Democrats, media have Trump meltdown
Pelosi and Schumer balk at White House meeting after mean Trump tweet; pundits cry foul over president's 'Pocahontas' comment.
This is a rush transcript from "Special Report with Bret Baier," November 28, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Juan Williams, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5 o'clock in New York City and this is "The Five."
It's only Tuesday, but President Trump, like only he can, has managed to send the media and Democrats into an absolute frenzy. We'll get to the media meltdown over the president in a second. But first, high drama in our nation's capital today as top Democrats abruptly cancel a spending meeting with President Trump over a tweet. Nancy Pelosi and crying Chuck Schumer backed out of the sit down after the president signaled he was unlikely to bend to their request. He written that. They want illegal immigrants flooding in to our country unchecked, are weak on crimes and wants a substantially raise taxes. I don't see a deal. That sets off the libs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: With his tweet this morning, President Trump made sure that today's meeting is nothing but a photo op. These issues are far too serious for these kinds of games. Mr. President, it's time to stop tweeting and start leading. As long as he remains a destructive force, it would be a waste of everyone's time to continue working with someone who clearly has no interest in coming to an agreement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Mr. Trump held a press conference at the White House without Chuck and Nancy and had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi did not show up for our meeting today. I'm not really that surprised. We have a lot of differences. They're weak on crime. They're weak on illegal immigration. They want the illegal folks to come pouring into our border and a lot of problems are being cause, although we stopped it to a large extent as much as you can without the wall which we're going to get. So they decided not to show up. They've been all talk, and they've been no action. And now it's even worse. And now it's not even talk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: The president was on the hill earlier to rally senate Republicans on tax reform. The budget committee advance the bill earlier, moving it closer to the full senate for a vote perhaps later this week. So, Juan, your team just ditches the meeting. Do you think that makes the Democrats look weak or strong?
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: I think they're very strong. Let me ask you something. I know you came to me first because you think, oh, the Democrats are on the defensive. Let me ask you a question.
WATTERS: I came to you first because I like you.
WILLIAMS: I appreciate that. But didn't the president set this off with his tweet?
WATTERS: So they were too sensitive to read a tweet and go to the meeting?
WILLIAMS: No, no. I can read a tweet, but the guy said I don't see a deal. So why come -- unless you're just come and have a picture--
WATTERS: So they don't want to deal with the Democrats?
WILLIAMS: No. They don't want to have a meeting where they are position as begging the president. Oh, Mr. President, oh, we're so sorry. Oh, Mr. President, what do you have to offer? Can we make -- that's putting yourself at a disadvantage.
WATTERS: Democrats gain the upper hand you're saying by leaving the meeting.
WILLIAMS: I think they say let's have a fair, level, playing field. Let's come into this with good intentions, good faith negotiations.
WATTERS: Do you see it that way, Dana?
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: No, I think they should have responded by saying we've got what we wanted last time, we'll see you at three, because why not go, and that they actually did. And the president was like, I'll agree with Chuck and Nancy. And the Republicans had a scurry back and try to figure out how to cobble together something that got us to this place where, now a week from Friday. The government is set to shut down. So I think that they've could responded in a different way.
WATTERS: Do you think this is just Trump's opening bid, you know, you're saying Kimberly. I don't see a deal, but eventually they're going to have to get a deal.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: Yeah. I mean, look, wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just work together cooperatively to a common good instead of a lot of the political games. I don't know. Maybe one morning I will wake up and that will happen, but not today and probably not tomorrow or for the rest of the week. Nevertheless, you know, hope springs eternal. This is part of his strategy and his tactic in the way that he communicate and tries to negotiate as a businessman, a nontraditional politician with the other side. And he's trying to push them a little bit, expose them, call them out in the hopes that some of that public pressure will bring them closer towards what he wants, ideal coming to fruition. I don't know if it's going to work because they're old-school politicians, he's old-school businessman. So it's a little bit two different worlds. It's almost like speaking, communicating, operating in different languages, but so far he's been able to get a little bit of what he wants on this, but he's up against two, you know, formidable opponents that have been around the block quite a few times.
WATTERS: Been around the swamp, Greg Gutfeld.
GUTFELD: Yeah. I don't know. From now on, let's just call them Chancy, Chuck and Nancy. Save a lot of time. You should meet with the guy. He is the president. I mean, even if -- they'll meet with anybody. I suppose if he showed up in his boxers and grabbed butts, they'd show up.
WATTERS: Oh, wow.
GUTFELD: I mean they're right behind Al Franken and John Conyers. They should actually meet with President Trump is my point. The best part about that -- Trump's press conferences was sitting there with the two empty play seats. Images are worth everything. And him sitting there and there's the empty seats is basically saying they didn't show up for work. Look, I am here to work. They didn't show up. They're out playing hooky. That's a smart move.
WATTERS: Let me go right back at you, Gutfeld, because the media totally lost it. I'm not going to say melted down because you banned that phrase.
