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Published March 20, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," February 17, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone, I am Dana Perino along with Gillian Turner, Juan Williams, Eric Bolling, and Greg Gutfeld. It is 5 o'clock in New York City. And this is "The Five."
Just four weeks after being sworn in, President Trump is tackling a very ambitious legislative agenda and trying to deliver on his campaign promises. At his press conference yesterday, Mr. Trump outlined some of his items that the administration is checking off its list. Let's see what it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Let me list you some of the things we have done in a short period of time. I just got here. I got here with no cabinet. We have withdrawn from the job-killing disaster known as Trans- Pacific Partnership. We have directed the elimination of regulations that undermine manufacturing. We have stood up for the men and women of law enforcement, directing federal agencies to ensure they are protected from crimes of violence. We have ordered the department of homeland security and justice to coordinate on a plan to destroy criminal cartels coming into the United States with drugs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: It appears the president has a key ally in congress who supports his legislative goals. Here is Speaker Paul Ryan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PAUL RYAN, R-WIS., HOUSE SPEAKER: What I did during the transition with my counterpart, Mitch McConnell, is we put together a 200-day plan for the president to get this agenda that we have all agreed on through the system. And we are exactly on track and on our timeline with that agenda. Getting congress to act in all of those things with you just said, in just one year's time, unprecedented. We do these things. This will be the most productive presidency and congress in our lifetimes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Meanwhile, senate majority leader Mitch McConnell says GOP lawmakers will move forward with key items on the president's agenda even without bipartisan support.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It is clear that in the early months, it is going to be Republicans-only exercise. We don't expect any Democratic cooperation on the replacement of ObamaCare and we don't expect any Democratic cooperation on tax reform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Well, I almost read the tease there, as if the block was already over. But it is not.
(CROSSTALK)
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: I am Mitch McConnell.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: So, Eric, four weeks can feel like four months be so much has happened. Needless to say, long days, short weeks.
GUTFELD: You used to say that.
PERINO: I used to say that. Now, I don't say that as much anymore, because my days are not as long.
GUTFELD: Yeah. Thanks for that.
PERINO: Well done. Greg Gutfeld is seriously the brother I never wanted.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: OK. There is a 200-day agenda. They started to lay it out. I think one of the things like the people, maybe in the media, they have looked at the progress so far and say, there are no 1000-page bills that are expanding the roles and the size of government. Therefore, they are not doing anything, which would not be the case.
ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: So four weeks and five hours into a presidency, we have a media that is focusing on this little event or the constant back and forth he has with the media. But when you peel that away, look at what else is going on. He talks about the regulations that rolled back, which he did. But we also have tens of thousands of jobs that are committed to stay here, we have billions, tens of billions, if not hundreds of billions of dollars committed in the investments coming here. Stock market is up 10 percent since he has been elected. Consumer confidence at six-year highs, the jobs number, the first one under President Trump was -- it blew away expectations on the number jobs created. There are two things he does well. Number one is he gets out in front of the people the way he did today. And probably will do again tomorrow afternoon, I hear. And also, he loves to make deals. And he talked quite extensively about his Boeing deal today, like he is going to save money with Boeing and he is going to save money with Lockheed Martin as well. And I tell you, when he boarded that plane, you could tell, he was just in his own. He likes that as well.
PERINO: I think it is good to get out of Washington, D.C., once and a while, Gillian, like get out of those four walls and hit the road and the press goes with you no matter what.
GILLIAN TURNER, GUEST CO-HOST: And once you get over like your blood pressure dropping, and you get over the headache like I just did this afternoon after coming from D.C., it is great. I love being outside of the town. But what I was going to say is I think the president also just needs to be a little bit careful when he talks about his accomplishments like he did earlier today. He talks about things. What he does is talk about directives that he has given to the federal government. And I would caution that, you know, ordering people to do something is not the same as accomplishing something. For example, ordering the department of defense to present him with a plan to defeat ISIS, it is absolutely not the same thing as defeating ISIS. So there is a gap. I think the president gets an A+ ambition and for his intentions, to go forward with these big reforms, but you definitely can't declare victory yet on a lot of these things. There is a long haul ahead, a lot of the initiatives he has got in mind, he's going to have to work with on the congress to get through. So I would temper the rhetoric a little bit to start laying realistic expectations for his supporters.
PERINO: Well, I think it is interesting. I was thinking about how -- so he has a press conference yesterday, everybody is still talking about it, which is basically providing cover...
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: ... for the Republicans to go and do all of the little detail work.
