Published March 18, 2020
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 18, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I am Juan Williams, along with Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino, Jesse Watters, and Dagen McDowell. It is 5:00 in New York City, and this is THE FIVE.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I view it as a sense -- in as a sense a wartime president. I mean, that's what we are fighting. I mean, it's a very tough situation. You have to do things. You have to close parts of an economy that six weeks ago where the best they've ever been.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Donald Trump calling himself a wartime president as the Coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the nation and the world. The virus now in all 50 states with more than 7600 Americans infected and 115 dead, Wall Street taking another beating today, the DOW falling another 1300 points. Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, is warning that without action, the crisis could lead to an unemployment levels approaching 20 percent.
But the government is responding, the Senate just passing a $100 billion package stimulating the economy, and President Trump invoking the Defense Production Act, which allows companies to quickly ramp up production of medical supplies. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We have targets for certain pieces of equipment. We have targets for masks. The numbers of masks are incredible. We have ordered millions of them. But we need millions more. A thing like this has never been requested and it's never -- we've never had even think in terms of these numbers. We need respirators.
We need -- ventilators is a big thing, because it's a complex piece of equipment. So we have a lot of ventilators but we are going to be ordering more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: President Trump also pushing for a stimulus plan that could send a check for up to $1,000 to every American.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: My messages to all Americans but to those Americans who are going through a lot. We love them. We are with them. And we will not let them down. We have to help everybody. It was nobody's fault. This happened. I mean, some people could say it was somebody's fault, actually. But it was nobody's fault. And certainly, none of these companies that all of a sudden had no passengers and planes and had no passengers on crew ships and all of the things that have happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Dana, it's been a dramatic turn. The president is now calling himself a wartime president, taking this all very seriously. What is going on? And what's the potential, in your mind, the surgeon general -- I'll play you a sound in a second. The surgeon general saying 15 days might not even be sufficient.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you want to play that now or?
WILLIAMS: OK, let's play it now.
PERINO: OK. Let's listen to him and I'll respond to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen days is likely not going to be enough to get us all the way through. But we really need to lean into it now so that we can bend the curve in the next 15 days. And at that point, we will reassess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So I think that what you see happening is -- on the wartime presidency stuff, some might argue, you know, it's been in wartime because we have a war on terror. We're fighting in Iraq, ISIS, Afghanistan. But this is different. Some of the tools that the federal government is going to deploy right now have not been used.
And one of them has to do with the fact that you would be able to do some of this because of a pandemic, specifically. These were -- one of those was a law that was put in place in the 1950. We've never had to use it. So a lot of this is different. And the federal government, I think, what you hear Jerome Powell, the surgeon general doing, is basically trying to set people's expectations.
Because this is all very new to us, we're only in day two or three of feeling, like, wow. This is -- I'm not saying that people didn't think it was serious before, but when you realize that it starts to sink in a little bit more that your way of life is different. You know, when I walked home last night, I didn't even have to look both ways before I crossed the street.
Mom, don't worry. I was being safe. But really at 6:15 at night in New York City, you start realize how stark the changes are. On day three of children being home from school and parents trying to work from home. Everybody, I think, is being super patient with each other. Everyone's trying to be kind. Everyone's trying to be good.
And we look to the federal government to do the things that they are doing, like passing the bill today, getting the checks to people. It might not be enough. And that is one of the things that I think that you're hearing them saying. And while it might not be the most reassuring thing, it is more realistic. And it gets people to set their expectations accordingly.
Save, plan, take care of neighbors, get charities in place, do whatever they can so that we can all work together to beat this.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Greg, you know, I was thinking today that -- I said it's a switch in tone from the president. But I think now the whole country now has a sense that this is a dramatic moment in our lives, like 9/11 or the like. The one thing I noticed and I wanted to ask you about it, was I see a difference in terms of Democrats versus Republicans who say this is a serious threat, more Democrats, less Republicans, why the partisanship?
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I don't even understand that question. I don't see any partisanship. It's a stupid question. This feels like wartime.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: The point I'm trying to make is what the president is saying is that we are living in wartime. And this is -- there's a time -- if you want to assign blame, Juan, or divide us into Republicans and Democrats. You can do that in six months. Just put it off for a while, because criticizing people because of their differences right now during this black swan event. It's going to feel good, but it's not helping anybody.
WILLIAMS: I agree.
GUTFELD: Never before have so many people all around the world focused on one thing. And we're looking at worst-case scenarios with timeframes and death rates. They aren't factoring in this incredible fundamental change that society is undergoing and the fundamental efforts that people are putting in right now. We are going to crush this, and we are going to save millions of lives.