GUTFELD: I did.
WATTERS: Over a number of things, one of those being the Pocahontas comment. How do you feel about that?
GUTFELD: Well, I think, you know what, people hate context. Pocahontas in this context is not derogatory to Native Americans. A smear is when you were derogator -- when you use a term to be derogatory and basically say they're a lesser person. This is actually the opposite. What he's basically saying, here's a metaphor, you're playing golf and your buddy slices it into the woods and you say nice shot, Tiger. What you're saying is that Tiger is a superior golfer and you're not Tiger Woods. With Pocahontas is basically saying, Liz Warren, you're no Pocahontas. You pretended to be a Native American, but you're not a Native American. These are Native Americans. You're an imposter. It would be like watching Chris Cuomo -- the media will understand, Chris Cuomo on CNN and watch him babble incoherently and you just go, good job, Cronkite. That's not an insult, that's not an insult to Cronkite. It's a gift because he's revered. The same way Pocahontas is. The media, they're being disingenuous by saying that this is a smear. It's actually the opposite of a smear because it's pointing out that she is nothing like the person. And to say that it's a smear, you're being actually really dishonest. It's a lie.
WILLIAMS: Wow. That was unbelievable. I'm going to hire you as my lawyer.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: Good idea. He's not licensed.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: That was unbelievable. Holy smokes. I mean, goodness gracious. I'm amazed you didn't just explode from the spinning. That was like a cyclotron.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I'll point out where it's false and then I'll agree with you, but there is nothing false about what I said.
WILLIAMS: You don't think that he intended to demean her with that comment?
GUTFELD: He's actually saying she's not Pocahontas, so it's not a smear.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Demeaning her is not demeaning Native Americans. It's complementing Native Americans by pointing out--
WILLIAMS: Complementing Native Americans. You're talking to Navajo code talkers, right? About a woman who claims to be a Cherokee or something, about Pocahontas who is from a wholly different tribe and you're just lumping them all in, and he intends to skewer her--
GUTFELD: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: -- I don't think -- I think you put me in the cyclotron.
PERINO: I think you pull it way back and it's not an issue of racism. It's an issue of character. And the Democrats could say you're a bad character because you did this in front of the Navajo code talkers and this was an event for them and you got hijacked by this. Or you can say it's an issue about character because in order to advance her career, when she went to Harvard, she said, oh, yeah, I'm going to check the box here, gets in, gets tenure, and doesn't do that anymore. That is an issue of character, it's not one of race.
WATTERS: Before we get to Kimberly, and we're going to have you react to - - let's hear the media panic over the Pocahontas deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Don't call it Hispanic. Not only did he say that, which is considered by many a racial slur, he was standing in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson who signed the Indian removal act that basically led to the trail of tears and basically a death march with these people. This White House is wily coyote. Every time they have a layup, they blow themselves up.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: He says the most bigoted things. He says the most ignorant things. And then, what makes it worse is in the end, he really has no clue that he's doing it.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Just because you say you're not racist doesn't make it so. Especially if you say, do, and defend racist behavior over and over and over again. Especially if you've lost your credibility by telling countless lies big and small.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: So CNN is accusing Trump of losing credibility.
GUILFOYLE: That's rich.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: What do you think? Unhappy people, Kimberly.
GUILFOYLE: Well, I don't know? I mean, they really want to push this point. It's like they feel like they've got something here with some gravitas that they can make the case to say this is a president that lacks credibility. This is the president -- but they're not. This fact does not support that premise. Nevertheless, they're sticking with it, whether it's CNN or whether it's MSNBC, MICA, etcetera. That's what they're going on. This is a president who is being disrespectful. He's being disrespectful to Native Americans, he's saying this, it's completely out of control, and trying to tie it back and so the whole full loop to say this proves in fact, therefore, that he doesn't have credibility and is disrespectful. If he did it's like circular reasoning.
WATTERS: I'm going to steal Gutfeld's analogy and say let's pretend, Juan, that I claimed I was black just to get into school. And then you made fun of me and said, oh, yeah, Jesse Jackson over here. Is Jesse Jackson a racial slur?
GUILFOYLE: I don't know about that.
WILLIAMS: No--
WATTERS: Thank you. So Pocahontas isn't a racial slur either.
WILLIAMS: I think you have to have some context.
GUILFOYLE: Only Watters--
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: It's perfect. That was a perfect analogy.
WILLIAMS: And Don Lemon made a legitimate point. I mean, this is a guy that said, oh, there're good people on both sides in Charlottesville, right? This is a guy who goes after the NFL players with some kind of bicker that makes people think what's going on here.
GUTFELD: Make them think -- they can't read his mind. He can't read his mind, Juan. He didn't say anything racist about the NFL.
WILLIAMS: No, no, no. I think he finds--
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: I think that he finds--
GUTFELD: You think not he thinks.
WILLIAMS: Well, I'm about to tell you then.
