivate, your thoughts?
KRAUTHAMMER: Look, I think this is a classic debate conservatives say, if you run somebody who is not a sort of ideological candidate, you'll going to lose a millions of conservatives who are going to stay home. Look, I think traditionally, on the left and the right, the winners have been the ones who can reach across and get the people in the middle. And you, the way to appeal to them, I think is to show them that you are flexible in some way. Now, that doesn't mean that you gave up your principles. But it does mean, I mean, look at how it works on the left. Hillary is been (inaudible) left by Bernie Sanders. But because she knows she's going to be the nominee anyway, she's going to sort of reverse that or at least stop that and appeal to the center, which I think is how her husband won. How George W. won, how Obama won in many ways, so if you're looking at traditional winners, that's how you want to go. But I understand the argument of all these hidden conservatives, the millions of them, I'm very skeptical of that. And I'm concern that the republicans are going so far in one direction, they may not be able to correct.
KELLY: What is that show.
KRAUTHAMMER: When it comes to the general election.
KELLY: That the Republican Party is overwhelmingly white. And that if the next republican nominee gets the same share of the white vote, as Mitt Romney got, he or she will lose. They'll lose. They have -- or they just give in what's happening in terms of the demographics in this country, and they're saying that what they need to do is get more minorities. They need to get more women. They need to get more young people. And you know there's a question about which of these GOP potential nominees can do it, Charles, your thoughts?
KRAUTHAMMER: Look, I think there's a lot to be said about the demographic argument. Romney won about to 27 percent of Hispanics. George W. won about 44 percent. That's a huge difference and it contributed heavily to Romney's loss. And I think the most interesting number to look at is the exit polls from the 2012 election, where Romney lost the Asian- American vote, 3-1. Now, how do you explain that? Because Asian-Americans are rising socio-economically and generally, as any ethnic group does, it becomes more conservative. So this is sort of a shocking result. And it is in some way, if you're republican, unnecessary. I think that the GOP can appeal to all kinds of minority and ethnicities. And if it does, I think it will have a much better chance of winning any general election.
KELLY: Charles Krauthammer, always great to hear from you.
KRAUTHAMMER: My pleasure.
KELLY: Well fortunately, for all of you, the most important part of tonight's broadcast is next. As Brian Kilmeade details how a special pair of socks will change your TV experience forever. Wait until you hear what these do.
Plus, the amazing results when a filmmaker went to an Ivy League campus in a quest to ban the First Amendment. See what the cupcakes did. And then, see how some school district are kicking Linus to the curb and replacing the real meaning of the Charlie Brown Christmas special, I'm not kidding, with the following video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SILENTO, HIP-HOP ARTIST: Now watch me nae nae (OK). Now watch me whip whip watch me nae nae (want me do it?). Now watch me whip (kill it), watch me nae nae (OK). Now watch me whip whip, watch me nae nae (can you do it?)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Well, the fight between free speech and hurt feelings continues to rage on in campuses across this country. One filmmaker has decided to put college students to the test. He went to a place you may have heard of called Yale, and started asking folks if they would get behind a petition to repeal the First Amendment. Watch what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we're calling for is to repeal the First Amendment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's fantastic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate what you're trying to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the constitution should be one big safe space, right? Hurt feelings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It should not be protected so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was cool, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I totally agree with where you're at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: OMG, OMG, OMG.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Brian Kilmeade is the co-host of Fox and Friends, and the author of Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates which is number two on the New York Times this -- buy it now, make it number one. You're going to take down O'Reilly.
BRIAN KILMEADE, "FOX & FRIENDS" CO-HOST: Bill O'Reilly.
KELLY: Yeah, Bill O'Reilly.
(CROSSTALK)
KILMEADE: He takes that so well.
KELLY: Yeah.
KILMEADE: For that moving to the top slot.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Tripoli Pirates. OK, so I think it's a great idea. I think it's awesome you're out here. I totally agree with what you're doing -- really, Yale?
KILMEADE: Yale. This is why. Do you remember the number story in America was emerging before the Paris attacks? I just want -- there was which happened on college campuses?
KELLY: Yes.
KILMEADE: That's what we got this guy out there saying, let's go to Yale. Where there was a screaming vast of the teacher because he didn't have a safe zone on campus.
KELLY: Alma mater to five U.S. presidents, 10 Supreme Court justices.
KILMEADE: Exactly. So he went out there to ask people if he would repeal the First Amendment, to create a safe zone on campus. And he got 50 signatures in one hour, looking to repeal the First Amendment, which by the way includes the right to petition. So you would -- you're robbing yourself the right of something you just signed.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Talking about irony. It's really deeply disturbing. I actually think of this plays into the success that we've seen in this election of Donald Trump. Because he's anti-PC, he's sick of this crap. And I think a lot of Americans are sick of this crap of the safe base -- can you say crap? I'm saying it.