This is a point in humanity's great moment. It's a great moment in humanity to see what we are doing, which is why the psychology of this is so crucial. It is counterproductive to sit here and point fingers. These people feel this way and these people feel that way. That is an energy suck. We can start calling each other names later.
But for now, let's just leave that behind us and focus on the future and not the past.
WILLIAMS: Right. What I'm saying I think the president has made a pivot and he is treating it with great seriousness. But what we see in the numbers is the people who aren't treating it with great seriousness tend to be politically divided.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Let me address that, Juan. Let me address that, Juan. I want to talk to my niece, Reagan, who is home right now. She's going crazy in her apartment. She is not political, Juan. She is just a 23-year-old going stir crazy. I want her to stay home. Practice guitar. Go on YouTube and take classes. She's not political, Juan.
So it's not a political thing. If you want to do the political thing, you do it. If you want to be divisive, you do it. Not me.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I'm not in that conversation.
(CROSSTALK) ] WILLIAMS: -- because I think that your point about -- is it your niece, Greg?
GUTFELD: Yeah.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. Your point about your niece is something that Dr. Deborah Birx spoke to today. I want you to give a listen to this thought.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are concerning reports coming out of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in the ICUs. We think part of this maybe that people headed the early data coming out of China and coming out of South Korea that the elderly or those with pre-existing medical conditions were at particular risk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Jesse, this is a little different. Previously, we were being told young people, especially children, less likely to really contract this. Now, what Dr. Birx is saying is wait a second. We are getting reports that in fact even as the elderly shelter in place, young people are getting very sick.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: And that's why we have to just get this thing over with as soon as possible. The president cannot do this step-by- step approach. He needs to just declare war on Coronavirus. Invoke his many acts and provisions and laws as humanly possible, and just beat the hell out of this thing. Call for a nationwide shutdown, two weeks, three weeks, however long it takes.
The whole country self quarantines. Only essential workers go out. You only have to go out if you go to the grocery store or to pick up something at the pharmacy. That's the only way you're going to beat this thing, because right now we're looking at a recession, could be a depression, because it's getting a lot worse. You have to mobilize the military.
Maybe they build MASH units outside of cities. You have to rally the country around make in America. Do that instead of relying on China. Doctors and hospitals, they need to be doing as much as possible. And the FED needs to step up even more. At this point, we heard Dr. Birx say that this is now infecting young people in Europe.
That means all these young people at spring break are putting everyone's life at risk. And to say that this is something we just need to focus on the elderly, that gives everybody that's young in this country the feeling, like, hey, I can do whatever I want. We are seeing now they are doing investigations into the lungs of young people that get this virus. And they are destroying their lungs.
Some young people that get the virus are going to need to be on oxygen tanks if they don't get it. So I think president just needs to say forget about the markets. We're going to have to go all in on this thing if we are going to come out on the other side, and the country will rally around that.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. That's inspiring. Dagen, I wanted to come to you on the news of the day coming out of -- off of Capitol Hill with the regard to the passage of this $100 billion stimulus plan by the Senate. But the president is now saying he may need even more. How do you understand the expense and how is it translating in terms of Wall Street?
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So in phase one and phase two, they've -- it's only about maybe 110 billion. We are talking about ultimately my back of the envelope calculation, trillions of dollars to rescue this country, individuals, and corporations. And I will break it down. So the total stimulus that they are talking about in phase three is north of $1 trillion.
You've essentially shutdown a modern economy or large parts of it overnight. And you need to quickly make individuals who have no income solvent and liquid. So they have money to pay their bills, pay their utilities, pay their rent, buy food. And then you need to have corporations that are solvent and liquid. And you're going to have bailouts that make 2008 and 2009 look like picking strawberries on a Saturday.
That's what we are talking about. Because Jesse brought this up, if you don't act with speed and scale, to borrow words from the Wall Street Journal. You're going to turn a deep recession into something -- a long- lasting financial crisis that will look like the Great Depression. So for Steve Mnuchin to throw out 20 percent unemployment -- there's a forecast from JPMorgan out, saying that the second quarter economy in this country is going to contract 14 percent.
So that is Great Depression levels. If you don't start literally sending checks to people, we are not talking about $1,000. We're talking about $2,000. Send it to the people who need it who are out of work. Don't send it to me. I've got a job. I am sitting here in front of a TV camera. And they are going to have to rescue industry after industry.
That's where the political fight is going to get ugly, because they're going to require restrictions on how these companies operate. Airlines, we're talking about $50 billion in loans for the airlines. You're going to talk about leisure and hospitality, retailers, you name it. It is going to be bailouts from coast-to-coast. But this is what saves us from something catastrophic.