GUTFELD: OK.
WILLIAMS: OK. That he finds it just very valuable politically to attack people of color in this country, and he does so--
GUTFELD: Like Paul Ryan. What color is Paul Ryan? What color is Hillary Clinton? What color is Marco Rubio? What color -- anybody at Fox News or CNN that he attacked.
WILLIAMS: What I'm saying to you is he finds political advantage and value in making whipping boys out of people of color, and in this case--
GUTFELD: Mitch McConnell?
WILLIAMS: In this case, I think he went after her in a way that even Indians, Navajo Indians said was insensitive and they considered it a slur.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: If you pose that question, you can get any answer you want.
WATTERS: Dana, Pelosi, bring it back to the earlier discussion, just tweeted that Trump is guilty of verbal abuse by saying, I guess, crying Chuck, and you know--
PERINO: I think that they've got to figure out a way to meet him where he is.
WATTERS: In the gutter?
(LAUGHTER)
PERINO: In the Twitter gutter or whatever. I think that if you're not going to be able to match him with wit and you're just going to say, well, OK, we're not going to go to the meeting, I think it's very old-school thinking. This is one of the problems I think the Democrats have. That they are -- they've been doing things the same way for so long. And the rest of the world, for better or worse, whatever, has moved on in different ways. There are different ways of communicating. You showed the Chuck Schumer speech. He has to read the entire thing like a dramatic interpretation rather than just being able to look into the camera and say I'm not going to the meeting because you know what? What he said to me was so insulting and I'm not going to go work with you. You want to shut down the government, Mr. President, be my guest. Like that's not hard to do. You don't have to read all of that. And there's no emotion that is coming through and it looks insincere.
GUTFELD: You said Nancy and Chuck, or Chancy, can't meet him with wit. They could probably meet him halfway.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: Ahead, breaking news from a whistle-blower about Hillary Clinton's emails next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES MCCULLOUGH: There would have been harm to national security.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS: So putting lives at risk.
MCCULLOUGH: Absolutely. Sources, and methods, lives, operations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: A former watchdog for the intel community under President Obama warning about the serious consequences for our country had any of the top- secret info on Hillary Clinton's private server been exposed. In an exclusive interview with Fox's Catherine Herridge, Charles McCullough alleges he was targeted by the Clinton campaign and even some government officials for sounding the alarm about the server in January 2016. McCullough said he was told if Hillary wins the White House, he's out of a job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCULLOUGH: All of a sudden, I became a shill of the right. I was told by members of congress be careful. You're losing your credibility. There are people out to get you. I was told that we would be the first to be fired with her administration. That was definitely going to happen.
HERRIDGE: Is that how it's supposed to be?
MCCULLOUGH: No, I was, in this context, a whistle-blower. I was explaining to congress -- I was doing exactly what they have expected me to do, and all of a sudden I was the enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: And just bear with me, I want to play this sound bite from him when he talked about that there was an effort to actually mislead the public about the emails.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: Was there an effort to deliberately mislead the public about the classified emails?
MCCULLOUGH: Absolutely. There was an effort on the -- certainly on the part of the campaign to mislead people.
(INAUDIBLE)
MCCULLOUGH: A lot of people in the intel community spend a lot of time keeping secrets secret. And to sort of inject that sense of confusion into people I don't think was altogether responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So McCullough, Jesse, was a guy that was unanimously confirmed by the senate in 2011, and people who have these jobs as inspector general are usually pretty upstanding citizens. And for this to come out now, one, I'm interested in what you think of the timing of it. And also, maybe we're finally going to get some more answers about what was actually happening behind the scenes.
WATTERS: Hopefully. It bothers me when career civil servants, watchdogs, they're just pointing the fingers independently at Democrats, and then they're labeled by Democrats as right-wingers who are colluding with congressional Republicans. That really upsets me. And the timing of this is also suspicious because I believe a lot of these things, this specifically, we wouldn't have heard about if Hillary Clinton was elected president. Everybody assumed Hillary was going to be president, so things like, I believe, Uranium One, or the fake dossier, even the unmasking. Potentially the Harvey Weinstein revelations may not have even seen the light of day. These things -- and even Donna Brazile's revelations about the rigging. This all came out now as Donald Trump is president.
The Obama administration has a history of cracking down on whistle-blowers. You have these ATF officials with fast and the furious, they were gagged. The Benghazi military contractors, they had to sign nondisclosure agreements. We've seen people at the IRS retire early. The V.A. guy who blew the whistle on that scandal, he was harassed. He was made to do, you know, ridiculous little work in the corner office and punished for blowing the whistle there. And we all know how the Obama administration treated the press. James Rosen, who had his emails looked at and was accused of being some sort of co-conspirator. So, you know, I don't like any of this. It just shows you how corrupt yet self-righteous the Obama administration was about being not corrupt.
