Gutfeld: Time for Trump to start thinking about the issues
The Donald's lack of preparation was exposed by classic gotcha question on abortion
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 7, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Hi, I'm Greg Gutfeld with Jedediah Bila in pink; Juan Williams, stripy tie; Eric Bolling doing the five; and from the prairie, Melissa Francis -- "The Five."
After relentless annoying poking from Sir Thrill-leg, Donald Trump said women who have illegal abortions should be punished:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: Should the woman be punished for having an abortion?
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look--
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: This is not something you can dodge. If you say abortion is a crime or abortion is murder, you have to deal with it under the law. Should abortion be punished?
TRUMP: Well, people in certain parts of the Republican Party and conservative Republicans would say yes, they should be punished.
MATTHEWS: How about you?
TRUMP: I would say that it is a very serious problem. And that's a problem that we have to decide on.
MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion -- yes or no -- as a principle.
TRUMP: And the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.
MATTHEWS: For the woman?
TRUMP: Yeah, there has to be some form.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
GUTFELD: After both anti-and pro-abortion groups denounced this, Trump quickly backtracked. Now maybe the question was a trap. But it isn't a trap if you, a pro-lifer, have thought about it once in your life.
What should Trump have said? Chris, I just became a granddad -- the sixth time -- and I can tell you, it's amazing. The innocent, you've got to protect them. That's what I believe in my heart, and the science backs me up. Very premature babies can survive even if they're born too early. Young parents can hear the heartbeat in mere weeks. You've seen that sonogram on the fridge, it is fabulous stuff. I don't want women to feel they need an abortion. And I want her to feel enough support and hope that she chooses to have the kid instead. She shouldn't be punished -- of course not. Monsters like Kermit Gosnell, they should be punished. What a creep that guy is. Society must promote a culture of life, and I can tell you, that babies will love President Trump.
But he didn't say that because that requires preparation. He feels he's above thinking things through and expects his fans to do it for him. Often they will. Has there ever been a candidate that needs so much explaining? He gave no thought to lifelong righties who have a tough time already defending the unborn. Now every GOP candidate is going to be asked if they think women should be punished.
I'm glad Trump is now pro-life, but that movement is fueled by deep thinkers who strive to preserve life despite a rabidly pro-abortion media. With one comment, Trump could have smashed all they built. But isn't that why we love him?
So Jed, that's a classic gotcha question. Every Republican --
JEDEDIAH BILA, GUEST CO-HOST: Yeah.
GUTFELD: .Ends up with an abortion question. It's either always about rape or it's about something like, will you punish them?
BILA: Yes.
GUTFELD: This is why you've got to surround yourself with good people that can prepare you.
BILA: Yeah, if I were running on the republican ticket, I would be most prepared to answer questions about abortion, contraception and gay marriage first.
GUTFELD: Yes.
BILA: Those are the three trap questions.
GUTFELD: Exactly.
BILA: Before you get to terrorism, before you get to the economy and jobs, you have to be able to answer these three things. And republicans repeatedly, I don't know what it is. We watch Todd Akin, we watch these people come out and say the most ridiculous things. That was the guy that talked about legitimate rape...
GUTFELD: Right.
BILA: . and the female body shutting down and crazy things. And you have to wonder if you're repeatedly watching republicans get trapped by the media, by the way, these aren't trapped questions. These are regular questions. You should be -- he should have been prepared with an answer. That is not a trap question. That's not the media trying to get him. That's a question that any of us at the table would be prepared to answer. And he's running for president, be prepared. They're looking at these topics all the time. Come on, I mean we can say sit here and say abortion, contraception, gay marriage. So go, sit right out of it. What you just did, Greg Gutfeld for president.
MELISSA FRANCIS, GUEST CO-HOST: Great.
GUTFELD: There you go.
FRANCIS: I like that.
GUTFELD: No, there are too many skeletons in my closet.
BILA: You know, people like that.
GUTFELD: Some of them are still alive, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: I keep them on a drip, Melissa. Do you think? The one thing that bugged me about that -- OK, he does this a lot.
FRANCIS: The one thing?
GUTFELD: He's not prepared -- what?
FRANCIS: The one thing.
GUTFELD: He's not yet prepared. But the thing when he said that there are some conservative republican who believe that there should be punishment.
FRANCIS: Yeah, I know. No.
GUTFELD: I don't know a single one.
FRANCIS: No. No, I mean he managed to offend everyone with one single answer. I think he might have been better off if he had gone into the middle of Fifth Avenue and shot someone.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
FRANCIS: That could have been better. I felt like he was playing Jeopardy. I mean, he kept saying, the answer is, the answer is. But like you said, it was as if it was the first time he had thought about the issue and that was painful to watch. Because if you've thought about this issue at all, you've gotten to this point and it made me wonder if he is really pro-life, because he hadn't even really explore these possibilities. He needs a little bit of help in preparation. But maybe this is the wake-up call. I mean, maybe this is how --
GUTFELD: How many wake-up calls?
FRANCIS: Well, I mean, you know he went to D.C., he met with the RNC.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
FRANCIS: You know he got some speech help before AIPAC, remember that?
GUTFELD: Yeah.
FRANCIS: He went on the prompter. So he's shown in the past. I don't know.
GUTFELD: I don't know either.
FRANCIS: That's what I got.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: I don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I'm done.
FRANCIS: That's what it. That's what I've got.
GUTFELD: He should have expected this from Chris Matthews on MSNBC.
ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: No, I guess he should. And I think rather than what he likes to do is just, he says what's right here.
GUTFELD: Yeah, I know.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
BOLLING: It's not like, let me go through my notes or let me final out my preparation with these --
GUTFELD: Why you need prep?
BOLLING: OK.
GUTFELD: Don't you want prepared?
(CROSSTALK)
BOLLING: I don't know -- maybe, all right?