GUTFELD: Yeah. He creates his own distractions. I call him == he is the pen and teller presidency. The best kind of illusionist is where you do something with your left hand so somebody is looking at your left hand and then your right hand is doing a bunch of other stuff. Right now, what did his right hand just do? He just got Scott Pruitt confirmed. Probably the leading critic of the EPA is heading the EPA. That is like appointing Michael Moore in charge of pie.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLLING: No better analogy over this. You remember the old snowball trick? Where you throw one snowball really high, and while the other guy is looking at it, you pelt him straight ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I would never do that, Eric.
BOLLING: Everybody is watching the move. This whole fight he has with the media and he is creating things, getting promises, getting people through...
GUTFELD: It is a blessing and a curse because you see, in one way, you get Scott Pruitt through. But in another way, people don't know. The story about Flynn, the fact that intelligence says that they listened to the phone calls, there was nothing in there that would be wrong. Nobody is talking about that because we're too busy talking about other stuff. It was brought up here, but we should have led with that. But we didn't.
PERINO: Well, meanwhile, Speaker Bannon and Mitch McConnell are like scurrying off into their corner offices and furiously drafting...
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Repeal and replace ObamaCare legislation, tax reform. So they're lining it all up. So, Juan, the other thing that Mitch McConnell said today is that once the fever breaks for the Democrats, he thinks they're going to want to come to the table. Do you see that?
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Not yet.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Mitch McConnell also said that he thinks this is going to be a Republicans-only deal, that the Democrats are basically following the Republican script of obstruction. So he is not counting on Democrats coming to play ball with them. But to me, I mean, even when you look at what is going on, I am reminded that yesterday the president said his administration is a well-oiled machine, right? Like a precision Ferrari just roaring down the road. To me, it strikes me as, wow, well, that is an alternative reality, alternative fact. I think from the media point of view, just yesterday, you know, he gets turned down by the guy he wants to replace General Flynn as national security advisor.
PERINO: We will have a whole segment about that.
WILLIAMS: Right. You think about it, conservatives have even complained about the fact that tax reform, tax reform that had been promised, that is...
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: But, Eric, what you are saying to that point is that Speaker Ryan was pretty specific saying at the retreat they had in Philadelphia, I think it was the last week in January, they said, OK, Mr. President, here is a 200-day plan. And they say -- the speaker's office says that they are meeting all of those benchmarks. First, the president said he wanted to tackle regulations. That has been done both from an administrative level and on the Hill. The next is going to be ObamaCare. You saw some details come a lot about that day. Of course, there is going to be inviting on that. And the third one will be tax reform.
BOLLING: Yeah. And Speaker Ryan said that is the way it has to be. You have to pick and choose, if you want ObamaCare first or tax reform. You can't tackle them both at the same time. And I think Donald Trump base promised ObamaCare repeal end replace, so they will probably take that on. But for me, I'm looking at the stock market and all of these really good economic numbers a minute ago. Those are based on tax reform happening. Not happening in 18...
PERINO: Happening now.
BOLLING: Once they get through that ObamaCare repeal, and whatever they come up with to replace, they immediately write into tax reform, both on the corporate level, the repatriation level, and also on the individual level.
WILLIAMS: I think that is why there is a problem. This week, there was so much focus on having to do with Flynn and the Russians and pressure from congress now. And I specifically want to call attention to Republicans in congress, thinking the senate in particular, for saying that we have got to dig into this. We're not going to form a select committee. We're not going to get the new attorney general to recues himself. But gosh, we are going to look at it, because I think they see that their numbers, and whether they are able to keep the senate majority in 18 is separate from what happens to Trump. And they don't want to get way down if Trump and the Russia scandal start grows.
PERINO: There is one last thing I want to talk about before we leave, Greg, and that is that...
GUTFELD: The haircut?
BOLLING: Very nice.
(LAUGHTER)
PERINO: I did get a haircut today.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: There are hundreds of possibilities for district and circuit court judges that you could start naming pretty quickly, too.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Which will probably shore up to the Republican base.
GUTFELD: I think everybody has got to relax. What is the rush? A 200-day plan? I don't have a two-day plan. I don't know what I'm doing after this show. I might walk home, I don't know. But 200 days, everybody is panicking, and it is, what, to 26? The magic word is turmoil. The administration is in turmoil. For most of America, politics is not personal or professional. It is just something that they tune in.
PERINO: Also, they don't do it all day long.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: You want to look at turmoil, look at Venezuela, look at Cuba, look at the beacons of progressivism. We are doing fine. You have a new different kind of person in charge, it's a little crazy, it is not as bad as people say it is, it is not as great as people say it is, it is OK.
PERINO: Everyone is more energized.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Whether you are happy or not.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Can't say there is not a lot more energy. Which is a good thing, I think.
BOLLING: And if there are any Democrats in a rush, Democratic lawmakers, you could come in next week instead of taking the week off.
TURNER: Oozing.
PERINO: They have to go back home.