PERINO: And then yesterday, Kimberly, Brian Fallon, who was the spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, he tweeted, remember that inspector general who first urge the FBI to open Clinton email probe, he's out of government now and gave exclusive sit down for Tucker Carlson tonight, suggesting Clinton should be sitting in Leavenworth. Total straight shooter that guy. So they're going to try to shoot at him from outside the tent as well.
GUILFOYLE: Well, of course, they are because the information that he has is very damaging, and so they're going to try and do what they can to discredit him. But he's trying to come forward and say this is what's going on. It's totally corrupt. I was told that I would be out of a job. But nevertheless, he went ahead to try to, you know, tell the truth and be transparent and be forthright. He can speak now from a position more of strength whereas before he was in a position of vulnerability. So this is the exact kind of corruption and problems and inside dealings in Washington and in politics that people have found abhorrent in this country. And covering up and trying to make it an easy, clear the path, for Hillary Clinton to go ahead and become, you know, president. It just shows the level of collusion really to work on her behalf to achieve a desired goal for the oval for her.
PERINO: Juan, I think you are -- see it differently.
WILLIAMS: Oh, do I ever. Collusion, the Russians must be involved. Like, Hillary was with the Russians, right? Oh, no, no. Listen, this guy, really -- this is so interesting to me. He is an Obama appointee, a friend of Jim Clapper, who was the director of national intelligence, confirmed unanimously. Everybody likes him. Then he gets involved in a situation that's thoroughly political, which is the overblown attention to Hillary Clinton's emails, never leaked, never hacked, nothing to them. She is the ultimate authority as secretary of state on what is to be classified for the secretary of state's -- oh, from the secretary of state's office. He comes in and says after the fact and essentially saying, well, I'm revealing them now and I see that there is something here, and it's reportedly about drones and the like, and about methods, as you heard him say in the tape about methods and sources. This could have been even above top-secret. This is after the fact. This is his view after the fact. It's not the same view held by other people. So now he comes forward and says, hey, guess what, people in the congress said to me, hey, they're going to be shooting at you. Yeah, geez, guess what, this is politics. It was a political campaign in which Republicans over blew the whole email issue with the help of the Russians, speaking about collusion, and turned it into something to beat Hillary Clinton about the head for.
PERINO: But Greg, what I see in this is that, actually, the campaign must have been -- or the Democrats must have been more worried about her emails than they lead on at the time.
GUTFELD: Here's the irony of this. If it were anybody else, they would have been in jail. And really would have helped the Democrats if she had been in jail. Looking back at it now -- look, at that time, they probably thought that was absurd, like she's our presumptive nominee. She's not going to jail. This is an overblown scandal. It cost them the election by thinking that way. It exposes the chief problem of the Democrats. They were in pants suit denial. They couldn't come to grips the fact that Hillary's incompetent entitlement and arrogance led them to this spot where they have an incredibly flawed candidate who broke the law. If she had gone to jail, or she's been arrested, or whatever, something would have happened, you probably would have had a Biden-Bernie ticket, it would be called the grumpy-old men ticket, and they probably would have won. So there you go. If you followed your heart and your mind and put her in jail, you have a Democrat president.
PERINO: And the rules.
GUTFELD: And the rules.
PERINO: I'm sure there might be more to come on that so stick ahead or stay ahead.
GUTFELD: Stick ahead spongy. Stick ahead, that's sounds like very violent.
(LAUGHTER) PERINO: Stick ahead is a cautions. But please, stay with us. Melania Trump fires back at Vanity Fair for publishing a quote, shameful, new report that alleges she didn't want to be the first lady. The president also pilling on. Next.
GUTFELD: Stick ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUILFOYLE: President Trump always warns about fake news, and guess what? The fake news media has struck again, this time Vanity Fair with this report that Melania Trump didn't want to be first lady. A spokesperson from Trump says it's, quote, a story riddled with unnamed sources and false assertions. As a magazine tailored to women, it is shameful. The president piles on earlier in a tweet saying, Melania, our great and very hard working first lady, who truly loves what she's doing, always thought that if you run, you will win. She would tell everyone that, no doubt, he will win. And I also felt I would win or I would not have run, and country is doing great. Is he going a good job at that?
PERINO: He did. I still think 140 characters was his strong suit.
GUILFOYLE: So Dana, what do you make of this story in Vanity Fair?
PERINO: Well, it's not -- if you believe your own eyes and ears, if you're watching Melania Trump for the last several months, think, wow. She is a great first lady. Laura Bush did an interview I think last month saying that she thought she was exceedingly gracious and lovely. What I see when I watch her is that -- we're showing pictures in here with children. I didn't know we're going to do that, but I'm glad we are, because it seems like that is when she has the most genuine, happy moments. And she brings such light into their lives. Just like other first ladies have done before her.
So I wonder. I don't think that Vanity Fair made up these quotes. I think that they probably have somebody on background willing to say them. But if you're going to do this to a first lady, you should have the guts to say it on the record, and they don't.