GUTFELD: You don't want a president who is prepared?
BOLLING: That's not what I said.
GUTFELD: OK.
BOLLING: I said at this stage of the game where he's resonating with people who say, I like what Donald does. He doesn't prepare, he doesn't have (inaudible) dancers. He's not poll tested. He does --
FRANCIS: But this is not --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: He knows something.
BOLLING: So -- what they do. But what I would recommend would be instead of answering Chris's question, dodge it. I wouldn't answer a question on gay marriage, abortion or -- what was the third one?
BILA: Contraception.
BOLLING: Contraception. This is what got Romney interest.
GUTFELD: Yes.
BOLLING: That had got the republicans in trouble in 2012. We sat at this table and said, "how about you stick to the jobs issue? How about you stick to economy? How about you stick to foreign policy, and terror, and security?" And if someone asks you a gay marriage question, just say, look, I really want to stay on things that matter the most to the American public right now, and in safety and jobs.
BILA: I wouldn't do that, though, because I might think the media says, "Oh, they're dodging."
BOLLING: Who cares?
BILA: They don't have a good answer.
BOLLING: Who cares?
BILA: Because that becomes the story then.
BOLLING: That was better?
BILA: I would rather have someone --
BOLLING: That was better?
BILA: No, no.
GUTFELD: But that was the third option, having --
BILA: I think there are three options -- be prepared.
GUTFELD: Having the right answer.
BILA: Be prepared.
GUTFELD: Having the right answer.
BILA: Yeah.
GUTFELD: I would never dodge it. I would answer it because.
BILA: It's true.
GUTFELD: . you can't escape a dodged question.
FRANCIS: But how about, I don't deal in ridiculous hypothetical.
GUTFELD: That it would--
FRANCIS: I mean he had gotten to that point by a lot.
GUTFELD: It was. You're right.
BOLLING: It's a very good point.
GUTFELD: Yeah, yeah.
BOLLING: What if the constitution.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
BOLLING: . was --
FRANCIS: Right.
BOLLING: I'm sorry. The Supreme Court has declared abortion constitutionally.
FRANCIS: Right.
BOLLING: . illegal.
FRANCIS: And monkeys were flying.
BOLLING: I mean there are four levels of --
GUTFELD: Yeah.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
BOLLING: Hypothetical.
GUTFELD: I've been asked that question and I have an answer.
BILA: Yes.
GUTFELD: Juan, what do you think of all this?
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Well, I must stay that the democrats are delighting.
(LAUGHTER)
FRANCIS: No doubt.
WILLIAMS: I mean, he really hurt himself and he hurt the brand -- the party brand. So you get a situation where Hillary Clinton says, he has made criminals out of women and about a third of American women have had abortions and.
BOLLING: But wait.
WILLIAMS: . has touched a lot of families.
BOLLING: So he clarify his comments and that's not good on Hillary Clinton --
WILLIAMS: Hang on hang on. I'll finish up. But I mean, I think that Clinton is delighting. I think Sanders is delighting. I think the whole idea of what he will have to go against, given he's already high negative ratings with American women, republican and democrat, makes this a real problem.
BOLLING: Isn't it amazing?
WILLIAMS: But I will say this, if he did something that I haven't seen him do before, and I think that's your point Eric, which is that he's quickly said, "I was wrong. No, no, let me change that up." So he had, I think it was three different positions.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: . by the time he got to one. But this is an instance where he did change. Because normally, he does what Eric suggests which is, you know what, I'm not pc. I'm not your normal politician.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: And I am sticking with what I said and love me for it. This time he didn't do it.
BOLLING: President Obama -- he evolved on gay marriage, right?
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
BOLLING: All right. That's almost like -- if you're going to hold a guy to something he said and then clarifies within hours, why wouldn't you hold -- I mean --
GUTFELD: It was obvious he had no answer.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
BOLLING: No, no, no, he did though.
GUTFELD: He had thought about it
BOLLING: No, no, but he came back and he clarifies that he would like to go to the state level.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
BOLLING: And he actually did said, "I think I misspoke."
GUTFELD: But yeah --
BILA: The problem is, so what --
BOLLING: OK.
BILA: At some point it's going to be a foreign policy question.
FRANCIS: Right.
BILA: He's going to be talking about Iran or something.
GUTFELD: Wait. Do we get that in shows, Jedediah?
BILA: And then it's going be -- the whole world it's going to be laughing.
WILLIAMS: But Jedediah.
BILA: We have to --
WILLIAMS: . we've already seen him on foreign policy, he said.
BILA: Right.
WILLIAMS: . he doesn't know what the nuclear triad, so.
BILA: Or the Geneva Convention or whatever the --
FRANCIS: But neither does 90 percent of America. I mean, I don't --
WILLIAMS: I don't think America knows.
FRANCIS: It's not really the same thing.
GUTFELD: Shouldn't we aim higher than 90 percent?
WILLIAMS: I think --
GUTFELD: Should we want somebody who is prepared?
BILA: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: If I'm going to give you the bomb, I want you to know what the nuclear triad is. OK?
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: So do I. Charles Krauthammer from -- also a Fox contributor, on the flaw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST AND FOX CONTRIBUTOR: What disturbs me is not that he got it wrong. Instead -- but it shows about his attitude toward the facts, or toward issues. This is fairly elementary. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council who has been in this issue for decades, was explaining that what troubles him is that at the beginning of this, Trump said many conservative, many republicans think the women ought to be punished." Perkins said, anybody who's been on this issue who knows the pro-life community, who knows what the arguments are, and what people really believe knows that it's not true. That is not the position of anybody on the pro-life side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: See, that's what gave it away to me as a pro lifer. I don't know anybody in the movement who actually feels that way. So I don't know where he got that from, other than that shallow brain pan that you're saying you like --
FRANCIS: No, no.
GUTFELD: With just these things.