WILLIAMS: So Dana, when you hear about this, again, coming back to the politics of it. And Dagen says, you know, bailouts for certain industries. And then we come to this idea in this next wave that the president is calling for potentially sending checks to individuals, especially, as Dagen said, those who may have lost the job or, you know --
PERINO: We have to.
WILLIAMS: -- not only lose a job but maybe they've lost their business. So the question becomes, you know, do you think this is realistic? Do you think the American people would support it?
PERINO: I think they are not going to have a choice. I think that -- look, I think people come together and they do the right thing. And this is a little bit different to me. Like, if you think back to 2008 -- and to Dagen's point, I mean that fight was horrendous. I was at there at the White House at the time and you everybody fighting.
Everybody's mad because you're bailing out Wall Street, understood. Nobody wants to bail out Wall Street, but the banks were insolvent. Right now, the banks are OK. It's actually people who need help. This is actually the man on the street, the man on the farm, the man in the small town. All of these people are going to need help.
And I would just for doing something really big and also really fast, and showing that the federal government is going to be the backstop, because we will get through. And we will be stronger on the other side about -- but in the meantime, when you have to help people. I don't think it will be a problem getting these bills through.
It's going to hurt to look at the deficit numbers. That's going to be something we will have to commit to and figure out. But saving people's day-to-day lives -- if we're going to do all of this for the health of people, then of course we have to do everything to help for their economic health on the other side.
WILLIAMS: Weren't we making fun of this, though, when Andrew Yang suggested something like it with socialism?
PERINO: No.
WILLIAMS: When he was saying send $1,000 to --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: There are people who think that universal based income is actually a pretty good idea. I don't think of it as necessarily socialism, especially if you look at that -- in Alaska, how they give back money. But there will be plenty of time to figure it out. But to Dagen's point, $1,000 for people who really -- they're going to need more than that.
WILLIAMS: I agree. Greg?
GUTFELD: All right, to the monologue. We look at small things as trivial, but in reality, the things we ignore come back to haunt us. Look at me. I was once a small thing myself, still am. Another example, a scientific paper predicted that the presence of SARS-like viruses in bats, together with the practice of eating them, is a time bomb.
That warning was from 2007, now a warning from me, 2014, six years in my book, Not Cool, on page 136, I warned readers that reusable shopping bags that one study linked them to a 46 percent increase in deaths from food- borne illnesses. They raise the risk by harboring viruses that could go from your bag to the food you share with your family.
Reusable feed bags might have also killed millions of piglets seven years ago by spreading a novel swine virus. Other research among humans shows how viruses spread with similar bags, making people sick. So why is this important? As states ban plastic bags, you're supposed to rely on reusables, which in a time like this ain't good.
We're told to steer clear of contaminated surfaces, yet we carry one to stores, schools, workplaces, and put our food in it. Right now, it makes sense to postpone these bans. Hell, we are postponing everything else. It's a vector we can easily control. So here's the good news. We aren't running out of food, and we probably won't.
The bad news, those bags you put that food in aren't helping. Some viruses spread through good intentions gone bad. The best intention now is to ask for single-use bags, plastic, or paper. So Dana, my wife comes home. She's got the mask on because we role-play.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: She is very healthy, very healthy, does all the hand washing, yells at me to take my shoes off. But she's holding the damn bags, the reusable bags with produce in them.
PERINO: Yeah.
GUTFELD: I think we think that this is a good move, but it's not.
PERINO: Because we are -- I mean -- there is concern about plastics in the ocean, right? That is a concern. Plastic in the -- is a concern. But your book pointed it out, John Tierney, City Journal's been pointing out for years, Kim Strassel, the Wall Street Journal, so I always think about this. I don't like -- I get plastic anxiety as well.
It's like with water bottles and things like that. But this point about the bags and carrying things around and everything, it -- we know that it causes more problems. And so rethinking some of these things, it's not too late. Its -- you can do this. You can turn back things right away. The president has already shown this.
One of the things they did in the last two days, they stopped -- ended regulations that didn't make sense in the first place, which was now doctors can work across state lines.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
PERINO: And how about telemedicine, right? There were regulations against some of that. And they -- by getting government to get out of the way, you allow more competition. And my hope is that there will be some super smart people out there, maybe like Reagan who is there on the couch, you know, learning guitar. Maybe she will have this amazing innovative idea to come up with a product and the solution that will help us have more biodegradable plastics. That would be ideal.