KILMEADE: Right. Well you say that I can say it, yeah.
KELLY: Not PC here on The Kelly File.
KILMEADE: Well that's fine.
KELLY: Right? They're sick of the cupcakes.
KILMEADE: Yeah, that's your line. I know that. This is unbelievable. And I wrote to you, they said, "do you have any notes on this?" I just said, "Quickly, we're doomed."
(LAUGHTER)
KILMEADE: Because this is the next generation.
KELLY: Yeah.
KILMEADE: Of the elite. These are the people they don't quite understand what the First Amendment is or what we fought for. So I really think it's troubling that he walked out of there with 50 signatures, he could have had about a hundred. He said the majority of people stopped.
KELLY: Well --
KILMEADE: Signed or thanked him.
KELLY: It's slipping away America through our very fingers, OK. And speaking of which, you know Charlie Brown a Christmas special?
KILMEADE: Yes.
KELLY: I just watched this with my kids the other night. Apparently, there is a very offensive scene in it, and you may be familiar, Little Linus has the nerve to read from the bible.
KILMEADE: Yes.
KELLY: So that's out. They can't perform that play.
KILMEADE: But what happened is there is someone parent that complained at this school district in Kentucky, this is the Johnson County School District. And because of that, they immediately convened lawyers -- your ex profession, and they said, that they are warning us that we will get civil suits, even against the teachers that they go ahead in all six elementary schools and have Christmas shows that have any illusion or any push towards the bible. You could have Santa. You could have done and.
KELLY: And you can do the Charlie Brown Christmas special, but you have to eliminate that scene.
KILMEADE: Where to.
KELLY: Where he speaks of the true meaning of Christmas, that's the goal.
KILMEADE: Right. And here is what he says. Here's what he says and I'm willing to take the lawsuit and you'll be responsible. Fox and friends retain Peter Johnson, Jr.
(LAUGHTER)
KILMEADE: "You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothing -- lying in the manger and suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of heavenly host."
KELLY: The ACLU was drafting a complaint right now.
KILMEADE: Exactly, so.
KELLY: And they want "Silent Night" gone. That has to go as well.
KILMEADE: And it is replaced by a nae nae, which is the song that I danced to, to warm up for this segment.
KELLY: Well, let's hear it. I don't know the song.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SILENTO, HIP-HOP ARTIST: Now watch me nae nae (OK). Now watch me whip whip watch me nae nae (want me do it?). Now watch me whip (kill it), watch me nae nae (OK).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: This? This is replacing "Silent Night" at the Christmas (inaudible) party?
KILMEADE: Replaced "Silent Night." So what I did is I called up to the superintendent, who is a fan of yours, Thomas Salyer.
KELLY: Thomas is good person.
KILMEADE: Yeah. He said last week he got called by the lawyers and they said, "Tell each one of your teachers, they have to adjust their plays." So these kids in grammar school had to rip scene out of their plays. Today, -- it was today. And all six, all six plays had at least one scene taken out that referred or alluded to Jesus for Christmas.
KELLY: Oh.
KILMEADE: Even though there would be no Christmas according to reports, Ed Henry now has confirmed this without Jesus.
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: Unbelievable. Again, this is irritating. I feel like culture is getting ready to push back on this nonsense.
KILMEADE: It's just the beginning, though.
KELLY: All right.
KILMEADE: . next year.
KELLY: But there is something important that we need to talk about, which is apparently, you need new socks for Christmas.
KILMEADE: Yes.
KELLY: Because -- we have gotten as so lazy as a society, we can no longer do this -- by pressing the button it like --
KILMEADE: Right.
KELLY: Well, how else can I do it? Tell us now how they can do it.
KILMEADE: So what happened is there are special sensors now in socks that will sense when you nod off and shut off your television when you are watching Netflix. So you know when you are binge watching, where you left off. Apparently, America had run out of friends to nudge you when you nod off. We are all watching alone now because we don't know how to communicate. So when you nod off, your sock will light up. Now, if you happen to goes totally still and are awake, it will flash, and if you don't move your foot quickly...
(LAUGHTER)
KILMEADE: You will have -- this is watch the thing shut off. So According to this technology, and as you know, we've been over this, is called -- it's you put on your sock, act (inaudible), act grabby and you use an accelerometer, together, to make the socks light up, because if American kid binge watch, they can't remember where they left off. This speaks to Ellen's whole theory that she did a great a comedy skit where she talked about how lazy we are that we have to have those -- we can't suck a mint now, we need to have the strips put on our tongue and hey, can you put that on my tongue.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: And you put -- put that on my tongue, that's how lazy we are.
KILMEADE: Exactly.
KELLY: Now we can't even like press off on the remote or have our spouse do it or God forbid, we wake up that we reboot Netflix and have to hit rewind.