BILA: Yeah.
FRANCIS: But it was a logical train of thought, because he was talking about --
GUTFELD: Yeah, he said it was illegal -- punish it.
FRANCIS: This is illegal, OK, for somebody who breaks the law. OK, so then they get punished.
GUTFELD: Right.
FRANCIS: . that he was following the logical train of thought, but he obviously hadn't thought through.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
FRANCIS: . the larger issue. Which again, it made me wonder how pro-life he really is, because he hasn't thought through the whole entire position.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
BILA: I think the problem is that you're like you're drawn to a person that just speaks his mind, that isn't, you know, he unfiltered and he just tells you what he thinks. The problem is that person is running for president of the United States, and his word echo everywhere. And people -- other world leaders listen to what he's saying. When you're running for president, I'm sorry, there is no gotcha question. If I were running, you can ask me anything. You have to assume when you walk into the room that everything is on the table. If you ask me if a black and white cookie is racist, I'm going to have an answer for you, because I'm running for office.
FRANCIS: Isn't It?
BILA: No, it's not.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
FRANCIS: Well done.
(CROSSTALK)
FRANCIS: Well done, well done.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Exactly.
BILA: No, because I have one on right now.
GUTFELD: Exactly.
BILA: It compliments my leg beautifully.
GUTFELD: Why does it have to be beige?
BILA: Listen, because that is the color of my skin and I aim to please Greg.
BOLLING: So -- OK, so what happened is discussion because he said something that I'm sure he corrected, and wants to correct, and will go forward with the correction, and we're still talking about it.
FRANCIS: OK.
GUTFELD: Of course we are.
BOLLING: It's almost like holding everyone, but --
BILA: It was like pattern.
BOLLING: It's almost like holding everyone to their -- every single word that comes out of their mouth. Even if you come back and say, you know what, I was wrong about that and I want to correct it.
GUTFELD: But this isn't the first time.
FRANCIS: I know but this is a Trump moment, right, because he's fabulous like getting out there and turning the page -- changing the conversation. That was his --
BOLLING: Juan just pointed out --
FRANCIS: So change it.
BOLLING: When he said -- what he said about John McCain, everyone is like, oh, he's gonna correct that.
FRANCIS: Right.
BOLLING: He didn't.
FRANCIS: Right.
BOLLING: He doubled down as you pointed out.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
BOLLING: He doubled down on many things.
GUTFELD: That's not the compliment.
BOLLING: The reporter and --
GUTFELD: . that he didn't.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLLING: No, no.
GUTFELD: I don't think he could say that.
BOLLING: But this is the difference here.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
BOLLING: . where he didn't double down on it. He came back and said look, I may have misspoke.
GUTFELD: Got it.
FRANCIS: Great.
BOLLING: . here's what my real state in foreign policy is.
GUTFELD: Fair point.
(CROSSTALK)
FRANCIS: Yeah, so now move on and turn the page, that's what he needs to do.
WILLIAMS: Well there's no -- look, come on. I -- you might -- if you're a Trump supporter, you would say hey, you know what, people who are his detractors and making a big deal out of this -- leave him alone. But the fact is, what I noticed today is republican women absolutely bits through their tongues. You talk about senators like Collins, Merkowsky, even Mia Love, the congresswoman from Utah -- no comment, not a word. You know what? They're backed up. So I -- you know what, people who are pro-life like you Greg. By the way, I love your answer as a granddad. But I must tell you, people who are pro-life right now are like oh, my gosh, we've always tried to say that we're not about punishing women.
GUTFELD: Yeah, some --
WILLIAMS: And now he makes it out like, oh, the old mistake --
GUTFELD: Some of them.
WILLIAMS: Yeah, some of these people actually, are about punishing women. And the only mistake Trump made was telling the truth. Boy, democrats will eat that up.
BOLLING: That's not what he corrected.
GUTFELD: Hillary would love that.
WILLIAMS: That's what I'm saying.
GUTFELD: Hillary would love that.
BOLLING: What he corrected it to? He said --
WILLIAMS: He corrected. But what he said from the heart, in the moment of fire --
GUTFELD: He said some -- he said conservatives feel that way, and that he owes the pro-life movement an apology for that, but he probably won't do it. Coming up, will the odds of a contested convention increase if Trump loses Wisconsin next week? There is a hypothetical.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: More to come on the GOP race, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Now to the GOP presidential race, some new polls show republicans are still very much split on who should be the nominee in the two states where the next contest takes place. Wisconsin, both on April 5th, next Tuesday, Cruz now in the lead there by 10 points. But on April 19th, New York votes; Trump right now has a 36 point advantage in his home state. As for John Kasich, he still remains in third place. But he took some new shots at Trump today and still believes this race is going all the way to the convention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KASICH, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says one thing and then he comes back and tries to clean it up. The guy is not prepared now to be president, Bill. He's talking about youth. Are you kidding me? How close is his thumb to the trigger? This is not the way, this is not the way you lead the United States nor to what the way in which you lead to world -- the world.
BILL HEMMER, "AMERICA'S NEWSROOM" CO-HOST: How do you get the nomination, short of a contested convention?
KASICH: Because -- well, there's going to be a contested convention, first of all.
HEMMER: Do you believe that as a fact? As of today on --
KASICH: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Eric, Ed go asked the GOP political strategist who's working against Trump in Wisconsin says, if the anti-Trump forces beat Trump in Wisconsin, and then there are no more races in two weeks until New York.
BOLLING: Right.
WILLIAMS: . they could change the entire tenor of this race.
BOLLING: Absolutely correct. I mean, Donald Trump had a big lead in the latest polls, he has -- he's now trailing Cruz by 10 -- double digits, 10 points.
WILLIAMS: In Wisconsin.