TURNER: They have to go to their districts and connect with their constituents.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Just wait. When you are a senator, you are going to say, oh, I get it now, why you need to go home to your people.
BOLLING: People?
TURNER: People.
GUTFELD: People.
PERINO: Whatever, it is Friday. Coming up, the White House is shooting down a new report claiming that the administration is considering using the National Guard to round up illegal immigrants. Details on that controversy ahead on The Five.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Announcer: President Trump's press conference yesterday continued to be the topic of conversation around the office, in the gym, and the classroom, with Trump's base living the smack down he laid on the hostile media. Meanwhile, those media types weren't so happy with the press conference. The fine journalists they are, they simply reported what they saw and heard of course, right, never, never resort to hyperbole, right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, this is a president that appears to be in a bunker mentality right now, whatever that is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me come up, when you have presidents take office, many of them are empowered to get bigger. I think you have a president in that press conference that looked smaller and actually more insecure in his position.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, we have learned the length of the president's views, 28 days. President Trump called a hasty news conference and went on offense with the familiar tools that build his career, bluster, bravado, exaggeration, and a few loose facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh saw things just a bit differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO HOST: They want you to believe that they are this watchdog, and that they are holding truth to power, that they are powerful people accountable. They are not doing anything of the sort. The press has gotten to the point where they need a watchdog, and it turns out that Trump is the watchdog. Trump is the guy holding them accountable. This was one of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: All right. Dana, first thoughts, trying to give him a pass because he's my friend, but, Scott, come on.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I don't have any friends. Screw all of them.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLLING: A bunch of sycophantic weirdos. You want to take on the left- wing mainstream media or Rush Limbaugh?
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: It's easy to make fun of the media because, I mean, he hammered them, they hammered us. The bigger point is, what were they doing for the past eight years? You have Benghazi, the DOJ, IRS, the country was on fire, they were roasting weenies. But what Trump has got to do, he can't simply castigate the media, he's got to marry the media to the Democrats because the media isn't on the ballot. We at this table, we believe that the media is all Democrats because the polls show 90 percent liberal. So he has got to make that connection repeatedly so when people go and vote, they know they are voting not just against Democrats, but against the media.
BOLLING: Let me ask you, Dana. I think you were spot on with this, what's the worst thing, rather than being called bad names, not being mentioned at all.
PERINO: But he said that in the art of the deal. I believe the quote, it is not that any price is good for us, it is something like but the only thing worse than them not talking badly about you is they're not talking about you at all. I do think it was effective in terms of changing the subject. But I also feel like as Shapiro wrote today, it is like two bubbles colliding. And so, one person's entertainment is another person's like out look at him and his self-pity blaming the media. Why doesn't get something done. And I think in his first month, because four weeks feels like four months, you expect like 25 things to have gotten done. And what we have just did in the block say there is a 200-day plan, they are working their plan. Let's wait and see what some of the results are. Going after the media might be effective for a while, it absolutely plays to your base. But you know who else played to their face? President Obama. And he ended up losing in the midterm elections. It can be effective to play to your base, but when you need to actually get bills passed, they're going to need some Democrats.
BOLLING: Juan, you were part of the left-leaning mainstream media.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: That's why I work here.
BOLLING: How is he playing this? Is he playing this right or as Dana points out, is he just setting himself up for a lot of trouble in the legislative branches?
WILLIAMS: I think you legislative branches are worried that, in fact, he has distracted them from their business. It is going to be hard to do this. You know, I think contrary to what you guys think, I think it has been a gusher over the last four weeks. I think every day so much goes on, it is hard to remember what happened earlier in the week. So all of this is going on, the question is, what of substance is going on. That is what the legislators want to know. Do we have something concrete that we can get together on, agree on, then put on the president's desk so that he is passing an agenda that will say to the voters and those midterm elections? Republicans get things done, and we are satisfying the promises that we made. Yesterday, I think it's exactly right what Greg was saying about, you know, watch my left hand not my right hand. All he was doing was distracting from the controversies, the scandals, the Flynn stuff, he is making amazing -- he won this selection by so many. He is insulting a Jewish reporter who is trying to ask in an easy question. He thinks the guy is asking him a harsh question.
GUTFELD: Can I respond to that?
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: The folks at home can't see your right hand when we're watching the show. That's what you were doing.
GUTFELD: I will respond to that. What you are talking about why much of America liked them. Yesterday was the most human performance ever of any politician. Meaning, he actually made -- how many of us have prematurely gotten angry at somebody like he did with the Jewish reporter? I have done that at least every day, especially if you live in New York, you tend to get mad at somebody that is waiting on you or a cab driver, you got mad at them first. And then you do this implicit apology of being nicer to them later or maybe you might even apologize. But this is -- this is a human act.