GUTFELD: Yeah. So Jesse, the problem is that we have to rely and people like me to wash my bags. Sometimes, I wear the same gym shirt three days in a row. I just dry it out on the shower, Dana. So I'm going to do that. People grabbed their bag and they just go to the place. And that's the problem, because you have to wash this bag every day, which is worse for the environment because of the chemicals you're using. I read somewhere.
WATTERS: I want to say something funny about your role play comment. I'm not going to say it. I think it's just smarter if I just bite my tongue on that one.
PERINO: You can't hold my hand.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: I'm social distancing myself from gaffes. Listen, like you said at the top, you have good intentions and then sometimes it backfires. Remember, they said you don't want to clear the underbrush out of these forests because it's bad. Well, then you have wildfires. Or they say, you know, raise the minimum wage in New York City, and then they fire half the waitresses.
So sometimes these things go the wrong way. I used to make fun of people, like germaphobes. Jerry Seinfeld, how many episodes on Seinfeld did they make fun of his fear of germs? I mean, Kramer installing the garbage disposal in the shower and makes Jerry a salad, or Elaine sneezes on the pasta primavera and gets the NBC executive sick.
Or Jerry catches the chef not washing his hands when he comes out of the bathroom. These are things that you're saying that's funny. But now you look back and you say Jerry was right this whole time. We just need to re- evaluate everything that we've been doing. And after we beat this thing, we are going to look back and say.
Do we need to start having more people work remotely? Why are we living on top of each other in these cities? The handshake, is the handshake an outmoded concept in this country? We are overly reliant on China. The borders are wide open. All of these things are going to have to be re- evaluated one at a time.
GUTFELD: Dagen, should they delay the ban?
MCDOWELL: Yeah. We shouldn't have the ban in the first place. It goes to your point. Who is making these decisions about banning plastic bags? You know it's some guy in a room going let's stick it to the oil and the chemical companies. It's not based on any research. As you pointed out, it goes back more than a decade knowing that these bags aren't sanitary.
I banned the handshake a while ago, just to tell you, because about 1 out of every 20 dudes who shake your hand want to do that weird little tickle thing, which is just creepy. And that, Greg, leave with you two words, Darth Vader.
GUTFELD: Very good. So Juan, I think the good news is the problem here isn't food. We're -- I think we are going to do OK in this industry. It is the bag. How do you feel? Should it be banned -- should the ban be temporarily suspended?
WILLIAMS: Yeah. I mean, if you can identify it as a source of spreading the virus, I would. I think that what you said there in describing it to the audience is that if often gets dirty, filled up with microbes. You don't know what's in it. You said that it killed piglets one, right? So I think that's very real.
Now, I do think it's not a reason to say let's give up on this idea, because, you know -- look, I think you can look up in the trees in Central Park or any part in this country and you see plastic bags, and you know about the oceans. So I think coming up with biodegradable substances that could make that bag is a good idea.
I just don't want us to use this as an opportunity to go back on lots of our efforts in terms of making sure that the environment, the fact that we see, you know, climates rising. You know, we just can't give up. I think we got to stay focused on what we are already doing, make it better. Don't allow that to somehow communicate this terrible disease.
Today, I was shocked. I'm telling you the truth. I was shocked that said 475 people died in one day today in Italy. I just -- it's hard to believe. This is what we are going through as a world right now.
GUTFELD: Exactly. Well, coming up, Biden courting Bernie bros after more primary victories last night, but can he win them over, that and more, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Bernie Sanders is assessing his campaign after Joe Biden had another big night, winning primaries in Florida, Arizona, and Illinois. Biden is now courting Sanders' supporters. But there are questions over if they will end up getting behind the former VP, but here is Joe Biden last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Senator Sanders. I hear you. I know what's at stake. I know what we have to do. Our goal as a campaign and my goal as a candidate for president is to unify this party, and then to unify the nation. You know, it's a moment like these we realize we need to put politics aside and work together as Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: President Trump weighed in by mocking Sanders on Twitter, saying that he has, quote, "given up just like last time." There were rumors today, Greg that Bernie Sanders was going to get out. Now, last week, there was another rumor. I made a bet that he was getting out. I lost. I've been off of Twitter for a week until about an hour ago.
I didn't miss it that much. But shouldn't Bernie get out at this point? I mean, there is no way he can win. It's mathematically impossible.
GUTFELD: I am just disgusted that you are gambling at a time like this.
PERINO: Why? Gambling just -- we should all be gambling.
GUTFELD: We're gambling. Bernie is intent on making his mark by pulling Joe so far left that by November, he will be wearing a Che Guevara shirt and quoting from the Communist Manifesto. I think that's what -- Bernie's agenda is being -- is like software being put into Joe Biden right now. That's what's happening. But I will say this.