BOLLING: In Wisconsin -- sorry, yeah. And -- but, and then for two weeks, there's been almost no races, nothing to talk about except that Wisconsin. That will change, absolutely, change in momentum. However, April 19th, New York, 95 delegates, Trump has a massive lead in New York.
WILLIAMS: Well, could it change the (inaudible)?
BOLLING: But all slow, of course it will but New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other northeastern states, Trump is overwhelmingly favored to walk out of there. You want to talk about the game changer we're taking the moment back. I would say Wisconsin is important, obviously, but those northeast states, that's where it is. That's where it's going to be won or lost.
WILLIAMS: Well, you know, when I think about Melissa going forward for Donald Trump right now, I think, gosh, Wisconsin, who would have think it? But you see the republican establishment, beginning with Governor Scott Walker.
FRANCIS: Right.
WILLIAMS: Then going on to Paul Ryan, and that the Speaker of the House. And then --
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: And then you just go on, you see the local congressman -- everybody.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: And of the money pouring in, stopped Trump in Wisconsin.
FRANCIS: It's true. But that could have worked for him and he spends it right, and he still has time. I mean, he's supposed to be the anti- establishment guy that could have help him bring democrats over. Remember this is an open primary. Deep down in the polls, something interesting in Wisconsin, 60 percent believe that undocumented immigrants should stay and apply for citizenship, only 15 percent of respondents said they believe they should be required to leave. I mean, maybe these folks don't agree with him on the issues. The other thing is, I mean, he needs to get in there and really turn the conversation back to what made him great in the first place; making America great. I mean, he's got to talk again about national security, bring it back to -- I mean, one thing women really care about is keeping their families and their homes safe. And not having this tide of terror, this black cloud of terror come and haunt us here at home, even more than it already has. I mean, he needs to turn the conversation back. There is still time. That would do it.
WILLIAMS: Well, he says he's going to spend the entire weekend there, Greg. I mean, he took a break today to go see Reince Priebus at the RNC headquarters in Washington. But he really says he's going to spend the weekend there. And the question appears to me, the last time we really saw him loose to my mind -- Iowa.
FRANCIS: Right.
WILLIAMS: And the big difference in Iowa was that you saw Ted Cruz having tremendous ground operation. Apparently, he has the same thing in place in Wisconsin. What do you think?
GUTFELD: I think with Wisconsin is, probably, the most important contest, obviously.
WILLIAMS: Yeah.
GUTFELD: . of since this thing started. That's all I have, which is unfair.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: It's unfair. We talked about this convention -- contested convention being unfair. But Trump benefited at the beginning with so many candidates, remember?
BILA: Yeah.
GUTFELD: He stood out, because there were 17 candidates and they were all kind of the same, and that helped him. But now, that number has come out to hurt him because now he has to deal with the fact that he might not get a majority, because there were too many candidates from the start.
WILLIAMS: All right. So let me --
GUTFELD: So there are two sides to that point.
WILLIAMS: I have a second question for you.
GUTFELD: Sure.
WILLIAMS: I noticed that in Wisconsin, conservative talk show hosts are opposed to Trump. And I'm thinking why? Is this the first time that, you know, Charlie Sykes is the guy in Milwaukee. I'm just thinking, is this the first time we've seen the talk -- the right-wing talk radio say no to Trump.
GUTFELD: I think there are two things. Maybe they're returning to the question. Who has the best chance of beating Hillary? They might be thinking about that. And also, maybe they're just worried about conservativism and they don't believe Trump is a conservative. That could be it.
WILLIAMS: All right, so what happens if Kasich, Jedediah, gets involved and starts taking votes away from Cruz as the alternative to Trump? Is Kasich the spoiler? Should he be getting out of here?
BILA: I -- he should be getting out, but I don't think he's going to take enough away. I think Cruz will take Wisconsin. I think no matter what Cruz does in Wisconsin, now I mean, he -- there's -- he doesn't have a shot in New York. I mean, there is absolutely no way Donald Trump will absolutely take New York.
GUTFELD: The New York values.
BILA: The New York values comment --
(LAUGHTER)
BILA: But if you talk to people in New York, honestly that --
FRANCIS: They have New York values.
GUTFELD: Yes.
BILA: Ted Cruz is not the type of guy.
WILLIAMS: You are dying to say something?
BOLLING: No, I'm just thinking about -- as I'm thinking about this morning like -- so, if Kasich can't, there is no path to a legitimate majority. He is in there, clearly, for a contested convention. Now the GOP establishment has decided they love Ted Cruz right now. They don't love Ted Cruz. They're going for the contested convention as well. They'll drop him like a cheap - -
WILLIAMS: I have a quick question.
GUTFELD: It's an arranged marriage.
FRANCIS: Yeah.
BOLLING: It's an arranged marriage.
WILLIAMS: I have a quick --
BOLLING: But wait, here's my thought, (inaudible). So Kasich is now here. Why didn't Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio stay in the race? There is probably going to be enough anti-Trump money to keep him in. And not one of those guys could have been at the convention.
WILLIAMS: OK, quickly. I can't run this piece of tape because it's just out of time. But I know that tonight on the "O'Reilly Factor."
BOLLING: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: . you're talking to Trump about his visit with Reince Priebus.
BOLLING: I've caught --
WILLIAMS: Oh, you said -- I said we can run it. Go ahead and run it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It was a very good meeting. We met with Reince Priebus and the staff and they are very good people. Very, actually, terrific meeting I think. And it is really a unity meeting. You know we're leading by a lot. We have far and away the most delegates.
BOLLING: Who called the meeting Donald? Did you or did they call it?
TRUMP: I think it was probably mutually called that we've been talking and we've dealing a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: So I didn't let him stop right there. I asked him again. I wanted to know. Did you him? Did they call you?
WILLIAMS: You're very suspicious of this.
BOLLING: Well, I am. Because I literally got a call -- from people, high level people at the RNC, twice yesterday, before "O'Reilly" and after " O'Reilly" and they want to talk about this rule. This -- whether they can change the rule, because I found some wild stuffs.