GUILFOYLE: That's the problem. So, Greg, why is Vanity Fair going out of the way to do something like this?
GUTFELD: I don't know. I would be a terrible first lady. Because I hate children.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: And I think I'm like everyone else, and I think she's, in a way, a lot like everyone else. This was a surreal experience. I think that there is an element to truth to this article that she had some trepidation, because she's a normal person, and a normal person would have some trepidation, knowing that you're going to be in the limelight and everything.
But that story isn't about what she was. The story is about how she is. And she's kind of amazing. I mean, what kind of person, like I'm joking about being first lady, but let's say I'm married, my wife moved to Russia and she became the leader of Russia. And I had to speak Russian before 50 million people. That's what she did here.
There's, like -- this woman was mocked and ridiculed by feminists, because she was a glamour model. Well, this glamour model stood up between 30 to 50 million American people and in her second or third language, she spoke to them. And that is -- I mean, nobody, no columnist for any glamour -- for Glamour or for Cosmo, any feminist blogger. You couldn't do that and - - you couldn't utter one sentence to save your life, and this woman went and did it.
She had no plans for this. She didn't expect this to happen, and she went ahead and did it. So it's not about who she was with the trepidation. It's what she became, and she was brave, even though she was terrified.
GUILFOYLE: All right, Jesse. Yes, she's been a phenomenal first lady. She really excels in the -- in the position. And she's, like Dana said, wonderful when she's with the children and everything. You really see that she's enjoying it.
WATTERS: She's a classy and a beautiful lady, and she adores her husband and she really adores Barron. She's a great mom. And when she goes abroad, I think she shines an excellent image to the world. She dazzled the Europeans. I think she stole the show when she was with the pope. When she was over in China, the youth of China, they idolize her. And I think she's a very classy and striking and elegant and graceful fashion icon and woman that a lot of people look up to.
And the president relies on her counsel. He trusts her. She trusts him. And she's an immigrant who knows five languages. And for Vanity Fair -- we should call them Vanity Unfair -- to attack her and put so much negativity. Greg liked that one. Into something like this just to sell these magazines is so wrong.
And they've always hated the Trumps. Vanity Fair started the whole small hands deal with the president. Vanity Fair went after her shoes when she went to the hurricane zone.
PERINO: Yes.
WATTERS: I think Vanity Fair also said the Trump Grill over at Trump Tower was the worst restaurant in America. So they don't like the Trumps at all.
GUILFOYLE: But the Ivanka Salad is delicious.
WATTERS: Yes, the taco bowl.
GUILFOYLE: Good, yes. Taco bowl.
All right. So what's wrong with Vanity Unfair? Stick with the name.
WILLIAMS: I think gosh, there's so much buttering up going on here on this panel. I don't know. It's getting a little greasy, oily in here. You guys are slattering...
GUILFOYLE: Pass the bread.
WILLIAMS: ... on this as though -- yes, I don't know what's going on. But I don't...
GUTFELD: We never did that with Michelle Obama, did we?
WILLIAMS: No, you didn't. In fact people...
GUTFELD: Everybody did.
WILLIAMS: I remember -- oh, not everybody.
GUTFELD: Everybody did.
WILLIAMS: This network doesn't.
WATTERS: She never...
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: I will say about this story, I will tell you something. There is a difference. Even Dana says, "Oh, she's a great first lady like Laura Bush." Let me tell you, Laura Bush worked hard at this job. Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, they had twice the staff that we see here with Mrs. Trump.
PERINO: Oh, my God!
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Let me finish.
GUILFOYLE: Doing more with less.
WILLIAMS: And you just remember a situation here which is that she stayed in New York because of Barron and his school for a long time. Not out there in the way that Laura Bush or Michelle Obama was, not that kind of public personality. Not that kind of person who was leading people through the -- remember, the White House doors.
GUILFOYLE: I think this is a cheap shot.
WILLIAMS: It's not cheap.
GUILFOYLE: Yes, it is.
WILLIAMS: It clearly -- what you're hearing here -- and I don't think these quotes are made up -- is that she was, as you said, an ordinary person, who thought, "Gosh, this glare of publicity and secret security details, it's a lot." She wasn't comfortable. Why do you have to condemn or to now you guys, butter her up for this?
PERINO: I'm not buttering you up.
GUTFELD: I agreed and said exactly what you said. A normal person in extraordinary circumstances. Buttering her up is -- that's not saying that here is somebody who stood before millions of people and spoke in a second language.
WILLIAMS: I like that point. I think your point's legit. But I'm saying, look, the fact is this is not somebody who was accustomed to American public life.
GUTFELD: Right.
GUILFOYLE: I don't...
WILLIAMS: Not somebody who has come forward and done an astounding job as first lady. She's an absolutely, Jesse, beautiful woman, all that kind of stuff.
GUILFOYLE: I think she's done an amazing job. She's more than risen to the occasion. And I don't know why you have to besmirch her.