WILLIAMS: Yes. The other way people can see this is oh, it was stream of consciousness, that would have been better done if he was in a shrink's office, you know, just going on and telling me. He is making up stuff. I mean, oh, the leaks are real but the news stories are fakes?
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: Just for five seconds, that speech was an amazing insight, whether you like him or support him or don't into the way that President Donald Trump thinks and sees the world around them. It was like an all expense trip around the world for the entire world in 1 hour and 15 minutes. He touched on every major policy issue that is a challenge today. He touched on every hot spot around the world. He touched on all of his grievances. I mean, this was an incredible -- I hesitate to say transparency because it is not even like -- I don't know that it was conscious transparency.
GUTFELD: He is the most transparent person.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Is that reality TV?
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: I think there was an incredible amount of information to be gleaned from that speech.
WILLIAMS: So much of it was stuff that he would describe as alternate reality.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Overrated.
WILLIAMS: Oh, is that it?
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Just saying what's on your mind.
BOLLING: He won being the outsider, absolutely nothing.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: But he is still campaigning, Eric.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Where did you learn that? President Obama.
WILLIAMS: OK.
PERINO: Definitely, the permanent campaign.
WILLIAMS: He used to condemn Obama for it, remember?
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: He said that was a Queens press conference. That is what you expect from a New Yorker.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: He is still campaigning because behind the scenes, congress is up his you-know-what about the midterms already.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Watch your mouth.
BOLLING: Up next, the White House is blasting a controversial new report claiming that the National Guard may be called to help deport illegal immigrants across the country. Is this more fake news? We'll tell you that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: The Associated Press reported today that the Trump administration is considering a plan to mobilize up to 100,000 National Guard troops to round up illegal immigrants in 11 states. The White House vehemently denies the AP's report. Press secretary Sean Spicer calling it, quote, 100 percent not true. It is false, end quote. The Pentagon also says there is quote, no truth to it. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, however, still slamming the idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: There is an AP report that says that they are considering, the administration is considering 100,000 National Guard troops to round up immigrants. That is despicable. That would be one of the most un-American things that would have been in the last century. And I just hope it is not true. The fact that it might be considered is appalling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Well, this is hard to discuss, because clearly, Sean Spicer, the White House saying no true, Pentagon says not true, but, in fact, there was something written that the AP obtained that said it was being discussed. So should we interpret this, Gillian, as real or not real, fake news, what is it?
TURNER: I don't know if it is real or fake. But let's get real for a second about the policy, which is, if you are going to, on any kind of a large-scale deport illegal immigrants, which this is not a political statement that I am making, this was the platform, practically, how do you implement that? I don't see a way forward for this policy without sending in the National Guard.
(CROSSTALK)
TURNER: By which I mean, how do you deport these people?
WILLIAMS: You can use immigration and customs enforcement, border officials.
TURNER: There is not enough to go around the country door-to-door and round people up.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: My point being, if you support the policy, if you support the policy, you should support this mechanism, because there is no other practical way to achieve it.
WILLIAMS: So now we go to Mr. Sensitivity.
GUTFELD: No, you're missing the point. This is nothing new. I mean, if Trump is Hitler over these ICE rates, then Obama is Mao and Stalin combined, because he did the same thing. He is like my wife at Christmas. He sends back everything. He said troops.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: He send National Guard troops to Arizona, Texas, California, New Mexico, it is only 1,200 of them, claimed it was for logistical support. You use logistical support, so the other agents can actually do the quote rounding up.
PERINO: But it is a necessary step. That's my point. People are like want the immigrants gone, but when you start actually seeing the implementation...
WILLIAMS: Slow down, slow down, wait a minute. Dana, when you militarize a group of people and say, "You are in charge of deportation," I think it...
GUTFELD: The National Guard. They're already militarized.
WILLIAMS: The idea of a deportation force, I think, scares people a little bit. Do you understand why people might be anxious about this?
PERINO: Yes, but so when I first saw the A.P. breaking news tweet this morning, I have learned to just -- not react until -- because within four or five hours, there's going to be another story.
Now, the A.P. says that they asked for comment, that they didn't get it. Then there was a question of, oh, they made this up. Then they released the actual memo. It actually says it's from General John Kelly, who is the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. But they say it was just a draft; he actually never saw it.
Here is the bottom line, that the administration has said this is not happening.
WILLIAMS: That's the bottom line?
PERINO: So that actually now is the policy.
TURNER: Yes.
PERINO: So it doesn't really matter. And if you are worried, if you're Chuck Schumer and you're worried, you just force them to say that it's not happening. So it doesn't matter.
BOLLING: But why not allow the Democrats to do what they do best: take something, politicize it, turn it around, take the facts, throw them out, and come back with something that fits their narrative?
PERINO: But it does scare people.
BOLLING: Of course, but -- like they're doing with this.