WILLIAMS: Because you've been saying you're afraid they are going to change the rules on Trump.
BOLLING: Well, but you know --
WILLIAMS: You got to hurry up, because they want to us get out.
BOLLING: Go for it. I just caught him as he was coming out that RNC meeting, and his tenor and demeanor was very telling. You got to check it out.
WILLIAMS: But telling in a good way or a bad way?
BILA: You have to tune in.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: He doesn't want to tell everyone. What is that?
GUTFELD: A tease, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Anyway, watch. Watch Eric tonight.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Ahead. Would a President Trump let American smoke weed? I don't know. We'll have to ask Eric. But anyway, find out, the "Fastest 7" is next.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLLING: Welcome back, time for -- the fastest seven minutes on television. Three political stories, seven perky minutes, one kind of (inaudible) host. First up, Donald Trump says he's never done drugs, so how does he feel about making pot legal in America?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that as far as drug legalization today, we talk about marijuana, and in terms of medical, I think I am basically for that. I've heard some wonderful things in terms of medical. I'm watching Colorado very carefully; see what's happening out there. I'm getting some very negative reports, some getting some OK reports, but I'm getting some very negative reports coming out of Colorado as to what's happening. So we'll see what happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: What do you say?
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: I don't know. After this campaign, we're all going to need to get high.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: And we can get high together. We're going to the mountains. I'll buy a -- I don't know. I don't know what to buy. But you know what? The problem with pot, I'm for -- obviously, I'm for legalization. Medical marijuana to me is irrelevant. I think that you don't need that to legalize it. The problem is with pot is not if, but when. You have to achieve something in life before you smoke. It is like a Martini, a Martini after a hard day's work. If you start smoking pot before you get a job or before you find a career, you will never get a job, you will never find a career.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLLING: What say you Melissa? You have some kids and --
FRANCIS: Yeah. I was not sure where Trump actually stood on that. He said he has heard some wonderful things.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
FRANCIS: He has heard some very negative things. He has heard some OK things. So it -- that was it. He covered all the phases. I don't know what he thinks about it.
BOLLING: Juan, what do you think about it?
WILLIAMS: Well -- I lost my train of thought. What are we talking about? Oh, oh, OK, yeah, yeah.
BOLLING: Oh, all right, I got you --
WILLIAMS: I just wondered, I mean, because it was incredible. Again, you never know what he -- where he truly believes and where he truly stands because he's all over the map. But I will say that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are pretty clear. Hillary is saying this is not necessarily for legalization, but she's pretty close on medical marijuana and Bernie is were --
FRANCIS: Good judge. Good Judge.
BOLLING: last though on this topic?
BILA: I'm a libertarian, so I support it, although I'm not a drug girl. I'm paranoid and hungry enough as it is, but I love him. I love that he -- one thing I have to say, I love watching him because he is figuring out how he feels about everything while he's running for president.
BOLLING: All right.
BILA: And not many people have the guts to do that, I'm sure.
BOLLING: Next up. We all know there is not much love between Trump and Ted Cruz anymore, but Cruz goes too far when joking with Kimmel, last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Donald Trump. Is he the person you dislike most of anyone in America?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, no.
KIMMEL: Who do you like better? Obama or Trump?
CRUZ: Look, I dislike Obama's policies more.
KIMMEL: I see.
CRUZ: But Donald -- Donald is a unique individual. I will say I was watching the early part of the show. And if I were in my car and getting ready to reverse and saw Donald in the back-up camera, I'm not confident which pedal I'd push.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: All right.
FRANCIS: I give a hat tip to his comedy writers. I thought that was very funny. Somebody had to have written that for him. That was a great line. It was hysterical. We laughed. I didn't know he had that kind of funny inside of him.
BOLLING: Funny?
WILLIAMS: Well, it was kind of dark funny, but it's funny.
FRANCIS: So?
WILLIAMS: Melissa, do you think it's funny because politicians would never say, "I'd run that son of a gun over"?
FRANCIS: That would also be funny in my book.
WILLIAMS: There you go.
FRANCIS: I'm, like, you know, a smart aleck.
BILA: I like it. And I think with Cruz, his issue is likability. That's what he struggles with. So to see him do this and deliver it well and have an audience laugh. Good for him. Everyone needs to just stop stressing out and getting offended by everything.
GUTFELD: I think he should walk back going in reverse. I don't know if that's possible.
I think, you know, actually we're seeing something, and part of it is a product of Trump, that Republicans finally are learning to adapt to talk shows. It used to be, you'd watch a talk show and you'd see a Republican, and you'd just be cringing in advance on how stiff they would be.
FRANCIS: I still do that.
GUTFELD: Yes. I'd say half the nominees this year could handle themselves. Christie was funny. And by the way, Cruz -- Cruz had great timing there, which I never thought he would have. And that surprised me. And Trump is a natural entertainer. So this is -- it's a sea change among the Republican Party, and it's a positive thing.
BOLLING: All right. I've got to set this one up. I'm going to set this up. This morning I got in around 7:30, quarter to 8, and who's in the hallway but John Kasich? I say, "Kasich, what's going on with this pizza in New York, pizza using a fork?"
He goes, "Bolling, whatever you do, do not talk about this today." So, a lot of New Yorkers, when people saw him eating pizza with utensils yesterday." Today he attempted to explain himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First of all, I didn't use a knife. OK? Secondly the fork -- let me tell you, I get a piece of pizza. It's that big. It's scalding hot. I am trying to be responsible. Now you know what my wife says?
BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS: Responsible.
KASICH: You know what my wife said? She said, "About time you learned how to use a utensil properly."
HEMMER: She's a smart woman. You're from Ohio. So am I. But we -- it's OK to eat it with your hands. You're in New York.