The whole story feels like something that's on another channel during the Super Bowl. It's like right now, the Corona Super Bowl is on all the time, and the primary was like a rerun of Facts of Life on TV land, and Bernie is Mrs. Garrett.
PERINO: Oh, think about that. I mean, Mrs. Garrett was kind of cool.
GUTFELD: Yeah. That's what I'm saying.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Bernie is got some -- he's on the ball. I wouldn't say that about Joe.
PERINO: Dagen, what do the betting markets say about Bernie Sanders -- I'm just looking for a gambling reference here. What do you wager on Bernie Sanders staying in?
MCDOWELL: Oh, nothing. I -- he's got to get out. To quote BB King, "the thrill is gone. The thrill is gone, baby." He's got no more rallies to go to. There are no more screaming fans. The young people who showed up for him didn't actually go out and vote. And we learn from Florida where Joe Biden won every single county that older folks have really good memories about communist Cuba.
And they actually go out and vote their heart and their head, because that's exactly what happened. Bernie Sanders' team, this is according to Biden's camp, ran more than 4600 ads on TV in Florida attacking Joe Biden on social security. Well, older people know that communism's bad, and that Medicare for All actually gets rid of Medicare as we know it.
PERINO: That's a really good point. Juan, how are these candidates going to start campaigning? The president, he is managing a crisis, so he's going to be on air everyday. He might tweet about politics. But, like, for something like a Biden, even a Bernie, like, how do you continue to campaign? You're going to have to come up with some different ways.
WILLIAMS: Well, actually Bernie was back in Washington today in the Senate, saying that he's focused on the virus and trying to get the government to respond effectively in supporting the passage of the bill Dagen and I talked about a moment ago to inject more money into the economy. But I think from the Biden perspective, it's doing what we saw earlier.
He stands up and he gives a speech and says here's what I think we should be doing, how we should be coming together as an American people to address this problem. And at the same time, he's reaching out to Bernie Sanders' supporters I think the literal quote, Dana, is "I hear you." I hear what you've been saying in terms of your support for Senate for Senator Sanders and making the case that he wants them and he wants their votes and he's willing to work for their votes.
So I think you're going to see much more of that, much more people coming from their living rooms if necessary. We've got a little bit of a hiatus here, three weeks before the next set of primaries. But after yesterday, with Biden sweeping so clearly, sweeping in Illinois, Arizona, and Florida, I just don't think that there's much have a realistic chance, realistic chance that Sanders catches up, absent some catastrophic event. And at the moment, we're living through a catastrophic event.
PERINO: Right. So, Jessie, your thoughts Sanders not happening?
WATTERS: Well, I think he'll take it to the convention because that's who he is. I just -- Joe is like reaching his hand out and the Bernie bros are just smacking it away. At this point in the game, I don't understand the never Biden movement.
If you're a Bernie supporter, and Biden gets the nomination and it's Election Day, you have a choice. It's between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. How do you not as a Bernie supporter, just vote for Joe Biden? Like if Joe Biden becomes president, you can pull Joe to the left. If Donald Trump is reelected, you can't pull Donald Trump to the left.
So the only thing I can think of is one of two reasons. One, they want Joe Biden to lose because they want to say I told you so. You can't run an establishment candidate. You got to run a socialist. Or they honestly think that they could never bring themselves to vote for anybody other than a socialist because they're just too pure ideologically. But you know, at the end of the day, it's not my problem. It's the Democrat's problem.
PERINO: It's not your problem, indeed. OK, coming up. Celebrities and athletes catching heat for quickly getting tested for the coronavirus while other Americans have to wait.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Coronavirus testing is ramping up, but many Americans are still having a hard time getting checked out. That's not the case for big-time celebrities and athletes who have had no problem cutting the testing line. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo getting grilled after members of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets got tested ahead of mostly all other patients. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, CNN: How are all these multimillionaire professional athletes getting access to these tests and getting results so quickly? I mean, I know that we have a healthcare system where those with means enjoy much better care than those without, but this seems really obscene.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Jake, if you -- if you fit the protocol, you can get a test. You don't want to fit the protocol, fever, been to a country that had an outbreak, been in the company of someone who tested positive. If you fit the protocol, you can get the test.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And actress Vanessa Hudgens is being called out for complaining about the postponement of the Coachella Music Festival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANESSA HUDGENS, ACTRESS: Yes, until July sounds like a bunch of (BLEEP). I'm sorry. But like, it's a virus. I get it. Like, I respect it. But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it, like, yes, people are going to die. Just terrible, but like, inevitable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: OK, Juan, you know, I want to get to Vanessa in a second. I'm going to leave her for Greg.