The other thing that the general said was that most of the people that they're deporting, they're rounding up are criminals. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer both came out and said, "That's nonsense. There's no proof of that."
Well, here's a document IJR obtained that shows, in fact, 80 percent of the people who are rounded up...
WILLIAMS: Right.
BOLLING: ... they have criminal records. Eighty percent, not three quarters; 80 percent. So...
WILLIAMS: It's a little lower than what -- Obama. But here's what I'm saying...
BOLLING: Juan, if you're sending back 859 people, and 683 of those people have criminal records, who cares?
WILLIAMS: Right. But this is about something else. This is about ramping up -- it's a deportation force, militarizing them.
One last question. Next week, the immigration order rewritten?
BOLLING: Yes, they said it.
PERINO: The president said that yesterday.
WILLIAMS: OK. So here we are. Yes.
GUTFELD: Juan, one question.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
GUTFELD: Who is going to speak for the American felon? The American felon who's sitting in jail right now going, everybody is worried about the illegal alien felon being sent back, but nobody cares about the poor American felon. I think it's time we start sanctuary cities...
WILLIAMS: America first, America first, America first.
GUTFELD: Make American felons great again.
TURNER: Greg, they should take heart. Obviously.
WILLIAMS: When we come back, turmoil, chaos, that is how some are describing President Trump's National Security Council. Is the White House any closer to finding a replacement for General Mike Flynn? We'll have the inside scoop.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TURNER: New developments on who's in the running to replace President Trump, now former national security, General Mike Flynn. And this as reports say that President Trump may meet with the candidates in Florida this weekend.
Joining us with an update on the NSA short list is chief White House correspondent John Roberts from South Carolina.
Good evening, John. What can you tell us?
Gillian, good evening to you.
The president was here for a couple of hours at Boeing, and then now he's up and he's down in Mar-a-Lago, where he's going to have a bit of a working weekend, because he has to interview some candidates for his national security advisor job.
A couple of candidates that we already know about he doesn't need to interview: Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who is the acting national security advisor. The president has known him for a long time. Also another candidate, General David Petraeus, who the president has spoken with many, many times.
But here's some new names that are being added to the list. Fox News has learned that General Keith Alexander, who's the former chief of the NSA, may be interviewed this weekend. He's potentially in the running for the job, as is Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, who really has a reputation in the military as being one to buck the status quo. So that could fit in very nicely with President Trump's approach.
Also, Stephen Hadley, who was the national security advisor under President Bush 43, is being considered for the job. He's an old hand at the White House, could just walk in and do it, basically, with his eyes closed.
Now, the reason why all of this is happening this weekend is because Vice Admiral Robert Harward, who was a Navy SEAL, was the deputy commander at CentCom, said no to the job offer. He's been working with Lockheed in the private sector. He was 40 years in the military. It just wasn't really working for his family to come back into government for four years in what is probably one of the most intensive jobs anywhere on the planet. I think his wife probably convinced him: "We've got -- making a nice living here in the private sector." And you can -- I don't want to say set your own hours, but maybe work less than you would, Gillian, in the White House, so he's decided not to take the job. So it's back to square one trying to find a replacement for Mike Flynn -- Gillian.
TURNER: Wow. Thanks for that. It seems like every hour when I check back in there's another person on the list. But it's getting better and better, so it's great. Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: It's like -- it's like the weather in Florida. If you don't like it, wait 10 minutes. It will change.
TURNER: There you go. For those of us who get to be in Florida, which is not me.
One thing that I would really like to know and get clarity on about this story is, when -- when it became obvious that Harward was not going to accept the position, was this something that he had to go with to the president, meaning, did the president ask him directly if he would take this job or no? Was it Reince Priebus, the chief of staff? And I ask that because there's actually a really important difference. Dana would probably back me up on this.
If the would-be national security advisor made it to, like, the oval and had to say to the president, "I'm not sure. I'm going to think about it," that's some pretty shoddy staff work on the part of the West Wing staff.
PERINO: That's a good point. That's a good insight, right? So if the president asks you...
GUTFELD: It's over my head.
PERINO: Everything is.
GUTFELD: Oh. Dana.
WILLIAMS: Zing!
GUTFELD: I'm out of here.
PERINO: But if the president asked you directly, I think it is hard to say no. So maybe they -- maybe that was one of the reasons they didn't do that, to not put too much pressure on him if he was not sure he wanted to take the job. It allowed him a little bit of distance so he could say, "You know what? I don't want to do it."
TURNER: Yes. Hopefully he said that to Reince, not to the president. That's -- you know.
WILLIAMS: But I think the impression I have is that General Mattis was a close associate, and he was the one that was encouraging both President Trump and Vice Admiral Harward to take -- to get together. This guy is an outstanding military leader.