KASICH: I had one little piece. I didn't use it.
HEMMER: Pepperoni or not.
KASICH: You know what it is? It's the tabloid press. They're out to get me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: Sorry about that, Governor. You have to know, if you say, "Don't do that" to Bolling, I'm going to do it -- Juan.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Didn't Palin get in trouble for this?
BOLLING: No, I think it was how -- whether she folded it. Or remember...
WILLIAMS: Yes. At some point, look, I grew up here. I know how to eat pizza. But I just think leave him alone. It's funny, though. I get that.
FRANCIS: He's a nerdy, dorky guy. This fits perfectly with his image. I mean, look in there, the way he's doing it and the way he explained it. He's charming when he was trying to explain it, and his wife says, "You can finally use a knife and fork?" You know?
BOLLING: Greg.
GUTFELD: I think after seeing this, he needs to drop out. We cannot have this man's finger on the button. He'll just put a fork in it.
BOLLING: Stick a fork in it.
BILA: You've got Sicily and Naples in the house here. I need a man who can get dirty with some pizza. You've got to fold it. I've got to see grease dripping all over your face.
WILLIAMS: Oh!
BILA: We Italians like it dirty. You know, that's it. Fork and knife, for Pete's sake.
BOLLING: On that note...
BILA: Wow.
BOLLING: ... as the investigation of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server winds down, Clinton is starting to get very nervous about the outcome. Guess who's here? Ed Henry...
GUTFELD: Boo!
BOLLING: ... with his take, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FRANCIS: The FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server may be coming to a close soon. The agency has reportedly finished examining Clinton's messages and has now moved on to the interview phase.
A huge cloud still hanging over the Democratic front-runner's campaign, of course. More now with Election Ed Henry, who is here with us live in studio.
I read that the agents involved are going to be given polygraphs so that they don't leak? That's disappointing. I love leaks.
ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we all do. But they've kept most of this under wraps, to your point. And I think -- the Clinton campaign told me a short time ago -- I was on the phone. One of her advisors said, "We want to do an interview with the FBI. We want to get this behind us." And I...
FRANCIS: Do you believe that?
HENRY: I believe they want to get it behind them. I'm not sure they necessarily want to sit down with the FBI, because part of this whole deal with the investigation is they're -- they've gone through the server; they've gone through the e-mails. But a lot of times, people end up getting in trouble for misleading law enforcement officials intentionally or even accidentally by something you say in a deposition. So most people don't want to do those things.
But I think the bottom line is that the campaign -- campaigns like to have knowns. They want to know, OK, how many money have we got in the bank? What are the poll numbers? What are the metrics? This is a big cloud, as you say, hanging over. That's the great unknown of this campaign. What's going to happen?
FRANCIS: Yes. They -- as you know, you can go to jail for lying to the government, lying to the FBI. So anyone who has to go in and testify, I mean, this is a big deal, whether they just respond to the FBI.
HENRY: Sure.
FRANCIS: Or any other agency.
HENRY: Because it's not just...
FRANCIS: Ask Martha Stewart.
HENRY: Not just a potential interview.
GUTFELD: Cheater.
FRANCIS: She might talk to you.
HENRY: Juan has got her number.
WILLIAMS: Yes. Oh, yes.
BOLLING: Interesting back story.
HENRY: So...
FRANCIS: What has happened here?
HENRY: It's not just the potential interview of Hillary Clinton. It's also some of her top aides.
FRANCIS: Right.
HENRY: That could lead to trouble, or not.
And the other important point, I think, is think about how many investigations start with one thing, e-mail, and lead to what's going on at the Clinton Foundation or something else. I'm not saying it will lead there. But it's happened with the FBI before.
BOLLING: Can I just follow up on that? So that might be the reason for 147 agents on the case?
HENRY: Well, first of all, the FBI has said that's not true. And it is dozens of agents, so it's a lot, maybe 30, 40. Still significant.
FRANCIS: Still a lot.
HENRY: I don't think anybody at this table wants 30 or 40 FBI agents...
BOLLING: Combing through everything.
HENRY: ... combing through anything. But the bottom line is, it's not -- it's been exaggerated, I guess, would be the point, No. 1.
And No. 2, yes, to your point. If 30 or 40 agents are going through this, it suggests it's very serious. And the question about James Comey, whether he's going to do the interview of Hillary Clinton or not. This is somebody who's known as a straight shooter, who took on the Bush administration. So he has credibility. And I think if he wants to move forward with the criminal referral (ph) or not, he's going to be scrutinized so much that he's going to want his fingerprints on this, get it right.
BOLLING: Give us a scale of one to ten. How concerned is Hillary Clinton right now about this?
HENRY: It's hard to answer.
GUTFELD: Answer it!
HENRY: Wow. Come into a courtroom right now.
I think, ultimately, they're trying to give us this great, you know, poker face that they're not worried, and you always have to be skeptical, because again, two points. At the end of the day, the Clinton folks believe that she will be exonerated. They could be wrong, but they believe that.
On the other hand, the reason why I'm saying that I believe they're more worried than they're letting on is 30 or 40 agents are not just sitting around saying, "Let's move some papers around." Any time the FBI is investigating, it can lead somewhere you're not expecting. So they are more scared than they're letting on, but they insist to us that they think they're going to pass (ph) this.
BILA: Let me ask you about the trust honesty...
HENRY: Did he...
BILA: Yes, he did.
GUTFELD: I wasn't listening.
BILA: The trust...
BOLLING: We were looking for a label on your pen.
GUTFELD: Yes. How hard could that be?
BOLLING: From one to 10.
GUTFELD: Just pick a number, Ed.
BILA: Oh, man.
FRANCIS: Jedediah, you had a legitimate question.
BILA: I want to ask you about the trust honesty factor, because when you initially...
BOLLING: Greg, or...?