WILLIAMS: I'm not besmirching her. I'm just saying be real.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: You called her lazy, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Oh, yes, that's what I did.
WATTERS: You did!
WILLIAMS: Oh, all right.
WATTERS: You said she's not a hard worker.
WILLIAMS: Oh, that's what I said. That's -- oh, yes, for sure.
GUILFOYLE: She has half the staff, doing more with less on our tax dollars.
PERINO: The first lady gets to choose how much they want to do. And I think that, for example, the one thing we didn't mention is that, from a policy perspective, she took on the opiate crisis as the one that she wants to work on.
WILLIAMS: I thought she was doing cyberbullying.
PERINO: She has that one, as well.
GUILFOYLE: As well.
PERINO: But she...
GUILFOYLE: Hard-working.
PERINO: But she went to the first -- remember when she, before the president gave a speech in the East Room -- I know we've got to go. I could go on. But I think that -- I think Juan, I'm going to have to disagree with you.
WILLIAMS: All right.
GUILFOYLE: Well, indeed.
Ahead, one of President Trump's loudest haters has now decided he has nothing left to say. Keith Olbermann giving Americans a lot more to be thankful for, post-Thanksgiving. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: He came. He screamed. He soiled his diapers. Then he left. It's a sad day for America: Keith Olbermann says goodbye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH OLBERMANN, JOURNALIST: I am retiring from political commentary in all media venues. Thank you for all the kind words and all the support.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: I don't recall anyone giving kind words or support.
GUILFOYLE: Right?
GUTFELD: We just observed his tantrums, which embarrassed those who indulged him. No matter, he's broken. More roadkill from the Trump reign.
But we must admit all of these casualties, from Keith to Kathy Griffin to that "Will and Grace" has-been, what's her face, anyway, they're all self- inflicted. Trump isn't breaking them. They're breaking themselves. As they fret over the Trump apocalypse, they go home to more comfort than ever, spending more money on therapists than their grandparents spent on rent.
So many people unnerved by tremp [SIC] -- Trump are oblivious to the real world problems. Meanwhile, Trump treats that a fake news trophy be given to the network that distorts coverage of your favorite president, which he adds, in parentheses "me." And there it is in one winking joke.
The reason why Ol-B and his ilk are so down: Trump is having fun and they're not. The warfare is finally reversed. That one word, "me," encapsulates the weapon in two letters, which stabs into the hurt of the modern, humorless liberal. They used to have fun. Not anymore. Now they're old and frail, forced into retirement by their own bitterness. Who knew that laughter would kill the left? And so, a fond look back. Cue the somber music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
GRAPHIC: In Memoriam: "The Resistance with Keith Olbermann," 2016-2017
OLBERMANN: You're beholden to scum, Russian scum.
You must atone, not merely because the man you support is a pig and you must now do what is right.
For many, Donald Trump assuming the office of president reduces the chance that will have any future elections.
Have fun storming the castle. My work here is done.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
GUTFELD: Very sad. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the research for the prevention of irrational outrage.
All right, Jesse. Have we -- is he really gone, or when will he be back?
WATTERS: I didn't know you could retire from screaming in a basement. But -- and just -- I don't know if the audience knows this. Remember those people outside the window banging, trying to give someone a trophy.
PERINO: I think we -- I think we handled it so well that nobody knew.
WATTERS: Well, the people that were handing out the fake news trophy, that apparently was for me. Yes, I didn't accept. The security guard said that was for me. I don't want it.
GUILFOYLE: But they almost broke the glass. WATTERS: Yes, they were banging. Yes. Apparently, that was for me.
PERINO: I thought they were supporters.
WATTERS: No, they were not.
GUILFOYLE: No, just because they had suits on.
WATTERS: Yes. Everybody in a suit loves "Watters' World."
He says that he's retiring, because he thinks that President Trump is going to be impeached and his work is done.
GUTFELD: Yes.
WATTERS: He lives for humiliating Republicans. He spent the entire Bush term rooting for President Bush's impeachment, and now he's not going to dance on Trump's grave when he's impeached?
GUILFOYLE: He gave up.
WATTERS: I'm not buying it. The guy's talented. Nice run as ESPN. But it's over. I hope Trump gives him a little tweet and says goodbye.
GUTFELD: You know, Dana, that's like me saying, "I'm going to retire from needlepoint. You know, because I think I'm done with it." It's like he's retiring from something that nobody really cares about.
PERINO: I -- except for seeing clips of it on this show, I've never...
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: You know that one time he actually -- I know that you probably got this honor, too, but I was shocked the time that he declared that I was the worst person in the world.
GUTFELD: Yes, I got that.
PERINO: How can I be the worst person in the world? In a world with, like, Robert Mugabe, I'm the worst person in the world?
GUILFOYLE: Pretty disturbing, right.
GUTFELD: That's a good point, Kimberly, because his problem was he couldn't prioritize, you know, right or wrong. Everything was evil. If you disagreed with him, you -- everybody was evil, so you were as bad as Hitler.