And, you know, so now I think anybody in the military and in a lot of these positions who wants to say, "You know, I really don't feel it, Mr. President," I think now they have really a model here of how to get out of it.
GUTFELD: I feel bad for Mattis. Because he's, like, the person that, you know, when you try to set two people up and you think it's going to be great and then it's, like, totally awkward? One of them is not -- one of them is like, "Why -- what are you talking about?"
PERINO: Why did you think I would like him?
GUTFELD: Exactly. But it's weird how all of this is playing out publicly. It really is. They should add a rose ceremony.
PERINO: That would be...
BOLLING: And of course, the left-leaning, left-wing media said immediately, "Well, he turned it down because he saw chaos in the administration."
And he came out unequivocally and said, "It's not about chaos. It's about talking to my family."
And then Reince Priebus said, "Look, I'll give the media this guy's phone number, Vice Admiral Harward, give them his cell phone if you want to call him. Call him yourself."
And sure enough, he confirmed it's all about family.
As far as the pick, call me crazy -- and I know this is going to be, like, one of those, oh, well, he had a problem with Flynn, why wouldn't you have the same problem with Petraeus, but I just would love to see that guy. I would love to see that guy. I just think he is just -- he embodies what he wanted in an NSA director.
TURNER: What about the optics of going with him?
PERINO: You mean "Lock her up"?
BOLLING: Well...
TURNER: Some of his own -- no.
PERINO: I mean, I think that he would be an amazing choice.
I also -- I also think that K.T. McFarland, as the deputy, should be considered. I don't see why not. If you -- if she's good enough to be the deputy, if you're the deputy, that means that you're able to step into the shoes if a vacancy is available.
TURNER: Absolutely. It's like the vice president. If you don't have trust that the person could do a really solid job, then they shouldn't be the No. 2.
WILLIAMS: Well, but I mean, I think part of the fear here was that Harward felt he can't bring his own team; and he may not have wanted people who were previously with Flynn. That's a -- you know, so lots of...
PERINO: That is understandable, too.
GUTFELD: I have not rejected the offer as of yet. But I don't know. They -- I don't know if I can fit the requirements.
PERINO: Do you know, like, when you start saying that, they're saying in our ear, like, we've got to go.
GUTFELD: We've got to go.
PERINO: We've got to wrap.
TURNER: Tweet us -- tweet if you think Greg should be in the running to be the next national security advisor.
GUTFELD: I have unusual hobbies.
BOLLING: You do have to be ready to go.
TURNER: Mull it over.
GUTFELD: I am ready.
TURNER: In the meantime, don't go anyway. "Facebook Friday" is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(THEME FROM "THE FLYING NUN")
GUTFELD: "The Flying Nun." "Facebook Friday," we're answering your questions. This is from Kathy. I'm going to start with you, Gillian. "If you could be one person for a day, whom" -- whom, I say! -- "would it be and why?"
TURNER: You're trying to put pressure on me.
GUTFELD: yes.
TURNER: I'm not falling for it, because it's a really easy answer.
GUTFELD: OK, who?
TURNER: Kate Middleton.
GUTFELD: Oh, wow.
PERINO: I was going to say that.
TURNER: No, were you really?
GUTFELD: Just for a day.
PERINO: It's -- she's on my mind.
TURNER: She's literally my favorite question on person on earth. And she has my job, which -- I mean, that was supposed to be me.
GUTFELD: I'm so sorry. Look at Juan is in disbelief.
WILLIAMS: Wait a second?
TURNER: What?
WILLIAMS: You wanted to be...
TURNER: Do I have a chance?
WILLIAMS: Look at what happened to Diana.
GUTFELD: Oh! All right, Juan. Way to bring it down.
All right. One person for a day, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Usain Bolt.
GUTFELD: That's a good one.
BOLLING: Good one.
WILLIAMS: I just want to have one unbelievable race. Because he's, like, flying.
GUTFELD: You always make it about race.
WILLIAMS: There you go.
BOLLING: And then he can -- at night, too, because apparently, he really has a great time at night, as well.
GUTFELD: Likes to party.
WILLIAMS: Not me. That wasn't me.
BOLLING: Not you, Usain Bolt.
Aaron Rodgers. I would love to be in the pocket and just -- who doesn't love Aaron Rodgers?
TURNER: And you would get to date Olivia Munn.
BOLLING: Oh, is he dating...?
TURNER: She's beautiful, yes.
BOLLING: That's -- that had nothing to do with it.
PERINO: She -- she reads her People.
TURNER: I'm on top of things.
GUTFELD: Yes, Us Weekly. It's time for...
TURNER:
GUTFELD: Yes. Dana.
PERINO: I can't come up with somebody. I find this really difficult.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Because it's like, well, it shows all of your insecurities. I'm trying to think of somebody tall.