BILA: Well, Greg, we know the answer to already. But for Hillary, they're very similar in some ways. But when you initially looked at the polling on this issue, you saw that people, particularly women, groups that she really needs looked at her and said, "We don't trust her. She's dishonest." That's what came up.
So has that changed at all in terms of how people are being polled, and is that what they look at, is that what concerns them? Not necessarily that criminal charges will be filed. But that people will just distrust her and won't head out to the polls to support her?
HENRY: I think you make a great point, because they are still worried about those polls. And I think that James Comey can do something short of a criminal referral that could still be very damaging.
This straight shooter who took on the Bush administration then could come forward, take on the Democratic front-runner and say gross negligence here, sloppy handling of classified information, and issue a very damning report but stop short of an indictment. Sure, they'll be relieved, but when you've got that scar, that stain of this revered figure saying, "You made some real mistakes." It doesn't reach the bar of an indictment, because it's a high bar. But that, on the honesty and trust, that could be very damaging.
WILLIAMS: Two quick questions for you. One is, what is the bar? Is the bar different for a presidential candidate...
HENRY: There's one right across...
WILLIAMS: Greg, can you scream again, "Answer!"
GUTFELD: I can only go to low bars.
WILLIAMS: Come on. No, no, no.
HENRY: What kind of question is that? I'm kidding.
WILLIAMS: Is there a different standard for a presidential candidate?
HENRY: There shouldn't be. And that's the point.
WILLIAMS: There is. Everybody says it.
HENRY: Everyone expects that there is, because you know, you think well- connected politicians in both parties live under different standards. But I think this is something we've been addressing in this campaign about people being frustrated with what's going on in Washington and the rest of the party. When David Petraeus faces charges, when other people faces -- face charges, they wonder why is there a different standard?
WILLIAMS: And finally, I think a lot of people think, you know, she was just trying to avoid, evade Freedom of Information Act type requests coming from reporters. So a lot of reporters in Washington have been hostile to Hillary Clinton on this point. But recently, I've seen Ron Fournier of National Journal, who was very critical suddenly say odds, "You know, are, nothing is going to happen."
HENRY: Look, I don't know if that's why she set up this server, but if -- and I'm underlining the word "if" -- laws were broken here, it's not a justification that "I didn't want to deal with freedom of information."
WILLIAMS: Absolutely.
HENRY: Especially when she was serving as secretary of state to President Obama, who said this is the most transparent administration.
GUTFELD: Ed, I've got a question.
HENRY: Ed has done a question (ph).
GUTFELD: No, I heard that if she goes to prison while president, Bill offered to do her sentence for her, as long as it's in a women's penitentiary.
HENRY: Is that right?
GUTFELD: Is that true?
HENRY: On a scale of 1-10.
GUTFELD: On a scale of 1-10, 37.
HENRY: Zero, zero. All right, yes.
GUTFELD: I love you, Ed.
FRANCIS: I think I'll pull the plug on this right here. Thank you, Ed.
GUTFELD: Two first (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
FRANCIS: Thank you.
All right. So is this the world's worst airline passengers? Look at this picture. What would you do if you were sitting behind this ponytailed intruder? I'm going to ask my co-hosts, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC: "TWO OF HEARTS" BY STACEY Q.)
BILA: Love that song.
OK. Sometimes people can be completely oblivious that others exist in this world besides them. Greg.
Example, this woman on a flight from Houston to Boston earlier this week. As you can see, she hung her ponytail over the TV screen of the passenger sitting behind her. "Boston Globe" columnist Dante Ramos was also sitting behind her and took a picture and tweeted it out writing, "Congrats to the ponytailed young woman in seat 22 B. You've invented a whole new way to be awful at 35,000 feet."
The image quickly went viral. Lots of folks tweeting suggestions about what to do with that pigtail [SIC], like "tie it up in your tray table," "cut it off," "dip it in your drink" or "a small piece of gum properly placed ought to do the trick."
Gregory, what would you do? Say this woman is in front of you, her ponytail in disarray, blocking your movie or whatever is in front of you. What do you do?
GUTFELD: I'm the worst person to ask, because I have a ponytail fetish. So...
BOLLING: He's so, like, the guys...
GUTFELD: I'd be fine with it. I'd be staring at it. I'd probably just pet it, pet it lightly...
BILA: You know.
GUTFELD; ... and smell it.
BILA: Really?
GUTFELD: Yes. I collect ponytails. I have -- in my basement, I have about 5,000 ponytails.
BILA: You know, my instinct said not to start with you.
GUTFELD: You should know better.
BILA: But I went there any way. I was going to Eric next, but I'm not going to go there. Melissa, help me out here.
FRANCIS: I am so horrified. I had no idea about this whole ponytail thing. I may be rethinking hairstyles from here on out.
I would get one of my kids to yank on it really hard. And then when she turned around, I'd be like, "Stop that. Why did you do that?" And I would pretend like I didn't...
GUTFELD: Use your kid as a violent instrument.
FRANCIS: Yes.
GUTFELD: I like that.
FRANCIS: Yes, that's exactly what I would do.
GUTFELD: I might think about having kids now.
BILA: I feel like a guy, a single guy seated behind her would somehow find a way to make this a pick-up line.
FRANCIS: Without question. Please.
BILA: This is like handing him an opportunity. Eric, no?
BOLLING: I'm a married guy.
BILA: No, but...
FRANCIS: Well done.
BILA: A single guy, he'd see the ponytail.
BOLLING: It would be a great seat to have when I was single.
BILA: Right?
GUTFELD: How do we know it was a woman?
BOLLING: That's a good point. That could be embarrassing.
That would be really bad.
GUTFELD: It could be Fabio.
BILA: Or it could be you with your ponytail extension.
BOLLING: Excuse me, would you like to have a cocktail later? And then he turns around: "Absolutely."
GUTFELD: And then your life changes. Who knew?