GUILFOYLE: Well, I guess we should once again thank President Trump, because he's completely driven Keith Olbermann off the edge and into retirement. So once again, making America great again, eliminating Olbermann.
GUTFELD: One -- one crazy person at a time.
You know, Juan, I hope you never does this to you. I hope that you don't leave because Trump drives you crazy.
WILLIAMS: He does drive me crazy. But I must say, I don't get it. He has this trophy. I didn't know they wanted you for the trophy. I was worried they're coming after me. But I'm saying, this fake news trophy, the president. The enemy of the American people. And you guys just laugh it off. "Oh, this is..."
GUTFELD: Because it's funny.
WILLIAMS: He says, "It's about me, me, me, me, me."
You say, "Oh, just so funny. He's just being..." I don't think it's funny. And I don't think it's funny when you have Project Veritas and James O'Keefe on the right, creating false sting operations...
PERINO: I agree with that. I agree with you on that.
WILLIAMS: ... against The Washington Post.
GUTFELD: But that's not...
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: No, but when you have them doing it, guess what? Trump was a big donor. He gave 10,000 bucks to Project Veritas and O'Keefe. And when they do this to Planned Parenthood or ACORN, the right wing says, "Oh, this is great. We're going after the mainstream media." When, in fact, these guys are the frauds.
GUTFELD: You know what? We weren't going to do this segment, but I want to respond to that.
This is new for conservatism. O'Keefe is deeply flawed, no question, but this is new. You guys, the left, have been doing this for years. You're really good at it. You have Michael Moore winning Academy Awards from it. You have "60 Minutes," who have pioneered the art of gotcha journalism. The modern conservatives, they're just getting started with this.
WILLIAMS: Wait a minute. You say 60 Minutes, CBS and Michael Moore...
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: ... do phony sting operations?
GUTFELD: No, no, no, they mastered the art -- and also consumer reporters -- mastered the art of sting reporting. They used to show up with a microphone into somebody's face.
WILLIAMS: Yes, but they don't lie...
GUTFELD: Unlike Jesse, of course.
WILLIAMS: ... and deceive people.
GUTFELD: I'm not -- look, I'm not defending.
WILLIAMS: I'm saying, that's a big -- that's a big difference between "60 Minutes" and James O'Keefe.
GUTFELD: But what I'm telling you is that it's relatively new for the right, but the left has been doing this for years.
WILLIAMS: Maybe they just do good journalism.
GUTFELD: I have -- I have a solution, though. There needs to be a rehab called "For Trump Broken Syndrome." Like remember that "Celebrity Rehab" on VH-1.
GUILFOYLE: Trump Derangement.
GUTFELD: You could have all these celebrities. You'd have Keith. You could have Kathy Griffin, what's her face from "Will and Grace." Snoop Dogg.
PERINO: Do you really not know her name or are you purposely not saying it?
GUTFELD: No, she's a has-been. Nobody. I've forgotten her. "Will and Grace" was funny...
GUILFOYLE: "Will and Grace" is back on.
GUTFELD: I know. It's terrible.
GUILFOYLE: What is wrong with you?
GUTFELD: The worst show on TV.
WILLIAMS: Hey, Greg, do you ever think you should say, "You know, maybe something's off with Trump"?
GUTFELD: No.
GUILFOYLE: Ignoring the teases.
GUTFELD: You know what? Everybody has something off about themselves. I just happen to be more forgiving.
WILLIAMS: Forgiving of Trump.
GUTFELD: Denzel Washington says don't blame the prison system for crime in black communities. Blame the parents. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Denzel Washington is out promoting his new film and giving his perspective on how to make positive change in black communities across America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENZEL WASHINGTON, ACTOR: If the father is not in the home, the boy will find a father on the streets. Yes. I saw it in my generation and in every generation before me and every one since. It starts in the home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: So we have a situation here where all of a sudden, conservative media said, "Hey, Denzel Washington, he said it and it's true; and this is what we've been saying." What do you say, Kimberly?
GUILFOYLE: Well, I think that there's obviously, you know, studies that show this and in terms of seeing it from a prosecutor's perspective and the type of, you know, children would end up and coming into the juvenile justice system. And many times, it was because they were lacking a father figure or a role model or some kind of parental supervision in the home to be a positive and driving force.
And what I saw was young people oftentimes, especially in troubled areas in inner cities, ending up gravitating towards gangs and using those as sort of a surrogacy for the lack of parental and father figure in the home.
WILLIAMS: I don't think there's any question.
But now Jesse, you have the contrary point of view coming from a lot of black leaders who say this is about systemic racism. That if you look at this, black people, black men 12 times as likely as white men to be in jail for drugs. I think blacks about 14 percent of the population, 45 percent of the jail population in terms of drug crimes.