GUTFELD: Thank you.
WATTERS: I want to ask you that the NBA situation because in a way, I totally understand it. If you're an NBA owner and you have, you know, $30 million over three years locked into a player's contract, and he has the flu, and you know -- and he's been in contact with maybe one of the other players that tested positive, I'm going to move heaven and earth to get this guy test because he's a big investment.
WILLIAMS: Yes, I'm not sure that's the logic. I'm curious to hear you say that.
WATTERS: Oh, that's the logic, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Oh, you think -- you see, I think the -- I think the reason, for example, the state of Oklahoma used half of its daily allotment of tests on the whole Oklahoma City Thunder is because they want to know exactly where the focus is once they identify that one person on that team has the virus, because then they're looking to kind of restrict those people and follow them and figure out how they can control the spread.
If it's what you said, boy, that is just, you know, to me all about money craving in the worst. And, you know, it's ironic. I think it was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes saying, you know, rich is better in American society, especially with health care. But I just hope people wouldn't be that silly.
If we didn't have a shortage of the test. I'll say this to you, Jesse, then there wouldn't be this premium in terms of the rich and famous having access to the test.
WATTERS: Yes, that is true. That's another story for another day, Dana. I mean, they did this on the Today Show. There was a producer who tested positive and you know, he or she wasn't feeling well, and she's working in close contact with all the today show hosts who have to deliver the news about an international pandemic every day to millions of Americans. You definitely -- and are getting paid millions of dollars, you do have to strategically tests.
PERINO: Part of it is just -- is just reality, right? So if you -- let's find -- let's say that somewhere along the way, someone in my family were to get cancer. Would I do everything I could -- would I call Dr. Nicole Saphier and say, who's the best doctor that you know, and could you possibly call them for me. Like, I would do that because I want to do something for my family.
And I can't say that that's fair or unfair. I wouldn't want to knock somebody else out, but everybody is trying to do the best for their people, whether it's what you're saying in terms of the owners wanting to make sure. I don't really get -- I don't think what -- Juan, I don't think what you're saying is accurate. If you're doing the Thunder, like -- I mean, I love the Oklahoma thunder, believe me, but I don't know if that's going to tell you exactly where to focus in Oklahoma. There's going to be bigger problems. But I also just think that it's reality.
The good news, there are improvements in testing. There are tests now coming in all over, plus there could be an innovation where there is a test where you can do it yourself. And that would alert you to whether you have the virus and you would know whether to self-quarantine or to stay away from others that were vulnerable. So scientific innovation, private sector innovation that's going to help solve this and bring the cost down.
WATTERS: Right. And Dagen, it is true that when people that aren't feeling well-read about an NBA player making $10 million a year getting tested like that, you know, that's not going to make the average American feel very safe and protected.
MCDOWELL: I understand athletes in general needing to get tested because their bodies, that is their livelihood. Like I've got fat knees and still can do my job. It has nothing -- it has nothing to do with it. So I kind of understand that. And to your point, it's in the owners interest.
But in terms of these Instagram influencers getting tested, this one who used her connections here in New York City to get a test, I understand flying on a private jet, going to a beach hut to party, wearing a lot of loaner jewelry and taking photographs of it, but this is next level horse manure.
WATTERS: Greg Coachella, it's on the chopping block. Are you freaking out, man?
GUTFELD: Well, first of all, remember that on THE FIVE, we were the first to talk about the NBA players. I asked Dr. Siegel about it. He didn't -- he says I can't even get the test. Remember he said that, or did I dream that? Yes, it was last week. It was Friday.
Anyway, OK, I'm going to defend Vanessa Hudgens because I'm going to defend every single person who is getting slammed for saying silly, or light, or mistaken comments in this fog of war, right? Because there's a lot of -- there's this -- there's this little sport going on among the press, slamming people for being human, for not assessing the situation when they should have assessed it. Because everybody is looking at this differently and trying to figure out a way to deal with it in their own heads.
You know, we slammed Generation Z at spring break, even though I know that if I was 20, I probably would have been there too. I got to explain to again, my niece after the show why she can't go outside because he's driving her parents crazy. My point is that everybody is dealing with this in specific ways, and they're all coming together at a different pace.
WATTERS: Right.
GUTFELD: And yet, what we're doing is we're saying, you didn't do it fast enough.
WATTERS: Right.
GUTFELD: You didn't -- and what's weird is that if you had gone overboard, you would have been slammed for that. It was in January when I call for the travel ban, and I got crap for that. And yet, I think that I might have overdone it. I'm thinking like, I'm like the stock market, I'm up and I'm down, I'm up and I'm down, because the stock market reflects all of our psyches.