WILLIAMS: Wait a minute, wait a minute. But I thought you had a campaign going against man buns.
GUTFELD: I hate man buns.
WILLIAMS: But you like ponytails.
GUTFELD: Ponytails are sexy. Man buns are disgusting.
WILLIAMS: A guy with a ponytail?
GUTFELD: No, girls with ponytails.
WILLIAMS: I don't know.
GUTFELD: Get your act together, Juan.
WILLIAMS: All right, all right.
But I must tell you guys, I think I travel more than anybody in the USA, right? I'm on planes all the time. This would gross me out. I don't have reaction my colleagues have.
And the second thing is people with bare feet.
GUTFELD: Oh, that's sensible (ph).
WILLIAMS: I don't like that. And then what about...
BILA: That's unacceptable.
WILLIAMS: But how about people -- this is so common in America now. People just get in, and it could be the largest person on earth. You know? Jabba the Hutt. And they put their seat back. And their hands are -- it's like, please. I'm trying to sit here.
GUTFELD: Are you behind them? The seat back is your right. You paid for that. You paid for that.
WILLIAMS: You know what? Now you can get this device to stick in there and stop these people, because it's rude. Seats are tight any way.
GUTFELD: Yes, but you paid for that.
WILLIAMS: No, you don't.
GUTFELD: You paid for the seat. You don't to have pay to sit in my lap.
BOLLING: Take it up with the airline.
WILLIAMS: Take it up with the airline?
FRANCIS: My goodness.
WILLIAMS: Don't you think you should be considerate (ph) of each other?
BOLLING: It's there. You're playing by the rules. Right?
GUTFELD: You can move -- you can move back yourself, too.
WILLIAMS: I don't want to sit back. The other thing is people come with these big suitcases, and they want to jam it up there and it falls on your head.
GUTFELD: I agree.
WILLIAMS: Where do these tourists come from?
FRANCIS: ... for like, food. How about the people who bring the really smelly food on the plane? And they're eating it.
GUTFELD: I can't get the suitcase up in the thing. I have to get somebody to help me.
WILLIAMS: How about when you're sitting next on Jedediah, right? You're sitting next to Jedediah, and put -- you say, Jedediah, there's one armrest here. Why do you have to take the whole thing?
BILA: Do you say that?
FRANCIS: A lot of complainers here.
BILA: I've got to go, because they'll just go all day. "One More Thing" is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: "One More Thing." And yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Greg's Sports Corner
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: As usual, this isn't about sports. This is about the happiest creature you will ever see in your life. Let's to go spring training out in the field there. Check this guy out.
BILA: Aw.
GUTFELD: Look at the face on this dog. This dog, OK. There might be something weird about a guy putting a little dog in a carrier. Maybe it's a therapy dog. But look how happy that dog is. And he's got the best seat in the house.
BOLLING: And he loves baseball.
GUTFELD: And it's only a problem if he happens to pee on the person in front. OK.
Juan, I think it's you.
WILLIAMS: You think it's me? OK. Well, look, oh, happy day. Look what came in the mail today. Finally, this book I've been working on forever. I got copies of it, and I brought some for you.
GUTFELD: What's the name of it?
WILLIAMS: You're so helpful, thanks. Greg is helping. So the name of the book is "We, the People."
FRANCIS: Wow.
WILLIAMS: "The Modern-Day Figures Who Reshaped and Affirmed the Founding Fathers' Vision of America." It's getting great reviews. The Library Journal -- Library of Congress Journal said it was important. I got...
FRANCIS: Important?
WILLIAMS: Tuesday -- Tuesday is the day you can buy it on sale. Go to Amazon book stores nationwide.
BOLLING: Where is Obama's picture on there?
WILLIAMS: Oh, no...
GUTFELD: I'm not in the index.
WILLIAMS: You are. I'm telling you. Here you can see on the cover. Billy Graham, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall. Bill O'Reilly even said a compelling book. Walter Isaacson, George Will, everybody's pumping it. Thank you, guys.
GUTFELD: Juan, I've got to move on. At least it didn't have the word "killing" in it. Jedediah.
BILA: I finally found a woman who takes pizza more seriously than I do, if you would believe it. A Hartford woman actually called 911 to report a problem with her pizza. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ordered a small pizza, half cheese and half bacon. And they give, and they bring me half hamburger. So I called them back, and they don't want to give my money back. They keep hanging up on me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. That's not a police matter, ma'am. You'll have to work that out with the pizza shop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILA: If I don't get my pepperoni...
GUTFELD: I hear you.
BILA: All right?
GUTFELD: That's a police matter in my house.
Eric.
BOLLING: OK. Very quickly, O'Reilly, tonight we talked about it a little bit earlier. This was great. Right after Donald Trump met with the RNC, he came and we did an interview. And it's a wide-ranging interview. You find out what they were talking about.
But also, we talked about his abortion comments, the controversial comments on abortion. And also, he made some controversial comments on nuclear arms and how he would use them. We go through all that.
And before you go apoplectic, never Trump people, we offered Ted Cruz and John Kasich an opportunity to come on, as well. They were unavailable. They sent surrogates, and they rebutted a lot of the stuff that Trump talked about.
FRANCIS: All right. We'll watch it, without question. Did you know the Hamburglar is alive and well? In Michigan, this guy was driving to Burger King, frozen patties. He got there; he parked outside. They couldn't open up yet. He fell asleep. They went inside, and they stole 33 cases of hamburgers.
The Hamburglar, alive and well. I think I know who it is, though.
GUTFELD: Who?
FRANCIS: I think we have a picture. I do love hamburgers. So it possibly could have been me, although they say now they'll never solve this crime, because they ate the evidence.
WILLIAMS: That's a very cute Hamburglar.
GUTFELD: Set your DVR so you never miss an episode of "The Five." That's it for us. "Special Report" is up next.
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