GUTFELD: Anybody, then.
TURNER: He got you back. For earlier.
GUTFELD: I would say -- I'd have to say my wife. I'd like to be my wife for one day just to see what I'm like. To see what I'm like.
TURNER: That's a little bit of, like, an egomaniac.
PERINO: I think you would last two hours.
GUTFELD: What I'm saying, I would...
TURNER: I would want to know what it would be like to be married to me, myself.
GUTFELD: No, it's true. I'd go, like, boy, he smells funny. Oh, he's so rude. He eats with his mouth open.
Anyway, OK, we're going to go this way. From Bill C., Dana, "What is the best and worst innovation in your lifetime?" What you would like and what he would want to get rid of.
PERINO: OK. You know what I love? I have to say, I love Amazon. And all things that come with it. Like Seamless, all of these things that make life really easy. That was my new year's resolution...
GUTFELD: What?
PERINO: ... to embrace new technology that make your life easier.
GUTFELD: I remember that.
PERINO: Instead of being afraid of it.
GUTFELD: Yes. That was one heck of a resolution.
PERINO: Thank you.
GUTFELD: You're so brave.
Eric.
BOLLING: That's so awesome that Bill Clinton is e-mailing us with questions.
GUTFELD: Yes.
BOLLING: Best and worst innovation.
TURNER: There you go.
BOLLING: The best is smart phone, worst also. Smart phone, because you can't get off it. But I do think, going forward, self-driving cars are going to be the best innovation ever.
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Why is that?
BOLLING: I think you're going to have far fewer highway deaths. People are...
WILLIAMS: They're trying to get someplace, say, why is that guy not -- why don't we go around that guy?
PERINO: That guy won't -- but see, the driverless car won't be that guy that sits in the fast lane going slow. It won't be that guy.
GUTFELD: but automation, all of those jobs gone. Terrorists can't stop that, Eric. All right.
TURNER: Yes, but someone has got to make all the, like, computer gear that goes in the cars.
GUTFELD: No. Those are just grown at a farm.
Juan.
WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, you know, I'm a big fan of things like crushed ice and ice cream. I think those are great innovations. You know, a Coke over crushed ice is hard to beat.
GUTFELD: That's true. Cherry coke.
PERINO: It's supposed to be in your lifetime.
WILLIAMS: In your lifetime? Oh, in your lifetime!
GUTFELD: Well, it could -- let's -- he's -- Juan has been around forever.
WILLIAMS: That's true. That's true.
But if it's not in your lifetime, by the way, and if it's just conceptual, you've got to give credit to the Constitution. That's pretty unbelievable.
GUTFELD: That's true.
PERINO: Wow.
GUTFELD: I have a lousy constitution.
Gillian, what are yours?
TURNER: I don't want to come after the Constitution.
GUTFELD: Yes.
TURNER: That's kind of like a downer.
GUTFELD: It's a hard act to follow.
TURNER: Right. I don't know how to...
GUTFELD: Do the flag.
TURNER: I don't know what it's called, but you know when you take your dog for a walk in the park and you have...
PERINO: Chuck it.
TURNER: ... the thrower?
PERINO: Chuck it.
TURNER: Chuck it. For...
PERINO: It's like an extended arm.
TURNER: Right.
PERINO: And it helps you.
TURNER: For those of us who don't have a great or a far throw.
PERINO: Yes, Eric doesn't need that.
TURNER: It's like, it is the best.
GUTFELD: That is amazing.
PERINO: That means you don't have to go that far. Your dog gets all the exercise.
WILLIAMS: You know what's not so great?
GUTFELD: What?
WILLIAMS: Money machines at 3 a.m. in the morning.
GUTFELD: Yes, that's true.
I -- I choose my lifetime, although technically, these are in my lifetime in certain areas of the world. Greatest innovation to me is bathing, because it reduces disease, and I think that's a great innovation. People, before they bathed, they died.
And the worst innovation is indoor plumbing. I find that it is very strange that one would do that inside your house.
PERINO: But wait.
GUTFELD: I would like to live in a time.
PERINO: You want to bathe inside.
GUTFELD: Bathe inside and do the business outside. I don't -- if you think about indoor plumbing...
PERINO: Even in the middle of the winter?
GUTFELD: Hey, it's worth it. I don't want it in my house. Just think about it. When you're in bed, and you're in an apartment in New York, you hear the pipes around you, what's going on around you? I'm lying in bed. I hear a toilet flush, and I go, "Here it comes." I can't stand that. Anybody living in an apartment knows what I mean. It's disgusting. That your walls are filled with this stuff.
WILLIAMS: Go to sleep!
GUTFELD: I can't sleep. I can't sleep anymore, Juan!