And I think we just got to lay off, let people figure this stuff out, but come together and support people who are doing the productive things.
WATTERS: Yes. You know, not to make this about me, but I'm going to make this about me for a second. You know, the other day on the show, I said that I went out to dinner this past weekend and I realized that was the wrong thing to do. And I just got murdered on the internet by these people in the media. But I see these people in the media on social media talking about where they went out to dinner, and on Instagram posting pictures of them at dinner, so we get it.
MCDOWELL: They're the shame police.
WATTERS: We all get it past. All right, the "FASTEST SEVEN" up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCDOWELL: Time for the "FASTEST SEVEN" Coronavirus Edition. First up, this outbreak is the biggest story in the world, but believe it or not, some people still had not heard of it. After Jared Leto missed the news while on a 12-day meditation retreat without his phone and the cast of Big Brother Germany had to be told by host on a recent episode. Greg, you and Jared Leto like this?
GUTFELD: Oh yes, we talk every day. Talking about ruining your entire meditation retreat, all that peace and de-stressing, it's just a race when you come home and you're just like, oh my God, everything is screwed. Meditation didn't prepare me for this.
MCDOWELL: Dana?
PERINO: Well, I was kind of surprised. I didn't -- I don't watch Big Brother so I didn't know that there was like a news blackout that they couldn't be told things. But it does seem to me that there's an ethical question there where if you want to make sure that you're protecting yourself or others or your or your family members, that I think that it would have been the right thing to tell them.
MCDOWELL: Juan, do you watch it?
WILLIAMS: No, I never have.
MCDOWELL: Germany.
WILLIAMS: I guess not. You know, this reminds me though of that famous saying when Dorothy gets the Oz and she says to her dog Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. So you come back and this is like literally a reality check. Like oh my God, this is what -- this is the world today? The guy would just tell them, don't get on the internet and start buying toothpaste or any of these miracle cures. There's a lot of nonsense out there.
GUTFELD: Well, buy toothpaste.
WILLIAMS: Not that toothpaste.
MCDOWELL: Jesse?
WATTERS: Is Big Brother Germany -- are those like Americans that are participating in Big Brother in Germany or are those Germans?
PERINO: German.
WATTERS: OK, so it's Germans, the German edition of Big Brother?
GUTFELD: Yes. Where are you going, Jesse?
WATTERS: No, that's all. I mean, it just seems strange like that's a kind of a strange knockoff.
PERINO: It's not a knockoff.
WATTERS: It is a knockoff.
PERINO: No, it's actually same franchise.
GUTFELD: It started in the Netherlands, I believe, right?
WATTERS: Big Brother, Netherlands?
GUTFELD: Yes. No, it's Endemol is the creator, I think.
PERINO: I have no idea.
MCDOWELL: I'm so glad you know that.
WATTERS: I got a lot of questions about this.
GUTFELD: German Big Brother, they're all wearing leather.
PERINO: But not --
WATTERS: And they definitely have coronavirus there.
MCDOWELL: Roleplaying. Up next, running out of toilet paper might feel like an emergency right now, but do not call the cops about it. An Oregon police department is begging folks to stop dialing 911 when they're out of T.P.
PERINO: I think that they should publish their names in the newspaper if they do that. They'll never do it again.
GUTFELD: Have you ever -- come on, Dana, have you ever tried to call somebody when you ran out of toilet paper? Everybody has done that.
PERINO: No. I have never -- I have never run out of toilet paper.
GUTFELD: Oh, well, aren't you special?
PERINO: I plan ahead.
WATTERS: Peter, can you bring me a roll?
PERINO: I have done that. I have done that.
GUTFELD: That's my point.
PERINO: I don't call 911.
GUTFELD: Well, you might live alone in the woods. You need somebody to come bring --
PERINO: You live alone in the woods, and don't worry about toilet paper.
GUTFELD: That's disgusting.
PERINO: Well, I actually called somebody about that a few days ago. And they said -- they described how to make a homemade bidet which I'll say for another time. Juan?
WILLIAMS: Yes. Well, I think if you're in the woods, you could call Yogi Bear.
GUTFELD: That's true.
WILLIAMS: Maybe he would help you out. But I mean, people, what a waste of energy and time. I mean, it's like people calling the police because you know something's gone off in the street or something. I mean, the police had better things to do. It's unbelievable that people would make that call to me. It's just crazy.
WATTERS: Yes, Juan, you know who made the call?
WILLIAMS: Who?
WATTERS: Jared Leto?
WILLIAMS: That makes sense.
PERINO: On the meditation retreat.
WATTERS: Yes, he ran out.
