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Published January 27, 2017
This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," July 26, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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LAURA INGRAHAM, GUEST HOST: In the "Weekdays With Bernie" segment tonight: As we mentioned earlier, The New York Times published secret military documents that paint a grim picture of the war in Afghanistan. The Obama administration criticized the leak, saying it puts Americans at risk. But The Times says this information is "of significant public interest."
Joining us now from North Carolina to sort it all out is Fox News analyst Bernie Goldberg, the purveyor of BernardGoldberg.com. All right, Bernie. You've got The New York Times out there, and they're swinging away with this story about all those 92,000 documents. A lot of them, you know, have marginal interest, but some of them are pretty shocking about bin Laden being around there still and what we know and ISI, the security intelligence agencies meeting with the Taliban, plotting against our own people. So that stuff is outrageous. Isn't that stuff that we need to know as Americans, considering it was out there anyway in WikiLeaks?
BERNARD GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think it is. Look, if the release of classified documents puts our troops in harm's way or hurts our ability to gather intelligence, I'm against it, you're against it, virtually everybody is against it. But I don't know that that's the case here.
Look, this war in Afghanistan has not been going well. The United States beat both the Japanese and the Nazis in four years. It's nine years into this war, and we're still screwing around with these people and the Taliban. Just because the U.S. government tells us that the release of these documents is harmful, I don't automatically believe it.
And by the way, if they are harmful, then prosecute the leakers. You're allowed to do that. And if you don't prosecute the leakers, then I have to wonder how harmful the release of these documents really are because right now this war looks to me a lot like nation building, and this makes me feel very uncomfortable. So the more information, the better, as long as it doesn't hurt either American troops or our ability to gather information.
INGRAHAM: Yes, I second that emotion. And Bernie, I also think it goes right to these -- this question that's been plaguing them on their response to the Gulf, on the handling of the economy, dealing with the Christmas day bomber, all these, is the issue of competence. And obviously, these documents span both administrations. Make no mistake about it. But right now he's the commander in chief. And this was actually an area where people thought, well, he's continuing kind of the Bush aggressive, you know, stand forward, stand up -- up to the Islamic radicals, even if he won't use that term. But now public opinion is eroding on this issue as well. He doesn't need another -- another problem when it comes to his approval ratings.
GOLDBERG: No. And -- and Afghanistan, it's a problem with a lot of Americans. And if things don't get better in a hurry, it's going to be an even bigger problem.
Just in fairness, I'd like to say a good word about The New York Times. They released secret documents during the Bush administration, and now they're releasing it during the Obama administration. So, Laura, we finally found one subject, one subject, one area where -- you see where I'm going with this.
INGRAHAM: The sky is going to fall here. Bernie Goldberg said something good about The New York Times on the O'Reilly -- what's happened to this? What's happening?
Well, I think the bottom line though is, Bernie, like the president has spent a lot of time with Paul McCartney and Jay-Z and the Broadway revue. I guess you weren't invited to the big celebration of Broadway last week. I mean, they've had party central, lots of vacations. I mean, he doesn't even seem like he's all that interested in this -- the conduct of this war and how this is going to a lot of Americans. I think it's a perception thing, even if -- even if that's not the case.
And Bernie, we've got to -- we've got to move on though because the president, in order to try to rescue his sagging numbers, he needs people to see him more, Bernie. He needs to be seen. He's not seen enough. You don't understand that. So you've been on "The View," right? With Whoopi and Joy? You've been on?
GOLDBERG: No, no, no. I have never been on "The View."
INGRAHAM: Never?
GOLDBERG: Come on.
INGRAHAM: They don't like you? Well, I have. I was just on two weeks ago. So I'm going to give them advice. Just be yourself, and they'll love you because they love him any way at "The View."
GOLDBERG: Exactly.
INGRAHAM: You're not going to have any problem there.
GOLDBERG: That is exactly right. This is a good political move for the president. He's going on "The View," and all the political scientists who comprise "The View" won't ask him a single tough question. The "Slobbering Love Affair" will continue.
And all he has to do is flash his million-dollar smile, and he can say anything, and everybody will believe it. And the people who are watching this show at 11 in the morning or 10, depending on what part of the country you're in…
INGRAHAM: Yes.
GOLDBERG: …as a group, they're not the most sophisticated politically. And not only will they buy anything he says, but they may not go out to vote in November. But if he flashes that smile and says some things that they like, maybe they will. So...
INGRAHAM: Hey, Bernie, here's my prediction.
GOLDBERG: …it makes sense.
INGRAHAM: Here's my prediction. Tell me if you think this is totally off-base. But when I was there a couple weeks ago doing "The Obama Diaries," I found Whoopi Goldberg to actually be -- first of all, she's incredibly nice. She's -- she's very bright. And she's pretty conservative on fiscal issues. I think she's going to give him the hardest time on that couch. Whoopi Goldberg is probably going to hold him accountable to all -- you know, all the economic stuff going on. And Joy Behar, they're just going to have to get a big fan to fan her off, because she's going to be so excited.
GOLDBERG: Did you -- did you know that Whoopi Goldberg was my cousin?
INGRAHAM: What? Oh, no. That is not even a funny -- that's true. People are going to now be e-mailing "The Factor" to ask if that's true. Bernie Goldberg, as always.
GOLDBERG: It is. Whoopi Goldberg and I, we are cousins. It's true.
INGRAHAM: Bernie Goldberg, we love you. Good to see you.
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