WATTERS: Yes, I mean, there's definitely discrimination in the criminal justice system. But Denzel also says that if you get passed up for a role, maybe don't blame racism. Maybe you weren't good enough. So he seems very fair and balanced. And you said that the conservative media is seizing on this.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
WATTERS: Well, perhaps FOX News is seizing on this, but I'll tell you what. The mainstream media is not seizing on this. They're not going to play it. You're not going to see it. They're not going to highlight it. So I think both sides are at work here.
Now, I would say Denzel Washington...
WILLIAMS: Yes.
WATTERS: ... could be president of the United States.
WILLIAMS: Really?
WATTERS: The way the guy talks. He's inspiring. He's authoritative. He looks great.
PERINO: How are his policies?
WATTERS: I don't know what his policies are, but I think if he had some policy chops, I like the whole presentation. I think the guy is good.
WILLIAMS: So Dana?
PERINO: Well, I just would point out that, when asked about the criminal justice system issue, he does bring that up as the problem. But there actually is good news there. If -- I think that if everybody could just get on the same page, I think President Trump would be able to sign legislation that would reform the criminal justice system. There's bipartisan agreement on getting there. Just not with the attorney general.
WILLIAMS: I was about to say, I think Sessions has another point of view.
In fact, Greg, I think the numbers here are amazing. Black people in America, like 70 percent now of children born to single-parent families. Hispanics, 53. Whites, 35. This could be a problem for everybody.
GUTFELD: Yes. I mean, he's right about this, but what do you do? How do you salvage lost generations, especially if you can't even discuss these matters?
And it's not -- it's not blacks who are upset about talking about it. It's white liberals. If you say marriage is better for families, you don't get attacked by blacks. You get attacked by white female feminists. They're the ones that say, like, "You don't need to have a family. You don't need to have a husband and a wife, or a husband and husband. You don't need that."
So No. 1, you can't talk about that. You cannot wrestle communities away from -- from the liberal stranglehold and those regulations that they have there. So you can't have an honest dialogue around liberal failings of cities.
You have to start talking about -- you can no longer demonize law enforcement. You have to turn law enforcement into a career for minorities, the way what happened in New York City, in which the majority is the minority. And in order to do that, you have to start rethinking, what can you -- who can you hire if they have a police record? You have to start looking at the drug laws and make it easier for people to become police officers.
WILLIAMS: I agree. Well, I mean, I wrote a book about this ten years ago, and I must tell you, you do get attacked by black people, as well as the white liberals.
"One More Thing" up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: All right, it's time now for "One More Thing." I want to give a shout out to my trainer, Cory (ph), who put me through the wringer today. There he is. And you can check him out at KingCoreFit on Instagram, if you guys want to, you know.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: Wow, he looks great (ph).
WATTERS: ... in New York City. He can go. And he designs a program specifically tailored to your fitness goals.
WILLIAMS: Good.
WATTERS: So go check him out. He's the man. And I complain a lot, so he deserves a lot of money.
GUILFOYLE: Well, he's in good shape. Yes.
WATTERS: Kimberly Guilfoyle.
GUILFOYLE: OK.
PERINO: How long have you been working out with him?
WATTERS: Can't you tell?
GUILFOYLE: It's time now for...
GUTFELD: Oh, no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUILFOYLE: Kimberly's Royal News.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: No!
GUILFOYLE: Yes.
GUTFELD: No!
GUILFOYLE: Back by popular demand, especially Greg.
GUTFELD: No one asked!
GUILFOYLE: Go away, little one.
OK. So we have some fashion and royal news, which is that Meghan Markle's jacket -- see this beautiful coat, Dana?
PERINO: Yes, I did.
GUILFOYLE: Crashed the website of a Canadian label called Lime. Because as soon as she appeared in it -- this goes to show you, Greg, how popular she is and the royals. It was totally sold out. The designer's website crashed. So you're going to have to try to get it on back order and or get a knockoff somewhere. I think it looks fabulous.
PERINO: I'd wear a white coat.
WATTERS: Nice.
WILLIAMS: All right.
GUTFELD: Better than a Red Coat.
WILLIAMS: I just want to say congratulations to Bret Baier. The National Press Foundation selected Bret as a 2017 honoree for the Sol Taishoff Award for excellence in broadcast journalism...
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: ... the foundation's highest award.
GUILFOYLE: Wow.
WILLIAMS: He joins Chris Wallace and Brit Hume from FOX who have also received it.
GUTFELD: And me, too.
WILLIAMS: It's a wonderful moment for Bret...
GUILFOYLE: Not you.
WILLIAMS: ... but also an even prouder moment for the news division here at FOX. Congratulations all around.
PERINO: Hear, hear. Yay!
GUILFOYLE: Well-deserved. Not Greg there. He's the best.
WATTERS: So never miss an episode of "The Five." Set your DVRs. "Special Report" is up next. Bret, congratulations.
GUILFOYLE: Congrats, Bret.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS: Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much.
GUTFELD: Boo.
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