MCDOWELL: All right, "ONE MORE THING" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: It's time now for "ONE MORE THING." Dana Perino.
PERINO: Well, animals are great live edition. OK, so you know, there's not a lot of sports to watch right now because everything got canceled. Well, there is something you can do. It's called March Meowdness, as part of the Cats Versus Cancer Charity. Every day, there's a head to head matchup where you vote for your favorite cat until one is called the winner.
Cats Versus Cancer is a nonprofit. And volunteers, they organize the whole thing. It's very fun and interactive. Now, this is Sahar. This is my assistant's cat. Hamdah Salhut, this is her cat, Sahar. She's in this year's first bracket. So if you check out the site, be sure to give this perfect kitty that was written for me. Your vote on Instagram, it's Sahar the Cat. And she's very beautiful, very, very beautiful.
I also just wanted to mention that Fox is doing something really cool. Fox News is offering free access to national and local news to all viewers. So you can stay informed with the latest updates on everything at foxnews.com, the Fox News app, and fox.com. All of that is going to be free for viewers if you want to check it out. And don't forget to vote for Sahar.
WATTERS: Wait, Dana did the cats fight each other? How do you gamble on the cat?
PERINO: It's just by pictures? They have to play poster picture.
WATTERS: Who's cuter?
PERINO: Yes. You know, like the cat-off. It's kind of like Greg's Cat-Off.
GUTFELD: You know, I finally figured out what to do when you run out of toilet paper.
PERINO: Get a cat?
GUTFELD: That's a fluffy cat.
PERINO: Hey, Sahar, look at the camera there, baby.
WILLIAMS: I think Jasper is jealous. I'll tell you that.
PERINO: Well, I better change this sweater before I get home.
WILLIAMS: All right, OK, so it's my turn. I'm going to pick up on what Danny was talking about because due to coronavirus, the sports world has gone to the dogs. I'm not kidding. Take a look at this. That's the winner of the Iditarod in Alaska. The winner of the race was Thomas Werner of Norway.
Now, I didn't get to watch the race. That's not how I know about it. I know about it because New York Post sportswriter Mike Vaccaro wrote that with basketball, baseball, and even the NASCAR races off of T.V. due to the coronavirus. The only thing left for him to watch was the dog race, so he streamed it.
And Mike Vaccaro said he had a great time doing it. But even with that, he had to say that the post-race celebration in Nome, Alaska had to be called off because of the virus. It's still time to give a big hug. And a big, big round of applause to the winning dogs in this year's dog race. All right, Greg, you're up.
GUTFELD: I did a rod once.
PERINO: Oh my gosh.
GUTFELD: I love these people. All right, so I did this a long time ago. I'm doing it now, instead of I hate these people. I got three groups. Number one, I'm going to mention Peloton because exercise is the most important thing you can do right now, in my mind, to keep yourself sane. You don't have to do peloton. They're just really good right now. When I'm home alone on the bike, I know all the trainers. But bike, if you can get a used indoor cycle or any kind of equipment, it's going to get you through these long, hard periods.
My second person I love, of course, Scott Adams. You got to wake up every morning at 10:00 a.m. -- at 10:00 a.m. Go to his Twitter feed. He does a live Periscope and he has the most optimistic research and information on the coronavirus. It's a good way to start your day.
And finally, all the workers at Fox News who are walking around cleaning the door handles, and the desks, and the keyboard, they are nonstop cleaning everything. And that's an important thing because every time they're doing it, they're killing vectors. So I love these people.
PERINO: Yes, we love those people.
WILLIAMS: And we love Jesse. Jesse, your turn.
WATTERS: The feeling is mutual, one. All right, so it gets a little boring during the quarantine especially in Italy, so you got to do something for fun. Check out these two guys, you know, playing a little paddle out the window, keeping a safe six-feet distance from each other.
PERINO: Oh my god. They're very good.
WATTERS: There it goes.
PERINO: Darn it.
WATTERS: They're pretty good.
WILLIAMS: All right, Dagen, bring us home.
MCDOWELL: I have some more coronavirus upbeat news. One young woman refused to let social distancing get in the way of sharing some news with her granddad. Carly Boyd stood outside the window of his nursing home and held up her hand after she got engaged. The nursing home was in on the surprise, raise the blinds.
Boyd said her granddad was so happy, he kept asking when is the wedding. My granddad, may he rest in peace, would have gone, he's a bomb.
WILLIAMS: I love that story though. I love these people reaching out to the elderly. Set your DVRs, never miss an episode of THE FIVE. "SPECIAL REPORT", that great show is up next.
Hey, Bret Baier.
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