TURNER: You're like, "I'm surrounded by poo. Everywhere."
GUTFELD: Poo everywhere.
TURNER: I never thought about it like that.
GUTFELD: Yes. Poo Corner.
"One More Thing" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: It is time now for "One More Thing" on this Friday. I'm going to go first.
So it was quite a night for college basketball fan Erin Tobin. She was attending a game in Albany last night, and she took part in a promotion during the break radio where you, you know, try to make a shot from the half-court. OK, well, look. She makes it!
So she turns around, and she sees this person in a Dunkin' Donuts outfit. Turns out that was her boyfriend, and he had planned to console her for missing the shot by proposing to her, but instead, she goes home a winner. She not only won $500 for making the shot...
GUTFELD: They have a donut.
PERINO: ... but a fiance too. So congratulations to Erin. We wish her well -- Eric.
BOLLING: Wow. Quite a surprise.
OK, so President Trump killed a couple of regulations this week, some legislation. Here is why regulations matter and it matters for jobs. They're job killers.
2009 to 2016, under President Obama, there were 3,037 new regulations costing -- get this -- $873 billion per year, costing businesses that much. So under Obama, the coal mining industry, 36,500 jobs lost. All mining included 85,600 jobs lost. And manufacturing under this period, 220,000 jobs lost, all mostly because of the uptick in regulations under President Obama.
So one more time, thanks, Obama.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
PERINO: Thanks, Obama.
WILLIAMS: Hey, nothing -- no mention of automation? No, nothing to do with it.
GUTFELD: No.
WILLIAMS: As you know, Mark Cuban, one of the president's most vociferous critics and, of course, willing to say it to Bill O'Reilly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CUBAN, BUSINESSMAN: I don't think he's been able to show any leadership. I don't think he's taken responsibility for the White House. And I don't think he's shown them any direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Well, Cuban, as you know, is a billionaire, owns the Dallas Mavericks, an NBA team. And yesterday, one of his season ticket holders took exception to Trump -- I'm sorry, to Cuban calling Trump "Pinocchio" on Twitter. The fan tweeted back to Cuban, saying he would turn in his season tickets and boycott Mavericks games.
Surprisingly, guess what? Cuban is putting his money where his mouth is. He's offering that fan a refund for the cost of his tickets.
GUTFELD: Wow.
PERINO: Well, how gentlemanly.
WILLIAMS: Indeed.
GUTFELD: All right.
PERINO: Gutfeld.
GUTFELD: So tomorrow, "The Greg Gutfeld Show" is going to be live. Live, live, live, live, live. We've got Kilmeade. We've got Pete Hegseth. We've got Tyrus. We've got Kat Timpf. It's going to be absolutely insane. Live! All right.
OK. Bad news, sad news. George "The Animal" Steele passed away at 79. If you were a kid like me that grew up in the '70s and the '80s, you knew him. He was an amazing, amazing wrestler. I think we have tape of him, if you don't know his name. His real name was William James Meyer. Believe it or not, he got his master's degree. He was a high school teacher and a wrestling coach in Michigan. But he was probably known for that, which was always destroying the turnbuckle...
PERINO: Wow.
GUTFELD: ... with his teeth. Anyway. He was...
BOLLING: And that sweater he was wearing.
GUTFELD: He was a hairy man but a great -- a great personality and a legend.
PERINO: Aw, well, rest in peace.
Gillian, your turn.
TURNER: This is for anyone who's looking for a job. None of you.
PERINO: Could be us after this.
TURNER: Sorry. I didn't mean to make pointed eye contact with you there.
So the queen of England is taking a cue from President Trump, and she's looking for a professional tweeter to help her out. This is a really big year for Queen Elizabeth. It's her 65th year as monarch. And that's -- I believe that's a record. I'm not sure.
PERINO: A record?
TURNER: I think her father came close, but -- or maybe it was her father's -- I don't know, someone else in the royal family has come close. But this is a very big deal, 65 years. They're calling it her Sapphire Jubilee.
GUTFELD: Why start now?
TURNER: And she wants to hire somebody. She's going to pay them 30,000 pounds a year. She has almost 3 million Twitter followers.
GUTFELD: So wait -- so wait. It's actually -- it's actually the citizen that is paying for her tweeter, right?
PERINO: Paying for itself.
GUTFELD: She's not paying. It's...
TURNER: Why do you have to be such a downer?
GUTFELD: Because it's not fair.
TURNER: This is really exciting. OK? I love the royal family.
GUTFELD: I know you do. Everybody in that chair.
WILLIAMS: Everybody. That chair.
TURNER: Is Kimberly really? I didn't know that.
WILLIAMS: I gave her a crown.
PERINO: That's it for us. Thank you for watching. We will see you back here on Monday. "Special Report" is up next.
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