KILMEADE: Well just you know, in full disclosure in the Kelly and Kilmeade households have gone to the UHF antenna and we get up and we switch it on the set.
KELLY: That's right.
KILMEADE: We do not -- and have the circle antennas.
KELLY: That's right.
KILMEADE: We have the UHF, put it on you and then we rotate it around without the clip.
KELLY: Someday we might have that brown cable box where you switch between a, b and c, remember that?
KILMEADE: Right, and you --
KELLY: And it is connected by a long wire to your TV.
KILMEADE: And you take the bottom up, use a screw driver to get those special channels.
KELLY: Get what?
KILMEADE: Stealing cable is a crime.
(LAUGHTER)
KILMEADE: Absolutely.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: And as a cable news host, I really believe that.
KILMEADE: Right.
KELLY: Brian, good to see you.
KILMEADE: OK. Thank you.
KELLY: Merry Christmas.
KILMEADE: Thanks for having me, Merry Christmas to you.
KELLY: And speaking of irritating culture matters, up next, a coach suspended for privately praying at midfield. Now he is fighting back against his school district who says, "We are kind of on your side, but we are afraid of the lawyers." That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Now to a "Kelly File" exclusive on the story of a high school coach suspended for praying at midfield after football games. Joe Kennedy never forced anyone to pray with him, but many did. That is until he was put on notice by his school district to stop, because the district feared the lawyers. But this week, Coach Kennedy got his own lawyer. And joining me now, Coach Joe Kennedy and Mike Berry, Esquire senior council for Liberty Institute, which just file a legal complaint on Joe's behalf. Thank you both for being here. So Coach, let me start with you -- what exactly did you do? What -- how were you praying?
COACH JOE KENNEDY, SUSPENDED BREMERTON SCHOOL DISTRICT: Well, originally it started out where I was praying alone by myself on the 50, just taking a knee, giving thanks for the team. And some kids came out and said, "Hey, can we pray with you?" And I said, "Sure." So it started growing from there, and then before long, just over the past couple years, even though opposing team has joined us out on the 50. And after the school said, "You can't do that anymore," I said, "OK, I won't pray with the kids anymore," And I can't even take a knee by myself on the 50 after a game.
KELLY: This is unbelievable, Mike. I mean the Supreme Court and the 6- 3 decision came out over 15 -- about 15 years ago and said, "You can't have certain prayers at school because it violates the establishment clause. Since when did they say a coach can't have his own private prayer in his head?
MIKE BERRY, SENIOR COUNSEL FOR LIBERTY INSTITUTE: Well, thanks Megyn, you're exactly right. This is ridiculous. The Supreme Court has never said that. This is his First Amendment right, to engage in private prayer. We even ask for if he could just do a moment of silence. And the school said, "No, we think a moment of silence is also unconstitutional."
KELLY: Oh my.
BERRY: So -- I don't understand, you know why the school should feel the need to believe this coach like this.
KELLY: Well, but you do, right? I mean coach, you know it is? They are afraid of the lawyers. And now, good for you, you're going to make them afraid of your lawyer. But they're afraid that the lawyers for some students or the ACLU or some group -- some atheist group is going to come in and sue them.
KENNEDY: Right.
BERRY: Well, and Megyn, the thing is that we've offered to meet with the school district. You know, Liberty Institute offered to meet with the administrators, multiple occasions and they've never agreed to meet with us. And I often thought, all along, maybe if we sat down face-to-face, we could resolve this, maybe it is just a misunderstanding, but they're unwilling to meet with us at this point, and they've really forced us into this potion, to file this EEOC complaint.
KELLY: Coach, what are the students say to you about it?
KENNEDY: That's an amazing thing is that, you know, these kids aren't dumb and I worked with some of most incredible around and they're like, "Coach, we support you." I mean, "You fought for our country. You're a marine for 20 years. You should have, you know, free rights as everybody else in America." And they've all been supporting me, no matter what their beliefs are.
KELLY: Isn't it incredible how hard they are working to get any prayer, any connection with a force greater than yourself out of these school communities, these school communities that we see are under threat of guns, of mass murderers, and one thing that will not be tolerated is prayer, is God. We'll continue to follow it, guys. Thank you for being here.
KENNEDY: Thank you so much.
BERRY: Thank, Megyn.
KELLY: We're taking your thoughts on that. Go to facebook.com/thekellyfile or on Twitter @megynkelly. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Well, it is off to vacation for yours truly, over the holidays. Going and goes to get to some snowy hills, to get the kids out on skis, just in time in time for Santa. So for all -- from all of us at The Kelly File, have a beautiful Merry Christmas and a belated Happy Hanukah as well. Thank you for an amazing year, I'm Megyn Kelly, this is "The Kelly File."
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